#Southeastern Film Critics Association

[swampflix]

Lagniappe Podcast: The Holdovers & SEFCA Awards 2023

For this lagniappe episode of the podcast, Brandon is joined by Moviegoing with Bill‘s Bill Arceneaux to discuss the Southeastern Film Critic Association’s awarded films of 2023, starting with the only prize-winner we haven’t previously covered, Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. 00:00 Welcome 05:20 SEFCA’s Top 10 Films of 202326:06 The Holdovers (2023)53:03 Other SEFCA Winners You can stay up…

[thejewofkansas]

Awards Season 2023-24: Awards Round-Up 12/18

One week till Christmas. Two weeks till New Year’s. Five weeks and a day till the Oscar nominations. And here we have 14 critics’ groups who’ve announced their winners, not – hopefully – out of a desire to predict the outcome, but some of the trends here are pretty hard to dismiss. Here’s who we have (ordered alphabetically by their acronym): Boston Online Film Critics Association…

[awardswatcherik]

Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA): 'Oppenheimer' Wins 8 including Best Picture

[acedmagazine]

JOHN'S Top 10 Films for 2022

JOHN'S Top 10 Films for 2022

There has been a good number of quality films that are already out or even coming your way from the year 2022.  As of this writing I have turned in my awards list to the Southeastern Film Critic’s Association of which I am a member. Being a bit picky about what to choose, my main […]

https://acedmagazine.com/johns-top-10-films-for-2022/

[awardseasonblog]

Per la Southeastern Film Critics Association (#SEFCA) che comprende i critici che lavorano o vivono in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia o West Virginia, il miglior film dell’anno è #EverythingEverywhereAllatOnce che ha vinto in 5 categorie (film, regia, attrice #MichelleYeoh, supporter maschile #KeHuyQuan, script). Tra gli altri vincitori troviamo: Best Actor: Colin Farrell (Gli Spiriti dell’isola) Best Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon (Gli Spiriti dell’isola) Best Ensemble: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Best Adapted Screenplay: Sarah Polley (Women Talking) Best Documentary: Fire of Love Best Foreign-Language Film: RRR Best Animated Film: Pinocchio Best Cinematography: Top Gun: Maverick Best Original Score: The Batman https://www.instagram.com/p/CmE6yFLMCO2/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[blackkudos]

Dennis Rodman

Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player. Rodman played for the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was nicknamed "the Worm" and is famous for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities.

Rodman played at the small forward position in his early years before becoming a power forward. He earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships. His biography at NBA.com states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history". On April 1, 2011, the Pistons retired Rodman's No. 10 jersey, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later that year.

Rodman experienced an unhappy childhood and was shy and introverted in his early years. After aborting a suicide attempt in 1993, he reinvented himself as a "bad boy" and became notorious for numerous controversial antics. He repeatedly dyed his hair in artificial colors, had many piercings and tattoos, and regularly disrupted games by clashing with opposing players and officials. He famously wore a wedding dress to promote his 1996 autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be. Rodman pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna and was briefly married to actress Carmen Electra. Rodman also attracted international attention for his visits to North Korea and his subsequent befriending of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2013.

In addition to being a retired professional basketball player, Rodman is a retired part-time professional wrestler and actor. He was a member of the nWo and fought alongside Hulk Hogan at two Bash at the Beach events. In professional wrestling, Rodman was the first ever winner of the Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament. He had his own TV show, The Rodman World Tour, and had lead roles in the action films Double Team (1997) and Simon Sez (1999). Both films were critically panned, with the former earning Rodman a triple Razzie Award. He appeared in several reality TV series and was the winner of the $222,000 main prize of the 2004 edition of Celebrity Mole.

Early life and college career

Rodman was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of Shirley and Philander Rodman, Jr., an Air Force enlisted member, who later fought in the Vietnam War. When he was young, his father left his family, eventually settling in the Philippines. Rodman has many brothers and sisters: according to his father, he has either 26 or 28 siblings on his father's side. However, Rodman himself has stated that he is the oldest of a total of 47 children.

After his father left, Shirley took many odd jobs to support the family, up to four at the same time. In his 1996 biography Bad As I Wanna Be, he expresses his feelings for his father: "I haven't seen my father in more than 30 years, so what's there to miss ... I just look at it like this: Some man brought me into this world. That doesn't mean I have a father". He would not meet his father again until 2012.

Rodman and his two sisters, Debra and Kim, grew up in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, at the time one of the most impoverished areas of the city. Rodman was so attached to his mother that he refused to move when she sent him to a nursery when he was four years old. According to Rodman, his mom was more interested in his two sisters, who were both considered more talented than he was in basketball, and made him a laughing stock whenever he tagged along with them. He felt generally "overwhelmed" by the all-female household. Debra and Kim would go on to become All-Americans at Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin, respectively. Debra won two national titles with the Lady Techsters.

While attending South Oak Cliff High School, Rodman was a gym class student of future Texas A&M basketball coach Gary Blair. Blair coached Rodman's sisters Debra and Kim, winning three state championships. However, Rodman was not considered an athletic standout. According to Rodman, he was "unable to hit a layup" and was listed in the high school basketball teams, but was either benched or cut from the squads. Measuring only 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) as a freshman in high school, he also failed to make the football teams and was "totally devastated". After finishing school, Rodman worked as an overnight janitor at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He then experienced a sudden growth spurt from 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) to 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) and decided to try basketball again, despite becoming even more withdrawn because he felt odd in his own body.

A family friend tipped off the head coach of Cooke County College (now North Central Texas College) in Gainesville, Texas. In his single semester there, he averaged 17.6 points and 13.3 rebounds, before flunking out due to poor academic performance. After his short stint in Gainesville, he transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University, an NAIA school. There, Rodman was a three-time NAIA All-American and led the NAIA in rebounding twice (1985, 1986). In three seasons there (1983–1986), he averaged 25.7 points and 15.7 rebounds, led the NAIA in rebounding twice and registered a .637 field goal percentage. At the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, a pre-draft camp for NBA hopefuls, he won Most Valuable Player honors and caught the attention of the Detroit Pistons.

During college Rodman worked at a summer youth basketball camp, where he befriended camper Byrne Rich, who was shy and withdrawn due to a hunting accident in which he mistakenly shot and killed his best friend. The two became almost inseparable and formed a close bond. Rich invited Rodman to his rural Oklahoma home; at first, Rodman was not well-received by the Riches because he was black. But the Riches were so grateful to him for bringing their son out of his shell that they were able to set aside their prejudices. Although Rodman had severe family and personal issues himself, he "adopted" the Riches as his own in 1982 and went from the city life to "driving a tractor and messing with cows". Though Rodman credited the Riches as his "surrogate family" that helped him through college, as of 2013 he had stopped communicating with the Rich family for reasons unknown to them.

Professional basketball career

Detroit Pistons1986–1989

Rodman made himself eligible for the 1986 NBA draft. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons as the third pick in the second round (27th overall), joining the rugged team of coach Chuck Daly that was called "Bad Boys" for their hard-nosed approach to basketball. The squad featured Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars at the guard positions, Adrian Dantley and Sidney Green at forward, and center Bill Laimbeer. Bench players who played more than 15 minutes per game were sixth man Vinnie Johnson and the backup forwards Rick Mahorn and John Salley. Rodman fit well into this ensemble, providing 6.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and some tough defense in 15.0 minutes of playing time per game.

Winning 52 games, the Pistons comfortably entered the 1987 playoffs. They swept the Washington Bullets and soundly beat the Atlanta Hawks in five games, but bowed out in seven matches against the archrival Boston Celtics in what was called one of the physically and mentally toughest series ever. Rodman feuded with Celtics guard Dennis Johnson and taunted Johnson in the closing seconds when he waved his right hand over his own head. When the Celtics took Game Seven, Johnson went back at Rodman in the last moments of the game and mimicked his taunting gesture.

After the loss, Rodman made headlines by directly accusing Celtics star Larry Bird of being overrated because he was white: "Larry Bird is overrated in a lot of areas. ... Why does he get so much publicity? Because he's white. You never hear about a black player being the greatest". Although teammate Thomas supported him, he endured harsh criticism, but avoided being called a racist because, according to him, his own girlfriend Anicka "Annie" Bakes was white.

In the following 1987–88 season, Rodman steadily improved his stats, averaging 11.6 points and 8.7 rebounds and starting in 32 of 82 regular season games. The Pistons fought their way into the 1988 NBA Finals, and took a 3–2 lead, but lost in seven games against the Los Angeles Lakers. In Game Six, the Pistons were down by one point with eight seconds to go; Dumars missed a shot, and Rodman just fell short of an offensive rebound and a putback which could have won the title. In Game Seven, L.A. led by 15 points in the fourth quarter, but Rodman's defense helped cut down the lead to six with 3:52 minutes to go and to two with one minute to go. But then, he fouled Magic Johnson, who hit a free throw, missed an ill-advised shot with 39 seconds to go, and the Pistons never recovered. In that year, he and his girlfriend Annie had a daughter they named Alexis.

Rodman remained a bench player during the 1988–89 season, averaging 9.0 points and 9.4 rebounds in 27 minutes, yet providing such effective defense that he was voted into the All-Defensive Team, the first of eight times in his career. He also began seeing more playing time after Adrian Dantley was traded at midseason to Dallas for Mark Aguirre. In that season, the Pistons finally vanquished their playoffs bane by sweeping the Boston Celtics, then winning in six games versus the Chicago Bulls—including scoring champion Michael Jordan—and easily defeating the Lakers 4–0 in the 1989 NBA Finals. Although he was hampered by back spasms, Rodman dominated the boards, grabbing 19 rebounds in Game 3 and providing tough interior defense.

