Category Archives: Culture

Bruce Willis’ dementia diagnosis: ‘language is going’, says actor’s wife

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Emma Heming Willis recalls the actor’s ‘alarming and scary’ early symptoms and says his family has ‘learned to adapt’ as his brain ‘is failing’ amid ‘really great health overall’

Bruce Willis’s brain is “failing him” and his “language is going”, his wife, Emma Heming Willis, has revealed, more than two years since the actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.

“Bruce is still very mobile. Bruce is in really great health overall, you know,” Heming Willis told Diane Sawyer in an ABC special on Tuesday. “It’s just his brain that is failing him. The language is going. We’ve learned to adapt and we have a way of communicating with him, which is just a different way.”

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‘If you survive this, you’ll survive anything’: new UK reality show that strands ‘newlyweds’ on honeymoon

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BBC’s Stranded on Honeymoon Island tests whether love can flourish ‘in toughest of conditions’, says Davina McCall

The new BBC series Stranded on Honeymoon Island is a “social experiment” about the reality of marriage that will teach audiences about “moving forward with your life”, its host, Davina McCall, has said.

Made by the producers of Married at First Sight UK, the show features 12 singles looking for lifelong love who are matched with someone on a speed date and “married”. They are then stranded on a tropical island dressed only in their wedding outfit for a three-week honeymoon without phones, luxuries, family or friends.

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Lil Nas X charged with four felonies after allegedly attacking police in Los Angeles

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Police say musician charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down an LA street last week

Lil Nas X was charged on Monday with four felonies after police say he charged at them when they confronted him for walking naked down a Los Angeles street last week.

Prosecutors charged the musician, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, with three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one felony count of resisting an executive officer, the district attorney’s office said. He was initially booked on suspicion of misdemeanor obstructing an officer on Friday.

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Woody Allen rebuts Ukrainian condemnation over Moscow film festival appearance

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The director said he did not ‘feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help’ after Ukraine calls the film-maker’s participation a ‘disgrace’

Woody Allen has denied claims that his participation in a Moscow film festival was “whitewashing” Russian atrocities, after condemnation of his appearance by Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs.

Allen said in a statement to the Guardian: “When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling. But, whatever politicians have done, I don’t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help.”

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Kneecap cancel all US tour dates over clash with court hearing in London

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Band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh faces terrorism charge in UK for alleged display of Hezbollah flag mid-performance

The Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap have cancelled their scheduled US tour dates in October, citing the proximity to a court hearing in London involving band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh’s alleged mid-performance display of a Hezbollah flag.

Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was charged with a terrorism offence in the UK in May after being accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah during a concert in London last November.

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Jerry Adler, actor in The Sopranos and The Good Wife, dies aged 96

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Adler was involved behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before finding acting success in his 60s

Jerry Adler, who spent decades behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before pivoting to acting in his 60s, has died aged 96.

Adler died on Saturday, according to a brief family announcement confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. Adler “passed peacefully in his sleep”, Paradigm Talent Agency’s Sarah Shulman said on behalf of his family. No immediate cause was given.

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Composer John Williams says he ‘never liked film music very much’

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Exclusive: The creator of some of cinema’s most memorable music says it pales in comparison to the great works

As 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.

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Notting Hill carnival came ‘very close’ to not happening, says chair in funding appeal

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Ian Comfort calls for government to recognise cultural importance of event and guarantee its sustainable future

About 2 million people are expected to take to the streets this weekend at the annual Notting Hill carnival for its mix of music, food and Caribbean culture, but for the man who runs it, there is a sense of relief to see it taking place at all.

The chair of Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, Ian Comfort, told the Guardian that the event needed to secure a sustainable future after a year of funding rows, public disagreements with the Met police, and negative press after violence last year.

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Noel Clarke loses libel case against Guardian over sexual misconduct investigation

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High court rejects actor’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy

The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by the actor Noel Clarke over an investigation by the newspaper in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women.

In a high court judgment handed down on Friday, Mrs Justice Steyn rejected Clarke’s claim. He had said the allegations set out in the Guardian’s investigation were false and that he had been the victim of an unlawful conspiracy.

There were strong grounds to believe that over 15 years, he used his power to prey on and harass female colleagues.

He sometimes bullied female colleagues.

He engaged in unwanted sexual contact, kissing, touching or groping.

He engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour and comments.

He was involved in professional misconduct.

He took and shared explicit pictures and videos without consent, including secretly filming a young actor’s naked audition.

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Lil Nas X arrested and hospitalized after altercation with police – reports

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The 26-year-old rapper and singer was seen walking down the street in his underwear Thursday morning in LA

Lil Nas X has been arrested after an altercation with police, according to reports.

Officials confirmed to NBC that the 26-year-old rapper and singer was booked on suspicion of misdemeanour battery after he was confronted while walking down the street in his underwear.

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Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown adopts ‘sweet baby girl’

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Netflix star and model husband Jake Bongiovi, 21 and 23, say they are ‘beyond excited’ to become parents

The Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown and her husband, Jake Bongiovi, have announced they have become parents after adopting a “sweet baby girl”.

