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'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' director Rian Johnson reacts to the backlash and addresses the movie's most shocking moments

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  • "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" writer-director Rian Johnson addressed the backlash from fans who say his movie isn't like the original trilogy.
  • He explained how the fan theories of where the story would go after "The Force Awakens" didn't affect writing the script.
  • He said he hoped a female director would soon make one of the "Star Wars" movies — perhaps in the new trilogy he's creating.


WARNING: Spoilers below if you haven't seen "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

It's getting into the evening hours in Los Angeles on the first full day "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is in theaters. Rian Johnson, the director of the biggest movie of the year, has not stopped moving for a week.

First Los Angeles for the press junket. Then Japan. Back to LA for the flashy world premiere. Followed by a jump to London. Now back again to LA for a final round of press — for now.

When Johnson, 43, gets on the phone, he sounds weary from jetting around the globe. But he perks up when it's time to talk about "The Last Jedi." It's not just a movie he spent the past four years of his life writing and then directing. It's more than that.

Johnson has been a lifelong fan of the franchise, and he even chose to go to film school at the University of Southern California because the creator of "Star Wars," George Lucas, went there. In many ways, his entire career has been leading up to this point.

You can see many traces of Johnson's filmography in "The Last Jedi"— risk-taking ("Brick"), lighthearted moments ("The Brothers Bloom"), and world-building ("Looper"). But it's his love of the "Star Wars" franchise and his drive to tell a story that builds on "The Force Awakens" with something new and challenging that shines through.

It's that newness that has divided "Star Wars" fans about "The Last Jedi." Though many appreciated a movie that didn't just feed off the hallmarks of the original trilogy, others have voiced their disappointment with Johnson for breaking fresh ground.

That's where we began our wide-ranging conversation with Johnson. The director also touched on not being distracted by fan expectations, the challenge of bringing Luke Skywalker back into the saga, why Captain Phasma isn't featured more prominently in the movie, and what he hopes to accomplish with the new "Star Wars" trilogy he's creating.

The following has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Jason Guerrasio: Like making any "Star Wars" movie, the director can't win. People complained that "The Force Awakens" was too much like the original trilogy. With your movie, the knock is it's nothing like the original trilogy. What are your thoughts when you hear that take?

Rian Johnson: Having been a "Star Wars" fan my whole life, and having spent most of my life on the other side of the curb and in that fandom, it softens the blow a little bit.

I'm aware through my own experience that, first of all, the fans are so passionate, they care so deeply — sometimes they care very violently at me on Twitter. But it's because they care about these things, and it hurts when you're expecting something specific and you don't get it from something that you love. It always hurts, so I don't take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That's fine. It's my job to be there for that. Like you said, every fan has a list of stuff they want a "Star Wars" movie to be and they don't want a "Star Wars" movie to be. You're going to find very few fans out there whose lists line up.

And I also know the same way the original movies were personal for Lucas. Lucas never made a "Star Wars" movie by sitting down and thinking, "What do the fans want to see?" And I knew if I wrote wondering what the fans would want, as tempting as that is, it wouldn't work, because people would still be shouting at me, "F--- you, you ruined 'Star Wars,'" and I would make a bad movie. And ultimately, that's the one thing nobody wants.

And let me just add that 80-90% of the reaction I've gotten from Twitter has been really lovely. There's been a lot of joy and love from fans. When I talk about the negative stuff, that's not the full picture of the fans at all.

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Guerrasio: Even though the movie is the second part of a trilogy, it really feels like a standalone. Was that a goal of yours?

Johnson: Well, I wanted it to be a full meal. I wanted it to be a satisfying experience unto itself — because when you go into a theater, that's what you always want.

I did want to pick it up where the last one left off. I did want to do service to these characters in a way that felt consistent. And I wanted to leave it in a place where you felt you were excited for the potential of what could come next, and you're invested maybe a little more deeply in these characters and where they end up. In that way it is a middle chapter — it has to function like that.

But you know, it's also a movie, and I wanted to give people a full "Star Wars" experience. I wanted to give them something where they come out of the theater and feel totally satisfied.

BI Graphics_Rian Johnson quote 1Guerrasio: Speaking for myself, the satisfaction is that you move the trilogy someplace beyond the hot takes fans had since "The Force Awakens." And you did that by making some very shocking choices on who we will no longer see beyond this movie, theoretically. Has it been fun waiting for this movie to come out knowing "The Last Jedi" is a very different movie than what fans expected? Or was it panic that maybe your take could miss the mark?

Johnson: [Laughs.] It's been a combination of both of those things. When I was writing the movie, I was doing it while they were shooting "The Force Awakens." So it wasn't like I was reading all these theories online and being at my typewriter and going "Ha! Ha! Gotcha!" It was me coming up with a story. I was writing purely from a personal reaction to the script of "The Force Awakens" and what they were shooting. Snoke, for example, I probably would have done the same thing regardless.

Guerrasio: Oh yeah?

Johnson: Yeah. Snoke's fate came entirely out of Kylo's arc and realizing that in this movie the most interesting thing to me was for Kylo to be ascendant — to start by knocking the shaky foundation out from Kylo's feet and then building him back up into a complicated but credible villain by the end of it. And one that Rey now has a more complex relationship with than just "I hate you, I want to kill you."

And once I kind of landed on that, it quickly became evident that, OK, what is Snoke's place in this? If I build Kylo up to that point, the most interesting thing to carry into the next movie is Kylo running things, not any echo of the emperor/pupil relationship. And you realize the dramatic potential of that, and it just makes a lot of sense from the story point of view.

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Guerrasio: Was coming up with how Luke Skywalker would come out of his self-imposed exile a challenge to write?

Johnson: Yeah. It's something that, early in the process, the first thing I had to crack in the movie is why Luke is on that island. I had to figure out something that made sense, and you don't know much about where's Luke's head is at coming out of "The Force Awakens."

But what you do know is his friends are out fighting the good fight, and he's taken himself out of the equation. So for me growing up, I know Luke as a hero. I know that he must think he's doing the right thing by taking himself out of the equation, and that means he thinks the best thing for the galaxy is that he's not a part of this and, by extension, that the Jedi are not a part of this. So that leads you down a certain path.

Guerrasio: And how did you come to the realization that this would be the end of Skywalker?

Johnson: As I worked out that his arc was going to be coming to a place where he does this big heroic act that is going to be spread throughout the galaxy — basically taking back the mantle of Luke Skywalker, a Jedi master, a legend — it just slowly became clear to me that it would be this big grand act. It would be an act of mythmaking. And if there was ever going to be a place in this entire trilogy to give him this emotional moment of a goodbye, this was probably going to be the most emotionally potent place to do it.

