MOST childhoods for Brits were made up of reading books like The BFG, Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Next year, you’ll be able to experience some true nostalgia as a new museum showcasing the work of famed illustrators, like Sir Quentin Blake, will open in the UK.
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The new House of Illustration will be in ClerkenwellCredit: Tim Ronalds ArchitectsSome of Quentin Blake’s own work will be shown in the museumCredit: Sean Dempsey/PA Wire
Sir Quentin Blake is well-known for illustrating lots of Roald Dahl’s books, as well as his own like the Mrs Armitage series.
Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration will open in May 2026, and it’s an attraction that has been 20 years in the making.
On the project, Sir Quentin said: “I have long dreamt of a permanent place with ‘illustration’ above the door, and now the amazing reality is that we have it.
“I am proud to think the centre has my name on it – illustration is a wonderful universal and varied language.
“Here we shall celebrate its traditions and welcome the astonishing diversity of visual language from across the world. Hurrah!”
Once open, the museum will have exhibitions that will feature rarely-seen works from all over the world.
Original illustrations from leading and emerging illustrators, including work loaned from Quentin Blake’s own archive, will be on show.
There will be open spaces and a cafe for visitors to grab a bite to eatCredit: Tim Ronalds ArchitectsOn-site will also be a gift shop full of illustrated goodiesCredit: Tim Ronalds Architects
Also on the site will be free spaces, including public gardens, displays and an illustration library.
You can take a seat at the café which will serve up fresh food and drinks, and there will be a shop stocked with illustration gifts.
There will be illustrator residencies in London‘s oldest surviving windmill which is also on the old waterworks site in Clerkenwell.
Other events at the museum will be illustration workshops and learning programs.
Previously, the House of Illustration was in Granary Square from 2014 to 2020.
An underrated period drama based on one of the most influential books of all time is available to watch for free
‘Must-watch’ period drama based on classic book is free to watch(Image: ITV/PBS)
Viewers shouldn’t miss out on this incredible four-part drama based on a classic novel, as it’s available to watch without spending a penny.
This breathtaking adaptation was originally aired in 2023 on ITV and PBS Masterpiece in the US and has developed a passionate cult following despite not receiving critical fanfare at the time.
Based on the novel by Henry Fielding, Tom Jones brings the seminal 1749 novel to life like never before with an ensemble cast of British legends.
William Tell’s Solly McLeod portrays the titular downtrodden hero, a young man with mysterious parentage who falls in love with his spirited neighbour Sophia Western (played by Sophie Wilde).
Sophie decides to flee her arranged marriage to be with Tom, but the pair are kept apart by a series of increasingly fraught misadventures.
They’re accompanied by some of the most recognisable names from the British screen, including Coronation Street’s Lucy Fallon, Harry Potter’s Shirley Henderson, New Tricks’ Alun Armstrong and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham.
Many viewers consider the drama an essential watch and it’s still currently available to stream for free on ITVX.
One 10/10 review from an IMDb user declared it “Gorgeous viewing with a top notch cast”.
They continued: “The cast list is like a who’s who of the cream of British talent, topped by two lovely and good looking leads.
“The episodes fair gallops on its way, cutting through the boring exposition and getting quickly to the important stuff, the love story between Tom and Sophia.”
The review continued to particularly praise Waddingham’s performance as Lady Bellaston, declaring “Seriously, put this woman in EVERYTHING”.
“If you get a chance, watch it in one go, it’s perfect lazy weekend viewing,” the reviewer concluded.
Another warned that fans of the book should expect some changes to the narrative, but admitted: “Even though the story is not like really really the one from the book is one pretty entertaining and very fun to watch. The choice of actors was really good and they did a great job.
“I really recommend for you to watch it if you want some light series combined with romance, a bit of jealousy and of course some British scenery.”
And a 9/10 review said: “This is what you want from English costume drama – and more. I really liked it.
“Fans of historical dramas and literary adaptations will find Tom Jones a must-watch, as it stays true to the spirit of the novel while making it accessible and enjoyable for modern audiences.”
In the mood for a cosy period romance with plenty of laughs and scenery-chewing performances from British greats? Look no further.
Netflix has released the trailer for the upcoming live-action Japanese original and fans are already obsessed with the epic action-packed series
The series is based on manga of the same name(Image: NETFLIX)
Netflix enthusiasts are already going wild over a forthcoming live-action series set in the late 19th century.
The Japanese Netflix original, which is also adapted from the novel of the same name penned by Shogo Imamura, unfolds during the Meiji period.
The synopsis states: “During the Meiji era, 292 fighters came together at Tenry-ji Temple in Kyoto after sunset, drawn by the chance to win a grand prize of ¥100 billion.
“The challenge was clear: take each other’s wooden tags and make it all the way to Tokyo. The winner would get the prize. One of the warriors, Shujiro Saga, joined the dangerous contest with a personal mission: to help his sick wife and child.”
The programme in question is Last Samurai Standing, and Netflix has just dropped a trailer, reports the Express.
Junichi Okada plays the aforementioned Shujiro Saga, alongside Yumia Fujisaki as Futaba Katsuki.
Netflix posted the trailer on X, formerly Twitter, declaring: “An epic battle royale. 292 samurais. One point per life. Last Samurai Standing premieres November 13.”
The trailer depicts Shujiro caring for his ailing family, reluctantly admitting he would be prepared to raise his sword once more to earn some cash.
He vows he will return, as he learns of the brutal rules of the competition.
Packed with spectacular fight sequences, the trailer has already captured the interest of genre enthusiasts.
Responding in the comments, Temilade simply declared: “I am definitely watching this.”
Tryp expressed their excitement, saying: “Kinda stoked for this,” while MidLifeCrixix chimed in with: “Can’t wait for this. Looks like the next big hit.”
Akin was equally enthusiastic, stating: “Oh my days, my kind of series,” and @mikaelvelli added: “I like what I see. Definitely can’t wait to see this.”
The show also features Junichi Okada, who not only stars but also serves as the producer and action choreographer.
The six-part series boasts a cast of nearly 300 actors, each donning their own unique costume. The original story was described on Amazon Reviews as “incredible” and “set us up for the series beautifully”.
Last Samurai Standing is set to premiere on Netflix on November 13.
A FAMOUS brand that used to be an airline is returning… but this time with hotels.
Pan American Airways, also known as Pan Am, is making a comeback with a number of luxuryhotels across Europe.
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Pan American Airways is making a comeback as a series of hotelsCredit: GettyThe hotels will be based on the Golden Age of travel and two sites are already open in Berlin and Vienna, with the latter under a different nameCredit: Pan am hotels
The hotel brand named Pan Am Hotels, will open a number of hotels at European airports in 2028.
Created by Austrian-based JP Hospitality, the hotels are set to create “airport hospitality that excites guests”.
Each hotel will feature a midcentury modern design, reminiscent of Pan Am travel years ago.
In a post on LinkedIn announcing the new hotel brand, the company said the hotels will feel like the late 1950s and 1960s, “Golden Era reimagined”.
In addition, the Pan Am Hotels website states: “Designed for seamless ease and tailored comfort, our hotels are not just stopovers – but true gateways to your onward journey.”
The hotels will largely be across Europe with locations including London, Paris, Madrid and Milan.
Then the brand hopes to expand outside of Europe in the future to destinations such as Sydney, Tokyo and New York.
Pan Am was America’s first international airline, paving the way for the future of jet airplanes and the Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
Few details have been revealed about what the inside of the hotels are to look like, but if they were to look anything like the airline, travellers can expect ‘Pan Am Blue’ or gold colours that featured on cabin crew’s uniforms.
