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 NPR: The Next Air Force One Will Be A Boeing 747-8
The Air Force has picked a new Air Force One, the Boeing 747-8, and it wasn't even a close race. In a statement announcing the pick, the Air Force said the decision was made "through a Determinations and Findings document, which "authorizes the commercial aircraft purchase by other than full and open competition."
Even though there wasn't a bidding war for the choice of plane, the Air Force did say that the decision came down to the Boeing 747-8, which is made in Washington state, and the Airbus A380, which is made in Toulouse, France. The Air Force said those two planes were the only four-engine, wide-body aircraft that could meet the needs of the Air Force One mission.
Reuters reports the decision may have been rushed by Boeing's recent announcement that it "would slow production of the four-engine 747-8 aircraft to 1.3 a month from 1.5 a month because of declining orders."
The White House Air Force One website has more details on just what Air Force One planes can do:
"Capable of refueling midair, Air Force One has unlimited range and can carry the President wherever he needs to travel. The onboard electronics are hardened to protect against an electromagnetic pulse, and Air Force One is equipped with advanced secure communications equipment, allowing the aircraft to function as a mobile command center in the event of an attack on the United States."
From
CNN:
Drone company looks to restrict flight areas in D.C.
The quadcopter drone that crashed on the grounds of the White House.
It's a tale almost too "this town" even for Washington.
A man -- a government intelligence agency employee, no less -- took to the top of his G Street building late at night to show off his drone to a female companion. He had been drinking. It crashed. On the White House grounds.
At least that's the story that's emerged from the latest details revealed by law enforcement regarding the incident that occurred on Monday.
According to the Secret Service, in the early hours of Monday morning a two-foot wide recreational quadcopter took off from a neighborhood about 10 blocks east of the White House and flew over the President's residence before crashing on the southeast side of the complex. The Secret Service locked down the White House shortly after 3 a.m. after an officer on the south grounds spotted the drone flying at a very low altitude.
From The New Yorker: Michelle Obama Doesn’t Owe Anyone A Head Scarf
Michelle Obama went to the funeral of King Abdullah—it involved, as funerals often do, an unplanned trip, with a detour from India, but the First Lady came up with an appropriate outfit. She wore loose black pants, a loose, high-cut blue shirt, and a loose printed manteau. Below her neck, only her hands were uncovered, and she was game about not offering them when the Saudi men on the reception line ignored her, or nodded vaguely. She didn’t wear a head scarf; she probably could have picked one up in India, but, really, why should she have? Saudi women must cover their heads, and often cover their faces, too; foreign women in Saudi Arabia, though, aren’t required to do so, and when Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton visited their heads were bare. In 2010, Michelle was photographed wearing a head scarf in Indonesia—those pictures were widely recirculated after King Abdullah’s funeral—but that was for a visit to a mosque. At other events in Indonesia, she didn’t bother.
Michelle Obama is an American woman, and can choose to forgo a head scarf (or to wear one). The Saudis know that; the First Lady was not a member of a landing party greeting an uncontacted culture. King Abdullah’s family includes polygamists and partiers who travel extensively, and are unlikely to have been abashed even if Michelle Obama wore a knee-length dress. One almost wishes that the First Lady’s clothing was quite the groundbreaking, grand gesture that some commentaries portrayed it as being—an “uproar,” causing “outrage,” or a “bold political statement”—but, the BBC noted, it does not seem to have made much of a stir in the kingdom, after all. (Some people tweeted about immodesty; some people always do.) Instead, the “offense” they generally seem to worry about is women in their country claiming their rights, or even insisting on power. Women in Saudi Arabia likely know too well that their rulers’ interests lie not in controlling Michelle Obama’s hair but in controlling them.
From
USA Today:
Israel, Hezbollah exchange attacks; 2 soldiers dead
Israel fired a counterattack into Lebanon on Wednesday and promised more after a Hezbollah rocket strike killed two Israeli soldiers in the sharpest escalation between the two foes since their war in 2006.
