The Guardian Culture

Billy Budd review – Clayton’s Vere is the devastating heart of vivid staging

Glyndebourne, SussexThis revival of Michael Grandage’s atmospheric production of Britten’s opera has numerous fine performances: Thomas Mole and Sam Carl are persuasive as Billy and Claggart, and Allan Clayton’s luminous Vere is a standoutBrutalist grey, its deck gently curved, HMS Indomitable looms over Michael Grandage’s production of Britten’s Billy Budd. Half-skeleton, half-cage, the ship is relentlessly claustrophobic, its hard edges softened only by coils of rope, hammocks and Paule Consta

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Variety

The ‘Off Campus’ Effect: Streamers Smitten With Scripted Romance Over Dating Shows, Research Shows

Streaming platforms are smitten with romance – predominantly the scripted kind. New research from Ampere Analysis shows that 83% of first-run romance commissions in the first half of 2026 were scripted. Of those, 40% were adapted from books, which has been the case since 2025 (since 2023 the number of book adaptations has increased by […]

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

How Celyn Jones Lit Up North Wales With the Fabulously Mad ‘Madfabulous’: “It’s Not a Moment, It’s a Movement”

The director talks bringing the flamboyant, tragic Henry Paget — the 5th Marquess of Anglesey — back to life in 'Madfabulous,' a Welsh Pride Month release that's packing cinemas in Bangor.

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Penelope Keith, British Sitcom Star Best Known for ‘The Good Life,’ Dies at 86

The show, which went by 'Good Neighbors' in the U.S., ran from 1975 to 1978 and won Keith a BAFTA.

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Penelope Keith – a life in pictures

The actor, best known for her posh comic roles as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life and Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born, has died at the age of 86. We celebrate a British greatPenelope Keith, star of The Good Life and To the Manor Born, dies aged 86 Continue reading...

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Tinto Brass Soft-Core Classic ‘Deadly Sweet’ to Pre-Open Venice Film Fest

Venice will tease its 2026 lineup with a restored version of Brass' 1967 erotic thriller, screening a day before the official festival opener.

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘Nothing less than extraordinary’ – how The Bear pulled off TV’s most almighty comeback

The final season of the hit chef show is the most entertaining and purely enjoyable since the first – plus everyone ended up getting what they wanted! What an incredible rollercoasterNo show has ever needed to end like The Bear. The series initially made its name as a vehicle of pure forward momentum, the story of a burned-out high-end chef drafted in to fix up and save his dead brother’s sandwich restaurant. Through eight breathless episodes we saw Carmy get repeatedly pummelled by the stresses

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Rolf Harris: Primetime Predator review – a deeply chilling look at a celebrity abuser

From his child safety campaign ‘Kids can say no’ to an awful appearance on Jim’ll Fix It, some of the things the TV star was allowed to do beggar belief. In this harrowing film, women who were assaulted by him as girls speak outI mean this quite seriously; it is time to start commissioning programmes about good men. We need a steady, regular inoculation against despair. If deep dives into the lives of male celebrities past and present can yield enough unblemished records for a series, I’ll be su

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life and To the Manor Born, dies aged 86

A familiar face on TV and the stage, Keith was made a dame in 2014 for her services to the arts and charitiesPenelope Keith, best known for starring in sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born, has died aged 86.A statement on behalf of her family said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that Dame Penelope Keith died peacefully whilst living with cancer at her home in Surrey where she had lived for more than 50 years. Continue reading...

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Ubuntu Ensemble review – charged musical snapshots of South Africa’s struggle

Wigmore Hall, LondonMarking the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, a stirring programme culminated with Leon Bosch’s double bass sounding a fragile note of hopeOn 16 June, 1976, more than 10,000 students from Soweto took to the streets in a peaceful protest against the apartheid regime. Police answered with shots. It was a spark that kindled into months of conflict, a turning-point in South African history. Freedom Songs – a day of concerts at the Wigmore Hall – marked the uprising’s 50th

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Variety

Comcast to Split NBCUniversal and Cable Operations Into Two Companies

Comcast, just months after shedding most of its cable TV business into Versant Media, is cleaving itself into two separate companies: one housing its namesake cable and tech operations, and the other comprising NBCUniversal media biz. Under the proposed separation, announced Monday, Comcast intends to make a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky. After the […]

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Comcast to Split Into Two Companies via Spin-Off of NBCUniversal, Including Sky

Mike Cavanagh will be the CEO of NBCUniversal and Comcast’s former CFO Michael Angelakis will become the CEO of Comcast in the separation of its media and technology businesses.

