Watch the Skies to Wet Leg: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
With the return of all things Y2K in fashion and music, it makes sense that the turn of the millennium fascination with little green men would likewise be back in vogue. But this sci-fi about a teenager teaming up with an agency that investigates paranormal phenomena is notable for its futuristic qualities too: it uses AI dubbing technology to create an English-language film from the Swedish original.
SupermanOut now
Superman is dead, long live Superman: wave goodbye to handsome hunk Henry Cavill's stint as the man of steel and say hello to the new era of equally handsome hunk David Corenswet, a veteran of two Ryan Murphy series on Netflix. At the helm of this reboot is James Gunn, the director behind diverse entertainments including Slither and Guardians of the Galaxy.
Michael Haneke RetrospectiveVarious venues nationwide; to 30 July
The Austrian director is known for making films that are often kind of a bummer, but also bona fide masterpieces. Following a major season at BFI Southbank, Haneke films are being programmed in cinemas across the country this summer, so check out your local listings for the chance to see the likes of Funny Games and the Palme d'Or-winners The White Ribbon and Amour on the big screen.
Nine QueensOut now
The nine queens of the title refers to a sheet of rare stamps, which a pair of hustlers (Ricardo Darín, Gastón Pauls) attempt to palm off on a wealthy collector in this new 4K rerelease of the award-winning 2000 Argentinian classic crime drama, directed by Fabián Bielinsky. Catherine Bray
Emma RawiczJazz at the Palace, Buxton, 12 July
Buxton's two-week arts festival features some generous jazz programming – covering the music's variations all over the world, and including a centenary celebration for late great pianist Oscar Peterson. Powerful and lyrical young UK saxophonist Emma Rawicz is an early highlight, with her A-list quartet including pianist Elliot Galvin. John Fordham
Leon Bridges18 to 24 July; tour starts London
Armed with an extraordinary voice, the Texan singer-songwriter's 70s-indebted soul music really comes to life on stage. Playing some of his biggest venues in the UK, expect songs from last year's Leon album, as well as breakthrough debut Coming Home, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. Michael Cragg
Lost Minds festivalExhibition Park, Newcastle, 12 July
Headlined by Horny in Jericho hitmakers and happy hardcore legends Scooter, the electronic dance music festival returns to Newcastle for its fourth year. Joining the German quartet on the lineup are DJs from the veteran Cream label and Bristol trance DJ and producer Ben Nicky. MC
First Night of the PromsRoyal Albert Hall, London, 18 July
Although there are some real treats to come later in this year's season, the opening concert is distinctly run-of-the-mill. Sakari Oramo's programme with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and its Chorus has one relative rarity – Vaughan Williams' Sancta Civitas – but despite the premiere of The Elements, a BBC commission from Errollyn Wallen, the highlight is likely to be Lisa Batiashvili's performance of Sibelius's Violin Concerto. Andrew Clements
Lubaina Himid with Magda StawarskaKettle's Yard, Cambridge, to 2 November
Jim Ede's unique and poetic art collection in his house, Kettle's Yard, includes works by the early 20th-century modernist Sophie Brzeska along with her lover Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. She is the focus of an installation by Himid and Stawarska in an exhibition that also includes Himid's witty paintings.
The Power of DrawingRoyal Drawing School, London, to 26 July
You don't often see Tracey Emin and King Charles III in the same exhibition but they both love drawing – and the king has done a lot to nurture it with the Drawing School he founded 25 years ago. Others in this celebratory show include Tim Burton, David Hockney and Es Devlin.
Victoria MortonReid Gallery, Glasgow School of Art, to 9 August
It's 30 years since Morton graduated from Glasgow School of Art; this show marks the occasion with a tour of her achievements in painting, sculpture, photography and more. Her best works are her seductive abstract paintings that flow and seem to melt before your eyes in wild and convulsive colours.
