Why it matters that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg called Trump a 'faker'; Chief Beck & L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti meet with President Obama to discuss race and policing; and following criticism - and blow-back - of Renée Zellweger's looks in the new "Bridget Jones" installment, we ask: "when is an actor's appearance relevant to film criticism?"
Controversy swirls over Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s anti-Trump rhetoric
"Unprecedented"-- that's what Supreme Court watchers are saying of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's criticism of Donald Trump.
On Monday night, she called Trump a “faker” on CNN and told the Associated Press she couldn’t and didn’t want to imagine a Trump presidency.
Justice Ginsburg has weighed in on this year’s Presidential race on multiple occasions- an action believed to be unprecedented.
What effect will her comments have on the court and her fellow justices? Does Ginsburg crossing this line open the door for other justices to talk about the candidates? Will they then be able to sit in judgement of cases concerning future administrations?
Guest:
Jessica Levinson, professor at Loyola Law School, President of the L.A. Ethics Commission
Ed Whelan, President of the Ethics & Public Policy Center; former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia & Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice from 2001 – 2004
Republicans move to the right of Trump in party platform - how much does platform matter?
A GOP committee appears ready to approve a platform that's not only to the right of previous stances, but out of synch with some of Donald Trump's views.
As the Democratic Party's platform moved to the Left, so it appears the Republican platform will move to the Right. Over the past two days, GOP platform committee members met in Cleveland to debate positions on anti-Gay discrimination and whether US laws must align with religious principles.
We take a look at how different this is from the platform in 2012. Back then, there was no Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage and transgender rights were not part of the national conversation. But little appears to have changed in the platform in the past four years.
Furthermore, many have speculated that the current, socially conservative platform appears more aligned with a candidate Cruz than a candidate Trump.
How important is a party’s platform? How much distance is there from Trump on the platform's social stances? How does the platform relate to RNC Chair Reince Priebus' post-2012 autopsy that called for more inclusiveness within the party?
Guests:
John Eastman, professor of law and founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence at Chapman University; He’s also Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage, a D.C.-based nonprofit working to defend marriage and faith communities
Gregory T. Angelo, president of the Log Cabin Republicans
Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC and adjunct faculty at USC Annenberg School
Police commission says officers' shooting of black woman was 'within policy'
'Bridget Jones' kerfuffle: When is physical appearance relevant to film criticism?
Twelve years since audiences last saw Bridget Jones searching for love, squeezing into Spanx, and ultimately triumphing over self-doubt, the loveable character portrayed by Renee Zellweger is back in a form that has inspired a plethora of think pieces about women in Hollywood.
Kicking off the kerfuffle, well-known film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote a reasoned piece arguing, essentially, Zellweger's looks - likely altered by cosmetic procedures - do not resemble what the character, Bridget Jones, would look like today.
In response, filmmaker and former actress Rose McGowan penned a scorching open letter to Glieberman writing, "You are an active endorser of what is tantamount to harassment and abuse of actresses and women."
On AirTalk, we’ll focus on the relevance of physical appearance in film criticism. Performers’ looks are often put under a microscope, and not just by tabloids.
Mickey Rourke, Christian Bale, Jonah Hill, Melissa McCarthy, to name a few, have altered or used their physicalities in films to such an extent that it was a major component of their performances. How does that compare to the current controversy over Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones? And as any devoted Bridget Jones fan would wonder, isn’t it possible the character herself would wind up looking as Renee Zellweger does now?
Guests:
Claudia Puig, Film Critic for KPCC and The Wrap; President, Los Angeles Film Critics Association; she tweets from
Amy Nicholson, Film Critic for KPCC and MTV Chief Film Critic; she tweets from @TheAmyNicholson