Quentin Tarantino: if you think “Django Unchained” is violent, try slavery

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – If you think “Django Unchained” is violent, Quentin Tarantino has a historical reality check for you: Try slavery.

The “Pulp Fiction” auteur is back with an Antebellum revenge flick that according to early screenings pours on the blood and gore. Tarantino told an audience of British Academy of Film and Television Arts members on Thursday that if anything he spared the lash in his depiction of slavery, according to the Guardian.

“We all intellectually ‘know’ the brutality and inhumanity of slavery,” Tarantino said, “but after you do the research it’s no longer intellectual any more, no longer just historical record – you feel it in your bones. It makes you angry and want to do something … I’m here to tell you, that however bad things get in the movie, a lot worse shit actually happened.”

Tarantino’s comments indicate that he anticipates the irreverent “Django Unchained” – which opens on Christmas Day – will court controversy for setting its story against the backdrop of the slave trade.

The film centers on a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) who partners with a freed slave (Jamie Foxx) to take down a plantation owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) who controls his wife. Candie, who speaks with Magnolia-scented menace in the trailers, owns a mixed-race club in Greenville, Miss., and deals in slave-fights.

Perhaps because the film features Tarantino’s trademark sardonic humor, some early viewers have compared “Django Unchained” to the works of Mel Brooks.

“Just watched what was basically a three-hour homage to BLAZING SADDLES,”@LouLumenick tweeted.

But despite the humor, in an interview with Howard Stern this week, Tarantino indicated that he took the responsibility of depicting slavery very seriously. In particular, he said that shooting a scene where a female slave is brutalized brought him to tears and deeply impacted the crew.

“It was early on in the production, and it was the first time we started officially dealing with that kind of ugliness,” Tarantino said. “We later got used to dealing with that kind of ugliness. But that first – it was traumatizing to everybody, none less because of the fact that we were doing it in the real slave area of a real plantation where the slaves lived.

“This actually happened on the grounds,” he added. “There was blood in that ground. Those trees had memories of everything that happened there. We could feel the spirits of the old slaves on the property.”

Of course, Tarantino has taken on controversial subjects before. He turned an ultra-violent and satiric eye at the Nazis and an SD colonel nicknamed the “Jew Hunter” and turned it into “Inglourious Basterds.” Dealing with charges of insensitivity, it nonetheless collected over $ 300 million worldwide and was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

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U.S. economy adds 146,000 jobs in November

The U.S. economy added 146,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, the lowest since December 2008. The government said Superstorm Sandy had only a minimal effect on the figures.

The Labor Department's report on Friday offered a mixed picture for the economy.

Hiring remained steady during the storm and in the face of looming tax increases. But the government said employers added 49,000 fewer jobs in October and September than initially estimated.

And the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low in November from 7.9 percent in October mostly because more people stopped looking for work and weren't counted as unemployed.

There were signs that the storm disrupted economic activity. Construction employment dropped 20,000. And weather prevented 369,000 people from getting to work — the most in almost two years. They were still counted as employed.

Stock futures jumped after the report. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 20 points in the minutes before the report came out at 8:30 a.m., and just after were up 70 points.

As money moved into stocks, it moved out of safer bonds. The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note, which moves opposite the price, rose to 1.63 percent from 1.58 percent just before the report.

Since July, the economy has added an average of 158,000 jobs a month. That's a modest pickup from 146,000 in the first six months of the year.

The increase suggests employers are not yet delaying hiring decisions because of the “fiscal cliff.” That's the combination of sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are set to take effect next year without a budget deal.

Retailers added 53,000 positions while temporary help companies added 18,000 and education and healthcare also gained 18,000.

Auto manufacturers added nearly 10,000 jobs.

Still, overall manufacturing jobs fell 7,000. That was pushed down by a loss of 12,000 jobs in food manufacturing that likely reflects the layoff of workers at Hostess.

Sandy forced restaurants, retailers and other businesses to close in late October and early November in 24 states, particularly in the Northeast.

The U.S. grew at a solid 2.7 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But many economists say growth is slowing to a 1.5 percent rate in the October-December quarter, largely because of the storm and threat of the fiscal cliff. That's not enough growth to lower the unemployment rate.

The storm held back consumer spending and income, which drive economic growth. Consumer spending declined in October and work interruptions caused by Sandy reduced wages and salaries that month by about $18 billion at an annual rate, the government said.

Still, many say economic growth could accelerate next year if the fiscal cliff is avoided. The economy is also expected to get a boost from efforts to rebuild in the Northeast after the storm.

