With critics' groups across the country starting to hand out their awards, the Oscar race is officially on. Cinemablend's Sean O'Connell joins us to handicap the major categories. With no clear frontrunner, it's anyone's guess which movie is going to break out before the big night.
In the Best Picture category, it's looking like things are boiling down to a showdown between "The Post" and "Lady Bird." O'Connell weighs the pros and cons of each, noting that he thinks the Steven Spielberg political drama is the best movie of the year. We also consider whether "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" could be the franchise's first Best Picture nominee since the 1977 original, "A New Hope."
Then, we tackle the contenders duking it out in the acting categories. Meryl Streep is looking to win her fourth Oscar for her leading role in "The Post." If anyone can stop her, O'Connell says it will likely be "Lady Bird's" Saoirse Ronan or "I, Tonya's" Margot Robbie. As for the actors, "Darkest Hour's" Gary Oldman is pulling ahead as the one to beat for his portrayal of Winston Churchill.
Teens whose families earn $30,000 or less a year are more likely to rely on Facebook for homework help than their wealthier peers, according to Pew Research Center study. This shows how students who may have less access to resources, "use Facebook to kind of get ahead," says Hanna Kozlowska, a reporter at Quartz.
These are the headlines you Need2Know for Thursday, Aug. 16.
Taco chain Dos Toros launched a new app this week, "Burrito Time," which gives away 10 free burritos daily. At a random time, users will receive an alert that it's "Burrito Time," and the first 10 to open the app win a free meal.
Cannabis represents a fourth pillar of Constellation Brands' beer, wine, and spirits strategy, says the CEO Rob Sands. The company, which makes Corona beer, Svedka vodka, and Robert Mondavi wine invested $4 billion in the Canadian marijuana company Canopy Growth ー the largest weed deal by a major publicly traded company.
Jessica Rolph, the co-founder and CEO of Lovevery, a subscription service for children's toys and books, says her company was borne out of her wish "meet my child where they were." The subscription service sends boxes every other month with age-appropriate items to help new parents and their babies get through those early, clumsy years.
You may not remember Four Loko, the stimulant-spiked malt liquor known as "blackout in a can" that was temporarily taken off the market in 2010. An oral history by The Strategist's Maxine Builder recounts the party drink's rapid rise in 2010 and its dizzying fall soon after state regulators cracked down on alcoholic energy drinks.
Netta, the first Israeli artist to win the Eurovision song contest in 20 years, says her singing career took off when she finally learned to ignore other people's expectations and began expressing herself in a way she never felt comfortable as a child. Her hit "Toy" has more than 88 million views on YouTube and has established itself on Billboard's Dance and EDM charts.
These are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, Aug. 15.
Constellation Brands, the alcoholic beverage giant, is making a big bet that marijuana will be legalized in the United States by upping its investment in the Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth. With legal marijuana coming to Canada in the fall, investors are preparing for a potential legal U.S. market to open up soon.
Years of overuse have stripped the punctuation mark of its meaning, turning it into an emotional catchall that could suggest anything from actual excitement and friendliness to reassurance and anger.
