The Brutalist director Brady Corbet: ‘If you’re not daring to suck, you’re not doing much’

The film-maker’s latest is a three and-a-half-hour epic about the building of a modernist masterpiece, and the toll its creation takes on its architect. The film’s making was almost as gruelling. ‘People told me I’d never make another movie’, Corbet says

As a media columnist, even I found myself turning away from the news in 2024. But we can do things differently

More people are avoiding ‘boring’ or ‘depressing’ news for scrolling social media, but accurate reporting has never been more vital, says Guardian columnist Jane Martinson

The god illusion: why the pope is so popular as a deepfake image

Experts explain the pontiff’s appeal as the most recent AI images of Francis, with the singer Madonna, go viral

How YouTube (and Skibidi Toilet) changed the Christmas toys market

The shift from live TV to video platforms has made toy makers and sellers rethink products and where to sell them

Can I survive for 24 hours without GPS navigation?

Spatial memory is a use-it-or-lose it commodity, so I gave life without Google Maps a try

US judge finds Pegasus spyware maker liable over WhatsApp hack

WhatsApp celebrates victory as judge finds Israeli company NSO Group violated state and federal US hacking laws

Marisa Paredes obituary

Spanish star of films by Pedro Almodóvar, Guillermo del Toro and Roberto Benigni, and a champion of leftwing causes

Workers in Saudi Arabia say Amazon failed to compensate them for labor abuses: ‘They played a game against me’

Thirty-three of 44 current and former contract workers who paid large recruiting fees say they didn’t receive refunds after working within the company’s Saudi operations

Dead Hard review – yippee ki-why bother?

Hands Grubby takes over Nakablowme Tower in a slapdash camp parody of Die Hard

The Golden Globes gift bag contains gin, treadmills and a facelift – but there’s a catch

The Globes’ gift bags are worth $1m – but hopefuls such as Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett and Daniel Craig are advised to read the first come, first served small print

Best movies of 2024 in the US: No 1 – The Brutalist

Brady Corbet’s ambitious saga starring a fantastic Adrien Brody as a Hungarian architect seeking a new life in the US, is a colossal achievement

The 50 best movies of 2024 in the US

In a fantastic year for film, a Colson Whitehead novel had an unconventional adaptation, an erotic dancer was betrayed by a bratty oligarch’s son and misfit teens found themselves in a 90s TV show

The US supreme court’s TikTok case will put free expression on the line

Let’s hope the court does the right thing, and strikes down this potential censorship before it spins out of control

The Godfather Part II at 50: Francis Ford Coppola’s sprawling masterpiece

After the recent release of his misbegotten saga Megalopolis, the anniversary of his crime drama sequel serves as a perfect reminder of the director’s abilities

Paul McCartney and Wings: One Hand Clapping to ISS – the seven best films to watch on TV this week

Macca is on superfun form in this rocking new documentary, plus a totally tense movie about nuclear war breaking out – happy holidays!