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Actor Paul Dano is inviting fans to ask him questions in a special Guardian reader interview. This comes after a recent controversy sparked by Quentin Tarantino's comments on Dano's acting abilities, calling him 'weak sauce'. Tarantino's remarks, made on a podcast last year, led to a strong reaction from the film community, with George Clooney, Toni Collette, Ben Stiller, and Daniel Day-Lewis coming to Dano's defense. Dano has had a successful career with notable roles in films such as There Will Be Blood, Love & Mercy, 12 Years a Slave, and Prisoners. His versatility as an actor has been praised, particularly his ability to portray complex characters with a likable yet quietly unnerving quality. Dano is also set to appear in the upcoming political thriller The Wizard of the Kremlin, where he plays a young artist in 90s Russia who becomes an influential government official. The film, starring Jude Law as a young Vladimir Putin, is set to release in UK and Irish cinemas on April 17. Interested fans can post their questions for Dano by 6pm GMT on April 2, and his answers will be published shortly after.

For the first time, scientists have documented whales assisting each other during birth, a behavior previously only observed in primates. A team from Project Ceti, an international effort to understand whale communication, captured the extraordinary footage off the coast of Dominica in the Caribbean on July 8, 2023.The team observed a pod of 11 whales, including a 19-year-old female named Rounder, who was about to give birth to her second calf. Over nearly five and a half hours, the scientists documented the group's behavior, filming them with drones and recording sounds underwater. This exceptional rarity in the history of science was published in the journals Scientific Reports and Science.Out of 93 species of cetaceans, only nine have been observed giving birth in the wild. What's even rarer is that unrelated whales were helping the mother. The birth lasted 34 minutes, during which other adult females dived under Rounder's dorsal fin, often on their backs with their heads facing her genital slit.Immediately after birth, the pod's behavior changed rapidly, with all adults touching and squeezing the newborn's body with their heads, pushing it around underwater and on their bodies above the surface. This behavior is believed to help the newborn calf, which sinks after birth, prevent drowning and facilitate its first breaths.The scientists also recorded significant changes in vocalization during the birth, suggesting that the group was coordinating to support the birth or protect the newborn. Sperm whales have one of the longest pregnancies in the animal kingdom, with a gestation period of up to 16 months, and calves rely on their mother's milk for at least two years.The newborn was spotted again on July 25, 2024, with other young members of the pod, indicating that it had survived its first year, a good sign of reaching adulthood.

The film The Blue Trail (O Último Azul in Portuguese) has struck a chord with older women in Brazil, who see themselves in the protagonist Tereza, a tenacious woman who refuses to be defined by her age.The movie's themes of ageism and ageing resonate strongly in Brazil, where older women are increasingly prop up the community. The film offers a dark solution to the issue, depicting a dystopian future where senior citizens are banished to a remote housing colony.The film's director and screenwriter, Gabriel Mascaro, was inspired by his grandmother, who took up painting in her 80s after losing her husband. The film has been praised for its portrayal of older women as vibrant and full of life.Gilda Olinto, an 80-year-old woman who was given a prize at work recently, felt as if she was being told “nothing more is expected of you”. She relates to Tereza's story and sees her as a woman who “resists and is hungry for life”.The film's star, Denise Weinberg, puts her casting down to the fact that she is one of the few Brazilian actors her age who hasn’t had any cosmetic procedures. She joked with the director: ‘did you choose me because I have wrinkles?’Brazil is undergoing a rapid demographic shift, with the number of over-60s more than doubling between 2000 and 2023. This demographic is expected to account for a third of the population by 2050, prompting questions as to whether the country is prepared for this new reality.