Brown, 21, and Bongiovi, 23, said in a statement on social media that they were “beyond excited” to enter the next chapter of their lives.

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Denmark to abolish VAT on books in effort to get more people reading

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Culture minister says government will propose ending the 25% rate, the highest in the world, in its budget bill

Denmark is to stop charging VAT on books in an attempt to get more people reading.

At 25%, the country’s tax rate on books is the highest in the world, a policy the government believes is contributing to a growing “reading crisis”.

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Australian novel attracts controversy over fictionalised depiction of gay codebreaker Alan Turing

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Nick Croydon, the CEO of QBD Books, has faced criticism for his thriller The Turing Protocol

A novel written by a prominent book industry figure in which persecuted gay man Alan Turing has sex with a woman and fathers a child has been criticised online for its portrayal of the codebreaker.

The Turing Protocol was released in July and was written by Nick Croydon, the CEO of QBD Books, the largest Australian-owned bookshop chain, where the book is being heavily promoted.

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Noel Gallagher opens up about his brother Liam on Oasis reunion tour: ‘He’s been amazing’

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Noel says his long-estranged brother is ‘smashing it’ during the band’s stadium shows and that he’s ‘proud’ of him

Noel Gallagher has opened up about his feelings towards his long-estranged brother Liam during Oasis’ sold-out global reunion tour for the first time, saying: “He’s been amazing … it’s great being back in the band with Liam.”

Oasis announced they would be reuniting in August 2024, 15 years after their split in 2009 when Noel quit the band after a backstage brawl at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris, saying he “simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer”.

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The ‘big church move’: Swedish town begins to roll historic building 5km

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Kiruna Kyrka’s slow journey is part of effort to stop town being swallowed by Europe’s biggest underground mine

After eight years of planning, a cost of more than 500m kronor (£39m) and an early morning blessing, a church in northern Sweden began a slow-motion 5km journey on Tuesday to make way for the expansion of Europe’s biggest underground mine.

The 672-tonne Kiruna Kyrka, a Swedish Lutheran church inaugurated in 1912, is to be slowly rolled to its new home over two days, at a pace of half-a-kilometre an hour.

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Terence Stamp: the mesmerisingly seductive dark prince of British cinema

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Stamp had charisma and star power like no other. Fierce and beautiful in his youth, his screen presence evolved into something more elegant and enduring as the swinging 60s faded from view

“A stranger arrives, makes love to everyone and then leaves,” said Pier Paolo Pasolini to Terence Stamp, outlining the plot of his 1968 classic Theorem. “That’s your part.” Stamp exclaimed: “I can play that.” It was the role that the man was born to play and would play, with subtle variations, throughout his career.

From his first appearance as the eerily beautiful sailor in 1962’s Billy Budd through to his last manifestation as “the silver-haired gentleman” in Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, Stamp remained a brilliantly, mesmerisingly unknowable presence. He was the seductive dark prince of British cinema, an actor who carried an air of elegant mystery. “As a boy I always believed I could make myself invisible,” he once said. He showed up and made magic, but he never stuck around for as long as we wanted.

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Downton Abbey costumes and memorabilia for sale in charity auction

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Lady Mary Crawley’s wedding dress and the Granthams’ family car, a 1925 Sunbeam Saloon, are among the lots

Downton Abbey fans will be able to secure a souvenir from the period drama as costumes worn by the characters, furniture used to adorn the stately home, and even the family car used in the popular ITV series and subsequent films are to be sold at auction for charity.

A dress worn by the late Dame Maggie Smith, who starred as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, is one of the star lots.

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BBC asks police to investigate new Strictly allegations, reports say

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Move comes after claims earlier this month that two stars of the TV dance show used cocaine

The BBC has asked the police to investigate Strictly Come Dancing amid fresh allegations, according to reports, after claims two of its stars used cocaine.

The Sun on Sunday reported that the corporation has alerted the Metropolitan police to new allegations about the dance competition show, the details of which it does not specify.

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ESPN drops Spike Lee’s docuseries on Colin Kaepernick, network and filmmaker say

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Multi-part series on ex-NFL player who protested racial injustice will not continue over ‘creative differences’

Director Spike Lee’s multi-part documentary series for ESPN Films about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who sparked a national debate when he protested racial injustice nearly a decade ago, will not be released, the filmmaker and ESPN said.

“ESPN, Colin Kaepernick and Spike Lee have collectively decided to no longer proceed with this project as a result of certain creative differences,” ESPN said in a statement to Reuters on Saturday. “Despite not reaching finality, we appreciate all the hard work and collaboration that went into this film.”

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‘It’s nearly come full circle’: Charlestown proud of Gallagher connection as Oasis come to Ireland

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Liam and Noel used to be taken for summer holidays with relatives in Mayo and kept returning after finding fame

Emigration ripped the heart out of Charlestown: generations of young people took the boat to England and left behind derelict homes and shuttered shops, a hollowing chronicled in a landmark 1968 book, The Death of an Irish Town.

Some returned to this corner of County Mayo for summer holidays – with children who were growing up with English accents and city ways – before vanishing back across the Irish Sea and leaving Charlestown to its decay.

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