<ul class="summary-list"><li>Asa Butterfield leads the cast of Prime Video's new festive rom-com "Your Christmas or Mine?"</li><li>The film follows a couple who accidentally end up spending Christmas at the other's family homes.</li></ul><p>Asa Butterfield might be best known to viewers for playing a teenaged sex-and-relationships guru in <a href="https://www.insider.com/sex-education-ncuti-gatwa-breakup-eric-adam-season-finale-2021-9">"Sex Education,"</a> but in the new <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-best-holiday-movies-of-all-time-2022-12">festive rom-com</a> "Your Christmas or Mine?" he plays a student with a problem that not even Otis Milburn could fix.</p><p>In the British film, which is now available to stream on <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-is-prime-video">Prime Video</a>, Butterfield's character James and his girlfriend, Hayley (Cora Kirk) both make the same split-second decision to get on a train and surprise each other for the holidays.</p><p>Completely unaware that they had the same idea, they find themselves stranded on Christmas Eve with each other's families when the country is blanketed in the biggest snowfall on record. </p><p>However, although the cold weather is a pivotal plot device in the film, it turns out that it couldn't be further from the conditions in which the film was shot.</p><p>Speaking to Insider, Butterfield and his costar Kirk shared that they filmed the movie in the summer of 2021 when temperatures <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/uk-weather-todays-top-temperature-is-highest-of-2021-so-far-with-32-2c-at-heathrow-airport-12359813" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reached highs of 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit)</a> in the UK capital, which made things difficult, to say the least.</p><div type="image" title="Asa Butterfield as James and Cora Kirk as Hayley in &quot;Your Christmas or Mine?&quot;" height="2400" width="3600" msid="96260636" hostid="261" sizebytes="330166"></div><p>"It was quite surreal," Butterfield said. "I don't think we totally appreciated how weird that was going to be until we were there in a Christmas jumper, singing a Christmas song in the height of summer."</p><p>He said that they "never really forgot" that it was actually summer "because it was so warm."</p><p>"We were having to act like it was cold but we were actually sweating buckets," the "Hugo" actor added. </p><p>"We were always distinctly aware that it's the height of summer, even when we were trudging through snow, we were like, 'This is weird.'"</p><p>He said that he, Kirk, as well as director Jim O'Hanlon, and costars Daniel Mays, Angela Griffin, David Bradley, Alex Jennings, and Lucien Laviscount had no choice but to "embrace" the weirdness. </p><div type="image" title="Natalie Dunn, Alex Jennings, Stephanie Fayerman, Natalie Gumede, Asa Butterfield, Cora Kirk and Daniel Mays attend the &quot;Your Christmas Or Mine?&quot; Special Screening at The Curzon Mayfair on November 29, 2022." height="2958" width="3944" msid="96260639" hostid="261" sizebytes="669194"></div><p>He said he told himself: "You know what, fine, there are going be two Christmases this year. We're gonna sing out Christmas songs, we're gonna get in the spirit of things and all have mulled wine."</p><p>"And it was great," he continued. "I think that's partially because we just had such a nice team of people around us, such nice crew, such a nice cast. Everyone was just kind of in it together."</p><p>Newcomer Kirk said that O'Hanlon – who has previously directed episodes of "Catastrophe," "Trying," and "The Punisher" – was having to constantly remind the cast to act as if they were in icy conditions.</p><p>"He would always shout, 'It's cold! Remember it's cold!'" she said.</p><div type="image" title="Asa Butterfield as James in &quot;Your Christmas or Mine?&quot;" height="4000" width="6000" msid="96260642" hostid="261" sizebytes="408710"></div><p>Asa added that his cue from the filmmaker to bring him back into scenes was: "Shivering!"</p><p>Elsewhere in the interview, Butterfield also spoke about the upcoming fourth season of the Netflix smash-hit "Sex Education," sharing that filming for the new episodes is currently underway.</p><p>"That's kind of been my world for the last few months. I'm shooting that the moment," he told Insider, adding that production will be ongoing "until the end of January."</p><p>He said that it was not difficult to get back into the character of Otis, nor fall back into rhythm with his <a href="https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a37676270/sex-education-season-four-release-date-plot-cast/">returning costars</a>, which include Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa, and Gillian Anderson.</p><p>"I mean, we're all so close at this point," he said. "And we've made some really, really lovely friends, not just the cast but the crew as well. So it's a nice family we've established now. So it was very warm and comforting to be back."</p><p><em>"Your Christmas or Mine?" is available to watch on Prime Video now.</em></p>

Asa Butterfield says it was 'surreal' filming new festive movie 'Your Christmas or Mine?' during a heatwave: 'We were sweating buckets'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The poop featured in the third season of "<keyword id="11994925" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="sex-education" source="Orion">Sex Education</keyword>" is chocolate mousse and Weetabix.</li><li><keyword id="12122497" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="asa-butterfield" source="Orion">Asa Butterfield</keyword>, who plays Otis, said he tried some of it and it tasted "alright."</li><li>The real star of the scene is Jim Howick, who plays Mr. Hendrix, <keyword id="12122498" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="mimi-keene" source="Orion">Mimi Keene</keyword> (who plays Ruby) said.</li></ul><p>The flying poop featured in the latest season of "Sex Education" is actually just chocolate and wheat-based breakfast cereal, stars Asa Butterfield (Otis) and Mimi Keene (Ruby) revealed. </p><p>The third installment <a href="https://www.insider.com/best-sex-and-relationship-lessons-from-netflix-sex-education-season-2-2020-1">of the popular Netflix show</a>, which premiered on Friday, takes viewers back to Moordale High. Except now, Otis and Maeve (Emma Mackey) are no longer running their sex therapy clinic for fellow students, and the school has a new principal who is very set on moving past the scandals the school faced in the previous season. </p><p>One particularly memorable moment this season happens in the fifth episode. The students are out on a field trip with their teachers when Rahim (played by Sami Outalbali) accidentally clogs the bus' toilet. To avoid embarrassment, he stuffs his poop into a sock and flings it out of the window. Unfortunately for a family out on their own separate road trip, the poop-filled sock ends up on their windshield. </p><p>While chatting with Insider ahead of the season's release, Butterfield and Keene revealed that the poop featured was actually less gross than it looked on screen.