The Guardian Culture

From ‘old people music’ to owning the streets: 60 years of Notting Hill carnival and me

As a child, being taken to the Caribbean celebration was a drag. But once sound systems arrived in the 1970s, it became an unmissable yearly pilgrimage offering a sense of freedomMy earliest memories of the Notting Hill carnival are of being mildly irritated. In its 1960s infancy, the event was strictly a Caribbean affair, transplanted to Ladbroke Grove as authentically as was practical. Its purpose was as obvious as its origins: giving Caribbean arrivals a chance to celebrate themselves by brin

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Ridley Scott’s ‘The Dog Stars’: First Reactions

The post-apocalyptic sci-fi film starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Alison Janney, Benedict Wong and Guy Pearce hits theaters on Aug. 28.

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Variety

Hilary Strong Stepping Down From John Gore Studios

John Gore Studios, the fast-growing U.K. film and TV business set up by theater impresario John Gore, has announced that it’s to join forces with its U.S.-based sister company The John Gore Organisation under the common control of single holding company. The move, it claims, will “facilitate coordination between the companies and will bring their […]

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Hilary Strong Steps Down as CEO of John Gore Studios

The company will be "joining forces with its U.S.-based sister company, The John Gore Organization," in a rejig, with both under the executive leadership of owner and founder Gore.

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Seam me up, Scotty! After 60 years, Star Trek has had a muppet takeover. About time too

Star Wars has embraced the magic of puppetry since the 70s, but Trekkers have been starved of any muppet action … until now. The creators of Strange New Worlds talk about boldly sewing where no one has sewn beforeIt’s life, Jim – but very much not as we know it.In fact, when it comes to the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the life forms in question are less flesh-and-blood and more fabric-and-felt – as the series becomes the latest sci-fi show to embrace the magic of puppetry. C

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Soft Spot review – this wine-glass circus has a lot of bottle

Zoo Southside, EdinburghA handstand artist and a juggler slide, toss, stack and stand on umpteen glasses without a drop of wine in sightThis Swedish circus two-hander begins with the performers offstage, and what sounds like the high-pitched notes of a glass harp. But the wine glasses here – first six of them, then dozens – are used for acrobatic tricks rather than music.Stina Otterström is a handstand artist, Arttu Lahtinen is a juggler. Together, they execute a series of increasingly fiddly, f

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter review – hope amid the hopelessness

A writer and activist takes stock of women’s rights in these changing, troubled times It has become increasingly difficult to change our minds, to question our own views or to find common ground with people we disagree with, all of which makes Natasha Walter’s new book both refreshing and exhilarating.In her ebullient 1998 debut The New Feminism, Walter hailed Margaret Thatcher as a trailblazer. In this fiercer, bleaker work, she rips into the “glossy language of aspirat

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Triage by Claudia Rankine review – how should we respond to the world’s atrocities?

The American poet and essayist weaves memoir, fiction, criticism and lyrical lament into a tale of friendship in an age of existential crisis“Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental,” writes the multi-award winning Jamaican-American poet, essayist and playwright Claudia Rankine in the disclaimer to her latest work. “Unless it isn’t.” The pretzel-logic of this statement, its assertive ambiguity, sets the tone for a book that digs direc

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Variety

‘Cairo Conspiracy’s Tawfeek Barhom to Star in Les Valseurs’ ‘Borderline’ by Oscar-Nominated Yves Piat (EXCLUSIVE)

Palestinian actor Tawfeek Barhom, best known for Tarik Saleh’s Cannes winner “Cairo Conspiracy” in 2022 and Palme d’Or winner 2025 for his short film “I’m Glad You’re Dead Now,” is set to headline the French pic “Borderline” by first-timer Yves Piat. A very loose feature-length version of Piat’s Oscar-nominated live action short “Nefta Football Club,” […]

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Variety

Na Hong-Jin’s ‘Hope,’ Netflix’s ‘Dead-End Job’ and ‘Blue Road,’ Disney+’s ‘The Remarried Empress’ Among Selections as Busan Unveils Korean Cinema Today, On Screen Lineups

The 31st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) has unveiled its Korean Cinema Today and On Screen selections, with Na Hong-Jin’s “Hope” among a nine-film lineup spanning Panorama and Special Premiere. “Hope,” Na’s latest feature, drew global attention ahead of release on the strength of its large-scale production and a cast including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, […]

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Meet Mestiza, the Female Duo From Spain Mixing Flamenco and Electronic Music

Belah and Pitty discuss their music and aesthetics, upcoming shows in London and New York, leaning into the "almost ritualistic" nature of electronic music, and the visual, cinematic side of their creativity.

