Pete's Pad: January

The longest month of the year is almost over and I’m back for year two of the regular reviews experiment.

If you’re new, 👋, if you’re not - and you actually read to the end - you know these things can run quite long, so I’m going to make a start.

I managed to catch a few more of 2025’s biggest and bestest films at the start of 2026; as is the way with the general lack of immediacy on this blog.

My favourite of those was 28 Years Later. I loved the original and recently found there was one in the middle - 28 Weeks Later - which wasn’t very good, in part, but not entirely due to, having Jeremy Renner in it. Crucially, the third instalment is written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle, so it’s just the right amount of scary zombie action sequences and abstract apocalyptic weirdness. I’ve now seen that there’s another sequel out right now, again written by Garland, but with Candyman director Nia DaCosta behind the camera - and yet another in the works with Cillian Murphy potentially returning. Can you have too much of a good thing? Not sure, but the final scene of this one did set up some intriguing Fallout-faction-style plot lines.

I also rather enjoyed Nickel Boys, which is based on the Colson Whitehead novel of the same name. It’s an ingenious POV-style feature following two Black boys sent to an abusive reform school in 1960s Florida. Directed by RaMell Ross, what the camera sees veers between dream-like sequences and nightmarish racist violence. Sticking with the first person perspective is a bold stylistic choice and is often used in clever ways, but it does detract from getting the best out of many conversational scenes, with some fine young actors not really getting their due. While arguably a bit long, it is a unique way to portray a shocking place and period in history.

I was planning to also watch Civil War, which would have provided a perfect link between what’s brewing in the US right now and Alex Garland’s involvement in both this and the aforementioned zombie film, but in-between me locating the film on Prime and getting round to actually pressing play, the price went from nothing to £14 - so it’ll have to wait. Chuck ees a holler if you’ve got a cheeky copy you can send on.

Instead of that, I sat down to the Phoenician Scheme, which was definitely a more pleasant way to spend an hour or so. Even though this isn’t a vintage from Wes’ burgeoning catalogue, it’s just nice to - for a change - watch a film where the stakes are low and the whimsy is high. That’s not to say it’s boring, quite the opposite in fact, things move along at a fair old clip and there’s a depth of detail to each scene and stage that is rarely matched. It’s just that, for someone so adverse to conflict as myself - and with intensity of some of the things I’ve been watching recently - I appreciate seeing so many fine actors having a lovely time with a witty script, rambling plot and delightful direction; safe in the knowledge it will all work out alright in the end.

I suppose the same can be said for Nuremberg, as I was broadly aware of the history there and how the first ever war crimes tribunal broadly achieved its aims and set legal precedence. It plays out in a pleasingly pacey and straightforward way, with a fair bit of exposition and explanation for those at the back unaware of the time, the people and the trial. It’s worth the price of admission just for chubby, surprisingly decent German-accented Russell Crowe alone, but he’s ably abetted by Michael Shannon doing his gruff lawman thing and Rami Malek as a cheeky chappy psychiatrist. There’s plenty of amusing jump cuts and wisecracking amid the grave preparations for the maiden trial. Inevitably it all gets more serious as the case concludes, and by the end our maverick psychoanalyst is left a broken man, unable to convince the wider public of the continued threat of what brought the nazi’s to the brink of world domination. It’s a stirring conclusion and his final words go some way to summing up the importance of this message today.

Back to the inconsequential with Apple’s flagship film of late, F1. I used to be a huge motor racing fanatic, partly because my early teens coincided with some golden eras for rallying, touring cars and yes, Formula One. Other interests took over in the interim, but I’ve always kept an eye on the competition; albeit rarely sitting through a live race. I’ve watched with interest the Netflix-ification of the sport in recent years and I suppose this movie is the logical conclusion: a fully-sponsored promo package for the world’s most expensive racing show. Thing is, if you can buy into that and get over the regular intrusions from blatant brand partners, celebrity cameos and general F1 corporation content, there’s a lot to like. The story is as generic as they come, but it hits all the right beats, the camerawork and realistic race action is truly immersive and impressive, and a solid cast make the best of a fairly basic script. It’s too long and too soppy, but it has done what it was cynically meant to do and somewhat reignited my love of very fast cars trying to go faster than one another.

Onto telly, and it’s been so long since the first season of The Night Manager I had kind of forgotten the plot, but this new run strays from the le Carré novel and sees Tom Hiddleston’s operative manning a surveillance unit six years after the Hugh Laurie baddy’s death. The apparent murder of his boss sees our protagonist go rouge and follow his leads to Colombia, where the clothing gets markedly more stylish and the spycraft an awful lot steamier. Everyone’s gorgeous and sweaty and it all zips along entertainingly enough, but fair play to the producers/director for not resorting to too many Bond stereotypes; particularly not having our protagonist shag the love interest.

