Saturday Review
321 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 67 ratingsPresenter Tom Sutcliffe and guests offer sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events
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Episodes
Van Gogh, Mondrian, Nicholson Baker, Hotel, The Dirties
June 07, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBThe Dirties is a Canadian indie film about a couple of friends planning to make a film about a Columbine-style school massacre, where the bullies will be made to pay for what they've done. It begins to dawn on one of them that his best friend might actually be hatching a bloody murderous revenge. The main character in Nicholson Baker's latest novel "Travelling Sprinkler" is a poet who has fallen out of love with writing poems. Trying to become a songwriter, we see his personal life woven in...
Ken Loach's film, Joshua Ferris's novel, The Normal Heart on TV, Bakersfield Mist and The Whitstable Biennale
May 31, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBBakersfield Mist at London's Duchess Theatre stars Hollywood actress Kathleen Turner in a play about a woman who's convinced she's turned up a Jackson Pollock original in a junk shop. Ken Loach's new film Jimmy's Hall tells the story of the only Irishman ever to be deported from his own country as an illegal alien. As the Irish Republic was struggling to be born, Jimmy Gralton ran up against the Church and State too many times and their solution was to send him to America. Irish history is fa...
Tim Winton's Eyrie, Kenneth Clark at Tate Britain, Heli, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be
May 24, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBTim Winton's new novel Eyrie is set in Fremantle Western Australia and tells the story of a man down on his luck, who tries to sew his life back together with the help of a former neighbour and her mysterious son. Fings Ain't Wot They Used T' Be was the 1959 musical that Lionel Bart wrote before his mega success with Oliver! It launched the career of Barbara Windsor and is running at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. How does a revival of a play about nostalgia deal with its own reinterpretat...
David Hepworth; Andreas Gursky exhibition; Ned Beauman's new novel
May 17, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBWhen Albert Einstein died in 1955, the pathologist performing his autopsy stole the brain , hoping to find out truths about the nature of genius. A new play by Nick Payne at London's Bush Theatre uses it as a starting point for an exploration of how our mind makes us who we are.Touchy Feely is the latest film from leading mumblecore director Lynn Shelton. It's the story of a masseuse who develops a loathing for skin and a dentist who seems to have extraordinary unprecedented gift for healing....
Arden of Faversham; The Thrill of It All; Frank; Sheezus; The Story of Women and Art
May 10, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBJoseph O'Connor's novel The Thrill of it All is the story of 25 years in the life of an aspiring Anglo-Irish rock band who seem fated to never quite make the big time. How convincing and fascinating is his depiction of the 1980s music scene? The RSC's Roaring Girls season aims to bring lesser known works (especially those with strong female leads) by Shakespeare's contemporaries back into the spotlight. The latest play to open at The Swan in Stratford is Arden of Faversham, a revenge tragedy...
Comics at the British Library; Sunny Afternoon; the Kinks musical; Edward St Aubyn's latest novel; Tom Hollander as Dylan Thomas
May 03, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBThe exhibition Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy in The UK at The British Library looks back at nearly 2 centuries of comic book art in this country. Looking at and reflecting the social mores of their time, they provide an insight into the society that created them. What insight will our reviewers gain? Edward St Aubyn's newest novel tells the story of the jury judging the Elysian Prize for Literature. If you've not heard of it, that's because it doesnt exist. The book includes extracts from...
John Simm in Prey; Privacy at the Donmar; Simon Armitage's Troy; Exhibition; Chris Marker
April 26, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBPrivacy is a new play at London's Donmar Warehouse, looking at the way we inadvertently give away valuable private information through our use of modern communication technology - phones, computers. Is this a surprise? Director Joanna Hogg's third film, Exhibition, continues her exploration of a very British awkwardness in the ways we relate to each other and our environment. It's a quiet film but does it have an important message? The Last Days of Troy is Simon Armitage's theatrical reimag...
Matisse cut-outs at Tate; Locke, RSC's Henry IV; Fargo on TV
April 19, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBIn 1941, following a life-threatening illness, Matisse decided to change the way he made his art; from painting on canvas to creating cutout shapes of painted paper and arranging them to create brilliant vivid images - he described it as "painting with scissors". A new exhibition at Tate Modern in London brings together a collection of these works, many of which haven't been seen together since their creation more than 5 decades ago. Locke is a film set entirely in a car driving down the mot...
Calvary, Birdland, Jamaica Inn, Teju Cole, The First Georgians
April 12, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBJohn Michael McDonagh's film Calvary reunites him with Brendan Gleeson after their success together on The Guard in 2011. This time it's about a priest who is told in confession that - in one week's time - he will be killed. It has an allstar Irish cast and was rewarded with prizes at The IFTAs. Does the mix of serious subject matter and offbeat humour work? Simon Stevens is probably best known for his stage adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time -which is about to t...
Noah, Olden Days, Kingston 14, Kamila Shamsie
April 05, 2014 19:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBNoah is a film of biblical proportions. It's directed by Darren Aronofsky and stars Russell Crowe in the title role, and cost roughly $125m to make. The ambition is impressive, but the execution has left some film critics and religious groups underwhelmed. Is the film heaven-sent or horrible? Kamila Shamsie is a frequent contributor to Saturday Review, her new novel " A God In Every Stone" is set in pre-Partition India telling the story of a country taking part in the First World War while s...
