Jada Pinkett Smith is feeling free these days

Britney Spears revealed she was "glad" to have lost the lead role in The Notebook to Rachel McAdams, prompting casting director Matthew Barry to share her audition tape with The Daily Mail. In the two-minute long video, Spears says, whilst her eyes well up with tears, "I prayed for you to die in the war, really. Well, not die. I would have felt completely horrible if you would've died. But I kinda didn't want you to be alive anymore because I couldn't bear the thought of you being with somebody else, or of us never seeing each other again. So I gotta go, okay?" Barry told The Daily Mail the pop star "wasn't just good, she was phenomenal." "It was a tough decision," he continued, reflecting on Spears' audition. "Britney blew us all away. Our jaws were on the floor. I was blown away. Absolutely blown away. She brought her A-game that day." Since the sharing of Spears' audition, people have praised her acting but ultimately agreed that it should have been McAdams that got the part. "Love Britney down and she looked adorable but Rachel McAdams was just born for the role", the top comment under the tape read: "I mean [obviously] Rachel is perfect in this role, but I'm actually really impressed with [Britney's] audition", wrote another. This sentiment was prevalent throughout the reactions to Spears' tape. "Rachel was perfect and iconic for the role. HOWEVER... seeing this I now understand why Britney was considered for the role", one user shared. It seems Spears agrees that role should have gone to McAdams, writing in her upcoming memoir The Woman in Me "Even though it would have been fun to reconnect with Ryan Gosling after our time on The Mickey Mouse Club, I'm glad I didn't do it," she writes. "If I had, instead of working on my album 'In the Zone' I'd have been acting like a 1940s heiress day and night." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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The latest Exorcist film, Exorcist: Believer, has been savaged by Mark Kermode, who tore apart David Gordon-Green's film. Movie buffs probably should have known what was coming when Kermode of Kermode and Mayo's Take posted a selfie earlier this week with his head in his hands. When it came to offer up his thoughts on Believer, Kermode didn't require much push from co-host Simon Mayo. "You have eight minutes to talk about The Exorcist: Believer," offered Mayo, before Kermode immediately delivered. "The Exorcist: Believer would like us to see it as a 'requel' to The Exorcist from the makers of the [new] Halloween series (David Gordon-Green). It is better seen as a 'requel' by the makers of Pineapple Express and Your Highness, but it is less funny and indeed less scary than either of those films. It is not good," he said. Ouch. After explaining the plot points and kitschy throwbacks of the new film, Kermode then explains the madcap final act. "Everything then goes completely formulaic, heads get turned, vomit gets spewed, bodies get levitated - we move towards an Avengers finale in which everyone decides to have a go [at exorcism]. "Despite the absolute stupidity of it all, it is staggeringly dull. Roger Ebert reviewing Beyond The Door said 'it's all trash, but it's scary trash', this is just trash. It is not scary at all. There's a Turkish 'Exorcist' called 'Şeytan' which fundamentally understands The Exorcist better than this." Mark Kermode reviews The Exorcist: Believer - Kermode and Mayo's Take www.youtube.com As for the future of the newly established film series that Believer begins, which will mirror the Halloween 'requels' as a ready-planned trilogy, Kermode had thoughts. "It is apparently the beginning of a trilogy, after which we have Exorcist: Deciever, presumably followed by "Exorcist: Asleeper". It is a movie made by people who have seen the original, but have not seen the original. "It is dumb, dumb, boring. Bad as it could've been, and then some." Kermode's scathing review should come as no surprise - the Exorcist is his favourite film. "It works for me, and it works every time. Every time I see it, it looks a different film. I've seen it 200 times, I've taken it apart, it works," said the film reviewer and Exorcist fanatic in 2011. You can watch the latest review in full here. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Scott Mills has confirmed that Mel Giedroyc's viral 'milk-churning' moment at Eurovision was actually real, by posting a behind-the-scenes clip of the action live from Liverpool. The Bake Off host set pulses racing with the suggestive move as she dressed up as a milkmaid - and no one could quite believe it was being shown on the BBC. Fans say the parody was in reference to Poland's raunchy 2014 submission to the Song Contest. Click here to sign up for our newsletters

Liam Fender opens up about his debut EP 'Love Will...', his new songs and indie rock star brother Sam Fender.