Latest news with #BestPictureOscar
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Neon's Palme D'Or Whisperer Tom Quinn Reveals Keys To Cannes And Oscar Success: 'I'm Happy To Share A Playbook'
There was time when studios thought premiering a film in Cannes in May could turn out to be a major hindrance to that movie's Oscar chances nine months later. It was a logical assumption. Voters have short memories, and also, if the film doesn't make a splash on the Croisette, it could be all over for its awards dreams. The fall festival trifecta of Venice, Telluride and Toronto became much 'safer' (financially and otherwise), and a more logical bet to launch an Oscar campaign, requiring only six months post-launch to keep the contender alive rather than nine. After all, the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Picture had matched only once since Marty won the first Palme in 1955. That all changed in 2019, when Cannes' Palme d'Or winner, South Korea's Parasite, upset conventional thinking and went on to also triumph at the Oscars, ultimately taking the top prize there. It was the first time a foreign-language picture won the Best Picture Oscar and the top international film, and it has turned out to be a game-changer led by Neon founder and CEO Tom Quinn. Now, Neon has distributed in the U.S. the past five — count 'em, five — Palme d'Or winners in a row, beginning with Parasite and followed by Titane, Triangle of Sadness, Anatomy of a Fall and Anora. The latter became the second Neon film to win both the Palme and the Best Picture Oscar. Additionally, both Triangle of Sadness and Anatomy of a Fall went on to receive Best Picture Oscar nominations, among other categories. Quite a track record, and proof positive that Neon has been instrumental in smashing the Cannes curse for Oscar (if it ever existed). More from Deadline Scarlett Johansson On Why The Script For Her Directorial Debut 'Eleanor The Great' Made Her Cry: 'It's About Forgiveness' – Cannes Cover Story 'Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning' Cannes Film Festival Premiere Photos: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Angela Bassett, Hannah Waddingham & More 'The White Lotus' & 'Sex Education' Star Aimee Lou Wood Joins Angelina Jolie In 'Anxious People' With Black Bear & WME Selling At Cannes Market Quinn gives Thierry Frémaux much of the credit for selecting the lineups and saying it is just not happenstance. The Cannes Film Festival head is certainly aware of the shifting sands, as he pointed out while announcing this year's films, even though he stated that a year ago he would not have been able to imagine the Oscar success of 2024 Cannes debuts like Anora, Emilia Pérez, The Substance and, for that matter, a whopping 31 nominations overall for Cannes titles. 'If you look at the last seven, eight years, Cannes was great. I mean Cannes and the films of Cannes were great and awarded everywhere,' Frémaux said. 'For the films I have just announced this morning, I really don't know, but what I'm really happy about is the link between Cannes in May and the Academy Awards in March. You can arrive in Cannes in May and be still alive in March almost one year later.' It is definitely something Quinn understands well, and that is one reason why Neon will be back on the Croisette this year with no less than four selections in the official lineups: Orwell, Splitsville, Sentimental Value and Alpha. The fact is, Quinn never had a master plan, and says going back to Parasite it never crossed his mind that, after seeing it in the late-night slot — following Quentin Tarantino's much more hyped and anticipated studio juggernaut Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which went on to earn 10 Oscar nominations itself — it would go on to win both the Palme and Best Picture. Impossible, right? 'There wasn't a direct intention behind it,' Quinn says. 'But what I will tell you, what has always been large in my head, about Cannes, and it's my favorite festival, absolutely, by far. Granted, the Riviera certainly helps. The Lumiere helps. Incredible programming team, but the films that have always seemed large for me were Wild at Heart, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Apocalypse Now. I always had this very romanticized, nostalgic vision of what it meant for these huge American juggernauts. But that was the place that you got validated. The birthplace of cinema — France — and you know, to this day, France for me represents, I think, the safest harbor for cinema.' With all Neon's success at Cannes, and in particular winning the Palme d'Or, the company later tests each of their films in the San Fernando Valley, and Quinn says increasingly the fact they won the Palme is the No. 1 driver of audience attendance at those previews. 