Bookish is textbook cosy crime — but who cares when it's this good?
Gabriel Book, the proprietor of Book's Books and the protagonist of Mark Gatiss's new crime drama Bookish, on U&Alibi, would not approve. Customers who arrive at Book's Books in search of something lowbrow, the latest Georgette Heyer for example, are politely but firmly redirected to more challenging literature, like The Scarlet Pimpernel novels by Baroness Orczy. That they also introduced to the world the notion of a hero with a secret identity is a foreshadowing of what is to come.
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The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
What to Stream: Reneé Rapp, 'The Phoenician Scheme,' Elvis rarities, Anthony Mackie and Jason Momoa
Benicio Del Toro starring in Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme'and Reneé Rapp 's second studio album are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time, as selected by The Associated Press' entertainment journalists: Jason Momoa brings his passion project 'Chief of War' to Apple TV+, there's a coxy Hobbit video game in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game and 'Project Runway' tries out a new network home for its 21st season. New movies to stream from July 28-Aug. 3 – Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme' (streaming now on Peacock) stars Benicio Del Toro as Anatole 'Zsa-zsa' Korda, a wealthy and unscrupulous European industrialist. After the latest assassination attempt on his life, he decides to leave his estate to one of his many children, Lisel (Mia Threapleton), a novitiate. Michael Cera co-stars as a Norwegian insect expect named Bjørn. In her review, the AP's Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the film finds Anderson 'becoming even more, well, Wes Anderson than before.' – The Netflix romance 'My Oxford Year' (streaming Friday, Aug. 1) follows a young American student named Anna (Sofia Carson) in her long-dreamt-of year at Oxford University. Corey Mylchreest co-stars as a local love interest in the film directed by Iain Morris. – Movie soundtracks once played so much more of a role in popular culture. A new series on the Criterion Channel collects some of the films from the soundtrack's heyday, the 1990s, when songs from movies like 'Trainspotting' (1996) and 'Singles' (1992) dominated the airwaves and MTV. Also running this month on Criterion are 'Grosse Pointe Blank' (1997), 'So I Married an Axe Murderer' (1993) and 'Judgement Night' (1993). — AP Film Writer Jake Coyle New music to stream from July 28-Aug. 3 — The King of Rock 'n' Roll has returned. On Friday, Aug. 1, to celebrate what would've been Elvis Presley's 90th birthday year, a massive collection of 89 rarities will be released as a five-disc CD boxset – and on all digital platforms. Titled 'Sunset Boulevard,' the series pulls from Presley's 1970-1975 Los Angeles recording sessions and rehearsals at RCA's studios. There is no greater gift for the Elvis aficionado. — Reneé Rapp will release her second studio album on Friday, Aug. 1, the appropriately titled 'Bite Me.' The 12-track release is imbued with Rapp's edgy, lighthearted spirit — catchy R&B-pop songs about bad breakups and good hookups abound. It'll put some pep in your step. — AP Music Writer Maria Sherman New series to stream from July 28-Aug. 3 — 'Project Runway' has had quite a life since it debuted in 2004 on Bravo. After its first six seasons, the competition show about fashion design moved to Lifetime for 11 seasons, then back to Bravo for a few years, and its new home for season 21 is Freeform. Christian Siriano — who won the show's fourth season — is an executive producer, mentor and judge. He joins 'Project Runway' OG host Heidi Klum, celebrity stylist extraordinaire Law Roach and fashion editor Nina Garcia. It premieres Thursday and streams on Disney+ and Hulu. — Comedian Leanne Morgan stars in her own multi-cam sitcom for Netflix called 'Leanne,' debuting Thursday. Inspired by her own stand-up, Morgan plays a woman whose husband leaves her for another woman after more than three decades of marriage. Morgan stars alongside sitcom vets Kristen Johnston and Tim Daly. — Anthony Mackie's 'Twisted Metal' is back on Peacock for a second season of beginning Thursday. The show is adapted from a popular video game franchise and picks up about 7 months after the events of season one. —Jason Momoa brings his passion project 'Chief of War' to Apple TV+ on Friday, Aug. 1. Set in the late 18th century, Momoa plays Kauai, a nobleman and warrior, who plays a major part in the unification of the Hawaiian islands. The series is based on true events and is told from an Indigenous point-of-view. — Alicia Rancilio New video games to play from July 28-Aug. 3 — Games set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth usually want to drag us back to Mount Doom for another confrontation with the Dark Lord. But what if you're a Hobbit who just wants to hang out with your friends in your peaceful village? That's your mission in Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. It's a cozy sim from Weta Workshop, the company behind the special effects in Peter Jackson's films. You can grow a garden, go fishing, trade with your neighbors and — most important for a Hobbit — cook and eat. It's about as far from Mordor as it gets, and you can start decorating your own Hobbit Hole on Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, Switch or PC.
