German castles and French megaliths become UNESCO World Heritage Sites
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
‘Fairytale’ Neuschwanstein Castle Becomes UNESCO Heritage Site
Neuschwanstein, perched on a rocky, 200m-high Alpine crag, is Germany’s most visited castle, with almost 1.5 million people flocking there every year. Three other royal residences, also constructed in the late 19th Century under the famously arts-obsessed King Ludwig II of Bavaria, were also added to the coveted list. Ludwig’s architectural legacy is today a source of pride in Bavaria — not to mention tourist revenue — they were part of the reason for his own downfall. The ruinous construction costs of the lavish residences led the Bavarian government to depose him, declaring him insane. The four castles have become “part of Bavarian identity” says Bavarian Castles Administration chief Peter Seibert, “iconic and perfectly embedded in a beautiful landscape”
Three other royal residences, also constructed in the late 19th Century under the famously arts-obsessed King Ludwig II of Bavaria, were also added to the coveted list: Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof and Schachen.
Neuschwanstein, perched on a rocky, 200m-high Alpine crag, is Germany’s most visited castle, with almost 1.5 million people flocking there every year.
“A fairytale comes true for our fairytale castles: We are #WorldHeritage!” Bavaria’s governor, Markus Soeder, wrote on X after the announcement.
Neuschwanstein combines an idealised medieval exterior with architectural techniques considered cutting-edge at the time.
Its main rooms are adorned with paintings of German and Nordic legends, the same stories that inspired composer Richard Wagner, for whom Ludwig was a generous patron.
Peter Seibert of the Bavarian Castles Administration (BSV) told AFP that the UNESCO listing “is a very great responsibility, but also recognition… for the work we have done so far in preservation”.
Philippe, a 52-year-old visitor from Canada, was surprised that the castle was not already a World Heritage Site.
“We’re lucky to still be able to experience this,” he said, calling the listing “a very good idea”.
Herrenchiemsee meanwhile evokes a Versailles in miniature on a lake between Munich and Salzburg, an homage to absolute monarch Louis XIV of France, whom Ludwig admired.
Indeed Ludwig nicknamed Herrencheimsee “Meicost-Ettal”, an anagram of Louis XIV’s alleged aphorism “L’Etat, c’est moit” (“I am the state”).
The third site in the UNESCO listing is the small castle of Linderhof, completed in 1878, the only one to have been finished in Ludwig’s lifetime.
It mixes elements of French Baroque architecture from the reign of Louis XIV with touches of the Rococo style developed in southern Germany.
Its park boasts an artificial cave inspired by Wagner’s opera Tannhaeuser, 90 metres long and up to 14 metres high, which houses a grotto of Venus and was designed as a personal retreat for Ludwig.
The electric lighting system used in the cave was state of the art at the time, with glass discs used to illuminate the grotto in different colours.
The last of the four sites on the list is Schachen, a royal house in the style of a large Swiss chalet, where Ludwig liked to celebrate the saint’s day of his namesake St Louis on August 25.
It is located at 1,800 metres above sea level, not far from Neuschwanstein.
The four castles have become “part of Bavarian identity” says Seibert, “iconic and perfectly embedded in a beautiful landscape”.
Ironically, while Ludwig’s architectural legacy is today a source of pride in Bavaria — not to mention tourist revenue — they were part of the reason for his own downfall.
The ruinous construction costs of the lavish residences led the Bavarian government to depose him, declaring him insane.
Interned in Berg Palace, he died shortly afterwards in mysterious circumstances at Lake Starnberg.
The New Palace of Herrenchiemsee Castlein Bavaria, pictured on July 11, 2015 (Credit: AFP)
Linderhof Castle near Oberammergau, southern Germany pictured on July 10, 2025. (Credit: AFP)
Is Trump already softening his plans for 100% movie tariffs?
Donald Trump announced he would impose 100 per cent tariffs on films shot outside of the US. Now, the president seems to have softened his plans, saying: “I’m not looking to hurt the industry, I want to help the industry.” It remains unknown whether Trump’s tariff plan only applies to foreign films, or if it will include US productions that are partially filmed overseas. Trump also took aim – once again – at California state governor Gavin Newsom, saying the film industry “has been decimated by other countries taking them out”. The White House said that “no final decision on foreign film tariffs have been made” and that it is ‘exploring all options’ to deliver on the president’’ his directive to safeguard US national security.
Following the bombshell announcement made by Donald Trump earlier this week stating he would be athorising 100 per cent tariffs on films made outside the US, the president seems to have softened his plans. Maybe.
Trump previously wrote that: “The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda!”
