Staying In

Watch The Oscar Best Picture Nominees

Awards season is on the horizon, and last week we finally found out which films are in the running for an Oscar – with Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet flying the flag for Britain. This year, a whopping 317 feature films were eligible for an Academy Award across 24 categories, whittled down to 35 actually nominated by the Academy’s 10,136 voting members. Likewise 202 films were eligible for Best Picture, reduced to just 10. Drumroll please… They are: Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, Sinners and Train Dreams. How many have you seen? Don’t worry: you’ve got until Sunday 15 March to watch them all and make up your own mind about who should go home with the golden statuette. Here’s where and how. And if you’re more BAFTA inclined, it’s a two birds, one stone situation: all five movies up for Best Film at the British awards are also up for the Oscar.

Going Out

Party In The National Gallery

But if it’s a night out you’re craving, head over to London’s biggest gallery-turned-dancefloor on Thursday for the National Gallery’s first-ever Art After Dark after-hours party. Shimmy alongside Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Leonardo da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks as the gallery’s Sainsbury Wing is bathed in a sound bath of electronic, pop and club sounds courtesy of RuPaul’s Drag Race star and musician Bimini. ‘The idea of performing in The National Gallery feels a bit surreal in the best way,’ said the drag queen. ‘I grew up thinking galleries were these quiet, untouchable spaces, so to walk in as a queer artist and get to make noise, take up space, and be fully myself feels really special. Art isn’t meant to sit still, it’s meant to start conversations, and if that conversation involves dancing in the same building as a Van Gogh, I’m fully here for it!’ The event is part of the wider Art After Dark event, a week-long festival across the West End featuring evening show openings, live performances, free public art and more. Art After Dark runs from 3-10 February, Party After Dark is on 5 February, tickets cost £5. nationalgallery.org.uk 

Property Of The Day

If you’re a fan of The Crown, then you’ll know that Princess Diana’s grandmother and etiquette trainer Lady Fermoy cut a formidable figure. Close friend and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, she even had Her Majesty round to stay while Sandringham was undergoing renovations. And now you too can bunk up in that very same royal abode.

On the market for £2.25m, sowerbys.com

Little Luxury

Gloria Shoreditch is marking its seventh anniversary by bringing back its legendary 10-level lasagna, made with lashings of bechamel, parmesan and mozzarella fior di latte. Bonus: £1 from every portion sold will be donated to The Felix Project, London’s largest food redistribution charity. Until 28 February, bigmammagroup.com

Competition Time

Escape to one of the UK’s most captivating countryside retreats with a two-night stay at The Cavendish, an award-winning hotel set at the heart of the historic Chatsworth Estate in Derbyshire. Enter now.

Psssst…

Yet another celeb has been tempted by the Cotswolds’ charm. Liam Gallagher has bought a £4m mansion in the village of Coates (which was formerly owned by England and Arsenal captain Tony Adams). The Oasis star posted on X to say he’ll ‘come in peace’ to the Gloucestershire hills – but will he be welcomed by his A-list neighbours?

Whatever You Do, Don’t

Forget to book a pub for this Saturday, when the England rugby team will go head to head with Wales in their first match in the 2026 Six Nations (kick off is at 4.40pm). Here are the best viewing spots in London.