I’ve also just started the latest Game of Thrones spin-off, Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which - crucially - was adapted from one of RR Martin’s novellas; so it’s nice to be back with decent source material again. It’s pleasantly meandering and inconsequential so far, with a sense of humour that seemed to desert latter seasons of the main show. I really did not need the lingering pissing and shitting shots, but I suppose that’s part of the literally warts-an-all feel of the piece. The hedge knight’s developing relationship with his new squire, chippy little Egg, is a delight and I’m quite liking this tale of haphazard opportunism.

And finally, to Wild London, where our most prized national treasure is still working, but at least he’s not far from home, looking into some of the more surprising residents of the capital, and unearthing the interesting behaviours of its more numerous creatures. There’s plenty of delightful moments, from cradling a peregrine chick to hanging out with hedgehogs.

Sticking with big Dave, but moving onto a little rundown of the most enticing things coming in the next 12 months, the BBC have confirmed that in his hundredth year, Attenborough will narrate Blue Planet III; due by December apparently.

A little sooner is Euphoria, which also returns for a third outing, in April, with the surviving cast members attempting to make their way in the world after high school. The recent trailer makes it look a bit like Breaking Bad, which I suppose was inevitable given Rue's trajectory.

Also in April, The Boys are back for a fifth and final season, which is probably for the best to be honest. The last season seemed to be running out of ideas and leaning a bit too hard into the shock-value stuff, but after its downbeat finale, I will give this a last spin to see if anyone can take down Homelander. 

Meanwhile, Beef, one of the finest shows of 2023 gets a second series, this time with a whole new cast, including Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan, having a whole new disagreement. 

Six years after I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel has come up with something new: First Day on Earth is again covering the travails of a struggling writer, but this time taking the drama to Ghana. 

Another person aiming to follow an incredible breakthrough show: Richard Gadd is following Baby Reindeer with Half Man this year. Not much is known, apart from it starring him and Jamie Bell as brothers. 

I've loved just about everything Daisy Haggard has done, so will be looking forward to her new show Maya, which is apparently less dark comedy, but treading similar ground as Back to Life, as she and fictional daughter Bella Ramsey go on witness protection in the Scottish Highlands. 

No easy way to segue to Spider-Noir, which is quite a concept, taking Nicolas Cage's character from Into the Spider-Verse and making it live action. Colour me intrigued. 

Sticking with Marvel, there's also a third part of the WandaVision story, where the comic book brand's TV adventure bravely first started; and still one of its best productions. Shifting from witchcraft to AI, this appears to be more focused on Paul Bettany's cyborg and its struggle for identify. 

As for films, the year-end blockbusters will no doubt be Dune: Messiah, the final instalment of which is currently due to clash with Avengers: Doomsday just before Christmas, so we’ll see which studio flinches first.

The big summer films include Christopher Nolan's latest epic, The Odyssey, with a ridiculously starry cast that includes Tom Holland and Zendaya, who a fortnight later will also be leading the new Spider-Man movie.

In March, I'm keen to see Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's adaptation of Martian author Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling as an astronaut who wakes up on a space station with no memory of why he's there, but begins to realise that he's on a mission to stop a cosmically-cataclysmic event. 

There's a similarly apocalyptic event coming in Disclosure Day, a new Steven Spielberg original due in June, starring the likes of Emily Blunt and Colin Firth preparing to welcome our new alien overlords. 

In May, Boots Riley brings some of her favourite actors from Sorry to Bother You and I Am a Virgo back for I Love Boosters, which on teaser trailer inspection looks like a shoplifting flick, but in his hands will surely be much more weird and wonderful. 

Due for an October release is Alejandro González Iñárritu’s hotly-anticipated next film, starring Tom Cruise. The Digger - not to be confused with the infamous Glasgow crime paper - has the tagline of 'a comedy of catastrophic proportions' which makes it all the more enticing.  

And finally, Tarantino didn't want another sequel as his 10th and final film, so the Adventures of Cliff Booth - Brad Pitt's character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - is being made by none other than David Fincher, which should be interesting. 

There are also some albums I’m thoroughly looking forward to in the coming months, so very briefly: Butterfly by Daphni is out on 6 February, Evaporator by Nathan Fake Is coming on the 20th and The Mountain by Gorillaz is released on the 27th, then in March, Avalon Emerson and The Charm’s second record is out on the 20th, followed by Holy Fuck’s Event Beat on the 27th.

Thundercat’s first record in six years is due on 3 April and then Tiga’s got a new one out on the 17th of that month. Things get a bit more hazy from then on, but there’s supposedly new LPs in the works from artists and bands as diverse as Blondie, GZA, Madonna and Janet Jackson.