Sundance film festival: the Oscar winner can’t find the right tone for this grating comedy which also wastes Jenna Ortega, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Catherine Zeta-Jones There’s a mildly amusing on-paper joke at the centre of manic art world comedy The Gallerist: what if someone was accidentally impaled on an exhibit but rather than report it, the corpse became part of the artwork? Sure, poking fun at the absurdity of modern art might seem a little dated and definitely a little too easy but maybe with a packed cast including Oscar winners Natalie Portman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, there could be a fun, fast-paced caper here? The answer is a depressing nope, the film a pained and grating misfire played like Weekend at Bernie’s for MoMA members that’s not funny or smart enough to work as farce or satire. The Gallerist is screening at the Sundance film festival and is seeking distribution Continue reading...

Zubimendi mistake led to Mbeumo equaliser ‘We were dominant … after we gave them the goal’ Mikel Arteta blamed individual errors for Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat against Manchester United, on a weekend when their lead in the Premier League title race was cut to four points. Arsenal were 1-0 up when the game was transformed by Martín Zubimendi’s mis‑hit back-pass, which presented Bryan Mbeumo with an equaliser. United scored with outstanding strikes from distance by Patrick Dorgu and Matheus Cunha in the second half to stun the leaders. Continue reading...

Snow, sleet and perilously cold temperatures sweep eastern two-thirds of country as thousands of flights grounded Snowstorms strike the US: in pictures At least seven people are dead as the result of a monster winter storm in the US that has brought heavy snowfall and ice from the Gulf coast to the north-east, leaving more than one million in the south without power and cancelling more than 10,000 flights. The Louisiana department of health confirmed two deaths related to the winter storm in Caddo parish. According to the agency, two men of unknown ages died of hypothermia. Continue reading...

Can a social media-famous trainspotter become an astronaut? Erm, no. And it’s far from the best use of this hugely genuine, witty personality Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois is a tricksy little beast. Unlike, it must be made quite clear, its presenter himself. Bourgeois, for those who have not had the absolute pleasure, is a 25-year-old engineering graduate who came to prominence on social media by making TikTok videos about his great passion: trains. The unforced joy on his face when a locomotive goes by (any locomotive, though his favourite classes are the 37 and 158 and his least favourite the 170), and his ease with his geekiness, quickly made him a star. His other love, we are told, is space. The animating feature of this overgenerously apportioned documentary (two parts of 45 minutes each) is the question: can a trainspotter become an astronaut? Continue reading...

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Winner earns Super Bowl LX spot | Message Graham Updates from 3pm ET/8pm GMT kickoff With about 40 minutes to kickoff we can have a short history lesson. The Broncos and Patriots have met twice before in the AFC Championship game. In 2016 when Denver’s defense shut Tom Brady down to sneak a 20-18 win. The D then rose up again to batter Cam Newton and the Panthers for a 24-10 win in Super Bowl 50. Two years before the Broncos prevailed again behind a monster 400 yard passing day from Payton Manning before losing heavily to the Packers in the big one. Will history repeat itself? It certainly might need to, regarding Denver’s defense dominating, as backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham starts in place of the injured Bo Nix, who broke his ankle in the victory last week over Buffalo. The 29-year-old replacement has not started an NFL game in two years and in four career starts is 1-3. So a lack of any significant game experience will have New England’s defense confident of ruining his big day. What Stidham has gained since his last start in 2023 though is time working with a brilliant head coach in Sean Payton. The offensive guru is sure to have been working triple overtime to cook up a simplified playbook. Payton will be prioritising protecting Stidham from costly mistakes while making sure there are still a few surprises baked in that utilise the QB’s impressive athletic ability when scrambling out of the pocket. He can throw a bit too ... Continue reading...

Three second-half goals put Barça back on top Juventus beat Napoli to leave title challenge in tatters Barcelona capitalised on two defensive mistakes by bottom-of-the-table Real Oviedo to seal a 3-0 victory at a rain-drenched Camp Nou on Sunday, regaining top spot in La Liga. Goals from Dani Olmo, Raphinha, and an acrobatic Lamine Yamal strike powered the Catalans to 52 points, one ahead of Real Madrid, while Atlético Madrid trail in third on 44. Barça struggled to break the deadlock against a spirited Oviedo until they finally found the breakthrough in the 52nd minute, with Olmo striking home following a defensive lapse. Five minutes later, Oviedo’s struggles deepened, with defender David Costas under-hitting a back pass, which Raphinha intercepted before calmly chipping the onrushing keeper Aaron Escandell to double Barcelona’s lead. Continue reading...

