The SLMan Culture List – October
THE SPORTS DOC: Beckham
New four-part documentary series Beckham tells the inside story of a global football star and cultural icon. From his working-class beginnings in east London, his drive and determination to win, and the battle to find balance between ambition, love and family, David Beckham’s story is one of immense ups and downs. This new series takes viewers on that rollercoaster and builds a surprising, personal and definitive story of one of the most recognisable and scrutinised athletes of all time. In Beckham, actor and director Fisher Stevens (Hugo in Succession) along with Oscar-winning producer John Battsek (One Day in September, Searching for Sugar Man, Winter on Fire) are granted unprecedented access to David, his wife Victoria, his family, his friends and his teammates. The result is a portrait of a man as well as a chronicle of modern sports and celebrity culture.
Visit Netflix.com
THE EXTREME WATCH: Race To The Summit
If you loved Free Solo, this will be right up your street. In this Netflix documentary, fearless alpine climbers Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold enter into a death-defying rivalry to set speed records on the great north faces of the Swiss Alps. Steck was the ‘fastest climber in the world’ until Arnold broke his Eiger speed record in 2011. That incredible climb sparked a duel across the Alps, many of which the pair climbed ‘solo’, without any safety equipment.
Visit Netflix.com
THE MUSIC DOC: Dear Mama
When this launched in the US in April, it became FX’s most-watched premiere for an unscripted series. Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur is an American documentary miniseries directed by Allen Hughes (the award-winning director of critically acclaimed The Defiant Ones), about rapper and poet Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur, who was a Black Panther party member and activist. The deeply personal five-parter defies the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling to share an illuminating saga of a mother and son.
Visit DisneyPlus.com
THE COMPANION PIECE: Tupac Shakur: The Authorised Biography by Staci Robinson
Fully illustrated with photos, mementos, handwritten poetry, musings and more, this is the first and only estate-authorised biography of the legendary Tupac. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just 25, Tupac continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated and prolific figures in modern history. In Tupac Shakur, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson – who knew Tupac as a young man and who was entrusted by his mother Afeni to write his biography – peels back the myths and unpacks the complexities that have shadowed Tupac's existence. With exclusive access to his private notebooks, letters, unpublished lyrics and uncensored conversations with those who knew and loved him best, Robinson tells a powerful story of a life defined by politics and art, and a man driven by equal parts brilliance and impulsiveness.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE FUN READ: Glutton by Ed Gamble
In Glutton, comedian, Great British Menu judge and Off Menu host Ed Gamble shares a relatable selection of experiences and stories from a life lived through food. From the trials of being a diabetic with a sweet tooth to his teenage battles with obesity, to the joy of cooking and the power of food to bring us together, this is a hilarious and heart-warming memoir. Inside, he chronicles how before he could walk, he already knew that he preferred poached salmon to purée, that celery was a calorie-sapping waste of time, and that mashed potatoes should be made with loads of butter. While he might ordinarily have been upset by the calls of 'precocious little sh*t' coming from his family, he was too busy eating and staging rebellions against the patronising list of misery that is a children's menu. For more, you can book tickets to Ed’s live event – in celebration of the launch – at the Southbank Centre on 26th October.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE MEMOIR: Every Man For Himself And God Against All by Werner Herzog
This is the long-awaited memoir from the legendary filmmaker and celebrated author Werner Herzog. Hauling a steamship over a mountain in the jungle; walking from Munich to Paris in the dead of winter; descending into an active volcano; living in the wilderness among grizzly bears – Werner Herzog has always been intrigued by extremes of human experience. Here, he illuminates the influences and ideas that have driven his creativity and shaped his unique worldview. Herzog's life matches the drama of his famous films: the boy growing up in poverty in a small village in the Alps after WWII; the teenager travelling the world in search of adventure that almost cost him his life; the director trying to calm his leading actor Klaus Kinski in the Amazonian jungle. Along the way, Herzog tells of ordinary people with extraordinary stories: rural labourers, circus acrobats, child soldiers. Every Man For Himself & God Against All is a personal record of one of the great self-invented lives of our time.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE SPORTS MEMOIR: Great Rides According To G by Geraint Thomas
From the peaks of Snowdonia to the shores of California, celebrated Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas shares his favourite rides from around the world. Across the UK, into Europe and further afield, these are the training rides, races and journeys closest to his heart. From one-day classics in the Peak District and Snowdonia to Tuscany and the wide-open vistas of New Zealand's South Island, these are the routes you'll want to ride alongside the cycling superstar. There are also suggestions from other racers: from world champion Remco Evenepoel and his favourite winter training ride in Calpe, Spain; around Yorkshire with Tom Pidcock – Olympic mountain bike champion, world cyclo-cross champion and newly crowned winner of Strade Bianche; and the wilds of western Ireland from champion sprinter Sam Bennett. Ideal for any cycling fans in your life.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE A-LISTER’S HANDBOOK: Be Useful: Seven Tools For Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
