49 h. ago The city centre park perfect for soaking up the sun in Manchester this week

Make the most of the glorious weather with a trip to this award-winning park

Politics

51 h. ago ‘I’m rooting for them’: why American Movie is my feelgood movie

The next in our series of writers drawing attention to their favourite comfort films looks back to a funny and touching documentary from 1999“I was a failure and I get very sad and depressed about it. I really feel like I betrayed myself. Big time. When I was growing up, I had all the potential in the world. Now I’m back to being Mark with a beer in his hand who is thinking about the great American script and the great American movie. This time I cannot fail. I will not fail.”As far as opening monologues go, you couldn’t have scripted a more perfect introduction to a film that captures one of the purest pursuits of the American Dream ever set to film. But these were not written for a character, but instead straight from the heart of Mark Borchardt in a 1999 documentary. It’s rare that documentaries are associated with feelgood movies, which is odd because they are remarkable vehicles for generating warmth, empathy and humor from spending time in the company of real life people who y...

Politics

4 d. ago I was sexually assaulted by a celebrity after starring in a cult film at 19. My quest for justice changed the course of my life

Not long after Jenny Evans was brutally attacked by a high-profile figure, all the details appeared in the press. Her mission to find out what happened would reveal tabloid spying, phone hacking, police misconduct – and lead to a dramatic change of careerJenny Evans had just starred in her first film when everything came crashing down. Twin Town was a riot of drugs, fast cars and bad behaviour labelled the “Welsh Trainspotting”. She had a wonderful time making the movie, which was released in 1997. There was a feelgood atmosphere on set, and she got on brilliantly with her fellow actors (Twin Town launched the careers of Rhys Ifans and Dougray Scott). “Friends of the cast and crew were coming down from London to Swansea because the vibe was so good,” she says. “It was a great group of people doing something fun. It was a blast.” Twin Town became a cult success, and the 19-year-old from Abergavenny found herself hanging out with celebrities and looking forward to a career in the movi...

Events

5 d. ago Michael Madsen’s brooding charisma needed Tarantino to unlock it | Peter Bradshaw

The Reservoir Dogs and Donnie Brasco actor had a rare, sometimes scary power, as well as a winning self-awareness and levityMichael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67Michael Madsen– a life in picturesUntil 1992, when people heard Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel on the radio, they might smile and nod and sing along to its catchy soft-rock tune and goofy Dylan-esque lyrics. But after 1992, with the release of Quentin Tarantino’s sensationally tense and violent crime movie Reservoir Dogs, the feelgood mood around that song forever darkened. That was down to an unforgettably scary performance by Michael Madsen, who has died at the age of 67.Stuck in the Middle, with its lyrics about being “so scared in case I fall off my chair”, was to be always associated with the image of Madsen, whom Tarantino made an icon of indie American movies, with his boxy black suit, sinister, ruined handsomeness and powerful physique running to fat, playin...

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6 d. ago Diogo Jota's family life with beautiful wife, cheeky sons, baby girl and gorgeous dogs

The football world has been stunned as Liverpool and Portugal star Diogo Jota has died in a horrific car crash, leaving behind his beautiful young family including a seven month-old baby

Politics

7 d. ago Adam Thomas says 'it changed me' as he issues major health update that 'feels incredible'

Those who follow the actor on social media will know that he has been opened and honest about his health struggles with chronic pain

Politics

7 d. ago Love Island star moving to Australia after feeling 'too embarrassed' to get normal job in UK

The former islander says that she has become more self conscious after growing an audience on social media and thinks it would be easier to get a '9 to 5' Down Under

Politics

9 d. ago ‘Joyous and uplifting’: why Chungking Express is my feelgood movie

The next in our series of writers on their go-to comfort watches looks back at Wong Kar-Wai’s unusual and profound romantic comedyChinese auteur Wong Kar-Wai is not a director you’d immediately seek out for a cosy feelgood experience. His films delve into loneliness, yearning and doomed love affairs, carried along by a melancholy undercurrent. Chungking Express, the story of two Hong Kong cops reeling from being dumped by their respective partners, doesn’t deviate from these obsessions of his but the quirky romantic comedy also manages to be his most joyous and uplifting offering.The film has a playful energy and is brimming with offbeat humour. Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro play the heartbroken policemen, both deep in denial over the end of their relationships. We watch them cope in very different ways with their heartache. Kaneshiro’s Cop 223 pines outside his ex’s flat, buys cans of pineapple because they were her favorite food and goes on jogs so his body has no wate...

