The Oscar-winning sword-and-sandals Russell Crowe vehicle refreshed old cliches, before ushering in a spate of copycats

“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” the creepy pilot asks the small boy in Airplane!. To younger audiences, the joke no longer makes any sense. In Airplane!’s day, sword-and-sandals movies had become an outdated, unwittingly homoerotic joke. But then came Gladiator, and the joke was on us. Released 20 years ago this month, Ridley Scott’s Roman epic gave the old cliches a new lease of life. It was all here: Colosseum action! Rippling man-flesh! Tigers! But Gladiator had its cheesecake and ate it. It served up crowd-pleasing spectacle and airline-ad visuals but also solemn, Oscar-worthy drama (and, in retrospect, a fair degree of camp).

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Ed Pilkington looks ahead to Weinstein’s court battle where he faces charges of rape and sexual assault, which he denies. And Jamie Grierson on why counter-terror police have listed Extinction Rebellion as a ‘key threat’

The film producer Harvey Weinstein will stand trial this week in New York City accused of five charges, including rape and sexual assault. Weinstein denies all allegations. The trial, expected to last about six weeks, will focus on the witness accounts of two alleged victims who claim they were assaulted by Weinstein.

The Guardian’s Ed Pilkington has been in court for the jury selection process in which 2,000 potential jurors were whittled down to 12 who will decide Weinstein’s fate. He tells Anushka Asthana that the case will cause a sensation in the US and around the world, but that it should not be seen as #MeToo on trial.

Donald Trump takes a jab at the South Korean film Parasite, best picture at this year's Oscars, telling supporters in Colorado that the US has 'enough problems with South Korea', and: ‘Can we get Gone With the Wind back?’ He also dismisses Brad Pitt, who – during his Oscars speech said his 45-second slot was more than John Bolton received at the US president's Senate impeachment trial. Trump calls the actor a 'little wise guy'

• Parasite's best picture Oscar could kickstart a new era of internationalism
  

This heartwarming documentary traces the lives of a baseball star and her partner, now in their 90s, who pretended to be ‘just good friends’ for decades

This documentary from Netflix is a real heart-soother. Directed with tremendous sensitivity and intimacy by Chris Bolan, it’s a love story about two women now in their 90s – Terry Donahue and Pat Henschel, who have been together since the 1940s.

For decades they kept up the pretence of being “just good friends” to their families before finally coming out a few years ago. Talking to outsiders, they still describe each other as “cousins”. The legacy of shame and fear among older people in the gay community is explored in the film, but the overwhelming mood here is love.

Water utility workers in El Paso, Texas were forced to unclog pumps over 20 times in 24 hours after residents refused to heed their call to refrain from flushing personal protective equipment and other coronavirus-related items down the toilet.

The winners and results of last night's Mega Millions lottery, plus how to avoid falling victim to a lottery scam.

The service, which protects political leaders including the president, said in March there was only one case, but new documents show that the disease is more widespread than believed.

It has been 60 years since the FDA first approved the birth control pill on May 9, 1960. It emerged as an essential pillar of women's ability to have good quality of life.

Some fans think the new album art was released in anticipation of a rumored platinum edition of Glory.

Messenger Rooms will be free for all users, with no time limit

Nintendo today confirmed earlier reports of account breaches dating back over the past few weeks. The gaming giant issued an update (via Nintendo Japan) noting that around 160,000 Nintendo Accounts were impacted, which found multiple being used to purchase digital items without the owner’s consent. Along with the purchasing powers, the offending parties may have […]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 1,248,040 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 28,974 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 2,180 to 75,477.

The report by Crisil also added that the losses will climb if travel restrictions last longer in hubs such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.

The BJP leaders waged a social media war against the Bengal government by accusing the state of hiding Covid-19 figures and also complaining the Centre that TMC-led government in Bengal has completely failed in handling the coronavirus crisis.

The BJP leaders waged a social media war against the Bengal government by accusing the state of hiding Covid-19 figures and also complaining the Centre that TMC-led government in Bengal has completely failed in handling the coronavirus crisis.

