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Going out: Cinema
A Complete Unknown
Out now
How many roads must a man walk down before you can hand him an Oscar? Timothée Chalamet is Bob Dylan in this biopic that has had awards pundits buzzing since it was first announced. It charts Dylan’s rise from 19-year-old folk singer to artist so revered by the acoustic crowd that he was booed when he debuted a new electric sound.
Wolf Man
Out now
Christopher Abbott is the man with the fangs in this reimagining of the toothsome fable, the 1941 version of which gave Lon Chaney Jr one of his most memorable roles as the eponymous werewolf. Directing this time around is Leigh Whannell, a guy who knows his way around a scare – he co-created both Saw and Insidious.
Here
Out now
The director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump – that’s Robert Zemeckis, Eric Roth, Tom Hanks and Robin Wright – reunite for a drama based on a graphic novel by Richard McGuire that shows the same location over different periods of time.
Emmanuelle
Out now
If you’re of a certain age, you probably harbour impressionistic but powerful memories of glimpsing this softcore erotica late one night on Channel 5. In the era of Pornhub, it seems positively quaint; this remake opts to focus more on the reimagined character’s journey. Noémie Merlant stars. Catherine Bray
Going out: Gigs
Du Blonde
22 January to 6 February; tour starts Edinburgh
Newcastle’s Beth Jeans Houghton, AKA Du Blonde, heads out on tour in support of last year’s excellent, self-produced Sniff More Gritty album. A brutally honest collection of spit-smeared garage-pop, accented by guest spots from Skin and Laura Jane Grace, it should further explode into life on stage. Michael Cragg
Say Anything
O2 Ritz, Manchester, 24 January; O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, 25 January
Twenty years since the release of their critically acclaimed, and still heavily streamed, second album, … Is a Real Boy, Max Bemis and his ever-evolving lineup of rockers head out on a short celebratory tour. Expect fringe-heavy catharsis from the emo veterans. MC
Hush
Barbican Hall, London, 24 January
Kaija Saariaho died in 2023, after a long illness. She continued composing almost up to her death, and Hush, the last work she completed, was a trumpet concerto for her fellow Finn, Verneri Pohjola. He is the soloist in the work’s UK premiere, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sakari Oramo; Hush is dedicated, said Saariaho, “to the family I leave behind on my own journey into silence”. Andrew Clements
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra With Breabach
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, 23 January
A Celtic Connections crossover gig for Scottish folk band Braebach, joining deep Highlands and Islands traditions to contemporary music. They team up with one of Europe’s foremost jazz big bands, the classy and imaginative Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of world-league saxophonist Tommy Smith. Expect the unexpected! John Fordham
Going out: Art
Iconic: Portraiture from Francis Bacon to Andy Warhol
Holburne Museum, Bath, 24 January to 5 May
Some of the most brilliant artists of the last 70 years appear in this survey of the pop era. Instead of a single style, the exhibition shows, what many painters of the 1960s had in common was their use of photographs as source material. They made the media image monumental.
Lydia Wood
Gerald Moore Gallery, London, to 15 February
Called Locals, this exhibition features 100 drawings of London pubs. They are part of Wood’s project to sketch every single public house in the capital. She draws them in a precise architect’s hand that records every sign, window and doorway, separating the buildings from their surroundings to celebrate their personalities.
Urgencies
CCA, Derry, 18 January to 15 March
What are young artists in Northern Ireland worrying about? A lot, it turns out. This open-call exhibition features their ruminations on everything from toxic masculinity and mental health to the climate crisis. With Leah Corbett, Niall McLaughlin, Cara Donaghey, Kelly Ewing, Emily Waszak, Aidan O’Neill, Sgàire Wood and more.