Guerrasio: In many ways, this is Luke's coda.

Johnson: Yes, exactly. But I also have to say I'm not writing the next one, and I'm not sure what J.J. [Abrams] and [screenwriter] Chris Terrio are going to do in the next one with Luke.

But setting up possibilities for the next one, honestly, it seems much like Obi-Wan going where he did after "New Hope." The possibilities seemed even more exciting in terms of what Luke's place could be in the next chapter with him entering into this other realm as opposed to him having a lightsaber and being with our heroes. It opened more possibilities as opposed to fewer.

I was holding my breath when I did it and I realized all these things, though I also thought, "S---."

Guerrasio: And how did Mark Hamill react to all of this?

Johnson: It wasn't the thing he wanted to necessarily hear. [Laughs.] Understandably so. Mark had all these years to think what Luke's triumphant return would be. Luke's the hero coming back into this story, and the fact that this character and this movie could not be that — this character in this movie was by necessity what he had to be, and also in relation to Rey, that brought its own necessity.

If he comes in as just an optimistic fighter for the good guys, that gives Rey nothing to bounce up against — that's just an older version of Rey. So it's not what Mark had in his head initially, and that's why he's spoken very openly about his being caught off guard by the script and where the character ends up. But I knew this is where it had to be. We got into the conversations, and we got into the work, and we talked, and we argued, and we discussed, and that process ended up being very good for the character and also for our working relationship. It was a very good one.

Guerrasio: Like most movies, this one was crafted in post, you guys shot a lot.

Johnson: Yes.

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Guerrasio: Is the lack of Captain Phasma in the movie just simply that most of her scenes were left on the cutting room floor?

Johnson: There wasn't a ton of Phasma that we shot for this. The God's honest truth is, if you take a look at the movie, it's so full already. There are so many characters to serve already, and it's tough because Phasma really enters the movie when she needs to, and she does exactly what she needs to do in it. She's someone at the tail end of Finn's journey that represents his past for him to have this cathartic moment of being on the side of good and fighting her.

The notion of having a side plot of Phasma throughout the course of the film — look, I love Gwen [Christie]. I love Phasma. It would have been fun. But it just wasn't the story we were telling. There just wasn't a place for it. We already had quite a full plate to deal with in terms of all the other characters.

Guerrasio: So what you're saying is you've basically helped build the next Boba Fett-level fan-obsessed character for the "Star Wars" saga.

BI Graphics_Rian Johnson quote 2Johnson: [Laughs.] Look, I'm bummed about it too. Absolutely. I wish we could have more Phasma. Just the truth of it is there wasn't room for her in this movie. She's so badass, I wish it was her story. But it isn't. Maybe there will be one eventually at some point.

Guerrasio: I like that tease.

Johnson: [Laughs.]

Guerrasio: In regards to you taking on a new "Star Wars" trilogy, do you have a notebook filled of just ideas that would be cool to plug into this universe, or are you really going into this with a blank page?

Johnson: What's exciting to me right now is the open blue sky of it and the potential of it. I wish I had a file cabinet full of "Star Wars" ideas just in case, but also it's great because I can start from the beginning and work forward.

As opposed to having stuff I think would be cool, the thing that I think is cool is to figure out what the story will be and what character we're going to follow and build it from there. It's easy to come up with cool "Star Wars" stuff. It's just like grabbing your toys and starting to play. The real question is what the story will be — how are we going to create something that's really going to be a new and inspiring "Star Wars" story.

Guerrasio: It sounds like you will direct the first movie of this trilogy and then go on and produce the other two.

Johnson: We'll see. I'm not sure yet.

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Guerrasio: But if that holds, would you push to have a female director do at least one of those movies? Is that important to you?

Johnson: Hell yeah. I think that would be fantastic. Again, I don't know how it's going to go. I'm going to write and direct the first one and tell the story for the rest of them. But yeah, there are so many talented female directors that I would love to see do one of these movies. Look, I hope it happens in a "Star Wars" movie even before that! Going forward, that's something I would absolutely love to see.

Guerrasio: Give me the one scene/shot in "The Last Jedi" that, regardless of how many times you've seen it, you are pretty impressed that you pulled it off.

Johnson: [Laughs.] It was an early image that I had. I really love that slow-motion shot of Kylo and Rey back-to-back with the guards coming from all the sides in Snoke's chambers. And look, there were a lot of people whose work went into it to design the space and the guards, the stunt work, but that was a moment that I had just always held dear to me, and it's one of those very rare things where the realization of it on screen I just feel like, "Ah, we got it!" It makes me happy.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is now in theaters.

SEE ALSO: 'The Last Jedi' is a super-sized 'Star Wars' movie that will make you laugh and cry

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7 stunning 'Star Wars' filming locations you can visit in real life

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Not all movies are filmed exclusively on a Hollywood backlot.

"Star Wars" has filmed nine movies— with more on the way — and has shot scenes all over the world for the most authentic galactic experience.

The newest installment — "The Last Jedi"— features brand new shooting locations as well as returns of beloved planets from the "Star Wars" world.

Fans can travel to these locations and journey to spots made famous by Luke, Darth Vader, and Rey.

SEE ALSO: Past And Present GIFs Of 11 Famous NYC Filming Locations

DON'T MISS: How Hollywood will fundamentally change after the Disney-Fox deal

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia: The newly discovered planet of Crait

The newest movie in the epic saga introduces a new planet: the discovered Crait. At this filming location in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, is the largest saltpan on Earth — one that was formed over 10,000 years ago. Near the Andes Mountains, the salt flat is popular with people watching the sunset.



Puzzlewood, England: The mysterious forest of 'The Force Awakens'

This spot in the Forest of Dean was used as the location for an intense battle between Rey and Kylo Ren. Before "Star Wars," Puzzlewood served as inspiration to J.R.R Tolkein and J.K. Rowling in creating forests in "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter."



La Grande Dune: The sandy hills of Tatooine

Tunisia is full of "Star Wars"filming locations, but perhaps none are as iconic as the sand dunes that C-3PO and R2-D2 wonder along in "A New Hope."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey in 'All the Money in the World' — but there's one shot where you can still see Spacey

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  • If you look in the right spot, you can see a single shot of Kevin Spacey in "All the Money in the World" that made the final version of the movie.
  • Director Ridley Scott reshot all of Spacey's scenes with Christopher Plummer following the actor's sexual misconduct allegations, but there's one wide shot he couldn't reshoot.


