Culture

Timothée Chalamet criticized for saying 'no one cares' about ballet, opera

Timothée Chalamet drew backlash after saying he doesn’t “want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.’” The remark came during a town hall with Matthew McConaughey produced by Variety and CNN that

Culture

Slay the Spire 2 likened to 'chicken noodle soup' before huge launch

Slay the Spire 2 launched in early access on Thursday and drew an enormous response on Steam, peaking at 179,456 concurrent players — the highest ever for any roguelike. Last year, a council of gaming luminaries named Slay the Spire 2 the most wanted upcoming game. Mega Crit co-founder Casey

Culture

Equilibrium remains Christian Bale's most important sci-fi film

Many first encounter Equilibrium as a knockoff of The Matrix, but that understates the film’s independence. Equilibrium was already in development when The Matrix hit theaters in 1999, and while director Kurt Wimmer may have borrowed ideas, the movie stands on its own even if it has long lived

Business

Netflix buys Ben Affleck's AI company

Netflix has acquired InterPositive, the AI company Ben Affleck founded in 2022. InterPositive says it aims to "blend artistry with technology to craft bold visual stories that connect," building worlds with "AI-powered visuals" while insisting "every frame matters, every idea counts." The streaming service

Culture

Domhnall Gleeson Narrates Oscar-Nominated Short Retirement Plan

Retirement Plan, an independent animated short directed by Irish filmmaker John Kelly, is among this year’s Academy Award nominees. Domhnall Gleeson narrates Ray, a middle-aged man who lists the things he will do once he retires as the film shows his successes and failures. Comprised of simple line animation

Sports

Manuel Neuer ruled out of key Champions League and Bundesliga matches

Bayern Munich captain Manuel Neuer will be sidelined after suffering a calf injury during Friday's 4-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach. He felt discomfort in the first half and was substituted at the interval, and an in-depth examination by the medical department showed a small muscle fiber tear in

World

Descendants urge UK museums to help find looted chimurenga skulls

Descendants of freedom fighters executed and beheaded by colonial British forces have asked the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Cambridge to help locate their ancestors' looted skulls. The descendants of the first chimurenga heroes, who led an uprising against British colonisers in the 1890s, long

Culture

Justin and Hailey Bieber pack on PDA in Beverly Hills after surprise pregnancy reveal

Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey Bieber, were seen packing on the PDA as they left South Beverly Grill in Beverly Hills after lunch. The pop star held the Rhode founder’s waist while they walked down the street; Justin wore jean shorts, slippers, a green hoodie and sunglasses, and

Culture

How many Resident Evil games can you name in three minutes?

Resident Evil Requiem is here and is proving to be an enormous smash hit for the venerable horror series. Our reviewer Elie gave it a 92%, calling it "a game that is built on the backs of everything that's come before it". To celebrate the launch,

Business

Revealed: the new affordable commuter hotspots in Great Britain

The commuter belt has been redrawn. During the pandemic many buyers left cities for space and the coast, but as offices called people back the pattern has reversed — and the market that returning commuters face is very different. The cost of living and mortgage repayments are higher, London remains unaffordable

Culture

15 years later, Rango director Gore Verbinski looks back

Beginning as an independent venture from Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy director Gore Verbinski, Rango was rejected by several studios before being made by Industrial Light and Magic as its first fully animated film. The dusty Western features wonky, wacky anthropomorphic animals and follows a pet chameleon who pretends to

Culture

Player blindfolded and beats Final Fantasy 9's skip rope challenge

A Final Fantasy fan tackled one of the series' most infamous mini-games and made it harder by playing blindfolded. The skip rope game, taken on early in Final Fantasy 9 as Vivi, rewards players for skipping 100 and 1,000 times without tripping. The achievement known as "Hail

Tech

The best Lenovo laptops of 2026: Expert tested and reviewed

Lenovo offers a vast selection of laptops for nearly every use case, which can make choosing the right model intimidating. I tested dozens of Lenovo machines over the past year and weighed design, performance, display and price. After much deliberation, the sixth-generation ThinkPad T14s emerged as the top pick. The

