๐ฅ Check out this awesome post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Philosophy books,Science and nature books,Audiobooks,Books,Culture โ
Hereโs what youโll learn: CWhat is the effect of optimism on events in your life? Does fate smile at those who see the cup half full? Science writer Sumit Paul Choudhary thinks so. The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World is a hymn to positivity, but fear not: it's not a self-help book, and there's more than just platitudes about manifesting and living your best life.The author realized that he was an optimist by nature…
๐ฅ Explore this awesome post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Film,2026 culture preview,Film industry,Donald Trump,Culture,Business โ
Main takeaway: IIt's fair to say that Hollywood is in crisis, or at least in transition. Studios are being taken over, culture wars are everywhere, and the AI โโgeneration is rearing its head. The last thing they need is an interventionist president determined to wage war on the entertainment industry, let alone extract whatever value he can. As we know, Donald Trump is very interested in the film industry: in his pre-political days, he appeared in dozens of films, as well…
๐ฅ Read this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Music,Pop and rock,Dance music,Indie,Soul,Disco,CMAT,Florence + the Machine,Pulp,Bernard Butler,Diana Ross,Peter Gabriel,David Bowie,John Lydon,Nina Simone,The Beatles,Fleetwood Mac,Culture ๐ Hereโs what youโll learn: 20. Maxine Nightingale โ Back Where We Started (1975)It's hard to imagine anyone's heart not being lifted a little by Back to Where We Started From: the joyful rush of new love delivered in three minutes of Northern Cod soul (performed, unexpectedly, by several former members of ELO, The Animals, and Honeybus from the 1960s). Avoid 80s cover by Sinitta at all costs.19. CMAT โ Nashville (2022)A…
๐ Explore this trending post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Music,Culture,Radiohead,Neil Young,Joni Mitchell,Pop and rock,Experimental music ๐ Key idea: โI had dismissed Joni Mitchell as an acquired tasteโThe first time I heard Joni Mitchell, in 1997, she was looped across the chorus of Janet Jacksonโs single Got โTil Itโs Gone. The songโs credits would educate me on the sampleโs origins; I had previously assumed Big Yellow Taxi was an Amy Grant original. The second time I heard a Mitchell song was when Travis covered the beautiful River as a B-side.Mitchell always seemed a bit too โadultโ to…
๐ฅ Read this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Film,Drama films,Hugh Jackman,Kate Hudson,Neil Diamond,Culture,Music ๐ Hereโs what youโll learn: HA stunningly bizarre and undeniably entertaining true story from the heart of the American entertainment industry; A good-natured fan favorite won't prepare you for the way the plot twists as frequently and wildly as an unsafe ride at a fairground. In fact, I had my eyes closed and my mouth open at certain key points, and I was gripping the seat in front of me with both fists. It may also prove that Hugh Jackman truly is…
๐ฅ Discover this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Television & radio,Culture,Television,Thrillers ๐ Hereโs what youโll learn: THey, come sooner every time, right? I think we now get a new Harlan Coben release every three weeks or so. Who knows what rate will be achieved next year? We're watching and waiting, but it probably won't last long either way.We're now about a dozen offers banking on ratings on the best-selling thriller author's multi-book deals with Netflix and Amazon. Overall it's solid fare and the versatility no doubt helps finance many passion projects and pays off several…
๐ Read this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Stage,Theatre,Culture,Musicals,One Man, Two Guvnors,West End,Dance,Audio drama,Ballet โ
Hereโs what youโll learn: One man, two rulersRichard Bean's dramatic transfer of The Servant of Two Masters from 18th-century Venice to the British seaside of the 1960s caused a sensation at the National Theater in 2011 and led to James Corden getting his own talk show. Produced by Nicholas Hytner, the film reached an audience of over two million when it was broadcast during the first lockdown in 2020. Whether you watch it with soup or a 'winerama!', the first-rate…
๐ Check out this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Acting,US news,The Wire โ
Main takeaway: American actor Isiah Whitlock Jr., who played a corrupt politician in the crime series The Wire and participated in several Spike Lee films, died on Tuesday at the age of 71, his manager said."It is with great sadness that I share in the passing of my dear friend and client Isiah Whitlock Jr. If you knew him - I loved him. An amazing actor and an even better person," Brian Liebman wrote on social media.Whitlock was filmed in a scene…
โจ Check out this insightful post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Television,Television & radio,Culture,The Night Manager,Tom Hiddleston,The Traitors,Thrillers โ
Hereโs what youโll learn: Night manager9.05pm, BBC OneIt's been almost a decade since one of the BBC's biggest dramas - #Hiddlebum - premiered. After teaming up with Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to take down arms dealer Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie), soldier turned hotel manager turned MI6 recruit Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) has finally returned. He's living a simple life as Alex Goodwin and running a simple surveillance unit in London, when his world explodes after the discovery of…
๐ฅ Discover this must-read post from Culture | The Guardian ๐ ๐ Category: Film,Television,TV streaming,Billy Wilder,Rob Reiner,When Harry Met Sally,The Apartment,The Shining,Kathryn Bigelow,Lord of the Rings,Peter Jackson,Culture โ
Key idea: The ApartmentโShut up and dealโ โฆ Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in The Apartment. Photograph: Cinetext Bildarchiv/United Artists/AllstarAt the end of any especially troublesome year itโs always good to revisit The Apartment, Billy Wilderโs brilliantly bleak comedy of office politics and festive bad cheer. It memorably ends on the stroke of midnight as heartsick Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) abandons a drunken new yearโs party to be with hapless, jobless CC…
