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By Sally M. Hill / movie reviews The commercials make “Magic Mike” out be a fun, light-hearted night out with the girls, without the two-drink minimum or the need for a bunch of ones to stick in g-strings. Actually though, “Mike” tries to be more than that, darker and deeper, but alas, it’s as superficial as a spray on tan. Too bad. Director Steven Soderbergh (“Traffic,” “Ocean’s Eleven,” “The Informant!,” “Contagion”) has made some interesting movies. He was the reason I thought “Mike” could be more than just a bunch of guys shaking their booties. He and screenwriter Reid Carolin (his first feature film) have attempted to make a character study disguised as a comedic stripper film, but the characters aren’t interesting beyond their stripping. Even if one character pleads unconvincingly, “I’m not what I do.” Character studies only work when a person is interesting and you care about what happens to them. The filmmakers do acknowledge our hard economic times and the troubled … [Read more...] about ‘Magic Mike’ deeper, darker than ads let on

One day, Alexandria Robertson’s carefully crafted life suddenly started falling apart. She returned from vacation in January 2020 to learn she’d been laid off from her corporate job in the Austin area. Her car was totaled in an accident. At the same time, she found out she was pregnant with her first child. “I was pregnant. I had no job. I had no car. And I had no health insurance,” Robertson said. “I at the time just did not have money for the expenses of having a baby.” Robertson qualified for Medicaid, but since Texas is one of just 11 states that haven’t expanded the program, she would be covered only up to two months after childbirth. But then, just a few weeks later, COVID-19 descended on the United States. For the length of the public health emergency — which turns three next month — no one would be moved off of Medicaid. The state is urging people on Medicaid to ensure their information is up to date at YourTexasBenefits.com and to respond to renewal notices … [Read more...] about Texans brace for the end of nearly three years of pandemic Medicaid coverage

Alfa Romeo have unveiled their new car for the 2023 season but former racer turned pundit Martin Brundle believes there is a problem with it. In a change from last season’s offering, Alfa went for a predominantly black car with a shade of the company’s red across the top. The new livery, which was unveiled at the team’s Switzerland base on Tuesday, received the approval of the fans but one expert believes there could be a problem when it takes to the track. Brundle has been a long-time pundit on Sky Sports F1 so knows what he is talking about when it comes to how cars will look both on the track and on people’s TVs, and believes the black plus the carbon finish will make it an issue. “Love the back of the rear wing,” Brundle tweeted. “This new low weight carbon finish is becoming very prevalent in F1, weight limit drops by 2kgs this year and most teams were struggling before. “But this car will be hard to see on TV or trackside on an overcast day.” PlanetF1 recommends … [Read more...] about Martin Brundle spots a problem with Alfa Romeo’s new C43 livery

Once again propping up the standings last season, Alex Albon admits Williams have “got a long road ahead” but believes they’re “definitely” in a better position now than they were 12 months ago. Last season the arrival of Formula 1’s all-new ground effect aerodynamic cars didn’t herald the recovery Williams had hoped, instead the team once again found themselves bottom of the log. Their fourth P10 in the past five seasons, Williams are a long way from their last spate of glory days in the 1990s when Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve were winning World titles. Such were their troubles last season, Albon speaking of “pretty obvious weaknesses” with the FW44, it’s hard to see Williams making significant progress this season. The driver, though, believes they are in a better position today than they were 12 months ago. PlanetF1 recommends F1 stats: Which drivers have scored the most points without winning a race? Gallery: All the angles as Williams unveil Gulf-inspired … [Read more...] about Alex Albon: Williams in a better position but there’s still a long road ahead

