Going out: Cinema
Dream Scenario
Out now
Nicolas Cage stars as a man alarmed to find out that he has been appearing in everybody’s dreams. But this isn’t one of those wacky direct-to-video-type movies Cage sometimes pops up in; it’s a well-regarded A24 release more along the lines of Cage’s work in Adaptation. Nic: it’s been a while, but it’s a welcome return.
Anatomy of a Fall
Out now
In this Palme d’Or-winning courtroom drama, author Sandra (Sandra Hüller) is accused of killing her husband, who has died after falling from the balcony of their Alpine chalet. She says it must be suicide, but in order to support her version of events, their rocky marriage is dissected in a sensational murder trial.
The Marvels
Out now
Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) heads through a wormhole where her powers as Captain Marvel blend with some other superheroes in a destabilised universe to form the Marvels. Or something like that. Who can keep up with these multiverses?
The Jester
Out now
From the Joker to Stephen King’s It, creepy clowns have figured as the effective antagonists of everything from comic-book adventures to horror movies. In this Halloween horror, a malevolent entity known as the Jester is the latest version of this trope to terrorises a bunch of potential victims. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
The Prodigy
16 to 25 November; tour starts Glasgow
Four years after the death of their talisman Keith Flint, remaining members Liam Howlett and Maxim head out on the road with their Army of the Ants tour. With Howlett recently teasing that they’re back in the studio, there could well be new music crowbarred in alongside their clutch of sonic hand grenades. Michael Cragg
London jazz festival
Various venues, to 19 November
The city-wide festival continues, with star turns including drummer-producer Makaya McCraven (11 November), lyrical trumpeter Avishai Cohen (14 November), multi-Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Norah Jones (16 November), post-Coltrane sax stars Joshua Redman (12 November), David Murray (16 November) and Charles Lloyd (17 November), and dozens more. John Fordham
FitkinWall: Harpland
Southampton, 16 November; Cardiff, 17 November; touring to 2 December
Harpist Ruth Wall and composer Graham Fitkin explore the subject of human migration through the centuries in a multimedia show, with a specially commissioned light installation by artist Peter Freeman. Wall plays three different harps, and their sound is electronically manipulated by Fitkin. Andrew Clements
Queens of the Stone Age
14 to 22 Nov; tour starts Manchester
With another UK Top 10 album under their battered leather belts in the shape of June’s In Times New Roman … , Josh Homme et al arrive for a lengthy arena tour. Expect songs from that record, alongside enduring, muscular live favourites such as No One Knows, Go With the Flow and Little Sister. MC
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Going out: Art
David Hockney: Drawing from Life
National Portrait Gallery, London, to 21 January
A portrait of Harry Styles (above) is among the new works added to this exhibition for its second outing. Originally opened as the Covid pandemic worsened, this terrific selection of Hockney’s portrait drawings, watercolours and prints was cut short by lockdown. His reputation has soared since, and it’s a welcome reprise.
Jean-Etienne Liotard
National Gallery, London, 16 November to 3 March
This 18th-century Swiss artist used pastels to create his delicate, intimate scenes of refined contemporary life. The Lavergne Family Breakfast, the centrepiece of this show, depicts a mother supervising her child’s manners at the table. It is rendered in exquisite sharp colours that give both faces a fineness like wax.
Gemma Anderson-Tempini
Burton Grange, Leeds, to 28 January
Fancy a visit to a haunted house? Gemma Anderson-Tempini brings bizarre phenomena to an atmospheric Victorian pile in Far Headingley, Leeds, in this installation created with the support of Artangel. But it’s 19th-century science, rather than ghosts, that haunts the event – specifically the strange idea of the fourth spatial dimension.
Zarina Bhimji
Fruitmarket, Edinburgh, to 28 January
Shortlisted for the Turner prize in 2007, Bhimji shows highlights of her work since the 1980s. She has explored her own heritage as a Ugandan Indian, showing the trauma suffered by this community who were exiled by Idi Amin. Photography, film and installation give a comprehensive taste of her art. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Nick Helm
The 100 Club, London, 15 November
Bands have been tapping into the nostalgia market with 10th-anniversary album celebrations for years; now comics are getting in on the act. This week sees Helm perform the whole entirety of 2013’s Hot’n’Heavy live in London. Prepare for all-kinds-of-wrong lyrics, moshpit choruses and a voice like a gravel driveway. Rachel Aroesti
Seeta Patel Dance: The Rite of Spring
The Lighthouse, Poole, 15 November; touring to 23 November
This inventive reimagining of The Rite of Spring using the south Indian classical dance form bharatanatyam was acclaimed at its premiere earlier this year and now gets a short tour. In an ambitious production set to, with, Stravinsky’s famous score is played by the the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Lyndsey Winship
Ghosts
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London, to 28 January
The candlelit theatre celebrates its 10th anniversary with a suitably intense Ibsen play. It’s adapted and directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins, whose work always feels bitingly modern, and with a super cast including Greg Hicks and Hattie Morahan. Miriam Gillinson
Hamilton
Palace theatre, Manchester, 11 November to 24 February; touring to 22 June
The first UK and Ireland tour of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s exhilarating and ingenious musical about American founding father Alexander Hamilton. With Shaq Taylor (Girl from the North Country) as Hamilton and Sam Oladeinde (Assassins) as Aaron Burr. MG
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Staying in: Streaming
Grime Kids
BBC Three, 13 November, 10pm
Noughties culture gets a bad rap lately, but there is much from the decade to look fondly back on. This drama – adapted by Rocks writer Theresa Ikoko from DJ Target’s recent memoir – is set in east London amid the era’s nascent grime scene, where a group of teenage boys are discovering thrills and hope in a bracing new sound.
