Going out: Cinema
The Three Musketeers: Milady
Out now
En garde! Swords up for the second chapter of this French franchise based on Alexandre Dumas’s classic novel, and it’s hard to think of better casting for the legendary femme fatale Milady de Winter than Eva Green. François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï and Romain Duris round out the musketeer section of the cast.
Godzilla Minus One
Out now
Almost 70 years after the release of the first film, the scaly one is back to wreak havoc on postwar Japan. Veteran director Takashi Yamazaki’s new vision for the big lizard has already broken box office records in its native country with the casual ease of a wayward mutant smushing a skyscraper. You better run!
Monica
Out now
In this drama from Italian director Andrea Pallaoro, the titular Monica (Trace Lysette) returns home to the midwest after 20 years to look after her dying mother, Eugenia (Patricia Clarkson). The film wowed audiences at the Venice film festival.
Mystery movie marathon
Prince Charles Cinema, London, 16 December
Need a little more mystery in your life? This is an all-night cinema date for those with seriously eclectic tastes, and requires viewers with some nerve: all you know going in is that you’re getting five films, back to back from 11.45pm, and they really could be anything. Catherine Bray
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Going out: Gigs
Måneskin
AO Arena, Manchester, 19 December
Having swept to Eurovision glory in 2021, Italian rockers Måneskin have since landed a UK Top 5 album with January’s divisive (Pitchfork called it “absolutely terrible at every conceivable level”) Rush!. They head to Manchester to bring a pre-Christmas dose of rock’n’roll.
Joel Corry
Egg, London, 22 December
The former Geordie Shore castmate is now one of dance-pop’s biggest producers, with six UK Top 10 singles and a Top 5 album to his name. He’ll aim to cement that with this one-off, four-hour extended DJ set, which should be bulging with bangers. Michael Cragg
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Beacon Hall, Bristol, 19 December
Orchestral concerts return to Bristol as Kirill Karabits and his orchestra give the first concert in the renovated and renamed Beacon. There’s a new fanfare from Mark-Anthony Turnage to celebrate the reopening, before Karabits makes the earth move with Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Andrew Clements
Elina Duni and Rob Luft
Vortex Jazz Club, London, 16 December
Albanian-born singer-songwriter Elina Duni and UK guitarist Rob Luft mingle European, American, Kosovan and Albanian traditional songs with cinematic originals, and do it with an empathic spontaneity that bridges borders and languages. They’re joined on this rare London show by global-jazz drummer Corrie Dick. John Fordham
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Going out: Art
Robert Mapplethorpe
Alison Jacques Gallery, London, to 20 January
In his lifetime, Robert Mapplethorpe was seen as a sensationalist, but the beauty and power of his art grows with time. He finds fantasy in reality. Without any special effects except lighting, his photographs fuse his inner world with the outer realities his camera takes in – from flesh to flowers.
Holbein
The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London, to 14 April
German-Swiss artist Hans Holbein portrayed the people of the English Reformation, including those like Sir Thomas More who went to the executioner’s block for their religion. His paintings are jewels, his drawings movingly intimate. Yet Holbein is much more than a portraitist. He is one of the most profound of Renaissance artists.
John Akrofomah
The Box, Plymouth, to 2 June
When Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in 1492 the world rapidly changed – including at a biological level. Akrofomah’s new multi-screen film, Arcadia, explores this “Columbian exchange” which included the catastrophic spread of smallpox from Europe to the Americas. Images of ravishing landscapes and seascapes are intercut with disturbing historical facts.
Elisabeth Frink
Dorset Museum, Dorchester, to 21 April
The expressive sculptures of Elisabeth Frink portray people and animals with a rugged existential anxiety. But who was she really? This exhibition at the Dorset Museum, which owns 300 works by her, goes behind her public works to reveal her private life and recreate the atmosphere of her Dorset studio. Jonathan Jones
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Going out: Stage
Mark Thomas
The Amersham Arms, London, 17 December
The firebrand comic takes a break from his anti-Tory tirades for something more jolly. An Extra Plate, Thomas’s unabashedly nostalgic festive show, sees him delve into Christmases past, tracing a line from childhood magic to a sublime midnight mass. Rachel Aroesti
The House of Bernarda Alba
National Theatre: Lyttelton, London, to 6 January
A house in mourning. A formidable matriarch. Five daughters looking for a way out. García Lorca’s final play has been adapted by the ever-daring Alice Birch and is directed by Rebecca Frecknall, whose shows always feel so lucid and new. Starring Succession’s Harriet Walter. Lyndsey Winship
Pirates!
