Ookwemin Minising Aerial photo with project area outline. Credit: Waterfront Toronto Global professional services company, GHD, and Danish nature-based design studio, SLA, have been awarded the role of prime consultant by Waterfront Toronto for phase one of infrastructure and streetscape design for a new island community. Formerly known as Villiers Island, Ookwemin Minising is a new island born from an ambitious flood protection and river restoration project. The Don River, a historic gathering place, will be at the heart of this future community. The island, which is planned to be home to more than 15,000 people, will also be a destination where people will visit to relax and explore. The first new residents of this island community are expected to move in by 2031. For the project, GHD, the prime consultant and technical lead, and SLA, design lead for urban realm and landscape, will deliver a new urban environment that aims to honour the legacy of the Don River through an approach rooted in resilient infrastructure, cultural memory and deep ecological integration. Drawing inspiration from global precedents and local Indigenous knowledge, the team’s “Growing Streets” concept proposes streetscapes that evolve like living ecosystems. “This project represents a significant milestone for Toronto’s waterfront revitalization,” said Chris Hunter, GHD chief executive officer for the Americas. “By integrating innovative engineering with responsive design, our team will help create infrastructure that’s not just functional, but truly adaptive to community needs while honoring the ecological transformation nearing completion at the Don River mouth. This approach exemplifies our commitment to building resilient systems that evolve with the communities they serve.” The team, which includes architects Allies and Morrison, will integrate design for streetscapes and public realm with a review of the density and built form on the island, building on years of planning to realize this new neighbourhood. “Tri-government investment unlocked the potential of the Port Lands, allowing us to create a brand new island,” says Chris Glaisek, chief planning and design officer at Waterfront Toronto. “Now, renewed investment in waterfront revitalization means this new island is ready to launch. By integrating design for streets and public realm with a review of built form on the island, this team can build on the planning done by the City of Toronto, Waterfront Toronto and CreateTO to deliver as much new housing as possible, while building a truly world-class neighbourhood.” At the heart of the team’s vision for Ookwemin Minising lies a next-practice model for climate-adaptive urbanism. Guided by seven core principles, including surface-level rainwater management, soil repurposing, native vegetation and social spaces that foster mobility and interaction, the design will champion active mobility through integrated pedestrian and biodiversity corridors woven throughout the island. These corridors can provide optimal microclimates for outdoor comfort while managing storm water, linking and strengthening ecologies and connecting people with nature. Informed by leading examples from cities like Copenhagen, Oslo, and London, the design will seek to maximize sustainability without relying on future technologies. “We’re thrilled to bring our Growing Streets vision to life in Toronto,” said Rasmus Astrup, design principal and partner at SLA. “This is urban design at its most alive – where trees, water, wind, soil and people grow and flow together. The streetscape design of Ookwemin Minising is not just about infrastructure, it’s about creating a living cityscape that breathes with the seasons, nurtures biodiversity and supports everyday life in inspiring, joyful ways. In Ookwemin Minising, every street becomes a celebration – of the land, of the water, of our heritage and of all the life of Toronto.” The infrastructure designs for Ookwemin Minising will incorporate  plantings, nature-integrated public seating, and climate-buffering vegetation to create a vibrant and adaptive civic experience. The team envisions a design that would build public awareness of ecological processes while enhancing urban resilience and well-being. The vision embraces a holistic design approach that integrates street configurations, building scales, and public spaces to create a cohesive and sustainable community. Rooted in the values of the surrounding Port Lands and celebrating the area’s enduring industrial, maritime and Indigenous histories, the team’s design for Ookwemin Minising will aim to set a new benchmark for culturally and ecologically responsive waterfront development in North America. The project will be brought to life by a group of industry-leading consultants, including:  GHD (prime consultant): Engineering design services, planning services, environmental services and construction administration SLA: Design lead for urban realm and landscape Trophic Design: Co-designer with SLA for Indigenous landscape design and knowledge Transsolar: Sustainability and low-carbon infrastructure systems Monumental Projects: Public engagement and community outreach Level Playing Field: Accessibility services Allies and Morrison: Architectural lead   The post GHD and SLA teaming up to deliver major infrastructure design for Toronto’s newest island appeared first on Canadian Architect.