The Crown
Netflix, 16 November
It’s the big one. The final season of Peter Morgan’s clever and pacy royal drama covers 1997 to 2005, which means Tony Blair, Kate and Wills and, of course, Princess Diana’s death. With the latter event still living vividly in the collective memory, hopefully this superlative 20th-century chronicle will be able to capture the sense of loss that buckled a nation.
A Murder at the End of the World
Disney+, 14 November
Before Elizabeth Debicki became The Crown’s Diana, the role was Emma Corrin’s shortcut to stardom. In this uncanny murder mystery from Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij (creators of spooky cult drama The OA), Corrin stars as amateur sleuth Darby Hart, who decides to investigate an unexplained death while on a retreat hosted by a secretive billionaire (Clive Owen).
The Curse
Paramount+, 11 November
Fans of offbeat eeriness are in luck this week: this comedy from Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie nouveau TV prankster Nathan Fielder and Uncut Gems co-director Benny Safdie is set to be similarly weird. It follows an apparently aspirational a couple (Fielder and Emma Stone) whose property-flipping TV show threatens to get them cancelled – or worse. RA
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Staying in: Games
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
Out now, PC, PS5, Xbox
The slick military shooter series is back again, with Captain Price and his crew tracking down crazed ultranationalist Vladimir Makarov. The frenetic multiplayer mode features 16 classic maps from the series and there’s an open-world zombie adventure. too. As unavoidable, and unmissable, as ever.
Super Mario RPG
Out 17 November, Nintendo Switch
Originally released for the Super Nintendo console in 1996, this enthralling spin-off took Mario out of platforming and into role-playing adventure, courtesy of Square, the creator of the Final Fantasy games. Now updated, it’s a nostalgic treat that should delight newcomers, too. Keith Stuart
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Staying in: Albums
Baby Queen – Quarter Life Crisis
Out now
South Africa-born, London-based Arabella Latham’s musical journey as Baby Queen has so far involved endorsements from both Courtney Love (“Lyrics SO good”) and the producers of queer teen drama Heartstopper. Seven songs featured in the show appear on Latham’s debut, a coiled spring of self-discovery set to powerful alt-pop.
Beirut – Hadsel
Out now
Zach Condon and his merry band of folk experimentalists return with a sixth album, their first in four years. Named after the Norwegian island Condon decamped to in 2019, it features songs you could imagine started life around a small fire (So Many Plans), and others, such as The Tern, that blossom from icy electronics.
Brandy – Christmas with Brandy
Out now
It’s going to be a busy festive season for the fan-anointed Vocal Bible. As well as starring alongside Heather Graham in Netflix’s Best Christmas Ever! (out on Thursday), there’s this yuletide opus featuring classic covers (Santa Baby, Deck the Halls) alongside originals such as her winter warmer Christmas Party for Two.
PinkPantheress – Heaven Knows
Out now
In the space of just two years, 22-year-old PinkPantheress has helped bend pop to her will via a distinctive sound that fuses bedroom sketches to filtered drum’n’bass. Her international breakthrough single, Boy’s a Liar Pt 2, is included here, alongside the Greg Kurstin-produced Mosquito. Guests include Ice Spice, Rema and Kelela. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
Brawn
Disney+, Wednesday 15 November
F1 superfan Keanu Reeves voices this dramatic series that explores the story of Honda Racing’s collapse in 2008 and its subsequent buyout by Ross Brawn, creating one of the sport’s most successful but short-lived new teams.
Keys to the Kingdom
Podcast
Former theme park employees Matt Gourley and Amanda Lund host this delightful series examining the often bizarre world of kids’ amusement. From dressing up as Disney princesses to breaking the corporate rules, ex-staff members tell all.
MusicLM
Online
Google’s AI lab is testing a fascinating product that creates pieces of music based on text prompts. From eerie interpretations ofjazz vocals to strangely compelling “chillout”, sign up to start making your own descriptive tunes. Ammar Kalia
