Going out: Cinema

Hamnet
Out now
Bring the tissues for this emotional Oscar hopeful which sees Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley star as none other than William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, whose son Hamnet died at the age of 11. It is based on the book by Maggie O’Farrell, and Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) directs.

David Lynch: The Dreamer
BFI Southbank & BFI Imax, London, to 31 January
Marking what would have been the director’s 80th birthday, this new season includes screenings of key films such as The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, as well as lesser-seen work, such as six of his short films and all eight episodes of his animated webseries Dumbland. There’s even a David Lynch VJ night and a quiz evening.

Giant
Out now
Up and coming star Amir El-Masry toplines this sports drama depicting the rise of British boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, from untested no-mark all the way to world champion – with a little help from trainer Brendan Ingle (Pierce Brosnan). Directed by Rowan Athale.

Labyrinth
Out now
The late, great David Bowie’s turn as tight-trousered Jareth the Goblin King is somehow 40 years old, providing as good an excuse as any to revisit its charms, which in addition to the aforementioned Goblin King includes unsettling work from Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop and a breakthrough performance from a young Jennifer Connelly. Catherine Bray

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Going out: Gigs

Soulwax
Manchester, 14 January; London, 15 January
Belgian brothers and remix greats David and Stephen Dewaele bring their raucous dance-rock band to the UK in support of last October’s fifth album, All Systems Are Lying, which has been billed as “a rock album made without any electric guitars”. Its synth-heavy highlight New Earth Time could lead to some atypically aloof headbanging. Michael Cragg

Artms
O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, 13 January
Formed in 2023 out of the ashes of 11-member girlband Loona, quintet Artms are still getting their footing in the competitive world of K-pop. Their first great single, 2024’s Virtual Angel, was recently joined by the sugary 00s-indebted Icarus. Both are destined to appear at this one-off London show. MC

The Makropulos Affair
Barbican Hall, London, 13 and 15 January
Just two months after the Royal Opera unveiled it first ever staging of The Makropulos Affair, Simon Rattle conducts a pair of concert performances as the latest addition to his series of Janáček operas in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra. His cast is headed by Marlis Petersen as the 300-year-old Emilia Marty, with Aleš Briscein as Albert Gregor. Andrew Clements

Trish Clowes
606 Club, London, 15 January
UK saxophonist-composer Trish Clowes has worked with the London Sinfonietta and the BBC Concert Orchestra, among many prestigious outfits, but small jazz groups suit her best. She mixes originals with classics by the likes of Wayne Shorter and Thelonious Monk in her fine band featuring keyboardist Ross Stanley and guitarist Mike Outram. John Fordham

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Going out: Art

Marshmallow Laser Feast
Yorkshire Sculpture Park: The Chapel, nr Wakefield, to 15 March
Art and science, contemplation and campaigning fuse in this hi-tech installation exploring the inner life of an ancient oak tree in Kew Gardens. Collective Marshmallow Laser Feast have even used ground-penetrating radar to record the subterranean secrets of the oak’s roots. Be enfolded in a digitally recreated natural world.

Georgia O’Keeffe
Gerald Moore Gallery, London, 15 January to 14 February
Sensuality isn’t always associated with landscape art or abstract art, but in Georgia O’Keeffe’s world you can’t escape the erotic even when she’s painting a vision of pure colour or desert vista. This great American artist had an eye for both skyscrapers and cacti: here her graphic imagination soars free.

Richard Avedon
Gagosian Grosvenor Hill, London, 15 January to 14 March
Here the charismatic photographer often remembered for his portraits of New Yorkers turns his lens on the very different faces of the American west. A miner poses covered in dirt, the toughness of his job highlighted against an abstract empty background. All the Avedon style is here, plus true grit.

Modern Masterpieces
Compton Verney, Warwickshire, to 6 September
In Vincent van Gogh’s 1885 painting A Peasant Woman Digging, a black-clad countrywoman is hunched over her shovel. We cannot see her face, just her huge clogs. This captivating example of Van Gogh’s early work is shown with other paintings from the Barber Institute by artists including Bonnard and Renoir. Jonathan Jones

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Going out: Stage

Bridget Christie
14 January to 5 April; tour starts Stamford
From performing standup as Charles II to creating a menopause-and-folklore themed dramedy for Channel 4, Christie likes to take the comedic road less travelled. Now she returns with a new live show Jacket Potato Pizza, which promises to cover kidney stones, cats and eye fetishes in characteristically left-field style. Rachel Aroesti

Oh, Mary!
Trafalgar theatre, London, to 25 April
Cole Escola’s Tony award-winning comedy hits the West End. It’s a wildly offbeat look at a very miserable and very drunken Mary Todd Lincoln, in the weeks leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Miriam Gillinson