Ridley Scott's decision to cut Kevin Spacey from his new movie "All the Money in the World" and reshoot his scenes with Christopher Plummer, following the sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey, made worldwide news. But it turns out Scott couldn't take out every single shot of Spacey.

The director confirmed at numerous screenings that he attended leading up to the movie's release that there's indeed one shot in the final cut of the film where Spacey can be seen playing billionaire J. Paul Getty.

It's a flashback scene where Getty gets off a train in the desert. The wide shot shows Getty in a white suit walking off the train down some stairs. You can't see the face of the person. It then cuts to a closeup shot of Plummer as Getty in the white suit with a background make it look like he's in the desert, thanks to green screen. The wide shot was clearly filmed on location, so it makes sense that Scott would have to keep that Spacey shot as he had no time (and the logistics would have been a nightmare) to fly back to that location and reshoot it with Plummer.

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Scott confirmed, according to numerous reports, that it is Spacey in that wide shot and that he was unable to reshoot it.

However, the rest of the Getty scenes in the movie are clearly of Plummer, which Scott could pull off as they are mostly scenes shot in one exterior location or interiors, which could all have been filmed on studio sets. And in the case of the desert scenes, Plummer shot the close ups with the help of a green screen.

The Spacey shot in the desert is a quick one, but keep and eye out for it when you see the movie.

Read our full review of "All the Money in the World" here.

SEE ALSO: Matt Damon on the struggles of getting his new movie "Downsizing" made, defending George Clooney's "Suburbicon," and his thoughts on sexual misconduct in Hollywood

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'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' director explains why he decided to do that shirtless Kylo Ren scene

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Warning: There are mild spoilers ahead for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

One of the most unexpected scenes in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" was a shirtless scene featuring Adam Driver's conflicted Kylo Ren. He's caught off guard by Rey during one of their Force talks throughout the movie.

Why is that scene even in "The Last Jedi"?

Director Rian Johnson says he was searching for a way to make the connection between Kylo and Rey even more awkward.

"The idea that, what's even more uncomfortable having a conversation face to face with a person you don’t want to, is if they’re half-naked during it, while you’re having to do it,"Johnson told People. "And so it was just another way of kind of disrobing Kylo literally and figuratively a little bit more, and pushing that sense of these conversations becoming increasingly more intimate."

Of course, there was another reason to do the shirtless scene.

"Adam looks so damn good because he'd been training hardcore for the past six months for those fight scenes," Johnson added. "I'm like, 'Eh. He looks so good. We should put him up there.'"

The director said that Driver was OK with showing some skin for the role, too.

"He’s great," said Johnson. "He knew he looked good."

No one else seems to be complaining either. 

"Shirtless Kylo Ren"quickly became a meme after the film's release.

You can follow along with our "Star Wars" coverage here

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'The Last Jedi' has such an unconventional 'Star Wars' moment that AMC theaters are warning fans

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Warning: There are spoilers ahead for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

Much has been written about the fan backlash against "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," so much so that even Mark Hamill has expressed some hesitation over the fate of Luke Skywalker.

But one of the more peculiar responses has been fans complaining that the sound cuts out during one of the film’s most important moments.

The scene in question finds Laura Dern’s Holdo sacrificing her life to save the Resistance, including Genera Leia and Poe Dameron. Holdo decides to fly her spaceship at light-speed directly into the First Order’s Mega Destroyer to allow the Resistance's escape pods to flee safely. When she cranks the ship into light-speed, the sound instantly drops. A vacuum sound effect is created as a result as the image of the ship piercing through the Mega Destroyer wows the big screen.

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Many fans will report hearing gasps during this moment (that’s how effective the smash cut to silence is), but apparently some fans have been complaining and blaming the theater for a sound issue. Complains were apparently so consistent that an AMC Theater decided to print out and post signs warning fans in advance about the moment, saying the silence is very much an intentional creative decision made by director Rian Johnson.

The idea that fans would complain about this moment may seem ridiculous, but “The Last Jedi” VFX supervisor Ben Morris does admit that the silence drop is very unconventional for a “Star Wars” movie. Most action scenes in the franchise are accompanied by John Williams’ score and/or sound design, so it’s extremely rare for an entire beat to go completely silent.

“That’s never really happened in ‘Star Wars’ before,” Morris recently told Collider. “We had always hoped that would resonate, both as a story beat and as a striking visual, and when I heard all of the cries and gasps in the silence, it was just fantastic. We realized that it worked.

“On a creative and slightly technical level, it was based on physics photography of cloud chambers and high speed particles colliding with each other,” Morris said of creating the shot. “We always talked about how this look would happen, where we’d drain all of the color out of the image. I think it shows strength, if you invert your normal concept of what space shots in ‘Star Wars’ look like, with a white ship on a black background. For that sequence, you turn it on its head and you’ve got a black ship with white space.”

For anyone not surprised by the creative decision, Holdo’s sacrifice ranks as one of the best moments in “The Last Jedi.” The film is now playing in theaters nationwide.

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Tour the remote island where some of the most secret scenes in 'Star Wars' were filmed

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Rey seeks out Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" for help on the hidden planet of Ahch-To. If you think that place only exists in a galaxy far, far away, you're wrong.

The real-life stage for Skywalker's hideaway is a remote island located off the coast of Ireland called Skellig Michael. And if you're a big "Star Wars" fan, you can head there, too. 

Keep reading to explore Ireland's remote destination.

In "The Last Jedi," Rey finds a broken Luke Skywalker in exile on an island on the planet of Ahch-To.

That island doesn't only exist in the "Star Wars" universe.



Here's Skellig Michael, which served as Luke's hideout in "The Last Jedi."

We first visit the island at the end of "The Force Awakens."



It's one of two islands located off the southwest coast of Ireland.

The island is one of two Skellig islands. The smaller one is called Little Skellig.



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All 36 notable characters in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi,' ranked from worst to best

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"The Last Jedi" has dazzled audiences around the world and introduced us to more characters and creatures in a single movie than ever before in the "Star Wars" saga.

The director Rian Johnson doesn't just push the storyline of Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo Ren forward in unique ways — with help from legends from the original trilogy like Luke Skywalker and General Leia — but also gives us a bunch of newbies to love (or hate).

Here we look back on 36 characters from "The Last Jedi" and rank them from worst to best:

Warning: Spoilers below if you haven't seen "The Last Jedi."