'And you have to remember that a lot of voters, while it may only be sending jury members that sit on that committee in Cannes, they're all, if not the vast majority, also Academy voters. So, I think it makes perfect sense, combined with having a really nice lead time, to be able to build a significant campaign, to focus on the theatrical window, and position your film properly. So, each of these films have been released, essentially, the same release date in October. You know, I'm happy to share our playbook because it's so obvious.' In the case of Anora, he says they had not even tested the film before Cannes and had only seen it in early cuts. 'Winning the Palme d'Or, having been there four times previous, you know, we went in to do the work, the work that we do. We go and test the movie, we obviously combine that with where we are critically, and then we do an assessment of where the prognosticators sit, you know, the 80-plus prognosticators, where do they sit across the Oscar race?' he says. 'And so, all of those things collectively, in any one silo, may not mean a lot. But if you take that data set, and you compare it to four other movies, three of which have already been Best Picture nominees, one of which had won, you have a really good concept of where you're going. We knew back in July that this had a really strong path towards securing six Oscar nominations … And I have to say it was pretty stressful. You know, be careful what you wish for, and to hold steadfast, and be confident. It's a marathon. We went through the ebbs and flows of the campaign but always believed that we could get where we got to. So, getting these six Oscar nominations was a celebration, but also a relief that we weren't crazy back in July.' Quinn also credits Cannes premieres and wins in other categories for eventual success getting to the Oscars, such as the Best Actor win in Cannes for Perfect Days. which went on to be nominated for the International Feature Oscar, or the exposure for a sleeper, Robot Dreams, which cashed in goodwill at Cannes for a surprise Animated Feature Oscar nomination. He compared it to Flow, which was a hit in Cannes and went on to win this year's Animated Feature for indie partners Sideshow and Janus against huge, well-oiled competition from DreamWorks, Disney/Pixar and Netflix. Flow was also up for Best International Feature from first-timer Latvia. Does Quinn think the increased international voting bloc in the Academy is making a difference now and making it easier for Cannes to become such a big player? 'I think it's definitely a swing vote, but I would say it still only represents less than 25% of over 9,000 voters,' he says. 'The Academy overall has increased quite rapidly in size, but not just new international voters, but also younger voters. Regardless of age, newer voters, I think, are more energized and participate more, and watch more, and vote first. I would say that new membership, younger membership, overlaps I think pretty extensively with international membership, and it's having a big decisive impact on where these awards are going, because they watch the movies, because they are voting.' At any rate, there is no doubt we will be seeing a lot of Quinn and his Neon team all over Cannes, whether promoting the films they are bringing or looking to find the next Parasite and Anora that just might travel all the way from the Grand Théâtre Lumière in the South of France to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Best of Deadline Everything We Know About 'My Life With The Walter Boys' Season 2 So Far 'Bridgerton' Season 4: Everything We Know So Far Everything We Know About 'Wicked: For Good' So Far
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Conclave' And ‘The Two Popes' Views Surge After Pope Francis' Death
Ralph Fiennes in "Conclave." Focus Features The papal Vatican thriller Conclave and the biographical drama The Two Popes are surging in viewership following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. Pope Francis died Monday in Vatican City. He was 88. Since then, viewers have taken a renewed interest in two films in particular: Focus Features' Best Picture Oscar nominee Conclave, released in 2024, and the Netflix original movie The Two Popes, released in 2019. Conclave chronicles a fictional papal conclave following the death of the pope and the internal debates and politics behind the selection of a new pontiff. Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence in Conclave, the dean of cardinals who navigates the process, which involves the examination of different ideologies and the eventual selection of a new pope that comes with a major plot twist. The Two Popes, meanwhile, is a biographical drama that tells the story of Pope Benedict XVI and his meetings with Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), who becomes the future Pope Francis. Both films have seen major spikes in streaming since Monday, reported Deadline, citing data from the analytics company Luminate. According to the company (via Deadline), Conclave had an average daily viewership of 1.8 million minutes across all streaming platforms from April 11-17 but spiked to 6.8 million minutes viewed on Monday, the day of Pope Francis' death. As for The Two Popes, Luminate (via Deadline) reported that the film had logged 290,000 viewing minutes on Sunday, which rose dramatically to 1.5 million viewing minutes on Monday. Since Conclave was released in theaters by Universal Pictures subsidiary Focus Features, the film originally made its streaming debut on NBC Universal's Peacock streaming service. However, due to a licensing agreement between Universal and Amazon, Conclave arrived on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service on Tuesday. As of Wednesday, Conclave is No. 2 on Prime Video's Top 10 list of most-streamed movies and TV series on the service behind Gladiator II. In addition to Prime Video, Conclave is currently available to purchase or rent on video on demand on various digital platforms including AppleTV and Fandango at Home. The Two Popes is only available to stream on Netflix. As of Wednesday, the film is not among the streaming service's daily top 10 movies, but that may change when Netflix releases its weekly Top 10 Movies chart — which measures the amount of viewing hours over a seven-day period — next Tuesday, April 29.
Express Tribune
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Our hearts will go on
We are more than half way through April, which can only mean one thing for us dinosaurs who enjoy a cathartic weeping marathon: it is time for that annual rewatch of James Cameron's Titanic. Although be warned: unlike in 1998 when you revelled in the fountain of youth, there is no way you can sit through three hours and 14 minutes without a bathroom break anymore – certainly not without all that water sloshing around. Yes, my fellow dinosaurs: April 15 marked the 113th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on its maiden and only journey from Southampton to New York – although of course, historical nautical disasters may not quite be your forte in the way that cheesy iconic film lines are. (For reference see, "I'm the king of the world!" and "I'll never let go, Jack.") Fully embracing the power of cheesy lines, Cameron's Titanic leaves no trope untouched, be it a beautiful unfulfilled rich girl (Kate Winslet's Rose), a rakishly handsome villainous two-dimensional fiance (Billy Zane's Cal Hockley) who uses blue diamonds to win over women (or so he thinks), or a charming poor boy with a heart of gold (Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack Dawson). The very existence of Celine Dion's infamous accompanying song, My Heart Will Go On, will have made it difficult to admit that sophisticated film connoisseurs such as ourselves could ever conceivably enjoy an offering with such a rich abundance of nauseating tropes. However, now that we are older and unbothered by other people's opinions, some of us can now confess that we did once have our hearts torn asunder by this poor boy saving the rich girl – even if that rich girl did grow into an elderly woman who tosses priceless blue jewellery into the sea. Why does 'Titanic' work? If the above is an apt description of you, then the words "April 14, 1912" will be filed away somewhere in your memory, probably usurping other more important information such as the exact location of the TV remote or remembering to pick up milk on the way home. Having won 11 Oscars, including the coveted Best Picture Oscar in 1998, it should not come as a shock that Titanic is still alive in the beating hearts of those who watched it when it first arrived – and it is not just because a ship tore in half in the middle of a very cold night along the sea. With the bulk of the film taking place during Titanic's short voyage, Cameron had just four days in the script to get us emotionally invested in a sinking without taking the documentary route and making a large block of ice the main villain. Within those four days, every emotion (sadness, rage, love, hope), funnelled into the two people we care about, is heightened by an impending sense of doom. Bearing all this in mind, April 14, 1912 is the date that is helpfully recited by Rose's granddaughter (Lizzy Calvert, played by Suzy Amis Cameron) as she reads it off a mysteriously unharmed charcoal drawing featuring a sultry woman wearing a very expensive necklace. Up until now, the drawing had spent the past 84 years locked in a safe aboard an extremely waterlogged shipwreck and serves as a testament to the passionate but short lived romance enjoyed by the Titanic's two most