Latest news with #MichaelLarson
Wall Street Journal
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
‘The Luckiest Man in America' Review: Paul Walter Hauser Outplays the Game
'The house always wins,' they say. And when it doesn't, it gets very upset. 'The Luckiest Man in America,' which may end up being the surprise delight of summer '25, isn't about a casino; it's about a schlub who outwitted a TV game show in 1984. But you can sense the outrage of Institutional Gambling echoing from Las Vegas to Atlantic City. 'He's counting cards!' a producer says. How dare a player outplay the game? A TV studio being out of money and noses being out of joint certainly wins sympathy for our alleged culprit, Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser, 'Cobra Kai'). During one ruminative moment, he wonders to himself if he's actually cheating after his winning streak on 'Press Your Luck' goes stratospheric. But siding with Michael is partly a result of director Samir Oliveros and his co-screenwriter, Maggie Briggs, not giving us a lot of solid background. Only hints: He drives his ice-cream truck to Hollywood to try and scam his way onto the show (the original version of which really did air on CBS from 1983-86). Nothing back home in Ohio is very healthy. Michael might not be either. He's so unfocused and socially awkward he makes everyone uneasy.
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Portland-made documentary aims to make senior homelessness ‘personal'
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Portland non-profit, Humans for Housing, is taking its documentary to Capitol Hill in an effort to shine a light on senior homelessness. The documentary, 'No Place to Grow Old,' was released in the fall of 2024, following the stories of three seniors in Portland who were priced out of housing. Screening the film in Washington D.C. on Wednesday in front of lawmakers and policy experts, Humans for Housing is aiming to humanize the homeless crisis, and ensure it's 'personal,' for lawmakers. Neighbors distressed over planned homeless shelter in Portland's Pearl District 'The documentary, 'No Place to Grow Old,' really began as a thought between me and Michael Larson, who's the founder of Humans for Housing,' the film's director Davey Schaupp told KOIN 6 News. 'We were looking to build a film that was going to humanize people experiencing homelessness.' The documentary comes as over 140,000 Americans age 55 and older are experiencing homelessness on any given day. That number is expected to triple by the year 2030, according to a 2019 report from the University of Pennsylvania. Zooming into Portland, the metro area recorded nearly 2,000 people aged 55 years or older who experienced homelessness the night of January 22, according to Dr. Marisa Zapata, Portland State University associate professor of urban studies and planning. Portland native, former UO student joins cast of 'Love Island USA' 'Similar to national trends the number of aging adults continues to grow in the Portland region. This year's count increased by 800 people between 2022-2025, a 63% increase,' Dr. Zapata told KOIN 6. 'Homelessness for all people is driven by a lack of affordable housing. For aging adults, fixed incomes, illness, non-accessible housing, and the death of a partner can make maintaining or accessing housing even harder.' 'We saw this huge tidal wave of older adults who are aging into homelessness and yet it didn't feel like nearly enough people were talking about it,' Schaupp explained. 'That is what really sparked the desire to make the film…The storyteller part of me thought Portland would be a really good focus because Portland has a pretty negative reputation nationally for homelessness and I think there's a lot of stereotypes that people put Portland in when it comes to homelessness.' 'I think there's a myth, a very American myth, that homelessness is an individual failure, that if someone is homeless, that it is a result of their capacity, that they're either lazy, they don't have drive, that they want to be homeless or there's some kind of moral or character failure on their part which results in them being homeless,' Schaupp said. 'I think that myth of individual failure is one we've tried to at least address and show that individual choices, of course, affect how your life plays out and have a huge effect on it, but there's also a lot of systemic factors that play a part in if someone has stable housing or not,' Schaupp added. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Schaupp pointed to — professor of medicine at University of California San Francisco's Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative — who says there are two questions society should ask when discussing homelessness. First: why is this person homeless? 'We love to focus on, oh this person might have a drug habit, or this person might display X, Y, Z characteristics, or have a mental health disorder,' Schaupp said. The second question is: why are so many people homeless? Amtrak Cascades, 'one of the most scenic train rides,' unveils new look for 2026 'I think that's really what we're trying to expose in pieces of this film is our housing crisis is a huge cause of so much homelessness. And we're seeing people metaphorically jumping out of a building and we're asking why they're dying but not why they're jumping,' Schaupp said. 'No Place to Grow Old' features the story of Herbert Olive, a man in his 60s who has lived in Portland for most of his life. Schaupp said Olive's story stuck with him after filming wrapped. 'He owned a home and was doing renovations on it and he actually got a predatorial loan from a bank where they said, 'Hey, we can give you a loan for about $50,000 and this will let you do some more home renovations.' But the way they structured the loan, the payments were so high that he couldn't pay them and then he had a default on his home,' Schaupp said. 'He ended up becoming homeless, and then became a journeyman carpenter. He had worked in carpentry his whole life and then has been going back and forth renting and so now he's still working full time in his 60s but his home was kind of originally his retirement asset, that's where he was building wealth. And so when he lost that, and now he's renting in his 60s, he can pay rent but he's relying on his ability to work and so he's in a precarious situation,' Schaupp explained. 'He does have Social Security, and he does have a pension but those only amount to $1,300-$1,400 which is about the average price of rent in Portland. So, that doesn't even leave him enough to pay for groceries on top of that, car insurance on top of that,' Schaupp added. Since its fall 2024 release at Portland's Newmark Theatre, the documentary has been screened around 100 times. 