Saturday Review

Under The Skin is the new film from Jonathan "Sexy Beast" Glazer. Starring Scarlett Johansson, it's the story of an alien on earth and her encounters with humans. It's been booed and cheered at film festivals around the world, what do our humanoid reviewers make of this unconventional almost- psychedelic spacey work?

Henry Pearlaman was an American cold storage magnate and a collector of impressionist and post-impressionist art. A selection from his collection has come to the UK for the first time - and it includes some stunning works. How does Oxford's Ashmolean Museum present such a sumptuous array of riches?

The Olympic-themed sitcom Twenty Twelve was a rip-roaring award-winning success, and the BBC's follow up is set in The Corporation's HQ; New Broadcasting House. Is it full of self-indulgent in-jokes funny only to those "who work in the media" or do the bizarre machinations of any big organisation lend themselves to rib-tickling comedy?

Urinetown is the uninvitingly named new musical that has just opened. Set in a town where one man controls the public lavatories, and his attempt to quell the opposition who want to "pee for free". It originated on Broadway and was garlanded with awards, it subverts conventional expectations of what musicals should be. But does it do so in a way that will beguile our reviewers and British audiences more generally?

"Arguably the most successful author in China today", Mai Jia has sold more than 5 million copies. His espionage novels are a hit in the most populous nation on earth, but can they break out to the wider world? We look at his latest - Decoded -which deals with cryptographers in a top secret government department.

Tom Sutcliffe chairs sharp, critical discussion of the week's cultural events.

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Linda Grant, Tom Holland and Kate Williams to review the cinematic adaptation of The Book Thief. The young adult novel narrated by Death about growing up in Nazi Germany has sold eight million copies worldwide. How appealing will its screen incarnation be to audiences?

37 Days is the BBC's dramatic contribution to its season examining the causes of the First World War. With an impressive cast, including Ian McDiarmid as the Home Secretary Sir Edward Grey, does it make effective television from the exchanges of international diplomacy?

Peter Gill's new play Versailles is a three act drama which focuses on one upper-middle class family and a son who is advising the British delegation at the Paris peace conference - what does it have to say about the personal and the political impacts of the Great War?

Keywords: Art, Culture and Society in 1980s Britain collects together politically engaged art from the decade of Thatcherism. With a number of works recreated especially for the exhibition, what does it have to say to us now?

And Lorrie Moore's Bark is her first collection of Short Stories in fifteen years. She's long been considered a master of the form; we discuss how her latest collection measures up.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Will Gompertz is joined by this week's reviewers Ekow Eshun, Viv Groskop and Gillian Slovo. They've watched both parts, some four hours in total, of Lars von Trier's controversial film, Nymphomaniac. We hear what they make of the provocative director's latest offering which focuses on the sexual adventures of Joe, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stacy Martin.

True Detective is the latest TV series from HBO, the US network behind The Sopranos, The Wire and, most recently, Game of Throne. Does the new eight part drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson live up to form?

The British Library's Beautiful Science exhibition explores how scientists visualise their discoveries, from diagrams to graphs and maps. The curators have raided the Nation's greatest collection of scientific texts for illustration, but how will their choices inspire visitors?

Gary Shteyngart's Little Failure is his memoir about emigrating from the USSR as a small child and growing up in New York. It's a story about family, the immigrant experience and writing - territory he's explored before in his novels. Does his memoir allow for something more honest?

And we review the National Theatre's revival of the kitchen sink classic, A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney which stars Lesley Sharp as a resilient single mother. How well does the gritty, social realism translate to the modern stage?

Presenter: Will Gompertz

Tom Sutcliffe and guests - David Aaronovitch, Natalie Haynes and Dreda Say Mitchell, review the Spike Jonze's film Her. Released in time for Valentine's Day, it's a romantic tale of loneliness, desire and boy meets artificial intelligence set in the not too distant future. So will love blossom?

Tate Modern presents the first major retrospective of the work of Richard Hamilton. A founding figure of pop art he continued to work into his eighties, exploring different media and engaging with contemporary politics throughout his career. How well does such a diverse body of work sit together?

Tim Pears' eighth novel 'In the Light of Morning' was inspired by his father who was parachuted into German occupied Yugoslavia at the end of the Second World War. He has called it the novel he has "always been going to write" - so does his impulse to write this Balkan story translate well to the page?

'Fleming' is the new TV drama series about Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. It focuses on his wartime career in Naval Intelligence replete with glamorous locations, luxurious interior sets, dashing period costumes and a cast which includes Dominic Cooper, Lara Pulver and Sam West. But what light does it shed on the writer and his iconic creation?