</p><p>"I think it was chocolate mousse with some Weetabix paste to give it some fiber," Butterfield said. </p><p>He added tha he'd tried the mixture himself and it tasted "alright," although no one else from the cast was as bold as him. </p><div type="image" title="Connor Swindells and Sami Outalbali in &quot;Sex Education&quot;" height="1200" width="1599" msid="86317432" hostid="261"></div><p>While the flying poop is hard to miss, Keene believes the real star of the scene is the "very, very funny" Jim Howick, who plays teacher Colin Hendricks.</p><p>The generally cheerful Mr. Hendricks has the impossible task of figuring out who was responsible for the gross sock and he gets increasingly hysterical as no one wants to take responsibility for it. </p><p>"It wasn't actually just the flying poo that was funny," Keene said. </p><p>She added: "We sort of needed to get it. And the director, Ben Taylor, was like, 'Guys, we need to get this before it's dark. You're gonna have to stop laughing.'"</p><p>All eight episodes of "Sex Education" season 3 are currently streaming on <keyword id="11892922" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="netflix" source="Orion">Netflix</keyword>.</p>

The flying poop in Netflix's 'Sex Education' was actually a mix of chocolate mousse and Weetabix

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12972754" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="kyle-maclachlan" source="Orion">Kyle MacLachlan</keyword> and <keyword id="12972753" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jeff-goldblum" source="Orion">Jeff Goldblum</keyword> walked on <keyword id="12972755" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="prada" source="Orion">Prada</keyword>'s "Body of Work" runway at <keyword id="12972752" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="milan-fashion-week" source="Orion">Milan Fashion Week</keyword>.</li><li>The show had Hollywood stars including Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Asa Butterfield, and Damson Idris.</li></ul><p>Kyle MacLachlan and Jeff Goldblum made surprise runway appearances in Prada's menswear show at Milan <keyword id="11893303" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="fashion" source="Orion">Fashion</keyword> Week on Sunday.</p><p>In a press release about the show, <a href="https://www.pradagroup.com/content/dam/pradagroup/documents/2022/gennaio/inglese/Prada%20Fall%20Winter%202022%20Menswear%20show_Press%20release.pdf">Prada described the theme of its Fall/Winter 2022 offering</a>, titled "Body of Work," at the industry event, saying: "Work is a state of reality — a vital component of life." Milan Fashion Week <a href="https://milanofashionweek.cameramoda.it/en/calendars/2022-01-17/">began on Friday and will continue until Tuesday</a>, according to its website. </p><p>Prada's website says that the show used "theater and cinema as mirrors of reality," and took place at <a href="https://www.prada.com/gb/en/pradasphere/fashion-shows/2022/fw-menswear.html#component_text_modul_1752789393">the Fondazione Prada</a> – a Milanese arts and culture venue – that underwent a sci-fi makeover with tunnels of metal grating lit with neon light.  <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/jan/16/pradas-milan-fashion-week-show-ends-with-jeff-goldblum-on-the-catwalk">The line is the second designed by co-artistic directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons</a>, who have worked together since early 2020, The Guardian reported. </p><p>MacLachlan, 62, and Goldblum, 69, bookended the runway show alongside eight other Hollywood faces, the press release said. These actors included Netflix stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster from "The Queen's Gambit," Asa Butterfield from "Sex Education," and Damson Idris from FX's "Snowfall."</p><div type="image" title="Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Asa Butterfield, and Damson Idris at the Prada fashion show during the Milan Men's Fashion Week 2022." height="3779" width="5291" msid="88955591" hostid="261"></div><p>"Actors are interpreters of reality, employed to echo truth through their portrayals," Prada said of its decision to use these actors, in the press release. </p><p>MacLachlan, known for his roles in "Twin Peaks" and "Sex and the City," walked first in an oversized long black coat, paired with a powder blue shirt, pants, and gloves. Hours after walking, <a href="https://twitter.com/Kyle_MacLachlan/status/1482752267619123203">he thanked Simons for the opportunity in a tweet</a>, and described it as an "honor." </p><p>Meanwhile, Goldblum walked in the finale in an all-black look consisting of a turtle neck, trousers, leather gloves, and another oversized coat with fur detailing on the sleeves and trim. </p><p>Prada's press release described its collection as "uniforms of reality," reimagining knitwear, bomber jackets, and parkas with "elegance and sophistication."</p><p>Prada's show took place amid <a href="https://www.voguebusiness.com/fashion/mens-and-couture-fashion-weeks-to-go-ahead-despite-omicron-surge">several cancelations from luxury Italian fashion houses</a> due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vogue Business reported on January 5. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6884170822357917696/">Giorgio Armani posted on LinkedIn in early January to confirm that its shows would not go ahead</a> due to "the worsening epidemiological situation."</p><p>Vogue Business said that Italian menswear brand Numero 00 also canceled its Milan show, while Brunello Cucinelli canceled his Pitti Uomo attendance in favor of a presentation in their showroom. It added that Hermès, Dior, Loewe, Ami, and Kenzo planned to go ahead with live menswear shows, as did Louis Vuitton with its <a href="https://www.insider.com/louis-vuitton-virgil-abloh-creative-director-dies-at-41-2021-11">final collection designed by Virgil Abloh before his passing.</a></p><p>According to the BBC, Italy recently recorded its highest daily figure for infections since the start of the pandemic, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-59910842">with over 220,000 new cases reported on January 6</a>.</p><p>Representatives for Prada, MacLachlan, and Goldblum did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.</p>

