January 24, 2017

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Entertainment January 24, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: The Movie References in 'La La Land,' Fan Trailer for a 'Spider-Verse' Movie and More

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

Movie References of the Day:

Today La La Land became a big deal Oscar nominee, so here’s a video showcasing the old movies it references (via Cinematic Montage Creators):

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Video Essay of the Day:

For Fandor Keyframe, Jacob T. Swinney highlights the most embarrassing Oscar nominations, including Click:

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Fan Trailer of the Day:

All the cinematic versions of Spider-Man collide in this spiffy fake trailer for a Spider-Verse movie:

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Fan Theory of the Day:

Does the red coloring for the Star Wars: The Last Jedi logo mean Luke is turning to the Dark Side? BossLogic depicts the theory to be so:

The red logo obviously means ……. 😛 @starwars @HamillHimself pic.twitter.com/3wk9KTG676

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) January 24, 2017

Reworked Movie of the Day:

Speaking of Star Wars, CineFix shows us what an old school video game of Rogue One would look like with the 8-Bit Cinema version of the movie:

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Movie Takedown of the Day:

Michael Bolton shows up in the Honest Trailer for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory for some sweet musical spoofs:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Ernest Borgnine, who was born 100 years ago today, arm wrestles with Leslie Nielsen during a break on the set of 1958’s Torpedo Run:

Movie Trivia of the Day:

Since the Oscar nominees were announced today, here’s some trivia about Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker from CineFix:

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Movie Food of the Day:

The new episode of Binging with Babish shows us how to make the strudel from Inglorious Basterds:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Sundance debut of David Lynch’s Lost Highway. Watch the original trailer for the surreal thriller below.

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and

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Business January 24, 2017

Some Firms Are Harnessing Trump's Tweets As A Marketing Strategy

Using his personal Twitter account, Trump has publicly thanked Walmart, among other companies, for their plans to increase investment and job creation. It’s not yet clear how his tweets may affect company decision making. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption

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Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Rarely has a U.S. president been so willing to use his platform as both bullhorn and cudgel to exert public pressure on individual companies.

But one of the hallmarks of President Trump’s approach to economic policy since his election has been his willingness to publicly endorse — and shame — companies in order to advance his message.

The new president’s frequent use of social media has created an entirely new kind of public-relations channel, one that companies are trying to exploit, in particular by touting their hiring announcements.

Last week, Trump publicly thanked Walmart for its “big jobs push” after the retailer last week released details of a hiring and capital spending plan that it had originally announced in October before the election.

Thank you to General Motors and Walmart for starting the big jobs push back into the U.S.!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017

Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son parlayed his Dec. 6 meeting with the then-president elect into several supportive tweets from Trump. Ford, General Motors, Hyundai Motors and its affiliate Kia, have all made investment announcements referencing Trump’s tax or economic policies.

Masa (SoftBank) of Japan has agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S. toward businesses and 50,000 new jobs….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016

Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2016

“They’re using Trump as a marketing channel,” says Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

He says it’s a new paradigm, both for the president and for major company brands.

“Companies didn’t used to feel like they could curry favor with a president through making some moves like this, but today’s day and age it seems like a possibility so companies are exploring it,” Berger says.

Trump’s prime focus has been the auto industry, where he has named individual companies and brands as possible targets for higher tariffs on cars made in Mexico.

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On Monday, during his first meeting with business leaders, Trump called out Ford CEO Mark Fields and the company’s decision to scrap plans for a $1.6 billion in Mexico in favor of expanding in Michigan.

Thank you to Ford for scrapping a new plant in Mexico and creating 700 new jobs in the U.S. This is just the beginning – much more to follow

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017

“Mark was so nice with the plant, I wanted to sit next to him,” Trump told the business executives.

Trump criticized Ford’s rival, General Motors, earlier in the month because it manufactures some Chevy Cruzes for U.S. sale in Mexico. But then last week, GM said it would invest an additional $1 billion in the U.S., and Trump thanked the company in a tweet.

General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A.or pay big border tax!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017

GM spokesman Patrick Morrissey acknowledges that with U.S. job creation in the spotlight, “this was good timing for us to share what we are doing.”

It is not yet clear how Trump’s Twitter account might shape decision making for companies going forward. Many of the investment plans Trump has tweeted were planned — or even originally announced — well before the election.

Take, for example, Fiat Chrysler’s announcement to increase its U.S. investment by $1 billion — which garnered a “thank you” tweet from Trump this month. CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters that investment decision was made more than a year ago, and that the attaboy from Trump wasn’t anticipated.

