Zampella created the template for multiplayer shooters that is still used today, and his cinematic and epic military, sci-fi and Star Wars games thrilled and moved millions

• Vince Zampella dies aged 55 – news

On Sunday, Vince Zampella, the co-creator of the Call of Duty video game series, died in a car crash in Los Angeles at the age of 55. Though best known for that series of blockbuster military shooters, Zampella touched a huge number of lives – not only the hundreds of people who worked at the game development studios he led under Activision and EA, but the millions of people who played the games that bore his imprint.

A lifelong gamer, Zampella had a Pong console as a child, then an Atari 2600 and a Commodore 64. He told IGN in 2016 that his favourite game from childhood was Donkey Kong: “I would spend hours at the arcade playing it.” Zampella’s first job in the industry was at GameTek in Miami, which specialised in video-game versions of popular US quizshows. He described his role on the small team as: “producer slash customer services slash tester – whatever needed to be done.”

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© Photograph: Bloomberg

© Photograph: Bloomberg

© Photograph: Bloomberg

‘Mighty Ducks’ star is looking for ‘Ned’s Declassified’ actor Tylor Chase, who was recently spotted on the streets in Riverside, California

© shaunweiss/Instagram

The former ‘Yellowstone’ star is being sued by Western Costume Leasing Company

© Araya Doheny/Getty Images for The Art of Elysium

Un chantier… pharaonique. La barque solaire du roi Khéops, vieille de 4 600 ans, est arrivée, mardi, au Grand musée égyptien du Caire, où les visiteurs pourront suivre sa restauration.

Un chantier… pharaonique. La barque solaire du roi Khéops, vieille de 4 600 ans, est arrivée, mardi, au Grand musée égyptien du Caire, où les visiteurs pourront suivre sa restauration.

Steve Rogers is back … in the 90-second trailer that is now online for all to see

The first official trailer for Avengers: Doomsday has been released online, in the run-up to the next outing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The brief 90-second trailer shows Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America riding along a rural road on a motorbike, entering a house and picking up his superhero uniform, then holding a sleeping baby. A title then announces: “Steve Rogers Will Return in Avengers: Doomsday.”

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© Photograph: Marvel

© Photograph: Marvel

© Photograph: Marvel

Swift’s six-parter charting her Eras tour began with some riveting revelations – but the drama ebbed away, leaving another piece of mere product for fans

In the behind-the-scenes documentary series Taylor Swift: The End of an Era, the singer Florence Welch ascends to the stage to perform their duet Florida!!! to a crowd of 90,000 people. Welch later reflects on their duet at Wembley Stadium with a mix of awe and bemusement. “Taylor is my friend,” she says. “I know her as this very cosy person, and I came out of that lift and I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s fucking Taylor Swift.’”

If Swift is a cosy person, The End of an Era – now complete, with its concluding episodes dropping today – is certainly a cosy watch; the sort of lighthearted, low-demand viewing that feels especially welcome in the lazy days leading up to Christmas and stretching towards the new year. Viewers will be familiar with the story. The Eras Tour was great, it tells us. It broke records, burst hearts and boosted the economy. We know she pulled it off. This is only a problem insofar as it means there is almost zero jeopardy in the series, which feels repetitive and thinly stretched over its six hour-long episodes.

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© Photograph: John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

© Photograph: John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

© Photograph: John Shearer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management

When Jack Black was filming Minecraft in New Zealand, he listened to Billy Joel songs to get into character as Steve, the expert crafter who leads the fantastical Overworld made popular by the bestselling video game. Read More

The 1997 creature feature gets a self-referential redo that works best when it allows its two stars to lean into silliness

Anyone rightly suspicious of comedies that try to make sure they have plenty of “heart” will rightly get their hackles up during the opening section of Anaconda, which sheds the skin of its 1997 horror-adventure namesake to reveal a self-referential goof on unnecessary reboots. After an absolutely woeful attempt at a horror-movie cold open where it becomes clear that director/co-writer Tom Gormican hasn’t the merest glimmer of talent for establishing mood, building suspense or even properly unveiling a crazy creature, the movie settles in for the true mission of any great broad comedy: uh, building pathos? After years as an aspiring film-maker, Doug (Jack Black) is succeeding-yet-languishing in his compromised hometown job as a wedding videographer. Meanwhile, his childhood bestie, Griff (Paul Rudd), is following the dream by working as an actor out in Los Angeles, but only just barely. We see him fired from a one-line role on a medical show because of his nerves, in a scene written for nagging sympathy first and comedy a distant second.

When the pair reunites for Doug’s birthday, Griff springs a post-party surprise: he has supposedly come into possession of remake rights to Anaconda, an eclectically cast creature feature that they loved as teenagers. Why not seize the opportunity by shooting their own version on a shoestring, and finally make movies together like they always dreamed? Despite a nagging feeling of responsibility to his family, Doug eventually warms to Griff’s idea, and their fellow friends Kenny (Steve Zahn) and Claire (Thandiwe Newton) join the crew. Soon they’re on a boat in the Amazon, dealing with eccentric snake handler Santiago (Selton Mello) and mysterious boat captain Ana (Daniela Melchior).

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© Photograph: Bradley Patrick/AP

© Photograph: Bradley Patrick/AP

© Photograph: Bradley Patrick/AP

As a lifelong Toronto Maple Leafs fan, Will Arnett knows all about heartbreak. Read More

For the first time in more than four decades, Avatar director James Cameron is out of a job. Read More

From a show so bananas it could blind people to a classic cartoon that guarantees tears – stars behind the best festive treats on telly reveal what they tune into without fail

Christmas is a time steeped in traditions. And one big tradition that exists in many of our homes over the period revolves around TV: rewatching old favourites, hunkering down for that special you’ve been dying to see or sitting in a post-lunch fugue with a beloved family film. And, as we published last week, there’s a bounty of Christmas telly to get stuck into this year.

But what about people involved in making TV? What do their Christmas viewing habits look like? Here, a variety of actors, writers, directors and comedians – many of whom may be popping up on your screens this year – share their Christmas TV favourites.

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© Photograph: World History Archive/Alamy

© Photograph: World History Archive/Alamy

© Photograph: World History Archive/Alamy

It certainly does not roll off the tongue, never mind dribble, but the sport we know today as ‘hoops’ was nearly saddled with the cumbersome, if honourable, moniker of ‘Naismith-ball.’ Read More

Dr. Seuss once put it this way. “Be awesome! Be a book nut! The more you read the more things you will know. The more that you learn the more places you’ll go.” Read More

Quelques jours après la sortie d'Avatar 3 au cinéma, Avengers: Doomsday a enfin droit à un premier teaser officiel, articulé autour d'un ancien personnage clé. Il avait été victime d'une fuite massive, avec des vidéos volées.

The 1960 film about a downtrodden insurance worker and his burgeoning crush is full of staccato repartee and unforgettable jokes. It’s barely aged a day

For romantic comedies and Christmas movies alike, a little misery can go a long way. No one understood this balancing act more than Billy Wilder, whose films ran the gamut from bottomless cynicism (Ace in the Hole) to gender-bending farce (Some Like it Hot). His 1960 film, The Apartment, splits the difference.

Like another yuletide classic, Carol, the film finds inspiration in David Lean’s Brief Encounter, which depicts an extramarital affair briefly consummated in the bed of a friend’s apartment. In an old interview, Wilder says he was compelled by a character “who comes back home and climbs into the warm bed the lovers just left”, and so The Apartment’s hero, CC “Bud” Baxter, was born.

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© Photograph: United Artists/Allstar

© Photograph: United Artists/Allstar

© Photograph: United Artists/Allstar