TV
If you only watch one, make it …
Down Cemetery Road
Apple TV+
Summed up in a sentence Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson star in a pacy, twisty thriller based on Slow Horses writer Mick Herron’s debut novel.
What our reviewer said “Down Cemetery Road is great stuff. There is not a wasted moment, not a wasted word. Everything is there for a reason.” Lucy Mangan
Further reading Slow Horses author Mick Herron: ‘I love doing things that are against the rules’
***
Pick of the rest
Physical: Asia
Netflix
Summed up in a sentence A Korean gameshow featuring national teams of competitors going head to head in Gladiators-style challenges to prove which country has the toughest reality show contestants.
What our reviewer said “This sort of mildly repetitive fitness fodder is perfect for Netflix: the ideal thing to help you power through some treadmill sprints first thing in the morning, but also great brainless only-half-watching-it nonsense for the end of a long day.” Joel Snape
Once Upon a Time in Space
BBC iPlayer
Summed up in a sentence A highly personal look at the space race which interviews those involved in the 70s programme that destroyed the dominance of white, male astronauts.
What our reviewer said “This handful of humans, with their ambitions and emotions not much different from anyone else’s, did something incredible on humanity’s behalf. Once Upon a Time in Space opens with a caption reminding us that an era of mass space travel might soon arrive – but watching this, the cosmos already feels a little closer.” Jack Seale
***
You may have missed…
Chad Powers
Disney+
Summed up in a sentence Glen Powell stars in a sports comedy about a washed-up American football star who uses prosthetics to restart his career under an alias.
What our reviewer said “What we’re left with is about as far from Ted Lasso as you can get. It’s a mutant redemption story with a satisfyingly chewy moral core: can you truly be redeemed if it involves lying to every single person on the planet? ” Stuart Heritage
Further reading Hollywood hotshot Glen Powell talks to Marina Hyde
***
Film
If you only watch one, make it…
Relay
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Riz Ahmed turns potential whistleblower using a secure telephone messaging system in a smart and twisty surveillance thriller from David Mackenzie.
What our reviewer said “There are some very coolly orchestrated scenes in the big city and Mackenzie ratchets up the tension in style.” Peter Bradshaw
***
Pick of the rest
Bugonia
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Yorgos Lanthimos’ macabre conspiracy theory comedy with Jesse Plemons as a fanatic who abducts Emma Stone’s dead-eyed corporate ice queen.
What our reviewer said “Lanthimos’ new film has a predictably strong performance from Emma Stone, an intestine-shreddingly clamorous orchestral score from Jerskin Fendrix and, most importantly, a wonderful montage finale.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading LA cinema offers free Bugonia ticket to those willing to shave their heads
Kontinental 25
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Scattergun satire of Romania’s social ills in Radu Jude’s scornful polemic on 21st-century Europe.
What our reviewer said “It is a bizarre, clamorous tour of anxiety, disclosing a panorama of indifference, of dyspeptic lack of interest in the idea that other people’s suffering (or wellbeing) is of the smallest significance or interest. It’s not an easy watch, but Jude’s film-making has such energy and punch.” Peter Bradshaw
Facing War
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Gripping documentary following Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg through his final year, balancing diplomacy, egos and all-out war with unnerving calm.
What our reviewer said “Stoltenberg is a cool customer: outwardly bland but a shrewd fixer. He comments that the TV character he most sympathises with is Tony Soprano – who has to keep everyone happy.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading Inside the meeting that brought Nato to the brink
***
Now streaming
Kenny Dalglish
Prime Video, from 4 November
Summed up in a sentence Asif Kapadia’s absorbing portrait of the football legend whose Liverpool career was blighted by the Heysel stadium and Hillsborough disasters.
What our reviewer said “For Dalglish himself, he emerges as a straightforward figure without the agonised complexity of other figures that Kapadia has covered, such as Diego Maradona or Amy Winehouse, and this film doesn’t have that dysfunctional danger and fascination. But maybe it was just his ingenuous simplicity that allowed Dalglish to survive.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading Kenny Dalglish on his love for Liverpool and the long shadow of Hillsborough
***
Books
If you only read one, make it…
The Anthony Bourdain Reader
Reviewed by Sukhdev Sandhu
Summed up in a sentence Undiscovered gems from the charismatic chef.