In the 1970s in particular, Pan Am planes featured bright and bold colours as well as modern midcentury interiors.
According to Hotel Magazine, Gebhard Schachermayer, managing partner at JP Hospitality said: “With the launch of PAN AM HOTELS, we are setting a new benchmark in airport hospitality.
“Airports deserve better hotels – without inflated prices, but with comfort, quality, and innovation!
“The steadily increasing demand for overnight stays at airports, combined with often poor service quality, motivated us to fill this market gap with the development of high-quality, needs-oriented hotels.”
The developer expects to have 16 hotels in operation by 2033, with a total of 28 in the pipeline, reports Live and Let Fly.
The hotels are expected to launch fully across Europe in 2028, with more expected further afield in the futureCredit: Pan am hotels
But if you can’t wait until 2028, the company already has a Pan Am Lounge and Pan Am Suite in Berlin and Die Josefine and The Guesthouse in Vienna that you can stay at.
And JP Hospitality isn’t the only hotel brand to jump on the Pan Am theme.
Pan Am Hotel by Hilton is set to open in late spring 2026 at the Citadel Outlets shopping mall in Commerce, California – about eight miles from downtown Los Angeles.
The hotel will feature a midcentury design throughout, with two restaurants, a fitness centre and large rooms.
Netflix drama military drama Boots is based on the true story of gay Marine Greg Cope White
13:37, 09 Oct 2025Updated 13:42, 09 Oct 2025
Boots, a military drama on Netflix, follows the journey of gay teenager Cameron Cope (portrayed by Miles Heizer) as he enlists in the Marines corps alongside his best mate, despite the inherent dangers.
The series is set in the harsh environment of the 1990s US Marine Corps, a time when homosexuality was still outlawed in the military. It traces the lives of Cameron and Ray McAffey (played by Liam Oh), the offspring of a decorated Marine, as they become part of a diverse group of recruits.
Together, they form unexpected friendships and discover their true identities while being pushed to their limits.
Netflix commented: “With sharp wit and plenty of heart, Boots is about friendship, resilience, and finding your place in the world – even when that world seems determined to keep you in line or leave you behind.”
Greg Cope White, a former sergeant in the US Marine Corps, served as a writer and executive producer for the series.
He is an ardent advocate for LGBTQ+ and veteran rights, and has appeared in the PBS docuseries American Veteran and published work in the military journal Zero Dark Thirty.
Reflecting on his journey from his days in the Marine Corps, he posted on Instagram: “At 18, I illegally enlisted in the Marine Corps to find my place as a gay man in the masculine world.
“The book honours my lifelong best friend Dale, who got me through a chaotic childhood, and the Marines who took a chance on me and changed my life.
“And to send a message to others who are bullied: Bullies don’t matter. You do. Hold on.”
Greg completed six years of service with the Marines, achieving the rank of Sergeant, before relocating to New York City to pursue studies in acting and writing.
He eventually settled in Los Angeles, where he secured his breakthrough in writing through employment with Norman Lear.
The Pink Marine website details how joining the Marines represented Greg’s initial struggle, as he “has to cheat to pass the physical and then lie on the enlistment papers about his sexuality”.
The protagonists Cameron and Ray draw inspiration from Greg and his closest mate Dale, with the website outlining the dangers they both faced.
It states: “It’s insanely dangerous for both of them. But as fate would have it, the Few and the Proud turn out to be a bunch of oddballs and eccentrics – and a brotherhood is born.”
One travel lover has taken to TikTok to share her recommendation for a UK trip to a ‘real-life fairytale castle’. It has been described as “one of the largest and most complete castles in England”
Samantha Bartlett Assistant Editor, Social News
06:03, 09 Oct 2025
She described it as a ‘real-life fairytale castle’ (file)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
It’s always nice to have a trip abroad planned. However, as well as taking a holiday overseas, it’s also great to explore the stunning places the UK has to offer.
One travel lover has taken to TikTok to share her recommendation for a UK day trip to a ‘real-life fairytale castle’. Aleksandra, known as @aleksandra10s on TikTok, shared a clip of the ‘hidden gem’ with her 3,273 followers telling them that it was “one of the largest and most complete castles in England” that is in “pristine” condition and has “beautiful” gardens. And what as the location she was talking about? Arundel Castle, based in Sussex.
Aleksandra shared clips of the castle’s stunning grounds in a video set to Disneys ‘Beauty and the Beast’ soundtrack.
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She commented: “Arundel Castle, in Sussex, is a real-life fairytale castle in pristine condition and beautiful gardens. One of the largest and most complete castles in England, it’s a gem worth visiting.”
The castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle that was first was established by Roger de Montgomery in the 11th century.
People were loving the clip as many said they also enjoyed a visit to the castle.
One person commented: “I love Arundel Castle, one of my favourite places to visit.”
While another agreed: “Such a magical place like a real-life fairytale.”
A third chined in: “I live 10 minutes down the road and still love walking past it.”
The castle suffered damage in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and early 19th centuries by Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk. Further restoration and embellishment was then carried out from the 1890s by Charles Alban Buckler for the 15th Duke.
Since the 11th century, the castle has been the seat of the Earls of Arundel and the Dukes of Norfolk. It is also a Grade I listed building.
Those who want to visit will have to plan a trip in soon as the 2025 season will only runs up until Sunday 2nd November.
The gardens are open from 10.00am – 5.00pm, as is the Fitzalan Chapel. The Keep can be visited from 10.00am – 4.30pm and Castle rooms are open between 12.00 noon – 5.00pm.
Visitors should also note last admission is 4.00pm and the castle is closed on Mondays, except bank holidays and in August.
Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker star in ITV’s FraudsCredit: Splash
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Suranne plays Bert and Jodie portrays Sam in the heist seriesCredit: PA
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The show premiered on October 5, 2025Credit: PA
ITV’s Frauds is about two former partners-in-crime who reunite for one last audacious heist after one of them is released from prison on compassionate grounds.
The synopsis for the series reads: “Bert and Sam embark on the most audacious of art thefts, gathering a talented team of outcasts to help them plan this audacious crime.
“Whilst the team must overcome numerous challenges before they can pull off the heist, it’s the power struggle between Bert and Sam that threatens to derail their plans and destroy them both.
“Set against the epic rolling hills of southern Spain and the dark criminal underbelly that casts a shadow over the glistening coast, Frauds is a complex and addictive story of friendship, deception and survival.”
It blends dark comedy with the cinematic heist genre, set against the scenic backdrop of southern Spain — but is it a true story?
When is Frauds on?
Frauds premiered at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, October 5, 2025.
The series includes six episodes airing on consecutive Sunday and Monday nights over three weeks.
All episodes are also available on ITVX for streaming.
Is Frauds based on a true story?
Frauds is a work of fiction created by Suranne Jones and co-writer Anne-Marie O’Connor.
The plot revolves around Bert, who has been in a Spanish prison for ten years and is released due to a terminal cancer diagnosis.
One Night- Official Trailer, Paramount+ UK & Ireland
Upon release, she reconnects with her former partner Sam to plan a multi-million-pound art heist.
While the series captures the feel of real criminal undertakings, it is not an adaptation of a true crime or real-life story.
What is the Frauds cast?
Frauds tells the story of Bert and Sam, whose toxic friendship will be pushed to the ultimate test.
Bert tries to lure her pal out of criminal retirement to pull off a multi-million-pound art heist.
Suranne Jones stars as Bert — the career criminal recently released from prison.
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The cast for ITV’s FraudsCredit: PA
Jodie Whittaker features as Sam, her estranged former partner in crime.
Lost Boys and Fairies actress Elizabeth Berrington plays a master illusionist, while I May Destroy You’s Karan Gill portrays the world’s greatest forger.