"Those behind the attack today will pay the full price," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said as he met with security chiefs about any further response, according to the Israeli news site Ynetnews.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, said the attack was carried out by the "heroic martyrs of Quneitra" in apparent retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on the Golan Heights that killed six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general Jan. 18. Israel said that strike targeted combatants plotting an attack on Israel.
From the
Los Angeles Times:
'Friendship Nine's' convictions for lunch counter civil rights sit-in vacated
The old men walked into the courtroom with halting steps, grayer and a bit slower than when they were young.
They had been hauled into a nearby courtroom here 54 years ago this week. That time, a white judge, B. Drennan Hayes, convicted them of trespassing for staging a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter in this Southern textile town.
He gave the nine men a choice: a $100 fine or 30 days on the York County chain gang.
They chose the chain gang. So began the civil rights “jail, no bail” movement, which helped galvanize opposition to public segregation in the Jim Crow South.
On Wednesday morning, seven of those men faced the judge's nephew, Judge John C. Hayes III. This time, Judge Hayes threw out their 1961 convictions as an overflow courtroom of blacks and whites erupted in a standing ovation.
From
The Atlantic:
Rethinking One of Psychology's Most Infamous Experiments
In 1961, Yale University psychology professor Stanley Milgram placed an advertisement in the New Haven Register. “We will pay you $4 for one hour of your time,” it read, asking for “500 New Haven men to help us complete a scientific study of memory and learning.” ... More than five decades after it was first published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology in 1963, it’s earned a place as one of the most famous experiments of the 20th century. Milgram’s research has spawned countless spinoff studies among psychologists, sociologists, and historians, even as it’s leapt from academia into the realm of pop culture. It’s inspired songs by Peter Gabriel (lyrics: “We do what we’re told/We do what we’re told/Told to do”) and Dar Williams (“When I knew it was wrong, I played it just like a game/I pressed the buzzer”); a number of books whose titles make puns out of the word “shocking”; a controversial French documentary disguised as a game show; episodes of Law and Order and Bones; a made-for-TV movie with William Shatner; a jewelry collection (bizarrely) from the company Enfants Perdus; and most recently, the biopic The Experimenter, starring Peter Sarsgaard as the title character—and this list is by no means exhaustive.
But as with human memory, the study—even published, archived, enshrined in psychology textbooks—is malleable. And in the past few years, a new wave of researchers have dedicated themselves to reshaping it, arguing that Milgram’s lessons on human obedience are, in fact, misremembered—that his work doesn’t prove what he claimed it does.
The problem is, no one can really agree on what it proves instead.
From
NBC News:
California Declares Vaping a Public Health Risk
E-cigarettes represent a rising public-health risk that threaten to unravel progress made on tobacco by "re-normalizing smoking behavior" and luring a new generation into nicotine addiction, California health officials said Wednesday.
Based on the "toxic" chemicals inhaled — and exhaled — by e-cig users as well as recent spikes in teen vaping rates and the numbers of kids poisoned by e-liquids, California health officials issued a public health advisory, urging the state's residents to avoid or stop using e-cigs.
"As we have done with other important outbreaks or epidemics, we are taking this formal step of warning Californians about the health risks of e-cigarettes," said Dr. Ron Chapman, State Health Officer and director of the California Department of Public Health.
E-cigs, also called "vape pens" and "e-hookahs," contain a liquid solution, commonly called "e-juice," which when heated emits "a toxic aerosol, not a harmless water vapor," Chapman said.
From
CBS News:
New ISIS message features voice claiming to be Japanese hostage
A new message surfaced Wednesday night purporting to feature the voice of Kenji Goto, the Japanese journalist being held by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), extending the deadline for Jordan's release of an Iraqi woman convicted for an attempted suicide bombing.