Kyle MacLachlan and Jeff Goldblum made surprise catwalk appearances at Prada's Milan Fashion Week show

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11932133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="tom-holland" source="Orion">Tom Holland</keyword> appeared on the latest episode of the 'Graham Norton Show' released on Friday.</li><li>Holland recalled a driver once telling him he'd get the part of Spider-Man.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/category/tom-holland">Tom Holland</a> recalled the time that a stranger told him he'd land the <a href="https://www.insider.com/tom-holland-career-bio-life-2019-6">role</a> of the MCU's Peter Parker/Spider-Man because he was less attractive than another actor in the running. </p><p>"When I was going for my last audition, I was driving there, I was very nervous, and I had this driver. Lovely guy, but a little bit too honest," Holland said during an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTUfOuc5-uE">appearance</a> on "The Graham Norton Show," released on Friday.</p><p>Holland said that the driver was chatty and kept adjusting his rearview mirror to get a better look at the actor. Meanwhile, he was trying to focus on nailing his latest audition for the <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/marvel">Marvel</a> role.</p><p>"I'm a polite person, but I also want to be like, 'Mate, please shut up. I'm trying to learn my line,'" the star said.</p><p>"He goes, 'You know what kid? I think you're going to get it.' I'm like, 'Really? Why?' And I was excited to hear that," Holland continued. "He goes, 'You know what? I think you're gonna get it because the kid that I just drove there, he is so good looking.'"</p><div type="image" title="Tom Holland as Spider-Man in &quot;Spider-Man: Far From Home.&quot;" height="1195" width="1594" msid="88082379" hostid="261"></div><p>A behind-the-scenes book released in October, titled "The Story of <keyword id="11899344" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="marvel" source="Orion">Marvel</keyword> Studios: The Making of the <keyword id="11931627" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="marvel-cinematic-universe" source="Orion">Marvel Cinematic Universe</keyword>" by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry, revealed that 1,500 people auditioned for the role. The list of candidates was whittled down to six actors, with Holland as the frontrunner. </p><p>Holland did seven rounds of auditions before flying to Atlanta, Georgia for his <a href="https://www.insider.com/tom-holland-robert-downey-jr-friendship-timeline-photos">screen test with Robert Downey Jr</a>. (Tony Stark/Iron Man), who had already met with the other candidates. </p><p>When it came time for the screen test, Holland and Downey Jr. ended up reworking a scene on the fly, impressed the people involved in the casting process. </p><p>Holland got the job and his casting was made public in June 2015, making him the youngest actor to take on the role following in the footsteps of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. </p><div type="image" title="spider man far from home peter parker surprised" height="919" width="1226" msid="88082380" hostid="261"></div><p>According to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/how-new-spider-man-team-804569">The Hollywood Reporter</a>, Asa Butterfield, Charlie Rowe, Charlie Plummer, Judah Lewis, and Matthew Lintz were also considered for the part. Timothée Chalamet also <a href="https://www.insider.com/timothee-chalamet-facts-2018-10">auditioned for the role</a> but admitted that he didn't make it very far in the process because he botched his audition. </p><p>Holland encountered the same driver from the audition process when he returned to film "Captain America: Civil War," which would mark his Marvel debut.</p><p>"I saw him a few months later when I was shooting the film and he goes, 'I told you.'  I was like, 'What did you tell me? That I was gonna get the part or that I was ugly?'"</p><p>Since then, Holland has reprised the role for two standalone films as well as "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/avengers-infinity-war">Avengers: Infinity War</a>" and "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/avengers-endgame">Avengers: Endgame</a>."</p><p>He'll return in "<a href="https://www.insider.com/category/spider-man-no-way-home">Spider-Man: No Way Home</a>," in theaters on December 17, and is set to <a href="https://www.insider.com/spider-man-no-way-home-not-tom-holland-last-mcu-film-producer-2021-11">reappear as the beloved comic-book character in three more undisclosed projects for Marvel/Sony</a>. </p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QTUfOuc5-uE" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Tom Holland says a 'too honest' driver told him he'd get cast as Spider-Man because he wasn't as attractive as another actor in the running

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c3cab90d4beaf1a10651766-1330/screen%20shot%202019-01-14%20at%20103126%20am.png" border="0" alt="sex education" data-mce-source="Netflix"><p class="source"><span>Netflix</span></p><p class="caption">Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson in "Sex Education."</p></img></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Netflix's "Sex Education" has an 89% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and fans have praised how the show addresses relevant issues.</li><li>Unlike some of its other British Netflix "original" shows, "Sex Education" didn't originate on a UK network, and demonstrates Netflix's evolving production strategy.</li><li>Netflix will increase the amount of European shows it produces in 2019 to compete with a potential British streaming service, The Telegraph reported in November.</li></ul><p>Netflix has built an impressive catalog of hit British TV shows licensed from networks in the UK, or co-produced with them. But with its latest British series, Netflix started from scratch - and it seems to have paid off.</p><p>"Sex Education" debuted on the streaming giant on January 11 and stars Asa Butterfield and Gillian Anderson. Netflix <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80197526" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a> the series like this: "<span>Insecure Otis has all the answers when it comes to&#xa0;</span>sex<span>&#xa0;advice, thanks to his therapist mom. So rebel Maeve proposes a school&#xa0;</span>sex<span>-therapy clinic."