What’s on this weekend? From The Last Black Man in San Francisco to Little Baby Jesus
Your guide to what’s worth seeing and reading this weekend
The Week’s best film, TV, book and live show on this weekend, with excerpts from the top reviews.
TELEVISION: Seven Worlds, One Planet
Tilly Pearce for Metro
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“Seven Worlds is cinematic in its scale, and it’s something that even the biggest blockbuster movie cannot replicate with effects and CGI. It’s almost a shame that it’s confined to TV screens, rather than placed in movie theatres. With the help of drones, underwater cameras and the ability to integrate teams into the heart of flocks and species, Seven Worlds holds moments within the animal kingdom that makes this a wonderful, and oftentimes heartbreaking, watch.”
Sunday 27 October on BBC One
MOVIE: The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Manohla Dargis in The New York Times
“The astonishing “Last Black Man in San Francisco” is about having little in a grab-what-you-can world. It’s the haunting, elegiac story of Jimmie Fails – playing a version of himself – a young man trying to hold onto a sense of home in San Francisco… Much depends on Jimmie, who waxes and wanes, sometimes rises and then falls in a city that – with this ravishing movie – he insistently stakes a claim on, one indelible image at a time.”
UK release 25 October
BOOK: My Penguin Year: Living with the Emperors - A Journey of Discovery by Lindsay McCrae
Chris Packham
“A dramatic saga forged by passion, honesty and a rare skill as a naturalist and film-maker… All his musings and observations combine to produce a compelling tale of the man, those extraordinary birds and that lonely place at the end of the earth. So turn off the heating, put on your gloves and head deep south into a frozen land of dreams and nightmares, all played out in the world of beautiful Emperors.”
Published 21 October
STAGE: Little Baby Jesus
Miriam Gillinson in The Guardian
“Here is a play that will be racing through you, making you laugh and think, long after you’ve left the theatre. The energy levels in Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu’s live-wire production are something else. Before the show begins, the actors chat cheekily with the audience. As the stories unfurl, that easy interaction remains. The actors make eyes at the audience, tease us, even sit on us. Everything they feel, we feel, too.”
At the Orange Tree Theatre, London until 16 November
SOUND: Intrigue: Tunnel 29
Miranda Sawyer in The Guardian
“The 10-part series tells the true story of a group of young men who dug a tunnel from West Berlin to East Berlin in the early 1960s, under the Berlin Wall, and used it to smuggle people out… [Helena] Merriman is confident. She tells the story, which is a good one, a real Le Carré-style cold war yarn, in a positive manner, with proper forward motion…Tunnel 29 is both a Big BBC Podcast and a really great listen. Don’t believe the hype, just enjoy it for yourself.”
Available on BBC Sounds
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Band Aid 40: time to change the tune?
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Starmer vs the farmers: who will win?
Today's Big Question As farmers and rural groups descend on Westminster to protest at tax changes, parallels have been drawn with the miners' strike 40 years ago
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Threads: how apocalyptic pseudo-documentary shocked a nation
In the Spotlight The rarely shown nuclear annihilation film will reappear on TV screens this week
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TV to watch in October, from 'Disclaimer' and 'The Franchise'
The Week Recommends An HBO comedy from the 'Veep' creator, a mystery from master filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón and a reboot of an '80s classic
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
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Trigger warnings on screen spark dissent
Talking Point Are they a measure of sensitivity or just unnecessary posturing?
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'Shogun' dominates Emmys, 'Hacks' surprises
Speed Read 'Shogun' won a record 18 Emmys and 'Hacks' beat 'The Bear' in a surprise upset
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The Count of Monte Cristo review: 'indecently spectacular' adaptation
The Week Recommends Dumas's classic 19th-century novel is once again given new life in this 'fast-moving' film
By The Week UK Published
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Death of England: Closing Time review – 'bold, brash reflection on racism'
The Week Recommends The final part of this trilogy deftly explores rising political tensions across the country
By The Week UK Published
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Sing Sing review: prison drama bursts with 'charm, energy and optimism'
The Week Recommends Colman Domingo plays a real-life prisoner in a performance likely to be an Oscars shoo-in
By The Week UK Published
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Kaos review: comic retelling of Greek mythology starring Jeff Goldblum
The Week Recommends The new series captures audiences as it 'never takes itself too seriously'
By The Week UK Published