The audio was released after Jordan offered a precedent-setting prisoner swap to ISIS in a desperate attempt to save a Jordanian air force pilot the militants purportedly threatened to kill, along with Goto.
The audio recording, in English, was distributed on Twitter by ISIS-affiliated accounts. CBS News and The Associated Press could not independently verify the contents of the recording. "I'm Kenji Goto Joto. This is a voice message I've been told to send to you," the recording said. " If Sajida al-Rishawi is not ready for exchange for my life at the Turkish border by Thursday, sunset, 29th of January Mosul time, the Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kaseasbeh will be killed immediately."
From
Agence France-Presse:
Kobane in ruins after Kurds drive out ISIS
View of the centre of Kobane as Kurdish forces recaptured the strategic Syrian town in a symbolic blow for the Islamic State jihadist group.
Pulverised buildings, heavily armed fighters roaming otherwise deserted rubble-strewn streets: the ferocious battle for Kobane has left the Syrian border town in ruins, according to a team of AFP journalists who arrived there Wednesday.
Kurdish forces recaptured the town on the Turkish frontier from the Islamic State group on Monday in a symbolic blow to the jihadists who have seized swathes of territory in their brutal onslaught across Syria and Iraq.
After more than four months of fighting, the streets of Kobane -- now patrolled by Kurdish militiamen with barely a civilian in sight -- were a mass of debris and buildings that had in some case been turned to dust.
Kurdish fighters armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles greeted the journalists with a hail of celebratory gunshots into the air and made the "V" for victory sign.
From the
Washington Post:
Sarah Palin and her onetime fans on the right: It’s so over
They’re over her.
Sarah Palin’s odd, rambling speech last weekend before an audience of committed conservative activists in Des Moines has many influential voices on the right saying that the time has come to acknowledge that the romance has gone cold and the marriage is dead.
This is despite the fact that the 2008 GOP vice-presidential nominee told reporters upon her arrival at the event that she is “seriously interested” in running for president in 2016.
Her address was a 34 1/2 -minute roller coaster ride of cliches, non sequiturs and warmed-over grievances. One line that stood out: “GOP leaders, by the way, you know, ‘The Man,’ can only ride ya when your back is bent. So strengthen it. Then The Man can’t ride ya.”
The critiques have been devastating — and those are the ones from her friends.
From
Slate:
Census Finds One in Five American Children Depends on Food Stamps to Eat
A girl pays for her mother's groceries using Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) tokens, more commonly known as Food Stamps.
There was a sobering finding amidst the data released by the Census Bureau Wednesday showing a staggering 16 million children in the U.S.—or one in five kids under the age of 18—received food stamp assistance in 2014. Overall, more than 46.5 million Americans were on food stamps last year, according to the Department of Agriculture.
The census numbers show despite the gradual momentum of economic recovery, resulting in record highs in American wealth overall, large swaths of the country still have not recovered from the Great Recession. In 2014 more American kids relied on food stamps than at any time since the 2008 economic decline. Nine million children received food stamps in 2007 and 26 million Americans of all ages received assistance.
From
The Guardian:
Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch opposes marijuana legalisation
Barack Obama’s nominee for attorney general, Loretta Lynch, told senators during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday that she, like her predecessor Eric Holder, would not support marijuana legalization.
Asked by Republican senator Jeff Sessions whether she would support legalization, Lynch replied: “Senator – I do not.”
“I do not support legalization of marijuana; it’s not the position of the Department of Justice currently to support the legalization, nor would it be the position should I become confirmed as attorney general,” Lynch said.
Lynch’s testimony did not stray far from the Justice Department’s current stance.
While Holder refused to challenge legalization in Colorado and Washington, he also did not change thefederal government’s stance on what is currently a Schedule I controlled substance, in common with heroin.
From
Al Jazeera:
Supreme Court orders Oklahoma to halt executions using controversial drug
Oklahoma has been ordered to postpone lethal injections that employ a controversial sedative linked to botched executions until the Supreme Court rules over the drug’s continued use.
