Five of the best… films
Toy Story 4 (U)
(Josh Cooley, 2019, US) 100 mins
It is almost a decade since Toy Story 3; now we get a whole new do-over, with Andy out of the picture, and a new kid – Bonnie – becoming the focus of the toys’ loyalties. Bonnie makes her own toy, Forky, whose identity crisis tests Woody and co’s commitment to their deeply held ideals. Plus there is Keanu Reeves as a funny stunt toy …
Diego Maradona (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2019, UK) 130 mins
The Senna and Amy director has forged an epic film, whose subject is almost too big for the space allotted. Kapadia focuses on Maradona’s spell in Naples, where he rejuvenated the team and got entangled with the mafia.
Brightburn (15)
(David Yarovesky, 2019, US) 90 mins
After being (briefly) ejected from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, James Gunn went off and produced this enterprising superhero slasher movie, a kind of anti-Superman. A meteor crash lands on Earth, a baby boy inside; but when adolescence arrives for the adoptee, now called Brandon, the new powers that come with it are nightmarishly homicidal. Elizabeth Banks plays the smalltown mother at bay.
Late Night (15)
(Nisha Ganatra, 2019, US) 102 mins
Mindy Kaling has sharply improved her profile with this successful comedy, which combines a fascination for inside stories of the TV industry with pointed comment on the way the politics of diversity is handled in the workplace. Late Night also provides an excellent role for Emma Thompson as the talkshow host who hires Kaling’s writer in an attempt to make her show relevant again.
The Edge of Democracy (No cert)
(Petra Costa, 2019, Brazil) 113 mins
This could not be more topical: a film about Brazil’s tempestuous recent political past, from Lula to the impeachment of his successor Dilma Rousseff. This all laid the groundwork for current president, the populist Jair Bolsonaro. It’s a portrait of a bitterly divided nation, which has lessons for all of us.
AP
Five of the best ... rock & pop
Glastonbury
After taking 2018 off, the UK’s top mudbath is back with a typically eclectic lineup. Stormzy (pictured) as headliner on Friday should be a proper moment, while the other stages offer the likes of Kamasi Washington, Rosalía, Tame Impala, Dave and Billie Eilish. There are legends, too: Kylie plays on Sunday 30 Jun and the actual Janet Jackson performs before Liam Gallagher on Saturday 29 June.
Worthy Farm, nr Shepton Mallet Wednesday 26 to 30 June
Quincy Jones
Originally billed as a celebration of Jones’s work on Michael Jackson’s iconic Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad albums, the newly christened Quincy Jones: Presents Soundtrack of the 80s will also now include a smattering of his other productions for the likes of Michael McDonald. Guest singers on the night include Beverley Knight, Daley and, erm, James Morrison.
The O2, SE10, Sunday 23 June
King Princess
New York-born, LA-based Mikaela Straus – AKA newcomer King Princess – has fast become a queer icon, peppering her lo-fi pop with readymade Pride slogans such as “my pussy is God”, from last year’s Pussy Is God, and latest single Cheap Queen’s “I’m a real queen / I can make grown men cry”. It’s also worth following her on Instagram for some properly amusing #content.
The Academy, Dublin, Monday 24 June; O2 Forum Kentish Town, NW5, Wednesday 26 June
Alphabeat
After a seven-year hiatus, Danish sextet Alphabeat – come on: you remember 2008’s wonky pop classic Fascination and, possibly, 2009’s 80s throwback The Spell – returned earlier this year with the typically breezy Shadows and the promise of a new album. To celebrate they are playing this one-off London show at central London’s sadly soon-to-close Borderline club.
The Borderline, W1, Friday 28 June
MC
Archie Shepp
Archie Shepp was an avant garde, John Coltrane-partnering saxophone firebrand in the 1960s. Nowadays, he is a soulful – but still sharply political – octogenarian player-singer who knows jazz and African-American history like the back of his hand. He is joined here by young Parisian pianist Carl-Henri Morisset and others, on classic ballads, blues and rugged swing.
Ronnie Scott’s, W1, Monday 24 & Tuesday 25 June
JF
Three of the best ... classical concerts
Brundibár
Composed in Prague in 1938, and rehearsed in a Jewish orphanage there three years later, Hans Krása’s children’s opera was subsequently performed in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1943 and 1944, where the composer was also interned. Among the cast for the original performances of Brundibár (Bumblebee) was the mother of Welsh National Opera’s music director Tomáš Hanus (pictured), and Hanus now conducts these performances with WNO Youth Opera, as part of the WNO’s Freedom season; David Pountney directs.
Wales Millennium Centre: Weston Studio, Cardiff, Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 June
Emanuel Ax at 70
Although he has been in the front rank of contemporary pianists for a quarter of a century now, Emanuel Ax’s appearances in Britain often seem sporadic. But the Wigmore Hall is celebrating Ax’s 70th birthday with a generous three-part, all-Schumann programme, in which Ax will play the Arabeske and the Op 12 Fantasiestücke, accompany baritone Simon Keenlyside in Dichterliebe, and join the Dover Quartet in the Piano Quartet and Piano Quintet.
Wigmore Hall, W1, Tuesday 25 June
The Cunning Little Vixen
Simon Rattle’s collaborations with director Peter Sellars are already a regular part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s season. Now they turn their attention to Janáček’s most joyous, life-affirming opera. This semi-staging of The Cunning Little Vixen, sung in Czech, features Lucy Crowe as the Vixen and Gerald Finley as the Forester, with a supporting cast that includes Sophia Burgos, Peter Hoare and Hanno Müller-Brachmann.
