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      Author Mark Haddon: ‘Bodies are such a good source of drama’

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 18 August, 2024

    The writer on revisiting his boarding school days, watching 24 Hours in A&E, and reading everything from cannibalism novels to science encyclopedias

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      A Jaffa Cake Musical and The Gummy Bears’ Great War: Edinburgh fringe stages battles with bite

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 18 August, 2024

    A zesty courtroom drama about cakes (or biscuits?) and a combat epic using dozens of jelly teddies offer sweet and sour clashes at the festival

    The sweet spot for Edinburgh fringe comedy is finding a subject the whole audience can tuck into. Gigglemug Theatre open A Jaffa Cake Musical ( ★★★☆☆ ) with tongue firmly in cheek. One question rests on humankind’s shoulders, we are told. Not the meaning of life (exit bewildered caveman from the stage) but rather, as one characteristically jolly song asks: “Is it a cake – or is it a biscuit?”

    This courtroom musical presents arguments from the 1991 dispute between McVitie’s and HMRC, which sought to determine whether the full VAT charged on chocolate biscuits should also be levied on Jaffa Cakes, hitherto zero-rated as cakes. There are zesty numbers about how the treats are packaged, marketed, prepared and eaten (do you dunk them? do you use a fork?) – all contributing to the judge’s ruling.

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      AI-generated parody song about immigrants storms into German Top 50

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 18 August, 2024

    Artist Butterbro accused of walking fine line between parody and discrimination and helping make racial slur mainstream

    A song about immigrants whose music, vocals and artwork were entirely generated using artificial intelligence has made the Top 50 most listened to songs in Germany, in what may be a first for a leading music market.

    Verknallt in einen Talahon is a parody song that weaves modern lyrics – many of them based around racial stereotypes about immigrants – with 60s schlager pop.

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      Britain Behind Bars: A Secret History review – the inside story of a broken, brutal prison system

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 21 July, 2024 • 1 minute

    Rob Rinder’s nuanced look at the penal system through the ages unearths horrifying revelations – from conditions so bad they caused a riot, to the cruelty current inmates face

    What is the fundamental function of prison? The jury is out on whether it is retribution, rehabilitation or protecting the public. But in recent years, with a more complex understanding of mental health, addiction and the criminalisation of poverty, its role in supposedly civilised society has been called into question. While Tory cabinet after Tory cabinet has forged the path of more punitive sentences, many people – myself included – have been questioning the purpose of increasing mass incarceration. Many of us have been calling for a shift towards a more Scandinavian model, which would abandon the rampant overpopulation of our prisons and shift the focus on to helping criminals to become fully contributing members of their communities. It’s a particularly relevant question given that, within days of the election, prisons were said to be so full they were at breaking point , prompting Labour to announce an early release scheme – and possibly even rethink their whole approach to incarceration, given the appointment of James Timpson as prisons minister .

    Even though Britain Behind Bars: A Secret History hasn’t shifted my stance on the matter, presenter Rob Rinder’s approach to the subject leads to a far more interesting programme than my own hand-wringing liberalism would have done. The lawyer and broadcaster has a fundamental belief in the legal system and sees these institutions as serving a crucial purpose – but comes to it with curiosity and empathy for inmates past and present. Over three episodes, he looks into three of Britain’s most famous prisons – Dartmoor, Shrewsbury and Shepton Mallet – and interviews experts and former residents of the institutions. In the case of Dartmoor, he believes it is “Britain’s Alcatraz”, an imposing, isolated place that was the site of an infamous riot in 1990 in which a prisoner up on the roof loudly decried the “brutality of this place” – one where stabbings were rife and the inmates spent most of their lives without human contact, being let out of their cells only to empty their buckets of human waste.

    Britain Behind Bars is on Channel 4 and available online

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      Final Deadpool and Wolverine trailer features a familiar face from Logan

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica • 19 July, 2024 • 1 minute

    Ryan Reynolds and High Jackman join forces in Deadpool and Wolverine .

    If there's anything the Deadpool franchise is known for, it's R-rated cheeky irreverence. The forthcoming Deadpool and Wolverine clearly has that in spades, but the final trailer strikes an uncharacteristically somber note, reminding us just what Wade Wilson/Deadpool stands to lose if Wolverine can't rise to the challenge. Bonus: There's a surprise cameo from Hugh Jackman's co-star in Logan .

    As previously reported , Ryan Reynolds found the perfect fit with 2016's Deadpool , starring as Wade Wilson, a former Canadian special forces operative (dishonorably discharged) who develops regenerative healing powers that heal his cancer but leave him permanently disfigured with scars all over his body. Wade decides to become a masked vigilante, turning down an invitation to join the X-Men and abandon his bad-boy ways. The first Deadpool was a big hit, racking up $782 million at the global box office, critical praise, and a couple of Golden Globe nominations for good measure. Deadpool 2 was released in 2018 and was just as successful.

