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Russell Crowe will star as Roger Ailes in a TV series about the rise of Fox News

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  • Russell Crowe is starring as the late Fox News chief Roger Ailes in a Showtime limited series about the rise of Fox News, Entertainment Weekly reports.
  • The eight-episode series, titled "The Loudest Voice in the Room," will be based on Gabriel Sherman's best-selling non-fiction book of the same name, for which he interviewed over 600 people. 

Russell Crowe is coming to TV to star as the late Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in a Showtime limited series about the rise of Fox News, Entertainment Weekly reports

The eight-episode drama series, titled "The Loudest Voice in the Room," will be based on Gabriel Sherman's best-selling non-fiction book of the same name. 

Tom McCarthy ("Spotlight") and Jason Blum ("Get Out") are serving as executive producers for the series. 

Ailes died in May 2017, nearly a year after he was forced out of his post at Fox News after being accused of sexual misconduct by several employees from the network. EW notes that Crowe's role as Ailes will be the actor's first regular role in a television series. 

"To understand the events that led to the rise of Donald Trump, one must understand Ailes. The upcoming limited series takes on that challenge, focusing primarily on the past decade in which Ailes arguably became the Republican Party’s de facto leader, while flashing back to defining events in Ailes' life," Showtime described the series in a statement.

"Told through multiple points of view, the limited series aims to shed light on the psychology that drives the political process from the top down," the description continued. "McCarthy’s deft handling of similarly complex, high-stakes storytelling in Spotlight earned him an Oscar for co-writing 2017’s Academy Award winner for best picture, plus an Oscar nomination for directing. For the primary source material, 'The Loudest Voice in the Room,' Sherman interviewed more than 600 people."

No premiere date has been set for the series yet, though Entertainment Weekly reported that it's likely to debut in 2019.

SEE ALSO: 15 movie roles that had stars seriously considering giving up acting

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NOW WATCH: Four MIT graduates created a restaurant with a robotic kitchen that cooks your food in three minutes or less


Morgan Spurlock's #MeToo confession crippled 'Super Size Me 2,' and a main subject of the movie feels abandoned

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Morgan Spurlock AP

  • Following Morgan Spurlock's confession of sexual misconduct in the wake of the #MeToo movement, his latest movie "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!" is in limbo.
  • The movie's distributor, YouTube Red, has pulled the movie and it's unknown if it will ever be released.
  • The sequel to Spurlock's landmark debut that looked at the dangers of fast food focuses this time on the poultry industry, which has manipulated customers and left farmers in debt.
  • One farmer in the movie spoke out to Business Insider about his frustration that the movie may never be seen by the public.


With the end credits rolling on the big screen behind him, Morgan Spurlock took the stage after the world premiere of “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” during the Toronto International Film Festival last September, and flashed his patented wide smile as he took in the loud applause from the audience. 


It was the launch of another project from Spurlock that would attract audiences beyond die-hard documentary lovers. A big reason was the title recognition he had. 14 years after making “Super Size Me,” the movie that launched his career and redefined the fast-food industry, Spurlock had unveiled the rare documentary sequel. 

This time taking on the poultry industry, or as he called it “Big Chicken” (Tyson, Perdue, Pilgrim’s, Koch Foods), “Super Size Me 2” follows Spurlock as he shows audiences the dirty side of the multibillion-dollar industry by starting his own chicken sandwich franchise, called Holy Chicken!, and revealing all the tricks used to make us think that the chicken we get — from the super market to a fast food chain — is “natural.” 


From showing what really defines a "free range" chicken, to how some chains actually paint marks on cooked chicken breasts to make them look "grilled," to showing how chicken farmers are being short-changed by Big Chicken, the movie is as eye-opening about the food we eat as the first “Super Size Me.”


Always the showman, Spurlock came to TIFF with two of the farmers highlighted in the movie, one of whom was Jonathan Buttram. Buttram provided Spurlock with the chickens for his Holy Chicken! chicken sandwich “chain.” He also brought a Holy Chicken! food truck for TIFF audiences, filled with chicken sandwiches for everyone (Spurlock promised that the truck would also tour the country with the movie, once it was in theaters). It all paid off. Before the festival ended, Spurlock scored a deal with YouTube Red, reported to be around $3.5 million, that included not just a streaming deal but also a theatrical release.


But the dream of releasing a documentary that was as impactful as the 2004 original faded away when three months after that successful “Super Size Me 2” world premiere, and at the height of the #MeToo Movement, Spurlock sent out a tweet that read “I am Part of the Problem,” along with a link to a letter via TwitLonger, in which he confessed to numerous acts of sexual misconduct in his past. According to his letter, a woman once accused him of rape in college, he detailed a workplace sexual harassment claim he settled, and admitted he’d been unfaithful to past wives and girlfriends.

“If I’m going [to] truly represent myself as someone who has built a career on finding the truth, then it’s time for me to be truthful as well,” Spurlock wrote.

Days later, YouTube announced it would not release “Super Size Me 2” and Spurlock stepped down as head of his production company, Warrior Poets. 

Since Spurlock left the public eye, Warrior Poets has come under fire as seven former employees told Jezebel that the company had a “fratty, boys’ club” culture. It’s unclear if the numerous upcoming projects Spurlock and Warrior Poets was involved in — ranging from a docuseries with LeBron James to a biopic on legendary Hollywood agent Sue Mengers— will come to fruition.


And what about “Super Size Me 2?” The documentary is in many ways collateral damage following Spurlock’s confession, collecting dust on a shelf somewhere and no longer a tool for the people who needed it to be seen by audiences the most: the dozens of farmers who have brought lawsuits against Big Chicken. 

Farmers are playing a rigged game

The chicken sandwich has become the most popular item on the menu anywhere you go today. It’s almost guaranteed you’ll find a grilled or crispy (you never see the word “fried”) chicken sandwich on any menu (sometimes both) — especially in the food chain industry. In “Super Size Me 2,” Spurlock shows its popularity with incredible clarity as he navigates not just the growing process of the chickens, but also the marketing muscle behind making the chicken sandwich so popular.

This popularity has led to huge profits for the poultry industry, but the farmers who are growing the chickens aren’t getting much of the rewards. As “Super Size Me 2” highlights, in one instance Tyson used a tournament system in which the company gave farmers a certain amount of chickens per year, and then paid by the performance of those chickens (i.e., size of the bird, and the amount produced). 

Super Size me 2 toronto international film festival“Because [Tyson] controls all of the factors that go into influencing how much chicken gets produced and the health of the chickens and the ability of the chickens, Tyson manipulates it and influences how much the growers get paid in a way that is anti-competitive and against the law,” claims David Muraskin, a lawyer for the public interest law firm Public Justice, which is one of the firms representing farmer Charles Morris. Morris is in “Super Size Me 2,” and is also part of a lawsuit in Kentucky against Tyson.

Tyson previously gave a statement disputing the claims in the lawsuit, and said it intended to "vigorously defend our company in court." (Tyson did not respond to a request for further comment from Business Insider.)

Morris, along with Jonathan Buttram, are both big parts in “Super Size Me 2.” Buttram, who declined to comment for this story, was the only farmer Spurlock could find who agreed to grow chickens for Holy Chicken! In the movie, Morris paints a grim picture of the farmers who are millions of dollars in debt due to the tournament system. Both men were with Spurlock at TIFF, were introduced on stage at the world premiere, and did press with Spurlock the days that followed. 


"I set out ten years ago with a cause to help the consumer because all of them have been deceived,"Buttram told Business Insider the day after the TIFF premiere, sitting beside Spurlock and Morris. "The chickens are being mistreated and the growers are definitely being mistreated."


“We need Morgan, we really do,” Morris added. “What he’s done is instrumental in helping us.”

But then came Spurlock’s shocking announcement, which caught almost everyone involved in the movie off guard — Morris and his attorneys, especially.

Why 'Super Size Me 2' would have mattered

Currently, the lawsuit Morris and 19 other farmers filed in Kentucky against Tyson has been in the discovery phase since 2016, which is uncharacteristically long, according to Morris’ attorneys. Though “Super Size Me 2” wouldn’t have been able to speed up the wheels of justice, many involved in the suit believe at the very least “Super Size Me 2” would have put a huge spotlight on the issue. 