Duane LinklaterCamden Art Centre, London, to 21 September
This Omaskêko Ininiwak artist from North Bay, Ontario questions ownership of cultural treasures, explores memory and portrays identity in installations partly created with his son Tobias Linklater, while incorporating objects created by his grandmother Ethel (Trapper) Linklater that have been borrowed from a museum. It's an exhibition haunted by colonialism. Jonathan Jones
Comedy at the CastlePowderham, Devon, Friday & 19 July
Once the preserve of grotty clubs and rowdy pubs, nowadays it's possible to see standup in the most bucolic and picturesque of settings. This event showcases big stars – Frank Skinner, Joel Dommett, Russell Kane, Jen Brister – in the magnificent surroundings of Powderham castle, which dates back to the 14th century. Rachel Aroesti
London City BalletBlackpool Grand Theatre, 12 July; Grange Park Opera, Surrey, 13 July (excerpts only), then touring
Last year, London City Ballet was triumphantly revived after an almost 30-year hiatus, with a remit to be a modern ballet company dancing new works and forgotten classics. This second season's rep includes a revival of a lost George Balanchine work, and a piece by Alexei Ratmansky. Lyndsey Winship
Sing StreetLyric Hammersmith, London, to 23 August
Enda Walsh did a stunning job adapting John Carney's film Once for the stage – and now he's tackling the charming coming-of-age film Sing Street. Set in 80s Dublin, it's about a 16-year-old lad who starts up a band to impress a girl. Miriam Gillinson
Grace PervadesTheatre Royal Bath, to 19 July
Ralph Fiennes' season of work kicks off with a David Hare premiere. Directed by Jeremy Herrin, the play tells the story of Victorian stage stars Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, and their troubled but talented children. Starring Ralph Fiennes and Miranda Raison. MG
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BookishU&Originals, Wednesday, 8pm
Scratch that Sherlock itch with Mark Gatiss's new cosy, brainteasery detective series. He plays Gabriel Book, a bookshop owner (naturally) who assists police with 'the fiddly bits' in 1940s London – and also happens to be a gay man married to his best pal (Polly Walker).
Mix TapeBBC Two & iPlayer, Tuesday, 9pm
Adaptations of books themed around thwarted young love are TV catnip (see: Normal People, One Day). This dramatisation of Jane Sanderson's 2020 novel about Dan (Jim Sturgess) and Alison (Teresa Palmer), who reconnect after a teenage tryst in 1980s Sheffield, mines similar appeal with its blend of sweetness, mystery and nostalgia.
The InstituteMGM+, 13 July
Available within the Prime Video platform, MGM+ will be hoping this adaptation of Stephen King's 2019 novel about genius kids who are forcibly institutionalised – apparently for the global good – gets eyeballs on its streaming service. Newcomer Joe Freeman plays the suspicious teen protagonist, and Weeds' Mary-Louise Parker is the organisation's creepy head.
UntamedNetflix, Thursday
Eric Bana and Sam Neill join forces for this murder mystery with a truly awesome setting, created by father-daughter writing team Elle and Mark L Smith (The Revenant). When a body is found in Yosemite national park, Bana's special agent investigates – but is soon confronted by the frightening contours of his own past. RA
Donkey Kong Bananza Out 17 July; Switch 2
The first Donkey Kong game for a decade sees our primate protagonist smashing his way through a sprawling underground lair while hunting for stolen treasure. A gorgeous 3D world and lots of side quests make this a Switch 2 must-have.
Shadow Labyrinth Out 18 July; PC, Switch 1/2, Xbox, PS5
Namco has reimagined Pac-Man hundreds of times over the past 40 years, but this might be the most fascinating example: a dark 2D action platformer in which you navigate a maze-like world, consuming enemies and taking their powers. No cute ghosts and sparkly cherries this time round … Keith Stuart
Wet Leg – Moisturizer Out now
Now expanded to a five-piece, The Isle of Wight's finest return with this follow-up to 2022's self-titled breakthrough. More muscular than its predecessor, but no less playful, Moisturizer features the pogoing post-punk of Catch These Fists and the skewed indie shuffle of recent single Davina McCall.
Burna Boy – No Sign of Weakness Out now
The Grammy-winning Nigerian superstar, fresh from collaborations with the likes of Coldplay and 21 Savage, offers up more of his musical eclecticism on this eighth album. While the heartfelt Sweet Love rides a sun-kissed reggae lilt, TaTaTa, which features Travis Scott, is a heaving fusion of Afrobeats and rap.
