Go out: Movie theater
amsterdam
out now
We won’t see many more scintillating casts this year than Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, John David Washington, Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift, Chris Rock and Robert De Niro joining forces for a mystery about witnessing friends. a murder, but become suspects themselves.
London BFI film festival
Various locations, London, at 16 October
Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter and Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave are among the titles previewed at the latest edition of the UK’s biggest film festival – but it’s worth a watch. worth delving into the extensive program and taking a punt on the less established names, too.
Revenge
out now
You might recognize director and Vengeance star BJ Novak as the inexperienced and manipulative but still rather likeable Ryan in The US Office. Here, he plays a podcaster from New York who travels to Texas to investigate the death of a girl he bonded with, wisely making the most of those same qualities.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (30th anniversary restoration)
out now
Somewhere in an ancient crypt, the desiccated corpse of an aristocrat slumbers. Or does it? It’s impossible not to admire the lavish gothic pageantry of Francis Ford Coppola’s wild film version of Bram Stoker’s legend of the eternal blood-sucking leeches who remorselessly prey on ordinary people. A cathartic and timely restoration. Catherine Bray
Go out: Gigs
Priya Ragu
Electric Brixton, London, October 13
Taking a break from working on her debut album, the Tamil-Swiss pop impressionist travels to the UK for this once-in-a-lifetime show. Already the proud owner of a handful of live anthems, particularly the Good Love 2.0 groove, expect to hear some new tunes alongside the excellent March preview Illuminous. Michael Cragg
Roxy Music
October 10 to 14; the tour starts in Glasgow
Bryan Ferry et al don their crisp white suit jackets again for this 50th anniversary reunion. With a discography full of classics that include sleek MOR, light funk and glam rock, the setlist is essentially a comprehensive recap of 1970s pop. CM
Total Immersion: Sibelius the Storyteller
Barbican, London, October 9
The BBC Symphony Orchestra series focused on great living composers, but is now expanding its network. The first of this season’s one-day events is devoted to the narrative music of Sibelius; the great symphonic poems, conducted by Sakari Oramo, naturally feature prominently, but there are also concerts devoted to the melodies and choral arrangements of Sibelius. Andrew Clements
Dugong
Jazz at Lescar, Sheffield, October 11; Vortex Jazz Club, London, October 14
Touring on their third album, Let the Good Be Good, unique European jazz/post-rock quartet Dugong conjure up glimpses of Frank Zappa or Radiohead, with ideas ranging from New York avant-jazz improviser Craig Taborn to Chopin. But the energy of these mergers is unique to them. John Fordham
Go out: Art
Cecilia Vicuna
Tate Modern, London, from October 11 to April 16
The latest mega-installation in Tate’s Turbine Hall promises to fill it with sprawling bluster. Vicuña is a Chilean poet and artist whose vision ranges from folk-style paintings to multimedia works that weave colorful threads in space to comment on ecology and inequality: expect a tangled maze.
Cerith Wyn Evans
Mostyn, Llandudno, 8th October to 5th February
This famous Welsh contemporary artist is usually found in museums and biennales around the world, but in a coup for the seaside town of Llandudno, he has an exhibition at home. His brilliant, sometimes searing, electrified and ethereal art is, at its best, a disco of the soul.
Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt
British Museum, London, from October 13 to February 19
This blockbuster delves into ancient Egyptian pictorial symbols and how they were decoded. At its heart is the Rosetta Stone, whose inscription in parallel scriptures testifies to the meaning of the hieroglyphs. Today, papyri can be read rather than simply marveled at. Their truth turns out to be stranger than fiction.
Louise Bourgeois
Hauser & Wirth, Bruton, to January 2
Drawings by one of the most revered female artists of the 20th century. Bourgeois drew compulsively, often in a stream of consciousness as she tried to write down her dreams. This automatist approach reveals how she was shaped by the surrealist movement that flourished in the France of her youth. jonathan jones
Go out: Arrange
Live at the Empire with David Cross
Hackney Empire, London, October 13
Cross isn’t just responsible for one of the biggest sitcom characters of this century (Arrested Development’s Blue Man wannabe Tobias Fünke), he’s also a stand-up veteran with a furiously observation-heavy couture righteous. Sindhu Vee and Celya AB provide support for this unique date in London. Rachel Aroesti
The boy with two hearts
National Theatre, London, until November 12
Based on the autobiographical book by Hamed and Hessam Amiri. In 2000, a young mother speaks out against the Taliban and flees Afghanistan. The family eventually find refuge in the United Kingdom, where they must run to save their gravely ill son. Miriam Gillinson
fierce party
Various locations, Birmingham, October 11-16
Originally developed as Queerfest, this eclectic festival celebrates its 25th anniversary. There’s a new autobiographical version of Pinocchio (The Making of Pinocchio), water-soaked dance (Lavagem) and multi-sensory drag (Tentacular Spectacular). MG
Aakash Odedra Company: Samsara
The Lowry, Salford, October 9
Inspired by the 16th century Chinese tale Journey to the West, the story here may be somewhat enigmatic, but the two dancers are electric: the choreographer-performer Aakash Odedra, trained in classical Indian dance, and the fiery and protean Chinese dancer Hu Shenyuan. Lyndsey Winship
Stay at home: Diffusion
The Observer
October 13, Netflix
Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale’s new home is joined by a terrifying superfan in American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy’s latest show, an imaginative riff on the real-life harassment suffered by a New Jersey family. Mia Farrow plays a creepy neighbor, while Jennifer Coolidge is in goofy glam mode as a local real estate agent.
