7 h. ago Neil Young gifts Greenland free access to his music and withdraws it from Amazon over Trump

The singer-songwriter has donated access to his music archive to ‘ease the unwarranted stress and threats’ Greenlanders have experienced from the US governmentNeil Young has donated a year’s worth of access to his music and documentary archive to the people of Greenland after the territory’s future became the subject of a fraught dispute with the US.“I hope my music and music films will ease some of the unwarranted stress and threats you are experiencing from our unpopular and hopefully temporary government,” Young wrote in a statement on his website, Neil Young Archives, which offers comprehensive access to the 80-year-old songwriter’s recorded and live catalogues and other output. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago How the Melania Trump documentary became the most mysterious film of the year

Amazon spent $40m to acquire the new movie about the US First Lady, directed by Hollywood outcast Brett Ratner. Its release seems to only raise further questions

Politics

23 h. ago Melania documentary struggles in UK cinemas as Vue admits sales are ‘soft’

Only one ticket sold for premiere of film about US first lady at Vue’s flagship London branch as insiders question launch strategyAs film exhibitor strategies go, counter-programming is one of the most reliable. It worked for The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia!, released in the US on the same day in 2008, as well as for Dunkirk and Girls Trip in 2017. In 2023, Barbie and Oppenheimer leveraged the tactic to the tune of $2.5bn in combined box office takings.This week we could see another example as Amazon releases its authorised documentary about Melania Trump in more than 100 UK cinemas. There it will compete against an already-eclectic slate of releases including the Jason Statham action film Shelter, the ape horror Primate, Bradley Cooper’s comedy-drama Is This Thing On? and Richard Linklater’s Jean-Luc Godard fictionalisation Nouvelle Vague. Continue reading...

Culture

28 h. ago Black cakes and branded buckets: welcome to the White House premiere for Brett Ratner’s Melania movie

Monochrome catering was all the rage at the VIP screening on Saturday for Ratner’s officially sanctioned $75m feature-length documentary about the First Lady. Have the photos whetted your appetite? This week sees the release of Melania, Amazon’s official feature-length documentary about Melania Trump. Melania was directed by Brett Ratner, and has a reported $40m production budget. And, obviously, you’re probably not going to watch it.Of course you’re not. Coming days after the killing of Alex Pretti by a US Border Patrol agent, an authorised vanity project about the current wife of a globally unpopular political leader – and directed by a man accused of sexual assault by multiple women (which he denies), and whose production and release carried the smell of institutionalised media timidity – seems like just about the least appealing prospect ever. But, hey, any excuse for a party, right? Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Donald Trump's blunt two words show true feelings towards Melania

President Donald Trump has praised his wife's forthcoming Amazon documentary as 'incredible', ahead of its star-studded premiere at the Kennedy Center later this month

Politics

4 d. ago Trump says the US 'can do exactly what we want' in Greenland as part of new deal with NATO that grants America total and permanent access

Donald Trump has said the United States can do 'exactly what we want to do' in Greenland as part of the new deal with NATO.

Politics

5 d. ago Trump declares US gets 'TOTAL ACCESS' to Greenland as he reveals latest plan

Trump also promised that America's 'Golden Dome' missile defense system will be built in Greenland.

Politics

5 d. ago UK will not be joining Trump’s ‘board of peace’ for now, citing Putin’s invitation, Yvette Cooper says – UK politics live

‘We do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace,’ the foreign secretary saidGood morning. In his Guardian article published on Tuesday, Gordon Brown, the former PM, said:Years from now the history books will tell us that [Donald] Trump could have declared a quick victory in negotiations over Greenland – accepting the Danish offer of virtually unlimited military bases and access to Greenland’s 25 critical minerals.There’s a huge amount of work to do. We won’t be one of the signatories today, because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues, and we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine.And to be honest, that is also what we should be talking about. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Panicking over Greenland plays into Trump’s hands – it’s time for cool heads and stalling diplomacy | Simon Jenkins

European countries sending troops to the island is only raising the temperature and generating fear – exactly what the US president wantsIs Greenland Donald Trump’s 25th-amendment moment? Last time around, this was when the Washington “grownups” debated his capacity to be president, notably in the final fortnight of his presidency, after the January 6 Capitol insurrection. Under the constitution, a president can be replaced should the vice-president and a cabinet majority decide their leader is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”. The trouble today is that there are no grownups.The US president’s designs on Greenland are clearly mad. He claims Russia and China are scheming to seize the island and that Denmark should be forced urgently to transfer its sovereignty. Denmark had long allowed the US extended military access to Greenland, but Trump seems to want to own it. None of his staff has been able to say why.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist and the author...

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