Alien: Earth to Materialists: the week in rave reviews
Summed up in a sentence Ridley Scott's terrifying space franchise finally gets its TV version: set on Earth.
What our reviewer said 'These aliens are the classic nightmare fuel updated and sharpened and, when they strike, they leave behind the sort of oddly beautiful tableaux of torn corpses we haven't seen since Hannibal.' Jack Seale
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Further reading 'It's the best monster ever invented': Noah Hawley on bringing Ridley Scott's Alien to TV
Now; available now
Summed up in a sentence We finally bid to Carrie Bradshaw and co as their midlife spin-off draws to a close in a cacophony of self-discovery … and plumbing problems.
What our reviewer said 'The weirdest reboot of them all ended with a whimper, as though the anaesthetic was finally wearing off and we were all collectively coming to.' Hannah J Davies
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Netflix; available now
Summed up in a sentence The horrific 00s US weight-loss reality show gets a documentary probing – and does not emerge well.
What our reviewer said 'The stories it tells are powerful enough to stick in the memory, as warnings from recent history.' Phil Harrison
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Further reading 'We are obsessed with weight': Bob Harper on life as a trainer on The Biggest Loser
Sky Documentaries; available now
Summed up in a sentence Katherine Kelly stars in this bleak thriller about a flight attendant forced to smuggle drugs to ensure the safety of her imprisoned adult son.
What our reviewer said 'The claustrophobic nature of it all, the endangerment of hapless innocents and the reminder of the evil that spreads untrammelled across space and history are a cluster of superb selling points.' Lucy Mangan
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Sky Documentaries; available now
Summed up in a sentence A touching, beautiful and sad biopic of film star Jayne Mansfield, created by the daughter who lost her mother to a car crash aged three.
What our reviewer said 'My Mom Jayne is tender rather than schmaltzy, compassionate rather than hagiographic and an evident labour of love for all involved.' Lucy Mangan
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In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Dakota Johnson is torn between wealthy new suitor Pedro Pascal and broke ex Chris Evans in Celine Song's anti-capitalist romcom.
What our reviewer said 'Unlike Johnson's Lucy – who tells her clients she can't just magically produce ideal mates or, like Dr Frankenstein, build them – Song can effectively do exactly this in her imaginary world, and place Lucy with an ideal man.' Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading The heart triumphs over all things: why 'anti-capitalist romcom' Materialists isn't just a fantasy
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Smartphone self-portrait of family life in which documentary-maker Victoria Mapplebeck stitches 20 years' worth of footage into a home video love letter to her son.
What our reviewer said 'It is confessional, and hyperlocal in its 4K-rendered detail; it is a richly satisfying, humane, sympathetic study at the end of which I felt I knew Victoria and her son as well as if they lived next door.' Peter Bradshaw
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In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Real-life husband and wife Dave Franco and Alison Brie play a couple put to the ultimate test in a slickly made codependent-relationship body horror.
What our reviewer said 'There's something refreshingly blunt about what Together is trying to say about the dangers of codependency, a film too busy having fun to waste time writing a self-satisfied dissertation.' Benjamin Lee
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Further reading 'We're in a healthy relationship!' Alison Brie and Dave Franco on gruesome body horror Together
In cinemas now
Summed up in a sentence Grownup relationship drama, the second film of Dag Johan Haugerud's absorbing trilogy, in which a doctor wonders if her gay colleague's approach to dating would work for her.
What our reviewer said 'A gracefully grownup and breezy relationships drama that explores modern dating with wit and wisdom.' Peter Bradshaw
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Mubi; available now
Summed up in a sentence Mosaic of moments compiled by award-winning auteur Rade Jude from 1990s Romanian TV ads frantically flogging everything from sausages to laxatives, showing the country's newfound passion for capitalism.
What our reviewer said 'Sometimes Jude and co-director Christian Ferencz-Flatz take out the audio entirely so we can just focus on the eerie garish images in silence. Freeze-frames show us the quasi-porn ecstatic closing of eyes at the moment of taste.' Peter Bradshaw
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Reviewd by Libby Brooks
Summed up in a sentence Scotland's former leader reflects on her time in power.
What our reviewer said 'There are moments of bracing honesty. She reveals she came close to having a breakdown after giving evidence at the UK Covid inquiry, and a lengthy passage on her pregnancy loss is almost unbearably intimate.'
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Further reading Salmond, independence strategy and sexism: what we've learned from Nicola Sturgeon's book
Reviewed by Beejay Silcox
Summed up in a sentence An infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons.
What our reviewer said 'A tale of poets and storytellers, thinkers and theorists, art-makers and cultural sorcerers. This is a novel that believes in ideas – just not the cages we build for them.'
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Further reading Rebecca F Kuang: 'I like to write to my friends in the style of Joan Didion'
Reviewed by Erica Wagner
Summed up in a sentence A prize-winning take on a biblical tale, set in 1800s Newfoundland.
