✨ Check out this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian 📖
📂 **Category**: Culture,Television,Film,Books,Music
💡 **What You’ll Learn**:
television
If you only watch one, do it…
The miracle man
Disney+
Summarize in a sentence This tale about a super-powered actor secretly trying to star in a superhero movie is that rarest of things – a Marvel Cinematic Universe showcase that’s actually good.
What our reviewer said “It’s clever and kind and absolutely wonderful.” Lucy Mangan
Read the full review
Further reading Wonder Man to Take That: The seven best shows airing this week
Choose from the rest
Take this
Netflix
Summarize in a sentence A fantastically entertaining documentary about the boy band, packed with interviews, archival footage, and tons of nostalgia.
What our reviewer said “It’s a lot of fun stuff. Directed by David “Bros: After the Screaming Stops” Soutar, and told through new off-screen interviews with the remaining three, the series is packed with archival footage, acres and acres of stuff, masterfully edited and much of it never-before-seen.” Sarah Dempster
Read the full review
Clive Merry’s African Adventure
BBC iPlayer
Summarize in a sentence One of the BBC’s most popular news presenters gives an entertaining tour around South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Morocco.
What our reviewer said “A fantastic series that shows that a much-criticised celebrity travel show can be truly educational, informative and impactful.” Hannah J. Davis
Read the full review
Maybe she was gone…
Toxic water
BBC iPlayer
Summarize in a sentence A powerful documentary about the people of North Cornwall’s long struggle for justice after their waters became toxic.
What our reviewer said “There are enough new interviews here – with residents, experts and politicians – to bring the whole matter startlingly and disconcertingly into the present.” Hannah J. Davis
Read the full review
film
If you only watch one, do it…
Primates
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A pet chimpanzee goes feral in a brutal and brilliantly designed short film from British director Johannes Roberts.
What our reviewer said “At 89 minutes, and at the pace of a roller coaster, there’s not much room for life lessons, though the film is a stark and harrowing reminder of why chimpanzees shouldn’t be considered part of the family.” Benjamin Lee
Read the full review
Choose from the rest
Mysterious novel
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Richard Linklater recreates the iconic French New Wave classic Breathless as a tribute to the prickly Jean-Luc Godard.
What our reviewer said “It’s a smart, gentle effort; Godard himself, if he were still alive, would surely have torn Linklater apart with a new effort.” Peter Bradshaw
Read the full review
Further reading “I have YES tattooed on my foot!” Zoey Deutch plays Jean Seberg in a joyous celebration of Godard’s classic Breathless
Is this thing running?
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Bradley Cooper directs Will Arnett in a drama based on the life of comedian John Bishop, about a man headed toward divorce who discovers a cathartic outlet in comedy.
What our reviewer said “Arnett has a gentle face: handsome yet sensitive and wounded, the kind of face you want to caress with sympathy.” Peter Bradshaw
Read the full review
Further reading Have you heard about Bradley Cooper’s movie based on John Bishop…?
Strong room
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A gang of bank robbers return to the scene of their crime to free the employees they imprisoned in a basement in this 1962 British thriller.
What our reviewer said “The film delivers two big shocks, and everything is wrapped up quickly in 80 minutes. The performances are theatrical but powerful in the manner of British cinema of those days, but always believable and watchable.” Peter Bradshaw
Read the full review
Streaming now
Wrecking crew
Prime Video
Summarize in a sentence Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa play two estranged, macho brothers who avenge their father in this action-comedy.
What our reviewer said “The final banter between Claes Bang and Momoa is gas, as is the chemistry between Momoa and Bautista, two lovable lugs who clearly love each other. The whole package is an easily digestible guilty pleasure.” Leslie Felperin
Read the full review
books
If you only read one, do it.
Avatar of Ali Smith
Reviewed by Kieran Goddard
Summarize in a sentence A brave and funny story of brotherhood, conflict and mortality faced in war in Gaza.
What our reviewer said “Smith’s tonal skill as a writer is used to great effect when dealing with the bureaucratic and authoritarian absurdities of the British state.”