1989–1993

In the 1989–90 season, Detroit lost perennial defensive forward Rick Mahorn when he was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves in that year's expansion draft and ended up on the Philadelphia 76ers when the Pistons could not reacquire him. It was feared that the loss of Mahorn – average in talent, but high on hustle and widely considered a vital cog of the "Bad Boys" teams – would diminish the Pistons' spirit, but Rodman seamlessly took over his role. He went on to win his first big individual accolade. Averaging 8.8 points and 9.7 rebounds while starting in the last 43 regular season games, he established himself as the best defensive player in the game; during this period, the Pistons won 59 games, and Rodman was lauded by the NBA "for his defense and rebounding skills, which were unparalleled in the league". For his feats, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award; he also connected on a .595 field goal percentage, best in the league. In the 1990 playoffs, the Pistons beat the Bulls again, and in the 1990 NBA Finals, Detroit met the Portland Trail Blazers. Rodman suffered from an injured ankle and was often replaced by Mark Aguirre, but even without his defensive hustle, Detroit beat Portland in five games and claimed their second title.

During the 1990–91 season, Rodman finally established himself as the starting small forward of the Pistons. He played such strong defense that the NBA stated he "could shut down any opposing player, from point guard to center". After coming off the bench for most of his earlier years, he finally started in 77 of the 82 regular season games, averaged 8.2 points and 12.5 rebounds and won his second Defensive Player of the Year Award. In the 1991 playoffs, however, the Pistons were swept by the championship-winning Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was in the 1991–92 season where Rodman made a remarkable leap in his rebounding, collecting an astounding 18.7 rebounds per game (1,530 in total), winning his first of seven consecutive rebounding crowns, along with scoring 9.8 points per game, and making his first All-NBA Team. His 1,530 rebounds (the most since Wilt Chamberlain's 1,572 in the 1971–1972 season) have never been surpassed since then; the best mark not set by Rodman is by Kevin Willis, who grabbed 1,258 boards that same season. Willis lamented that Rodman had an advantage in winning the rebounding title with his lack of offensive responsibilities. In a March 1992 game, Rodman totaled a career high 34 rebounds. However, the aging Pistons were eliminated by the up-and-coming New York Knicks in the first round of the 1992 playoffs.

Rodman experienced a tough loss when coach Chuck Daly, whom he had admired as a surrogate father, resigned in May; Rodman skipped the preseason camp and was fined $68,000. The following 1992–93 season was even more tumultuous. Rodman and Annie Bakes, the mother of his daughter Alexis, were divorcing after a short marriage, an experience which left him traumatized. The Pistons won only 40 games and missed the 1993 playoffs entirely. One night in February 1993, Rodman was found asleep in his car with a loaded rifle. Four years later in his biography As Bad As I Wanna Be, he confessed having thought about suicide and described that night as an epiphany: "I decided that instead [of killing myself] I was gonna kill the impostor that was leading Dennis Rodman to a place he didn't want to go ... So I just said, 'I'm going to live my life the way I want to live it and be happy doing it.' At that moment I tamed [sic] my whole life around. I killed the person I didn't want to be." The book was later adapted for a TV movie Bad As I Wanna Be: The Dennis Rodman Story. Although he had three years and $11.8 million remaining on his contract, Rodman demanded a trade. On October 1, 1993, the Pistons dealt him to the San Antonio Spurs.

San Antonio Spurs

In the 1993–94 season, Rodman joined a Spurs team that was built around perennial All-Star center David Robinson, with a supporting cast of forwards Dale Ellis, Willie Anderson and guard Vinny Del Negro. On the hardwood, Rodman now was played as a power forward and won his third straight rebounding title, averaging 17.3 boards per game, along with another All-Defensive Team call-up. Living up to his promise of killing the "shy imposter" and "being himself" instead, Rodman began to show first signs of unconventional behavior: before the first game, he shaved his hair and dyed it blonde, which was followed up by stints with red, purple, blue hair and a look inspired from the film Demolition Man. During the season, he headbutted Stacey King and John Stockton, refused to leave the hardwood once after being ejected, and had a highly publicized two-month affair with Madonna. The only player to whom Rodman related was reserve center Jack Haley, who earned his trust by not being shocked after a visit to a gay bar. However, despite a 55-win season, Rodman and the Spurs did not survive the first round of the 1994 playoffs and bowed out against the Utah Jazz in four games.

In the following 1994–95 season, Rodman clashed with the Spurs front office. He was suspended for the first three games, took a leave of absence on November 11, and was suspended again on December 7. He finally returned on December 10 after missing 19 games. After joining the team, he suffered a shoulder separation in a motorcycle accident, limiting his season to 49 games. Normally, he would not have qualified for any season records for missing so many games, but by grabbing 823 rebounds, he just surpassed the 800-rebound limit for listing players and won his fourth straight rebounding title by averaging 16.8 boards per game and made the All-NBA Team. In the 1995 playoffs, the 62-win Spurs with reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Award winner Robinson entered the Western Conference Finals and were considered favorites against the reigning champions Houston Rockets who had only won 47 games. It was thought that Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon would have a hard time asserting himself versus Robinson and Rodman, who had both been voted into the NBA All-Defensive Teams. However, neither Robinson nor Rodman, who had disrupted a playoff game against the Lakers by sitting down on the court, could stop Olajuwon, who averaged 35.3 points against the elite defensive Spurs frontcourt, and helped eliminate the Spurs in six games.

Rodman admitted his frequent transgressions, but asserted that he lived his own life and thus a more honest life than most other people:

I just took the chance to be my own man ... I just said: "If you don't like it, kiss my ass." ... Most people around the country, or around the world, are basically working people who want to be free, who want to be themselves. They look at me and see someone trying to do that ... I'm the guy who's showing people, hey, it's all right to be different. And I think they feel: "Let's go and see this guy entertain us."

Chicago Bulls

Prior to the 1995–96 season, Rodman was traded to the Chicago Bulls of perennial scoring champion Michael Jordan for center Will Perdue to fill a large void at power forward left by Horace Grant, who left the Bulls prior to the 1994–95 season. Given Rodman could not use the 10 jersey as the Bulls had retired it for Bob Love, and the NBA denied him the reversion 01, Rodman instead picked the number 91, whose digits add up to 10. Although the trade for the already 34-year-old and volatile Rodman was considered a gamble at that time, the power forward quickly adapted to his new environment, helped by the fact that his best friend Jack Haley was also traded to the Bulls. Under coach Phil Jackson, he averaged 5.5 points and 14.9 rebounds per game, winning yet another rebounding title, and was part of the great Bulls team that won 72 of 82 regular season games, an NBA record at the time. About playing next to the iconic Jordan and co-star Scottie Pippen, Rodman said:

On the court, me and Michael are pretty calm and we can handle conversation. But as far as our lives go, I think he is moving in one direction and I'm going in the other. I mean, he's goin' north, I'm goin' south. And then you've got Scottie Pippen right in the middle. He's sort of the equator.

Although struggling with calf problems early in the season, Rodman grabbed 20 or more rebounds 11 times and had his first triple-double against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 16, 1996 scoring 10 points and adding 21 rebounds and 10 assists; by playing his trademark tough defense, he joined Jordan and Pippen in the All-NBA Defense First Team. Ever controversial, Rodman made negative headlines after a head butt of referee Ted Bernhardt during a game in New Jersey on March 16, 1996; he was suspended for six games and fined $20,000, a punishment that was criticized as too lenient by the local press.

In the 1996 playoffs, Rodman scored 7.5 points and grabbed 13.7 rebounds per game and had a large part in the six-game victory against the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 NBA Finals: in Game Two at home in the Bulls' United Center, he grabbed 20 rebounds, among them a record-tying 11 offensive boards, and in Game Six, again at the United Center, the power forward secured 19 rebounds and again 11 offensive boards, scored five points in a decisive 12–2 Bulls run, unnerved opposing power forward Shawn Kemp and caused Seattle coach George Karl to say: "As you evaluate the series, Dennis Rodman won two basketball games. We controlled Dennis Rodman for four games. But Game 2 and tonight, he was the reason they were successful." His two games with 11 offensive rebounds each tied the NBA Finals record of Elvin Hayes.

In the 1996–97 season, Rodman won his sixth rebounding title in a row with 16.7 boards per game, along with 5.7 points per game, but failed to rank another All-Defensive Team call-up. However, he made more headlines for his notorious behavior. On January 15, 1997, he was involved in an incident during a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. After tripping over cameraman Eugene Amos, Rodman kicked Amos in the groin. Though he was not assessed a technical foul at the time, he ultimately paid Amos a $200,000 settlement, and the league suspended Rodman for 11 games without pay. Thus, he effectively lost $1 million. Missing another three games to suspensions, often getting technical fouls early in games and missing an additional 13 matches due to knee problems, Rodman was not as effective in the 1997 playoffs, in which the Bulls reached the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz. He struggled to slow down Jazz power forward Karl Malone, but did his share to complete the six-game Bulls victory.