In Attendance
The Fitzrovia Chapel, London, to 9 February
The eerie porcelain sculptures of Rachel Kneebone, swarming with frozen flesh, and Paula Rego’s psychoanalytically charged compositions are among the contemporary works encouraging meditation in this chapel where the king recently did his Christmas broadcast. Curated by the Roberts Institute of Art, it also stars Etel Adnan and Phyllida Barlow. Jonathan Jones
Going out: Stage
Stewart Lee
19 January to 19 November; tour starts Southampton
When it comes to standup about standup, nobody does it better than Lee. His latest show, Stewart Lee vs the Man-Wulf, gives the acclaimed arch-deconstructor the chance to reclaim his industry underdog pose as he takes aim at the incredibly lucrative wave of anti-woke comedy that has dominated the streaming era. Rachel Aroesti
Onegin
Royal Opera House, London, 22 January to 12 June
The Royal Ballet perform John Cranko’s stirring, heartbreaking ballet of the Pushkin novel Eugene Onegin. It’s full of emotional pas de deux, packed with romantic longing, rejection and regret , and set to music by Tchaikovsky. Lyndsey Winship
Inside No 9: Stage/Fright
Wyndham’s theatre, London, to 5 April
Details are being kept strictly under wraps, but expectations are high. New and familiar characters come to the stage as Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith shift their artful TV tales of horror and mischief to the West End. Kate Wyver
The Littlest Yak
Storyhouse, Chester, 18 & 19 January
With big eyes and bobble hats, it’s hard not to fall for Gertie and her tiny yak buddies. Nominated for four OffWestEnd awards, the characters from Lu Fraser and Kate Hindley’s heartwarming picture book are brought exuberantly to life by rambunctious round puppets, transporting young audiences and their families to the Himalayas. KW
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Staying in: Streaming
High Potential
Disney+, 23 January
The unconventional detective may well be the most ubiquitous – and irresistible – TV archetype of all time, and now we’re getting a new one. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Kaitlin Olson stars as a high-IQ single mum who cleans the LAPD offices – but it’s not long before she drops the duster and starts crime-solving instead.
Prime Target
Apple TV+, 22 January
A maths postgrad realises his attempts to find a pattern in prime numbers are being thwarted by a mysterious foe; soon he has joined forces with an NSA agent to solve a different kind of brainteaser. The brilliant Leo Woodall (The White Lotus, One Day) stars in this new thriller from Sherlock writer Steve Thompson.
The Night Agent
Netflix, 23 January
The first season of this FBI thriller – adapted from Matthew Quirk’s novel of the same name – became one of Netflix’s most-watched series ever upon its release two years ago. Now the streamer will be hoping the return of this tale of a mole in the upper echelons of the US government can command the zeitgeist again.
The Fear Clinic
Channel 4, 21 January, 8pm
The University of Amsterdam’s Dr Merel Kindt has created her very own formula for curing phobias: the Memrec method combines exposure with beta blockers to rewire the brain. This new obs-doc puts the groundbreaking treatment to the test as Brits with debilitating fears attend the clinic in the hope of a better life. RA
Staying in: Games
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Out 23 January, PC
An epic feat of fan-service, the second instalment of a three-part remake of the best role-playing game of the 90s, delighted fans on PS5 last year. Now PC players can join Cloud Strife’s fight.
Hyper Light Breaker
Out now, PC
In this stylish, colour-saturated science-fiction action game, you head out into the overgrowth as part of a team of elite warriors to rebuild civilisation after a war – mostly by defeating the remnants of the opposition. Keza MacDonald
Staying in: Albums
Mac Miller – Balloonerism
Out now
Recorded between 2013 and 2014, Balloonerism marks the second posthumous album from the late Pittsburgh rapper, arriving five years after 2020’s Circles. Often feverishly discussed among fans, and with unofficial versions circulating online, it’s one of hip-hop’s most anticipated releases of the year.
David Gray – Dear Life
Out now
Singer, songwriter and practised head-wobbler David Gray has long passed the commercial peak of 1998’s 7m-selling White Ladder, but this 13th album confirms that he’s not lost his touch when it comes to cinematic and emotive midtempos. The folkish After the Harvest is a particular highlight.
The Weather Station – Humanhood
Out now
A former child actor, Canadian singer-songwriter Tamara Lindeman paints vivid portraits, communicating emotions with deft lyrics and her whispered vocals. This is brought to the fore on her band’s seventh album, specifically on the galloping soft-rock of Neon Signs and the encompassing swirl of Window. MC
Staying in: Brain food
The History of the Music Video
YouTube
Running more than three hours, Polyphonic’s encyclopedic documentation of the birth and decline of the music video is a fascinating watch, tracing its origins to an 1894 “illustrated song”, as well as the MTV era, TikTok and beyond.
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Podcast
Record label founder Tom Lea and writer Chal Ravens’ newsletter and audio series is an expertly crafted deep dive into the unsung heroes and alternative news in club culture, investigating failing festivals, the rise of payola and more.
Life and Death Row
BBC Three & iPlayer, 21 January, 9pm
The confronting series chronicling the first-person experiences of inmates on death row in the US returns for a third outing, beginning with the story of Ivan Cantu, who was convicted for a double homicide in 2001. Ammar Kalia
