Going out: Cinema
Starve Acre
Out now
Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark play a couple beset by grief in this powerful adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley’s dark folk-horror novel. Directed by Daniel Kokotajlo, it’s an unsettling trip into earthy, supernatural superstitions, set in rural 1970s Yorkshire.
Firebrand
Out now
Directed by Karim Aïnouz, this historical drama puts Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr, in the spotlight, who as history buffs will remember, is the one who survived. Jude Law plays the multi-wived monarch, while Alicia Vikander is the spouse who resourcefully manages to swerve a sticky ending.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Out now
He’s back! Thirty-six years on from the original, Michael Keaton is once more donning the black-and-white striped suit of everyone’s favourite bio-exorcist, for a sequel to the horror-comedy that got Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line stuck in everyone’s heads back in 1988. Tim Burton directs.
Blur: Live at Wembley Stadium
Out now
Following hot on the heels of July’s release of Blur: To the End comes this concert film capturing Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave doing what they do best at Wembley. The band’s historic 2023 show for 150,000 fans is captured by director Toby L (who also shot To the End). Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
Jonas Brothers
9 to 17 September; tour starts Belfast
The Jonas Brothers’ ambitious Five Albums. One Night tour finally arrives in the UK. As the name suggests, the heaving setlist of 67 songs takes in all five of Nick, Joe and Kevin’s albums, which, fan or not, is a lot of Jonas.
Michael Cragg
Sky in a Small Cage
Barbican, London, 8 September
After its world premiere in Copenhagen last month, Rolf Hind’s opera on the life and poetry of the Sufi mystic Rumi with a libretto by Dante Micheaux, comes to London in Frederic Wake-Walker’s staging for Mahogany Opera. Aaron Holloway-Nahum directs the Riot Ensemble, with Elaine Mitchener as the narrator, James Hall as the poet and Yannis François as his spiritual guide, Shams. Andrew Clements
Lancaster jazz festival
Various venues, Lancaster, 11 to 15 September
Bass original Ruth Goller plays the diverse festival (Wed) with her spookily lyrical Skylla ensemble’s punky hard-grooving and vocally haunting dreamscapes, while Friday night showcases Nigeria-born saxist Camilla George’s segues of hip-hop, jazz and African political history. John Fordham
Azealia Banks
6 to 22 September; tour starts London
When she’s not criticising other artists, starting spats or taking her landlord to court, New York’s Azealia Banks occasionally finds time to be one of the best rappers around. Last year’s New Bottega single suggested she was about to have another 212 moment, but perhaps this UK jaunt will refocus her. Michael Cragg
Going out: Art
Roy Lichtenstein
Tate Modern, London, to 1 December
A display of Lichtenstein’s pixelated pop art, from comic book war planes to dotty versions of the impressionist masters. Making his name in early 1960s New York at the same time as Andy Warhol, it was Lichtenstein who established comics as his personal artistic territory, leaving Warhol with soup cans.
Art of the Selfie
National Museum, Cardiff, to 26 January
Do you need to relabel a great self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh a selfie to make it accessible today? Maybe you do. This exhibition includes Van Gogh’s 1887 Portrait of the Artist, along with self-scrutinising masterpieces by Rembrandt and Francis Bacon, asking what they have in common with today’s phone pics.
Alison Wilding
Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, to 12 January
You can always feel the serious thought and meditation that has gone into Alison Wilding’s abstract sculptures. She creates forms that are never easily translatable into ordinary language or images, yet have a sense of necessity and complex texture. This exhibition of her drawings reveals her creative mind at work.
Art Without Heroes
William Morris Gallery, London, to 22 September
The Japanese Mingei movement found inspiration in William Morris and the British concept of Arts and Crafts. Just as Morris opposed Victorian industrial capitalism, the Mingei artists looked for alternatives to industrialisation and consumerism in 1920s and 30s Japan. This is the first full-scale survey of Mingei in Britain. Jonathan Jones
Going out: Stage
Sarah Keyworth
On tour, 4 September to 2 March; starts Norwich
Nottingham-born comedian Keyworth won the big prize at this year’s Melbourne comedy festival for My Eyes Are Up Here, a show about coming out as non-binary and undergoing top surgery. But don’t expect a trauma tale – this show doubles as a heartfelt paean to her loving, supportive family. Rachel Aroesti
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Royal Exchange, Manchester, to 12 October
Shakespeare gets a drum’n’bass remix in Manchester. The Palace nightclub reigns supreme as Stef O’Driscoll’s sweaty, heady Exchange debut celebrates the city’s contemporary rave scene, catching the last rays of summer sun. Manchester-based SALO joins the team as the company prepare to conjure magic, mischief and the hedonism of music. Kate Wyver
The Real Ones
Bush theatre, to 19 October
Zaid and Neelam are best friends. Their futures contain each other, always. But then life pulls them apart. From Olivier-winner Waleed Akhtar (The P Word), The Real Ones celebrates dreams and platonic devotion. Nathaniel Curtis (It’s a Sin) joins Black Mirror’s Mariam Haque for a story that puts friendship centre stage. KW
Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby
Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, 6 September, then touring
Rambert’s full-throttle, hugely atmospheric dance version of the TV hit launches on an extensive new national tour. Follow Tommy Shelby from the trenches of the first world war to the back streets of Birmingham to his meeting with the mysterious Grace. Series creator Steven Knight has written the script. Lyndsey Winship
Staying in: Streaming
The Grand Tour
Amazon Prime Video, 6 September
Amazon’s other Jeremy Clarkson vehicle, Clarkson’s Farm, was a surprise critical smash. The streamer’s lavish Top Gear sequel? Not so much. Still, after 21 years on TV together, there’s still much nostalgic affection for its presenting trio, who bow out with this Zimbabwe-set final episode.