important people: Jack and Rose. It is also a haunting reminder that mere hours later, this very work of art, along with some 1,500 people (including ill-fated Jack) would be swallowed whole by the dark, icy waters of the North Atlantic. However, in the present day, treasure hunter Brock Lovett is less interested in any of these 1,500 people or their pre-death swim, and far more keen on this elusive piece of jewellery, which has led him to scouring the ocean for years. Elderly Rose, in turn, acts extremely cagey throughout her very long recollection of the fate of that diamond, and withholds a key detail about its whereabouts that Brock would probably have given his right arm for. Rose may have left viewers gobsmacked when she threw it overboard in her twilight moments without telling anyone, but maybe she had a point: the greed that drives Brock is not so different from her hideous ex-fiance Cal's love for riches. Brock deserves to be denied the necklace, and it is fitting that Rose gets to be the one to thwart one last man with a blue diamond. Why does the heart go on? Many of us will have heard that landmark "April 14, 1912" in a cinema in 1998, and if this was you, then you are probably going to be appalled to learn that 1998 wasn't in fact, just 10 years ago. Now that we have made it to 2025, it has been a whopping 27 years since Cameron's epic three-hour film about the doomed ocean liner unleashed across cinemas worldwide. Wringing the most out of a deep-sea tragedy, Cameron was directly responsible for a wave of global frenetic female sobbing as Jack, valiantly declining a space on a floating piece door for Rose, froze to death and sank to the bottom of the North Atlantic like a lead balloon. It is unclear whether or not the sinking of Titanic – or more accurately, the freezing and subsequent sinking of Jack – also induced any male sobbing. Such figures are hard to come by on account of male viewers either not being moved by whispered mid-ocean vows of never letting go, or being unwilling to admit it if they were. Whatever the case may be, let us settle this long-standing Titanic debate once and for all: no, there was no room for Jack on that door ("because that is what it said on p147 of the script", as a weary Cameron told Vanity Fair in 2017). Even if there was, by then Jack was most likely too cold and tired to try again after having spent a lively evening escaping from a small prison, dodging bullets, and trying to not get crushed to death by a giant ocean liner breaking apart. He rescued Rose and, as his final act of heroism, extracted from her a promise that she would never let go of her will to live. A sobbing Rose, in turn, kept her word and never did let go – neither of Jack in her heart, nor of her newfound lease on life. If Jack had had the foresight to advise her to not dispose of the necklace he had drawn hours before his death, old Rose may well have given Brock the happy ending he so craved. As for us, Titanic is not the place to seek a happy ending. One heartbreak a year is enough. We will return next April, hoping once more that this time, Jack will find a way to fit on that door, but knowing in our hearts that, like always, he probably never will.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen's 'Get me to God's country' post became an immediate meme
Actress Mikey Madison (Anora) hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend, with country singer Morgan Wallen joining the Best Picture Oscar winner. At the end of the show, Wallen hugged Madison, then abruptly left the stage and headed out, foregoing the customary post-show celebration. Shortly after the conclusion of SNL, Wallen posted a picture of a plane on his personal Instagram story with the caption "Get me to God's country." Naturally, the internet took off and ran with the "Get me to God's country" phrase, pairing it with their favorite locations. Some were real places — New York City! — while others posted restaurants — Chili's! — and much more. Here are some of the best ones. get me to god's country — Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) March 31, 2025 Get me to God's country — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 31, 2025 Get me to God's country — Hayden (@the_transit_guy) March 31, 2025 get me to god's country — Chris (@citehchris) March 31, 2025 Get me to God's country — Betches (@betchesluvthis) March 31, 2025 Get me to God's country — Focus Features (@FocusFeatures) March 31, 2025 Get me to God's country. — Jessica Benson (@jessbensontv) March 31, 2025 Get us to God's country. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Morgan Wallen's 'Get me to God's country' post became an immediate meme
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
These States Are Moving in the Wrong Direction on Prostitution Laws
