Anna

Disney Parks will soon invite fans from around the world to see Elsa bring a snow day to to Olaf’s dream of a perfect summer day in the kingdom of Arendelle, thanks to its new land inspired by its Oscar-winning hit Frozen.We Rode the New Disney Coaster Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic RewindThe blockbuster fairytale franchise starring Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell as royal sisters Elsa and Anna makes the jump from the screen to theme park in Disney Parks’ long-anticipated Hong Kong Disneyland expansion, which is set to open…

The strange, sad story of Anna Nicole Smith is retold in this Netflix documentary by Ursula Macfarlane, who made Untouchable, about Harvey Weinstein. Smith was the former Playboy centrefold and Guess Jeans model who wound up dead of a drug overdose in 2007 at the age of 39, soon after her 20-year-old son had tragically died the same way. There are eerie similarities with the life of Pamela Anderson, also a recent Netflix subject, though Anderson survives and thrives.Smith was a smalltown Texas girl from a tough background…

Selected for Granta’s 2023 list of the best young British writers under 40, Anna Metcalfe says her debut novel, Chrysalis, was inspired by Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, in which a woman’s transformation is witnessed by three characters.Having been damaged by a controlling boyfriend, Metcalfe’s nameless protagonist rebuilds her self-esteem and reinvents herself as a wellness influencer. Elliot, a loner, observes her at the gym: “Her hips made broad circles. She swayed her head like something possessed… It seemed too private…

In an essay on weightlifting, Kathy Acker describes the process of gradually building muscle as something that forces a confrontation with the limits of the body, “with chaos, with my own failure or a form of death”. What she describes would not be recognised by the unnamed protagonist of Anna Metcalfe’s Chrysalis, who takes up bodybuilding as a means of asserting control. The novel focuses on a period of transition as this young woman emerges from a difficult childhood and an abusive relationship. She quits her job,…

Ice Spice is set to make her Met Gala debut on Monday evening, reportedly following a personal invitation from Vogue editor Anna Wintour.As first reported by TMZ, Spice is said to be making her debut at the event in custom Balmain and has been invited to the annual fundraiser as a guest of Vogue. At the time of this writing, no formal announcement regarding the appearance had been made.When reached for comment by Complex, a representative for Ice Spice confirmed she will be attending the Met Gala this…

A consistent theme in horror is that—no matter how desperate you may be—it’s almost never a good idea to summon a demon to fix your problems. Still, characters keep giving it a try, including the protagonist of From Black, who decides to put herself through hell as a way to escape the hell she’s already in.Working With The Original Jurassic Park CastFrom Black, directed and co-written by Thomas Marchese in his narrative feature debut, stars Anna Camp (True Blood, Pitch Perfect) as Cora, a recovering addict haunted by her…

This post was authored by Anna Rogers, with much invaluable help and feedback from Niranjan Balasubramanian, Leon Derczynski, Jesse Dodge, Alexander Koller, Sasha Luccioni, Maarten Sap, Roy Schwartz, Noah A. Smith, Emma Strubell (listed alphabetically)Header image credit: Sasha LuccioniWhat comes below is an attempt to bring together some discussions on the state of NLP research post-ChatGPT.¹ We are NLP researchers, and at the absolute minimum our job is to preserve the fundamentals of scientific methodology. This post…

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular round-up of the coolest toy news. This week’s toys include Lego continuing to drop more Disney 100 treats, Hot Toys flexing for The Dark Knight movies, and a colossal Jurassic World dino. Check it out!A Transformer Is Headed to the MoonImage: LegoLego Disney 100 Years of Disney Animation IconsReminiscent of Lego’s Brick Sketches line, but on a smaller scale, this 1,022-piece Disney Animation Icons art set includes hundreds of tiny tile pieces and 12 8x8-stud plates that can be…

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times: Emails: UMG asked Spotify, Apple, and other services to block developers training AI services from scraping melodies and lyrics from their copyrighted songs — Universal Music Group says new technology relies on unauthorised use of copyrighted material — Universal Music Group … Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times: Emails: UMG asked Spotify, Apple, and other services to block developers training AI services from scraping melodies and lyrics from…

Intensity was the name of the game in the Last of Us finale.Image: HBOThe shocking ending of The Last of Us season one is certain to have everyone talking for a long, long time. Luckily, io9 was among a group of journalists who got to talk to the people you’d want to talk to about it with most: showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann.In an extended press event, Mazin and Druckmann touched upon their personal feelings about the finalebut also got into some other big moments and reveals now that the season is over. For…