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Like shopping on Amazon itself, Prime Video can sometimes feel like a jumble sale: a proliferation of TV and movies from every era, none of it terribly well-curated. There’s a lot to sort through, and the choices can be a little overwhelming. Presentation issues aside, there are some real gems to be found, as long as you’re willing to dig a bit—the streamer offers more than a few impressive exclusives, though they sometimes get lost amid the noise. Here are 20 of the best TV series Prime Video has to offer, including both ongoing and concluded shows.Overcompensating (2025 – ) Comedian Benito Skinner plays himself, sort of, in this buzzy comedy that sees a former high school jock facing his freshman year in college, desperately trying to convince himself and everyone else that he's as straight as they come (relatable, except for the jock part). Much of the show's appeal is in its deft blending of tones: It's a frequently raunchy college comedy, but it's simultaneously a sweet coming-of-age story about accepting yourself without worrying about what everyone else thinks. The impressive cast includes Adam DiMarco (The White Lotus) and Rish Shah (Ms. Marvel) You can stream Overcompensating here. Étoile (2025 –, renewed for season two) Amy Sherman-Palladino and David Palladino (Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) are back on TV and back in the dance world (following Bunheads) with this series about two world-renowned ballet companies (one in NYC and one in Paris) that decide to spice things up by swapping their most talented dancers. Each company is on the brink of financial disaster, and so Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby), director of the Metropolitan Ballet, and Geneviève Lavigne (Charlotte Gainsbourg), director of of Le Ballet National, come up with the plan, and recruit an eccentric billionaire (Simon Callow) to pay for it. Much of the comedy comes from the mismatched natures of their swapped dancers, and there's a tangible love of ballet that keeps things light, despite the fancy title. You can stream Étoile here.Fallout (2024 – , renewed for second and third seasons) A shockingly effective video game adaptation, Fallout does post-apocalyptic TV with a lot more color and vibrancy than can typically be ascribed to the genre (in the world of Fallout, the aesthetic of the 1950s hung on for a lot longer than it did in ours). The setup is a little complicated, but not belabored in the show itself: It's 2296 on an Earth devastated two centuries earlier by a nuclear war between the United States and China, exacerbated by conflicts between capitalists and so-called communists. Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell) emerges from the underground Vault where she's lived her whole life protected from the presumed ravages of the world above, hoping to find her missing father, who was kidnapped by raiders. The aboveground wasteland is dominated by various factions, each of which considers the others dangerous cults, and believes that they alone know mankind's way forward. It's also overrun by Ghouls, Gulpers, and other wild radiation monsters. Through all of this, Lucy remains just about the only human with any belief in humanity, or any desire to make things better. You can stream Fallout here.Deadloch (2023 –, renewed for a second season) Both an excellent crime procedural and an effective satire of the genre, this Australian import does about as well as setting up its central mystery as Broadchurch and its many (many) imitators. Kate Box stars as Dulcie Collins, fastidious senior sergeant of the police force in the fictional town of the title. When a body turns up dead on the beach, Dulcie is joined by Madeleine Sami's Eddie Redcliffe, a crude and generally obnoxious detective brought in to help solve the case. Unraveling the web of secrets and mysteries in the tiny Tasmanian town is appropriately addictive, with the added bonus of cop thriller tropes getting mercilessly mocked all the way. You can stream Deadlock here.The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022 – , third season coming) All the talk around The Rings of Power in the lead-up to the series had to do with the cost of the planned five seasons expected to be somewhere in the billion dollar range. At that price point, it’s tempting to expect a debacle—but the resulting series is actually quite good, blending epic conflict with more grounded characters in a manner that evokes both Tolkien, and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. Set thousands of years before those tales, the series follows an ensemble cast lead by Morfydd Clark as Elven outcast Galadriel and, at the other end of the spectrum, Markella Kavenagh as Nori, a Harfoot (the people we’ll much later know as Hobbits) with a yearning for adventure who finds herself caught up in the larger struggles of a world about to see the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of the idyllic island kingdom of Númenor, and the the last alliance of Elves and humans. You can stream The Rings of Power here.Reacher (2022 – , fourth season coming) Getting high marks for his portrayal of the Lee Childs’ character (from both book and TV fans) is Alan Ritchson (Titans), playing Reacher with an appropriately commanding physical presence. The first season finds the former U.S. Army military policeman visiting the rural town of Margrave, Georgia...where he’s quickly arrested for murder. His attempts to clear his name find him caught up in a complex conspiracy involving the town’s very corrupt police force, as well as shady local businessmen and politicians. Subsequent seasons find our ripped drifter reconnecting with members of his old army special-investigations unit, including Frances Neagley (Maria Stan), who's getting her own spin-off. You can stream Reacher here. The Bondsman (2025, one season) It's tempting not to include The Bondsman among Prime's best, given that it's representative of an increasingly obnoxious trend: shows that get cancelled before they ever really got a chance. This Kevin Bacon-led action horror thriller did well with critics and on the streaming charts, and it's had a consistent spot among Prime's top ten streaming shows, but it got the pink slip anyway. Nevertheless, what we did get is a lot of fun: Bacon plays Hub Halloran, a bounty hunter who dies on the job only to discover that he's been resurrected by the literal devil, for whom he now works. It comes to a moderately satisfying conclusion, despite the cancellation. You can stream The Bondsman here. