Latest Time Out worldwide features

Are we still in the Golden Age of Television? Probably not. Since the end of Succession, it hasn’t felt like there’s been a major prestige series to grip the culture in a way similar to Breaking Bad, Mad Men et al. But it doesn’t mean there isn’t still great stuff to watch – stuff that, as they go along, could grow into one of those zeitgeist-gripping all-timers. In 2026, that includes the likes of HBO’s Industry, which has grown from cult fave to must-watch over four seasons, and The Pitt, still probably the best show currently on despite its, let’s say, fervent fanbase. And don’t forget Heated Rivalry, Bait and yet another Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of Seven Kingdoms. We’ve put off sleep and watched them all to determine the best TV of the year so far.  Recommended: 📽️ The best movies of 2026 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2025📺 The 100 greatest TV shows of all time

Is it safe to say movies are back? Sure, there’s still plenty of anxiety around the film industry and its future. But cinematically speaking, 2026 has gotten off to, arguably, the most blazing hot start since the pre-pandemic glory days, both critically and at the box office.  Of course, for our purposes, we like to focus on the creative successes, and it’s rare for the first quarter of any year to produce so many achievements of various scopes and budgets. Any time you get both a Project Hail Mary and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – not to mention leftfield horror triumphs like Backrooms and Obsession – all before the calendar’s halfway point, you know it’s a good time to be a film fan, especially when there are new spectacles from Christopher Nolan, Marvel and the Dune franchise on the horizon.  But that’s later. Here’s the best of what we’ve seen so far.  📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2026 (so far)😂 The best comedy movies of 2026 (so far)📕 15 book-to-movie adaptations to get excited about in 2026🔥 The 40 best movies of 2025

Not to be a downer, but you never truly know the song of the summer until it’s all over. When you look back on the tune that soundtracked long, balmy days. The one that dominated parties and the festival circuit. The track that you’ll hear decades later and remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when it had its moment.  In other words, we’re a bit early to crown a song of the summer for 2026. But that doesn’t mean we don’t already know the contenders. So far we have several era-defining tunes on repeat from the likes of Madonna, Olivia Rodrigo, Zara Larsson and Vince Staples. And no, Charli xcx, you cannot sneak your way into the list by naming your new single after the season. Below you’ll find a mix of tracks that are inescapable right now and tunes that the Time Out office has on repeat. Which one will officially be the song of the summer 2026? Well, check back in September and see which one you’ve overplayed the most.

Is it safe to laugh again? Over the last decade, comedy movie from all but disappeared from cinemas – and those that emerged on streaming weren’t exactly keeping us in hysterics. But so far, 2026 is looking like something of a rebound for both big- and small-screen comedies. Granted, nothing is breaking the box office like back in the aughts, but surprise hits like The Drama and under-the-radar gems like Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie have cracked us up harder than anything we’ve seen in a few years – and there’s more on the way. For now, here are funniest movies we’ve seen in 2026 so far. RECOMMENDED: 📽️ The best movies of 2026 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows of 2026😂 The 100 greatest comedy movies ever made

Easter eggs are the ultimate treat for movie geeks – and nobody does them like Pixar. For the uninitiated, these are the secret references in movies that are hidden in plain sight. For Pixar, they’re an opportunity to celebrate the studio’s rich history, with plenty of nods to their past, present, and future – and well as influences, inspirations and plain old for-the-fun-of-it. With Toy Story 5 hitting theaters this weekend, it’s the perfect time to dive into how these hidden gems tell the story of one of cinema’s greatest animation studios. RECOMMENDED: 📽️ The best movies of 2026 (so far)🔥 The 100 greatest animated movies of all time

If writing about music is like ‘dancing about architecture’, what is writing about movies like? Painting about biology? Rapping about the tides? Cinema is an artform that contains all other artforms, and it aspires to tell us about ourselves and the world we live in. How can puny letters and punctuation marks ever hope to measure up? Well, you’d be surprised. Books about movies have been around almost as long as the movies themselves – shout out to Hugo Münsterberg’s 1916 tome The Photoplay – providing insight into a medium that can seem like pure magic. But books demystifying the process – from screenwriting to cinematography to editing – are only one part of the rich history of the literature of film. There are tell-all memoirs and making-ofs. In some cases, like Peter Biskind’s Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, the books have come to define the period they cover as much as the movies themselves. We cover all the must-reads in this list of the best film books ever published. It’s the rare moment when we’ll tell you to stop watching, and get to reading – and then watch again.RECOMMENDED:🍿 The 100 greatest films ever made📚 The world’s 20 best cities for art and culture in 2026

Famously, Steven Spielberg grew up in the public eye, maturing from good-versus-Nazis blockbusters into a more nuanced engagement with human evil. His art found its apex in an extraordinary 1993, during which the director released two masterpieces: the highest-grossing Hollywood roller coaster up to that point (Jurassic Park) and a morally complex Oscar-winning triumph (Schindler’s List). It’s an achievement that will likely never be matched. We love all kinds of Steven Spielberg movies – ones about sharks and Abraham Lincoln alike. In honour of his latest effort, Disclosure Day (admittedly, not that high on our list), we’ve ranked all 34 Steven Spielberg movies, from the thrilling peaks to the so-so valleys. He’s never made a truly terrible film, and that in itself is impressive.

Eighty-two years ago this weekend, Allied forces hit the beaches of Normandy to begin the invasion of western Europe. Legendary war photographer Robert Capa was there to record it via the still image and Hollywood has been doing the same with the moving one ever since. But for such a seismic historical event, the filmography of Operation Overlord is relatively contained – you can get through most of the films that depict it in less than the time it took to secure the beachhead. But there’s an array of perspectives in those movies, ranging from soldier’s-eye to epic-scaled, and a new film, Pressure, has just added a fresh one to the mix. The years pass but our fascination with the event doesn’t seem to wane. Here’s seven ways to commemorate the anniversary of June 6, 1944. Recommended: 🪖 The 50 best World War II movies🎖 The 50 best war movies of all-time🌍 The 21 best World War I movies of all-time🇻🇳 The 20 best Vietnam War movies

Towering spiral staircases, starry-night ceilings, stunning old cathedrals and brutalist buildings – there are bookshops across the globe that feel less like shopping spaces and more like portals to different worlds. From contemporary plant-filled spaces that feel more like lavish homes to cat-inhabited gondolas and quaint former theatres, the world’s most beautiful bookshops feature just as much variety in their size, age and style as the books which fill their shelves. Read on.  RECOMMENDED:🏛️ The museums everyone should visit in their lifetime🎭 The world’s best cities for art and culture in 2026📽️ The 100 greatest cinemas in the world right now

The group trip will never get old, but jetting off on your very own solo jaunt is an experience that might well change how you travel permanently. After all, there’s a good chance that once you’ve caught the bug, seeking out memorable experiences, enjoying complete cultural immersion and making new friends will be something you best enjoy at your own pace.  More women than ever before are solo travelling, and that’s why we’ve poured a load of time and care into compiling this tried-and-tested list of solo travel destinations. It includes countries with established traveller routes, friendly cities, good transport and plenty of chances to socialise (or prioritise quality alone time – that’s your call) so read on for our handpicked list of the planet’s best solo travel destinations for women in 2026. RECOMMENDED:🗺️ The best places in the world to travel alone🖼️ The best cities in the world for culture right now🌃 The best places in Europe for women to travel alone India-Jayne Trainor is a British-Australian travel writer based in London. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines and check out our latest travel guides written by local experts. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.