2 h. ago A Minecraft Movie review – Jack Black and Jason Momoa star in seriously cobbled

Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess’s adventure based on the world’s favourite video game feels like one big cash-inIt’s a curious choice of title. A Minecraft Movie implies that this cynical intellectual property-rinsing exercise is one of numerous film adaptations of the enduringly popular sandbox video game. Perhaps there’s an alternative out there, a sharper, smarter, funnier version of a Minecraft movie. One with actual jokes. Or, God forbid, there may even be a worse iteration, although that’s hard to imagine. What becomes clear is that one of the key elements in the game’s popularity – the latitude it affords gamers to create their own experience – is a big stumbling block for any film adaptation of Minecraft.In the absence of a single fixed storyline the screenplay can follow, A Minecraft Movie has a cobbled-together feel, borrowing a device from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – and, in Jack Black, a star – and superimposing an all-purpose quest-for-an-artefact structure o...

Politics

20 h. ago Jack Black surprises Tanner from Love On The Spectrum in heartwarming moment

Netflix’s Love On The Spectrum star Tanner Smith has fulfilled his life goal to meet Jack Black in a surprise encounter on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Thursday, 3 April.

Events

27 h. ago ‘They didn’t call us for Live Aid’: the stars behind Black Britain’s forgotten charity record

In 1985, a star-studded lineup of Black UK musicians, including Aswad, Dennis Brown and Janet Kay, recorded a charity single to raise funds for famine-stricken Ethiopia. Why are their efforts so little known?The Ethiopian famine of the early 1980s was one of the defining news stories of the decade, an exposure of the stark divide between developed and developing nations, still referred to at the time as the Third World. It is a received wisdom that the general public in Britain learned about the crisis when shocking images of emaciated men, women and children were shown on BBC news reports. This is not entirely true. In fact, plenty of Rastafarians were already aware of the situation.The east African country was their spiritual home – many in the movement viewed its former emperor Haile Selassie as their messiah – and a place free from the iniquities of the west. “A lot of Rastafarians went to Ethiopia [before they] came to London,” says the musician and cam...

Politics

28 h. ago ‘If you want dystopia, look out your window!’ Black Mirror is back – and going beyond tech hell

After years of creating dark, disturbing, thought-provoking TV, Charlie Brooker is changing it up. The creator and star-studded cast of Black Mirror talk about why this season is the most moving and vulnerable yetCharlie Brooker has been contemplating the passing of time, and he’s not happy about it. We’re on set at Shepperton for USS Callister: Into Infinity, the sequel to the 2017 space opera from his terrifying tech anthology Black Mirror. “The cast don’t seem to have aged at all,” he grumbles, “whereas I am a wizened old gentleman.”There is a more reflective, almost nostalgic tone to this seventh season. The episode Plaything flashes back to Brooker’s early years as a gaming journalist in a Bandersnatch-adjacent slice of computer-induced madness; Eulogy immerses Paul Giamatti in his memories as he literally enters decades-old photos; gaslighting parable Bête Noire forces Siena Kelly’s chocolatier to reckon with youthful misdemeanours; Hotel Reverie stars Emma Corrin as a 19...

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36 h. ago Good Night, and Good Luck review – George Clooney’s Broadway debut never quite lands

Winter Garden Theatre, New YorkThe actor-director brings his 2005 drama to the stage, now playing the lead role, but while it’s timely and nicely staged, it feels stiffTime has been kind to Good Night, and Good Luck, George Clooney’s sincere dramatization of the broadcaster Edward R Murrow’s on-air tangles with Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. Sleek, slim and reverent, the 2005 film recalled a time of both cultural panic and promise, before American attention splintered and television’s road forked toward cable news. In its own era, the movie played in implicit contrast to mainstream media’s failure to interrogate the Bush administration’s dubious justifications for the Iraq war. In 2025, well now, as in 1953, the lies run rampant. But in Clooney’s stark black-and-white drama, truth prevails.Wouldn’t that be nice. The ongoing lurch away from due process casts both a haunting pall and a self-congratulatory glow over New York’s Winter Garden Theatre, where Clooney leads a profici...

Politics

50 h. ago Stirrings of lust and a ginger bush: the Jilly Cooper sentence that sent me down a rabbit hole

I quoted a single smutty line by the queen of bonkbusters in the manuscript for my debut novel. I never expected the strange yet heartwarming journey that followedGet our weekend culture and lifestyle email“Wondering if she had a ginger bush, he felt the stirrings of lust.” It’s an electrifying sentence, penned by – who else? – the English novelist Dame Jilly Cooper in her 1985 novel Riders appearing during a charged encounter between a flame-haired socialite and bad-boy aristocrat Rupert Campbell-Black.It’s a sentence I admire for many reasons. Starting in a ruminative, almost philosophical mood, it gains a thrilling momentum, before landing with erotic authority on that final, unholy syllable: lust. Impeccable stuff; classic Cooper. If you’ve watched Rivals, the recent TV adaptation of other Cooper books, you’ll be familiar with her world: puerile, horsey, abundantly filthy and terribly English.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the ...

