Welcome to
Overnight News Digest, where the usual crew, consisting of founder Magnifico, regular editors maggiejean, wader, Man Oh Man, side pocket, rfall, and JML9999, alumni editors palantir, Bentliberal, Oke, Interceptor7, jlms qkw, and ScottyUrb, guest editors annetteboardman and Doctor RJ, and current editor-in-chief Neon Vincent, along with anyone else who reads and comments, informs and entertains you with tonight's news.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00AM Eastern Time.
Please feel free to share your articles and stories in the comments.
From Stars And Stripes: NBC’s Brian Williams Admits to Lying For Years About Being Under Fire in Iraq
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams admitted Wednesday he was not aboard a helicopter hit and forced down by RPG fire during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, a false claim that has been repeated by the network for years.
Williams repeated the claim Friday during NBC’s coverage of a public tribute at a New York Rangers hockey game for a retired soldier that had provided ground security for the grounded helicopters, a game to which Williams accompanied him. In an interview with Stars and Stripes, he said he had misremembered the events and was sorry.
The admission came after crew members on the 159th Aviation Regiment’s Chinook that was hit by two rockets and small arms fire told Stars and Stripes that the NBC anchor was nowhere near that aircraft or two other Chinooks flying in the formation that took fire. Williams arrived in the area about an hour later on another helicopter after the other three had made an emergency landing, the crew members said.
From the
Los Angeles Times:
Bill would abolish vaccination exemption for parents' personal beliefs
A group of state lawmakers announced legislation Wednesday that would abolish an exemption from the mandate that children get vaccinated before they enter school if it conflicts with their parents' personal beliefs.
Surrounded by mothers holding babies, five lawmakers said during a Capitol news conference that the legislation was needed to address a trend among many parents not getting their children immunized against common diseases and the spread of some preventable illnesses including measles and whooping cough.
"There are not enough people being vaccinated to contain these dangerous diseases," said Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), a pediatrician. "We should not wait for more children to sicken or die before we act."
Gov. Jerry Brown signaled that he was open to such a bill. "The governor believes that vaccinations are profoundly important and a major public health benefit and any bill that reaches his desk will be closely considered," said Evan Westrup, a spokesman for Brown.
From the
Washington Post:
Jordan's King Abdullah vows 'severe response' to IS
Jordan’s King Abdullah II vowed Wednesday that his military forces would hit Islamic State militants with “relentless” strikes upon “their own homes,” an escalation that could place Jordan in the middle of the Syrian civil war.
The king huddled with his security cabinet and top generals Wednesday just hours after Jordan hanged two convicted terrorists in retaliation against the Islamic State, which posted a video Tuesday of its fighters burning alive a captured Jordanian pilot in a cage.
The immolation prompted harsh condemnation from leaders across the Middle East and in the United States, with the White House speaking of Jordan’s “strength and commitment” to the international coalition against the Islamic State “in the face of this barbaric act.”
In Jordan, the killing mostly silenced critics of the U.S.-led offensive against the Islamic State, the heavily armed al-Qaeda offshoot also known as ISIS or ISIL. It was used by the government to stoke patriotic sentiment, with billboard-size posters in Amman reading “We Are All Jordan” and a rally of flag-waving supporters greeting the king at the airport as he arrived back in the country.
From
The Hollywood Reporter:
Creationists are upset about Carnival Cruises’ “Come Back To The Sea” ad
The Carnival Corporation released a Super Bowl ad featuring a speech by President John F. Kennedy voicing over images of the sea, igniting an evolution debate when creationists criticized the commercial.
"I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it’s because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change, it’s because we all came from the sea," said Kennedy in the 1962 speech. "And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea — whether it is to sail or to watch it — we are going back from whence we came."
Creationist leader Ken Ham was furious with the ad, expressing his rage on a his Around the World blog. He accused Carnival of "blatantly" using evolution in its advertising and noted how upset he was that our culture is abandoning "the truth of God's word."
"Don’t you just want to go on one of their cruises so you can stand on the deck of a big cruise ship, look at the sea, and contemplate your accidental beginnings — and perhaps worship the sea, because it gave birth to you!" wrote Ham.
He concluded his post by lamenting, "Except for the fact that it’s a spiritual issue because of our sin, it’s mind-boggling to think that intelligent people can actually believe life (and the whole universe) came about by accident! Ludicrous!"
