Four minutes
Lynks: I Didn’t Come Here For Art music video
It’s that point in January when everything is grey and terrible, and it’s hard to find motivation to do anything beyond eating crisps and worrying about the world. This banging camp anthem from masked queer-pop provocateur Lynks might provide the jolt of energy required to kickstart the weekend. There’s much to love about this gloriously messy video, but Lynks’s enormous hat and the dripping disdain they manage to cram into the words “orange wine” spark all kinds of joy for me.
One hour
The New Years, Mubi
This superbly written and sensitively acted 10-part Spanish series follows the lives of Madrid-based on-off couple Ana and Oscar over the course of 10 consecutive New Years. The sizzling first episode sets the scene with their initial encounter. Oscar is glum, having been dumped by his girlfriend. Ana, who is working as a bartender, buys him a drink. And the night takes on a life of its own. Directed by, among others, Rodrigo Sorogoyen (best known for the multi-award-winning feature film The Beasts), this is intimate, emotionally complex, addictively watchable television.
90 mins
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The Lady Eve, available to stream on Channel 4
One of the finest screwball comedies ever made, Preston Sturges’ quick-witted tale of con artists, romance and mistaken identities is available to stream on Channel 4 until the end of January. The incomparable Barbara Stanwyck stars as Jean Harrington/Lady Eve Sidwich, a worldly card sharp who falls for her mark (Henry Fonda’s rich but clueless snake expert Charles Pike) during an Atlantic crossing on a luxury liner. Crackling with sexual tension, powered by rattling, rapid fire dialogue, this is an utter joy of a film.
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An afternoon
A self-guided walking tour of modernist houses.
Handsomely designed, informative and unapologetically nerdy about 20th century architecture, the Perambulations guides, published by Modernist Estates, suggest walking and cycling routes around numerous London neighbourhoods (plus a few outside of the capital, including Cambridge, Paris, Berlin and Brussels). Combines a bracing walk with the opportunity to gawk at architectural gems: what better way to pass an afternoon? Plus for every guide purchased, a donation is made to the homeless charity Shelter.
An evening
London Short Film festival
The wide-ranging and inventively curated London Short Film festival kicks off on Friday 23 January and includes programmes themed around London stories, the gothic, melodrama in 80s and 90s punk cinema and a collection of newly discovered archival material exploring the trans-feminine experience of the 1970s. It’s a lively, friendly event and a great opportunity to connect with some of the freshest new voices in film-making. Venues include Curzon Soho, ICA, BFI Southbank, Garden Cinema, Lexi cinema and others.
Illustration by Charlotte Durance