TV
If you only watch one, make it …
Nobody Wants This
Netflix
Summed up in a sentence An on-form return for the hot rabbi-featuring romcom whose plot (are an agnostic sex podcaster and a rabbi really compatible?) plays second fiddle to its millennials-pleasing casting (The Good Place’s Kristen Bell and The OC’s Adam Brody).
What our reviewer said “The chemistry between Brody – still able to trade on the heart-throb status he accrued two decades ago playing beautiful nerd Seth Cohen in The OC – and Bell, who specialises in acid-tongued cool, remains electric.” Rachel Aroesti
Further reading Tummy-flipping kisses and a chlamydia love story: TV’s best ever romcoms
***
Pick of the rest
The Ridge
BBC iPlayer
Summed up in a sentence A hugely layered thriller starring the excellent Lauren Lyle as an anaesthetist who flies to New Zealand for the wedding of her younger sister – only to find her dead.
What our reviewer said “Get stuck in. The Ridge is good, good stuff” Lucy Mangan
***
You may have missed …
Cocaine Quarterback
Prime Video
Summed up in a sentence An entertaining tell-all documentary from an American football player turned drug kingpin, which often feels more like a mockumentary.
What our reviewer said “As an entry point to a zany true crime tale, it really is a touchdown.” Hannah J Davies
The Diplomat
Netflix
Summed up in a sentence The high-stakes drama stretches credulity but its performances are excellent, its action is tense and its script is highly erudite.
What our reviewer said “Keep that disbelief close, and it will feel more like a comedy in places. But keep it at bay, and – much like our own real-world politics – it is a nail-biter.” Hannah J Davies
***
Film
If you only watch one, make it …
The Mastermind
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Josh O’Connor turns art thief in Kelly Reichardt’s unlikely heist movie, which creates a super-naturalistic depiction of an art gallery robbery.
What our reviewer said “You wouldn’t expect the quietist, realist movie art of Kelly Reichardt to give us anything like Ocean’s Eleven or Reservoir Dogs. But the very fact of its ostentatiously unadorned reality makes the extraordinary events real and startling, shot, as always with Reichardt, with an earth-tones colour palette in a cold, clear daylight in her unflavoured, unaccented style.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading A film about an audacious art heist? Inside The Mastermind, the timeliest movie ever
***
Pick of the rest
Hedda
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Nia DaCosta’s adapts Ibsen’s classic play, with Tessa Thompson’s free-spirited but manipulative Hedda marrying for money in 1950s British high society.
What our reviewer said “It is ridiculous, intense, despairingly sexual, inspired by Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler and Chekhov’s dictum about the gun produced in act one. It’s a feverish variation on a theme, with twists on gender and racial difference.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading ‘She does terrible things’: what can a Marvel director do with Ibsen’s ruthless heroine Hedda Gabler?
The Last Sacrifice
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Fascinating study of how how a gruesome murder spurred the rise of folk-horror, as real life and fiction merged in post-empire Britain in the 1960s and 70s.
What our reviewer said “Director Rupert Russell (son of Ken) makes a convincing case that the particulars of the Walton case, and the way its bloodstain permeated out into postwar culture, reflected a particular British insularity, unruliness and furtive violence that still persist today.” Phil Hoad
The House of Mirth
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence A 25th anniversary re-release of the outstanding 2000 adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel from the late Terence Davies, with Gillian Anderson as the impecunious socialite Lily Bart in Edwardian-era New York.
What our reviewer said “Davies’ signature visual touches are all there: the languorous, unhurried takes on the still-life interiors. But this has been opened out into a substantial, well-upholstered picture with more sinew and power than almost any other period drama of recent times. It gripped me like a thriller throughout.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading Master at work: on set with celebrated British film director Terence Davies – in pictures
***
Now streaming
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Apple TV
Summed up in a sentence Ben Stiller’s moving documentary about his parents, comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, is a tender study on the price a family pay for fame.