SEE ALSO: RANKED: The 11 best movies of 2017

36. BB-9E

The First Order's new droid had a lot of hype when it was first revealed before the movie opened, but it didn't get a lot of screen time. Maybe we'll see more of it in action in deleted scenes, but for now it's one of those cool-looking new things that feels as if it got thrown into the movie for merchandising reasons.



35. Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o)

Maz's appearance in "The Last Jedi" is another thing that feels horseshoed in. She's off fighting someone, somewhere, but has time to take a call? She drops some knowledge on our friends in the Resistance, but it's a random appearance.



34. Bargwill Tomder

This Cloddogran is the mean master of the stable kids who look over the Fathiers (space horses) on Canto Bight at the end of "The Last Jedi." From his looks, I think grown-ups are frightened of him, too.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

This myth people keep quoting about how bees shouldn't be able to fly is scientifically incorrect — here's why

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  • There is a popular misconception that bees shouldn't be able to fly.
  • In reality, this is not true, because they can and do fly all the time.
  • The science behind how they can fly involves the way they move their wings, and the generation of tiny hurricanes that lift them upwards.


Bee Movie has quite the cult following. There are numerous YouTube videos devoted to it, such as "The bee movie: but every time there say bee it speeds up." Someone loves the film so much that they watched it on Netflix 357 times in 2017.

But Bee Movie is also spreading lies.

Here are the opening words to the film:

"According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyways. Because bees don't care what humans think is impossible."

It's a nice idea, but in reality bees do not disobey any laws of physics. If they did, bees would be responsible for ripping apart time and space whenever they flew around.

The myth dates back to the 1930s, when the French entomologist August Magnan noted that a bee's flight should be impossible, because of the haphazard way their wings flapped around. And if bees flew like aeroplanes, he would be correct.

Aeroplanes can fly because of a careful balance of four physical forces: lift, drag, weight, and thrust. The lift force must balance its weight, and thrust must exceed its drag, to make flying possible. Planes use wings for lift and engines for thrust. Drag is reduced thanks to a streamlined shape, and lightweight materials.

The wingspan of a plane is large enough to satisfy the lift equations for flight, so they don't need to flap. But the small wings of a bee compared to its relatively fat body are not. A regular Boeing 747 plane can also take off at roughly 184 mph, whereas bees do not reach anywhere near that speed.

Due to low speeds, and the high amount of drag when bees flap their wings, it might look like they shouldn't be able to fly. In reality, they simply fly in a completely different way.

One study from 2005 helped explain the way bees get themselves off the ground. The scientists compared bees to fruit flies, and found that a fruit fly has one eightieth the body size and flaps its wings at a rate of 200 times per second. In comparison, honeybees flap 230 times per second.

This was surprising because smaller insects generally have to flap their wings faster to compensate for decreased aerodynamic performance. To further complicate things, bees are also often carrying pollen and nectar, which sometimes weighs as much as their entire bodies.

In the study, the researchers put bees in a small chamber filled with oxygen and helium, which is less dense than regular air. Bees had to work harder to stay in the air, which allowed the team to observe how they compensated.

They saw that the bees stretched out their wing stroke amplitude, but didn't adjust the frequency.

"They work like racing cars," one of the authors of the study, Douglas Altshuler, told Live Science. "Racing cars can reach higher revolutions per minute but enable the driver to go faster in higher gear. But like honeybees, they are inefficient."

Another study from 2005, by biology professor Michael Dickinson from the University of Washington, also concluded that bees flap their wings back and forth, not up and down. This was previously a big misconception about the way insects fly, and could have originally been what tripped Magnan up in the first place.

An aeroplane's wing forces air down, which pushes the plane upwards. Insects sweep their wings in a partial spin. Rather than being like a propeller, the angle to the wing creates vortices in the air like small hurricanes. The eyes of these mini-hurricanes have a lower pressure than the air outside, which lifts the bees upwards.

So the next time someone tells you a bee shouldn't be able to fly, you should inform them that this is merely a myth perpetuated by popular culture. In reality, bees simply create mini-hurricanes wherever they go, which is a lot easier to get your head around.

SEE ALSO: Someone in the UK watched 'Bee Movie' 357 times in 2017

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'Phantom Thread' star Vicky Krieps opens up about the movie's grueling shoot and working with Daniel Day-Lewis

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  • Vicky Krieps plays Alma in "Phantom Thread," the muse of Daniel Day-Lewis' character, Reynolds Woodcock.
  • Krieps didn't meet Day-Lewis until their first day of shooting and said he was in character as Woodcock every day of production.
  • Being in the movie was grueling for Krieps, not because of working across from the demanding Day-Lewis, she said, but because her schedule was six days of shooting a week and her off day consisted of constant dress fittings.


Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps is a veteran of over 30 movies, but many will see her for the first time as the star of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread" (currently playing in theaters).

Krieps plays Alma, the muse of renowned 1950s dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) who figures out an unconventional way to get him away from his work. Exploring obsessions and unconditional love, Anderson cast an incredible actress in Krieps to take on these themes opposite the all-consuming Method acting style of Day-Lewis.

Business Insider talked to Krieps about the experience of working with Day-Lewis and finding the strength to get through one of the most grueling shoots she's ever been a part of.

Jason Guerrasio: So when you got an email about auditioning for this movie you didn't realize it was a Paul Thomas Anderson movie, right? You've said at first you thought you were going out for a student film.

Vicky Krieps: That's right. It was more of me making things up out of not knowing anything. I basically got this email from an American casting agent, who I didn't know, and I certainly wasn't expecting someone from America to write to me. But I'm always interested in projects. Whatever I do, I'm interested in the color of the material, I'm not interested in who's making it. I'm more concentrated on the work. So I opened the email and scrolled to find not a script but just some text, really a monologue. So I did the lines on tape and sent it in. 

Why I thought it might have been a student film was because I didn't get a script, I thought maybe it wasn't finished yet or this is for a short movie. I never thought I wasn't getting it because of secrecy of the project and that it was in fact for a movie by a famous American director. [Laughs.]

Vicky Krieps APGuerrasio: Looking back, are you happy you didn't know who you were auditioning for? Perhaps you would have been more nervous?

Krieps: Perhaps. I think I always try to prepare the same. I don't think I would have been different. But I think what was good was I was only relating and concentrating on the work, and that turned out to work well for me. 

Guerrasio: When you realized what the movie was about and who you would be playing, did you do a lot of research on the era?

