Two of Britain’s sharpest political satirists are coming to Nottingham’s screenwriting festival.

And one of their dates– controversial Chris Morris’s appearance at an advance screening of his new film – is already the fastest sell-out in Broadway Cinema’s history.

Morris and Armando Iannucci are the main featured attractions at the second ScreenLit Festival of Film, TV and Writing.

Iannucci’s the man behind blistering political comedy The Thick of It, and worked with Morris on the celebrated The Day Today.

Morris created 90s satiric TV masterpiece Brass Eye and is now back with his first feature film, Four Lions.

The festival has a diverse line-up, but is heavy on homegrown laughs.

“It just seemed to us that there were a lot of very interesting things happening in British comedy in film and television,” festival director Linda Pariser said.

The festival runs from April 21 to 29 and features screenings and live events.

It will recognise Iannucci with the 2010 ScreenLit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Screenwriting.

In a move that’s sure to upset Scrabble purists and bring accusations of dumbing down, the official rules are to be changed to allow proper nouns for the first time in the game’s 62-year history.

Ever since the first Scrabble set was sold in 1948, names of people and places have been banned. But games giant Mattel, which owns the distribution rights, has announced plans to make a series of dramatic changes designed to appeal to a younger audience.

Players will now be permitted to score with names of celebrities like Beyonce (14 points, or 42 on a triple-word score) and brands like Pepsi (nine points) and Reebok (12).

Mattel is also considering allowing players to spell words backwards and upwards on the board and place words unconnected to other pieces.

We are NOT amused. What next, abbreviations?

Ever wonder why so many women are attracted to male rock stars?

The Musical Brain explores an evolutionary theory behind the allure — one that has yet to be proven, but that remains a hotly debated theory among the scientific community.

Evolutionary psychologist with the University of New Mexico,

Geoffrey Miller, theorizes the following:

- The wiring in our modern brain — for both men and women — is still linked to our prehistoric brain.

- In prehistoric times, the concept of a female musician was unfounded. Only men sang or played what constituted an instrument.

- Men who sang and danced were seen as being in good health and strong, and those who played instruments were seen as smart and creative.

This translated into “good baby-making material.”

Starsuckers is the most controversial documentary of the year, and was released in British cinemas in November 2009 to critical acclaim. It’s a darkly humourous and shocking exposé of the celebrity obsessed media, that uncovers the real reasons behind our addiction to fame and blows the lid on the corporations and individuals who profit from it.

Directed by Chris Atkins, BAFTA nominated for Taking Liberties, Starsuckers exploded into the news in October when it emerged that the team had been selling fake celebrity stories to all the British Tabloids. This became a news sensation in it’s own right, and was followed by the darker revelation that Atkins had secretly filmed four journalists for three Sunday tabloids trying to buy medical records.

The filmmakers also stung Max Clifford, who the film shows boasting about his clients on undercover camera. When Clifford found out, he hired the infamous law firm Carter Ruck and threatened to injunct the film which would have prevented it’s release. The film ends with a damning critique of Bob Geldof’s Live Aid and the star-studded Live 8 concerts in 2005.

“Cambridge to strip BNP boss of degree” said the headline in today’s Sun.

The “exclusive” story recounted that Downing College was to rescind BNP leader Nick Griffin’s 2:2 law degree. “Uni snub for vile Griffin” read an approving sub-headline.

There were numerous nods of approval at Cambridge’s apparent decision, on Twitter. The BNP, meanwhile, were outraged, accusing the university of trying to rewrite history and pandering to Muslim students.

But there was one snag – the story isn’t true. The Sun and BNP had been taken in by an April Fool by an online Cambridge student magazine, the Tab.