“The understanding of how food is produced, especially in these factory farms that the movie shows, I wanted the public to know about that because when the public knows about something and they see a wrong they try to right it,” said J. Dudley Butler of Butler Farm & Ranch Law Group, lead attorney in the Morris case. 

You have to look no further than the impact of the first “Super Size Me” movie to confirm Butler’s theory.

In 2004, when Spurlock, then an unknown filmmaker, released “Super Size Me” — in which he went on a McDonald’s only diet for one month — he had no idea the ramifications it would cause in the fast-food industry. The movie didn’t just show the director’s health begin to deteriorate before our eyes thanks to his new diet, but also the crafty ways the fast-food industry makes some patrons eat its food to a level that causes obesity. The movie became a must-see, grossing over $20 million at the box office worldwide (on a $65,000 budget). But the national outcry following the release became a major factor in the chains ditching super-size options on the menu and implementing healthier items like salads and, you guessed it, “healthier” chicken. 

super size me samuel goldwyn filmsThe biggest reason “Super Size Me” was so effective was because it simplified what was wrong with fast food in America. Morris and his lawyers hoped “Super Size Me 2” would do the same.

“It’s complex so there's no bite size way to describe it,” Muraskin said of the plight of the chicken farmers. “You need something like a movie to get people to engage and take a step back and get the full story.”


But when Spurlock sent out his confession, that hope to educate the public was lost. Morris learned about what Spurlock did and the eventual backing out by YouTube through his attorneys. Butler said he learned about it from another farmer he’s representing. Muraskin learned about it through the news. All three men told Business Insider that Spurlock never contacted them before or after his tweet.

“I’m going to be honest, I feel like I’ve been let down,” Morris said when asked how he felt about not being contacted by Spurlock directly. “I had 10 farmers come up to my house and we had a link to the movie and I showed it to them and everyone just loved it. They were so excited it was coming out. If it were me, I would call you up and say, ‘Hey, I screwed up.’ I would tell you what’s going to happen.”

“I applaud anyone who tells the truth, especially in the world today,” Butler said of Spurlock’s confession. “But the problem is when the people backed out who were to release the movie it hurt the consumers but it hurt the poultry growers a lot worse. I hate to see that. Now that the waters have calmed I hope they would go ahead and move forward with showing the movie to the public.”

Business Insider contacted YouTube about the release status of “Super Size Me 2” and a spokeswoman sent the same statement it made in December following Spurlock’s tweet: “We feel for all the women impacted by the statements made by Morgan Spurlock. In light of this situation, we have decided not to distribute ‘Super Size Me 2’ on YouTube Red.”

But that hasn’t stopped Morris from single-handedly trying to get the movie out to the public. The farmer told Business Insider he has tried numerous times to contact YouTube since the company announced it was pulling the movie. He wants to see if the site would be interested in selling the movie to him. 


“We can mortgage everything we got and buy the rights,” Morris said. “I want it to come out, and not for me but for every chicken farmer in America. It needs to be seen. This is not about Morgan Spurlock, this is about the industry and us farmers and how we’re being treated.”

Morris said he has never received a response from YouTube.

What happens now?

According to numerous sources, Spurlock has reclaimed the rights to “Super Size Me 2” from YouTube but people close to the movie say there are no current plans on how (or if) it will ever be released. Spurlock declined to comment for this story.

Like the farmers in the movie, practically everyone involved was not told that Spurlock was going to release his confession and since have been left wondering if the movie will ever see the light of day. There's also frustration from some who feel that the people who risked everything to go on camera for Spurlock have now been abandoned.

Charles and Tori Morris William DeShazer“Learning about the cruelty and hardship inflicted not only on the chickens, but the chicken farming community, as well as the deceptive marketing tactics used on consumers was a huge motivator for us in producing this film,” Jess Calder, a partner at Snoot Entertainment, which was one of the financiers and producers on “Super Size Me 2,” said in a statement to Business Insider. “The chicken farmers who worked with us risked their livelihood to give us a glimpse into the vicious cycle of the chicken industry, hoping that their courage might help lead to change once the public had the opportunity to see the way chicken farmers are manipulated and forced into a cycle of debt. We hope that for the sake of the brave farmers and their families, this film can still find a distributor.”

Business Insider reached out to numerous independent film insiders and asked if they thought “Super Size Me 2” would ever be seen by general audiences. They all believed it would, including Thom Powers, the head documentary programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, who was responsible for the movie’s world premiere at TIFF.


“I felt that ‘Super Size Me 2’ was his best film,” Powers said of Spurlock. “It was poised to start a really important conversation around what we eat and expanded the conversation from ‘Super Size Me’ 1." 


“A strong possibility for the future of the film is on a digital platform,” Powers said. “People can watch it and way the merits of the film on their own terms, it deserves that.”


But for now, the way Morris sees it, “Big Chicken” dodged a major bullet.


“I’m sure Tyson threw a big party when they heard what happened,” Morris said.

SEE ALSO: All the details we know about the Black Widow standalone movie starring Scarlett Johansson, whose director search is heating up

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NOW WATCH: Learning to celebrate failure at a young age led to this billionaire's success

Jessica Chastain explains why she chose a man to direct her upcoming female-led spy movie

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  • Jessica Chastain is the producer and one of the stars behind the female-led spy thriller, "355."
  • Though there are numerous women involved in front of and behind the camera for the project, a man (Simon Kinberg) will direct the movie.
  • Business Insider asked Chastain why he was the best person to direct.


There is no louder and more impassioned voice about the current movement in Hollywood to get more female-focused stories told than Jessica Chastain. But she says some guys are allowed to come along for the ride.

Chastain made headlines at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, along with fellow stars Lupita Nyong’o, Marion Cotillard, Bingbing Fan, and Penélope Cruz, when they converged on the French Riviera to announce the movie, “355,” in which they all star as international spies.

And the female talent isn’t just on the screen.

Behind-the-scenes, Chastain is producing the movie with her producing partner Kelly Carmichael. The film is also written by a woman, Theresa Rebeck. However, the director will be a man: Simon Kinberg, who is known best in the industry as the keeper of the Marvel franchise at 20th Century Fox (he’s been a writer or producer on everything from “X-Men” to “Deadpool” franchises and will be directing the upcoming “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”).

Simon Kinberg Jessic Chastain Nicholas Hunt Getty“355” not having a female director is a question mark for a project that is going against the grain of Hollywood’s male-heavy dominance in the spy/action genre. But Chastain said there’s a reason for Kinberg’s inclusion.

“I’m not interested in being exclusive,” Chastain told Business Insider Monday while doing press for her upcoming release, “Woman Walks Ahead,” (opening in theaters Friday). “I feel like if I made a point of only working with women then I don't know if I'm changing things so much. I'm interested in working with men who are interested in inclusivity, and Simon is. He's a great ally and someone who sees the problems in our industry and in society and wants to work to change them. So he can join the eight of us gals.” 

At Cannes, “355” was one of the hottest projects on the market and after a bidding war Universal eventually won out the domestic rights for a reported cost of $20 million. The project is currently in preproduction.

SEE ALSO: Morgan Spurlock's #MeToo confession crippled "Super Size Me," and a main subject of the movie feels abandoned

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Four MIT graduates created a restaurant with a robotic kitchen that cooks your food in three minutes or less

12 fictional villains you hated as a kid that you'll relate to as an adult

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Perspectives change a lot as you age. For example, you might find yourself all of a sudden actually wanting to eat broccoli or finally understanding that your mom wasn't just nagging when she made you hang up your clothes, she was helping them not get wrinkled. Adulthood is wild.

Another way age changes you is that you have a different take on the movies and TV shows you loved growing up. Some may not hold up at all, and even when they do, you might find yourself taking the side of the character you know is the villain. Seemingly overnight their motivations make sense and you realize the hero was maybe actually wrong.

So brew some tea, cozy up on the couch on a Friday night, and settle in for the 12 villains you may find yourself understanding a little more now that you're an adult.

Harley Quinn was in a toxic relationship.

The "Batman" comics are full of great villains like Bane, Two Face, and of course, The Joker. As the trusty sidekick of the Joker, it's easy to lump Harley Quinn in with the rest, but her story feels a little more tragic. Above all, it feels like Quinn is the victim of a toxic relationship.

