Danny Dyer, Luca Pasqualino, Brendan Patricks, and Alex Hassell star in the second season of Rivals, the preposterous adaptation of Jilly Cooper's 1980s bonkbuster. The show is back on Disney+, and everyone involved is clearly having the time of their life. Guardian reviewer Sarah Dempster says, "Rivals is beyond earthly praise. Let us insert a single rose between its bum cheeks and raise a glass of Cinzano to its naked audacity. Bottoms up!"
Documentaries Worth Watching
Children of the Blitz
Available on BBC iPlayer, this film features the last survivors of the Blitz telling their shattering stories. Phil Harrison calls it "wonderful, moving, and hugely important." He adds, "This kind of access to the inner lives of children in wartime is priceless."
Wrestling With Trump
On Channel 4, Munya Chawawa delivers a smackdown to the US president. Lucy Mangan says, "If the Democrats had done what Chawawa does in his punchy, passionate, and weirdly uplifting documentary, it might be a slightly better world today."
Drama and Comedy
Off Campus
Prime Video's Off Campus is a straight copy of hockey romcom Heated Rivalry. Lucy Mangan advises, "Sit back with your beverage of choice, turn off your brain and relax."
Believe Me
ITVX's Believe Me is a sensitive look at the fight for justice for survivors of the "black-cab rapist" John Worboys. Mangan praises it as "a punchy, intelligent script" that is "compelling as well as nonexploitative."
Film Highlights
The Christophers
In cinemas now, this Steven Soderbergh film stars Ian McKellen as an irascible painter and Michaela Coel as his assistant. Peter Bradshaw calls it "terrifically exhilarating and funny, as bracing as a large vodka and tonic before lunch."
Obsession
Curry Barker's follow-up to Milk & Serial is a head-smashingly gory cautionary tale. Benjamin Lee says it's "satisfyingly slick proof that Barker knows just what to do when levelling up."
Northern Soul: Still Burning
This documentary centres on the Wigan Casino and its amphetamine-fuelled all-nighters. Bradshaw describes it as "an absorbing docu-celebration of the northern soul scene."
Top Gun
Tom Cruise's classic is back in cinemas. Bradshaw says, "It's all very silly, though it's impossible not to feel some affection."
Streaming Pick
The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
On Mubi, this Chilean debut mixes magic realism and melodrama in a tale of an LGBTQ+ community. Cath Clarke calls it "a beautiful, raw debut."
Books
The Savage Landscape
Cal Flyn's exploration of wilderness is reviewed by Edward Posnett as "a work of extraordinary physical and narrative movement."
John of John
Douglas Stuart's story of a father and son in the Hebrides is praised by Yagnishsing Dawoor: "Diehard romantics will find much to love."
The Correspondent
Virginia Evans' novel, shortlisted for the Women's prize for fiction, is "an immensely enjoyable read," says Rebecca Wait.
Uprising
Tahmima Anam's story of female rebellion is described by Sana Goyal as showing "the power of rage and radical hope."
Weimar
Katja Hoyer's book on how one small town voted for the Nazis is reviewed by Alex Faludy: "Understanding why people turned away from democracy is essential."
Music
Kevin Morby: Little Wide Open
With help from Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver, and Lucinda Williams, this album offers subtly melancholic songs. Alexis Petridis says its main currency is "subtle pleasures."
Genesis Owusu: Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge
This genre-hopping LP is seething with righteous anger. Jack Tregoning calls it "a reminder that art is itself a source of hope."
Marisa Anderson: The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music
Jude Rogers says Anderson's album "constantly and magically questions how porous far-flung musical cultures really are."
Ensemble Modern and HK Gruber: Dancing on a Volcano
This snapshot of musical Germany between 1920 and 1933 is "a perfect example of the kind of thing the Nazis couldn't abide," says Clive Paget.
Live Tour
Angine de Poitrine
The polka-dotted phenomenon tour Europe and the UK. Dave Simpson says their music is "a weirdly hypnotic, berserk hybrid."