The court's order Wednesday came as little surprise after both the state and the lawyers for three inmates who faced execution between now and March requested the temporary halt. The justices agreed Friday to take up the challenge to the use of the sedative midazolam, which has been used in problematic executions in Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma.
The three-drug process used by Oklahoma prison officials has been under scrutiny since the April 2014 botched execution of convicted murderer Clayton Lockett. He could be seen twisting on the gurney after death chamber staff failed to place the intravenous line properly.
From the
New York Times:
N.F.L Tries to Reassure Mothers, on Field
Rebecca Morgan squared her feet, bent her knees, raised her hands and tried to connect with her inner linebacker. Beside her, two dozen other mothers did the same as they listened to Mike Haynes, a former N.F.L. defensive lineman, teach them how to tackle safely.
The women were taking part in a Moms Clinic, one of hundreds conducted nationwide by USA Football, a nonprofit group that was started by the N.F.L. 12 years ago and is at the forefront of efforts to combat the toll that concussions have taken on the sport.
Through USA Football, the N.F.L. has targeted mothers, many of whom decide which sports their children play but have not competed in football themselves, to reassure them that the game can be safe.
From the
Seattle Times and Associated Press:
Revis, Sherman debate heats up
What appeared to have been a truce between Seattle's Richard Sherman and New England's Darrelle Revis — the two first-team all-pro cornerbacks this season — has become more of a cold war throughout Super Bowl week.
Recall that the two famously had a Twitter battle in 2013 instigated when Revis complained that Sherman kept using him as a point of comparison to state his case as the best cornerback in the National Football League.
"This dude just steady putting my name in his mouth to get notoriety," Revis tweeted.
Among Sherman's responses was to tweet: "one season u will get 8 picks. . But it won't happen anytime soon. . I did it in my 2nd season. . So u have something to chase."
Asked about Revis last week in Seattle, Sherman said the two had since talked and indicated any animosity had eased.
From the
San Jose Mercury News:
Stanford swimmer caught raping unconscious woman on campus street
A former Stanford University swimmer has been charged with raping an intoxicated, unconscious woman in an on-campus attack that prosecutors say was witnessed by two cyclists who nabbed him in the middle of the night as he tried to run away.
Brock Allen Turner, 19, who voluntarily withdrew from the school Tuesday, faces five felony counts that could put him behind bars for 10 years. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on Jan. 18, shortly after the attack, on suspicion of attempted rape and penetration with a foreign object, both felonies. He has been released on $150,000 bail.
Turner is charged with one count of rape of an intoxicated person, one count of rape of an unconscious person, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an intoxicated woman, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an unconscious woman and one count of assault with intent to commit rape, prosecutor Alaleh Kianerci said Tuesday.
From
Vice:
An Indonesian Cleric Caused a Massive Spike in Selfies by Declaring Selfies a Sin
Last Sunday Indonesian author and Islamic cleric Felix Siauw tweeted a 17-point manifesto decrying selfies as a sin—especially for women. According to Siauw, taking a photo of oneself is prideful, ostentatious, and arrogant. Usually such a bitter, personal screed wouldn't count for much, but because Siauw is a respected young cleric with a massive Twitter following, his rant has severely pissed off many in Indonesia, a selfie-obsessed country whose Muslim population makes up roughly 88 percent of its citizens.
As early as 2013, one major Indonesian seminary weighed in, saying that all photography was unlawful under Islam, which generally opposes personal pride. But the issue really blew up in the fall of 2014 when Saudi Arabia eased its ban on bringing smart phones into the holy pilgrimage sites of Mecca, leading to a spate of selfies by pilgrims in front of holy sites like the Ka'aba, and earning the ire of countless clerics who saw this as a boastful, touristy, and selfish perversion of what they deemed a serious, contemplative, and selfless rite.
