November 25, 2016

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Entertainment November 25, 2016

Best of the Week: Martin Scorsese's 'Silence' Trailer, Another 'Game of Thrones' Star Joins 'Star Wars' and More

The Important News

Star Wars: Emilia Clarke joined the Han Solo spinoff. And that spinoff was revealed to be like a Western. The canceled Boba Fett spinoff reportedly had a teaser trailer. Tickets for Rogue One will go on sale Monday.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Angela Bassett joined Black Panther. Kevin Feige announced it’s impossible for the X-Men to join the MCU.

X-Men: Fox scheduled two new X-Men movies for 2018 and 2019. The villain in New Mutants might be Demon Bear.

Disney Remakes: Marc Forster will direct Christopher Robin.

Sci-fi Remakes: Legendary Pictures will bring Dune back on the big screen. Chad Stahelski will direct the Highlander reboot.

Video Game Movies: Paul W.S. Anderson wants to make a Monster Hunter movie.

Comic Book Movies: Ben Wheatley and Tom Hiddleston will reunite for Hard Boiled.

Dance Movies: Step Up 6 will be a Chinese movie.

YA Adaptations: Chloe Grace Moretz will star in The Miseducation of Cameron Post.

Biopics: Adam McKay is making a movie about Dick Cheney.

Secret Movies: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara and director David Lowery made a movie under the radar.

Box Office: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened at number one.

Awards: Moonlight and Jackie are among the Independent Spirit Awards nominees.

The Videos and Geek Stuff

New Movie and TV Trailers: Silence, Cars 3, T2: Trainspotting, The Book of Love, Goon: Last of the Enforcers, Passengers, The Comedian, and The Last Face.

Proof of Concept Teaser: New Mutants.

TV Spots: Fifty Shades Darker.

Movie Clips: Hidden Figures.

Easter Eggs: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Movie Comparisons: The Thing and The Hateful Eight, Whiplash and Black Swan and Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.

Memes: Trailers redone “Logan style.”

Contests: Sing‘s Real Talent, From Real Life.

Remade Movies: 8-bit video game version of Doctor Strange.

Mashups: Batman fights classic movie villains and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them meets Pokemon.

Fan Theories: Cannibalism in Wall-E.

Movie Posters: All of this week’s best new posters.

Our Features

Wizarding World Guide: Everything we know about the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel.

Marvel Guide: We looked at why the new Marvel civil war is about ABC versus Netflix.

Film History Lesson: We remembered when The Addams Family encouraged movies based on TV shows.

Geek Movie Guide: We spotlighted the geeky things we’re thankful for this year.

Home Viewing: Our guide to everything hitting VOD this week.

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Health November 25, 2016

In Conservative Poland, People Pushed Back In Battle Over Aborton Rights

Poland has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe, but the right-wing government failed in a recent attempt to make them tougher as the public pushed back.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Poland has recently gone through a battle over abortion rights. The country’s right-wing government tried to pass laws for a near-total ban on abortions. The effort ran into heavy opposition and failed. NPR’s Joanna Kakissis went to Warsaw to look at how people in this conservative society pushed back this fall.

JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: This fall, a group called Stop Abortion testified before the Polish parliament.

JOANNA BANASIUK: (Foreign language spoken).

KAKISSIS: Every child deserves to be born, said the group’s spokeswoman Joanna Banasiuk, even children with severe birth defects and those conceived through rape or incest. Currently in these three circumstances, Polish women are allowed to terminate their pregnancies. The new proposal would have only preserved a fourth exception – to save the life or health of the mother.

The health ministry says there are only about a thousand legal abortions each year, though activists estimate there are up to 100,000 illegal abortions. Polish women sometimes travel to neighboring Germany to terminate pregnancies. But they’re too ashamed to talk about it, says Agnieszka Legucka. She’s an academic and a mom of two who talked to us in a Warsaw cafe.

AGNIESZKA LEGUCKA: It’s completely difference between even 20, 30 years ago in Poland. It was quite normal thing to have an abortion.

KAKISSIS: That was during communist rule, when abortion was permitted.

LEGUCKA: Today, you cannot say aloud that you had an abortion. It’s…

KAKISSIS: What would people say to you if you did?

LEGUCKA: That you are not a woman. You are evil.

KAKISSIS: About 90 percent of Poles are Catholic. And the church gave them an identity outside communism. Adam Szostkiewicz, a religion columnist at the country’s largest newsweekly, says the church’s power grew after Poland became a democracy.

