June 24, 2015

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Today in Movie Culture: See the Canceled 'Mad Max' Anime, Plus: Lexus Reveals a Real Hoverboard and More

Here are a bunch of little bites to satisfy your hunger for movie culture:

Mad Max Anime of the Day:

At one point Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller was planning to tell Furiousa’s origin story through anime. That didn’t happen, but images of what it would’ve looked like have now arrived online. [via CBM]

Hoverboard of the Day:

Here’s yet another real-life hoverboard, just in time for 2015. But this one is by Lexus and looks a bit more like the ones in Back to the Future Part II. Watch an ad for the new hoverboards, which aren’t quite available yet, below.

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Cosplay of the Day:

If you’re a fan of both The Big Lebowski and Doctor Who, then “The Dood” is your new favorite cosplay of all time (via Neatorama):

Movie Redo of the Day:

Imagine if there was an old school style Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind video game. It’d look sort of like this 8-bit animation remake from CineFix:

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Art of the Day:

This print spotlighting the Ghostbusters firehouse is part of artist Tim Doyle’s new gallery show, “UnReal Estate.” See more pieces inspired by Blade Runner, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and more plus details on the exhibit at /Film.

Filmmaker in Focus:

For Slate, Jacob T. Swinney shows how David Fincher only likes his movies to look yellow or blue:

Vintage Image of the Day:

Lee Marvin and his horse in Cat Ballou, which opened 50 years ago today. Marvin went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance, and in his acceptance speech he confessed that half the award belongs to the horse.

Custom Car of the Day:

The car cost $5,000 and the details put into replicating the Intercepter from the Mad Max movies cost another $120,000. Worth it (via Geekologie):

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Custom Motorcycle of the Day:

Where does one get this wonderful toy? Check out a customized trike inspired by the Batmobile design from Tim Burton‘s Batman movies (via Geekologie):

Vintage Trailer of the Day:

In honor of Disney announcing a Charles Darwin adventure movie today, and this week being the 55th anniversary of the premiere of Stanley Kramer‘s Inherit the Wind at the Berlin Film Festival, here’s the original, Kramer-introduced trailer for the latter:

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Obama, Biden to Travel to Charleston on Friday

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Charleston, SC on Friday to memorialize the victims of last weeks shooting in a historic black church. White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced…




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Watch: If 'Magic Mike XXL' Was Written By Little Kids (and Still Starred Channing Tatum)

Look, we get it. For many of you out there, Magic Mike XXL isn’t just another summer movie — it’s an experience. it’s a big-screen fantasy served up shirtless and six-packed, ready to grind its way into your permanent memory.

And that’s totally cool — last thing we want to do is tarnish that experience in any way by showing you a video of what it’d look like if Magic Mike XXL was written by little kids instead of, ya know, deliciously brilliant adults.

But we’re gonna show you the video anyway — not just because it’s very funny, but also because all of it is performed by Magic Mike himself, Channing Tatum.

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The bit was staged by Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show — another edition of a segment that asks little kids to write scenes for a movie based only on its title, knowing nothing of the real thing.

Here’s another one Fallon did with Michael Keaton for Birdman.

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Fear not, Magic Mikers — Magic Mike XXL is still coming to a theater near you on July 1. And to wash the little-kidness of that previous video out of your mind — and appropriately whet your, um, appetite for more — here’s that magic trailer.

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New York Agency Says Whole Foods Overcharged Customers In City

New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs announced an ongoing investigation into Whole Foods after finding the grocery store routinely overstated weights and therefore overcharged customers in the city for prepackaged food.

The overcharging ranged from 80 cents for a package of pecan panko to $14.84 for a package of coconut shrimp, the agency said in a statement. The agency’s investigation looked at the city’s eight Whole Foods stores.

“DCA tested packages of 80 different types of pre-packaged products and found all of the products had packages with mislabeled weights,” the statement said. “Additionally, 89 percent of the packages tested did not meet the federal standard for the maximum amount that an individual package can deviate from the actual weight, which is set by the U.S. Department of Commerce.”

DCA inspectors called it the “worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers,” DCA Commissioner Julie Menin said.

Whose Foods faced a fine in the thousands for the violations, the agency said.

In a statement, Whole Foods called the allegations “overreaching.”

“We cooperated fully with the DCA from the beginning until we disagreed with their grossly excessive monetary demands,” the company said. “Despite our requests to the DCA, they have not provided evidence to back up their demands nor have they requested any additional information from us, but instead have taken this to the media to coerce us.”