</span></p><p><em><strong>READ MORE</strong>: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/netflix-hit-british-show-bodyguard-wins-golden-globe-2019-1" data-analytics-position="8">Netflix's hit British series, 'Bodyguard,' won a Golden Globe and has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes</a></em></p><p>The show quickly garnered a fanbase over the weekend. People on Twitter praised the show's positive and "healthy" portrayal of male friendships that lack "toxic masculinity," and its "complex characterization of a gay teen of color," among other things.</p><p>Below are some Tweets commending the show:</p><p><span>Critics love it, too, and it has an 89% Rotten Tomatoes critic score. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/01/netflix-sex-education-review/579487/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Atlantic's Sophie Gilbert</a> wrote that the show is "patched together so perspicaciously from pieces of existing hits that you can virtually see the stitches ... it works so well is almost annoying."</span></p><p><span>Allison Shoemaker wrote for <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/demanders/funny-character-driven-sex-education-improves-with-each-episode" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RogerEbert.com</a> that the show is "willing to experiment and find a balance that works. And like sex-like good sex anyway-it's often an absolute pleasure."</span></p><p><span>The series features a primarily international cast and was filmed in South Wales. But what makes "Sex Education" different than some other hit Netflix British shows as of late is that it didn't originate on a UK TV network. </span></p><p><span>Unlike "Bodyguard," "The Last Kingdom," or even "Black Mirror" - all of which Netflix acquired streaming rights to (or picked up as originals) after they had aired on BBC networks - </span><span>"Sex Education" is purely a Netflix original. This is a sign of Netflix bulking up its output of international originals.</span></p><p><span>Netflix will increase the amount of European shows it produces in 2019 by a third, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/11/28/netflix-ramps-european-shows-ofcom-calls-home-grown-competitor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Telegraph</a> reported in November. The move comes on the heels of the head of the UK's broadcast regulator pushing British networks to create a streaming service to compete with Netflix, according to The Telegraph.</span><span></span></p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Wow <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SexEducation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SexEducation</a> really gave us the most layered and complex characterization of a gay teen of color!! He wasn't there for comedy relief or for tokenism. He had his own storyline and grew into this BEAUTIFUL, FIERCE, and joy-spreading angel <br><br>WE MUST PROTECT ERIC AT ALL COSTS. <a href="https://t.co/VBXnkiCRud">pic.twitter.com/VBXnkiCRud</a></br></br></p>- ✨  (@wiiissssss) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1084594466827264000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Otis and Eric's friendship on Sex Education is such a wonderful, healthy, and pure example of male friendships. There is no weird toxic masculinity bullshit or homophobia. Just pure love. <a href="https://t.co/PKR3xrF8Ki">pic.twitter.com/PKR3xrF8Ki</a></p>- 🔮 your middlest sister 🌚  (@kissing_kate_) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1084599937227284480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 13, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>I've never seen a more clearly bisexual love interest to a straight man on TV than Ola on Sex Education, who radiates Big Queer Energy in every moment and in this scene is literally wearing a rainbow. <a href="https://t.co/DW5UUerBxC">pic.twitter.com/DW5UUerBxC</a></p>- alanna bennett  (@AlannaBennett) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1084619715853590529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Fuck, im tired all day but Sex Education is so gooooooood and cant stop, im on ep4. Huhuhu what is sleep btw?</p>- mermaine  (@litolnars_) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1084822553560903681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Didn't expect to like Sex Education bai. The makers are truly the masters of their craft. Its amazing to have seen a series that addresses relevant issues like teenage pregnancy, father-son issues, being both gay and a christian, peer pressure, etc. in just one show.</p>- anicca  (@annikanicc) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1084774260894183424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2019</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mary-poppins-disney-changed-movies-classic-visual-effects-green-screen-2018-12">How the original 'Mary Poppins' transformed the way movies are made today</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/72fynzSk-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Netflix's 'Sex Education' is its latest hit British TV show - and this time the streaming giant didn't pick it up from a TV network

<p><div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="YouTube screencap" title_caption="Asa Butterfield stars as the titular character in the film adaptation of " Enders="" Game.="" class="zoomin" href="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5189a26ceab8ea1b4e000006-960/enders-game-asa-butterfield-1.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5189a26ceab8ea1b4e000006-467-350/enders-game-asa-butterfield-1.png?maxX=400" border="0" alt="enders game asa butterfield" width="400" style="float: right;" /></a></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP0cUBi4hwE&amp;feature=share">YouTube screencap</a></p><p class="caption">Asa Butterfield stars as the titular character in the film adaptation of "<keyword id="1392475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Enders-Game">Ender's Game</keyword>."</p></div>The first trailer for "Ender's Game" is here, and it's full of <span>gorgeous landscape shots, Harrison Ford narration, and Ben Kingsley—fresh out of his "Iron Man 3" role—covered in facial tattoos.</span></p>