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Will Small Biz Pay for Google Apps?

Google has ended a free version of its Google Apps online application suite for businesses with 10 or fewer users. The company said it was making the move “to do even more for our business customers.”

Google Apps will continue to be free for individuals — and for business customers who have been using the free version. Google Apps for Business, which is now combined into one product and offers tech support and a service-level agreement, is $50 per seat yearly.

Clay Bavor, Director of Product Management for Google Apps, wrote in blog post:

Google Apps started with the simple idea that Gmail could help businesses and schools work better together without the hassles of managing software and servers. As we grew from a handful of customers to a few hundred, we expanded to offer a premium business version of Google Apps. Fast forward to today and Google Apps is used by millions of businesses. We’ve also added versions for governments, universities and schools.

When we launched the premium business version we kept our free, basic version as well. Both businesses and individuals signed up for this version, but time has shown that in practice, the experience isn’t quite right for either group. Businesses quickly outgrow the basic version and want things like 24/7 customer support and larger inboxes. Similarly, consumers often have to wait to get new features while we make them business-ready.

Google has been looking to monetize its services. The company now charges for its Google Maps API for heavier users. And Google Shopper charges retailers for placement.

Join the discussion: Will small businesses pay to use Google Apps? Were your thinking of moving your business to the free version? Is $50 a year something you can live with?

Mike Barton is the editor of Wired.com's Innovation Insights. Feed him business tech news and ideas for topics to highlight for discussion at mikeatwired AT gmail DOT com.

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Jackson’s Hobbit: the journey begins

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Film maker Peter Jackson wants to scare children with his latest movie – and perhaps even a few grown ups.

The first of the Hobbit movie trilogy – “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” – is about to hit theatres, and Jackson says he’s tried to hold true to its roots as a children’s fantasy story, with scary bits.

“If they’re scared of the trolls great, if they’re scared of the goblins great, they know there are no goblins, they know there are no trolls, it’s a safe kind of danger,” he says.

The film, produced by MGM and Time Warner Inc, is the fourth in the Oscar-winning Jackson’s blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” film franchise, based on the books of author J.R.R. Tolkien.

It follows the journey of hobbit Bilbo Baggins, reluctantly pushed into travelling with 13 dwarves to steal treasure from a dragon and regain their homeland. During his travels, he comes by the ring that he later passes onto kinsman Frodo Baggins, which was at the core of the “Rings” trilogy.

Jackson says he’s worked to keep distance between the Hobbit, published in 1937, and the much darker Lord of the Rings, which came out nearly 20 years later.

“The Lord of the Rings has an apocalyptic sort of heavy themic end-of-the world quality to it, which the Hobbit doesn’t, which is one of the delights of it,” he said.

POMPOUS AND SMALL MINDED

The pointy eared, hairy footed hobbit Bilbo is played by British actor Martin Freeman, who says he’s tried to make Bilbo his own creation, a character audiences can root for despite his initial pomposity and small mindedness.

“You have to be able to follow him for the duration of the film, but I wanted him to be open and changeable and ready to be surprised,” Freeman said.

A key scene is an encounter in a cave between Bilbo and the creature Gollum, reprised in full computer generated splendor by Andy Serkis with the distinctive throaty whisper.

“It was a very rich experience,” he said, adding that playing Gollum again was “an absolute thrill”.

Such is the affection for the creature, who calls the magic ring “Precious”, that a 13 meter (42 feet) sculpture of Gollum hangs in the airport terminal at Wellington, which regards itself as the spiritual home of the Tolkien films and terms itself the “Middle of Middle Earth”.

Returning actors from the Rings trilogy, many of whom have only passing mention in the book, were no less enthusiastic. Ian McKellen returns for a leading role as the wispy-haired, grey bearded wizard, Gandalf, while Cate Blanchett is the elven queen Galadriel and Elijah Wood appears as Frodo Baggins.

“You couldn’t not come back, you had to come back,” says Hugo Weaving, the leader of the elves, Elrond.

HOBBIT – A FRAUGHT JOURNEY

The Hobbit film journey has not been without its setbacks.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, owners of the film rights to the Tolkien books, had financial woes, prompting original director Guillermo del Toro to pull out and Jackson, already script writer and executive producer, to step in.

A major labor dispute prompted threats to move production out of New Zealand, and was solved by changing labor laws, while Jackson suffered a perforated ulcer and underwent surgery, delaying the film still further.

Though only two films were planned originally, Jackson has tapped Tolkien’s appendices to the Rings to make it into three.