The arc of history is weird: Here we are, over 50 years after whatever it was that people call the sexual revolution, long past the anti-porn crusade of the late 20th century, a few decades out from third-wave feminists embracing sex positivity and slut walks, and well into an age of hookup apps, OnlyFans, and a movie about a stripper who sleeps her way into the heart of a Russian oligarch's son just winning the Best Picture Oscar. But states keep escalating law enforcement attacks on prostitution, with bipartisan support, and lawmakers won't stop putting out proposals to ratchet up penalties for people who pay for sex. So far this year, at least 12 states are considering increased penalties for solicitation, with many of these proposals aimed at moving it from a misdemeanor to a felony. Some would rechristen the crime solicitation of prostitution as "commercial sexual exploitation," and others would make those convicted of solicitation register as sex offenders. These bills have generally been introduced under the guise of stopping sex trafficking. Lawmakers across the country seem smitten by the idea that harsher punishments for folks attempting to pay for sex with another consenting adult will somehow "end demand" for paid sex, thereby ensuring that neither consenting adult sex workers nor anyone underage and/or coerced into prostitution will have customers. It's a stupid theory that utterly failed when Ronald Reagan pushed a version of it as part of the war on drugs. Targeting illicit drug buyers, rather than drug sellers, certainly didn't "end demand" for illicit substances, and targeting prostitution customers isn't going to "end demand" for paid sex. That it won't work is only one issue with ramping up penalties for sex work customers, of course. It's also unfair to those targeted, who do not deserve to face jail time, hefty fines, and being treated like dangerous sex criminals. And it could make life more dangerous for those selling sex—whether they're doing so solely by choice or under duress of some sort. Rabidly targeting customers could reduce the pool of good clients and/or make customers less likely to engage in screening measures, digital communication, and other things that can make sex work safer. Making customers harder to find and communicate with makes it harder for sex workers to work independently and increases reliance on pimps and vulnerability to violent or exploitative traffickers. All the while, criminal justice systems that could go to stopping abusive situations are being utilized to throw the book at men who proposition undercover cops for sex. "Conflating sex work with trafficking wastes vital law enforcement resources," said Ariela Moscowitz, communications director for the group Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW), in a statement. "By diverting time and funding to prosecute consensual adult sex work, the ability to focus on real trafficking cases is hindered, allowing true exploitation to go unaddressed." DSW has a handy rundown of many of the state proposals, which include measures in California, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington. An Idaho proposal—House Bill 88, which already passed the House 50–19—would make soliciting prostitution a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $50,000. A bill in Oklahoma would change engaging in "prostitution, lewdness, or assignation" from a misdemeanor offense to a felony, punishable by up to two years in state prison (up from a previous possible punishment of 30 days to one year in county jail). The measure, which would mean greater penalties for both sex workers and their customers, as well as anyone engaged in "lascivious, lustful or licentious conduct," passed the Senate Public Safety Committee 6–2 but has not had a full vote yet. Nevada Assembly Bill 151 would make people found guilty of soliciting prostitution register as sex offenders. In Washington, House Bill 1265 would rephrase "patronizing a prostitute" to "commercial sexual exploitation" and broaden its definition, making it applicable to not just paying, agreeing to pay, or offering to pay "a fee" for sexual activity but providing, agreeing to provide, or offering "anything of value" in exchange for it. It would also change the crime from a misdemeanor to a class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Like the bill in Washington, Nebraska Legislative Bill 511 would rename the offense of "solicitation of prostitution"—a pretty neutral name that simply describes the action in question—to the more judgment-laden "commercial sexual exploitation." It would also raise the mandatory minimum fine for first-time offenders from $250 to $1,000 and make those convinced get a mental health evaluation and attend "an educational program designed to educate participants on the