Tennessee Williams spent much of his life living in hotels, dying in one in 1983 - and he set a number of plays in them. Three of his one act 'Hotel Plays' are now showing at the Langham Hotel in London, we checked in on them this week.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

Dallas Buyers Club is based on the real life story of Ron Woodruff who fought to make new treatments available to patients with HIV and AIDS. The film is nominated for six Oscars - but is it a winner?

We discuss Hanif Kureishi's latest book, The Last Word. A tale of two men, an old novelist and his young biographer who comes to stay, so what does it reveal about writers and the art of writing?

Abi Morgan's new play The Mistress Contract is based on the 30 year arrangement of one couple - she provided sexual services to him, in exchange he provided her with a home and an income. But does a drama about their unconventional relationship shed any light on sex, sexuality or the impact of feminism?

Turner Prize winning sculptor Richard Deacon has worked over the last four decades with materials as diverse as steel, oak, laminates, marble and leather. What will visitors to a new exhibition of his work at Tate Britain make of the way he has combined the industrial with the organic?

And Inside Number 9 is the latest offering in the 'Horror Com' genre that Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have made their own. How will their six new tales of the unexpected fare?

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Miranda Carter, Lesley Lokko and Adam Mars-Jones.

Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe

The BBC series commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1 is presented by Jeremy Paxman. What fresh light or perspective does it shine upon our understanding of The War To End Wars?

Juliet Stevenson is performing Samuel Beckett's Happy Days - buried up to her neck in a mound of earth - at London's Young Vic Theatre. What is fuelling London theatre's current revival of Beckett productions?

Canadian author Dan Vyleta has just published his third novel set in immediately postwar Vienna. The previous two - Pavel and I and The Quiet Twin - have received much critical and popular acclaim, will this be another winner?

Out of The Furnace stars Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson, Willem Dafoe, Casey Affleck and Sam Shepherd in a grim tale of rustbelt America, falling into violence with little hope of escape. It's directed by Scott Cooper - whose previous film was an Oscar winner - and an American critic has called it one of the best movies he's seen this year, will our critics concur?

The exhibition of Turner Prize winning artist Martin Creed's work at The Hayward Gallery is the first major retrospective of his work. Do our reviewers think the lights turning on and off and the stacked boxes will baffle, delight or intrigue the visiting public?

The role of King Lear is famously difficult - by the time an actor reaches an age where he has the gravitas, he may be too old to cope with the physical and emotional demands. Simon Russell Beale plays Shakespeare's monarch in the latest production at The National Theatre in London, but - at 52 years old - is he too young to be playing an old, deranged king?

Martin Scorsese's new film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a dodgy stock dealer in 1980s New York. The Wolf of Wall Street shows the life of wild excess and reckless financial and personal abandon that eventually came tumbling down.

Usually we review one play per week on the programme, but this time it's 3 plays - and they take less than an hour all in. Samuel Beckett's Not I, Footfall and Rockaby are currently at The Royal Court Theatre and will be touring the country later this year.

& Sons is David Gilbert's new novel. It's the story of a famous J.D. Salinger-type novelist and his complicated relationships with his sons and with friends and associates outside his own family.

An exhibition of art by Hannah Hoch looks at the work of the often-overlooked Dadaist pioneer who was an originator of photo-montage. Do her critiques of 1920s Germany still resonate nowadays?

A new TV series looking at the heyday of gangsters in Chicago; Mob City, is just starting - what new angle can TV bring to this much-exploited genre?

Hilary Mantel's novels about Thomas Cromwell - Chief Minister to Henry VIII - have been garlanded with awards and now the RSC has adapted both of them for the stage in 2 three-hour-long plays. We'll tell you whether they're worth queuing up for return tickets for.

12 Years A Slave is directed by British film director Steve McQueen and tells the true story of free African American kidnapped from Washington into slavery in the Southern States. It has been praised as eye opening with stunning performances, but how will our critics rate it?

The BBC's latest costume drama is The Musketeers, a lavish production starring Peter Capaldi as Richelieu - is there a TV audience for swashbuckling and pistol duels set in pre-revolutionary France?

Bruce Springsteen albums are always eagerly awaited by his fans and his latest is a mix of cover versions and previously unreleased material. Can it deliver on the high hopes of listeners who don't yet worship at The Boss' altar?

Zombie books and films are an increasingly popular genre and The Girl With All The Gifts is about an apparently normal little girl with extraordinary powers that she can barely control.