New Orleans Swamp Donkeys, St Andrew Square Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

Take a bowlful of Trad Jazz classics, add a sprinkling of more contemporary New Orleans music, then fold in six cool guys with infectious grins and good dose of talent and bind together with a loose and flexible set list.  Serve in a Spiegeltent accompanied by an enthusiastic Edinburgh full house and garnish generously with laughs.

Drums, sousaphone, banjo, trumbone, trumpet and saxophone.   The Louis Armstrong-like depths of James Williams' voice, the more melodic tones of Sam Friend for contrast, and some fun backing vocals.  Whilst the tunes are totally familiar to jazz fans, and the overall treatment follows the standardised mix of ensemble playing and solos for all, there's a freshness about the musicians that prevents this being a stale rerun of so many similar offerings.  That's partly a reflection of the high standards of musicianship, partly the humour the band bring to their stage act.  For a finale the four front men did a circuit of the venue, playing mightily, and that was a good reflection of the way they bonded with their audience.

The Donkeys might not be musically challenging or innovative, but they do major on fun and what's wrong with that?  Miles Lyons' trumbone solos sparkle with mischief, and even though I've another ten shows to see in this year's festival, I'll be surprised if I hear a sax solo to improve on the one Marcus Miller brought out during a long medley.  You couldn't walk out without a smile on your face.

Hot Antic Jazz Band, George Square Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

A French six piece band playing 1920s jazz, with plenty of grey hairs on show.  The HAJB first appeared at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival 35 years ago, and are still going strong.

Tuba, piano, banjo cornet and a few clarinets and saxophones line up with some eccentric vocal contributions.  Their musical style is conventional trad jazz, without surprises, but their style is unmistakably French and full of fun.  Anyway, who wouldn't charmed by those accents?

Band leader Michel Bastide smoothly introduced proceedings, and got each number underway with a complicated set of foot tap signals.  Everyone gets their chance to shine in solos, with tenor sax player Michel Bescont the best of the bunch for his imagination and fluency.  And he's a decent singer too.  The surprise was finding that the weakest link was, at times, Bastide himself, with a few duff notes creeping into his cornet solos.

Highlights included a lovely rendition of "The Very Sought of You" (say it with a French accent!), and when five band members vacated the stage leaving German pianist Martin Seck to give us a rousing boogie woogie version of the St Louis Blues.

A fun and nostalgic way to pass an hour.

Merry Hell, The Atkinson, Southport

Upbeat.  Isn't that what we need right now?

Support came from local singer/songwriter John McBride.  Delivering a mix of pop covers and a few of his own songs, he provided an enjoyable mix in a strong voice and some excellent guitar work.   None of the introspection and misery that so often feels the staple fallback position of so may young acts nowadays.  An ideal opener for what was to follow.

Which was the full eight piece Merry Hell electric line-up.  Drums, bass, keyboards and fiddle at the back, and the four Kettles fronting the line up.  That's three brothers - John on guitar, Bob on mandolin and bouzouki and Andrew on lead vocals - and Virginia, wife of John sharing the main singing duties.  Together they provide the perfect musical antidote to these crisis-laden times.

MH are a solid folk-rock band from Wigan, singing from their now extensive back catalogue of self penned numbers, with a few new songs to be released on their fourth album later this year.  There's not much in the way of musical fireworks or experimentation.  Just solid professional musicianship, in which fiddler Neil McCartney's solos stand out, complete with a shovel tuned to F.  If that sounds like just another folkie bunch of rockers I should add that there are three things that make Merry Hell stand out.

Firstly, there's the songs themselves.  Memorable melodies and well crafted lyrics, often laugh-out-loud funny.  With impeccable left wing credentials, they tackle a number of subjects of modern relevance.  There's the usual suspects - anti war, the venality of politicians and bankers, a strong emphasis on community - but with a very forward looking slant.  However they are perhaps at their best with songs like Bury Me Naked and Loving The Skin You're In which focus on the need to find your own identity, unconfined by the stereotypes pushed on us by the media.

Secondly, those singers.  Andrew's sandpaper lined throat and Virginia's sweet soaring soprano are the perfect complement and contrast to one another.  Expressive, humane and full of warmth.

