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The 1975 musical satire is a curious amalgam of madcap comedy and Brit realism as the band ride the giddy highs and brutal lows of the 70s music industry

Here is Slade’s movie musical satire from 1975, a film with all the pungent historical presence of a pub ashtray, about an imaginary band called Flame which looked and sounded a lot like Slade, fronted by Stoker, played by Noddy Holder. It came out a year after the film’s soundtrack album was released, and now gets a rerelease for its 50-year anniversary. Slade in Flame – which is to say, Flame, starring Slade – is regarded by fans and non-fans alike with enormous affection and regard, and it certainly has a weird, goofy energy: the audio mix sometimes surreally privileging ambient sounds such as doors closing and glasses chinking, with the dialogue way in the background.

It’s about an innocent working-class Midlands...

London – A psychedelic eye mosaic commissioned by John Lennon for the swimming pool at his Kenwood home in Surrey in 1965 leads Bonhams’ Rock, Pop & Film sale on Wednesday 29 November at Knightsbridge, London.

Claire Tole-Moir, Bonhams Head of Popular Culture in London, commented: “This monumental mosaic, commissioned by John Lennon is a striking example of the Beatle’s artistic vision and influences. Lennon’s Kenwood home in the English countryside was a place of respite from all the public attention he experienced during the height of The Beatles’ popularity. It’s said Lennon would spend idle hours near the swimming pool and that the mosaic could even be seen from his favoured ‘sunroom’ at the top of the house. With Kenwood still under private ownership, it is very rare to see anything from when John Lennon lived there, making the ‘Psychedelic Eye’ mosaic an incredibly important artefact of Beatles history.”

Consisting of approximately 17,000 tiles,...

Christmas is quickly approaching and the nation is hastily compiling playlists of the best festive bangers to get in a much-needed good mood.

While all Christmas songs are at least partly embarrassing by nature of being Christmas songs, there are some cool kids out there – your “Fairytale of New York”s, your “Christmas Wrapping”s.

The songs on this list, however, are decidedly not that. They’re cheesy, cringey and, occasionally a little bit weird, which is a mood I think you should go for over the festive period. If you’re genuinely embarrassed to be seen singing along to any of these, you’re in the right place.

Here are 10 of the best Christmas songs we’re all ashamed to admit we secretly love, perfectly timed for you to terrorise your family and friends with over the coming weeks…

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Band Aid

Back in...

Christmas is quickly approaching and the nation is hastily compiling playlists of the best festive bangers to get in a much-needed good mood.

While all Christmas songs are at least partly embarrassing by nature of being Christmas songs, there are some cool kids out there – your “Fairytale of New York”s, your “Christmas Wrapping”s.

The songs on this list, however, are decidedly not that. They’re cheesy, cringey and, occasionally a little bit weird, which is a mood I think you should go for over the festive period. If you’re genuinely embarrassed to be seen singing along to any of these, you’re in the right place.

Here are 10 of the best Christmas songs we’re all ashamed to admit we secretly love, perfectly timed for you to terrorise your family and friends with over the coming weeks…

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Band Aid

Back in...

Every year we hear the same Christmas songs again and again and again, the playlist seldom changing.

While the supermarkets might stick rigidly to Slade and Wizzard, and the high street coffee shops prefer the gingerbread-and-eggnog stylings of Michael Buble, Norah Jones or the Rat Pack, variation is minimal and certain tracks just will not go away.

You might wonder how much cash the writers of the more ubiquitous seasonal standards squirrel away every year and whether it’s really possible to live on the royalties.

In Nick Hornby’s novel About a Boy (1998), Will Freeman does precisely that, living an agreeably idle bachelor life on the proceeds of a festive single written by his late father.

The truth is, it’s hard to say for sure precisely how much The Pogues or Mariah Carey have coined from their work as the Performing Right Society (Prs) does not reveal the...

Get ready for another season of twists, terror, laughs, and love, as “Black Mirror” Season 4 is upon us, once again drawing upon our worst fears and best hopes for the future.

For a show where literally anything can happen with each new episode, there’s something ironic about the fact that we’ve come to have certain expectations as to what an episode of “Black Mirror” might be. Season 4 doesn’t technically subvert those expectations — there are at least two episodes, “Arkangel” and “Crocodile,” which are very much identifiable as classic “Black Mirror” tales. But fortunately, creator Charlie Brooker has taken some big swings with other installments, and the result is proof that “Black Mirror,” as a series, has plenty of mileage left in it.

This is never a show that’s easy to talk about in a spoiler-free context, but it feels safe to say that there’s more...