The Place, London, 16 to 24 December
Scottish Dance Theatre walks the plank in its family show aimed at seven- to 12-year-olds, but open to all. The story of a bored salesman sucked into his own imaginary world, it promises a lot of fun and a bit of heart. LW
The Enormous Crocodile
Leeds Playhouse, to 6 January
A brand new musical based on Roald Dahl’s tale, which sees a hungry crocodile search for a delicious child for dinner. Directed by Emily Lim (brilliant on the National’s Public Acts project), and featuring puppetry from one of the very best, Toby Olié (Spirited Away). Miriam Gillinson
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Staying in: Streaming
Here We Go
BBC One & iPlayer, 22 December, 8.30pm
A Christmas special for Tom Basden’s comforting family sitcom, which chronicles the lives of the Jessops – largely via the video footage of teenage son Sam. Come for the excellent cast (Katherine Parkinson, Jim Howick, Basden himself), stay for the masterfully crescendoing farce.
Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution
BBC Two & iPlayer, 16 December, 10pm
As one of modern music’s most crucial building blocks, disco is well overdue its dues: something this assiduous and lively three-part history is helping to put right. The story of its invention – Stonewall, segregation, sound systems – is a cracking yarn, told here by key players and keepers of the flame.
The Winter King
ITVX, 21 December
It must be streaming law that all platforms need to eventually produce a medieval fantasy epic featuring at least one man in a platinum blond wig. Now, ITVX has that covered with a version of Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Trilogy, starring Iain De Caestecker as bastard child turned national hero Arthur Pendragon.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Disney+, 20 December
Adolescence is hard enough without becoming embroiled in a beef between Greek gods – but that’s the fate of 12-year-old Perseus Jackson in this adaptation of the YA book series, which kicks off with our hero discovering that he’s the demi-god son of Poseidon, his best friend is a satyr and Zeus is pretty ticked off with him. RA
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Staying in: Games
Resident Evil 4 Remake
Out 20 December, iPad, iPhone & Mac
Unbelievably, you can now play the best high-end horror game of the year on your phone, assuming it’s sufficiently high-spec.
Grand Theft Auto Trilogy
Out now, iPhone, Android via Netflix
Did you know that Netflix has a pretty impressive games library? If you’re a subscriber, you can now play three iconic 00s GTA games on your phone: GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas. Keza MacDonald
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Staying in: Albums
Cher – Christmas
Out now
Originally released in the middle of October for some reason, now feels like the perfect time to really dig into this baffling festive opus from Cher. Of the original songs, the twinkly, Auto-Tuned banger DJ Play A Christmas Song is the highlight, while the Tyga-assisted Drop Top Sleigh Ride is a gloriously camp trap curio.
Chief Keef – Almighty So 2
Out now
This sequel to the Chicago rapper’s 2013 fan-favourite mixtape has taken on an almost mythical status. Originally slated for release in January, then April. It finally arrives as an early Christmas present, with rumours of a Drake assist on one track.
Wishy – Paradise
Out now
Indiana songwriters Kevin Krauter and Nina Pitchkites team up as Wishy for this debut EP of grunge-tinged, 90s-inspired pop-rock. Songs such as Too True and lead single Donut showcase the band’s penchant for bittersweet lyrics and lilting melodies, with the latter buoyed up by Pitchkites’ sighing vocals.
The Killers – Rebel Diamonds
Out now
A decade after their last best-of, Brandon Flowers and co (below) return with a second, which adds songs from their last three studio albums to evergreen hits such as Human, When You Were Young and, of course, Mr Brightside. The latter has spent more than seven years in the UK Top 100. MC
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Staying in: Brain food
Dickens in Italy With David Harewood
Sky Arts, 19 December, 8pm
Part of a Dickens series, tracing the Victorian author’s fascination with the supernatural, this documentary sees actor Harewood exploring Dickens’s time living in Italy and its influence on him.
The Full English
Podcast
Chef Lewis Bassett’s series on the social history of food in Britain is a fascinating look at how everything from the Romans to Costa Coffee have shaped how we eat. Something to ponder between festive feasts.
Royal Court Living Archive
Online
The Sloane Square theatrical institution has recently launched a digital archive featuring more than 2,000 of its performances. Albeit a work in progress, the website contains biographical information for each work as well as images and memories from audience members. Ammar Kalia
