Xan Brooks

Epstein Files Are Missing Records About Woman Who Made Claim Against Trump

Growing sense over the past week that this whole elaborate Epstein-Trump-Russia house-of-cards is about to come crashing down. Terrible glorious inevitability to it now www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/u...

With N-word incident, Bafta have shot themselves in the foot | Catherine Shoard In not editing out Tourette syndrome campaigner John Davidson’s shouted tics, Bafta have allowed their successful diversity drive to be overshadowed

Left in the N-word, cut out "Free Palestine". Jesus wept, Bafta, that's not firefighting, that's arson.
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

‘He couldn’t be happier’: celebrating William Eggleston’s incredible photography A new exhibition brings together new dye-transfer prints of the classically American photographer’s work

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Hoping he sent him Secret Honor instead

‘I don’t wish anyone to fall down a sewer. Except sometimes’: TikTok sensation and Oscar-nominated star of Weapons Amy Madigan As her nightmarish turn as orange-wigged child-catcher Aunt Gladys takes her to Oscars night, the actor talks about surviving ‘brutal’ Hollywood, the fury that almost drove her from the US – and still...

Nice to interview an Oscar nominee who's been in this circus for years & simply can't be doing with the endless pomp & glad-handing. Could have chatted with Amy Madigan for hours, which would have driven her nuts, "Haven't you people seen enough?"
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader Who Sought the Presidency, Dies at 84

Jesus, a trio of American titans in the space of 24-hours. Duvall, Fred Wiseman & now Jackson - feels like an alternative Mount Rushmore just collapsed
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/u...

Frederick Wiseman, prolific documentary film-maker, dies aged 96 Recognised with an honorary Academy Award in 2016, Wiseman directed and produced almost 50 films with a lifelong commitment to curiosity and naturalism

So long to Frederick Wiseman, the dogged, quiet legend of documentary cinema, who found his films by making them
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now and Godfather star, dies aged 95 From the classic To Kill a Mockingbird to blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds, the Oscar-winning actor’s films spanned a remarkable range

Argh rats, what a loss, like an enormous bank of lights just went out. Duvall seemed elemental, I kind of hoped he'd shine forever
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

How Martin Scorsese turned New York into the coolest scum-ridden hellhole on earth Movies like ‘The French Connection’, ‘Midnight Cowboy’ and ‘Death Wish’ depicted the Big Apple as a scuzzy metropolis of filth and grime. And despite the reported fury of the New York Mayor’s Office, ...

This week's Indie column, on Taxi Driver, John Lindsay & the 'bad apple' genre of 70s movies that first stained & then saved New York
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Trump Allies Near ‘Total Victory’ in Wiping Out U.S. Climate Regulation

Trump’s ecocide squad: Russell Vought, Jeffrey B Clark, Mandy Gunasekara, Jonathan Brightbill & Myron Ebell. Knew the science & did it anyway www.nytimes.com/2026/02/09/c...

Your Life Without Me by James Meek review – angel of destruction haunts a domestic drama A plot to blow up St Paul’s Cathedral is seen through the lens of family tragedy

I was thoroughly absorbed by James Meek's Your Life Without Me, a family saga dressed up as a terrorist plot. It's about destruction & renewal, the need (or urge) to rip it up & start again
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

Paul Thomas Anderson and Jonny Greenwood demand Phantom Thread music removed from Melania film Director and composer of 2017 drama allege breach of agreement after score reused in controversial documentary

I hadn't clocked the use of the Phantom Thread score in Melania, but the soundtrack also features [checks notes] Gimme Shelter, And Then He Kissed Me, Spandau Ballet's True & Everybody Wants to Rule the World. Were all of these properly cleared & approved?
www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

Adam Shatz · Another Country: Visions of America Is America a dream or a nightmare, a democratic paradise or a bastion of white supremacy and religious intolerance? Is...

The full transcript of Adam Shatz’s LRB winter lecture is lengthy, knotty & worth every second. What America means, in theory & in practice - & specifically what it means now www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jeffrey Bezos is destroying the Washington Post for the same reason Musk destroyed Twitter and Ellison is destroying CBS—oligarchs oppose the free press when if it threatens their wealth and power.

They don’t want normal people to see what is happening in America.

Good call (I haven’t seen it for years either)

10 best westerns (not the motel chain)

Thank YOU - this properly made me laugh.

One win after another: Paul Thomas Anderson film dominates London Critics’ Circle awards Counterculture comedy One Battle After Another wins four awards, including best picture, director, screenplay and supporting actor for Sean Penn

www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

YouTube video by Critics' Circle Film Section 46th London Critics' Circle Film awards

Only Paul Thomas Anderson at the critics' circle awards last night (from 1hr.12mins). Good heavens, um thanks, I'm in a state of total shock
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZE...

Jeez, Jessica, I had no idea. Thanks so much for letting me know!

Dead Souls review – Alex Cox rides into sunset with anti-Trump spaghetti western The Repo Man director relocates Gogol’s surreal novella to the old west in what he says will be his final film

This looks kind of fabulous: an ICE-age parable, set in the dustblown wild west, starring Alex Cox as a courtly scoundrel/saint who buys the souls of dead Mexican workers. Here's @peterbradshaw1.bsky.social's review from Rotterdam www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...

This year’s Oscar nominees are furiously political – so why are their stars silent? ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Bugonia’ and the forthcoming ‘The Secret Agent’ strike overt parallels to modern politics and the ongoing clown show of Donald Trump’s second term. But few have been sayin...

This week's @the-independent.com column, on the Oscar-nominated films that speak up while their makers remain mostly silent
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...

Trump Says Kennedy Center Will Close for 2-Year Reconstruction Project

Dog, meet manger www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...

Hi Stewart, thanks for the heads-up, I’ll check it out.

Rowan - thank you

Thanks Dee

Heather - thanks

Bernd - thanks for saying.

Julia, thanks for saying

Heike - thank you