In Flat Earth News, Nick Davies argues what many journalists have been saying for years: they simply can't investigate the real story due to the pressures of the news machine. With the rise of commercial practices, journalists are expected to fill more pages in less time, resulting in the sharing of information and assimilation of PR spin, which actively distorts the truth. So what we read in the newspaper or online may well be corrupted, from stories on the millennium bug to weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the Iraq War. Davies takes on the big names of Fleet Street, suggesting that The Sunday Times has hired private investigators while The Observer supported the war. In essence, Davies says it's time to return to the principles of reporting the truth. Of course, whether his book reveals the full story is another matter. This talk gives you the opportunity to find out.

NB: also of note is Jewish Book Week (runs from 23/02 till 02/03).

No one can doubt the overwhelming impact filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has had on either our cinema or our cultural landscape; yet we wouldn't cross the road to see Eyes Wide Shut, his final film of 1999, which opens the Barbican's season this Thursday. We would, however, cross burning coals barefoot to catch the Friday double dill of the rarely aired The Killer's Kiss (1955), followed by the absolutely superb adaptation of Lionel White's pulp novel Clean Break, The Killing (1956) that, starring Sterling Hayden alongside a cast of hard bitten film noir regulars, is an absolute gem.

What follows on Saturday is a day of days for fans of either Kubrick or cinema: starting with the totally superb Paths Of Glory (1957) that, telling of the futility of war, stars Kirk Douglas, Ralph meeker and Tim Carrey, it is followed by the immense masterpiece that is Spartacus (1960) which, starring Kirk Douglas as the famed rebel leader who took on the might of Rome, needs no introduction. Next up is the director's darkly comic adaptation of the Vladimir Nabokov novel of the same name, Lolita (1962), that sees the great James Mason creeping around on eggshells like a nonce in the night and virtually slobbering over the sexually flirtatious nymphet. But for yours truly -- apart from The Shining (1980) -- these are Kubrick's finest films that neither the slightly silly Dr Strangelove, the overrated 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) or the extremely dated Clockwork Orange (1971) can hold a light to. But then again that's only our opinion.

NB: this retrospective runs from 21/02 till 27/02.

As boss of Tigersushi Records, Joakim is known for cultivating experimental electronica, with all the rigour of labels like Kompakt, Soma and Warp but with a softer edge. He's also the source of most of the best French house that doesn't binge itself on stuttering electro samples. Riding the current new wave of spacey disco his artists are finding no shortage of collaborators. Principles Of Geometry recently snagged the enigmatic Sebastien Tellier, Poni Hoax landed on a Get Physical compilation and D*I*R*T*Y Soundsystem are single- handedly reviving the re-edit. The only thing that threatens to outshine any of the above is Joakim's tendency to produce stunning remixes of their work, often with shades of Italo disco or dub house. Given that he's buried himself in the multi-tracks of the likes of Tiga, Air and Fischerspooner in the past, Joakim is no slouch behind the decks, something to which the occasional mixes that he slips out online firmly attest. The man behind some fine recent examples of electronique has been rarely seen in London, though, with the exception of just one reasonably-sized gig last year -- ridiculous when you consider how many playlists included the infectious "Drumtrax" in 2007.

The dance music purist Daniel Wang reputedly said: "Remember kids, once you sell out, the underground will never take you back". The guys behind Disco Bloodbath are emerging from the underground -- literally -- this weekend as they take a break from their usual Dalston basement to help open the new Shoreditch venue East Village. Whether there's panic from those who agree with Wang is unclear, but if the use of a hackneyed New York reference for a club name has you worried, take some respite in the fact that the night is in the hands of veteran producers Idjut Boys. Dan Tyler and Conrad McDonnell, who've recently returned to the live scene after a bit of a break, are best known amongst the DJ community for their ultra-collectible live house records released on U-Star during the mid-'90s. They still run that label, along with two others, and their high points have included work with cult producers like Francois K and Dimitri from Paris. Their offbeat disco style is enjoying something of a renaissance as old hands from across the dance spectrum like Carl Craig and Derrick Carter appear behind the decks in London again -- prompting everyone to start rediscovering and updating the sound we used to love.