ADAM SZOSTKIEWICZ: And, of course, the bishops were smart enough to use this for their own interests.

KAKISSIS: They pushed for the current restrictions. When the idea of a total abortion ban came up earlier this year, some bishops backed it. So did members of the ruling Law and Justice Party, including the country’s female prime minister, Beata Syzdlo. Lawmakers said women who violated the ban and any doctors who helped them could face up to five years in jail. For Agnieszka Legucka, that went way too far.

LEGUCKA: Where is the line between church influence and your live – way of life? So you think that’s – what it’s going on here? It’s not my country anymore.

KAKISSIS: So last month, she joined more than 100,000 women marching through Polish cities. Zofia Marcinek, a 22-year-old university student, said critics called them feminazis and…

ZOFIA MARCINEK: Prostitutes, whores, witches, crazy women. You know, it’s a very common actually way of dismissing someone’s views.

KAKISSIS: But parliament listened to the protesters. After the marches, most lawmakers voted against the proposed ban and it failed. The church’s influence remains strong. I meet 31-year-old environmental engineer Katarzyna Jaszczyszyn during Sunday mass at a newly-opened Catholic shrine. She says being Catholic means being absolute about carrying every fetus to term.

KATARZYNA JASZCZYSZYN: Because even if it will live only a few hours, even in those few hours it can give us so much love.

KAKISSIS: Under a new law, the government will pay women nearly a thousand dollars if they go ahead and have a baby with serious birth defects. For NPR News, I’m Joanna Kakissis in Warsaw.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Business November 25, 2016

Holiday Shoppers Expected To Spend Most Money Online

Early indications are that Black Friday will be healthy for retailers, But analysts say the Black Friday fever has broken. Almost all the growth in holiday retail sales are in online and mobile shopping. One in six holiday dollars will be spent online giving consumers more bargaining power.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

As I probably don’t have to remind you, today is Black Friday, when retailers traditionally begin turning a profit. NPR’s Sonari Glinton has been out with shoppers since he got up from the Thanksgiving table last night. He is now at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw mall in South Los Angeles where he’s been talking to people about their plans. We’re going to listen to a little bit of what they have to say first.

CLAUDETTE JOHNSON: I’ve been to Black Fridays many times.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: She’s a veteran.

JOHNSON: I’m a veteran.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: That’s right.

JOHNSON: I am, and I hated them. They’re crazy. They’re nuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: She got up at 3 o’clock in the morning and got TVs.

JOHNSON: (Laughter).

GAIL OTERO: Yeah, I’m being a little bit more conservative.

SONARI GLINTON, BYLINE: Why is that?

OTERO: Just not knowing what to expect in this new administration.

KAREN KEARNS: You avoid the crowds, you avoid the parking, the hassle, and you get – sometimes you get better specials online.

SHAPIRO: That was Claudette Johnson, Gail Otero and Karen Kearns. And Sonari Glinton is on the line with us now. Hey, there.

GLINTON: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Besides all the shoppers you’ve been talking to, you have been checking in with some economists and analysts. What are they saying about this Black Friday?

GLINTON: Well, we expect more foot traffic. The presidential election distracted shoppers, and so they’re coming back after that. The stock market is good, so that means that people at the top end of the scale will have more money to spend. And also you might think that this isn’t that important, but there isn’t a big blockbuster in movie theaters like last year when there were “Star Wars” that hit right in the middle of shopping season. So we expect malls to be packed and people to be standing in lines, but it’s not as big as it used to be.

SHAPIRO: Not as big as it used to be – why not? Especially when unemployment is low, wages are up, gas is cheap, seems like it would be a big deal.

GLINTON: Well, the election is one thing. A recent study by ShopTalk showed that people who are making less than $50,000 say that they’re going to spend less because they’re concerned about the election. Also, retailers are offering discounts literally that began at Halloween, so it’s become more like Black November. And also, this has been an unseasonably warm year, so folks haven’t had to invest in, you know, that heavy winter coat yet. And then finally there’s the online sales where shoppers are getting smarter about finding deals.

SHAPIRO: It seems like we hear every year that online sales, mobile sales are growing. Are they threatening to overtake in-store sales?

