This image released by Disney+ shows characters, from left, Abby, voiced by Hyein Park, Miriam, voiced by Ava Morse, Priya, voiced by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Mei Lee, voiced by Rosalie Chiang in a scene from "Turning Red." (Disney+ via AP)
This week as the Northern Hemisphere awaits the approach of spring, Cheddar recommends some entertainment to keep you occupied if it's still a little too chilly to cavort outside: "Turning Red," "Gaming Wall Street," "The Next Thing You Eat," and "The Dark Knight."
Turning Red - Disney+
Picked by Digital Editor Mike Nam
Adolescence can be a chaotic, emotional time for anyone — but for 13-year-old Mei, it gets a bit more complicated when she learns that due to her family's mystical legacy, she also begins to transform into a giant red panda when her emotions are heightened. Director Domee Shi, who also created the heartfelt short Bao, makes her feature debut with this Pixar flick set to premiere on Disney+ this Friday. Set in early 2000s Canada and heavily saturated with the kind of boy band pop music of the era, it's sure to be funny, nostalgic, and heartfelt like a lot of previous Pixar projects.
Gaming Wall Street - HBO Max
Picked by Reporter Alex Vuocolo
This business reporter was basically obligated to check out HBO Max's new docuseries about the 2021 meme-stock craze, and I'll say that it was mostly a worthwhile experience. It definitely simplifies the topic (like most pop-docs) and Kieran Culkin's narration is a little on the nose in how it plays up the heroic retail investors' life-or-death battle with Wall Street short-sellers, but it's still a fascinating window into the lives of the oddball Americans who tried to send GameStop and AMC to the moon. If anything, it's an interesting cultural document of a time and place when people said things like "stonks," "YOLO," and "tendies."
The Next Thing You Eat - Hulu
Picked by Sr. News Editor Dina Ross
This week I started watching The Next Thing You Eat, a series from 2021 on Hulu hosted by restaurateur David Chang. It's not about cooking — it's about understanding what we eat and why. I didn't find it preachy, but I did find it interesting. I jumped right in with Episode 4, entitled "Breakfast: An Illusion of Choice." I guess I was expecting to watch beautiful shots of eggs, bacon, and pancakes while I chowed down on my own meal. And yes, there was plenty of beautiful food videography, but Chang brings a unique take on food and dives into the question: why do we eat what we do for breakfast? As a kid who convinced her mom that ice cream for breakfast was better than nothing (ed. note: thanks mom!), I think it's a solid question. I mean, how much difference is there between traditional desserts and traditional breakfast foods like sugary cereal or anything drenched in maple syrup? Chang digs into this idea with a series of experts who have unique opinions and add different viewpoints to the conversation. I watched several other episodes as well, which I thought were put together in an interesting way with, of course, plenty of food beauty shots.
The Dark Knight - Netflix
Picked by Producer Lawrence Banton
Before I jump into why you should re-watch The Dark Knight, I promise this isn't to deter you from watching the latest installment, The Batman — mainly because I haven't even seen it myself. Now, I will say the fact that there is a new Batman movie in theaters, it made me want to revisit my favorite in the collection. Without seeing the new one, I think Christian Bale's performance as Bruce Wayne is unmatched and Heath Ledger's adaption of the Joker has already been etched in history. What I think makes this film so good is the very obvious struggle Batman had with toeing the line between being a hero and outright vigilante. Oh, and the action? The crew made good use of its $185 million budget. I also really enjoyed the emergence of Two-Face, aka Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and the eventual backstabbing by the Joker. Can you really ever trust a supervillain?
Looking for more to watch? Check out our recommendations from last week and the week before.
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
Survivors of Larry Nassar, including Olympian Simone Biles, are seeking $1 billion in damages from the FBI due to its failure to investigate the former gymnastics team doctor convicted of committing years of serial sexual abuse of minors. Jack Queen, a senior reporter at Law360, joined Cheddar News to break down the legal grounds of this case. "This is one of the biggest black eyes that the Bureau has faced in generations, quite frankly, and the FBI has taken full responsibility and admitted that it completely botched this investigation," he said. "So, there's a lot of pressure to settle."
The Elevate Prize Foundation is donating $10,000 to different grassroots organizations based on a theme every month to help scale their work, focusing on a different theme each time. Upcoming prizes will help uplift an organization supporting the LGBTQ community and one mobilizing to help end gun violence. The foundation's CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram joined Cheddar to discuss the initiative and why it's important to uplift these grassroots organizations. "We are identifying social entrepreneurs around the world to help them scale their work. but the ultimate purpose of that is to create the first-ever fanbase for good," she said. "We're trying to make good famous and by inspiring people to think about the role they can play in doing good in the world."
With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
We are already starting to feel the effects of summer. Heat waves in Texas and California are already sending temperatures soaring. That could spell trouble for the nation's power supply. there are new concerns about outages in many areas of the country. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier explains the two main causes of blackouts, and what states are doing to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running.
If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
