New Year's Adjacent Events for the Week Ahead

Nico Santos

Monday 30, Cap City Comedy Club

Austin gets a real treat in this special visit from Nico Santos, a Philippines-to-Bay Area transplant by way of Oregon you may recognize as the witty and fashionable Oliver from Crazy Rich Asians or as Recorder Theel from last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Santos really made a name for himself onscreen over six seasons of NBC comedy Superstore, which benefited from his stand-up background as well as the real-life retail experience that supplemented his comedy career. Don’t miss this rare chance to see him live in Austin, and get more Santos via guest spots on NBC comedies Night Court and St. Denis Medical.   – Kat McNevins

Get Crafty: New Year’s Charms

Monday 30, Ruiz Branch Library

We could all use some good fortune and protection in 2025, and here’s one way to up your chances. Learn at the library how to make clay charms and paper omamori, which are Japanese amulets found at Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, so named from the Japanese word “mamoru” meaning “to protect.” Just come up with a good intention or prayer for the new year and swing by for a lunchtime craft hour from 1 to 2pm. All ages welcome.   – Kat McNevins

Phantom Thread

Tuesday 31 and Wednesday 1, Alamo South Lamar, Lakeline

Maybe you’ve already caught this “final” (for now) Daniel Day Lewis performance in theatres. But hear me out – Phantom Thread is the ideal film for ringing in the New Year. Is that just because it has an ethereally gorgeous New Year’s party scene? Maybe. But this luscious movie deserves to be seen on the big screens, nothing distracting you from the quiet beauty of fashion and relationships. Listen to Jonny Greenwood’s wonderful score on a top-notch sound system. Watch every larger-than-life fold and billow of dressmaking. Entrap yourself in the twisted love between DDL’s eccentric fashion house head and Vicky Krieps’ not-so-naive country girl drawn into his web. Let yourself get lost in the romanticism, and definitely don’t investigate why their power dynamic is so fascinating.   – Cat McCarrey

The Wizard of Oz

Tuesday 31, Central Library

I once held the championship title in my immediate family for the Wizard of Oz trivia game, where I could recall every fact at the drop of a dice. How curious no one suspected I might be neurodivergent... anyway! Ease into the new year with a classic: In conjunction with their Read Watch Talk Book and Movie Club, which is currently delving into Oz’s many, many iterations, the Austin Public Library screens 1939’s Technicolor wonder. This screening offers silent disco headphones, so you control the volume on the screening without disturbing other patrons. Whether you listen soft or loud, the beautiful notes of Judy Garland wondering what lies over the rainbow hit every single time.   – James Scott

Beginner Two-Step Lessons

Tuesday 31, Sagebrush

Slow, slow, quick-quick, slow, slow. That’s apparently all it takes to slide those soles around the dance floor. Learn the country-dance basics from the professional booted scooters at Double or Nothing Two-Step and get ready to shine the next time you’re at the honky tonk or perhaps forced to participate in some Texas-themed work event. After the lesson, there will be live music and an open dance floor to test drive your new skills. Use your new moves responsibly and don’t forget to tip your instructor.   – James Renovitch

Dahomey

Tuesday 31, Wednesday 1 & Saturday 4, AFS Cinema

How do our histories continue beyond their lifetimes? As the world wavers over climate change’s steep ledge, conversations about preservation have produced the most fascinating works of 2024. From psychic grave robbers in La Chimera to this week’s Doc Nights select, how to care for artifacts – and where those historical items belong – stays a potent topic. Directed by Mati Diop, the return of 26 sacred pieces concerns most of this documentary’s runtime, following their journey from a Paris museum back to what was once the titular African kingdom, now called Benin. This story comes from multiple viewpoints, including interviews with University of Abomey-Calavi students as well as a statue of King Ghézo, given voice by Haitian writer Makenzy Orcel.   – James Scott

Black-Eyed Pea Cook-Off

Wednesday 1, William Chris Vineyard

Originating in West Africa and a portent of good luck, black-eyed peas are essential eating on New Year’s Day. If you want to get your fix in as well as a nice drive, consider heading to Hye for William Chris Vineyard’s annual Black-Eyed Pea Cook-Off. A $50 ticket ($20 children) will pack your plate with Hoppin’ John, braised collards, and more. That ticket also gains you access to live music, lawn games, a welcome glass of wine, a commemorative tee, and the right to taste and vote for the best dish, which is great for anyone who made “be more judgey” a New Year’s resolution for 2025.   – Kimberley Jones

Bona

Wednesday 1 & Sunday 5, AFS Cinema

Because all misogyny was fixed in 1990 by women in pantsuits, watching women-centric films from those pre-enlightened years is so fascinating. Obviously I jest, seeing as America just elected possibly the most anti-women candidate for our highest office, but I’m not joking when it comes to the importance of historic feminist cinema. This until-now largely unseen Filipino feature follows a young woman infatuated with an actor, whose enveloping of her into his life proves enlightening about patriarchy’s harsh rule. Released in 1980, the film’s lead actress Nora Aunor won a Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Best Actress award, as well as sweeping up another Best Actress title at the Gawad Urian Awards. Catch the latest 4K restoration as the new year starts, putting you one-foot forward to a more worldly cinematic 2025.   – James Scott

