2013-05-25T14:14:56-04:00 Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/author/index.php?author=devon-murphy Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Devon Murphy Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2963872 2013-03-27T12:39:22-04:00 2013-03-27T12:39:34-04:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/ country's parliament on a certain April day and partake in...er...wait, what was I just saying?

The majority of Canadians are in favour of decriminalized or legal weed, while some think the penalties for possession should be more severe. The Liberal party of Canada has been in the news for falling squarely in the former camp, with reports and plans that would see the sticky substance creating jobs and being "a new source of tax revenue" for the country.

In this blunt debate, others are opting to puff, puff, pass on such approaches. Under the Conservative government's omnibus crime bill, Bill C-10, mandatory minimum sentences now apply to those charged with even the most minor of marijuana-related offences.

With the recent legalization in Washington and Colorado, Canadians have a chance to look South to see if the new law keeps the peace, or if communities go up in smoke.

Two men who have worked on the front lines of drug regulation are here to weigh in. Scott P. Hilderley, a Corporal in the RCMP Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Service, and William VanderGraaf, a retired Winnipeg Police Service homicide detective and member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, debate whether marijuana legalization should get the green light.



]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2013:/theblog//3.2719278 2013-02-20T08:51:00-05:00 2013-04-22T05:12:01-04:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/ Academy Awards are finally here, Sunday, February 24, hosted by Seth MacFarlane.

Since 2009 the Academy has upped the ante for the Best Picture category, doubling the amount of nominees from five to 10 possible films in the category. This year, only nine were deemed worthy to battle for the most prestigious of the golden statuettes, each with its own unique story to tell.

Of those nine, there was a wide range of talent and entertainment on display, and all manner of genres to choose from. We watched history come alive during Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in Lincoln. We dealt with mental illness head-on through Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook. We cringed during Django Unchained when slave owners enacted violent punishments, and sang along with Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables. (N.B.: I don't condone actually singing in the theatre -- shh!)

I think that's why I love Oscar season so much -- movies seem always to reach out and touch a part of you, to connect and become a part of your life, and this is the time to reflect on the films that touched us the most.

Learn a little bit more about each Best Picture nominee:



Amour
Director: Michael Haneke
Runtime: 127 minutes

"There is a certain indescribable manner in which Michael Haneke is able to lure you into his films that leaves you in a state of both shock and awe. ... Such is the case with Amour, a heart-wrenching and unflinching portrait of an elderly couple faced with the trials and tribulations of their own mortality when confronted with the inevitable demise we all face. In showcasing the intimate pain of watching someone you love slowly suffer, Haneke takes a departure from his usually emotionally-detached narrative tropes, offering his most humane film to date." - Raffi Asdourian, "Amour: Cannes 2012 Review"

Argo
Director: Ben Affleck
Run Time: 120 minutes

"This general ignorance about Canada exists in culture across the board, which is a sad reality, but it makes Ben Affleck's Argo all the more important in the grand scheme of things. For once (and I use the word "once" because I don't think this has ever happened before in a movie), Canada (and by extension, Canadians) comes across as clever, devious, innovative -- but most of all, awesome." - Chris Jancelewicz, "Argo makes Canada cool, for once"

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Run Time: 93 minutes

"Cheap, amateurish and sometimes just plain hard to watch, Beasts enjoyed a wave of overwrought critical hosannas, going all the way back to when the film first was shown more than a year ago at the Sundance Film Festival (where it won the always-suspect grand-jury prize, frequently given to an all-but-unwatchable film). It then got a much-vaunted sneak preview at last year's New Directors/New Films series and, by the time it was released in June, was on track to be one of the best reviewed films of the year." - Marshall Fine, "Why Beasts of the Southern Wild doesn't deserve its Oscar nominations"

"Beasts of the Southern Wild is a powerful film about a young girl trying as best as she can to adapt to love, loss and abandonment amidst her ever-changing circumstance." - Vanessa Ciccone, "Beasts of the Southern Wild: A review"

