Morning Edition

Bob Anderson was an Olympic fencer, and was a major fight choreographer for saber-rattling movies including: The Princess Bride and The Lord of the Rings. He was nearly 60 when he did Darth Vader's light saber fighting. Anderson died Sunday at 89.

Steve Inskeep talks to filmmaker Mike Mills for the latest in the Watch This series about recommended movies and television shows. Mills directed the film Beginners starring Christopher Plummer as an elderly father who comes out of the closet.

Big changes in 2011 — from the Arab Spring to the death of North Korea's dictator — create opportunities for 2012. But change can be scary, even when the regimes to be replaced are unpopular or repressive, because there's never a guarantee the new regime will be better.

The new measure signed into law by President Obama imposes sanctions on financial institutions that deal with Iran's central bank. That's in addition to existing international sanctions. Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, tells Steve Inskeep that the new sanctions could put tremendous pressure on Iran's economy.

College football bowl games began last month but the big games are being played in the new year. There were six games played Monday including the Rose Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl. Michigan and Virginia Tech meet Tuesday night in the Sugar Bowl.