February 27, 2017

No Image

Entertainment February 27, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: The Evolution of Emma Stone, Crocodile Dundee vs. Predator and More

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

Actress in the Spotlight:

Celebrate the Best Actress win by Emma Stone by watching Burger Fiction’s career-spanning look at the La La Land star:

[embedded content]

Plot Song of the Day:

Did you know Will Smith had a song during the end credits of Moonlight decribing the movie? See below and also check out Demi Adejuyigbe’s fake Will Smith plot songs for Arrival and Hacksaw Ridge.

does anybody know if Will Smith is gonna perform one of his credits raps at the #Oscars this year? I hope it’s the one he did for Moonlight pic.twitter.com/xXsEbrlGdx

— demi adejuyigbe (@electrolemon) February 26, 2017

Video Essay of the Day:

Seriously, though, Moonlight uses music very significantly, as explored in the new video essay from Mr. Nerdista:

[embedded content]

Mashup of the Day:

Fun fact: both Crocodile Dundee and Predator are Oscar nominees. Anyway, here’s a fake trailer for Crocodile Dundee vs. Predator:

[embedded content]

Trailer Remake of the Day:

Claymation filmmaker Lee Hardcastle remade the red-band trailer for The Belko Experiment in his preferred animation style, and the movie’s writer/producer James Gunn appreciates it:

This is incredible. Lovely #BelkoExperiment animation by @leehardcastlepic.twitter.com/CCokNG9pdb

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 24, 2017

Vintage Image of the Day:

They may have made a big blunder at the Oscars, but don’t forget Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are terrific in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, as well as in this old poster for the movie:

Tribute of the Day:

Storm chasers love Bill Paxton in Twister so much they paid tribute to the late actor using GPS coordinates (via Geekologie):

Fake Movie of the Day:

If Christopher Nolan had made a fourth Batman movie with Joseph Gordon Levitt as Nightwing and Casey Affleck as The Riddler (via Geek Tyrant):

[embedded content]

Film History Lesson of the Day:

Do you ever give movies you disliked a second chance? The latest video from The Royal Ocean Film Society looks at famous films that were hated when released and now are beloved (via Film School Rejects):

[embedded content]

Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Watch the original teaser for the horror sequel below.

[embedded content]

and

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Business February 27, 2017

SpaceX Announces Plans To Send Two Customers To The Moon

SpaceX says its Falcon Heavy rocket, shown here in an artist’s rendering, will be used in the mission to the moon.


SpaceX
hide caption

toggle caption


SpaceX

The private company SpaceX has announced that it plans to send two passengers on a mission beyond the moon in late 2018.

If the mission goes forward, it would be the “first time humans have traveled beyond low Earth orbit since the days of Apollo,” as NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce told our Newscast unit.

The two private citizens approached the company about the idea and have already paid a sizable deposit, CEO Elon Musk told reporters in a conference call. These private individuals will also bear the cost of the mission.

“I think this should be a really exciting mission that hopefully gets the world really excited about sending people into deep space again,” Musk said. As the company puts it: “This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years and they will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them.”

The plan for this private mission is to send the two people to loop around the moon and then return to Earth. They will not land on the moon’s surface.

Article continues after sponsorship

As Nell explained, SpaceX “builds rockets and capsules that have taken cargo to the International Space Station for NASA.” SpaceX plans to use its Falcon Heavy rocket, which is set to launch its first test flight this summer. Next year, prior to the moon mission, it plans to start crewed missions by taking NASA astronauts up to the ISS.

That’s a lot of ground to cover before this mission can take place, as George Washington University’s John Logsdon, an expert in space policy and history, told Nell.

SpaceX regularly flies and returns cargo capsules like the one pictured here to the International Space Station. Now the company says a modified version could take customers to the moon.


Chris Thompson/SpaceX
hide caption

toggle caption


Chris Thompson/SpaceX

“Introducing this into the mix raises a fair amount of questions, but it’s an exciting prospect,” Logsdon said. “SpaceX is notorious or notable, depending on how you want to think about it, for setting very ambitious schedules and usually not meeting them.” He added that historically, SpaceX has eventually followed through on what it said it was going to do.

The moon mission vehicle is designed to be automated, Musk told reporters, but the passengers will be trained in emergency procedures in case there is a problem.

The individuals involved in the mission “are entering with their eyes open knowing that there is some risk here,” Musk said.

NASA has congratulated SpaceX on “reaching higher.” In a statement, the agency said:

“NASA is changing the way it does business through its commercial partnerships to help build a strong American space economy and free the agency to focus on developing the next-generation rocket, spacecraft and systems to go beyond the moon and sustain deep space exploration.”

SpaceX has seen some recent setbacks, including multiple delays launching and docking a capsule on the International Space Station earlier this month. It succeeded last week.