Django Unchained
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Run Time: 165 minutes

"Simply put: slavery was shockingly despicable nearly beyond description and, as such, should it be the centerpiece of a movie with such a cheeky tone? That's the conundrum. However, it's becoming clear to me that Tarantino made something far deeper than a spaghetti western -- or at least deeper than the spaghetti westerns I've seen. I've come to realize that his chosen homage/genre was simply a launching point into a much more substantive story about an unlikely friendship, joined in a quest for an unlikely love story. But more than anything else, Tarantino has duped a lot of movie-goers into seeing a film about the monstrous, cancerous true nature of American slavery, and I'd wager that a considerable number of people who saw Django Unchained probably didn't see Spielberg's Amistad or The Color Purple or any other historical drama about slavery, many of which were sanitized for mass appeal." - Bob Cesca, "Why Django Unchained is one the most important movies of the year"

Les Miserables
Director: Tom Hooper
Run Time: 158 minutes

"How has it taken this long to bring "Les Miserables," in its beloved musical form, to the big screen? Based on the classic novel by Victor Hugo and originally premiering on stage in France in 1980, the production was eventually translated for English-speaking audiences and, after a two-year run on Britain's West End, made its Broadway debut in 1987.
Pro: Whether it's Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway cutting away all their hair or Russell Crowe going out on a limb with his big rock star baritone, the actors of "Les Mis" really commit to their roles wholeheartedly.
Con: With a nearly three-hour runtime (and no intermission where you can retreat to the concession stand), "Les Miserables" wears on you. There's only so much costumed, big-screen opulence you can take (in song), and after about the second hour, things start to drag..." - Drew Taylor, "Les Miserables review: the pros and cons of the musical adaptation"

Life of Pi
Director: Ang Lee
Run Time: 127 minutes

"Director Ang Lee raises the bar on digital imagery, even as he puts it in service to his story. ... It is as though Lee is painting the film as you watch it. The colors swirl and blend, yet they also define an environment that is at once idyllic and hellish. Shooting on the water -- and underneath it, at times -- he makes Life of Pi a hallucinatory vision of a stark reality." - Marshall Fine, "Movie review: Life of Pi"

Lincoln
Director: Steven Spielberg
Run Time: 149 minutes

"Spielberg decided to sacrifice entertainment value for historical accuracy. Getting the votes to abolish slavery was tedious business, and the movie shows us that. There's very little action, and a lot of talking -- much of which will seem unfamiliar. The Tony Kushner-written screenplay relies heavily on the common word usage of the day. Daniel Day-Lewis spent a year studying Lincoln in order to give us an accurate portrayal. And he truly is amazing, after we get used to the stooped walk and the unimpressive voice. It's a film that's hard to fully absorb in a single viewing." - Leslie Sisman, "Popcorn preview: Lincoln"

Silver Linings Playbook
Director: David O. Russell
Run Time: 122 minutes

"David O. Russell has pulled off a tricky feat here, finding just the right tone in crafting a romantic comedy whose sweethearts suffer from bipolar disorder and depression. On paper alone, it sounds cringe-inducing. But he never condescends to his characters; Silver Linings Playbook isn't mawkish, nor is it wacky and crass in the opposite extreme." - Christy Lemire, "Silver Linings Playbook review: Jennifer Lawrence shines in new comedy"

Zero Dark Thirty
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Run Time: 157 minutes

"Do yourself a favor, and don't go see this movie. Don't encourage film-making that at best offers ambiguity about torture, and at worst endorses it. Spend the two and a half hours and the $10 on something more valuable, and moral." - Dan Froomkin, "Zero Dark Thirty is a dispicable movie, even is Bigelow and Boal didn't intend it that way"

"Zero Dark Thirty is a disturbing, fantastically-made movie. It will make you hate torture. And it will make you happy you voted for a man who stopped all that barbarity -- and who asked that the people over at Langley, like him, use their brains." - Michael Moore, "In defense of Zero Dark Thirty"]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2319605 2012-12-18T08:33:33-05:00 2013-02-17T05:12:01-05:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/
Almost every day this year we have read about how different people view government, public figures, other cultures and their own lives.