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022 – , third season coming) All the talk around The Rings of Power in the lead-up to the series had to do with the cost of the planned five seasons expected to be somewhere in the billion dollar range. At that price point, it’s tempting to expect a debacle—but the resulting series is actually quite good, blending epic conflict with more grounded characters in a manner that evokes both Tolkien, and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. Set thousands of years before those tales, the series follows an ensemble cast lead by Morfydd Clark as Elven outcast Galadriel and, at the other end of the spectrum, Markella Kavenagh as Nori, a Harfoot (the people we’ll much later know as Hobbits) with a yearning for adventure who finds herself caught up in the larger struggles of a world about to see the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the fall of the idyllic island kingdom of Númenor, and the the last alliance of Elves and humans. You can stream The Rings of Power here.The Expanse (2015 – 2022, six seasons) A pick-up from the SyFy channel after that network all but got out of the original series business, The Expanse started good and only got better with each succeeding season. Starring Steven Strait, Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Dominique Tipper among a sizable ensemble, the show takes place in a near-ish future in which we’ve spread out into the solar system, while largely taking all of the usual political bullshit and conflicts with us. A salvage crew comes upon an alien microorganism with the potential to upend pretty much everything, if humanity can stop fighting over scraps long enough to make it matter. The show brings a sense of gritty realism to TV sci-fi, without entirely sacrificing optimism—or, at least, the idea that well-intentioned individuals can make a difference. You can stream The Expanse here. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024 – , renewed for a second season) One-upping the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie movie on which it's based, Mr. & Mrs. Smith stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as a couple of spies tasked to pose as a married couple while coordinating (and sometimes competing against one another) on missions. Smartly, each episode takes on a standalone mission in a different location, while complicating the relationship between the two and gradually upping the stakes until the season finale, which sees them pitted against each other. The show is returning for season two, though it's unclear if Glover and Erskine will be returning, or if we'll be getting a new Mr. & Mrs. You can stream Mr. & Mrs. Smith here. Good Omens (2019– , conclusion coming) Michael Sheen and David Tennant are delightful as, respectively, the hopelessly naive angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, wandering the Earth for millennia and determined not to let the perpetual conflict between their two sides get in the way of their mismatched friendship. In the show’s world, from the 1990 novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, heaven and hell are are less representative of good and evil than hidebound bureaucracies, more interested in scoring points on each other than in doing anything useful for anyone down here. It’s got a sly, quirky, sometimes goofy sense of humor, even while it asks some big questions about who should get to decide what’s right and what’s wrong. Following some depressingly gross revelations about writer and showrunner Gaiman, it was announced that he'd be off the production and the third season would be reduced to a movie-length conclusion, date tbd. You can stream Good Omens here. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017 – 2023, five seasons) Mrs. Maisel was one of Prime’s first and buzziest original series, a comedy-drama from Amy Sherman-Palladino (Gilmore Girls) about the title’s Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), a New York housewife of the late 1950s who discovers a talent for stand-up comedy. Inspired by the real-life careers of comedians like Totie Fields and Joan Rivers, the show is both warm and funny, with great performances and dialogue; it also achieves something rare in being a show about comedy that’s actually funny. You can stream Mrs. Maisel here. The Boys (2019 – , fifth and final season coming) There’s a lot of superhero stuff out there, no question, but, as there was no series quite like the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comic book on which this show is based, there’s nothing else quite like The Boys. The very dark satire imagines a world in which superheroes are big with the public, but whose powers don’t make them any better than the average jerk. When his girlfriend is gruesomely killed by a superhero who couldn’t really care less (collateral damage, ya know), Wee Hughie (Jack Quaid) is recruited by the title agency. Led by Billy Butcher (Karl Urban), the Boys watch over the world’s superpowered individuals, putting them down when necessary and possible. A concluding fifth season is on the way, as is a second season of the live-action spin-off (Gen V). An animated miniseries (Diabolical) came out in 2022. The Man in the High Castle (2015–2019, four seasons) From a novel by Philip K. Dick (whose work has been the basis for Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, among many others), The Man in the High Castle takes place in an alternate history in which the Axis powers won World War II, and in which the United States is split down the middle; Japan governing the west and Germany the east. The title’s man in the high castle offers an alternate view, though, one in which the Allies actually won, with the potential to rally opposition to the Axis rulers. As the show progresses through its four seasons, the parallels to our increasingly authoritarian-friendly world, making it one of the more relevant shows of recent years. You can stream The Man in the High Castle here. The Wheel of Time (2021 – 2025, three seasons) An effective bit of fantasy storytelling, The Wheel of Time sees five people taken from a secluded village by Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike), a powerful magic user who believes that one of them is the reborn Dragon: a being who will either heal the world, or destroy it entirely. The show has an epic sweep while smartly focusing on the very unworldly villagers, experiencing much of this at the same time as the audience. This is another mixed recommendation in that, while the show itself is quite good, it has just been cancelled following a