The regular season of the 1997–98 season ended with Rodman winning his seventh consecutive rebounding title with 15.0 boards per game, along with 4.7 points per game. He grabbed 20 or more rebounds 11 times, among them a 29-board outburst against the Atlanta Hawks and 15 offensive boards (along with ten defensive) versus the Los Angeles Clippers. Led by the aging Jordan and Rodman (respectively 35 and 37 years old), the Bulls reached the 1998 NBA Finals, again versus the Jazz. After playing strong defense on Malone in the first three games, he caused major consternation when he left his team prior to Game Four to go wrestling with Hulk Hogan. He was fined $20,000, but it was not even ten percent of what he earned with this stint. However, Rodman's on-court performance remained top-notch, again shutting down Malone in Game Four until the latter scored 39 points in a Jazz Game Five win, bringing the series to 3–2 from the Bulls perspective. In Game Six, Jordan hit the decisive basket after a memorable drive on Jazz forward Bryon Russell, the Bulls won their third title in a row and Rodman his fifth ring.

Rodman garnered as much publicity for his public antics. He dated Madonna and claimed she tried to conceive a child with him. Shortly after, Rodman famously wore a wedding dress to promote his autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be, claiming that he was bisexual and that he was marrying himself.

Twilight years

After the 1997–98 season, the Bulls started a massive rebuilding phase, largely at the behest of then-general manager Jerry Krause. Head coach Phil Jackson and several members of the team left via free agency or retirement, including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, and Jud Buechler. Rodman was released by the Bulls on January 21, 1999, before the start of the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. With his sister acting as his agent at the time, Rodman joined the Los Angeles Lakers, for a pro-rated salary for the remainder of the 1998–1999 season. With the Lakers he only played in 23 games and was released.

In the 1999–2000 season, the then-38-year-old power forward was signed by the Dallas Mavericks, meaning that Rodman returned to the place where he grew up. Dallas had won 10 of 13 before his arrival, but went just 4–9 until he was waived by the Mavericks. He played 12 games, received six technical fouls, was ejected twice, and served a one-game suspension. Despite averaging 14.3 rebounds per game, above his career average of 13.1, Rodman alienated the franchise with his erratic behavior and did not provide leadership to a team trying to qualify for their first playoffs in 10 years. Dallas guard Steve Nash commented that Rodman "never wanted to be [a Maverick]" and therefore was unmotivated.

Post-NBA career

After his NBA career, Rodman took a long break from basketball and concentrated on his film career and on wrestling.

After a longer hiatus, Rodman returned to play basketball for the Long Beach Jam of the newly formed American Basketball Association during the 2003–04 season, with hopes of being called up to the NBA midseason. While he did not get that wish that season, he did help the Jam win the ABA championship in their inaugural season. He also played in Mexico, with Fuerza Regia in 2004. In the following 2004–05 season, he signed with the ABA's Orange County Crush and the following season with the league's Tijuana Dragons. In November 2005, he played one match for Torpan Pojat of the Finland's basketball league, Korisliiga.

The return to the NBA never materialized, but on January 26, 2006, it was announced that Rodman had signed a one-game "experiment" deal for the UK basketball team Brighton Bears of the British Basketball League to play Guildford Heat on January 28 and went on to play three games for the Bears. In spring 2006, he played two exhibition games in the Philippines along with NBA ex-stars Darryl Dawkins, Kevin Willis, Calvin Murphy, Otis Birdsong and Alex English. On April 27, they defeated a team of former Philippine Basketball Association stars in Mandaue City, Cebu and Rodman scored five points and grabbed 18 rebounds. On May 1, 2006, Rodman's team played their second game and lost to the Philippine national basketball team 110–102 at the Araneta Coliseum, where he scored three points and recorded 16 rebounds.

On April 4, 2011, it was announced that Rodman would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

NBA career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs

Awards, records, and achievements

Legacy in basketball

From the beginning of his career Rodman was known for his defensive hustle, which was later accompanied by his rebounding prowess. In Detroit, he was mainly played as a small forward, and his usual assignment was to neutralize the opponent's best player; Rodman was so versatile that he could guard centers, forwards, or guards equally well and won two NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards. From 1991 on, he established himself as one of the best rebounders of all time, averaging at least 15 rebounds per game in six of the next seven years. Playing power forward as member of the Spurs and the Bulls, he had a historical outburst in the 1996 NBA Finals: he twice snared 11 offensive rebounds, equalling an all-time NBA record. In addition, he had a career-high 34-rebound game on March 4, 1992. Rodman's rebounding prowess with Detroit and San Antonio was also aided by his decreased attention to defensive positioning and helping teammates on defense. Daly said Rodman was selfish about rebounding, but deemed him a hard worker and coachable. Rodman's defensive intensity returned while with Chicago.

On offense, Rodman's output was mediocre. He averaged 11.6 points per game in his second season, but his average steadily dropped: in the three championship seasons with the Bulls, he averaged five points per game and connected on less than half of his field goal attempts. His free throw shooting (lifetime average: .584) was considered a big liability: on December 29, 1997, Bubba Wells of the Dallas Mavericks committed six intentional fouls against him in only three minutes, setting the record for the fastest foul out in NBA history. The intention was to force him to attempt free throws, which in theory would mean frequent misses and easy ball possession without giving up too many points. However, this plan backfired, as Rodman hit 9 of the 12 attempts. This was Dallas coach Don Nelson's early version of what would later develop into the famous "Hack-a-Shaq" method that would be implemented against Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, and other poor free throw shooters.

In 14 NBA seasons, Rodman played in 911 games, scored 6,683 points, and grabbed 11,954 rebounds, translating to 7.3 points and 13.1 rebounds per game in only 31.7 minutes played per game. NBA.com lauds Rodman as "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history and one of the most recognized athletes in the world" but adds "enigmatic and individualistic, Rodman has caught the public eye for his ever-changing hair color, tattoos and, unorthodox lifestyle". On the hardwood, he was recognized as one of the most successful defensive players ever, winning the NBA championship five times in six NBA Finals appearances (1989, 1990, 1996–1998; only loss 1988), being crowned NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice (1990–1991) and making seven NBA All-Defensive First Teams (1989–1993, 1995–1996) and NBA All-Defensive Second Teams (1994). He additionally made two All-NBA Third Teams (1992, 1995), two NBA All-Star Teams (1990, 1992) and won seven straight rebounding crowns (1992–1998) and finally led the league once in field goal percentage (1989).

Rodman was recognized as the prototype bizarre player, stunning basketball fans with his artificial hair colors, numerous tattoos and body piercings, multiple verbal and physical assaults on officials, frequent ejections, and his tumultuous private life. He was ranked No. 48 on the 2009 revision of SLAM Magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time. Metta World Peace played one year with the 91 jersey number in homage to Rodman, who he described as a player who he liked "on the court as a hustler, not when he kicked the cameraman."

Non-basketball awards

World Humanitarian Special Award, 2015. For his contributions into helping create peace and trying to unite North Korea and the USA.

Professional wrestling career

World Championship Wrestling (1997–1999)

Rodman took up his hobby of professional wrestling seriously and appeared on the edition of March 10 of Monday Nitro with his friend Hollywood Hulk Hogan in World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At the March 1997 Uncensored event, he appeared as a member of the nWo. His first match was at the July 1997 Bash at the Beach event, where he teamed with Hogan in a loss to Lex Luger and The Giant. At the August 1997 Road Wild event, Rodman appeared as the Impostor Sting hitting Luger with a baseball bat to help Hogan win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.

After the 1997–98 season, where Rodman and the Chicago Bulls defeated Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals, Rodman and Malone squared off again, this time in a tag team match at the July 1998 Bash at the Beach event. He fought alongside Hulk Hogan, and Malone tagged along with Diamond Dallas Page. In a poorly received match, the two power forwards exchanged "rudimentary headlocks, slams and clotheslines" for 23 minutes. Rodman bested Malone again as he and Hogan picked up the win.

Rodman returned to WCW in 1999 and feuded with Randy Savage. This culminated in a match at Road Wild which Rodman lost.

i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling and retirement (2000)

On July 30, 2000, Rodman competed on the i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling Rodman Down Under pay-per-view event. He fought against i-Generation champion Curt Hennig in an Australian Outback match; Hennig won the match by disqualification. Following the match, Rodman refrained from wrestling at the top level and retired.

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling (2008)

Rodman came out of retirement to appear as a contestant on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, broadcast on CMT. Rodman was the winner of the series, defeating other challengers such as Butterbean and Dustin Diamond.

Championships and accomplishments

Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling

Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament

Media appearances

In 1996, Rodman had his own MTV reality talk show called The Rodman World Tour, which featured him in a series of odd-ball situations. That same year, Rodman had two appearances in releases by rock band Pearl Jam. A Polaroid picture of Rodman's eyeball is on the cover of the album No Code, and "Black, Red, Yellow", B-side of its lead single "Hail, Hail", was written about Rodman and has him contribute a voice message.

A year later, he made his feature film debut in the action film Double Team alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme and Mickey Rourke. The film was critically panned and his performance earned him three Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst New Star, Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Screen Couple (shared with Van Damme). Rodman starred in Simon Sez, a 1999 action/comedy and co-starred with Tom Berenger in a 2000 action film about skydiving titled Cutaway. In 1998, he joined the cast of the syndicated TV show Special Ops Force, playing 'Deke' Reynolds, a flamboyant but skilled ex-Army helo pilot and demolitions expert.

In 2005, Rodman became the first man to pose naked for PETA's advertisement campaign "Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur". That same year, Rodman traveled to Finland, at first, he was present at Sonkajärvi in July in a wife-carrying contest. However, he resigned from the contest due to health problems. Also in 2005, Rodman published his second autobiography, I Should Be Dead By Now; he promoted the book by sitting in a coffin.