Taken on their own, each blog might seem underwhelming. After all, it is just one person's opinion, and your crazy Aunt Edna has no shortage of those.

But when we publish these insights, arguments and confessions on our platform, often something special happens.

Often these blogs become fire crackers, igniting a national conversation.

This year our bloggers have broken news -- Arsen Ostrovosky was one of the first voices in the mainstream media to write about the Israel/Palestine bombings in his blog: "My Country is Under Attack. Do You Care?"

They have shattered stereotypes, as Alice Moran did when she wrote "Dear Krista Ford, I Was Sexually Assaulted, but Not Dressed Like a Whore."

They have delved into taboo topics, as director Erika Lust bravely proved with her blog: "How I Will Tell My Daughters I Work in Porn."

They have done investigative work, exemplified by Douglas Anthony Cooper's series titled "PETA's Death Cult."

And they have debated important issues, such as "Should Canada Ban Muslim Face Coverings?"

Before looking forward to the opinions of 2013, we wanted to bring our firecrackers of 2012 together for a grand finale.

Next year, please pull up a chair at our table.



1. Arsen Ostrovsky: My Country is Under Attack. Do You Care?

"I'm angry. You see, as most Americans were waking up this morning, and those in Europe and elsewhere around the world were going about their daily routines, here in Israel -- over one million people were running for cover from a hail of rockets being rained down by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza." Read story...

2. Jim Harris: Harper Conquers Canada, One Robocall at a Time

"This robocall scandal is not just about some inconvenient phone calls, it's about subverting our democracy and altering the outcome of the election. And it's about Harper remaking Canada in his own image." Read story...

3. Alice Moran: Dear Krista Ford, I Was Sexually Assaulted, but Not Dressed Like a Whore

"Dear a lot of people, but specifically Ms. Krista Ford, I feel like you owe me a moment of your time, even though we've never met. The circumstance being you called me a whore. I should clarify: I'm one of the victims of the recent string of sexual assaults in the Annex. 'Sup? It's nice to make your acquaintance." Ready story...

4. Douglas Anthony Cooper: PETA's "Thank You" for Killing Shelter Pets

"When the no-kill shelter in Shelby County, Kentucky recently announced that they had run out of space -- and were hence going to have to start killing healthy dogs and cats -- officials received a nice basket of gourmet cookies, with a note signed from PETA: "Thank you for doing the right thing." Read story...

5. Rene Ross: A Night in the Life of a Sex Worker

"The date took a turn for the worst. He raped her, punched her repeatedly, and beat her to the head with a stray two-by-four he found in the alley. Abigail slipped in an out of consciousness, yet, she was able to scream loudly enough to alert someone in a nearby building who called 911." Read story...

6. Chelsea Vowel: I'm in a Life-Threatening Abusive Relationship...With My Government

"Chief Theresa Spence of Attawapiskat did not launch a hunger strike over a single piece of legislation. In short, this is what we have always been talking about. Whether the particular focus has been on housing, or education or the environment, or whatever else. What lies at the heart of all these issues is our relationship with Canada. And Canada? This relationship is abusive." Read story...

7. Amanda Garbutt: The Top 10 Foods That Make You Bloat

"We all know that salt and sugar are recipes for disaster if you are trying to avoid bloating. What you may not realize is that junk food isn't the only culprit. That's right, even healthy, fibre-rich vegetables can cause painful bloating leaving you feeling like you've just wolfed down a Big Mac. Nix these 10 items from your diet and you'll be strutting a new slimmer and trimmer you in just two weeks!" Read story...

8. Emma Woolley: What It's Like Being Violated As a Teenage Girl

"I will never forget how excited I was to be invited to watch a movie with the popular boy I liked. I primped for hours. (I was, after all, a teenager grappling with my own new sexuality.) When I got there, he did not put on the movie we agreed to watch, but a porn film. I had never seen one before. He unzipped his pants, pushed and pulled at me. I cried the whole walk home." Read story...

