Shorter cuts: news doesn’t get any smaller
Today: Pepsi hires Michael Jackson again, stolen pot plants and Dr Shaquille O'NealSave the dateSyed and Christian's cross-cultural gay relationship in EastEnders: a groundbreaking storyline in 2009, and now the subject of ChryedCon, an entire fan conv...
Mark Kermode’s DVD round-up
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; Dream House; Black Pond; Acts of GodfreyWhen Rooney Mara picked up an Oscar nomination for her punchy central performance in David Fincher's American remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011, Sony, 18), one quest...
Headhunters – review
Norwegian noir could be the new Swedish suspense – but not if this schlocky Jo Nesbø adaptation sets the toneIf the producers of this movie have their way, Norwegian noir will be the new Stockholm suspense. Following in Stieg Larsson's footstep...
Notes and queries: Who is the greatest fictional detective?
Plus: Is the air fresher in a forest? Why do men bother shaving?Who is the greatest fictional detective? Holmes? Marlowe? Marple? Philip Marlowe didn't solve all his crimes; his main business was doing what his clients wanted and getting beaten up occa...
Science writing that sucks you into the mind of a murderer | Penny Sarchet
Penny Sarchet, winner of last year's Science Writing Prize, is engrossed by a collection of grisly tales that demonstrate the limitations of free willA seemingly normal person shooting 13 people dead from the University of Texas Tower is a horrifying w...
Science writing that sucks you into the mind of a murderer | Penny Sarchet
Penny Sarchet, winner of last year's Science Writing Prize, is engrossed by a collection of grisly tales that demonstrate the limitations of free willA seemingly normal person shooting 13 people dead from the University of Texas Tower is a horrifying w...
Shakespeare folio dealer found dead in cell
Raymond Scott, who was jailed in 2010 for handling stolen book, found unconscious in Northumberland prisonAn eccentric antiques dealer who kept a rare, stolen First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in his home for a decade has been found dead in prison two...
Rampart – review
Woody Harrelson's bent Los Angeles cop rules over a tense study in corruption co-written by James EllroyThe dirty LAPD cop is a much love-hated figure in American cinema, in movies like Internal Affairs, LA Confidential and Training Day. (Abel Fer...
Curse of the Corleones strikes Godfather prequel
Paramount Studios is trying to block a novel, which offers an earlier instalment of the crime family sagaYou're never far from a "horse's head" gag when it comes to Godfather-related news. Nor, it turns out, a convoluted, generation-spanning family feu...
Publishers make bid to close filesharing sites
Publishing groups take action against two websites accused of sharing copyrighted ebooks, while police seize music sharing siteA coalition of US publishing groups has taken legal action in Ireland in a bid to close websites they accuse of copyright inf...
Playing it by the book: ex-con pens a prison guide for the uninitiated
First-timer Frankie Owens has written the book he wishes he had been given to help him serve his time in jailIgnorance and naivety often exacerbate the trauma that many people experience when they are sent to prison for the first time. Immediate c...
Hacking book: did Dickens pay the police for stories in his magazine?