third season that saw it really getting into its groove. The show goes through the fourth and fifth books of Robert Jordan's fantasy series, so, I suppose, you can always jump into the novels to finish the story. You can stream Wheel of Time here. The Devil’s Hour (2022 – , renewed for a third season) Jessica Raine (Call the Midwife) joins Peter Capaldi (The Thick of It, Doctor Who) for a slightly convoluted but haunting series that throws in just about every horror trope that you can think of while still managing to ground things in the two lead performances. Raine plays a social worker whose life is coming apart on almost every level: She’s caring for her aging mother, her marriage is ending, her son is withdrawn, and she wakes up at 3:33 am every morning exactly. She’s as convincing in the role as Capaldi is absolutely terrifying as a criminal linked to at least one killing who knows a lot more than he makes clear. You can stream The Devil's Hour here. Batman: Caped Crusader (2024 – , second season coming) I know, there's a lot of Batman out there. But this one's got real style, harkening back to Batman: The Animated Series from the 1990s (no surprise, given that Bruce Timm developed this one too). With a 1940s-esque setting, the show dodges some of the more outlandish superhero tropes to instead focus on a Gotham City rife with crime, corrupt cops, and gang warfare. There's just enough serialization across the first season to keep things addictive. You can stream Caped Crusader here. Secret Level (2024 – , renewed for a second season) This is pretty fun: an anthology of animated shorts from various creative teams that tell stories set within the worlds of various (15 so far) video games, including Unreal, Warhammer, Sifu, Mega Man, and Honor of Kings. It's hard to find consistent threads given the variety of source material, but that's kinda the point: There's a little something for everyone, and most shorts don't demand any extensive knowledge of game lore—though, naturally, they're a bit more fun for the initiated. The voice cast includes the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, his son Patrick Schwarzenegger, Keanu Reeves, Gabriel Luna, Ariana Greenblatt, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. You can stream Secret Level here. Cross (2024 – , renewed for a second season) James Patterson's Alex Cross novels have been adapted three times before, all with mixed results: Morgan Freeman played the character twice, and Tyler Perry took on the role in 2012. Here, the forensic psychologist/police detective of a few dozen novels is played by Aldis Hodge (Leverage, One Night in Miami...), and it feels like he's finally nailed it. There are plenty of cop-drama tropes at work here, but the series is fast-paced and intense, and Hodge is instantly compelling in the iconic lead role. You can stream Cross here. Fleabag (2016–2019, two seasons) Fleabag isn’t a Prime original per se, nor even a co-production, but Amazon is the show’s American distributor and still brands it as such, so we’re going to count it. There’s no quick synopsis here, but stars Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the title character (only ever known as Fleabag) in the comedy drama about a free-spirited, but also deeply angry single woman in living in London. Waller-Bridge won separate Emmys as the star, creator, and writer of the series (all in the same year), and co-stars Sian Clifford, Olivia Coleman, Fiona Shaw, and Kristin Scott Thomas all received well-deserved nominations. You can stream Fleabag here.

An open international ideas contest is being held to rethink Baghdad’s underused main railway station (Deadline: 1 October) Open to architects, students, engineers, planners and designers – the single-stage competition seeks proposals to upgrade and revitalize the landmark 1953 complex which was designed by Scottish architect JM Wilson and originally provided a range of domestic and international services but now only operates one overnight train to Basra. The call for ideas – organised by Iraqi architectural awards initiative Tamayouz – aims to generate ideas that celebrate the partially disused station’s heritage while also helping to unlock renewal in the surrounding area. The overall winner will receive the Dewan Award named after a practice in Dubai which sponsors the competition. Baghdad Central Station Credit: Image by Mondalawy Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license According to the brief: ‘This is more than a design challenge. It’s an open call to envision how architecture can honour the past while shaping the future. We welcome bold, context-sensitive proposals that balance heritage preservation with civic ambition, and architectural vision with urban integration. ‘Participants will have the opportunity to contribute to a meaningful dialogue about the role of public space, mobility, and memory in shaping Baghdad’s urban fabric. Whether working individually or in multidisciplinary teams, entrants are encouraged to explore innovative and inclusive ideas that reconnect this iconic site with the life of the city.’ The competition focusses on the site of Baghdad Central Station on Qahira Street which opened in 1953 and was renovated in the early 2000s but has now become ‘disconnected from Baghdad’s urban life’ and is considered in a state of decline. The station is located in a major development zone a short distance from the Green Zone and the site of the unfinished ‘Grand Saddam Mosque’ which had been earmarked for a new Iraqi parliament designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The brick-built station – which is crowned by a 21-metre turquoise dome framed by two prominent clock towers – is currently severed from the wider city by several large congested roads and suffers from underuse and outdated infrastructure. Baghdad Central Station Credit: Image by Mondalawy Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license The call for concepts seeks to reconnect the landmark building with the surrounding city and transform it into a ‘vibrant, functional civic space’ which could accommodate new modes of transport including a planned future metro system and other mobility