<p class="p1">The film, based on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Enders-Game-Orson-Scott-Card/dp/0765342294" target="_blank">1985 novel from Orson Scott Card</a>, is set in a futuristic Earth preparing to undergo battle with an alien race (Formics) for a third time.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span>Director Gavin Hood ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine") brings us the adaptation ripe with Oscar nominee talent in Ford, Viola Davia, Abigail Breslin, and Oscar-winner, Kingsley. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span>The main protagonist, Ender, is played by Asa Butterfield ("Hugo"). </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For those unfamiliar with the story, the first 50 seconds of the trailer play similar to another anticipated alien film due out this summer, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pacific-rim-wondercon-trailer-2013-4" target="_blank">Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim."</a> </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> </span></p>
<p class="p1">However, instead of equipping men with the task to relinquish the Earth of aliens, children are sent to military school to combat the threat.</p>
<p class="p1">"Ender's Game" comes to theaters November 1.</p>
<p><iframe width="590" height="360" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vP0cUBi4hwE"></iframe></p>
<p>Here's a shot of that beautiful landscape we were talking about from the trailer: </p>
<p><div class="image-container click-to-enlarge" style="width:620px"><div class="image"><a title_source="Ender's Game trailer" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5189a38eecad04a301000009-960/enders-game.png"><span class="click-to-enlarge-icon" title="Click to enlarge"></span><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5189a38eecad04a301000009-625-337/enders-game.png" border="0" alt="enders game" width="620" /></a></div><p class="source"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP0cUBi4hwE&amp;feature=share">Ender's Game trailer</a></p></div></p>

Kids Battle For Earth's Future In The First 'Ender's Game' Trailer

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/52ea91846bb3f7e031631efe-1200-600/amazing-spider-man.jpg" border="0" alt="amazing spider man"><p class="source"><span>Sony Pictures</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The competition to become the next Spider-Man was fierce.</span><p><a href="http://www.thewrap.com/spider-man-shortlist-includes-paper-towns-star-nat-wolff-hugos-asa-butterfield-exclusive/">The Wrap</a> reported a month ago that the shortlist included young talents like <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1822659/">Nat Wolff</a> ("The Fault in Our Stars"), <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2633535/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Asa Butterfield</a> ("Ender's Game"), and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416699/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1">Liam James</a> ("2012"), to name a few.</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55898c6deab8ea2b0f4c3a5f-1200-924/tom-holland-anthony-harvey.jpg" border="0" alt="Tom Holland Anthony Harvey"><p class="source"><span>Anthony Harvey/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">19-year-old English actor Tom Holland can probably do his own "Spider-Man" stunts.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>But on Tuesday, Sony and Marvel Studios <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/spider-man-tom-holland-cast-2015-6" target="_blank">announced that it had chosen</a>&#xa0;19-year-old English actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4043618/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Tom Holland</a>.&#xa0;<p>Known best for playing the lead in "Billy Elliot the Musical" in London and starring opposite Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts in the 2012 film "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1649419/?ref_=nm_knf_i1">The Impossible,</a>" Holland hasn't previously been the star of a big Hollywood film like some of the others vying to play Peter Parker.</p><p>But if his <a href="https://instagram.com/tomholland2013/">Instagram account</a> gives us any indication, he certainly has the ability to be Spider-Man.</p><p>We wonder if Sony and Marvel were swayed by some of these incredible moves Holland has posted to his 32,000 Instagram followers over the past few months. They'll definitely come in handy when playing the agile superhero.</p><p>Check out Holland's moves below:</p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/121jugsdlr/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/4Md9H0Mdp0/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/4MeUrXMdqo/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/4Mexk_MdsA/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/yrQP0iMdmk/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/yPCQ7gMdoc/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p><div><div><iframe src="//instagram.com/p/06bL8zsdgT/embed/" width="658" height="" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></div></div><p class="embed-spacer"></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-spider-man-tom-holland-marvel-sony-2015-6">A 19-year-old will play Peter Parker in the next Spider-Man movie</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="N0YnV0dTrCGKt_kbNMVdn_o-chBvdsz4" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'N0YnV0dTrCGKt_kbNMVdn_o-chBvdsz4',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

New Spider-Man Tom Holland may have won the role thanks to his insane stunt videos on Instagram

<p><div class="image-container"><div class="image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52d8ba06eab8ea421748ec00-695-347/12-years-a-slave-7.png?maxX=800" border="0" alt="12 years a slave" width="800" /><p class="source">"<keyword id="1973278" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="12-Years-a-Slave">12 Years A Slave</keyword>"</p></div></div></p>
<p>Following Thursday's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/oscar-nominations-2014-2014-1" target="_blank">Oscar nominations</a>, "12 Years A Slave," "Gravity," Matthew McConaughey, and Cate Blanchett took home the top honors during the night's <a href="http://www.criticschoice.com/" target="_blank">Critics' Choice Awards</a>.</p>
<p>Special awards went to Forest Whitaker, Benedict Cumberbatch, and the "Before Midnight" cast.</p>
<p>The ceremony aired live on the CW network from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and was hosted by Aisha Tyler.</p>