So the excellent Cut Copy are back in town with a new album about to drop -- good news. That they are only playing two nights -- bad news. It's not really difficult to choose where to see them though. The NME Awards with the godawful Hadouken! and Ali Love? Hell no! Head down to Fabric where Cut Copy will be playing live and DJing. (For an idea of what to expect you should check their recent, splendid So Cosmic mix.) As is the way there is plenty else to keep you entertained at the Farringdon behemoth -- most excitingly a live set from In Flagranti, part of the NYC disco edit clique that is so very hot now. The rest of the line-up reads like an evening with the electrohouse elite, as 2ManyDJs, Simian Mobile Disco and the Filthy Dukes are all DJing. In fact you may ask why is self proclaimed "Hero From Holloway" Erol Alkan missing? Fear not: he's in the cosy surrounds of room three with his chum Richie Norris playing krautrock edits and disco oddities under their Beyond The Wizards Sleeve guise and they have the excellent Todd Hart from Dalston Oxfam Shop for company with a slew of African disco up his carefully rolled sleeve.

Fourteen years after his death, the Serpentine is presenting a major retrospective of Derek Jarman's work, exploring both his film and moving image works, and his paintings. Curated by long-time friend, artist and filmmaker Isaac Julien, the exhibition also marks the release of Derek, Julien's documentary examining Jarman's work and his influence during the '70s and '80s -- his pivotal role in the rise of independent British cinema, vociferous support of Gay Liberation and his last years as a proud, but conflicted, public face of AIDS -- together with a celebration of his ongoing legacy. And the term "celebration" is key: what is clear from the large archive of Super-8 footage -- much of it being screened for the first time in decades, some woven into the documentary -- is Jarman's own celebration of life. His optimism, curiosity and passionate engagement with life dominate his work -- be it film, painting, his famous "stone garden" or his campaigning. The exhibition includes an installation of his final film Blue, completed shortly before his death and after he had lost his sight, together with talks/events and the full body of his features and shorts to be screened at the Gate, Ritzy and Greenwich Picturehouse cinemas.

NB: runs till 13/04.

Marco Bohr gives the romantic Japanese tradition of the riverside musician a gritty makeover in these photographs of amateur players that depict where the urban and natural Tokyo landscape meet. In such an overcrowded city, he creates space to pose, and the river provides the ideal site for flouting social convention and reflecting upon the past. It's imperative, therefore, that the eye is not distracted by pretty views or overt technicality: under de-monumentalised sections of graffiti-covered bridges and amongst traffic-dusty foliage, both young and old blow convincingly into brass instruments, or strum with coy amateurishness. It's clear from Bohr's back catalogue that he likes to travel and these are just the kind of photographs that teeter precariously between documentary and artistic intention. The detachment of the photojournalist from their subject may be an editorial given, but in a fine-art context the position of maker is always central to how the work is viewed. The historical backdrop to this series -- ground lost in the pursuit of progress -- is perhaps justification enough for these works' existence. However, it is the sense of Bohr being present yet other (providing the point of exchange between the oddity and normalcy of each scene) that makes them compelling.

NB: runs till 23/02.

Arguably the logical conclusion to the near half-century of investigations into metal as a musical genre, The Dillinger Escape Plan continue their hyper-rational foray into the realm of speed, math and metal with their new(ish) album Ire Works, wowing extreme metalheads and trendy noise theory freaks alike, but keeping a firm and threatening finger on the pulse of pop music. This is not as devastating a condemnation of the future of metal as it sounds, despite the vast and growing array of TDEP emulators currently bringing mathcore to the realm of an HMV genre label (remember the brief appearance of crunk in the centre aisle, way at the back?). Somehow, having brought thrash metal to a radical, throttling climax, TDEP has managed to keep their distinctive and relentless sound while venturing into new musical territories, and meticulously finding their mathematical solutions. If you haven't heard the album yet, this would be an excellent chance to get the full experience. There will be no sitting still at this show, and some very sore neck muscles and ringing ears will be the consequences for days, but you might just be enlightened.

NB: for more noise check out Boris at Cargo on 24/02 (7:30pm).