needs. Submissions will be expected to highlight the architectural and cultural value of the station, restore the existing entrance hall and platforms, upgrade the public realm by creating a safe and pedestrian-friendly station forecourt, introduce new small-scale retail and food outlets that support everyday use, and integrate new sustainable and energy efficient technologies. Judges will include Wendy Pullan, professor at Cambridge University; Sebastian Hicks from Oxford Brookes University; Jala Makhzoumi, professor of landscape architecture at the American University of Beirut; and Nadia Habash, head of the Palestinian Engineers Association. The latest contest is the 13th Dewan Award competition to be organised by Tamayouz which is headquartered in Coventry, England. In 2020, the organisation held a contest to regenerate the post-industrial Dakeer Island in Basra which was won by ADD Architects from Alexandria, Egypt. The overall winner, to be announced in November, will receive USD $6,000 or a half-year paid internship at Dewan Architects and Engineers in Dubai. A second prize of USD $3,000 and third prize of $1,000 will also be awarded. The competition language is English. How to apply Deadline: 1 October Fee: $75 from April to 31 May; $90 from 1 June to 31 Aug; $100 from 1 Sep to 29 Sept Competition Funding Source: Sponsored by Dewan Architect + Engineers in Dubai Project Funding Source: N/A , Ideas competition at this stage Owner of Site(s): Iraqi Republic Railways CompanyVisit the competition website for more information

Titans of industry cannot come to terms. Despite the literal gap between them being a matter of feet—maybe 30 or so by my count—when their two locomotives come to a standstill in a tunnel with miles of track in either direction, Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro, tyrannical, avuncular) is unable to bridge the final inches with Leland and Reagan (Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston, stone-faced). It’s an odd situation that becomes odder still when all parties realize the fate of their multimillion-dollar venture must now come down to a game of chance: and this one a bet on whether a Middle Eastern prince (Riz Ahmed) can sink a granny shot from below his knees while playing basketball’s ugly, redheaded step-cousin, HORSE.  It was at this exact moment I realized Wes Anderson had returned to full, magnificently daffy form. As easily the prodigal Texan’s best film in over a decade, The Phoenician Scheme rekindles much of the mirth that informed so many of Anderson’s early films. It is also the first instance one has had any narrative propulsion or tension since his last masterpiece, The Grand Budapest Hotel. While I would hesitate to place such lofty titles onto Phoenician, rest assured that it’s a balmy good time at the cinema where longtime fans get to again spend an evening with impeccably dressed cheats, droll scoundrels, and other variants on the unseemly father figure. Take del Toro’s Korda for instance. He begins the film by surviving what is jointly his sixth plane crash and assassination attempt. (The industrialist’s pilots fare less happily from his habit of falling out of the sky.) He isn’t sure who wants to kill him, but he seems confident it’s probably justified. Of his nine children, eight prepubescent boys live at home with him where their resentments already border on the homicidal. And the other offspring, a daughter he never really knew, wants nothing to do with him, even after he promises to bequeath her his entire fortune “on a trial basis.” Indeed, despite being a novitiate nun, Liesl (Mia Threapleton) has a tough time with forgiveness, especially when it comes to a would-be patriarch or patron. She does agree to at least get to know the old man, though, after he decides to gallivant around the world in a bid to save his empire (hence the aforementioned HORSE of fate). Rather boldly they even board plane after plane, alongside Korda’s ineffectual Swedish nanny-turned-attendant, Bjorn (a chipper Michael Cera doing an accent about three clicks south of the Muppets’ Chef). Together they meet a starry ensemble of walk-on cameos and eccentric business partners, my favorite of which is a preternaturally giddy Jeffrey Wright. Yet always operating beneath the surface is another tale of resentments between bad parents and their adult children. That plus a kooky murder mystery where Zsa-Zsa somehow keeps avoiding being the dead body. From the name of the protagonist alone, Anderson seems intent to signal to audiences with any degree of film knowledge that he is playing once more in the sandbox of his influences. It is hard to imagine a cineaste like Anderson, for example, hearing the moniker “Korda” and not thinking of anti-fascist Hungarian refugee-turned-British filmmaker, Alexander Korda, who directed aesthetic classics like The Thief of Baghdad (1940) and That Hamilton Woman (1941). Furthermore, Anderson pulls just as much from Korda contemporaries like fellow Hungarian ex-pat Michael Curtiz, particularly when Korda and Lisel wind up at a nightclub owned by Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric). And yes, another movie about traveling nannies and a precocious Liesl is alluded to as well. But the reason The Phoenician Scheme works so much better than Anderson’s last several movies is that while the filmmaker is visibly delighting in his references and what are almost assuredly private jokes between himself and co-writer Roman Coppola, the director also is avoiding the trap of becoming distracted by the aesthetics. Phoenician is still a beautifully designed world of straight lines and adroit square compositions, courtesy of cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, where nothing feels natural. Not even the sun or tree vines discovered after Korda, Liesl, and Bjorn become lost in a jungle have any reality about them. But the simple pleasure of observing visual confections is not the be-all end unto itself that it previously was. The travelogue nature of the plot, in which a father and daughter go on an odyssey of unconventional boardroom meetings that include assassins, freedom fighters, and organized crime bigwigs, provides a skeletal