German film-maker and author Alexander Kluge, a leading figure in the New German Cinema movement, has died at the age of 94. Kluge was known for his intellectually stimulating films and his role in shaping the cinematic landscape of post-war Germany. Kluge's career was marked by his innovative approach to filmmaking, which often incorporated cinematic collages and experimental techniques. His film Abschied von Gestern (released as Yesterday Girl in the US) was one of the first films to emerge from the Oberhausen Manifesto, a call to the German film industry to break free from traditional and shallow filmmaking. Kluge's contributions to German cinema were significant, and his influence can be seen in the work of other notable directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog. He continued to produce films and television programs throughout his career, including arts, magazine, and interview programs for German television through his production company DCTP. Kluge's wartime experiences had a profound impact on his life and work, shaping his commitment to pacifism. However, his comments on the topic have been met with controversy, particularly in the context of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Throughout his career, Kluge collaborated with other artists and writers, including Ben Lerner, with whom he co-authored a poetic dialogue book, The Snows of Venice. Kluge's legacy as a pioneering film-maker and author continues to be celebrated, and his influence on German cinema and culture remains significant.

A light-up C-3PO head used in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back has fetched more than $1 million at an auction. The prop was part of a collection of film and TV memorabilia that went under the hammer on Wednesday as part of the Spring Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction at Propstore auction house in Los Angeles.It is the only known example of the fictional droid’s head to appear on the collector market and sold for $1,058,400 (£790,440 or A$1,519,259), having received a pre-sale estimate of $350,000 to $700,000.The C-3PO head was the top lot at the auction, which also saw the harpoon gun used by the actor Robert Shaw in Jaws, accompanied by its original case, fetch $327,600.Elsewhere, a Wilson volleyball used by Tom Hanks in 2000’s Cast Away sold for $189,000 after receiving a pre-sale estimate of $150,000 to $300,000.The auction also featured broken pieces of a sword used in The Lord Of The Rings, which sold for $252,000.The first day of the auction fetched $6.5 million and also included items such as a golden ticket from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.Brandon Alinger, Propstore’s chief operating officer, said: “We’ve seen a strong start to the auction, with competitive bidding right from the outset.“At Propstore, Star Wars material continues to resonate with collectors and the C-3PO head from The Empire Strikes Back was a real highlight of the day.“The Jaws collection also delivered an impressive overall result, coming just after the film’s 50th anniversary and reflecting its enduring appeal with collectors.“With such a diverse lineup of material still to come, we’re excited to see how the rest of the auction unfolds.”The final day of bidding, 27 March, will be dedicated to animation, with more than 200 lots celebrating the artistry of animation in film and television.

The connection between boxing and cinema dates back to the early days of film, with the first sports film being a 1894 short of a six-round match between Mike Leonard and Jack Cushing. Since then, boxing has been a staple of the big screen, captivating audiences with its high-stakes emotion, physical intensity, and personal turbulence.The British Film Institute's new season, The Cinematic Life of Boxing, curated by Clive Chijioke Nwonka, an amateur boxer since his childhood in London, explores this symbiotic relationship. Nwonka believes that an uncompromising hunt for realism is central to the relationship between the sport and artform, with films that interact with human experience, poverty, struggle, triumph, and boxing as a way of life.Boxing films often capture a political zeitgeist, as seen in the 1974 'Rumble in the Jungle' heavyweight championship match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, which was not just a fight but a referendum on ideology during the civil rights era. This fight was documented in the 1996 film When We Were Kings, described by Nwonka as 'probably the greatest sports documentary of all time'.The Rocky franchise, which has spanned six films and a spin-off series, Creed, under the direction of Ryan Coogler, is a barometer for all the films captured in its wake. The first film remains the hallmark of sporting cinema, successfully capturing the habitual experience of the sport outside its more glamorous moments.Despite the genre's popularity, boxing films are not immune to clichés, with many relying on stock characters and familiar arcs. However, the best film-makers are able to return to the core of these films: the stakes of signing up for a fight, and the physical, psychological, and real monetary costs of endurance.

