The excellent new feel-good film from Danny Boyle, the genre-jumping director of Trainspotting, The Beach and 28 Days Later, charts how a kid from the slums of Mumbai (Skins star Dav Patel) wins the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. It
's gorgeously shot, full of terrific performances and socially aware in an unobtrusive fashion.
• Cinemas nationwide. Listings, p50.
COMEDY: JASON MANFORD
Jason Manford's populist humour, which has frequently been compared to that of fellow Northern man of the people, Peter Kay, has led to a swift rise to a high level of comedy celebrity. Expect a large number of fans of TV quiz show 8 Out Of 10 Cats to turn out at this live show by the 27-year-old Manchester comic, much of which will apparently be devoted to driving. With, possibly, a bit about sex toys.
• The Stand Comedy Club, Edinburgh, doors 7:30pm, 0131-558 7272
VISUAL ART: TURNER IN JANUARY
When London art collector Henry Vaughan died in 1899 he split his considerable collection of Turner watercolours between several of the biggest galleries in Britain – 38 watercolours and drawings came to Edinburgh, and are only exhibited in January.
• National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, 10am-5pm, 0131-624 6200
MUSIC: ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
The cult, avant-garde Baltimore collective are currently picking up rave reviews for their eighth album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, which shares musical DNA with everyone from Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev to Björk and CocoRosie. Expect a reverential atmosphere at this gig.
• Glasgow School of Art, 7:30pm, 0141-353 4526
VISUAL ART: TREASURED PLACES
Final week for this exhibition celebrating Scotland's buildings, from the archive of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, which boasts more than 14 million photos, paintings and plans of places ranging from castles to football stadia.
• City Art Centre, Edinburgh, 10am-5pm, 0131-529 3993
THEATRE: FAME
Nearly 30 years after the release of Alan Parker's iconic film, David De Silva's musical is still going strong. X Factor finalist Beverley Trotman stars in this touring version as Miss Sherman, the teacher inspiring a group of starstruck young student performers. The show is at the Playhouse all this week, then transfers to Glasgow.
• Playhouse, Edinburgh, 7:30pm, 0844 847 1660
FILM: ROLE MODELS
Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott play two emotionally stunted men who choose to mentor kids as community service – rather than spend time in jail – for trashing a delivery truck. Good chemistry, a furiously funny script and a lack of sentiment ensure this transcends its hokey premise.
• Cinemas nationwide. Listings, p50.
MUSIC: CHRIS BROWN
He's a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, actor, and music video director, he's playing the biggest venue in Glasgow and he doesn't even turn 20 until May this year. Yes, we hate him for that, too. Expect a mix of songs from his two-million selling debut and new album Graffiti at this gig.
• SECC, Glasgow, 7:30pm, 0844 395 4000
THEATRE: SUNSHINE ON LEITH
Scripted by Stephen River City Greenhorn, Dundee Rep's Proclaimers musical, now on tour, is unashamed stage soap opera, an old-fashioned saga about a working-class family. It's slick, funny and passionately acted, with a brilliant soundtrack.
• His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, 7:30pm, 01224 641122
FILM: FAR NORTH
This is an intriguingly weird fable with a gothic twist from Asif Kapadia – the director who brought us The Warrior – in which the nomadic lifestyle of a mother and her adoptive daughter in the frozen tundra is altered by the arrival of an injured soldier. With Sean Bean and Michelle Yeoh.
The full article contains 618 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
