How will GOP candidates secure the number of delegates needed for the nomination? Star-Wars-ifying Disneyland, inside the lives of immigrant women who work as nannies.
GOP candidates, super PACs work to woo delegates ahead of Cleveland convention
As of now, Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has 743 delegates; Ted Cruz has 545. The magic number to secure the GOP nomination is 1,237. So how to get to that figure?
Rules on what is and isn't kosher when attempting to persuade delegates date back to the 80s and don't offer a lot of advice.
The Washington Post's Matea Gold wrote about it and joined Take Two.
Press the blue button above to hear the interview.
Black and Latino drivers disproportionately arrested for suspended licenses, per new study.
Driving is a part of life if you live in Southern California
But if you're black or Latino, you're more likely to lose your license due to unpaid tickets than white drivers
That's according to a study conducted by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights based in San Francisco
The Committe crunched data from the US Census Bureau and records from 15 police and sherriff departments throughout the state
Joining us now to unpack the numbers is Theresa Zhen. She's an attorney with the non-profit A New Way of Life. Her organization also contributed to the study.
Audio coming soon.
On the Lot: Melissa McCarthy scores at the box office and a new head for SAG
On this week's On the Lot with
, Melissa McCarthy's R-Rated comedy "The Boss" squeaked out a win for the weekend, cementing her status as a star who can open a film, despite bad reviews. And the cast of 'Straight Outta Compton' finally got their awards show moment -- at the MTV Movie Awards this weekend -- and used it to call out the Academy for their snub at this year's Oscars. And finally, a planned movie about the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury is having a hard time getting off the ground.
The guy who's bringing 'Star Wars' to Disneyland
What was once in a galaxy far, far away is coming to a theme park near you. Construction begins on Disneyland's new Star Wars Land this month.
The debut of the much-anticipated 14-acre mega-attraction will be the biggest land expansion ever at Disneyland — but fans will have to wait a while to see it. In the meantime, Disneyland's Tomorrowland has been given a Star Wars-themed reboot called "Season of the Force."
Visitors to the park can now dine on Darth tamales and Cheese-3PO burgers at the Galactic Grill (formerly Tomorrowland Terrace). Kids can test out their light saber skills at a jedi training show. And Space Mountain has been rebooted as Hyperspace Mountain with music and imagery from the films.
Walt Disney Imagineering's Scott Trowbridge is in charge of marrying the Star Wars franchise with the Disney brand. He gave Take Two's Alex Cohen a tour of "Season of the Force" and a little preview of what to expect from Star Wars Land.
Interview highlights:
On his earliest memories of Star Wars
"I remember distinctly, me and my friends, riding our bikes down to the movie theater to see Star Wars for the first time. And at least for me, it was a revelation because here was this entire universe that was revealed, fully formed, with all the characters and creatures and weird places that felt like it had always existed and we were just glimpsing it for the first time."
On the career experiences that led him to this job
"What I'm doing now, which is this kind of this immersive entertainment design, is not something my high school guidance counselor ever told me about. But even back then I knew I wanted to tell stories, I wanted to give people experiences, I wanted to create contexts in which people were having these amazing experiences they couldn't possibly really be having. At the time, that felt like movies. And so from an early age I said I want to go to film school, I want to make movies. I ended up in the world of theater for a while and then I kind of bounced back and forth. And then finally I was hired to do a job for a theme park and I was like, 'Oh my gosh this is a thing? It's like the best of both worlds. I get to use all these cool filmmaking techniques but actually create an immediate connection and context with the audience."
On the pressure of getting Star Wars Land right
"It is a big responsibility to think about how to bring Star Wars to life in the parks and in the physical world because we have 40 years of dreaming to kind of like pay off... [and] unlike a film or a TV or a video game project or something else, it's really hard to do a beta. Because our testing happens in concrete and steel, so it's really hard to make changes and so we really have to get it right the first time."
On the process of conceptualizing Star Wars Land
"The first question we asked ourselves actually is, 'So who are we in this new story?' Cause it's not about watching these stories, it's not about reliving stories you already know, but we want to build a place where you can live your Star Wars story. What we're doing here in Season of the Force is a great place for us to celebrate those stories and characters we already know and love, our new lands are going to be a place where you can live your Star Wars story."