Krieps: I prepared mostly on London around World War II and after the war. My character had lost her mother. This isn't in the movie, but Alma's mother is dead. So that was my backstory. And I learned as much as I could about models in the 1950s. I found on YouTube how they walked back then in fashion shows. It's very different in how models walk now. It's more human. I also learned hand sewing. But everything else I couldn't really prepare before shooting because I knew I wouldn't meet Daniel until the first day of shooting.

Guerrasio: Oh, wow. 

Krieps: He requested that we don't rehearse and that we meet for the first time on the first day of shooting. So my big thing was to find a way not to be nervous. Really, for a lot of this I did the opposite of preparing.
 
Guerrasio: So the first scene of Alma in the movie when you meet Reynolds in the restaurant, is that the first time you met Daniel Day-Lewis?

Krieps: Yes. [Laughs.]

Phantom_Thread_241017Guerrasio: It's funny because Alma stumbles coming from out of the kitchen and she has this embarrassed look, it's really art imitating life.

Krieps: Exactly. I really blushed because I really tripped. 

Guerrasio: Really?

Krieps: Yeah. 

Guerrasio: Was it tough to act across from someone you barely knew?

Krieps: That's the thing, of course I was scared, but there was nothing I could do. I knew we would be working together and I just stayed calm as much as I could. I was really in a meditative state of emptiness and forget everything I was researching for the character and just reacted to him. Working with him was rather wonderful. Because of how he works, I could really fall into this world of Reynolds Woodcock. I just concentrated on the moment. Each scene in the movie I was just in the moment. Just reacting to the person across from me. 

Guerrasio: Can you say you even met Daniel while shooting this movie?

Krieps: No. 

Guerrasio: So you were with Reynolds Woodcock.

Krieps: Exactly. I never met Daniel on set until we finished. 

Guerrasio: So, as you said, you don't overthink how he wants to work. This is the job. You just react. 

Krieps: You go with it. I could only go with it.

phantom thread 2 focus featuresGuerrasio: The way he worked, did that bring you deeper into the Alma character than you would have if you worked across a different actor?

Krieps: I think the way I work is similar to how Daniel works, I just don't call it Method acting. I don't have the time and money to prepare the way he does. I have more projects to work on in a year, so it's impossible for me to do it that way. But I definitely have the same dedication and I'm crazy enough to invent worlds around me. It becomes a reality and you are involved in what you invented. 

Guerrasio: American audiences don't know you as well as other parts of the world, but you've worked a lot in your career. Compare this job to what you've done in the past. Is this the most unusual production you've ever been on because of the way Daniel works?

Krieps: It definitely has been the most intense work I've ever done. It was also the only one where I was really struggling with my strength. In the middle of making this I said to myself, "Oh my god, I can't see the end." I felt that I would never get to it. "How can I find more strength in me to continue?" Because it was 16-hour days sometimes. We worked every day, except for Sundays. But on Sundays I had fittings of all the dresses that were made for me. It was endless fittings. So strength was the biggest challenge for me on this. 

Guerrasio: With all that said, if Paul called tomorrow and said "I just wrote a part for you in my next movie," do you say yes?

Krieps: Yes. [Laughs.]

Guerrasio: It's worth the pain, so to speak.

Krieps: Absolutely. In a second I would do it again.

Guerrasio: A lot of the talk around this movie is that Daniel says it's his final movie. What are your thoughts? Do you think he's really quitting acting?

Krieps: I respect him enough to believe that if he says so then he will. But I also respect him enough to leave the door open if he wants to change his mind. If he's determined to stop I understand. But if this is an emotional reaction and he changes his mind I would love that. I would be happy if he continued to be an actor. I just want him to get what he wants. 

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Mark Hamill splits from the haters and says he regrets bad-mouthing 'The Last Jedi' in public

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  • Mark Hamill says he regrets voicing doubts about "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" in previous interviews.
  • In earlier comments, he said he disapproved of the movie's direction for his character, Luke Skywalker.
  • The movie's haters pointed to those interviews to show that Hamill himself disapproved of the film.
  • Most people love it anyway.

 

Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in the "Star Wars" movie, took to Twitter on Tuesday to express regret for trash-talking "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" in public interviews.

It's a thumb in the eye of the few "Star Wars""fans" who have seized on his previous comments to back their negative opinions of the movie.

"I regret voicing my doubts & insecurities in public,"Hamill wrote. "Creative differences are a common element of any project but usually remain private. All I wanted was to make good movie. I got more than that — [director Rian Johnson] made an all-time GREAT one!"

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In interviews leading up to the movie's release earlier this month, Hamill distanced himself from Johnson's vision for Luke Skywalker.

"I at one point had to say to Rian, 'I pretty much fundamentally disagree with every choice you’ve made for this character,'"Hamill told Vanity Fair. "'Now, having said that, I have gotten it off my chest, and my job now is to take what you’ve created and do my best to realize your vision.'"

He also told The New York Daily News that he personally doesn't agree with Luke's "it's time for the Jedi to end" philosophy, as stated in the movie's trailers.

"I’m the host body to which this character has been assigned,"Hamill said. "I don’t care what happened to this guy. Jedis do not give up. It’s just inherent in them."

In "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," Skywalker appears only briefly, at the end of the movie. He plays a much larger role in "The Last Jedi," but some fans disapprove of the character's direction.

Detractors of "The Last Jedi" have pointed to Hamill's past comments to argue that he tacitly disapproved of the movie. 

But Hamill — grudgingly — came around to Johnson's vision. He conceded that the series needed to move forward to a new generation of characters.

"It's not my story anymore. It's somebody else's story, and Rian needed me to be a certain way to make the ending effective,"Hamill said at a press event. "He's not my Luke Skywalker. But I had to do what Rian wanted me to do because it serves the story well. Listen, I still haven't accepted it completely, but it's only a movie."

Hamill — whose acting talent has long been considered a weak point in the "Star Wars" movies — is getting high marks for his performance in "The Last Jedi."

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"Hamill, who once created one of cinema’s most iconic characters but would never be considered by anyone to be a great actor, gives the single best acting performance of his career,"Chris Nashawaty wrote in his review of the movie for Entertainment Weekly.

"The Last Jedi" remains largely beloved, despite the argument over the portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the film. Detractors of the movie apparently bombed the movie's Rotten Tomatoes audience score online. But Cinemascore, an independent firm tracking audience sentiment, gave it an "A," which is the same score "The Force Awakens" and "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" received." The film also has an 89% rating from ComScore and Screen Engine, which is roughly the same as the other two recent "Star Wars" movies.

