8 h. ago ‘The public has been lied to’: secretly made documentary insists that aliens exist

The Age of Disclosure is a new film featuring high-ranking government officials who claim proof of extraterrestrial life has been covered upDirector Dan Farah grew up with aliens. As a child of the 80s and 90s, pop culture was awash with extra-terrestrial sightings. “How can you be a kid watching movies like ET and Close Encounters, TV shows like The X Files, and not end up curious about whether or not we’re alone in the universe?” he said in an interview with the Guardian. “And whether or not the US government does, in fact, hold secrets from the public.”Farah’s exposure to otherworldly beings in fiction kickstarted an interest that’s now morphed into a professional quest, and the subject of his documentary debut The Age of Disclosure. Here, Farah makes the case that the United States has been hiding, for decades, a font of information related to UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena) – the acronym rebrand of the stigma-ridden UFO. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Champagne Problems review – Netflix’s latest Christmas romcom lacks fizz

The streamer continues its annual onslaught of forgettable festive films with a mostly charmless romance set in FranceAt the risk of sounding like the Grinch, I must once again bemoan the release of Christmas movies before Thanksgiving; the temperatures may be dropping at long last, but it’s still too close to the gloominess of daylight savings and too far from the belt-loosening of the actual holidays to fully indulge in Netflix’s now-annual buffet of cheap Christmas confections. Nevertheless, their content conveyor belt rolls on, offering treats about as substantial and enduring as cotton candy beginning in mid-November.Like American chocolates that no longer, in fact, contain real chocolate but sell like gangbusters on Halloween anyway, the Netflix Christmas movie, like rival holiday movie master Hallmark, is relied upon, even beloved, for its brand of badness, for its rote familiarity (nostalgic casting, basement-bargain budgets, styrofoam snow, knowingly absurd premise) and unc...

Politics

4 d. ago 9 of the most popular ready meals you'll remember if you grew up in the 70s, 80s or 90s

Some were more popular than others

Politics

4 d. ago ‘Do we live in a war zone?’: how US schools prepare for a shooting

In the troubling HBO documentary Thoughts and Prayers, the $3bn active shooter preparedness industry shows the bleak reality of being a child in the USTalking about changes experienced by kids Ttday often runs the risk of sounding reactionary, not to mention naive. No, there wasn’t as much talk about autism, or transgender kids, or any number of topics growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s, because they weren’t understood or discussed in the same way – not because they didn’t exist. But it’s striking, watching the new HBO documentary Thoughts and Prayers, the degree to which it shows a demonstrable change from the experiences of someone growing up 30 or 40 years ago versus today: the absolute universality of emergency action plans that go beyond the scope of the fire drills you might remember. Thoughts and Prayers surveys many of those lockdown drills, and the many supplements available to contemporary schools designed to offer further protection from an active shooter: bulletproof backpa...

Events

5 d. ago 13 of the best Generation Game conveyor belt prizes in the 70s, 80s and 90s, when TV shows were stingier

Don’t forget the cuddly toy

Culture

8 d. ago It’s not all about roasting on an open fire – there’s so much more you can do with chestnuts

They have strong Christmas connotations, but these nuts are so versatile, whether you’re eating them hot out of the shell, or with pasta or pheasant. Plus: a burger that lives up to the hype• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, FeastIf I’d ever spared a thought for how chestnuts – the sweet, edible kind, not the combative horsey sort – were harvested, I would probably have conjured rosy-cheeked peasants bent low in ancient forests and filling rough-hewn hessian sacks by hand. Back-breaking labour, sure, but so picturesque!I was delighted, therefore, while on a writing retreat in Umbria last month, to get the opportunity to watch an elderly couple manoeuvre a giant vacuum around their haphazard orchard, followed by their furious sheepdog. The fallen crop was sucked into a giant fan that spat their bristly jackets back out on to the ground, and the nuts then went to be sorted by other family members on a conveyor belt in the barn – the good ones to be sold in the shell, the l...