Gwenno – Utopia Out now
On this fourth album from Gwenno Saunders, the follow-up to 2022's Mercury-nominated album, the Cornish-language Tresor, the Welsh singer-songwriter sings mostly in English for the first time. As cinematic and sonically rich as ever, songs such as Dancing On Volcanoes showcase Saunders' melodic sensibilities.
Clipse – Let God Sort Em Out Out now
Sixteen years after their last album, the Virginia rap duo, AKA Pusha T and Malice, return as if no time has passed. As with their 2006 classic Hell Hath No Fury, Let God Sort Em Out features Pharrell in the producer's chair, with single Ace Trumpets built around a skeletal, head-knocking beat. MC
Baumgartner Restoration YouTube
The Chicago-based fine art restorers produce in-depth videos that are part art history explainer and part ASMR accounts of soothing brushwork. Learn how decades of damage is miraculously removed, as well as how previous restorations went wrong.
There's a Lot I Haven't AskedPodcast
This moving new series by actor Hannah Donelan tells the story of Irish migrants to Manchester throughout the 20th century. First-hand testimony explores diaspora identity in the north and the legacy of the Troubles.
Apocalypse in the Tropics14 July, Netflix
A fascinating film looking at the increasing influence of Christian televangelist leaders in Brazil. Speaking to both President Lula and former president Bolsonaro, it shows how rightwing politics are being manipulated by powerful church leaders. Ammar Kalia
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Times
12 hours ago
- Times
Superman — it's my five-star movie of the summer
He stumbles, he falls, he bleeds — occasionally he even sneaks a look at his social media mentions. How telling that, after 20 years of mis-starts and misfires, vulnerability would be the key to making Superman work on screen again. James Gunn's new Superman is not perfect but it has wit, smarts, pace and the same sardonic, goofy humour that Gunn brought to Guardians of the Galaxy. How strange that a film about misfit mutants would prepare him for the straight-arrow Superman — but Gunn seems to understand what we want: hope, heart, a dash of silliness and the same sense of up-and-at-'em adventure that made the original comic strips buzz. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the summer movie we've all been waiting for. Superman has always represented a distinct type of corn-fed American optimism — McCartney to Batman's Lennon. The creation of scrawny, short-sighted, Jewish ghetto kids from Manhattan's Lower East Side who dreamt of being Douglas Fairbanks, Superman recalls a balmier, more innocent time in American history when the mission to 'smack down the bullies of the world', as one of Superman's creators, Joel Siegel, put it, didn't send everyone diving for their Chomsky. The problem that has bedevilled adaptations since the 1978 original is: how do you make that optimism work for more cynical times, now that 'the bullies' and 'America' are no longer mutually exclusive categories? Here's how: no origin story. We don't need to hear again how the planet Krypton blew up and Kal-El crash-landed in Mom and Pop's backyard before heading to the big city to work for The Daily Planet. Instead Gunn sets us right down in the thick of it: Superman (David Corenswet) has just taken a beating from an armoured monster let loose by the rogue republic of Boravia. 'Did you consult with the president?' Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) demands to know during a date that quickly turns into a combative interview. 'You seemingly acted as a representative for the United States of America.' • The actors who played Superman, ranked from worst to best 'I wasn't representing anyone but me,' he protests. 'And … doing good.' So much for truth, justice and the American way. Go tell it to a congressional committee. Such hand-wringing over the burden of power is par for the course in superhero movies these days, but critiques of American unilateralism only go so far when your hero wears red underpants. Superman's saving grace has always been his slight silliness because it has kept him from the solemnity that clogs up the works with Batman and all the other edgier heroes, so intent on giving us a guided tour of their dark sides. The most radical thing about Gunn's film is not that it nods to the Washington bearpit, but Superman's insistence that kindness is 'the real punk rock'. Whether shielding a girl from exploding debris or a dog from a falling building, he would Make America Kind Again. Arrayed against him is Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) trying to turn the US Department of Defense against its most famous illegal alien so he can make a mint from arms deals involving his latest batch of superheroes, or 'metahumans' as they are known. He's like a cross between Tony Stark and Elon Musk. Metahumans are everywhere these days, including a gang of do-gooding showboats who call themselves the 'Justice Gang' — Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) — and whose exploits explain at a stroke why people might flock to a boy scout like Superman. He spends half his time preventing the collateral damage from his fellow superheroes' interventions. More than just reinventing his star, then, Gunn has invented a universe in which Superman makes sense, which is almost as important: the DC Universe is go. • Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews Corenswet is pretty much perfect in the role. After the stony severity of Henry Cavill labouring under his saviour complex in Zack Snyder's humourless Man of Steel — a film so embarrassed by the Superman mythos it couldn't even bring itself to say his name — Corenswet has the casual, locker-room vocab ('Hey, buddy') and underdog gallantry of a gentle-giant athlete. Dimpled and decent, he plays Superman with a slight bee in his bonnet about being thought too much of a Pollyanna and even has a dog named Krypto who tears up the Fortress of Solitude when Superman is not around, hurtling into action like a speeding bullet when needed. He's one of the best things in the film: Gunn knows how seriously to take his story and when to cut loose and have fun. Yes, the plot is a little busy with portals and black holes and all the usual interdimensional malarkey, but there's none of the lumbering heaviness that usually accompanies such plot devices. At just over two hours Superman has all the zippy action you want — the flying sequences come with Top Gun-style G-force buffeting and sonic booms — as well as the humour and heart that will get people coming back for more. In some ways the stop-start development process that has plagued Superman has paid off: Gunn took his time, got it right and has been rewarded with a bullseye. ★★★★★12A, 129min Tom Cruise's espionage swansong was the usual mix of daft plot and spectacular stunts, taking $575 million at the box office — but it needs about $800 million to break even. Cruise got out in the nick of time. Brad Pitt's charisma provided the horsepower for Jerry Bruckheimer's pedal-to-the-metal racing drama — Apple's first big hit at the box office, and Pitt's strongest ever opening weekend. Who said the stars were in eclipse? • The best films of 2025 so far The latest Jurassic Park movie, starring Scarlett Johansson, has had a soft opening compared with the previous three films in the series, but the director Gareth Edwards delivered the film at a relative snip — $180 million — as well as great monsters. Extinction will have to wait. Can Matt Shakman's retro-futuristic direction, together with stars Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby, undo the 'meh' factor and reverse Marvel's downward spiral at the box office? Superhero fatigue is real. Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit to find out moreWhich films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments below and follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
The Guardian
18 hours ago
- The Guardian
Superman is super woke? How politics play into the new man of steel
Superman Woke! Variations on that headline splashed across all manner of non-Daily Planet websites this week in advance of a new Superman movie reboot, specifically the comments of writer-director James Gunn, who casually characterized the character as an immigrant and, as such, telling the 'story of America' in an interview. This rankled rightwingers including the former TV Superman Dean Cain, who acknowledged Superman as an immigrant but blanched at the idea of actively associating that as an American value, noting that 'there have to be limits'. Meanwhile, the former Trump lackey Kellyanne Conway, now a Fox News host, characterized the movie she hasn't seen as an ideological lecture, and added her supposed anger that the movie's star, David Corenswet, elided the old 'truth, justice and the American way' Superman slogan in another interview (referring to 'truth, justice, all that good stuff'). For those attempting to keep track: people involved with a Superman movie shouldn't attempt to evoke America, except when they should. Actually, for those keeping even closer track, the 'American way' bit was a phrase added to the radio version of Superman during the second world war, and further popularized by the 1950s TV show. It lived on primarily in reruns of that show, didn't appear in the comics until 1991, and has never been particularly central to the character in his original medium (or any of the movies, even). This is all to say that the reading of Superman as an immigrant is so commonplace, so arguably a part of the plain old surface text of the character, that it's even harder to buy any ginned-up outrage than usual. At best, it's a byproduct of suppressed guilt over the cruel and unusual immigration policies favored by anyone dumb enough to complain that this a 'woke' version of a 90-year-old superhero. In fact, the phoney outrage and predictions of boycott from people who don't go to the movies anyway could be a gag straight from the movie itself. It's one of plenty of real-world parallels in Gunn's movie. Most of them fall into the blockbuster realm of vagueness that makes it hard to tell if it was inspired by real events or just unsuccessfully sidestepping from evoking one international crisis straight into evoking another. (More on that in a moment.) But the most obviously first-hand quasi-political experiences Gunn draws upon all have to do with social media: this is a Superman whose weaknesses include Kryptonite, Lex Luthor-engineered software that anticipates his every punch, and … reading the comments. During one argument, Lois Lane needles her superpowered boyfriend by telling him she's seen him looking through certain hashtags guaranteed to frustrate and enrage even the virtuous child of Kansas farms who still says 'golly!' on the regular. This