12 h. ago Monster munch: can Predator: Badlands survive the removal of its unashamedly ultraviolent roots?

Thanks to director Dan Trachtenberg, the franchise has evolved. But the pure cinematic testosterone that sustained it may have disappearedThere is a longstanding Hollywood urban myth that the original 1987 Predator movie was inspired by a joke doing the rounds about Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky series. The idea was that after the Italian Stallion beat up Dolph Lundgren’s towering Soviet superman Ivan Drago in 1985’s Rocky IV, the only opponent he could fight next would be an alien. Supposedly, screenwriters Jim and John Thomas heard this jape and wrote Predator – which, after a few rewrites, a new lead (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and a change of title from their original spec script, became one of the most enduring sci-fi action films of the 1980s.In truth, the timeline doesn’t add up. The Thomas brothers were already shopping their script around in 1983, long before Rocky IV hit cinemas, suggesting the “Rocky v alien” story is probably a post hoc myth. Yet the original film is such a per...

Events

14 h. ago Man Utd can be sold without Sir Jim Ratcliffe's permission as takeover offer made

A new takeover attempt is supposedly in the offing at Manchester United, with the Glazers able to sell the club without the permission of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe

Events

16 h. ago Gaza ceasefire plan live: Israel’s government approves deal for hostages’ release as US troops to ‘oversee’ truce

Ceasefire supposed to begin immediately after early Friday’s cabinet approval under deal, says Israeli officialIsraeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner after a government meeting to approve the US-brokered deal to release all hostages and implement a ceasefire in Gaza.The Times of Israel reports that Gaza’s civil defence service has issued a warning to Palestinians not to approach the areas where the Israeli forces are present, particularly towards the border, until the IDF has officially announced their withdrawal and officials confirm this. Continue reading...

Politics

19 h. ago I saw desperation at the Tory conference – but all traditional parties may be in this position soon | Andy Beckett

The feeling of crisis in Manchester also afflicts Labour and the Lib Dems. It leaves voters facing a dangerously unstable political orderMuch of democratic politics is about getting people’s attention. That’s a particular problem for struggling, less-than-compelling leaders. The further your party falls in the polls, the larger the temptation to launch dramatic, supposedly transformational policies. It’s like speaking more and more loudly to someone who has stopped listening.Thus this week’s Conservative conference in Manchester, with the party at historic lows in the polls, featured a frenzy of policy announcements, on once-successful Tory themes such as tax cuts, law and order, welfare and immigration, that were often made to half-empty rooms. Expanses of blue carpet had been installed in the huge, barn-like convention centre – as if to reassure delegates that the party still had an identity – yet much of the time they were eerily deserted. The Conservatives, famed and feared for ...

Politics

31 h. ago St. Petersburg to vote on flags for LGBTQ+ and Black communities after DeSantis erases murals

The Florida city of St. Petersburg, long a bastion of LGBTQ+ rights and mindful of its racially segregated past, is considering approval of two flags recognizing those issues after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered similar street murals erased because of supposedly political messages

Politics

31 h. ago BRYONY GORDON: Workplace drinking culture is the haven of the functioning alcoholic

I was only supposed to be going for one. It's always that way, isn't it, when it comes to after-work drinks. 'Let's just have a quick glass of wine,' someone will say as they put on their coat.

Politics

32 h. ago White House admits Trump’s message to Bondi to prosecute enemies was supposed to be a DM: report

Apparent error provides another glimpse into radically reshaped Justice Department under Trump’s command

Politics

36 h. ago Police chief apologises after women put at risk from Clare’s Law failures

Gavin Hudson was supposed to examine requests under the law to allow people to find out whether a partner has a history of violence.

Events

56 h. ago National security threatened by climate crisis, UK defence chiefs due to warn

Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published The UK’s national security is under severe threat from the climate crisis and the looming collapse of vital natural ecosystems, with food shortages and economic disaster potentially just years away, a powerful report by the UK’s defence chiefs is due to warn.However, the report, which was supposed to launch on Thursday at a landmark event in London, has been delayed, and concerns have been expressed to the Guardian that it may not now be published. Continue reading...

Events

56 h. ago National security threatened by climate crisis, UK intelligence chiefs due to warn

Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published The UK’s national security is under severe threat from the climate crisis and the looming collapse of vital natural ecosystems, with food shortages and economic disaster potentially just years away, a powerful report by the UK’s intelligence chiefs is due to warn.However, the report, which was supposed to launch on Thursday at a landmark event in London, has been delayed, and concerns have been expressed to the Guardian that it may have been blocked by number 10. Continue reading...

