Film: Bernie

Jack Black is Bernie Tiede, a mild-mannered mortuary worker who sweeps into Carthage, Texas and becomes the town’s best friend. “He was a real people person – he just made you feel good about yourself,” one of the townsfolk says in Richard Linklater’s deftly assembled movie.

Bernie’s good nature comes unstuck when he befriends one of the fiercest widows in town, Shirley MacLaine’s Marjorie, the two becoming best buds before her scathing treatment of him proves too much and he sends her packing courtesy of a bullet in the back.

Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine | 12A | 104mins | Out Apr 27

Film: Iron Man 3

Robery Downey Jr stars for the third time as the billionaire philanthropist, who’s now facing troubles with his own sanity, and Ben Kingsley’s maniac Mandarin, who is out to cause all kinds of death, chaos and unpleasantness. Guy Pearce is on hand too as a smarmy type, with Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black the new helmsman. Should be top drawer.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sir Ben Kingsley | 12A | 126mins On general release April 25

 


Film: The Look of Love

Paul Raymond was the ‘king of the keyhole show’ – or Soho, depending on your viewpoint – and his career as a purveyor of erotica from the Fifties to the Nineties is the focus of Michael Winterbottom’s tale of ecstasy and excess. A comedy-drama with a top Brit cast (Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Stephen Fry), it lifts the lid on the man behind the myth with hilarious results. 

On general release April 26


Theatre: Once

This stage version of John Carney’s critically acclaimed 2006 film – about a Dublin busker and Czech immigrant who bond over music – wowed Broadway. You can grab a pre-show or interval pint from the on-stage Dublin bar to put you in the mood for this bittersweet love story that crosses culture through song.

Phoenix Theatre Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0JP.
Until Nov 30. £19.50+  
Tube | Charing Cross  
oncemusical.co.uk   

 


Theatre: My Perfect Mind

This idiosyncratic play is a show about not doing a show. In 2007, when the now 76-year-old Edward Petherbridge arrived in New Zealand to play King Lear, he found himself suffering a stroke. Not the stuff of life-affirming entertainment, yet that’s exactly what this evening of whimsy, anecdote and Bard extracts is.  LK

Young Vic Theatre The Cut, SE1 8LZ.
Until May 4. £10+ 
Tube | Southwark  
youngvic.org

Comedy: Laugh Till It Hurts – Macmillan Charity Gig

Laughing ‘til it hurts certainly won’t be a tough task at this talent-studded cancer supporting charity gig. The line-up includes Josh Widdecome (The Last Leg), Issy Suttie (off Peep Show, pictured), Michael Mittermeier, Joe Wilkinson and Marlon Davis, with Dave Johns marshalling the lot of them. Gags for a good cause. 

The Bloomsbury 
15 Gordon Street, WC1H 0AH.
Apr 24. £15 
Tube | Euston Square  
thebloomsbury.com 

 

Exhibition: Ice Age Art – Arrival of the Modern Mind

Artworks 40,000 years old, made using bone, stone, antler and ivory take centre stage in this exhibition that looks at the creative minds at play during the Ice Age. While their methods and materials may have been primitive, their quest to convey their state of mind and role in the world was terribly astute.

British Museum 
44 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG.
Until May 26. £10+  
Tube | Holborn  
britishmuseum.org 

 

Photos: Getty, Manuel Harlan