New Delhi, May 09: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding of a package worth Rs 30,000 crore to help the state battle the economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, ANI reported.

The case against them has been registered for forgery, cheating, criminal breach of trust and corruption.

Trapped in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, over a thousand migrant workers staying in Hyderabad's Tolichowki took to the streets on Sunday demanding to be taken home.

There has been talk for some time now about easing labour laws, already seen in industry circles as being too rigid and acting as a drag on growth, specifically to facilitate emerging from the lockdown. And it’s not just a question of emerging from it, there’s also the issue of surviving what looks like being a brutal and prolonged global economic downturn. It was reported on Friday that ordinances were being issued in some states.

Government should tell the people clearly about the exact state of the pandemic to enable them to prepare accordingly, said Congress senior spokesperson Ajay Maken.

The Tokyo Olympics was postponed for a year to 2021 in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 250 Indian students and tourists were seen queuing with their luggage at the airport as they prepared for the journey home.

Our eyes are open to what Pakistan is doing, Singh said, hours after the NIA arrested a "notorious narco-terrorist" who acted as a conduit for Pakistan-based terror groups.

The UK government has set a new target of recruiting an army of 18,000 coronavirus contact tracers by the middle of May, to be in place for the launch of the NHS contact tracing app

Laser pointer attacks on aircraft have become increasingly rare over the years in Saskatchewan, as figures from Transport Canada show.

Scientists are working hard to understand how age changes the immune system so that they can better protect seniors against current and future infectious diseases

Some of this year's Oscar nominees, including Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon, react to news of their nomination.

If Judy Becker is forced to pick a side in “Feud: Bette and Joan,” the production designer for the FX series says she’s team Bette Davis, but she’d rather live in Joan Crawford’s house. “We designed an amazing closet for her and I can’t deny that I would love to have that,” she says. The […]

The 36th edition of the European Athletics Indoor Championships is scheduled to take place from March 5 to 7 next year in Torun, Poland.

What is likely to be Kimi Raikkonen's final Formula 1 victory at the 2018 US Grand Prix is being live-streamed by F1 today. The high point of a disappointing second spell at Ferrari, it nonetheless gave the 2007 world champion a chance to prove a point.

The Portuguese giants offloaded the midfielder in January in a deal worth up to €65m, but asking prices have since dropped due to the Covid-19 crisis

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign launched a massive, multi-million dollar ad blitz against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Thursday, its biggest onslaught against Biden since the coronavirus pandemic hit the United States.

California on Friday became the first state to commit to sending mail-in ballots to all registered voters for the November election as a result of the coronavirus pandemic to safeguard voter access and public safety.

More than 1,000 people queued up on Saturday to get free food parcels in Geneva, underscoring the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the working poor and undocumented immigrants even in wealthy Switzerland.

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Marin Cilic has experienced many great moments on court in recent years, but the 18-time tour-level titlist announced that he will enjoy a milestone moment off the court in 2020. Speaking to his 170,000 followers on Twitter, the Croat shared the news that he will become a father next year. The news comes just 18 months after Cilic married Kristina Milkovic in Dubrovnik. Cilic’s announcement was accompanied by a photo of the 31-year-old shopping for a pushchair. New ride ?? ?? Excited to share with you all that #teamCilic will be growing. New member joining us in 2020 ???????? pic.twitter.com/m0Qxn6AdQB — Marin Cilic (@cilic_marin) 7 October 2019 Cilic will compete at next week’s VTB Kremlin Cup in Moscow, where he will be aiming to achieve his 500th tour-level victory. If Cilic achieves the feat, he would become the 10th active player on the ATP Tour to reach that mark..

Strong as ever

Rumours abound

Be Quiet! drops another interesting-looking ATX case, but how will it stack up against some stiff competition?

And confirms its plans for Zen 3 and RDNA 2

We test the most powerful, core-laden desktop CPU ever.

It's quite the refresh