festival

Teenage Wasteland

Ways in which this event is great, number 1: the choice of 'teen' films being shown through the day is im-bloody-peccable. I mean, Ten Things I Hate About You? Election? Mallrats? Frat Party? On the same day? Count me in dude. Number 2: the guest presenters. Any event that has the Guardian's Grace Dent, Emmy the Great, Joe Dunthorne and DJs from the Popjustice site all competing for your attention is going to win big, right? Number 3: the always entertaining-in-a-cringing-with-embarrassment-kinda-way Teen Confessions event, where comedians and writers relive their most gawky teenage experiences, often with the help of their diaries, which this week features the writer of this year's best new TV comedy Fresh Meat, Rose Heiney, and one-time le cool contributor (and the Times' resident expert on The Archers and gin),  Kat Brown. Number 4: it's named after the sixth best track on Scary Monsters. Unmissable. / Rob Valid

cinema

Blue Velvet

Pretty much everyone’s heard of David Lynch; pretty much everyone will pretend to know something about his films; but very few – generally speaking – have actually seen any of them. Of course, there is a reason for this: non-linear narratives, weird sex and surrealism’s never going to be everyone’s cup of tea. But it does make him the most intriguing and beguiling director of our time. So, if you either weren’t an adult in 1986, or didn’t fancy it back then, why not watch his most accessible (and Oscar-nominated) feature on the big screen? You will get Dennis Hopper on fine freak-out form, luscious visuals and a journey into the dark heart of American suburbia for your troubles. Still a classic, it’s not to be missed. / Matthew Lewis