From
NBC New York:
Museum Curator, Jewelry Store Worker, Finance Exec Among 6 Victims in Deadly Metro-North Crash
A Metro-North commuter train slammed into an S.U.V. on the tracks Tuesday evening, killing the driver and several train passengers.
A jewelry store worker, a finance executive, a museum curator and a Connecticut resident were among the six people killed when a Metro-North train crashed into an SUV stuck between crossing gates in Westchester Tuesday, officials and those who knew them tell NBC 4 New York.
Two other men killed on the train have not yet been identified.
Family members identified 53-year-old Eric Vandercar of Bedford Hills as one of the five men who died when their train, on the railroad's Harlem line, crashed into a Mercedes SUV stopped on the tracks in Valhalla Tuesday afternoon.
Walter Liedtke, a curator of European paintings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, was another victim in the train crash, the museum says.
From
The Atlantic:
Is Jeb Bush a Republican Obama?
Margaret Thatcher famously said that her greatest success as a politician was the rise of Tony Blair to lead a party he called New Labour: “We forced our opponents to change their minds.” As yet, Barack Obama can make no similar boast. Just the opposite: He radicalized his Republican opponents, and empowered most those who agreed with him least. With the presidential campaign of Jeb Bush, Obama can finally glimpse Thatcher-style success. Here, at last, is an opponent in his own image.
What can the son and brother of a president, grandson of a senator, and great grandson of the founder of the Walker Cup have in common with the son of a failed Kenyan politician? Look beyond the biography to the psychology.
Unlike his more guarded elder brother, Jeb Bush talks openly and candidly about himself. Of course, there are limits to candor. Jeb Bush has spent almost all of the past 20-plus years either in public office or in pursuit of it. He understands self-presentation and is adept at it: There is artfulness in his artlessness.
From
USA Today:
TransAsia air crash leaves 31 dead, 15 injured, 12 unaccounted for
This image taken from video provided by TVBS shows a commercial airplane clipping an elevated roadway just before it careened into a river in Taipei, Taiwan, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015. The ATR-72 prop-jet aircraft had 58 people aboard.
A pilot of the TransAsia Airways Flight 235 said "mayday, mayday, engine flameout" moments before the propjet banked sharply and crashed into a river, Taiwan aviation officials said Thursday as the death toll grew to 31 with 12 people still missing.
Rescue teams resumed the search for the missing, who include the two pilots.
The twin-engine propjet had 58 people aboard, many of them travelers from China, when it banked sharply on its side Wednesday, clipped a highway bridge and careened into the Keelung River. Rescuers in rubber rafts pulled 15 people alive from the wreckage during daylight.
Video images of the plane's final moments in the air captured on car dashboard cameras do not appear to show flames as it turned sharply, with its wings going vertical and clipping a highway bridge before plunging into the Keelung River Wednesday.
From
TIME:
911 Operator Tells Teen Whose Dad Is Fatally Hit to ‘Stop Whining’
"Ma'am, stop yelling" said a 911 operator to a distressed teen
A Maryland operator on a 911 call told a teenage girl to “stop whining” while her father lay dying on the Baltimore Washington Parkway.
Rick Warrick, 38, was struck by a car in a hit and run when he leaned down to change a flat tire along the parkway in Anne Arundel County, NBC reports. He and his fiancee and two teenage children were on their way to Dave & Buster’s when their tire went flat.
Warrick’s teenage daughter called 911 when her father and fiancee were struck. When the teen asks, “Can y’all please hurry up!” the operator says, “Ma’am, stop yelling, I need a location.” When the operator asks if two people were struck, the girl responds, “Yes they both…” Then the operator says “Ok, let’s stop whining. Ok, let’s stop whining it’s hard to understand you.”
From
Al Jazeera:
FCC proposal on net neutrality is a big win for open Internet advocates
Not long ago, net neutrality was little more than a buzzword to most Americans, an arcane concept within an equally arcane sector of telecommunications law. But fierce resistance to a plan proposed last spring by Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler that Internet advocates said would have undermined net neutrality — the principle that all data traversing the Net should be treated equally by Internet service providers (ISPs) — has pushed the once obscure concept into the spotlight in Washington.
And today, as Wheeler prepares to deliver his latest proposal on net neutrality, advocates for an open Internet seem to have won.