“None of us have had a tweeting president before,” Marchionne said at a Dec. 9 press conference. “It’s a new way of communication, and I think we’re going to have to learn how to respond.”

It’s finally happening – Fiat Chrysler just announced plans to invest $1BILLION in Michigan and Ohio plants, adding 2000 jobs. This after…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 9, 2017

In most cases, companies are capitalizing on investment and hiring decisions that were set in motion well before Trump’s election. Berger, the Wharton marketing professor, says it’s not clear that companies will change investment decisions based on favorable tweets.

“Whether we’ll see companies actually changing their behavior, you know, actually doing different things or moving jobs in one way or another because of him, that’s a little bit more costly, and I think we will see some of that, but not as much as firms taking advantage of old news and recycling it,” Berger says.

But the new president’s approval ratings are already low, so could companies see a backlash for trying to curry favor?

It’s certainly possible, Berger says, but if Trump is endorsing the companies, and not the other way around, there’s less chance it could backfire.

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Sports January 24, 2017

NASCAR Implements New Point System To Change How Fans Watch Sport

NASCAR is reinventing itself — again. A new point system may or may not draw new fans to the sport, but it will change how people watch. NPR’s Robert Siegel talks to Scott Fowler, sports columnist for the Charlotte Observer, about the new changes.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

NASCAR’s latest revamping may or may not bring in more fans, but it will change how stock car racing fans watch. Races used to be one long event – 500 miles or so. You earned points. The higher you finished, the more points you won. And the top 16 point earners at the end of the season moved on to the post-season.

Well, now each race will have three stages. Essentially fans will have three races in one to enjoy, and drivers will have more opportunities to earn points. But will everyone enjoy the new system? Well, for that, we turn to Scott Fowler, sports columnist for the Charlotte Observer. Welcome to the program.

SCOTT FOWLER: Thank you very much. I’m a big fan.

SIEGEL: Why is NASCAR doing this?

FOWLER: NASCAR needs a boost. NASCAR was a very hot sport, Robert, in – 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. Now stadiums are half empty. Millennials don’t want to sit around and watch a four-hour race. They’re a little bit desperate here, but ultimately I think it’s a smart move. They are trying to give you more of a reason to watch for a longer period of time.

SIEGEL: And the period of time at issue is really, say, the first hour of the race when now it’s consequential. Somebody could earn some points by winning.

FOWLER: Exactly. There’s something around here we call a NASCAR nap, which is what you could take after the start of a race for about three hours until the end of the race when all – everything was decided in the last 20 laps or so. Other than crashes or something, there wasn’t a lot going on.

These races are long. The shortest ones usually are 400 miles. So think of driving, say, from Washington to New York and back. That’s 400 miles. That’s how long the shortest ones of these races are. So it’s a long time to make people pay attention. And you know how attention spans are these days.

SIEGEL: Well, are the breaks after the first third and the second third of the race – are these going to be like periods in a basketball game or a hockey game? That is, will it stop and break for commercials and interview people?

FOWLER: Yes. It will be kind of pre-determined breaks much like almost two halftimes I guess you could say. They’re shorter, but that will be the time where fans will naturally go to the refrigerator. Or if they’re in the stands, hopefully they’re going to go and buy some more concessions. I’m sure the track operators would like that.

SIEGEL: The first race of the season, the Daytona 500, is barely a month away. It doesn’t seem like a lot of time for drivers and their teams to adjust to what sounds like a pretty radical change. Isn’t that rather fast?

FOWLER: I think that’s a fair statement, yeah. I think people who are doing this right now just went from taking algebra two to taking a graduate-level calculus class. I really think there’s a lot of permutations that not everyone has thought of yet that will only become apparent when it happens.

But that’s kind of exciting, and NASCAR, like I was mentioning, needs a jolt of excitement. Everyone knows what it’s like to go in a car and punch an accelerator and go fast and that thrill. And they’re trying to get back to that a little bit more opportunistically I suppose in this digital age where they really have to capture people’s attention.

The other thing I should point out – one thing this sport doesn’t have – and this will not change. There is no Dale Earnhardt Sr. coming back into the fore. I mean he was this sport’s absolute superstar – died in 2001 in a last-lap crash at the Daytona 500. And in some ways, things have not been quite the same since. His son is a very popular racer in NASCAR but has not had the same level of success. And this sport is looking for that as well. It needs another superstar.

SIEGEL: That’s Scott Fowler, sports columnist for the Charlotte Observer. Thanks for talking with us.