The world's greatest bodybuilder; the world's highest paid movie star; the leader of the world's sixth largest economy. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s accolades did not happen by accident. Clear vision, big thinking, hard work, direct communication, resilient problem-solving, open-minded curiosity, and a commitment to giving back all played a part in his success. But all of this was underpinned by the one lesson Schwarzenegger's father hammered into him above all: be useful. Written in Arnie’s earnest, blunt, powerful voice, Be Useful takes readers on a tour through his toolkit for a meaningful life. He shows readers how to put those tools to work, in service of whatever fulfilling future they can dream up for themselves. He brings his insights to life with compelling personal stories, life-changing successes and life-threatening failures alike – some of them famous, some told here for the first time.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE NOVEL: The Wolves of Eternity by Karl Ove Knausgaard
From internationally bestselling author Karl Ove Knausgaard, The Wolves of Eternity is the new book in a visionary series that began with The Morning Star. It is 1986 and Syvert Løyning has returned from military service to his mother's home in southern Norway. One night, he dreams of his late father, and the next morning can't shake him from his mind. Searching through his father's belongings for clues and connections, Syvert finds a cache of letters that leads to the Soviet Union. In present-day Russia, Alevtina Kotov, a biologist at Moscow State University, is travelling to celebrate her stepfather's 80th birthday. Alevtina has always been curious and driven, but recently – tired and preoccupied with the care of her young son – she has felt adrift. Her friend Vasilisa offers some intellectual nourishment: she is writing a book about belief in eternal life. But it is a meeting with a visitor from Norway that will redraw the line of Alevtina's world, on the same weekend that a mysterious new star appears in the sky.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE BUSINESS BOOK: Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis
From the number-one bestselling author of The Big Short comes this high-octane story of the enigmatic figure at the heart of one of the 21st-century's most spectacular financial collapses. Sam Bankman-Fried wasn't just rich. Before he turned 30, he'd become the world's youngest billionaire, making a record fortune in the crypto frenzy. CEOs, celebrities and world leaders vied for his time. Then it all fell apart. Michael Lewis was there when it happened, having got to know Bankman-Fried during his epic rise. In Going Infinite he tells a story like no other, taking readers through the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own. Both psychological portrait of a preternaturally gifted 'thinking machine' and wild financial roller-coaster ride, this is a 21st-century epic of high-frequency trading and even higher stakes – and of crypto mania and insane amounts of money.
Visit Amazon.co.uk
THE TV DOCUMENTARY: If The Streets Were On Fire
Following its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, If The Streets Were On Fire has launched as a Storyville documentary on iPlayer. Set during the height of the knife crime epidemic in London, it follows the story of two young men, Mac and Milo, from London’s Bike Life community, fighting for their futures as they try to escape the harsh realities of street life through the brotherhood of biking. In a landscape decimated by austerity measures, a community called "BikeStormz” has sprung up in the void, providing one of the last safety nets for young people who are searching for hope in difficult circumstances. For those involved, biking is their escape, their respite and redemption, a lifeline, and a way of seeking solidarity and acceptance in a community that understands the realities of living in such proximity to the world of street crime. Through the lives of two men, the film weaves a rich tapestry of what it means to be a young person dealing with the realities of street life at this unprecedented moment.
Visit iPlayer.com
THE SCI-FI THRILLER: Bodies
Based on the mind-bending graphic novel by Si Spencer, Bodies is a police procedural with a twist. When a body – the same body – is found on Longharvest Lane in London's East End in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate. As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader – Elias Mannix (Stephen Graham) – becomes increasingly central. Did he have a part to play in the murder? Or is something far more sinister at play? To solve the mystery, four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning over 150 years.
Visit Netflix.com
THE BLOCKBUSTER: Killers of the Flower Moon
One of the most anticipated cinema releases of the year, Killers of the Flower Moon is directed by Oscar winner Martin Scorsese and based on David Grann’s bestselling book. At the turn of the 20th century, oil brought a fortune to the Osage Nation, who became some of the richest people in the world overnight. The wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers, who manipulated, extorted and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder. Based on a true story and told through the improbable romance of Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), Killers of the Flower Moon is an epic western crime saga, where real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal. Also stars Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE CINEMA THRILLER: The Killer
The Killer is an American neo-noir action thriller directed by David Fincher and based on the French graphic novel series of the same name. Solitary, cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, a killer (Michael Fassbender) waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool. This one is set to hit cinemas at the end of October, and Netflix in November.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE FOOTY DOC: Messi Meets America
Messi Meets America is the highly anticipated six-part documentary featuring exclusive access to Lionel Messi, the greatest-of-all-time in a sport that commands the devotion of five billion fans around the world, as he makes his debut in Leagues Cup and Major League Soccer. After over twenty unforgettable and record-breaking years at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain and winning the FIFA World Cup 2022 with Argentina, Messi made a landmark decision that forever changed the face of soccer in North America by joining Major League Soccer and Inter Miami CF. Now, with unprecedented access to Messi and his new Inter Miami CF family, Messi Meets America takes viewers behind the scenes with Messi and his teammates as the series chronicles his immersion in America, the remarkable journey and transformation of Inter Miami CF and the impact he is currently having on soccer in North America as "Messi Mania” crosses the continent.
Visit TV.Apple.com
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