GLINTON: Well, 1 in 6 dollars spent this holiday season will be spent online, and that’s double what it was just a few years ago. Overall, retail is looking like it’ll grow between – about 3.7 percent. But online sales – they’re going to increase by 15 percent. So, Ari, people will still go out and stand in line and have fun, but Black Friday has kind of jumped the shark. It’s like “The Godfather” – the third “Godfather.” You know, it still has Al Pacino and Diane Keaton, but it’s a little different. And that’s the way Black Friday is going to be.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter) NPR’s Sonari Glinton speaking with us from the Black Friday crowds in South Los Angeles. Thanks, Sonari.

GLINTON: Always a pleasure, my friend.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Sports November 25, 2016

College Football Fans Abroad Prepare For Thanksgiving Weekend Games

There’s no day bigger than the Saturday after Thanksgiving for college football rivalries. Even fans abroad make a point of tuning in. NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with a Michigan fan in London and an Ohio State fan in the Netherlands about their matchup.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

For college football fans, there is an order to Thanksgiving weekend. Family on Thursday, leftovers Friday, game day Saturday. Tomorrow is the biggest day for college football rivalries. For super fans who live overseas it can be a little more complicated to bring your blood up to a full boil for game day. We’ve called up a couple of rivals who have never met, both of them ex-pats struggling with this challenge. In London, Eric Kumbier is a University of Michigan fan. Hi there.

ERIC KUMBIER: Hello.

SHAPIRO: And in the Netherlands, Samik Parsa (ph) is an Ohio State fan. Hello to you.

SAMIK PARSA: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: So how are you each planning on watching the game tomorrow? Eric, you first.

KUMBIER: Well, I teach in Beirut. But my college roommate, I’m meeting him up in London because he teaches in Lithuania. And we’re watching it at a sports bar in London.

SHAPIRO: And Samik?

PARSA: Wow, that’s perfect. We’re actually – I’m having a few friends over here at my place here in Holland. And we’re going to gather, you know, as many Buckeye fans as we can to keep the emotion high.

SHAPIRO: No Michigan fans allowed?

PARSA: Well, you know, it’s TBD. So, like, I don’t have – I didn’t invite any, but if they happen to show up…

SHAPIRO: I mean, God forbid you would be friends with somebody like that.

PARSA: (Laughter).

SHAPIRO: Are you both planning on running the streets of these European cities with, like, your faces painted and your bare chests with the letter of your school on them?

KUMBIER: I did that in my university days. I’ve got my Michigan gear, my Michigan apparel. So that’ll have to be good enough for now. I don’t have the face paint with me right now.

SHAPIRO: Samik?

PARSA: Same here. I don’t know that Holland’s ready for that yet.

SHAPIRO: (Laughter).

PARSA: Maybe if it was closer to Carnival I could – I might be able to get away with it but, yeah, probably not this weekend.

SHAPIRO: Can you explain why these two particular teams are each other’s rivals? I mean, why not like Pennsylvania or Indiana or something?

KUMBIER: It’s a historic rivalry. I think it dates back past football. A lot of it is we’re upset with them when they got Toledo. There was a dispute between the state line.

SHAPIRO: You mean like an actual war, like, over Toledo, Ohio, like, there was fighting among the states?

KUMBIER: Sounds absurd today, but it was actually a big deal back in the 1800s. But then the college football rivarly got going and it really picked up when both Schembechler and Woody Hayes coached against each other. Bo was Woody’s protege. He went on to coach at Michigan. They coached against each other for 10 years and that was kind of the most intense stuff. Well, well before I was born but the hatred kind of carries over from one generation to another.

SHAPIRO: You know, it’s funny you two obviously have this innate hatred for one another. And yet, it seems that you understand each other better than any of the people in the country around you understand either of you.

KUMBIER: It’s hardwired into you. So, I mean, Michigan-Ohio State on this side of the pond, same with the European football rivalries on the other side. So a little bit of that is hardwired into us wherever we come. But I think Michigan-Ohio State kind of takes it up a couple notches.

PARSA: To me it’s the rivalry in all of sport. You could take Red Sox-Yankees, Celtics-Lakers. I don’t know. I can’t think of a bigger rivalry in all of sport.

KUMBIER: There isn’t one.

SHAPIRO: So at least you agree on that.

PARSA: We do. We do.

SHAPIRO: Samik Parsa on the line with us from the Netherlands and Eric Kumbier joining us via Skype from the U.K. Good luck to you both.

KUMBIER: All right, thank you very much.

PARSA: Thanks, Ari.

Copyright © 2016 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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