Rodman became Commissioner of the Lingerie Football League in 2005.

Since his initial entry into acting, he has appeared in few acting roles outside of playing himself. Rodman has made an appearance in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun playing the character of himself, except being a fellow alien with the Solomon family. He voiced an animated version of himself in the Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror XVI".

Rodman has also appeared in several reality shows: in January 2006, Rodman appeared on the fourth version of Celebrity Big Brother in the UK, and on July 26, 2006, in the UK series Love Island as a houseguest contracted to stay for a week. Finally, he appeared on the show Celebrity Mole on ABC. He wound up winning the $222,000 grand prize.

In 2008, Rodman joined as a spokesman for a sports website OPENSports.com, the brainchild of Mike Levy, founder and former CEO of CBS Sportsline.com. Rodman also writes a blog and occasionally answers members' questions for OPEN Sports.

In 2009, he appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. Throughout the season, each celebrity raised money for a charity of their choice; Rodman selected the Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Orleans. He was the fifth contestant eliminated, on March 29, 2009.

In 2013, he appeared again as a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice. He raised $20,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and was the sixth contestant eliminated, on April 7, 2013.

In March 2013, Rodman arrived at the Vatican City during voting in the papal conclave for the selection of a new pope. The trip was organized by an Irish gambling company.

In July 2013, Rodman joined Premier Brands to launch and promote Bad Boy Vodka.

Rodman's visits to North Korea were depicted in the 2015 documentary film Dennis Rodman's Big Bang in Pyongyang.

In 2017, Rodman was featured on the alternative R&B/hip-hop duo Mansionz self-titled album Mansionz. He provides vocals on the single "Dennis Rodman" and uncredited vocals on "i'm thinking about horses".

Personal life

Family

Rodman married his first wife Annie Bakes in September 1992. They began dating in 1987, and their daughter Alexis Caitlyn was born in 1988. Their relationship was marred by infidelites and accusations of abuse. They divorced after 82 days.

On November 14, 1998, Rodman married model Carmen Electra at the Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nine days later, Rodman filed for an annulment claiming he was of "unsound mind" when they married. They reconciled, but Electra filed for divorce in April 1999. She later stated that it was an "occupational hazard" to be Rodman's girlfriend".

In 1999, Rodman met Michelle Moyer, with whom he had a son, Dennis Jr. ("D. J.", born April 25, 2001) and a daughter, Trinity. Moyer and Rodman married in 2003 on his 42nd birthday. Michelle Rodman filed for divorce in 2004, although the couple spent several years attempting to reconcile. The marriage was officially dissolved in 2012, when Michelle again petitioned the court to grant a divorce. It was reported that Rodman owed $860,376 in child and spousal support.

Rodman's son D. J. started playing college basketball for Washington State in 2019. His daughter, Trinity, signed to play for the Cougars women's soccer team starting in 2020.

Alcohol issues

Rodman entered an outpatient rehab center in Florida in May 2008. In May 2009, his behavior on Celebrity Apprentice led to an intervention which included Phil Jackson as well as Rodman's family and other friends. Rodman initially refused to enter rehabilitation because he wanted to attend the Celebrity Apprentice reunion show. In 2009, Rodman agreed to appear on the third season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Rodman remained a patient at the Pasadena Recovery Center for the 21-day treatment cycle. A week after completion he entered a sober-living facility in the Hollywood Hills, which was filmed for the second season of Sober House. During episode seven of Sober House, Rodman was shown being reunited with his mother Shirley, from whom he had been estranged for seven years. During this same visit Shirley also met Rodman's two children for the first time. On January 10, 2010, on the same day that Celebrity Rehab premiered, Rodman was removed from an Orange County, California restaurant for disruptive behavior. In March 2012, Rodman's financial advisor said, "In all honesty, Dennis, although a very sweet person, is an alcoholic. His sickness impacts his ability to get work."

On January 15, 2014, Rodman again entered a rehabilitation facility to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. This came on the heels of a well-publicized trip to North Korea where his agent, Darren Prince, reported he had been drinking heavily and to an extent "that none of us had seen before."

Legal troubles

Rodman has settled several lawsuits out of court for alleged sexual assault.

In August 1999, Rodman was arrested for public drunkenness and spent the night in jail after he got into an altercation at Woody's Wharf in Newport Beach, California. The charges were eventually dropped.

On November 5, 1999, Rodman and his then-wife, Carmen Electra, were charged with misdemeanor battery after police were notified of a domestic disturbance. Each posted a bail worth $2,500 and were released with a temporary restraining order placed on them. The charges were dropped the next month.

In December 1999, Rodman was arrested for drunk driving and driving without a valid driver's license. In July 2000, Rodman pleaded guilty to both charges and was ordered to pay $2,000 in fines as well as attend a three-month treatment program.

In 2002, he was arrested for interfering with police investigating a code violation at a restaurant he owned; the charges were eventually dropped. After settling down in Newport Beach, California, the police appeared over 70 times at his home because of loud parties. In early 2003, Rodman was arrested and charged with domestic violence at his home in Newport Beach for allegedly assaulting his then-fiancée.

In April 2004, Rodman pleaded nolo contendere to drunk driving in Las Vegas. He was fined $1,000 and ordered to serve 30 days of home detention. On April 30, 2008, Rodman was arrested following a domestic violence incident at a Los Angeles hotel. On June 24, 2008, he pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor spousal battery charges. He received three years of probation and was ordered to undergo one year of domestic violence counseling as well as 45 hours of community service, which were to involve some physical labor activities.

On November 21, 2016, Rodman was charged with causing a hit and run accident, lying to police, and driving without a license following an incident on Interstate 5 near Santa Ana, California, in July. In February 2017, Rodman pleaded guilty to the charges. He was sentenced to three years of probation and 30 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay restitution and donate $500 to the Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

In January 2018, Rodman was arrested for driving under the influence in Newport Beach. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and received three years of probation.

In May 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported that Newport Beach yoga studio owner Ali Shah accused Rodman of helping steal over $3,500 worth of items from the studio's reception area, including a 400-pound decorative geode. Rodman disputed the account, claiming the owner told him "Dennis, get anything you want." No charges had been filed at the time of reporting.

On October 18, 2019, Rodman was charged with misdemeanor battery after slapping a man at the Buddha Sky Bar in Delray Beach, Florida.

Politics

On July 24, 2015, Rodman publicly endorsed Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. That same month, Rodman sent out an endorsement tweet, stating, "Donald Trump has been a great friend for many years. We don't need another politician, we need a businessman like Mr. Trump! Trump 2016." Rodman and then U.S. Presidential hopeful Trump had previously appeared together on Celebrity Apprentice.

North Korea visits

On February 26, 2013, Rodman made a trip to North Korea with Vice Media correspondent Ryan Duffy to host basketball exhibitions. He met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Rodman and his travel party were the first Americans to meet Kim. He later said that Kim was "a friend for life" and suggested that President Barack Obama "pick up the phone and call" Kim, since the two leaders were basketball fans. On May 7, after reading an article in The Seattle Times, Rodman sent out a tweet asking Kim to release American prisoner Kenneth Bae, who had been sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in North Korea. Kim released Bae the following year.

In July 2013, Rodman told Sports Illustrated: "My mission is to break the ice between hostile countries. Why it's been left to me to smooth things over, I don't know. Dennis Rodman, of all people. Keeping us safe is really not my job; it's the black guy's [Obama's] job. But I'll tell you this: If I don't finish in the top three for the next Nobel Peace Prize, something's seriously wrong." On September 3, 2013, Rodman flew to Pyongyang for another meeting with Kim Jong-un. He said that Kim has a daughter named Kim Ju-ae, and that he is a "great dad". He also noted that he planned to train the North Korean national basketball team. He stated that he is "trying to open Obama's and everyone's minds" and encouraged Obama to reach out to Kim Jong-un.

In December 2013, Rodman announced that he would visit North Korea again. He also said that he has plans to take a number of former NBA players with him for an exhibition basketball tour. According to Rory Scott, a spokesman for the exhibitions' sponsoring organization, Rodman planned to visit December 18–21 and train the North Korean team in preparation for January games. The games were scheduled for January 8 (Kim Jong-un's birthday) and January 10, 2014. Included on the U.S. exhibition team were Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson, Vin Baker, Craig Hodges, Doug Christie, Sleepy Floyd, Charles D. Smith, and four streetballers. Rodman departed from Beijing on January 6. Among his entourage was Irish media personality Matt Cooper, who had interviewed Rodman a number of times on the radio.

Rodman made comments on January 7, 2014 during a CNN interview implying that Kenneth Bae was at fault for his imprisonment. The remarks were widely reported in other media outlets and provoked a storm of criticism. Two days later, Rodman apologized for his comments, saying that he had been drinking and under pressure. He added that he "should know better than to make political statements". Some members of Congress, the NBA, and human rights groups suggested that Rodman had become a public relations stunt for the North Korean government. On May 2, 2016, Kenneth Bae credited Rodman with his early release. He said that Rodman's rant raised awareness of his case and that he wanted to thank him for his expedited release.

The Department of the Treasury is reportedly investigating whether Rodman broke the law by bringing Kim Jong-un thousands of dollars in luxury gifts on his 2014 trip to North Korea.

