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📂 Category: Culture,Television,Film,Books,Music
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television
If you only watch one, do it…
Nobody wants this
Netflix
Summarize in a sentence A straight-up throwback to the rom-com featuring a hot rabbi whose plot (are an atheist sex anchor and a rabbi really compatible?) plays second fiddle to a cast that pleases millennials (The Good Place’s Kristen Bell and The OC’s Adam Brody).
What our reviewer said “The chemistry between Brody — who still manages to tap into the pulse-pounding status he acquired two decades ago playing sweet nerd Seth Cohen on The OC — and Bale, a specialist in great acid fellatio, is still smoldering.” Rachel Aroesti
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Further reading Belly-turning kisses and a chlamydia love story: the best comedies ever made
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ridge
BBC iPlayer
Summarize in a sentence A layered thriller starring the excellent Lauren Lyle as an anesthetist who travels to New Zealand to attend her younger sister’s wedding – only to find her dead.
What our reviewer said “Stumble. Ridge is a good thing, good things.” Lucy Mangan
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Maybe she was gone…
Cocaine quarterback
Prime Video
Summarize in a sentence An entertaining documentary that tells everything from an American football player turned drug dealer that often feels like a mockumentary.
What our reviewer said “As an entry point into a true crime story, it’s really a downer.” Hannah J. Davis
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Diplomat
Netflix
Summarize in a sentence This high-stakes drama is silly but has excellent performances, tense action and an erudite script.
What our reviewer said “Keep that disbelief close by, and it will seem like comedy in places. But keep it far away, and it’s unnerving – just as real-world politics are.” Hannah J. Davis
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film
If you only watch one, do it…
Mastermind
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Josh O’Connor turns into an art thief in Kelly Reichardt’s unexpected heist thriller, which creates a very naturalistic depiction of an art gallery heist.
What our reviewer said “You wouldn’t expect Kelly Reichardt’s quiet, matter-of-fact cinematography to give us anything like Ocean’s Eleven or Reservoir Dogs. But the verisimilitude of her ostentatiously unadorned reality makes the extraordinary events real and startling, shot, as always with Reichardt, with an earth-toned palette in the cold, clear light of her own flavourless, airy style. “Accent.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading A film about a daring art theft? Inside The Mastermind, the most timely movie ever
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calm
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence Nia DaCosta adapts Ibsen’s classic play, with the libertine but manipulative Hedda marrying Tessa Thompson for money in 1950s British high society.
What our reviewer said “It’s a ludicrous, intense, desperately sexual film, inspired by Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Chekhov’s quote about the gun produced in the first act. It’s a feverish variation on the theme, with twists on gender and racial difference.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading ‘She does terrible things’: What could a Marvel director do with Ibsen’s cruel heroine Hedda Gabler?
The last sacrifice
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A fascinating study of how a gruesome murder gave rise to popular horror, as real life and fiction merged in post-Empire Britain of the 1960s and 1970s.
What our reviewer said “Director Robert Russell (son of Ken) makes a compelling case that the details of the Walton case, and the way the bloodstains permeated post-war culture, reflect a certain British isolationism, rebellion and hidden violence that persists today.” Phil Hood
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Fun house
In cinemas now
Summarize in a sentence A 25th anniversary reissue of the distinguished 2000 edition of the late Terence Davies’ novel Edith Wharton, with Gillian Anderson as Lily Bart, a destitute Edwardian New York socialite.
What our reviewer said “Davies’s signature visual touches are all there: slow, careful takes on static interiors. But this opens up into a large, well-upholstered picture with more force and power than almost any other drama of recent times. It gripped me like a thriller throughout.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading Master at Work: On set with famous British film director Terence Davies – in pictures
Streaming now
Stiller and Meara: Nothing is lost
Apple TV
Summarize in a sentence Ben Stiller’s moving documentary about his parents, comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, is a tender study in the price a family pays for fame.
What our reviewer said “Ben might have discovered something that Jerry and Myra had discovered—but he suppressed it and kept smiling like band members. Show business is a cruel profession not only because it takes you away from your family, but because it always promises a level of star ecstasy that is fleeting, or never arrives.” Peter Bradshaw
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books
If you only read one, do it.
“Nobody’s Girl” by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Reviewed by Emma Brooks
Summarize in a sentence A memoir about the impact of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes was published posthumously.
