Something fishy: whats the real story with Amber Heard and Aquaman 2?

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  732 words  |  Kary Bruening

Week in geekFilmThe director says her character was never intended to feature in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the studio claims a lack of chemistry – but fans can’t help but suspect the actor’s public shaming is to blame for her greatly reduced role What’s the truth about Amber Heard and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom? Was her widely-mooted leading role in the movie reduced because she had no chemistry with Jason Momoa’s sometime king of Atlantis? [Read More]

The 25 best Australian books of 2023: Richard Flanagan, Alexis Wright, Robyn Davidson and others

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  16 minutes  |  3333 words  |  Kary Bruening

Australia year in review 2023Australian booksJust in time for your Christmas shopping: Guardian Australia’s critics and staff pick out the best of the best Which Australian books did you love this year? Join us in the comments Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Question 7 by Richard FlanaganKnopf It’s a big call to make for a Booker winner, but Question 7 could be Richard Flanagan’s greatest yet. This elegiac, chaptered essay touches on ideas that have haunted his fiction for years: his father was a PoW in Japan for three years during the second world war and was freed after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. [Read More]

What actually is the Mediterranean diet and does it work? | Health

 Posted on May 30, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1642 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

The Mediterranean diet, and its plentiful olive oil use, is not a weight-loss regime, more a way of life, and is classed by Unesco as such. Photograph: AlamyThe Mediterranean diet, and its plentiful olive oil use, is not a weight-loss regime, more a way of life, and is classed by Unesco as such. Photograph: AlamyHealthAnalysisWhat actually is the Mediterranean diet – and does it work?Sarah Boseley Health editorHard to define, but famously good for us, this way of eating is far from universally followed even in the countries it came from [Read More]

Actor Carrie Coon: My husband says I have ice-water in my veins | Film

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  8 minutes  |  1577 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

The ObserverFilmInterviewActor Carrie Coon: ‘My husband says I have ice-water in my veins’Michael HoganThe chameleon-like star of Fargo and The Leftovers on performing opposite Jude Law in new thriller The Nest, the sophistication of British audiences – and her ‘showmance’ with husband Tracy Letts A toddler is playing a tuba in the next room and Carrie Coon apologises in advance if she’s a little distracted. Unexpectedly saddled with childcare duties today, the 40-year-old is keeping one eye on her two children – three-year-old son Haskell and his month-old sibling – while she chats over Zoom from her Chicago home. [Read More]

After Savita Halappanavar's death, the brutal irony of 'pro-life' is exposed | Sarah Ditum

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  743 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

OpinionAbortion This article is more than 11 years oldAfter Savita Halappanavar's death, the brutal irony of 'pro-life' is exposedThis article is more than 11 years oldSarah DitumAnti-abortion groups' response to a young woman's tragic death in Ireland exposes their scant regard for women's livesAnti-abortion campaigners can be callous, but Savita Halappanavar is not the kind of woman they find easy to dismiss. She wanted to have children, and part of the anti-abortion pretence is that mothers are the only women who count, and restricting terminations is good for mothers. [Read More]

Chess: Judit Polgar still an icon nearly a decade after retirement | Chess

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  6 minutes  |  1199 words  |  Chauncey Koziol

Leonard Barden on chessChess This article is more than 6 months oldChess: Judit Polgar still an icon nearly a decade after retirementThis article is more than 6 months oldThe Hungarian gave up competitive play in 2014 but her online commentaries show that she is as sharp as ever There is an eternal argument over whether Bobby Fischer, Garry Kasparov or Magnus Carlsen is the all-time No 1 in men’s chess, but there is no debate about the No 1 woman. [Read More]

Dont blowtorch my head! The Home Alone recreation that nearly fried James Acaster and Guz K

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  9 minutes  |  1728 words  |  Valentine Belue

TelevisionSwinging paintcans, electrified sinks, a drop from a zipwire … in The Unofficial Science of Home Alone, the comics undergo the Christmas classic’s booby traps – to see what would really happen In a grey corner of Borehamwood in deepest Hertfordshire, a film set is coming alive with one of Christmas’s most magical traditions: cartoonish ultraviolence. Bags of unopened marbles lie ready to shatter someone’s vertebrae. A blowtorch is rigged to incinerate the first person to step through a doorway. [Read More]

Its hell being famous: second violent death of Serial podcast character raises ethics quest

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  7 minutes  |  1404 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Tyler Goodson at the grave of his friend John B McLemore, in Green Pond, Alabama, on 3 May 2017. Goodson was killed by police on 3 December 2023. Photograph: Jay Reeves/APTyler Goodson at the grave of his friend John B McLemore, in Green Pond, Alabama, on 3 May 2017. Goodson was killed by police on 3 December 2023. Photograph: Jay Reeves/APAlabamaTyler Goodson, 32, was killed by police in Woodstock, Alabama, after public radio mega-hit brought fame – but not much else [Read More]

Storm Alex brings flooding and devastation to south-eastern France - in pictures | Weather

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  3 minutes  |  526 words  |  Aldo Pusey

Storm Alex brings flooding and devastation to south-eastern France - in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Flooding from record rains in a mountainous region of France and Italy has killed two people and left at least nine missing. Storm Alex ravaged villages around the city of Nice on the French Riviera, sweeping away roads and damaging homes. [Read More]

The three black teenagers search shows it is society, not Google, that is racist | Antoine All

 Posted on May 29, 2024  |  5 minutes  |  941 words  |  Kary Bruening

Images thrown up by Kabir Alli’s Google searches for ‘three black teenagers’ and ‘three white teenagers’ Images thrown up by Kabir Alli’s Google searches for ‘three black teenagers’ and ‘three white teenagers’ OpinionSearch engines This article is more than 7 years oldThe ‘three black teenagers’ search shows it is society, not Google, that is racistThis article is more than 7 years oldAntoine AllenTwitter outrage over image search results of black and white teens is misdirected. [Read More]