21/09/2009

Available for over a year

Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing became a cause celebre when it was released 20 years ago, because of its portrayal of racial tensions in New York. Now in the UK for a British Film Institute season of films that influenced Do the Right Thing, and films that were then influenced by it, Spike Lee reveals what was going through his mind while he was making the film. A new exhibition, Turner and the Masters, at Tate Britain in London sees paintings by JMW Turner displayed alongside masterpieces by artists including Canaletto, Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian and Turner's old rival, John Constable. The exhibition focuses on Turner's obsession to prove he was just as good as - if not better than - the Old Masters he so admired. The Soloist is the latest film from Atonement director Joe Wright. Based on a true story, it recounts the relationship between a Los Angeles Times journalist, played by Robert Downey Jr, and a homeless schizophrenic cello genius, played by Jamie Foxx. Helen Wallace reviews. Cellist Matthew Barley was the music director and presenter on the 2007 BBC Two series Classical Star. Mark Lawson talks to the cellist as he prepares to begin a residency at a London concert hall.