The Odyssey translator Emily Wilson, whose 2017 translation of the Ancient Greek text served as a major inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s recent adaptation, is once again taking aim at the film.

Last month, Wilson made headlines when she branded the screenplay Nolan’s star-studded movie – which received widespread praise from critics – “abysmal”, claiming she’d have been “ashamed” to have “written any part of this script” in a damning piece in the London Review Of Books.

After sparking debate, she has now penned a second piece, this time for The Atlantic, once again slating the Oscar winner’s latest work.

She claimed that, while Nolan’s film is “visually stunning”, the script is “emotionally empty”.

“The script grandly insists on the importance of human kindness, while the camera shows us an entirely different set of values,” she claimed..

“In these times of hatred and misinformation, we need more than the ‘apparent magic’ of deceptive images. We need art that is truthful about the costs and the necessity of compassion, and that recognises that a sense of spiritual superiority may not protect us from lies.”

She also claimed that Nolan’s Odyssey “is not interested in the social or psychological questions of how people deceive and are deceived”, instead claiming that his direction is more focussed on “logistics”.

“The script tells us loudly that people matter, but the camera shows us that what matters is the mechanical challenge of moving objects through space,” Wilson added.

Wilson is a classical studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Her work includes a popular translation of Homer’s The Odyssey, published in 2017, which Nolan has stated helped him when putting together his own take on the classic tome.

In her original assessment of the film, she wasn’t totally scathing, saying she was “humbled” that Nolan had used her work to help him adapt it, calling its release a “an event to celebrate” and praising the filmmaker for “doing his best to get the general public reading again”.

Ultimately, though, she compared Nolan’s Odyssey to “an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth”.

While Nolan has not responded to this particular criticism, he has previously jumped to his film’s defence after questions around its supposed historical accuracy.

Kemi Badenoch has been condemned after making a former neo-Nazi a Tory Party adviser.

Joshua Bonehill-Paine was given the role after he stood down as an election candidate following a furious backlash from Jewish groups.

Bonehill-Paine was jailed for more than three years in 2015 after posting anti-semitic material online ahead of a planned neo-Nazi rally.

The following year, he was found guilty of racially-aggravated harassment of the Jewish Labour MP Luciana Berger.

Badenoch said he has since recanted his previous views and now works to combat anti-semitism.

In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, Bonehill-Paine said: “I know that my previous actions continue to cause pain in the Jewish community.

“I had thought that getting involved in my local council and working hard for my community was a good way to show how much I have changed and that I want to give something back.”

Badenoch said she had made Bonehill-Paine an adviser on “tackling radicalisation” to the Tories’ Culture and Integration Commission.

“If we are going to stop extremism and anti-semitism we are going to need help from those people who were part of the problem, but have now changed and are being part of the solution,” she said.

But Berger, who is now a Labour peer, condemned the decision.

She said: “The decision to welcome this individual as an adviser to the leader of the Opposition is no better than allowing him to stand as a council candidate.

“It is a privileged and influential national role. As a victim of this man’s heinous crimes, this appointment is an insult.”

Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said: “It beggars belief that Kemi Badenoch was happy for a former neo-Nazi to stand in the first place. That she has gifted him a plum job further adds to that shame.

A Reform UK spokesman said: “Joshua Bonehill-Paine, a self-professed fascist who has been jailed for publishing antisemitic material, will now have a say over national Conservative Party policy. This is alarming news for the Jewish community in Britain.”

But Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said it was a positive move.

Mr Rosenberg, who declined an offer from the Conservatives to meet the would-be councillor, told Times Radio: “I think it is good to use the experiences of people who have themselves been down this track to counter radicalisation in other places.

“Him playing a role specifically in education around these matters is more appropriate, certainly more appropriate than him standing as a local politician.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Ed Miliband awkwardly blanked a reporter who asked him about his previous criticism of Donald Trump as he met one of the president’s closest allies in Washington.

The new foreign secretary simply grinned and shook US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s hand as Sky News’s James Matthews asked if he still thinks Trump is “an idiot, a racist and a misogynist”.

Miliband made as series of criticisms of Trump during his first term in office.

In 2016, he said: “The idea that we share values with a racist, misogynistic, self-confessed groper beggars belief .”

The following year, Miliband said the president had “lowered the bar for idiocy”.

And in 2018, he told GQ magazine: “What is objectionable about him? His racism. His misogyny. His peculiar relationship with Russia and most of all with the truth.”

As Miliband continued to ignore him, Matthews asked: “Do you still hold a dim view of the president and does it hamper your business?”

The foreign secretary would only say: “We’re looking forward to our meeting.”

Watch the excruciating moment below:

The White House was reportedly furious at prime minister Andy Burnham’s decision to make Miliband foreign secretary, given his strong support for net zero and opposition to further drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.

In a statement after his meeting with Rubio, Miliband said the pair had discussed the importance of re-opening the Strait of Hormuz and “standing together with Ukraine in the face of Putin’s war”.

The pair also talked about the “intolerable” situation in Gaza, and the need for a “lasting peace” between Israel and Palestine.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

Filmmaker Vincent Ward has spoken out in response to comments made by The Odyssey star Samantha Morton during a recent interview.

Vincent came up in the conversation when Samantha sat down with the podcast Happy, Sad, Confused, after she was asked if she’s ever been mistaken for any other actors.

“Oh, it’s not mistaken,” she responded. “I went to New Zealand to do a movie and the director said, ‘We’re so excited to have you, Emily. I’ve loved you since you were in Breaking The Waves’.”

Host Josh Horowitz then asked whether she was referring to Vincent Ward, who directed her in River Queen, which she then confirmed to be the case.

“I was like, ‘Are you joking?’,” she continued. “I said to the producer, ‘Does he know that I’m Samantha Morton?’. He said, ‘Don’t tell him. He thinks you’re Emily Watson’.”

Samantha claimed that the project was, overall, a “sad job” that left her pondering “what the…?”, as well as alleging that she never corrected the director for his supposed faux pas.

The Oscar nominee concluded: “So, I always get mistaken for the amazing, the one and only, extraordinary Emily Watson. Or Stella McCartney.”

Vincent has since told Entertainment Weekly that Samantha’s claims are not possibly true because of how much he admired her work at that time.

“In fact, I had admired her work in a range of films including Minority Report, In America, and others,” he stated. “She is a very unique performer, it would be impossible to confuse her for anyone else, and I had pushed very hard to have her in the film even though it caused us some challenges.”

HuffPost UK has contacted Samantha Morton’s team for comment.

Samantha and her supposed doppelganger Emily Watson have shared the screen only once, in Charlie Kaufman’s 2008 surreal psychological drama Synecdoche, New York.

In recent weeks, she has already found herself at the centre of Oscar buzz thanks to her scene-stealing work as Circe in The Odyssey.

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When I was little, I used to adore flicking through photos from when I was younger. I remember we had a big, pale pink album filled to the gunnels with baby photos and pictures of family members – some still with us, others who sadly passed a long time ago.

It was like a book of memories, and they were all extremely happy ones. That baby pink photo album, now stashed in the back of a cupboard somewhere at my parents’ house, still holds a special place in my heart.

In this digital age, I felt a bit guilty that I was gatekeeping the photos of my daughters as they grow up (they’re all stored on my phone which they obviously don’t have that much access to).

If I let her, my eldest could easily spend hours flicking through old baby photos, or looking (and laughing) at more recent snaps of her making mischief with her younger sister. Sometimes I’ll catch her smiling wistfully whilst scrolling past old photos of me and her dad in my camera roll, or photos of her late Grandma holding her as a baby.

So, when her birthday was approaching, I decided to pull together a physical photo album that’s hers to keep.

I bought an album online (finding a child-friendly one on the high street proved to be impossible!), ordered 200-odd prints off Snapfish and went to work organising the album while watching England get thrashed by Argentina in the World Cup.

And guess what? It was one of her favourite birthday presents. Most nights, she will sit and flick through it, looking at photos from holidays, Disneyland, and pictures taken on days out with friends or family. Sometimes, her little sister will join in, and they’ll giggle together at the pictures of them both.

Child development expert Dr Amanda Gummer told me it’s likely to do with the fact photographs “feature the people, places and experiences that matter most to them”.

“At around five, children are also developing a stronger sense of their own identity and personal history,” she said. “Looking through familiar photographs helps them revisit experiences, recognise themselves as part of a family and make connections between past and present.”

The expert, who is founder of the Good Play Guide, suggested photo albums are a useful gift as they can prompt valuable conversation. “When children talk about who is in a picture, what happened and how they felt, they are practising language, storytelling and emotional understanding,” she explained.

“Looking through an album with a parent or sibling turns it into a shared social experience too.”

Do physical photo albums deserve a comeback? Yes, argues Dr Gummer. “Photographs on a phone are often controlled by an adult and mixed in with messages, videos and other distractions,” she said.

“A child can independently choose an album, hold it, revisit favourite pages and look at the pictures at their own pace. That sense of ownership matters.

“A photo album is also a lovely example of a present that may look simple but has lasting play and emotional value. It gives children repeated access to their own story, rather than being something they enjoy briefly and then forget.”

Well, there you have it. If you’re stuck for a gift idea for your child (or a relative or friend’s child), a photo album of their special memories will be something you can both treasure.

Here’s my pick of some of the best ones I’ve come across online…