October 9, 2017

Entertainment October 9, 2017

Today in Movie Culture: Gal Gadot Spoofs 'Wonder Woman,' 'Justice League' Stars Swap Roles and More

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

Movie Parody of the Day:

Saturday Night Live and host Gal Gadot spoofed Wonder Woman with a sketch about how weird it is that Themyscira isn’t an island of lesbians:

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Role Swaps of the Day:

Speaking of DC movies, the stars of Justice League used a new Facebook filter themed to the movie in order to swap their roles. Gal Gadot as Aquaman is the best (via Heroic Hollywood):

Easter Eggs of the Day:

Speaking of Justice League, here’s Mr. Sunday Movies with the Easter eggs and other things you may have missed in the new trailer:

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Dream Casting of the Day:

Scott Eastwood wants to be the next Wolverine in the X-Men movies, so BossLogic shows us what that could look like:

Some weekend fun @ScottEastwood #wolverine, probably will refine more later on (there was articles about him expressing interest) pic.twitter.com/Jh5Tphed92

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) October 7, 2017

Vintage Image of the Day:

Guillermo del Toro, who turns 53 today, directs Doug Jones on the set of Pan’s Labyrinth in 2005:

Cosplay of the Day:

Also in honor of del Toro’s birthday, here’s some great Hellboy cosplay from New York Comic Con over the weekend;

Hella cool Comic Con cosplay! #Hellboy #NYCC pic.twitter.com/k02I8Bpnv7

— Marshall Julius (@MarshallJulius) October 8, 2017

Filmmaker in Focus:

Edgar Wright is the latest director to be showcased in Joshua Maddock’s The Filmmakers video series:

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Remixed Movie of the Day:

Speaking of Wright, Eclectic Method took the sound effects, music and dialogue from Baby Driver and made a sweet dance mix:

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Supercut of the Day:

Dance some more with this Calvin Harris-soundtracked supercut of ’80s movies compiled by Peter Schneider:

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Classic Trailer of the Day:

Today is the 25th anniversary of Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It. Watch the original trailer for the classic drama below.

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and

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Sports October 9, 2017

Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: Players Cannot Disrespect Flag

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On Sept. 25, 2017, the Dallas Cowboys, led by owner Jerry Jones, center, took a knee prior to the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals, in Glendale, Ariz. Now he says players who “disrespect the flag” won’t play.

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Two weeks ago he locked arms and knelt with his players during the national anthem, but now Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says players who “disrespect the flag,” won’t take the field.

“…If there is anything that is disrespectful to the flag then we will not play,” Jones said Sunday night, according to The Dallas Morning News. “You understand? If we are disrespecting the flag then we won’t play. Period.” Jones did not specify what he meant by disrespect.

The players’ union responded on Monday, with executive director DeMaurice Smith saying Jones’ comments contradicted those of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“I look forward to the day when everyone in management can unite and truly embrace and articulate what the flag stands for, liberty and justice for all, instead of some of them just talking about standing. We look forward to continuing our talks with them on this very issue.”

Good morning. My statement. pic.twitter.com/l7KXZrZi2o

— DeMaurice Smith (@DeSmithNFLPA) October 9, 2017

Last season San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem to protest of police shootings of people in the black community. His actions drew widespread criticism that he was anti-American. Kaepernick, now a free agent, has yet to be picked up by another team.

Other players joined him in taking a knee, and late last month during a speech in Alabama President Trump said that owners should fire the players who protest, igniting a national firestorm.

On Monday night, Trump tweeted support for Jones:

A big salute to Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who will BENCH players who disrespect our Flag.”Stand for Anthem or sit for game!”

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017

ESPN’s Jemele Hill responded to Jones’ statement with several tweets suggesting fans boycott the team’s advertisers.

Don’t ask Dak, Dez & other Cowboys players to protest. A more powerful statement is if you stop watching and buying their merchandise.

— Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) October 9, 2017

The sports network responded with a two-week suspension for Hill, calling it the second violation of the company’s social media guidelines. Last month the network said that tweets Hill made calling Trump a white supremacist were inappropriate.

ESPN’s Statement on Jemele Hill: pic.twitter.com/JkVoBVz7lv

— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) October 9, 2017

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Business October 9, 2017

'Something Amazing' In Angola: War Scraps Become Steel Beams For Rebuilding

Aceria de Angola is a company that is turning old weapons — rifles, tanks — into steel beams. It was founded by a baker, whose business was destroyed by the bloody civil war. But the spoils presented an opportunity.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Angola’s long civil war ended in 2002, and the country is still recovering today. There’s infrastructure to build. There are long-term injuries to mend. And there’s this question – what should be done with the old tanks and rifles that litter huge tracts of land? NPR’s Eyder Peralta has this story about a company that’s melting weapons and turning them into steel.

EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Aceria de Angola has a junkyard in a rural town about two hours from the capital, Luanda.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRUCK REVERSING)

PERALTA: To see the whole place we climb on a two-story scaffold. I see a vast wasteland. The red dirt is covered with crumpled metal, old, rusty cars, mounds of motorcycles and, in the distance, big chunks of tanks languishing in the sun.

(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLANGING)

PERALTA: A bulldozer picks up the scraps like Legos and drops them into a machine that shreds them into tiny pieces.

(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CRUNCHING)

PERALTA: Luis Silva, the guy who runs this factory, puts his hands on his waist and looks around.

When you look out here, what kind of story does this yard tell you about this country?

LUIS SILVA: (Laughter) It tells me a story of poverty and war.

PERALTA: Silva has done this kind of work in Europe. Out there, he says, the yards are littered with junk that still has some life – cars with some paint left on them. And you also get the remains of a society on the move – steel beams from relatively new buildings and factories being destroyed to make way for new ones.

SILVA: You don’t see here industrial scrap. You look for that and just a small amount of pipes comes from the oil industry. But the rest is old; very old.

PERALTA: Aceria de Angola is the brainchild of Georges Choucair. During the war, he owned a big bakery, but his delivery trucks were destroyed. And when it was all over, he saw a country with the need and means to rebuild. In the steel business, he saw money. But he also saw a parallel between his old life and what would become his new one.

GEORGES CHOUCAIR: Steel is as much important than food. We need food because we need to live, but we need to have a home. And home without steel also nothing.

PERALTA: Of course, he faced many challenges building a factory in a country emerging from war. He had to invest in the power grid so he could get enough electricity, for example. But his love for Angola kept him going, he says. Once the plant was built, one of the first things they did was clear tons of war scraps from Cuito Cuanavale, the site of one of the most intense and historic battles during the Angolan Civil War.

CHOUCAIR: We now can recycle all the scrap, the war scrap, to something amazing, giving life to people.

PERALTA: Back at the factory, Luis Silva shows me how the metal scraps are melted in furnaces, how it’s poured out and turned into what look like long, black beams.

SILVA: After that we start the rolling process.

PERALTA: He says there are still lots of problems here. There are few roads to get scraps out of the center of the country. There are lots of power cuts, and employees often lose family members to what should be treatable diseases. He stops to show me the presses. They squeeze warm steel into thin rebars.

SILVA: And this is the finished product.

PERALTA: There are still problems, he says. But when he sees this new steel made from old scraps, it gives him hope. Eyder Peralta, NPR News, Luanda.

(SOUNDBITE OF TRACEY CHATTAWAY’S “SHIMMER”)

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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Health October 9, 2017

Trump Rescinds Obamacare Birth Control Mandate

David Greene talks to Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, who has denounced the Trump administration’s rollback of the Affordable Care mandate to cover birth control.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And the Trump administration is making it easier for employers to opt out of covering birth control in their health insurance plans. The coverage was guaranteed under the Obama administration with the exception of employees at some religious organizations. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the Trump administration is leading by example on religious liberty. But this was a troubling development for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. And its president Cecile Richards is on the line. Good morning.

CECILE RICHARDS: Good morning.

GREENE: Let me just talk through the impact of this. The Trump administration said Friday that 99 percent of women will still have the same access to birth control. And they said less affluent women can still get free or subsidized contraceptives through Medicaid and other programs. I mean, do you agree with those numbers. Or what’s your estimate for the number of women who might be affected by this?

RICHARDS: Well, David, I mean, it’s incredibly ironic that they would now refer to programs that they’ve been trying to end through Trumpcare for the last, you know, several months – access to, you know, Planned Parenthood, access to Medicaid and access to the Family Planning Program. And the basic fact here is that millions and millions of women – now about 62 million women – have access to birth control and their insurance plan at no cost. And it’s led to amazing successes. Women have saved a lot of money. The estimates are 1.4 billion dollars alone the first year. We’ve reduced unintended pregnancy – the lowest rate of teen pregnancy in the history of the United States. And women are getting better birth control. All of these are good things. They allow women to plan their families and stay in the workforce. And this decision is basically now going to turn the reins over to your boss to decide whether or not women can get birth control. And that’s just not going to be good for women.

GREENE: But do you expect a lot of bosses to actually change that much? I mean, the Trump ministration is saying that this, in terms of numbers, is probably going to have very little impact. I mean, do you accept that?