On June 13, 2017, Rodman returned to North Korea on what was initially described as a sports-related visit to the country. "My purpose is to go over there and try to see if I can keep bringing sports to North Korea," he said. He added that he hoped to accomplish "something that's pretty positive" during the visit. He met with national Olympic athletes and basketball players, viewed a men's basketball practice, and visited a state-run orphanage. He was not able to meet with Kim Jong Un, but met instead with the nation's Minister of Sports and gave him several gifts for Kim Jong Un, including two signed basketball jerseys, two soap sets, and a copy of Donald Trump's 1987 book The Art of the Deal. Other gifts believed to be intended for the leader's daughter included a Where's Waldo? book and a jigsaw puzzle of a mermaid.

Rodman posted a video on Twitter that was recorded before he left for the visit in which he and his agent describe the mission of the trip. "He's going to try to bring peace between both nations," said Rodman's agent Chris Volo, referring to the strained relations between North Korea and the United States. Rodman added, "That's the main reason why we're going. We're trying to bring everything together. If not, at least we tried." The visit was sponsored by the cryptocurrency company PotCoin.

Rodman's "hoops diplomacy" inspired the 20th Century Fox comedy Diplomats. Tim Story and Peter Chernin are set to produce the film, while Jonathan Abrams is reportedly writing the script.

Rodman visited North Korea again in June 2018. "I'm just happy to be a part of" the 2018 North Korea–United States summit, he said, "because I think I deserve it."

Presidential involvement suggested

The Washington Post raised the question of whether President Donald Trump sent Rodman on his 2017 visit to negotiate the release of several American prisoners of North Korea or to open a back channel for diplomatic communications. The U.S. State Department, White House officials, and Rodman all denied any official government involvement in the visit. Rodman, who publicly endorsed Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, is a self-described longtime friend of the president and, as the article put it, "Trump and Kim's only mutual acquaintance." The Washington Post article stated, "Multiple people involved in unofficial talks with North Korea say that the Trump administration has been making overtures toward the Kim regime, including trying to set up a secret back channel to the North Korean leader using 'an associate of Trump's' rather than the usual lineup of North Korea experts and former officials who talk to Pyongyang's representatives."

When asked if he had spoken with Trump about the visit, Rodman replied, "Well, I'm pretty sure he's pretty much happy with the fact that I'm over here trying to accomplish something that we both need." Rodman publicly presented a copy of Trump's book, "The Art of the Deal" to North Korean officials, as a personal gift for Kim Jong Un. In a Twitter video posted by Rodman, his agent Chris Volo said, "He's the only person on the planet that has the uniqueness, the unbelievable privilege of being friends with President Trump and Marshal Kim Jong Un." Rodman went on to say in the video that he wanted to bring peace and "open doors between both countries."

Otto Warmbier, an American student held captive in North Korea for 17 months, was released to U.S. officials the same day as Rodman's visit to North Korea. Despite the timeline of the two events, the U.S. State Department, The White House, and Rodman all flatly denied any diplomatic connection or coordination between Rodman's visit and the U.S. government. The U.S. State Department said the release of Warmbier was negotiated and secured by high level U.S. diplomats including Joseph Yun, the State Department's special envoy on North Korea. Warmbier, who was in a nonresponsive coma throughout much of his imprisonment in North Korea, died days after being returned to his family in the U.S.

In an emotional interview with Michael Strahan of "Good Morning America", Rodman expressed sorrow for the death of Warmbier and said, "I was just so happy to see the kid released. Later that day, that's when we found out he was ill. No one knew that." He added that he wished to give "all the prayer and love" to the Warmbier family and had contacted them and hoped to meet with them personally.

Rodman's agent, Chris Volo, told ABC News that before they left for the 2017 trip, he had asked North Korean officials to release Warmbier as a symbol of good faith for any future sports-relations visits. "I asked on behalf of Dennis for his release three times," Volo said.

In December 2017, Columbia University professor of neurobiology Joseph Terwilliger, who has accompanied Rodman to North Korea, argued that "While I don't suspect that very many Americans would have chosen him to be an emissary or international goodwill ambassador, Dennis has had a long friendship with Mr. Trump and has also developed a very cordial friendship with Mr. Kim. In this tense climate, as we stand at a perilous crossing, Mr. Rodman's unique position as a friend to the leaders of both U.S. and North Korea could provide a much-needed bridge to help resolve the current nuclear standoff.

[tortelette]

Toy Story Transition

Toy Story has been a part of most of our childhoods; we grew up along with the characters, we aged like Andy, and we left behind our toys (or at least most of us). 

Most of us were not even able to watch all available Toy Story movies due to other endeavours –– just not part of our priorities anymore.

But for those who actually spent their time indulging in the recent misadventures of our mischievous toys, you would be able to see the difference in each movie.

From animation, audio, to the personalities of each character, we can see that they also grew up – they improved along with us.

Beginning of an Adventure

***Photo by IMDB on Walt Disney Pictures

Looking back on the first Toy Story, we witnessed the dawn of computer-generated imagery (CGI) which was a fresh take on animation. This marked the beginning of a journey that impacted most of our childhood – from expecting your toys to move and having nightmares about creepy lurking toys.

Transitioning and Improvements

Over the years, the franchise has produced four films in which we can see how the toys travel from one place to another. 

Due to the toys’ owner, Andy, growing up, he decided to donate his toys which caused the separation of some of the gang. But Andy was not the only one who grew up.

As years pass by, the animation, art, and cinematography of the movies continue to develop. 

If you take time to zoom into each character in their latest team Toy Story 4, you can actually see signs of aging that were carefully placed by the animators. This adds realism through the use of meticulous details.

***A snippet of the Toy Story 4 poster zoomed in to Buzz’s decals showing scuffs. Photo taken by Buzzfeed.

The animation and cinematography aren’t the only ones that improved but it’s animation staff as well. Before the creation of Toy Story, Pixar only had less than 20 employees, but now they have 1,247.

"Over the years, we've improved. The tools are better, and I think we've reached a point where they're much more attractive and less strange," 

This is said Polly, who worked for Pixar since 1993.

***Animator Pete Docter at work on Toy Story Courtesy Deborah Coleman / Pixar

Furthermore, the large amount of workforce made it possible to research better camera angles, lighting, and accurate movement of matter which improves the visuals. From the pictures below, Bo Peep, who is one of the original characters in the first movie, reappeared with a stunning and upscale appearance. The ceramic material that showcases a glossy appearance through the reflection of light made the scenes well-defined and smoother compared to the original movie.

***Photo taken and edited by Insider comparing Bo Peep from the first and fourth iteration

1995

2019

Awards Received 

Toy Story (1995)

Academy Special Achievement Award (1996)

Annie Awards Best Animated Feature 

Golden Globes Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

Southeastern Film Critics Association Top Ten Films of 1995

Toy Story 4 (2019)

Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature

Bandung Film Festival for Imported Film

Producers Guild of America Award for Best Animated Motion Picture

ADG Excellence in Production Design Awards- Animated Film

The End of an Era

***Photo from Disney/Pixar

After the recent adventure of our favourite gang, Woody decided to stay with Bo Peep and leave the rest of the gang.

A lot of fans didn’t like this turn of events because of the separation between Woody and Buzz.

But that’s just how life is, we grow up, meet new people, and leave our old friends. As we grow up, we realise that although friendship is essential, we must learn to let go and move forward.

Toy Story 4 can be depicted as the transition of the times, the passing of the torch if you may. 

Andy gave away his toys and Woody left his friends to take on a new adventure. We also have grown up and found something new and forgotten something old. 

Our childhood has ended and it’s time to let the new generation pave their own path.

Although this might be the end of our childhood, this is also the beginning of a much more important phase of our lives which we must face, just like how the Toy Story franchise ––even without Woody–– is still on its way to producing the next part of their story.

But wherever the story might go, we’d still be there watching over it.

Here’s to our infinity which will most certainly reach beyond.

References:

Ebert, R. (n.d.). Toy Story movie review & film summary (1995) | Roger Ebert. © Copyright 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/toy-story-1995

Global Times. (2019, June 5). Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ franchise shows how far the studio has come. https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1153196.shtml

Rackham, C., & Watson, S. (2020, September 18). 48 awesome facts about "Toy Story 4" you probably didn't know. https://www.buzzfeed.com/caseyrackham/toy-story-4-facts-secrets. 

Snetiker, M. (2019, June 24). What the ending of Toy Story 4 means for the franchise. EW.Com. https://ew.com/movies/2019/06/21/toy-story-4-ending-explained/

Toy Story. (n.d.). IMDb. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/awards

Toy Story (1995). (1995, November 22). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/

Zorthian, J. (2015, November 19). How Toy Story Changed Movie History. Time. https://time.com/4118006/20-years-toy-story-pixar/

[newstfionline]

Friday, December 11, 2020

I.C.U. Beds Near Capacity Across U.S. (NYT) In El Paso, hospitals reported that just 13 of 400 intensive care beds were not occupied last week. In Fargo, N.D., there were just three. In Albuquerque, there were zero. More than a third of Americans live in areas where hospitals are running critically short of intensive care beds, federal data show, revealing a newly detailed picture of the nation’s hospital crisis during the deadliest week of the Covid-19 epidemic. One in 10 Americans—across a large swath of the Midwest, South and Southwest—lives in an area where intensive care beds are either completely full, or fewer than 5 percent of beds are available. At these levels, experts say maintaining existing standards of care for the sickest patients may be difficult or impossible.

