Entertainment

The return of the Bridget Jones franchise has been a huge fillip for cinemas, with Bridget Jones : Mad About The Boy taking an incredible £11.8 million in its first four days, breaking a rom com record originally set by the second Bridget film Edge Of Reason, which made £10 million in 2004 (although that figure would of course be more now with inflation). Bridget didn't even get a cinema release in America, heading straight to Peacock, Universal's streaming service. Much like Robbie Williams, she's not very well loved in the States, it seems.

Since the pandemic, there seem to have been a few incidents of bad behaviour at live events. I'm left wondering if audiences have forgotten how to behave, or perhaps they do remember the rules, and simply don't care. That's entirely possible.

As far as rock nights go,  one of my favourite nights of the year returns tomorrow night (Friday February 21st) when legendary AC/DC tribute 'Livewire' return to play an intimate gig at Uppermill Civic Hall.

Ahead of the huge releases this weekend of Bridget Jones : Mad About The Boy and Captain America : Brave New World, I've got three movies you might want to catch on the big screen.

Whilst it's quite tempting to write something about an extraordinary week in local politics, and ask how many people have deleting WhatsApp messages this week, instead I thought I'd play it safe and do a telly review.

Last week tickets went on sale and the line-up was announced for the UKs largest indoor tribute festival, with the announcement that some of indie and dance music's most loved real-life icons will also be on the bill when the iconic Manchester Adored festival arrives at Bowlers Arena on Saturday October 25th.

How do you feel when your phone rings? To be honest, it's quite rare I get any calls on my mobile nowadays, which is probably just as well, since I have a cheap Motorola and the shrill sounds of 'Hello Moto' would probably not be embraced with open arms by cinemagoers, which is where I can often be located if I'm not in a radio studio.

I'm quite proud of myself for not having a snooze during The Brutalist whilst watching it on the huge IMAX screen.

It's just over two years since I became the permanent drivetime presenter on Tameside Radio, and tomorrow, Friday February 7th, will sadly be my last day on the show.

A family fun panto is opening at New Mills Arts Theatre this week bringing to life the classic fairytale of ‘Dick Whittington’.

A mix this week of stuff that I watched over the festive season and a couple from this week, to start another year of movie watching!

It was tempting to write something this week about the digital darts being fired from the keyboard of the world's richest man, and how it might be better if we just switched social media off for a bit, but for the sake of my blood pressure, I thought I'd share the first part of a musical Top 10 with you.

After the massive success of last year's huge 40th anniversary tour,  legendary soul band Stax Of Soul will be rolling back into Uppermill in November as part of this year's series of tour dates.

Rock n Roll Star, National Treasure, Musical Icon, Manchester legend, and TV hero Shaun Ryder next week begins a huge UK theatre tour which runs until May 2025, telling stories and tales of his life as one of music's most iconic and wildest frontmen

Two days before Oasis's debut album 'Definitely Maybe' celebrated its 30th anniversary, the news broke that 15 years since splitting up, Liam and Noel Gallagher would be getting the band back together next year. If you had asked me a few years ago if i would like them to get back together, I probably would have said no, leave it in the history books just as The Beatles and The Jam did

When we started our Local music Spotlight feature on Tameside Radio and across the Not Really Here Group media outlets back in January 2023, I knew what an important feature it would be for local bands and artists, but I don't think anybody could have predicted just how successful it has been.

Pauline Town MBE is a Tameside hero and a legend. As landlady of The Station Hotel in Ashton, she has made the respected British pub much more than that, it's also a hub for the homeless, victims of domestic abuse, families in need, and those facing poverty in this area.

Its three years since Stereophonics last toured, and last week the band announced their biggest ever UK and Ireland stadium tour which will take place in 2025.

It's almost impossible to review The Substance without spoilers, but I'll try. It's grisly, bone-crunching, shockingly gory stuff, but what a performance from Demi Moore. This is possibly the most bananas movie I've ever seen, and Moore's finest hour in my book.

Back in the day, I used to love watching Top Of The Pops on a Thursday night. It was one of the telly highlights of the week, at a time when there were only three channels, no social media, and Dial-A-Disc was still a thing (ask your parents if this doesn't ring a bell).

It's a rarity, but a trio of films were all released last Friday that I couldn't wait to see. I've managed two of them this week, and both are outstanding.

Starting this week with my film of the month for September. Strange Darling is grisly and twisty as hell The best review I've seen comes from rapper Kid Cudi, who wrote: "Movies like this come every so often. As a fan of horror, I've never been this thrown by a horror movie before. I went in thinking one thing, and left knowing another". The difficulty in reviewing this movie is that it's definitely best enjoyed without spoilers. It's gory, tense, and nerve shredding.

The UK has a rich history when it comes to condiments. A lot add unami taste to our dishes (a Japanese word meaning 'savoury deliciousness'), and a survey carried out recently by Fentimans found brown sauce ranks second in a list of the UK's top 10 favourite bold flavours.

I wrote about stress recently, and feel quite zen this week, apart from the fact I'm writing this column right up against the deadline.I don't know where the weeks are going, and Christmas is now less than 100 days away, whilst the nights are drawing in faster than I can eat a bag of Haribo Tangfastics.

Following the Ellis Mano Band's European tour last year in support of the critically acclaimed "Luck of the Draw" album, fifteen songs recorded in Germany and Switzerland have now been released on their first live album "Live: Access All Areas".

The first of two films based on that Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew hit Netfllix this week, and Scoop was a five star treat in my book. Based on three chapters of a book by producer Sam McAlister, who arranged te interview at Buckingham Palace and has since said it was "hard to keep a poker face" while he was speakin

This week, I watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix, and I would highly recommend that you give it a whirl. As one of the quotes at the beginning says: "Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse" (Sophocles), and if you're anything like me, you'll be left questioning how much information you've given away to social media platforms over the years.

"Fortuna", the long-awaited studio album from the British Blues rock roots guitarist and vocalist Bex Marshall, is a ten-track blues tapestry that bulges to the edges with addictive hooks and story lines.

If you're a John Wick fan, there will inevitably be comparisons with pulpy new action film Monkey Man, which is out this weekend. Armed with little more than a monkey mask and a shedload of grit and determination, Dev Patel's Kid won't rest until the men who took everything from him get what's coming to them.

Stockport based NK Theatre Arts head to New Mills Art Theatre for the very first time with their production of Rock Of Ages. 

Event cinema is pretty popular, with reports that Queen Rock Montreal (IMAX) raked in over $4 million, split across the USA and the rest of the world. Clearly, the lure of a remastered Queen concert from 1981 is strong.