Whilst both the above are also a recommendation to get hold of their CDs, my third comment is what makes them such a special live act.  Charisma.  Merry Hell are one of those bands who only have to walk on stage and fire up the first few bars for it to feel like the sun has appeared from behind the clouds.  They are theatrical, funny, down to earth, infectious.  They are clearly having a good time up there, so why shouldn't audience, and the steady flow of foot tappers ensures that's the case.

Merry Hell are one of the UK folk scene's finest live acts.  Joyous.

The Man Who Was Thursday, Filmhouse, Edinburgh Film Festival

A young American priest, bored with the routines of his daily life, gets dragged into a messy situation by an apparently vulnerable woman.  Disgraced, he is sent to Rome for spiritual rehabilitation, but finds himself being asked to infiltrate a shadowy underground group to try and prevent a murder attempt.

Uncertain why he's been given the job, his life becomes more and more confusing. As fantasy and reality become intermingled, is he there to prevent the ope being assassinated in 2016, or foil a plot to kill Mussolini in 1942?  Is he dreaming, or being drugged, or losing his mind?   He might manage to solve the mystery, but at what cost?

The cinematography is wonderful, with some stunning shots and sequences, and there's effective use of repetition to suggest the craziness of the world we're being drawn in to.  Francois Arnaud's disturbed Father Smith is good at conveying the nightmarish quality of his experiences, but sometimes looks to be trying too hard to be a Bogartesque gumshoe.  But Charles, the eminence gris who propels Smith into his sometimes dangerous assignment, is played in suavely sinister fashion by the excellent Jordi Molla.

Supernatural, metaphysical, multi layered, this is a treat for film buffs who enjoy the uncertainty of nuance.

Mr Right, Cineworld, Edinburgh Film Festival

Martha is twenty something, flaky, neurotic, and getting drunk after a break up.  She meets a man who tells her he kills people.  Joking, eh?  But Martha soon finds out he was deadly serious, and moves from horrified to accepting, to....

It's all very daft, played for laughs - and misses them.  The festival blurb described this as "Grosse Point Blank with a bit more dancing".  But it has none of that film's charm, thrills, chemistry, plot or acting talent.  Tim Roth is wasted as supposed bad guy Hopper, and both Anna Kendrick's Martha and Sam Rockwell's murderous Mr Right lack any trace of likeability.

A facile romcom felt an odd choice for a festival screening.  But maybe that's just me.  There were people in the audience laughing, I'm just not sure at what.  Maybe you have to be a twenty something?  I'm not.

A Man Called Ove, Odeon, Edinburgh Film Festival

Rolf Lassgard is best known here as one of the two Swedes who have appeared as Kurt Wallander in BBC4's Saturday evening slot, and his character in this film could hardly be more different.

Ove is 59, recently widowed, and finding himself out of a job.  He's also a busybody, bad tempered and a one man, self-appointed, neighbourhood watch and warden.  A grumpy old git.

When a new family moves in opposite they seem determined to befriend him.  Whether he wants it or not.  As a kind of friendship slowly builds between Ove and the pregnant Parvaneh we see in flashbacks why Ove has turned out to be the person he is and the sadness in his life.  There's even a kind of logic to his being so bitter, vindictive and petty.  His new Iranian neighbour forces him into a form of mutual dependency and gives him the empathy he needs to reinvent himself.

Lassgard shows a great talent for comedy, and is never less than hilarious when the script gives him the chance.  But Ove is a complex character and this is a very moving performance too.  If there are times when the film strays into sentimentality I can't begrudge it.  Superb.

The Commune, Cineworld, Edinburgh Film Festival

Anna is getting bored with her conventional life.  When husband Erik inherits a huge old house she pushes him into setting up a commune, overriding his obvious caution.  They select their housemates, a mix of old friends and serendipitous acquaintances, and see how their lives develop in both good and bad ways.  But when Erik is found to be having an affair how will the spirit of communal openness cope, and what does it mean for Anna?

There are very strong performances from Trine Dyrholm as Anna, and Martha Sofie Wallstrøm Hansen as her daughter, Freja.  The sense of drama and tension is slow to develop, but turns tight, and tragic, as the end nears.  Communal life provides some lighter moments, and raises the question of what sort of people are best suited to a commune lifestyle where some will thrive and others flounder.

Always pleasant and entertaining, but this film lacks anything special to make it stand out.