Candy
October 12, Disney+
In its rush to convert human depravity into binge-watching entertainment, the dramatic true-crime gold rush will inevitably double source material from time to time. Candy is the first of two upcoming television dramatizations of the brutal 1980 murder of Betty Gore, which features Jessica Biel as the titular Type-A housewife in Texas and the ever-excellent Melanie Lynskey as the victim of the attack in the axe.
Destroy
October 10, 10 p.m., BBC Three & iPlayer
A cruise becomes (even more) a living nightmare (than usual) in this comedy slasher directed by Ladhood’s Oscar Kennedy. A young man goes undercover to search for his missing sister aboard a ship called the Sacramentum, a self-contained floating universe plagued by strange and sinister happenings.
The Elon Musk Show
October 12, 9 p.m., BBC Two & iPlayer
From the creators of Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, this three-part documentary series chronicles the wild trajectory of the world’s richest man: a South African-born tech giant whose unpredictable business decisions and life of unconventional family have made it one of the most confusing. forces of the western world. Rachel Aroesti
Stay in: Games
No Man’s Sky
Out Now, Nintendo Switch
This amazing space game, which simulates an endless universe of planets to explore and colonize, was somehow designed to run on Nintendo’s small console.
PGA Tour 2K23
Released October 14, PlayStation, Xbox and PC
If realistic golf is your thing, 2K’s sports game starring Tiger Woods is the closest you can get to real sports without leaving your couch (although it’s easy to pick up and play too). Keza MacDonald
Stay at home: Albums
Sorry – Anywhere But Here
out now
If Sorry’s debut album, 925, showed the hometown of the five London alternative rock musicians through rose-tinted glasses, its sequel displays it as, in their words, “a much haggard place”. Inspired by both Carole King and Slint, recent single Let the Lights On is a raw, gray London love song penetrated by rusty guitar shards.
Broken Bells – Into the Blue
out now
Eight years after their last album, The Shins’ James Mercer reunites with producer Danger Mouse for Broken Bells’ third dose of well-crafted space rock. While lead single We’re Not in Orbit Yet… is built around a dazzling psychic whirlwind, pretty Love on the Run has the feel of a lost ’70s soul workout.
Easy Life – Maybe in another life
out now
With an impressive guest call-up including chamber pop practitioners Gus Dapperton and Benee, plus Brockhampton’s Kevin Abstract, Leicester alternative pop’s second album Easy Life takes their laid-back pop and gives it a cinematic sheen. The whimsical OTT, for example, would sound great on an indie rom-com soundtrack.
Charlie Puth – Charlie
out now
Using the very modern promotional tactic of Instagram’s constant thirst traps, singer-songwriter Charlie Puth’s third album arrives via a flurry of unexpected online activity. Musically, however, it sticks to Puth’s way of well-executed soft-pop, all doe-eyed on Smells Like Me, and sad on its flip side, I Don’t Think I Like It. CM
Stay at home: brain food
Storyville: Beneath the Surface
October 11, 9 p.m., BBC Crazyr
Director Alex Irvine-Cox’s film unflinchingly examines the prejudices faced by the indigenous Sami people of Norway. As the community launches legal action against Norwegian authorities, we hear first-hand accounts of generations of systemic discrimination.
The art of longevity
Podcast
Achieving a record of success is hard, but sustaining success is another skill. Music industry executive Keith Jopling explores how bands kept the creative flame alive in this incisive series, featuring Tears for Fears, Interpol and more.
Archimarathon
Youtube
Australian tour guide Kevin Hüi and architect Andrew Maynard form a chatty and informative duo in this series of videos explaining the architectural concepts and building designs behind distinctive global cities such as Sydney and Helsinki. Ammar Kalia
