The Guardian Culture

‘I presumed kids’ books were written by people who were white and dead’: new children’s laureate Patrice Lawrence

The author of Orangeboy, Indigo Donut and Is That Your Mama? plans to use her two-year term to ensure children isolated from reading get involvedWhen Patrice Lawrence got the call asking her to become the UK’s next children’s laureate, her first response was disbelief. “I was in absolute shock,” she says, laughing. She is only just beginning to process what it means to join a lineage that includes Jacqueline Wilson, Quentin Blake, Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Malorie Blackman and, most recent

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

“The Slovak Woody Allen,” an Orwellian Bistro and ‘Cupid at the Kremlin Wall’: Inside Book-to-Screen at KVIFF

The Karlovy Vary film festival's Industry Days strand for the first time showcased original literary IPs from Central and Europe that could lend themselves to film or TV adaptations. Here is a look at the eight pitches.

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Variety

‘Wolf’ Stars Serkan Çayoğlu, Özge Gürel Drill Down on Why Turkish Series Have Taken Off: It’s as Simple as Emotional Investment

Rimini’s Teatro Amintore Galli was packed to the rafters for a conversation between Turkish actor Özge Gürel (“Wolf,” “Mr. Wrong”) and Serkan Çayoğlu (“Wolf,” “Cherry Season”) on Sunday at the Italian Global Series Festival. The second the on-stage conversation concluded, a wave of ardent fans rushed to greet them in person. The conversation was itself […]

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Variety

Jay-Z Adds London Date to ‘Jay-Z 30’ Concert Series

Jay-Z has added a London date to his string of “Jay-Z 30” shows, celebrating his three-decade career in music. The rapper will play at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sept. 4. The concert will mark his only U.K. stop of the year and joins previously announced performances in Paris on Sept. 10 and Los Angeles on […]

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘An absolute triumph’: first reactions to Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey are ectastic

Following the film’s premiere, critics are already calling the historical epic a best picture Oscar contender. Here’s what they had to sayThe Odyssey, Christopher Nolan’s three-hour version of Homer’s epic poem, world premiered in London on Monday night, and critics who saw the film there and at early screenings in the US have been sharing their takes on one of the year’s most hotly anticipated films.“Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is a colossal origin-myth story of postwar disillusion and a loss o

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘It affected my confidence in my pussy’: gen X punk legends rage at menopause festival

At Menopunkapalooza, riot grrrls sang and rallied around a topic still taboo today: women’s health during midlifeThe music festival Menopunkapalooza began with the ceremonial application of an estrogen patch to the backside of Built to Spill and Prism Bitch drummer Teresa Esguerra. It ended with riot grrrl pioneers Calamity Jane tearing the roof off Portland’s Crystal Ballroom as they performed for the first time in 35 years.What happened in between was 750 festivalgoers, a dozen pillars of the

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

BTS review – pure joy and astonishing versatility at K-pop titans’ first UK show in seven years

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, LondonFans and cynics are putty in the boyband’s hands as the lads lark their way through a catalogue of tracks that ricochet from hard rap to buttery popThe 2001 film Josie and the Pussycats is about America’s conflation of art and consumerism at the turn of the millennium. But it could just as easily be about the K-pop industrial complex, grinding out act after act to see what sticks (sometimes with a lack of care for the art or the artists). The film culminates with

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Variety

Lauren McQueen to Lead Michael J. Long’s British Psychological Drama ‘Crack’d’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Lauren McQueen, recently seen as Maid Marian in the MGM+/Lionsgate series “Robin Hood,” is set to lead upcoming British psychological drama “Crack’d.” A first-look for the film has been unveiled. Currently nearing picture lock, the feature is set and shot in Liverpool and sees McQueen play Chloe, a once promising young actress whose reality unravels […]

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

The Last One for the Road review – ageing-boozer tragicomedy offers drunken antics on the road to Venice

Two optimistic drinkers bumble around with a lovelorn student in tow in a depressing yet funny, faintly baffling tragicomedyFrancesco Sossai’s new film is not one that recognises the spoilsport clinical concept of “alcoholism”. Rather, it is the cynically amused and lenient witness to drunkenness, bleariness, sadness and intermittent nausea; to the tragicomic optimism of ageing boozers, ruined romantics with a superhuman ability to keep imbibing throughout the day, always wanting just one last d

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Variety

AI Music Start-Up Suno Hires Atlantic Records, YouTube Alums to Lead Marketing and Music Business Development (EXCLUSIVE)

Suno, the controversial AI music generation company eager to partner with the music industry, has tapped two executives with longstanding ties to the business in VP roles. The company has hired former Atlantic Records executive Grace James as vice president and head of artist marketing and editorial. In addition, Christian Bowne, former YouTube head of […]

