July 13, 2017

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Today in Movie Culture: New Mondo 'Baby Driver' Poster, How to Make a Paul Thomas Anderson Movie and More

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

Alternate Posters of the Day:

Mondo’s latest posters include one for Baby Driver by Matt Taylor and one for War for the Planet of the Apes by Eric Powell:

BABY DRIVER by @MattTaylorDraws + WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES by @goonguy are ON SALE NOW! https://t.co/hGiA6d5Shapic.twitter.com/fPuuzSZPOg

— MONDO (SDCC#835) (@MondoNews) July 13, 2017

Video Essay of the Day:

Speaking of Edgar Wright movies, here’s a video essay from Matt Draper on why Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the best video game movie ever (via Film School Rejects):

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Fan Art of the Day:

BossLogic is more than a fan, but I don’t know what else to call this piece depicting a religiously paternal sort of relationship between Spider-Man and Iron Man inspired by Spider-Man: Homecoming:

“Give me back my suit” @TomHolland1996@RobertDowneyJr@SpiderManMoviepic.twitter.com/kMfLcCdBBv

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) July 13, 2017

Alternate Studio Logo of the Day:

This wouldn’t have been a bad idea for Disney’s opening for Tron: Legacy:

How TRON: Legacy should have started…. pic.twitter.com/VZDjapG8Rl

— E82 The Epcot Legacy (@EpcotLegacy) July 10, 2017

Film History Lesson of the Day:

ScreenCrush reminds us why there’s a PG-13 rating with this look at the most traumatic moments in PG movies:

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Supercut of the Day:

Need a hug now? Mr. Nerdista has a bunch in this supercut of the best hugs in movies:

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Vintage Image of the Day:

Harrison Ford, who turns 75 today, receives direction from Ridley Scott on the set of Blade Runner in 1981:

Filmmaker in Focus:

Want to make movies as good as Paul Thomas Anderson’s? This video from StudioBinder at least shows how to create a shot list inspired by his work (via Film School Rejects):

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Craftsperson of the Day:

Thelma Schoonmaker and her Oscar-winning work on Raging Bull are honored further in this video from VoorDeFilm:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 40th anniversary of the US release of The Spy Who Loved Me. Watch the original trailer for the James Bond classic below.

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Trump Hints At New Limits On Steel Imports

President Trump and first lady Melania Arrive At Orly Airport on Thursday in Paris. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he was considering tariffs on steel imports.

Pierre Suu/Getty Images

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President Trump is hinting that he may impose tariffs, quotas or both on imported steel in an effort to protect the domestic steel industry.

“Steel is a big problem,” Trump told reporters traveling aboard Air Force One en route to Paris, where he landed Thursday. “We’re like a dumping ground, OK? [Other countries are] dumping steel and destroying our steel industry. They’ve been doing it for decades and I’m stopping it.”

“There are two ways,” Trump said, “quotas and tariffs. Maybe I’ll do both.”

The Commerce Department has been conducting a review of both steel and aluminum imports under a rarely used 1962 statute designed to protect industries deemed vital to national security. Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters in April that imports now account for more than a quarter of the U.S. steel market, while domestic steel mills are operating at just 71 percent of capacity.

Trump railed against what he called unfair trade practices throughout the campaign and has continued to advocate protectionist measures since taking office.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing, which represents steelmakers and the steelworkers union, supports new restrictions on imports. “If we don’t step up now, America’s entire aluminum and steel industries could disappear,” the alliance warns on its website, “and we’ll have to rely on Russia and China for our national defense needs.”

Restricting steel imports through tariffs or quotas would be controversial, though. It would potentially raise prices for steel consumers and could spark retaliation from major trading partners.

Although the administration blames China for most of the glut on the global steel market, allies such as Canada, Mexico and South Korea would likely be hard-hit by any import restrictions. Those countries could respond with limits of their own on U.S. exports.

This week, more than a dozen former White House economists signed a letter, urging the president not to take action against steel imports.

“The diplomatic costs might be worth it if the tariffs generated economic benefits. But they would not,” the economists wrote. “Additional steel tariffs would actually damage the U.S. economy. Tariffs would raise costs for manufacturers, reduce employment in manufacturing, and increase prices for consumers.”

Trump’s comments in support of import limits were originally made to reporters “off the record,” but the White House later agreed to make them public.

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Who's In, Who's Left Out With The Latest Senate Health Care Bill

The GOP’s latest proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act hews closely to the earlier bill that didn’t win enough support among lawmakers to bring to a vote.

Perhaps the biggest change in the document released Thursday is that it leaves in place the Affordable Care Act taxes on wealthy individuals. It uses that money to reduce the number of people left without insurance coverage by the law’s changes. This latest version adds $70 billion to a fund for states — bringing the total to $132 billion — to help support coverage of low-income people.

It also would allow insurance companies to offer health plans without the consumer protections included in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. That means insurers could sell stripped-down policies that cover fewer conditions and offer fewer benefits than currently allowed under the law.

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Those plans would very likely be cheaper than the policies currently offered on the Obamacare exchanges. But for people who would like to purchase plans that cover the essential health benefits mandated by the Affordable Care Act, including mental health coverage, addiction treatment, maternity care and prescription drug coverage, costs could go way up.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office hasn’t yet analyzed the new bill. It weighed in on the earlier Senate bill, saying that proposal would result in 22 million fewer people having health coverage in the next 10 years, compared with under the Affordable Care Act. Of those, 15 million would lose Medicaid coverage. That version was projected to lower the deficit by billions over 10 years — but that may have changed as the latest version offers billions more for state grants and also doesn’t repeal as many of the Obamacare taxes.

Yet this new variant is the same as its predecessor when it comes to subsidies to help individuals pay for insurance. It would mostly reduce subsidies and cause out-of-pocket costs to rise, as the CBO said about the previous bill. It’s not yet clear how the state grants would alter that dynamic.

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Venus Williams Reaches Wimbledon Final At Age 37

Venus Williams returns to Britain’s Johanna Konta during her victory in a semifinal match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London on Thursday.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

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Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

It’s been eight years since Venus Williams won a Wimbledon singles title, but she’s now eyeing her sixth, after advancing to Saturday’s final. Williams, 37, beat hard-serving Johanna Konta, the world’s No. 7 player, on Thursday.

Konta had seven aces in the semifinal match with Williams, but she also served up four double faults — including one that cost her a crucial game early in the second set. Williams won, 6-4, 6-2, despite hitting only one ace.

“I had a lot of issues,” Williams said afterwards. “This year’s been amazing, in terms of my play — and playing well into the big events.”

In addition to her resilient play this season, Williams has been in headlines because of her involvement in a Florida traffic accident in early June that later resulted in a man’s death. Earlier at the Wimbledon tournament, Williams left a news conference after growing emotional when discussing the incident.

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After Thursday’s win, Williams said she had also been thinking about her sister, Serena, who skipped this year’s Wimbledon because she’s in the final trimester of her pregnancy.

“I miss her so much,” Venus said. “And I tried to take the same courage on the court that she would’ve. I did think of that, and I tried to do the things she would do — I don’t know that I play exactly the same way she does, but I really tried to be inspired by it.”

This is the second Grand Slam final for Williams this year. In January, she lost to Serena in the finals of the Australian Open.

In the Wimbledon final, Williams will face Garbiñe Muguruza, 23, who had little trouble dispatching Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1, 6-1, on the strength of a reliable first serve and profitable ventures to the net: Muguruza won 18 of the 24 points in which she approached the net.

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