The plan Wheeler announced last May would have permitted ISPs such as Verizon, Comcast and Time Warner to give faster, priority access to sites and services able to pay for it as long as those deals were deemed commercially reasonable. But in a surprising about-face, he is now proposing rules that ban that practice by treating wired and wireless broadband Internet as a public utility under Title II of the Telecommunications Act — much like the telephone system.
“The Internet must be fast, fair and open. That is the message I’ve heard from consumers and innovators across this nation,” Wheeler wrote today in an article for Wired. “That is the principle that has enabled the Internet to become an unprecedented platform for innovation and human expression ... The proposal I present to the commission will ensure the Internet remains open, now and in the future, for all Americans.”
From the
Associated Press:
China tightens rules on Internet use, online comments
China announced Wednesday that users of blogs and chat rooms will be required to register their names with operators and promise in writing to avoid challenging the Communist political system, further tightening control over Internet use.
The announcement follows what technology companies say are official efforts in recent weeks to block virtual private networks that are used to circumvent China's extensive Internet filters. China has the world's biggest population of Internet users with 649 million people online but increasing censorship has chilled the popularity of social media.
Beijing has required Internet companies since 2012 to obtain real names of some users. But compliance was uneven and the rules failed to specify what services were covered.
The latest announcement extends that "real name" registration requirement to blogs, microblog services such as the popular Sina Weibo and website comment sections. Such settings offer many Chinese their only opportunity to express themselves in public in a society in which all media are controlled by the ruling Communist Party.
From the
New York Times:
Picasso’s Granddaughter Plans to Sell Art, Worrying the Market
A painting by Pablo Picasso hangs in the living room of his granddaughter Marina Picasso.
Since Marina Picasso was a child, living on the edge of poverty and lingering at the gates of a French villa with her father to plead for an allowance from her grandfather, Pablo Picasso, she has struggled with the burden of that artist’s towering legacy.
When she was in her 20s and inherited the 19th-century villa, La Californie, as well as a vast trove of Picasso’s art treasures, she turned the paintings to face the walls in resentment. Through 15 years of therapy, she dissected bitter family memories of her grandfather’s perceived indifference and her brother’s suicide. In her 2001 memoir, “Picasso: My Grandfather,” she bared her pain and anger at the Picasso clan.
Now 64, Ms. Picasso acknowledges that she is expanding her rebellion by preparing to sell off many of his artworks to finance and broaden her philanthropy — aid for a pediatric hospital in Vietnam and projects in France and Switzerland benefiting the elderly and troubled teenagers.
And her unconventional sales approach is reverberating through international art markets, worried dealers and auctioneers accustomed to playing key — and lucrative — roles in the sale of renowned art. In an interview, Ms. Picasso said she would sell works privately and would judge “one by one, based on need,” how many, and which, of the remaining Picasso works, of about 10,000 that she inherited, she would put up for sale.
From
BBC News:
Android adware 'infects millions' of phones and tablets
Android users are being warned that several popular apps that were on the official Google Play store appear to have contained hidden code that made malicious ads pop up. Security firm Avast said that one of the apps involved - a free version of the card game Durak - had been downloaded up to 10 million times, according to Google Play's own counter.
Google has now blocked access.
But one expert noted that the problem might be less widespread than feared. Avast said that it first became aware of the issue after a member of the public contacted it after carrying out his own investigation into how his Nexus 5 smartphone had come to be infected with malicious code.
The "adware" was causing spurious pop-up messages to appear that had been made to look like system notifications. These told him his phone was running "slow" and that he needed to install new software to fix the problem. If he followed the on-screen prompts he was then directed to download other apps, only some of which were legitimate. "You get re-directed to harmful threats on fake pages, like dubious app stores and apps that attempt to send premium SMS behind your back or to apps that simply collect too much of your data for comfort while offering you no additional value," wrote Avast's malware analyst Filip Chytry.
From
Ars Technica:
As Flash 0day exploits reach new level of meanness, what are users to do?
Less than five weeks into the new year, 2015 is already shaping up as one of the most perilous years for users of Adobe Flash, with active exploits against three separate zero-day vulnerabilities, one of which still wasn't fully patched as this post went live.