She was a psychiatrist treating The Joker when she fell in love with him and left her job to become his loyal accomplice. Throughout their relationship, he proves to be a manipulative partner, and Quinn winds up doing stupid (and illegal) things for the man she loves which, for anyone who's been in one of those relationships, feels all too common and relatable.



Magneto hated humans because he'd seen the worst of them.

Magneto helped found the X-Men before a fallout with Professor X led him to create his own group — the Brotherhood of Mutants. Magneto has some questionable feelings towards humans, but those feelings stem from having seen the absolute worst of mankind as a child in Auschwitz. His parents and sister are killed while there, and once free, his daughter is killed by humans because of Magneto's powers.

He makes it his mission to find other mutants, and empower them to attack humans before the humans end up attacking them. His methods are extreme, but it's not hard to understand the mentality given the horrors he's experienced.



Bruce is just a shark looking for a meal.

Sharks are largely misunderstood and don't really want to eat people, but the shark from "Jaws" didn't get that memo. Even still, he's really just after a meal, and you can't fault him for that.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

25 actors who could shake up the Oscars as new members of the Academy

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With this year’s announcement of their new invitees — a record-breaking 928 — the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made it clear its mission is to diversify its largely white male membership as much as possible.

Of the 928 invited members, 38% are people of color and 49% are women. The actors branch, the largest in the Academy, is especially focused on inclusivity this year, as its invited members include actors of all races, genders, and ages. 

Click through the gallery for 25 actors who could shake up the Oscars as new members of the Academy.

SEE ALSO: The 5 most anticipated new TV shows premiering in July

Doona Bae

The South Korean superstar is best known stateside for her collaborations with the Wachowski siblings. Bae appeared in “Cloud Atlas” and “Jupiter Ascending,” and had a starring role in Lana Wachowski’s Netflix cult series “Sense8.



Sofia Boutella

Dancer-turned-actress Sofia Boutella has appeared in blockbusters such as “Kingsman: The Secret Service” and “Star Trek Beyond.” The actress was at Cannes this year as the star of Gaspar Noé’s “Climax.”



Hannibal Buress

The comedian has been making a name for himself in the film world with appearances in “Neighbors,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” and, most recently, the summer buddy comedy “Tag.”



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

'Avengers: Infinity War' star Benedict Cumberbatch transformed his appearance for a new role and you won't recognize him

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Benedict Cumberbatch transformed his appearance for his next role.

The 41-year-old actor sports a goatee and full head of hair as Doctor Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but in a new photo for his upcoming Brexit movie, he looks a bit different. 

The actor has a receding hairline and a bare face to play Dominic Cummings, the strategist and campaign director of Vote Leave.

avengers infinity war tony stark doctor strange

The Brexit movie also stars "Skyfall's" Rory Kinnear as Craig Oliver, the former Prime Minister David Cameron's director of communications, and "The Crown's" John Heffernan as Matthew Elliott, political lobbyist and chief executive of Vote Leave.

The TV drama will air on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. 

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SEE ALSO: The 5 most anticipated new TV shows premiering in July

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NOW WATCH: The world is running out of sand — and there's a black market for it now

A self-taught cook recreates beloved recipes from popular movies and TV shows — and the dishes look even better in real life

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ratatouille pixar andrew bea binging with babish

  • YouTuber Andrew Rea hosts a weekly show called "Binging with Babish" where he recreates recipes from classic TV shows and movies.
  • A self-taught cook who started his YouTube channel purely as a hobby, Rea has over 2.7 million subscribers at the time of writing.
  • Rea told INSIDER that he strives to differentiate himself from other pop culture cooking shows by being "as exhaustively accurate as possible" in his recipe recreations.
  • He believes the key to success in the video landscape is "finding something you're so crazy about that you have to tell everyone."


In a digital landscape full of loud and often controversial social media personalities, Andrew Rea is considerably different. Reticent and thoughtful, the YouTube star, who started his channel purely as a hobby two years ago, now often racks up over one million views on each of his videos.

Rea's YouTube channel "Binging with Babish" is a popular web series where he recreates food from movies and TV shows.

binging with babish kevins chili

The name of the show, "Binging with Babish," is based on Oliver Babish, a character on "The West Wing." Rea has recreated beloved dishes such as Remy's ratatouille from the Pixar film "Ratatouille," Kevin's chili from "The Office," and even the Krabby Patty from "Spongebob Squarepants." 

The vlogger, however, has never had any formal training as a cook. Rea told INSIDER that he's entirely self-taught and often watched YouTube videos to hone his cooking skills.

"I would stay up until 2 a.m. to make the best meatballs ever," he said. "I would experiment with using different ingredients. I would obsess over making food as good as I could."

As a filmmaker who always knew he wanted to create content, Rea started his YouTube channel in early 2016. At first, he was only making videos as a hobby. But by November that year, he started receiving mainstream attention and attracted a substantial number of followers.

"That's when I knew, 'I've got something here,'" he told INSIDER. "I knew that this was something I should pursue. I started to commit to making videos whenever I could and releasing them every week."

Two years later, Rea has successfully turned his hobby into a full-time career. His channel currently has over 2.7 million subscribers and he published a cookbook, "Eat What You Watch" in 2017.

However, unlike many other successful YouTubers, Rea did not skyrocket to fame because of his personality. In fact, he strove to make his channel the exact opposite.

"This show was born out of getting tired of all the YouTube videos that are so personality-oriented," Rea told us. "It's like, they'll go on for five minutes about their cars and pets and a million other things before they finally get to the food."

Rea said he wanted his videos to focus strictly on the food. "Any personality in my videos is purely incidental," he said. "I am literally just a backdrop."

Instead of playing up his personality in a bid to win subscribers, Rea devotes his time and energy to creating content with a high attention to detail and painstaking historical accuracy — both of which require a significant amount of research.

To recreate the strudel from "Inglourious Basterds," for example, the vlogger turned to old Austrian recipes. Rea told INSIDER: "I thought to myself, 'How would they make this in France?' I asked myself, 'Did they have butter?' The answer was no. This movie took place during World War II, and butter was hard to come by."

Rea recreating the strudel (right) from the movie “Inglourious Basterds” (left).

"[It's] a matter of finding the context of a particular film or TV show and trying to recreate it as accurately as possible," explained Rea, who references everything from old recipes "written on note cards from the 1930s" to bloggers who publish their grandmothers' recipes.

Watch Rea recreate the strudel from "Inglourious Basterds" in the video below:

 

The YouTube star's attention to detail even extends to fictional movies and TV shows. For example, when he was recreating the Krabby Patty from "Spongebob Squarepants," Rea said he tried to make the recipe as accurate as possible by using ocean-related ingredients and foods, such as anchovies and gumbo.

Rea recreating the Krabby Patty (right) from the TV show “SpongeBob Squarepants” (left).

In this way, Rea strove to differentiate himself from the other pop culture cooking shows that pervade YouTube. "Those other shows are only trying to recreate the recipe," he explained. "But they're not always accurate. I really try to go the extra mile."

Watch Rea recreate the Krabby Patty from "Spongebob Squarepants" in the video below:

 

The vlogger attributes his rapid rise to fame to his commitment to accuracy: "The more obsessive I get, the better people respond."

According to Rea, the key to success on YouTube is passion.

"That's the guarantee to successful content in the video landscape," he told INSIDER. "Anyone can do it, as long as they have a webcam and laptop. You just need to find something you're so crazy about that you have to tell everyone. People will respond to it when they can tell that you care about it."

Watch more of Rea's videos on YouTube, and learn more about "Binging With Babish"here.

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NOW WATCH: An artist makes realistic replicas of food — including giant doughnuts that look good enough to eat

Facebook is testing a feature that lets you block TV and movie spoilers

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thanos

  • Facebook is testing a new feature called "Keyword Snooze" that allows users to block posts with certain words from showing up in their News Feeds.
  • The option would make it easier for people to avoid spoilers for certain TV shows and movies.
  • The option launched this week for users within a test market, and Facebook will expand it if it is successful.
  • Users select the option within the drop down menu on a post, which will give them a list of words from the post they can block. 

