13 essential things to watch, read and see
Want to get ahead of the game on this year’s hottest cultural talking points? Here are the theater tickets to book, the titles to read and the unmissable moments coming to the big and small screens this year. By GEORGIA SIMMONDS
FILM & TV
Ocean’s 8
Wonder Woman proved that films that put women front and center are box-office gold, so this all-female spin-off to Ocean’s Eleven is set for greatness – the debut trailer nearly broke the internet on its own. Sandra Bullock plays Debbie Ocean, the badass woman gathering a formidable female crew to attempt a heist at the star-studded Met Gala in New York City. The epic action thriller also stars (deep breath) Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling and multi-talented newcomer Awkwafina. In theaters from June 8
A Wrinkle in Time
Following her successes with the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic Selma and poignant Netflix documentary 13th (both of which received Oscar nods), the uber-talented Ava DuVernay is helming Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, making her the first woman of color to direct a $100 million film. The hotly anticipated sci-fi epic, based on Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 book, has a host of impressive women in front of the camera, too: Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Rowan Blanchard, alongside rising star Storm Reid in the lead role. In theaters from March 9
Mary Shelley
In 2012, Saudi Arabian director Haifaa al-Mansour became the first female filmmaker in her country when she released Wadjda – her moving story of a girl determined to raise the funds to buy herself a bicycle. Now, she’s tackling the story of another rebellious young woman, Mary Shelley. This cinematic rendition, which stars Elle Fanning as the writer and Maisie Williams as her confidante Isabel Baxter, covers Mary’s love affair with Percy Bysshe Shelley (played by Douglas Booth) and her journey to write Frankenstein as a teenager. In UK theaters from July 6
Red Sparrow
Jennifer Lawrence is reuniting with The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence (no relation) for Red Sparrow. She’ll play fierce prima-ballerina-turned-assassin Dominika Egorova, who suffers a career-ending injury and is recruited by the Russian intelligence service to ‘Sparrow School’, where she must use her body and mind as a weapon. In theaters from March 2
The Handmaid’s Tale
The Emmy Award-winning TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian story about women enslaved to bear children returns in April. The nightmarish and acutely relevant drama starring Elisabeth Moss goes beyond the book for its second season, but encouragingly Atwood has been heavily involved, working with the production team to allow her vision of what happens to Offred next come to fruition. Premieres in April on Hulu
BOOKS
Dress Like a Woman: Working Women and What They Wore
In 2017, a source from President Donald Trump’s campaign revealed he likes females on his staff to “to dress like women”. Women of the world promptly took to social media to demonstrate what #DressLikeAWoman really means: endless diversity. This new book runs with that idea, including thought-provoking essays on gender and dress in the workplace by respected fashion critic Vanessa Friedman and feminist author Roxane Gay, along with 300 photographs illustrating what working women have worn over the last century as firefighters, surgeons, astronauts, military officers, athletes, judges and so much more. Out March 6 (Abrams)
Force of Nature
Five women go on a hike. Only four return. So goes the chilling premise of Jane Harper’s second novel Force of Nature – a thriller about some colleagues whose company retreat ends in suspicion, betrayal and, possibly, murder. Carve out a chunk of time to devour this book whole – Harper’s debut The Dry was snapped up by Reese Witherspoon for a film adaptation following its 2017 release, so this is your chance to get ahead on the next most talked-about cultural hit. Out now (Flatiron Books)
Becoming Barbra: The Young Streisand from New York to Paris
Immerse yourself in Barbra Streisand’s photo album via a new book of pictures taken on the cusp and crest of her early success by renowned Life magazine photographer Bill Eppridge. The candid shots span from 1963 to 1966 and document everything from her thrift-shopping trips and an initial meeting with the producer of Broadway’s Funny Girl (the part which sent her star stratospheric) to attending Paris Fashion Week with Marlene Dietrich and Coco Chanel in the ’60s. Out April 10 (Rizzoli)
Circe
Madeline Miller’s literary characterization of ancient women is a thing of wonder. The Song of Achilles, her 2011 Orange Prize-winning feat of imagination, was an international bestseller and Miller’s second novel promises more grit and passion. It’s inspired by The Odyssey and narrated by Circe, the witch from Homer’s epic. Out April 19 (Little, Brown Book Group)
The Pisces
Writer Melissa Broder is a celebrated poet, the author of Lenny Letter’s astrology column and the creator of popular Twitter account @SoSadToday (a channel she uses to express her darkest fears and feelings). Broder’s achingly original, LA-set debut novel The Pisces is a tale of anxiety, fantasy and romantic obsession… with a merman. Out May 1 (Hogarth)
THEATER
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical
Tina Turner, the global queen of rock’n’roll whose career has spanned more than half a century, gets her own West End musical this April. The legend herself has been involved in the production, promising a credible distillation of her extraordinary life and boundary-pushing work. If art truly imitates life, rest assured that the costumes will be enough of a spectacle on their own. From April 18; Aldwych Theatre, London
The Cher Show
Emmy, Grammy and Oscar-winning performer Cher is celebrated in a new musical based on her sensational life. “It seems crazy, exciting and bizarre,” the iconic singer said in a statement, ‘but that’s probably how my life seems to most people.” The Cher Show will chart her six-decade career, premiering in Chicago ahead of its Broadway opening scheduled for fall. June 12-July 15; Oriental Theater, Chicago. Fall 2018; New York
Mean Girls
Tina Fey’s whip-smart, endlessly quotable dissection of female friendship is getting an all-singing, all-dancing makeover on Broadway this spring. The Plastics are back and Mean Girls the musical is set to be the pink-and-peppy pick-me-up you didn’t know you needed. From April 8; August Wilson Theater, New York
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