The latest attacks are hitting unsuspecting targets through drive-by downloads served through ads on dailymotion.com, theblaze.com, nydailynews.com, tagged.com, webmail.earthlink.net, and other sites, according to research from Malwarebytes. And while the vulnerability wasn't disclosed until this week, the exploits have been active and in the wild since December 3, Malwarebytes found.
While the attacks target Windows users running Flash in a Firefox or Internet Explorer browser, the underlying CVE-2015-0313 security bug is present in Flash for Macs and Linux machines as well. On late Wednesday, Adobe began distributing a fix to users who have opted to receive automatic updates. In the meantime, readers should consider disabling Flash altogether, or at the very least, using Flash inside Google Chrome, the browser many security experts say provides the most comprehensive anti-exploit protections. Attacks exploiting CVE-2015-0313 are unable to escape the Chrome security sandbox, research from Trend Micro found ... Anyone who uses Flash—whether on machines running Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux—should ensure they are running the latest version by checking this link. Unfortunately, many Windows users must run the check twice—once using IE and again with Firefox or other non-Chrome browsers. At the time this post was being prepared, the latest version, 16.0.0.305, is available only to people who have enabled automatic updates. Adobe doesn't expect to have manual updates available until Thursday.
From the
Chicago Tribune:
Amid 'Mockingbird' sequel buzz, worries about Lee's wishes
Pulitzer Prize winner and "To Kill A Mockingbird" author Harper Lee smiles receiving the 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Hometown friends and fans of "To Kill A Mockingbird" author Harper Lee are struggling to reconcile a publisher's sensational announcement — that her decades-old manuscript for a sequel had been rediscovered and will be released — with the image of the reclusive writer at her sister's recent funeral.
Grieving, ill and seated in a wheelchair, Lee talked loudly to herself at awkward times during the service for her beloved older sister and attorney, Alice, according to two family friends who attended the November service. Lee mumbled in a manner that shocked some in attendance, said one of the friends.
Both spoke on condition that they not be identified — one for fear of upsetting those handling the author's affairs, the other not wanting to upset the family.
That scene seemed at odds with Tuesday's announcement by an arm of HarperCollins Publishers that included an eloquent statement attributed to Lee, 88, who spends her days in an assisted living center not far from where she grew up in this south Alabama town, the inspiration for "Mockingbird." The publisher said Tonja Carter, an attorney who practiced with Alice Lee, found an unpublished manuscript titled "Go Set a Watchman," and that it will be released in July as a sequel to the beloved novel.
"I am humbled and amazed that this will now be published after all these years," Lee was quoted as saying.
Townspeople say it is common knowledge that Lee is deaf, blind and in poor health — she had a stroke some years ago.
But publisher Jonathan Burnham said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he was "completely confident" she was fully involved in the decision to release the book.
From
The Atlantic:
The Radical Efficiency of the Pot Vending Machine
Seattle just got a new kind of marijuana dispensary—the result not just of changing laws, but of technological progress.
There should probably be a law—of marketing, of psychology, of thermodynamics—holding that every commercial product, given a long enough tenure on the planet, will eventually end up being sold in a vending machine. Cupcakes. Kale. Crabs. Caviar. Lobster. Beer. Pizza. French fries. Smartphones. Underwear.
And now… pot.
After medicinal marijuana was legalized in Washington state in 2012, dispensaries sprang, almost fully formed, from a previously underground market. In short order—the second law of vendodynamics being what it is—something else sprang up to sell edibles while avoiding the awkward middleman of a human: the vending machine, gone to pot.
This week brings yet more disruption, in the form of a machine in Seattle that cuts even more to the chase: It sells only buds. (Well, buds plus some strategic accessories: vaporizer pens, hemp-oil energy drinks, and the like.) The machine, situated against a wall of the Seattle Caregivers medical marijuana dispensary, was manufactured by the craftily named tech firm American Green, Inc. It is called ZaZZZ. It features, user interface-wise, a touchscreen and little else. It is, obviously, painted green.
From
Reuters:
U.S. private sector adds 213,000 workers in January
U.S. private employers added 213,000 jobs in January, falling short of the median forecasts of analysts, a payrolls processor report showed on Wednesday.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast the ADP National Employment Report would show a gain of 225,000 jobs.
December's private payrolls were revised up to 253,000 from the previously reported 241,000.
The report is jointly developed with Moody's Analytics.