Events

59 h. ago West Lothian MSP urges constituents to take part in compulsory purchase consultation

Linlithgow MSP Fiona Hyslop spoke out after the Scottish Government opened a consultation on a comprehensive package of proposals to modernise compulsory purchase in Scotland.

Politics

59 h. ago Fox News host claims ‘AOC wants to sleep with’ Stephen Miller after she mocked his supposedly short stature

Jesse Watters again goes to bat for White House official he has hailed as a ‘sexual matador’

Politics

61 h. ago Man, 30, dies in his wife’s arms just days after last hope treatment for ‘shoulder pain’

A "BRAVE and handsome" man passed away in the arms of his loving wife just a week after starting a treatment plan that was supposed to save his life. Alex Able, from Horsted, Chatham, began experiencing pain in his shoulder in September 2023, which he put down to a pulled muscle from over-doing it at...

Events

3 d. ago ‘I am crying’: AOC soaks it in as Fox plays clip of her saying Stephen Miller is 4

Progressive Democrat gloats as Laura Ingraham awkwardly forces White House immigration hardliner to watch her Instagram video making fun of his supposedly short stature

Politics

3 d. ago Taylor Swift's ode to Travis Kelce is cringe – but is it worse than these other terrible lyrics?| Arwa Mahdawi

The singer-songwriter has proved herself a modern-day Shagspeare with Wood, a paean to the penis. When it comes to shocking lyrics, though, it faces strong competition ...Shall I compare thee to a redwood tree? Thou art more sappy and more decadent. Rough winds do shake OK, enough of that. I apologise for the cod Shakespeare but I just couldn’t help myself. Taylor Swift mania is at fever pitch and I have found myself swept up in the chatter about the lyrics from her new album, The Life of a Showgirl.Swift has routinely been described as a lyrical genius, and not just by 11-year-olds. Sir Jonathan Bate, a Shakespeare scholar, once called her a “literary giant” and used her work as a teaching aid. On her latest album the billionaire liberally sprinkles in plenty of Shakespeare references, but what’s really got people talking are the (supposed) allusions to fiance Travis Kelce’s “magic wand”. If you’re not interested in a blow-by-blow account of the magic, I’d advise you to do a vanish...

Events

3 d. ago What happens when AI doesn’t do what it’s supposed to? | Fiona Katauskas

Somebody always ends up payingSee more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Ana de Armas poses with a mystery man in Paris... as she has not been seen with beau Tom Cruise in 10 weeks

They were supposed to be filming the movie Deeper together over the summer in London and Malta, but there is no sign that production has started as they was a reported delay.

Politics

4 d. ago Women horrified as naked creep asks for selfie then follows them before vanishing

Fiona Fifi and her friend were left shocked after the man asked for a selfie on the hiking trail on Taiwan's Dongyan Mountain- wearing nothing but a Go-Pro camera

Politics

4 d. ago You can’t just press ‘undo’ on your life. To move forward, you must first feel your grief and rage

Many of us try to reframe our disappointments, to put a happy face on sad circumstances. But the path to growth is paved with difficult emotions, and we have to experience them honestlyI hope you had a good summer: I did not. On the day we were supposed to be going on holiday, I was sitting in A&E with my husband, waiting for him to have urgent but routine surgery, which meant our travel plans had to be cancelled.From this experience I learned something valuable, all over again, about how hard it is for me to feel bad when things go wrong. I’m not talking about life-altering traumas, but the more everyday, quietly devastating disappointments that – unless we can actually feel them – will really weigh us down. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando: ‘Some people were supposed to take drugs – and one of them was me’

He was the darling of early-90s alt rock, but success came with the kind of rock’n’roll excess that many of his peers did not survive. Now, having finally quit heroin, he’s back with a new album, a memoir – and no regretsEvan Dando rolls up a sleeve and points to a line of small dents running down his forearm, faint scars from decades of heroin abuse. “It takes so long to get decent track marks,” he says. “You do it for years and you think: I can’t stop yet. Maybe my skin is particularly tough, but you can barely see it now. What was it all for, eh?” He grins and lets out a raspy laugh. “Just kidding!”Dando, one-time indie pin-up and leading light of 90s alt-rock band the Lemonheads, looks in reasonable nick for a man who has taken every drug going from the age of 14. The songwriter behind such exalted tracks as It’s a Shame About Ray and My Drug Buddy, Dando is also known as rock’s most notorious burn-out, a star who seemingly had it all and threw it away. He is warm, goofily chari...

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