<p>Check out the list of winners below (via <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/2014-critics-choice-awards-winners-671707" target="_blank">THR</a>):</p>
<p><strong>BEST PICTURE</strong><br />American Hustle<br />Captain Phillips<br />Dallas Buyers Club<br />Gravity<br />Her<br />Inside Llewyn Davis<br />Nebraska<br />Saving Mr. Banks<br /><strong><span>*12 Years a Slave</span></strong><br />The Wolf of Wall Street</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTOR</strong><br />Christian Bale - American Hustle<br />Bruce Dern - Nebraska<br />Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave<br />Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips<br /><strong><span>*Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club</span></strong><br />Robert Redford - All Is Lost</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTRESS</strong><br /><span>*<strong>Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine</strong></span><br />Sandra Bullock - Gravity<br />Judi Dench - Philomena<br />Brie Larson - Short Term 12<br />Meryl Streep - August: Osage County<br />Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks</p>
<p><strong>BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR<br /></strong>Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips<br />Daniel Bruhl - Rush<br />Bradley Cooper - American Hustle<br />Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave<br />James Gandolfini - Enough Said<br /><strong><span>*Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club</span></strong></p>
<p><strong>BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS</strong><br />Scarlett Johansson - Her<br />Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle<br /><span>*</span><strong><span>Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave</span></strong><br />Julia Roberts - August: Osage County<br />June Squibb - Nebraska<br />Oprah Winfrey - Lee Daniels' The Butler        </p>
<p><strong>BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS</strong><br />Asa Butterfield - Ender's Game<br /><strong><span>*Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue Is the Warmest Color</span></strong><br />Liam James - The Way Way Back<br />Sophie Nelisse - The Book Thief<br />Tye Sheridan - Mud</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE</strong><br /><strong><span>*American Hustle</span></strong><br />August: Osage County<br />Lee Daniels' The Butler<br />Nebraska<br />12 Years a Slave<br />The Wolf of Wall Street</p>
<p><strong>BEST DIRECTOR</strong><br /><span><strong>*Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity</strong></span><br />Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips<br />Spike Jonze - Her<br />Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave<br />David O. Russell - American Hustle<br />Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street</p>
<p><strong>BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY</strong><br />Eric Singer and David O. Russell - American Hustle<br />Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine<br /><strong><span>*Spike Jonze - Her</span></strong><br />Joel Coen &amp; Ethan Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis<br />Bob Nelson - Nebraska</p>
<p><strong>BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY</strong><br />Tracy Letts - August: Osage County<br />Richard Linklater &amp; Julie Delpy &amp; Ethan Hawke - Before Midnight<br />Billy Ray - Captain Phillips<br />Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope - Philomena<br /><strong><span>*John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave</span></strong><br />Terence Winter - The Wolf of Wall Street</p>
<p><strong>BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY</strong><br /><span><strong>*Emmanuel Lubezki - Gravity</strong></span><br />Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis<br />Phedon Papamichael - Nebraska<br />Roger Deakins - Prisoners<br />Sean Bobbitt - 12 Years a Slave</p>
<p><strong>BEST ART DIRECTION</strong><br />Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) - Gravity<br /><span><strong>*Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) - The Great Gatsby</strong></span><br />K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) - Her<br />Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<br />Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) - 12 Years a Slave</p>
<p><strong>BEST EDITING</strong><br />Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers - American Hustle<br />Christopher Rouse - Captain Phillips<br /><span><strong>*Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger - Gravity</strong></span><br />Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill - Rush<br />Joe Walker - 12 Years a Slave<br />Thelma Schoonmaker - The Wolf of Wall Street</p>
<p><strong>BEST COSTUME DESIGN</strong><br />Michael Wilkinson - American Hustle<br /><span><strong>*Catherine Martin - The Great Gatsby</strong></span><br />Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<br />Daniel Orlandi - Saving Mr. Banks<br />Patricia Norris - 12 Years a Slave</p>
<p><strong>BEST MAKEUP</strong><br /><span>*<strong>American Hustle</strong></span><br />The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<br />Lee Daniels' The Butler<br />Rush<br />12 Years a Slave</p>
<p><strong>BEST VISUAL EFFECTS</strong><br /><strong><span>*Gravity</span></strong><br />The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<br />Iron Man 3<br />Pacific Rim<br />Star Trek into Darkness</p>
<p><strong>BEST ANIMATED FEATURE</strong><br />The Croods<br />Despicable Me 2<br /><strong><span>*Frozen</span></strong><br />Monsters University<br />The Wind Rises</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTION MOVIE</strong><br />The Hunger Games: Catching Fire<br />Iron Man 3<br /><strong><span>*Lone Survivor</span></strong><br />Rush<br />Star Trek into Darkness</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE</strong><br />Henry Cavill - Man of Steel<br />Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man 3<br />Brad Pitt - World War Z<br /><strong><span>*Mark Wahlberg - Lone Survivor</span></strong></p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE</strong><br /><span><strong>*Sandra Bullock - Gravity</strong></span><br />Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire<br />Evangeline Lilly - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug<br />Gwyneth Paltrow - Iron Man 3</p>
