LONDON: Ben Affleck is an optimist. The Hollywood star thinks the next four years will at least be interesting after watching President-elect Donald Trump’s first press conference.
“I didn’t get to watch the entire news conference although what I did see of it, I was quite entertained by. I think it will be an entertaining four years,” he said at the London premiere of his latest directorial effort “Live by Night” Wednesday.
Actor Chris Messina, who joined Affleck and co-star Sienna Miller on the red carpet, did not seem as upbeat as Affleck.
“I think we’re all a little scared and we’re going to take deep breaths. Meryl Streep said it best the other night at the Golden Globes. I don’t think anyone can be any more eloquent as her. Yeah, I was sad today. Obama said goodbye. We’re going to miss him,” Messina said.
Affleck was also somewhat miffed at Trump’s Twitter reaction to Streep’s Golden Globes speech. The actress made the Republican a big topic of her speech without naming him directly and Trump fired back calling her “one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood.”
Affleck disagreed with the sentiment.
“If you think Meryl Streep is an overrated actress, you’re probably the least qualified person to comment on acting. She’s, if nothing else the world’s greatest actor,” he said.
“Live by Night” is Affleck’s fourth feature as a director. He produced the film and also wrote the screenplay, based on a Dennis Lehane novel by the same name about a group of gangsters in Prohibition-era Boston. Affleck took on the lead role of Joe Coughlin, the son of a police captain, who forges his way into the world of crime.
The film also stars Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, Chris Cooper and Brendan Gleeson.
Ben Affleck braces for ‘entertaining’ Trump presidency
Ben Affleck braces for ‘entertaining’ Trump presidency
Cambodia takes back looted historic artifacts handled by British art dealer
- The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodian officials on Friday received more than six dozen historic artifacts described as part of the country’s cultural heritage that had been looted during decades of war and instability.
At a ceremony attended by Deputy Prime Minister Hun Many, the 74 items were unveiled at the National Museum in Phnom Penh after their repatriation from the United Kingdom.
The objects were returned under a 2020 agreement between the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and the family of the late Douglas Latchford, a British art collector and dealer who allegedly had the items smuggled out of Cambodia.
“This substantial restitution represents one of the most important returns of Khmer cultural heritage in recent years, following major repatriations in 2021 and 2023 from the same collection,” the Culture Ministry said in a statement. “It marks a significant step forward in Cambodia’s continued efforts to recover, preserve, and restore its ancestral legacy for future generations.”
The artifacts were described as dating from the pre-Angkorian period through the height of the Angkor Empire, including “monumental sandstone sculptures, refined bronze works, and significant ritual objects.” The Angkor Empire, which extended from the ninth to the 15th century, is best known for the Angkor Wat archaeological site, the nation’s biggest tourist attraction.
Latchford was a prominent antiquities dealer who allegedly orchestrated an operation to sell looted Cambodian sculptures on the international market.
From 1970 to the 1980s, during Cambodia’s civil wars and the communist Khmer Rouge ‘s brutal reign, organized looting networks sent artifacts to Latchford, who then sold them to Western collectors, dealers, and institutions. These pieces were often physically damaged, having been pried off temple walls or other structures by the looters.
Latchford was indicted in a New York federal court in 2019 on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy. He died in 2020, aged 88, before he could be extradited to face charges.
Cambodia, like neighboring Thailand, has benefited from a trend in recent decades involving the repatriation of art and archaeological treasures. These include ancient Asian artworks as well as pieces lost or stolen during turmoil in places such as Syria, Iraq and Nazi-occupied Europe. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the prominent institutions that has been returning illegally smuggled art, including to Cambodia.
“The ancient artifacts created and preserved by our ancestors are now being returned to Cambodia, bringing warmth and joy, following the country’s return to peace,” said Hun Many, who is the younger brother of Prime Minister Hun Manet.
