Culture

Objects both strange and beautiful show the power of relics as tokens of the glorious destiny of the redeemed, says Eamon Duffy

Duncan Wu struggles to see the humour in the story of a woman for whom everything goes wrong

For some with a terminal illness, their fear is not death but leaving the last bits of life unused, says Gary Day

The Brothers Grimm's fairy-tale legacy has been celebrated by true artists, but also perverted by Hollywood hype, says Jack Zipes

Duncan Wu admires an adaptation of a play about how people lose control of their lives during conflicts

This government's policy has little comfort to offer the UK's children who live in poverty, says Gary Day

It's only the shark that Duncan Wu feels for in a self-righteous true-life tale of triumph over tragedy

If this is our best in sport and entertainment, mourns Gary Day, it doesn't engender national pride

Simon Gray's sharp portrait of a self-sabotaging T.S. Eliot scholar remains poignantly recognisable, observes Deborah Bowman

Ceramicist and scholar Edmund de Waal argues for combining museum collections with recent work. Matthew Reisz reports

Duncan Wu finds irony and charm in the camped-up tale of a 1970s trophy wife's empowerment

Computers have not liberated us, Gary Day learns, but rather locked us in a corporate capitalist world

Political schooling

It is easier than ever to self-publish. But, says Tim Luckhurst, it still carries a stigma of being a last resort for deluded dimwits

Duncan Wu is charmed by a plot inspired by Pythagoras and a star-studded cast of goats

The high drama of the Icelandic sagas reminds us how little we have changed, Gary Day learns

Artists' ability to portray the human cost of war makes them invaluable, even in the era of 24-hour news, argues Peter Hill

A high-calibre cast overcome a contrived storyline about a fresh start in middle age, says Duncan Wu

Gary Day is touched by an animated exploration of Relate's work with troubled or warring couples

Science fiction is edging into the mainstream. Is it because life is becoming more like the subcultural visions of the future? asks Roger Luckhurst

A flawed satire of the moral duplicity at the heart of American politics wins Duncan Wu's qualified praise

Families can go to extreme lengths to keep their secrets, finds Gary Day, but the truth will out

Terry Castle's fearlessly frank essays range over sexual identity, family, jazz, lesbian kitsch and a devastating affair with an older academic. Matthew Reisz reports

Philip Dodd finds physical and critical distance obliterated in a 3D film where the brand is king

Gary Day is mesmerised by the bedridden life of a man mountain who courts global media attention

Debowdlerising a text to reveal the writer's 'original' intentions is not as simple as it might seem, Josephine Guy argues

A teenage girl assassin and out-of-control technology serve to amuse but also irritate, surmises Duncan Wu

Gary Day finds that forgiveness can be a recreation of ourselves and of those whom have done us harm

Innocence and experience

The Catalan artist lauded for his colour, language and playfulness was also, Alex Danchev writes, deeply if quietly concerned with the matter of liberty

Duncan Wu detects smug bigotry in the sourly 'comic' tale of a middle-aged naif's business trip

As the council house dream falls into disrepair, Gary Day sees a spirit of frugality and thrift rekindled

Monica Grady's thoughts turn to the end times in light of a striking exhibition on close encounters of the worst kind

A fresh, vivid and humorous retelling of Shakespeare's Tempest captivates Peter J. Smith

Gary Day finds absurdity in two programmes on universities - and only one is on a fictional campus

Neil LaBute's brother-and-sister drama prompts Siân Adiseshiah to consider how siblings are presented on stage

Philip Dodd on the visceral and transformational reality of war in a Danish documentary

A new adaptation of Women in Love may not adhere to the book, but shows profound understanding