<p><strong>BEST COMEDY</strong><br /><strong><span>*American Hustle</span></strong><br />Enough Said<br />The Heat<br />This Is the End<br />The Way Way Back<br />The World's End</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY</strong><br />Christian Bale - American Hustle<br /><strong><span>*Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street</span></strong><br />James Gandolfini - Enough Said<br />Simon Pegg - The World's End<br />Sam Rockwell - The Way Way Back</p>
<p><strong>BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY</strong><br /><span><strong>*Amy Adams - American Hustle</strong></span><br />Sandra Bullock - The Heat<br />Greta Gerwig - Frances Ha<br />Julia Louis-Dreyfus - Enough Said<br />Melissa McCarthy - The Heat</p>
<p><strong>BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE</strong><br />The Conjuring<br /><strong><span>*Gravity</span></strong><br />Star Trek into Darkness<br />World War Z</p>
<p><strong>BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM</strong><br /><strong><span>*Blue Is the Warmest Color</span></strong><br />The Great Beauty<br />The Hunt<br />The Past<br />Wadjda</p>
<p><strong>BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE</strong><br />The Act of Killing<br />Blackfish<br />Stories We Tell<br />Tim's Vermeer<br /><strong><span>*20 Feet from Stardom</span></strong></p>
<p><strong>BEST SONG</strong><br />Atlas - Coldplay - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire<br />Happy - Pharrell Williams - Despicable Me 2<br /><strong><span>*Let It Go - Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez - Frozen</span></strong><br />Ordinary Love - U2 - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom<br />Please Mr. Kennedy - Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver - Inside Llewyn Davis<br />Young and Beautiful - Lana Del Rey - The Great Gatsby</p>
<p><strong>BEST SCORE</strong><br /><span><strong>*Steven Price - Gravity</strong></span><br />Arcade Fire - Her<br />Thomas Newman - Saving Mr. Banks<br />Hans Zimmer - 12 Years a Slave</p>
<p><strong>Joel Siegel Award</strong><br /><span><strong>*Forest Whitaker</strong></span></p>
<p><span><strong>Louis XIII Genius Award</strong></span><br /><strong><span>*Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater for trilogy <em>Before Sunrise, Before Sunset</em>and <em>Before Midnight</em></span></strong></p>
<p><strong>Hollywood's Hottest Star<br /><span>*Benedict Cumberbatch</span></strong></p>

A Complete List Of Winners From The Critics' Choice Awards

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/52091964ecad043265000014-1200-924/enders-game-asa-butterworth-4.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="enders game asa butterworth" width="480" /><p class="source">Summit Entertainment</p><p class="caption">Asa Butterfield as Ender</p></div></div>I don't like <em><keyword id="1392475" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Enders-Game">Ender's Game</keyword>.</em> </p>
<p>This is a topic that has come up whenever someone brings up the upcoming film, which has legions of Ender fans salivating over seeing one of their favorite books in film. </p>
<p>Let's get a few things straight before we go any further.</p>
<p>I've paid way too much money for a deluxe edition of <em>Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy</em>. I own a <em>Star Trek</em> uniform. I have a map of the <em>Game of Thrones</em> continent on my living room wall. I have vehement opinions about <a href="http://static.nomachetejuggling.com/machete_order.html">the proper order</a> to watch the <em>Star Wars</em> films.</p>
<p>I'm the kind of dude who likes <em>Ender's Game</em>, a book about a young kid who is trained via 3D laser tag to fight off an alien invasion.</p>
<p>And yet, when I read it as a kid, it just never clicked for me, which is odd. So I recently reread it in order to figure out precisely why, and I think I've figured it out. </p>
<h3><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">First off, it reads like watching someone playing a video game. </span></strong></h3>
<p>So for those of you who haven't read the novel, here is the plot format for the vast majority of chapters.</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Colonel Graff/Mazer Rackham talks to someone about how hard they plan to push Ender.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ender is confronted with both a personal challenge as well as a battle school challenge.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We hang out with Peter and Valentine who are taking over the world without issue using internet forums.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ender easily beats both the personal and battle school challenge because of how great he is at stuff.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Ender plays a videogame to decompress.</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Colonel Graff/Mazer Rackham feels remorse over how hard he is pushing Ender but resigns himself to the fact it is for the greater good.</span></li>
</ul>
<div><span style="line-height: 22.5px;">With the exception of the earliest and final chapters — as well as the one at the Lake between Battle School and Command School — most of the chapters follow this formula to a T, unless the Valentine/Peter subplot is dropped. </span></div>
<p><span style="line-height: 22.5px;">Still, watching a highly skilled character beat progressively difficult levels without experiencing any character growth is essentially the same at watching a skilled friend beat a videogame. It's a formulaic plot without any real tension. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 22.5px;">This also leads to another thing I realized. </span></p>
<h3><strong><span style="line-height: 22.5px;"><div class="image-container float_left" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52091a246bb3f7bc02000010-1200-924/enders-game-2.jpg" border="0" alt="enders game" width="480" /><p class="source">Richard Foreman Jr. / Summit Entertainment</p></div></div>Nobody ever grows or changes during the course of Ender's game. </span></strong></h3>
<p>Sure, people get new jobs, or go to different schools, or grow in prestige. But at no point over the course of the novel do we see a demonstrable growth or change in any of the characters, despite the fact that Ender ages from six to roughly eleven. </p>
<p>I'm willing to grant Card the "exceedingly young hero" just because every science fiction novel geared toward young adults — and many that aren't — runs into this problem.</p>