Sundance film festival: Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton are exceptional in a smart and funny winner about sex, marriage and partner-swapping Not enough people managed to see last year’s self-billed “unromantic comedy” Splitsville, a shame for how tremendously entertaining it was and for what it represents at this given moment. A seriously well-directed, genuinely funny, relatably messy look at two couples dealing with the maelstrom of non-monogamy, it was the kind of smart, well-crafted film for adults we are constantly complaining we don’t get enough of. I had a similar thrill watching The Invite at its sold-out Sundance premiere on Saturday night. Like that film, it is also about two adult couples negotiating anxieties surrounding sex with other people – and also like that film, it’s really, consistently funny and stylishly directed, made with the kind of care and rigidity that comedies just aren’t afforded now. It doesn’t have the same absurdist slapstick streak – it’s much more of this world – but it made me feel equally energised, a reminder that maybe that mid-sized movie gap is finally being filled. I just hope more people see this one. Continue reading...

The Emirates Stadium was a sea of anxiety. The Arsenal fans are acutely aware that a first Premier League title since 2004 is within their grasp and when it is so tantalising, it will be fraught. Especially when matches like this become a grind. When the attacking patterns do not work. When the team looks vulnerable. Arsenal could feel their nearest rivals, Manchester City and Aston Villa, on their backs. Both had both won to cut their lead at the top to four points. Mikel Arteta’s team had drawn their previous two league matches 0-0 – against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. They were desperate for something here and when Patrick Dorgu put Manchester United 2-1 up with a scorching drive early in the second half, they would have taken anything. They would end with nothing – apart from a thumping headache. Continue reading...

PM says recent agreement just cuts tariffs on a few sectors, as Trump threatens 100% tariffs on Canadian imports Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, said on Sunday his country had no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China, responding to Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods imported from Canada if the US’s northern neighbour went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing. Carney said his recent agreement with China merely cut tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with them. Continue reading...

A contender must land a convincing blow to dethrone a champion. Hearts swung at Celtic throughout a breathless encounter at Tynecastle but were unable to take a major step towards a first league title since 1960, as Martin O’Neill’s side halted their winning run against the Old Firm this season. Celtic led twice and were pegged back twice as the league leaders, shorn of several leaders through injury, benefited from their vulnerability at set pieces. The biggest winners of the day were Rangers, who moved to within four points of Hearts with their defeat of Dundee. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Almost half of GPs have seen children up to the age of seven who have obesity, research finds Almost a quarter of GPs are seeing children aged four or under who are obese, according to a survey of UK family doctors. The “alarming” research also found that almost half (49%) of GPs have seen boys and girls up to the age of seven who have obesity, including a handful younger than a year old. Almost one in four (23%) said they had seen children aged zero to four in which obesity was a clinical concern. Among the doctors, 81% have seen obesity in those between their first 12 months and the age of 11. Four in five (80%) find it somewhat or very challenging to talk to the parents of an obese child under the age of 16 about their weight and health, with only 10% say that is easy to do. Nearly two thirds (65%) find it hard to talk to obese young people themselves, with just 20% saying that is easy. Continue reading...

Sundance film festival: an underground scene of creatives in Tehran is threatened in this lived-in hangout movie that bravely chooses optimism over negativity It’s a summer evening in Tehran, and the streets of the Iranian capital are lively. A young creative couple, an actor and a dancer, coolly take in a performance from a band of street musicians. “This country is so full of artists,” the man, Ali (Farzad Karen), says to Hanna (Hana Mana). She replies warily: “Let’s see if they stay like this.” The remark is delivered casually in Maryam Ataei and Hossein Keshavarz’s stirring new film The Friend’s House Is Here, sprinkled in between airy banter and snippets of various rehearsals, but it’s no trivial matter. Under Iran’s theocratic regime, creative expression is a risky and unstable endeavor. The government tightly polices the contents of all art – visual works, theater, music, film, literature – for strict adherence to state ideology. Failure to receive a permit could result in fines, imprisonment or banishment. The colorful characters amiably populating this loose, organic film, played by a collective of real-life underground artists and improv actors, are liable to be harassed, fined, arrested or disappeared at any moment. Continue reading...

