Entertainment

With the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the world and forcing a great many of us into lockdown for an undetermined period, many of us have been attempting to find new ways to keep boredom at bay and to maintain some sense of normalcy.

Launched this week, Quibi is a new streaming service whose videos are exclusively ten minutes or less. Unlike its web-friendly competitors, it can only be used on mobile devices, utilising dynamic portrait-to-landscape ‘Turnstyle’ viewing technology – that is, whatever way up your phone is, your shows will always be full-screen.

The entertainment industry has pretty much closed down in reality. Bars are closed, event spaces are likely to be closed until May or even September and festivals are dropping like flies.

With countless films available across several streaming services, MM picks out ten thrillers on Netflix in the UK that should provide escapism, excitement and a distraction from the monotony of lockdown.

If you’re already planning your first night out once everything is back to normal in the UK, consider a night out at Manchester235.

Leeds musical treasure Katie Harkin is preparing to add her latest, eponymous solo project to a résumé already laden with brilliant accomplishments.

Baxter Dury told Jason Williamson that he envisaged his new album ‘The Night Chancers’ – as told by an ageing hip hop mogul who looks back on his life in chapters – the perfect analogy for an album doused in self-awareness and promiscuity.

As coronavirus restrictions force people to find more creative ways to entertain themselves – with giant lasagnes, flat bingo, and care home Hungry Hippos all making waves on social media – one major new casualty is the grassroots music industry.

Dan Haygarth reviews the latest Amazon Prime sports documentary, which charts the Australian cricket time over a testing year

George A. Romero revolutionised horror cinema in 1968 when he released Night of the Living Dead, the first in a long series of zombie movies spanning more than four decades, and cementing the tropes that still characterise the zombie archetype today.

Greater Manchester’s hospitality industry is being forced to find new ways to deliver services, after the government advised the public to “avoid pubs [and] clubs” on Monday.