Ted Kotcheff, director of First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s and Wake in Fright, dies aged 94

Prolific Canadian director also made one of the country’s first internationally successful films, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, starring Richard Dreyfuss

Epic win: why the Odyssey is having a moment

With new translations, a film starring Ralph Fiennes and a Christopher Nolan blockbuster on the way, Homer’s saga about a soldier’s return from battle speaks to our times in unexpected ways

‘You must read my diaries’: unlocking the private life of Edna O’Brien

Towards the end of her life, the groundbreaking Irish novelist granted film-maker Sinéad O’Shea access to her most personal writing. What she revealed was shocking and inspiring

Babe review – tale of the talking sheep-pig a charming relic of its time

A startling novelty 30 years ago, the film’s now antique effects and strange anti-Orwell farmyard tale feel dated, but is still a quaintly comfortable place to visit

The Return review – Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes bring fierce class to elemental Odyssey adaptation

Uberto Pasolini’s raw and urgent drama, from a draft by Edward Bond, sees a traumatised Odysseus face the shameful aftermath of war

Repaired Paddington Bear statue unveiled in Newbury after vandalism

People cheer statue’s return in Berkshire town, while two RAF engineers have been sentenced for offence

The Amateur review – Rami Malek takes action-hero baby steps as CIA analyst out for revenge

Malek gives an eccentric performance as a nerdy agent who wants his superior Laurence Fishburne to retrain him as an assassin

The King of Kings review – Charles Dickens retelling of the Jesus story does a serviceable job

The famous author tells his son and their cat the story of Jesus in this mixed-bag family animation, voiced by an impressive cast

Meryl Streep in talks to play Aslan in Greta Gerwig’s Narnia movie

Oscar-winner set to take on role as godlike lion usually perceived to be male in upcoming adaption of The Magician’s Nephew

Elijah Wood says fees for Lord of the Rings actors were ‘not massive’

Star says cast took a ‘gamble’ appearing in Peter Jackson’s hit trilogy and did not earn enough to ‘rest easy’ for life

The Most Precious of Cargoes review – postmodern Holocaust fairytale is dreamy curiosity

Michel Hazanavicius’s sentimental tale about a baby found in the woods features sweet little cartoon birds and rabbits as well as the real horror of Nazi death camps

‘At 60, the bulk of your life is lived. What’s left now?’ Ralph Fiennes and Uberto Pasolini on their ripped and radical take on The Odyssey

The actor and director on why The Return took 30 years to make, their joy at persuading Juliette Binoche to join them – and the punishing regime that earned Fiennes his battle-scarred physique

Michael Burns obituary

Other lives: Cricket historian who wrote Seven Summers, an account of Surrey’s seven consecutive county championship triumphs

Carey Harrison obituary

Other lives: Son of the actor Rex Harrison who became a successful playwright and author

Red or Dead review – Peter Mullan never walks alone as Liverpool FC hero Bill Shankly

A cast of more than 50 delivers an inspiring adaptation of David Peace’s epic novel about a manager who prized socialism