THE FABULOUSLY EERIE DOCUMENTARY
You’ve heard of New York’s Chelsea Hotel, right? All sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, it’s where Jack Kerouac and Gore Vidal had a one-night stand, Madonna shot the photographs for Sex, and Sid and Nancy spent a last fateful night together. Now’s your chance to peek inside the legendary bohemian walls which bore a thousand stories thanks to Martin Scorsese, Maya Duverdier and Amélie van Elmbt’s documentary, Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel. On show at the Curzon Bloomsbury and streaming at Dogwoof on Demand (watch.dogwoof.com)
THE OTT ODE TO HOLLYWOOD
An elephant, a rattlesnake, a deranged Margot Robbie and a wagon-load of Peruvian party powder roll on to a 1920s Hollywood film set… Haha! So you’ve seen Babylon and you don’t need me to tell you about it. Did you like it? I bloody adored it. What a rollicking, riotous romp. Me too, it’s proper mad fun. Shall we tell the readers what it’s about? Oh yeah, it’s set when movies were transitioning to talkies. Brad Pitt is the silent screen legend, Robbie a chaotic starlet with more balls than all the men put together, while scorching new face Diego Calva is the Mexican desperate to break into the biz. Career nose-dives follow when our leads find they are shit at actually speaking to the camera. Did the critics like it? Some of them were rather cross. Damien Chazelle — who also made La La Land — intended this as another love letter to Tinseltown, but they think he’s done an unduly extravagant, inaccurate pig’s ear of a job. So the excess is overplayed? Who cares when the ‘snake scene’ is that brilliant. ‘Babylon’ is in cinemas 20 Jan
THE SAUCY SHOW
Featuring the masterful Jemma Kahn, cult South African hit We Didn’t Come to Hell for the Croissants makes its London debut. Expect a solo performance of seven stories by renowned writers. Expect orgiastic sex. Expect cats with trust funds. Don’t expect your kids to get in. Until 4 Feb. Tickets £15 (riversidestudios.co.uk)
THE SEXY AF ALBUM
Måneskin — sexy, sweat-slicked and silly. They won the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, sang with Iggy Pop and now they’re beggin’ you to listen to Rush!, their third studio album which features glam rock ballads and fan favourites, ‘Gasoline’ and ‘Gossip’. Out 20 Jan
THE GLORIOUSLY GLOOMY GIG
Get in line, because wholly handsome Irish rockers The Murder Capital are celebrating the release of their second studio album, Gigi’s Recovery, at Rough Trade East on Monday with one of their famously moody, theatrical performances. 23 Jan. Tickets from £15.50 (dice.fm)
THE THROWBACK SERIES
Watch out: a nostalgic, carefree binge is coming your way. That ’70s Show is back (sort of), this time returning 20 years later as That ’90s Show, based in the sweet, sweet summer of ’95. There are plenty of new faces, but Kurtwood Smith, Debra Jo Rupp, Don Stark and Tommy Chong are back full time, plus there’s the odd appearance from now all grown-up teen stars Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama. Groovy. Available on Netflix now
THE TODO ESPAÑOL EXHIBITION
Looking for a dose of Spanish culture a little more enlightening than what you’ll find amid the package-holiday hordes in Gran Canaria? Masterpieces by Goya, Velázquez and El Greco are but a few of the more than 150 enthralling works from the Spanish-speaking corners of the globe on show at the RA’s fascinating new exhibition, Spain and the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library. Be sure also to marvel at what Giovanni Vespucci famously believed Earth looked like in his ornate map from way back in 1526. 21 Jan to 10 Apr. Tickets from £22 (royalacademy.org.uk)
