Ben Affleck at the press conference for his movie 'The Town' during the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival. EPA
Ben Affleck at the press conference for his movie 'The Town' during the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival. EPA
Ben Affleck at the press conference for his movie 'The Town' during the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival. EPA
Ben Affleck at the press conference for his movie 'The Town' during the 35th annual Toronto International Film Festival. EPA

Is Affleck not dark enough to don the cape?


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Fans are up in arms after Ben Affleck was cast as the new Batman on Thursday.

As soon as the casting was announced fans took to Twitter with petitions calling for Warner Bros to change their mind.

“His acting skill is not even close to being believable as Bruce Wayne and he won’t do the role justice. He’s not built, nor is he intimidating enough for the role of Batman,” the petition says. “His portrayal of Daredevil was atrocious and he’s not remotely close to an action star. Please find someone else.”

Affleck’s debut as the savior of Gotham will come in a film slated for release in 2015, and will also feature Henry Cavill as Superman. But so far more than 20,000 people have signed the petition and many internet users have proposed other actors, from Josh Brolin to Matt Damon to - bizarrely - Meryl Streep.

In the industry daily Variety, film critic Justin Chang noted that while Affleck had successfully reinvented himself as a director with “The Town” and “Argo,” his acting disasters such as “Daredevil” and “Gigli” remain fresh in the minds of many.

But he gave the actor the benefit of the doubt, writing: “Ben Affleck has impressed us most as an actor by projecting not gravity but vulnerability, and vulnerability is an essential, often-overlooked quality in any bigscreen superhero.” - AFP

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The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile

Started: 2016

Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel 

Based: Ramallah, Palestine

Sector: Technology, Security

# of staff: 13

Investment: $745,000

Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors