Elaine Teng
The New Republic
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Elaine:
The former president of Honduras has admitted to taking bribes in the FIFA scandal.
Rafael Callejas, who was president of the Central American country from 1990 to 1994 and later headed the country’s soccer federation, in December pled not guilty to charges of participating in a multi-million dollar bribery conspiracy. At the time, he told the Honduran press: “I didn’t take a single dollar from FENAFUTH,” Honduras’s soccer federation. “Those who know me are confident that I ... → Read More
The Romanian soccer team wants to know: Can you do basic math?
Before holding mighty Spain to a 0-0 draw in a friendly on Sunday, the Romanian soccer team made a creative effort to help the country’s schoolchildren learn math. Instead of wearing team numbers on their training gear, the players donned jackets with math problems on the back.#Romania are using calculations instead of numbers on their jerseys against Spain tonight. Promoting math for kids! p... → Read More
Ava DuVernay has better things to do than direct a Marvel movie.
The Selma director has announced her next project will be HBO Films’ The Battle of Versailles, a recreation of a 1973 fashion show that was the first to feature black models and marked American design’s entry into the international world of fashion. DuVernay previously turned down an offer to direct Marvel’s Black Panther, disappointing fans hoping for more diversity in the comic book-movie u... → Read More
The best part of the new Ben-Hur trailer is Morgan Freeman’s hair.
Now that we’ve accepted that Hollywood is really actually remaking Ben-Hur, let’s think about how ridiculous the story of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (yes, that is its full title) is in the first place.Judah Ben-Hur is a Jewish prince who is enslaved by the Romans and betrayed by his childhood friend, the evil Roman Messala. Ben-Hur escapes slavery and vows to exact revenge on his... → Read More
FIFA admits to taking bribes, then demands the money back.
In case you really thought FIFA had turned over a new leaf with the election of new president Gianni Infantino last month, today the organization filed a 22-page claim to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York seeking damages and compensation from former executives who have “tarnished the FIFA brand.” The U.S. has thus far seized over $190 million from former soccer and marketing officials—and… → Read More
Why Is It Still Okay to Make Fun of Asians?
It shouldn't be. Here's how to defeat Hollywood's racist stereotypes. → Read More
Ang Lee, Sandra Oh, and George Takei protest the Oscars’ Asian jokes.
Twenty-five Academy members of Asian descent, including three former members of the Board of Governors, have sent a letter to the organization protesting “its perpetuation of racist stereotypes” at the Oscars on Feb. 28. At a ceremony designed to explore Hollywood’s problems with diversity, host Chris Rock brought three Asian children on stage and presented them as the “most dedicated, a... → Read More
Christopher Nolan goes One Direction.
Harry Styles, that mangy-haired part of One Direction who once broke Taylor Swift’s heart, has allegedly been offered a part in Nolan’s upcoming drama, Dunkirk, about the British military evacuation from France during World War II. If he accepts, Styles would join a cast including Oscar-winning Shakespearean actor Mark Rylance, Oscar nominee Tom Hardy, and Oscar-nominated Shakespearean actor… → Read More
What Was a Weekend? Downton Abbey at the End
Happy endings abound as the foundation of the British aristocracy breaks down. → Read More
Point/Counterpoint: The Wine Show looks great vs. The Wine Show looks bad.
Point: Matthew Goode + Matthew Rhys + wine = perfection. ITV released a trailer today for The Wine Show, which is literally Matthew Rhys (The Americans) and Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey and The Good Wife, most recently, though I still remember him from Chasing Liberty) frolicking about Italian villas trying different kinds of wines. Because the television gods heard your prayers. “I’m no... → Read More
Chris Rock got so much right about diversity at the Oscars—except for the Asian jokes.
Rock has been praised, deservedly, for tackling the Academy Awards’ lack of diversity head on at last night’s show. But for all the righteous indignation, Rock’s Oscars showed very little sensitivity towards people of other ethnic backgrounds.Dev Patel and Priyanka Chopra came out to present, Mexicans Alejandro Iñárritu and Emmanuel Lubezki won awards, as did Pakistani director Sharmeen… → Read More
Joe Biden and Lady Gaga just made an incredibly powerful statement about sexual assault.
