5 Great Shows to Watch When You’re Trying to Relax and Support Your Mental Health
It’s important to use your downtime wisely so that you can feel your best. If you don’t spend time relaxing, then you’re going to have a hard time dealing with stress. Working too much and constantly focusing on getting things done can be exhausting, and that’s why spending a bit of time just watching a fun TV show feels so great. There are a lot of amazing shows out there that you can check out, but some of them might be better than others when it comes to helping you to relax.
Read on to learn about five great shows to watch when you’re trying to relax and relieve stress. It should help you to find some shows that you can turn to when you just need to chill. All five of these shows are good for different reasons. Hopefully, at least one or two of them will be just what you’re looking for when you’re trying to take it easy after a hard day.
1. Planet Earth
Planet Earth is one of the best shows that you can turn to when you’re just trying to relax and get ready for bed. It’s a very soothing show to watch that can be very interesting when you want to pay attention to it. For the most part, it’s a beautifully shot show that showcases all sorts of animals in their natural habitats. You can learn a lot by watching the show, but it’s also just a nice thing to have on while you zone out after a stressful day at work.
2. The Joy of Painting
The Joy of Painting has been the go-to show for many people for a long time. This is a show that aired for thirty-one seasons, and that means that there are many episodes that you can check out. Bob Ross is the host of the show and he paints beautiful paintings while talking in a calm fashion. It might very well be the most relaxing show ever.
You could also use this show to learn how to paint by following along with Bob Ross. Some people find painting to be a very soothing activity that helps to relieve stress. This show is still relaxing to put on in the background even if you aren’t going to be trying your hand at painting yourself. This one comes highly recommended, but there are some people who might find it to be a bit dull.
3. Forged in Fire
Forged in Fire is a good show that appeals to people who are looking for a bit more action. This is a competition show where people forge blades that will eventually be tested by masters of the craft. It’s a show that is often funny, but it’s also interesting to see the different types of knives and swords that the contestants have to make. If you don’t find this competition show to be up your alley, then you could try one of the many cooking competition shows that you can find on streaming services these days.
4. The Simpsons
The Simpsons is considered to be one of the best shows ever made for a reason. It’s a show that means a lot to many people, and that’s why so many like to watch it when they’re unwinding. It could be a great show to put on while you’re laying on the couch and reflecting on the day. You’ll be able to enjoy a few laughs and watch your favorite episodes from the series assuming that you have a Disney Plus subscription.
5. Impractical Jokers
Impractical Jokers has been one of the most ridiculous shows on cable for a long time now. The premise of four best friends competing to embarrass each other has provided many laughs over the years. Laughter is something that can help you to wash away the stress from a hectic workday. If you need to laugh and you just want to watch something that’s objectively kind of stupid (but still funny), then Impractical Jokers might be your show.
Online Therapy Can Help You to Manage Stress More Effectively
If you’re having a tough time managing stress, then you might want to reach out to a professional. Online therapy is a great way to talk to someone about what’s going on in your life. You can learn to cope with stress much more effectively, and you’ll be able to work through any other issues that you’re experiencing. Click here to learn more about how you can get help with your issues today.
Get ready for the #SnyderCut as, Zack Snyder’s Justice League goes straight to Number 1 on the Official Film Chart on digital downloads only.
The new release lands 9,000 sales ahead of its closest competition, fellow DCEU film and former six-week Number 1 holder, Wonder Woman 1984 (2). Originally released in March 2021 on Sky Cinema, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an extended cut of 2017 film Justice League which clocks in at four hours long.
Its release follows a long fan campaign to release the ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League after Joss Whedon took over directing the film’s theatrical version when Snyder departed following a family bereavement.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage comedy-horror Willy’s Wonderland debuts at Number 3. Cage stars as a Janitor tricked into working at a condemned family fun centre, where he’s forced into a fight for survival against the centre’s possessed animatronic mascots.
Joker lands at Number 4, The Greatest Showman jumps seven to Number 5 and Disney/Pixar’s two-time Oscar winner Soul drops four to Number 6. Godzilla: King of the Monsters falls to Number 7, while Let Him Go rises one place to Number 8 in its second week.
At Number 9, cult slasher collection Urban Legend Trilogy makes its debut following the release of a limited-edition Blu-ray boxset of Urban Legend, Urban Legends: Final Cut and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary. Finally, Spider-Man: Far From Home lands at Number 10.
This week’s Official Film Chart online show features a preview of horror reboot Wrong Turn, which is available to buy on DVD & Blu-ray from 3 May.
As well as OfficialCharts.com, the Official Film Chart can also be found on FindAnyFilm.com – the ultimate site for Film and TV fans to discover all the legal ways to buy the entertainment they want on disc and digital formats.