Audiences still seem to want to see the movie in theaters, too. The movie has made nearly $800 million so far and is on its way to being the highest-grossing movie of 2017.

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Ridley Scott explains why he's 'too dangerous' to make a 'Star Wars' movie

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  • Ridley Scott says he's "too dangerous" to make a "Star Wars" movie. 
  • The legendary director believes the recent "Star Wars" movies cost so much money because they are hiring filmmakers who don't know how to make a big budget movie.


Ridley Scott is behind some of the most memorable science-fiction movies of all time, like "Alien" and "Blade Runner." And some fans have been curious whether Scott would ever make a "Star Wars" movie in the new era.

The answer, according to Scott, is he's "too dangerous."

The 80-year-old filmmaker recently pulled off the tricky feat of successfully replacing Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer in his latest movie, "All the Money in the World," following sexual misconduct allegations against Spacey. Scott did the reshoots in such a timely fashion that the movie still made its original Christmas release date.

In doing interviews on how he pulled it off, the director said that if you know what you're doing, most challenges on movies can be overcome quicker than outsiders think. 

Scott has proven over his career that he can do the work with speed and talent that most in the business can't. While most Hollywood blockbusters take over 100 days of principal photography (plus reshoots), Scott's movies are often on or under budget, and his shoots are very quick (he did "Alien: Covenant" in just 73 days!). 

ridley scott all the money in the world sonySo when Vulture caught up with Scott in a recent interview they posed the question most great ones get — has he ever been offered a "Star Wars" movie? And in typical Scott fashion, he was very honest with his answer.

"No, no. I'm too dangerous for that," Scott said. 

When asked why, he said, "Because I know what I’m doing. I think they like to be in control, and I like to be in control myself." (Scott was referring to working with Lucasfilm and Disney.)

Scott said that preference for control is why Lucasfilm likes to recruit young directors from the indie film world to make the movies collaboratively. But, Scott said, that can backfire.  

"When you get a guy who’s done a low-budget movie and you suddenly give him $180 million, it makes no sense whatsoever. It’s f---in’ stupid," he said. "You know what the reshoots cost? Millions! Millions. You can get me for my fee, which is heavy, but I’ll be under budget and on time. This is where experience does matter, it’s as simple as that! It can make you dull as dishwater, but if you’re really experienced and you know what you’re doing, it’s f---ing essential. Grow into it, little by little. Start low-budget, get a little bit bigger, maybe after $20 million, you can go to 80. But don’t suddenly go to 160."

Lucasfilm/Disney has had to learn this the hard way. 

Veteran director Tony Gilroy had to come in and take over reshoots of "Rogue One" from director Gareth Edwards; Colin Trevorrow walked away from directing "Star Wars: Episode IX" and was replaced with "The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams; and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired from "Solo" and replaced by Ron Howard.

Out of this group, only Edwards had made a movie over $100 million previously (2014's "Godzilla,"$160 million).   

SEE ALSO: All 36 notable characters in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," ranked from worst to best

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17 picks for Golden Globe hosts who would be way more fun than Seth Meyers

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Seth Meyers will be hosting the 2018 Golden Globes, to be held on January 7 on NBC.

He'll probably do a great job. But there are other options.

For the most part, the hosts for major awards shows are the same people who host late night comedy talk shows. Meyers is handling the Globes, Jimmy Kimmel will emcee next year's Oscars, as he did this year, and James Corden will host the Grammys again in January. Next year's Emmys host hasn't been announced yet, but this year Stephen Colbert took the duty.

It makes sense. Hosting a major awards show is a tough job. They seem perpetually at risk of becoming stale, solemn affairs. It's up to the host to keep it energetic, manage egos of big stars, and honor the TV shows, movies, or songs at the same time. This is pretty much what late-night talk show hosts do on a smaller scale every night.

But in a balkanized media landscape, where there are so many different kinds of shows, movies, and types of music on so many different kinds of platforms, there's also something to be said for ejecting the standard trope of having a white male late-night funnyman host the show.

There's plenty of talent in all corners of the industry. Take Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, two "Saturday Night Live" alumni who made the Golden Globes ceremonies a blast when they hosted. And while Anne Hathaway and James Franco flopped the year they hosted the Oscars, it doesn't mean the show should do away with having a pair of actors try it again.

Here are 17 different ideas for Golden Globes hosts. Heck, come to think of it, they could work for the Oscars, Grammys, or Emmys as well.

Issa Rae

The showrunner, actress, and writer is best known for HBO's "Insecure," but she's ready for a bigger spotlight. Rae is charming and hilarious in every interview she gives, and she has the chops to put on a good show and give every star their due.



Samantha Bee

Give a female late-night talk show host a chance! The Jimmys are fine, but Bee's TBS show "Full Frontal" is just as funny and much, much sharper — particularly when it comes to the position of women in society, which is currently plaguing Hollywood. She could do a lot with a stage like the Golden Globes or Oscars.



Ellen DeGeneres and Jon Stewart

Ellen did a great job at the Oscars in 2014. Give her another go! In the past few years, her star has only risen as she's figured out how to grab viral moments from the web and translate them to everyone, or cause viral moments herself.

Jon Stewart is a little musty, but he's due for a return. His dry, cutting humor is a perfect compliment to Ellen's shrewd, bubbly approach. Pairing them together would be perfect.



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Diane Kruger's new movie was so emotionally devastating she couldn't work for 6 months, and was filmed during the 'darkest time' in her life

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  • Diane Kruger talked about her career-defining performance in "In the Fade," which could earn her an Oscar nomination.
  • The actress prepared for the role for six months leading up to filming.
  • She made the movie during the "darkest time" in her life as her stepfather had recently died.


German actress Diane Kruger has built an impressive career, but after working steadily for 16 years, her new movie is getting her recognition she never thought she'd ever receive.

"In the Fade" (now playing in theaters) from the German filmmaker Fatih Akin, offers Kruger the chance to prove she can carry a movie — and she does just that. Kruger gives a tour-de-force performance playing Katja Sekerci, whose life collapses when her husband and son are victims of a terrorist bombing. Amid taking illegal drugs to numb the pain, Katja learns that two suspects, who turn out to be neo-Nazis, are going to trial for the bombing. That's when things get even more intense for Katja.

When Business Insider sat down with Kruger at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, she didn't hold back when talking about the pain she dealt with to pull off this gut-wrenching performance, which won her the best actress prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and garnered instant Oscar buzz.