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Variety

‘Made in India: A Titan Story’ Team Reunites for ‘The Tatas,’ Saga About Prominent Indian Business Family (EXCLUSIVE)

India’s T-Series Films and Almighty Motion Picture, the team behind hit Amazon MX Player series “Made in India: A Titan Story,” are reuniting for “The Tatas,” a multi-season drama adapting Girish Kuber’s book “The Tatas: How a Family Built a Business and a Nation.” The companies acquired the audio-visual rights to Kuber’s book in 2022 […]

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Hollywood Reporter

Sarajevo Film Festival Unveils New Award, the Prix Cineplexx, Spotlighting Necessity of Theatrical Releases

Voted for by the audience, the prize has a total value of 20,000 euros ($22,855) to support a marketing campaign for the winning film's theatrical distribution.

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘You never truly quit’: how RuneScape survived to 25 – and beyond

The massively multiplayer online role-playing game has grown into a virtual social space and part of daily life for thousands of playersIn a small stone chapel, on the edgelands of a medieval wilderness, two women are getting married. The attenders are draped in rainbow capes, glowing armour and top hats. A scantily clad, muscular man with angel wings officiates the ceremony. Over the heads of the two brides hover the words “I do” in bright yellow text. This is RuneScape, a massively multiplayer

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Rachel Aviv: ‘There’s a way of writing about motherhood that can be very sentimental and boring’

As one of today’s greatest essayists, the Pulitzer-nominated writer’s new book investigates why the mother-daughter relationship is the most complex bond of allInterviewing Rachel Aviv is a great way to source reading recommendations. The exacting essayist responds to my questions about her new book by asking if I’ve read her colleague Parul Sehgal on the trauma plot (of course), Janet Malcolm’s oeuvre (are you kidding?), or Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose (you know, I’ve been meaning to). And th

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

‘I’ve always used my voice online’: the rapid rise of photographer Misan Harriman – and what happened next

After a career as a City headhunter, Harriman took up photography eight years ago and became well known for his protest images. He was soon shooting the cover of Vogue and made chair of the Southbank Centre. How did he end up engulfed in controversy over his social media?It has been a hectic few weeks for Misan Harriman. When we meet, he has just returned from New York, where he hosted screenings of a new documentary about his work as an activist and photographer of protests, Shoot the People. W

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Life Support review – quietly devastating medics’ eye view of the war in Gaza

In the absence of foreign media, doctors are valuable witnesses to the Israel-Hamas conflict in Daniele Rugo’s documentaryDying children and grieving parents are a fact of her work says Canadian paediatric intensive care doctor Tanya Haj-Hassan. “But Gaza is that continuously,” she adds, wiping away a tear. Haj-Hassan is one of several doctors who are interviewed in Daniele Rugo’s documentary about their medical missions to Gaza since October 2023. Doctors tend to be careful with their words and

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

We Are Not Machines by Sarah O’Connor review – can dignity at work survive the tech revolution?

A Financial Times journalist ponders the future of labour in world increasingly dominated by AI and automationIt’s never been easy to land and keep a decent job. But it feels like it’s getting harder. In June, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell to a five-year low; headlines warn of a looming AI-employment shock. What might the future of work look like – and who or what will shape its terms? In her new book, Sarah O’Connor goes looking for answers in the modern collision of artificial int

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Madonna was always anti-nostalgia. But looking back on Confessions II has revitalised her music

The veteran pop diva has pressed rewind to move forward on her new record – and beneath the bangers fizz a host of emotionally charged memories• Confessions II review – nostalgic dancefloor trip sparks her most vital album in two decades“Madonna never reflects, she’s always moving forward,” Warner PR Liz Rosenberg told me in 2005, when after a frustrating few months laid up after a riding accident, Madonna re-emerged “like a bullet from a gun” with the glorious disco-driven Confessions on a Danc

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

Variety

‘Toy Story 5’ Holds No. 1 as ‘Minions & Monsters’ Chases at U.K. and Ireland Box Office

The U.K. and Ireland box office maintained a steady rhythm over the weekend as Disney’s “Toy Story 5” retained the number one spot for a third consecutive frame. The Pixar release collected £5.7 million ($7.6 million), pushing its three-week cumulative total to £37.9 million ($50.7 million). Universal secured second place with the wide-circuit launch of […]

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026

The Guardian Culture

Edinburgh festival 2026: 10 terrific shows we’ve already reviewed

From returning comedy award winner Sam Nicoresti to Flo & Joan’s cheeky One Man Musical, these are surefire standouts at the fringeEdinburgh festival 2026 reviewsIt may contain a brief moment of actual tree-hugging but this bracing solo show by Bryony Kimmings finds fresh and compelling perspectives on the horribly familiar plight of our planet. Season through season, she recounts a year of upheaval after moving to a regenerative permaculture homestead with her son, her partner and his daugh

entertainment  Jul 7, 2026