Angela Lansbury in the West End; Kate Winslet in Labor Day; Sebastian Barry's new novel
March 22, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MBAt the age of 88, Dame Angela Lansbury returns to the West End theatre playing Madam Arcati in a revival of Noel Coward's wartime comedy Blithe Spirit. On Broadway it was widely acclaimed - how will a UK audience, traditionally less adulatory - receive her exuberant performance? Kate Winslet is an actress who can open and carry a movie; nobody denies her pull at the box office and skill on the screen. Her latest film 'Labor Day' is about an escaped prisoner (Josh Brolin) who ends up spending...
Under the Skin; Cézanne; W1A new comedy
March 15, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBUnder The Skin is the new film from Jonathan "Sexy Beast" Glazer. Starring Scarlett Johansson, it's the story of an alien on earth and her encounters with humans. It's been booed and cheered at film festivals around the world, what do our humanoid reviewers make of this unconventional almost- psychedelic spacey work? Henry Pearlaman was an American cold storage magnate and a collector of impressionist and post-impressionist art. A selection from his collection has come to the UK for the fir...
Grand Budapest Hotel; Ruins; Young Skins
March 08, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBTom Sutcliffe chairs sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events.
37 Days; The Book Thief; Bark
March 01, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBTom Sutcliffe is joined by Linda Grant, Tom Holland and Kate Williams to review the cinematic adaptation of The Book Thief. The young adult novel narrated by Death about growing up in Nazi Germany has sold eight million copies worldwide. How appealing will its screen incarnation be to audiences? 37 Days is the BBC's dramatic contribution to its season examining the causes of the First World War. With an impressive cast, including Ian McDiarmid as the Home Secretary Sir Edward Grey, does it m...
Nymphomaniac; True Detective; A Taste of Honey
February 22, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBWill Gompertz is joined by this week's reviewers Ekow Eshun, Viv Groskop and Gillian Slovo. They've watched both parts, some four hours in total, of Lars von Trier's controversial film, Nymphomaniac. We hear what they make of the provocative director's latest offering which focuses on the sexual adventures of Joe, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stacy Martin. True Detective is the latest TV series from HBO, the US network behind The Sopranos, The Wire and, most recently, Game of Throne. D...
Fleming; Her; Richard Hamilton
February 15, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBTom Sutcliffe and guests - David Aaronovitch, Natalie Haynes and Dreda Say Mitchell, review the Spike Jonze's film Her. Released in time for Valentine's Day, it's a romantic tale of loneliness, desire and boy meets artificial intelligence set in the not too distant future. So will love blossom? Tate Modern presents the first major retrospective of the work of Richard Hamilton. A founding figure of pop art he continued to work into his eighties, exploring different media and engaging with con...
Dallas Buyers Club; Hanif Kureishi; Inside Number 9
February 08, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBDallas Buyers Club is based on the real life story of Ron Woodruff who fought to make new treatments available to patients with HIV and AIDS. The film is nominated for six Oscars - but is it a winner? We discuss Hanif Kureishi's latest book, The Last Word. A tale of two men, an old novelist and his young biographer who comes to stay, so what does it reveal about writers and the art of writing? Abi Morgan's new play The Mistress Contract is based on the 30 year arrangement of one couple - sh...
Paxman on WWI, Martin Creed and Beckett
February 01, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBThe BBC series commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1 is presented by Jeremy Paxman. What fresh light or perspective does it shine upon our understanding of The War To End Wars? Juliet Stevenson is performing Samuel Beckett's Happy Days - buried up to her neck in a mound of earth - at London's Young Vic Theatre. What is fuelling London theatre's current revival of Beckett productions? Canadian author Dan Vyleta has just published his third novel set in immediately postwa...
King Lear, Llewyn Davis, Jonathan Lethem
January 25, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.4 MBThe role of King Lear is famously difficult - by the time an actor reaches an age where he has the gravitas, he may be too old to cope with the physical and emotional demands. Simon Russell Beale plays Shakespeare's monarch in the latest production at The National Theatre in London, but - at 52 years old - is he too young to be playing an old, deranged king? Inside Llewyn Davis is The Coen Brothers look at the folk music scene in New York's Greenwich Village, just before Bob Dylan came along ...
Scorsese, Beckett, & Sons
January 18, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MBMartin Scorsese's new film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a dodgy stock dealer in 1980s New York. The Wolf of Wall Street shows the life of wild excess and reckless financial and personal abandon that eventually came tumbling down. Usually we review one play per week on the programme, but this time it's 3 plays - and they take less than an hour all in. Samuel Beckett's Not I, Footfall and Rockaby are currently at The Royal Court Theatre and will be touring the country later this year. & Sons is...
New Bruce Springsteen album
January 11, 2014 20:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBHilary Mantel's novels about Thomas Cromwell - Chief Minister to Henry VIII - have been garlanded with awards and now the RSC has adapted both of them for the stage in 2 three-hour-long plays. We'll tell you whether they're worth queuing up for return tickets for. 12 Years A Slave is directed by British film director Steve McQueen and tells the true story of free African American kidnapped from Washington into slavery in the Southern States. It has been praised as eye opening with stunning p...