SpaceX said other potential customers have also expressed interest and it expects to launch further missions.

And it’s worth noting that this is far from the most ambitious goal that Musk has proposed. Last September, he unveiled plans to colonize Mars by sending at least 1 million humans there to establish a self-sustaining city.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Sports February 27, 2017

17-Year-Old Transgender Boy Wins Texas Girls' Wrestling Championship

Trinity High School junior Mack Beggs waits for a signal from the referee in the final round of the 6A Girls 110 Weight Class match during the Texas Wrestling State Tournament on Saturday in Cypress, Texas. Beggs, a transgender boy, is required by state policy to compete against girls.

Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

hide caption

toggle caption

Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Texas state wrestling championships aren’t usually national news. But they made headlines this weekend when a 17-year-old transgender boy — barred by state rules from competing in the boys’ league — won his weight class, against girls.

Mack Beggs, the teenage boy in question, hasn’t sought the spotlight. By all accounts he just wants to wrestle.

But media attention found him anyway. In part, that’s because some parents of female wrestlers have vocally objected to the fact that Beggs, who has been taking testosterone as part of his gender transition, is wrestling girls. One parent even filed a lawsuit against the league that organizes public school sports.

The controversy has been heightened because his victory arrived on the heels of President Trump’s decision to rescind Obama administration guidelines on trans students’ rights in school.

Asa Merritt, a reporter in West Texas, spoke to NPR’s Michel Martin about the controversy, and also covered the championship for our Newscast division.

He says Beggs began transitioning about a year and a half ago.

“He wants to compete against boys,” Merritt says. But under Texas rules, boys can’t compete against girls, and students must compete as the gender marked on their birth certificate. That meant if Beggs wanted to wrestle, he had to do it in the girls’ league.

Article continues after sponsorship

Which he did, with great success — he had an undefeated season. His triumphs led to impassioned feelings in the Berry Center, just outside of Houston, on Saturday.

Merritt says that every time Beggs won a match in his 110-pound weight class, the audience “erupted in both boos and cheers.”

Family, friends, teammates and trans supporters celebrated Beggs’ wins. But at the same time, “there was jeering and jawing,” Merritt told Michel Martin. “And people said things like, you know, ‘He doesn’t belong there. He should be on a different mat.’ It was really intense.”

Beggs “didn’t speak to anyone during the event,” Merritt says. “He definitely avoided any kind of media presence.”

When he did speak publicly, after the championship was over, Beggs didn’t highlight the rules, the lawsuit or the controversy.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my teammates,” the wrestler said. “That’s honestly what the spotlight should have been on, is my teammates. … we trained hard every single day.”

Texas is considering legislation similar to North Carolina’s controversial HB2, that would require trans people in public schools and other government buildings to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate. Powerful business interests are opposed to the bill, NPR’s Wade Goodwyn has reported, but it’s a priority of the state’s lieutenant governor.

As for the sports requirement that kept Beggs competing with girls, despite criticism from other parents, officials “don’t envision a change,” The Associated Press reports.

“Ninety-five percent of the school superintendents in Texas voted for the rule as it was proposed, which was to use birth certificates,” Jamey Harrison, the deputy director of Texas’ University Interscholastic League, told the AP. “So any rule can be reconsidered, but … given the overwhelming support for that rule, I don’t expect it to change anytime soon.”

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

No Image

Entertainment February 27, 2017

The 2017 Oscar Winners: 'Moonlight' Wins Best Picture in Shocking Ending

Congratulations to all the winners at the 89th Academy Awards! La La Land was the most-honored of the night, as expected, with six wins. But there were definitely some surprises. Like La La Land not winning even more. And the shocker that it was wrongly announced as Best Picture. Instead it was Moonlight that won the top award.

There were also many records broken. Damien Chazelle is now the youngest winner of the Best Directing Oscar, at age 32. O.J.: Made in America became the longest movie to win an Oscar at 467 minutes. Mahershala Ali is the first Muslim to win an acting Oscar. Soundman Kevin O’Connell finally won with his 21st nomination.

But how about that Moonlight ending?

And here are all the winners:

Best Picture: Moonlight

Best Director: Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best Actor: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best Actress: Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis (Fences)

Best Original Screenplay: Manchester by the Sea

Best Adapted Screenplay: Moonlight

Best Cinematography: La La Land

Best Editing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best Production Design: La La Land

Best Costume Design: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Suicide Squad

Best Sound Mixing: Hacksaw Ridge

Best Sound Editing: Arrival

Best Original Score: La La Land

Best Original Song: “City of Stars” (La La Land)

Best Animated Feature: Zootopia

Best Documentary Feature: O.J.: Made in America

Best Documentary Short: The White Helmets

Best Animated Short: Piper

Best Live-Action Short: Sing

Best Foreign Language Film: The Salesman

and

Let’s block ads! (Why?)