Now, Trump is seemingly softening his approach, saying at The White House: “I’m not looking to hurt the industry, I want to help the industry. So we’re going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they’re happy with it because we’re all about jobs.”
As per CNBC, Kush Desai, White House Deputy Press Secretary, told press that “no final decision on foreign film tariffs have been made.” Desai added: “The Administration is exploring all options to deliver on President Trump’s directive to safeguard our country’s national and economic security while Making Hollywood Great Again.”
Donald Trump and Jon Voight at the White House – 2020 AP Photo
It was also revealed that Trump’s decision to impose 100 per cent tariffs on films shot outside of the US comes after he was pitched the idea by actor Jon Voight – one of Trump’s newly appointed ambassadors to Hollywood.
“By creating the right environment through smart incentives, updated policies, and much-needed support, we can ensure that American production companies thrive, more jobs stay here at home, and Hollywood once again leads the world in creativity and innovation,” Voight said in a statement.
Voight and his manager Steven Paul reportedly submitted a “comprehensive plan” detailing what “changes need to be made to increase domestic film production.”
These plans have not yet been made public, and it remains unknown whether Trump’s tariff plan only applies to foreign films, or if it will include US productions that are partially filmed overseas.
Trump also took aim – once again – at California state governor Gavin Newsom, saying the film industry “has been decimated by other countries taking them out, and also by incompetence, like in Los Angeles, the governor is a grossly incompetent man, he’s just allowed it to be taken away from”.
Trump added: “Hollywood doesn’t do very much of that business, they have the nice sign, and everything’s good, but they don’t do very much.”
Newsom’s office responded with a statement saying: “Governor Newsom continues to champion California’s iconic film and television industry – recognising it as a cornerstone of the state’s economy, one that sustains hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs across every sector around the state.”
The statement went on to say: “(Newsom’s) plan to more than double the state’s film and television tax credit reflects a commitment to keeping production here at home, supporting workers and maintaining California’s global leadership in entertainment. If the President announces a proposal with more details, we will review it.”
In the meantime, there are more questions than clear answers regarding these tariffs. Will they actually happen? Will streaming services be impacted? Are production plans at risk of being stalled?
Confusion reigns as Trump damages through muddied threats the very industry he claims to be supporting… Until he loses focus and moves on to another confused tariff plan.
Cannes 2024 review: ‘Megalopolis’ – Francis Ford Coppola’s disastrous folly
Megalopolis is billed as a “Roman epic” and “A Fable” The film is a self-financed $120 million passion project. The leaden script spouts out some truisms with the pomposity of a sixteen-year-old’s smoked cabbage. The film has to be seen to be believed, but it’s a mad jumble of heteroclitic strands that defy basic storytelling and dramatic coherence. It’s a modern re-imagining of a Roman tragedy about the fall of empires and the role of the visionary in a crumbling world. The movie is directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the man behind The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and The Conversation, and is set in New Rome, a decadent metropolis formerly known as New York. It stars Adam Driver, Grace VanderWaal, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, Julia Emmanuel and Shia LaBeouf. It was released on Friday.
This is the toughest review I’ve had to write in a long time.
It borders on impossible, as I stopped noting down plot points for Megalopolis very early on in my attempt to take notes during the screening, as this insane baroque fever dream billed as a “Roman epic” and “A Fable” defies all description.
Megalopolis has to be seen to be believed.
And I don’t mean that in a good way.
I don’t care if it’s the likely swansong from the veteran filmmaker behind such classics as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and The Conversation. Nor do I care to entertain those who’ll delude themselves into thinking that Megalopolis is some sort of magnum opus from a filmmaker with nothing left to lose, giving his grandiose folly a pass because the director’s self-financed $120 million passion project represents a go-for-broke high-concept allegory on Art in the future.
No, Megalopolis is an embarrassment of the highest order, Coppola’s Cloud Atlas by way of Southland Tales. And even that sounds better than it actually is.
I’ll attempt to walk you through the basic story of this unwieldy mess.
It takes place in a decadent metropolis called New Rome, formerly New York. How do we know it’s decadent? Because there’s a party with the presence of decadence incarnate for filmmakers wishing to show that the world is all topsy turvy: lesbians. Gasp!
The newly anointed Mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) is embroiled in a bitter rivalry with architect Cesar Catalina (Adam Driver), the visionary head of the city’s Design Authority division. He’s tortured and likes monologuing while Dustin Hoffman and James Remar stand in the background doing sweet fuck all.
Oh, and Cesar has the canny (and unexplained) ability to stop time when he chooses.
Don’t ask.
