The Guardian Culture

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls review – an anime-style rumble that’s rooting for you

PlayStation 5, PC; Arc System Works/Sony Interactive EntertainmentWith tremendous visuals and accessible controls, this superhero-themed fighter has the chops to inspire a new generation of champsArriving at the turn of the millennium and the twilight of the video arcade, Marvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes has long been a high-water mark for fighting games, with no heir apparent; its massive, colourful roster and frenetic, spectacular combos have lured newcomers and elite competitors alike. D

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Lee Daniels, Nadine Labaki, Marina Abramovic Win Liberatum Pioneer Awards (Exclusive)

The artists will be honored at a ceremony at the Venice Film Festival marking the 25th anniversary of Pablo Ganguli's Liberatum cultural diplomacy organization.

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Something Like Happiness by Tom Newlands review – a tender take on hard times, anger and autism

A twentysomething Scottish couple care for their autistic son in the bleak follow-up to Only Here, Only NowFrazer and Caitlin have been emotionally entwined since schooldays. Now in their mid-20s, and parents of a five-year-old, they live in a grotty flat in a Scottish new town – the faded posters read “Happiness, Here” – that has crumbled into decay. Jobs are scarce and unrewarding; little Jamie, who has autism, is silent; and the pressure is starting to tell.Frazer’s adored Caitlin is “beautif

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Chum review – daft shark attack movie with wedding guests running gamut of toothy undersea beast

Producer-star Alice Eve seems to be laughing along with the audience in this deeply silly high-concept thrillerTo be as clear as the crystalline waters in which the characters here frolic before their blood turns the ocean the colour of sangria: this is grade A tosh. It’s a deeply stupid high-concept feature wherein a bunch of bourgie wedding guests run afoul of an errant great white shark. The twist is (and it’s really not much of a surprise) that the true enemy is not really the shark, which i

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘Sometimes they credit the janitor. But not us’: what’s it like to be a child chaperone on a film set?

Safeguarding young people in films is a vital role, often remembered by their charges later in successful careers, but not always recognised. Some of the best share their tipsLinda Matthews has rarely had to stop a production in its tracks. Steve Stone’s 2017 psychological horror In Extremis was an exception. Set on an isolated country estate during an apocalyptic storm, it follows a family that have to confront the oncoming disaster and their own personal demons to survive. For Matthews, howeve

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Variety

Oscar Nominee Barkhad Abdi, Jim Deddes Lead Teddy Cherim’s ‘Maalstroom’; First-Look Image Released (EXCLUSIVE)

Jim Deddes, Tenzing Woing and Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi, known for his Oscar-nominated role in “Captain Phillips,” lead the cast of “Maalstroom,” which has just wrapped. Variety has been given the first-look image. The Dutch-Belgian co-production was written and directed by Teddy Cherim, and produced by Marten van Warmerdam. In “Maalstroom,” a struggling barge skipper […]

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Variety

Caleb Landry Jones on the Five-Year Battle to Make ‘Down the Arm of God,’ Confronting Prejudices Against Homelessness and How Luc Besson Saved the Film

Trying to find funding for “Down the Arm of God” proved to be a difficult five-year ordeal for lead star and co-writer Caleb Landry Jones — one that brought the “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “Get Out” actor to terms with the very real-world prejudices that his film grapples with. “Some people were worried […]

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Songs of Forgotten Trees review – sensitive, ambiguous drama of female intimacy in Mumbai

A sex worker and a call centre employee forge an ambiguous relationship in a film of strong feelingsIn a tiny crumbling Mumbai apartment two women move around each other, squeezing into the kitchen to cook, or past one another in the hallway. The cramped space hems them in – just as society limits their choices. That is surely the point first-time director Anuparna Roy is making in a gentle drama set mostly in the apartment about the closeness that develops between the two women.One of the roomm

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘If we exhibited all the Balkan jokes, we wouldn’t have opened’: a trip to Slovenia’s Bullshit Museum

In the heart of old Ljubljana, a mannequin with a bucket on its head welcomes visitors to a new and ambitious project – a museum focusing on the varied and sometimes antagonistic humour of the former Yugoslavia On the main promenade along the river that runs through Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital, tourists stop to photograph a mannequin with a bucket on its head. Dressed in a pistachio jacket and red leggings, the figure sits at a table in front of one of the houses in the historic Old Town, star

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

A History of the Novel in Britain by Philip Hensher review – a masterpiece of criticism

This joyous book takes readers on a literary adventure across 200 years of fiction, from Defoe to Zadie SmithIn his opening paragraph, Philip Hensher declares that a novel not only “tells a good story” but is a good story in itself. We could extend that neat formula to include this book, which is not only a masterful account of fiction since 1719, when Daniel Defoe set Robinson Crusoe down on his desert island, but is itself a wonderful read. There is nothing dreary here; no sense of being back

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Expecting to fly: Avery Norman’s moving images of girlhood – in pictures

The Texas-born photographer – and LensCulture critics’ choice award winner – talks us through her images exploring youth, identity and desire Continue reading...