makes sense: James Gunn does not have experience in geopolitics, but he sure has experience online. The film-maker was semi-canceled over edgelord-y tweets (unearthed, in perfect discourse fashion, by rightwingers infuriated by his left-leaning politics); fired from the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie; and eventually rehired when Disney realized that maybe cast and fan loyalty was worth more than manufactured outrage. But in his between-Guardians downtime, Gunn made a Suicide Squad sequel for the previous DC regime, essentially auditioning for his current job. In some ways, he owes his stewardship of Superman and DC in general to the vexations of life online. So if it's a little cringe-y to hear about Superman glancing through social media, or for Gunn to go out of his way to show Lex Luthor training an army of monkeys to flood the zone with mean tweets, it's also a funny, oddly whimsical way of acknowledging our contemporary world. (Plus, remember that Clark Kent works in media, even if his newspaper still publishes a print edition.) It's certainly more surefooted than the movie's actual politics, which go further than the likes of Captain America: Brave New World but still fall short of anything more complicated than the actual thrust of Gunn's interview. (Which was that kindness is, in fact, good.) The immigrant stuff, first of all, is in the movie but not especially prominent. A plot turn involving Superman's parents could even be read as accidentally xenophobic; after all, if you're trading on the message that it doesn't matter where an immigrant comes from once assimilated into our culture, doesn't that by definition cast aspersions on other countries (or in this case, planets) and elevate whatever 'our' culture is? That's obviously not Gunn's intent in positioning Superman as an immigrant figure; he wants to elicit the empathy for outsiders that we've all felt at one time or another. The logical stumble is more a sign of a metaphor that isn't fit for front-to-back, one-to-one interpretation; that's not a problem on its own. More interesting is the story's offscreen inciting incident, where Superman intervenes in the affairs of two fictional countries. When the movie begins, Superman has recently stopped Boravia, which is led by a blustery despot who comes across like an eastern European Trump, from invading neighboring Jarhanpur. The latter has struck some viewers as coded Middle Eastern, implying parallels between Israel and Palestine, though in the comic books (and based on the leader's accent, here too) the countries are actually somewhere in Europe. That is to say, it looks more akin to Russia invading Ukraine, though Gunn has said he didn't have any specific real-life turmoil in mind when he concocted the scenario. The issue is really more interventionism: should Superman have acted unilaterally in stopping Boravia (and, indeed, threatening its leader with reprisal if he tries it again)? Lois Lane isn't so sure, bringing up the repressive nature of past Jarhanpur governments (and in turn bringing to mind Israel's attacks on Iran, though that particular conflict was in the news well after this movie was written, shot and probably almost or entirely finished). One of the most heartening things about Superman is that Lois's objections inspire a full conversation between her and Superman, in the guise of an 'interview' to make up for the fact that most of Superman's press is self-directed through Clark Kent. For a little while, the movie seems ready to dig into the genuine strife faced by a mega-powerful being who therefore has the ability to shape the world. Stopping people in another country from dying seems ethical. But what about issuing de facto press releases disguised as a real journalism? Of course, all of these questions are in the realm of hypothetical, so the movie mostly just invents hypothetical solutions that turn on the fact that Superman is, in fact, inherently trustworthy and moral. Lucky for everyone, huh? Then again, getting too far into the issue of whether Superman 'should' help people starts to look a bit too much like the Zack Snyder version that audiences and critics had such mixed-at-best feelings toward. Gunn wants Superman to be a bigger-tent affair than that, and it's an understandable impulse. He's not the first superhero character, but he's arguably the first one to achieve something resembling global ubiquity. That's going to lead to some varying interpretations. Limiting him to specific politics makes no more sense than keeping a world-saving god within Metropolis city limits. Yet in a weird way, the buffoonish outrage over Superman's immigration status has only served to highlight a void in the movie's broader emotional resonance. It's a sweet-natured movie that ends on a genuinely emotional note – it might particularly resonate for those with adoptive parents, another Superman mainstay – but misses the opportunity to make a more explicit parallel in the way Superman has emigrated both to the United States in particular, but to Earth in general. His global citizenship is more of a feelgood given than a powerful duality, and a Superman that truly grappled with our ability to see beyond national boundaries might have felt like a true update of the character for a new century, rather than another tacit plea for kindness. We have Paddington for that. Shouldn't Superman be able to lift something a little heavier?