'I think what I've learned is storytelling really does work. As humans, we like to think we're rational creatures and we like to see data and facts and we make all these decisions objectively, but we really are story creatures and we thrive off story and we connect off story,' Schaupp said, reflecting on the documentary. 'I've been amazed, specifically with Portland, Oregon, how many organizations, different faith groups, different advocacy organizations have come out just to build a space where people can witness these stories. Portland is a city with a lot of heart and people really do care. I think there is a lot of empathy fatigue around homelessness, but Portland is an amazing city,' Schaupp said. 'I think one of the biggest takeaways I learned is as the world gets noisier, as there's more and more crises happening, really what matters or what cuts through the noise is story.' KOIN 6 anchor Jeff Gianola: My journey out of silence Schaupp acknowledges that he's not a housing policy expert, but after speaking with experts, including Zapata, while filming the documentary, he believes creating a housing subsidy for older adults would help keep seniors housed, noting, 'For a lot of these seniors, like Herbert…the extra subsidy of $300 or $400 a month would keep him stably housed.' 'The long-term solution is to fix the housing market. That's really the only way we're going to get out of this crisis,' he added. 'That's been a priority on a lot of politician's dockets in Portland and our mayor, our governor has run on housing, but I think it just really is holding them accountable and delivering results and seeing more housing units built in Oregon and across the country.' The D.C. screening comes as the Oregon House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 3589 on Tuesday to address the senior housing crisis. MultCo: Drug users can now receive sobering services without police The bill creates a Senior Housing Development Initiative and invests $24 million to build affordable and accessible homes for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. The $24 million will be transferred from Oregon's Property Tax Deferral Program for Disabled and Senior Homeowners, allowing seniors to defer paying property taxes until they move or sell their home. In a press release announcing the bill, the office of Oregon House Speaker Rep. Julie Fahey (D-West Eugene & Veneta) said older adults are the fastest-growing group of people facing homelessness in the United States, noting people over 55 in Oregon make up between 20-25% of the state's houseless population. Oregon state senator resigns from committee after 'aggressive outbursts' 'This is a quiet crisis that's growing fast,' said Rep. Pam Marsh (D-Ashland), chair of the House Committee on Housing and Homelessness and the bill's sponsor. 'We have more older adults on fixed incomes, more people aging without family nearby, and too few housing options that truly meet their needs. We're falling behind—and HB 3589 is a way to start catching up.' Back in D.C., some members of Oregon's congressional delegation are joining the screening, including Senator Ron Wyden (D) and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-01). 'Homelessness is the most visible, painful symptom of our nation's crisis of housing supply and affordability. Seniors are some of the most vulnerable, and Trump's attacks on Medicaid, critical federal grants for housing projects as well as important food assistance programs to pay for tax cuts for billionaires shows where their priorities are,' Wyden said in a statement to KOIN 6. 'I applaud Davey Schaupp and the Humans for Housing team for highlighting the need to address senior homelessness, and I will continue to fight for more resources to combat the affordable housing crisis like my Decent, Affordable, Safe Housing for All Act.' Bonamici added, 'The stories shared by Portlanders in 'No Place to Grow Old' are heartbreaking and too common in Oregon and across the country. As we see a rising number of older Americans experiencing homelessness, this film reminds us of the real lives behind the statistics. Housing is essential for people to find stability, build a better future, and age with dignity. I hope the film inspires members of Congress to pursue effective, evidence-based policies that address the affordable housing shortage and homelessness crisis.' For Schaupp, he hopes the film becomes personal for lawmakers. 'The decision makers, the lawmakers, the congressional staffers… for them to watch the film and for it to feel personal to them because it really is,' Schaupp said. 'We are a country that should be judged on how we treat the most marginalized in our society, the most vulnerable and here, thousands of our seniors in our communities or older adults, or grandparents — these are people's grandparents — and so I would hope that they leave feeling like this is troubling and this is personal and we actually have not just a political obligation but a moral obligation to address this crisis.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘The Luckiest Man in America' Review: Taking a Game Show for a Spin
The ideal way to watch 'The Luckiest Man in America,' a dramatization of a real-life game show incident, is to go in cold — to see these events unfold as TV viewers did. If you've never heard of Michael Larson, a contestant who appeared on CBS's 'Press Your Luck' in 1984, then it is best to save YouTube for later. In the movie's version of events, Michael (Paul Walter Hauser) earns his spot on the program by crashing an audition, claiming to be someone he's not. Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn), one of the show's creators, nevertheless sees star potential in his Everyman persona. Is Michael a loose cannon? The screenplay, by Maggie Briggs and the film's director, Samir Oliveros, paints him as, at minimum, maladroit. He wears shorts with his tie and jacket. A woolly hairdo and beard look more freakish on Hauser than the real Michael's did on him. The character also seems fine with bending the show's rules, like the one that forbids phone calls during breaks. Then Michael starts winning tens of thousands of dollars. And he keeps taking turns, even though each time he stands to lose it all. From here, the movie shifts into procedural mode, as the team in the control booth tries to sort out whether Michael is crazy or crafty. Shamier Anderson plays an employee who sleuths out Michael's background during the taping. Oliveros is more selective in providing access to the protagonist's thoughts. The events, and the mind games, appear to have been goosed for dramatic interest. (One preposterous, surely invented interlude finds Michael wandering onto a talk show set and baring his soul to the host, played by Johnny Knoxville.) But it is still fun to watch Michael and CBS compete for the upper hand. The Luckiest Man in America Rated R. Language unfit for daytime TV. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. In theaters.