Catalina has created a Nobel Prize-winning material called Megalon, with which he plans to revitalize New Rome’s infrastructure. He’s having an affair with shock journo minx Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza, giving it socks), who has also got her eye on Catalina’s banker uncle, Hamilton Crassus III (Jon Voight). Crassus’ grandson, Clodio (Shia LaBeouf) fosters a grudge against his cousin and desires nothing more than to inherit his grandfather’s empire – and later takes on a Trumpian agenda to take over the city.
It then goes fully Montague-Capulet when Cesar falls for Cicero’s daughter Julia, played by Nathalie Emmanuel, who tries her best with a barely dimensional character but can’t hold the screen as one of the many wooden female props in this film who are all cartoonish clichés in the orbit of *sound the trumpets* MALE GENIUS.
And from there, it’s all a mad jumble of heteroclitic strands that defy basic storytelling and dramatic coherence.
There’s a Taylor Swift avatar named Vesta Sweetwater (Grace VanderWaal) who performs a song about her pledge to remain virginal until marriage while wealthy crowds are asked to donate money to assist in her vow. Clodio doctors footage of Vesta sleeping with Cesar, which temporarily tanks his reputation. But then that’s resolved in mere minutes.
Laurence Fishburne narrates Coppola’s pretentious dialogue, which quotes Shakespeare, Petrarch and Marcus Aurelius in its bid to be a modern re-imagining of a Roman tragedy about the fall of empires and the role of the visionary in a crumbling world.
The leaden script spouts out some scribbled truisms on the elusive meaning of time and the danger of utopias, all with the earnest pomposity of a sixteen-year-old who’s smoked a bad batch of the devil’s cabbage – something which may or may not be accurate, if the reports are true. Except that the director’s 85.
Jon Voight at one point calls Aubrey Plaza a ‘Wall Street slut” before shooting an arrow at her heart while she’s wearing a very revealing Cleopatra outfit. At least that part was fun.
And then there was the happening, which occurred midway through the press screening I attended. Someone came on stage with a microphone in order to interact with the film for less than 2 minutes.
Seriously, don’t ask.
For a minute, I thought there was something wrong with the projector, and while I’m all for pushing the envelope and the boundaries of an artistic medium, this useless and planned gimmicky crap made me wish the screening had fallen prey to a technical issue.
Oh, and how could I forget the muddled inclusion of a tree sculpted swastika, as well as an out-of-bollock-nowhere montage that features Hitler, Mussolini and 9/11, as well as the all-important plot point centred around a Soviet satellite that’s about to crash into New Rome. It’s mentioned, briefly shown, and then forgotten about.
Seriously, pour one out for the distribution team, who can only coast on Coppola’s name at this point to sell this film.
“What’s a seven-letter word for God’s revenge on mankind?” asks Wow Platinum.
The answer’s “Pandora.”
I’ve got another one for you: “What’s a 11-letter word that represents dull visual exuberance, bland performances, and is an exhausting reminder that Coppola now adds his name to the list of an aging generation of self-involved directors incapable of distinguishing a good idea from a piss poor one, who apparently are destined to cap off their careers with demented duds vying for cult classic status?”
The answer’s “Megalopolis.”
Please God, may David Cronenberg’s latest film in Competition be worth the trip to Cannes, otherwise his name risks making the list too.
But let’s not tempt fate. For now, I’ll just come to terms how the man who directed The Godfather has proven himself capable of one of the most hubristically misguided and awful passion projects I’ve ever seen. In this respect, at least the title is on point.
Megalopolis premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Distribution pending.
Euronews Culture’s Film of the Week: ‘Late Night With The Devil’
Late Night With The Devil stars David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon and Ian Bliss. Based on a true story of a syndicated late-night talk show in the 1970s. Directed by Australian brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes. Reviewer says the film hits many of the familiar possession movie beats, but still manages to keep you on its Exorcist -meets- Network -Meets-The King of Comedy hook. But there is a case to be made that the film could have been more metatextually commenting on the mass-media, and the price people pay for success. However, they understand that they are jangling paranoia through period context rather than outright scares, and that their premise lends itself more to the Satanic Panic canon, if you haven’t read “Satanic Panic in the 1980s” by Kieran Kieran O’Brien. The film is now out in cinemas in the UK, with a US release date to come later this year. For more information on Late Night With the Devil, visit IFC Films.
There’s been quite a bit of buzz surrounding Australian directing duo Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ Late Night With The Devil, which premiered over a year ago at SXSW Festival in the US.
After some time on the festival circuit, a few wins along the way (Best Screenplay at the 56th Sitges Film Festival; Grand Prix at Hallucinations Collectives), and even a Stephen King endorsement, it’s finally out in cinemas. It even tallied up a suspiciously satanic $666,666 gross on its third day in the US. No joke.