FOWLER: Thank you very much.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE LEISURE SOCIETY SONG, “JUST LIKE THE KNIFE”)

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Health January 24, 2017

Victims Of Contaminated Steroids Still Hurting: 'My Life's Upside-Down'

A vial of injectable steroids from the New England Compounding Center seen at the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville in 2012. Kristin M. Hall/AP hide caption

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Kristin M. Hall/AP

Hundreds of people around the country are still suffering from complications linked to injections of tainted medicine produced at a Massachusetts pharmacy in 2012.

A nationwide outbreak of fungal infections was tied to the shipment of nearly 18,000 contaminated vials of preservative-free methylprednisolone, a steroid, made by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass.

Barry Cadden, an owner of the pharmacy, is now on trial in U.S. District Court in Boston. He faces federal charges that include racketeering and second-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty.

The trial, which began Jan. 9, is expected to last two or three months.

Federal prosecutors say the steroids were mixed in unsanitary conditions with expired ingredients.

Bruce Singal, Cadden’s attorney, declined to comment. In court, he has said that Cadden oversaw the company’s operations, but didn’t work in the facility’s “clean rooms” or mix the drugs that harmed people. “He is not a murderer and he is not responsible for their deaths,” Singal said, according to the Associated Press.

The outbreak of fungal infections tied to injections with contaminated medicines killed at least 64 people and sickened about 700 more. A report about the public health investigation and response published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2013, said the outlook for “patients remains uncertain. Although many case patients have completed antifungal therapy and their conditions are currently stable or improved, relapses of infection are possible.”

Many people who got sick after the injections are still waiting for compensation checks from a legal settlement with the compounding pharmacy.

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Several people who became sick after injections talked about their lives since then. None has testified in the case but some have plans to attend the trial. Here are excerpts from conversations with them.

Bill Thomas Courtesy of Bill Thomas/WBUR hide caption

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Courtesy of Bill Thomas/WBUR

Bill Thomas, 62, of Lowell, Mich.

The last injection — the steroid injection that I got in my spine — was for pain in my legs, pain and numbness, due to spinal cord injuries. During the course of the next few days, I felt like I was coming down with the flu … I had trouble remembering things. I came down with an incredible headache that didn’t go away. I had terrible neck pain, and my eyes were very sensitive to light.

I’ve gone from being a person who walked two or three miles a few times a day. … I used to go out a lot in wilderness areas and did backpacking. And now I only leave the house a couple times a week. I’m always tired and always in pain, I can’t think. I get confused easily. … I can’t read like I used to.

Justice needs to be done here. Tremendous harm was done to a great many people, and that should not be forgotten.

Angela Farthing, 46, of Maryland

Angela Farthing Courtesy of Angela Farthing/WBUR hide caption

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Courtesy of Angela Farthing/WBUR

I had fungal meningitis and was admitted to the hospital. When I was released, I ended up having a stroke and developed a brain aneurysm. I was readmitted, and I was there for almost another two months. … I got very sick. I was vomiting all the time, had horrible headaches every day. I lost a good 30 pounds; I went down to 100 pounds. … I missed about a year of work. And it was discovered later that I’d developed an abscess in my spinal cord. I had to have that surgically removed. But they could not get all of the abscess out, because they said if they would have sliced any deeper, they could have paralyzed me or I could have lost bowel or bladder function.

[My husband] really suffered quite a bit when I was diagnosed. He had to take care of me, he had to bathe me, he had to change me, he had to do my IV. … He had to take over cleaning the house and cooking and taking care of our dogs. … He was a recovering alcoholic, and unfortunately, he stopped going to AA meetings and he succumbed to his addiction.

Kathy Pugh, daughter and caregiver for her mother, Evelyn March, 85, of Pinckney, Mich.

[My mother had] an abscess in her back on her spine at the site of the injection of the tainted medicine. Now she’s not doing well at all. It’s pretty much 24/7 pain. She went from being a very vital woman with just sporadic problems with her back, to where she’s bedridden in a hospital bed on oxygen, looking up at the ceiling. That’s her life — occasionally trying to watch TV, but she finds it hard to concentrate for a very long length of time. That’s one of the side effects of the antifungal medication, which it was ‘take or die.’ “

Kathy Pugh (right) and her mother, Evelyn March Courtesy of Kathy Pugh/WBUR hide caption

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Courtesy of Kathy Pugh/WBUR

Evelyn March

My life’s upside-down compared to what it was. I don’t understand why things can be allowed to happen like that. Getting old is bad enough, but then to put something else on to it. … I hope [Barry Cadden] gets his butt burned. I mean he, he, … well, I’d better shut up, because I’d probably say more than I should say.

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