Five of the best ... films
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (15)
(Marielle Heller, 2018, US) 106 mins
Melissa McCarthy and Richard E Grant make an excellent (and Oscar-nominated) double act in this wonderfully rancid portrait of failed-author-turned-forger Lee Israel, whose caustic drinking buddy enables her scams to work. Grant is back on Withnail form, but this is McCarthy’s movie: a great performance outside her comfort zone.
If Beale Street Could Talk (15)
(Barry Jenkins, 2018, US) 119 mins
Moonlight director Barry Jenkins follows up his groundbreaking best picture Oscar winner with a more traditional feature: an adaptation of James Baldwin’s Harlem-set 1974 novel about young lovers Tish and Fonny (KiKi Layne and Stephan James) and their struggle after Fonny is falsely accused of rape. Jenkins goes all out to evoke the pair’s intense passion to superlative effect.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (U)
(Mike Mitchell, 2019, Den/Nor/Aus/US) 106 mins
Everything is still pretty awesome in this second helping of the brick-oriented animation (if you don’t count the Lego Batman spin-off). This time, Lucy and Emmet confront a mysterious queen in the “Systar” system – but the plot is hardly the point: the eye-popping visuals and endless stream of gags, impressions, pop-culture references and metatextual wisecracks very much are. And, yes, that song may well get stuck inside your head.
Alita: Battle Angel (12A)
(Robert Rodriguez, 2019, Can/Arg/US) 122 mins
A new Robert Rodriguez film is always good news, and this time the Tex-Mex master has taken on a project once intended for James Cameron. Adapted from a Japanese manga serial, this takes the somewhat unwise decision to replicate the big-eyed manga look, with an uncanny-valley level of creepiness. Still, it’s a rousing cyberpunk vision of an effects-riddled dystopian society, though not at Blade Runner level.
Burning (15)
(Lee Chang-dong, 2018, South Korea) 148 mins
This Haruki Murakami adaptation carries a dash of
Patricia Highsmith and Michelangelo Antonioni, but remains utterly distinctive. Lee Chang-dong’s film has country boy Jongsoo finding himself in a difficult three-way relationship, which turns into an enigmatic mystery.
AP
Five of the best ... rock & pop
Neneh Cherry
It has been a good 12 months in the Cherry household vis-a-vis pop success, with Neneh returning to a chart peppered with releases from her daughter Mabel. Her own, Four Tet-produced Broken Politics album saw her soften her musical palette after 2014’s Blank Project, but her politicised lyrics remained as vital as ever.
Leeds University Union, Tuesday 12; Albert Hall, Manchester, Wednesday 13; The Roundhouse, NW1, Thursday 14; touring to 17 February
Babeheaven
Nancy Andersen and Jamie Lewis – AKA the core members of alt-pop practitioners Babeheaven – met while working in different shops on the same street in west London, eventually starting a musical relationship as laid-back and homespun as their origin story suggests. This shows is in support of dreamy new single, Circles.
The Jazz Cafe, NW1, Tuesday 12 February
Spielbergs
This Norwegian trio made a splash last year with their cheery debut We Are All Going to Die, following it up with a handful of joyfully ragged, emo-esque power-punk songs that have since been collected together on debut album, This Is Not the End. Brilliantly, one of their slower anthems is called McDonald’s (Please Don’t Fuck Up My Order).
Jimmy’s, Manchester, Monday 11; The Garage, Glasgow, Tuesday 12; Think Tank? Underground, Newcastle upon Tyne, Wednesday 13; Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, Thursday 14 February
Hanson
For one weekend every May, Hanson fans – ie people who remember more than just 1997 earworm MMMBop – travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma for a celebration of the brothers’ music. And there has been a surprising amount of it: 20 EPs, three live albums and 11 studio albums to be precise. Still, without offence to 2010’s Furry Walls, it’s still all about one anthem only.
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Monday 11; Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Tuesday 12; Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Friday 15; touring to 17 February
MC
Ari Hoenig Trio
One of the most musical drummer-composers in jazz, Hoenig gives group chemistry and the fast-moving twists in his pieces primacy over spotlight-hogging soloing. Hoenig has partnered stars from Joshua Redman to Herbie Hancock, but locals Tom Ollendorff (guitar) and Conor Chaplin (bass) should be on his inimitable wavelength.
Seven Arts, Leeds, Saturday 9; Manchester, Monday 11; The Vortex, N16, Wednesday 13; Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Thursday 14; RWCMD, Cardiff, Friday 15 February
JF
Three of the best ... classical concerts
Un Ballo in Maschera
David Pountney steps down as Welsh National Opera’s artistic director at the end of this season, and so his three-production Verdi project, which began last year with La Forza del Destino, is very much his extended farewell to the company. The second part of his trilogy is one of Verdi’s most intriguingly ambiguous scores, in a work based on the assassination of Gustav III of Sweden at a masked ball in 1792. The cast is headed by Gwyn Hughes Jones as Riccardo and Mary Elizabeth Williams as Amelia; Carlo Rizzi conducts.
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Saturday 9 to 23 February; touring to 24 April
Berlioz
Hector Berlioz died 150 years ago next month, and the anniversary is being widely marked throughout the year. Manchester gets in early with performances of two of his most ambitious dramatic works: Mark Elder conducts the Hallé performance of the dramatic legend The Damnation of Faust (Sun), before the BBC Philharmonic under Ludovic Morlot tackle the Shakespearean comedy Béatrice et Bénédict (16 Feb).