Talisa Garcia features as drag star Miss Take, and Christian Cooke takes on the role of moneylender Deegs.
Frauds’ cast is an ensemble of British and Spanish actors, reflecting the series’ international setting — the show was shot in Spain.
Frauds was created and executive produced by Suranne Jones and Anne-Marie O’Connor.
The decision stemmed from a dispute centring on whether a trans woman with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) should be treated the same as a cisgender woman under the UK’s Equality Act 2010.
A week later, a Scottish judge ordered that schools must provide single sex toilets after a case against the Scottish Borders Council (SBC) was brought to the court, per the BBC.
The updated guidance says that under the law, schools must provide separate toilet facilities for boys and girls “on the basis of biological sex” – which the document refers to “sex recorded at birth – and accessible facilities for young people with a disability.
It also says that “educational authorities and schools should consider toilet provisions necessary for transgender pupils,” such as “gender neutral provisions.”
“The design of gender neutral facilities should ensure privacy for all young people. In practice, this should include features such as full height walls and doors and should take account of the particular needs of female pupils,” the guidance adds.
“Where any change is being introduced to the arrangements that a pupil has been familiar with, there should be additional planning and consideration of their needs, including relating to their safety and wellbeing.
“It is necessary to recognise and mitigate as far as possible, the risk of ‘outing’ a young person. This may mean that it is necessary that practical arrangements such as enabling young people to use facilities outwith usual breaktimes, or for particular facilities to be available aligned to the young person’s activities within school, to reduce visibility of them moving across and within the school building to access toilet or changing room facilities.”
Previously, schools were told that trans students could use any toilet they felt most comfortable in.
In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland, Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth gave further insight into the adjusted guidance.
“The Scottish Government has made it absolutely clear that we accept the Supreme Court ruling, and since April we’ve been taking forward the detailed work that is necessary as a consequence of the ruling,” she said.
“Now we know in Scotland all schools are required to provide separate toilets for girls and boys, and in addition, the guidance makes clear that councils should give careful consideration to the individual needs of transgender pupils in light of the school context.”
Gilruth went on to say that the guidance was not mandatory, just suggestions from the Scottish government.
“That’s because of the statutory legal requirements that mean under the 1980 Education Act that our councils run our schools, not the government directly,” she continued.
“There are not penalties, but of course it is incumbent on the government to update our guidance in line with legal changes.”
While Gilruth confirmed that the guidance isn’t mandatory, she confirmed that schools are “required by law to have separate toilet facilities for boys and girls and also to have accessible toilet provisions.”
“And of course the guidance has been updated to recognise the clarification of the definition of sex under the Equality Act 2010 following the Supreme Court judgement,” she added.
In a separate interview with Good Morning Scotland, the general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) discussed the challenges that arise with the new guidance, stating that it doesn’t fully address the needs of trans youth.
“Considering the nature of the Supreme Court judgement, it would be difficult for the Scottish Government to advise anything other than something which is considered to be compliant with the law,” she explained.
“The difficulty with it is that it perhaps does not fully address the needs of transgender young people in that many of them will not feel comfortable whatsoever using the toilets that the guidance suggests that they should.
“There’s suggestion in the guidance that perhaps those young people could use disabled toilet facilities or even staff toilet facilities, and neither of those are perfect.”
When things seem too good to be true for the stock market, they usually are.
Move over, Superman! The only thing more powerful than a locomotive at the moment is the U.S. stock market, which, seemingly faster than a speeding bullet, has rallied to new heights.
When the closing bell tolled on Sept. 11, the benchmark S&P 500(^GSPC -0.05%), iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average(^DJI -0.59%), and growth stock-dependent Nasdaq Composite(^IXIC 0.44%) all catapulted to record closing highs. Everything from the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) — a potentially $15.7 trillion global addressable opportunity by 2030, according to PwC — to the growing prospect of a Federal Reserve rate cut in September has fueled optimism and risk-taking.
But the tricky thing about Wall Street is that when things seem too good to be true, they usually are.
President Trump delivering remarks. Image source: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead, courtesy of the National Archives.
Donald Trump’s tariff and trade policy is in the spotlight
Although the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq Composite have soared year to date, things looked a lot different in early April. Following the close of trading on April 2, President Trump unveiled his widely touted trade policy, which included a 10% global base tariff, as well as the implementation of higher “reciprocal tariffs” on dozens of countries deemed to have adverse trade imbalances with America. The stock market plunged in the subsequent days, with the S&P 500 tallying its fifth-steepest two-day decline since 1950.
To be fair, what Trump unveiled on April 2 and the current tariff policies in place today look markedly different. A number of countries/regions have hashed out trade deals with America, and the president has delayed the implementation date of reciprocal tariffs for select countries.
Additionally, there’s no guarantee Trump’s tariffs will legally remain in place. In November, the Supreme Court will consider the validity of the president’s tariffs following an appeal from the Trump administration after lower courts ruled most of his tariffs were illegal.
Despite these uncertainties, worry about Donald Trump’s tariff and trade policy, specifically pertaining to its effect on inflation, is heightened.
The domestic rate of inflation has moved decisively higher as the president’s tariffs take effect. US Inflation Rate data by YCharts.
In the three months since Trump’s tariffs began having a discernable impact on the U.S. economy, the inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), jumped from 2.35% to 2.92%. It’s quite the jump, and it’s certainly raising eyebrows amid a weakening job market.
The biggest issue with Trump’s tariff policy, as told by four New York Federal Reserve economists who published a study in December 2024 for Liberty Street Economics, is that it does a poor job of separating output and input tariffs.
In their study, Do Import Tariffs Protect U.S. Firms?, the four New York Fed economists examined the impact of Trump’s China tariffs in 2018-2019 on the U.S. economy and businesses. What they found was added pricing pressure on domestic manufacturers caused by the China trade war. Whereas output tariffs are placed on finished products, an input tariff is a duty for a good used to complete the manufacture of a product in the U.S. This type of tariff runs the risk of increasing production costs and reigniting the prevailing rate of inflation.
While some degree of pricing power is a good thing for businesses, the inflationary ramp-up we’ve witnessed over the previous three months is a bit concerning.
Image source: Getty Images.
Wall Street’s ticking time bomb is nearing historic levels
But even though Donald Trump’s tariffs are pretty consistently in the headlines, they’re not Wall Street’s biggest concern. Based on historical precedent, valuation is the ticking time bomb ready to pull the rug out from beneath the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq Composite at any moment.
Truth be told, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all blueprint when it comes to valuing stocks. That you might find a stock to be expensive while another investor believes it to be a bargain is precisely what makes the stock market a market in the first place.
However, there’s one valuation tool that leaves little interpretative wiggle room: the S&P 500’s Shiller price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, also referred to as the cyclically adjusted P/E (CAPE) ratio.
The most familiar of all valuation tools is the P/E ratio, which divides a company’s share price by its trailing-12-month earnings per share (EPS). While this is a handy valuation measure for mature businesses, it often fails to pass muster during recessions and for high-growth companies. This isn’t a problem for the S&P 500’s Shiller P/E since it’s based on average inflation-adjusted EPS over the prior 10 years. It means shock events have minimal impact on the Shiller P/E ratio.
When back-tested 154 years to January 1871, the Shiller P/E has averaged a multiple of 17.28. As of the closing bell on Sept. 11, it clocked in at 39.58, which is the highest reading during the current bull market and the third-priciest multiple during a continuous bull market in over 150 years. The only two times the CAPE ratio has been higher are when it fractionally topped 40 during the first week of January 2022 and when it peaked at its all-time high of 44.19 in December 1999.