structure where Anderson can graft on his increasing preference for narrative vignettes, but there is an emotional spine as well between Korda and Liesl that makes both the jokes and the pathos ebullient. Del Toro has never seemed bigger or more unshackled than as Zsa-zsa. Like most Anderson protagonists, Korda rarely speaks above a polite monotone, but his double-breasted confidence and adventurism provides del Toro with a refreshingly uninhibited floorspace. It also pairs nicely when bantering with Threapleton, a real discovery of a young talent who plays a nun with conviction, even as the twinge of curling judgment on her smile suggests she may never see Heaven. But then she dryly must channel the patience of Job when dodging the advances of a tipsy Bjorn (again, Cera is having too much fun) and the would-be buy-offs of an absentee father. The terrain of an unhappy adult and their aging parent is terrain Anderson has walked many times, but there’s a renewed vigor in his step in The Phoenician Scheme, perhaps because it is the first time he has crossed this territory where he is closer in age to the latter than the former. There is empathy for all parties, though, and new tricks to his whimsy, such as his elegant compositions repeatedly being shattered in close-ups where the camera is assaulted by various subjects filled with so much rage that they literally assail the fourth wall. The Phoenician Scheme is simply a lovely work from an artist with a fresh spring in his step. If you already count yourself among his admirers, it’s a return to form with moments of divine inspiration (just wait until you see who he cast as God). For the rest, it may not cause conversion, but it’s certainly worth sharing some communion wine over. The Phoenician Scheme premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18. It opens in limited release on May 30 and wide on June 6. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Key Take-aways on the Hubble Space Telescope: The Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990 and is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2025.The telescope has a 2.4-meter mirror, main types of science instruments, including a suite of spectrographs and cameras that have been upgraded through five astronaut-serviced missions.From mapping dark matter to refining the Hubble Constant, the rate at which the universe expands, the Hubble Space Telescope has been central to some of the most transformative discoveries of the past half-century.On April 24, 1990, Space Shuttle Discovery launched from Kennedy Space Center carrying one of the most ambitious science instruments ever built: the Hubble Space Telescope. Suspended in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of some 320 miles, far above the atmospheric distortions that blur ground-based views, Hubble promised to revolutionize astronomy. And though it had a bit of a bumpy start, over the past 35 years, it has done just that.From capturing the earliest glimpses of galaxy formation to measuring the expansion rate of the universe, Hubble has been at the heart of modern astronomy for decades. Its images are now iconic: pillars of gas birthing stars, spirals of galactic arms stretching into the void, and clusters of galaxies bending light itself with their gravity."As we celebrate Hubble’s 35th anniversary," reads a recent Presidential Message, "we honor the brilliant scientists, engineers, and visionaries who made such a daring feat possible. Their courage and innovation inspire us all to take risks, dream big, and forge new paths into the unknown."Hubble Space Telescope Keeps EvolvingLaunched before the birth of today’s youngest astronomers, Hubble remains a vital part of modern astrophysics.Sam Cutler, a Ph.D. student in astronomy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has worked with Hubble data throughout his academic career, even contributing to the telescope’s widest near-infrared (NIR) image of the universe. That image was made possible by a clever and innovative technique called Drift And SHift (DASH), which dramatically boosts the telescope’s data collection rate."The most surprising thing about being a part of this imaging," Cutler says, "was how, even 30+ years after launch, we were still learning new ways to utilize Hubble to expand our understanding of the Universe. […] It was a lot of fun to share these results and pitch it as ‘we can teach this old dog new tricks.’"The DASH method allowed astronomers to collect eight times more NIR data in a single orbit compared to typical observing strategies. This efficiency gives Hubble the power to scan much larger areas of the sky while retaining its signature resolution, which is something ground-based telescopes have long struggled to match.JWST and the Hubble TelescopePillars of Creation - furnished by NASA. (Image Credit: Mikolaj Niemczewski/Shutterstock)Even as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) captures headlines for its stunning early-universe observations, Hubble still provides critical context and groundwork. That’s especially true for rare or distant galaxies that require both high resolution and wide survey coverage."Although [DASH] doesn’t go as deep as something like the Ultra-Deep Field, it covers a lot of on-sky area, which is really important when you’re trying to find very rare things," says Cutler. "DASH combines the survey area of a ground-based telescope with the depth and spatial resolution of Hubble, which really allows us to find these more distant, massive galaxies that are both rare and faint."Hubble, in other words, has become a sort of cosmic scout later in life. It often surveys broad swaths of the universe, flagging intriguing targets for more detailed scrutiny by JWST. "The two telescopes work really well together," says Cutler, “with JWST able to go back and answer all the questions we had about these galaxies that were discovered with Hubble."This synergy is no accident. In fact, the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in May 2027, is explicitly designed to complement both Hubble and JWST. Roman will offer image quality on par with Hubble but with a field of view 100 times larger, says Cutler, helping accelerate