Jolly, kitsch and bawdy, Beryl Cook’s paintings were loved by the British public but derided by the art establishment. One hundred years after her birth, a new exhibition argues for a radical reassessment of her work and legacy. By any measure, Beryl Cook’s career arc was impressive. A self-taught artist, …

The actress makes a return to form in this hard-hitting film from Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó about a middle-aged woman facing up to addiction – and her traumatic childhood. Amy Adams is a transfixing screen actress, but she’s had a bad run of it lately: her last truly successful project …

1. Daydream (c 1870–1890), anonymous Two realities collide in this 19th-Century carte de visite that was most likely purchased to be collected and traded. Cartes de visite were small mass-produced prints mounted on card, and were very popular in the Victorian era. In this one we see the present: a …

They were directed to the isolated farmhouse of racehorse breeder Jeremy Maxwell, about 30 miles outside Belfast near Downpatrick. On the way, they were in the countryside when five masked men carrying machine-guns stopped their car. Thompson said that when he wound down his window, one of them asked him …

Bill Evans was a boundary-breaking US pianist who contended with multiple personal tragedies, and a serious drug problem. This new drama about him will draw you to his hypnotic music. While they may be a favourite of awards season, musician biopics have become an increasingly maligned genre, with their clichéd …

Looking back on it with a 2025 lens It will be interesting to see how the perception of the show is shifted yet again by the airing of the Netflix series. Banks takes the chance in it to express some regret for what went on: “I knew I went too …

Adolescence writer Jack Thorne has adapted William Golding’s classic novel for his latest TV series about murderous male youth – but it’s a very different beast. Jack Thorne has long been an acclaimed and prolific playwright and screenwriter, with credits including mega stage-hit Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Nevertheless, …

She is also the subject of a new nine-part drama from Ryan Murphy, creator of American Horror Story and American Crime Story. The first season of his latest franchise Love Story is about the courtship and marriage of Carolyn and John F Kennedy Jr, the son of the former president …

Alamy Julie & Julia (2009) Nora Ephron wrote When Harry Met Sally and she wrote and directed Sleepless in Seattle, so you might not think of this as her most romantic film. But Julie & Julia is a buttery, unconventional love story. On the surface, it’s a time-lapsed fantasia of …

Their playbook for statecraft was based on Chinese philosophy, principally the ideas of Confucius. “In Neo-Confucian thought,” says Buckland, “you have to have a balance between military power and cultural skill.” The ramification was increasing investment in soft power in the incense-infused chambers of the court. The Trustees of the …

There are a handful of Nordic design characteristics that these homes share. Key is the use of natural materials, and the way these houses connect with and frame views of the landscape. Bradbury also cites their relative modesty of scale and subtlety. “These are sophisticated designs yet they sit gently …

Robbie turns up in the first of many bright red-and-white dresses, and her performance is magnificent, making Cathy wild and selfish but with a conscience, and an innocence beneath her sense of entitlement. And forget her age. Fennell simply makes the characters older. Mr Earnshaw even says, “She’s already well …

Listen to the 1939 BBC recording of Tutankhamun’s trumpets found in his tomb. Tutmania was reborn in the 1970s with the international success of the Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition. Its star attraction, the gold mask, drew more than 1.6 million visitors to the British Museum in 1972, still its most …

Notable for its moments of shocking violence and its avant-garde visual approach, Taxi Driver is brimming with memorable scenes beyond Bickle’s famous squaring off in the mirror. In particular, another shorter scene really stands as the film’s most important moment of visual idiosyncrasy; showcasing a distinctly European sensibility in what …

In the trailer, Robbie is seen doing some highly suggestive breadmaking, her cheeks flushed and her bodice heaving, as she remembers Elordi’s naked torso. Then there are shots of a corset being pulled tight, of Elordi stripping off his shirt, and, errm, someone putting their finger in a fish’s mouth. …

Yet he is painfully aware that this is “an impossible way to live”, an “idiot compassion” that eliminates personal responsibility and enables people to continue their immoral actions unimpeded. Sometimes people need to get their “asses kicked” in order to change. Such criticisms are (mostly) expressed by the French inventor, …

“People perceive that an anatomical illustration is an objective depiction of the human body to the best of the artist’s abilities,” says Gann, which is something that the exhibition seeks to “break apart”. “In truth, they are subject to culture and tastes and artistic movements as any other form of …

Heathcliff lives a life of torment and uncontainable grief, but inflicts that suffering on everyone around him and feels no remorse in doing so. By not righting his wrongs, and letting him die without further punishment, O’Callaghan says, Brontë poses more complex questions to the reader, rather than giving them …

More than just a few bad apples Serpico, partially deafened in one ear by the shooting, testified in the inquiry himself, saying: “I hope that police officers in the future will not experience the same frustration and anxiety that I was subjected to for the past five years at the …

Universal Pictures 9. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert When Baz Luhrmann was researching his Elvis biopic, he unearthed dozens of boxes of unseen documentary footage. Much of it concerned Presley’s residencies in Las Vegas following his 1968 comeback special: there were interviews, rehearsals, and hours of outtakes from his two …