The SLMan Culture List: July

Sunny stars Rashida Jones as Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan, whose life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash. As a consolation, she’s given Sunny, one of a new class of domestic robots made by her husband’s electronics company. At first Suzie resents Sunny’s attempts to fill the void in her life, but gradually they develop an unexpected friendship, as together they uncover the dark truth of what really happened to Suzie’s family.

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Mr John Wick has a new venture – writing sci-fi novels. Keanu Reeves has teamed up with author China Miéville to create a world inspired by the BRZRKR comic books. There have always been rumours of a warrior who cannot be killed. He has had many names: Unute, Child of Lightning, Death himself. These days, he’s known simply as B – and he wants to be able to die. In the present day, a US black-ops group has promised him they can help with that. All he needs to do is help them in return. But when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event ultimately points toward a force even more mysterious than B himself. In a collaboration that combines Miéville’s singular style with Reeves’s haunting narrative, these two artists have created something unique, sure to please existing fans and create scores of new ones.

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Indie film champion MUBI has announced that the inaugural MUBI Fest in the UK will take place at Manchester’s Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, on 12th-13th July. It will feature a hand-picked selection of feature films and shorts to watch in innovative screening spaces, as well as stage talks, Q&As, workshops, installations and DJs. It will be the first event in a worldwide programme of MUBI FEST events that will feature stops in Mexico City, São Paulo, Chicago, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Istanbul and Milan before the end of the year.

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This is a fresh new account of Paris’s liberation in 1944 – one of the most dramatic hinge moments of WWII. Bestselling author Patrick Bishop has packed it with revelations, as he tells the story of those heady days of suspense, danger, exhilaration – and vengeance – through the eyes of participants from all sides of the conflict: Americans, French and Germans; resisters and collaborators. Among them are famous names like Ernest Hemingway, JD Salinger and Pablo Picasso, but also some fascinating unknowns including a medic-turned-Resistance-gunwoman, an androgynous Hungarian sculptor and a French bluestocking who quietly set about saving the nation’s art treasures from the Nazi looters. Paris ’44 looks behind the mythology to tell the real story of the liberation and expose the conflicts and contradictions of France under the occupation – the shame as well as the glory. 

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In 1977, 17-year-old Steven Hamper was a stonemason in the dockyards of Chatham, Kent. His heart, however, beat in sync with the punk rock sentiments of the era. In a gesture of revolutionary defiance, he took a 3lb club hammer and smashed his hand, vowing to never work again. In doing so, Steven metamorphosed into Billy Childish, a true renaissance man. Childish has since remained steadfastly true to punk's DIY cred, becoming one of the most recognisable and authentic voices in whichever artistic endeavour he undertakes. He has released over 150 albums of raw rock ’n’ roll, punk, blues and folk, written volumes of searing poetry, as well as several autobiographical novels. But what he is perhaps best known for in recent years is his painting, for which he is now critically, commercially and internationally feted. To Ease My Troubled Mind is a portrait by former Q editor Ted Kessler, collated over a year of interviews with Childish, as well as with close family, ex-girlfriends, bandmembers past and present, friends, foes, collaborators – even his therapist. It is an unflinching yet frequently spiritual and funny portrait of an artist whose obstacle-strewn upbringing formed the backbone of his work.

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Ray Lennox is determined to move on from his darkest days. The ex-detective has left Edinburgh for a fresh start in Brighton, replacing fixations and addictions with quiet evenings and a rigorous fitness regime. Then Lennox meets Mathew Cardingworth. Rich, smooth-talking and immaculately dressed, he presents himself as a successful, and respectable, property developer. Yet their encounter reawakens memories that have haunted Lennox for decades, sending him into a spiral of confusion and rage. Lennox has no choice – he must confront the events of his childhood. But the more he identifies the links between Cardingworth, the disappearance of a group of foster-care boys, and the violence of his past, the more he finds himself asking: what will he sacrifice to achieve resolution at last?

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Somerset House Summer Series returns with a new line-up of shows in its central courtyard. Over the last couple of decades, the series has become a hallmark event for music lovers, serving as a launchpad for emerging acts. R&B rising star Pip Millett opens this year’s run on Thursday 11th July. Multi-platinum-selling DJ, producer and label boss DBN Gogo is in on Saturday 13th July, with an afternoon and evening featuring special guest DJs and live full band sets. Smino, the self-proclaimed hip-hop laureate of St Louis, is a neo-soul rapper who deals in whimsical wordplay and will play on Monday 15th July. Then The Amazons join the bill on Tuesday 16th July and Brighton-based The Big Moon will be performing hits from their Mercury-nominated debut Love In The 4th Dimension on Thursday 18th July.

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Whether it's starting out in a new industry, navigating digital dating, or trying to make friends later in life, many of us struggle to connect. During his childhood, Josh Smith was too afraid to speak because of his speech impediment. In adulthood, uncovering the power of conversation that transformed his life. As a celebrity interviewer, Josh has spoken with people of every background, mood and personality. He believes there's an art and a science to a good chat, and understanding that can unlock a whole world of connection. His new book Great Chat includes seven key lessons that will help you have more meaningful conversations and show you how they can improve your wellbeing.

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If you’ve ever seen Questlove as a talking head in a music documentary, you’ll know he knows his stuff. When hip-hop first emerged in the 1970s, it wasn't expected to become the cultural force it is today. But for a young Black kid growing up in a musical family in Philadelphia, it was everything. He stayed up late to hear the newest songs on the radio. He saved his money to buy vinyl as soon as it landed. He even started to try to make his own songs. You guessed it, that kid was Questlove, and decades later, he’s a six-time Grammy winner, Oscar winner, New York Times bestselling author, cofounder of one of hip-hop's defining acts (the Roots), and the genre's unofficial in-house historian. In this landmark book, he skilfully traces the creative and cultural forces that made and shaped hip-hop, highlighting both the forgotten but influential gems and the undeniable chart-topping hits, and weaving them all together with the stories no one else knows. Questlove approaches his subject with not only the encyclopaedic fluency and passion of an obsessive fan but also the expertise and originality of an innovative participant.

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