Hours of culture: Five things you should check out this week
Monday March 18 to Sunday March 24
We Have a Pope - If you haven’t had enough of Vatican conclaves and smoke puffs, check out Italian director Nanni Moretti’s droll take on papal elections. The great 87-year-old Michel Piccoli stars as a newly elected Pope who, before stepping out onto the balcony, suddenly suffers from self-doubt. Moretti himself plays an atheist shrink brought in to try to understand the pontiff’s sudden anxiety attack. Available on iTunes or at some video stores.
I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon - Thinking man’s music journalist Touré deconstructs the puffy-shirted Purple Rain singer with a new book, out Tuesday.LUCAS JACKSON/Reuters
Crime Showcase - Bestselling authors Linwood Barclay, S.J. Parris and Ian Hamilton convene at Toronto’s Harbourfront to give readers a taste of the new season in crime fiction. A roundtable hosted by author Andrew Pyper follows the readings on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m
Whispers in the Dark - Music fans are divided on Mumford & Sons, the earnest English folk-rock quartet who now give everybody what-four with split-screen video that might require multiple viewings.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
Phil Spector - Talk about an elite team for a true-crime drama – David Mamet wrote and directed this biopic about the legendary record producer, Al Pacino plays Spector and Helen Mirren plays his attorney, Linda Kenney Baden. The real Spector was charged with the murder of a woman in 2003. The movie offers Pacino the juiciest of roles, playing the most notorious of music eccentrics. (HBO Canada, March 24 at 9 p.m.)Phil Caruso@2011 GAME CHANGE