What our reviewer said “I suspect Bourdain will be read in years to come less as a writer about food than of food work. Everywhere he lands – whether in struggling bistros, mob joints or midtown nightclubs – he warms to the subaltern caste of underpaid toilers slicing and sizzling and sweating away.”
***
Pick of the rest
The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie
Reviewed by Kevin Power
Summed up in a sentence A quintet of stories about death and the afterlife.
What our reviewer said “In this self-consciously late book, the spectacular originality of Rushdie’s novelistic peak sounds more as an echo than as an urgently present voice.”
Heart the Lover by Lily King
Reviewed by Rebecca Wait
Summed up in a sentence A delightfully witty tale of college romance and midlife stock-taking from the author of Writers & Lovers.
What our reviewer said “This is a book in love with the experience of reading, precise about the way certain stories and ideas powerfully affect us at particular stages in our lives.”
Further reading Lily King: ‘What is life without love?’
Attention by Anne Enright
Reviewed by Kathryn Hughes
Summed up in a sentence Finely observed nonfiction from the author of The Gathering.
What our reviewer said “My feeling reading this collection is that each precious line needs going over twice. First for the sound and shape of the words, the second for their meaning”
Further reading Anne Enright on the agony of clearing her family home
***
You may have missed…
The Revolutionists by Jason Burke
Reviewed by Pratinav Anil
Summed up in a sentence Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford prize, this is a page-turning account of the political extremism that gripped the 1970s – from the Red Army to Carlos the Jackal and Islamist suicide bombers.
What our reviewer said “Spanning four continents and drawing on sources in a dozen languages, Burke’s survey combines a flair for period detail – sideburns and aviator shades, berets and Beretta pistols – with impressive digests of Arab and Iranian history.”
***
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it…
Florence + the Machine: Everybody Scream
Out now
Summed up in a sentence On her self-deprecating, viscera-flecked sixth record, Florence Welch picks apart the compulsions and contradictions of fame.
What our reviewer said “No one’s going to come away from Everybody Scream complaining about a paucity of big choruses and impassioned operatic vocal extemporisations. But there’s more light and shade here than you might expect, a greater desire to set the volume low than crank it up to 11”. Alexis Petridis
Further reading Florence Welch on sexism, screaming and the lost pregnancy that nearly killed her
***
Pick of the rest
Anna von Hausswolff: Iconoclasts
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The Swedish experimental musician pivots from drones to spectacular pop melodies, with guest spots from Iggy Pop and Ethel Cain.
What our reviewer said If it is too much, it’s too much of a good thing: with their sense of movement, their twists and turns, their radiant tunes, their emotive power, these songs are exhausting because they’re exhilarating. Alexis Petridis
Walton: Cello Concerto, Symphony No 1, Scapino
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Conductor John Wilson’s rumbustious reading and cellist Jonathan Aasgaard’s angst-ridden romantic sweep bring out the brooding tension and snarling climaxes.
What our reviewer said “This is the second Sinfonia of London album dedicated to William Walton and a perfect example of how conductor John Wilson’s vital, yet penetrating, approach combines with the orchestra’s trademark lustre to fit this composer’s music like a glove”. Clive Paget
Alpha Maid: Is This a Queue
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Hook-laden tracks are woven through wandering instrumentals, ritualistic drum workouts and scrappy guitar jams on the Mica Levi collaborator’s latest.
What our reviewer said “Her new album balances brilliant scuzzy elements with songwriting that stands on its own two feet”. Safi Bugel
***
Now touring…
Sananda Maitreya
Touring to 6 November
Summed up in a sentence Pop’s lost prodigy, formerly Terence Trent D’Arby, returns for the first time in 23 years with a dazzling, genre-hopping show – and a falsetto that still floors the crowd.
What our reviewer said His voice remains an astonishing instrument, capable of airy sweetness and gut-wrenching raw power. Dave Simpson
Further reading ‘The best song to play at a party is the one that gets people to leave’: Sananda Maitreya’s honest playlist