In order to stoke excitement for the upcoming season of “Black Mirror,” individual episode trailers have been released, giving sneak peeks of the standalone stories making up this season. Netflix released one of the most striking ones on Dec. 3 with “Metalhead,” written by series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by David Slade. Best known for helming “Hard Candy,” “30 Days of Night,” and key episodes of shows such as “Hannibal” and “American Gods,” Slade brings a black and white chapter to “Black Mirror.” Starring Maxine Peake (“The Theory Of Everything”), Jake Davies (“The Missing”), and Clint Dyer (“Hope Springs”), details on the episode are slim so far, save the video’s haunting description: “Beware of Dogs.” But judging by the intense footage, it appears to be one of the more horror-heavy installments of the series.

Read More:‘Black Mirror: Hang the DJ’ Trailer Introduces A Very Special Kind of Dating...

Kirsten Howard Dec 6, 2017

Black Mirror season 4 will land on Netflix on Friday the 29th of December. Watch the trailer for 'U.S.S. Callister' and more here...

It's official: Black Mirror will be heading back to Netflix on Friday the 29th of December for its fourth season, and ahead of the show's no doubt grim-but-triumphant return, trailers are being released teasing each episode.

See related James Cameron talks about his Battle Angel adaptation

Here's the sixth and final episode trailer for "U.S.S. Callister"...

Here's one for 'Hang The DJ'...

And another new one for 'Metalhead'...

Then there's a creepy trailer for Black Museum, a multi-story episode including plenty of references to previous instalments...

We got a poster for that one, too...

Next, here's a peek at the unsettling season 4 episode directed by Jodie Foster, Arkangel...

John Hillcoat (Triple 9, Lawless) directed the next episode, Crocodile. Here's the trailer for that.

Den Of Geek Dec 21, 2016

Whether you're worried about a friend, or feeling unhappy yourself this Christmas, might you spare us a minute to read this? Thank you.

As Christmas and assorted seasonal festivities commence, we just wanted to have a word for anyone who isn't looking forward to the next week or two in particular. For those who are: our very warmest wishes to you. We suspect the world has you pretty much well catered for over the coming days, and may the best of the season be with you.

For those aren’t: well, can you spare us a couple of moments?

Society, it seems, has a way of labelling people who don’t get into the Yuletide spirit as killjoys, or party poopers. The problem there is that society doesn’t tend to know the story underpinning why someone may not be looking forward to this time of year.

Alastair Stewart Nov 21, 2016

Anthony Horowitz's Crime Traveller deserves to be better remembered in the history of British sci-fi...

The 1990s are Doctor Who's lost decade. Although the eponymous Timelord found a brief home with Paul McGann's American pilot in 1996, the revival was never picked up. So began an even longer winter on the long road to 2005's regeneration under Russell T. Davies with Christopher Eccleston. The rest, as they say, is history.

See related  The Walking Dead season 7: synopses and titles for episodes 6, 7 and 8 The Walking Dead: how will the show end? The Walking Dead season 7 episode 4 review: Service The Walking Dead season 7 episode 3 review: The Cell

What is seldom remembered, however, is that while the failed reboot had proven the franchise hadn't recovered from 33 years worth of plot, nor had there been any marked improvement on the production, the entire exercise had given a...

Read More: Review: Todd Haynes' 'Carol' is a Masterful Lesbian Romance Starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara 9. "Velvet Goldmine" (1998) "Velvet Goldmine" is the most dazzling David Bowie biopic never made, and it's pretty miraculous how much of the film stills registers on an emotional level considering just how many setbacks Haynes faced in pre-production. Not only did Bowie make it impossible for the director to use his songs, but he also sued the production over the script's similarities to his actual life. Throw in The Weinstein Company's hunger for creative control, and the final product plays as if Haynes' distinct vision got reduced to a Bowie cover band. Framed "Citizen Kane"-style around a journalist investigating the downfall of the once iconic Brian Slade (an enthralling Jonathan Rhys Meyers), the movie uses flashback vignettes to chronicle his life story, from his family's reaction to his sexuality to several relationships.

Kim Zolciak-Biermann's oldest daughter is officially single.

Brielle Zolciak-Biermann, 18, who stars on her mom's reality show Don't Be Tardy, told E! on Wednesday that she and her boyfriend Slade Osborne broke up two weeks ago.

"Even though you will see us as a couple for the rest of the season on Don't Be Tardy, we are no longer together," Brielle said. "He's not the man I thought he was and, as a result, my entire family and myself are disappointed."

She added, "However, I'm young and have my whole future ahead of me and look forward to everything I can accomplish on my own.

While Arrow has steadily built a reliable audience over its first three seasons, every show that heads into a fourth year needs a bit of a shake up. It is a tried and tested strategy, and can be seen in many of the biggest dramatic successes of the modern era – including The X Files, ER, The Office, Friday Night Lights, Mad Men, and even Breaking Bad. These are shake ups that apply to both the structure and narrative of the show, and serve to refocus and redirect the overall plot. It is always interesting to see how a series team will approach these shake ups, and Arrow is no exception. What is clear now is that, for this show, the shake up will come in the form of Damien Darhk, played by actor Neal McDonough (Justified).