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Variety

Hansal Mehta, Siddharth Bodke on ‘Scam 2010’ as First Look Unveiled for SonyLIV Series: ‘A Story About Ambition, Influence and Arrogance’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Siddharth Bodke’s first look as the lead of “Scam 2010” is out, with director Hansal Mehta and the actor both weighing in on the Birla Studios and Applause Entertainment production for SonyLIV. Based on the book “Sahara: the Untold Story” by Tamal Bandyopadhyay, the series will tell the story of businessman Subrata Roy of the Sahara India Pariwar that […]

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Makeup Oscar Record Holder Recalls Turning Jim Carrey Into the Grinch, Transforming Jacko for ‘Thriller’ and Playing King Kong

Rick Baker, who is being honored at the Locarno Film Festival, has created and seen a lot.

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

TV tonight: fascinating documentary explores the rise and fall of a Russian spy

Nothing was ever quite as it seemed as Anna Chapman charmed her way into the higher echelons of society. Plus: Tinie Tempah channels his inner Kevin McCloud. Here’s what to watch today9pm, Channel 4The tale of Anna Chapman (AKA Anya Kushchenko) is uncannily emblematic of recent relations between Russia and the west. Chapman was a shrewd spy who charmed her way into the higher echelons of society in London and New York. This fascinating two-part documentary explores her rise and fall, hearing fro

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Post your questions for John Hannah

Your mum’s favourite star of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sliding Doors, Spartacus and a new GoPro-filmed thriller is ready to answer your quetionsHe’s your mum’s favourite, after playing the jolly nice man who is jolly nice to Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors, and the jolly nice man who delivers the heartbreaking WH Auden eulogy for his partner in Four Weddings and a Funeral. But there is far more to John Hannah than a Scottish accent, magnificent eyebrows and an unrivalled ability to look soul

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Crunchyroll, Sony Nab Makoto Shinkai’s Untitled Next Film for Global Release

The deal covers every territory outside Asia, with the exception of India, for a director whose last three features grossed a combined $874 million worldwide.

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Jason Sudeikis Makes Cameo at Mumford & Sons Concert to Perform ‘Ted Lasso’ Theme Song

The crowd erupted in cheers when Sudeikis joined the band onstage in Madison Square Garden.

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘I turned down Gandhi because I’m terrified of snakes’: the amazing movie memories of Bruce Dern

Famed for playing loners, cranks and wayward angels, the Hollywood star is now a wolfish 90 – but he still jogs daily. As he takes his latest film to Edinburgh, we meet the man Hitchcock called ‘the golden calf’‘Can you take another story?” asks the veteran actor Bruce Dern towards the end of our talk, as though every tale is a drink and the landlord has called last orders. He doesn’t want to keep me and knows we’re running out of time. It’s just that one memory sparks another and these tales wo

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Mayflies review – Manchester’s Haçienda roars back to life in an Edinburgh warehouse

Rear Warehouse, Brown’s of Leith, EdinburghTwo men look back on their hedonistic past from a sobering present in Grid Iron’s adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s novelThe site-specific specialists at Edinburgh’s Grid Iron company could have gone for a number of locations to suit an adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s semi-autobiographical novel. Perhaps a squalid mid-80s flat to match the formative years of Jimmy Collins, the book’s narrator, and Tully Dawson, his lifelong best friend. Or a caravan park to

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026

Variety

WGA Slams David Ellison’s Plan to Pull Paramount From California: ‘This Type of Behavior Is Precisely Why the Merger Should Be Blocked’

The Writers Guild of America has fired back at Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison after he threatened to start pulling Paramount out of California on Oct. 1 if California AG Rob Bonta refused to come to the bargaining table and settle the antitrust suit to stop the studio’s acquisition of Warner Bros. “By threatening to […]

entertainment  Aug 12, 2026