negative effects of prostitution on the participants' health, on the health of their families, on the person solicited, and on the community." And anyone convicted of "commercial sexual exploitation" more than once would have to register as a sex offender and pay a fine of $5,000, in addition to any other punishments. Meanwhile, in California, Assemblymember Maggy Krell—a former federal prosecutor who published a book about prosecuting Backpage—is proposing the creation of a new crime of loitering with the intent to purchase commercial sex. Assembly Bill 379, introduced in February, would institute a mandatory $1,000 "Survivor Support Fund" fine on people found guilty of the loitering charge or of solicitation, in addition to any other fines or fees assessed. It would also undo a law passed last year that treats soliciting 16- and 17-year-old minors less harshly than soliciting minors who are younger, in some circumstances. Bills in at least five other states—Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Virginia—would likewise raise penalties for solicitation. The South Carolina bill originally would have moved buying and selling sex from misdemeanors to felonies, but it was amended before passing the state Senate Judiciary Committee to keep selling sex a misdemeanor. As amended, the measure would still make paying or offering to pay for sex a felony, raise a spate of other prostitution offenses from misdemeanors to felonies, and create new offenses of "grooming" someone for prostitution or bringing someone in or out of the state for prostitution (also felonies). The sex-liberating phenomena that I noted in the opening paragraph only tell half the story, of course. The sexual revolution has been sparking backlash since it started. The increasing visibility of sexuality in the public sphere has coincided with increased fear about what that means for women. If we drew a bell curve with sex positivity at the top, right-wing conservatism at the first end, and left-wing conservatism at the other, mainstream feminism would now be stuck squarely on the last side. It's slid far past seeing sexuality as something positive and liberating for women and now focuses mostly on all the ways that sex—at least, sex with men—may be physically, emotionally, and otherwise dangerous. And the radical feminist/Christian right alliance that failed to stop the spread of porn last century reinvigorated itself over the past few decades by igniting a now fully institutionalized fear of widespread sex trafficking. These factors combined—especially the myth-laden but remarkably potent panic over sex trafficking—have led to increasingly harsh crackdowns on prostitution. Lawmakers seem always to be looking for the next high-profile "anti-trafficking" measure they can co-sponsor, while a whole lot of trafficking "experts"—radical feminists themselves, or heavily influenced by this philosophy—stand ready to say it's men who pay for sex who are the true problem, that sex work is inherently exploitive, and that there's no such thing as a sex worker who isn't a victim. It's become almost verboten, regardless of political party or cultural leanings, to blame sex workers themselves for prostitution (a situation that may seem like feminist progress but really represents regressive attitudes toward female agency). If cops want to be celebrated for their vice sting efforts, they've got to go after prostitution customers. And if lawmakers want to ramp up antiprostitution efforts, they've got to target men. In a perverse way, some of this stems from our more sexually liberal culture, even though the results are purely reactionary. There's less public appetite for punishing people purely for promiscuity, or for vice stings aimed squarely at stopping two consenting adults from having sex. Authorities who want mass public support for the same old vice-squad efforts have to frame it in the language of stopping victimization and fighting sex trafficking. And since no one wants to seem insufficiently concerned with women's sexual victimization, basically any old thing alleged to stop it receives little scrutiny. That's how we've gotten here. These days, bills to decriminalize sex work entirely are getting introduced—see Rhode Island, Illinois, and Vermont, most recently. But they're always outnumbered by measures meant to more harshly punish men who pay for sex, and the latter have, sadly, seen more success so far, too. Countless human rights organizations, health groups, and sex worker rights activists say that decriminalization is the best path for stopping sexual abuse and exploitation, protecting public health, and respecting civil liberties. They're roundly ignored, or at least way less heeded than those selling fear, male bashing, and rescue fantasies. Texas Senate Bill 31 is being sold as a bill