9. Conrad Black: "One of the Dumbest, Most Futile Elections in History"

"Mitt Romney was never going to be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, but barely 40 years after he warned of it, America has become, in Richard Nixon's eerie phrase, "a pitiful, helpless, giant." It is almost irrelevant to the world, except as an engine of fiscal incontinence." Read story...

10. Josh D. Scheinert: Dear America: You Have a Gay Problem

"If you bothered to look North you'd realize we aren't all that concerned about gay people. There are still a few things to be worked out, but there's something different, something malicious about the debate in your country." Read story...

11. Justin Trudeau: We Need a New Generation of Canadian Leadership

"Our Canadian promise has never been too complicated. Work hard, we tell our kids, and you will have a better future than we did. Today, for too many, that promise rings hollow." Read story...

12. Change My Mind: Should Canada Ban Muslim Face Coverings?

"Welcome to our Change My Mind debate series, in which we challenge leading voices to debate an issue -- and allow you, the reader, to determine who wins. Today's topic is based on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's decision to ban Muslim face coverings from citizenship ceremonies." Read story...

13. Craig and Marc Kielburger: What We're Not Saying About Chris Brown's Tattoo

"The headline that caught our attention: Did Chris Brown tattoo a battered Rihanna on his neck? When we look behind this headline, the real issue is that no one is talking about the real issue. It's not just about Chris Brown or Rihanna. It's about domestic abuse. It's also about celebrity-issued get-out-of-jail-free cards." Read story...

14. Philip Demers: Why I Left Marineland, and My Beloved Walrus Smooshi

"In May of 2012, I made the difficult and desperate decision to leave Marineland after about eight years of being a trainer for Smooshi the walrus. I could no longer bear witness to the suffering, and could ill afford to waste any more time. I simply didn't have a choice anymore." Read story...

15. Jenna Em: 10 Holiday Items that Are Cheaper at the Dollar Store

"If you're looking to save some money this holiday season, did you know that there are some great deals to be found at the Dollar Store? Although some items on this list may not be found at your particular Dollar Store, many of them will be! Save dollars at a time when you shop the items from this list!" Read story...

16. Delaine Moore: I Made Out With a Married Man, and Told His Wife

"Last year I spent out eight hours with a handsome "urban cowboy" at a bar. A day and a make-out session later, I found out he was married. I told his wife what had happened. I don't know if I made the right decision, so after a year of not speaking to her, I got in contact with her, and here's what she had to say about knowing that her husband cheated on her." Read story...

17. Kathleen Rea: How My National Ballet Career Led to Bulimia

"At ten, I was accepted into the National Ballet School of Canada training program. In puberty I developed curves that were considered too fat for the ballet world. I decided to diet my curves away, as the accolades in ballet went to girls who looked deathly thin." Read story...

18. Supriya Dwivedi: Generation Y -- Politically Engaged and Enraged

"The right-of-centre movement risks losing this entire generation of voters if it does not compromise on social issues that my cohort considers basic human rights. Millennials are a politically engaged generation. We know what is important to us, and what isn't. Perhaps it's about time politicians listened." Read story...

19. Erika Lust: How I Will Tell My Daughters I Work in Porn

"When people around me learn of my profession in pornography, they immediately start asking morbid questions. I'm used to this: Society has always tried to control our sexuality. But I'm not so much concerned with society. I'm more concerned with what I'll say when my daughters ask: 'Mommy, what is your job?'" Ready story...

20. Chris Jancelewicz: Our Obsession With Kristen Stewart: Let's Move On, Shall We?

"Do I know Kristen Stewart? No, I can never claim that. But in the past 24 hours I've seen her three times, and spoken to her once -- not for an interview, but candidly, in a hallway at the InterContinental Hotel in Toronto. In that brief five minutes I learned more about Stewart than I ever could have from any interview or gossip mag." Read story...]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2192411 2012-11-26T12:11:57-05:00 2013-01-26T05:12:01-05:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/



]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog// 2012-11-01T10:05:29-04:00 2012-11-01T10:48:48-04:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/ Rookie Mag and the new book Rookie Yearbook One.

