77 m. ago ‘The Christophers’ Review: Steven Soderbergh’s Bohemian London Drama

‘The Christophers’ Review: Steven Soderbergh’s Bohemian London Drama  Deadline

Events

93 m. ago Boom times and total burnout: three days at Europe’s biggest pornography conference

The crowd that gathers in Amsterdam is exuberant. Pornography use is more common than ever, so earnings for many here are through the roof. But there is trouble afoot, from AI to chronic illness Brittany Andrews, a cheerful American porn star, cuts to the chase in her workshop on how to succeed in the adult industry.“Do you think about how much money you’re going to make before you make a clip? Do you know what stuff sells the best? Or do you just follow your creative spark?” she asks. She points to a young Ukrainian model in a gold sequined bra and denim shorts. “I’m starting with you, girlfriend!” Continue reading...

Events

4 h. ago Spinal Tap II: The End Continues review: the rocks gods of mockumentary turn it up to, er, 10½

Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest and co and back for one last blow-out with Elton John and Paul McCartney adding the superstar sparks

Politics

4 h. ago Spinal Tap II: The End Continues review – a startlingly unfunny sequel

It might be the point that this belated follow-up to the 1984 classic is irrelevant, half-baked and poorly timed – but where are the jokes?

Politics

6 h. ago The Fence review – Claire Denis stumbles with a grim and grating misfire

Toronto film festival: French director has made of one her least effective movies with this dull and clunkily adapted version of 1979 play with a miscast Matt Dillon at its centreAfter trips to space (2018’s High Life) and Nicaragua (2022’s Stars at Noon), the French director Claire Denis has returned to more familiar territory: post-colonial west Africa. Denis, who grew up in several Francophone African countries, has made several movies that inquire into the troubled heart of such places, and now reaches into that well again for her new film, The Fence. In some ways, the film is hallmark Denis, flinty and strange and sometimes inscrutable. But it is also a disappointment, a leaden film whose points Denis has made more convincingly elsewhere.The Fence is based on a 1979 play by the late Bernard Marie-Koltès called Black Battles with Dogs. It tells the story of three white people living in a protected construction zone in a rural part of an unnamed west African nation. A fatal accid...

Events

8 h. ago Secret Service launches review after missing gun in patron’s bag at Trump golf club while he was there

Secret Service has repeatedly suffered security breaches while protecting Donald Trump

Politics

11 h. ago The Guardian view on Israel’s attack in Doha: western passivity is allowing Netanyahu to cross every red line | Editorial

The attempt to assassinate Hamas negotiators in the capital of a US ally was the act of a rogue government uninterested in peace“Why does the PM insist on blowing up any deal that comes close?” despaired the mother of a hostage held in Gaza, following Israel’s airstrike in Qatar on Tuesday. For anyone who doubted Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to the forever war he unleashed after 7 October, the attempt to wipe out Hamas’s ceasefire negotiation team in Doha offered grim confirmation that peace – and the return of Israeli hostages – is low on Mr Netanyahu’s list of current priorities.Just how close Hamas’s leadership was to endorsing ceasefire proposals backed by Donald Trump – which were being discussed in the capital of an established US ally – is unclear. However, Mr Netanyahu’s strike has ensured that its negotiators will not agree to sit round a table again anytime soon. Israel swiftly stated that the attack was in response to the Hamas-claimed shooting in Jerusalem o...

Politics

13 h. ago World Cup 2026: how worried should the USMNT be as the tournament looms?

After a 2-0 loss to South Korea and a win by the same scoreline against Japan, our experts consider the state of the program overall Yes, any time a World Cup host country and a generation of prodigies lose a handful of consecutive games with their A-team, or what passes for one, alarm bells should be ringing. That’s not to say all is lost. While Mauricio Pochettino’s optimism rankled after a 2-0 loss to a South Korea side that had a disconcertingly easy time of it, there was much more to feel good about in the 2-0 win over Japan. Still, it was one game. Japan rested a lot of regulars. (Then again, the US were hardly at full strength.) LS Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago A look at Trump’s signature over the years after president denies signing Epstein birthday letter

President Trump has claimed a signature attached to a lewd letter in the latest tranche of Epstein files is not his