Although an increasingly regular visitor to London's DJ booths, Efdemin's popularity seems far from waning. His DJ sets pay homage to the same influences as his production work, which is primarily released on Hamburg's Dial Records imprint. While his sound fits in comfortably alongside the warm, sultry grooves of label mates such as Lawrence and Carsten Jost, there's a rawness and urgency in Efdemin's material that makes it more attuned to the dancefloor. The result is undeniably contemporary -- and clearly trendy -- but permeated by a swing more in common with deep and bumping US house than "Shoreditch Minimal". Or maybe they just like him because he's a snappy dresser (he is). Also wooing the crowds at this Mulletover "Anti-Valentine" special are Sian from Octopus Records, Gower Ramsey from Ditched Disco and resident Geddes; plus a packed second room hosted by New York's DFA Records, featuring Gucci Soundsystem, Shit Robot and Mock N Toof.

NB: also of note is Aparat (live) + James Holden + Four Tet at The End (11pm - 7am).

The recent leak of Justice's rejected mix for the Fabriclive series may have shown they would clean up on the French pop music round at a pub quiz but only adds fire to the debate over whether the recent explosion of noisy electro house producers should be paid vast sums to DJ in clubs. A perfect counter to such argument can be found in the shape of Berlin's Alex Rihda, aka Boys Noize. Such is his stock as both a producer and DJ that he has composed several excellent remixes lately for the likes of Apparat and Cut Copy and he has just completed the next installment of Bugged Out!'s Suck My Deck mix series, joining such luminaries as Ivan Smagghe and Simian Mobile Disco. To celebrate the launch Bugged Out! are throwing one of their infamous East London carpark raves with Ridha joined for a live set by fellow kraut-on-the-rise, Hamburg's D.I.M., whose recent Presets remix had The Hype Machine huggers beaming with delight. Bugged Out! like the female talent too, and Girlcore's Isa GT takes a break from the beauty pageant parties for some straightup raving along with Naomi// from the All You Can Eat collective. Keep your left eye on the Bugged Out! site for location details.

NB: also of note is Aparat (live) + James Holden + Four Tet at The End (11pm - 7am).

What do we believe, and how do we manifest our beliefs? What do they make us do and not do? Illuminations brings together five film studies of contemporary practices, manifestations and transgressions of faith around the world. Collaborative duo caraballo-farman's Contours Of Staying documents a vigil held by Falun Gong followers outside the Chinese Consulate in New York, protesting against human rights abuses toward their members during a blizzard. As winds whip the icy streets, the protesters draw flapping plastic ponchos close, attempting to whack the feeling back into their frozen extremities before settling into silent meditation. Eventually the unrelenting elements break their resolution. The smaller gesture of making the sign of the cross is the focus of Dan Acostioaei's triptych Crossroads. Acostioaei's camera captures train-passengers, pedestrians, even cyclists crossing themselves as they pass by sacred sites in the Romanian city of Lasi. As the sites of reverence remain absent, their crossings become strange, unconscious ticks. In Dieu, Valerie Mrejen films the confessions of eight Israeli men and women who have violated Jewish law in minor or major ways. Illuminations succeeds in questioning the mechanisms and articulation of spiritual belief, and these questions will stay with you long after leaving the gallery.

NB: runs till 24/02.

On the back of his five-year tenure at the Cosmic club on Lake Garda, Italian DJ Daniele Baldelli joined a select band of DJs, including Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles, whose residencies proved so influential that they lent their names to nascent music styles. While defining house and garage is relatively easy, the Cosmic sound proves more of a challenge. During his residency, Baldelli's tastes shifted from American disco in the late '70s to European electronic music in the '80s, and encompassed aspects of jazz, Afrobeat and fusion along the way. And innovative DJing techniques, such as playing records at the "wrong" speed and overlaying drum machines, meant that dancers were never entirely sure what -- or who -- they were hearing. This weekend there's an opportunity to experience some of Baldelli's brilliance as he makes a rare appearance at one of the capital's most consistently excellent weekly parties, Horse Meat Disco.