 

If the devastating ending for "Avengers: Infinity War" was spoiled for you, or if you haven't caught up on hit TV shows like "Westworld," Facebook is introducing a feature that will help you avoid those spoilers from showing up in your News Feed.

The feature is called "Keyword Snooze," and Facebook launched it for users within a test market this week. It allows the user to block certain words from showing up in their News Feed, essentially granting the ability to block spoilers for movies and TV shows.

The "snoozing" is temporary and lasts 30 days, at which point the user can choose to block the words again. Facebook told TechCrunch that it's not permanent because people may forget they snoozed a word, but if user response indicates they want a longer snooze time, Facebook may implement that. 

Facebook also told TechCrunch that it is considering a "preemptive" snooze option that would be in a user's News Feed preferences, so that people don't have to find posts to snooze words. 

The feature can be found grouped with other options —such as "Hide Post" or "Unfollow"— within the drop-down menu on posts. Hit the drop-down menu on a post with the word (or words) you want to block, and then choose the "snooze keywords in this post" option. That will reveal a list of words you can snooze. 

However, the option doesn't work on ads. So, if you don't want next week's "Ant-Man and the Wasp" movie spoiled for you, you still might see ads for it in your feed even if you've blocked posts with those keywords. 

Facebook will expand the feature if it's successful, according to EW

SEE ALSO: Marvel boss confirms why some characters survived 'Infinity War' and teases a 'conclusion' for the 'Avengers' movies

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All the details of Quentin Tarantino's new movie, which stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie

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tarantino dicaprio

Quentin Tarantino announced earlier this year that Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio would be starring in his upcoming ninth film, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," which partly involves the Manson Family murders.

In April, Tarantino and DiCaprio teased a few details about the film at the Las Vegas industry event CinemaCon, and Margot Robbie confirmed to IndieWire that she was playing the role of actor Sharon Tate in the film.

Since then, a strong supporting cast has steadily filled in. A source close to the production told IndieWire earlier this month that Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning, and Emile Hirsch will appear in the film. Deadline also reported that Al Pacino has also joined the cast.

Pitt worked with Tarantino on 2009's "Inglorious Basterds," and DiCaprio appeared in 2013's "Django Unchained." Longtime Tarantino collaborators Tim Roth and Michael Madsen are also appearing in the film. 

"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is set for release August 9, 2019.

Here's everything we know about Tarantino's upcoming ninth film:

SEE ALSO: Quentin Tarantino's next film will be released by Sony following the Harvey Weinstein scandal

DON'T MISS: Charles Manson was sentenced to 9 life sentences for orchestrating 7 gruesome murders with his cult 'family' — here's his life story

The film takes place in "Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood."

Tarantino described "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" in a statement in February, calling it, "a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood. The two lead characters are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former star of a Western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don't recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbor ... Sharon Tate."

In July 2017, early reports of the film described its script as focused on the murder of actress Sharon Tate by Charles Manson's followers.

While Tarantino's February statement mentions Sharon Tate as a player in the movie, Tarantino previously said that the film would not center on Manson but on the year 1969.

At CinemaCon in April, Tarantino did not add much to the description of the plot, calling the project "very hush-hush and top secret."



It has been five years in the making.

Tarantino said in April that he had been working on the script for the film for half a decade.

"I've been working on this script for five years, as well as living in Los Angeles County most of my life, including in 1969, when I was 7 years old," he said. "I'm very excited to tell this story of an LA and a Hollywood that don't exist anymore. And I couldn't be happier about the dynamic teaming of DiCaprio and Pitt as Rick and Cliff."



It's a "'Pulp Fiction'-esque movie."

Deadline reported in January that DiCaprio would play an "aging actor" in a "'Pulp Fiction'-esque movie.""Pulp Fiction," Tarantino's 1994 classic, told a collection of interconnected stories.

At CinemaCon in April, Tarantino confirmed this sentiment by saying that "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" is "probably the closest to 'Pulp Fiction' that I have done."



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Jessica Chastain talks about how Trump's immigration policy resonates in her new Western

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  • "Woman Walks Ahead" stars Jessica Chastain playing Catherine Weldon, a 1800s portrait painter who befriended Sitting Bull.
  • Business Insider spoke to Chastain and director Susanna White about making the $12 million Western and why many of the issues addressed in the movie are still being addressed in the country today.


In Jessica Chastain’s latest movie, “Woman Walks Ahead,” she continues her quest to get powerful female stories to the big screen. But to make things more challenging, this one is a Western.

“Woman Walks Ahead” follows the true story of Catherine Weldon (played by Chastain), a 1800s portrait painter from Brooklyn who travels out West to seek out Sitting Bull (Michael Greyeyes) to paint him. But the two quickly build a friendship leading to Weldon assisting the legendary Native American leader and the Lakota people in their struggle over land rights.

Shot on location in Santa Fe on a low budget of $12 million, the movie’s director, Susanna White (“Boardwalk Empire,” “Billions,” and “Trust”), does a lot with a little to give the movie the feel of the vast Westerns that were once a staple in the movie business.

Business Insider sat down with Chastain and White to discuss the importance of casting the movie with indigenous people and why the issues of immigration and racism that are affecting the country today make the release of “Woman Walks Ahead” even more vital.

Jason Guerrasio: So you two voiced interest in working with each other, but it all comes down to that first meeting, right? If you two don't get along it doesn't really go beyond that I would imagine. 

Jessica Chastain: Yeah, we clicked at our first meeting. I really liked Susanna's work and we talked about the film and she talked about the story she wanted to tell and the point of view. We had a conversation about how all the indigenous characters would be played by indigenous people. That was incredibly important to me and I was on board. But in all fairness, I didn't think the movie was going to get made. That was the hard line: I was not going to play Catherine Weldon alongside Sitting Bull if he was a famous actor wearing a wig and who wasn't indigenous. And I didn't think a financier would finance the film. But then [producer] Erika Olde, thank goodness for her. 

Susanna White: Basically the movie was written 14 years ago for Ed Zwick to direct. I came across it three years ago. I grew up loving Westerns, as a genre. It's one of the first things that got me into cinema. Those big John Ford films, this huge sense of scale. There's a magic to that. But at the same time it was a world that I didn't connect with. It was a man's world, a very violent world, and where women were very marginalized characters — as were the Native Americans in the stories. So what I fell in love within a few pages was the Native American characters were very layered, sophisticated, we were seeing that culture from a different point of view and discovering it through the eyes and ears of this extraordinary woman. So there were two levels on which I loved it. It was a story of a strong female character but also the inverse of the Western as we've seen it. People without a voice having a voice. 

Guerrasio: Did either of you know about Catherine before making this?

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Chastain: I didn't know about her. I started Googling her and then I started reading her letters, which were fascinating. Also, when I read the script I thought, "Did they really love each other?" I didn't know if that was just something added [to the script], but in one of her letters she said that he proposed to her. So I just thought that was fascinating. These people from different parts of the country who, like Susanna said, were not being acknowledged as equal human beings, and this great love and friendship that they developed for each other. 

White: Spending time on the reservation with the Lakota people, whenever I asked about Sitting Bull they said, "He was a great spiritual leader," and that became important to me in the casting. As I read stuff he'd written I would hear this phrase that I can't get out of my head, "The greatest strength is in gentleness," and so when I was casting and came across Michael [Greyeyes] I thought I needed someone who had this spiritual quality.

Guerrasio: You were working with a $12 million budget, how did you pull off the movie’s beautiful look on that kind of low budget, in regards to making a Western?

White: It was tight. We had to shoot it in 31 days, we had no time for pick ups. We never [could have] afforded it at the end of the movie. It was mind over matter. But we managed it and here's the film after 14 years, so that's all that matters. 

susanna white jessica chastain a24Guerrasio: You made the movie around 2016, do you think it would have been easier to get attention to the movie and get more money for it if you made it now? With how aware the industry is now for female-focused stories. 

White: I don't know. People are seeing that female stories actually can do well at the box office, and numbers do talk in this industry, so I think there's more of a conversation now. I don't know how much the needle has really moved. We'll see. But in how the movie is being received, I can see a shift.

Guerrasio: Do you see the needle moving, Jessica?