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53 h. ago Gethin Jones steps in after seeing 'hard to watch’ moment while shopping and questions cashier

Morning Live presenter, Gethin Jones has shared a candid Instagram post in aid of World Autism Awareness Day. The day is celebrated annually on April, and aims to raise awareness and take measures to support autistic individuals.

Economics

64 h. ago A Minecraft Movie critics are all saying the same thing about game franchise spin

A Minecraft Movie, which is out in the UK on Friday, is based on the 2011 video game Minecraft and stars the likes of Jason Momoa, Jack Black and Danielle Brooks

Culture

3 d. ago Black Mirror star shares concerns about social media site 'I don't want to engage in that'

Black Mirror star Paul Giamatti has revealed his concerns about a popular video-sharing platform.

Politics

3 d. ago Ryan Giggs joins girlfriend Zara Charles and their baby daughter Cora for a sunny stroll in Cheshire

The former Manchester United star, 51, cut a relaxed figure in a casual black jumper and matching jogging bottoms.

Politics

3 d. ago Musk’s Doge to fire all local workers and US diplomats from USAID, sources say

Unofficial Trump adviser’s cost-cutting team to finalize shuttering the foreign aid agency on which millions dependUS politics live – latest updatesElon Musk’s cost-cutting team is finalizing the dismantlement of the US Agency for International Development, ordering the firings of thousands of local workers and US diplomats and civil servants assigned to the agency overseas, two former top USAID officials and a source with knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.On Friday, Congress was notified that almost all of USAID’s own employees were being fired by September, all of its overseas offices shut, and some functions absorbed into the state department. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Halle Berry says Oscars not ‘designed’ for Black women: ‘We have to stop coveting that’

Monster’s Ball star is only Black woman to win best actress Oscar in 97-year-old history of Academy Awards

Politics

5 d. ago Black Ops 6 Season 3 start time – when you can explore Liberty Falls' mansion in Shattered Veil

It's almost time to rescue Dr. Maxis in Shattered Veil, the latest Black Ops 6 Zombies map that is set to launch with the game's third season.

Politics

5 d. ago BBC Black Mirror's season 7 cast includes Doctor Who legend and The Crown star

Black Mirror has always attracted a star-studded cast and the seventh season is no exception as Doctor Who icon Peter Capaldi and The Crown's Princess Diana star Emma Corrin join the fold.

Politics

5 d. ago Jack Black, Jason Momoa enter the Minecraft universe as the video game phenom hits the big screen

When Jack Black got the call to star in the “Minecraft” movie, the perks were plenty

Events

5 d. ago Myanmar earthquake: desperate search for survivors continues as WHO issues appeal for humanitarian aid – live

World Health Organization issues flash appeal for $8m of emergency support amid frantic search for survivorsAFP has spoken to relatives anxiously waiting at the site of a collapsed building in Bangkok.Daodee Paruay said she had been at the site for two days, hoping for a miracle. Her brother was an electrician working on site, and he is believed to be under the rubble. “We wait, we wait.” she said. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon's forgotten 'romance' with EastEnders star

Alesha Dixon was rumoured to be dating EastEnders actor Matt Di Angelo when the pair both competed on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2007

Events

8 d. ago Why hasn’t middle America given Paige Bueckers the Caitlin Clark treatment?

The UConn star has embraced Black America rather than being pitted against it. It means she has not been lionized in the same way as a similarly brilliant playerUConn’s Paige Bueckers, the probable No 1 pick in this year’s WNBA draft, is a brilliant talent, although she may not want you to point that out.“Everybody was focused on me and what I did at UConn my freshman year,” she said during last year’s NCAA Tournament. “But I think it’s more important for the game to share the spotlight to grow the game and show all the stars of college basketball and not just focus on one particular player, whether it be me, Caitlin [Clark], JuJu [Watkins], Angel [Reese]. There’s so many names in college basketball now that are huge, that are stars that deserve credit.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Rachel Chinouriri reveals the harsh reality of being a Black pop star in emotional post

UK artist, Rachel Chinouriri took time out of her busy schedule opening for Sabrina Carpenter's European tour to respond to a fan comment about the challenges of being black in the pop music world

Politics

1 week ago Britney Spears admits she feels 'vulnerable and exposed' and claims her 'body looks bigger' as she shares new Instagram video in lacy lingerie

The pop star, 43, slipped into busty sheer black lingerie for the racy video, layered over a red thong, as she struck a number of poses for the camera.

Politics