to clarify exceptions to the state's abortion ban, thereby making it easier for doctors to provide lifesaving care to women experiencing pregnancy complications or miscarriage. But is it actually "a Trojan Horse," as Jessica Valenti calls it? She and others have been warning that the legislation could revive the state's expansive 1925 abortion law, which not only made it a felony to perform an abortion but also to aid someone in procuring one. After the Dobbs decision, Texas Republicans tried to start enforcing the ban, notes Valenti: The ultra-conservative Texas Freedom Caucus started sending threatening letters to companies that promised to reimburse employees for out-of-state abortion travel—citing the 1925 ban. They also targeted abortion funds, warning that donors, employees, and volunteers could be prosecuted under the 100-year-old law. Thankfully, Texas funds sued to stop that from happening. Paxton lost the legal battle in 2023, when a federal court ruled that the zombie ban had been "repealed by implication." (Translation: you can't enforce a nearly century-old ban when newer laws have already replaced it.) And while Paxton and Texas Republicans continued to claim the old ban was still on the books, that federal ruling blocked them from enforcing it. Texas Republicans' new "Life of the Mother" bill would amend the 1925 ban, ostensibly to clarify that it, too, contains exceptions for mothers' lives. But amending it could also pave the way to countering the court's judgment that the long-neglected 1925 law was effectively repealed. Carding sex toy purchasers: Another bill recently introduced in Texas—S.B. 3003—would require sex toy sellers to card people purchasing items online. The bill, from Sen. Angela Paxton (wife of the state's attorney general), "would criminally charge online retailers for selling 'an obscene device' without verifying the buyers' age," 404 Media reports: Sellers would have to require customers to submit their government-issued photographic identification, or use "third-party age verification services that use public records or other reliable sources to verify the purchaser's identity and age," the bill says. Owning a credit card, which already requires the holder to be over 18 years of age, would not be enough. Hallie Lieberman, journalist and author of Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy, sold sex toys in Texas in the early 2000s under the state's "six dildo" law, which criminalizes the possession of six or more "obscene devices," defined as "a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." That law is still on the books but is now considered unenforceable and unconstitutional. Lieberman told me sellers got around the law by claiming the toys were for "medical purposes." This bill could send retailers back to that time. And this isn't the only piece of Texas legislation targeting sex toy sales: Texas legislators have been trying to limit access to sex toys for their constituents for years. In late 2024, Hillary Hickland, a freshman member of Texas' Republican House, introduced a bill that would ban retailers in the state from selling sex toys unless they file paperwork to become sexually oriented businesses—effectively forcing stores like Walmart, CVS and Target, which sell vibrators and other sex toys, to take those products off their shelves and forcing brick-and-mortar boutiques to verify the ages of all customers. The bill was referred to Texas' Trade, Workforce & Economic Development committee earlier this month. • now redirects to (link definitely NSFW), the federal government—which seized the platform in 2018 and prosecuted its founders—apparently having let the domain name lapse. • Reason's Ron Bailey reports on a cool advancement in reproductive technology: In a lab in Japan, scientists transformed cells from the tails of male mice into eggs. They fertilized the eggs with ordinary mouse sperm and implanted them in surrogate mouse moms. The experiment was repeated 630 times. Although most of the pregnancies failed, seven healthy mice were born. Each of those seven baby mice had two biological dads. • Christy Perez writes at Filter about how heightening penalties for "human trafficking" will wind up harming sex workers. • Artificial intelligence is hallucinating its way into legal documents. Lawyer and blogger Eugene Volokh "found that 11 court opinions in the last 30 days mention that a party had likely included AI-hallucinated case citations or (in one instance) AI-hallucinated quotes from real cases; ten involved court filings, and one involved a party's communication with opponents. That's a rate of over 100 per year." • Texas A&M University System can't ban campus drag shows, says a federal judge. The post These States Are Moving in the Wrong Direction on Prostitution Laws appeared first on
