Can't face going out in the cold this weekend? We have the perfect things for you to do that don't entail ice or frostbite! From a double dose of cinema-goodness from Oscar Isaac to new albums from two amaaazing female artists, plus a gorgeous sketchbook of London-town to lose yourself in, you barely need to be outside! Enjoy...
1. Discover A Most Violent Year
JC Chandor (Margin Call) once again turns unlikely subject matter – a 1981 war between New York heating oil suppliers – into riveting drama. Oscar Isaac raises the bar as the young boss trying to shake off his company’s criminal past; Jessica Chastain matches him as the wife willing to get her hands dirty. In cinemas from Friday. HHHH
2. Hear Kitty Daisy and Lewis The Third
Instagram-friendly three piece, dipped in the musical histories of blues and swing with a fresh R&B twist release their third (hence the title) long-player. Rock solid,quaintly original tunes? Sorted. Album out Monday 26th.
3. Visit Rubens and His Legacy
In a surprising first for an artist of his historic stature, 17th century, Flemish baroque sensualist Peter Paul Rubens gets his first British overview. Includes his work alongside the lauded cannon he influenced – Cezanne, Manet, Turner and Renoir. Unmissable. At the Royal Academy, from Wednesday 21st.
4. See Ex Machina
Author (The Beach), screenwriter (Sunshine) and now film director, Alex Garland delivers a stylish, claustrophobic science fiction about a brainy programmer (Domnhall Gleeson) evaluating a beautiful artificial intelligence (Alicia Vikander) created by an arrogant tech-company mogul (Oscar Isaac). In cinemas from Friday. HHHH
5. Catch Jessie Ware
Why isn’t Ms Ware the new Lisa Stansfield already? Her gorgeous, melodic, post-coital second record Tough Love should’ve sent her stratospheric. Her live shows are a master-class in inclusive humility and technique. She’s one of ours. Show her some love at Manchester Academy, Sunday 25th and touring.
6. Dine at Chai Wu
The department store’s department store, Harrods, has seen a couple of new restaurants open under the discerning eye of Ian Pengelly. The newest concession is a delicious modern Chinese, a stylish 90-seater built around a charcoal grill in the middle of the space. Wagyu and black pepper puff and Chilean seabass dumplings with gold leaf are star turns on a very starry menu. Fifth floor, Harrods, London opened yesterday 18th.
7. Browse Jason Brooks’ London Sketchbook
Brooks’ earned his credentials drawing Paris Fashion Week for The Independent and his Paris Sketchbook was a perennial birthday present favourite. Now he takes London. Part annotated city journal, part gorgeous illustrated musings on the capital with a keen eye for London fashion tribes. Out now, £19.95 published by Laurence King.
8. Meet Mortdecai
Johnny Depp as a moustache-twirling, accident-prone British spy in an espionage comedy also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor and Paul Bettany? Mortdecai boasts intriguing elements, although Depp’s parade of mannered oddballs is beginning to threaten quirk overload. In cinemas from Friday.
9. Rediscover Sleater-Kinney
Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss are the godmothers of Riot Grrrl, the enduring early ‘90s agit-prop feminist US subculture that shadowed the careers of everyone from Kurt Cobain to Beth Ditto. They split in 2006 but have reunited on a zealous, explosive new record that proves they lost none of their killer spirit with age. Album No Cities To Love is out now.
10. See Di and Viv and Rose
You’ll know Amelia Bullmore as the robust boss in brilliant Mancunian cop drama Scott and Bailey. She has a sideline writing for the show, a talent owing to her plentiful stage work. Her new drama is a sharp and lovely delve into female friendship with a trio of failsafe talent in the title roles: Tamzin Outhwaite, Samantha Spiro and Jenna Russell. At the Vaudeville Theatre, London, from Thursday 22nd until May 23rd.
