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John Lewis to launch YouTube chatshow to improve AI search results
John Lewis is launching a YouTube “vodcast” and social media studio to boost its visibility to AI chatbots and search tools, as more shoppers turn to services like ChatGPT and Gemini to find and recommend products. The move follows the success of sister brand Waitrose’s Dish podcast, and reflects a wider shift in retail marketing…
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Filmmaker Lexi Alexander faces backlash over Erin Piacenti murder meme
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lexi Alexander has faced widespread backlash after posting a mocking meme about the murder of Erin Piacenti, a 32-year-old Bank of America vice president killed in a random stabbing attack in Times Square. Alexander, known for Green Street Hooligans and the short film Johnny Flynton, shared an image likening the attacker to accused…
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Amelia Dimoldenberg ends YouTube interview series Chicken Shop Date
Amelia Dimoldenberg is ending Chicken Shop Date, the YouTube interview series that helped establish the platform as a genuine rival to television. The show, in which Dimoldenberg took celebrity guests for fried chicken and needled them with deadpan, flirtatious questioning, became a genuine pop culture phenomenon, though its recent episodes had increasingly felt like just…
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La Mesías follows siblings confronting religious family trauma
La Mesías, a Spanish TV hit from 2023, has finally arrived on the streamer Mubi, and the Guardian’s review calls it wildly ambitious, blackly funny and unforgettable. Created by Los Javis, the acclaimed Spanish directing duo who won best director at this year’s Cannes film festival, the seven-episode series follows estranged siblings Enric and Irene…
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Ugly AI Food Photos Are Only the Beginning
AI-generated images and content are increasingly infiltrating restaurant menus, from delivery apps to physical posters, often producing bizarre or unappetising results such as maggot-riddled burritos or plasticky pasta. The trend, dubbed “AI menu slop”, has emerged as restaurants digitised their offerings to compete on platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats, using free or low-quality AI…
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Andy Burnham under fire, British couple found dead in Spain, backlash over Times Square killing celebration
PM Andy Burnham faces Tory attacks over spending and a Kent mother tells of wrongful arrest, while a British couple die in a Spanish hot tub and a filmmaker sparks fury over Times Square stabbing; plus Beckham profits, SOCAN sues Suno and lost Phil Lynott track surfaces.
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France TV Distribution’s Mystery Drama ‘Our Missing Sons’ Set for Unifrance Rendez-Vous Market Debut
France TV Distribution is bringing “Our Missing Sons,” a French mystery drama inspired by real events, to its international market debut at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous in Le Havre, ahead of its premiere at the Festival de la Fiction in La Rochelle. Directed by Safy Nebbou, the four-part series centres on a mother’s determined search for…
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Motorway ‘ghost junction’ dubbed Britain’s most expensive dead end now needs repairs despite costing £40million – and not a single vehicle using it in the six years since it was built
A £40million motorway junction on Bristol’s M49, dubbed Britain’s most expensive “dead end”, has never been used by a single vehicle in the six years since it was built, and now requires repairs before it can even open. The junction was designed to link the motorway network to a distribution hub serving retailers including Amazon,…
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Clint Eastwood’s Forgotten Western That Redefined His Career Is Officially Free to Watch on YouTube
A Polygon article highlights that Clint Eastwood’s 1968 Western “Hang ‘Em High” is currently free to watch on YouTube, prompting the writer to argue the film deserves more recognition. Released just after Sergio Leone’s celebrated “Man with No Name” trilogy, it is often overshadowed by those films despite being, in the author’s view, equally strong…
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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home review – Kirk, Spock and co on semi-intentionally hilarious save-the-whale mission
The Guardian reviews the 40th-anniversary rerelease of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, directed by Leonard Nimoy, calling it the silliest yet most enjoyably absurd instalment of the franchise. The Enterprise crew, in disgrace after events of the previous film, must travel back in time to 1986 San Francisco to retrieve humpback whales in order…