All promising signs that we’re in for something special.
Late Night With The Devil sets the scene with a lengthy voiceover narration from Michael Ironside. We meet Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian), who seems to be the eternal talk show bridesmaid to Johnny Carson’s bride. His late-night show, Night Owls with Jack Delroy, has a solid following, and even experienced an audience spike when the host returned to the screen after the death of his wife. However, even Delroy’s highest ratings put him in second place.
What he wouldn’t give for a shot at the title…
The opportunity comes on Sweeps Week on Halloween night of 1977. With ratings sliding and his contract about to expire, it’s time for a Hail Mary pass.
The night’s spooky guests are medium Christou (Fayssal Bazzi), former conjurer turned sceptic debunker Carmichael (Ian Bliss), and parapsychologist Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), who has just written a book about her time with her patient Lilly (Ingrid Torelli). The prim and a-little-bit-too-proper-for-comfort girl, a survivor of a mass cult suicide, claims to be possessed by a demon she calls “Mr. Wriggles”.
We’re sure that Captain Howdy nod won’t come up once the cameras start rolling…
David Dastmalchian as Jack Delroy IFC Films
As the opening monologue informs us, what we watch during the runtime is the long-lost master tape of the live broadcast, complete with monochrome behind-the-scenes footage when the adverts are running in real time.
The Cairnes brothers’ steady commitment to the found footage premise is laudable throughout, as the film plays out with brightly coloured wide shots and handheld segments. Linger on it too much and some aspects don’t hold up completely; but on the whole, it’s impressive how they manage to find a fresh angle for a played-out horror subgenre. Add their dedication to the 70s aesthetic, with period-appropriate decor and boxy aspect ratios, and you’ll quickly find yourself immersed in kitschy syndicated TV land.
Also admirable is the fact that Late Night With The Devil hits many of the familiar possession movie beats, but still manages to keep you on its Exorcist -meets- Network -meets-The King of Comedy hook. This is due in part to the enveloping period mood it recreates and the performances. Torelli is almost as chilling when she’s not displaying the evil entity as when she is – with those unnerving empty smiles to-camera not reassuring in the slightest. As for Dastmalchian, he delivers the goods for his first leading role. After a series of memorable appearances in The Dark Knight, Ant-Man and Dune, he strikes the right balance between the aw-shucks Midwestern act and the long-toothed careerist desperately seeking to hoover up America’s viewership. He’s buttressed here by the equally tricky but astute balancing act the directors achieve in making Late Night With The Devil not too self-conscious but knowingly ironic in the right places.
Ingrid Torelli, Laura Gordon and David Dastmalchian IFC Films
Some dreadheads may come out frustrated from the lack of scares, but there’s a case to be made that the Cairnes aren’t seeking to make you jump out of your seat.
Their satire could have been a smidge more metatextually potent by further commenting on the TV industry, whether seeing is believing in mass-media, and the price people pay for success. However, they understand that their ingenious premise lends itself more to nerve jangling paranoia through period context rather than outright scares.
Because, at the end of the day, Late Night With The Devil adds itself to the Satanic Panic canon.
Incidentally, if you haven’t read “Satanic Panic: Pop Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s” by Kier-La Janisse, get thee to a bookstore. Online or in person. Aren’t shops nice, though?
By including elements of Watergate and the Manson killings in the intro, sprinkling references to Masonic cults in the woods, as well as establishing the new era as “a time of unrest” in which a talk show “helps an anxious nation forget its troubles”, the directors deftly paint the portrait of the death of the Swinging Sixties in the US – a country where mass public hysteria and widespread distrust are depressingly familiar cornerstones. This is brought home in the film’s final stretch and its surreal leanings, which may polarise considering the build-up, but will find a sweet spot for many.
So, while it’s not the absolute slam-dunk that the hype somewhat unfairly preps you for, Late Night With The Devil is a devilish little gem that never feels like a shameless Exorcist rip-off, and stands alongside Stopmotion as one of this year’s most memorable horror offerings.
And now, a word from our sponsors…
Late Night With The Devil is out now.
Have we been getting Snow White wrong all these years?
The Mandela Effect is a phenomenon that refers to people sharing a collective, inaccurate memory of an event, an image, a phrase that never happened. One of our favourite X-Files episodes is Season 11 Episode 4’s The Lost Art of the Lost Art Forehead. Check it out: The Mandela Effect, Season 11, Episode 4’s ‘The Lost Art Of The Lost’ and Season 11’ of ‘X-Files’ on CNN.com, Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Sunday at 10 a.m., Monday at 11 a.M. ET. Click here to watch the full episode: “The lost art of the lost art forehead”. Watch the full season 11 episode of “X- Files” on CNN, Saturday, March 10 at 10:30pm ET/ PT, Sunday, March 11 at 9:30am ET, Monday, March 12 at 9am ET. See www.cnn.com/2013/03/01/13/x-fans/magnetic-fantasies-season-11-the-lost-art-forehead-thelost-futures-season
You’ve all heard of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, right?
