Love’s labour’s lost: Richard Curtis; Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon in ‘Love Actually’

A while ago, I went to the cinema to see Side Effects, which several reviews had informed me was director Steven Soderbergh’s final film before retiring. “This clever pharma-thriller would be a fitting sign-off,” ran the subhead in The Observer’s review.

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Richard Curtis initially made his name co-writing television comedies

Don't announce your retirement, Richard Curtis - it's far better to fade to black

All these smoke signals about retirement are tiresome. Is the whole of Britain meant to mount a campaign to make the director change his mind?

Video: Benedict Wong

Watch the videos below to view previews and trailers for some of the projects Benedict Wong's recent projects.

Video: Benedict Wong

Watch the videos below to view previews and trailers for some of the projects Benedict Wong's recent projects.

Video: Benedict Wong

Watch the videos below to view previews and trailers for some of the projects Benedict Wong's recent projects.

Father Ted actor Ardal O'Hanlon has been cast in Channel 4 drama London Irish

Ardal O'Hanlon joins cast of new Channel 4 drama London Irish

Father Ted star Ardal O'Hanlon is joining the cast of a new near-the-knuckle Channel 4 comedy about Northern Irish pals growing up in London.

Sacha Baron Cohen (left) was due to play Freddie Mercury (right) in a film of his life

I want to break free: Sacha Baron Cohen exits Freddie Mercury biopic over 'creative differences' with Queen

Comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen is reported to have quit playing the lead in an impending Freddie Mercury biopic due to a disagreement with the remaining members of Queen.

Big screen breakthrough: Next month sees the release of 'Alan Partridge, The Movie', which goes by the name Alpha Papa

A-ha! Alan Partridge movie Alpha Papa gives airtime to forgotten pop classics

His musical tastes famously extend from Abba to Wings, “the band The Beatles could have been”. But Alan Partridge’s elevation to the big screen is set to bring a new lease of life to a host of artists unfairly excluded from pop’s hall of fame.

Front Crawl: Frost, Pegg and Considine battle middle-age melancholia ... and killer robots

Jonathan Romney on The World's End: Invasion of the lager snatchers

Pegg, Frost and Wright end their 'Cornetto' trilogy with a clever, touching comedy

Nicolas Cage has said he refuses to blame gun violence in America on movies

Nicolas Cage: 'I'm not going to blame gun violence that happens in America on movies'

The actor speaks to Kaleem Aftab about his decision to do violent movies and why he's not going to be in Kick-Ass 2

'Seventh Python' has the last laugh with victory in battle over Spamalot royalties

Mark Forstater, producer of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, won an estimated £220,000 at the High Court 

Labour MP John Woodcock has written to the Care Quality Commission asking the watchdog to explain why it 'slipped out' the second damaging review

Labour MP demands explanation on why CQC 'slipped out' second damaging review into its investigations

John Woodcock is representing families who lost children at a scandal-hit hospital

DVD & Blu-ray review: Hansel & Gretel:  Witch Hunters (15)

Tommy Wirloka DVD/Blu-ray (85mins)

Cyndi Lauper, 'Memphis Blues'

Page 3 Profile: Cyndi Lauper, singer

Girls just want to have fun?

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end