Films, by critic Peter Bradshaw
Blades of Glory
Will Ferrell and Jon Heder enjoyed their finest hours in this comedy as egotistical ice-skaters barred from the sport after a disgraceful display of bad temper. They realise their only shot at a comeback is to settle their differences and compete jointly as a men’s pair. A film to release the dove of hope from the spangled Lycra costume of optimism.
Duck Soup
In 1933, some very depressing political things were happening, and the Marx Brothers did their bit to restore everyone’s good humour, taking aim at political nationalism and tinpot pomposity. The troubled European state of Freedonia has to accept a new president as a condition for a US loan: the free-thinking genius and visionary Rufus T Firefly, played by Groucho Marx.
The Devil Wears Prada
Is working in a glossy magazine really like this? Who cares? This 2006 film is comfort food that upgrades comfort to luxury, with an outrageous performance by Meryl Streep as the Anna-Wintour-esque editor of the New York publication Runway who terrorises Anne Hathaway’s saucer-eyed newbie. Great support from Stanley Tucci and a career-maker for Emily Blunt.
The Princess Bride
This wonderful comedy romance from 1987 features glorious performances from Robin Wright as the princess bride herself and Cary Elwes as the winsome young farmhand who is in love with her. Mandy Patinkin gives a legendary performance as a hot-blooded man of honour. It will restore your faith in a happy ending, somewhere down the road.
Beverly Hills Cop
Here’s one to put a banana in the tailpipe of disillusion. Eddie Murphy plays street-smart Detroit cop Axel Foley, who shows up in Beverly Hills on a mission to solve a murder. Murphy’s wheezing laugh in the face of LA’s myriad absurdities is something we need right now.
Pop music, by critic Alexis Petridis
Robyn – Dancing On My Own
The best pop song of the last 20 years, not least because it’s blessed with a chorus that somehow manages to be despairing and dizzyingly uplifting at the same time, its overall message – everything may seem ruined, but you have to keep on regardless – perfectly suits current events.
Chic – Good Times
Good Times starts with an eye-roll at the awfulness of everything – “happy days,” it offers ironically, “are here again” – then suggests you get wasted and go dancing: a short-term solution, but if the bassline doesn’t lift your gloom at least a little, you’re probably past the point where music can help you.
Nina Simone – O-o-h Child
Any version of O-o-h Child will do – it’s the musical equivalent of a comforting arm around your shoulder – but Nina Simone’s just edges it: the hint of weary hard-won experience in her voice makes its message more potent. And as a bonus, it’s on the same album as her cover of Here Comes the Sun, which has the same effect.
MIA – Paper Planes
It doubtless wasn’t intended as head-under-the-duvet comfort-eating music, but Paper Planes works perfectly in that context: you get the melancholy of the sample from the Clash’s Straight to Hell and the invigorating screw-you defiance of the lyric: “Already going to hell, just pumping on the gas, no one on the corner has swagger like us.”
The The – This Is the Day
This song is dual-purpose. If you want to be uplifted, then the contrast between the verses and the chorus – “your life will surely change … things fall into place” – will do it. If you want to wallow in your misery, then assume said chorus is intended sarcastically and the song is saying everything is terrible and likely to stay that way.
TV shows, by editors Kate Abbott and Hannah J Davies
Strictly Come Dancing final (Saturday, 7.05pm, BBC One)
Dust off your nattiest sequin number and settle in for the Strictly final, to find out whether Emma, Kelvin or Karim will hold high the Glitterball trophy. And if you need a pick-me-up before then, rewatch Karim and Amy’s quarter-final jive on loop. The mood outside may be frightful, but the dancefloor will surely be delightful.
Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah (Netflix)
“People think they know everything about me … well, here’s something they probably don’t know!” So begins the first solo Netflix special by the Girls Trip star. Ostensibly about the comic’s discovery that she is part Jewish, it soon morphs into a belated version of the bat mitzvah tradition it takes its title from. Haddish celebrates her own ascent from foster care to hanging out with Beyoncé, and the result is both anarchic and relatable.
The Repair Shop (BBC iPlayer)
The perfect antidote to use-it-and-chuck-it culture, this heartwarming balm of a show sees a team of craft experts bring people’s treasures back to life, from toys to jewellery, a homemade gramophone to a tippling stick (that is, a walking stick with space for a tot of whisky or three). Deeply moving without being saccharine, it might leave you crying like a baby – but at least they’ll be tears of joy.
The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (Amazon Prime Video)
To put some pep in your step look no further than Mrs Maisel, the 1960s Jewish housewife turned foul-mouthed standup supremo known for getting dragged off stage by police for her criminally obscene jokes. Now in its third season, Mrs Maisel is out on the road for her first tour, a whirlwind of Las Vegas hot spots and sexual tension with her idol, the even more obscene comic Lenny Bruce. It’s silly, perky and gag-heavy – all in all a fine distraction.
Freaks and Geeks (All4)
If anything can get you through dark days it’s this cult teen comedy by Judd Apatow about the rebels, mathletes, Dungeons and Dragons lovers and hermaphrodite tuba players of William McKinley High School in 1980. It kickstarted the careers of everyone from Apatow and Paul Feig to Seth Rogen and Linda Cardellini, it’s a work of genius from start to finish and all 18 episodes are available on All4 now.