While a superhero always needs a villain to battle against, it will be both...

Marvel's Agents of Shield: Channel 4, 8pm

The team is rocked by a revelation, forcing them to decide what to do with one of their own.

Bobbi (Adrianne Palicki) and Mack (Henry Simmons) reveal their true allegiances to Hunter (Nick Blood), while Ward (Brett Dalton) and Agent 33 (Maya Stojan) embark on a mission of their own.

Have I Got News for You: BBC One, 9pm

Only Connect's Victoria Coren Mitchell hosts this week's instalment of the topical quiz show.

Team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton are joined by panellists John Prescott and Alun Cochrane to make light of this week's headlines in the run up to the general election.

How to Make a Number 1 Record: BBC Four, 9pm

Janice Long narrates a look into what it is that makes a record strike gold.

The likes of Joe McElderry, Carol Decker and Noddy Holder reveal tidbits -...

On March 27th, trance god Armin van Buuren will release his A State of Trance 2015 compilation, which will contain “26 exclusive and unreleased tracks, including never-before-heard songs from Armada Music artists, Protoculture, Alexander Popov, and Orjan Nilsen, plus two new Gaia songs.”

Spread over two discs, the “seamlessly and continuously mixed” compilation has already been nominated for an International Dance Music Award at the 2015 Winter Music Conference, and is expected to be a huge hit upon its release. Armin has been releasing these compilations since 2004, and each year he impresses with a strong mix of some of the genre’s most exciting tracks.

2015 looks to be no different, as judging by the tracklist below, we’re in for another treat from the Dutch DJ. There’s a ton of tracks to look forward to here and a great collection of artists included on the disc. If you’re a fan of Armin,...

This year's Doctor Who Christmas Special is a surprisingly scary festive tale with an exemplary cast. Here's our spoiler-free review...

Tradition once upon a time apparently suggested that the Doctor Who Christmas special was a slightly softer beast than usual. That it was put together fully in the knowledge that it'd be watched by people who had consumed no small amount of food, and in many cases also enjoyed a beverage or two. A beverage with a percentage figure on the side of the bottle. As such, with one or two notable exceptions, the specials have had a slightly different feel.

Last Christmas, though, could effectively be classed as episode 13 of the series just gone. That's what it pretty much is of course, but specifically it's a lot less standalone than we've had in recent years. That's not to say it doesn't work as a one-off episode, but it's also...

CBS

It’s that glorious time of year when everyone is forced to put up with their family because they’re trapped in a room together for the entire day. Only excessive alcohol and the occasional back-handed comment about an unwanted gift can get you through it.

Sadly, the soundtrack to this bickering is usually the same old dirge that’s regurgitated by whoever’s in charge of the music every year. Are you sick of the sound of warble-voiced lunatic Mariah Carey screech her way through All I Want For Christmas? Do you ache to remove the vocal chords of balloon-faced crooner Michael Buble and his ubiquitous schmoozing of the Christmas market?

Perhaps you just fancy a change from the same sickly repetitive poison that’s poured into your delicate little ears every Christmas? We love you, Noddy Holder, but no. No more! Wizzard, if your wish came true...

As Gotham premieres in the UK, Phoebe-Jane considers what the show can learn from long-running superhero prequel, Smallville...

Please note: this article refers only to Gotham's UK broadcast. Our Us episode reviews are here.

"Somebody save me/I’ve been waiting for you"

If excitement about tonight's UK premiere of Fox’s Batman prequel series Gotham has got you caterwauling the lyrics to the Smallville theme tune on rooftops in anticipation, early whispers from fellow Bat-fans over in the Us who’ve had a look at the first episodes are saying there is much for us to look forward to as we wait for it to descend on Channel 5 here.

So far, we know that the timescale Gotham sticks with sees Batman as barely a notion to the boy-Bruce Wayne, and instead takes Detective James Gordon as its central character. Gordon here is a little different to the ‘Jim’ we’ve come to know,...

The lineup for this year's Pointless Celebrities series has been announced by BBC One.

Beginning with an August 9 comedy special, the upcoming series will feature different themes each week.

Four teams of two from the world of music, TV, soaps, sport, food and drink, journalism, radio and theatre will compete for charity in weekly specials to air on Saturday evenings on BBC One.

The first show pits Lesley Joseph and Linda Robson from Birds of a Feather against Ronni Ancona and Phil Cornwell, Su Pollard and Ruth Madoc, and Josh Widdicombe and his partner Sara Pascoe.