Through all this hubbub, most Islamic scholars seem to have converged on the opinion that selfies are fine, so long as they are taken sparingly as a memento rather than a brag. "If photographs are only for personal memory ... then no problem," an anonymous Saudi professor of Islamic law told AFP during the Hajj selfie debate. "But if they are for the purpose of showing off, then they are prohibited."
From
Salon:
Mitt’s “Tricky Dick” problem: Why his anti-poverty sham is so Nixonian
Two weeks ago, as word came that Mitt Romney would make eradicating poverty a central theme of his potential 2016 presidential campaign, I couldn’t help but think of Tricky Dick. As with our 37th president, whose boosters touted a “New Nixon” in 1968 — undaunted by the simple fact that the candidate had already undergone political facelifts in virtually every election since he entered the national stage — you can trace Willard Mitt Romney’s political evolution by following his endless reinventions. You could go all the way back to Romney’s days as a liberal Republican candidate in Massachusetts, charting the gradual development of a “severely conservative” GOP standard-bearer. Or, to simplify things a bit, you could follow David Graham’s approach and look at the three iterations of Romney to emerge in his 2008, 2012, and 2016 campaigns. In 2008, Romney Inc. rolled out Mitt 1.0, who presented himself as the true conservative in the GOP race. Come 2012, it was time for Mitt 2.0, the whiz kid who right the nation’s economic ship. Should Romney proceed with plans to run for president next year, we’ll meet Mitt 3.0, the anti-poverty warrior.
Sensing mounting unease with gaping economic inequality, Romney’s speeches now pay tribute to voter concerns about the nation’s uneven economic recovery. “Under President Obama the rich have gotten richer, income inequality has gotten worse and there are more people in poverty in American than ever before,” the former Bain Capital CEO (net worth: approximately $250 million) told a GOP gathering in San Diego this month. No longer does Romney denigrate the “47 percent” of Americans who could never be convinced to “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” Whereas he once said that his job was “not to worry about those people,” Romney would like the voters of 2016 to know that he’s very worried about “those people.”
From
CNN Money:
McDonald's CEO retires as sales suffer
McDonald's has been struggling to turn its lousy sales around. And now there's a change at the top of the company.
CEO Don Thompson, a 25-year veteran who has spent two years at the helm, is retiring a week after McDonald's reported awful financial results. The company faces tough competition from the surge of fast-casual brands like Chipotle (CMG). McDonald's recently cut 8 items from the menu to make way for "future food innovations," which could mean new ingredients or customized individual orders.
But sales dropped 2% and earnings fell 15% last year. And McDonald's has warned that the first half of 2015 could be bleak, too. A string of food safety scares abroad didn't help. A tainted meat scandal hurt McDonald's sales in China, Hong Kong, and Japan. Earlier this month, the company had to pull nuggets from restaurants in Japan after customers found pieces of plastic in the chicken.
From
CNBC:
Delaware may adopt digital driver's licenses
As consumers use their smartphones for payments and more, Delaware is considering allowing digital driver's licenses.
The state's Senate passed a resolution last Thursday authorizing its Division of Motor Vehicles to study and consider employing digital licenses for motorists. As electronic certificates are likely the wave of the future, Delaware would "like to go first," the state's DMV director, Jennifer Cohan, told The News Journal.
Iowa is currently working on a pilot program for digital licenses with an anticipated 2016 rollout, the newspaper reported. That state, along with Delaware and 40 other states, uses MorphoTrust USA as a license vendor.
From
Bloomberg:
Apple’s IPhones Surge Into First-Place Tie With Samsung
Apple Inc. surged to a tie for the world’s biggest smartphone vendor for the first time since 2011 as booming sales of iPhones with larger screens helped gain ground on Samsung Electronics Co.
Both companies shipped 74.5 million smartphones in the fourth quarter for 19.6 percent market share each, Strategy Analytics said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. Lenovo Group Ltd. was third with market share of 6.5 percent after its acquisition of Motorola Mobility.
