The SLMan Culture List – March

THE THRILLER: Manhunt

Based on the New York Times bestselling non-fiction book from author James L. Swanson, Manhunt is a conspiracy thriller about one of the best known but least understood crimes in history: the astonishing story of the hunt for John Wilkes Booth in the aftermath of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Tobias Menzies stars as lead investigator Edwin Stanton – and the cast also includes Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air), Lovie Simone (Greenleaf), Will Harrison (Daisy Jones & The Six), Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio), Matt Walsh (Veep) and Hamish Linklater (The Big Short).

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THE LOST NOVEL: Until August By Gabriel Garcia Marquez

This is a rediscovered novel from the late Nobel prize-winning author of Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Sitting alone, overlooking the still and blue lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach surveys the men of the hotel bar. She is happily married and has no reason to escape the world she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels here to the island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover. Amid sultry days and tropical downpours, lotharios and conmen, Ana journeys further each year into the hinterland of her desire, and the fear that sits quietly at her heart. Surprising and sensual, Until August is a meditation on freedom, regret, and the mysteries of love, from one of the most widely read writers the world has ever known.

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THE COMEDY: The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin

Upcoming comedy-adventure series The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin stars Noel Fielding (The Mighty Boosh) in the titular role as the legendary British highwayman. The six-episode Apple Original lands on Friday with the first two episodes, followed by a new episode every Friday. In the series, Dick Turpin faces some wildly absurd escapades when he’s made the reluctant leader of a band of outlaws – and tasked with outwitting corrupt lawman and self-appointed Thief Taker, Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville). Together with his gang of lovable rogues, Dick rides the highs and lows of his new endeavours: starring alongside Fielding are Tamsin Greig (Episodes), Asim Chaudhry (The Sandman), Joe Wilkinson (Sex Education) and Mark Heap (Friday Night Dinner).

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THE FILM BOOK: Hollywood: The Oral History By Jeanine Basinger & Sam Wasson

From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a new picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Hollywood: The Oral History lets its readers ‘listen in’ on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera (Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Jane Fonda, Harold Lloyd) and behind it (Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, Jordan Peele) as well as the musicians, writers, sound men, editors, make-up artists and even script timers, messengers and publicists who shaped what was heard and seen on screen. Film scholar Jeanine Basinger and New York Times bestselling author Sam Wasson have undertaken the monumental task of weaving these thousands of hours of talk into a conversation that is lively, funny, insightful, historically accurate and authentically honest in its portrait of workaday Hollywood.

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THE TRIBUTE: Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus

Following its world premiere at Venice International Film Festival, Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus will land at UK cinemas at the end of March. The film is a celebration of one of music’s most prolific composers, directed by his son Neo Sora. On 28th March 2023, Sakamoto passed away after a struggle against cancer. In the years leading up to his death, he could no longer perform live. Single concerts, not to mention global tours, were too taxing. Despite this, in late 2022, Sakamoto mustered all his energy to leave the world with one final performance: a concert film, featuring just him and his piano. Curated by the man himself and presented in his chosen order, the 20 pieces performed in the film wordlessly narrate his life through his music. The selection spans his entire career, from his Yellow Magic Orchestra popstar period to his Oscar and Golden Globe-winning film scores, plus music from his meditative final album 12.

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THE GRIPPING MEMOIR: The Trading Game: A Confession By Gary Stevenson

Ever since he was a child, Gary Stevenson wanted something better. Then he won a competition run by a bank. The prize: a golden ticket to a new life, as the youngest trader in the City, where you could make more money than you'd ever imagined. But as Gary’s wealth grew, so did his disillusionment with a system that perpetuated inequality. Deeply troubled by the vast disparity in wealth distribution, Gary began to question the capitalist system, and set out to equip others with the tools to attain financial stability. This is an outrageous, white-knuckle journey to the heart of an intoxicating world – from someone who survived the trading game then blew it all wide open.

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THE SCIENCE JOURNEY: Space Oddities By Sam Cliff

In this eye-opening and mind-expanding book, CERN experimental physicist Harry Cliff takes readers on a tour of a new universe. Something strange is going on in the cosmos. Scientists are uncovering a catalogue of weird phenomena that simply can’t be explained by our long-established theories of the universe. Particles with unbelievable energies are bursting from beneath the Antarctic ice. Unknown forces seem to be tugging on the basic building blocks of matter. Stars are flying away from us far faster than anyone can explain. In Space Oddities, Cliff provides a riveting look at the universe’s most confounding puzzles. In a journey that spans continents, he meets the scientists hunting for answers, and asks: are these anomalies accidents of nature, or could they be pointing us toward vast, hidden worlds?

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THE LIVE EVENT: The Netflix Slam

Last year, Netflix aired its first live sports event, pairing up drivers from Formula 1: Drive to Survive and golfers from Full Swing to compete in a matchplay tournament. This weekend, Netflix will stream its next live sports event, The Netflix Slam. The headline act is 22-time Grand Slam champ Rafael Nadal facing off against world no. 2 and fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in an exhibition match. The event is scheduled for Sunday 3rd March in Las Vegas at 5:30pm UK time .

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THE IMPORTANT READ: Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood In Black Gay Britain By Jason Okundaye

In this landmark work, journalist and culture commentator Jason Okundaye meets an elder generation of Black gay men. HE finds a community full of courage, charisma and good humour, hungry to tell its past – of nightlife, resistance, political fights, loss, gossip, sex, romance and vulgarity. Tracing these men’s journeys and arrivals to south London through the 70s, 80s and 90s, Okundaye relays their stories with compassion, listening as they share intimate memories and reflect upon their lives – enduring and fighting against the peak of the Aids epidemic, building social groups and throwing underground parties. Revolutionary Acts renders a singular portrait of Britain from the perspective of those who have faced marginalisation and discrimination.

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THE HISTORICAL DRAMA: Mary & George

Mary & George is inspired by the true story of Mary Villiers (Julianne Moore), who moulded her charismatic son George (Nicholas Galitzine) to seduce King James VI of Scotland and I of England and become his all-powerful lover. Through outrageous scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become the richest, most titled and influential players the English court had ever seen, and the king’s most trusted advisors. And with England’s place on the world stage under threat from a Spanish invasion and rioters taking to the streets to denounce the king, the stakes could not have been higher.

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THE HISTORY DOC: The Bloody Hundredth

On the heels of the widely celebrated series Masters of the Air, Apple TV+ is about to launch The Bloody Hundredth, a documentary honouring the real-life heroes of the 100th Bomb Group. Narrated by Tom Hanks, and directed by Mark Herzog and long-time Steven Spielberg collaborator Laurent Bouzereau, the hour-long documentary spotlights the true stories of several characters and real-life airmen featured in the series, including John Egan (played by Callum Turner), Gale Cleven (Austin Butler), Harry Crosby (Anthony Boyle), Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal (Nate Mann), Frank Murphy (Jonas Moore), Alexander Jefferson (Brandon Cook), Richard Macon (Josiah Cross), as well as veterans John “Lucky” Luckadoo, Robert Wolf and others. From the shock of Pearl Harbor to the joy of VE Day, The Bloody Hundredth is a record of what was endured and achieved by a group of young Americans when their country and the world needed them most.

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