https://www.scmp.com/rss/524520/feed William Shakespeare was an English poet and actor, widely celebrated as the greatest writer in the English language. Often called England’s national poet and the "Bard of Avon," his prolific career involved crafting numerous iconic plays across genres like tragedies, comedies, and histories. His responsibilities included developing compelling narratives and memorable characters that continue to be performed globally. His expertise lay in profound human insight, masterful command of language, and... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press Politically charged thriller One Battle After Another took six prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards (Baftas) on Sunday, building momentum ahead of the Oscars next month. Blues-steeped vampire epic Sinners and gothic horror story Frankenstein won three awards each, while Shakespearean family tragedy Hamnet was named best British film. Jessie Buckley, as widely predicted, won the best actress prize for playing a grieving mother and wife of William Shakespeare, Agnes... https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/3344282/one-battle-after-another-wins-6-prizes-including-best-picture-uk-baftas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/film-tv/article/3344282/one-battle-after-another-wins-6-prizes-including-best-picture-uk-baftas?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Feb 2026 22:02:46 +0000 Ishani Sarkar Ishani Sarkar HBO’s Industry is a gift that keeps on giving. The banking drama starring Myha’la, Ken Leung, Charlie Heaton and Kit Harington is currently on its fourth season, and with each episode, it’s getting darker. Viewers aren’t complaining though, with Industry one of the most watched TV shows on HBO Max, per streaming data collection website FlixPatrol. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Industry on HBO (@industryhbo) Episode five, Eyes Without a Face,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3343479/meet-toheeb-jimoh-who-plays-kwabena-bannerman-hbos-industry-alongside-myhala?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3343479/meet-toheeb-jimoh-who-plays-kwabena-bannerman-hbos-industry-alongside-myhala?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press During the emotionally wrecking final scene of Hamnet, Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal had an issue. “There were moments where the camera was obstructing us,” Buckley recalls. “We were like: ‘No, we have to see each other.’ “And then the minute we did see each other, it was like ‘Oh, no,’” Mescal says, laughing. “What a glorious thing.” In Hamnet, Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s prize-winning 2020 novel, Mescal plays William Shakespeare and Buckley his wife, Agnes. It is a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3335726/chloe-zhaos-hamnet-jessie-buckley-and-paul-mescal-went-emotional-epic-journey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3335726/chloe-zhaos-hamnet-jessie-buckley-and-paul-mescal-went-emotional-epic-journey?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:15:08 +0000 Jill Lander Jill Lander It’s December 2025, marking the Rat Month from December 7 to January 4. The elements of the month are Yang Earth and Water. The Earth Rat, wu zi, represents the 11th and penultimate month of the Chinese calendar. The energy of 2025 asked for a letting-go attitude; 2026 asks you to rise and shine with an encouraging, renewed perspective. In traditional Chinese culture, the energy of those born under the sign of the Rat (1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008 and 2020) is highly playful and active,... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3335329/your-horoscopes-december-2025-month-earth-rat-work-money-and-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/lifestyle/leisure/article/3335329/your-horoscopes-december-2025-month-earth-rat-work-money-and-health?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Dec 2025 06:00:23 +0000 Sumnima Kandangwa Sumnima Kandangwa Based on Michelle Frances’ novel of the same name, The Girlfriend is Prime Video’s latest psychological thriller, which premiered on September 10. The series stars Robin Wright – who also directed three episodes – and follows her character Laura, a possessive mother who grows suspicious of her son Daniel’s beautiful new girlfriend, Cherry. The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of Laura and Cherry (played by Olivia Cooke), and pits the two women against each other. Struggling to... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3333400/meet-laurie-davidson-who-plays-mamas-boy-daniel-girlfriend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/celebrities/article/3333400/meet-laurie-davidson-who-plays-mamas-boy-daniel-girlfriend?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 10:00:34 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. After Beijing announced sweeping export controls last week on rare earths and other critical minerals, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went ballistic. “Maybe there is some Leninist business model where hurting your customers is a good idea, but they are the largest supplier to the world,” he said. Someone from Beijing might have retorted that Washington has been running on some fascist business model whereby it is upending the entire global trade... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3329222/us-threats-decouple-china-only-expose-its-own-vulnerability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3329222/us-threats-decouple-china-only-expose-its-own-vulnerability?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Oct 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Hamnet, a devastating period drama about the life of William Shakespeare and his family, won the top prize on Sunday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The heart-wrenching film stars Paul Mescal as Shakespeare, who tries to forge a career as a playwright while his wife Agnes – played by Jessie Buckley – contends with the perils of plague and childbirth in Elizabethan England. It comes from Beijing-born director Chloé Zhao, who directed 2020’s Oscar-winning Nomadland. Securing the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325517/chloe-zhaos-shakespeare-family-tragedy-hamnet-wins-top-toronto-film-prize?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3325517/chloe-zhaos-shakespeare-family-tragedy-hamnet-wins-top-toronto-film-prize?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2025 19:08:48 +0000 Teja Lele Teja Lele “The world is a book,” 4th century theologian St Augustine is believed to have said, “and those who do not travel read only one page.” But what if the journey and an actual book were combined? Rejecting checklist-driven tourism, destination book clubs curate escapes that bring together literature lovers in locations that are themselves characters in their respective tales. And appealing to those craving such connection, companies like Books in Places, the Enchanted Book Club and Avalon... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3320124/book-inspired-holidays-follow-footsteps-authors-agatha-christie-marquez?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/travel/article/3320124/book-inspired-holidays-follow-footsteps-authors-agatha-christie-marquez?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:00:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump used an antisemitism slur during a rally in Iowa as he celebrated the passage of his tax cuts and spending bill but insisted he did not know the word was offensive to Jewish people. “No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases Shylocks and bad people,” Trump told the crowd on Thursday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The term “Shylock” is borrowed from William Shakespeare’s The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3317040/trump-uses-antisemitism-slur-shylock-rally-denies-knowing-its-offensive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3317040/trump-uses-antisemitism-slur-shylock-rally-denies-knowing-its-offensive?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jul 2025 14:28:47 +0000 James Marsh James Marsh It is with decidedly mixed feelings that audiences approach season two of Netflix’s The Sandman. They may be eager on the one hand to witness more of the show adapted from Neil Gaiman’s long-thought-unfilmable comic book series, but crestfallen in the knowledge that the series has now been cancelled, following a string of sexual assault accusations levelled at Gaiman. It is somewhat ironic that after decades spent languishing in development hell – where it was repeatedly dismembered and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3316740/sandman-season-2-netflixs-ambitious-adaptation-neil-gaimans-fantasy-epic-returns?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3316740/sandman-season-2-netflixs-ambitious-adaptation-neil-gaimans-fantasy-epic-returns?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jul 2025 07:00:09 +0000