March 1, 2016

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Entertainment March 1, 2016

Today in Movie Culture: 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' Deleted Scene, 'Carol' VFX Reel and More

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

Alternate Universe Movie of the Day:

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a long time coming, but here’s what it could have looked liked as a silent film released almost a century ago:

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Fake Deleted Scene of the Day:

Speaking of Batman v Superman, here’s a deleted scene gag starring Jimmy Kimmel with Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill via Jimmy Kimmel Live:

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Oscar Winner Parody of the Day:

See another talk show host, Seth Meyers, as a War Boy named Reasonable Max in a Mad Max: Fury Road parody from Late Night:

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Independent Spirit Award Winner Parody of the Day:

In addition to the Oscars, last weekend was host to the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which featured this Carol parody starring hosts Kate McKinnon and Kumail Nanjiani:

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Visual Effects Reel Parody of the Day:

With seemingly every movie today employing extensive computer-generated effects, here’s another Carol parody from Funny or Die imagining if it was mostly made with CG:

Reimagined Movie of the Day:

Speaking of lesbian romance dramas, Mashable recut a trailer for Mean Girls to make it look like a more serious movie:

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Mashup of the Day:

Everyone seems to have a Back to the Future style DeLorean these days, but one unique fan has this Knight Rider style Back to the Future style DeLorean (via Geek Tyrant):

Filmmaker in Focus:

The gaze of Stanley Kubrick movie characters are collected in the latest supercut montage edited by Jorge Luengo:

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Movie Takedown of the Day:

With London Has Fallen arriving this week, here’s a look at everything wrong with Olympus Has Fallen:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 25th anniversary of the release of Oliver Stone‘s The Doors. Watch the original trailer for the rock music biopic, which stars Val Kilmer, below.

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and

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Business March 1, 2016

Stamp Prices Set To Drop 2 Cents In April, Putting USPS In Sticky Situation

The U.S. Postal Service is in dire financial straits. If the price of stamps goes down as scheduled in April, it could cost the already hemorrhaging post office $2 billion per year, according to a statement released by USPS.

The planned cost reduction from 49 cents to 47 cents marks the expiration of legislation passed in 2014 that raised the price of stamps for two years in order to ease the post office’s financial woes. The law imposed an “exigent surcharge for mailing products and services,” which raised the price of stamps by three cents to help USPS raise $4.6 billion in revenue. (If the price of stamps does drop in April, the Postal Service will get to keep a one cent increase to account for inflation.)

The Postal Service is desperate for Congress to maintain current stamp prices.

“The exigent surcharge granted to the Postal Service last year only partially alleviated our extreme multi-year revenue declines resulting from the Great Recession, which exceeded $7 billion in 2009 alone,” Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan said in the statement. “Removing the surcharge and reducing our prices is an irrational outcome considering the Postal Service’s precarious financial condition.”

According to CNN Money, the last time stamp prices fell was 97 years ago in July 1919, when first-class stamp prices dropped from three cents to two cents.

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Health March 1, 2016

Women Hope To Sway Justices By Speaking Out About Abortion Experience

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On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear what is being called the most significant abortion case in decades. In an effort to sway the justices, namely Justice Anthony Kennedy, women are sharing their personal experiences with abortion in briefs to the court. Among them is Ohio State legislator Teresa Fedor. She speaks with NPR’s Audie Cornish about why she’s telling her story now.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in a case igniting passions on all sides. It’s about abortion, specifically a Texas law that’s so restrictive that critics say it will force most of the state’s abortion clinics to close. Women who have had abortions are talking about them in hopes of swaying the justices. They filed briefs both supporting and opposing the Texas law. Ohio State Representative Teresa Fedor has signed a brief opposing the law and joins us now. Welcome to the program.

TERESA FEDOR: Thank you.

CORNISH: Now you started speaking about your abortion during a debate over in Ohio abortion law. But can you talk about how you came to speak publicly?

FEDOR: Well, I’ve been a legislature for 16 years. Since I’ve been here, there have been a number of anti-abortion bills. And this last bill really was so extreme, called the Heartbeat Bill. And I just couldn’t take one more floor speech, especially from men. And so something inside of me just said enough is enough. I stood up, was recognized, and I shared my story and basically said, you know, I have this freedom. I don’t want this freedom taken away. And no one understands what I’ve gone through, being raped, and no one can walk in my shoes and judge me.

CORNISH: Why do you feel that the justices would find these particular personal narratives something that would change their minds?

FEDOR: Well, I know that the other side has 3,000 women that said they regret it or there’s some aftermath psychologically, but that’s not the case for all women. And I believe that there are more women who stand with me, but they’re not – they’re silent. And this shame and blame keeps them silent. So as a representative, I felt compelled to speak.