Standout teams from the series include Stefan Dennis and fellow Neighbours star Rebekah Elmaloglou, who will square off against Ray Quinn and Louis Emerick from Brookside.

Antony Costa from Blue will team with 5ive's Scott Robinson in the music special, while TV stars Louie Spence and Carol McGiffin will face off against the likes...

San Diego Comic-Con has released the full schedule of events for Friday, July 25, following the Thursday schedule that was released yesterday. You can clickHere to view the lineup in its entirety, which includes numerous comic book panels and events, but we have pulled out all of the movie, DVD and TV-related panels for your convenience.

Friday, July 25

10:00am - 11:00am - Cartoon Network: Uncle Grandpa & Clarence

Good mornin'! What's better than a panel of one Cartoon Network Comedy? Two cartoon network comedies! That's right fans, prepare yourself for double the comedy, double the fun and double the friends with Uncle Grandpa and Clarence! Join the always-entertaining cast and crew for a behind-the-scenes look at two of the newest hit shows on Cartoon Network. It's woooooorth it. Appearing from Uncle Grandpa are creator Peter Browngardt (Uncle Grandpa), Kevin Michael Richardson (Mr. Gus), and Eric Bauza (Belly Bag). Appearing from...

News

ABC’s new fall schedule sees the network make Thursday nights an all-Shonda Rhimes line up (the last time a producer was responsible for an entire night of ABC’s programming was when it featured three Aaron Spelling shows on Saturday night).

Shonda Rhimes isn’t just responsible for ABC’s Thursday night line-up, Vulture sees her creative mark all over the network schedule, from the diversity on and off-screen, the big dramatic flourishes of Revenge or the upcoming Secret & Lies. Perhaps they could also pick up more of Rhimes’ tendency to include queer characters as part of the universe?

More Cyrus and James craziness!

Hitfix‘s Daniel Fienberg writes an open letter to ABC, asking them to quit with the ironic sitcom titles. Cougar Town, Trophy Wife* and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23 may have been great shows but people repeatedly said they...

News

Investigation Discovery is getting into scripted mini-series. According to EW, the channel has ordered Heartbreakers, , which will star Jack Wagner, Christopher Knight, Kevin Sorbo, Antonio Sabato Jr. and Rob Estes playing men who start out seeming like dream husbands but turn out to be nasty criminals. Basically, it’s still true crime stories, but without the narrator interrupting the dramatizations and actors you recognize.

Dan Bucatinsky shares 11 things he learned from being killed off on Scandal. I wonder if it’s any different to be a Gilmore Girls alum who gets killed off from Scandal.

TV Guide reports that Bruno Bichir, brother of The Bridge star Demian Bichir (apparently they’re such a prolific acting family, the Mexican MTV Movie Awards have a “Best Bichir in a Movie” category) will join his sibiling in multiple episodes of the upcoming season of The Bridge. He’ll play a Mexican businessman...

Hadrian's wall, Culloden, the poll tax, Jacob Rees-Mogg: yes, England has inflicted an awful lot of angst and pain on Scotland down the centuries – but, look, we still don't want you to leave

1 Sorry for calling every last one of you "Jock". We now know it's offensive, especially if you're a woman.

2 So sorry for the years of heartless Conservative governments that you never voted for that ripped the heart out of the Scottish mining, steel and shipbuilding industries, butchered public services and imposed an unwonted, dismal neo-liberal ethos on a land to which such a callous political and economic philosophy was inimical.

3 And for making you guinea pigs for Margaret Thatcher's disastrous poll tax, inflicting it on you a year before England and Wales, and then – somehow! – forgetting to backdate the rebate for the tax when it was abolished in the early 90s.

4 Sorry for the 1746 Dress Act that banned tartan,...

Review Ryan Lambie 14 Jan 2014 - 22:30

Vic And Bob return to our screens with the sitcom House Of Fools. Here's Ryan's review of its debut episode, The Conan Affair...

Veteran comedy duo Vic and Bob are perhaps best known for their own brand of surrealist light entertainment, as seen in Vic Reeves Big Night Out, The Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer and Shooting Stars (to name but a few), they've also been known to tinker with the traditional sitcom format from time to time.

In 1992, the pair wrote and starred in The Weekenders, a one-off pilot for Channel 4. Its typically off-the-wall story took in a pub called The Farting Dashboard and The Human League's Phil Oakey selling an unidentified variety of meat in the middle of a playing field. This, unfortunately, was never picked up for a full series.

Twelve years later came Catterick, a six-episode dark comedy...

It’s Christmassss! As Noddy Holder yells at us in Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody about 259 times this festive season. Wherever you go or whatever you do, you cannot avoid terrible Christmas music that although merry and joyful, will have the paradoxical effect of sending you into a deep depression.

