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Meryl Streep in talks to play Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movie

Oscar-winner set to take on role as godlike lion usually perceived to be male in upcoming adaption of The Magician’s Nephew Meryl Streep is in talks to play Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia film, according to reports. According to Nexus Point News , and confirmed by Deadline Streep, 79, is being lined up to star in Netflix’s film, which will be adapted from The Magician’s Nephew – the sixth of CS Lewis Narnia series of novels, but the first in chronological terms. In the Narnia books, Aslan is a dignified and quasi-omniscient lion, generally seen to be male and usually interpreted as an allegory for Jesus. The Magician’s Nephew centres on two children, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, who discover the magical world through Digory’s uncle Andrew. Daniel Craig is also in talks for the film, with speculation rising that he will play the uncle . Charli XCX is also in line for a role, rumoured to be Jadis, the White Witch. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/zCx...

Scandal-hit creative writing website NaNoWriMo to close after 20 years

The US nonprofit, whose online community encouraged members to write a novel in a month, has been rocked by controversy in recent years NaNoWriMo, the US-based nonprofit organisation that challenged people to write a novel in a month, has announced it is closing down after 20 years. NaNoWriMo – an abbreviation of National Novel Writing Month – fostered an online community of participants aiming to write 50,000 words of fiction in November. It began informally in 1999 before becoming a nonprofit in 2006. Each year, tens of thousands signed up to the organisation’s flagship programme. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/bVLavHY

A Minecraft Movie review – building-block game franchise spin-off is rollicking if exhausting fun

Full-throttle star turns from Jack Black and Jennifer Coolidge raise laughs but don’t help the perfunctory plotting in this screen take on the game franchise If you’re not familiar with Minecraft as a game then this film, notionally a big screen version of same, won’t necessarily solve that. Minecraft, even more than most computer games, is what you make of it, an experience generated by the player. So in a way, the idea of making a film set in the Minecraft world is counterintuitive, because it can never replicate what is good about Minecraft, it can only tell you what is good about Minecraft. In addition to that, this comedy-fantasy takes aspects of the Minecraft world and uses them as building blocks in a rollicking adventure suitable for almost all ages, giving Jack Black and Jason Momoa carte blanche to wild out and be deeply silly. Your affection for and/or tolerance of this latter prospect will dictate to a large extent your enjoyment of this film. Black plays Steve, a crafter...

US officials challenge Ofcom’s risk to free speech caused by online safety laws

Exclusive: State department said to have raised concerns over whether new online safety act infringes on freedom of expression US state department officials have challenged Britain’s communications regulator over the impact on freedom of expression created by new online safety laws, the Guardian understands. A group of officials from the state department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) recently met with Ofcom in London. It is understood that they raised the issue of the new online safety act and how it risked infringing free speech. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/erXltVq

Scottish tourist dies in Rome hospital after suspected gas explosion

Grant Paterson, 54, from South Lanarkshire, was pulled out from rubble on final day of visit A Scottish tourist who suffered severe burns in a suspected gas explosion at a building in Rome has died of his injuries. Grant Paterson, 54, was admitted to hospital on 23 March after the explosion and subsequent collapse of the block of flats where he was staying, in the Monteverde district. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Bh12Mau

‘We weren’t stuck’: Nasa astronauts tell of space odyssey and reject claims of neglect

Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams’ story markedly at odds with abandonment narrative painted by Trump and Musk In the end, whatever Elon Musk and Donald Trump liked to insist , astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams were never stuck, nor stranded in space, and definitely not abandoned or marooned. The world heard on Monday, for the first time since their return to Earth two weeks ago , from the two Nasa astronauts whose 10-day flight to the international space station (ISS) last summer turned into a nine-month odyssey. And their story was markedly at odds with the narrative painted from the White House. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/8Qe5DEH

Men get more disgusted as they age? It’s only a matter of time before my husband sees the real, slovenly, me | Emma Beddington

Research shows that while women experience feelings of revulsion from a young age, men catch them up in later years. Maybe I should stop scraping the mould off the jam … What disgusts you? I hope it’s not inexpertly summarised research, because I have been intrigued by the recently reported finding that men get more disgusted as they age . Researchers at the Institute for Environmental Decisions in Zurich found that while young women generally “experience more disgust than men”, later in life the difference between the sexes narrows, and “men and women will reach similar levels of disgust when they get older”. I don’t think anyone who has encountered young men’s bedrooms either in person or through the @boyroom social media account (a festival of coverless, unwashed duvets, defrosted bags of Ikea meatballs left to fester and stockpiled used tissues) will be surprised to learn that male disgust doesn’t kick in early. However, the theory is that as physical vulnerability increases wit...