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Variety

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘The Odyssey’ Extend Battle Atop U.K. and Ireland Box Office as ‘Insidious’ Makes Strong Debut

Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” retained the No. 1 spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office for a fourth consecutive week, collecting £3.6 million ($4.8 million), according to Rentrak. The superhero blockbuster pushed its running cumulative gross to $117.9 million. Universal’s “The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan, held firmly in second place during its […]

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Dominic Monaghan to Join ‘Lord of the Rings’ 25th Anniversary Reunion With Elijah Wood, More at CCXP

The annual fan event takes place Dec. 3-6 in Brazil.

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

The Great Dictator by Matthew Sweet review – the life of Barbara Cartland

An excellent, compassionate biography of the wildly prolific romantic novelistBarbara Cartland was famous for dictating her novels. With a pekingese clamped to her hot pink bosom she would lie back on a library couch and exhale a story about virginal girls taming wayward dukes, damaged airmen or misunderstood surgeons. Meanwhile Miss Savory, Mrs Smith or Mrs Morgan, picked for being unfidgety and sneezeless, would take everything down in immaculate Pitman shorthand. Cartland reckoned on being ab

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Zip Wire review – cancer-curing scientist is on the hook for cable-dangle thriller

This nonsensical film sees an OCD-afflicted scientist fending off assassins while hanging from an aerial wire, and fails to get pulses racing for even a minuteIn this silly, low-adrenaline thriller, the title star is a rickety old zip wire bolted into the side of a mountain in the Italian Dolomites that was never intended for human use. It was constructed in the first world war to sling weapons and supplies hundreds of feet down the valley – and is still used to get the occasional goat off the m

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘My way to escape reality’: LensCulture street photography awards 2026 winners – in pictures

From pre-dawn Vietnam to cats scaling walls, the scenes in these prize-winning photographs show how the everyday can become mysterious, poetic and surreal Continue reading...

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘Why isn’t there hip-hop in 3/4 time?’: the groups reinventing a Polish folk dance for the modern age

The oberek is a traditional dance beloved of state folk ensembles – but a new generation of musicians is reconfiguring its music into wild new forms, merging folk steps with electronics and the sound of Chicago footworkIt’s 6pm on the first day of OFF festival in Katowice, and a crowd is gathering in front of one of the stages to watch newcomers Tercet Imperial. Sporting disco outfits of nylon jackets, tracksuits and Chicago Bulls caps, keyboardist Piotr Zabrodzki deploys resonant acid melodies,

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

TV tonight: this heartwrenching drama about Indigenous child welfare will make you seethe with anger

In this week’s double bill , a grown-up woman confronts her adoptive mother. Plus: the Spanish Armada tries to overthrow Elizabeth I. Here’s what to watch this evening9pm, Sky AtlanticA drama with minimal dialogue that can still stir such deep outrage is proof of its power. But there is a guttural cry in this week’s double bill that, somehow, makes you even angrier about the Sixties Scoop – the period when Canada removed Indigenous children from their families. Patti Bird is fighting to get her

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Foo Fighters Rock Hollywood Bowl Debut as Gustavo Dudamel Says Goodbye to L.A. Philharmonic

"What an honor to be invited to this hallowed ground," Dave Grohl gushed during the performance that featured accompaniment from the full orchestra.

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026

The Guardian Culture

The Librarians: A Very Serious Comedy! review – workplace meltdown borrows from classic sitcoms

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Well-tuned performances help along a familiar set of laughs as a rickety library gets a new manager and an inspectionThe sign says Plumstanton Library but this could be The Brittas Empire’s Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre, The Office’s Wernham Hogg or Torquay fleapit Fawlty Towers. Such is the instant familiarity of a failing workplace whose staff have a new manager and an inspector to contend with at once. It’s not only the books that are well worn in Matthew How

entertainment  Aug 25, 2026