New Year Mimosa Run

Wednesday 1, 410 Pressler

Start your year the right way ... and the wrong way. The fine and fit folks at Rogue Running will host a 3-7 mile jaunt through Austin – that’s the healthy part – followed by mimosas, coffee, and sparkling cider – that’s the unhealthy part, although it might help your mental health. Maybe this will be a whole new fitness leaf you’ll be turning over, but even if your resolution to run only lasts for that one day, you’ll still be that tiny bit healthier going into what promises to be a grueling 2025.   – James Renovitch

Polar Bear Splash

Wednesday 1, Barton Springs Pool

No polar bears were invited to this year’s plunge, as far as I know, but they wouldn’t like the weather in Austin anyway. A bit too humid, TBH! So this event rec goes out to all our non-polar bear readers, many of whom are humanoid and will take great delight in hopping feet first into the chilly Barton Springs. I’ll say this: It’s certainly a unique way to welcome the new year. Cold, wet, and awake too early – such is the edict for 2025. Of course, you can always hit up Save Our Springs for free coffee and donuts to warm up post-plunge.   – James Scott

The First Sip Brunch

Wednesday 1, the Thompson

Maybe you’re not interested in a subdued 2025. You desire a new year filled by decadence, luxury, and excess – which is why you’re even considering a Downtown Austin hotel brunch at all. Few places could kick off your gourmet future better than this New Year’s Day feast over at the Thompson’s first-floor 5th Street Diner. On offer here will be millennial-bait avocado toast, green eggs and ham benedict, bread-pudding French toast, or Irish oatmeal, whose brûléed raw sugar and fresh fruit don’t exactly call to mind the humble cuisine of Ireland but like. You’re not in Ireland, so why pick nits? Top this foodie finery off with an elevated cocktail, such as 2024’s darling the espresso martini or a tropical pineapple orange mimosa. The world may be burning, but who cares when the eating’s this good?   – James Scott

Paris, Texas

Thursday 2, Alamo South Lamar

Even though it was directed by Wim Wenders and written by Sam Shepard, it’s not Paris, North Rhine-Westphalia, or Paris, Illinois. It’s Paris, Texas, and it’s the delicate pen of cinematic hall-of-famer and co-screenwriter L.M. Kit Carson that grounds this 1985 tragic odyssey as a defining Lone Star State film. Desperation blooms in the heat as lost soul Travis (Harry Dean Stanton, gaunt and mute) staggers out of the West Texas desert on a quest to pull some of his life back together, and make amends for sins from which he had run away four years earlier. Yet what was truly unforgivable: the crime, or the escape? The movies have never had a better showdown than Stanton on the phone in a peepshow booth, confronting his past and confessing for something like redemption.   – Richard Whittaker

The Bloody Lady

Thursday 2 & Saturday 4, AFS Cinema

Hungarian serial killer Elizabeth Báthory, allegedly a bather in the blood of virgins in a quest for eternal youth around the turn of the 17th century, was the subject of a recent You’re Wrong About podcast episode. Does that mean this 1981 "Disneyfied goth retelling" of her story, as AFS puts it, may not be based on fact? Can we even call her a serial killer? Perhaps ol' Liz is due for a name-clearing, and her story is certainly ripe for revisiting via this strikingly told tale from Slovakia's "father of animation," Viktor Kubal.   – Kat McNevins

The Taste of Mango

Thursday 2 & Thursday 9, AFS Cinema

Moms hold a lot of histories: theirs, their children’s, and even their own mother’s. In her debut documentary feature, filmmaker Chloe Abrahams delves into three family generations to find their true stories filled by overwhelming love and violence. By unpacking her mother Rozana and her grandmother Jean’s lives before hers, Abrahams uses their stories to “testify to the entangled and ever-changing nature of inheritance and the ways in which we both hurt and protect the ones we love,” as the director’s own website describes. Having secured a Best Debut Director award from the British Independent Film Awards, the documentary lands in ATX courtesy of Austin Asian American Film Festival and AFS’ Doc Nights series.   – James Scott

Imagination Station

Thursday 2, Windsor Park Branch Library

Kids basically have one job: to learn. And they do it goshdarn every day in so many ways, often most effectively through play! It sounds like fun, but it’s also how kids explore new concepts and develop skills they can apply to all kinds of situations. At this come-and-go program from 10 to 11:30am, the library will have toys, board books, and a craft station set up so kiddos ages 2-5 can exercise their imaginations, practice motor and literacy skills, and explore STEM and the arts with their caregivers to learn while they play.   – Kat McNevins

The Terrazas Sketch Crew

Thursday 2, Terrazas Branch Library

Worst news in the world alert: In order to get better at any artistic medium, you must practice constantly and consistently. Sorry! It’s the truth. But this practice doesn’t need to a rock rolled uphill by an overburdened creator. Nay, nay: Local artist Adam Kobetich hosts this totally free and fun meetup where everyone gets to put pencil to paper together. Whether you’re just learning to sketch, want a few pointers, or need a specific space to put in that work, the crew is here for you!   – James Scott

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Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.