RICHARDS: Well, one, I don’t think they – they don’t – certainly don’t know. And in fact, I mean, all of the things that they have put out are messages that send – that basically say birth control is dangerous for women, which is really crazy. More than 90 percent of women in this country use birth control for a whole host of reasons. I think the problem is, you know, we fought so hard under Obamacare to get women equal access to health care, including family planning. Because until that bill passed, many, many employers did not provide birth control for women. And again, women are now half the workforce in this country. And a big reason that we’ve been able to participate and work and go to school is because we’ve been able to plan our families. And that’s really what’s at risk here. And frankly, the Trump administration has been on a war against birth control and women’s health from day one.

GREENE: You feel like they’re sending a message that birth control can be dangerous because it seems the message they’re sending to some is that this is a matter of religious liberty and employers not being forced to, you know, sacrifice their religious beliefs.

RICHARDS: Well, I mean, that’s not – this is not what that rule says. The rule basically says if any employee or objects to birth control, they don’t have to provide it. And look. I think the problem is – you look who’s been in charge of Health and Human Services with the Trump administration. It has been filled with key positions, folks who have been against birth control from the very beginning. In fact, ironically, the woman who was appointed to run the National Family Planning Program has said herself she doesn’t believe in birth control. This is just the beginning. And I think many of us expect this will not end here. There are rumors of all kinds of other ways in which they’re going to restrict birth control access. And I just don’t understand it. It’s good for women’s health. It’s good for the economy. And this kind of attack is something that you would have expected in the 1930s, not in 2017.

GREENE: And we just have a few seconds left. But I mean, the Obama administration issued this mandate to cover birth control. Religious organizations filed suit. The Supreme Court ruled that the government can’t force private companies, nonprofits to pay for birth control against their religious beliefs. Are you concerned that the law is on the administration’s side here?

RICHARDS: Well, I mean, obviously we’ll be challenging it along with the ACLU, and that’s really important. But there were all kinds of accommodations made for a religious employer. The danger is you have things now like universities that provide birth control for women that are students. You have all kinds of organizations who may have their own political or religious views. Why should they be able to impose that on American women? It’s simply not right. And we’ll be fighting it every step of the way and ensuring that women continue to get birth control at Planned Parenthood.

GREENE: Cecile Richards is the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. We appreciate your time this morning. Thanks a lot.

RICHARDS: Good to see you, David. Thanks.

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Entertainment October 9, 2017

First Listen: Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition, 'Agrima'

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Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition’s Agrima comes out Oct. 17.

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Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Agrima

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Indo-Pak Coalition, an improvising trio led by the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, finds its purpose in myriad forms of convergence. A decade ago the group released its auspicious debut album, Apti, announcing an inspired accord between Mahanthappa, a second-generation Indian-American; guitarist Rez Abbasi, who was born in Pakistan but raised in Los Angeles; and Dan Weiss, an Anglo-American drummer with a deep interest in Indian percussion.

The name of the trio was an inside joke — a nod to immigrant-owned family businesses with names like Indo-Pak Movers and Indo-Pak Super Market — but it carried a genuine note of solidarity. Britain’s Partition of the Indian subcontinent took place 70 years ago this summer, and along with creating two sovereign nations, Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan, the event left bitter legacies of displacement and bloodshed. That history isn’t the point of the Indo-Pak Coalition, but it can’t help but hover somewhere in the background.

Agrima is the trio’s second album, a step forward in every respect. The clearest update is a broadening of timbre. Where Apti featured a fixed range of instrumental sounds — alto saxophone, tablas, cleanly processed electric guitar — this album gives each musician more of an open canvas. Mahanthappa, whose sound on alto can be mournful or biting, delves into electronics with an expressive subtlety. (Hear what he does on the title track.) Abbasi employs distortion, back-masking and other effects, unfurling his jazz-rock freak flag.

And Weiss can be heard not only on tablas but also behind his drum kit, in a synthesis that few other musicians could credibly manage. He plays an enveloping tabla solo toward the end of “Revati,” and then applies a similar discipline to the rat-a-tat of his snare drum on “Can-Did.” Weiss was born and raised in New Jersey but has apprenticed for years with a percussive guru, Pandit Samir Chatterjee. His adaptive process as a musician isn’t all that different from that of his band mates, who access the music of their heritage by way of a dynamic continuum.

There are echoes of folk wisdom in some of Mahanthappa’s compositions on Agrima: certainly “Showcase,” with its ambulatory cadence, and “Rasikapriya,” with its fluttery melodic incantation. And there is individual virtuosity, at almost every turn. But the larger point of this album is the transformation of materials in a process of real-time exchange — a meeting of minds and methods that takes no possibilities for granted.

Agrima is available digitally for pre-order on Oct. 17, as a $2.50 download, and as a limited-edition double LP at rudreshm.com.

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-Pak Coalition, Agrima

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