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Porn star turned late-night TV icon Robin Byrd: ‘Sex is a form of magic’

She was a sex-positive star in the 80s and 90s who became an ‘accidental activist’ and her life is explored in a HBO documentary produced by Sarah Jessica ParkerRobin Byrd has no doubt about where the archive of her life should end up. “I think it should be in the Smithsonian,” she said. “I like to think big.”But is such thinking “big” or just plain daft? After all, we’re talking about Robin Byrd, the self-described “orgy queen” who’s best known for promoting the work of strippers and porn stars

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Black Box: Flight 298 review – there’s a beastie in the hold in airborne conspiracy horror

Low-budget chiller leans heavily on tinfoil-hat paranoia to build its reasonably effective suspenseBuckle up for a ride that’s turbulent with highly uneven quality but gets to its destination with a certain style. Black Box: Flight 298 is a horror-sci-fi-thriller that mostly takes place on a flight supposedly bound from New Orleans to Seattle, although it’s quite obvious this was filmed in a studio equipped with plenty of green screens to accommodate some cheesy visual effects in the back half.H

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

David Letterman to Make Just For Laughs Montreal Debut With Will Arnett (Exclusive)

The former ‘Late Night’ and ‘Late Show’ host will interview the ‘Is This Thing On?’ star as he brings his ‘An Evening With David Letterman’ series to the marquee comedy festival.

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Variety

BBC Comes to Jesus: Broadcaster Sets ‘Landmark’ Historical Docuseries on Christ

The BBC is experiencing a “come to Jesus” moment. That’s not a reference to any self-reflection the corporation may have undergone in light of the many scandals it has faced over the past decade, but a new historical docuseries it has commissioned about the life of Jesus Christ. Set to land on the BBC’s broadcast […]

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Variety

Newly Restored ‘Deadly Sweet’ by Italian Softcore Erotic Movies Director Tinto Brass Set to Pre-Open Venice Film Festival

The upcoming Venice Film Festival has set the world premiere of the restored version of 1967 cult movie “Deadly Sweet,” directed by Italian softcore erotic movies maestro Tinto Brass, as its pre-opening event. The new digital 4k version of “Deadly Sweet,” which stars Jean-Louis Trintignant and Sweden’s Ewa Aulin, has been restored by Rome’s Centro […]

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Variety

‘Spirited Away’ Stage Production Sets World Tour, Including London Return – Global Bulletin

GHIBLI GOES GLOBAL Toho Co., Ltd. has unveiled a 2026–2028 world tour of its stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-winning animated feature “Spirited Away,” including a return engagement at London’s Coliseum in spring 2028. The production will open at the National Theater, Taipei in December, move through a national Japan tour beginning in Tokyo from […]

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘Genuinely changed my life’: why Groundhog Day is my feelgood movie

The latest in our series of writers paying tribute to their favourite comfort films is a pick for a comedy that demands countless rewatchingThere’s a moment in Groundhog Day that genuinely changed my life: the bit where, noticing that Andie MacDowell has walked into the party that he’s rocking with an up-tempo boogie-woogie solo, weatherman Phil Connors cuts the band with a gesture, takes off his shades, and pivots straight into a soulful rendition of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagani

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026

Variety

Christopher Eccleston, Mel Giedroyc, Steve Pemberton Among New Stars Added to ‘White Rabbit Red Rabbit’ London West End Run

Eight new performers have joined the West End run of “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” at London’s Duchess Theatre, with Christopher Eccleston, Mel Giedroyc, Steve Pemberton, Munya Chawawa, Nish Kumar, Adam Buxton, John Bradley and Ginger Johnson added to the Monday-evening residency running until Nov. 2. Chawawa takes the stage on Aug. 3; Johnson on Aug. […]

entertainment  Jun 29, 2026