Apple’s move into larger screens hit Samsung in an area it pioneered as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were hits in markets including China, where consumers prefer a bigger device to perform the role of a phone and tablet computer. The maker of Galaxy devices saw its market share plunge 10 percentage points as Lenovo and Huawei Technologies Co. snare budget buyers in the world’s largest market.
From
The Hollywood Reporter:
'Empire's' Black (Ratings) Power: How Fox's Targeted Marketing Paid Off
People are seeing that shows with people of color can make money," Taraji P. Henson told reporters days after Empire's second episode solidified its status as the highest-rated new series of the 2014-15 TV season. "When things make money, people are interested."
The actress might not be surprised that her Fox family soap, which climbed to nearly 15 million viewers in time-shifted ratings, is the success story of the winter. But few could have foreseen it would grow live ratings for its second and third episodes, an unheard-of feat during the DVR era. And Empire owes much of those early spoils to its black audience.
The hip-hop drama from co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong and executive producer Brian Grazer counts 62 percent of its adults 18-to-49 viewership as African-American, according to Nielsen, and the first two episodes averaged a massive 17.1 rating in that demo (compared with a 3.9 rating in 18-to-49 in live-plus-same-day). "Our goal was to make this show an event for a core group of people and make it really tantalizing for a really broad group of people," says Fox Television Group COO Joe Earley. "It's broad and niche at the same time."
From
Deadline:
GoDaddy.com’s Super Bowl Ad Yanked After Being Blasted By Puppy Lovers
The ad, “Journey Home,” mocked Budweiser’s highly anticipated “Lost Dog” Super Bowl ad that the beer label has been teasing — which, in turn, is a sequel to its wildly popular 2014 Super Bowl ad “Puppy Love.”
In GoDaddy’s ad, an adorable golden retriever puppy named Buddy is traveling with his mom and sibling in a box in the back of a pickup truck, when he’s tossed out as the truck hits a bump. Buddy goes through quite a lot to make his way back to his home, where he’s scooped up by his human guardian who is thrilled he made it back to them — because she’d already sold him on her new website she set up using GoDaddy.com.
Faster than you can say, “WTF,” the ad’s YouTube clip had more than 800 comments, most trashing it; #godaddypuppy became a thing on Twitter, a Change.org petition had been launched calling on the company to kill the ad, and more than 42,000 sigs collected. Animal rescue orgs expressed contempt. Ditto PETA, which admitted it “liked” that the ad showed that anyone who sells dogs online is “a callous jerk.” “The sale of animals online and from pet stores and breeders should be roundly condemned,” the group said.
From
Variety:
Broken Hollywood: The Biz’s Top Players Call Out Ways Industry Needs to Change
Talk to any top executive or producer in the movie, television and digital businesses today and they will tell you that the challenges they face are more severe and confounding than ever. Industryites are grappling with profound concerns that cut to the heart of the traditional models to which Hollywood has adhered for decades.
Variety feels it best that our readers hear what’s on the minds of the media business’s best and brightest in their own words. We’ve put the phrase “Broken Hollywood” on our cover to reflect the candor with which the 22 luminaries we interviewed spoke. They weren’t shy about addressing the industry’s most pressing problems, which run the gamut from a declining movie audience — particularly among the vital younger demographic — and falling ratings in broadcast and cable TV, to an unacceptable lack of diversity in the creative ranks and executive suites, and inadequate audience measurement across platforms.
From the
New York Daily News:
David Letterman invites former late night rival Jay Leno as guest on ‘Late Show’
Comedian David Letterman's CBS "Late Show" reportedly has invited his former late-night television arch rival Jay Leno to appear as a guest on the program before Letterman retires from TV in May.
The offer was extended last year, according to a report published on Wednesday by tvinsider.com, which cited unnamed sources.