From
CNBC:
Investors eye oil swings, reaction on Greece
The relative resilience in the stock market on Wednesday despite negativity in oil and the euro zone encouraged analysts to expect more of an upside from any positive news on Thursday.
Stock market vacillation held to a tighter range than in previous days, save for the Dow's short-lived 100-point spike near the end of the session. It ended the day up just six points.
"I don't think in this entire cycle (we've had a day) where oil's been off and markets stayed (mostly) up," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "I think it's a testament to better economic data, ISM figures and auto sales."
From
Autoblog:
GM reports $1.1 billion net income in Q4 2014 while full-year earnings fall
General Motors, the world's third-largest automaker in 2014, posted strong results in the fourth quarter, but the good numbers weren't enough to offset some falling numbers for the full year.
Based only on the fourth quarter, GM appears to be doing quite well financially. The automaker's adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) jumped to $2.4 billion, compared to $1.9 billion in Q4 2013. In addition, net income grew to $1.1 billion, versus $900 million in the same period last year. "A strong fourth quarter helped us deliver very good core operating results in 2014 despite significant challenges we and the industry faced," said company CEO Mary Barra in the company's results.
Things weren't quite so rosy for the full year of 2014, and the costs of the company's many safety campaigns took a toll. Adjusted EBIT fell to $6.5 billion, compared to $8.6 billion in 2013. GM admitted it paid out $2.8 billion in recall-related costs, plus another $1.0 billion to pay for restructuring. Also, net income dropped to $2.8 billion, less than the $3.8 billion from a year ago. Revenue did tick up slightly to $155.9 billion, versus $155.4 billion in 2013.
From
Salon:
Massive herbal-supplement scam uncovered: Walmart, Target, GNC accused of selling bogus products
On Monday, New York State’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman instructed Target, GNC, Walgreens and Walmart to immediately cease selling a number of scam herbal supplements. An investigation revealed that best-selling supplements not only didn’t work, but were potentially dangerous, with four out of five of the products not even listing any herbs in their ingredients–instead, the supplements contained fillers including powdered rice, houseplants and asparagus. Fraudulent products include echinacea, ginseng, St. John’s wort, garlic, ginkgo biloba and saw palmetto.
In total, only 21 percent of store brand herbal supplements contained plants listed on the labels.
“Mislabeling, contamination and false advertising are illegal,” said Schneiderman. “They also pose unacceptable risks to New York families — especially those with allergies to hidden ingredients.”
These drugs are not subject to the F.D.A.’s approval because of a loophole in a 1994 federal law (spearheaded by Utah Sen. Orrin G. Hatch who received funding from supplement makers), fraudulent products can easily reach consumers without accountability or oversight.
From
CNN:
Aircraft carrier steams through a rainbow
Navy photographer Ignacio Perez captured a shot of the USS John C. Stennis 1,100-foot-long warship as it was cruising in the Pacific Ocean steaming through a rainbow on Feb. 3, 2015.
Navy photographer Ignacio Perez likes to shoot landscapes but never dreamed he'd shoot an amazing one on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
But on Tuesday around 10:30 a.m., as the USS John C. Stennis cruised in the Pacific Ocean, he got the shot of a lifetime: the 115,000-ton, 1,100-foot-long warship steaming through a rainbow.
"As a photographer I am used to documenting operational events like aircraft launches and recoveries," Perez, a 21-year-old mass communications specialist third class, said in an email. "But when I saw the rainbow I was excited because it was different. I knew the odds of the ship passing near another rainbow were pretty slim."
Perez was fortunate he was on the ship's flight deck on another assignment when things began to fall into place.
"I was actually covering the end of a 5K run on the flight deck at the time, but I noticed the rainbow as a fog cloud was breaking and quickly changed my location to ensure I had a better view of the ship passing underneath it," Perez said.
From the
New York Times:
The Bruce Jenner Story Goes From Gossip to News
Covers of several magazines, including In Touch, bottom left, which took liberties with its image.
For the last few years, there have been rumors and anonymously sourced tabloid items suggesting that Bruce Jenner, the former Olympic champion and somewhat comically befuddled patriarchal figure on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” was transitioning from male to female.