Admittedly, the S&P 500’s Shiller P/E isn’t a timing tool. Just because stocks are historically pricey, it doesn’t mean a game-changing innovation like artificial intelligence can’t keep valuations at nosebleed levels for months, perhaps even a few years. However, history is unmistakably clear in showing that premium valuations eventually end in short-term disaster.
Including the present, there have been six instances since 1871 where the Shiller P/E ratio has topped 30 for at least a two-month period. Following each of the previous five instances, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and/or Nasdaq Composite tumbled between 20% and 89%. While the 89% is an outlier for the Dow during the Great Depression, plunges of 50% or more are not out of the question, as was witnessed during the bursting of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s.
If there’s a silver lining for this ticking time bomb, it’s that bear markets are historically short-lived.
In June 2023, Bespoke Investment Group calculated the calendar-day length of every S&P 500 bull and bear market dating back to the start of the Great Depression in September 1929. Bespoke found that the average length of 27 documented S&P 500 bear markets was just 286 calendar days, or less than 10 months. In comparison, the average bull market stuck around for 3.5 times as long, or 1,011 calendar days.
Even though history is quite clear that trouble is brewing on Wall Street, long-term investors remain in the driver’s seat.
The tech company is projecting huge cloud computing growth in the coming years.
It’s not often that a stock absolutely skyrockets right after it misses analysts’ expectations for both revenue and profits, but that was what Oracle (ORCL -4.50%) did following its recent fiscal 2026 first-quarter report. The market’s excitement about the stock appeared to stem from the company’s growing cloud computing business. The stock has now more than doubled so far in 2025.
Let’s take a closer look at Oracle’s earnings report and prospects to see whether or not it’s too late to buy the stock.
Cloud excitement
Sometimes there is a last-mover’s advantage, and in the cloud computing space, Oracle appears to have one. Before the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the company’s cloud computing unit was new and pretty small. However, it’s now building it out quickly with all the latest technology. As a result, top AI model companies are flocking to its services, and even the big three cloud computing infrastructure providers — Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft — are partnering with it.
Oracle is particularly excited about its opportunity in the inference space. It said it has a big edge because its customers can connect all of their Oracle databases and cloud storage to “vectorize” their data. They can then apply the large language model (LLM) of their choice to answer questions using a combination of private enterprise data and publicly available information. It expects the AI inference market to become much bigger than the AI training market over time.
Image source: Getty Images.
Oracle’s cloud computing strength could be seen in its latest quarterly results. Its cloud infrastructure revenue surged 55% year over year to $3.3 billion. Meanwhile, within the segment, it said its multicloud database revenue from the big three cloud providers soared by 1,529% in the quarter. Meanwhile, it plans to build 37 new data centers for them in the coming years. What got investors really excited was the company’s forecast that its cloud infrastructure revenue would hit $144 billion by fiscal 2030, up from just $10.3 billion in fiscal 2025. It’s looking for cloud infrastructure revenue to increase by 77% to $18 billion this year, and then just continue to surge.
Below is a table of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure revenue projections.
Metric
Fiscal 2026
Fiscal 2027
Fiscal 2028
Fiscal 2029
Fiscal 2030
Cloud infrastructure revenue forecast
$18 billion
$32 billion
$73 billion
$114 billion
$144 billion
Note: Oracle’s fiscal years end on May 31 of the calendar year.
Management said much of this revenue is already locked in: The company has $455 billion in remaining performance obligations (RPOs), with most of these contracts generally non-cancelable. That was a whopping 359% increase from a year ago when its RPOs were $99 billion, and up from just $138 billion a quarter ago. The huge increase was the result of Oracle signing four major contracts with three different customers in the quarter.
Oracle’s overall revenue increased 12% to $14.93 billion, which missed the $15.04 billion analyst consensus by less than 1%. Cloud revenue jumped 28% to $7.2 billion. Within the cloud segment, cloud infrastructure revenue soared by 55% to $3.3 billion while cloud application revenue rose 11% to $3.8 billion.
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS), meanwhile, rose 6% to $1.47. That came up just short of the $1.48 analyst consensus.
Looking ahead, Oracle maintained its forecast that its fiscal 2026 revenue will increase by 16% on a constant-currency basis. However, it upped its budget for capital expenditures to $35 billion from an earlier plan to spend just $25 billion. Management said most of those outlays will go toward things like graphics processing units (GPUs).
For its fiscal Q2, it guided for revenue to climb by between 14% and 16% year over year and for cloud revenue to soar by between 32% and 36%. It projected its adjusted EPS will rise by between 10% and 12% to a range of $1.61 to $1.65.
Is it too late to buy the stock?
Oracle’s projected cloud infrastructure growth over the next five years is nothing short of spectacular, and with contracts locked in, it has a clear line of sight into its future finances. However, it is worth noting that it will have to spend a lot of money to increase capacity so that it can meet these commitments, and it isn’t in as good financial shape as the big three cloud infrastructure providers.
Oracle currently has more than $80 billion in debt on its books, and it didn’t generate any free cash flow in the past year or in Q1, as it has been pouring all of its operating cash flow into expanding its data center capacity. Its cash flow from operations was $20.8 billion last year and $8.1 billion in Q1, so it likely will have to go further into debt over the next five years to build more data centers. That’s a sharp contrast to the financial situations of the big three cloud computing providers.
From a valuation perspective, Oracle now trades at a forward P/E of about 50 based on analysts’ estimates for its fiscal 2026, so it’s not cheap.
Given Oracle’s valuation, the state of its balance sheet, and the volume of capital expenditures in its future, I wouldn’t chase the stock after its huge surge.
Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
CNN has hired veteran California political reporter and anchor Elex Michaelson to lead a new late-night newscast based in the Los Angeles area.
The network announced Thursday that Michaelson, who left Fox’s L.A. station KTTV last month, will helm a nightly two-hour live broadcast from CNN’s studios on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank starting in mid-October.
The program will air from 9 to 11 p.m. on the West Coast and midnight to 2 a.m. in the east. It will also be carried on CNN International in Europe and Asia.
Michaelson told The Times in an interview that he first pitched the idea of live program for West Coast prime-time viewers to CNN executives 4½ years ago. They passed.
“Sometimes good things happen to those who wait,” Michaelson said.
The timing may be advantageous this time around as California Gov. Gavin Newsom has become an increasingly prominent national political figure with his direct challenges to and social media mockery of President Trump.
Newsom is seen as a potential leading candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Eyes will also be on L.A.-based former Vice President Kamala Harris, who could also make another run for the White House.
Fox 11 anchor Elex Michaelson and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger eating Michaelson’s mom’s baked good at a prior event.
(Elex Michaelson)
Michaelson believes he has interviewed Newsom more than any other TV journalist in the state. Along with his duties as anchor of KTTV’s evening and late-night newscasts, he hosted “The Issue Is,” a weekly program devoted mostly to California issues that aired on several Fox-owned TV stations in the state.
Michaelson’s CNN program, which does not yet have a title, will be the only live cable news show in the post-midnight time slot. CNN, Fox News and MSNBC all currently run repeats in those hours because the number of homes watching television drops off dramatically after 11 p.m. Eastern.
Michaelson’s program will be the first CNN show to be based in Los Angeles since “Larry King Live” ended its run in 2010. “Fox News @ Night,” the nightly newscast anchored by Trace Gallagher that airs at 11 p.m. Eastern and 8 p.m. Pacific, is the only other national cable news show produced in the city.
Earlier this year, CNN offered the after-midnight shift to Washington-based anchor Jim Acosta, who was a high-profile antagonist of President Trump during his tenure as White House correspondent.