<p>But to see no demonstrable character growth just sort of removes the stakes from it. Card in many ways suffers from the same problem that Asimov faced in some of his great novels, the fact that he <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_series">had a rocking plot concept</a> but his characters were two-dimensional cardboard cutouts just going through the motions to make that awesome plot happen. </p>
<h3><strong><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52091d31ecad04686b000021-1200-924/enders-game-3.jpg" border="0" alt="enders game" width="480" /><p class="source">Richard Foreman Jr. / Summit Entertainment</p></div></div>The characters are merely agents of plot. </strong></h3>
<p>An outstanding way to gauge the strength of a works characters — one that I first heard from <a href="http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-1-the-phantom-menace/">the legendary RedLetterMedia review of the Phantom Menace</a> — is to see if you can describe the characters without saying anything about their age, appearance or occupation.</p>
<p>The best I could do with the Ender's Game main cast is "Genius" for Ender, "Smart and Compassionate" for Valentine, "Smart and Ambitious" for Peter and "Guilty" for Graff.</p>
<p>Maybe people with a deeper relationship with the novels can do better, especially those who were compelled to read on to the sequels, but I'm really running dry. Even the most sympathetic character, Ender, is woefully flat. </p>
<p>To contrast this with something else I was reading at the time that I first read Ender's Game, Harry Potter is a fundamentally sympathetic character that grows and changes substantially over the course of a single novel.</p>
<p>You can describe any member of the cast in with a multitude of adjectives that don't pertain to appearance, age, or occupation. Ender at the end and Harry at the beginning are roughly the same age, but Rowling is able to make you feel for Harry in a way that Card is only able to make you observe Ender. </p>
<h3><strong><img class="float_left" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/52091d54ecad04016e000006-480-360/enders-game-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Ender's Game" />It's kind of dated. </strong></h3>
<p>A key element of the science fiction author job description is making predictions that kind of hold up. While it's okay to screw up occasionally, a lot of the key elements of Ender's Game are predictions that would just flop. </p>
<p>So in the first edition, the main antagonist in the Peter/Valentine story was the Soviet Union. While the novel was originally released in 1985, the Soviet Union would eventually collapse less than a decade later. Nobody expects that Card could have foreseen that. But since Enders Game takes place well over 100 years into the future, the fact that Card foresaw the Soviet Union lasting that long is a bit of a goof. From the 1991 edition forward, Card essentially did a find-an-replace, replacing all mentions of the USSR with The Warsaw Pact, something that has not exactly held up either. </p>
<p>Moreover, Card's interpretation of the future of the internet — an internet abused by Valentine and Peter in the pursuit of global domination — seems pretty stuck in the news group system of the era when he wrote it. Card never foresaw the eventual degradation of the human race's attention span. Again, he can take a mulligan for this one, but it still dates the novel. </p>
<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/52091d876bb3f7ab09000007-1172-879/enders-game-harrison-ford.jpg" border="0" alt="enders game harrison ford" width="480" /><p class="source">Summit Entertainment</p></div></div>Worth noting is that a lot of the elements that make the novel memorable — FTL travel, a war with an insectoid species, one unified government — had already been explored and defined by Heinlein's <em>Starship Troopers</em> or Haldeman's <em>The Forever War. </em>A lot of great authors borrow ideas, but Card's contribution to the medium isn't all that it's cracked up to be. </p>
<p>Also, it was only on this re-read that I realized that <strong>the book was pretty sexist.</strong> This part jumped out at me from the chapter where Graff is explaining battle school. </p>
<p>Essentially, Graff explains that Battle School is comprised of the following activities:</p>
<ul>
<li>Normal school, with an emphasis on math and computers</li>
<li>Strategy and tactics</li>
<li>Zero-gravity laser tag</li>
</ul>
<p>So when Ender asks if the program is all-boys, here's what Graff says:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>"A few girls. They often don't pass the tests to get in. Too many centuries of evolution are working against them. None of the will be like Valentine, anyway."</em></p>
<p>That's just one of the weird, dated sex/race/sexual orientation stuff that comes out in the novel. Which, hey, I understand it was the late eighties and things were different, but that is just overtly, "Math is Hard!" Barbie levels of sexist.</p>
<p>It's pretty well known by this point that author Orson Scott Card holds some particularly vehement opinions <a href="http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/68802380.html">about certain moral questions,</a> but I really  didn't remember this kind of stuff coming out in the actual novels.</p>
<p><strong><div class="image-container float_left" style="width:480px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52091dd06bb3f79809000005-1200-924/enders-game-behind-the-scenes-1.jpg" border="0" alt="enders game behind the scenes" width="480" /><p class="source">Richard Foreman Jr. / Summit Entertainment</p></div></div>Miscellaneous</strong></p>
<p>While I'm still not a fan of the novel, I'm still probably going to see the movie. </p>
<p>As Orson Scott Card himself once said, the novel itself is unfilmable. The movie will by necessity be much different than the book.</p>
<p>At least for me, that would be ideal. </p>
<p>Still, I may read the next book too. </p>
<p>My favorite chapter in the entire book was the final chapter. No holds barred, I really, really liked the denouement of Ender's Game, and feel like it was better than a lot of the book combined.</p>
<p>As a result a lot of people have told me to read Speaker for the Dead, the sequel, which sounds like it is more like the last chapter of Enders Game than the preceding 95%. I'll probably get around to it at some point. </p>
<p>Either way, this isn't saying that Ender's Game is bad, or that you should stop liking it. I just don't think it's as great of a book as it's cracked up to be. </p>

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