Gevinson was in Toronto on October 27th to read from her new book and to connect with her many fans at Indigo Yorkdale. True to form, the young ladies filling the seats (and cramming into the aisles) were among the more fashionable youth in the city.

Ranging in age from 15 to 23, the girls were not only inspired by Gevinson's style, but also her success. "She's my biggest inspiration ever," said Mia Perelman, 15. "She inspired me to make my own style blog. She inspired me to be different."

Different is one word for the style the afternoon's attendees were sporting, but that's just the kind of thing Gevinson loves about her fans, dubbed "Rookies." "Wear what you want," Gevinson said after reading from the Yearbook and taking questions from the audience. "Just be comfortable in what you're wearing," agreed another Rookie staffer Petra Collins, 19.

The girls at the reading certainly took that message to heart, displaying all manner of personal style. After the Q&A, excited fans lined up to get their Yearbook signed and, if they wanted, a hug from Tavi.

Check out some of the great "Rookie" style from the event.

]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1961562 2012-10-12T12:02:50-04:00 2012-12-12T05:12:01-05:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/



]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog// 2012-09-04T14:52:44-04:00 2012-09-04T14:53:18-04:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/ Farrah Khan, Anni Spadafora and Liz Brockest was a call to action based on the recent string of sexual assaults in the nearby area.

Though organized mainly on Facebook and through word of mouth, a large and spirited crowd gathered at the park at 7 p.m., including many local politicians.

Cheri DiNovo, MPP for Parkdale and High-Park spoke passionately about her 45 years of “taking back the night,” and her desire to see a safer world for her grandchildren.

“What I’m really here to say is, ‘you’re not alone,’” she said in an interview. “This is not about the way a woman dresses, or about the way a woman looks. We don’t ask men what they were wearing, we don’t ask men to stay off the streets at night. We shouldn’t have to do it for our daughters.”

Other prominent local politicians included NDP MPP Jonah Schein and Mike Layton, councillor of the ward in which the attacks occurred. Layton spoke to the crowd about the White Ribbon Campaign, an initiative begun by his father, Jack Layton, to end male violence against women.

The rally comes just days after Toronto mayor Rob Ford's niece's tweeted out advice on how to avoid sexual assault. "“Stay alert, walk tall, carry mace, take self-defence classes & don’t dress like a whore," she wrote in a tweet that was taken down, and for which she later apologized.

Many of the gatherers had only just heard about the event before making their way down to show support. “These are our streets, this is our community, we shouldn’t have to feel unsafe or like we’re being targeted when we’re walking home,” said Melissa Lepp, 23, in an interview.

“If this is going to bring a lot of people out saying, ‘Hey, I don’t like this,’ I want to be counted with that,” said another protestor, Kjell Cawsey, 26.

After some rousing speeches, the organizers led the crowd out of the park and into the streets. The chant, “They say ‘stay home,’ we say ‘fight back!’” was heard loud and clear as the crowd marched through the neighbourhood and down College St., garnering attention from the patio-goers.

With hundreds of attendees and widespread media coverage, the message rang out loud and clear: Rape culture? Not if they have anything to do with it.

]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.1843722 2012-08-30T16:45:07-04:00 2012-10-30T05:12:01-04:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/ don't dress like a whore" thing has really put me over the edge -- truly. I am experiencing the pinnacle of what Jezebel's Erin Gloria Ryan coined "Rape Fatigue."

Assuming many of you are also suffering from this enraging affliction based on the last seven or so days of the news cycle, I'll keep the recapping to a minimum and just get right to it: everyone needs to stop telling women how not to get raped. Now.