Acosta was holding down a midday hour at the time, and the proposed move to midnight was largely viewed as a demotion and a capitulation to Trump in his second term. The plan was presented after Warner Bros. Discovery executives signaled that CNN needed to increase its appeal to Republican viewers.
The appointment of Michaelson gives the late-night CNN program a clearer editorial rationale. A native of Agoura Hills, Michaelson has spent his entire journalism career in Southern California, where he is a well-known figure.
Michaelson said his presence in Los Angeles will enable to him to book “West Coast thought leaders in politics, entertainment, technology, sports and more.”
Michaelson’s program will launch a few weeks before Californians vote on a proposal to redraw the boundaries of the state’s congressional districts.
“The showdown on Nov. 4 over the issue of redistricting could determine who controls the U.S. House next year and whether there is actually a check and balance on the Trump administration,” Michaelson said. “Although it’s a fight in California, the impact will be felt not just around the country but around the world.”
Michaelson is known for thanking guests who appeared on “The Issue Is” with fresh baked goods from his mother’s kitchen.
He acknowledged that the tradition will be difficult to maintain with a nightly two-hour program featuring multiple guests. “We may need to revise that,” he said.
A former Israeli soldier has created a video game based on the Gaza war, which he says aims to ‘humanise’ Israeli troops. Scenes from the game’s promo video depict the destruction in Gaza, which rights groups say Israeli soldiers already treat as if it were a video game.
A 10/10 review remarked: “[I] can highly recommend this production which I found as good as any I have seen from the BBC and an enjoyable insight to early modern England and the evolution of gender relations. Worth paying my licence fee for.”
A third viewer observed: “What I liked about the film was the ending, which I won’t give away although many who studied history may already know, but the court scenes showing the jury’s decision was priceless.
“In all a good watchable film that deserves more credit than many seem to have given it.”
Another viewer applauded the historical authenticity and headed their review: “Feels very authentic, delightful to see.”
The user added: “So refreshing a period movie that doesn’t try to mordernise [sic] itself. The music, the costumes, the make-up, the wigs, everything feels very authentic to the period.”
Shaun Evans starred in the BBC period drama(Image: BBC)
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“Faithful to the true history behind it, as far as I can tell. I’d love if it was longer, if it explored Lady W’s life in France, for example.”
The Scandalous Lady W emerged in 2015, based on American-born British historian and author Hallie Rubenhold’s 2008 book Lady Worsley’s Whim.
The BBC drama unfolded in 1781 and followed the courtroom battle involving affluent heiress Seymour, Lady Worsley (portrayed by Natalie Dormer) and her MP spouse Sir Richard Worsley (Shaun Evans), who was pursuing her lover Captain George Bisset (Aneurin Barnard) for damages after the forbidden duo eloped.
The costume piece was set in 18th century England(Image: BBC)
Sir Richard dragged Captain Bisset before the courts and sought £20,000 for essentially harming his wife, who was regarded merely as possessions during this period.
When proceedings commenced, Sir Richard fabricated details about the couple’s union to portray an image of domestic harmony.
Captain Bisset faced financial ruin and imprisonment over the matter, prompting Lady Worsley to devise a scheme to rescue them both.
Yet, it would require exposing the shameful reality of her marriage and threatened to destroy her standing.
The proceedings would evolve into one of the most notorious sexual controversies of the 18th century.
Alongside the main cast, The Scandalous Lady W also featured Baby Reindeer actress Jessica Gunning, The Secrets She Keeps star Robert Morgan, His Dark Materials star Will Keen, Oliver Chris of Motherland fame, and Line of Duty’s Craig Parkinson, amongst others.
The Scandalous Lady W is streaming on Prime Video for a fee
WASHINGTON — A watchdog investigation into former special counsel Jack Smith over his prosecutions of President Trump is based on an “imaginary and unfounded” premise, Smith’s lawyers wrote in a letter obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The letter marks the first response by Smith and his legal team to news that the Office of Special Counsel, an independent watchdog office, had launched an investigation into whether Smith engaged in improper political activity through his criminal inquiries into Trump.
The attorneys told Jamieson Greer, the acting head of the office, that his investigation into Smith was “wholly without merit.”
“Mr. Smith’s actions as Special Counsel were consistent with the decisions of a prosecutor who has devoted his career to following the facts and the law, without fear or favor and without regard for the political consequences, not because of them,” wrote Smith’s lawyers, Lanny Breuer and Peter Koski.
The Office of Special Counsel, which is totally distinct from the Justice Department special counsel position that Smith held for more than two years starting in November 2022, confirmed the investigation following a request from Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who asked it to examine Smith’s activities for potential violations of the Hatch Act, a federal law that bans certain public officials from engaging in political activity.
Cotton had alleged that Smith sought to interfere in the 2024 presidential election through his prosecutions and sought to effectively fast-track the cases toward resolution, including by asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on a key legal question before a lower court had a chance to review the issue.
But Smith’s lawyers say that argument is contradicted by the facts and note that no court ruling or other authority prohibits prosecutors from investigating allegations of criminal conducts against candidates for office. Politics, they say, played no part in the decision to bring the cases.
“A review of the record and procedural history demonstrates the opposite — Mr. Smith was fiercely committed to making prosecutorial decisions based solely on the evidence, he steadfastly followed applicable Department of Justice guidelines and the Principles of Federal Prosecution, and he did not let the pending election influence his investigative or prosecutorial decision-making,” Smith’s lawyers wrote.
“The predicate for this investigation,” they added, “is imaginary and unfounded.”
Smith, who was appointed special counsel under the Biden administration, brought two cases against Trump, one accusing him of conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the other of hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Both were brought in 2023, well over a year before the 2024 presidential election, and indictments in the two cases cited what Smith and his team described as clear violations of well-established federal law.
Both cases were abandoned by Smith after Trump’s November win, with the prosecutor citing longstanding Justice Department policy prohibiting the indictment of a sitting president.
The trailer has had well over a million views in a matter of hours
10:55, 20 Aug 2025Updated 10:55, 20 Aug 2025
The anime is an adaptation of FromSoftware game Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice(Image: KA/SNDP/Crunchyroll)
An official adaptation of a ‘masterpiece’ FromSoftware game will soon be available to stream and fans have just been given their first glimpse at it.
The first trailer for upcoming anime miniseries, Sekiro: No Defeat, dropped on Crunchyroll’s YouTube channel last night and amassed well over a million views in a matter of hours. It is an adaptation of FromSoft’s revered video game, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
Set to release sometime in 2026 (an official release date is yet to be announced), the anime will be fully hand-drawn, with streaming service Crunchyroll teasing a “tale of loyalty and blood, set in a fantastical reimagining of Sengoku-era Japan.”
The synopsis reads: “Japan is fractured into many independent nations entangled in ceaseless war. At the center lies Ashina, a land of sacred earth and ancient mystery. Two decades after Sword Saint Isshin Ashina reclaimed the region in a brutal coup, a new threat emerges from within: The Interior Ministry.
The mini series will release in 2026(Image: KA/SNDP/Crunchyroll)
“Desperate to protect his homeland, Isshin’s grandson Genichiro turns to forbidden powers. The only hope lies in a kidnapped boy — the Divine Heir — and his silent protector: a loyal shinobi known only as Sekiro. This is the story of a lord and his retainer — and their quest to restore balance to a nation on the edge.”
One Punch Man animator Kenichi Kutsuna is at the helm as director, while the voice cast includes Daisuke Namikawa as Wolf, Miyuki Satou as Kuro/The Divine Heir and Kenjiro Tsuda as Genichiro Ashina.