Whereas The Pogue’s seminal classic “Fairytale of New York” manages to nail the fine line between “Christmas song” and “actual song,” most holiday-themed tracks can’t escape their gimmicky origins. Okay, so we can handle the likes of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” and “Jingle Bell Rock,” but why in the name of all that is good are people still listening to Paul McCartney’s Godawful “Wonderful Christmastime”? It’s enough to make you want to blow your brains out.

Good Christmas tunes are few and far between. Songs that were interesting 30 or so years ago have lost...

MTV will launch a new channel in the run-up to Christmas.

MTV Xmas, which will be devoted to playing Christmas-themed music, will be taking the place of what is currently MTV Classics on Saturday, November 23 up until Christmas Day.

A special countdown show It's Christmaaas presented by Noddy Holder will air during the afternoon of the channel's launch.

On November 25, X Factor winners Little Mix will front a similar show entitled Merry Little Mixmas.

Stars such as Olly Murs, Tony Christie and Carol Vorderman have also been announced as hosts of their own specials, which will showcase their favourite festive hits.

As well as brand new Top 50 countdowns, MTV Xmas will be playing classic Christmas videos including Mariah Carey's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' and Wizzard's 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday'.

MTV Xmas will air on Channel 356 on Sky and Channel 321 on Virgin Media.

Watch...

Interview Simon Brew 11 Oct 2013 - 04:26

Mark Kermode talks to us about his new book, the current state of film criticism, and a little film he wants the world to know about...

Mark Kermode's new book, Hatchet Job, is a dissection of the current state of film criticism. It's a fascinating read, and he settled down for half an hour of solid chat about it in London with us last week. Here's how it went...

Your book raises a lot of interesting points about movie critics, but also hinted widely at the ecosystem around them. In your earlier book, It's Only A Movie, you recount the story of you going on radio on Lbc for your on-air movie reviewing debut. And both you and your mother do not recall that it was your finest hour.

But when you first broadcast a review, and put your name to it, that...

Good Vibrations; Trance; Blancanieves

There's a special kind of magic involved in the creation of a really great pop movie, something that manages to capture both the electrifying thrill the music and the tangible air of the period. Like Steve Rash's The Buddy Holly Story, which still stands up to repeat viewing after 35 long years, Good Vibrations (2012, Universal, 15) is a nostalgic gem blending just the right amount of fact and fantasy as it tells the story of Belfast's "godfather of punk", Terri Hooley. Brilliantly played by Richard Dormer, Hooley is the budding DJ and owner of a proudly non-sectarian record shop whose life is transformed by seeing Rudi perform an ebulliently boisterous live gig and hearing the Undertones play Teenage Kicks. Believing that "New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason", Hooley starts his own fantastically ramshackle record label, a venture driven entirely by love,...

The sun is shining, some serious cricket matches are going on and the best thing on Saturday night TV is Bobby Davro dressing up as Tammy Wynette on Your Face Sounds Familiar. But don't despair, Reality Bites fans. The summer wasteland is nearly over.

As we head into August, the countdown has officially begun for the latest series of those sparkly light entertainment behemoths - The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly is heading towards its 11th series, and after knocking X Factor off its Saturday night perch in 2012 with one of its best ever series, the show's going to need a diamond lineup to match it.

The current rumours on the Digital Spy forums are a mish-mash of likely and not-so-likely celebs who might be shaking their tail-feather in 2013.

From Desperate Housewives star Teri Hatcher to England football star Michael Owen, with Richard Madeley, Donna Air and Noddy Holder in the middle,...

Feature Ryan Lambie 8 May 2013 - 07:00

With their sitcom House Of Fools recently announced, we celebrate the enduring comedy brilliance of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer...

Readers of a certain age may remember the first time they saw Vic and Bob on television. For some, it may have been the 25th of May 1990, the fateful night "Britain's top light entertainer and singer" Vic Reeves burst onto screens with an absurdly fast, lounge-act rendition of The Monkees' I'm A Believer. In the background, his cohort Bob Mortimer looked on admiringly, dressed in the stovepipe hat and vast sideburns of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

For many viewers, this was a first glimpse inside the strange world of a comedy duo who'd already garnered a cult following in London pubs and clubs in the mid-1980s. Having impressed the likes of Jonathan Ross and Alan Yentob with their surreal, apparently semi-improvised comedy, Vic and...

Noddy Holder has been approached to do 'Strictly Come Dancing'. The Slade frontman is tempted to appear on the BBC One show after admitting he enjoys the programme and his wife keeps telling him to do it, but he has reservations about signing up because of the tough workload required to win the Glitterball Trophy. The 66-year-old star said: ''I get asked to do all the reality shows but I'm in my late 60s now. I can't be going to the North Pole and the jungle. ''I have been asked to do Strictly and I like the show -- I've been down...