Tech

Marathon fans fret over Steam numbers as a Finals player urges calm

Bungie’s newly released sci-fi extraction shooter Marathon has sparked a persistent debate over how many players are active on Steam. Many in the game's subreddit worry the player count is too low and could spell trouble, and the conversation grew so heated that a player from the

Culture

Scott Grimes: Susan's Absence Throws Bennett Household Into Chaos

Peacock has returned with new episodes of Ted for the first time in two years. The R-rated spinoff follows Seth MacFarlane's wisecracking teddy bear and Max Burkholder's younger John Bennett, and Season 2 takes a sharp turn when Alanna Ubach's Susan Bennett goes to

AI

Anthropic’s Pentagon deal is a cautionary tale for startups chasing federal contracts

The Pentagon has designated Anthropic a supply-chain risk after the two sides failed to agree on how much control the military should have over the company’s AI models, including their use in autonomous weapons and mass domestic surveillance. Anthropic’s $200 million contract collapsed, and the Department of Defense

Culture

‘The Bride!’ Ends Warner Bros.’ Nine-Film Streak After Divisive Reviews

This weekend the domestic box office presents contrasting fortunes: Pixar’s Hoppers is projected to open around $40 million, the biggest debut for an original Pixar film since Coco in 2017, buoyed by near-unanimous critical praise. The studio’s recent originals have underperformed, contributing to layoffs, so Hoppers’ strong start

Sports

Ryan Gravenberch signs long-term Liverpool contract

Ryan Gravenberch has signed a new long-term contract at Anfield, committing the Netherlands international to Liverpool. The former Bayern Munich midfielder has become a pillar of the Reds' midfield since his arrival, and the deal, finalised on Saturday, rewards the 23-year-old for his strong form under fellow countryman Arne

Culture

Nicola Peltz dodges question on feud with Brooklyn Beckham's family

Nicola Peltz dodged a question about her husband Brooklyn Beckham’s family feud, saying she’s been focused on editing her next film, Prima. "I’ve been editing my next film [Prima] for the past two and a half weeks. So honestly, I’ve been in the editing room.

Culture

Tabletop gaming revived videogame RPGs

The RPG genre has come full circle. In the 1980s and 1990s, games like Ultima and Baldur's Gate translated tabletop mechanics and player agency from systems such as D&D into singleplayer adventures on desktop PCs. Now tabletop influences are returning to videogame RPGs. Live-play sessions and

Culture

Mr. Mime talks too much in Pokémon Pokopia

I’ve spent 50 hours building a life for myself in Pokémon Pokopia and, in that time, I’ve met over 200 monsters who all have their own distinct personalities. It’s always a joy to be greeted by a bubbly Squirtle pal or a mischievous Greedent neighbor. I cherish

Business

NetEase reportedly cuts funding for Nagoshi Studio

Toshihiro Nagoshi's new studio is reportedly facing closure after NetEase cut its investment in the fledgling developer. Nagoshi, known for his work on the Yakuza series and Like A Dragon, launched Nagoshi Studio in 2021 in partnership with NetEase, the entertainment conglomerate behind titles such as Marvel Rivals

Tech

Pokémon Pokopia Is Getting People to Finally Buy the Switch 2

The Switch 2 is about nine months old and has had a few hits like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, but it hadn’t produced a clear system seller. That may have changed as Pokémon Pokopia seems to be persuading people to upgrade. One account described a family

Culture

Jeremy Allen White's Rotta Mirrors Adonis Creed in The Mandalorian & Grogu

Jeremy Allen White joins The Mandalorian and Grogu as the voice of Rotta the Hutt. Rotta was introduced as a baby in 2008's Star Wars: The Clone Wars; in the new trailer the adult Rotta appears as a muscular slug gladiator, a far cry from the baby Ahsoka

Politics

ICE deports deaf six-year-old and family to Colombia

Lesly Rodriguez Gutierrez and her two sons were arrested while reporting to ICE’s Intensive Supervision Appearance Program in San Francisco and were deported to Colombia. A relative waiting outside was unable to hand the assistive devices needed by the six-year-old, who is deaf and uses a cochlear implant, the