David O. Russell directs movies like he’s just snorted a big line of cocaine and been told the camera is a Grand Theft Auto controller – the actors in his scenes spend most of their time trying not to get run over. Intensity. That’s what Russell has in spades, and it’s again on show in…

Again.

Right, here’s this year’s maddest news: if we can trust him, it appears Colin Farrell spent the couple of years before her death having a discreet little affair thing with Elizabeth Taylor. And if that’s true, then all bets are off. We’ve done a little digging and found a few more actors whose relationships stretched the limits of plausibility…

YEEEEAH

Oscar-winning actress dies aged 96.

Lawrence of Arabia star finally leaves the bar.

Prepare to be tangled in a web of obscure villains

Ryan’s relationship with cinema began aged 4, at a screening of Death Becomes Her in his native Glasgow. He has taken issue with Bruce Willis since. Ryan’s crowning achievement in life was being babysat by ‘Begbie from Trainspotting’ while his mum went to the shops. A lover of all things movie-related, Ryan will watch almost…

American Hustle, the shiny retro mafia romp from The Silver Linings Playbook’s David O Russell, starring The Silver Linings Playbook’s Bradley Cooper, and The Silver Linings Playbook’s Jennifer Lawrence (and some other people) comes out next week. The title seems to suggest that there’s something particularly American about being a con artist in the seventies. As a full-on tea-drinking foul-mouthed middle class Brit, who am I to disagree with this? Here are five more titles which have taught me something about what it’s like to be from THE LAND OF THE FREE.