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📂 **Category**: Culture,Television,Film,Books,Music
✅ **What You’ll Learn**:
television
If you only watch one, do it…
Giselle Bellico: Newsnight interview
BBC iPlayer
Summarize in a sentence Quite a wise question about the feminist icon and source of hope for women around the world – where her innate dignity shines through.
What our reviewer said “She sits, perfectly still, effortlessly balanced, even when she cries sometimes… Mrs. Bellicot has an extraordinary personality. You can’t help but look in admiration at her strength and grace.” Lucy Mangan
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Further reading ‘These men think they’ve done nothing wrong’: The philosopher who tried to understand Gisèle Bellico’s rapists
Maybe she was gone…
Girl taken
Paramount+
Summarize in a sentence An exciting and psychologically complex thriller about a family dealing with a kidnapped daughter.
What our reviewer said “There are enough twists and reveals as the episodes unfold to allow the series to retain its exciting title, but Girl Taken offers so much more than that.” Lucy Mangan
Read the full review
dinosaur
BBC iPlayer
Summarize in a sentence Fresh, inventive and full of gags, the return of this Glasgow sitcom is very welcome indeed.
What our reviewer said “At first glance, Dinosaur treads the same ground as any other British sitcom about loving, dysfunctional families, regional quirks, a good dose of farce, and the requisite annoyingly kind-willed story. But all of this so-called normalcy is undermined by Nina’s autistic perspective.” Chitra Ramaswani
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film
If you only watch one, do it…
Secret agent
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Wagner Moura plays an academic on the run in deadly 1970s Brazil, as he attempts to escape corrupt politics in a fictional study of corruption high and low.
What our reviewer said “Its visual brilliance, sensual big-city intrigue, shaggy-dog comedy, harrowing lowlife walk, and epic slow-burn mystery come together to create something special.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading ‘I’ve been advised not to say certain things’: Secret Agent makers on Oscars, dictators and death threats
Choose from the rest
If I had legs I would kick you
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Rose Byrne plays a psychotherapist on the verge of collapse after a series of crises upend her life, as well as the long-term issues of caring for a sick child.
What our reviewer said “It’s a wonderful performance from Byrne as someone who as a mother and therapist must appear at all times to be keeping it together, but in reality is losing it every day.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading The mother of all meltdowns: Rose Byrne plays a mother who cracks up in her taboo-busting new film
Waste
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A brutal and violent British prison drama, with David Johnson playing an addict trying to avoid trouble on the inside, and Tom Blyth playing a prisoner seeking to take charge.
What our reviewer said “Some of the tropes are familiar, but this film avoids clichés with committed acting and fierce storytelling.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading ‘In every role I take on, I’m going to be a black man first’: David Johnson on winning a Bafta, rebooting Alien and leaving TV’s hottest show
A knight’s tale
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Re-release of a post-modern medieval romp starring Heath Ledger and with Queen on the soundtrack.
What our reviewer said “It’s somehow so entertaining, and its bizarre, in-your-face anachronisms are executed with such insouciance, such delightful impudence, that you can’t help but indulge in being immersed in it.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading “Heath Ledger knocked out my teeth while jousting with a broom”: How we made The Knight’s Tale
Man on the run
In cinemas now; Prime Video February 27
Summarize in a sentence A documentary directed by Morgan Neville focuses on Paul McCartney’s immediate post-Beatles years, as he formed the band Wings and settled into domestic life with his wife, Linda.
What our reviewer said “You may find yourself wondering why we are walking on this earth again, but it is a film worth seeing, and there is always something charming about McCartney’s face: angelic, yet sharp and alert.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading ‘The world said I was dead – in many ways I was’: Paul McCartney on the lost years after the Beatles
books
If you only read one, do it.
A World Emerges by Michael Pollan
Reviewed by Edward Posnett
Summarize in a sentence The bestselling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and How to Change Your Mind explores the nature of consciousness.