Jason Guerrasio: How did you connect with Fatih Akin? Did you know him?

Diane Kruger: No, I was just a fan. He's a big director in Germany — I grew up with his films. So when I became an actress and I left Germany 25 years ago, I always waited for this part to come out of Germany. I mean, I don't have an agent there, so I never get any offers from there. Five years ago, I was a jury member at Cannes, and he had a documentary playing there, so I went to his party to meet him. I told him I loved his work and if he ever wanted to make a movie with me, that would be amazing. So years later, he remembered and called me.

Guerrasio: Did he talk to you over the phone about the part, or did he ask if he could send the script over?

Kruger: He kind of told me what it was about, and then he said he didn't want to send me the script — he wanted to come and meet me. So he came to Paris to meet me. And I was really nervous because I didn't think, upon meeting me, that he would think that I'm right for this part. This isn't typically the part I get offered. [Laughs.] And just judging from his voice over the phone, I don't think he was 100% sure I could do it either. So he came to my house, and I wore no makeup, and I really tried to dress down and be as raw as possible, and we just had this amazing talk. And I told him I was really, really scared of this part. I told him I wasn't sure I could do it.

Guerrasio: But at the same time, was this a role you had been wishing for? Something to show your range?

Kruger: I just knew something felt right. I was really scared. Fatih told me I couldn't take another role until we shot this because he wanted me to prep for it. I mean, he is known for casting unknowns in his movies, so I think he got a lot of backlash at first for casting me. But I jumped off that cliff with him. It was a lonely time prepping for the movie. I didn't do anything else. I was living in Germany, meeting with victims of families that weren't necessarily suffering from terrorist attacks but murder and other brutal things, and I just allowed myself to be overcome by the grief that I felt.

In The Fade Magnolia

Guerrasio: And this is the first German-produced movie you've ever starred in?

Kruger: That's right.

Guerrasio: That's surprising. Was that because you got into modeling so early in your life?

Kruger: I left when I was 16, and I wasn't an actress then.

Guerrasio: So was there a feeling with this movie that you wanted to be a part of something to show your talents to your home country?

Kruger: Yes and no. I wanted to do a German film that felt really German but also had an international presence. And Fatih, who is German but of Turkish descent, he himself has an international flavor. And this movie has such a universal feel. The focus is neo-Nazis, but it could have been jihadis, just some crazy person, whatever.

Guerrasio: I think Americans will certainly relate to this movie. The grieving mother is universal.

Kruger: Exactly.

Guerrasio: What did you want to get out of meeting victims? Did you take notes? Did you just want to interact with them?

Kruger: I guess the one thing I will never forget is that energy. More than individual stories, there was this energy that mothers especially having lost children had that I wasn't quite prepared to really take on. It was a wall of blackness. And that's regardless of how long ago it happened or how much or how little they talked to me about it — that energy was there. And it got more intense as time went on and the more people I met.

Guerrasio: How long were you talking to victims?

Kruger: I started six months before shooting started.

Guerrasio: Wow. Did it get to a point where you felt you had enough and just wanted to get started with shooting?

Kruger: Yeah. There definitely came a point where I was like, I can't take it anymore. And, unfortunately, when we started to film, my stepdad passed away. So honestly, it was probably the darkest time in my life, having to play that much grief and then coming home and feeling that on a personal level. It's a personal film because of that. We also shot in order, so you can imagine the first three weeks were just awful. There were scenes when I didn't even feel like I was acting. There were moments when I felt this movie is going to break me. I couldn't work for six months afterwards. I can still feel it.

Guerrasio: So you haven't been able to kick this character yet?

Kruger: I still dream about it. I feel like a little bit is always going to be with me. What I take away most of it is this connection with people talking about loss. The empathy I felt — and maybe because we live in a time where these stories have become so common, but I'm reminded of how many Katjas every week are being created. I sometimes just sit in front of the TV, and I just sob uncontrollably.

Diane Kruger Pascal Le Segretain Getty

Guerrasio: Has doing a role like this changed the parts you want to take on going forward in your career?

Kruger: To be honest, the two films I'm working on right now I signed on before "In the Fade" came out, and I haven't taken anything since. I'm sort of debating what I want to do next.

Guerrasio: Is it hard to promote this film, seeing as you have to continue talking about the process of creating this character, which obviously wasn't pleasant?

Kruger: No, I want to. I think it's a very important film in my life. I feel it's my baby. I've never been invested in anything like this. I think it's an inspiring movie. In Cannes, which was the first time I saw it with an audience, I was so taken aback by the reaction. There must be pictures of me just looking shocked. It's weird because, in the past, people have come up to me and said they love my work, like for "Inglourious Basterds," but I feel this is my first big starring role.

SEE ALSO: Morgan Spurlock on making a 'Super Size Me' sequel and why he's taking on 'Big Chicken'

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11 of the most powerful movie moments of 2017

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There’s nothing better than a movie moment you immediately know will be stuck in your mind forever.

It might be the emotion of the moment, the way the music matches the powerful visuals, or a line that’s delivered just the right way. Whatever it is, it’s the moment when you are hooked on the movie not just for the rest of the year, but for many more to come.

With 2017 coming to a close, I looked back on 11 moments in the movies this year that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Warning: Some spoilers are also included. 

SEE ALSO: All 36 notable characters in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," ranked from worst to best

11. The K-Ci & JoJo scene in “Ingrid Goes West”

I've pretty much been cracking up about this scene since I first saw it at the Sundance Film Festival back in January. Ingrid (Aubrey Plaza) befriends Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen), the person she's been stalking on Instagram, and they take a girls' trip to Joshua Tree. 

During the car ride they play the late 1990s hit "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo. Ingrid gets so into the song that she begins to stare at Taylor as she sings the lyrics, "I pray for someone like you, and I hope that you feel the same way too." This leads to her slamming into the guardrail.

Plaza's lust stare for Taylor makes the entire moment incredibly funny. 



10. Paz de la Huerta interrupts “My Scientology Movie”

This is definitely one of the top bats--t moments I have ever seen in a documentary. 

Louis Theroux is having a serious chat with former Scientology member Marty Rathbun in a hotel room when out of nowhere a bikini-clad Paz de le Huerta knocks on the window of their room. Theroux opens the door and the actress walks in demanding not to be filmed, though goes on to brag that she's been in over 45 films (there's a lot more to this story). And as quickly as she appears she's gone, and the two men are left wondering if somehow Scientology was behind the encounter.

The randomness of the encounter and Theroux's handling of the situation is something I can watch on a loop for days (and perhaps I have!).