Stop telling women their rape wasn't legitimate. Stop telling women they seemed like they wanted it. Stop telling women to change how they dress to avoid having their safety compromised. And women? Stop talking about other women that way. Whatever happened to solidarity?

And recognize that even if you apologize -- even if you go to great lengths to set the record straight -- you have made it just a little bit harder for sexual assault victims to be taken seriously. I don't slut-shame, but I'm all for bigot-shaming. Shame, shame, shame on you.

"Don't dress like a whore" -- that's such a threatening sentence. Why don't we just tack on "or else"? It rings of a misguided "I told you so" -- like saying to a victim of arson, "Shouldn't have lived in a house."

I don't even want to talk about this any more -- I want to move the conversation forward. Let's stop wasting precious space, time, airwaves and thoughts talking about the ignorance of others and do something about it.

The next report I see about Krista Ford's tweet better instead be a multi-step action plan as to how we can teach this and the next generation of men not to rape women, and how we can educate the rest of the world to treat people with respect. (It's probably going to need to be a pretty big action plan, but hey, that's what elected officials are for.)

I want increased police presence, I want politicians taking sexism seriously, I want basically every current Republican to just shut up. But, one step at a time. First, let's focus on getting people to stop sexually assaulting women (notice I didn't say "let's focus on figuring out better ways to not get raped.")

The only good thing that has come out of the ignorant woodwork, however, is one big strong community outpouring. Last year, we saw Slutwalk -- a reaction to one cop's comments that took the power back and took the world by storm.

Today we saw bravery in epistolary form from Alice Moran, a recent sexual assault victim who addressed a letter to Ms. Ford directly, and did so with dignity and humour.

This is an age-old problem that rears its ugly head all-too-often, but that doesn't mean we have to accept it, and it doesn't mean that we have to play out the same old narratives. Don't pander -- move the conversation forward. Do something about it. We can only get better from here.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog// 2012-06-29T16:22:12-04:00 2012-06-29T16:31:16-04:00

Devon Murphy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-murphy/ Irvine Welsh is the mastermind behind the iconic book "Trainspotting," later made into the iconic movie of the same title, the poster of which was most certainly on your university roommate's wall. The prolific author is back on the scene with his new book "Skagboys," a prequel to "Trainspotting," almost 19 years after the original was published.

Moviefone caught up with Welsh to talk about movies vs. books, the strangeness of seeing your characters come to life before your eyes and that damn creepy baby crawling on the ceiling that haunted us all.

Do you ever write books thinking they're going to make great movies?
No, you can't really do that. You've got to keep your eye on the ball. They're two very different mediums so you can't start thinking cinematically when you're writing a book. I just don't think it's going to work out.

But for "Skagboys," having written it after Trainspotting was so popular, when you were writing it were you picturing Ewan McGregor in your head as Renton?
Well, I had to re-read Trainspotting, obviously for the continuity to make it look like a prequel book, but also to get the actors out of your head because, they do, they colorize your head. The images of them supplant the images of the characters that you wrote.

Does that make you feel cheated?
Oh, it's great. It's a testimony to the power of the actors. If they're really good actors, they'll take over.

Are you hoping to do a movie with your latest book, "Skagboys"?
Yes, yes. I've got a slate of meetings in Hollywood next month, people pitching for it.

In what film or production would you say you had the most creative input?
I would definitely say Filth, followed by Trainspotting. And The Acid House, because I did the screenplay which I shouldn't have done, because I don't like doing screenplays for my stuff. I'll do adaptations of other people's stuff, but I don't like adapting my own books.

Why is that?
I just think it needs a fresh pair of eyes. I think The Acid House was a really good film but it would have benefitted from a fresh pair of eyes looking at it in a different way. And there's always a thing in the back of your mind, that you want to realize your book on stage but you can't look at it in that way. The most important thing is the actual story and the book is a resource to bring in that story and the characters. You have to see [the screenplay] very much in cinematic terms, about what people are going to be looking at when they're sitting there.

