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.
Markets closed the day mixed, and well off their lows of the day following a market meltdown earlier in the session. The Nasdaq staged a comeback late in the day, even amid ongoing worries about the Federal Reserve raising interest rates. Doug Flynn, certified financial planner and co-founder of Flynn Zito Capito, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the markets' close and what's driving the major indexes.
Two companies recently announced a new partnership aimed at addressing the growing demand to borrow against crypto - digital assets capital markets firm CrossTower is partnering with commercial bank, BankProv. The companies are launching a crypto lending platform that will allow Bitcoin miners to receive loans to invest in crypto mining equipment. The companies say the program also addresses the difficulty of breaking into crypto mining due to the high cost. CrossTower research analyst Martin Gaspar joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Next-gen social sports platform Break the Love recently raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Break the Love's platform and iOS app allows users to discover and book group-based tennis activities, to either learn, train, or compete. The new company has already gotten support from a few big names in the world of tennis, including the coach of Naomi Osaka, as well as the United States Tennis Association and the brand Wilson. Break the Love founder and CEO Trisha Goyal joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
As the Omicron variant continues to sweep across the country. The US Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments at the end of this week on whether or not the Biden administration can force private companies to vaccinate or test millions of their employees. In addition, the National Nurses United has spearheaded legal action to protect nurses and health care workers, patients, and the public while on the job. President of the National Nurses Union, Zenei Cortez, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
China's ongoing crackdown of its own entertainment industry has been raising eyebrows for once now. With the ruling Communist Party instructing media companies to boycott immoral and overly entertaining stars. But the country has gone even further. Now experts warn that this could lead to further issues such as gender-based violence. Professor at the Institute of Sociology at National Tsinghua University, Hsiu-Hua Shen, and Associate Professor of Politics at Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame Joshua Eisenman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Today marks one year since the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol. The Country watched as supporters of then-President Trump stormed what was assumed to be the most secure building in the country in an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 Election. Several lawmakers, including the Vice President, could be seen ducking down as they feared for their lives. Democratic Michigan Representative Dan Kildee, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Bed Bath & Beyond delivered disappointing fiscal third-quarter results for 2022. Shares initially dove more than 9% in premarket trading on the news but finished the day up nearly 8%. Bed Bath & Beyond has been a meme-stock target for online investors in the past -- so was meme-stock mania a factor in the recent stock movement for the company? Jaime Rogozinski, the founder of the subreddit WallStreetBets, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more, as his forum helped spark the meme stock phenomena. He also discussed some decentralized finance services and trends for the retail investor to watch for in 2022.
Digital medical care provider Pear Therapeutics rang the closing bell on the Nasdaq Friday and President and CEO Dr. Corey McCann, joined Cheddar to talk about how the company plans to grow the business of software-based therapeutics and how the first FDA authorized prescription digital therapeutics company will go about treating illnesses like insomnia and addiction. "These really are pieces of software. In many cases, they're apps and in the cases of our addiction products, these are based on something called cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT," he said. "These products change the patient's brain circuitry to help them be abstinent, to help them stay in treatment, and that's exactly what we see in randomized clinical trials and that's what we see in the real world." He also addressed the ongoing mental health crises brought on by the pandemic. **copy updated to remove IPO information as Pear Therapeutics went public in December**
James Tattersall, director of sales and marketing for Lake Nona Wave Hotel, talks about the hotel's initiatives to foster diversity and how these amenities champion inclusivity in the Orlando area.