On what Walt Disney would make of Star Wars coming to Disneyland
"I hope he would be happy. One of the things that Walt Disney did was he always said Disneyland will never be finished. As long as there's imagination in the world, Disneyland will continue to change and evolve and grow. And that's exactly what we're doing today. If anything we try to follow kind of in the footsteps of his legacy which is really about constant innovation, constant change and constant improvement. So I think he would look at Star Wars as this great set of stories, because Walt Disney was first and foremost a great storyteller, and I hope that he would be happy with how we brought those great stories to life, and invited people to step into and get close to those characters and stories."
SoCal theme parks step up competition with expansions and upgrades
Disneyland has long dominated the theme park business in Southern California, but this year some other Southern California amusement parks are giving Disney a run for its money.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened just last week at Universal Studios Hollywood, Knott's Berry Farm is revamping its 75-year-old Ghost Town, and Legoland will debut its new "Ninjago" attraction next month.
There are also some newcomers to the already crowded SoCal theme park market— Great Wolf Lodge, an indoor water park opened earlier this year in Orange County.
Joining Take Two to discuss:
- Robert Niles, editor of Theme Park Insider
Filipina caregivers and the high price of labor exportation
The bond between a mother and her child is as close as it gets yet every year thousands of women from the Philippines leave their young ones behind to play mother to a stranger's child in the United States.
This growing band of what's known as Overseas Filipino Workers or OFW's supports millions of families -- and the national economy -- through the money they send home.
Today, around nine million Filipino children are growing up without a parent, with many never seeing their mom or dad for years.
Staff writer Rachel Aviv looked into the emotional cost of Filipina women in New York providing care in her latest piece for New Yorker magazine.
Report: Public education inaccessible to immigrant students in some states
In some states, undocumented students are refused access to a public school education, according to a new report released Monday by the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown University.
Blocking access to education goes against a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows all children to enroll in school, regardless of their status.
Caroline Kurtz is one of the project researchers, and she joined host A Martinez with more.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
The TV trope that's killing off your favorite LGBTQ characters
Rest in Peace Mimi and Camilla!
Mimi and Camilla were a lesbian power couple, played by Marisa Tomei and Naomi Campbell, on the incredibly popular T.V. show 'Empire'. Recap of the messy murder-homicide below.
Last week, the two were killed off, which was a big bummer for fans of the show, but was it part of 'the bury your gays' trope, a trend of killing off characters who aren't straight?
Some critics argue this is just the latest example of a long tradition of axing gays on television. The most recent killings were kicked off by the CW's 'The 100' when one of the fiercest characters, who also happened to be a lesbian, was killed by a stray bullet.
Other deaths that fall under this trope include Denise from The Walking Dead (WARNING: graphic clip) and the original death, Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Here to explain is Trish Bendix, Editor-in-chief of the LGBTQ pop culture blog AfterEllen.com.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
Screenwriters explore loss and grief in the film 'The Invitation'
In the new psychological thriller, "The Invitation," writers and producers, Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, focused on themes of love, loss and how we cope with death. Plot came after.
“It really was a case that this sprung out of themes and feelings and a desire to explore things that were very uncomfortable to talk about,” said Hay.
The movie is set at a dinner party in the Hollywood Hills hosted by a couple - David and Eden. In attendance is Eden's ex, Will, and his new girlfriend.
There's plenty of wine, loads of food, and an interesting mix of guests, but this dinner party is anything but idyllic.
Will becomes suspicious of how intentional yet unclear Eden and David are about who and how they’ve brought people together. The film creates a continuous feeling that something bad is about to happen yet leaving the audience constantly guessing what that bad thing is and who is the mastermind.
Hay's and Manfredi's other credits together include the "Ride Along" films, "RIPD" and "Clash of the Titans."
With a many comedies under their belt, the writers explain that their approach toward character development is not very different when writing for a psychological thriller.
“In a broader comedy or in something like 'RIPD,' the approach through the characters is they’re all scared of something or they’re all unwilling to let go of something, so even if it’s a comedy it’s probably coming from a more serious place because the characters are all taking themselves seriously…There is some kind of common ground in the approach.” said Manfredi.
Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi joined host Alex Cohen in studio to talk about "The Invitation," which opened in theaters April 8.
Room with a view: The first inflatable habitat in space
Over the weekend, a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship delivered the first inflatable habitat to the International Space Station.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYmQQn_ZSys&nohtml5=False
Once inflated, it's expected to be the size of a small bedroom.
It will be studied for a few years without any humans inside, but it's hoped that blow up spaces like this could be used to house astronauts on planets like Mars in the future.
It's called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module or BEAM for short.
For more on this, we Bruce Betts, Director of Science and Technology for the Planetary Society, joined the show in studio to discuss.
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.