Brendan Gleeson has been named best actor at the Critics' Circle theatre awards for his West End debut in Conor McPherson's pub drama The Weir. He beat fellow nominees including Bryan Cranston and Paapa Essiedu, both recognised for All My Sons, and James Hameed and Arti Shah, the duo who together portray Paddington in the new musical about Michael Bond's bear.The Weir, directed by McPherson, was entirely omitted from the nominations for this year's Olivier awards and is being turned into a film with Gleeson and the rest of the West End cast.All My Sons, a critically adored production of Arthur Miller's 1946 classic at Wyndham's theatre, won in two categories at the Critics' Circle awards: best revival of a play or musical and best director for Ivo van Hove. A new production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods, directed by Jordan Fein at the Bridge theatre, also won two prizes – best designer (Tom Scutt) and the inaugural award for best ensemble or cast.The winners, voted for by professional theatre critics, were revealed at a ceremony at the National Theatre in London on Thursday. Paddington: The Musical, with music and lyrics by Tom Fletcher and book by Jessica Swale, won best new musical. James Graham's Punch, based on the real story of a fatal blow, received the Michael Billington award for best new play (named in 2019 in honour of the Guardian's theatre critic after he stepped down from reviewing). Ava Pickett won most promising playwright for her Tudor drama 1536, which was staged at the Almeida theatre in London in 2025, transfers to the West End in May and is being turned into a BBC drama series.Rosamund Pike saw off competition from Kate Fleetwood (Into the Woods), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (All My Sons) and Rachel Zegler (Evita) to win best actress for her acclaimed performance as a judge in Suzie Miller's Inter Alia. Ruby Ashbourne Serkis was named most promising newcomer for her performance in a revival of Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink which opened at Hampstead theatre days after the revered playwright's death. The award for best Shakespearean performance went to Hayley Atwell for her Beatrice (alongside Tom Hiddleston, nominated for the same prize, as Benedick) in Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

Raoul Peck's documentary about George Orwell and his enduring relevance takes as its keynote the heretical masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four and its famous scene about the state compelling people to believe whatever it says is the truth: that two and two make five. This Orwellian anti-arithmetic of tyranny has become a political meme often repeated in social media debates.The simple experience of hearing Orwell's prose, both from his published work and letters and diaries, read aloud by Damian Lewis, is invigorating and refreshing. There's an interesting emphasis on Orwell's physical frailty, with him effectively composing his masterwork in the shadow of death. Peck amusingly juxtaposes Orwell's sickness with Winston Smith being made to do exercises and the infatuation of tyrannical regimes with public displays of physical fitness.Peck cites various movie and TV adaptations of Nineteen Eighty-Four and includes footage of Jura, where Orwell went to live, and archive photo records of Orwell's childhood and early working life as a policeman in Burma. The film also shows how Orwell predicted the rise of AI in propaganda and in soulless bread-and-circuses for the masses.The film falls down in not focusing on actual theocracies of the present day and the Orwellian qualities of Isis and Hamas. The question of how far Orwell renounced his own earlier antisemitic tendencies is not entirely addressed in this film.Orwell was disliked by some on the left for daring to write Nineteen Eighty-Four and disliked still more with the revelation 30 years ago that in 1949 he had handed over to British authorities the names of 38 public figures he considered 'crypto-communists' – a fact from which this film averts its eyes. But Orwell's complications don't compromise his genius for truth-telling.

Baz Luhrmann's Romeo+Juliet has stood the test of time, remaining a vibrant and captivating film thirty years after its release. This modern retelling of Shakespeare's timeless tragedy, set in a fictional Verona Beach with Mexico City as its backdrop, was a critical and commercial success upon its debut.The film's irreverent and questioning approach to the classic tale resonated with audiences, offering a fresh take on the star-crossed lovers' story. Luhrmann's vision, co-scripted with Craig Pearce, preserved the original text while infusing it with a sunburst of energy and a unique blend of style and substance.The cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet, delivered memorable performances that brought depth and nuance to their characters. The supporting cast, featuring Harold Perrineau as Mercutio and Paul Rudd as Paris, added to the film's richness and complexity.Luhrmann's direction and the film's lurid 90s crime-chic design have aged remarkably well, with the movie's themes of love, transgression, and tragedy remaining as relevant today as they were upon its initial release. Romeo+Juliet is a testament to the enduring power of Shakespeare's work and Luhrmann's innovative vision.The film's re-release in UK cinemas on March 27 offers a new generation of audiences the opportunity to experience this joyful tragedy on the big screen, and it is sure to continue to captivate and inspire viewers for years to come.