Read the full review
Further reading Ali Smith: “Henry James made me run down the garden path and scream out loud.”
Choose from the rest
The Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash
Reviewed by Lara Vigil
Summarize in a sentence A comedy debut for our conspiracy theory era about a dysfunctional American family.
What our reviewer said “Cash’s witty wit allows her to warm hearts while poking fun at the world.”
Read the full review
The Guard and the Thief by Megha Majumdar
Reviewed by Keshava Guha
Summarize in a sentence In a follow-up to Burn, a woman tries to escape the climate disaster in Kolkata in the near future.
What our reviewer said “The Guardian and the Thief has the rhythm of a thriller, but derives its drama from heightened moral stakes, rather than suspense.”
Read the full review
David Bowie and the Search for Life, Death and God by Peter Ormerod
Reviewed by Simon Critchley
Summarize in a sentence A religious reading of the star’s life and work, from Space Oddity to Blackstar.
What our reviewer said “It is irresistibly tempting to see the extraordinary Bowie Archive at the Victoria and Albert Museum as a vast reliquary that inspires the most medieval practice: pilgrimage.”
Read the full review
Further reading A Day with David Bowie: How his visit to a psychiatric clinic changed him – and his music
Maybe she was gone…
Death of an Ordinary Man by Sarah Perry
Reviewed by Joe Moran
Summarize in a sentence A deeply moving portrait of the end of life, Perry’s book won this year’s Nero Prize for Nonfiction.
What our reviewer said “What makes this book such a gem is that it succeeds in conveying the reality of death as this huge, mythical thing that coexists surreally with the mundane world of council box sets and neighbors airing out their laundry.”
Read the full review
Further reading “I wanted to write more than I wanted to have children”: Writer Sarah Perry on rejecting motherhood
Albums
If you only listen to one, do it…
The Leoncuro Quartet: Outside Vienna
Out now
Summarize in a sentence The young quartet gives A keenly alert account of Berg, Webern, and Schulhof – beautifully capturing the musical fault lines of pre-war Vienna.
What our reviewer said “The gameplay is unflinching and seething with imaginative detail.” Clive Paget
Read the full review
Choose from the rest
Tyler Bolgem: For the first time, again
Out now
Summarize in a sentence The hugely popular debut of the Los Angeles singer – who has been compared to Tim Buckley, Elvis and more.
What our reviewer said “His voice is distinctly beautiful – a depressed, muffled tone that drifts into a sentimental falsetto as if it were the easiest thing in the world to do – and a bit theatrical.” Alexis Petridis
Read the full review
Further reading Tyler Ballgem: “Self-Help Shocked Me Through Depression.” I had this spiritual awakening.”
Julie Campeche: Undeclared
Out now
Summarize in a sentence The composer’s first solo album transforms expansive harp technique into music of intimacy, restraint and conviction – inspired by the women who shaped her world.
What our reviewer said “You might describe her soundscape as magical or otherworldly if it didn’t coexist with the political urgency of an activist on environmental and social issues. But Campeche has too much vision to overshadow the eloquence of pure sound with polemic.” John Fordham
Read the full review
Yumi Zuma: No love is wasted from kindness
Out now
Summarize in a sentence New Zealanders Dreamers move away from their trademark sound with louder guitars and bolder intentions.
What our reviewer said “Far from dramatic reinvention, this film is Yumi Zouma reshaping itself in real time.” Katie Hawthorne
Read the full review
Now on tour…
Lucinda Williams
UK tour until 7 February
Summarize in a sentence At 73, the Americana star still writes with urgency, the patient power of her band sending the music skyward.
What our reviewer said She lives with the after-effects of a stroke, but once she gets behind the microphone she radiates determination. If anything, the sound feels freshly polished; The wording is more deliberate, and the vibrato captures the light. Brian Cooney
Read the full review
Further reading Lucinda Williams: My singing is better now than it was before the stroke
{💬|⚡|🔥} **What’s your take?**
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
#️⃣ **#Main #Tyler #Ballgame #Week #Rave #Reviews #culture**
🕒 **Posted on**: 1769967711
🌟 **Want more?** Click here for more info! 🌟