Politics

14 h. ago Went Up the Hill review – icy ghost story feels a little empty

Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps star as a pair of strangers tethered by a late mutual relative who begins to inhabit their bodies. It’s deadly serious – too seriousWent Up the Hill is one of those stiff, formally austere films that critics feel obliged to describe as “meditative” or “cerebral”. It’s a deeply pensive ghost story with a difference, following Jack (Dacre Montgomery), a man who learns about his mother, Elizabeth – who abandoned him as a child – via unconventional means. She speaks to him through her widowed wife, Jill (Vicky Krieps), after her death by suicide. And vice versa, she can also enter Jack and speak to Jill, creating a strange dynamic with three characters in two bodies.In a more conventional horror production, these “from the grave” conversations might be staged with wild eyes, demonic voices, spinning heads and splattering fluids. But this is a steely, deadly serious work, directed by Samuel Van Grinsven with a hand so steady it could thread a needle in a...

Politics

14 h. ago Beauty review: How does Kiko's £12 Lip Marker compare to Huda's viral Contour Stain?

Huda Beauty's Lip Contour Stain and Kiko Milano's Long Lasting Colour Lip Marker are two of the most talked-about lip colour products right now - but how do they compare?

Economics

14 h. ago Cronos: The New Dawn review – survival horror is dead on arrival

PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch 2; Bloober TeamAn intriguing setup sees an unnamed protagonist time-travel to discover the origins of a devastating outbreak, but a stingy inventory and one-sided battles lead to frustrationBloober Team, the Polish developer behind 2021’s hugely underrated psycho-thriller The Medium and last year’s excellent Silent Hill 2 remake, clearly understands that there is an established, almost comforting rhythm to survival horror games. It’s baffling, then, to see this latest game excel in so many areas while failing spectacularly on several of the genre’s most basic tenets.You play an unnamed traveller, the latest of many, sent to gather information about a devastating outbreak that transformed the citizens of a town called New Dawn into the sort of misshapen monsters that have become the staple of sci-fi-adjacent survival horror: contorted of limb, long of fang, and ample of slobber. As you explore the stark, often beautifully devastated aftermath of the outbreak, yo...

Events

14 h. ago Mia O'Brien's Dubai nightmare sparks fears for Brits as ultra

A criminal expert has issued a stark warning to Brits travelling to Dubai, following Mia O'Brien's conviction, and has offered some grim words of advice to the young student as she languishes behind the bars of a notorious prison

Politics

15 h. ago Dyson’s latest cordless vacuum handles long hair better than anything I’ve tried

Hairy households can wave goodbye to tangled attachments

Politics

15 h. ago Grimeborn's Lucia di Lammermoor at the Arcola Theatre review: appealingly unconventional

The grit of Grimeborn still feels right at home in Dalston

Politics

16 h. ago Putin denies plans to target Poland as Russian UAVs' don't go that far'

Polish air defences were deployed when 19 Russian kamikaze drones crossed over onto the NATO member's airspace in the early hours of Wednesday morning as jets were also scrambled

Politics

17 h. ago Outlander Blood of My Blood season two filming kicks off in Glasgow

Filming for season two has begun as Jamie and Claire's parent's love stories continue to unravel

Events

17 h. ago DWP cost of living payment update as people urged to check online for payments

The latest guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) explains when people can request a review of their cost of living payments and identify eligible claimants for payments

Economics

17 h. ago The Long Walk review – Stephen King death game dystopia is the grimmest mainstream movie for some time

Fifty young men compete in an endurance event, during which they are shot in the head at point-blank range if they slow down, in this horrific buddy story adaptationIf you like your dystopian scenarios lean and extremely mean, then look no further than this Stephen King adaptation, which is surely one of the grimmest mainstream movies we’ve had for some time. The blunt premise is custom built for death and suffering: 50 young American men are selected by lottery for an annual marathon march. If any walker slows to less than three miles per hour, or strays off the road, they are removed from the competition – by being shot in the head at point-blank range. The final survivor wins whatever they want, they’re promised.Why these men would volunteer for a competition with such unfavourable odds we’re left to wonder, as the broader authoritarian society in which the story is set – which looks a lot like 1960s America – is barely seen or explained. It’s clear who we’re rooting for though: ...

Sport

18 h. ago Spurs fans can be denied jobs if current staff are Arsenal supporters

Football fans can be legally denied jobs if current staff support a rival team, Employment Judge Daniel Wright ruled in Croydon.

Society