Are some ANIMAL FARM adaptations more equal than others? With ANDY SERKIS

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We have a very ‘precious’ guest for you this week… yes, it’s Andy Serkis, AKA Gollum himself. The actor, director, and motion capturer extraordinaire chats to Simon about his new film Animal Farm - an animated adaptation of Orwell’s classic story for a young audience. With Seth Rogan putting a comic spin on Orwell’s porky totalitarian Napoleon, and a key new character and third act added, Serkis’ child-friendly version has attracted some ire already - but is it fair? Listen in to find out where Mark stands.

Plus, we’ve got two more reviews of what’s out this week for anyone not going to see The Odyssey. First up, Pinocchio Unstrung - the latest in Twisted Childhood’s series of slasher-fied, copyright free children’s classics. Then there’s Ask E. Jean, a powerful doc about American columnist E. Jean Carroll, who took on Trump in the courts and won. Plus, the Laughter Lift as usual, and we’re also debuting a technophobic new feature ‘AI don’t like that’ - a home for the ever-increasing correspondence about the terrifying ascendency of our future AI overlords.

You can contact the show by emailing correspondence@kermodeandmayo.com or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo.

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Timecodes:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:09:04 Pinocchio Unstrung review

00:15:49 Box Office Top Ten

00:31:00 Andy Serkis interview

00:48:20 Animal Farm review

01:02:58 Laughter Lift

01:09:01 Ask E. Jean review

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