5 h. ago Why do we love a spooky ghost story at Christmas? A psychologist explains

The thrill of collectively engaging with a scary tale can create a sense of bondedness and shared identity

Politics

2 w. ago Ultimate Christmas car playlist: 25 expertly chosen songs 'guaranteed' to boost your mood

Music psychologist Dr Claire Renfrew has created the 'World's Happiest Christmas Car Playlist', designed to help keep everyone smiling during stressful holiday journeys

Politics

2 w. ago Top 25 happiest Christmas songs scientifically chosen for your drive home

Music psychologist Dr Claire Renfrew has created a 25-track Christmas playlist using a scientific formula designed to boost mood and reduce stress

Politics

2 w. ago Sunset Boulevard review – Hollywood never looked more glorious or more tragic

Gloria Swanson is extraordinary as faded film-star Norma Desmond in Billy Wilder’s cameo-packed self-referential masterpiece about tinseltown ghosts and delusionsBilly Wilder’s film starring Gloria Swanson as a reclusive former silent movie star, and William Holden as a young wannabe writer who becomes her kept man, more than ever looks not merely like tinseltown satire or LA noir, but a ghost story. It’s the ultimate film about how the screenwriter is always the loser and the chump. You can tell that Norma Desmond (Swanson) is washed up because she has actually written a screenplay – which is, however, more than Joe (Holden) ever achieves in the course of this film.Sunset Boulevard’s own script, co-written by Wilder with Charles Brackett and DM Marshman Jr, is of course superb. And after 75 years, we can appreciate the movie’s sober judgment about the dangers of cinephilia and Hollywood ancestor worship. The street name itself, with its dying fall, is an occult omen of the eerie an...

Events

2 w. ago Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel face off in first trailer for pop star epic Mother Mary

‘Psychosexual pop thriller’ comes from The Green Knight’s David Lowery and will feature new music from Charli xcxAnne Hathaway plays a pop star and Michaela Coel her estranged fashion designer in the first trailer for highly anticipated drama Mother Mary.The film comes from David Lowery, whose previous films range from The Green Knight to A Ghost Story to Pete’s Dragon. His last film was Disney+ original Peter Pan & Wendy starring Jude Law. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The story behind the ‘ghost train that never was’ from Manchester to London

After Manchester-London ‘no passengers’ U-turn, who calls the shots on which rail services can run?

Politics

3 w. ago A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story at Alexandra Palace review — slick but not spooky enough

At least we got a smoking hot Bob Cratchit

Politics

3 w. ago Hania Rani: Non Fiction review – atmospheric and absorbing storytelling by Polish composer

Barbican Hall, London From ghost-story minimalism to wartime memory, Rani’s two new works, premiered here, shimmer with imagination, although issues of balance diminished the piano concerto In a crowded post-minimalist world, Hania Rani has carved herself out a respectable niche. The Polish pianist and composer’s erudite yet accessible work often defies genres, appealing to classical, jazz and electronic aficionados alike. This concert comprised two 40-minute premieres and fell pretty firmly into the classical category, yet the lively audience skewed significantly younger than the Brahms and Beethoven crowd. Stylishly performed by the envelope-pushing Manchester Collective, it felt like quite the happening.Shining occupied the first half, a piece devised for the kind of 12-piece band favoured by Steve Reich and Philip Glass. It’s based on a short story by Jon Fosse; a stream of consciousness tale of a man lost in the woods at night. Opening with sinister discords on bass clarinet, b...

Politics

3 w. ago Joanna Lumley says that humans have become ‘unbearably vain and destructive’

Dame Joanna Lumley has labelled humans "unbearably vain and destructive", suggesting that if history were written by non-humans, we would be seen as a "plague".

Politics

3 w. ago Dame Joanna Lumley describes humans as ‘unbearably vain and destructive’

The veteran actress stars in the upcoming A Ghost Story For Christmas: The Room In The Tower and said she loves ‘frightening stories’.

Politics

4 w. ago Sex toy 'shame' yet again for one of Wales' national heroes as prankster will hope ghost story isn't true

WARNING, GRAPHIC CONTENT: The statue of Llywelyn the Great, the legendary prince regarded as one of Wales' greatest rulers, has been defaced with a sex toy for the second time this year

Politics