CORNISH: What were the circumstances of how you came to decide to have an abortion?

FEDOR: I was a single mom at the time, going to college, just out of the Air Force and was planning my life. And then going down that path, you run into an issue where you were violated, raped, and you found out you were pregnant. That is a devastating blow on the road that you’re traveling.

CORNISH: How long did you keep this secret – the fact that you had been raped, the fact that you got an abortion? How long had you kept this secret?

FEDOR: Probably 25, almost – 25 years for sure.

CORNISH: So when you finally did decide to talk about it in the Ohio Statehouse, did you surprise yourself?

FEDOR: I knew about a year ago when we had the Heartbeat Bill, the end of December – a lame-duck session – that it was so extreme I didn’t know if I would be able to sit in my chair and say nothing. And something just was pulling at my heart so strongly that I knew there would come a day I would have to tell my story if I stayed any longer in this place and if they kept doing these kinds of bills. So I felt it coming, but I didn’t know when. I felt that I’m going to have to speak and share, and even if it didn’t make any difference, it would be the voice of so many – not only myself, but other women as well.

CORNISH: Ohio State Representative Teresa Fedor, thank you so much for speaking with us.

FEDOR: You’re welcome.

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Sports March 1, 2016

At A School For Kids With Disabilities, The Ski Team Hits The Slopes

The adaptive skiing techniques used by the students and coaches at Massachusetts Hospital School's recreational program in Canton, Mass.
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The adaptive skiing techniques used by the students and coaches at Massachusetts Hospital School’s recreational program in Canton, Mass. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

toggle caption LA Johnson/NPR

Standing at the foot of Mount Wachusett’s slopes, Ray Jackman bends over and hoists Robbie McAllister out of his wheelchair and onto two neon yellow skis.

The teenager squeezes into a thick plastic seat mounted just above the skis.

“OK, there are a bunch of straps,” says Jackman as he buckles the crisscrossing seatbelts.

Jackman is a program coordinator at the Massachusetts Hospital School, a state-run facility. It’s half school, half pediatric hospital, and all 85 students are patients, with serious, long-term conditions.

That doesn’t keep them from activities kids at other schools do: like skiing. Today, Jackman is out with the ski team, and his buddy for the day is McAllister.

Adaptive skiing equipment makes it possible for students with illness or disability to hit the slopes.

Adaptive skiing equipment makes it possible for students with illness or disability to hit the slopes. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

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The 19-year-old has cerebral palsy, which means he has minimal control over his muscles.

That doesn’t worry Jackman. Twenty years ago, he quit his job as a mortgage banker, got rid of all his suits and ties, and started working full-time helping kids with limited mobility find ways to play highly mobile sports.

“Let’s fly down that mountain at 100 mph. I want to pass that able-bodied person,” Jackman tells his student.

And their day goes a lot like most skiing trips. There are just a few extra steps.

At the base of the chair lift, Jackman and a volunteer lift McAllister and his seat onto the chair lift.

On the way up, it’s typical field-trip chitchat — “Would you rather be skiing or in school?” Jackman asks.

The answer? “Skiing!”

They talk about serious stuff, too. Jackman acknowledges that it takes a lot for McAllister to leave his electric wheelchair — his comfort zone. “You have a lot of trust in me and I appreciate that,” Jackman says.

At the top, they scoot off the chairlift to a panoramic view of evergreens and brushed snow.

Jackman gets to work arranging two tether lines. He will ski about 6 feet behind McAllister, giving him a tug in the right direction and acting as the student’s brakes — it’s a type of adaptive skiing.

“Are we ready?” Jackman screams into the wind. “Yeah!”

And off they go. “Let’s go over those little jumps,” Jackman responds as they start to harness the pull of the slope and gravity. McAllister’s guttural screams, filled with excitement and terror, echo across the slopes as they speed past all the other skiers.

At the bottom, McAllister is beaming. “He wanted more, more, more,” his coach says. “I think I heard: ‘Faster!’ “

Several runs later, they head inside to warm up.

Back in their wheelchairs, the three students on this trip sit by the fireplace, eating warm chili and sipping hot chocolate.

Jackman says this is the school’s riskiest sport, surpassing wheelchair football, swimming and horseback riding.

Yet, he adds, it’s worth it. He notes that this is basically work they could do in a clinic, just not in a clinical setting. On the slopes, the students are using skills they’ve learned in physical therapy, speech therapy and occupation therapy.

The kids are engaging in different exercises, but it’s done without measuring whether the kid looked 45 degrees this way or lifted 10 pounds that way.

Instead, Jackman says, “I only measure it through a smile.”

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