The various clues — the growing of his hair into ponytail length, the apparent shaving down of his Adam’s apple, the brightly colored polish on his fingernails — were gleefully reported by gossip websites and some of the more fact-challenged tabloid magazines. One of them, In Touch, even went so far as to superimpose a picture of Mr. Jenner’s head onto the body of the actress Stephanie Beacham, adding red lipstick to his mouth in an attempt to feminize his appearance and better reflect the headline, “Bruce’s Story: My Life as a Woman.”
But, for the most part, the so-called mainstream press has steered clear of this story.
Until now.
From
E! Online:
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard Are Married!
Sounds like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard couldn't wait another minute before saying "I do"!
The 51-year-old actor and the 28-year-old actress are married, E! News confirms; the happy news comes just a few days before they were expected to wed this weekend.
The picture-perfect lovebirds tied the knot at the actor's home ahead of the planned celebration on the actor's private island in the Bahamas, a 45-acre tropical paradise which he purchased in 2004.
From
ESPN:
Cleveland Browns Facing Sanctions For Texting During Games
A suspension for general manager Ray Farmer, a loss of a draft pick and a fine for the team are among the possible sanctions the Cleveland Browns are facing in the NFL's investigation into allegations that texts were being sent to the sidelines during games, league sources told ESPN, confirming a report by Cleveland.com. The NFL's findings in the investigation are expected by the end of this month and Farmer faces a multigame suspension, according to sources.
Texting is a violation of the NFL's rules prohibiting electronic communication during games.
Cleveland.com originally reported last month that the text messages from a high-level front office member were sent and said it was one issue in former offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan leaving the team. He perceived it as interference from the front office regarding coaching decisions. The website, citing multiple sources, reported that it was Famer that sent the texts. A league source confirmed that Farmer was doing the texting, with most going to quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains, who sat in the press box.
The texts did not necessarily deal with strategy, but with issues related to quarterback play, use of personnel and the second-guessing of play calls. The source had not seen the exact texts, but learned of them through people with the Browns.
From
Slate:
Netflix’s Daredevil Trailer Promises an Original Take on a Peculiar Superhero
Comic readers aside, it’s fair to say most peoples’ knowledge of Marvel’s Daredevil franchise starts and ends with the critically-panned 2003 film adaptation starring Ben Affleck. That movie didn’t entirely deserve the smackdown it got, but it certainly wasn’t the ideal portrayal of Matt Murdock, the New Yorker whose chance encounter with radioactive substance robs his sight but massively heightens his other senses.
Now we have the trailer for Netflix’s take on the character. The tone, like most Marvel adaptations of late, is dark. But that’s appropriate: Daredevil is a curiously gritty character, a superhero who isn’t quite superhuman. Despite his sensory abilities and martial arts know-how, he never exudes the invincibility that defines Marvel’s other caped crusaders. Murdock is mortal, flawed, and fragile, and this trailer—with its emphasis on redemption and “questions of morality”—suggests a show with a strong, stripped-down, and clear-eyed grasp on the character. Daredevil will premiere on April 10.
From the
A.V. Club:
American Sniper, movie politics, and the snipe hunt for accuracy
One of the easiest ways to tell a reader that something is bad, not good, or maybe just not worth seeing is to say that it’s inauthentic, dishonest, or misleading, or that it otherwise mangles reality—better yet, the historical record. This is something critics do all the time, because it’s simple and effective and unchallenging, and like a lot of seemingly simple things, it represents a really complex maneuvering of values. Crying fraud (or some variation thereof) means drawing a line between the type of bogusness you’re willing to tolerate—such as the innate bogusness of movies and narratives—and the type of bogusness you won’t. This kind of line can’t be defended for very long without falling into essentialism, and it therefore tends to be drawn on a case-by-case, movie-by-movie basis; more often than not, it’s a way to express a gut-level dislike for something in terms most everyone can relate to, because no one likes being lied to, except when they do.
Confused yet? The problem with using history as a metric—besides the fact that it requires cherry-picking which falsehoods you’re cool with—is that it involves approaching movies based on how well they stick to a set of rules, rather than what they’re doing. All of this is complicated by the fact that taking apart how movies do or don’t follow rules—formal, realistic, etc.—is one of the best ways to figure out just exactly what it is that they are doing. Which is a long way of saying that while these kinds of historical-biographical-realistic metrics can be genuinely useful critical tools, they aren’t the same thing as criticism.