Billie Eilish Edition: Bits & Pieces – THE YEAR IS 2021. Yes, you say, we’re well aware of that, it’s nearly summer… No, bear with me. What we mean is, the Keanu Reeves, ahead-of-its time sci-fi action thriller JOHNNY MNEMONIC is set in 2021! Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, with an HD digital release, the film made some pretty startling predictions at the time about the internet, smartphones, virtual reality and social media. Some came to fruition, others were way off the mark, and some were just plain ridiculous.
STUDIOCANAL today announce a stunning new 4K restoration of Paul Verhoeven’s (Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers) classic 1992 thriller BASIC INSTINCT. Available on Ultra HD™,Blu-Ray, DVD and Steelbook editions from 14th June 2021. As boundary-pushing today as it was in 1992, BASIC INSTINCT redefined the erotic thriller genre and remains a must-see for audiences globally. Featuring one of the most talked about scenes in film history, BASIC INSTINCT is a blistering portrayal of sexual obsession, murder and betrayal.
Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) live together, traveling gig to gig playing their loud, frenzied music. Suddenly Ruben, a passionate drummer, loses his hearing and his world is upended, causing him to struggle with depression and be tempted by past addictions.
A darkly playful comedy of unease about a young bisexual woman grappling with tradition and independence,Shiva Baby tells the story of Danielle (Rachel Sennott), a college student on the verge of graduating who is faced with a series of increasingly awkward and humiliating encounters at a climactic day-long shiva, a Jewish gathering of friends and family during a time of mourning.
On a cold night in January 2004, gunshots rang out across the remote Swedish village, Knutby, home to a small, tight-knit Pentecostal congregation, leaving a young woman murdered in her bed and her neighbor suffering from multiple bullet wounds. Attention soon turned towards the community – the victim’s husband, also the sect’s pastor, the victim’s 26-year-old nanny, and the sect’s leader known as “The Bride of Christ.”
Ahead of the UK digital release of his latest film THE LOCKDOWN HAUNTINGS on May 3, director & writer Howard J Ford talks about being a one-man crew, casting Tony Todd, his do-it-yourself SFX kit and losing his uncle to the Pandemic.
You shot THE LOCKDOWN HUNTINGS during the UK’s first lockdown. Was the COVID-19 outbreak the inspiration? If so, why a ghost story?
Howard: It absolutely was. I am a believer in using what you have as an indie film-maker and I had a global pandemic! There was a sudden influx of fear, isolation and anxiety. I wondered, could I do anything cinematic with that? I then heard that the virus is not even alive, yet this not-living thing was out there taking lives and not only that, it was INVISIBLE! None of us knew how close this deadly thing was to them… I wondered, could I weave that into a plot, then it hit me.. A ghostly killer. That’s something could do!
Although it can be described as a supernatural horror thriller, at heart lie some interesting issues around spiritual belief, our relationship with the dead and the need to forgive. Were these themes always at the heart of the script or did they evolve during filming?
Howard: Thanks. I do love layers in whatever I am making, so I love trying to find out what could be underneath, what is at the heart of it so to speak. And in the beginnings of lockdown there was all this anger and blame as to whose fault it was that we found ourselves where we are and I felt we all needed some healing elements so I wanted to find a way of getting this in there.
You shot the film single-handedly. What was the both the biggest challenge and the most liberating aspect?
Howard: Yes, I quickly realised that if I was going to pull this film off during lockdown, I would not be able to have anyone with me at all. That and staying two metres away from any actors it was really a challenge. Firstly, I needed to find out if actors would let me film in their homes and a social media post gave me my answers and who was up for it. Then I picked what I felt were the absolute best cast from that. The liberating thing was, so long as the actors were ok with it, I was free to take the film in whatever direction I felt it should go at the time without having to consult a single person. I recall one moment sitting in my car outside a Tesco’s garage having shot with one actor in the morning and about to set off to another, I had a sandwich which cost £2.61 and as I finished it I realised, I just fed the whole crew for less than 3 quid!
The casting of Tony Todd is inspirational. How did that come about? And the acting, in general, is great. Good to see a vibrant Angela Dixon on our screens again. Was casting a difficult operation given the restrictions that were in place then?
Howard: I love Tony Todd so much and I was SO thrilled when I realised he might come on board The Lockdown Hauntings. I had met Mr Todd on a flight to LA, by ‘chance’ some years back, we were sat next to each other and we spent many hours talking about all sorts of amazing things. He’s really a lovely guy and very deep and pun’s-aside, time flew by. I had also soon after that worked with John Rhys-Davies on a champagne film of all things and then found out they had the same manager, a super chap called Jeff Goldberg so we re-connected, then when I was about to go forward with ‘The Lockdown Hauntings’ and needed to cast Jordan Myers the main paranormal expert, I kind of meditated over who would be the absolute best person to do this and I thought, ‘go big’, then BOOM. Tony Todd appeared in my head and I thought, it’s a long shot but what the heck, give Jeff a call, and it all fell into place from there.