After a title fight that faded out almost as soon as it began, Ferrari are “working relentlessly” to get back into the fight says CEO Benedetto Vigna. Ferrari’s 2022 championship and it’s, at times, comedy of errors nature has been widely dissected not only by the media but Ferrari themselves. Taking up the reins following Mattia Binotto’s resignation, new team boss Fred Vasseur told the media in his first briefing that he’s “in the process of reviewing everything”, the Frenchman not afraid to make changes down the line if he feels it is necessary. But while Ferrari’s strategist bore a significant portion of the blame last season, they weren’t alone when it came to make errors. Ferrari’s mechanics botched a few pit stops, the drivers crashed, the engine was unreliable and the car was overweight. All of that, Vigna hopes, has been resolved over the winter. PlanetF1 recommends Christian Horner explains reason for snubbing ‘flattering’ past Ferrari offers Watch epic … [Read more...] about Ferrari CEO wants the ‘ultimate prize, second is the first of those who have lost’

Not for the first time, Williams have denied James Vowles’ arrival as the new team boss will mean closer ties to the Mercedes team. Vowles was one of the big-name moves during Formula 1’s off-season, the Briton swapping his Mercedes chief strategist role for that of Williams’ new team principal. It’s a move that has former F1 driver Karun Chandhok wondering “ whether there’s some Mercedes element to this deal “. Explaining his thoughts, he continued: “It’s very rare that you find someone certainly in a senior position of a team move across with zero gardening leave, and James has done that, so clearly a very amicable thing.” However, Williams’ head of vehicle performance Dave Robson insists Williams will remain an independent outfit. “We are happy with the cooperation with Mercedes,” he said, “but Williams has always been a highly independent team. “They provide us with some amount of hardware that is extremely good but we need to take the rest of it forwards on our own, … [Read more...] about James Vowles arrival is not a sign of Williams following a Haas model

F1 2023 is fast approaching as teams take the covers off and reveal their colours ahead of a brand new season of action. There is every reason to be excited about the F1 2023 season, teams having had the chance to put their wealth of learnings about the new Technical Regulations to use with their second attempts, the 2023 challengers. And the first key step ahead of seeing these new creations on the track is launch season, as the teams, while often hiding many of their clever innovations, are at least more than happy to show us what their cars are going to look like. Our luck really is in because with 10 teams making up the grid, you guessed it, that means we have 10 different livery reveals to enjoy. So, let’s take a look at the designs which we will clap eyes on in F1 2023… Haas Haas did the honours of kicking-off launch season for 2023 when they revealed the livery for their 2023 challenger, the VF-23, on January 31. The American outfit struck a new title … [Read more...] about F1 2023 liveries: See all the new season looks as they are unveiled

Although Sebastian Vettel has been given more time to decide if he will stay on as a GPDA director, a successor may soon need to be chosen. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association acts as the trade union for the F1 drivers and was particularly important at the Saudi Arabian and Japanese Grands Prix last year. With former F1 driver Alex Wurz as chairman, he has three directors to work alongside which are currently George Russell, lawyer Anastasia Fowle and Vettel. The four-time World Champion has been in the role since 2010 but with him now stepping away from the sport, there are question marks as to whether he will stay on with the GPDA. But if he does choose to step away, who will take over? Here at PlanetF1.com, we’ve taken a look at five likely candidates for the role. Valtteri Bottas Following Vettel’s retirement and Daniel Ricciardo’s departure from the grid, Bottas became the active driver with the fourth highest number of race starts behind only Fernando Alonso, Lewis … [Read more...] about Five ideal candidates to replace Sebastian Vettel as GPDA director

Christian Horner says floor tweaks imposed by the FIA this season to minimise porpoising came at “quite a lot of expense” and were “probably not needed”. Making the change from over-car airflow to ground effect aerodynamics last season, many of the teams were caught out by porpoising. Some more than others. While Red Bull, their RB18 designed by Adrian Newey who is said to be able to ‘see air’, had hardly any bouncing, their 2021 title rivals Mercedes had it to the extremes. Such was the ferocity of the W13’s porpoising, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell complained of back pain, head aches with Hamilton also saying “there’s a lot more bruising after the races nowadays”. But with Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff advocating for the FIA to get involved, citing long-term health concerns, Horner said if his RB18 had the same problem he’d also be telling his drivers “ to bitch as much as they could over the radio and make as big an issue out of it as they possibly could”. As … [Read more...] about Christian Horner rues having to spend on porpoising floor changes that were ‘probably not needed’