This gets exponentially more complicated when you start talking about movies—especially American movies—in terms of politics, because relationships to and interpretations of history are important identifying marks in American political life. Maybe it’s because America had a government before it had much of a history or culture it could credibly claim as its own. There is nothing unique about using history to comment on the politics of the present, but there is something special about the relationship between American partisan politics and the practice of writing and re-writing history. Having a personal politics in America means having a personal history of the United States. Accusations of historical bogusness are more often than not a way to frame accusations of political or ideological bogusness.
From
NPR:
'Better Call Saul,' The Prequel To 'Breaking Bad,' Is As Good As The First
On Better Call Saul, Bob Odenkirk plays Jimmy McGill, a fast-talking, struggling public defender who decides to remake himself as Saul Goodman, a lawyer specializing in representing unabashed criminals.
I'm guessing that the first thing fans of Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad want to know is whether its AMC prequel series, Better Call Saul, premiering Sunday and Monday, is anywhere near as good as the original — which was TV at its very best. And I'm also guessing that people who haven't yet worked their way through Breaking Bad — and, really, by now, why haven't you? — are wondering whether they can enjoy this new series without having absorbed the old one.
So let me announce with enthusiasm at the outset: yes and yes. Better Call Saul not only stands right alongside Breaking Bad as a stunningly entertaining TV series, it stands on its own. Oh, if you know Breaking Bad well, you'll love some of the surprise treats and appearances heading your way — but even if you're a complete stranger to the character played by Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul, you're in for a great ride. Better Call Saul has the same tight plots, rich characters and delicious twists as its parent series. Yet Better Call Saul isn't a reboot; it's a preboot.
The central story of this new AMC series tells how Jimmy McGill, a scrappy, low-rent public defender in Albuquerque, N.M., came to adopt a sleazy new persona as Saul Goodman, a criminal lawyer specializing in representing unabashed criminals. If Saul were a superhero, this would be his origin story — and that's really what this show is about, because McGill, from the start, does have a superpower. It's his quick wit — and his fast mouth.
From
Vulture:
E.L. James Screamed At Fifty Shades Of Grey's Director About The Sex Scenes
It's becoming increasingly clear that the Fifty Shades of Grey movie will not come close to the raw ridiculousness of its source material. One person who's not very happy about that? Author E.L. James, who apparently got into multiple screaming matches with director Sam Taylor-Johnson, presumedly over the lack of male full-frontal nudity and erotic tampon scenes in Taylor-Johnson's vision for the film. "It was difficult, I'm not going to lie," the filmmaker told Porter. "We definitely fought, but they were creative fights, and we would resolve them." And then, because every Fifty Shades interview needs to include at least one instance of unsexy British slang, she added: "We would have proper on-set barneys ... it was about finding a way between the two of us, satisfying her vision of what she'd written as well as my need to visualize this person on screen."
From
Cinema Blend:
Watch Ian McKellen As An Older, Loveable Version Of Sherlock Holmes
Sir Ian McKellen is regarded as one of the finest British actors of all time, and Sherlock Holmes is seen as arguably the most beloved fictional British character ever created. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that molding the two together would make for cinematic gold. This teaser clip for Mr. Holmes suggests that’s exactly the case.
This is our first footage of Sir Ian McKellen playing the 93-year-old incarnation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s adored literary creation, and it seems like, even though portraying such a besotted character usually comes with a heavy burden, The Lord Of The Rings and X-Men actor has taken to the role with ease ... As you may have noticed, Ian McKellen is playing an aged version of Sherlock Holmes in Bill Condon’s Mr. Holmes, which is based on the 2005 novel A Slight Trick Of The Mind. The film is set in 1947 and it revolves around a long-retired Sherlock Holmes, who is living with his housekeeper, Mrs. Munro, and her young son, Roger. Now over 90 years old, Holmes is trying to write journals about his life while also looking after his collection of bees and dealing with his ailing mind. However, the film won’t just follow the pensioner Sherlock around. It will also delve back into his past and we will see him aged 49, when he was at the height of his success and at the peak of his powers living on Baker Street.
From
Billboard:
Taylor Swift's '1989' Scores Milestone 10th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
Taylor Swift's 1989 album returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a milestone 10th nonconsecutive week, making Swift just the second woman in history to earn two albums with at least 10 weeks atop the list.