So do you think the directors of the movies have captured the stories well?
I think they all have. They've all done a brilliant job. Like, Danny [Boyle] has obviously gotten such tremendous accolades for Trainspotting and all the other stuff he's done. He's just done some great films.

And Ecstasy with Rob [Heydon], he's been trying to get it made for 11 years. I think it's a great film, kind of recognizes the story of the book. It just looks great -- Edinburgh is captured really well. It's not a critic's film, it's more of an affirmative film for people who have been through that scene. It is very much a youth movie. That's what we've seen it as. And that's why we've been taking it to music festivals. It relies so much on the music.

Filth -- and I'm not just saying this because I've had a lot of direct involvement -- but I think Filth is going to be such an amazing film. I think [James] McAvoy in this is better than De Niro in Taxi Driver. He's got all that kind of menace, but much more pathos and depth. It's beautifully shot and it's done in this Kubrick-esque symmetrical design and rich colour palette to play off his increasing madness. He just gets crazier and crazier. It's very funny as well as very dark. If we get a nice iconic poster I think it's going to be on every student's wall, same as the Trainspotting one.

What draws you to writing these flawed characters?
My mission as a writer has always been to look at how people fuck up, basically. It's like, my life's going well so I'm going to do something to give it a bit of drama; my life is going terrible let's make some bad decisions to make it even worse. It's that mechanism by which people fail that always fascinates me. I used to think it was about fear of success and wanting to stay in your own little place and all that. And it is, but it's also about fear of failure, fear of trying anything in case you fail, because the stigma of failure seems to be so huge in our society. But to me, fear is a natural state and it's the most interesting thing, because success only comes in one form where you just feel smug, and you don't really learn anything from success, but failure comes in all different forms so you just learn loads and loads.

So when you look at your characters do you see specific people in your life?
Yeah, I kind of see myself at certain times and certain points. It's funny. I was reading an interview with Rob Heydon, the director of Ecstasy, and he said something kind of perceptive. They asked him what we've been doing these 11 years and how we've gotten to know each other and he said, "All the characters of his books, he's been all of them at one time. I've seen all of them over the 11 years." I hope he didn't see Begbie in me. [Laughs]

A lot of people say the Trainspotting movie made the book a cult classic. How do you feel about the film being the first introduction to the story?
When the book first came out, all the cool people, the hip crowds, it was a real accessory to them. But you have to accept that subsequent generations are going to see the film first because film is such a more accessible medium than books. People will kind of hear about it, and people are more interested in movies than books. But it's fantastic because they buy the book after because it's such a good film.

Are there any scenes in the film adaptions that surprised you?
I think you're always really surprised by a movie, because you're surprised by the way the actors get up there, because the characters are so personal to you. When you see someone reading the book on the tube ... people are quite impassive when they're reading and you don't really know what's going on in their heads, and you're wondering if they're getting it in the same way you were when you were writing it. But when you see an actor who has completely internalized that character -- it's like they've just stepped out of your head, like this hologram. It's a really, really weird experience.

How do you get into the heads of these characters? Have you been a skagboy yourself?
[Laughs] Yeah, I mean, I've been through all that stuff myself and in some ways it's therapeutic but it's also making sense ... I think everyone in life wants to make sense of what they've been through, and sometimes you only see that through the perspective of distance, so you get that detachment from it.

The Exorcist-headed baby scene in Trainspotting -- the horror! What's up with that? Where did that come from?
You know, the film was criticized because people don't hallucinate on heroin, so the hallucinogenic scenes in the film and book were criticized for not being real. But my argument was when you're taking heroin you're fucked a lot of the time so certainly, me when I was taking heroin, I took loads of speed as well to keep myself going, to get up and get through the day, and when you're on speed you're not sleeping, you're massively sleep deprived. When you're sleep deprived, you get the most incredible hallucinations, worse than acid. Really 3D vivid hallucinations and that just made sense for that character.

And it made sense in my nightmares. Thanks for that.
[Laughs]

]]>