Noddy Holder has been approached to do 'Strictly Come Dancing'. The Slade frontman is tempted to appear on the BBC One show after admitting he enjoys the programme and his wife keeps telling him to do it, but he has reservations about signing up because of the tough workload required to win the Glitterball Trophy. The 66-year-old star said: ''I get asked to do all the reality shows but I'm in my late 60s now. I can't be going to the North Pole and the jungle. ''I have been asked to do Strictly and I like the show -- I've been down...

Noddy Holder is reportedly wanted for this year's Strictly Come Dancing.

Slade's frontman has revealed that he has been approached by BBC bosses to join the 2013 lineup of stars.

However, he explained that he will only take part if he feels he stands a decent chance of winning.

"I get asked to do all the reality shows, but I'm in my late sixties now. I can't be going to the North Pole and the jungle," Holder is quoted as telling The Sun.

"I have been asked to do Strictly and I like the show - I've been down to watch it being filmed with my missus, who is a huge fan and keeps badgering me to do it.

"But it's a lot of work. I know Johnny Ball did it and he's almost ten years older than me, but he went out in the first week. I'm competitive and...

The one thing that you can confidently say about Christmas is that it sticks to a very rigid routine. Straying from the path? No such hopes. Christmas sticks to a tried and tested formula, which begins right back in August when shops decide to promote their new ranges of festive stock. Just what you want in a sweltering August – to wander past a shop window and see rolls of Santa wrapping paper and cards.

The routine then steps up a gear in November, when it seems that there's no escaping the usual Christmas music, parping brass bands and squawking singers. Come December, and it's the usual maelstrom of turkeys, drunken parties and tightly packed shopping centres. Even the day itself tends to follow a very strict pattern – presents under the tree; ill-fitting clothes; Mrs Maj; too much dinner and booze; a snooze on the the sofa; smiles and good times in EastEnders.

Cologne, Germany - British/German sales group K5 has sold documentary Hello Quo about U.K. rock band Status Quo to Studiocanal in Germany and Anchor Bay in the U.K. The deals for the “rockumentary” come ahead of the American Film Market, where K5 will be presenting Alan G. Parker's film to international buyers. The documentary, produced by Alexa Morris, features interviews about Status Quo with such music bigwigs as Brian May of Queen, Thin Lizzy, The Buzzcocks, Slade, Paul Weller of The Jam, The Sweet and artist and producer Jeff Lynne, originally of Elo. Hello Quo traces the band's history from

read more...

With over 118 million album sales worldwide, more chart hits than any other rock group and a total of 415 weeks in the UK Singles chart, it's safe to say that Status Quo are sort of a big deal. Considered by many to be one of - if not the - most influential rock band from the UK, the boys have fronted sell out tour after sell out tour, bringing a euphoric sound to the millions for the last 43 years.

Now, with the release of the fly-on-the-wall documentary Hello Quo!, the boys are set to conquer yet another media outlet. Produced by well-known music filmmaker Alan G Parker, the documentary depicts the phenomenon that is Status Quo, combining behind-the-scenes, never before seen footage with fantastic interviews from Brian May, Paul Weller, Sir Cliff Richard, Thin Lizzy, Buzzcocks, Slade and Midge Ure (to name but a few).

And so, with this in mind,...

Article by Charlie Dunlap

John Connor….Bruce Wayne…..Every film lover worth his or her own salt is aware of the iconic characters which have made Christian Bale a household celebrity name, but what about the other past roles that have gotten him to where he is today? According to IMDb, Bale has appeared in roughly 45 roles (including a few television stints) since 1987′s powerful Empire Of The Sun, in which he filled the shoes of the unrecognizably young, Jamie Graham. With Bale once again splashing across the headlines – most recently regarding his visits to the Aurora hospitals housing victims of the recent Colorado theater shootings, this writer has decided that it’s the perfect time to present five of Bale’s best, more obscure and under-appreciated films, all presented in ascending chronological order:

1) Velvet Goldmine – 1998

Still a relative unknown at this time, Bale tackles the role of British newspaper reporter,...

Each week within this column we strive to pair the latest in theatrical releases to worthwhile titles currently available on Netflix Instant Watch. This week we offer alternatives to John Carter, Friends With Kids and Footnote.

Friday theaters will determine the fate of Disney’s big budget epic John Carter, which faces off against the closest thing to a Bridesmaids sequel your likely to see and an Oscar contender that transcends the language barrier. But if these offerings pique your desire for adventure, rated-r romance and heralded Hebrew features, then we’ve got you covered with some of the best titles Now Streaming.

Director Andrew Stanton makes his live-action debut with this this Mars-set adventure about a Civil War veteran (Taylor Kitsch) who finds he has extraordinary powers on this extraterrestrial terrain that enables him to be a hero to a beautiful alien princess (Lynn Collins). Willem Dafoe co-stars.

