It might take a small leap of faith, dear reader, but there was a time when Irvine Welsh was the great white hope of British literature. These were the sunny days of Cool Britannia, the bright dawn of New Labour and Welsh was the satirising Scot biting worse than his (not inconsiderable) bark. Blame Danny Boyle, Ewan McGregor and the perfect storm that was the film adaptation of Trainspotting. Another adaptation was made for the screen from a book of Welsh's short stories in its aftermath, the less-than-popular The Acid House. If you don't know who Irvine Welsh is now, I wouldn't be surprised.

This Friday sees the release of the third adaptation from an Irvine Welsh story, this time his short The Undefeated, from the best-selling anthology of novellas Ecstasy, comes Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy. First-time director Rob Heydon knows which way his bread is buttered. The story sees a romance bloom between dealer Lloyd and housewife Heather. The x of the title representing that which is at once illicit, seductive and alluring. Is the chemistry that Lloyd and Heather share a love for each other, or are they simply drugged into believing it?

There are many, many things wrong (both practically and morally) with making and marketing a movie anchored by drugs; it's a pretty crass way of doing things, and thankfully it hasn't been seen much since the late 90s/early 2000s (and, to be fair, a lot of its culprits, were cut-price imitators of Trainspotting) but Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy brings us a reminder of some of the writer's best work. There are revelatory moments that are expressed with a clarity that is uncommon for a film of its kind, it puts up a good fight for its own existence, and it might actually just surprise you.

Irvine Welsh's Ecstasy is on general release from Friday, 20 April.

Mass participation - It's all the rage nowadays. If you can't get involved with a project, an event, an exhibition or a happening it almost doesn't seem worth it. Collaborate, or hit the road, Jack. Going to the movies used to be a passive activity, but in the spirit of the mass movement age even this has been subject to change.

Future Cinema is Secret Cinema without the element of surprise. This time around, the film for your viewing pleasure is Alan Parker's blissfully entertaining Bugsy Malone; the story of the prohibition-era gangster, played out as a musical by a cast of child actors.

And what fun it is! Everything is pre-teen friendly, from the burlesque-lite shows led by a young Jodie Foster, machine guns that shoot mashed potato, and children made up with fake moustaches, three-piece pinstripe suits and all the chic of the glamour age.

And you're invited, nay required, to join in. Unpack the pomade, spit-shine your winklepickers and buy a corsage for your favourite dame. It'll be a good ol' fashioned jolly, old sports.

Bugsy Malone plays as part of Future Cinema at The Troxy until 29 April.

It's not often that your Culture section will fawn deliriously over a particular exhibition or event, we are far too aware that your decision to see things is your own and our responsibility is to filter through the frankly incredible amount of cultural activity in the capital to bring you what's hot and deserved of your oh-so frantic schedule. Today, though, is not just any day.

Oh, no. Going on display today for the very first time in Britain is one of the finest works of art ever created (and yes, today we are fawning over not just an exhibition, but a single artwork). You'll know The Scream by Edvard Munch, the onieric fantasy of a personal hell, made manifest on canvas. The image is so famous it inspired a series of Hollywood films - and their spin-offs.  Twice the painting has been stolen in recent years.  The face has become the personification of horror, itself contorted by fear, imbued within its very fabric. Like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's smirking representation of Guy Fawkes, which has become the mask of Anonymous, this is a work of art that is now a common part of our consciousness.

The Scream, one of four painted in the 1890s, goes on temporary display at Sotheby's before it travels to New York to go up for auction on 02 May, where it is expected to sell for over $50million. You'll likely only have the chance to see this very sporadically in your lifetime (if at all, barring trips to Munch-museet,Oslo). Catch it here while you can.

We'll leave you with the text, written by Munch in his diaries explaining his state of mind at the time of the painting's creation:

"I was walking abling a path with two friends - the sun was setting - I felt a breath of melancholy - Suddenly the sky turned blood-red - I stopped and leant against the railing deadly tired - looking out across flaming clouds that hung like blood and sword over the deep blue fjord and town - My friends walked on - I stood there trembling with anxiety and I felt a great, infinite scream through nature.'

In every aspect, this is one of the most relevatory artworks ever made.

The Scream by Edvard Munch goes on display at Sotheby's today.