Audiences are also getting more visual bangs for their buck, with the movies filmed in 3D and at 48 frames per second (fps), double the industry standard.

This delivers clearer pictures, but opinion is divided, with some critics calling it cartoon-like and jarring.

Jackson says he wants to drag the iPad generation back into theatres and the romance, excitement and mystery they offer.

“It’s more realistic, it’s more immersive. I almost feel a responsibility as a film maker to try to do my part at encouraging people to come to the movies, to watch the film in a cinema,” he said.

The second film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” will be released in December next year, with the third “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” is due in mid-July 2014.

(Reporting by Gyles Beckford, editing by Elaine Lies)

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One toke over the line in Washington state, where pot is now legal

SEATTLE -- More than 100 hard-core tokers gathered under the Space Needle at the stroke of midnight Wednesday night to light one up in celebration of Washington state’s new marijuana law, which makes it legal for those 21 and older to possess an ounce or less of pot.

Voters in Washington and Colorado approved the nation’s first recreational marijuana laws in November, and though Colorado’s doesn’t take effect until January, the Washington initiative allows pot possession as of Thursday — though it’s still illegal for the moment to buy, sell or grow marijuana.

And smoking publicly remains against the law. That didn't stop the bandanna-clad crew puffing on pipes and joints under a chilly night sky early Thursday, and it appeared  the Seattle Police Department was not in the mood to arrest anyone on a night most seemed to take as celebratory.

"The Dude abides, and says, 'Take it inside!' " the SPD posted on its police blotter, under a photo of Jeff Bridges as "The Big Lebowski."

The department issued a bulletin to officers directing them "until further notice" to take no enforcement action, other than a verbal warning, against those violating the new law, known as Initiative 502.

"We had a city ordinance prior to this that said marijuana enforcement was our lowest enforcement priority," police department spokesman Jeff Kappel told the Los Angeles Times.

The state’s Liquor Control Board, tasked with setting up regulations to carry out the law, will over the next year draft a framework for licensing growers, handlers and retailers that initiative supporters hope will put black market drug dealers out of business.

The state's existing medical marijuana law remains unchanged.

"I think we have some ability to use our experience in regulating liquor, which is to me a similar public safety kind of product," the control board’s administrative director, Pat Kohler, said in an interview. "You want to ensure it doesn’t get in the hands of minors, and you want to make sure it doesn’t get in the wrong hands, where it can be used improperly."

State officials believe the hefty taxation on state-produced marijuana called for under the law could bring in $2 billion over the next five years.

Still unclear is what move may be next from the federal government, which still considers marijuana possession a felony.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Seattle issued a warning from the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday that said it was taking its enforcement responsibility seriously.

"The department’s responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," the statement said. "Regardless of any changes in state law, including the change that will go into effect on Dec. 6 in Washington state, growing, selling or possessing any amount of marijuana remains illegal under federal law."

Likewise, it said, bringing pot onto any federal property, including national parks and forests, military installations and courthouses, would continue to be a poor idea.

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Retrofitting a Nissan Leaf With the Interior of the Future

The e-Bee Concept is one company’s idea of what transportation will look like in 2020, complete with user-generated data feeds, cloud-based driver profiles and an interior that cribs its styling straight from Jony Ive’s loft.

Visteon, a Michigan-based auto supplier, completely reimagined the interior of the Nissan Leaf EV and reworked every aspect of the Human Machine Interface.

To enhance driver comfort, Visteon outfitted the car with a climate control module that combines heating, ventilation and air conditioning into a single unit positioned outside the cabin, potentially allowing more space for batteries and headliner-mounted airbags, while limiting the noise and heat of the components. It also comes with a “cluster ion generator” and a “fragrance auto diffusion system” to de-funkify the interior when one of your patchouli-drenched friends hops on board. And when the time comes for a chilled beverage, there’s a cooling box in the trunk.

The rear-view mirror has been replaced with a wide-angle camera, and the dash has been ditched in favor of two touchscreens flanking the steering wheel. There are also personal audio systems built into each passenger headset, and the software programming can be personalized to accommodate both the driver and passengers’ choice apps. All passengers have access to a door-mounted module to control their climate zones and audio, and passengers can hook up their music via Bluetooth while wirelessly charging the device in a dock fitted to the door.

Visteon’s most hyped feature is the user-specific customization that lets the car self-optimize for maximum efficiency. The bespoke interior layout can be supplemented with clip-on cup holders, charging docks and cameras.

