Must-see: the Libertines
What became of the likely lads? The once-tempestuous Libertines, right, a band that made frazzled break-ups and fragile reunions something of an art, have settled into something like peace. For this latest run of shows in spiritual homeland Camden, tickets are scarce, but StubHub will provide. Here’s hoping they wear make-up on Halloween.
October 30, 31 & November 1, The Roundhouse, roundhouse.org.uk
Art fix: the World of Tim Burton
From practices such as stop-motion animation to comically macabre humour, the influence of Tim Burton on 20th and 21st-century cinema is hard to overstate. Four decades of Burton’s movies have gently expanded the accepted norms within film to define not just a genre, but a cinematic style. With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in theatres, the Design Museum will exhibit a vaulting career retrospective to explore Burton’s unbridled creativity. A must for fans.
Opens October 25, The Design Museum, designmuseum.org
Hot table: Tamila
Clapham seems to be trying its damnedest to shake off its reputation as a restaurant wasteland, with recent openings including Crispin at Studio Voltaire and The Ox. Tamila is the latest interesting new thing in the south London neighbourhood, worthy of some real attention as a sister restaurant to Prince Durairaj’s Tamil Prince and Tamil Crown. Everything on the appealing-looking menu comes in at under £16, with dhals, Chettinad lamb curries and Durairaj’s social-famous flaky rotis all present and correct.
Open now, 39 Northcote Road, SW11, tamila.uk
Screen gems
Big screen: The Room Next Door
Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton star in Pedro Almodóvar’s adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel What Are You Going Through, which left the Venice Film Festival spellbound and took home the gong for best film. The story follows two former friends who reunite later in life, as one undertakes a decision to plan a suicide towards the end of their battle with cancer.
From October 25, in cinemas
The box: Road Diary
Bruce Springsteen and his “heart-stoppin’, pants-droppin’, love-makin’, earth-quakin’, Viagra-takin’, history-makin’” E Street Band may have made their name with a slew of hit records — Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town — but it’s always been their live sets that have kept the crowds clamouring. This documentary is a backstage pass to what goes into these four-hour performances. Snatches from the amps-at-11 stadium shows sit beside a more intimate glance of a band that’s known each other for more than five decades.
From October 25, Disney+
The big read: Barrowbeck by Andrew Michael Hurley
Andrew Michael Hurley is one of the most frightening writers of his generation. That’s a compliment, by the way. He’s a leading light in the revival of British folk horror and his previous books, such as The Loney and Starve Acre, have delighted and terrified readers in equal measure. Barrowbeck, his new novel, is also set in the north of England and just as creepy and absorbing as his earlier work. The ideal read in the run-up to Halloween.
Out now
Listen: Kill List
Kill List tells the story of tech journalist Carl Miller and IT expert Chris Monteiro. The latter found his way into the back end of a dark web hitman scam, where punters would pay to have people killed — only, while money was taken, no hits took place. Monteiro and Miller feared that those who paid would take matters into their own hands. They did, and this series follows their attempts to stop more murders.
Available now
Don’t miss: Twilight Tour, Descent into the Underworld
For something less out-and-out spooky and more eerily atmospheric, try this after-hours tour of Sir John Soane’s Museum. Guests will be guided down into the basement of the museum, evoking the feeling of entering a catacomb, as curators share the story of the hermit monk who it is said still haunts the parlour of the great Bloomsbury house.
October 31; Sir John Soane’s Museum, soane.org
Book now: Supperclub Tube
Under usual circs eating on the Underground — especially anything hot — is a certified no-no. Not so at Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, where the aptly named Supperclub Tube is back for another season. Diners sit in a stationary, refurbished Victoria line carriage from 1967 for a six-course menu from Columbian chef Beatriz Maldonado Carreño, serving her favourite South American dishes (expect ajiaco, tuna ceviche, churros and more), with cocktails to match (there’s also plenty of wine). Tickets start at £67; this is one of those things for every Londoner to do once.
Various dates, Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, E17, supperclub.tube