Snow Mice!
Theatre Royal Bath, to 11 January
Three children arrive at a strange house at the start of the holidays and embark on an adventure with a mysterious Snow Mouse. Features spellbinding puppetry and live music. MG

Varna International Ballet
Liverpool, 10 January; Nottingham, 12 to 14 January; Buxton, 16 to 18 January; touring to 14 March
Varna may not be among the world’s top-ranking companies, but it tours the classics to places the leading names never get to, with a live orchestra too. Swan Lake, Cinderella and The Nutcracker are on rotation on an extensive gallop up and down the country until March. Lyndsey Winship

Staying in: Streaming

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Paramount+, 15 January
What the 12th Star Trek TV series lacks in novelty, it makes up for in personnel. Starfleet Academy follows a cohort of young cadets through a training regime overseen by Holly Hunter’s captain-chancellor and a 900-year-old teacher (Robert Picardo). Tig Notaro, Paul Giamatti, Gina Yashere, Stephen Colbert and Brit Marling also appear.

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials
Netflix, 15 January
Mia McKenna-Bruce stars as the excellently named flapper turned amateur detective Bundle Brent in Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnall’s dramatisation of Christie’s country house murder mystery. While the book itself was divisive, this superlative cast (Martin Freeman, Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Bluemel) should be more than capable of selling the absurd story.

David Baddiel: Catman
Channel 4, 16 January, 8pm
Having dealt with some serious topics in recent years (grief, dementia, antisemitism), the comedian and author turns his focus to a slightly less weighty issue: the distinct lack of cats on television. Why do dogs get all the airtime? Feline fanatic Baddiel makes amends in this three-part documentary.

Hijack
Apple TV, 14 January
The first instalment of this transport-based thriller saw business negotiator Sam Nelson (Idris Elba) save the day when his flight from Dubai to London was hijacked. But was his presence on the plane purely coincidental? Judging by series two – in which our hero faces a bomb threat on a Berlin train – presumably not. RA

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Staying in: Games

Animal Crossing: New Horizons version 3.0
Switch, Switch 2; out 15 January
The pandemic favourite returns with its first major update in four years, introducing a hotel to decorate and cameos from Nintendo franchises The Legend of Zelda and Splatoon, as well as a bespoke Switch 2 edition with extra functionality.

BrokenLore: UNFOLLOW
PS5, Xbox, PC; out 15 January
The psychological horror series continues its run of rapid-fire releases with a story that tackles the impact of social media. You can also expect grisly creatures and multiple endings based on the choices you make. Matthew Reynolds

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Staying in: Albums

The Cribs – Selling a Vibe
Out now
Hailed as “the biggest cult band in the UK” back in 2008, Wakefield alt-rock trio the Cribs return with a ninth album, their first in six years. Produced by Patrick Wimberly (Chairlift, MGMT), songs like A Point Too Hard to Make channel their noisier tendencies into melodic indie pop.

Zach Bryan – With Heaven on Top
Out now
Having weathered various political storms – last October he teased Bad News, a new song that apparently criticised ICE and didn’t go down well with some country music fans – Grammy winner Bryan returns with this latest project, featuring Kings of Leon and Gabriella Rose.

Brandy Dalton – Fallen Angel
Out now
The cult record label Dark Entries continues to spotlight musicians lost to Aids with this record by electronic experimentalist Brandy Dalton, who died in 2006. Originally released in 1999, his sweaty, hedonistic soundtrack to the award-winning Fallen Angel gay porn series now comes with six bonus tracks.

Dry Cleaning – Secret Love
Out now
After quickly creating their first two albums in a bubble with producer John Parish, the experimental south London post-punkers were keen to open up the process. Step forward producer-artist Cate Le Bon, who teases out further glorious idiosyncrasies as on Hit My Head All Day’s six-minute meander. MC

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Staying in: Brain food

You Ought to Know
Out 14 January
Karen Gabay’s new audio series provides a much-needed insight into the unsung living greats of Black British music. Episode one focuses on reggae and dub poetry, while future episodes discuss gospel, UK soul and more.

The B1M
YouTube
For those fascinated by the world of construction, this long-running video channel is a must-follow, covering everything from car tunnel builds beneath the Alps to the world’s tallest mega-dam and London’s nuclear-proof tower.

The Civil War’s Lost Massacre
PBS America, 15 January
This unflinching film tells the story of a group of historians aiming to uncover the remains of a battalion of formerly enslaved Black Union soldiers whose Kentucky camp was ambushed during the American civil war. Ammar Kalia