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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...
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UK government tries to placate opponents of AI copyright bill

Economic impact assessment is one concession aiming to head off opposition from MPs, peers and creatives such as Paul McCartney and Tom Stoppard The UK government is trying to placate peer and Labour backbencher concerns about copyright proposals by pledging to assess the economic impact of its plans. Creative professionals including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Tom Stoppard and Kate Bush have strongly criticised ministers’ proposals to let artificial intelligence companies train their models on copyright-protected work without permission, unless the rights holder opts out. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7DZwfrK

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/4jLv8QJ

UK regulator fines 10 carmakers and two trade bodies over green ad collusion

CMA found car firms chose not to compete when advertising what percentage of their vehicles could be recycled Ten leading car manufacturers – plus two automotive trade bodies – have been fined more than £77m by a UK regulator after admitting breaking competition law in relation to advertising their green credentials. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation after a tipoff from Mercedes-Benz, which allowed the German marque to avoid financial penalties despite also being involved in the cartel. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/KLIHOiF

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...

Manchester City rediscovered heart and soul at Bournemouth, says Guardiola

City into FA Cup semi-final after 2-1 victory ‘We talked a lot about the game we lost here’ Pep Guardiola said Manchester City had recovered some of their missing heart and soul as they advanced to a seventh FA Cup semi-final in a row with a 2-1 win at Bournemouth . The City manager, whose team have been drawn to face Nottingham Forest, relied on what he called his “legendary” players – Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gündogan – in his side’s win on the south coast. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qZYb9ol

‘Wherever I looked I saw collapsed buildings’: Myanmar quake rescuers and medics struggle with size of task

After two days there are still not enough teams to find bodies or sufficient equipment to sift through the debris The scale of devastation in central Myanmar is unlike anything rescue workers or medics have seen before, even in a country that has endured more than four years of brutal conflict. In Sagaing, buildings have collapsed almost everywhere after Friday’s earthquake . Even the provincial fire department building has been destroyed, damaging all the rescue machinery and vehicles inside. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jqCfaLw