Film
Jason Bourne
When Matt Damon first took on the role of amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne in 2002, he was a strikingly modern type of action hero: resourceful, self-reliant, amoral. It’s been nine years since his last, superlative outing, The Bourne Ultimatum, and things have very much changed in the world. Will Damon and director Paul Greengrass find a formula that can acknowledge the financial crash, IS and populist nationalism? Heck, will there be a mention of Brexit? We can all find out this weekend.
Looking: The Movie
Fans of HBO’s dramedy about a gang of gay friends figuring it out in San Francisco were shocked by its sudden cancellation last year. Some closure now, at least: Sky Atlantic is airing a snippy film on Tuesday in which Patrick returns to reconnect with the old gang at Agustin and Eddie’s wedding and, you know, tie up some loose ends (ie shag old flames). Surely more reason to bring it back?
Music
Allegro
That rarest of things, a Rodgers & Hammerstein work that bombed, this moralistic musical didn’t even receive a West End premiere. Director Thom Southerland, best known for his Southwark Playhouse staging of Titanic, looks to change that with a European premiere at the same venue.
Theatre
Harry Potter And The Cursed Child
Given the frequency of “Dumbledore dies” spoilers back in the day, it’s faintly remarkable that the plot of this stage play about the adult years of the Boy Who Lived has remained secret throughout its preview period. Now that it’s fully opened to the public though, you’ll have to move fast to avoid the juicy details. As you might also expect, the play is booked up for the foreseeable, but limited tickets will be released online each Friday at 1pm.
The Arts
Edinburgh fringe
The bewildering cornucopia of comedy, theatre, dance, arts and whatever else they can spread across the cobbles starts today for another bleary-eyed month. There are an overwhelming number of acts as usual, too many to round up here, though perhaps you’ll come across absurdist all-female troupe Figs in Wigs in a bath tub. You can – plug alert! – find our full top picks in the Guide’s bumper Edinburgh special issue, out next Saturday.
Port Eliot festival
Surely you don’t get more “Guardian boutique festival” than Port Eliot, a literary-skewed, family-friendly weekend on an impressive Cornish estate, with chit-chat from Dawn French, Gloria Steinem, Kim Gordon, Noel Fielding, Isy Suttie, Sara Pascoe and Miranda Sawyer; music from Beth Orton, Erol Alkan, Ben Watt and Sam Lee; plus street food, yoga, clothes swaps and a “great outdoors” programme where you can wild swim, surf or go foraging. Day tickets for today and tomorrow are still available.
Supernormal
With a name like Supernormal, you can expect that this independent Oxfordshire festival’s art, music, talks and workshops will be firmly, um, batshit. Don’t believe us? There’s a improv jazz creche for babies, experimental bands galore, and weird wearable sculpture from Pester and Rossi (pictured) among much, much more.
Exhibitions
The Age Of Bowie
Few are better-placed to reflect on the legacy of David Bowie than Paul Morley. Not only was he writing at the NME just as Bowie embarked on his Berlin trilogy, but he served as an advisor to the V&A’s 2013 retrospective of the Thin White Duke. Now he’s written a book on Bowie’s cultural clout, which he reads on R4 from Monday and will discuss in Oxford on Tuesday.
Joseph Beuys
Cultural agitator and art shaman Beuys is perhaps best known for his installations, sculptures and lectures that challenged how we see the world and how it could be made better. Now you can also see his drawings, over 100 of them, at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s new show, the largest collection of his sketches outside his native Germany.
Sports
Olympic Games Opening Ceremony
Expect a carnival atmosphere in Rio as City Of God director Fernando Meirelles tries to top Danny Boyle’s gasp-inducing 2012 effort. Hazel Irvine commentates.
• This article was amended 1 August 2016 to correct the name of the Figs in Wigs performance company.