Politics

1 week ago Emmerdale's Adam Thomas hints at soap return but fans spot real reason he's back on set

Former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas has sparked speculation he's making a return but fans are convinced they know the real reason he's back on the set of the ITV soap

Politics

1 week ago Adam Thomas sends Emmerdale fans wild as he announces 'I'm back!' and shares pic from ITV set

The soap star featured on the show as lovable farmboy Adam Barton from 2009 to 2018 and soon became a fan-favourite. 

Politics

1 week ago Adam Thomas sends Emmerdale fans wild as he returns to ITV soap set

Adam Thomas sent Emmerdale fans into a frenzy after he shared a picture of himself on the set of the ITV soap, seven years after his character Adam Barton left the Dales

Politics

1 week ago Adam Thomas declares 'I'm back' as he teases major Emmerdale return

The actor is best known to fans for playing Adam Barton in the ITV soap

Politics

1 week ago Adam Thomas tells Emmerdale fans 'I'm back' as he returns to ITV soap set

Adam Thomas has shared a picture of himself on the set of Emmerdale set as he tells fans 'I'm back' seven years after leaving the ITV soap

Politics

2 w. ago Clueless review – Alicia Silverstone and Brittany Murphy are class acts in 90s Jane Austen parallel

Amy Heckerling’s high school romcoming-of-age classic, composed entirely of quotable funny lines, remains a sophisticated pleasure 30 years onThirty years ago, the world was swooning over Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice adaptation but all the time, the actual Jane Austen screen sensation that year was happening elsewhere in plain sight. Amy Heckerling’s high school romcoming-of-age masterpiece, inspired by Austen’s Emma, is now on re-release for its 30th anniversary and more than ever it feels like a complete joy, a deliciously movie-literate (and literate-literate) classic, with references to Stanley Kubrick, Oscar Wilde and William Burroughs to go with the Austen parallel.Clueless is something to compare with Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story – and Alicia Silverstone’s final, tearful scene matches, and even outclasses, Julia Roberts’ speech in Notting Hill about being just a girl standing in front of a boy. Like Withnail and I, it’s a film ...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘Full of delightful surprises’: why Spy is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers recommending their go-to comfort watches is an ode to Paul Feig’s 2015 comedy starring a never-better Melissa McCarthyIt has a plot and a cast that seem cooked up during a hallucinatory fever dream. It shouldn’t work, but it does – and so splendidly, too. In Paul Feig’s comedy Spy, Melissa McCarthy plays Susan Cooper, a timid CIA desk agent who gets sent out into the field by her fearsome boss (Alison Janney) after the death of her slick Bond-like colleague, Bradley Fine (Jude Law, in a rare comedic turn). The cast is full of delightful surprises. Rose Bryne is a stiletto-clad Oxford-educated villainess with quips so brutal that she makes Regina George look like Barney. Peter Serafinowicz does a game turn as an – admittedly very pre-#MeToo – cringey Italian pervert figure named Aldo (“like the shoe store found in American malls”).And in the film’s most magnificent twist, Jason Statham parodies the hard-as-nails action leads he’s played over the ye...

Politics

2 w. ago 'World's best theme park' is just hours away from UK but has no rides

A travel enthusiast shared a clip from her trip to a theme park which has twice been named the best in the world, and it's all down to one surprising difference

Politics

2 w. ago Emmerdale actor Adam Thomas life has 'completely changed' after health battle

Former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas has been open about his health battles in recent years and now has told fans that his life has 'completely changed' after new medication.

Events

2 w. ago Emmerdale star Adam Thomas shares 'life changing' update on health battle

Former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas has been open with fans about his onging health battle.

Events

3 w. ago ‘Always something I can watch’: why Spotlight is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers drawing attention to their mood-lifting favourites is a robustly made Oscar winner from 2015Halfway through Spotlight, Tom McCarthy’s understated retelling of the Boston Globe’s investigation into child abuse in the Catholic church in Boston, is a moment that, even 30-plus rewatches later, still chills me. Spotlight editor Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton) travels to Providence to interview a fellow Boston College high school alumnus, where he and the victim, Kevin (Anthony Paolucci), make pleasant small talk about bygone school days. When the subject turns to the school’s hockey coach, Father James Talbot, however, the tone abruptly shifts. Kevin’s face hollows, his eyes deaden, and we see his soul drain from his body. “How’d you find out?” he says in a level, diminished tone that rings with years of trauma.It is a measure of how polished every aspect Spotlight is that, in a cast boasting Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, world’s second-best S...

Politics

4 w. ago Adam Thomas says 'we'll never grow up' in tribute to brother Ryan ahead of next big move

The Waterloo Road star paid tribute to his older sibling on his birthday following a huge announcement on their new joint move

Politics