Former Tory chancellor says Reform leader’s past remarks were wrong and the lack of a formal apology ‘disturbs me’ The former Tory cabinet member Sajid Javid has called on Nigel Farage to apologise for alleged racist comments as a schoolboy. It comes after a Guardian investigation found more than 30 people who went to Dulwich College with the Reform UK leader have accused him of racist and antisemitic bullying. Continue reading...

Our health service must be safe for all those who work in it, writes Kate Jarman, while Prof Vivien Lees says NHS do not feel safe reporting sexual misconduct It is right to draw attention to the physical, verbal, racial and sexual violence and abuse experienced by ever increasing numbers of NHS staff in the course of their work (Editorial, 19 January). These threats to NHS staff safety are experienced both physically – in wards, departments and GP practices across the country – and virtually, as staff are filmed and photographed without their consent, and humiliated or abused on social media. The data on the sharp and continuing increase in violence and abuse rightly creates headlines. Beneath it are complex lives and rapid shifts in societal and behavioural norms. This complexity means that there is no neat solution to the growing problem of violence and abuse towards NHS staff. Continue reading...

To ensure that we can feed the nation in the event of war, trade disagreements or world shortages, we must make the most of our land to increase self-sufficiency, writes Richard Harvey Your case for the accumulation of public food reserves in the UK, to ensure that we can feed the nation in the event of war, trade disagreements or world shortages, is well made (Editorial, 20 January). We are rapidly moving into times where the risks of such scenarios are high. Without food for its population, the UK would face economic and political breakdown and anarchy. You mention the urgent need to accumulate national stocks of food supplies, probably mostly imported, but say nothing about the UK’s own capacity to produce its own food supply from the agricultural and horticultural industries. In a lengthy period of worldwide food shortage, this would be the only way of avoiding food shortages. Continue reading...

Roger Tagholm on poetry that reflects the reality of tube travel and John Keenan on the clever tactics used by Homer While Judith Chernaik deserves credit for establishing Poems on the Underground (Editorial, 19 January), very few of the poems chosen have caught what it is like down there. My own book, Poems NOT on the Underground, published in 1996, sought to address this anomaly. Thus, with apologies to Philip Larkin: “They fuck you up, the Northern Line trains / They may not mean to, but they do / They say they’re coming though Camden / Whereas you know they’re stuck at Waterloo.” It ends: “Governments hand on misery to man / It deepens like the Northern Line itself / Get off the trains as early as you can / And don’t commute at all if you want your health.” Roger Tagholm London Continue reading...

Readers respond to the US president’s widely condemned comment that Nato allied troops stayed off the frontline in Afghanistan In response to your article (Trump claims Nato troops ‘stayed a little off the frontlines’ in Afghanistan, 22 January), I write this letter to the people of the United Kingdom. I served 20 years in the US Navy and had many interactions with Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel. They might say they suffered us, but the camaraderie was real. (I remember one deployment in Qatar, during which the Americans had T-shirts that read “Operation: Enduring Freedom”, while the British, not to be outdone, had some T-shirts made to read “Operation: Enduring Americans”. We all got a kick out of that.) Continue reading...

Donald Trump’s leverage over Visa and Mastercard highlights a blind spot in Europe’s ‘independence’ strategy. Emulating India’s response might help When the centre-left French politician Aurore Lalucq posted a warning last Wednesday that Donald Trump could cut off Europe from international payment systems, the clip went viral. To many, her message made sense. After all, if Mr Trump was prepared to test allies’ boundaries over Greenland, it is not far-fetched to imagine Visa and Mastercard becoming used against a recalcitrant Europe. The US can turn off payment systems it controls. Russia learned this first-hand after sanctions were rightly applied for its invasion of Ukraine. As up to 60% of Russian retail transactions depended on Visa and Mastercard for authorisation, the ban left many ordinary people stranded without access to funds and unable to buy goods. Under Mr Trump, America’s goal is to “help Europe correct its current trajectory”. Given such talk, Ms Lalucq, who chairs the European parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee, is not wrong in calling for an “Airbus of European payments” to protect the EU. Continue reading...

