5 hours ago
9
TV
If you only watch one, make it …
Gaza: Doctors Under Attack
Channel 4; available now
Summed up in a sentence A belated airing of the hugely controversial documentary that the BBC refused to show: a horrifying investigation into claims that Israel’s Defence Force has systematically targeted Palestinian medics.
What our reviewer said “This is the sort of television that will never leave you. It will provoke an international reaction, and for extremely good cause. Forget what got it stopped at the BBC. It is here now and, regardless of how that happened, we owe it to the subjects to not look away.” Stuart Heritage
Further reading Gaza film’s producer accuses BBC of trying to gag him over decision to drop it
Pick of the rest
Such Brave Girls
BBC iPlayer; available now
Summed up in a sentence The second series of a brilliant, startlingly feral comedy about a trio of troubled female relatives – whose first outing won a comedy Bafta.
What our reviewer said “Such Brave Girls won’t be to everyone’s tastes. But if you like your comedy scary, lairy and perfectly portioned, it is a total knockout.” Hannah J Davies
Further reading ‘Who else can we annoy with our show?’: Such Brave Girls, Britain’s most gleefully offensive comedy returns
Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers
Netflix; full series available
Summed up in a sentence Interviewees including Tony Blair feature in this absolutely comprehensive look at how the 2005 London transport bombings prompted the UK’s largest criminal investigation.
What our reviewer said “Though it is by now a familiar story, this evokes the fear, confusion and panic of that day in heart-racing detail.” Rebecca Nicholson
You may have missed …
Shifty
BBC iPlayer; all episodes available
Summed up in a sentence Adam Curtis applies his archive-footage packed documentary style to explaining how the atomisation of UK society has destroyed our democracy – with mesmerising results.
What our reviewer said “It is an increasing rarity to stand in the presence of anyone with an idea, a thesis, that they have thoroughly worked out to their own satisfaction and then presented stylishly, exuberantly and still intelligently. The hell and the handcart feel that bit more bearable now.” Lucy Mangan
Further reading Thatcher, Farage and toe-sucking: Adam Curtis on how Britain came to the brink of civil war
Film
If you only watch one, make it …
Jurassic World Rebirth
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Near-extinct franchise roars back to life as latest instalment offers Spielberg-style set pieces and excellent romantic chemistry between leads Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey.
What our reviewer said “This new Jurassic adventure isn’t doing anything so very different from the earlier successful models, perhaps, and I could have done without its outrageous brand synergy product placement for certain brands of chocolate bar. But it feels relaxed and sure-footed in its Spielberg pastiche, its big dino-jeopardy moments and its deployment of thrills and laughs.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading ‘The script didn’t have Jurassic World on the front’: Gareth Edwards on Monsters, Godzilla, Star Wars and reinventing dinosaurs
Pick of the rest
The Shrouds
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Elaborate necrophiliac meditation on loss and longing from David Cronenberg, starring Vincent Cassel as an oncologist who has founded a restaurant with a hi-tech cemetery attached.
What our reviewer said “The film has its own creepy, enveloping mausoleum atmosphere of disquiet, helped by the jarring electronic score by Howard Shore.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading ‘Something must have gone wrong with us’: David Cronenberg and Howard Shore on four decades of body horror
Hearts of Darkness: A Film-Maker’s Apocalypse
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Superb documentary about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece Apocalypse Now, with Coppola’s epic meltdown in the jungle.
What our reviewer said “Haemorrhaging money and going insanely over-schedule, Coppola shot his film in the Philippines during burning heat, humidity and monsoons and borrowed army helicopters and pilots from President Ferdinand Marcos, only to find that on many occasions – especially during the legendary Ride of the Valkyries attack scene – filming had to halt as the Filipino military would ask for their helicopters back so they could suppress a communist insurgency. In fact, Coppola found himself reproducing reality on a 1:1 scale.” Peter Bradshaw
Further reading Francis Ford Coppola: ‘Apocalypse Now is not an anti-war film’
Now streaming …
Heads of State
Prime Video; available now
Summed up in a sentence John Cena and Idris Elba star in fun and well-modulated throwback comedy as the US president and UK prime minister, who team up to escape terrorists.
What our reviewer said “Fun, fiery and totally frivolous, Heads of State is a perfect summer movie with great potential for future sequels.” Andrew Lawrence
Hill
Sky Cinema and Now; available now
Summed up in a sentence Compelling story of Formula One star Damon Hill’s trials on and off the racetrack in its depiction of the psychological pressure cooker in which the driver competed.