“We are taking on the monumental task of animating the breathtakingly beautiful Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. In doing so, we are pouring every ounce of our artistic vision and passion for beauty into its production,” director Kenichi said.
Sekiro: No Defeat trailer
“The final product is being crafted to be a truly memorable experience, one that will leave a lasting impression on both dedicated fans of the game and those who are discovering the world of Sekiro for the very first time. Please look forward to it.”
The upcoming show was announced during Gamescom 2025, and fans flocked to the trailer to offer-up their first thoughts.
“The giant ape episode is gonna be one for the books,” one FromSoft fan predicted, as a second shared: “A million views in a day is a sign for the game makers that a sequel Sekiro 2 is badly wanted.”
Meanwhile a third penned: “There isn’t enough budget in this world to animate the mist noble fight and do it justice,” while a fourth shared: “I just hope that the Mist Noble battle gets a whole episode dedicated to it. Such an insane fight.”
Sekiro: No Defeat is coming exclusively to Crunchyroll in 2026
Movies from India’s prolific film industry have found success on the world stage before.
“RRR,” an over-the-top Telugu-language action film, energized audiences in the U.S. and elsewhere a few years ago, even scoring a history-making Oscar for its original song “Naatu Naatu.” Hindi screenings have long drawn crowds to American multiplexes.
But the filmmakers behind “Ramayana” — an upcoming two-part epic based on one of the most important ancient texts in Hinduism — have something more ambitious in mind.
The massive productions — each estimated to cost $200 million to $250 million — are aimed not merely at an Indian audience, nor are they meant to appeal primarily to Hindus, who number an estimated 1.2 billion globally, according to Pew Research Center.
Rather, the goal is to turn “Ramayana,” with its grand-scale adventure story and high-tech computer-generated effects, into a full-blown international blockbuster, filmed specifically for Imax’s giant screens in what is intended to be the largest-ever rollout for an Indian film, according to its backers.
Executive Namit Malhotra — who is financing and producing the project through his firm Prime Focus — set the bar high in a recent interview with The Times, comparing his film to the likes of James Cameron’s “Avatar,” Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” and the movies of Christopher Nolan.
While Hollywood studio bosses talk about reaching all four demographic “quadrants” (men and women, young and old) with their tentpole movies, Malhotra wants to draw two additional categories: believer and nonbeliever. For such a so-called six-quadrant movie to work, to use Malhotra’s terminology, it would have to succeed in the U.S.
“In my mind, if people in the West don’t like it, I consider that as a failure,” Malhotra told The Times recently. “It is meant for the world. So if you don’t like it, shame on me. We should have done a better job.”
Poster art for the upcoming film ‘Ramayana.’
(DNEG)
It’s a major gamble for Malhotra, who founded Prime Focus in Mumbai in 1997. The firm expanded significantly when it acquired British effects house Double Negative, and rebranded as DNEG. Malhotra owns nearly 68% of the parent company, Prime Focus Ltd.
He’s going to great lengths to make sure his big bet pays off. DNEG, headquartered in London with offices in India, Los Angeles and elsewhere, is handling the visuals. The firm has produced special effects for global studio features for years, creating Oscar-winning work for such movies as Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” and Nolan’s “Tenet.”
“Ramayana” is directed by Nitesh Tiwari, the man behind 2016’s “Dangal,” the highest-grossing Bollywood film ever, including huge sales in China. Hans Zimmer and prolific Indian musician-composer A.R. Rahman (“Slumdog Millionaire”) are collaborating on the score, while the visual effects and production design team includes veterans from “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Avengers: Endgame” and the “Lord of the Rings” franchise.
The success of “RRR,” which told the story of two Indian legends with larger-than-life abilities fighting British imperialism, is one reason Malhotra is confident that “Ramayana” might connect with Westerners more familiar with the Bible and “The Odyssey” (the subject of a much-hyped 2026 Nolan film) than with Hindu mythology. U.S. cinephiles have in the past embraced mythical Asia-set films such as Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Life of Pi.”
So why not “Ramayana?”
After all, family, good vs. evil and personal striving are all key themes that transcend national borders.
“Emotions are universal,” said Tiwari in a video call. “If the audience connects with you emotionally, I think they will connect with the whole story. Emotions have powers to travel across boundaries.”
Filmed entirely on soundstages, the first part of “Ramayana” is scheduled to hit theaters next year, with a significant push from Imax. “Part 2,” currently in production, is planned for 2027. Each part is timed for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. The films do not yet have a U.S. distributor.
This comes as Imax has beefed up its clout as what is increasingly seen as a linchpin component for the release of big-screen movies, not just for Hollywood spectacles but also, lately, for local language films. Imax showcased just a handful of Indian movies on its screens in 2019, according to Chief Executive Richard Gelfond. Last year, the company played 15.
So far this year, international films made in their local language have accounted for more than 30% of Imax’s total global box office revenue, Gelfond said. Much of that tally came from “Ne Zha 2,” a Chinese-produced animated film that grossed roughly $2 billion worldwide, mostly from its home country.
As such, Gelfond has high hopes for “Ramayana.” “Judging from what we’ve seen, this has all the elements to be a global success,” Gelfond said.
At its core, “Ramayana,” based on the epic poem from thousands of years ago, tells the story of Hindu deity Rama, an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and his quest to rescue his love Sita from the demon king Ravana.
A three-minute teaser trailer introduced the concept, emphasizing the big names attached (including actors Ranbir Kapoor as Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita and Yash as Ravana), displaying some “Game of Thrones” opening credits-style visuals and conveying the tale’s historical importance. “Our truth. Our history,” reads the onscreen text. The video has 9.4 million views on YouTube.
“Ramayana” is a quintessentially Indian story. It has been adapted for stage and screen before, perhaps most notably as a series for Indian TV in the late 1980s.
For the new version, Malhotra wants to eliminate any language barriers. DNEG is using syncing technology from its Brahma AI unit to seamlessly present the film in local languages for international audiences. In the U.S., for example, the movie will screen in English.
“It’s a global film from the day we start,” he said. “I’m not trying to make it to appease Indian people in India. … If you go and watch ‘Ramayana’ and your family watches it, and people in India watch it, what’s the difference? It should speak to you like any other film.”
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Airing election misinformation continues to be expensive for cable news networks.
Newsmax will pay $67 million to settle a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems over false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election that aired on the right-wing news channel.
The network announced the settlement with the voting equipment maker Monday but did not apologize for its reporting.
Fox News settled a similar case with Dominion in 2023 for $787.5 million after it aired incorrect election claims. Newsmax is much smaller than Fox, which continues to battle a lawsuit from another voting machine company, Smartmatic.
Streaming is getting closer to another major milestone. According to Nielsen’s the Gauge report, streaming services accounted for 47.3% of U.S. TV usage in July, compared with 22% for cable and 18.4% for broadcast. That’s what happens when there’s new “Squid Game” on Netflix and there’s not much on regular TV.
Finally …
Listen: No Joy, “Bugland.” Excellent ’90s-style rock.
The series is available to watch on Channel 4’s streaming service and is based on Mary Wesley’s novel of the same name
The series is on Channel 4’s streaming service(Image: CHANNEL 4)
Lovers of period drama are in for a real delight as a captivating Second World War series is now available to stream at no cost whatsoever.
Channel 4 is the proud broadcaster of this gem, which first graced television screens back in the early 90s and even snagged a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama Serial in 1993. The narrative unfolds within the picturesque confines of Helena Cuthbertson’s Cornish country abode, with the series’ name inspired by a scenic stretch of land between her house and the coastal cliffs where pivotal moments occur.