Events

1 week ago England play Generation Game against All Blacks with overhaul of traditional order of selection

Steve Borthwick has picked six British & Irish Lions on his bench with a further nod to the growing importance of the endgame Selecting your best XV to start a big rugby match feels increasingly quaint these days, as redolent of a different era as the Generation Game or Starsky & Hutch. To the point where you half expect to find the home team sheet to face New Zealand this weekend has D-N-A-L-G-N-E printed at the top of it. Even with the All Blacks in town, the traditional order of selection no longer applies.Instead it is all about the endgame. On this occasion Steve Borthwick has picked six British & Irish Lions on his bench compared with only four in his starting lineup. At some point around the 50th minute on Saturday there will be a mass discarding of XXL tracksuits and a whole fresh set of white orcs will rumble on. As South Africa’s “Bomb Squad” have long since shown, it can be mighty hard to combat. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘We were effectively props’: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’

Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and a lack of support from the beginningVideo games have long struggled with diversification and inclusivity, so it was no surprise when the Game Awards host and producer Geoff Keighley announced the Future Class programme in 2020. Its purpose was to highlight a cohort of individuals working in video games as the “bright, bold and inclusive future” of the industry.Considering the widespread reach of the annual Keighley-led show, which saw an estimated 154m livestreams last year, Future Class felt like a genuine effort. Inductees were invited to attend the illustrious December ceremony, billed as “gaming’s Oscars”, featured on the official Game Awards website, and promised networking opportunities and career advancement advice. However, the programme reportedly struggled from the start. Ove...

Politics

1 week ago 7 of the coolest things we all wished we owned in the 80s and 90s, from novelty item to tech game

You’re not a child of the 80s or 90s if you didn’t want one of these

Politics

1 week ago 9 forgotten games we all loved playing in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, including 'noisiest game ever'

These games provided hours of fun, but some have aged better than others

Politics

1 week ago 7 forgotten gadgets from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s that were once all the rage

They sold in their millions but have largely been forgotten

Politics

2 w. ago From Albert Square... to nowhere? As EastEnders star Shona McGarty launches an ambitious pop career, a look back at soap's conveyor belt of questionable singers

There was a definite air of déjà vu about it, a sense of foreboding sparked by the undeniable knowledge that we've been here, many, many times before.

Politics

2 w. ago 7 desserts we loved in the 70s, 80s and 90s, including forgotten pudding with hidden treats

These forgotten desserts were huge in the 70s, 80s and 90s

Politics

2 w. ago 6 firework safety films that terrified children of the 70s, 80s and 90s, from comic duo to EastEnders star

Some of these films remain chillingly effective

Events

2 w. ago The unexpected workout that could add 10 extra YEARS to your life

Leading longevity expert Dan Buettner has revealed that the secret to living well into your 80s, 90s and beyond has nothing to do with gruelling workouts or the latest diet trends.

Politics

3 w. ago Celtic and Rangers play ultimate generation game with most unlikely set of characters

O’Neill v Rohl is part of fascinating storyline to unique edition of Old Firm clash

Politics

3 w. ago Raw milk, tomahawk steak and a cuddly toy: could I handle Erling Haaland’s daily routine?

The Manchester City striker recently shared some of the things he credits with his success. Could they bring me similar glory?Raw milk, LED light treatment, tomahawk steak and a cuddly toy. They sound more suited to the conveyor belt of The Generation Game than to a Premier League star’s daily routine, but these are some of the things the Manchester City and Norway striker Erling Haaland credits with his success.Haaland recently shared the routine he believes keeps him at the top of his game on and off the pitch, but what would it do for a Guardian journalist? Could it provide a glimpse of how to match Haaland’s amazing physique, boyish appearance that belies his real age (25) and reported net worth of more than £50m? It was time to find out – for one day at least. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Nearly 5 million pounds of frozen chicken recalled after metal found in breasts and thighs

Hormel Foods traced the metal contamination to a damaged conveyor belt used during production

Politics

last month 7 things that were popular in the 80s and 90s but you can't do anymore

There are some things we miss more than others

Politics