Five of the best … films

A Fanastic Woman (15)

(Sebastián Lelio, 2017, Chi/Ger/Spa/US) 104 mins

An empathic study of transphobia and a restrained modern-day melodrama, with a magnificent heroine in the form of Daniela Vega. A Santiago trans woman, her grief following the death of her male partner is compounded by her treatment at the hands of his family and the authorities, who barely consider her a legitimate human being.

Game Night (15)

(John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, 2018, US) 100 min

The presence of Jason Bateman tells you plenty about this comedy, but it is more cleverly constructed than the average, with some entertaining players (Rachel McAdams, Sharon Horgan, Jesse Plemons among them). A quiz night takes a spicier turn when a kidnap-manhunt element is introduced.

I, Tonya (15)

(Craig Gillespie, 2017, US) 119 mins

Notorious skater Tonya Harding is rehabilitated in this playful (rather than truthful) biopic, which remains on her side even as it mocks her disadvantages. Those would include her monstrous mother (played by Allison Janney) and abusive husband (Sebastian Stan), whose plan to harm her arch rival was destined to backfire. Margot Robbie glams down to give a career-best performance.

Black Panther (12A)

(Ryan Coogler, 2018, US) 134 mins

The superhero movie of the moment cuts deeper than your standard comic-book fare, with a story that resonates beyond its fictional setting of Wakanda, a high-tech African nation whose self-imposed isolation creates problems for newly crowned warrior-king Chadwick Boseman. It’s a satisfying blockbuster all round, packed with colourful detail, epic spectacle and redeeming humour.

Lady Bird (15)

(Greta Gerwig, 2017, US) 94 mins

Gerwig’s lovable coming-of-ager breaks little new ground formally but barely puts a foot wrong, either. Saoirse Ronan carries the show as the spiky, self-motivated hero of the title, for whom small-town Sacramento life is a series of challenges and frustrations: school, boys, friends, money, and in particular, her combative relationship with her mother (Laurie Metcalf).SR

Five of the best … rock & pop gigs

Stefflon Don

Call off the search: UK rap finally has its very own Nicki Minaj. Fusing hip-hop, dancehall and R&B, the gloriously OTT Stephanie Allen, AKA Stefflon Don, has so far featured on two massive hits – her own Hurtin’ Me and Jax Jones’s Instruction – and recently collaborated with Skepta on unwarranted dick-pic anthem, Ding-A-Ling.
Bristol Tuesday 6; Brighton Wednesday 7; London Thursday 8; Birmingham Friday 9; touring to 10 March

C2C festival

The annual country hoedown returns across three venues, headlined by Kacey Musgraves (above), Faith Hill & Tim McGraw and Little Big Town. If you’re looking for less mainstream fare, somewhere among the London leg’s 12 stages you’ll find two ex-girlband members in the shape of the Saturdays’ Una Healy and Liz McClarnon, AKA one third of Atomic Kitten.
London, Dublin & Glasgow, Friday 9 to 11 March

Superorganism

There’s a slight whiff of primary-coloured cult about BBC Sound of 2018 longlisters Superorganism, whose eight members live together in a large terrace house-turned-studio in east London. Musically, they’re suitably all over the place: just-released self-titled debut apes their influences – Devo, Beck and the Avalanches – adding a dash of extra pop nous.
Birmingham, Monday 5; Manchester, Wednesday 7; London, Thursday 8; Brighton, Friday 9; touring to 12 March

Yasiin Bey & Robert Glasper

This one-off London show features hip-hop great Bey AKA Mos Def (who recently teased a new collaboration with Kanye West), performing with genre-defying pianist Robert Glasper and drummer Chris “Daddy” Dave. Expect the unexpected, obviously, but also hopefully some songs from Mos Def’s 1999 classic Black on Both Sides in among all the jazzy experimentation.
Troxy, E1, Thursday 8 March

MC

Joe Locke and Gwilym Simcock

A duet for jazz piano and vibraphone might seem a sparse menu, but not with California-born vibes virtuoso Locke on one side of the conversation, and UK piano whirlwind Simcock on the other. The pair balance graceful sophistication, blazing improv and tight grooves, and the musical games they play are gleefully irresistible.
Watermill Jazz, Dorking, Tuesday 6; 606 Club, SW10, Wednesday 7 March

JF

Four of the best … classical concerts

Conquest of the Useless

The first complete performance of David Fennessy’s work forms the centrepiece of New Music Dublin 2018. Inspired by the making of Werner Herzog’s Amazonian epic Fitzcarraldo, Conquest of the Useless is played by the RTE Symphony Orchestra, with Jennifer Johnston as the mezzo soloist, and the composer on electric guitar.
National Concert Hall, Dublin, Sunday 4 March

Gerald Barry Premiere

Thomas Adès’s returns to the CBSO almost always include something new and intriguing. The novelty in his latest concert, alongside works by Britten, Stravinsky and his own Polaris, is the world premiere of Gerald Barry’s Organ Concerto, co-commissioned by the orchestra; the soloist is Thomas Trotter.
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Wednesday 7 March

From the House of the Dead

The Royal Opera ticks one more off its list of unperformed Janáček with its first staging of his final stage work, based upon Dostoyevsky’s novel. The production also sees the ROH debut of director Krzysztof Warlikowski. Mark Wigglesworth conducts a cast headed by Willard White and Johan Reuter.
Royal Opera House, WC2, Wednesday to 24 March

A Celebration of Louise Farrenc

Laurence Equilbey brings her orchestra Insula to London on International Women’s Day to present a portrait of 19th-century French composer Farrenc, whose music was much admired by Berlioz and Schumann. Equilbey conducts Farrenc’s Third Symphony, prefaced by Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Alexandra Conunova, Natalie Clein and Alice Sara Ott as the soloists.
Barbican Hall, EC2, Thursday 8 March

AC

Five of the best … exhibitions