Telegraph
19 hours ago
- Telegraph
Parents turn to AI stories to get children to read
Parents are using artificial intelligence to encourage their children to start reading. Amid a national decline in children's literacy rates, three fathers have created an app that harnesses the controversial technology for their toddlers in lieu of traditional storytelling. It comes after Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, called on parents to read books to their children daily as she announced that 2026 will be a National Year of Reading. TV presenter Lara Lewington, who co-hosts weekly BBC technology show Tech Now, described the AI-led book creating app Luna as an 'interesting idea for the future of storytelling'. The app, which took two years to create, allows children to input simple answers to prompt questions before being presented with a specialised and illustrated online story 'book' based on their answers. The AI-created stories can be based around an individual child's pet, toys, foods or past holiday locations, for example. 'When it comes to doing something like this book, it fulfils the personalisation, and that's something that kids could find really engaging,' Lewington added. The presenter, who shares one daughter with her husband Martin Lewis, said: 'I was initially reticent to do anything that involved getting a phone out at bedtime, but I also thought the story was fun and the way the animations could be created to go along with it was pretty amazing. 'If in future they do extend it to AI-generated personalised print books that could be a good move forward.' The three founders said they hoped Luna could reverse The National Literacy Trust's (NLT) study which found last month that only one in three children aged eight to 18 enjoy reading in their free time. However, the idea of using AI to write books has already come under fire from top authors and editors in the industry. Last year, best-selling novelist Joanne Harris – who is the former chairman of the Society of Authors – warned that the technology posed an 'existential threat' to the publishing industry. 'Pretty much every author I know has concerns about AI, and rightly so. It is an existential threat to creators,' she said, adding: 'Translators, editors – a lot of people – are already seeing their work eroded by AI.' Luna's creators have insisted that it will not threaten or disrupt traditional books or storytelling, despite churning out digital books in under a minute. 'We see this as very much complementary to traditional, authored stories, rather than replacing them. The two can benefit from each other,' Omar Bakhshi, one of the founders, explained. However, fellow founder and father-of-two Greg Findon, said his children had created more than 100 books during their trialling, almost 'crashing' his iPad in the process. Explaining the inspiration behind starting the app, the Leicester-based 47-year-old said: 'We were frustrated by the rubbish uses of AI – generating stuff that is of no use. 'We also got bored reading our children the same books over and over again when they were young, before then finding they were less interested in any reading as they got older, so we went looking for a solution.' He added that the biggest problem had been 'making the illustrations good enough'. It comes after the NLT also found that engagement in reading between fathers and their children had fallen significantly, with less than half reading to their child daily in 2024. Mr Bakhshi added that the individualised stories make the children 'more engaged,' which in turn makes them 'keener to read'. 'Our goal was to create a space where parents and children can connect through the magic of storytelling,' he added. The trio, which also includes Dan Coppock, have not ruled out making the digital books into print versions eventually, though for now the only thing similar to a physical book is the inclusion of a turning page sound effect.