Angela Dixon is always great to work with and she went through so much on ‘Never Let Go’, which was not an easy shoot I felt she might like to do something totally different and she seemed to love the idea too and also helped fill in some of the many gaps I had on dialogue and things as I was too busy making the film to properly write it. The cast were so fabulous on this film and somehow we all just got on with it, no messing about, we just hit go and did our best within the circumstances.
Given you had no crew to assist, how did you manage to achieve the numerous special effects that run all the way through the movie?
Howard: I realised I might have to go back to basics on many aspects and I have to be honest, I’m not a fan of big CGI films as I always find it hard to believe the world no matter how impressive, so I thought, well, what would they have done on ‘The Exorcist’, or ‘The Omen’, two films that scared the heck out of me, sometimes with moments that were not full of SFX.. So I re-looked into the ‘old school’ way of doing things and read stories of people pushing furniture around and things being pulled with fishing wire and air machines etc, so I made myself an SFX kit and tried to do as much as possible practically. In post, I do have some fab CGI chaps and I hope between us we can still shock and jolt you and even surprise you in all sorts of places.
You sadly lost your uncle during this period. Did that having a bearing on the project?
Howard: I did, to the virus too. It was the weirdest thing as no one could attend and we had to watch his funeral on what looked like a kind of YouTube video, all our family folks in separate homes too. I watched some people I’d never met carry his coffin up the aisle and read some words from the family. Play a couple of his favourite songs, some I remember him playing when I was at his flat in London writing my early scripts, then he was gone. This was the guy that got me into fitness, but he enjoyed his life and I felt he would have said to me, just go do it.
Angela Dixon as Detective George Parker
Moving away from THE LOCKDOWN HAUNTINGS…before the pandemic struck you completed filming on THE LEDGE. Can you tell us a bit about the film?
Howard: Yes, ‘The Ledge’ which is a bit of a female cliff-hanger was a totally different production scenario. We had a crew of like 64 people and a far bigger set up. Which is great in one way, but unlike ‘The Lockdown Hauntings,’ you can’t change direction or suddenly decide to do this instead of that, or I’d have had my ass fired straight away! Ha. I actually shot ‘The Lockdown Hauntings’ just before I flew off to do ‘The Ledge’, so both films were made in Lockdown. ‘The Ledge’ is a nail biting thriller/horror written by Tom Boyle and produced by Evolution/GFM whom I worked with on the distribution/sales of ‘The Lockdown Hauntings’. It’s a very high-concept, exciting story of one female climber stuck high up on the side of a mountain fighting off four killers on a ledge twenty feet above her. It will be getting some great theatrical releases but not for some months after ‘The Lockdown Hauntings’.
The inevitable question but it needs to be asked. Will ‘The Dead’ be walking again?
Howard: Well, by brother Jon and I do discuss it every now and then and we will consider doing ‘The Dead 3’ if the situation was right. If it happens, it will not be for a few more years. They are painful films to make and very nearly killed us for real.
ADVENTURE BOYZ, your all-action family thriller, starred you and your two sons. A thespian one-off or are there ambitions for the Fords to get in front of the camera again?
Howard: Now that’s a film full of love. I made that the summer before the lockdown as I felt we already had a global disaster on our hands. That disaster being that all our children, and probably us too were relying far too much on our devices and not getting out into the real world where the real joys are, so I made ‘Adventure Boyz’ and cast my own two boys in it as I wanted to see if my story could incentivise them, and any other kids around the world to ‘get off their devices and get out there’! Sadly it came out following a lovely theatrical run as the world was told to get indoors and get on zoom! Maybe it will be re discovered. Was fun to act in too, I was never meant to be in it quite so much but I was just so available! Felix is in The Lockdown Hauntings, his third feature film before he was 10!
Finally, what’s coming up for you?
Howard: Well I’m actually moving forward right now with ‘The Lockdown Hauntings 2: Second Wave’! I’ve already shot some sequences and will be doing the rest over the next couple of months or so. Hope to reveal more in Cannes. That and a couple of other projects including another supernatural film I have written called ‘Indelible’. I also have a TV series, ‘Echo Road’ I have been developing. Other than that, let’s all enjoy some life in case we get locked-down again! With ‘The Lockdown Hauntings’ I hope it’s a very different way of reflecting on lockdown and our journey through it.
THE LOCKDOWN HAUNTINGS IS RELEASED ON 3rd MAY ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS, COURTESY OF ALTITUDE
Hollywood’s biggest night has taken place, honouring the movie industry’s finest from the past 12 months. Here is the full list of the winners of the 93rd Academy Awards.
