1 FILM: THE VISITORIt's set in present-day New York and deals directly with illegal immigration in the wake of the post-9/11 Homeland Security crackdown, but Thomas McCarthy's wondrous new film is no groan-worthy issue movie. Ins
tead it's an intensely moving human story about a friendship between two illegal immigrants and a sixty-something economics professor who tries to help them.
• Cinemas nationwide.
2 VISUAL ART: VANITY FAIR PORTRAITSMany of these glossy celebrity portraits are breathtakingly narcissistic, but there are lots of striking, fascinating pictures in the SNPG's show, such as one of a young Einstein. Featured photographers include Mario Testino and Annie Leibovitz. Another exhibition at the gallery, Heroes, consists of portraits of various Victorian role models and makes an interesting counterpoint.
• National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 10am-5pm, 0131-624 6200
3 THEATRE: HABEAS CORPUSAlan Bennett's early comedy describes a day of mayhem in the house of Arthur Wicksteed, a 53-year-old GP who copes with his mid-life crisis by abusing his position in relation to comely young female patients. It's a brilliant play, revived with joyful showbiz energy.
• Pitlochry Festival Theatre, 8pm, 01796 484626
4 FILM: GONE BABY GONEBen Affleck's first film as writer-director tells the story of the abduction of a child and the efforts of a private investigator (Casey Affleck) to track her down. Set in the director's home city of Boston, it has an insider's sense of place that prevents it from being just another downbeat thriller. Morgan Freeman also stars.
• Selected cinemas.
5 VISUAL ART: FOTO, MODERNITY IN CENTRAL EUROPEThis is the only European showing of an exhibition featuring around 150 images by 50 photographers, from the explosion of film and photography in central Europe between 1918 and 1945. Curator Daniel Herrmann will give a tour of the show at 12.45pm today.
• Dean Gallery, Edinburgh, 10am-5pm, 0131-624 6200
6 MUSIC: OUTSIDE TRACKA not-to-be missed performance from this Scots-Irish-Canadian outfit which is made up of some of the brightest young talents on the folk circuit – notably 24-year-old Ailie Robertson, above, a gifted young harpist (and genetics graduate) who has just released her debut solo album, First Things First, on Lorimer Records.
• Stirling Folk Club, 8pm, 01259 218521
7 MUSIC: BOLIDE AWKWARDSTRAAaah, improvised music: the only thing in the world that splits opinion more spectacularly than Marmite. The Bolide Awkwardstra have been described as "thrilling and dynamic" and also likened to "five drunk tramps wrestling each other in an instrument storage room".
• Stills, Edinburgh, 7pm, 0131-622 6200
8 THEATRE: OUR HOUSETRIBUTE musicals can be depressing, soulless affairs but this new touring version of Our House combines respect for Madness's music with a true sense of theatre. Prepare to sing along to 1980s hits including Baggy Trousers, My Girl and, of course, Our House (In The Middle of Our Street).
• Playhouse, Edinburgh, 7:30pm, 0870 606 3424
9 MUSIC: RICHARD FLEESHMANA former Coronation Street actor and winner of the coveted "Sexiest Male" gong at the British Soap Awards a couple of years ago – with credentials like that it's hard to see how Fleeshman could possibly fail in his latest incarnation as a somewhat over-earnest singer-songwriter.
• King Tut's, Glasgow, 8:30pm,0870 169 0100
10 VISUAL ART: HARRY BENSON, A PHOTOGRAPHER'S JOURNEYGlasgow photographer Harry Benson has captured a long list of celebrities including Dolly Parton and the Beatles and various US presidents. This show is a retrospective of his remarkable 60-year career.
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, 10am-5pm, 0141-276 9599
The full article contains 625 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