On the software side, the driver’s preferences can be stored in the cloud and retrieved upon entering the car. The idea is to make sure the car is immediately intuitive and familiar for users who alternate between cars, like having multiple user sign-ins for a family computer, and the ability to automatically detect the driver is something we’re sure to see come to both short-term rental cars and car-sharing services.

For those who know having an EV just isn’t enough to save the environment, take comfort in the upgrades’ build materials: recyclable fibers and resins make up the interior, and it’s all detailed in the video below.

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Latest James Bond movie breaks UK box office record

LONDON (Reuters) – “Skyfall“, the 23rd official James Bond movie, has become the most successful film in British box office history, earning 94.3 million pounds ($ 152 million), its producers said on Wednesday.

The tally, earned over 40 days, surpasses the previous record of 94.0 million pounds set by 2009 3D adventure film “Avatar” over its 11 month run in UK cinemas, although the figures do not take inflation into account.

Skyfall, which has been well received by critics, stars Daniel Craig in his third outing as 007, and is directed by Sam Mendes.

In it Bond and British spymaster M, played by Judi Dench, are pitted against technological wizard Silva (Javier Bardem) who is bent on revenge.

“We are very proud of this film and thank everybody, especially Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes, who have contributed to its success,” said co-producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli in a statement.

Globally, Skyfall has some way to go to match Avatar. It has earned $ 870 million in ticket sales around the world, according to movie tracking site Boxofficemojo.com, compared with Avatar’s record $ 2.8 billion.

According to the same website, Avatar’s adjusted box office total comes in at 14th in cinema history, with the 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind” in pole position.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Well: Running in Reverse

This column appears in the Dec. 9 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

Backward running, also known as reverse or retro running, is not as celebrated as barefoot running and will never be mistaken for the natural way to run. But a small body of science suggests that backward running enables people to avoid or recover from common injuries, burn extra calories, sharpen balance and, not least, mix up their daily routine.

The technique is simple enough. Most of us have done it, at least in a modified, abbreviated form, and probably recently, perhaps hopping back from a curb as a bus went by or pushing away from the oven with a roasting pan in both hands. But training with backward running is different. Biomechanically, it is forward motion’s doppelgänger. In a study published last year, biomechanics researchers at the University of Milan in Italy had a group of runners stride forward and backward at a steady pace along a track equipped with force sensors and cameras.

They found that, as expected, the runners struck the ground near the back of their feet when going forward and rolled onto the front of their feet for takeoff. When they went backward though, they landed near the front of their feet and took off from the heels. They tended to lean slightly forward even when running backward. As a result, their muscles fired differently. In forward running, the muscles and tendons were pulled taut during landing and responded by coiling, a process that creates elastic energy (think rubber bands) that is then released during toe-off. When running backward, muscles and tendons were coiled during landing and stretched at takeoff. The backward runners’ legs didn’t benefit from stored elastic energy. In fact, the researchers found, running backward required nearly 30 percent more energy than running forward at the same speed. But backward running also produced far less hard pounding.

What all of this means, says Giovanni Cavagna, a professor at the University of Milan who led the study, is that reverse running can potentially “improve forward running by allowing greater and safer training.”

It is a particularly attractive option for runners with bad knees. A 2012 study found that backward running causes far less impact to the front of the knees. It also burns more calories at a given pace. In a recent study, active female college students who replaced their exercise with jogging backward for 15 to 45 minutes three times a week for six weeks lost almost 2.5 percent of their body fat.

And it aids in balance training — backward slow walking is sometimes used as a therapy for people with Parkinson’s and is potentially useful for older people, whose balance has grown shaky.

But it has drawbacks, Cavagna says — chiefly that you can’t see where you’re going. “It should be done on a track,” he says, “or by a couple of runners, side by side,” one facing forward.

It should be implemented slowly too, because its unfamiliar motion can cause muscle fatigue. Intersperse a few minutes periodically during your regular routine, Cavagna says. Increase the time you spend backward as it feels comfortable.

The good news for serious runners is that backward does not necessarily mean slow. The best recorded backward five-kilometer race time is 19:31, faster than most of us can hit the finish line with our best foot forward.

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Senate Passes Russian Trade Bill, With Conditions

The Senate voted on Thursday to finally eliminate cold war-era trade restrictions on Russia, but at the same time it condemned Moscow for human rights abuses, threatening to further strain an already fraught relationship with the Kremlin.

The Senate bill, which passed the House of Representatives last month, now goes to President Obama, who has opposed turning a trade bill into a statement on the Russian government’s treatment of its people.