What our reviewer said “It has quiet, but profound, lessons to impart in its emphasis on the driver’s need to live up to his roistering father Graham, and on the real meaning of victory in the most alpha of environments that is Formula One.” Phil Hoad
Further reading ‘I was angry at the world’: Damon Hill on pain of his father’s death and how it fuelled his rise
Books
If you only read one, make it …
Murderland by Caroline Fraser
Review by Dorian Lynskey
Summed up in a sentence An investigation into the causes of America’s 1970s serial killer epidemic comes up with some surprising answers.
What our reviewer said “It is as hauntingly compulsive a nonfiction book as I have read in a long time. It gets into your blood.”
Pick of the rest
My Sister and Other Lovers by Esther Freud
Review by Joanna Quinn
Summed up in a sentence A sequel to Hideous Kinky, 30 years on, explores the effects of an unconventional upbringing.
What our reviewer said “It’s billed as a novel but arguably occupies an interesting grey area between novel and memoir, resisting the expectations of both and creating something all of its own.”
Further reading ‘When I read my sister’s stories I think, that’s not what it was like!’: Esther Freud on the perils of writing about family
Flashlight by Susan Choi
Review by Beejay Silcox
Summed up in a sentence An ambitious, globe-trotting epic of political and family secrets.
What our reviewer said “Flashlight is all kinds of big: capacious of intent and scope and language and swagger, confronting a chapter of North Korean history that American fiction has barely touched.”
Autocorrect by Etgar Keret
Review by Sam Leith
Summed up in a sentence Deadpan short stories that range from the surreal to the philosophical to the absurd.
What our reviewer said “Not so much one book as a library of tiny books, from an author who conveys as well as any I can think of just how much fun you can have with a short story.”
Empire of the Elite by Michael M Grynbaum
Review by Houman Barekat
Summed up in a sentence Inside the glittering, gossipy world of publisher Condé Nast.
What our reviewer said “Grynbaum quotes one journalist who believes she missed out on an editorship because, during the interview lunch, she gauchely ate asparagus with cutlery rather than by hand”
You may have missed …
How to Save the Amazon: A journalist’s deadly quest for answers by Dom Phillips
In bookshops now
Summed up in a sentence The murdered Guardian journalist’s final investigation, completed by his friends and supporters.
What our reviewer said “A book both brilliant and broken, one that is ultimately as inspiring and devastating as the Amazon itself” Charlie Gilmour
Further reading A deadly mission: how Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira tried to warn the world about the Amazon’s destruction
Albums
If you only listen to one, make it …
Kesha: . (Period)
Out now
Summed up in a sentence After a long legal battle, the pop star’s sixth album harks back to her 2010s hot-mess era, with a buffet of pop styles and only rare hints of her highly publicised trauma.
What our reviewer said “The songs are all really strong, filled with smart little twists and drops, and funny, self-referential lines.” Alexis Petridis
Further reading ‘I would walk in and just cry for two hours’: Kesha on cats, court cases, and the dangers of ‘toxic positivity’
Pick of the rest
Daytimers: Alterations
Out now
Summed up in a sentence The UK collective have been reimagining south Asian music since 2020, and their new compilation splices junglism and afro-house on to gems in Sony India’s catalogue.
What our reviewer said “Reframing this nostalgic cinema music for the modern dancefloor, Alterations proves there is still plenty of space for future generations of diaspora artists to celebrate and find inspiration in their heritage.” Ammar Kalia
Kae Tempest: Self Titled
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Despair runs through the Londoner’s fifth album but, in what is essentially a love letter to the trans community, his home town and partner, beauty breaks through.
What our reviewer said “Hope and hard-won happiness, against all odds, underpins this rich, compelling and timely record.” Rachel Aroesti
Further reading Kae Tempest: ‘I was living with this boiling hot secret in my heart’
Shostakovich: Preludes & Fugues Op 87
Out now
Summed up in a sentence Performed by Russian pianist Yulianna Avdeeva, these 24 works, modelled on Bach, date from 1950 and 1951 and were originally written for pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva.
What our reviewer said “Avdeeva takes a lighter approach, less forthright, and perhaps not digging as deeply into the barely disguised tragedy of the E minor Prelude as Nikolayeva does, but equally dazzling in the exuberant display of the A minor.” Andrew Clements
On tour this week
Slayer
Playing outdoor shows this week
Summed up in a sentence Playing outdoor shows including the big send-off for Black Sabbath on Saturday, the thrash legends have reformed and are playing their first UK gigs in six years.
What our reviewer said “Slayer are still a shocking proposition, their churning riffs punctuated by gross-out gore and grim images from endless war. Subtle? No. Effective? Absolutely.” Huw Baines
