Film
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
Eternally intent on self-improvement – but with far too little willpower and far too much joie de vivre to ever see it through – Edina Monsoon has been flawlessly embodying a certain side of the female psyche ever since she first staggered on to our sets in 1992. Now, she and vampiric sidekick Patsy are making their big-screen debut, in a spinoff that sees them accidentally kill Kate Moss and try to get away with it. As ever, high-profile cameos abound (Rebel Wilson, Stella McCartney and Moss herself all feature), but it’s still the slightly grim character comedy that is the real draw.
Exhibitions
Most often viewed through a prism of feminine sensuality (people have seen a lot of vaginas in her work), the first show at the refurbished Tate Modern will take a closer and more considered look at the American painter’s awe-inspiring 70 year career.
Daydreaming With Stanley Kubrick
Legend has it that, in the 90s, Stanley Kubrick discussed making a music video for James Lavelle, but died before he could do so. As unlikely a combination as this may seem (though maybe you could imagine A Clockwork Orange set to some DJ Shadow), Lavelle is using that putative project as inspiration for a show in which artists display work inspired by the great auteur. Conceptual art will feature strongly – including a luminous payphone by Doug Aitken – but there will also be work by Sarah Lucas, Peter Kennard and Kubrick’s widow, Christiane.
Books
While Prince William’s Attitude cover may feel like progress, the magazine’s editor Matthew Todd knows there are plenty of battles left to fight. This week he tours his new book, Straight Jacket, a look at the impact of a hostile society on the mental health of gay people.
Music
The Scottish festival’s star attraction is its raucous clientele – acts including the Stone Roses and Craig David will attempt to bring even more noise.
Seeing as six days feels like a long time at present, you might have expected the Avalanches to have reinvented music in the 16 years it’s taken them to record their second album. In fact, this sequel to 2000’s ubiquitous Since I Left You heads back into the past by attempting to recreate the hazy psychedelic pop of 50 years ago. It’s well crafted but will it get played at your barbecue? If the rain stops long enough for a barbecue, that is…
Richard Dawson and Evan Parker headline this devotedly experimental fest, held in a Cambridgeshire village. This year, though, they’re taking things even further: everything will be acoustic, and much of the music will be created in response to the event’s conditions.
Comedy
Between Black Books and a six-year tenure on glory-days Buzzcocks, Bill Bailey’s erudite whimsy became a permanent fixture in British comedy. This week he performs his trademark mix of music and standup on his Limboland tour.
Theatre
There’s a lot of old-school comedy talent attached to this Chichester production, which deals with the drama surrounding a purported bout of fracking. Anne Reid of Last Tango In Halifax fame co-stars with Likely Lad James Bolam, while One Foot In The Grave’s Richard Wilson directs. Writer Alistair Beaton might not be from sitcomland, but he was responsible for Channel 4 satire The Trial Of Tony Blair.
Television
It may be yet another of the seemingly endless spate of antihero dramas we’ve seen in recent years, but this series about a Hollywood fixer not unaccustomed to using his fists has enough to recommend it as more than just a sub-par Sopranos. Its cast includes Liev Schreiber as Donovan and Jon Voight as his father Mickey, and Eddie Marsan pops up as a troubled boxing trainer. Season four begins this week.