wide-area surveys of the universe.Technical Aspects and Hubble’s Missions(Image Credit: Dima Zel/Shutterstock)Despite its age, Hubble’s technical specs are still impressive: a 2.4-meter mirror, five main types of science instruments, including a suite of spectrographs and cameras that have been upgraded through five astronaut-serviced missions. But its most enduring contribution may be the culture it created around open data, long-term research, and collaboration.The Hubble Legacy Archive has amassed more than 160 terabytes of data, freely available to the global scientific community. This treasure trove from over a million Hubble observations has led to the publication of more than 21,000 scientific papers."To have been able to work with Hubble data and use this abundance of knowledge that generations of astronomers have passed down, it really makes me appreciate all the work that has gone into that," says Cutler. "It also makes me hopeful that one day the tips I’ve learned about JWST and the months of head scratching won’t be in vain, and a future grad student will be able to use them in their research someday!"Hubble’s Lifespan and BeyondHubble’s longevity is itself a scientific marvel. Designed for a roughly 15-year mission, the telescope has more than doubled that lifespan, continuing to operate despite aging components and the end of crewed servicing missions in 2009. NASA and ESA engineers have kept it going through remote upgrades, software patches, and careful planning around equipment failures.From mapping dark matter to refining the Hubble Constant, the rate at which the universe expands, the Hubble Space Telescope has been central to some of the most transformative discoveries of the past half-century. And as it marks 35 years in space, it remains an enduring symbol of both scientific ambition and engineering excellence.Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:NASA. Hubble ImagesNASA. InstrumentsJake Parks is a freelance writer and editor who specializes in covering science news. He has previously written for Astronomy magazine, Discover Magazine, The Ohio State University, the University of Wisconson-Madison, and more.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.What is Connections?The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media. SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for May 20 Here's a hint for today's Connections categoriesWant a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try: Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up! Yellow: A balance sheetGreen: Associated with farmingBlue: Known for solving mysteriesPurple: Things you sleep on Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categoriesNeed a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:Yellow: Account bookGreen: Seen in a barnBlue:Detectives of kid-litPurple: Words before "Bed"Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.Drumroll, please!The solution to today's Connections #709 is...What is the answer to Connections todayAccount book: LEDGER, LOG, RECORD, REGISTERSeen in a barn: BALE, HORSE, PITCHFORK, TROUGHDetectives of kid-lit: BROWN, DREW, HARDY, HOLMESWords before "Bed": CANOPY, DAY, MURPHY, WATERDon't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to yesterday's Connections. Topics Connections

At Salone del Mobile in 2023, Armani Casa presented something new. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they re-created their classics. The brand introduced three different techniques that transformed their furniture into new works of art, both bold in color and material, and subtly naturalistic in aesthetic.In a statement, Mr. Armani said the collection's Venus console and Virgola bookcase shelves "feature a new type of hand-painted and lacquered glass." And at a Tuesday night event, partygoers saw the new techniques live and in-person at the brand’s Madison Avenue Flagship in New York. Indeed, Armani noted that the objects are "reminiscent of the uniqueness and beauty of high-end jewelry, made with a craftsmanship that is only possible in Italy." Treatment One: Orsini GlassLorenzo BaroncelliA demonstration of the Orsini Method.The Orsini Method involves artisans painting pieces of glass, creating a series of marbled bands. The brand noted, “This finish is obtained by hand painting the back of a tempered extra-clear glass with a special paint mixing different pastel tones, using a large soft brush.”The colors were inspired by the blue green walls in the Neoclassical Palazzo Orsini in Rome. Though the method is innovative, the painterly process and the use of temperas and pastels still make it feel completely classical.Items re-imagined from the Armani Casa collection with the Orsini Method include: Venus 2024 and Virgola 2024.Treatment Two: Shell Mosaic Lorenzo BaroncelliA demonstrationIn this mother-of-pearl mosaic, experts remove the outer layer of an oyster shell to find a the shiny whites, grays, and blues beneath. The Shell Mosaic, with this high end construction, reflects the ties between Armani's Casa collections and his clothing lines. Said Mr. Armani, “The strongest link between Armani/Casa and my fashion collections is the need to be functional and comfortable without sacrificing luxurious materials and a strong sense of style.” The Shell Mosaic is available in the following pieces from the Armani CASA Collection: Antoinette 2023, Camilla 2023, Sofia 2023, and Vega 2024.Treatment Three: Midollino Courtesy ArmaniThe Midollino Technique on the Riesling Bar Cabinet.Wicker will never go out of style, and Armani Casa’s iteration on the traditional form is reflective of the expertise and craftsmanship constant across the brand's fashion and furniture.The Midollino technique features a carefully woven, but thick and high quality grain. It happens to be the same method also used for a number of Armani handbags, capturing the relationship between the past and present reflective across the collection. Items from the Armani Casa Collection featuring the Midollino Technique Include: Melrose 2023, Riesling 2022, and Sharon 2023.Dorothy ScarboroughDorothy Scarborough (she/her) is the assistant to the Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Elle Decor. 