Barbican Hall, EC2, Thursday 27 & 29 June
AC
Five of the best ... exhibitions
Cindy Sherman
Ever since portraying herself as a Hitchcock heroine and horror film innocent in the early black-and-white Untitled Film Stills, this essential artist of our age has been using photography and disguise to play with her own image and identity. For Cindy Sherman we are all actors in the film of our life, which gets edgier with time.
National Portrait Gallery, WC2, Thursday 27 June to 15 September
Get Up, Stand Up Now
This epic survey of black creativity since Windrush features 50 years of art that stands up for its rights. Artists of the quality of Anthea Hamilton, Ajamu, Betye Saar, Chris Ofili and Yinka Shonibare CBE (Self Portrait after Warhol, pictured) show alongside Zadie Smith and A Guy Called Gerald in a multidisciplinary festival of resistance.
Somerset House, WC2, to 15 September
Jeff Wall
Wall is an artist of unfinished stories. His photographs carefully, and often beautifully, shape dramas whose beginnings and ends we don’t know. Instead, we see moments full of apparently important symbolism. Recovery, a portrait of a young man who seems to have just gotten over some crisis, and The Gardens, a cinematic narrative in three scenes, continue his fascination with the ways an image can be meaningful.
White Cube Mason’s Yard, SW1, Friday 28 June to 7 September
As Seen on Screen
Since the Lumière brothers, art has tried to keep up with cinema. Cubism and futurism can be seen as attempts to capture the movement of film in restless images. This exhibition brings the story up to date, from Fiona Banner’s project to write down everything in Lawrence of Arabia to work by Sam Taylor-Johnson, whose career trajectory from video art to Hollywood is a screen legend in itself.
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, to 18 August
Leonardo da Vinci
The books of Leonardo da Vinci are among the most beguiling things ever created by humanity. They range from small pocket notebooks to vast albums of drawings. Any sheet might include sublime sketches, intricate writings, a recipe or shopping list: life, art and wonder all mixed up. This exhibition includes a notebook lent by the V&A and selections from the Codex Leicester, owned by Bill Gates.
The British Library, NW1, to 8 September
JJ
Five of the best ... theatre shows
Europe
In his first gig as artistic director of the Donmar, Michael Longhurst revives David Greig’s 1994 play, a breakthrough for the much-lauded Scottish playwright. Europe is set in a small, largely forgotten border town where trains no longer stop. Two refugees turn up and drama – topical drama indeed – ensues. The cast includes Natalia Tena, Billy Howle and Faye Marsay.
Donmar Warehouse, WC2, to 10 August
The Color Purple
This hit Broadway musical is based on Alice Walker’s novel and Steven Spielberg’s film. It follows the harrowing, inspiring life of Celie (T’Shan Williams, pictured) growing up in a racially divided US south, and features a score infused with jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues.
Curve Theatre, Leicester, Friday 28 June to 13 July; Birmingham Hippodrome, 16 to 20 July
The Deep Blue Sea
Thank gawd Terence Rattigan is back in fashion: The Deep Blue Sea is a real theatrical treat. Set in 1950s London, the play follows one day in the dramatic life of Hester Collyer, a woman who has abandoned her respectable husband in favour of a deliciously destructive romance. But what happens when the passion fades and reality sets in? The lead role is taken by Nancy Carroll (pictured), an actor with extraordinary emotional clarity and sway.
Chichester Festival Theatre, to 27 July
Aesop’s Fables
Justin Audibert and Rachel Bagshaw co-direct this two-tiered take on Aesop’s fables: one lot for ages four to seven, and one for ages eight to 12. A selection of these Greek fables have been reimagined by an exciting group of spirited and provocative playwrights. Adaptations by Chris Thorpe, EV Crowe and Chris Goode might well be the best of the bunch.
Unicorn Theatre, SE1, to 4 August
Bare: A Pop Opera
This coming-of-age rock musical has a touch of Glee about it – only with much more edge. Featuring music by Damon Intrabartolo and lyrics and book by Jon Hartmere, the show follows the students of a strict Catholic boarding school as they explore sex, drugs and queer identity. Packed with eccentric characters and lit up with great heart and wit, this could prove a real hit for this popular theatre nestled beneath Waterloo station.
The Vaults, SE1, to 4 August
MG
Three of the best ... dance shows
Boris Charmatz: 10000 Gestures
French choreographer and provocateur Boris Charmatz unleashes a thrilling torrent of movement – those 10,000 gestures of the title – as his dancers hop, spin, flail and scratch their bums in a compendium of movement that adds up to something much more. Charmatz will also mastermind free public events over the weekend.
Tate Modern, SE1, Saturday 22 & Sunday 23 June
Dance@TheGrange
Fancy a fine evening out on a Hampshire country estate? Wayne McGregor curates a programme featuring his own company alongside Alessandra Ferri and Ballet Black, plus a chance to see the work of upcoming Australian choreographer Alice Topp.
The Grange at Northington, Alresford, Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 June
Edifice Dance Theatre: Salomé
Edifice harnesses an unusual combination of ballroom, Latin and contemporary dance to tell a lusty version of Oscar Wilde’s Salomé. Choreographers Carmine De Amicis and Harriet Maghorn star.
The Cockpit, NW8, Sunday 23; Bridgepoint, Rye, Thursday 27; St Mary in the Castle, Hastings, 29 & 30 June
LW
Main composite image: Marc Brenner; Joseph Okpako/Getty Images; Pixar/Disney; Bill Cooper; Rex/Shutterstock