More...

More Dickens and even more Shakespeare, but also new novels from Toni Morrison, Hilary Mantel, Zadie Smith, plus exciting new voices – 2012's literary highlights

January

10 Charles Dickens's The Mystery of Edwin Drood, starring Matthew Rhys and Tamzin Merchant, begins – and, unlike the book, ends – on BBC2.

13 Michael Morpurgo's much-loved children's novel War Horse, a long-running favourite at the National and on Broadway, gets the Hollywood treatment. A tearjerking saga about a young soldier and his horse – it was only a matter of time before it was Spielberged.

16 Ts Eliot prize. Despite withdrawals from the shortlist over objections to a hedge fund's sponsorship of the prize, the Eliot remains the UK's premier poetry award, and its eve-of-event reading is always a treat. This year's shortlist includes Daljit Nagra, Carol Ann Duffy and John Burnside.

20 Release of film of Coriolanus, an Orson Wellesian effort directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes,...

Michael McIntyre wants to spend Christmas with Aled Jones, Cliff Richard, Noddy Holder and Jamie Oliver. The 35-year-old comedian joked that he insists on spending the festive season with the legendary singers and makes the celebrity chef rustle up a turkey for him. He said: "We only invite four people for Christmas Day. Aled Jones sings 'The Snowman' in the corner, Cliff Richard dances in the middle of the room, Noddy Holder wraps presents, while Jamie Oliver pops over to cook the turkey." In reality, Michael spends Christmas with his wife Kitty, 35, and their two sons, Lucas, five, and Oscar, three, like...

The Christmas number one: a supposedly hallowed achievement, and yet both Mr Blobby and Bob The Builder have both walked away with it in the past. In recent years, the market immediately before Christmas has been over-populated by the deluge of “talented” winners from Simon Cowell’s pop processing plant on the moon (probably) and vocal dissenters seem to have turned the Christmas Number One into some sort of insipid personification of everything that is wrong with the music business.

But, there have been some shining lights in the history of the Christmas Number One, despite the infamous ear-bleeders and the outrageous stories of classic songs being overtaken for the accolade by awful one-hit-wonders. And this article is hereby devoted to listing said highlights.

Somewhat unthinkably, there is no place for “Fairytale of New York”, for which we can thank the Pet Shop Boys, whose cover of “Always On My Mind” took the 1987 spot,...

David Tennant is Santa Claus. And Noddy Holder. And Cliff Richard.

Well he might as well have been back in the Crimbo week of December 2009 when it seemed that you couldn't get away from the bloke. Particularly in the week leading up to the much-anticipated Christmas/New Year special, there he was – on various breakfast and mid-morning TV programmes; on Children's BBC; heck, he was even on the novelty BBC idents, bellowing orders at time-travelling reindeer. You could hear the cries of “Squee!” in the air from London to Boston.

Still, the Tennant fangirls had to make the most of their beloved hero, since he was about to become the latest casualty in the mammoth two-part adventure The End Of Time. Yes, it's time to play the Regeneration Game again as Doctor Ten finds that the Pork Chops Carmen prophecy is about to come devastatingly true.

The End Of Time...

John Madden's entertaining reimagining of the Bard's creative process makes enough witty allusions to recorded events to keep all but the most severe students of Shakespeare happy

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Director: John Madden

Entertainment grade: A–

History grade: C+

William Shakespeare is generally acknowledged to be the greatest English language writer of all time.

People

It's 1593, and Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) is scribbling away at his desk, working out how to spell his name. He crumples his efforts up into a ball and throws them at a novelty mug bearing the words: "A Present from Stratford-upon-Avon". You may get the idea that this movie isn't going to take its history too seriously. Funnily enough, it does care a bit. The characters surrounding Will – including teenage proto-Gothic playwright John Webster, full-of-themselves actors Richard Burbage (Martin Clunes) and Ned Alleyn (Ben Affleck), and oddball theatre manager Philip Henslowe (Geoffrey Rush) – are all real and well researched.

If there's one season that The Doctor likes, well it's got to be Christmas. Ever since the show was brought back in 2005, it seems like he's always landing in some festive utopia where Noddy Holder shrieks his innards out, or where brass bands fart along to 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'.

Given that I'm a modern-day Scrooge, this is baffling. The Doctor's only done the Easter landing once (to my knowledge), he seems to give Pancake Day a miss, and more to the point, he blanks Halloween and Bonfire Night, two bonafide opportunities to meet scary monsters. Seems that only robot Santas and killer Christmas trees will do.

Oh, and vengeful gas creatures, as witnessed in the second Christmas episode of Doctor Who called The Unquiet Dead. For those who are new to this Who lark, I should point out that this isn't a Christmas special, since it originally went out in April.