Georgian London had its very own Michelin Guide to the flesh trade. The exploits of the resourceful Jack Harris, Pimp General of All England, and his Irish "little blackguard pimping dog" Sam Derrick, oversaw the publication of Harris' List of Covent Garden Ladies -- a salacious guide to London's ladies of the night and their sexual specialties. Predictably, it was a bestseller with over 250,000 sales -- the essential accessory to every discerning libertine of the time. Thanks in large part to London's most celebrated (and wealthy) Madame, Charlotte Hayes, who was bequeathed the list, these sales lead to many other, different types of transaction. Hallie Rubenhold (historical consultant for C4's City Of Vice) graces the pataphysical Last Tuesday Society with a talk about the votaries of Venus who plied their trade and the types of gentlemen who sought out their pleasures. Rubenhold has collected some of the funniest and rudest descriptions of these courtesans, including that of Miss Kilpin, who only offers her favours inside the privacy of hackney carriages, and the unfortunate Pol Forrester with "breath worse than a Welch bagpipe". But this didn't stop politicians, judges and even royalty from partaking in their sexual peccadilloes. Prepare for a colourful and riotous night down the dark alleyways of the capital's 18th C underworld.

NB: also of note is Jewish Book Week (runs from 23/02 till 02/03).

It's a little bit Texan, a little bit American and a little bit British. Spoon is an American indie rock band of four brilliant members from Austin, Texas: Britt Daniel (vocals, guitar), Jim Eno (drums), Eric Harvey (keyboard, guitar, percussion, backing vocals) and Rob Pope (bass). The band's first full-length debut Telephono was released in 1996. Others include A Series Of Sneaks (1998), Girls Can Tell (2001), Gimme Fiction (2005). Kill The Moonlight (2002) was applauded by such diverse publications as the Time and Vanity Fair and includes their popular hit "The Way We Get By" which was featured on the hit American TV show The OC. The latest granted Spoon their well-earned spot on Blender and Spin's Best of 2005 list. Spoon not ringing a bell yet? Think again -- the film Stranger Than Fiction consisted mostly of songs co-authored by Britt and performed by Spoon. Their most recent album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, released last July, debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200. Spoon's Britain concert offers groupies, fans, Americans and Brits alike the chance to mingle and reunite, while closing their eyes and listening to the music that critics have been raving about.

This acerbic hunk of a first-rate noir features one of the most quoted scripts of all time, written by that great Hollywood blacklister, Clifford Odets, in partnership with Ernest Lehman, on whose novelette the film is based. A brave film that confronts the poisonous power of the gossip columnist who, when it was made in 1957 (just as now) could make or break the career of any performer, it was produced by and stars Burt Lancaster as the evil and omnipotent gossip columnist JJ Hunsecker who, based on the loathsome Walter Winchell (supporter of Senator Joe McCarthy's witch hunts), is King of the New York rags. "My experience, in brief, is dog eat dog," says desperate sleaze-bag publicist Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), who will do anything to get on the good side of the mercurial columnist and does. A truly magnificent work that, featuring stunning performances superbly shot in darkly contrasted black and white by the legendary James Wong Howe, captures late '50s Manhattan cafe society like no other. "I'd hate to take a bite outta you," says Hunsecker. "You're a cookie full of arsenic." Magnificent.

NB: Sweet Smell Of Success screens at the BFI on 25/02, 28/02 and 29/02 and is part of the Burt Lancaster season (runs till 24/03). Also of note this week is the release on 22/02 of Fatih Akin's The Edge Of Heaven and Wong Kar-wai's My Blueberry Nights.

Come bathe in verbal explosions and savour some slips of the tongue at the first ever London Word Festival. These crackerjack festival folk bring together a natty crew of literati, musicians, artistes and jesters to let rip with the lingo. There'll be poetry palaver and prose patois, comedic hilarity, hip-hop happenings and DJs to boot. With comic maestros including Josie Long (23/02) and Richard Herring (26/02), sizzling new authors Joshua Ferris and Richard Milward (28/02) and some juicy jazz/poetry mixers to taste, this is an inspiring, inventive, alphabetical agglomeration of newfangledness. Look out in particular for NYC's very own hip-hop bard, Saul Williams (25/02), of The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of NiggyTardust! fame and cult indie musician Edward Larrikin (08/03) with some acoustic activity in the form of The Pan I Am. Other climactic offerings involve the titillating Toby Litt and univocal act The Oulipo Poets (09/03); the majestic triumvirate of Bernard Kops, Monica Ali and Oona King (01/03); a spunky sounding Spasm Band (11/03) and, just in case we need more zest, they go and lob in a glockenspeil for good measure. This salmagundi of fizz takes place in pulsating venues all over the East End. We're telling you, this festival is the brand spanking new pair of cat's pyjamas.

