22/09/2012

Tom Sutcliffe and his guests cultural historian Christopher Frayling, writer Sarfraz Manzoor and historian Kathryn Hughes review the week's cultural highlights

Brad Pitt stars as enforcer/hitman Jackie Cogan in Andrew Dominik's film Killing Them Softly - based on George V Higgins' 1974 novel Cogan's Trade. Cogan is called in to set things right after an illegal poker game is robbed. Set against the background of the runup to the 2008 presidential election, the film draws parallels between the need for economic stability in America's financial institutions and in its increasingly corporate criminal enterprises.

Caryl Churchill's new play Love and Information at the Royal Court in London is a collection of 57 short fragments featuring more than 100 characters. Directed by James Macdonald, the succession of short scenes is performed in a white gridded box by a cast which includes Linda Bassett and Sarah Woodward.

Building Stories by Chris Ware is not a conventional graphic novel. It c