The orphan-turned-scullery maid because of her wicked stepmother… The pale beauty who threatens the evil Queen as “the fairest in all of the land” in the first animated feature film produced in the US. You know the one.
Well, as a welcome break from all the online bashing concerning the race-swapped remake which has been pushed back to 2025 because of the backlash and the fact that the House of Mouse is not doing so well right now, it may seem like audiences have been getting the 1937 classic all wrong.
What’s the scene you remember the most?
No, not the apple bit. The part when the Queen talks to her mirror, asking the reflective surface if she’s still the hottest, and she gets the reply: “Thou, O Queen, art the fairest in the land” – which later turns to “Snow White, O Queen, is the fairest of them all.”
That part.
Incidentally, are we sure the whole talking mirror bit wasn’t the envious matriarch having a full-blown mental breakdown and that the object wasn’t just inanimately minding its own business, thereby revealing that Queenie needed a hefty dose of therapy? Food for thought… But back to the scene.
What does the Queen say?
If you automatically went to: “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?’, you’re not alone.
The iconic line is enshrined in pop and cinematic culture. Right? Right???
Wrong.
A TikTok has shocked many online after the user, creator @wordwaster333, realised that it was never “Mirror mirror”, but rather “Magic mirror.”
Cue: startlement, confusion, and the reigniting of the ever-present fear that we’re all living in a Matrix -style simulation and we’re experiencing another glitch.
The video tallied more than 10 million views, with the general consensus being that it’s another example of the Mandela Effect.
If you’re not familiar with the term, the Mandela Effect is a rather fascinating phenomenon that refers to people sharing a collective, inaccurate memory (an event, an image, a phrase) that never happened.
It got its name in 2009 from Fiona Broome (a self-described paranormal researcher), who referred to the false memory thousands of people held when they claimed to remember news coverage of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s, despite the fact he died in 2013.
Notable examples of these false memories include Mr. Monopoly donning a monocle (he doesn’t); Mickey Mouse wearing suspenders (nope); Star Wars’ C-3P0 being entirely golden (he has a silver leg); there’s no hyphen in between “Kit” and “Kat”; it’s a beautiful day in this neighbourhood (not “in the neighbourhood”); it’s Sex And The City, not “In”); it’s never been Looney Toones but Looney Tunes; and many people are still convinced that New Zealand is located northeast of Australia, when it’s in fact southeast of the country.
That last one is less about the Mandela Effect and not enough time spent nose-deep in an Atlas… But we’ll give it a pass.
Confabulation, misleading information spread on social media and the role of Internet could all be explanations. After all, the effect has grown in the digital age, and with the frantic pace information is consumed nowadays, false memories aren’t exactly surprising.
We’re still banking on alternate realities though.
If you’re interested, one of our favourite X Files episodes, Season 11 Episode 4’s The Lost Art of the Forehead Sweat, deals with and satirizes the phenomenon – with Trump and his MAGA bunch getting bashed in the process. Check it out.
Over the years, the collective misremembering has sparked discussions about reality, the trustworthiness of memories, the possibility that the multiverse exists, and that there is a shadowy cabal altering beloved pop culture mainstays in order to induce collective psychosis.
Now, it would seem that a fresh bunch awoken to the fact they’ve fallen prey to the Mandela Effect with the misquoting of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as the line in the film actually starts with “Magic mirror on the wall.”
Proof! Disney – YouTube
To be fair, few recall the line accurately, and it probably doesn’t help that Julia Roberts and Lily Collins starred in a 2012 live-action film based on Snow White called Mirror Mirror…
However, to soothe you and your paranoia, dear reader, there’s a possibility that some are not real victims of the Mandela Effect here.
You see, the original Brothers Grimm tale uses “Mirror mirror”; it’s only the Disney animation that refers to it as “Magic mirror”.
So technically, you’re not wrong either way with the Queen’s famous line. Unless you bite the bullet and admit to yourself and others that you’ve never read the original Grimm (by name, grim by nature) tale, and therefore can’t use this particular loophole. In which case, you’ve been Mandela-ed!
Oh, and incidentally, Darth Vader says “No, I am your father”, not “Luke, I am your father” in The Empire Strikes Back.
Keep the film nerds in your life happy.