Books, by editors Richard Lea and Alison Flood
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Queenie, a 25-year-old Londoner who is getting over the end of a long relationship while struggling to make an impression as a journalist, is also coming to terms with a traumatic past in this smart, insightful and funny novel. Frequently and reductively described as the “black Bridget Jones”, this debut definitely hits Helen Fielding’s humorous high notes, but runs much deeper on the emotional side as Queenie works her way back to stability.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Rereading this tale of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge will not only make us all feel as festive as is humanly possible, but will also remind us that even the most villainous person has a good side that can (if threatened by enough ghosts) resurface. Here’s hoping the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future will pay a visit to the current inhabitant of No 10 soon.
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Written in despair at George Bush’s invasion of Iraq, Solnit’s meditation on activism celebrates the unremarked achievements of 20th-century progressives. In the preface to the third edition, she declares: “Together we are powerful … yes, we can change the world because we have many times before.”
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Any novel by Diana Wynne Jones is a comfort in difficult times. But this one, in which Sophie, turned into an old woman by a wicked witch, is forced to take a job with the eccentric wizard Howl, is particularly witty, warm and wise. Who knows? If there’s hope for even a dreaded wizard to find his missing heart, perhaps not all is lost for Boris Johnson.
Reasons to Be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe
Any reader who doesn’t snort with laughter at the life and thoughts of Lizzie Vogel is quite possibly dead inside. Stibbe’s teenage narrator, who has landed her first job as the dental assistant of an appalling boss, is sharp as a tack and warm-heartedly eccentric. This book is a genuine joy to read.
Classical music, by editor Imogen Tilden
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat major
This work was written by the prodigiously talented young composer when he was just 17, and has there ever been a more joyful piece of music? The NHS should prescribe the first movement to those of us suffering from anxiety and depression. Guaranteed to make your heart soar, even today.
Nielsen: Inextinguishable Symphony
The clue’s in the name. Nielsen’s bold and dramatic Fourth symphony is about the elemental will to live. As he put it: “Life is indomitable and inextinguishable; the struggle, the wrestling, the generation and the wasting away go on today as yesterday, tomorrow as today, and everything returns. Once more: music is life, and like it inextinguishable.”
Barokksolistene: The Alehouse Sessions
Escape to a 17th-century alehouse with Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike and his group Barokssolistene, who mix period performance with alehouse singalongs, chanting and dancing. Time spent in the company of this virtuosic and exhilarating group of musicians is always a tonic.
Beethoven: Seventh Symphony, Fourth Movement
You think you have it bad? Beethoven’s Seventh was written while Austria was under Napoloanic occupation and its 1813 premiere was at a charity concert for injured soldiers. Its final movement is a sheer head-rush of energy whose racing semiquavers and whirling anarchic rhythms will leave you breathless and cheering.
Verdi: La Traviata’s Brindisi (The Drinking Song), or Falstaff’s Tutto
nel mondo e burla
One of Verdi’s best-loved tunes from La Traviata is the best way to raise your spirits and get you waltzing around your kitchen. (Or is that just me?) And listen to the composer’s final opera, whose glorious and uplifting conclusion sees wrongs righted, disguises shed and lovers reunited. The entire cast join in the final fugue: Tutto nel mondo e burla, literally, the whole world is a joke. Quite.
Games, by writer Keith Stuart
Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Nintendo Switch)
If it’s pure, unadulterated escapism you’re after, the Nintendo Switch is always going to have something comforting on offer. The latest instalment in this ghost-busting adventure series has Mario’s brother clearing spooks from a haunted hotel, with the help of his gelatinous alter ego, Gooigi. It’s funny, it’s silly and it has a co-op mode so you can share it with similarly desperate pals.
Untitled Goose Game (Panic Inc; PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One)
The unexpected hit game of 2019 has you taking on the role of a terrible goose determined to annoy the residents of a village by hiding their gardening tools, chasing them around and being generally antisocial. There are few more satisfying ways to work through your frustrations with the world than stealing a groundskeeper’s vacuum flask – oh, and the developers backed Labour.
Sayonara Wild Hearts (Simogo; PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS)
This beautiful, neon-drenched interactive pop-music video has you skating, punching and kissing your way through a super-stylised landscape in time with the thumping soundtrack. It is incredibly accessible, and the songs are so dreamy and hypnotic you may we’ll forget everything that’s happened this week – at least for a few blissed-out hours.
Baba Is You (Hempuli; PC, Nintendo Switch)
For a more cerebral escapism, this unique puzzle game by Finnish indie developer Arvi Teikari requires players to solve each level by moving specific blocks around the screen, each representing a different rule – by manipulating the rules, you effectively design your own win state, thereby completing the task. Politics may have left you feeling powerless, but at least you can exert your authority over this pixelated kingdom.
Astrologaster (Nyamyam; PC)
Fancy escaping from the rigours of the 21st century altogether? We’ve got just the bawdy, Shakespearean adventure comedy for you. You’re a quack physician looking to “heal” a series of gullible (probably Tory-voting) aristocrats with your own combination of dangerous medicine and inaccurate astrology. Snuggle up in bed with this on your laptop and it’ll quietly indulge your intellectual revenge fantasies.