Chastain: Well, I can tell you with this film there's a shift since it premiered at Toronto. In Toronto I remember there was an article that in the headline from a very reputable paper it said something like "Catherine Weldon Talks to Savages." I found it so offensive, Michael Greyeyes pointed it out. If it came out now there would be greater repercussions to a headline like that. 

standing rock

Guerrasio: The movie was shot while the Standing Rock protest was going on, what was it like shooting this movie and the going back to your room and seeing that on the TV?

Chastain: It was always present on set. It was always spoken about. We were taking pictures and sending them to Standing Rock with our support. There was a big indigenous community working on our film so we weren't separate from what was happening.

Guerrasio: Something like that going on in the present, can that get you deeper into the character you’re playing?

Chastain: It can help you put more into it. The story we're telling is still happening. So if anything, it just made me understand why the story needed to be told. Sam Rockwell's character says in the film that history is moving in a circle and that's true. Look at what's happening in the world today. We need to look at our history and examine and acknowledge what we've done and really learn from it in order to not repeat it.

Guerrasio: That must have been strange to experience, seeing Standing Rock was where Sitting Bull was killed. But it also has to be strange to go and promote a movie like this and then see what's in the headlines today in regards to immigration, racism, these are all touched on in the movie.

Chastain: Children being taken from their parents.

Guerrasio: Yes.

Chastain: That's what happened to that community [in the movie]. 

Guerrasio: What's the biggest thing you’ve seen an audience take away from the movie?

White: The most moving thing for me was I went and showed the movie at Rapid City a week ago and to show it to that Lakota community, they were so moved to be given the validation of their community being taken seriously. At the end of the movie they started drumming. They had this whole ceremony to give me an Indian name to welcome me to that community. They gave me the name, "Woman Who Gets Things Done," which is a beautiful name. 

 

SEE ALSO: Morgan Spurlock's #MeToo confession crippled "Super Size Me," and a main subject of the movie feels abandoned

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NOW WATCH: This glassblowing master sculpts incredibly realistic animals out of glass

REVIEW: 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' gives us the female superhero we've been waiting for in a sequel that's better than the original

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Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead for "Ant-Man and the Wasp."

From the moment "Ant-Man and the Wasp" reintroduces you to Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Cassie playing in the most awesome cardboard fort, you'll be smiling at the father-daughter duo. You'll probably have that grin on your face for most of the movie.

The sequel to 2015's "Ant-Man" kicks off right around the start of "Avengers: Infinity War." Lang has taken a plea deal after becoming a wanted criminal. He's spent the past two years since "Captain America: Civil War" under house arrest where he spends time with his daughter and tries to be a squeaky-clean citizen to get his ankle monitor off. 

With three days to go, he hears from Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly). The two, who are also wanted by the FBI, have a plan to save Hank's wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the Quantum Realm where Lang visited at the end of the first movie, and they need his help.

Naturally, there are a few other parties interested in their adventure for their own personal agendas. But the less you know about the movie's villain the better. 

Do I need to see the first "Ant-Man" or other Marvel movies before this movie?

evangeline lilly ant man and the wasp

I didn't rewatch the first "Ant-Man" movie before seeing the sequel, but if you're a bit fuzzy on the movie or "Captain America: Civil War," check those out before seeing this film. "Ant-Man and the Wasp" takes place after the events of "Civil War" before catching you up to, what's referred to as "present day." Present day, I'm assuming, is somewhere around the starting point of "Avengers: Infinity War." Add that one to the list of must-sees before this movie or you'll be a bit lost during one of the extra scenes at the film's end.

Why to see it: Because you're probably invested in the MCU if you've seen "Avengers: Infinity War."

ant man ghost wasp

Before we get Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) next year, Evangeline Lilly suits up as our first real heroine with an actual costume in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (Sure, we have Black Widow, but she was a trained assassin. Scarlet Witch? She was a villain before becoming an honorary Avenger on the run. But as far as outfits, she's always wearing normal clothes or tight leather outfits.) Wasp is a brilliant scientist and someone girls are going to want to dress up as come Halloween.

You may have forgotten how funny — and ab-tastic — Rudd is in his Marvel appearances. His second outing as Ant-Man may be better than his first. If you love Michael Peña, he brings some big laughs, too. Plus, there's at least one scene you'll want to have in your back pocket heading into next year's "Avengers 4."

What's hot: Paul Rudd, the Wasp, and Michael Peña.

ant man and the wasp paul rudd

After two appearances as Ant-Man in Marvel movies, Rudd feels as much a staple in the MCU as Chris Pratt in "Guardians of the Galaxy." Both characters aren't the brightest — Star-Lord didn't seem to realize his hometown was on Earth and it's funny listening to Lang try to comprehend anything Hank Pym discusses about the Quantum realm — but they have a lot of heart and are able to deliver big laughs to bring down the tone in any scenario when it starts to feel too serious. 

Rudd gets a few of the funniest scenes in the movie where you may find yourself equally laughing and crying over his antics. Bet you didn't think you were signing up for both a superhero movie and a magic show. Yeah, it turns out Lang has become quite good at card tricks. So expect some of those. (Hey, how else is a man under house arrest supposed to pass the time legally?) He's so good that he has his parole officer (an excellent Randall Park) asking him for tips. But Rudd's best scene may be the funniest thing I've seen since Deadpool's tiny baby legs in his recent sequel. You'll know that scene when you see it. 

Lang's relationship with his daughter is also front and center in this film. Abby Ryder Fortson is both funny and a sweet cheerleader to her dad every time she's on screen. One of the nicest bits is that the film doesn't go the obvious route of putting Cassie in danger to get Ant-Man's attention again. That's been done already in the first film and is such an easy cliché in superhero movies — go after the one's the heroes love. The film dabbles in the thought for a moment, but then casts it aside. The relationships between fathers and daughters and even surrogate fathers and daughters has a great presence in this sequel. If Pixar didn't release "Incredibles 2" Father's Day weekend, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" would have been a solid substitute.

ant man and the wasp scott lang cassie

As much as Rudd is great as Ant-Man, Lilly's turn as the Wasp is even more enjoyable to watch on screen. It's pure fun to watch someone who understands how to masterfully use the suit, and one with added blasters and wings. Van Dyne gracefully maneuvers between sizes and flips and slides out of harm's way while altering the sizes of other objects to her advantage. Not only can she build great tech, but she's also an expert at hand-to-hand combat, apparently. She makes Lang look like a real amateur in the other costume. Although, admittedly, the two are pretty great to see working side by side. The only thing I wish this movie had more of was Wasp in full action. That girl can hold her own.

wasp evangeline lilly ant man

The other scene-stealer is Peña. He may have more screen time than the first movie and it's put to good use. Remember his fast-paced monologues from the first movie? He easily tops that in this one, speaking even faster, and gets some of the biggest laughs.

ant man and the wasp michael pena

And the MCU makes use of its de-aging CGI tech once again. They did it with Michael Douglas in the first "Ant-Man," Kurt Russell in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and Robert Downey in "Civil War," and now they've done it with Michelle Pfeiffer. It's both astounding and creepy to see. Douglas and Pfeiffer may make you a little teary-eyed here, but I don't want to say much more about her appearance as Janet Van Dyne.

What's not: If you're hoping for some serious answers or tie-ins to "Avengers: Infinity War," you'll be a bit disappointed.

thanos infinity war avengers

If you're hoping for some Hawkeye answers, you may be frustrated to learn you won't get them from "Infinity War." He doesn't even appear in an end-credits scene. I'm not telling you that for spoilers' sake. I'm telling you so you know what you're getting yourself into when you head out to see it.

The movie won't leave you high and dry though. Its end will line up with the end of "Avengers: Infinity War." So yes, if you have a stake in that movie you may not want to wait for this one to be out on Blu-ray. Expect the Snappening to happen.

Otherwise, there's not much to complain about. Some fans may not be into the villain, Ghost. But I thought the character was one of the most heartbreaking recent introductions in the MCU. If you're not into seeing giant human-sized ants like in the first film, you may want to turn a blind eye during some scenes. You also may get a little tired over a running gag of a faulty suit, but you definitely don't feel bored watching this movie at all. It's a fun movie.

