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(Continued from page 32)
Swedish cinemas challenge Hollywood's gender bias by introducing feminist movie rating
• STOCKHOLM (AP) -- You expect movie ratings to tell you whether a film contains nudity, sex, profanity or violence. Now movie theaters in equality-minded Sweden are introducing a new rating to highlight gender bias, or rather the absence of it.
• To get an "A'' rating, a movie must pass the so-called Bechdel test, which means it must have at least two named female characters who talk to each other about something other than a man.
• "The entire 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, all 'Star Wars' movies, 'The Social Network,' 'Pulp Fiction' and all but one of the 'Harry Potter' movies fail this test," said Ellen Tejle, the director of Bio Rio, an art-house movie theater in Stockholm's trendy Sodermalm district.
• Bio Rio is one of four Swedish movie theaters that launched the new rating last month to draw attention to how few movies pass. Most visitors have reacted positively to the initiative "and for some people it has been an eye-opener," said Tejle, reclining in one of Bio Rio's cushy red seats.
• Beliefs about women's roles in society are influenced by the fact that movie watchers rarely see "a female superhero or a female professor or person who makes it through exciting challenges and masters them," Tejle said, noting that the rating doesn't say anything about the quality of the film. "The goal is to see more female stories and perspectives on cinema screens."
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23-year-old Ryan Riess wins World Series of Poker, $8.4M title in short, event-filled session
• LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A 23-year-old poker pro from Michigan won the World Series of Poker main event late Tuesday, claiming the $8.4 million title after pushing past his last opponent in a brief, dramatic match.
• Ryan Riess started out behind on Tuesday, but used cleverly varied play to seize and maintain a lead amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold 'em.
• On the last hand, 29-year-old Las Vegas club promoter Jay Farber went all-in with a Queen-Five. Riess, dealt an Ace-King, rightly suspected his opponent wasn't holding much and called instantly.
• Riess backed into the stands to watch the cards turn, and won the championship (Continued on page 34)
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