What our reviewer said 'Crummey is a wise and unsparing writer whose understanding of human foibles retains a scrap of empathy even for his blackest creations. The bloody denouement is well earned.'
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Reviewed by Dorian Lynskey
Summed up in a sentence The adventures of 20th-century ghostbuster Tony Cornell.
What our reviewer said 'This elegantly thrilling yarn encompasses the broad history of paranormal research in the UK.'
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Reviewed by Michael Nott
Summed up in a sentence A biography of the enigmatic queer poet admired by EM Forster and Jackie Onassis.
What our reviewer said 'In this deeply researched and engaging biography, Jeffreys and Jusdanis brilliantly recreate his world – and investigate his place within it.'
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Reviewed by Keiran Goddard
Summed up in a sentence Longlisted for the Booker prize, this is a brilliantly spare portrait of a man buffeted by forces beyond his control.
What our reviewer said 'A consistently phlegmatic and passive participant in the events of his life, István has something of the existential wayfarer about him.'
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Out now
Summed up in a sentence With existential lullabies and ritualistic stomps, tear-jerking odes and ballads worthy of Sinatra, US indie's steadfast storyteller makes a wonderfully unhurried double album his best yet.
What our reviewer said 'The very best of the ballads is Missionary Bell, a song whose melody is so simple and expressive you can scarcely believe it hasn't always existed.' Ben Beaumont-Thomas
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Out 22 August
Summed up in a sentence With rhythmic repetitions and rustling textures, the Norwegian hardanger fiddle player evokes the traditional music and ecological harmony of her country.
What our reviewer said 'Nysnø Over Reinlav (Fresh Snow Over Reindeer Moss) includes field recordings of 13 animals, including gyrfalcons, whimbrels and wolverines, alongside producer Morten Qvenild's fluttering piano.' Jude Rogers
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Out now
Summed up in a sentence The punk veterans' hulking 10th album mixes the blood and guts energy of their early years with high-sheen recording.
What our reviewer said 'Vocalist Tim McIlrath finds the middle ground between Strike Anywhere and Creedence Clearwater Revival more often than you might think possible.' Huw Baines
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Out now
Summed up in a sentence Ludovic Morlot creates a shimmering web around soprano Fleur Barron's lucid vocals in Trois Poèmes, on an album that also showcases Shéhérazade and Don Quichotte.
What our reviewer said 'It is the Mallarmé miniatures that shine most brightly here, with Morlot carefully teasing out the instrumental strands of the accompanying ensemble.' Andrew Clements
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Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Exclusive: ESPN will not air Spike Lee's docuseries on Colin Kaepernick, citing 'creative differences'
BEVERLY HILLS, California, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Director Spike Lee's multi-part documentary series for ESPN Films about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a national debate when he protested racial injustice nearly a decade ago, will not be released, the filmmaker and ESPN said. "ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences," ESPN said in a statement to Reuters on Saturday. "Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film." Lee told Reuters on Friday that the series was not going to be released. "It's not coming out. That's all I can say," Lee said on the red carpet ahead of the Harold and Carole Pump Foundation dinner, a fundraiser for cancer research and treatment, in Beverly Hills, California. Asked why, the Oscar-winning director declined to elaborate, citing a nondisclosure agreement. "I can't. I signed a nondisclosure. I can't talk about it." Kaepernick played for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2016. He ignited a national debate in 2016 when he knelt during the U.S. national anthem to protest systemic racism and police brutality. The 37-year-old athlete has not played in the NFL since that season. Many experts believed his political activism, which triggered a movement that drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump, was the key reason teams were wary of signing him. He later filed a collusion grievance against team owners, which was settled with the league in 2019. A representative for Kaepernick said the player had no comment about the docuseries on Saturday. Production on the series began in 2022, with Walt Disney-owned (DIS.N), opens new tab ESPN touting it as a "full, first-person account" of Kaepernick's journey that would feature extensive interviews with the player. In September, Puck News reported the project faced delays amid disagreements between Kaepernick and Lee over the direction of the film, and that ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro was open to allowing the filmmakers to shop it elsewhere.