NB: runs till 13/03. Also of note is Jewish Book Week (runs from 23/02 till 02/03).

One half of the creative partnership that created such immortal hits as "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "69 Annee Erotique", '60s icon and chanteuse Jane Birkin returns to London to perform new songs and those created for her by ex-husband and French musical legend Serge Gainsbourg at Camden's Roundhouse. It's testament to Birkin's enduring status as a cultural and style luminary that so many acclaimed contemporary musicians have chosen to collaborate with her on recent records; Beth Gibbons, Rufus Wainwright, Franz Ferdinand to name only a few. The results of these collaborations are delicate and breathy tracks that show Birkin is still the queen of New Wave. Her gig at the Roundhouse will no doubt be filled with swooning devotees, longing to be shown how effortless chic is really done.

This is a rare exhibition: not only does it introduce the work of a singular artist but also delves into the thrilling contours of a whole artistic cosmos. Inquisitive, evocative and suffused with the weightless excitement of new wave sensibilities, this retrospective feels at once idiosyncratic and revelatory. Despite having participated in international mega-shows like the 10th Istanbul Biennale and China Power Station, Lu Chunsheng has eluded the usual hype and hustle that accompanies Chinese art. Drawing from an array of references as disparate as science fiction, Jean-Pierre Melville, bankers, the Industrial Revolution, and of course contemporary China, Lu's prolific yet concise output of video-films, photographs and delicate drawings stages offbeat vignettes that toy with the unstable remnants of shifting ideologies. Characters both romantic and abstracted populate his charged landscapes, enacting associative narratives that unravel the disparate stories with which we situate ourselves in contemporary society. At once pointed, humorous and epic, Lu's oeuvre and its processes bring to mind the work of the Surrealists, Cindy Sherman, Johanna Billing and Simon Starling, yet produce an arguably more open-ended experience, more future-forward than reflexive. Contemplating the morphing symbols of our layered global imagination, he taps into an innate curiosity and through total lack of explanation draws the viewer into a world wholly resonant yet still ungraspable.

NB: runs till 20/04.

Bloody hell, someone oughta give these guys a second to breathe. Watching Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum together on stage is like watching a film on fast-forward, so high-octane (and just plain high in Spacey's character's case) are their frenzied conversations. Mamet's satire opens with, rather cosily, these two Hollywood actors playing two Hollywood film producers, who are wetting their pants over some shit commercial blockbuster that'll make them millions. The film's plot? Nebulous. But with sex, money, violence and a big star signed up, the dollar signs kerrching all round. Then, just as the self-congratulatory mutual masturbation reaches fever pitch, a hot temp secretary enters the frame. And so does the issue of sex and artistic integrity (the latter hilariously absent thus far). What's a guy to do? Make millions or get laid? Make millions or make a film worth something? Ah, the moral dilemmas of the modern Hollywood hero. This is a mockery of the film industry that is both very funny and blisteringly caustic. Even if it's returns only, make sure you get to see this.

NB: runs till 26/04.

This is an exhibition of 100 of the best and most innovative works produced in the past 12 months, where common objects are singularized and exposed as works of art. International designers are represented and split into seven categories -- architecture, transport, graphics, interactive, product, furniture and fashion. Design experts such as Nick Knight and Wayne Hemmingway were invited to nominate up to five projects each. Some examples of the work featured ranges from an Yves Saint Laurent Downtown Bag to the identity for a Kate Moss logo designed by Peter Saville and Paul Barnes, nominated by Patrick Burgoyne. No surprise that one of the most popular works is the iPhone, designed by Jonathan Ive and nominated by Anthony Dunne, Sam Hecht, Matt Jones and Lynda Relph-Knight. Hats off to Hussein Chalayan, nominated by Colin McDowell for his Autumn/Winter 2007 dress, Airborne. It incorporates the latest LED technology into fashion design, attracting technology fanatics and fashionistas alike. The mix of black, white and fluorescent colours brilliantly portrays the changing seasons; Chalayan is clearly not just a fashion but also a futuristic visionary.

NB: the overall winner and a winner for each category will be announced on 11/03 and the exhibition runs till 27/04.

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