pick of the week: OUR CRITICS' CHOICE

film By wendy ide one Hour Photo Limited release Robin Williams puts in an eerily convincing performance as a sad-sack lab technician who tries to inveigle himself into the apple-pie family whose photos he develops in this tense thriller from music promo director Mark Romanek.

ROAD TO PERDITION General release This well-appointed period gangster picture - with hitman Tom Hanks out to avenge the murder of his wife and child - sees director Sam Mendes just about equal American Beauty. Artfully staged, obsessively controlled and almost suffocatingly beautiful.

The Bourne Identity General release Matt Damon is fished out of the Med, his body riddled with bullets, his memory also full of holes. Pursued by hostile forces, he pieces together his past with the help of Franka Potente. This taut actioner is the best espionage fare of the summer.

INSOMNIA General release Al Pacino and Robin Williams go toe-to- toe as beleaguered cop and suspected murderer in Christopher Nolan's beautifully constructed psychological thriller, shot against the breathtaking backdrop of Alaska.

DANCE By ELLIE CARR Circa Friday-Saturday, Tramway, Glasgow Excellent Canadian physical theatre duo Holy Body Tattoo team up with cult Brecht-inspired band The Tiger Lillies for this tango-soaked exploration of sexual desire, staged as part of the Six Stages festival.

Joaquin Cortes Tuesday, Usher Hall, Edinburgh; Wednesday, Clyde Auditorium, SECC, Glasgow The strutting, preening prince of stadium- style nuevo flamenco returns to Scotland to show off his Armani threads and kiss ladies' hands.

rambert dance theatre Wednesday-Saturday, Festival Theatre, Edinburgh Wayne McGregor's PreSentient receives its world premiere as part of an excellent triple bill also featuring work from Merce Cunningham and Christopher Bruce. See interview, page 5

THEATRE By ANDREW BURNET possible worlds From Thursday, until October 26, Tron Theatre, Glasgow John Mighton's dramatic love story - receiving its Scottish premiere - teases the audience into a parallel universe of romance, murder and mathematics, and features Raquel Cassidy from TV series Teachers.

COPENHAGEN Tuesday-Saturday, Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow The first Scottish production of Michael Frayn's award-winning play - against the backdrop of the second world war, Niels Bohr (Europe's leading quantum theorist) meets Werner Heisenberg (his ex-colleague working on the German atomic bomb project) in nominally-neutral Denmark. Needless to say, sparks fly.

MISS SAIGON From Friday, until January 25, Playhouse, Edinburgh The start of a 15-week Edinburgh run for Cameron Mackintosh's epic multi-cultural juggernaut of a musical, which transposes the basic plot of Madama Butterfly to war-torn Vietnam.

ROCK&Pop By Graeme virtue lostprophets Tuesday, Barrowlands, Glasgow They've been tagged as the best live band currently doing the circuit but it basically boils down to the fact that they play Welsh nu-metal; you either like it or you don't.

death in vegas Saturday, QMU, GlasgowRichard Fearless and Tim Holmes make terrific electronica records - often with the help of numerous vocal stars, including Liam Gallagher and Paul Weller. But even without any guest larynxes, they can still create an impressive atmosphere.

visual art By giles sutherland

WARHOL TO KOONS Until February, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh This display includes work by some of the most significant artists of the past 40 years including Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Gerhard Richter. Also on show is a recent video work Surrender by Bill Viola.

classical By christopher lambton Children's Classic ConcertS Today, Usher Hall, Edinburgh Christopher Bell takes the helm of the Classics Concerts Orchestra for more bite-sized orchestral chunks.

and if you're not going out stay in with your beloved Nintendo GameCube and get to grips with Super Mario Sunshine ((pounds) 34.99), the six-years-in-the-making 3D platform game that brings the fat Italian plumber bang up-to-date. You can almost hear him saying: "How d'ya like me now?" to his defeated once-rival Sonic The Hedgehog.

Copyright 2002
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.