What our reviewer said “Polan’s great talent is his ability to dissect complex ideas in painless prose—and it’s always fun to be along for the ride.”
Read the full review
Further reading ‘I Am the Psychedelic Confessor’: The man who turned a generation to hallucinogens returns with an interesting book about consciousness
Choose from the rest
Our Better Natures by Sophie Ward
Reviewed by Lara Vigil
Summarize in a sentence Andrea Dworkin is a figure in a portrait of power, freedom, and revolutionary ideas in 1970s America.
What our reviewer said “Ward seems to amplify her contradictions about whether we should rage against the loss of revolutionary activity and try to revive it, or accept that loss and focus on justice in our personal lives.”
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The Last Earth by Deepa Annapara
Reviewed by Sana Goyal
Summarize in a sentence An immersive and intricately researched novel about nineteenth-century colonial exploration in Tibet.
What our reviewer said “For many years, the British have been training, persuading and bribing Indians to cross, conducting sweeps on their behalf; and even venturing into the ‘Forbidden Kingdom of Tibet’ in disguise.”
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Leaving Home by Mark Haddon
Reviewed by Alex Clark
Summarize in a sentence The author of “The Strange Incident” relives a loveless childhood in a memoir that includes many of Haddon’s own illustrations.
What our reviewer said “Beyond the obvious pleasure he finds in acts of creation, in personal relationships and in activities like running, there is a harm that the book suggests needs to be examined and catalogued, to be repaired in some way.”
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Further reading “To say that I was favored implies that I was loved”: Mark Haddon on a loveless childhood
Maybe she was gone…
The End by Maria Riva
Reviewed by Marcel Theroux
Summarize in a sentence There’s a Ukrainian story about endangered snails and “mail-order” dolls. Disrupted by a large-scale Russian invasion in this smart, Booker-listed novel.
What our reviewer said “Rather than feeling distracted or cheated, the author’s intervention heightens the story’s impact, giving it a disconcerting intensity and a new, more intimate register. We all have skin in the game at this point.”
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Albums
If you only listen to one, do it…
Mitsuki: Nothing’s about to happen to me
Out now
Summarize in a sentence Whether he’s retreating from fame or heartbreak, the American musician writes great songs about the allure of a breakup, full of horror and humor.
What our reviewer said “The album’s 35 minutes are thought-provoking, wrenching, and laugh-inducing. If misery loves company, Mitski is worth keeping.” Alexis Petridis
Read the full review
Choose from the rest
They are ugled: disturbed
Out now
Summarize in a sentence Featuring Welsh-language sarcasm, ‘cool rap’ and energetic dances, British rap music supports their vision of change.
What our reviewer said “The collective is in the music itself: ragged but richly populated arrangements of guitars, sax, trumpet and more, with plenty of guests (including children on flute and vocals).” Ben Beaumont Thomas
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Johann Ludwig Bach: Leipzig Cantatas
Out now
Summarize in a sentence The first ever recordings of J.L. Bach’s cantatas have been preserved thanks to his distant cousin J.S. Bach.
What our reviewer said “Joana Soler’s performance is incisive yet flexible, while her impressive group of fresh-voiced soloists has a sumptuous sound thanks to some careful engineering. A wonderful rediscovery.” Clive Paget
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Hadera: Hadera
Out now
Summarize in a sentence The Bristol-based folk band travel widely on their debut album, exploring global influences with a shimmering, spring-like warmth.
What our reviewer said “When so much music that incorporates global traditions can sap its specificity, this album masterfully blends its influences together, intensifying their colours.” Jude Rogers
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Now touring
opinion
UK tour until 2 March
Summarize in a sentence A big, bold show for the singer who has entered her self-proclaimed “drama era.”
What our reviewer said “It’s a testament to Rae’s skills as a singer, and her phenomenal band, that she can switch gears so seamlessly, transforming the vast arena from a whispery tune one moment to a European dance party the next.” Daniel Dylan Ray
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Further reading ‘Not Made’: How British school stars took over the Grammy Awards
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