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Three killed and others seriously injured after train crash in southwestern Germany
Several people were killed when a passenger train derailed in southwestern Germany near the town of Biberach, close to the border with France, German media reported on Sunday, citing security sources. Police in Stuttgart, who were cited by media in initial reports of the crash, were not immediately available for comment. A picture published in German media showed carriages had left the tracks and rolled over. Federal police told dpa that the severity of the injuries was not immediately clear. Roughly 100 people were aboard the train when at least two carriages derailed in a forested area around 6:10 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), dpa reported. The crash happened near the town of Riedlingen, dpa reported, roughly 158 kilometers (98 miles) west of Munich. Reports say there had been a storm in the area shortly before. Storms passed through the area before the crash and investigators were seeking to determine if the rain was a factor. 'There have been heavy rains here, so it cannot be ruled out that the heavy rain and a related landslide accident may have been the cause. However, this is currently the subject of ongoing investigations," said Thomas Strobl, interior minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg . German chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was monitoring the situation. He wrote on X: 'The train accident in the Biberach district shocks me. I am in close contact with the Interior Minister and the Transport Minister and have asked them to support the rescue forces with all available means. We mourn the victims. I express my condolences to their relatives.'
The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Yoann Bourgeois on his mindblowing viral stair climbing act: ‘I want to return to the spirit of childhood'
You may have seen a certain video online of a man climbing some stairs. Actually, he's repeatedly falling from them but then magically bounces back up, weightless as a moon-walker. Out of sight is a trampoline, which gently catapults his looping, twisting body up the staircase each time he falls, turning a would-be simple journey into an epic, poetic odyssey that has caught the internet's imagination. Pop star Pink saw it and immediately got on the phone to its creator; Martin Short even made his own version on Only Murders in the Building. The act is the work of French choreographer-director Yoann Bourgeois, 43, whose live performances have been touring festivals for years. But the popularity of his videos online has propelled him into new realms, working with Harry Styles, Coldplay, Selena Gomez and Louis Vuitton. He continues to create new, live work and brings his latest outdoor piece, Passage, to Greenwich and Docklands festival this summer. Some people run away to the circus; others have it arrive on their doorstep. Bourgeois' parents separated when he was growing up in Jura, eastern France, and their house was sold to a circus group, Cirque Plume. Bourgeois was already interested in theatre (and later studied dance) and he began to train with the group. 'In a way I was looking for a way to get back home,' he says, via a translator. It wasn't just about returning to the physical building, but the spirit of childhood. 'I really wanted to continue to be a child. I've searched for a life where I can continue to play; it drives my career even now.' What Bourgeois plays with are the invisible physical forces that surround us – gravity, tension, suspension – and the interaction between those forces, the performers' bodies and symbolic ideas. For example in Ellipse, the dancers are in costumes like lifesize Weebles with semi-circular bases, rocking and spinning, but never falling. A man and woman 'dance' together, swaying past each other but never quite managing to connect. (Missy Elliott wore a version of the same costume in her video Cool Off.) In Celui Qui Tombe (He Who Falls), the performers stand on a wooden platform that rotates, at some speed, then tilts, forcing their bodies to lean at precarious angles to keep their balance, and the group have to navigate this peril together. The short piece Bourgeois is bringing to London is called Passage, and features a revolving mirrored door and pole dancer Yvonne Smink hanging, swinging, balancing and turning the simple act of crossing a threshold into something of infinite possibilities. Much like the way sculptor Antony Gormley hit upon a universal idea in his use of the body, Bourgeois works with the same kind of directness: a seemingly simple setup or visual idea that represents something huge – life, death, time, mortality, struggle, hope – in a way that's easily readable but can feel profound. Here he is talking about suspension: 'In physics, suspension means the absence of weight. But if we speak about time, suspension means absolute presence. And I think this cross between absence of weight and absolute presence is like a small window on eternity. That's what I search for: to catch the present, to intensify the present.' Even though Bourgeois seeks to be live in the ephemeral moment, you can see why the recorded versions have gone viral. He admits his work looks good on screen. 'I feel very lucky because, by chance, my work can be eloquent in this kind of frame, on Instagram for example,' he says. He's interested in clarity not overcomplication and embraces his wide fanbase. 'I didn't grow up in a family interested in art,' says Bourgeois, and that's who he imagines making his work for. He's reaching even more eyeballs now with his pop star collaborations. For the Harry Styles video As It Was, Bourgeois designed another revolving platform that saw Styles and his lover being pulled together and apart. 'Behind the superficial pop veneer of the song, there's a great sense of despair,' he says. Bourgeois designs his own stage machines, but the revolving floor is, he points out, a very old theatrical device. The question of what's truly new in art came to the fore when he was accused of plagiarism in a video posted online comparing scenes from his work with scenes from other artists. There are some striking similarities but Bourgeois is robust in his defence, saying that the works referenced motifs from the history of art, which he considers to be in the public domain. Many circus performers will use the same props. 'If you use just a frame of a video, it's easy to make a comparison,' he says. 'What is original is the treatment and the creative process.' We need to look at the whole work rather than an isolated image, he insists. What's certain is that Bourgeois can turn universal ideas into something eye-catching that connects deeply with audiences – imbued with the wonder of circus and the grace of dance. Greenwich and Docklands international festival runs from 22 August to 6 September. Passage is part of Dancing City at the festival on 6 September