Overall: See this one with the family.

ant man wasp evangeline lilly

Some have said this is one of Marvel's best sequels. That's true. It's not better than or funnier than "Thor: Ragnarok" -- that's one of Marvel's best. But it has some great laughs and Lang's relationship with his daughter may be the most meaningful father-daughter relationship in the MCU outside Hank and Hope Van Dyne.

Try and not smile or tear up once while watching this movie. It's impossible.

Grade: B

"Ant-Man and the Wasp" is in theaters July 6. Watch a trailer below.

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NOW WATCH: 5 science facts that 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' totally ignored

'Ant-Man and the Wasp' is the perfect summertime movie with its light tone and fun action

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  • "Ant-Man and the Wasp" is a fun action movie that will put you in a pretty good mood coming out of the movie theater.
  • It does reference what happens at the end of "Avengers: Infinity War," but that's all you're getting out of us.


If you’re still trying to get over the shocking ending to “Avengers: Infinity War” then “Ant-Man and the Wasp” (in theaters July 6) is a welcome sight.

Like the first movie, director Peyton Reed (“Bring It On”) mixes action and laughs to deliver one of the most enjoyable moviegoing experiences you’ll have this summer.

It’s been three years since “Ant-Man” came into theaters and proved that the MCU could even make the likes of Paul Rudd an international box-office draw. The origin story of burglar Scott Lang’s (Rudd) transformation into a micro-sized do-gooder brought in an impressive $519 million worldwide. That's not too shabby for one of the lower-tier Marvel characters.

Since then, Ant-Man has been seen in “Captain America: Civil War,” as he joined Team Cap in the movie’s big battle sequence between all the Avengers. And the aftermath of that is where we pick things up with Lang in “Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

Joining in on the Avengers’ infighting during “Civil War” led to Lang being put on house arrest for two years because he broke the Sokovia Accords, and as the “Ant-Man” sequel starts he’s just days away from getting his ankle bracelet taken off. Lang has been on the straight and narrow, mainly because since “Civil War,” Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the mind behind the Ant-Man shrinking and enlarging tech, along with his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly), have turned their backs on Lang for taking the suit and rushing off with Team Cap.

ant man and the wasp 3 disneyBut, as you’d expect, the two-year blackout finally ends between the three. The big reason for the change of heart is Lang calls Hank to let him know he just had a dream about Hank's wife, Janet (Michelle Pfeiffer). Janet, the original Wasp, was thought to be lost forever in the quantum realm decades ago on a mission to save the world from nuclear war.

This news from Lang is important to Hank. Since Lang came back from the quantum realm at the end of the first “Ant-Man,” which was previously thought to not be possible, Hank and Hope (the new Wasp) have been trying to build a pathway to get his wife back. Hank believes the dream confirms that she is still in the quantum realm waiting to be saved and is sending a message to them.

This kicks the movie into gear as Lang helps Hank and Hope in their quest to get Janet back home. But things get more complicated when Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) shows up and interferes with their building of the pathway, as she wants to use the energy from the quantum realm to heal herself.

What’s great about both “Ant-Man” movies is that they give all this exposition with a whole lot of comedy. There’s Rudd’s gifted talents as a comedian (he’s a credited screenwriter on both movies) as well as the comedy of the tech involved in “Ant-Man.” When you have the power to shrink or enlarge anything at any moment, that gives you an incredible tool to keep the story from getting stale.

And having Michael Peña isn’t a bad thing either.

A gifted character actor for most of his career, jumping from dramas to comedies, in “Ant-Man” he’s really found his sweet spot. Playing Scott’s buddy Luis, he is the glue to the franchise. Every time he’s on screen the movie gets a jolt. The most memorable moment in this movie is when Luis is given a truth serum by small time crook Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins) and provides way more information than what Sonny is looking for.

Now you’re probably wondering how “Infinity War” plays into all of this. The events of “Ant-Man and the Wasp” are going on at the same time the Avengers are battling Thanos.

All I’ll say is be sure to stick around for the end credits to see how the two movies connect.

SEE ALSO: Morgan Spurlock's #MeToo confession crippled "Super Size Me 2," and a main subject of the movie feels abandoned

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NOW WATCH: 5 science facts that 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' totally ignored

15 movies that are being revived for a new generation

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Hollywood loves its remakes and reboots. A tried and tested concept that comes with a built-in audience and an opportunity to attract a new generation of viewers is just way more appealing to studios than taking a chance on an original story.

Everything old is new again and the industry has no plans to stop capitalizing on the money making power of nostalgia. Be it a gender-swapped update or a familiar story retold and expanded for the small screen, Hollywood is using every avenue available.

Here are 15 movies being revived for a new generation on both the the big and small screens.

"Four Weddings and a Funeral"

Rom-com aficionado Mindy Kaling is giving new life to "Four Weddings and a Funeral." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hulu has ordered an anthology TV series inspired by the 1994 British romantic comedy that starred Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell. Written and executive produced by Kaling, the series will follow a group of friends as their lives intersect through five events.



"A League of Their Own"

There's no crying in baseball, but there will be cause for tears if Amazon screws up the TV series adaptation of the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own." A half-hour series about the women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is currently in development.

The show promises a "contemporary take" on the formation of the league in 1943 and will follow the Rockford Peaches from "season to season as they struggle to keep the team alive through close games, injuries, late night bar crawls, sexual awakenings, not crying and road trips across a rapidly changing United States."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will not feature characters from the movie, which starred Geena Davis, Lori Petty and Tom Hanks.

A TV adaptation of the movie was previously attempted by CBS in 1993, however the series was quickly canceled.



"Less Than Zero"

"Less Than Zero," the 1985 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, about wealthy, drug-addled college kids from Los Angeles got the movie treatment in 1987, and now it's in development as a TV series at Hulu. According to Variety, the show will follow a college freshman who returns home for Christmas to spend time with his ex-girlfriend and his friend who struggles with addiction.



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How TV shows and movies get all their cars

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In movies and TV shows, cars are important props. They make period films feel like they are set in the past. They help give characters an identity. They add action and speed to chase scenes. We visited one place that supplies cars to film shoots— the Auto Film Club in Staten Island, New York. Following is a transcript of the video.

Narrator: In movies, cars get blown up and flipped. They define characters or they're characters themselves. Sometimes they're the center of the shot and other times they're in the background just helping to set the scene. But where do these cars come from? Some of them come from the Auto Film Club in Staten Island, New York.

Max Lucci: We rent vehicles, we modify vehicles, we acquire vehicles.

Narrator: The Lucci family has been in the car rental business for 43 years. Max's father Ralph had an auto body shop with his brother in Brooklyn and they got to know people with old cars. 

Lucci: They started getting calls from different prop masters and people in the film industry saying, "Oh, you guys have a body shop where you have all these older cars. I need cars for a period piece."

Narrator: After awhile, they were acting as liaisons between film crews and car owners. Eventually, they started buying cars to keep in their own inventory as well. Now, they've got about 190 vehicles available on their lots and a database full of car owners willing to rent. The cars they have range from flashy, polished collectibles to beat-up junkers.

Lucci: Whether it's your pristine garage queen from the '60s or '70s or your jalopy, you know, your Subaru Outback, whatever it may be there's always a character who needs a specific type of car.

Narrator: The way it usually works is a production company calls with a request for a particular type of car. If the Auto Film Club doesn't have the car, they'll act as the agent for someone who does or try to find one to buy. If they do have the car, they'll bring it into the garage and make sure it's running well before it has to be on set.

Lucci: If there needs to be a shot where a car is having a hard brake and it stops right in front of the principal actor or actress, then we'll inspect the vehicle, check out the brakes.

Narrator: This is all part of getting the car stunt ready. They might also prepare a car to burn rubber, be smashed, or get flipped. For the movie "This Is Where I Leave You", the Auto Film Club had to find an old Jaguar and then gut it. 

Lucci: We removed the motor and the transmission from it, made it hollow, and then we had some people from special effects come in and fabricate a fake-looking motor that we put into the vehicle and then we had to weld a pipe so that the actors who were flipping over this real car could use it to gain leverage and actually flip over this old Jaguar.