9. Rachael reunites with Deckard in “Blade Runner 2049”

The appearance of a CGI version of Sean Young, as she looked in the original "Blade Runner" movie in 1982, filled me with nostalgia and a burning desire to find out how they did it

She looks flawless (though Deckard finds a flaw) and the moment beautifully links both movies. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The top 10 movies people talked, argued, and obsessed about online in 2017

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As the year comes to a close it’s time to look through all the online noise of 2017 (and there was a whole lot) and figure out the movies that got people talking the most.

Through data collected on over 600,000 sites across mobile, video, web, and social media, marketing company Amobee has come up with these titles as the top 10.

Many were box-office hits, including a lot of superhero movies — but one was also the new "Baywatch."

These are the movies we all talked, argued, and obsessed about online:

SEE ALSO: 11 most memorable movie moments of 2017

10. “Get Out”



9. “Thor: Ragnarok”



8. “Beauty and the Beast”



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The Rock is a 'Star Wars' super fan and planted a reference to Han Solo in 'Jumanji'

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Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would like everyone to know that he is a massive fan of the "Star Wars" franchise — and he found a way to include a Han Solo reference in "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle."

In addition to paying tribute to Robin Williams in the new film, there are plenty of other references and Easter eggs that viewers might have noticed if they payed close attention. 

Taking to Twitter, Johnson expressed his gratitude toward fans who are appreciating the homage to Williams. 

He also pointed out that there's a nod to Han Solo because he's a self-proclaimed "'Star Wars' geek."

 

During an interview earlier this year with Screen Rant, Johnson elaborated on the "Star Wars" reference that is part of the film. He explained that he's been a longtime fan of Harrison Ford and his work as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, hence why he added those character and film nods to "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle."

"Like I have my hat … this is such a dorky thing, but this [grabs machete holster] is my nod to Harrison in 'Star Wars,'" he said.  "Right? Just kind of slung real low … there's little things, little Easter eggs." 

The Rock Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle reboot

The similarity to Ford's "Star Wars" character is uncanny. 

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Can you find others?

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The 2 top-grossing actors of 2017 were costars whose feud dominated the headlines

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  • Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson were the two top-grossing actors of 2017, according to Forbes.
  • Diesel and Johnson claimed the first and second spots, respectively, largely off the global box office success of their film "The Fate of the Furious."
  • The two costars had a noteworthy feud while making the eighth installment of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise. 

 

The two top-grossing actors of 2017 were "The Fate of the Furious" costars Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, according to Forbes.

Diesel and Johnson, who were reportedly embroiled in a feud during the making of the eighth installment of the "Fast and the Furious" franchise, also turned out to be the first and second highest-grossing actors of the year, respectively. 

As "The Fate of the Furious" wrapped in 2016, Johnson wrote a Facebook post calling his male costars "candy a--es" who don't "conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals." 

Many speculated that Johnson was referring to Diesel, and in an interview with Business Insider in July, the film's director F. Gary Gray said he was "happy we made it to the other side" of the on-set beef. 

"The Fate of the Furious" would go on to earn a whopping $1.2 billion at the global box office in 2017, and the two costars' massively successful years were largely due to that one film.

Diesel claimed the top spot this year with $1.6 billion in global ticketing receipts. He also starred in the action film "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage," which earned over $346 million at the global box office.

Johnson came in a close second with $1.5 billion, as his other main project, "Baywatch," earned a comparatively low total of $177 million globally.

Actress Gal Gadot came in at number three on the year-end list, with $1.4 billion earned from the global box office success of her films "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League."

SEE ALSO: 'Fate of the Furious' director on the feud between Vin Diesel and The Rock: 'I'm happy we made it to the other side'

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Only 7 movies received a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes this year — here they are

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We've looked at the best and worst movies of the year, but which ones were the best reviewed?

Rotten Tomatoes released its annual list of certified fresh movie and TV shows Thursday. Out of 184 movies certified fresh only seven movies received perfect scores of 100% from critics.

They're not big blockbusters and you may not have heard of some of them. If you're looking for something different to watch that's also critically beloved, look no further than this list.

7. "Quest"

Number of reviews: 44

What it's about: The documentary follows a couple in North Philadelphia over the course of nearly a decade through their ups and downs raising a family.

Critics Consensus: "Simultaneously sweeping and intimate, 'Quest' uses one family's experiences to offer trenchant, wide-ranging observations about modern American life."



6. "Faces Places"

Number of reviews: 71

What it's about: "The documentary follows directors JR and Agnès Varda as they travel through France and create oversized portraits of people they meet on items along the way."

Critics Consensus: "Equal parts breezily charming and poignantly powerful, 'Faces Places' is a unique cross-generational portrait of life in rural France from the great Agnès Varda."



5. "The Work"

Number of reviews: 48

What it's about: Three free men participate in a group therapy retreat with convicts inside a prison in this documentary.

Critics Consensus: "'The Work' takes a gut-wrenching look at lives all too often written off as lost causes, persuasively arguing that growth and change can be waiting where we least expect it."



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How 'Downsizing' made its actors look tiny

Netflix's Will Smith movie 'Bright' drew 11 million streaming viewers in the US during its first 3 days

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  • Netflix's original movie "Bright" landed 11 million U.S. viewers in its first three days, according to Nielsen estimates.
  • Nielsen's measurements track only streaming viewers on TV sets, and Netflix has disputed the accuracy of the firm's measurements in the past.
  • "Bright" has been critically panned since its release on December 22, though it has an 88% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Netflix's Will Smith-led original movie "Bright" drew 11 million U.S. television viewers in its first three days, according to Nielsen estimates

Nielsen announced its plans to measure a part of Netflix's audience in October. For context, the first episodes of the latest seasons of "Stranger Things" and "The Crown" averaged 15.8 million and nearly 3 million viewers in the first three days, respectively, according to Nielsen.

Netflix, which does not release its own audience metrics, has disputed the accuracy Nielsen's figures in the past. As Deadline notes, Nielsen's measurements track only streaming video on-demand (SVOD) viewership on select TV households, excluding viewers on other devices. 

"Bright," a buddy-cop, fantasy thriller, was directed by David Ayer ("Suicide Squad") and produced on a reported $1oo million budget

The film has been critically panned since its release on December 22. It sits at a 29% "Rotten" rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, though it also has an 88% audience score on the site.

SEE ALSO: Netflix ordered a sequel to its Will Smith fantasy film 'Bright' — making it the first movie franchise in streaming-only history

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