River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain, the two tragic heroes of Nineties teenagers, have appeared together as fictional characters in a novel by the cult film director Gus Van Sant.

The world trembles with anticipation to see whether `Spiceworld - The Movie' is, as has been suggested, the natural heiress to `A Hard Day's Night' or just one more embarrassment in the tradition of such long-forgotten stinkers as `Gonks Go Beat' and `Live It Up'. Andy Gill considers the scary challenge facing Ginger and Co.

Style police: Fashion's latest lunacy? Trousers under a skirt. If you must layer, think salwar kameez

It Is the duty of every arts columnist to double as an over-zealous coroner, and to announce, with as little forensic evidence as possible, the death of something. The death of the novel, the death of the sitcom ... it's easy. All you have to do is think of a subject, precede it with "the death of", and you'll be quoted in other arts columns for months to come. Cries and Whispers is therefore proud to present: The Death of the Film-Star Interview.

The People vs Larry Flynt (18). Vigorously airbrushed, Milos Forman's impassioned biopic of the Hustler publisher is styled primarily as a celebration of the First Amendment. The screenplay, by Ed Wood scribes Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, provides sharp, memorable characterisations, and the actors respond accordingly. Woody Harrelson plays Flynt as a lovable goof ball (pissing off Gloria Steinem in the process); a wonderfully composed Courtney Love is sweet, sad, and funny as his wife Althea, a stripper turned heroin addict; the promising Edward Norton, as Flynt's fresh-faced lawyer, attacks his righteous courtroom diatribes with relish; and the terminally underused Crispin Glover shines in a delightfully bewildering minor role. Resorting too often to feelgood, all-American flag-waving, it entertains far more than it enlightens.

As soon as I saw the cumulus clouds above the cliffs, I wanted to climb the steps to the bridge. Once I saw the plesiosaurs, there was no turning back. They are first glimpsed as one rounds a corner, descending through a cleft in the rocks to a beach. One lolls on its back in the sun; they crane their necks at your approach. Move too fast and they flip themselves into the water, but it's worth it to see their silhouettes glide away under the surface of the sea.

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With Hollywood movie deals and pals like Madonna and Demi has Courtney Love lost her cool?

The Seattle house where the tortured Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain committed suicide three years ago is to be put up for sale by his widow, the outspoken actress Courtney Love, writes Marianne Macdonald.

`One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest', `Amadeus' and `Ragtime' all focused on defiant outsiders. Now Milos Forman has embraced a pornographer. He tells Jasper Rees why