A guest appearance on Letterman's show by Leno, who stepped down last year as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show," could potentially be a ratings coup for CBS as it looks to capitalize on hoopla surrounding Letterman's May 20 send-off ... Last week, Leno brushed off a question about a possible offer to appear on the "Late Show" while speaking at the National Association of Television Program Executives conference in Miami, according to the report.
"I haven't heard that," tvinsider.com quoted Leno as saying. "I'll have to check into that."
From
Cinema Blend:
Jupiter Ascending Premiered And It Did Not Go Well, At All
It was revealed yesterday that the surprise screening at this year’s Sundance was the Wachowski’s highly anticipated sci-fi film Jupiter Ascending — which is kind of odd, because you don’t normally think of a film requiring 3D glasses as the secret screening of Sundance. Nevertheless, this was the first time anyone has seen this film. Unfortunately, the reception was not what Warner Bros. was hoping for (i.e. it was really bad).
As reported by Yahoo Movies, the event was invite-only and took place at the Egyptian Theater in Park City. Despite all the hype and secrecy, though, there were clusters of vacant seats in this 300-person theater. Worse still, a "handful" of people left before the movie was even done, and by the time Jupiter Ascending finished, people were heard sneering. Someone in attendance, who wanted to remain nameless for obvious reasons, called it "ridiculous," while another said it was "a combination of a whole bunch of things wrapped into one." Another even went as far as to speculate that Warner Bros. would lose a ton of money over the film. It’s probably a good thing critics weren’t invited.
Considering Jupiter Ascending will likely either repair or further damage the Wachowski siblings’ relationship with the studio, this is not the best of news. The Matrix films were the only works of theirs to make bank at the box office for Warner Bros. Their follow-ups, Speed Racer and Cloud Atlas, didn’t do so hot. To add even more pressure, the studio reportedly spent upwards of $170 million on Jupiter Ascending, which was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 2014. However, due to post-production issues, it’s now opening on February 6.
From
Deadline:
Disney Eyeing Chris Pratt For Indiana Jones Revival
Marvel offerings are soaring, and Star Wars is being reinvigorated by director JJ Abrams. Now, Disney has just started to turn its attention to reviving the Indiana Jones franchise after buying the rights from Paramount in 2013. I’m cautioned that while things are very early, I hear the studio has set its sights on Chris Pratt as the swashbuckling archaeologist they hope to build the new franchise around, the role made famous by Harrison Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark.
From
Billboard:
Mark Ronson, Bruno Mars Rule Hot 100, Fall Out Boy Hits Top 10
Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk!," featuring Bruno Mars, leads the Billboard Hot 100 for a fourth week. Plus, as it takes over atop Radio Songs, returns to the top of Streaming Songs and continues to top Digital Songs, the track joins an elite list of hits to lead all four overarching songs charts at the same time.
Meanwhile, Fall Out Boy flies into the Hot 100's top 10 with "Centuries" from the Billboard 200's new leading album, American Beauty/American Psycho. The track is the band's first Hot 100 top 10 since 2007.
While Northeastern residents dig out of the snow, let's dig into the key numbers throughout the top 10 on the sales/airplay/streaming-based Hot 100, as we do each Wednesday.
"Funk!," released on RCA Records, spends a fifth week atop Digital Songs with 341,000 downloads sold (down 15 percent) in the week ending Jan. 25, according to Nielsen Music. It also leads the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart for a third week with 5.4 million U.S. streams (up 2 percent) and returns (2-1) for a second week atop Streaming Songs (15.1 million, up 1 percent).
From
Reuters:
At 82, Broadway star Joel Grey comes out as gay
Actor Joel Grey, an Oscar winner for his role in "Cabaret" opposite Liza Minnelli and who was married to actress Jo Wilder for 24 years, on Wednesday publicly revealed that he is gay.
The 82-year-old actor, who is the father of actress Jennifer Grey and also has a son, told People magazine that his family and friends have known about his sexuality.
"I don't like labels," Grey is quoted as saying in the issue of the magazine to be published on Friday "but if you have to put a label on it, I'm a gay man."