mum

The horizons of Iceland’s isolated Westfjords, shot in airy widescreen and crisp black and white, seem boundless. Not that you would know it from the life of Jón (Þröstur Leó Gunnarsson). Dour and middle-aged, he lives with his elderly, hectoring mother (Kristbjörg Kjeld) and a dog called Bresnef, days away from the nearest neighbours. But when his mother dies, Jón must fulfil her last wish and drive her corpse across the country. Away from the prison of his home, he starts to question his life. And Mama has plenty to say…

Crypto miners have successfully blocked the Department of Energy’s (DOE) survey of Bitcoin’s energy consumption in the US. A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the DOE from moving forward with data collection.Industry groups were quick to challenge the move in court. The Texas Blockchain Council and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms filed suit, contending that the DOE’s implementation of the survey as an “emergency” action was unlawful. “Weaponizing an agency against law-abiding…

This film hits just about every sweet spot possible: it is Icelandic and shot on black and white stock; it is a quirky road movie set in an unlikely place (Iceland); and it has a cute dog and features characters who knit. What is not love? If there had been cats and Ian McShane in a supporting role, it might have got five stars.However, writer-director Hilmar Oddsson doesn’t need to pander to specific tastes because it’s clear he knows exactly what he’s doing with this happy-sad comedy-drama, a film that hovers on the…

As a parent, you prepare yourself for various milestones: their first tooth, first step, first word. But here we were, my eldest daughter, Raffaella, and I, and it was her first real push asking for social media. She was 14. She had talked about it before, but more in curiosity – this time she was serious. She wanted it; specifically Snapchat. And she was at the negotiating table with that focused, steely look in her eye that I have always admired.I started negotiations with a simple question: “Why?” Her reasons were all…

All parents are proud of their children’s achievements, and the queen is clearly no exception.Tom Parker Bowles is among 21 writers chosen to provide a snapshot of contemporary literature as part of the 100th anniversary of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, in an initiative championed by his mother.The food writer joins Alan Bennett, poet laureate Simon Armitage and PEN Pinter prize winner Malorie Blackman in a modern-day miniature library of 4.5cm-high manuscripts.A tiny copy of A Recipe Fit for a Queen will sit alongside works…

Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletterStay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter It was the semen in the bathwater scene that did it. The moment my mother cracked. There we were, two nights ago – mum, me, dad, in that order – wedged on the sofa watching Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s lavish country-house thriller that’s had the nation clutching its pearls over Christmas with its squirm-inducing “scenes of a sexual nature”.…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Much has been made of the increasing presence of the "bank of mum and dad" in the lives of Australians. We know financial support from parents to adult children is increasingly used for entering the housing market. But our new research shows parents are also helping their young adult children in other ways, including…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeMacaulay Culkin was moved to tears during an emotional reunion with his Home Alone mother Catherine O’Hara at a ceremony to unveil his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today.In a heartfelt speech, O’Hara reflected on watching Culkin become an international star at the age of 10. “Home Alone was, is, and always will be a beloved global sensation,” she said. “The reason families…

2023 is a big year for Jacob Elordi. The 6-foot-5-inch “Euphoria” actor has been branded this year’s Austin Butler, with his own tortured turn as Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s biopic “Priscilla.” According to an extensive new GQ profile, the charismatic Australian actor, 26, also is considered the latest heir to the Hot Young Actor crown, which Elordi acknowledges has been historically bestowed upon some of his own favorite old Hollywood icons, including Marlon Brando, James Dean and Steve McQueen. But as much as…

A song that has had 94m plays on Spotify since its October release begins with 64 seconds of cosmic, atmospheric music. Over a burbling analogue synthesiser and occasional ornamentation from piano and trumpet, we hear a soft, female voice narrating a journey: “Travelling forever in the dark / Darkness into blackness.”This sample from Azimuth’s 1977 album track The Tunnel is followed by Drake and Yeat rapping on IDGAF, the second most played track from Drake’s UK/US No 1 album, For All the Dogs (“Fuck the bitch, I make her…