    Deadpool and Wolverine reunites Reynolds with many familiar faces from the first two films. Morena Baccarin is back as Wade's girlfriend Vanessa, along with Leslie Uggams as Blind Al; Karan Soni as Wade's personal chauffeur, taxi driver Dopinder; Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead; Stefan Kapičić as the voice of Colossus; Shioli Kutsuna as Negasonic's mutant girlfriend, Yukio; Randal Reeder as Buck; and Lewis Tan as X-Force member Shatterstar.

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      Apple Vision Pro’s content drought improves with new 3D videos

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica • 18 July, 2024

    Today, Apple announced a slate of more than a dozen upcoming Immersive Videos for its Vision Pro spatial reality headset. The first, titled Boundless , launches tonight at 9 pm ET. More will follow in the coming weeks and months.

    The announcement follows a long, slow period for new Vision Pro-specific video content from Apple. The headset launched in early February with a handful of Immersive Video episodes ranging from five to 15 minutes each. Since then, only three new videos have been added.

    On March 28, Apple released a highlight reel of Major League Soccer plays from the season that had ended months prior. A second episode of Prehistoric Planet , Apple's Immersive Video dinosaur nature documentary, went live on April 19. Likewise, a new episode of the Adventure series titled "Parkour" landed on May 24.

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      Witness the rise of the Bene Gesserit in new Dune: Prophecy teaser

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica • 18 July, 2024 • 1 minute

    The HBO Original Series Dune: Prophecy will premiere this November.

    Fans of director Denis Villeneuve's epic two-part film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune have no doubt been curious about the upcoming HBO Max series, Dune: Prophecy . It's a prequel series inspired by the novel Sisterhood of Dune , written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, exploring the origins of the Bene Gesserit. The studio just dropped a tantalizing teaser rife with political intrigue, ominous warnings, and a bit of hand-to-hand combat.

    The series was first announced in 2019, with Villeneuve serving as an executive producer and Alison Schapker ( Alias, Fringe, Altered Carbon ) serving as showrunner. The first season will consist of six episodes, and it's unclear how closely the series will adhere to the source material. Per the official premise:

    Set 10,000 years before the ascension of Paul Atreides, Dune: Prophecy follows two Harkonnen sisters as they combat forces that threaten the future of humankind, and establish the fabled sect that will become known as the Bene Gesserit.

    Emily Watson co-stars as Valya Harkonnen, leader of the Sisterhood, with Olivia Williams playing her sister, Tula Harkonnen. Mark Strong plays Emperor Javicco Corrino, described as "a man from a great line of war-time Emperors, who is called upon to govern the Imperium and manage a fragile peace," while Jodhi May plays Empress Natalya and Sarah-Sofie Boussnina plays Princess Ynez.

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      Space colonizers battle ultimate killing machines in Alien: Romulus trailer

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica • 18 July, 2024

    Director Fede Alvarez brings us Alien: Romulus , coming to theaters next month.

    The face huggers and chest bursters return with a vengeance in a few weeks when Alien: Romulus finally hits theaters. It's the latest installment in the Alien franchise from horror director Fede Alvarez ( Don't Breathe , Evil Dead ), and the final action-packed trailer just dropped.

    (Spoilers for Alien and Aliens below.)

    As previously reported , Alien: Romulus is set between the events of Alien and Aliens (and is not related to FX/Hulu's Alien prequel series slated to premiere next year). That is, after Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo , destroyed the killer xenomorph and launched herself into space in the ship's lifeboat—along with the ginger cat, Jonesy—and before she woke up after 57 years in hypersleep and battled more xenomorphs while protecting the young orphan, Newt (Carrie Henn). Per the short-and-sweet official premise: "While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe."

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      Report: Apple TV+ will soon get a lot more movies made by studios other than Apple

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica • 18 July, 2024

    A photo of a TV showing the landing page for Argylle in the Apple TV+ app

    Enlarge / Apple seeks to continue to augment its library of original films like Argylle with films from other studios.

    Apple TV+ has carved a niche for itself with strong original programming, and while it's still far behind the likes of Netflix in terms of subscribers, it has seen a fairly strong initial run. To build on that, Apple is talking with major studios about ways to complement its slate of original programming with films from other companies in order to expand and extend the service's appeal.

    That's according to Bloomberg reporters Lucas Shaw and Thomas Buckley, who cite people familiar with Apple's workings. Those sources say Apple is "having discussions" with more than one large film studio about bringing more movies to the service.

    Apple previously experimented with this by licensing around 50 movies and making them available on the service for limited runs over the past several months. That experiment seems to have gone well, leading Apple to begin laying the groundwork for expanding on that.

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