What our reviewer said “Geoffrey’s recollections of Prince Andrew, the man with whom she was allegedly forced to have sex three times, present him in a more slapstick and grotesque light.”
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Further reading ‘Prince Andrew thought it was his birthright to have sex with me’: Virginia Giuffre speaks out about her abuse at the hands of Epstein, Maxwell and the King’s brother
Choose from the rest
Field of Roses by Philip Pullman
Reviewed by Sarah Crowne
Summarize in a sentence The conclusion to the epic fantasy series that began 30 years ago with Northern Lights.
What our reviewer said “Lyra’s journey to adulthood feels both painful and believable; Pullman uses her relationship with her demon to explore her inner conflicts in a way that is unique to his fantasy world.”
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The Uncool by Cameron Crowe
Reviewed by Alex Needham
Summarize in a sentence A compulsively readable memoir about interviewing the biggest rock stars of the 1970s.
What our reviewer said “Crowe would track Bowie down at gigs and in the studio with Iggy Pop; he would hang out with him day and night, which meant he was there to record the excruciating moment when Bowie jumped to his feet mid-interview because he thought he saw a body fall from the sky.”
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I Deliver Packages in Beijing by Hu Anyan, translated by Jack Hargreaves
Reviewed by Joe Moran
Summarize in a sentence This blog about life as a postman has been widely circulated and is a bestseller in China.
What our reviewer said “He thinks he has to earn 0.5 yuan per minute (about 5 pence) in order not to lose his life, which means making a delivery every four minutes. The 20 minutes he takes for lunch costs 10 yuan. It costs 1 yuan to urinate – provided the toilet is free and only takes two minutes – so he avoids drinking too much water.”
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Maybe she was gone…
Earth in Winter by Andrew Miller
Reviewed by Rachel Seifert
Summarize in a sentence The gripping story of a couple in a midwinter freeze was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
What our reviewer said “Can there be art after Auschwitz? Can there be peace of mind? Miller’s characters have looked into the abyss. This makes ordinary life so difficult and so necessary at the same time.”
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Albums
If you only listen to one, do it…
Lily Allen: West End Girl
Out now
Summarize in a sentence Allen’s first album in seven years traces the fallout from an open relationship. It’s a fascinating autopsy of infidelity.
What our reviewer said “It’s poignant and shocking at the same time. There are moments when you find yourself wondering whether airing so much dirty laundry could be such a good idea, and it’s impeccably written and full of biting wit even though the words are.” Alexis Petridis
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Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra / Domingo Indoyan: Iberia
Out now
Summarize in a sentence Addictive Latin rhythms and perfectly judged musical adrenaline in Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Orchestra’s recording of six French works with a Spanish flair.
What our reviewer said “For all his reserves of Venezuelan fire, Hinduyan takes a measured approach, resisting the temptation to show off. The results are often revelatory, with much to startle the ear all over again.” Clive Paget
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Jennifer Walton: Girls
Out now
Summarize in a sentence Imagination, popularity and devastating personification feature in the stylish appearance of the producer and DJ.
What our reviewer said “Tense, quiet verses with echo and riffs on guitar morph into big choruses, and Walton’s voice has been digitally manipulated and transformed into something omniscient and sinister.” Katie Hawthorne
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Further reading Add to playlist: Laura Ann Singh’s spiky, playful free jazz and the best new tracks of the week
Mohinder Kaur Bhamra: Punjabi Disco
Out now
Summarize in a sentence Punjabi folk vocals are backed by hammering electronic percussion, disco bass lines and synth melody in this major progenitor of the explosion of Asian dance music.
What our reviewer said “The metallic harshness of the instruments combined with the warmth of Mohinder’s voice makes for a strangely attractive combination, blending dancefloor action with emotional melody.” Amar Kalia
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Further reading ‘The label made 500 copies – and we sold them to corner stores’: The story behind the lost dance classic Punjabi disco
Maybe she was gone…
Joey Crooks: Juniper
Out now
Summarize in a sentence The south London singer returns after a four-year absence, with shimmering vocals and cleverly unemotional lyrics, plus explosive appearances from Vince Staples and Kano.
What our reviewer said Crooks has publicly expressed concern about the gap between her second album and her debut: “Will anyone remember me?” she wondered out loud to an interviewer recently. You can understand why, but Juniper is worth the wait. Alexis Petridis
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