From Dorset to the world: wave of donations helps to secure Cerne giant’s home

It feels like a very British monument: a huge chalk figure carved into a steep Dorset hillside that for centuries has intrigued lovers of English folklore and legend. But an appeal to raise money to help protect the Cerne giant – and the wildlife that shares the landscape it towers over – has shown that its allure stretches far beyond the UK.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more

Catherine O’Hara managed to make difficult characters utterly delightful

One of the later and less beloved Christopher Guest comedies featuring his troupe of peerless, often SCTV-related improvisers is For Your Consideration, a medium-funny savaging of Hollywood’s feverish awards-season prestige campaigning.The film’s unquestionable highlight is Catherine O’Hara, playing an actor who gets a whisper of awards buzz for a schlocky, still-filming drama called Home for Purim, and slowly loses her mind with the knowledge that she could maybe, possibly be recognized by her peers. O’Hara, known for her distinctively brassy yet malleable trill of her voice and her frequently red hair, peels back her performer’s bravado to expose the frenzied need beneath it. She somehow plays the outsized beneath the regular-sized, as her Marilyn Hack goes from plugging-away workhorse to desperate striver. Unsurprisingly, O’Hara briefly generated awards buzz of her own for playing this part; even less surprisingly, an Oscar nomination was not forthcoming

Randa Abdel-Fattah and Louise Adler to headline alternative to cancelled Adelaide writers’ week

The two figures at the centre of the Adelaide festival controversy will reunite to headline the alternative to the cancelled 2026 Adelaide writers’ week.Palestinian Australian academic and writer Randa Abdel-Fattah and AWW’s former director Louise Adler will appear together at Constellations: Not Writers’ Week, a hastily compiled series of events scheduled to start on 28 February in response to the Adelaide festival board’s decision to scrap Australia’s flagship annual literary festival.Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to speak in 2026 was withdrawn by the board after controversy and complaints over her past statements, including a social media post claiming Zionists had “no claim to cultural safety” and a Facebook profile image of a paraglider with a Palestinian flag parachute, which was posted the day after the 7 October attack on Israel.Abdel-Fattah recently told the Full Story podcast that the “cultural safety” statement had been taken out of context and that the paraglider image was “an iconic symbol of freedom” for Palestinians under siege.Adler, who resigned in protest at the decision, will appear in conversation at the Adelaide town hall on 1 March

From Nouvelle Vague to Mock the Week: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

Nouvelle VagueOut now Never bet against Richard Linklater: the veteran director (Dazed and Confused, Boyhood) loves turning his hand to different genres, and his latest is a typically mellow dramatisation of the period in French film history that saw the likes of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol shake off their lives as critics and become bona fide film legends.Is This Thing On?Out nowIt sounds like an improbable standup bit in itself, but no: here we have a Hollywood comedy inspired by the life of the UK’s own John Bishop. Will Arnett plays the man in a troubled marriage who decides to give open mic a go and is a surprise hit, while Laura Dern plays his wife. Directed by Bradley Cooper (yes, the Bradley Cooper).PrimateOut nowCome on now, people: chimpanzees are unsuitable enough as pets to start with

Colbert on Springsteen’s anti-ICE song: ‘Do you know how hard it is to rhyme with Minneapolis?’

Late-night hosts spoke about Bruce Springsteen’s anti-ICE song and Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on Ilhan Omar.On The Late Show, Stephen Colbert spoke about Trump’s “plunging popularity over his goons’ brutality”, which has reportedly left him unsettled and backed into a corner, according to reports.Colbert said that was the most dangerous place for him to be because “if you startle him when he’s cornered, he’ll inflate his neck pouch”.The “incredibly unpopular mass deportations” have also led Bruce Springsteen to write a fiery anti-ICE song called Streets of Minneapolis.The much-loved musician previously wrote a song about the Aids crisis called Streets of Philadelphia

I’ve read this picture book so many times – but only 25 years later do I really understand it | Lenore Taylor

When my son was small, he and my dad liked to read Mem Fox’s 1984 picture book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge.The book, which was illustrated by Julie Vivas and is competing in Guardian Australia’s reader poll of the best Australian children’s picture book of all time, is about a boy called Wilfrid climbing through the fence to visit the aged care home next door. He meets many interesting people there, including Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper, who had four names like Wilfrid, but who, according to Wilfrid’s parents, had “lost her memory”.Wilfrid brings Nancy treasures and each helps her remember something fleeting but lovely from her life. An egg reminds her of a bird’s nest in her aunt’s garden, and a shell reminds her of going to the beach in a tram long ago, and how hot she had felt in her button-up boots