TVIf you only watch one, make it \u2026Make That Movie<\/p>\n
Channel 4<\/p>\n
Summed up in a sentence Last One Laughing finalist delivers one of the funniest shows of the year, with this mockumentary about a director who makes awful films.
What our reviewer said \u201cSo ostentatiously silly that it deserves to be paraded around the streets.\u201d Stuart Heritage<\/p>\n
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading \u2018People are like: you\u2019re a crackpot\u2019: how Sam Campbell became comedy\u2019s oddball superstar<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restThe Four Seasons<\/p>\n Netflix<\/p>\n Colman Domingo and Tina Fey in The Four Seasons. Photograph: Jon Pack<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Tina Fey triumphs again with the return of this comedy about a group of middle-aged friends who reunite during holidays throughout the year. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Spider-Noir<\/p>\n Prime Video<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence In Marvel\u2019s witty homage to the hard-boiled films and fictions of the 40s \u2013 which can be watched in colour or black-and-white \u2013 Nicolas Cage plays Ben Reilly, who gave up being superhero \u201cthe Spider\u201d five years ago \u2026 Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading The life of PIs: the strange case of 2026\u2019s resurgence of hard-boiled detectives<\/a><\/p>\n You may have missed \u2026Ponies<\/p>\n Now\/Sky Atlantic<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson have heaps of fun as two widows who become cold war spies in this espionage comedy-drama. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n FilmIf you only watch one, make it \u2026Backrooms<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Chiwetel Ejiofor in Backrooms. Photograph: A24\/AP<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A debut from 20-year-old director Kane Parsons that examines memory, reality and fear in an icily disturbing horror, in which Chiwetel Ejiofor accesses an infinite series of hidden rooms that all feel creepily askew. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Are you sitting uncomfortably? How Backrooms upended the horror movie<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restPower Ballad<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd in Power Ballad. Photograph: 2026 Lionsgate\/PA<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Nick Jonas and Paul Rudd star in a comedy of bromance and betrayal from Irish writer-director John Carney that brilliantly brings together Rudd\u2019s washed-up wedding singer and Jonas\u2019s insecure ex-boyband superstar.<\/p>\n What our reviewer said \u201cPower Ballad is about making it and dreaming big, about every busker never giving up on hopes of one day being mega. But as so often with Carney, it\u2019s about something else, usually left unacknowledged in movies about music or any sort of show business: the terrible binary of success and failure.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Tuner<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Playing a piano tuner with super-sensitive hearing, Leo Woodall\u2019s relationship with Dustin Hoffman is a tender highlight in this safe-cracking thriller.<\/p>\n What our reviewer said \u201cWhat a pair they are; they are a real pleasure to watch in an easy, unforced drama that mixes romcom moments with a relaxed crime thriller. It\u2019s like the Safdie brothers in chill-out mode.\u201d Cath Clarke<\/p>\n Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Bullet in the Head<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Hong Kong action master John Woo\u2019s deliriously violent 1990 epic fuses gangland thriller, Vietnam war movie and tragic melodrama into a spectacular vision of greed and moral collapse. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Now streamingPropeller One-Way Night Coach<\/p>\n Apple TV<\/p>\n Kelly Eviston-Quinnett and Clark Shotwell in Propeller One-Way Night Coach. Photograph: Apple TV\/PA<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence John Travolta directs and narrates a short-haul joyride of a film, a 60-minute adaptation of his own short story about a boy who dreams of being a pilot. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading The lesson from John Travolta\u2019s dramatic new look: always dress for the job you want<\/a><\/p>\n BooksIf you only read one, make it \u2026Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea by Emily Wilson<\/p>\n Reviewed by Blake Morrison<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The acclaimed translator of the Odyssey and the Iliad sets out her philosophy in this fascinating collection. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restWhistler by Ann Patchett<\/p>\n Reviewed by Beejay Silcox<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A woman reunites with her long-lost stepfather in the new novel from the Tom Lake author. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Fieldwork As a Sex Object by Meena Kandasamy<\/p>\n Reviewed by Fatima Bhutto<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A sharp comedy of online shaming after a deepfake sex tape. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n A Billion Years of Sex Differences by Steve Stewart-Williams<\/p>\n Reviewed by Sophie McBain<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A psychologist wades into controversial territory in this study of nature, nurture and gender. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n You may have missed \u2026Dream State by Eric Puchner<\/p>\n Reviewed by Sarah Crown<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A love triangle plays out over decades in this deliciously immersive American saga. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n AlbumsIf you only listen to one, make it \u2026Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Iceage. Photograph: Alva Le Febvre<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The Danish quintet add shoegaze, country and 50s rock\u2019n\u2019roll to their core indie-punk sound, offsetting lyrical bleakness with gleeful, uplifting music. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restPaul McCartney: The Boys of Dungeon Lane<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Paul McCartney on Saturday Night Live. Photograph: NBC\/Lloyd Bishop\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence From nostalgic returns to his Liverpool childhood to a crazed Glastonbury fantasia, these are songs written with real purpose and a master\u2019s finesse. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Paul McCartney on how old bandmates \u2013 and Oasis \u2013 inspired his nostalgic new album<\/a><\/p>\n Colin Matthews: Seascapes<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Soprano Claire Booth and baritone Marcus Farnsworth celebrate the influential British composer with this collection of four song cycles. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Mat\u00edas Aguayo: Anenoa<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The shapeshifting vocals of the Chilean-German producer add a playful touch to ebullient tracks made to get you moving. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Now touringSugar<\/p>\n Touring the UK and Ireland to 4 June<\/p>\n David Barbe, Malcolm Travis and Bob Mould of Sugar. Photograph: Kieran Frost\/Redferns<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence After decades away, Bob Mould\u2019s post-H\u00fcsker D\u00fc band return with a ferocious rapid-fire set.
What our reviewer said \u201cEven more perspicacious, poignant and hilarious than the first.\u201d Chitra Ramaswamy<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cEverything is shot with style and confidence.\u201d Lucy Mangan<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cIt\u2019s a mashup of genres and tropes, but it is its own thing too \u2013 and an unexpected treat at that.\u201d Lucy Mangan<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cBackrooms progressively raises its game towards the big finish with jump scares, squirm scares and tiny shiver scares. There is real fascination in exploring this vast, invisible city state of fear.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe director counterintuitively uses sad music \u2013 harmonica, woodwind \u2013 over grisly, brutal action sequences, as if what he wants us to register is not the violence or the shock but just how poignantly futile and pathetic it all is.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cIt is an hour-long novelty feature commissioned by Apple TV, with lovingly detailed but innocent Mad Men 1960s period production design, and narrated throughout by Travolta itself. That\u2019s an indulgence you have to get used to \u2013 but if Alec Baldwin was doing it, you might almost think this was a Wes Anderson movie.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cWilson\u2019s new book is a series of essays on the challenges of translation and the pleasures and insights to be gained from reading the classics. She is fascinated by how far the ancient world intersects with the modern.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cWhistler is top-shelf comfort food, the literary equivalent of pricey ice-cream.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cKandasamy is one of India\u2019s most exciting writers precisely because she doesn\u2019t pull any punches \u2013 on the contrary, she really packs them in.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThis book is filled with interesting, counterintuitive findings, studies you might want to discuss with a friend. But evolutionary psychology isn\u2019t always the most useful lens.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cPuchner tells his tale with such warmth and humour, that it\u2019s not until you set the book down that you can appreciate the breadth and brilliance of what he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe result is the sixth fantastic Iceage album: a hugely impressive streak.\u201d Alexis Petridis<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cIf you\u2019re going to make an album at 83, you\u2019d better make something that counts, which The Boys of Dungeon Lane does.\u201d Alexis Petridis<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cWhat\u2019s striking throughout these four song cycles is the kaleidoscopic sound world he creates with such forensic precision, whether he has seven players to work with or 17.\u201d Erica Jeal<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe record has an infectious, lively energy, encouraging listeners to turn up the volume and dance to Aguayo\u2019s irrepressible sounds.\u201d Ammar Kalia<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThere\u2019s no time for messing around, just a furious charge through 23 songs in 90 minutes.\u201d Michael Hann<\/p>\n