In Vogue: The 90s
Disney+, 6 September
An absurdly comprehensive cast of 1990s fashion icons (Anna Wintour, Gwyneth Paltrow, Donna Karan, Kate Moss, Tommy Hilfiger, Jean Paul Gaultier, Missy Elliott and many more) convene to reminisce about the decade in style, from the grubby grunge era to the globalisation of American brands.
Taskmaster
Channel 4, 5 September, 9pm
Has Taskmaster peaked? Probably. But great inter-cast chemistry could still make round 18 of the quirky gameshow worth watching. The lineup is a science; this year it fuses veteran comic Jack Dee, cult fave Andy Zaltzman, recent success story Rosie Jones, rising star Emma Sidi and I’m a Celeb’s Babatunde Aléshé.
Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter
Netflix, 5 September
After reading an article about Cathy Terkanian – who gave her daughter up for adoption in 1975, only to find out in 2010 that she had gone missing as a teenager – Charlize Theron decided to turn her story into a documentary. The result is a heartbreaking true-crime tale about a mother’s investigation into her daughter’s disappearance. RA
Staying in: Games
Astro Bot
PS5, out now
A relentlessly joyous and technically stunning platform game about the cute little blue-and-white robots who live inside your PlayStation. Family-friendly and full of playful detail.
I Am Your Beast
PC, out 10 September
In this first person revenge thriller, you are an elite covert operative, sent in by the military-industrial complex to do their dirty work. But you get sick of that, so you turn your combat skills on them instead. You are always outgunned, and must instead be resourceful. Keza MacDonald
Staying in: Albums
Hinds – Viva Hinds
Out now
Spanish duo Hinds, AKA Carlotta Cosials and Ana Perrote, have always approached their music with a raucous energy. On this fourth album they rope Beck into their melee on the drunken indie-rock swagger of Boom Boom Back, while Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten appears on the post-punk shimmer of Stranger.
LL Cool J – The Force
Out now
This followup to 2013’s Authentic has had an arduous gestation. Originally discussed in 2014, it was sidelined by the Big Ole Butt hitmaker’s acting career, before finally being resurrected last year. Produced solely by Q-Tip, songs such as the old school hip-hop heater Passion and the sweaty Proclivities make it worth the wait.
Fred Again – Ten Days
Out now
Ubiquitous producer Fred Gibson releases his fourth album under the alias that has recently seen him sell out the gigantic Los Angeles Coliseum. His ability to mix stadium-sized dance music with delicate moments of emotional connection continues on Ten Days, which includes the Obongjayar-assisted banger Adore U.
Mercury Rev – Born Horses
Out now
After ceding the spotlight to a host of female vocalists on his psych-rock band’s 2019 album, Bobbie Gentry’s the Delta Sweete Revisited, frontman Jonathan Donahue returns to add his haunting timbre to these eight new songs. A Bird of No Address is peak Rev; billowing chamber pop anchored by supple melodies. MC
Staying in: Brain food
Land of the Giants
Podcast
Vulture’s big tech podcast recently wrapped up a fascinating series focusing on the evolution of Disney, from corporate behemoth to struggling streamer, analysing whether the company’s enormous expansion over the past century has hampered its quality.
CinemaStix
YouTube
Film buff Danny Boyd’s deep dives into the art of film-making provide fresh perspectives on some of cinema’s most enduring titles. Highlights include the editing of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and colour theory on screen.
In My Own Words: Alison Lapper
Monday, BBC One, 10.40pm
Artist Alison Lapper explores the life and untimely death of her son Parys, as she prepares for her latest exhibition on bereavement and her experience of motherhood. Ammar Kalia
