10 h. ago BBC Bargain Hunt star Charles Hanson clashes with neighbours over film and live music plan at his Grade II listed Georgian mansion

The auctioneer, 47, is seeking permission from the council to host the events on a field next to Bishton Hall between Stafford and Rugeley - but some residents are not in tune with the proposals.

Culture

12 h. ago ‘He should be known as a film music revolutionary’: revitalising the legacy of Czech composer Zdeněk Liška

The electroacoustic pioneer scored dozens of pictures – and communist propaganda. Too successful to be persecuted by the politburo but largely forgotten when he died, his music is being revived by a new archival seriesZdeněk Liška became one of the eastern bloc’s pioneers of electroacoustic music by accident. After breaking through making music for ads and animations, the revolutionary film-makers of the 1960s Czechoslovak new wave asked him to soundtrack their movies, which he took as his greatest inspirations. With the help of radio engineering enthusiasts at Czechoslovakia’s film powerhouse, Barrandov Studios, he could imitate the whoosh of a spaceship or birds chirping. He composed underwater electroacoustic symphonies and music to be played on typewriters. Despite his innovations, he famously proclaimed: “I only write music under the pictures.”Liška was as productive as he was innovative: from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, he would score eight feature films a year, as well ...

Culture

39 h. ago Can I Get a Witness? review – Sandra Oh leads the line in dystopian future fable of planned death

There’s real chemistry between Oh and Keira Jang as a mother and daughter living in a society where pastoral scenes hide a more brutal realityAnn Marie Fleming’s dystopian fable opens, not with gnarly destruction, but birdsong and lush greenery. The sensorial calm of rustling ferns and blushing bell flowers envelop the frame, while the Ink Spots’ recording of I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire plays softly in the background. This music cue recurs throughout the film, with each appearance more menacing than the last. Indeed, something wicked is lurking within this Edenic cocoon.Things start out innocently enough. We see Ellie (Sandra Oh), a radiant single mother, entrusting her daughter Kiah (Keira Jang) to the care of Daniel (Joel Oulette) as the pair of young adults head off on an important mission. It is quickly revealed, however, that the pastoral beauty of their surroundings comes with a price. In the aftermath of catastrophic environmental disasters, the human race has decid...

Events

58 h. ago David Gilmour reflects on historic Circus Maximus concert in new film: ‘It has a spiritual energy to it’

Revered guitarist performed his first tour in nearly a decade, which included a show against the dramatic ruins in Rome

Culture

5 d. ago Netflix star, 37, dies after 'falling from building' as tributes pour in

Yu Menglong, who appeared in the popular series Eternal Love, has died aged 37, his management studio confirmed. The actor's star also has an impressive film and music career

Events

9 d. ago Sacrifice review – starry satire pokes fun at celebrity before falling into a volcano

Toronto film festival: Chris Evans is excellent as a vain actor kidnapped by an eco-terrorism cult in an initially amusing comedy of performative politics that falls apartPoking fun at the absurdity of celebrity is of course never unwarranted but it also frequently comes across as a little fatiguing. The target is easier than ever and too often, so are the jokes, incisive satire proving hard to nail when the subjects have become so indistinguishably cartoonish. The same has become true of the wealthy in general and recent films that have tried to lampoon either have felt lazy, pointing and laughing at something that’s stopped being funny a long time ago.There’s an initial kick then to the new film from French music video provocateur turned film-maker Romain Gavras, who finds a more precise section of the VIP area to ridicule: performative environmentalists. As the world continues to burn, artists and those who use that word loosely, have attached themselves to the crisis whether it ...

Politics

1 week ago EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert review – Baz Luhrmann’s electric yet avoidant documentary

Toronto film festival: the bombastic director’s second film about the music legend shows the singer at his most mesmerizing but the picture remains incompleteBaz Luhrmann now has two Elvis movies under his bedazzled belt. The first is his epic biopic starring Austin Butler and now he has unleashed another called EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, remixing archival material with never-before-seen footage from the singer’s residency in Las Vegas. What’s remarkable about them both, apart from the director’s obvious affinity for his subject’s showmanship, is his refusal across so many hours of jiggling and swivelling to meaningfully hold Elvis to account.Luhrmann’s Oscar-nominated 2022 film acknowledged Elvis’s cultural appropriation: how his phenomenal success owed so much to the R&B, gospel and rock he grew up around and the racist institutions that put him on a pedestal while holding down the Black artists that birthed and gave that music its soul. The movie also painted Elvis as a ...

Culture

2 w. ago Where Britain's Got Talent egg thrower is now – from Disney role to Star Wars spin

Natalie Holt made headlines in 2013 for egging Simon Cowell live on ITV, but few know just how well the Royal Academy of Music alumni is doing for herself in film and television

Events

3 w. ago Glasgow to celebrate Sir Billy Connolly as part of city's 850th anniversary

Glasgow will celebrate The Big Yin with a weekend of film, music, comedy, and tours next month.

Politics

3 w. ago The Lord Of The Rings voted best classical film music for third year running

The soundtrack was voted the best movie music in a poll of Classic FM listeners and Radio Times readers.

Politics

3 w. ago KPop Demon Hunters: everyone is talking about it at school and on social media, but what is it?

The Netflix phenomenon has shot relative unknowns into stardom, and inspired kids and parents alike. Bertin Huynh explains it to Nick EvershedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOK, so what actually is KPop Demon Hunters? I’ve heard it mentioned by parents at school, by kids and randomly on social media but I am too lazy to Google it. Also, Google is terrible now.It’s been touted by Netflix as the platform’s most-watched original animated film ever. It tells the story of three hunters who use music’s power to move and connect hearts to create a barrier – the “golden Honmoon” – that will keep the forces of evil demons at bay. But probably just as importantly, it has everything: characters that grow, gorgeous animated visuals and a soundtrack I’ve been playing on repeat. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Composer John Williams says he ‘never liked film music very much’

Exclusive: The creator of some of cinema’s most memorable music says it pales in comparison to the great worksAs one of the greatest composers in film, John Williams has written some of the most memorable music in cinema for masterpieces such as Jaws, Jurassic Park and Star Wars.But despite winning five Oscars, the 93-year-old believes that, as an art form, film music pales in comparison to history’s great works. Continue reading...

Politics