Saturday Review

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by reviewers Linda Grant, Tom Holland and Kate Williams. We review the film adaptation of Markus Zusak's bestseller, The Book Thief and a new television drama set during the 37 days in the lead up to the First World War, called 37 Days.

Will Gompertz is joined by Ekow Eshun, Viv Groskop and Gillian Slovo to review Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac; the National Theatre production of A Taste of Honey; Gary Shteyngart's Little Failure; True Detective; and Beautiful Science at the British Library.

Discussion of Spike Jonze's new film Her, a romantic tale of loneliness, desire and boy meets artificial intelligence set in the not too distant future. How well does Tate Modern pull off the first major retrospective of the work of Richard Hamilton? Our reviewers have been reading Tim Pears' eighth novel In the Light of Morning inspired by his father's experiences in German occupied Yugoslavia at the end of WW2. We're watching Fleming the new TV drama series about the creator of James Bond. And we check in to the Langham Hotel in London to see Tennessee Williams'€Hotel Plays.

Dallas Buyers Club is based on the real life story of Ron Woodruff who fought to make drugs available to patients with HIV and AIDS. We discuss Hanif Kureishi's latest book, The Last Word. It's a tale of two writers, an old novelist and his young biographer who comes to stay. Abi Morgan's new play The Mistress Contract is based on the 30 year agreement of one couple - she provided sexual services to him, in exchange he provided her with a home and an income. Richard Deacon has worked over the last four decades producing, often large, sculptures in a wide range of materials including steamed and laminated oak, steel, and clay. Inside Number 9 is the latest offering in the 'Horror Com' genre that Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have made their own.

Jeremy Paxman presents a BBC series commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War 1. 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. Canadian author Dan Vyleta has just published his third novel set in immediately post-war Vienna, The Crooked Maid. Scott Cooper’s new film Out of The Furnace, starring Christian Bale, Woody Harrelson and Willem Dafoe in a grim tale of rustbelt America. The first major retrospective of Turner Prize winning artist Martin Creed, at the Hayward Gallery in London; do our reviewers think the lights turning on and off and the stacked boxes will baffle, delight or intrigue the visiting public?

Simon Russell Beale plays Shakespeare's monarch King Lear in the latest production at The National Theatre in London. Inside Llewyn Davis is The Coen Brothers look at the folk music scene in New York's Greenwich Village. Jonathan Lethem's latest novel -Dissident Gardens - chronicles a similar period and location; three generations of a New York migrant family steeped in radical politics. Programmes on television about food are an increasingly popular genre. Two new programmes, Restaurant Man and My Kitchen Rules - are hoping they can create a show with enough of a new twist to grab the attention of gastronomic couch potatoes. And a new exhibition at London's Design Museum, In The Making, considers items that are on their way to completion - have you ever wondered what an unwound French Horn looks like?

Martin Scorsese's new film The Wolf of Wall Street (certificate 18)stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a dodgy stock dealer in 1980s New York. 3 Beckett plays in 1 hour: Not I, Footfalls 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, 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. A new TV series looking at the heyday of gangsters in Chicago; Mob City, is just starting on Fox TV - what new angle can TV bring to this much-exploited genre?

High Hopes by Bruce Springsteen is released on 14 January. It's full of previously unreleased material - but does it work? RSC: Wolf Hall / Bring Up The Bodies, the RSC’s stage adaptations of Hilary Mantel’s novels, plays in two parts at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon until 29 March.Rave reviews from the broadsheets and a sellout run, but is it worth queueing for return tickets for? 12 Years A Slave, directed by Steve McQueen, is an unflinching portrayal of slavery - as seen through the eyes of a free man kidnapped in Washington and transported to the American south. It's released in UK cinemas on 10 January, certificate 15. The Musketeers is the BBC latest costume dramas, imagining new adventures for the intrepid swordsmen, but who's it aimed at? It starts on Sunday 19 January at 9pm on BBC One. The Girl With All The Gifts, is a zombie story by M.R.Carey. What is there still to explore and reveal about zombies? It's published by Orbit on 14 January.

All Is Lost sees Robert Redford as a sailor all alone and adrift in a holed yacht How To Be A Heroine is Samantha Ellis' exploration of the books she read as a girl and how they shaped her perceptions of how to be a woman TV drama 7.39 is about a flirtatious relationship between 2 commuters starring David Morrissey and Sheridan Smith Lost Boy is a play looking at what might have happened to the characters from J M Barrie's Peter Pan when they grew up And we visit The Wallace Collection in London to see which works caught our eye

Kamila Shamsie, David Schneider and Naomi Alderman join Tom Sutcliffe and an audience for a look back at 2013 to discuss the items that split reaction this year: from Only God Forgives starring Ryan Gosling to Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch

Theatre: Andrew Lloyd Webber's Stephen Ward, The Musical Book Barracuda by Christos Tsialkos TV: Death Comes To Pemberley, The Tractate Middoth Film : Anchorman 2 - The Legend Continues Have a Happy cultural Christmas

Theatre: Matt Smith in American Psycho Exhibition: MInd Maps at The Science Museum Film: The Innocnets Book: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Acting TV The Great Train Robbery

Film: Nebraska, Kill Your Darlings Book: Suzanne Berne - Dogs of Littlefield Exhibition: Photorealism in Birmingham Theatre: Emil and The Detectives

Saving Mr Banks tells the story of Disney's courting of PL Travers - the woman who wrote Mary Poppins. Travers didn't want any animation, any songs or even anything that was the colour red in the film. This film shows her reconciled to the Disney-fication of her work. But is this version anything like reality? Irish writer Eimear McBride's first novel A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing has won the inaugural £10,000 Goldsmith's Prize. This American Life is a radio program from WBEZ in Chicago and the most popular podcast in the USA. How does it consistently win popular and critical acclaim? Comedian Larry David is best known for his work on Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. His newest project is a 90 minute comedy film for HBO. Does it still seem funny over 90 minutes? White Light White Heat at The Wallace Collection in London is a display of collaborative work between contemporary artists such as Tracey Emin and Gavin Turk with Venetian glass workers.

Controversial film Blue is the Warmest Colour is a story of two young lesbians who fall in love and the lengthy explicit sex scenes have caused consternation. And since its release the two actresses have said that they feel exploited. A new book from Granta allows present day authors to imagine interviews with artists who - long ago - shuffled off this mortal coil. Is this merely a vanity project for the authors to stretch their skills or can it offer some sort of insight into the mind and working of their dead heroes? A new exhibition marking the centenary of Dylan Thomas's birth has just opened in the Cardiff showing Peter Blake's interpretation of Under Milk Wood Earl Lipton is a New Yorker who has created a cabaret show about being made unemployed. No Place To Go is at the Gate Theatre in London. Jim Al-Khalili's new series on BBC4 explores what 95% of what the universe is made up of. Can even he explain to a layman what dark matter is?