This week's edit - 6th February 2017

Watching
Toni Erdmann is a nearly three hour long German comedy but don't let that put you off!  It is warm, intelligent, funny, sharp, weird and wonderful.  I loved it and laughed, cried and cringed at its insight into a father daughter relationship.

Re-reading
I spent a few days in bed last week suffering from the hideous bug that is circling, and for some reason, my flu-addled mind decided to make me start re-reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.  Cheerful?  No.  Alarmingly resonant this year?  Yes.  Bloody brilliant?  Also yes. 

This week's edit - 30th January 2017

Watching
Like many people, I was anxious about T2 Trainspotting, concerned that it may not live up to the original film which I absolutely love.  I needn't have worried.  Danny Boyle has created a perfect revisit to the characters we know, and his unique vision shines through moments of violence, humour and poignancy.

Seeing
I saw the original London production of Art in 1996 (coincidentally the same year as Trainspotting) and enjoyed it greatly so I was keen to see the new production at the Old Vic. The play has held up well and has excellent performances by Rufus Sewell, Paul Ritter and Tim Key.

Reading
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough is a domestic thriller and I am warned that the twist at the ending is a real shock.

This week's edit - 23rd January 2017

Listening
The Crimetown podcast is a fascinating in-depth look at corruption in small town America.

Reading
Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land is as creepy as all hell but totally gripping.

Watching
Apple Tree Yard is a beautifully made BBC adaptation of one of my favourite books of recent years, by Louise Doughty. One episode in, I'm hooked.

Seeing
The Paul Nash exhibition at Tate Britain shows the expanse of his work, which is equal parts beautiful and unsettling.

This week's edit - 16th January 2017

Listening
Homecoming is the first podcast I have listened to which is fiction rather than factual and I am completely gripped.  Starring Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac and David Schwimmer amongst others, it is an intelligent psychological thriller.

Reading
Little Deaths by Emma Flint is a great read.  Inspired by the real life case of Alice Crimmins, charged with the murder of her children in 1960s New York, it is the literary version of a film noir.

Watching
Manchester by the Sea is a truly heart-shattering and intelligent film, dominated by a staggering performance by Casey Affleck.  Highly recommended, if you're feeling emotionally robust.

Seeing
The Robert Rauschenberg exhibition at Tate Modern is a brilliant retrospective of this innovative and influential American artist.

This week's edit - 9th January 2017

Watching
I know, I know, I've already written about La La Land but it really is true love.  I saw it for the second time yesterday and I'm already trying to find time in my diary to go for a third.  A blissfully beautiful homage to classic Hollywood musicals, it is impossible to watch without a grin on your face.  Go on, try.

Seeing
There's still plenty of time to see The Radical Eye, the wonderful and fascinating exhibition of Elton John's collection of modernist photography at Tate Modern.  Do get the audioguide for insights into the images, the collection and the history of photography.

Reading
I'll be honest, I've struggled with finding the time and concentration for reading anything lengthier than a Vanity Fair article for the past couple of months, but I'm looking forward to Little Deaths by Emma Flint, Leap In by Alexandra Heminsley and Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land appearing on my kindle later this week.

This years edit - art 2016

It's been a good year for exhibitions in London, although my favourite was actually in Melbourne in January.  Manifesto by Julian Rosefeldt is a multi-screen video installation, showing a collage of art history manifestos, including Futurism, Dadaism and Pop Art.  Each is presented by Cate Blanchett, who transforms into characters ranging from a teacher, a scientist, a movie star and a homeless man.  It is clever, beautiful and hypnotic, and I hope it comes to London at some point.

The Radical Eye is an exhibition at Tate Modern (still on!) showcasing modernist photography from Elton John's collection.  Exquisite and fascinating images, beautifully curated.

The National Portrait Gallery's exhibition of William Eggleston photographs was small but perfectly formed.

Yayoi Kusama at Victoria Miro was an instagrammer's dream but also a beautiful show full of depth and intrigue.

I had never heard of Georgiana Houghton before seeing her exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery and I became immediately hooked on her story.  A Victorian medium, she painted 'spirit drawings' which she produced while 'possessed' by spirits.  Her work is fascinating and years ahead of its time.

This year's edit - TV 2016

With honorable mentions to Planet Earth II, Happy Valley, Grayson Perry: All Man, The Great British Bake Off, War and Peace, The Crown, the wonderful last season of Parks and Recreation and the magnificent Danny Dyer episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, my favourite TV shows of 2016 were:

The third series of Line of Duty has perfected its formula, with shocks, surprises and brilliant performances all round.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is a Netflix gem - weird and wonderful musical (I know) romcom starring the utterly marvellous Rachel Bloom.

Veep has hit new heights in its fifth season, as Selina Meyer finally becomes POTUS, although it is sobering how the supremely ridiculous fictional events have been reflected in real life since transmission.

The Night Manager, obviously.

Stranger Things is pretty indescribable. Weird/twisted/overhyped/pastiche/homage, this horror series is addictive, however you want to describe it.