“I pondered what two cultural titans may have talked about,” he explains of what drew him to the premise,”and what they found so intriguing and recognisable in each other”. He adds that the setting of ’00s London, which is evoked in montages of fashion shows, backstage parties and paparazzi pictures …

Steven Spielberg may be the master of every conceivable genre, but he is especially keen on films about alien visitors. They appeared in Firelight, the film he made as a teenager in 1964, and he has returned to the subject in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra …

From a starry new adaptation of Cape Fear to House of the Dragon’s return BBC News

John and Martha Mitchell were in California for fund-raising engagements at the time of the arrests. Realising she would easily connect the break-in to himself and the campaign (one of the arrested men, Creep staffer James McCord, had previously been assigned to her as a personal guard), John tried to …

There were hardly any American films at Cannes this year, but one of them was a clear festival highlight. Written and directed by its star, Jordan Firstman (I Love LA), Club Kid tells the riotous story of a party animal whose life is upended when he is presented with the …

“Full of pathos and humour,” according to The Times, The Palm House centres on a pair of spiky middle-aged colleagues, Laura Miller, a writer and the novel’s narrator, and Edmund Putnam, an older editor who is leaving his job at a highbrow literary magazine. The friends’ conversations in London pubs …

But while an actor from Ireland or the Antipodes would be acceptable, the consensus seems to be than an American Bond is a step too far, no matter how good his accent. Californian beefcake Austin Butler ruled himself out on that basis, calling the idea “sacrilegious”. It might seem arbitrary, …

Like all successful memes the original concept is easily understandable. Its theme of motherhood is universal, and the composition and colour of Whistler’s painting is simple enough for it to be copied easily. Because it lacks any narrative content, the image also has an open-ended quality, making resilient to endlessly …

Stan plays Mihai Gheorgiu, a bald, bespectacled and entirely un-Winter-Soldier-ish engineer who, like the actor himself, comes from Romania. Reinsve plays his Norwegian wife, Lisbet. Together with their five children, the couple has just moved from Romania to a village in Norway, with spectacular, snow-capped mountains all around them and …

It’s 35 years since Helen Sharman boarded a Soviet spacecraft heading into orbit BBC News

I won’t give away what’s revealed when the policeman tracks the monster into a forest, with the help of his charismatic sidekicks, an outlaw cousin (Zo In-sung) and a passionate, heavily armed deputy (Jung Ho-yeon from Squid Game). Nor will I comment on the bizarre cameo roles played by Michael …

When the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence was approaching, there was a notion that it was a perfect time to do an update and reimagining of the 100 Objects concept, but this time focusing on the history of the United States. As the BBC Studios …

Indeed, this might be a problem with the whole Star Wars universe, as it’s developed over the past decade – while the interconnected web of storylines might be a boon for committed Star Wars fans, it’s a burden for the casual viewer. The post-Empire narrative begun by The Mandalorian, and …

But Propeller One-Way Night Coach was apparently the first film to be selected for this year’s Cannes. Did Frémaux really love it at that much? Well, bear in mind that Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut, Eleanor the Great, premiered at Cannes last year, to very little acclaim. (Two other actors-turned-directors, Kristen …

From blockbusters to Cannes hits, Germany’s Sandra Hüller is on an amazing run BBC News

From five-toed sneakers to ‘Frankenshoes’, why is bizarre footwear so popular? BBC News

Kraftwerk’s entire catalogue is a kind of extraordinary circuit board, connecting to unlimited musical styles: hip-hop; electro; ambient; new wave; synth pop; industrial rock; Detroit techno; contemporary classical. Radio-Activity particularly seized the spirit of sound and vision. The original artwork was designed by long-time collaborator Emil Schult, while the music …

In 1917, Portuguese children said that they saw an apparition of the Virgin Mary BBC News

But the book has only one specific reference, to “the Reds”, hinting at the Cold War, and that vagueness has made it far more open to various interpretations over the decades. Carver says: “To begin with, people saw it in very clearly religious terms and made Simon, as I think …

Les Demoiselles d’Avignon has been both despised and loved – and reinterpreted BBC News