A whole new world of bias

The western ideal of what constitutes balanced news is being challenged by new state-funded entities, writes James Painter

• Clash of the US network anchors
• Potboilers and the Cuban party line

Noble passions and posh froth

‘The Duchess’ relies heavily on close-up after close-up of Keira Knightley and the result is to trivialise a socio-emotional drama during a momentous era, while Guy Ritchie gets back among Cockney conmen, oligarch gangsters and East End despots, writes Martin Hoyle

Movie bliss-out means business

The Venice Film Festival has greater ambitions than merely easing the film junkie’s withdrawal pains after Cannes, writes Nigel Andrews

Death, divorce and catalogue shopping

There have been several promising attempts to generate a buzz around being 40, but none of them have become ‘must-see TV’, writes Isabel Berwick

Clash of the US network anchors

Two presenters from rival US television channels are turning coverage of the 2008 election into a personal feud with their mutually hostile views, writes Edward Luce

A colourful cure for post-Beijing blues

After the end of the wonder show, Nigel Andrews finds solace with a dose of spectacle from Japan, while Martin Hoyle rounds up the rest of the week’s releases

If it’s talent shows, it must be autumn

More than falling leaves and departing sunshine, the return of ITV1’s ‘The X Factor’ on TV is a reliable harbinger that the season has begun, writes Isabel Berwick

Potboilers and the Cuban party line

Cuban television may allow down-to-earth soaps and some US imports but the news programmes are proof that some issues still remain off-limits, writes Richard Lapper