Biden came on to a standing ovation to introduce Lady Gaga’s performance of her Best Song nominee, “’Til It Happens To You,” and put the responsibility for preventing sexual assault on college campuses squarely on everyone watching. He asked the audience—in the Dolby Theater and on television screens across America—to take a pledge: “I will intervene in situations when consent has not or... → Read More
Thank you Kate Winslet for showing us glasses aren’t just for nerds.
Kate Winslet showed up to introduce Spotlight and Bridge of Spies wearing thick-rimmed glasses, helping girls everywhere believe they’re not ugly or nerdy just because they’re short-sighted. Or, as I like to think of it, it was Kate Winslet’s anti-Taylor Swift moment. (Patricia Arquette also presented Best Supporting Actor with her own thinner-rimmed but just as comely glasses. Glasses f... → Read More
Mad Max is this year’s Grand Budapest Hotel.
Before you think Mad Max: Fury Road, which has won six Oscars so far tonight, has a good chance of winning Best Picture, or that George Miller might knock Alejandro Iñárritu off the Best Director perch, just remember that The Grand Budapest Hotel also cleaned up the production categories last year, winning Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup and Hair, and Score. Right now it looks like the… → Read More
Emmanuel Lubezki goes from perennial runner-up to winning three Oscars in a row.
Lubezki won the Best Cinematography Oscar for The Revenant after wins for Birdman and Gravity in the last two years. The Mexican director of photography has been nominated eight times and used to be one of those guys whose names sounded familiar but never won (sorry, Alexandre Desplat). He now joins the likes of Meryl Streep, Daniel Day Lewis, and his Revenant director Alejandro Iñárritu (who is… → Read More
Chris Rock’s opening monologue was perfect—until he brought sexism into it.
Rock finished a great speech about #OscarsSoWhite with a dig at the #AskHerMore campaign, which aims to ask actresses questions about more than their outfits. “You know why they ask men more?” Rock said. “Because they’re wearing the same thing.” Okay Chris, for someone who just delivered a nuanced analysis of racism in America, you’re displaying a very simplified understanding of sexism ... → Read More
Jacob Tremblay is staying up way past his bedtime.
The nine-year-old star from Room, who is wearing Millennium Falcon cuff links and Darth Vader socks, just revealed on the red carpet that his bedtime is 8pm. "I'm gonna go to the #Oscars after parties." - @JacobTremblay is staying up past his bedtime tonight. — Good Morning America (@GMA) February 29, 2016 Given that the show starts at 5:30pm, and then he has to go... → Read More
The Oscars are today. Here are all the movies you should know.
We at the New Republic couldn’t be more excited for the Academy Awards, which start at 8:30 pm EST on Sunday on ABC. (Red carpet coverage starts at 5:30pm.) I personally am dressing up, drinking champagne, and winning my Oscar pool. In case you aren’t sure who to root for, here are all the nominees we reviewed in 2015. In Best Picture: Bridge of Spies: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks make... → Read More
Which Films Will Win at Tonight’s Academy Awards?
Alex: Hi Elaine! Grierson & Leitch have already done the New Republic’s Oscar predictions, but I thought there was room for something even less scientific: a free-ranging discussion of the nominees between two people have seen most of the films nominated for the major awards. (I understand that you have seen all of the shorts, but those don’t count because shorts aren’t real movies.) Elaine: A... → Read More
FIFA chooses to go with more of the same.
It remains to be seen how Swiss-Italian Gianni Infantino will fare as Sepp Blatter’s replacement. But here’s what we know about him: He’s a multilingual lawyer from a town not too far from Blatter’s hometown in Switzerland. He has been at UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, for 15 years—eight as President Michel Platini’s right-hand man. Given what we know about Blatter, Platini, and... → Read More