o HOT10008
forged ahead in 2008 with some of his best work yet. Kick-Ass was perhaps the most exciting new title of the year, bringing superheroes into the real world, a trick he also pulled off in Marvel’s fantasy piece, 1985. He also took over writing Fantastic Four and Wolverine, then upped the action again with War Heroes at Image. Then there was the film adaptation of Millar’s Wanted, starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman which raked in over $300million, while Mathew Vaughn is currently directing the Kick-Ass adaptation with Millar taking on a co-producer role. It’s guaranteed to be another huge world wide smash. (HN)
6 Andy Murray TENNIS TYRANT
A serious pre-season fitness regime turned the junior Murray into a top contender on the world stage this year. A fistful of tournament wins in Qatar, Marseille, Madrid, and Cincinnati propelled the Dunblane- born Andy to a career best fourth place in the world rankings in 2008. This season was also notable for the progress in Murray’s game as he confidently defeated top seeds Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer to make the world sit up and take notice. (DA)
5 David Tennant TIME TRAVELLING THESP
Another bonza year for the Doctor. The Bathgate-born Scot took Dr Who to a new level of national treasure in the fourth new series, this time
dragging companion Catherine Tate around the galaxies to deal with the Ood, the Sontarans and rabid Whovian fans.
Tennant also proved his chops in the live arena in a much-anticipated turn as Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company. With nary a sonic screwdriver or CGI monsters to hide behind, Tennant showed compelling range, before announcing that after four one-off episodes he will be surrendering the keys to the TARDIS to concentrate on acting in this solar system. (SB)
12 James McAvoy WANTED MAN
Genuine spirit of Scotland, McAvoy only saw one of his films released in 2008, but that film happened to be the US box office busting Wanted, a kinetic adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic book series. McAvoy has, however, been working his little socks off, with Tolstoy biopic The Last Station now complete, a four-month residency at the Apollo theatre in Richard Greenberg’s Three Days of Rain in early 2009 and with Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit about to be green-lighted (he’s tipped for the titular role), now may not be a great time for McAvoy and his equally talented actress partner Anne-Marie Duff to start nesting. (PD)
11 Kelly Macdonald BIG SCREEN DREAM
It’s been a fantastic year for MacDonald. Most importantly she gave birth to son Freddie Peter Payne in March. Aside from that she turned in a fantastic performance in the Coen brother’s best film for years, No Country for Old Men, and she brought gravitas and enigma to her role of doctor Paige Marshall in Clark Gregg’s uneven Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke. (PD)
32 THE LIST 11 Dec 2008–8 Jan 2009
detail was astounding, while Rockstar broke yet more records in terms of sales and critical acclaim. (HN)
8 Alasdair Gray AUTHOR/PAINTER/NATIONAL
TREASURE
Admittedly, the biggest reason for putting the man Will Self once described as a ‘little grey deity’ on our Hot 100 list this year wasn’t something he himself had done. However, Rodge Glass’ memoir/biography Alasdair Gray: A Secretary’s Biography, simply served to remind us of the continued genius of one of our greatest national assets. Following the release of Old Men In Love, his first novel since 1996, in late 2007, interest in the writer-poet- playwright-painter and local hero has rocketed back up again. Old Men was nominated for the inaugural Claire Maclean Prize at this year’s Aye Write festival. Gray also published Fleck, his Scottish Faust, early this summer, and has been performing from it all over the country, often with his biographer taking the part of God.
There was also a renaissance in
interest in Gray the artist this year. One of the biggest exhibitions of this year’s Glasgow International was Gray’s Sorcha Dallas show of never-before- seen paintings. (KI)
7 Mark Millar COMIC AND BLOCKBUSTER
MOVIE COLLOSSUS
Not content with writing the highest selling comic of the last 15 years with Civil War in 2007, Mark Millar has
10 Cathy Wilkes INSTALLATION INNOVATOR
Wilkes earned her 2008 Turner prize nomination with an installation of uneasy abject objects, including mannequins and a supermarket conveyor belt; a provocative entry in an otherwise lens-dominated competition. Continuing to revel in her interest in the ready made, Wilkes’ work demonstrates a developed interest in the behavioural orders imposed on women, a practice she has this year refined. (RD)
9 Rockstar North VIDEO GAME VISIONARIES
The bad boys of the videogames world Rockstar North once again struck gold with the absolutely massive Grand Theft Auto 4. Another gritty trawl through the streets of Liberty City as you take on the persona of Niko Bellic. Setting the standard for what is possible in open- ended gameplay, the attention to