The company was accused of overcharging customers in California and fined nearly $800,000 last year.

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Texas Abortion Curbs Go Into Effect Soon, Unless Supreme Court Acts

On July 9, 2013, opponents and supporters of a bill to put restrictions on abortion hold signs near a news conference outside the Texas Capitol in Austin. The bill was passed, but has been battled in the courts for two years; now, the law is set to go into effect July 1.
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On July 9, 2013, opponents and supporters of a bill to put restrictions on abortion hold signs near a news conference outside the Texas Capitol in Austin. The bill was passed, but has been battled in the courts for two years; now, the law is set to go into effect July 1. Eric Gay/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Eric Gay/AP

At the hands of the Texas Legislature, the last four years have been long for supporters of abortion rights.

The next blow lands on July 1, when a new law will go into effect in Texas and drastically reduce access to abortion services — likely leaving just nine clinics that perform abortions open in the entire state.

The controversial law, passed in 2013, requires clinics to meet tougher building standards and doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

A group of abortion providers filed suit to block the restrictions. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that clinics could remain open while the lawsuit was being appealed.

When Texas passed a bill imposing new restrictions on clinics that provide abortions, the conflict went from the legislative floor to the courtroom.

But now that the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the restrictions, they will finally go into effect — and abortion-rights supporters have asked the Supreme Court to intervene again.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, the CEO of Whole Woman’s Health, the lead plaintiff in the suit, says the last few years have been a “very rough time” — “not only for providers but for the women and families that we serve.”

Hagstrom Miller says if the Supreme Court doesn’t step in and block the restrictions from going into effect, there will be few clinics left.

“Over 1 million women of reproductive age in the state of Texas will be more than 150 miles away from one of those facilities — many women having to travel upwards of 300 to 400 miles,” Hagstrom Miller says.

“So you’re going to see almost like a pre-Roe environment where people with means, they can go to Dallas and stay in a hotel for a few days,” she says. “But the vast majority of people are going to be denied the safe care that up until this point they’ve been able to access in Texas.”

At Issue: Defining ‘Undue Burden’

In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that while the individual states could impose restrictions on abortion, they could not pass laws that posed an undue burden on a woman’s access to an abortion.

But that left an important question, what constitutes an undue burden?

“Those who want to restrict abortion have made it clear that their goal is to push that standard further and further until almost nothing is an undue burden,” says Gretchen Borchelt, vice president of reproductive rights at the National Women’s Law Center.

The anti-abortion volley from the Texas Legislature is twofold. First, all Texas abortion clinics must meet hospital-like building specifications. Second, all abortion doctors must obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

That requirement shut down 20 Texas abortion clinics because Texas hospitals haven’t wanted to get involved in the controversial issue. This may leave the state with one abortion clinic for every 700,000 women of reproductive age.

The plaintiffs in the case have filed an emergency motion in the Supreme Court to stay the decision of the 5th Circuit.

“We hope that the court will take that motion up before July 1 when the 5th Circuit’s order would otherwise take effect,” says Stephanie Toti of the Center for Reproductive Rights, the lead lawyer on the case.

An emergency stay could go into effect immediately. But if the justices choose to take up the case for review, it wouldn’t appear before the court until the next term, beginning in October.

A String Of Successes For Abortion Opponents

Anti-abortion advocates say Texas’ laws are not about closing clinics but about protecting women’s health. The clinic closings are a positive byproduct.

“If we’re advocating for abortion access over safety then that’s a mistake, because you’re advocating for women to have unsafe abortions,” says Emily Horne, with Texas Right to Life.

Horne wants to see Texas put more money into facilitating adoptions and helping to persuade women to keep their babies.

“We need to get better at telling women what their other options are as well as alternatives to abortion that provide lots of services to women even after they’ve had a child,” she says.

With the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals proving to be a reliable ally, the anti-abortion movement in Texas is on a hot streak. They have the utmost confidence they can win every time they lace up the wingtips.

And if the Texas case does go to the Supreme Court, they believe they have a better than even chance to win there, too.

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Deron Runyon stepping down as finance director

HUNTINGTON – Longtime Huntington Finance Director Deron Runyon is resigning from the post to become chief financial officer with Goodwill Industries of KYOWVA Area Inc. Mayor Steve Williams made the announcement near the end of…