Narrator: You might not know it, but you've probably seen some of Auto Film Club's cars. They supplied about 14 cabs for this scene from the 2002 Spider-Man movie. The rest you see were added digitally in post-production. They supplied the cars for "Men in Black," including the Zap-Em van and the car that Will Smith smashes through when he shoots the cricket gun. That one was the Lucci family's car when Max was growing up.

Lucci: It used to get driven to school, kindergarten, every single day, we called it Old Betsy.

Narrator: Auto Film Club has supplied cars for "Gotham,""The Americans,""Jessica Jones," and the list goes on. -

Lucci: You can never say no to a potential client because you never know when they're gonna call you back. He told me to call this person who told me to call that guy, who knows a guy in Wyoming. I finally called someone and I said, "Do you have a 1993 to '97 Prevost bus hatch?" And he said, "Yeah, I got one right in my yard."

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The only 3 Marvel movies you need to watch before seeing 'Ant-Man and the Wasp'

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You definitely don't need to re-watch all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's 19 movies before seeing "Ant-Man and the Wasp" in theaters. 

But it would be helpful to catch up on a few of the movies if you plan on seeing the movie July 6. The "Ant-Man" sequel has a few key throwbacks that may leave you asking some questions if you're not up to speed. 

Don't have time to go through every Marvel movie? No problem. INSIDER has rounded up the essential movies to binge, from least important to most valuable.

3. "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018)

You don't need to watch "Avengers: Infinity War" to understand the majority of "Ant-Man and the Wasp." The actual film stands alone on its own. 

But if you want to fully comprehend the first of two end-credits scenes, you'll want to know the basics of what happens at the end of "Infinity War." The first of two extra scenes catches up with the very end of May's "Avengers" movie when Thanos snaps his fingers. No spoilers here, but you can read more on the shocking end to "Infinity War" here.



2. "Ant-Man" (2015)

If you've never seen "Ant-Man" or are a bit fuzzy on how Scott Lang wound up with the Ant-Man suit, you may want to catch up on how he met Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) in the first film. 

This will also provide you with the info you'll need on the Quantum Realm, which not only is at the heart of the sequel, but will probably come into play in the next "Avengers" sequel. If you want to forego the first film, the sequel does give you a quick refresher on how Hope's mother became trapped in the Quantum Realm.

A re-watch will also clear up how Hope and Scott's tricky relationship began in the first film and answer why Ant-Man is flying around on ants and how he's able to control the small insects. I don't think the original film is better than the sequel, but maybe you also want to stick around for some shirtless scenes of Rudd. 

 



1. "Captain America: Civil War"

"Civil War" is the best movie to watch before heading into "Ant-Man and the Wasp." It's referenced quite a few times at the film's start and will explain why Rudd is under house arrest for two years. 

Moreso, it will explain why Hank Pym and his daughter Hope are upset with Lang for stealing the Ant-Man suit to help a fugitive (Captain America) escape the law. Cap's name gets thrown around several times throughout the movie as well as the Sokovia Accords, legislation that calls for the registration of all superheroes.

There's also some funny interaction between Scott Lang and the other superheroes. Plus, you'll see the first use of Ant-Man transforming into Giant Man.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

A former Pixar employee wrote a scathing column criticizing the company's culture of 'open sexism'

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FILE PHOTO: John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, speaks during the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. on January 8, 2017.  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

  • A former Pixar employee wrote a column for Variety criticizing the "open sexism" of the film company's corporate environment under Pixar cofounder John Lasseter.
  • In her column, Cassandra Smolcic, a former graphic designer at Pixar, said she personally experienced sexual harassment over her five years of employment with the company, from Lasseter, her unnamed former department head, and other male coworkers.

A former Pixar employee has written a column for Variety criticizing the "open sexism" of the film company's corporate environment under the leadership of Pixar cofounder and former chief John Lasseter. 

Disney announced earlier this month that Lasseter would depart the company at the end of this year. Lasseter took a six-month sabbatical in November shortly after The Hollywood Reporter published a report on allegations of Lasseter's inappropriate workplace behavior with his employees, which included "grabbing, kissing, [and] making comments about physical attributes."

In her column for Variety, Cassandra Smolcic, a former graphic designer at Pixar, said that Lasseter's "open sexism" had the effect of "emboldening others to act like frat boys in just about any campus setting" at the company.

Smolcic wrote that she personally experienced sexual harassment over her five years of employment with Pixar, from Lasseter, her unnamed former department head, and other men at the company. She said her harassment included "many unwelcome, objectifying interactions" and a physical groping from one male coworker. 

"Just after starting on 'Cars 2,' I was told by a superior that I would be uninvited from all our weekly art department meetings because Lasseter 'has a hard time controlling himself' around young women," Smolcic wrote. 

Smolcic described how "management teams across the studio were well known for cleaning up the messes of powerful male superiors, regardless of their poor behavior or challenging leadership styles," while Pixar's "few female leads lacked backing and basic respect from the institution and the masses."

Smolcic said she left the company at 30 after being "physically and mentally burnt out after years of bumping up against the glass ceiling" at the company.

Smolcic closed her column by praising Pixar's decision to move forward with Jennifer Lee and Pete Docter as chief creative officers at Disney Animation and Pixar, respectively.

"But dismantling John’s legacy will take more than just replacing a single executive, because such deeply ingrained biases require deliberate, conscientious effort to identify and dismantle. Disney and Pixar must recognize that women and underrepresented minorities are just as capable, talented, complex, and dimensional as the white fraternity of men who have monopolized animation thus far," she wrote.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on the matter.

Read Smolcic's full column at Variety.

SEE ALSO: The co-founder of Pixar is leaving Disney, months after allegations of inappropriate behavior

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'Sicario' sequel director says not having Emily Blunt led to a movie with no morals

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  • "Sicario: Day of the Soldado" director Stefano Sollima said the difference between this movie and the original is this one has no "moral guidance" for the audience.
  • The stakes are also higher, which led to some unforgiving scenes, including one of a graphic suicide bombing.
  • Sollima said the scene was vital to show that, in this movie, stars Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are not playing by any rules.
  • The director hopes the movie sparks a discussion, especially with the movie coming out in the midst of Trump's zero tolerance policy for anyone crossing the US border illegally.


Italian director Stefano Sollima's fascination with the underworld has fueled his career.

From a look at how organized crime influenced politics in Rome for 2015’s “Suburra,” to the TV series version of “Gomorrah” (based on Roberto Saviano’s book and Matteo Garrone’s feature film), which gave a glimpse inside one of the Italian mafia’s most powerful regimes, they are all projects that are gritty portrayals of the clash between law enforcement and criminals.

Now Sollima brings his style to Hollywood with “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” (in theaters Friday), the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 critically acclaimed “Sicario.”

In the first movie, we follow Kate Macer, an idealist FBI agent played by Emily Blunt who is enlisted by a government task force, led by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and flanked by the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), to assist in the escalating drug war on the US/Mexico border.

With its breathtaking cinematography by legendary DP Roger Deakins and powerful script from Taylor Sheridan (“Hell or High Water”), Villeneuve created an instant classic.

sicario bluntSo Sollima admits he was confused when he was approached to make a sequel to a movie that felt like such a standalone. However, he became a little more interested when it was explained to him that the plan was to make a movie simply "in the spirit" of the first. And then he was completely sold when he read Sheridan’s script. By the time he finished reading it, the “different kind of sequel” pitch was certainly accurate, down to Blunt’s Kate Macer character being nowhere to be found.

“Emily Blunt is an amazing actress, but her role was sort of a moral guidance for the audience,” Sollima told Business Insider over the phone. “In 'Sodaldo' we don’t have that. This is closer to my vision of storytelling. I prefer not to have a moral guidance for the audience.”

And that is evident in the first 10 minutes of “Soldado.”

In the movie, we are taken deeper into the Mexican drug cartels and the shady politics played by the US government. But to fully have the audience buy into the plot, Sollima believed he first had to show them that this one had even higher stakes than the first “Sicario.”