But with such overwhelming support in Congress – the measure passed the Senate 92 to 4 and the House 365 to 43 – the White House has had little leverage to press its case.

And President Obama has shown little desire to pick a fight in which he would appear to be siding with the Russians on such a delicate issue.

Speaking to reporters shortly after the Senate vote, Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said the president was committed to signing the bill.

The most immediate effect of the bill will be to formally normalize trade relations with Russia after nearly 40 years. Since the 1970s, commerce between Russia and the United States has been subject to restrictions that were designed to punish Communist nations that refused to allow their citizens to leave freely.

While presidents have waived the restrictions since the cold war ended — allowing them to remain on the books as a symbolic sore point with the Russians — the issue took on new urgency this summer after Russia joined the World Trade Organization. American businesses can take advantage of lower trade tariffs only with nations that enjoy normalized trade status

By some estimates, trade with Russia is expected to double after the limits are lifted.

But another effect of the bill – and one that has Russian officials furious with Washington – will be to require that the federal government freeze the assets of Russians implicated in human rights abuses and to deny them visas.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were inspired to attach those provisions to the trade legislation because of the case of Sergei L. Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was tortured and died in prison in 2009 after he exposed a government tax fraud scheme.

During the Senate debate, it was Mr. Magnitsky’s case, and not Russia’s trade status, that occupied most of the time.

One by one, Democratic and Republican senators alike rose to denounce Russian officials for their disregard for basic freedoms.

“This culture of impunity in Russia has been growing worse and worse,” said Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican. “There are still many people who look at the Magnitsky Act as anti-Russia. I disagree,” he added. “Ultimately passing this legislation will place the United States squarely on the side of the Russian people and the right side of Russian history, which appears to be approaching a crossroads.”

Russian officials denounced the Senate vote.

“This initiative is intended to restrict the rights of Russian citizens, which we consider completely unjust and baseless,” said Konstantin Dolgov, the Russian foreign ministry’s human rights envoy, in comments to the Interfax news agency in Brussels. “This is an attempt to interfere in our internal affairs, in the authority of Russia’s investigative and judicial organs, which continue to investigate the Magnitsky case.”

Initially there was pressure on the Senate to pass a bill that punished human rights violators from all nations, not just those who are Russian. But the House bill applied only to Russia. And the Senate followed suit, as supporters of the bill wanted something that could pass quickly and without requiring a complicated back-and-forth with the House.

Ellen Barry contributed reporting from Moscow.

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Dave Brubeck, jazz legend, dies at 91

Dave Brubeck, the jazz pianist, composer and bandleader behind the legendary Dave Brubeck Quartet, has died at age 91.

The death of Brubeck, whose quartet performed “Take Five,” which became a jazz standard and the bestselling jazz single of all time, was confirmed Wednesday by the Associated Press. Brubeck would have turned 92 Thursday.

According to the AP, Brubeck died of heart failure after being stricken while on the way to a cardiologist's  appointment in Connecticut.

Photos: Dave Brubeck | 1920 - 2012

Brubeck, born Dec. 6, 1920, in Concord, Calif., was the son of a cattle rancher. His mother was a classically trained pianist. Although he studied zoology at the College of the Pacific in Stockton, he came to love the music department. While serving in the Army during World War II, Brubeck formed the band the Wolfpack.  After the war in the Bay Area he experimented with music groups and styles.

In 1951 he and alto saxophonist Paul Desmond created what would become one of the most popular acts of West Coast jazz, the Dave Brubeck Quartet. The quartet's most famous piece was "Take Five," composed by Desmond, from the 1959 release "Time Out.

During his career, Brubeck also created standards such as "The Duke" and "In Your Own Sweet Way."

In a 2010 article on the occasion of Brubeck's 90th birthday, the Los Angeles Times interviewed the jazz legend and noted that although jazz may not occupy the center of the musical universe, even people who know little, if anything, about jazz know of Brubeck:

"Through more than 60 years of recordings and performances at colleges, concert halls, festivals and nightclubs all over the world, Brubeck put forth a body of work — as pianist, composer and bandleader — that is as accessible as it is ingenious, as stress-free as it is rhythmically emphatic, as open-hearted as it is wide-ranging."

Details of Brubeck's death coming soon at the Los Angeles Times.

[For the record 10:42 a.m. Dec. 5: An earlier version of this post credited Dave Brubeck with composing "Take Five." The work was composed by Paul Desmond. Thanks to Lincoln Harrison of CSUN for pointing it out.]

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