Cornwall’s reputation as a prime setting for exceptional period dramas remains unchallenged. The role of Helena Cuthbertson is portrayed by none other than Felicity Kendal of The Good Life fame, with Toby Stephens as Oliver Ansty, Jennifer Ehle as Calypso, and Tara Fitzgerald as Polly.
The series is based on a heartbreaking book(Image: CHANNEL 4)
Spanning from just before the outbreak of the Second World War to its aftermath in the mid-1980s, The Camomile Lawn has earned acclaim from enthusiasts as “ingenious”.
Mary Wesley’s novel kicks off with a family gathering in Cornwall during the tranquil summer preceding the global conflict, reports Cornwall Live.
When the family reconvenes for a funeral almost fifty years on, they come to terms with the profound effects the war had on their lives.
Wesley was spurred to pen The Camomile Lawn following the passing of her second husband, an event that left her in financial ruin.
Drawing from her own experiences, parts of the book reflect Wesley’s formative years, with the Cornish house mirroring Boskenna – the historic settlement – where she spent considerable time during her younger days.
The Camomile Lawn became Channel 4’s top-rated drama ever(Image: CHANNEL 4)
Audiences expressed their views on the adaptation, with Antony Taylor declaring: “Simple and ingenious story, wonderful cast, perfect direction and a script full of sparkle. Watch it and love it.”
Drawing in over seven million viewers during its debut broadcast, The Camomile Lawn became Channel 4’s highest-rated drama of all time – a milestone it maintained as of 2022.
One admirer commented on IMDb: “The Camomile Lawn is one of my favourite British TV adaptations.”
Notmicro described it as “Compulsively watchable and great fun”, continuing: “I’d been curious for years to see this thing, both because of the very interesting actors, and the period setting.
“Now I’ve just watched the British DVD, and found that its absolutely brilliantly done, and compulsively watchable.
“It takes some time getting accustomed to the affected and presumably somewhat archaic upper-middle-class accents assumed by some of the actors.”
The Camomile Lawn is available to watch on Channel 4’s streaming service.
Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who can’t stand the heat outside, but can tolerate it onscreen.
The eerie and bizarre story of John Orr, a Southern California arson investigator who authorities say moonlighted as a serial arsonist suspected of setting some 2,000 fires in the 1980s and 1990s, has been chronicled in the 2021 podcast “Firebug” and, earlier this year, received the deep-dive treatment from L.A. Times writer Christopher Goffard. Now, there’s a new Apple TV+ series, “Smoke,” loosely inspired by the true crime case. Author and screenwriter Dennis Lehane, who created the new drama, stopped by Guest Spot to discuss it.
Also in this week’s Screen Gab, TV critic Robert Lloyd reminds us that Bravo used to dabble in scripted programming, recommending “Odd Mom Out,” the short-lived comedy about a stay-at-home mother and her experiences navigating the bizarre and outrageous world of Manhattan’s elite; and film reporter Josh Rottenberg suggests finding time to watch a hybrid documentary-biopic film about the ‘90s indie band Pavement.
ICYMI
Must-read stories you might have missed
Jerry Bruckheimer, whose new movie “F1” hits screens this week, poses for a portrait in his Santa Monica office.
‘Countdown’ makes Los Angeles a prominent character — and it’s in danger: The Prime Video action series follows a task force consisting of members from various law enforcement agencies that are brought together after the murder of a Department of Homeland Security agent. But it’s Los Angeles that is in serious danger.
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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times
Jill Kargman as Jill and Andy Buckley as Andy in “Odd Mom Out.”
(Barbara Nitke / Bravo )
“Odd Mom Out” (Peacock)
In my review of the new season of “The Bear” this week, I neglected to mention Abby Elliott, who plays Sugar, the level-headed sister of Jeremy Allen White’s Carmy (or to mention Sugar’s new baby, the most adorable infant I have ever seen on screen); ironically, it was because, laboring to express how great she is in it, I had set that bit aside — as it turned out, permanently. Happily, I was already planning to use this space to recommend her earlier series, Jill Kargman’s very funny “Odd Mom Out,” Bravo’s brief experiment (2015-17) in scripted comedy, giving me this chance to self-correct. In “Mom,” whose three seasons stream on Peacock, Kargman, a very talented amateur, stars as a version of herself in a series based on her 2007 book “Momzillas,” about competitive parenting among Upper East Side New Yorkers, a war her boho-punk mother of three character declines to enter. (She is what most of us would call rich, but not obscenely so, and has good values.) Elliott, in a whimsical comic turn, plays Brooke, the pregnant and thin wife (later ex-wife) of her brother-in-law, whose charities include providing “prophylactic gastric bypasses for at-risk kids with morbidly obese parents” and sending bouncy castles to Africa. — Robert Lloyd
Stephen Malkmus in “Pavements.”
(Utopia)
“Pavements” (available on various VOD platforms)
If you were young and vaguely disaffected in the ’90s, Pavement was either your favorite band or the band your favorite band wanted to be — a group whose slanted (and enchanted) songs defined slacker cool, mixing lo-fi chaos, shaggy pop hooks and a shrugging disinterest in “career, career, career,” as they put it in their semi-hit “Cut Your Hair.” So it’s only fitting that Alex Ross Perry’s drolly funny anti-rock-doc ditches the usual mythology-building formula in favor of something far weirder. Blending real tour footage, a faux biopic, a tongue-in-cheek jukebox musical and a museum filled with half-fake relics, the film is part tribute, part Gen X time capsule, part absurdist prank. “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery is the film’s unexpected MVP, playing himself with deadpan commitment as he fixates on nailing lead singer Stephen Malkmus’ Stockton accent — right down to requesting a photo of his tongue for research. By the end, “Pavements” becomes both a joke about the band’s legacy and a surprisingly sincere celebration of it. — Josh Rottenberg
Guest spot
A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching
Taron Egerton in Apple TV+’s “Smoke.”
(Apple TV+)
He spent his days as a fire captain and arson investigator in Southern California, but authorities say John Orr lived a secret life as a prolific arsonist responsible for a string of fires that terrorized the region in the ‘80s and ‘90s. An unpublished novel he wrote, “Points of Origin,” detailed an arson spree that mirrored real-life incidents and helped authorities secure enough evidence to arrest him. The firefighting veteran was eventually convicted on 20 counts of arson and 4 counts of murder and is serving life in prison. Orr continues to maintain his innocence. This true story, chronicled in the 2021 podcast “Firebug,” is the basis for Apple TV+’s new nine-episode crime drama “Smoke.” Created by Dennis Lehane (“Black Bird”), the series follows arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) and Detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) as they pursue two serial arsonists. The first two episodes are available to stream, with the remaining seven releasing weekly every Friday until Aug. 15. Lehane stopped by Guest Spot to discuss the show’s gnarly fire sequences and getting Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke to provide the show’s theme song. — Yvonne Villarreal
You’ve authored several well-known novels, including “Gone, Baby, Gone,” “Mystic River” and “Shutter Island,” and you’re familiar with exploring moral ambiguity. What stood out to you when you first listened to “Firebug”? And what about it made it a story you wanted to tell for the screen?
What really stood out for me with “Firebug” was John Orr’s myopic duality. He clung to the identity of a hero arson investigator even as he was running around lighting up Glendale and surrounding areas, resulting in several deaths. On top of that, he was writing a book about an arson investigator chasing a serial arsonist. And the book was quite bad. I found that kinda delicious. I was also intrigued by his methods for setting the fires and was taken by the fact that he’d once nearly died in a fire when he mistook his reflection for another firefighter and ran deeper into a burning house.
Everything else in the show is pure fiction. I didn’t want to tell a story about John Orr in 1980s California; I wanted to tell a story about our culture now, about people who feel so unmoored they’d rather cling to the fiction of themselves over the fact.