To open the movie, a group of terrorists walk into a big box store on US soil and detonate bombs attached to themselves. The way Sollima has the scene shot, the audience is pulled into the chaos rather than watching it play out from a safe distance. The camera follows the men to the entrance of the store. As they continue to walk in, moments later you see them explode in different areas of the store. The camera then stays on one girl crying by the registers. Her mother then comes into the frame to grab her and, as they turn to leave, they freeze in shock looking at something off camera. The shot pulls back to reveal another suicide bomber in front of them. As the mother pleads to let them go by, the bomber, whispering a prayer, triggers the bomb and the explosion kills them all as the screen goes to black.

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It’s revealed that the terrorists were trafficked across the border by a Mexican cartel, which leads to Graver and Alejandro getting the call to devise a plan for some payback.

Sollima said Sheridan, who wrote the screenplay for “Soldado,” wrote the terrorist bombing scene differently. In the script, the camera is pulled far back to show the suicide bomb attack. But the director said the intimacy of that moment was needed.

“I think it was the best way to get inside the story,” he said. “You want the audience to be fully into the plan, ‘Let’s have revenge.’”

And the shot of the mother and daughter being killed was to show that no one is safe in this movie.

“When you see the kid, you are thinking, ‘It’s impossible, this is not going to happen,’ and when it does happen you realize anything can happen in this movie,” Sollima said. “That was really important.”

Things only get more intense: the movie features a child kidnapping, drone strikes, and a whole lot of shootouts.

However what Sollima, or anyone involved with the movie, could never have predicted was that the movie would be released at a moment when the topic of borders and immigration are dominating the news cycle and social media.

In the wake of President Trump’s controversial zero tolerance policy, the news cycle has been flooded with the aftermath, which includes coverage of thousands of children being separated from their families due to the policy (Trump has since signed an executive order ending family separations). Now “Soldado” is suddenly thrust into the narrative.

As ads for the movie show violent acts on the Mexican border, it’s safe to say that Sollima’s “no morals” storytelling could turn off some audiences going to the theaters looking for some escapism.

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Then there’s another possibility: “Soldado” could suddenly be used as a tool for those who agree with the zero tolerance policy.

Is Sollima concerned?

Sollima said he wasn’t, but believes it’s healthy for a movie to launch a conversation.

“It’s what you expect, people are going to discuss it,” he said. “You provoke a discussion.”

He said that’s what’s great about making gangster movies: topics can be explored and discussions can be launched.

“You have some code of the genre that you’re playing with and this means you are going to tell the dark side of something with a lot of action, but if you’re smart enough, through the lens of the genre you can reflect on the reality of the world around you,” Sollima said.

Regardless how “Soldado” performs its opening weekend in theaters (it has a 73% Rotten Tomatoes rating with a 97% “want to see” rating), don’t expect Sollima to make a part three in the “Sicario” franchise. When asked if he was interested, he made it pretty clear that this was a one-and-done for him.

“It’s more interesting to have a saga where you have completely different directors doing each movie,” he said. “They will hire another director with their own vision and style.” 

SEE ALSO: Jessica Chastain explains why she thought her new Western would never get made

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8 hidden gem movies currently in theaters you should see, especially if you have MoviePass

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It's easy to forget about some great movies while they are in theaters, especially during the summer movie season.

Some smaller-budget films go under the radar when up against blockbusters like "Infinity War" or "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom."

That's why Business Insider has gathered all of the potentially overlooked movies currently playing in theaters that you can choose from for the weekend.

Some may be harder to find than others, but these movies are the perfect watch if you are looking for plans, especially if you have MoviePass, which lets you see any movie you want in theaters for about $10 a month. It's a nice way to get you in the theater for movies you may not have considered otherwise.

We'll add movies to this list every week to keep you up-to-date on what you may be missing out on at the theater. 

Below are all of the hidden gem movies currently in theaters you should see with MoviePass:

SEE ALSO: Netflix faces conservative backlash over an upcoming superhero drag queen show, with nearly 20,000 signing a petition against it

"Leave No Trace"

Release date: June 29 (limited release)

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 100%

With a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, "Leave No Trace" is one of the best-reviewed movies of the year. It comes from Debra Granik, the director of the Oscar-nominated thriller "Winter's Bone" that helped launch Jennifer Lawrence into the mainstream. This time, she teams with actor Ben Foster, who critics say gives an extraordinary performance.

Description:"Will (Ben Foster) and his teenage daughter, Tom (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie), have lived off the grid for years in the forests of Portland, Oregon. When their idyllic life is shattered, both are put into social services. After clashing with their new surroundings, Will and Tom set off on a harrowing journey back to their wild homeland."



"SuperFly"

Release date: June 13

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 51%

Director X, known for music videos like Drake's "Hotline Bling" and Nelly's "Hot in Herre," brings his stylish flair to this reimagining of the 1972 original Blaxploitation film. 

Description:"Superfly – the film that helped define a genre in its characters, look, sound, and feel – is reimagined with Director X, director of legendary music videos (Drake, Rihanna), introducing it to a new generation. The screenplay is by Alex Tse."



"Won't You Be My Neighbor?"

Release date: June 8, 2018

Rotten Tomatoes critic score: 99%

At a time of so much tension and turmoil, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" is being hailed as a reminder that good people exist. The documentary from Morgan Neville, the director of the Oscar-winning doc "20 Feet From Stardom," transports audiences back in time for a major dose of nostalgia, and helps people of all ages remember the legacy of childhood icon Fred Rogers.

Description: "In Won't You Be My Neighbor?, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (Twenty Feet from Stardom) looks back on the legacy of Fred Rogers, focusing on his radically kind ideas. While the nation changed around him, Fred Rogers stood firm in his beliefs about the importance of protecting childhood. Neville pays tribute to this legacy with the latest in his series of highly engaging, moving documentary portraits of essential American artists."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

MoviePass has launched an official online merch store, but there's not 'Gotti' gear — yet

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  • MoviePass has launched merchandising.
  • Mugs, shirts, and caps are on sale. It even landed a deal with Marvel to sell "Black Panther" shirts.
  • But, sadly, no "Gotti" gear yet.


Diehard MoviePass fans, now you can show your support of the monthly movie-theater subscription app by sporting its merch.

This week the company launched a merchandising web page through Represent, the crowd-funding merchandise platform. Now you can wear a MoviePass t-shirt, hoodie, hat, or sip your morning coffee out of a mug that's got the logo right on it.

“We are officially merchandising now," MoviePass told Business Insider on Thursday via a statement. "We will continue to expand store offerings and products and also provide timely merchandise tied to movies and titles which may be marketed in particular to some subscribers based on their tastes."

Its current movie-tied merch is for "Black Panther." Through the blessing of Marvel, the MoviePass store features "Wakanda Forever" hoodies, long sleeves, and t-shirts with the face of the M'Baku character on them. They even got the actor who plays the role, Winston Duke, to model with the one of the shirts on.

john travolta gottiPrices range from $14.99 for a MoviePass mug to $49.99 for a hoodie. The "Black Panther" shirts range from $29.99 (t-shirt) to $49.99 (hoodie).

We are sad to find, though, that currently there is no merchandise related to the movie "Gotti," which MoviePass has a stake in.

The movie on the notorious mobster John Gotti, played by John Travolta, is the latest release through the company's distribution arm, MoviePass Ventures. It has become an internet sensation following the marketing for the movie calling out its 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

MoviePass said currently it has no plans to release merchandise related to "Gotti" but "that could change."

We hope so. We would definitely buy a shirt with Travolta's face on it as Gotti with "Trust the people" written on it.

SEE ALSO: MoviePass has deep ties to an Indian company that's been accused of defrauding creditors and got kicked off 2 stock exchanges

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'Ant-Man and the Wasp' star Paul Rudd knew about the events in 'Infinity War' before the cast and says it's 'terrifying' to know what's coming

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  • Paul Rudd was privy to more information about "Avengers: Infinity War" than the cast and he wasn't even in the movie. 
  • The actor went on NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers"Thursday night to talk about "Ant-Man and the Wasp." 
  • Rudd told Meyers that because he co-wrote the script for the "Ant-Man" sequel, he had more knowledge of what was coming in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
  • "It's terrifying to have these secrets, to know some of these things," Rudd said. "I feel a lot of pressure, but I also feel very privileged because I knew about that 'Infinity War' before it was going to happen."
  • "Ant-Man and the Wasp" hits theaters July 6. 
  • Watch the interview below.

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