Poll: Only half in US want shots as vaccine nears (AP) As states frantically prepare to begin months of vaccinations that could end the pandemic, a new poll finds only about half of Americans are ready to roll up their sleeves when their turn comes. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows about a quarter of U.S. adults aren’t sure if they want to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Roughly another quarter say they won’t. Many on the fence have safety concerns and want to watch how the initial rollout fares—skepticism that could hinder the campaign against the scourge that has killed nearly 290,000 Americans. Experts estimate at least 70% of the U.S. population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, or the point at which enough people are protected that the virus can be held in check.

U.S. and States Say Facebook Illegally Crushed Competition (NYT) The Federal Trade Commission and more than 40 states accused Facebook on Wednesday of buying up its rivals to illegally squash competition, and they called for the deals to be unwound, escalating regulators’ battle against the biggest tech companies in a way that could remake the social media industry. Federal and state regulators of both parties, who have investigated the company for over 18 months, said in separate lawsuits that Facebook’s purchases, especially Instagram for $1 billion in 2012 and WhatsApp for $19 billion two years later, eliminated competition that could have one day challenged the company’s dominance. The applications have helped catapult Facebook from a company started in a college dorm room 16 years ago to an internet powerhouse valued at more than $800 billion.

‘Welcome to Texas!’ (NYT) Long before Elon Musk, the Tesla magnate and billionaire Californian, announced that he was moving to Texas, Marie Bailey, a California transplant now living north of Dallas, fastened a customized license plate onto her very own Tesla, with a message that has become her ethos. “Move2TX,” it reads in block letters, underneath an emblem of the one-starred Texas flag. The news by Mr. Musk, who announced his move on Tuesday, in a snub to California and its strong regulatory environment, added fuel to the longstanding rivalry between the nation’s two most populous states. California, with its steep housing costs, raging wildfires and strict business regulations, has been losing residents to other states, with Texas as the most popular exodus destination. Of more than 653,000 people who left California last year, about 82,000 went to Texas, more than any other state, according to census figures. Or, as The Stanford Review wrote in a nod to the native Texan George Strait, “All of California’s Exes Are Moving to Texas.”

SpaceX launches Starship on highest test flight, crash-lands (AP) SpaceX launched its shiny, bullet-shaped, straight-out-of-science fiction Starship several miles into the air from a remote corner of Texas on Wednesday, but the 6 1/2-minute test flight ended in an explosive fireball at touchdown. It was the highest and most elaborate flight yet for the rocketship that Elon Musk says could carry people to Mars in as little as six years. Despite the catastrophic finale, he was thrilled. “Mars, here we come!!” he tweeted. This latest prototype—the first one equipped with a nose cone, body flaps and three engines—was shooting for an altitude of up to eight miles (12.5 kilometers). That’s almost 100 times higher than previous hops and skimming the stratosphere. The full-scale, stainless steel model—160 feet (50 meters) tall and 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter—soared out over the Gulf of Mexico. After about five minutes, it flipped sideways as planned and descended in a free-fall back to the southeastern tip of Texas near the Mexican border. The Raptor engines reignited for braking and the rocket tilted back upright. When it touched down, however, the rocketship became engulfed in flames and ruptured, parts scattering.

In Cuba, Internet Fuels Rare Protests (NYT) In another era, the detention of a young Cuban dissident may have gone completely unnoticed. But when the rapper Denis Solís was arrested by the police, he did something that has only recently become possible on the island: He filmed the encounter on his cellphone and streamed it live on Facebook. The stream last month prompted his friends in an artist collective to go on a hunger strike, which the police broke up after a week, arresting members of the group. But their detentions were also caught on cellphone videos and shared widely over social media, leading hundreds of artists and intellectuals to stage a demonstration outside the Culture Ministry the next day. This swift mobilization of protesters was a rare instance of Cubans openly confronting their government—and a stark example of how having widespread access to the internet through cellphones is testing the power balance between the communist regime and its citizens. The fact that such a large protest happened at all—and led to the creation of a formal movement with a name and a Facebook page—is in itself extraordinary in a country where the opposition is barely existent.

Lockdown Gardening in Britain Leads to Archaeological Discoveries (NYT) Gardeners in Hampshire, a county in southeast England, were weeding their yard in April when they found 63 gold coins and one silver coin from King Henry VIII’s reign in the 16th century, with four of the coins inscribed with the initials of the king’s wives Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. The archaeological find was one of more than 47,000 in England and Wales that were reported this year, amid an increase in backyard gardening during coronavirus lockdowns, the British Museum said on Wednesday. In another discovery, in Milton Keynes, a town northwest of London, gardeners found 50 solid gold South African Krugerrand coins that were minted in the 1970s during apartheid.

As Brexit cliff edge looms, miles of trucks stack up near southern English port (Reuters) Trucks heading towards the English port of Dover were stacked up for miles on Thursday, just three weeks before Britain exits the European Union’s orbit in a potentially tumultuous finale to the five-year divorce, a Reuters photographer said. Logistics groups have reported surging demand from companies trying to bring parts, goods and food into the country before Britain leaves the EU’s single market and customs union, a move that is expected to cause even more disruption in January. The British government has warned that even with a trade deal, 7,000 trucks heading for the Channel ports in south-east England could be held in 100-km (62-mile) queues if companies do not prepare the extra paperwork required.

Eyes on a reset (Washington Post) European leaders plan to use a summit that starts Thursday to agree on a sweeping new strategy to rebuild strained relations with the United States, after four years of a divide-and-conquer approach from President Trump. From rebuilding the Iran nuclear deal to fighting the pandemic to addressing climate change, Europeans are scrambling to seize the moment with the incoming U.S. leader. Because of Joe Biden’s age and history, many here believe he will be more interested in cooperation with Europe than any U.S. president for the foreseeable future, Democrat or Republican. But leaders on both sides of the Atlantic warn that some of the irritants of the Trump years will remain, and other divides could still open—especially on what may be the greatest foreign policy challenge of Biden’s presidency, an increasingly aggressive and expansionist Beijing. European countries vary sharply on how they think they should manage relations with China, and the biggest and most powerful country in Europe, Germany, also has the closest trading relationship with Beijing. European leaders also have become embroiled in an intramural debate about the extent to which they should seek independence from the United States, a goal increasingly pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron and opposed by Germany and others.

Poles voice fears of ‘Polexit’ as govt defies EU over budget (AP) As the Polish government plays a game of chicken with the European Union over its next long-term budget, some Poles are voicing fears that a drawn-out conflict could put their country on a path toward an eventual departure from the bloc, or “Polexit.” Poland’s conservative government, led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice party, denies that it has ever wanted to leave the 27-member bloc, and popular support for EU membership runs extremely high. But critics fear the combative tone of Polish leaders—who have recently compared the EU to the Soviet Union and used terms like “political enslavement” to describe Poland’s predicament in the standoff—could create momentum, which if unstopped, could accidently bring the nation to the exit door. The fears are rooted in a threat by the Polish and Hungarian governments to block the EU’s 1.82 trillion-euro ($2.21 trillion) budget for the next seven years, including a coronavirus recovery package. The veto threat comes after other EU members voted to introduce a new rule that would allow the bloc to cut funding to EU nations that violate the rule of law.

World’s pharmacy gears up for vaccine race (Reuters) India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, is getting set for the massive global blitz to contain the coronavirus pandemic with its pharmaceutical industry and partners freeing up capacity and accelerating investments even without firm purchase orders. India manufactures more than 60% of all vaccines sold across the globe, and while its $40 billion pharmaceutical sector is not yet involved in the production of the expensive Pfizer Inc and Moderna shots, the nation will play a pivotal role in immunizing much of the world. Indian companies are set to produce eight, more affordable vaccines designed to fight COVID-19. But much of India’s vaccine production could be, at least initially, for domestic use. With nearly 10 million infections, the world’s second-highest after the United States, India’s government is likely to order a huge chunk of the vaccines for its 1.3 billion people.

South Korea to criminalize sending leaflets into North Korea, bowing to regime (Washington Post) South Korea’s ruling party is pushing a law through parliament that would criminalize sending leaflets, flash drives and money to North Korea, in what the opposition calls a “disgraceful submission” to Pyongyang and human rights groups say will stifle freedom of expression and humanitarian work. The move follows pressure from Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who in June labeled defectors based in South Korea “human scum” and “mongrel dogs” for sending items across the border designed to undermine the North Korean regime. She warned Seoul would face a “dear price” unless it prevented this “wicked and sordid act of hostility.” President Moon Jae-in’s government, which has made improving relations with North Korea a priority, immediately began cracking down on groups that dispatch such materials across the heavily guarded frontier. Lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party then introduced a bill to make it a felony punishable by up to three years in prison to send promotional pamphlets and storage devices such as flash drives, money and other financial benefits to the North without the government’s permission.

China restricts US official travel to Hong Kong (AP) China is imposing restrictions on travel to Hong Kong by some U.S. officials and others in retaliation for similar measures imposed on Chinese individuals by Washington, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. U.S. diplomatic passport holders visiting Hong Kong and nearby Macao will temporarily no longer receive visa-free entry privileges, spokesperson Hua Chunying said. U.S. administration officials, congressional staffers, employees of non-governmental organizations and their immediate family members will face “reciprocal sanctions,” Hua said. Hua said the move was taken “given that the U.S. side is using the Hong Kong issue to seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine China’s core interests.”

