Film
Coco
Pixar’s Coco – directed by Lee “Toy Story 3” Unkrich – tells the tale of Miguel, a 12-year-old Mexican obsessed with music in a family where it is banned. Via some convoluted plot devices, he ends up in the land of the dead where he meets some boney new friends.
Nationwide from 19 January
The Post
Directed by multi-Oscar winner Steven Spielberg and starring multi-Oscar winner Tom Hanks and multi-Oscar winner Meryl Streep, this political thriller about the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1971, feels likely to do quite well at March’s Oscars. The themes it touches on – press freedom, a US president trying to silence the truth – also feel prescient.
Nationwide from 19 January
Wes Craven’s Nightmares
Get those January blues scared out of you with Craven’s 1984 slasher classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street, alongside his postmodern 1994 reboot, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, which will be shown via an original 35mm print. There will also be stalls offering up some scary treats.
Stockport Plaza Cinema, 18 January
Exhibitions
William Blake in Sussex
This exhibition – subtitled Visions of Albion – at Petworth House showcases Blake’s time in Sussex between 1800 and 1803 via more than 50 works.
Until 25 March
Lumiere London
Utilise the fact you’re unlikely to see much daylight in January at this free, city-wide nocturnal exhibition celebrating the majesty of the humble light. More than 40 UK and international artists have reimagined London’s architecture including the Hotel Café Royal building and Leicester Square Gardens.
From 18 to 21 January
Basquiat: Boom for Real
Closing on 28 January, there is not much time left to see one of 2017’s best exhibitions in the shape of the Barbican Art Gallery’s Basquiat: Boom for Real. Featuring rare photography, film and archive material, it is a suitably intense and vivid snapshot of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat (pictured above), a pioneer of the New York art scene in the 1980s who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 27.
Barbican, EC2, open late until 10pm from Tuesday to Saturday, ends 28 January
Podcast
Pod Save America
This freewheeling podcast – hosted by four former aides to President Obama and featuring guest journalists and politicians – attempts to make sense of what the official blurb understatedly refers to as “the challenges posed by the Trump presidency”. Launched last January, its help in making sense of everything in America seems to grow in importance every week.
Theatre
Beginning
After a hugely successful run at the National’s Dorfman Theatre, award-winning playwright David Eldridge’s intimate two-hander transfers to the West End. Justine Mitchell and Sam Troughton reprise their roles as Laura and Danny, two acquaintances left among the detritus of an empty house party. Directed by Polly Findlay, the play – equal parts tender and funny – zooms in on the pulse-racing first moments of risking your heart and finally taking a chance.
Ambassadors Theatre, WC2, 15 January to 24 March
The Brothers Size
Written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue was reworked into the Oscar-winning film Moonlight, The Brothers Size focuses on two African-American brothers reunited through Yoruba mythology and live music.
Young Vic, SE1, from 19 January to 14 February
Music
Cupcakke
Following scene-stealing cameos on both of Charli XCX’s 2017 mixtapes, Illinois-born, internet-birthed rapper Cupcakke has just released her third album, Ephorize. Never knowingly shy, the new album’s track titles – Spoiled Milk Titties, for example – continue a trend for being unashamedly explicit (early singles included Spider-Man Dick, Vagina and Cumshot).