He is still an impressive actor and has directed films I'd be thrilled to have on my CV

I was astonished, dismayed and ultimately repulsed by Joe Queenan's reputation-shredding of Kenneth Branagh (The star who forgot how to shine, Film & Music, 1 April). Was it an April Fool's Day joke, I wondered, or do Branagh and Queenan have personal history? Nothing else could explain the glee. An amusing blow to the head, an ironic kick to the nuts, a touch of analysis intentionally overwhelmed by a sly joke. This isn't criticism, it's stand-up.

Queenan's argument sets up a vainglorious proposition: "In 1989 … Kenneth Branagh appeared in a stirring version of William Shakespeare's Henry V … Since the cultural megalith Laurence Olivier had already produced, directed and starred in his own Oscar-winning Henry V 44 years earlier … it seemed obvious that the actor was ... positioning himself to be the next Olivier" (my emphasis...

Two decades ago, Kenneth Branagh was "the new Olivier". Now he's directing a comic-book adaptation. Why? Because he was never meant to be an idol

In 1989, when he was not yet 30 years old, Kenneth Branagh appeared in a stirring version of William Shakespeare's Henry V. The film, which Branagh also directed, won tons of awards. God, was it stirring. Everybody thought the St Crispin's Day speech was just terrific, even the French, who came out somewhat worse for wear at the Battle of Agincourt and whom Shakespeare despised. Everybody wondered where this combustible young talent had come from. The answer: Belfast. Since the cultural megalith Laurence Olivier had already produced, directed and starred in his own Oscar-winning Henry V 44 years earlier, the year Adolf Hitler finally went down for the count, and since Branagh had more than held his own in this revival, it seemed obvious that the actor was throwing down the gauntlet,...

X Factor contestant Matt Cardle admitted that Simon Cowell wasn’t far from the truth, when he said that Matt looked like someone had dragged him from the loo and shoved him on stage last week.

During his performance of The Beatle’s Come Together, the former painter and decorator was dressed in just a tight white vest and jeans and in his video diary today, Matt admitted that he hadn’t intended to go on stage in such skimpy attire.

He said:

There was no intention to get semi-naked, it was a wardrobe thing that no one could make a decision on what was going over the vest, almost to the point where my Vt was running. You need that minute to kind of relax and have no one touching you and trying to put clothes on you. So I just threw the jacket and the shirt away and...

Our Friends In The North writer Peter Flannery recalls the difficult birth of his three-decade-spanning 'posh soap opera'

Long before he became Bond, Daniel Craig gave a raw, emotional performance as Geordie, a young man falling apart in Our Friends In The North. In an early scene set in 1964 he's so distressed by his alcoholic father that he headbutts him, cries his heart out and then hitchhikes to London to become Malcolm McDowell's dapper henchman. By the late-60s he looks bizarrely like a member of Slade, and by the time Thatcher has her hold on Britain in the 1980s, his world has fallen apart.

A desperately dramatic storyline in its own right, it's only one strand of a series of epic, multilayered stories in Our Friends. The 623-minute drama, which follows the lives of four friends from Newcastle between 1964 and 1995, is as moving now as it was when...

Brighton On Screen

With the Brighton Rock remake on its way, the Duke Of York's cinema is getting in early with a season of films made in, or with links to, the area. An obvious choice is Quadrophenia, but the more curious should check out odder fare, like The Flesh And Blood Show, directed by former Doy projectionist Peter Walker, the dour thriller Jigsaw and John Mackenzie's Made, a social drama featuring folkie Roy Harper. The centrepiece is Brighton Rock Unseen, a tribute to Graham Greene's original novel and the iconic 1947 movie it spawned.

Duke Of York's, Sun to 29 Aug; picturehouses.co.uk

Chichester Film Festival

Opening with Sylvain Chomet's lovely, Jacques Tati-inspired animation The Illusionist, the 19th Chichester Film Festival is bent on bringing magic of all kinds to the screen. Aside from previews of upcoming Us, European, Asian and British flicks – including...

75 year old Jimmy Ford does a jig and reminisces about Ireland with Louis

Jimmy Forde impressed the Britain’s Got Talent judges with his Irish dancing routine and managed to get himself out through to tonight’s semi final show.

Check out an interview with the Irish pensioner below in which he reveals that he has been dancing for 300 years, how much he loves St Patricks day and his former claim to fame.

When and how did you discover you had your talent?

I have been doing Irish dancing for about 300 years, only joking but I have been doing it for a long time, I just love dancing and music. I like to dance to keep me fit and it seems to be working and people seem to really enjoy my dancing and I’ve always had good feedback.

What is the largest audience you have performed in front of before this show?...