William S. Burroughs was a gay drug addict. A knot of contradictions, he was also deeply homophobic, sexist, racist and a gun-loving conservative, a passion that would eventually lead to him to be convicted of manslaughter. Needless to say, his life was as wild as his fiction – just watch Luca Guadagnino’s new film . The film is an adaptation of Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella of the same name, which was written in Central America, to where he had fled after drunkenly – and unsuccessfully – attempting to shoot a whisky glass off his wife’s head at a party. The story follows William Lee (an avatar for Burroughs, brilliantly played by Daniel Craig) as he stalks through 1950s Mexico City looking to indulge in gorgeous men and mind-altering substances. If you’ve delved into Guadagnino’s back catalogue you know his filmic world is heady, steamy and deeply sensuous. Think of the bitten peach dripping with nectar in his queer coming-of-age film Call Me By Your Name, the dizzying and dangerous dances of Suspiria, and the hot love triangle in his most recent film, Challengers. His world is one of feverish longing, and Queer continues this legacy. Our reviewer, American literature expert James Miller, found it to be a fairly faithful adaptation of Burroughs’ novel. The first half follows Lee as he becomes obsessed with a tall good-looking young veteran called Eugene Allerton. In the second half, the pair embark on an adventure to South America to find yagé (the hallucinogen ayahuasca). It’s a beautifully shot film that, as Miller writes, “explores the tension between personal freedom, transgression and control – themes that endured throughout Burroughs’ work”. The task of translation Queer could have been a tricky book to adapt – Burroughs’ writing is highly experimental and laden with trippy images, which Guadagnino has somehow managed to evoke. Another impressive feat of translating a book to the screen is Netflix’s , based on the epic Colombian saga by Gabriel García Márquez. The book is a sprawling work of genius, responsible for popularising magical realism as a literary genre and winning García Márquez a Nobel prize. Surprisingly, despite its popularity, it has never been made into a film – the author himself considered it unfilmable. I get where he was coming from. Surely no studio could have the resources to render its wild mix of reality and fantasy the way our own imaginations can. But Netflix has grasped the nettle and gone big in what is one of their most expensive and lavish productions. Split into two parts, the first of which is eight episodes, the studio’s adaptation “does not disappoint in its scope or ambition,” according to Liz Harvey-Kattou, an expert in Latin American studies. A surprisingly faithful and detailed retelling, it will please those who adore the novel and bring new fans who love a beautiful period drama – as well as those who enjoy fantasy. Keeping on the theme of translation, this time from one language to another, Japanese writer Haruki Murakami has just published his latest novel, . The book revolves around two parallel stories, one about a 17-year-old boy, and the other of a 45-year-old man. After reading it in Japanese and English, Japanese studies scholar Gitte Marianne Hansen happened upon an fascinating difference between the way these two stories are set apart in each version. In English, the reader becomes aware that the two narratives are distinct as they get to grips with the different worlds they inhabit. However, in Japanese the difference is immediate because the language has several ways to say “I”. This might not seem like a big deal but, as Hansen’s piece outlines, it changes the story and the way the reader interprets it in several interesting ways. New digital horizons In As You Like It, Shakespeare famously wrote, “all the world’s a stage” and during the pandemic, actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen took this to heart and ran with it. With theatres closed, they took every part of Grand Theft Auto’s online open-world game and made it a stage for a unique production of Hamlet. For future media academic Andy Miah, is the hilarious film documenting the making of this ingenious, boundary-pushing production. As well as showing the possibilities of theatre in digital spaces, it’s just a very funny and heartwarming film that will entertain theatre and games lovers in equal measure. I for one laughed out loud at frequent calls for actors and audience members to “please refrain from killing each other”. Also pushing traditional art forms to new places is the Tate Modern’s new exhibition . Featuring 150 works, it is one the most ambitious exhibitions at the Tate to date, bringing together groundbreaking works by artists who engaged with science, technology and material innovation up to the early 1990s. It’s a fascinating look at our relationship with technology before the commercialisation of the internet. As our reviewer Geoff Cox, an expert in art and computational culture, notes, there’s a sort of utopian hope, something innocent almost and idealistic, which we are missing now. To remove this article -Ace hire: Djokovic names ex-rival Murray coach