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Courtney Stodden makes shock claim about Chrissy Teigen four years after cyberbullying scandal erupted
Courtney Stodden has claimed she sent a friendly message to Chrissy Teigen only to be 'completely ignored,' four years after their cyberbullying scandal erupted. Back in 2011, Courtney shot to notoriety after her acting coach Doug Hutchison married her when she was just 16 years old and he was 50. Chrissy, 39, brutally trolled the teenager online in her early days of fame, tweeting for example that her 'fantasy' was for Courtney to take a 'dirt nap.' In 2021, fans dredged up some of Chrissy's old tweets and furiously denounced her for her viciousness towards Courtney - who publicly claimed that when she was still underage, she had gotten private messages from Chrissy urging her to kill herself. The controversy torpedoed Chrissy's then stratospheric career, but in the intervening years she has been gingerly navigating a return to the spotlight, most recently with an appearance on Meghan Markle 's cooking show With Love, Meghan. When the series was hit with backlash for having Chrissy on, Courtney defended her publicly and - she says - sent her a supportive message that was met with silence. Daily Mail has contacted Chrissy's representatives for comment. Courtney, who left Doug in 2020 and has since described him as a 'groomer,' made her claim about Chrissy on Instagram this Friday. 'I have been getting a lot of people asking me how I feel about Meghan Markle having Chrissy Teigen on Love, Meghan, her new cooking show,' she said. 'And my response to it is that I do not believe people should be bullying Chrissy. Have we learned anything? Two wrongs do not make a right,' Courtney argued. 'I posted about this, and I saw Chrissy Teigen was on my Instagram watching my Story, so I decided to reach out to Chrissy on DM and tell her that I'm here if she needs to talk and I do not believe people should be bullying her and she shouldn't be listening to anyone who's bullying her.' Courtney then alleged that Chrissy 'has completely ignored me,' offering a tart smile to the camera before concluding with a pointed: 'Yeah.' Earlier this year, Courtney shared that she drafted a suicide note after being deluged with scathing comments from social media trolls, particularly Chrissy. In 2012, Chrissy had responded to one of Courtney's posts by writing: 'I hate you,' and in 2011 the wife of John Legend had tweeted: '.@CourtneyStodden my Friday fantasy: you. dirt nap. mmmmmm baby.' 'Saying this to a child when you're the queen of Twitter... it was so much,' Courtney said in the ABC News documentary IMPACT x Nightline: Confessions of a Child Bride. 'I had a suicide letter written. I remember my last thought was: "Maybe I don't deserve to be here when people that high up are telling me I don't deserve to be."' Though the tweets were from nearly a decade prior, the blowback against Chrissy only gathered steam in 2021, intensified by an interview Courtney gave that May. 'She wouldn't just publicly tweet about wanting me to take "a dirt nap" but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself,' Courtney alleged to the Daily Beast. 'Things like: "I can't wait for you to die."' As the online anger against Chrissy reached a fever pitch, she issued a public apology to Courtney and also claimed to have expressed her contrition in private. 'I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel,' Chrissy tweeted. 'I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fueled all this, I want to also publicly apologize. I'm so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am.' Although Courtney publicly stated that she accepted Chrissy's apology, she denied hearing from the Bring the Funny star in private. Chrissy's A-list position in Hollywood went up in flames, and she has since described herself as being a member of what she called 'cancel club.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
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ESPN host makes humiliating error that Dave Portnoy brands 'next level stupid'
ESPN host Monica McNutt made a humiliating mistake while live on air that Dave Portnoy has branded 'next level stupid'. During Friday's episode of 'First Take', Stephen A. Smith and McNutt welcomed comedian and actor Druski onto the show, who was wearing the jersey of Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders. But, during a painfully awkward exchange, McNutt claimed he was actually wearing the jersey of Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders. The Browns' jerseys are typically orange, brown and white whereas the Lions are typically blue or white. McNutt, who is usually a basketball analyst, said to Druski: 'The jersey. Let's get into it because this obviously ties to one Shedeur Sanders.' Druski, awkwardly, then replied: 'No, no no. This is Barry Sanders.' McNutt instantly apologized for the mistake, while Smith did seem to be aware that is was Barry Sanders who Druski was supporting. Portnoy took to X on Saturday to comment on the incident, writing: 'This is next level stupid here'. Earlier this year, McNutt was accused of playing into 'racial hysteria' with a controversial theory on the popularity of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark. Asked by BBC 's Katty Kay to explain the reason behind Clark's widespread acceptance, McNutt pointed to Clark's race and her midwestern roots. 'Caitlin represented, and again, some of this to me probably is not fair to her, because it was not anything that she said or was truly based on her personality, but she was a white girl from the middle of America,' McNutt said. 'And so she represented a whole lot to a lot of people, whether that is truly what she prescribed to or not.' Clark's race has remained a constant source of controversy on both sides of the political aisle, from conservatives who see her as the target of supposedly jealous African-American rivals, to liberals who think she's unfairly pulling the spotlight away from the league's black stars. Bobby Burack, a writer for Fox-owned responded by calling McNutt a 'fool,' while also targeting her fellow ESPN hosts. There was also outrage on social media. 'Is she an idiot (like Kendrick Perkins)?' Burack asked. 'Does she actually believe the manufactured racial hysteria (like Ryan Clark)? Or is she just gifting, knowing the upside of race-grifting as a black woman at ESPN (like Elle Duncan)? Hard to say.'
