The week's culture highlights include Beabadoobee's fourth album Pylon, the final instalment of the documentary series 70 Up, and the dementia drama Queen at Sea, all receiving top marks from Guardian critics.
TV: England 'Til I Die and 70 Up lead the picks
Channel 4's documentary England 'Til I Die follows Sussex man Liam Tomsett's journey into the far right, as he takes to the streets in anger against asylum seekers. Hannah J Davies wrote: "It's hard to come away from England 'Til I Die without the feeling that people like Tomsett are making things so much worse."
The final instalment of 70 Up, available on ITVX, marks the first since creator Michael Apted's death. Directed by Asif Kapadia, Lucy Mangan noted it "has a more reflective and elegiac tone than in previous years." The series has followed participants every seven years since childhood.
Film: Queen at Sea and Shaun the Sheep delight critics
Queen at Sea, starring Tom Courtenay, Juliette Binoche and Anna Calder-Marshall, is a startling portrait of intimacy in a dementia drama. Peter Bradshaw wrote: "The story moves from one agonisingly difficult and ambiguous situation to the next – each a terrifying point of no return."
Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, the third cinematic adventure for Aardman's ovine hero, features Shaun's pumpkin-supersizing serum ending up in a balding farmer's hair growth bottle. Bradshaw called it "another excellent family film, crammed as ever with top visual gags."
Books: Klein and Taylor's End Times Fascism and more
End Times Fascism by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, reviewed by Daniel Trilling, offers a sharp analysis of how the super-rich capitalise on climate and financial chaos. The reviewer described it as "a bold, clarifying intervention."
Other notable books include China Miéville's The Rouse, Ben MacIntyre's Redwood, Naomi Alderman's The Strangers, Sebastian Faulks's Farewell to Eden, and Daniel Mason's Country People.
Albums: Beabadoobee's Pylon and Beck's Ride Lonesome
Beabadoobee's fourth album Pylon sprinkles 90s alt-fuzz with disarmingly sweet melodies and features guests including Paramore's Hayley Williams and Turnstile's Brendan Yates. Alexis Petridis wrote: "The album continually deploys a sweet-to-sour pivot that's impressively well-judged."
Beck's first album in seven years, Ride Lonesome, surveys mid-50s malaise in the wake of divorce. Petridis said it "never feels like a pale imitation," with "melodically exquisite" songwriting. Empress Of's Dream House and Opus13's Mendelssohn and Grieg recording also impressed reviewers.
