Event: Brighton Craft Fair
Friends’ Meeting House Sat 1^st
‘Be local, buy local’ is a whole lot easier when the venue is slap bang in the middle of town. Held on the first Saturday of every month, the Brighton Craft Fair is packed to bursting with beautiful things handmade by lovely, local people. If you fancy a quiet afternoon’s perusal, head down to Ship Street between 11am and 5pm. It’s free too. (TT)

Film: Shut Up And Play The Hits
Duke Of York’s Tues 4^th
A quick return to Madison Square Garden following last month’s Beastie Boys film for the already legendary swansong from LCD Soundsystem. The film, as well as capturing the almost four hour performance, follows James Murphy in the days leading up to the concert then shows him the morning after as he tries to make sense of the enormity of his decision to end the band. Following the film there’s a live (via satellite) Q and A with the man himself. (SC)

Art: Chewing Gum For The Eyes
Northern Lights from Tues 4^th
Billy Mather describes his first solo show as a collection of below-average drawings and paintings, calling himself “conceited” and predicting your favourite listings mag will find it all “painfully unoriginal”. His words might be funnier than the migraine that exhibition descriptions usually resemble, but unfortunately they’re still bullshit, because he’s one of the most brilliant illustrators in Brighton, with a particular talent for hilarious drawings of dream-like comic worlds. If you’ve enjoyed the art festooning Sticky Mike’s, don’t miss this. (BM)

Film: Made In Birmingham: Reggae Punk Bhangra
Caroline Of Brunswick Fri 7^th
Birmingham’s contribution to the development of British reggae, punk and bhangra is deep rooted and often heavily political. Deborah Aston’s documentary investigation includes contributions from dozens of musicians from each of the overlapping scenes (from Steel Pulse and UB40, through The Beat and Dexys, to Achanak and Apna Sangeet). Brighton’s Spinningchilli team branch out from gig to movie promotion for this intimate screening, which includes a Q&A with Prefects/Nightingales guitarist Alan Apperley and Cravats/Very Things mainstay The Shend. (SH)

Film: Lawless
Duke of York’s Fri 7^th – Thurs 13^th
Want less overdubbed voices and more of Bane from The Dark Knight Rises? The man behind the villain, Tom Hardy, plays Forrest Bondurant – a “heavy with a heart” – in the second collaboration between John Hillcoat and Nick Cave, following 2005’s well-received The Proposition. In brutal Ohio, Guy Pearce plays a psycho and Gary Oldman is a gangster as chancers skirmish with the law and rival mobs. In a world lacking hard-edged Westerns, this one looks worthy of a little salivation. As a bonus Cave and Hillcoat will get together for a Q&A chat after the Wednesday 5^th showing. (BM)

Art: MA2012
University of Brighton Gallery Fri 14^th-21^st
Brighton Uni MA shows are usually an exercise in unpredictable precocity, and a gaggle of artists from the Sequential Design, Illustration and Arts disciplines are destined to keep you boggling here. The promise of wordless comics set in 1940s California, interactive objects triggering sensory childhood memories and the perceived eccentricity of the animal world should moisten anyone’s curiosity. Autobiographical insights into anorexia and the emotional pertinence of a grass skirt growing in a chest of drawers sound equally enlightening. (BM)

Film: The Naked Civil Servant
Jubilee Library Sun 16th
Showing as part of City Reads literary festival this is a free showing of Thames Television’s acclaimed Quentin Crisp biopic. John Hurt turned in a BAFTA winning performance as Britain’s greatest ‘stately homo’ and it remains a fascinating story of triumph in the face of adversity, peppered throughout with Crisp’s razor-sharp bon mots. His heroically dogged determination to be his own man and his unique perspective on life make for a moving and inspiring film. (SC)

Theatre: Oh My Irma
Upstairs at Three and Ten Tues 18th
After receiving rave reviews for her oddball heroine, Mission Bird, Canadian actress Haley McGee decided to raise 5,000 bucks to take her wall-bouncing girl with a dodgy haircut on a small international tour. All those donations seem ostensibly gladdening given the funding crisis throttling chance-taking theatre, and even the reviews which were unimpressed suggest an intense performer with a twisted tale to tell. It’ll either tickle your belly or leave you staring into your pint, which are two sensations worth feeling in moderation. (BM)

Film: Do The Right Thing
Duke of York’s Fri 21^st
In the history of philosophy, some have said taking advice on your Saturday night from Source hacks is the reserve of the foolish. Not so here: anyone who hasn’t seen Spike Lee’s 1989 work of genius, based around racial tensions in Brooklyn in a rampaging take on street life with a feature debut for Martin Lawrence, is in for a cinematic masterpiece. We could fill the remainder of your favourite listings mag with the rundown of awards it has won. (BM)

Poetry: Brighton Poets
Red Roaster Fri 21^st
A caffeinated bardfest headlined by Tony Frisby, a lover of the Sussex landscape whose new collection, Letters to a Cave in Saltdean, aims for the feel of epic postcards, apparently supplemented by howling children. Frisby is an Irish voice with stories from the Middle East and London, and his travels have imbued him with the belief that existentialism is our best shot at understanding the world. He’s supported here by new young verse writer Alice Walker and Vanessa Austin Locke. (BM)

Art: Biba And Beyond: Barbara Hulanicki
Brighton Museum & Art Gallery 22^nd Sept – 14^th Apr
A cutting-edge style icon, once gracing the Brighton high street scene, Biba revolutionised the way we shop. Its affordable 60s fashion meant that we, the average civilian, could browse alongside our fashionable idols, something which Barbara Hulanicki has again recently made possible with a collection available in every teenage girls’ favourite haunt, Topshop. In order to reminisce and appreciate Hulanicki’s work, ‘Biba And Beyond’ tells the story of this influential brand, through photography, illustrations, film and music. What’s more, if you’re lucky enough to be a Brighton resident, you get discounted entry. (AB)

Comedy: Paul Merton – Out Of My Head
Old Market Thurs 27^th – Sat 29^th
In preparation for its West End run, Paul Merton brings his Out Of My Head show to Hove for three nights. Prior to his captaining duties on Have I Got News For You, Merton was best known from improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, whose pianist Richard Vranch joins in here, along with fellow Comedy Store Players alumni Lee Simpson and Merton’s long-time collaborator Suki Webster. A true night of variety, with sketches, stand up, music and magic on the bill. (SH)

Film: Shut Up And Play The Hits

Duke of York’s Tues 4^th
Even if you’re not a sap for LCD Soundsystem, there’d be a temptation to pay money in lieu of genius were James Murphy straining atop a wall-less portaloo in Bartholomew Square. Surely that Madison Square Garden finale, captured here, can’t have been it? Sod it – let the man’s enigma tease us further with this portrait of a magician who, though it doesn’t feel like it right now, perhaps knew when to stop. A coup for the Picturehouse in screening it, and the satellite question and answer session could be fantastic. (BM)

Words By Amy Bellchambers, Steve Clements, Stuart Huggett, Ben Miller, Thirza Tooes