Tears in Rain: ‘Blade Runner’ and Philip K. Dick’s Legacy in Film
Blade Runner and Philip K. Dick’s work lives in our cinemas and minds. How did the visions of a paranoid loner become the most relevant sci-fi of our time?
Sean Bell
Old Ideas and New Generations: What Leonard Cohen Means to Us
Leonard Cohen endures and conquers. But does he mean something different to Millenial audiences than he did to their parents? Can the legend of Cohen escape its own clichés?
The Act You’ve Known for All These Years: Covering ‘Sgt. Pepper’
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band may be the most overanalysed, overexposed album in history. In light of the Flaming Lips' affectionate reimagining, can the inescapable masterpiece ever be surpassed?
Reinventing Scotland, Reinventing Ourselves: After the Referendum
To be in the minority is the natural condition of artists. The referendum gave Scotland's creative community a brief respite from its sense of isolation.
Arguable Merits: Young Adult Fiction and Its Rabid Discontents
The YA crowd is full of articulate, well-read, hungry hyenas. They'll rip my lungs out for this. They'll crucify me. They'll leave my corpse in a ditch.
Pronounced Dead: The Art of Cultural Assassination
Two critical catfights are claiming to have buried art-forms which have shaped our civilisation for decades and centuries apiece. Are they entitled to do that?
Dissident Imagination: The Relentless Persecution of Terry Gilliam
The release of The Zero Theorem provides yet another opportunity to appreciate Terry Gilliam's untrammelled genius. Yet some would prefer his towering talents were cut down to size.
Selling Japan: How Much Is a Nation’s Culture Worth?
Via the billion-dollar Cool Japan Fund Inc, Japan is aiming to become one of the world's dominant culture forces. But can a national culture be commodified so easily?