Swift previously logged 11 weeks at No. 1 with her second album, Fearless, in 2008 and 2009. (She has two further No. 1s: Speak Now, with six weeks at No. 1, and Red, with seven weeks in the penthouse.)
1989 steps back to No. 1 (rising 2-1) with 101,000 equivalent album units earned (down 15 percent) in the week ending Feb. 1, according to Nielsen Music. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
Swift follows Whitney Houston as the only woman with multiple albums with 10 weeks at No. 1. Houston managed the feat three times: with her self-titled debut (14 weeks in 1986), her second album, Whitney (11 weeks in 1987) and The Bodyguard soundtrack (20 weeks in 1992 and 1993).
From
Rolling Stone:
Jimmy Page Promises 'Quite Different' Direction With New Music
Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page says that he is taking his music in a 'quite different' direction and discussed the 40th anniversary of 'Physical Graffiti' in a public Q&A.
Jimmy Page says he's "warming up on the touchlines" for a live comeback.
Speaking at the West London launch of the 40th anniversary deluxe reissue for Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, the guitarist said he was making steady progress on a return to the stage. With any thoughts of a Zeppelin reunion on hold, he had previously announced plans to put a new band together.
"How it starts off is, you have to play guitar and get match-fit first," Page tells Rolling Stone during a public Q&A. "So currently I'm in the process of doing that – but I'm also in the process of doing this [reissue series] too. It'll be closer to the end of the year rather than next month. I'm definitely warming up on the touchlines!
"What I'm doing is something that's going to be quite different," he added. "It wouldn't be anything that hopefully you'd imagine I would do."
From
Collider:
STEVE JOBS Images Reveal Michael Fassbender and Seth Rogen In Character
I’m intrigued by the idea of director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Sunshine) taking on this Steve Jobs movie for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Aaron Sorkin‘s script bucks conventional bio-pic formula by focussing on three key moments from Jobs’ life. The birth-to-death route for these films had been done to death by the time Walk Hard hit in 2007 but still shows no signs of slowing down, so kudos to this film for taking a “less is more” approach.
Filming has just recently gotten underway, and a few images from the set have been popping up. I like how they aren’t going out of their way to make Fassbender look like Steve Jobs with hair and prosthetics, instead relying on his tools as an actor to get the job done. You can see one of the new Steve Jobs images below and, if you aren’t sated, there are a few more at The Daily Mail. Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels, and Katherine Waterston also star in the film.
From
USA Today:
Sneak peek: 'Poltergeist' reboots for 2015 terror
"They're here."
In 1982's Poltergeist, young Carol Anne Freeling carved out a place for herself in horror history when she eerily announced the arrival of malevolent spirits, saying, "They're here."
Well, they are back.
Poltergeist has been rebooted with a new cast and a contemporary setting more than 30 years after the original made the suburbs feel unsafe. Director Gil Kenan (Monster House) was rocked by the original film and vows to get the contemporary version right when it hits theaters in 3-D on July 24, with a first trailer appearing Thursday.
"Whenever someone approaches material that's so beloved, there's a reflexive reaction to be worried," says Kenan. "It's a responsibility we take very seriously. We're working to make a Poltergeist film that lives up to the original's legacy."
From
/Film:
‘Magic Mike XXL’ Trailer: Channing Tatum Gets Back to the Grind
Keep your dollar bills handy, because the Cock-Rocking Kings of Tampa are officially back in action. The very first Magic Mike XXL trailer has hit the web, and it’s exactly what you’d expect. In a great way.
As promised by star Channing Tatum, the Magic Mike XXL trailer debuted on Ellen ... Full stop, this is a fantastic trailer. It’s everything you’d want out of a Magic Mike XXL promo. It starts with Mike hearing the call of his people (Ginuwine’s “Pony,” obvs) and leads into him wielding a not-remotely-subtle phallic symbol that gives off sparks. There are shirtless men and groan-worthy puns a-plenty, and it all looks like a gloriously good time.
While first Magic Mike turned out to be somewhat more somber and contemplative than the dance-heavy promos suggested, Tatum has promised that the sequel will be broader and more comedic. The new film sees Mike and his boys (including Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash, Adam Rodriguez, and Gabriel Iglesias, but not Matthew McConaughey) hitting the road for one last big show.