Tell me about the planning and work that went into crafting the fire sequences in the series — how you decided when to use special effects or real fire, and the precautions that needed to be in place for the latter. And is there a fire sequence in the series that stands out for you?
The moments that stand out most are the first fire — Dave’s dream — and the last — the sawmill fire. The first of these was 100% real. It was shot on a burn stage with pipes blasting flame all around the room as Taron — not a stunt man — walked through it. It looks so impressive because a) we planned really hard; and b) Sam McCurdy, our director of photography, is a painter with light and reflection. Our sawmill fire and the subsequent car ride thru the burning forest was the opposite — it was predominantly CGI, but we’d realized by then that the key was to shoot as much real fire as we could (which, in this case, wasn’t terribly much), so the CGI wizards had real flame to compare their work to.
How did you get Thom Yorke to write a song (“Dialing In”) for the show’s theme?
Our music supervisor, Mary Ramos, had heard that Thom was a fan of “Black Bird” [Lehane’s previous Apple TV+ series that also starred Egerton and featured much of the same creative team]. We reached out to see if he had any interest in writing a song for our credit sequence. And he actually called us back. He and I spoke about the underlying themes of the show and he read a bunch of the scripts. Then he went off and wrote the song. He sent it back to us and someone, I think it was Mary, said, “Now you have to give him notes.” And I was like, Um … no, no, I don’t. He’s Thom Yorke. Giving him notes on music would be like telling Scorsese where to put the camera. I passed along this note:”Thank you.”
What have you watched recently that you’re recommending to everyone you know? (Please explain)
“Dept. Q” [Netflix]. Scott Frank, as always, crushes it as both a writer and a director. It’s got one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen, and the cast, led by Matthew Goode and Kate Dickie, is impeccable. It’s so rich in character and atmosphere that I wanted to fly to Edinburgh to simply hang out with every character after I finished watching.
What’s your go-to comfort watch, the film or TV show you return to again and again? (Please explain)
“Midnight Run” [Netflix] is my cinematic chicken soup for the soul. It’s smart, hilarious, infinitely quotable, sports one of the greatest casts ever assembled, and it’s non-stop, breakneck fun from the first shot to the last. I’ve probably seen it 30 times.
THE best and worst broadband and mobile providers for customer service have been revealed by the regulator.
All major providers were ranked on how pleased customers were with the service.
1
Ofcom has ranked the best and worst telecoms providers
O2, which has millions of customers was rated below average when it came to customer satisfaction for mobile providers.
The telecoms giant fell below the sector average when it comes to customer satisfaction as it scored 85% and the average is 88%
Last year, the firm also generated the most complaints, when it had 21 complaints per 100,000 customers.
The second worst ranked mobile provider was Vodafone who had a score of 84% when it came to how pleased users were with it’s service.
The pair were trumped by Tesco Mobile and giffgaff, which both 94% for overall satisfaction.
Tesco Mobile also led in satisfaction with complaints handling and generated the fewest complaints to Ofcom, when it had just four complaints per 100,000 customers.
However, Ofcom said that the average number of complaints reduced in 2024 across all providers.
Elsewhere, the average call waiting time for mobile customers decreased in 2024, from 2mins 24s in 2023 to 1min 52s in 2024.
Ofcom said Lebara had the shortest average call waiting time in 2024 at 15s while O2’s was the longest, at 3min 27s.
Moving on to broadband and TalkTalk had a lower-than-average overall satisfaction score of 77% and also ranked poorly for complaints handling.
However, NOW Broadband, which is owned by Sky, generated the most broadband complaints to Ofcom at 65 per 100,000 customer.
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Virgin Media generated the second highest number of fixed broadband complaints per 100,000 customers, at 56.
While EE was the third most complained-about broadband provider last year with 52 complaints per 100,000.
Plusnet achieved the highest overall satisfaction score at 91%, when it came to broadband.
When it came to landline, Plusnet also had the highest overall satisfaction score at 83%.
Meanwhile, Virgin Media customers were less pleased with the service giving the provider a rating of 67%.
Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s director of market intelligence, said: “Call waiting times have come down for many providers and satisfaction with complaint handling is on the up.
“And we’re seeing competition in action, with smaller players challenging some of the bigger, well-established providers.”
He added: “But there’s further to go. Not all companies have made the same progress and it’s still taking the industry too long to fix things when they go wrong.”
A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: “Ofcom’s report shows that the vast majority of our customers were satisfied with their services in 2024, and highlights some improvements that have been made – including on complaints handling.
“While today’s data relates to the whole of 2024, we know from the regulator’s most recent statistics that the turnaround strategy we implemented in the middle of last year has led to significant improvements, with complaints about Virgin Media and O2 now at their lowest levels for several years.”
They added: “We’re continuing to make real progress through this strategy and we’re committed to giving our customers the best possible experience.”
How to complain about your service
If you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received, you’ll first need to contact your provider’s customer services department and explain the problem.
If this doesn’t resolve the issue, you can make a formal complaint to the company.
You can find details on how to do this on the back of your bill or on the company’s website.
Depending on your complaint type, you’ll be able to contact the customer service team by web chat, telephone or by post.
You’ll need to let the company know what has happened and what you want it to do to put things right.
If a formal complaint gets you nowhere, after eight weeks you can ask for a “deadlock letter” and take your dispute to the appropriate Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.
These are free to use and will act as an independent middle man between yourself and the service provider when an initial complaint cannot be resolved.
There are two ADR schemes in the UK – the Communications Ombudsman and CISAS.
Your provider is required to be a member of one of these and you can find out which one your provider is covered by visiting ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/adr-schemes.
Before you can submit your complaint to it, you must have logged a formal complaint with your provider and worked with the firm to resolve it.
You must also have received a so-called deadlock letter, where the provider refers your complaint to the appropriate ADR.
You can also complain if you haven’t had a satisfactory solution to your problem within eight weeks.
To make a complaint fill in the ADR scheme claims form on its website – or write a letter if you’d prefer.
The ADR scheme then bases its decision on the evidence you and the company submit.
If you choose to accept its decision, your supplier will then have 28 days to comply.
But if an individual chooses not to accept the ADR’s final decision, they lose the right to the resolution offer.
But don’t just switch contracts because the price is cheaper than what you’re currently paying.
Take a look at your minutes and texts, as well as your data usage, to find out which deal is best for you.
For example, if you’re a heavy internet user, it’s worth finding a deal that accommodates this so you don’t have to spend extra on bundles or add-ons each month.
In the weeks before your contract is up, use comparison sites to familiarise yourself with what deals are available.
It’s a known fact that new customers always get the best deals.
Sites like MoneySuperMarket and Uswitch all help you customise your search based on price, allowances and provider.
This should make it easier to decide whether to renew your contract or move to another provider.
However, if you don’t want to switch and are happy with the service you’re getting under your current provider – haggle for a better deal.
You can still make significant savings by renewing your contract rather than rolling on to the tariff you’re given after your deal.
If you need to speak to a company on the phone, be sure to catch them at the right time.
Make some time to negotiate with your provider in the morning.
This way, you have a better chance of being the first customer through on the phone, and the rep won’t have worked tirelessly through previous calls which may have affected their stress levels.
It pays to be polite when getting through to someone on the phone, as representatives are less inclined to help rude or aggressive customers.
Knowing what other offers are on the market can help you to make a case for yourself to your provider.
If your provider won’t haggle, you can always threaten to leave.
Companies don’t want to lose customers and may come up with a last-minute offer to keep you.
It’s also worth investigating social tariffs. These deals have been created for people who are receiving certain benefits.
