We may have started a new calendar, sang “Auld Lang Syne” and toasted to new beginnings, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to leave you hanging when it comes to the goodness coming your way each month.
New year, same hectic lives and we’ve still got you covered.
Here’s the first Primer of the 2015, hipping you to the movies, music and sundry other things that are poised to enter your lives as we enter the New Year.
A Most Violent Year (December 31)
Set in 1981 New York, director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) tracks the lives of Abel and Anna Morales (Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain) as the violence of their surroundings creeps into their lives and threatens to ruin everything they’ve worked for. Chastain is always terrific and Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) is going to be one of the breakout stars of 2015, so when your team them with the rave reviews the film has been receiving, this becomes a must-see movie to start the year.
NFL Playoffs (All Month)
With the regular season complete, the real games start this month as representatives from the AFC and NFC start trying to make their way to Arizona for the Super Bowl. Given that this year has been pretty back-and-forth and no one has really stood out, picking an eventual winner is a crap shoot. Our picks? New England in the AFC and Seattle in the NFC with Tom Terrific and the Patriots winning it all.
UFC 182: Bitter Rivals (January 3)
Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier don’t like each other. They brawled at an August press conference in Las Vegas and after having their light heavyweight title fight pushed back three months and change, you can be sure these two are going to set the Octagon ablaze when they finally meet.
HBO Binge Watching Goodness (January 6)
Want to know the best way to prepare for the upcoming seasons of Girls and Looking? Easy – pick up the latest seasons on DVD, make a junk food run and turn off your phone while you live on the couch and catch up with Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna and follow the lives of Patrick, Agustin and Dom on the West Coast. Both shows return on Sunday, January 11 so use the 144 hours between these seasons hitting the shelves and the next seasons starting effectively.
Selma (January 9)
It’s fitting that in Ava DuVernay’s film about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting marches led by Martin Luther King, Jr., James Bevel, John Lewis and Hosea Williams hit theatres now in the wake of civil unrest and racial tensions from places like Ferguson, Missouri continuing to dominate the headlines. The film has been nominated for a number of Golden Globes and star David Oyelowo is another actor on the brink of a breakthrough.
Julianne Moore’s Next Oscar-Nominated Role (January 16)
In Still Alice, Moore stars as a cognitive psychologist with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease and early returns and reviews have her delivering a masterful, Oscar-worthy performance. Moore isn’t as mentioned or recognized when running back the best actresses of the last 20 years, but she’s been both consistent and quirky, mixing it up at every turn, rather than just playing the same character time and again. We love her for it… and for being Amber Waves.
Get Your Gaming On (January 20)
The fact that Saints Row IV drops here tells you just how popular the open-world action-adventure series has been since its debut in 2006. Also hitting consoles is Dying Light, a working during the day, beware of the dark shooter from the people at Techland (Call of Juarez).
40 Days of Dating: An Experiment (January 20)
Everyone has made an “If we’re both single” pact with someone along the way. Jessica Walsh and Timothy Goodman just followed through. Single at the same time and not really keen on playing the field, they decided to date each other for 40 days. This book is a journey through their experiment and an exploration of today’s dating scene, both of which we’re interested in.
When Good Actors Make Bad Movies (January 23)
Johnny Depp is a great actor. Mortdecai looks like a mediocre (at best) movie. Directed by David Koepp – the guy that brought you Jospeh Gordon-Levitt in the bike messenger joint Premium Rush – it’s a comedy caper Depp as the titular part-time rogue Charlie Mortdecai. There are big names in supporting roles and plans to make this a franchise, so hopefully it’s not as middling as the previews have made it look. Fingers crossed.
Uptown Special (January 27)
Chances are you’ve been singing “Uptown Funk” for the past couple weeks like everyone else because hot-damn is that song infectious! Well, Mark Ronson – the musician/DJ/producer behind the track – drops an entire album of funky jams at the end of the month with the release of his latest, Uptown Special. Feel free to comb through his back catalogue too – he’s worked with an amazing collection of artists and put together some pretty incredible tracks you probably never knew he was connected to like Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven” and Adelle’s 19 and Lily Allen’s Alright, Still.