A few summers ago, when the culture was moving through micro trends as fast as they could be Instagrammed, Cottage Core was born. The trend, which came out of a Covid-influenced romanticism for living close to nature (but not ruffing it, à la gorpcore, fashion’s cousin trend), inspired an infusion of chintz and whicker-filled interiors, and, of course, lush English-style gardens.Flash forward to 2025. All those cottage gardens planted in early 2020—rustic, sophisticated, chic—are at their peak. And there really is something to an outdoor space that merges with the indoors, is there not? On a warm summer evening, when the bougainvillea is in bloom, and the grass is a bit damp, what could be more appealing than a home built to nestle into a fantastical garden.Here, we’ve collected some of our favorite cottage gardens. They range from fairy house gardens to campground landscape, historical (Anne Hathaway’s famed cottage that has inspired Shakespeare devotees the world over) to contemporary compound gardens in the woods.While we may have a specific notion of a cottage garden, but they are—and should be—as unique as the people who tend them. One lesson for planting your own? A small space is an asset rather than a limitation.Below, you’ll find 15 of our favorite cottage gardens from Marin County California to Stratford-Upon-Avon, England.William Jess LairdThis Amagansett cottage was literally designed for “summertime snoozes.” It’s also a good reminder that a delicate slate garden pathway can take you far. Designer Melissa Lee noted how “unexpected” the whole place felt, surrounded by the many mansions of the Hamptons. As she rightfully notes, the charm is in the surprise. A suggestion of mystery always adds to a cottage! Think The Secret Garden or the unexpectedly expansive Weasley Family home.Noe DewittVines climb up this 1920s English Art and Crafts style cottage in the Hamptons. The elegant and eclectic cottage was re-designed by Nick Olsen to emphasize outdoor living with comfy couches, a tiled patio and a pool.William James LairdThis pink cottage kitchen looks out over a garden in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Designer Clive Lonstein’s work is vibrant and unexpected, particularly for a modest Connecticut cottage built in the late 1800s. In a way though, the bright colors all throughout the house are a reflection of the original design for the house. The architect, Ehrick Rossiter was known for his own whimsy, and even included a turret in this design. This cottage is a great reminder to leave the door open all summer long.Stephen Kent JohnsonThis former fishing shack in Provincetown proves that a sprawling garden can fit into a small space. From Windex yellow fox gloves to arching lavender, this is a bucolic slice of heaven. A classic shingled home, complete with flower boxes and a white picket fence, it has a deeply cottage-core sequence backstory. It was used as an artist studio for William Maynard until his death in 2016, and when it was sold, prospective buyers were asked to write why they wanted to live there.Rachael SmithWe love an indoor / outdoor cottage garden. Ideally, you have a branch that grows through a window, like this one in Suzie de Rohan Willner’s English Country Garden. It is a charming marriage of dynamics: English and French, contemporary and historical, and, of course just as eclectic as a cottage should be. Willner notes, “The whole house is a collection of things from each period of my and my husband’s lives. I love to pick up bibs and bobs and it all comes together very happily.”Chronicle / Alamy Stock PhotoKate Middleton’s Adelaide Cottage conjures images of an Arthurian fantasy. The Wales family made this their Windsor home since 2023. Built in 1831 for Queen Adelaide (the German-born wife of William IV, who was the Uncle of Queen Victoria). It went through a transformative renovation in 2015 which left the historical decorations in tact. Fun fact: the Wales family pay market rent for their use of the home.Photo 12//Getty ImagesThe poet, actor, and playwright Anne Hathaway’s famed cottage and accompanying garden must have inspired her husband’s plays (that would be Shakespeare). This might be what comes to mind when you think of a cottage garden. Now open to the public daily, it was originally built more than 500 years ago, and is the site of Hathaway’s own birth in 1556.CostcoThis Costco (yes, Costco!) shed turned cottage is an ideal backdrop for your cottage garden fantasy. If you’re feeling very DIY this year, start here. Priced at $6,499, it measures 12’ x 24’ feet, a perfect amount of space for your own summer hide away or gardening shed.Richard PowersThis glass house is a reminder that a cottage garden doesn’t have to follow a prescribed style. The Amagansett cottage, originally built in 1960, is a marvel of mid-century design, an aesthetic reflected in the mod-furniture choices. Again, we love a stylistic mix in an updated cottage. Japanese Maple Trees complete the woodsy vibe.© David Hockney, Photo By Jonathan WilkinsonDavid Hockney illustrated his own cottage garden during the Pandemic. His drawing is illustrative of the benefits of an English garden: a bit wild, extremely lush, and more green than anything else. If we could, we’d jump right into this scene like Mary Poppins on a rainy day.John M. Hall for ELLE DecorHere’s a rule of thumb: trust Ina Garten. This cottage-like structure, on the grounds of the East Hampton home Garten shares with her husband Jeffrey, is perennially perfect. Note, too, the green and purple color scheme here. This is perhaps the dream cottage garden and something of a childhood playhouse. It has just enough space for a cozy chat and is a reminder that you can build your own little cottage on a very small plot of land.Photo 12//Getty ImagesMarie Antoinette’s Hamlet on the grounds of Versailles still sets the standard for the cottage garden with a thatched roof, hedges, and roses straight out of a fairy tale. During the former French Queen’s reign, her hamlet was used as a faux farm house, where she and her young daughter, Princess Marie Thérèse, would dress as idealized versions of French peasant farmers and milk cows. The interior, though, of this modest cottage, is appropriately grand with silk furnishings and canopy beds.Douglas FriedmanA garden that proves succulents and cottages are a match made in heaven. This one, in Marin County, California, adds a bit of desert flair. On the other side of this cottage is a water way and a perfect little dock for launching paddle boards. We love how the greens liven up this side of the house and create a completely different, almost modern desert-like, aesthetic. As with any great cottage garden, there is a distinctly transportive factor.Michael CliffordA light wood sauna and cold plunge on the grounds of Jenni Kayne’s Hudson Valley farmhouse are hidden behind shrubbery for a sense of privacy against a wide open landscape. We love the idea of adding a spa-like ambiance to a cottage garden as well as finding inventive ways to use the space. This is exactly where we want to be in the summer!Getty ImagesThis is sort of cheating, but Bunny Williams is a necessary inclusion! Williams’s Oak Spring Garden in Upperville, Virginia continues to inspire garden and cottage enthusiasts the world over. Rather than one cottage, the grounds of Williams’s large estate feature a guest cottage and a basket house, both of which are charming in the extreme.Dorothy ScarboroughDorothy Scarborough (she/her) is the assistant to the Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Elle Decor.