What our reviewer said “Perhaps Ben has discovered something that Jerry and Meara discovered – but suppressed and kept smiling like the troupers that they were. Show business is a cruel vocation not simply because it takes you away from your family, but because it always promises a level of superstar euphoria that is fleeting, or never arrives at all.” Peter Bradshaw
***
Books
If you only read one, make it …
Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Reviewed by Emma Brockes
Summed up in a sentence Posthumously published memoir on the impact of Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes.
What our reviewer said “Giuffre’s recollections of Prince Andrew, a man with whom she was allegedly forced to have sex three times, present him in an even more buffoonish and grotesque light.”
***
Pick of the rest
The Rose Field by Philip Pullman
Reviewed by Sarah Crown
Summed up in a sentence The conclusion of the epic fantasy series that began 30 years ago with Northern Lights.
What our reviewer said “Lyra’s journey into adulthood feels both painful and plausible; Pullman uses her relationship with her daemon to explore her internal struggles in a manner that is unique to his imaginative universe.”
The Uncool by Cameron Crowe
Reviewed by Alex Needham
Summed up in a sentence A compulsively readable memoir about interviewing the 70s’ biggest rock stars.
What our reviewer said “Crowe shadowed Bowie at parties and in the studio with Iggy Pop; he hung out with him day and night, meaning that he was there to record the heartstopping moment when Bowie jumped to his feet mid-interview because he thought he’d seen a body fall from the sky.”
I Deliver Parcels in Beijing by Hu Anyan, translated by Jack Hargreaves
Reviewed by Joe Moran
Summed up in a sentence This viral blog about life as a courier has been a bestseller in China.
What our reviewer said “Hu works out that he must earn 0.5 yuan a minute (about 5p) so as not to run his life at a loss, which means completing a delivery every four minutes. The 20 minutes he takes for lunch costs 10 yuan. Urination costs 1 yuan – provided the toilet is free and he only takes two minutes – so he avoids drinking too much water.”
***
You may have missed …
The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller
Reviewed by Rachel Seiffert
Summed up in a sentence A masterly tale of two couples in a midwinter freeze, 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. It makes the ordinary business of living at once very difficult and very necessary.”
***
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it …
Lily Allen: West End Girl
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Allen’s first album in seven years traces the fallout from an open relationship. It’s a gobsmacking autopsy of marital betrayal.
What our reviewer said “It’s simultaneously gripping and shocking. There are moments when you find yourself wondering if airing this much dirty laundry can possibly be a good idea, impeccably written and laced with mordant wit though the lyrics are.” Alexis Petridis
***
Pick of the rest
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Domingo Hindoyan: Iberia
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Addictive Latin rhythms and perfectly judged musical adrenaline in Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s recording of six French works with a Spanish theme.
What our reviewer said “For all his reserves of Venezuelan fire, Hindoyan takes a measured approach, resisting the temptation to grandstand. The results are frequently revelatory, with much that strikes the ear anew.” Clive Paget
Jennifer Walton: Daughters
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Fiction, folk and a devastating diagnosis feature in the producer and DJ’s stylish debut.
What our reviewer said “Tense, quiet verses with echoing, plucked guitar segue into grand choruses, Walton’s voice digitally manipulated into something omniscient and sinister.” Katie Hawthorne
Further reading Add to playlist: the spiky, playful free jazz of Laura Ann Singh and the week’s best new tracks
Mohinder Kaur Bhamra: Punjabi Disco
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Punjabi folk vocals are backed by hammering electronic percussion, disco basslines and fizzing synth melody in this key predecessor to the Asian dance music explosion.
What our reviewer said “The metallic harshness of the instrumentation paired with the warmth of Mohinder’s voice makes for a strangely engaging combination, blending the dancefloor movement with emotive melody.” Ammar Kalia
Further reading ‘The label made 500 copies – we sold it in corner shops’: the story behind lost dance music classic Punjabi Disco
***
You may have missed …
Joy Crookes: Juniper
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The south Londoner returns after four years away, with shimmering sounds and cleverly unsentimental lyrics, plus explosive cameos by Vince Staples and Kano.
What our reviewer said “Crookes has publicly worried about the gap between her second album and her debut: “Is anyone going to remember me?” she wondered aloud to one interviewer recently. You can understand why, but Juniper proves worth the wait.” Alexis Petridis