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, Sunday 10 & 16 February
Steve Reich
The London Sinfonietta goes on the road this week with a programme devoted to one of the most influential living composers. Although there are no brand-new works in this programme, it ranges across Reich’s career from the early Clapping Music to the 2016 ballet score Runner. His 1976 masterpiece, Music for 18 Musicians, provides the climax.
Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Tuesday 12; Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Wednesday 13; St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Thursday 14; Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, Friday 15; touring to 16 February
AC
Five of the best ... exhibitions
Morag Keil
Video games, tube trains and a sex machine are among the materials in this Scottish artist’s first big solo show in Britain. She explores the commercialisation of the internet in installations that parody advertising and cannibalise digital tech. The smooth consumerism of our age becomes a post-apocalyptic scrapyard of found stuff.
ICA, SW1, to 14 April
Diane Arbus
The art of Diane Arbus looks like a surreal invented carnival of American eccentrics, until you notice how raw her people are. Her pictures capture the faces of a society going through a revolution that has not ended yet. This exhibition explores her early work, revealing how the great New York photographer found her uneasy style.
Southbank Centre: Hayward Gallery, SE1 Wednesday 13 February to 6 May
Harald Sohlberg
The Norwegian painter who had the misfortune not to be Edvard Munch gets a rare international outing. Sohlberg was Munch’s near contemporary, dying in 1935, nine years before The Scream man. He is very much an artist of place. Where his compatriot created universal symbols of the human condition, Sohlberg’s poetic landscapes muse on mountains, forests and fjords, on summer light and evening shadows.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, SE21, Wednesday 13 February to 2 June
Is This Tomorrow?
In 1956 the Whitechapel Gallery hosted a revolutionary exhibition about art, technology and commercialism called This Is Tomorrow. The exhibition poster by Richard Hamilton has become a classic of pop art. This show revisits that seminal moment of futurist speculation to look at the sci-fi reality we live in. Participants include Rachel Armstrong, Tatiana Bilbao Estudio and Rana Begum.
Whitechapel Gallery, E1, Thursday 14 February to 12 May
Robots
You can meet the latest robots, and even talk to them, in this survey of the human fascination with living machines. How close are we to creating truly autonomous robots? Cutting-edge androids are shown alongside historic artefacts that range from Renaissance automata to film robots. Yet our obsession with creating a new us in metal and plastic goes beyond rational design.
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, to 15 May
JJ
Five of the best ... theatre shows
You Stupid Darkness!
Sam Steiner’s 2015 debut play Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons announced a playwright with guts and wit. Communication was at the heart of that drama and is a key theme of You Stupid Darkness!, which is set at a volunteer helpline centre. The show will be directed by Paines Plough’s James Grieve, who is a pro at identifying and showcasing talented young writers.
Theatre Royal: The Drum, Plymouth, to 23 February
Waitress
Pie, anyone? Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson’s new musical is about a small-town waitress who bakes her way to happiness. It is escapist fun, which started out as an indie film and morphed into a popular Broadway show, where it’s been running since 2016. An all-female creative team, including director Diane Paulus and lead actor Katharine McPhee, head up the West End premiere.
Adelphi Theatre, WC2 to 25 May
Shipwreck
Anne Washburn wrote the brilliantly bizarre Simpsons-referencing play Mr Burns, and returns to the Almeida with a world premiere, directed by Rupert Goold. Shipwreck is set in a rural American farmhouse, where a group of guests are gathering for dinner with President Trump. Goold promises a nightmarish, Kubrick-like comedy. With lots of Trump.
Almeida Theatre, N1, Monday 11 February to 30 March
Tartuffe
Let’s face it, Molière can sometimes feel a bit trying. But there is a genuinely exciting team behind this contemporary adaptation. Playwright John Donnelly (The Pass) and director Blanche McIntyre both have a healthy sense of theatrical mischief: this one won’t be dull. It is a classic comedy about a charming charlatan, Tartuffe, who causes all sorts of trouble when he is invited into a rich but restless household. Denis “True Blood” O’Hare stars.
National Theatre: Lyttelton, SE1, Saturday 9 February to 30 April
Edward II
A king goes out of his way to protect his favourite follower and invites chaos into his court. It all sounds weirdly similar to Yorgos Lanthimos’s film The Favourite but don’t be fooled; Christopher Marlowe’s play is infinitely more vicious, with some haunting poetry and one particularly gruesome murder. It stars Tom Stuart, who has also written an accompanying play, After Edward, which opens 21 Mar.
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre: Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, SE1, to 20 April
MG
Three of the best ... dance shows
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch: Since She
Dance-theatre great Pina Bausch died in 2009, and for a decade her dancers have continued to perform only her works. Now, for the first time, they have invited another choreographer to create for them, Dimitris Papaioannou, whose grasp of the absurdity of the human condition should suit them well.
Sadler’s Wells, EC1 Thursday 14 to 17 February
Rambert: Life Is a Dream
Don’t expect to keep up with the plot in Kim Brandstrup’s take on a 17th-century play by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, but do enjoy the blurring of character, fantasy and reality, the Quay Brothers’ atmospheric video design and Rambert’s ever-brilliant dancers.
Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Thursday 14 to 16 February; touring to 2 March
House of Suarez: Elements of Vogue
Manchester’s Queer Contact festival climaxes with a riotous vogue ball directed by Darren Suarez, featuring vogue houses from the north-west competing to be the fiercest on the catwalk. The flavour of New York club culture with a British accent.
Manchester Academy 2, Saturday 9 February
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