Australia largely beat the virus. But it left thousands of residents stranded abroad. (Washington Post) Australian entry restrictions have stranded tens of thousands of Australian citizens and residents overseas. As a group, they form part of an unexpected phenomenon of the pandemic: displaced people of the developed world. And for Australians overseas or with loved ones abroad, the tyranny of distance—a largely bygone concern conquered by jet travel—is once again very real. There is no authoritative figure on how many people have been stranded as a result of restrictions that countries have imposed during the pandemic. In late March, more than 50,000 Americans were stuck overseas when cross-border travel almost ceased, U.S. officials said at the time. Australia’s situation is extreme, though. The island continent has one of the strictest border closures—residents need special permission to leave, and only citizens, residents and a few other select groups have been allowed in since March 20. Arrivals are limited to about 8,000 a week and they must isolate in a hotel for 14 days at their own expense. Besides allowing entry to travelers from New Zealand, the country has largely sealed itself off. In January, about 2.3 million people came to Australia. By September, the figure was 16,720.

Morocco joins other Arab nations agreeing to normalize Israel ties (Reuters) Israel and Morocco agreed on Thursday to normalize relations in a deal brokered with U.S. help, making Morocco the fourth Arab country to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months. It joins the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in beginning to forge deals with Israel, driven in part by U.S.-led efforts to present a united front against Iran and roll back Tehran’s regional influence. In a departure from longstanding U.S. policy, President Donald Trump agreed as part of the deal to recognize Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara, a desert region where a decades-old territorial dispute has pitted Morocco against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, a breakaway movement that seeks to establish an independent state in the territory. President-elect Joe Biden, due to succeed Trump on Jan. 20, will face a decision whether to accept the U.S. deal on the Western Sahara, which no other Western nation has done.

[swampflix]

SEFCA’s Top 10 Films of 2023

Swampflix’s official coverage of the best films of 2023 won’t start until January 2024, but listmaking season is already in full swing elsewhere. General consensus on the best films of the year is starting to take shape as regional film critic associations are publishing their collective Best of the Year lists, and I’m proud to say I was once again able to take a small part in that annual ritual.…

[thejewofkansas]

Awards Season 2022-23: Awards Round-Up 12/16

Awards Season 2022-23: Awards Round-Up 12/16

I can’t blame them. Winning 33 awards from 9 separate groups must be exhausting. Here’s the drill: it obviously would take too long to put together separate posts for every awards group that announces. But I like to cover and discuss as many groups as possible. What I did last year, and am doing this year, is listing off the categories and listing who gave which film what award. Usually, these…

[filmstruck]

Not on the List: Volker Schlöndorff’s PALMETTO (’98) by Susan Doll

Recently, FilmStruck featured German filmmaker Volker Schlöndorff as Director of the Week. Eleven of Schlöndorff’s films are still streaming on the service, including THE TIN DRUM (’79), his first major international success, and SWANN IN LOVE (’84), his popular adaptation of Proust starring Jeremy Irons. Though Schlöndorff trained in France and considered Louis Malle his mentor, he is associated with the New German Cinema, that group of directors from the 1970s who sought to disassociate themselves from the movies and politics of the previous generation. Like his peers Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, Schlöndorff prefers films with social commentary and criticism. He is attracted to characters who struggle with personal morality within a malicious milieu or malignant society. Schlöndorff, who is literate and fluent in several languages, is well known for his adaptions of literary works. I recommend DEATH OF A SALESMAN (’85), starring Dustin Hoffman, and CIRCLE OF DECEIT (’81), both of which are streaming on FilmStruck.

My favorite Schlöndorff film, PALMETTO (’98), fits into his style and themes, but, unfortunately, it is not one of the titles offered of FilmStruck. Not widely known or respected, PALMETTO represents Schlöndorff’s flirtation with film noir. It was adapted from the mystery thriller Just Another Sucker by British novelist James Hadley Chase, and it features an American cast, including Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue and Gina Gershon. The criminally underrated Harrelson is one of my favorite actors, but the main reason I like this movie so much is because it was shot in Florida—my adopted home state. Florida was already home to noted crime novelists John D. MacDonald, Charles Willeford and Carl Hiassen when Lawrence Kasdan shot BODY HEAT in the Sunshine State in 1981. The politics of development, a transient population and the heated tropical climate created the perfect milieu for a story of social and personal corruption. After BODY HEAT, Florida became the favored locale for noir. The revival of noir in the 1980s and 1990s included several films shot in Florida, including A FLASH OF GREEN (’84), CAPE FEAR (’91), CHINA MOON (’94), WILD THINGS (’98) and PALMETTO.

PALMETTO stars Harrelson as Harry Barber, a former reporter just released from prison for a crime he did not commit. Bitter and adrift, Harry wants to start a new life in Miami, but his old flame, played by Gina Gershon, persuades him to return to Palmetto. He is lured into a dicey kidnapping scheme by the proverbial sexpot who is married to a wealthy old man. Fans of film noir already know by this juncture that Harry’s fate is sealed.

The appeal of film noir is not plot, however. It’s in the melancholy mood, the offbeat characters and the peculiar predicament of the protagonist. Florida’s tropical environment drips with atmosphere, while the state has a pronounced proclivity for the peculiar. Schlöndorff takes advantage of the Florida locale to create a unique spin to this hard-boiled tale of ill fate and bad choices.

The film opens on a close-up of an ugly palmetto bug twitching its antennae as Harry explains in voice-over that the bug—a kind of cockroach—is “pretty good company.” In the beginning, Harry sits alone in his tiny jail cell, so he can’t afford to be picky about his pals. The bug provides a proper opening for a story of down and dirty double-crosses, while also offering a unique introduction to the Florida setting. Florida is home to an assortment of large cockroaches, including the American, the Australian, the brown, the smoky brown and the Florida woods roach. And, “large” is the operative word: As my cousin once said, “A palmetto is so big that if you throw your shoe at it to kill it, it will pick it up and throw it back at you.”

After his release from prison, Harry, who has turned cynical and resentful, is primed to make all the wrong choices. With no vehicle and no friends, he decides to walk to Miami along a two-lane highway that cuts through a subtropical terrain filled with palmetto bushes. A familiar site in south-central Florida, the saw palmetto is a six-to-nine-foot palm shrub native to the southeastern United States. Though thickets of palmetto bushes can look exotic and mysterious, they provide shelter for such treacherous and unwanted varmints as lizards, spiders, dusky pygmy rattlesnakes and—yes—palmetto bugs. Harry’s former girlfriend tracks him down as he strolls down the highway in the dead of night. As she pleads with him to get in the car, Harry stands between the thick palmetto bushes on either side of the highway, which visually entraps him.

There really is a Palmetto, Florida, which is located midway between Tampa and Sarasota. Small and low-key, it is known primarily for its huge outlet mall along Interstate 75. The real Palmetto isn’t much like the Palmetto in the film, which is a typical noir city filled with graft, corruption and dirty politicians. Of course, an outlet mall lacks the melancholy atmosphere—or any atmosphere, for that matter—needed for a film noir, so much of the film was shot in Venice, Fort Myers, Englewood and Sarasota. Harry meets femme fatale Rhea Malroux (Elisabeth Shue) while hoisting a few in a dark, gloomy bar, which is actually the Gator Club located on Main Street in Sarasota.

Thus, within the first few minutes of the film, Schlöndorff offers three meanings for the film’s title—the bugs, the shrubs, and the town. All three are closely associated with Florida, and all three will mean bad luck for Harry Barber.

Aspects such as these make the work of Volker Schlöndorff worth exploring and although PALMETTO is not one of the titles currently streaming on FilmStruck, several of his other titles are available and are worth screening.

[acedmagazine]

SEFCA Announces 2020's Film Winners

SEFCA Announces 2020's Film Winners

February 22, 2021 – The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has named Nomadland as its Best Film of 2020. Chloé Zhao’s intimate, elegiac drama about life in America after the Great Recession also earned the organization’s awards for Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Zhao, and Best Cinematography for […]

https://acedmagazine.com/sefca-announces-2020s-film-winners/

[awardseasonblog]

Ai #GoldenGlobes il talentuoso #KodiSmitMcPhee ha vinto il premio per la categoria Miglior attore non protagonista per la sua performance nella pluripremiata pellicola di Jane Campion #Ilpoteredelcane. Per questo ruolo ha vinto un numero vertiginoso di #FilmCriticsAwards: New York Film Critics Circle Award, Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award, Boston Online Film Critics Association Award, New York Film Critics Online Award, Philadelphia Film Critics Award, New Mexico Film Critics Award, Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, Chicago Film Critics Association Award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, Utah Film Critics Association Award, St. Louis Film Critics Association Award, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Award, Online Association of Female Film Critics Award, Black Film Critics Circle Award, Florida Film Critics Circle Award, North Carolina Film Critics Association Award, Oklahoma Film Critics Circle Award, Columbus Film Critics Association Award #AwardsSeason #BestSupportingActor #GoldenGlobes2022 #HFPA https://www.instagram.com/p/CYiLF24I7-e/?utm_medium=tumblr

[omgstupendousbouquetbasement]

Newspaper Criticizes Film's Take on Olympic Bombing Coverage

After a bomb exploded in a downtown Atlanta park midway through the 1996 Olympics, a security guard initially cast as a hero was recast as a villain virtually overnight. More than 20 years later, a movie to be released later this week, "Richard Jewell," explores the roles played by law enforcement and the media in the guard's ordeal.

Now the movie is drawing its own share of criticism.