Boise State, which twice boycotted regular-season matches with San Jose State, pulled out of the Mountain West women's volleyball tournament Wednesday night even after securing a spot in the semifinals against the Spartans. San Jose State, which received six forfeit victories because of boycotts from Mountain West opponents, is seeded second in the conference tournament and received a first-round bye. Now the Spartans will advance all the way to Saturday's championship match rather than take the court Friday. Watch NBC Bay Area News 📺 Streaming free 24/7 Boise State released a statement that read: “The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament was not an easy one. Our team overcame forfeitures to earn a spot in the tournament field and fought for the win over Utah State in the first round on Wednesday. They should not have to forgo this opportunity while waiting for a more thoughtful and better system that serves all athletes.” San Jose State said it would issue a statement Thursday. Boise State's announcement came hours after the Broncos defeated Utah State 25-19, 18-25, 25-20, 25-23 in the quarterfinals. Boise State didn't commit immediately after the match to playing San Jose State. What went into its decision to withdraw from the tournament was unclear, whether it was by a team vote or more of a university decision. The title match likely will go on as scheduled. San Jose State will play either top-seeded Colorado State or No. 5 San Diego State. Both teams played the Spartans this season rather than sit out. Mountain West members Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State and Nevada as well as Southern Utah canceled games this season against the Spartans. Nevada’s players stated they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details. Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order Aug. 28 called the Defending Women’s Sports Act that challenges how Title IX rules are interpreted in that state. “Biological males – men and boys – have physical differences that give them an unfair advantage when competing with women and girls in athletics,” Little said at the time. A lawsuit was recently filed in Colorado by players from various schools against the conference and San Jose State officials calling for a Spartans player not to be allowed participation in the tournament, citing unspecified reports asserting there was a transgender player on the San Jose State volleyball team, even naming her. U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver ruled Monday that the player is allowed to play, and a federal appeals court upheld the decision the following day. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity and through school officials has declined an interview request. Wyoming and Nevada did not qualify for the tournament. Participation of transgender women in women’s sports is apparently why the five teams canceled their games against San Jose State, and the topic became a hot political topic ahead of the recent election. ___ AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sportsRealty firm Signature Global Ltd plans to launch multiple housing projects worth Rs 50,000 crore in Delhi-NCR over the next three years as part of its expansion plan amid strong consumer demand. Signature Global, listed on stock exchanges, is one of the leading real estate firms in the country. It sold properties worth Rs 7,200 crore last fiscal and is targeting to sell Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal. In an interview with PTI, Signature Global Chairman Pradeep Aggarwal noted that housing demand continues to be strong in Gurugram, and the company would keep expanding its presence by launching more projects and acquiring new land parcels. "We have a strong launch pipeline. We are targeting to launch projects worth Rs 50,000 crore over the next three years," he said. The company has already acquired land in Gurugram and adjoining areas to launch multiple projects, Aggarwal noted. "We gave guidance to launch Rs 16,000 crore worth of projects during the current fiscal year. We achieved Rs 9,000 crore launch in the first half of this fiscal and around Rs 5,000 crore worth of properties have been launched in the current quarter," Aggarwal said. He said the launch guidance would be achieved easily. On pre-sales guidance, Aggarwal said, "We had given a pre-sales (sales bookings) guidance of Rs 10,000 crore for the current fiscal. We were among few listed real estate developers to set such a big target". He highlighted that the company has already achieved sales bookings worth Rs 5,900 crore in the first half of this fiscal. Considering the strong performance in the first six months, he said, "We are quite hopeful of over-achieving of our annual guidance". Signature Global's sale bookings jumped over three times to Rs 5,900 crore in the April-September period of 2024-25 from Rs 1,860 crore a year ago. Signature Global, which has a significant presence in the Gurugram market, clocked sale bookings of Rs 7,270 crore in 2023-24. Aggarwal said the company keeps evaluating proposals to buy land in the Gurugram market and is also exploring to enter Noida, Greater Noida and Yamuna Expressway property markets. Earlier this month, the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4.15 crore for the quarter ended September. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 19.92 crore in the year-ago period. Its total income rose to Rs 777.42 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal from Rs 121.16 crore in the year-ago period. Signature Global has so far delivered 11 million square feet of housing area. It has a pipeline of about 32.2 million square feet of saleable area in forthcoming projects, along with 16.4 million square feet of ongoing projects. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Real Estate, Business Economy and around the world.