Film is in a state of existential crisis. But a new generation of cinephiles might save it from the streaming giants “It was from a weekly visit to the cinema that you learned (or tried to learn) how to walk, to smoke, to kiss, to fight, to grieve,” Susan Sontag wrote 30 years ago, in an essay to mark 100 years of film entitled The Decay of Cinema. For Sontag, the onset of the “ignominious, irreversible decline” of the 20th century’s greatest art form was the arrival of television. Today it is the advent of streaming. Cinema is in a state of existential crisis. Netflix is bidding to take over Warner Bros, as the industry is still recovering from lockdown and the 2023 Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes. Leonardo DiCaprio, whose One Battle After Another received 13 Oscar nominations last week, having failed to break even at the box office, asked if people still have “the appetite” for movies, and if cinemas are in danger of becoming “silos – like jazz bars”. Matt Damon has suggested that films are being dumbed-down to cater for changing watching habits. And the director Mary Sweeney said that her ex-husband David Lynch, who died in January last year, would struggle in Hollywood now because of “the dissipation of our concentration and the way the digital world has permeated people’s lives”. Continue reading...

Reed seals four-shot victory after final round 72 Puig tied-seventh following two-stroke penalty A penny for the thoughts of the PGA Tour hierarchy, who awoke in Ponte Vedra Beach to news of a LIV duel in Dubai. A penny for the thoughts of LIV’s office bearers, who had information they would presumably rather remain private put into the public domain by the new Desert Classic champion. Patrick Reed emerged from the joust, thereby delivering a reminder that he remains among the finest golfers in the world. David Puig did not even receive the consolation of second place, his slow finish and a strong one from Andy Sullivan elbowing the Spaniard into third. Continue reading...

Flood of boasts, broadsides and conspiracy theories leaves envoys sifting for the signal within the Trumpian noise How does one keep tabs on, and then interpret, a president who in a single year sent out more than 6,000 social media posts, conducted more than 433 open press events and held free-associating press conferences lasting close to two hours? The White House Stenographer’s Office calculates it has transcribed 2.4 million of Trump’s words, four times the length of Tolstoy’s epic War and Peace. Tracking Trump is not just a problem for exhausted reporters – but also exhausted diplomats, who are tasked with searching for the signal in the ceaseless Trumpian noise. Continue reading...

Yousef Pezeshkian says nothing will be solved by trying to postpone moment footage of violent crackdown circulate The son of Iran’s president has called for the internet restrictions in the country to be lifted, saying nothing will be solved by trying to postpone the moment when pictures and video of the protests circulate, which were violently crushed by the regime. With a battle underway at the top of the regime about the political risks of continuing to block Iran from the internet, Yousef Pezeshkian, whose father, Masoud, was elected in the summer of 2024, said keeping the digital shutdown would create dissatisfaction and widen the gap between the people and the government. Continue reading...

If this was a taste of what life on the road under Liam Rosenior might be like for Chelsea fans then anyone who doubted his appointment may want to think again. A stunning individual performance from Estêvão, who scored the first after a mistake from fellow teenager Jaydee Canvot before setting up João Pedro for the second, inspired his side to end a run of five Premier League games without an away victory at the first attempt as they piled on the misery for Crystal Palace, who also had Adam Wharton sent off. A controversial penalty from Enzo Fernández compounded a terrible afternoon for Canvot – the 19-year-old tasked with replacing captain Marc Guéhi after he was sold to Manchester City – as Oliver Glasner’s side stretched their winless run against Chelsea in the Premier League to 17 matches. It is now also 11 games without a victory in all competitions for last season’s FA Cup winners despite a late consolation from Chris Richards, with Palace nervously looking over their shoulders and wondering where the next points are coming from with trips to Nottingham Forest and arch-rivals Brighton up next. Continue reading...

Experts say souped-up e-bikes pose big risk for children aged from 12 to 15, who account for many A&E cases On a busy lunchtime, thick-tyred electric bikes zoom through the leafy lanes of the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. But after a marked rise in accidents – particularly involving children – these vehicles the Dutch call “fatbikes” are to be banned in some parts of the Netherlands. “It’s nonsense!” said Henk Hendrik Wolthers, 69, from the saddle of his wide-tyred, electric Mate bike. “I drive a car, I ride a motorbike, I’ve had a moped and now I ride a fatbike. This is the quickest means of transport in the city and you should be able to use it.” Continue reading...