Kevin Riley, the current editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is disputing the film's depiction of the newspaper's reporting and decision-making processes, especially the portrayal of reporter Kathy Scruggs, who the movie implies traded sex with an FBI agent for a tip on the story.

In an interview with The Associated Press, director Clint Eastwood dismissed the criticism of his movie, which is based on a 1997 Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, by saying the paper likely is looking to "rationalize" its actions.

Jewell's saga began on July 27, 1996, when he spotted an abandoned backpack during a concert in Centennial Olympic Park shortly before 1 a.m. and helped clear the area as federal agents determined it contained a bomb. The explosion about 20 minutes later killed 44-year-old Alice Hawthorne of Albany, Georgia, and injured 111 people, some of them seriously. A Turkish television cameraman died after suffering a heart attack while running to film the explosion's aftermath.

Jewell, who likely helped prevent many more casualties, was initially hailed as a hero but a few days later was reported to be the focus of the FBI investigation, and the public quickly turned on him.

FILE - Photographers surround Richard Jewell prior to his testifying before a House Judiciary Crime subcommittee hearing, July 30, 1997, on the Olympic bombing in Atlanta.

The park reopened within days, the games continued and Jewell was publicly cleared three months later. But he grappled with the fallout for the rest of his life, and Atlanta lived with the fear and unease of a bomber still at large.

A new book, "The Suspect," attempts to bring clarity to the aftermath of the bombing. Its authors were in the thick of it: Kent Alexander was the U.S. attorney in Atlanta when the bombing happened and Kevin Salwen led The Wall Street Journal's southeastern section.

In the frantic days after the bombing, Scruggs confirmed with law enforcement sources that the FBI was focusing on Jewell. The paper published that information three days after the explosion and scores of reporters descended on the apartment complex where Jewell lived with his mother, leaving them feeling as if they were under siege for months.

Jewell had made clear his dream of working in law enforcement and was endlessly mocked as an overzealous but bumbling wannabe cop.

It's easy to say in hindsight that the investigation focused too heavily on Jewell, Alexander said. But some of Jewell's actions and tips from people who knew him raised serious questions, the former prosecutor said. There was also the memory of a police officer at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles who was celebrated for disarming a bomb until it emerged that he'd planted it.

Doubts about Jewell's guilt surfaced quickly, especially once it became clear he couldn't have made a 911 call reporting the bomb from a pay phone blocks away.

In late October 1996, Alexander took the unusual step of sending a letter to one of Jewell's attorneys saying Jewell was not a target of the investigation.

"His name had been so badly muddied and tarnished that it just seemed like we should do something, so I did," Alexander said.

That left authorities sifting through dozens of possible suspects — the actual bomber, anti-government extremist Eric Rudolph, not among them. Rudolph, who was behind two more bombs in Atlanta in early 1997 and another in Alabama in January 1998, was eventually captured in 2003 and pleaded guilty in 2005.

'Voice of God'

The media frenzy surrounding Jewell drew backlash, and the Journal-Constitution was criticized for the "voice of God" style in its initial story, which carried no attribution and left the origin of the information unclear.

Ron Martz, who shared a byline with Scruggs on the scoop, said questions and rumors swirled in the wake of the horrific attack and he saw it as a public service to let people know where the investigation stood.

Scruggs had solid sources and the story had been through several editors, Martz said. Editors even had him take the highly unusual step of reading the entire story to an FBI spokesman to confirm that the information was correct and to make sure it wouldn't jeopardize the investigation.

But Martz said he regrets not pushing for clearer attribution on the original story, which could have spared the paper much grief with the addition of just five words: "according to law enforcement sources."

Once he was effectively cleared, Jewell's lawyers filed libel suits against numerous news outlets. Most settled, but the Journal-Constitution didn't. The legal battle continued for more than a decade, beyond Jewell's death in 2007 at age 44. The courts ultimately ruled the newspaper's stories weren't libelous because they were substantially true when published.

Criticism of the newspaper, and particularly Scruggs, was devastating to her, Martz said.

"She felt very hurt by the way she was being portrayed and the fact that this was to be the shining moment of her career and people were going after her personally to get at her professionally," he said.

Scruggs was a "wild child," loud, foul-mouthed and often provocative, Martz said, but she was also relentless, hard-nosed and one of the best reporters he ever worked with. She died at 42 in 2001 from an overdose of prescription drugs.

Demand for disclaimer

In an op-ed, Journal-Constitution editor Riley wrote that there's no evidence Scruggs committed the breach of journalistic ethics implied in the movie and disputed implications that the newspaper's reporting was sloppy.

Eastwood defended the depiction of Scruggs, saying he'd "read a lot of material" on her that seemed to "corroborate the fact that she was somewhat on the wild side." He also said the news media sometimes rushes because of competition to be first, and "they pull the trigger before they're dialed in."

In a letter sent Monday to Eastwood, a Warner Brothers lawyer and others, a lawyer for the newspaper demands a public statement that dramatization was used in the film's portrayal of events and characters, and asks that a "prominent disclaimer" to that effect be added to the film.

"It is highly ironic that a film purporting to tell a tragic story of how the reputation of an FBI suspect was grievously tarnished appears bent on a path to severely tarnish the reputation of the AJC," lawyer Martin Singer wrote.

Warner Brothers fired back, saying that the newspaper's claims are baseless, that the film seeks to confirm Jewell's innocence and restore his name.

"It is unfortunate and the ultimate irony that the Atlanta Journal Constitution, having been a part of the rush to judgment of Richard Jewell, is now trying to malign our filmmakers and cast," the studio wrote in a statement.  

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[wavemstudios]

Southeastern Film Critics Association Selects ‘Parasite’ as the Year’s Best Film http://dlvr.it/RKy10w http://dlvr.it/RKy10w

[lianordin]

Jessi Combs, TV Host and Racecar Driver, Dies in Attempt at Land Speed Record

U.S.|Jessi Combs, TV Host and Racecar Driver, Dies in Attempt at Land Speed Record

Ms. Combs died while operating a powerful jet-shaped car as she sought to claim a world record.

Image

Jessi Combs sitting in the cockpit of the vehicle filming a commercial.CreditCreditNorth American Eagle

Aug. 28, 2019Updated 6:15 p.m. ET

Jessi Combs, a television host and professional racer, died on Tuesday in Oregon while trying to set a world land speed record.

Ms. Combs’s death was confirmed in a statement by the Harney County Sheriff’s Office, which responded to the scene of the crash in the Alvord Desert in southeastern Oregon on Tuesday afternoon. The office said it did not yet know the cause of the crash.

In a statement provided to Jalopnik, the car publication, and others, her family said that Ms. Combs, 39, had been driving the North American Eagle, a 56-foot-long jetlike car capable of generating over 45,500 horsepower. The crash occurred on a dry lake bed.

“People that loved her and followed her became family, all bonded together by adventure and passion,” the statement said. “Her fans adored her, and she lived to inspire them.”

Ms. Combs was a lifelong racing fan whose love of cars and the sport led her into television, with a short run of appearances on “MythBusters,” the popular science program, and continuing hosting roles on “Xtreme 4×4,” a show about off-roading, and “Overhaulin’,” a show about revamping cars.

Image

From left, Chip Foose, Jessi Combs and Chris Jacobs during a panel for “Overhaulin’” at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., in 2012.CreditPhil Mccarten/Reuters

On Twitter on Wednesday, Adam Savage, a host of “MythBusters,” praised Ms. Combs as a “brilliant” builder, engineer, driver, fabricator and science communicator, who “strove everyday to encourage others by her prodigious example.”

“She was also a colleague, and we are lesser for her absence,” he added. “My heart goes out to her family.”

After graduating from a Wyoming technical college with a degree in automotive fabrication, Ms. Combs found her way onto “Overhaulin’” and then “Xtreme 4×4,” according to a biography on her personal website. In 2007, she suffered a spinal injury in an accident involving a large piece of machinery, after which she decided to leave that show. Two years later, she started appearing on “MythBusters.”

In the past decade, Ms. Combs had also participated in a number of competitive driving events. She became known as “the fastest woman on four wheels” after a 2013 attempt at breaking the women’s land-speed world record in which she reached a speed of 398 miles per hour, according to the biography.

In a run last fall, Ms. Combs was able to reach a speed of just over 483 miles per hour, according to her personal website. The current women’s landspeed record was set in the very place where Ms. Combs died, Oregon’s Alvord Desert, in 1976 by Kitty O’Neil, who reached a speed of 512.7 miles per hour.

On Instagram on Wednesday, her colleague Terry Madden confirmed her death, writing that “she was the most amazing spirit that I have ever or will ever know.”

In 2017, Ms. Combs made her way back to her home state of South Dakota to serve as the first female grand marshal of a local motorcycle rally. When asked by a local reporter about her future plans, she described them as always evolving.

“Ideas, dreams, and goals morph as we experience life, so I’m not sure I can look at it like there’s something I haven’t yet achieved since I will always be striving for something more,” she said.

Niraj Chokshi is a general assignment reporter based in New York. Before joining The Times in 2016, he covered state governments for The Washington Post. He has also worked at The Atlantic, National Journal and The Recorder, in San Francisco. @nirajc

The post Jessi Combs, TV Host and Racecar Driver, Dies in Attempt at Land Speed Record appeared first on thedigichick.

from https://www.thedigichick.com/world/jessi-combs-tv-host-and-racecar-driver-dies-in-attempt-at-land-speed-record/ from https://thedigichick.tumblr.com/post/187339581229