At first glance, the latest sci-fi movie coming to the multiplex, "Life" (opening March 24), looks like a thriller with the same kind of "in space no one can hear you scream" DNA that made the first "Alien" movie back in 1979 a cultural phenomenon. And you would be right.

"Life" is not the first movie in the past 30-plus years set in space that wants to scare the heck out of you. And basing the scares around a creepy organism that we gullible humans find on another planet is tried-and-true. But there are little tweaks to the formula that director Daniel Espinosa and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (of "Deadpool" fame) do that makes this particular movie very fun to experience.

What I respect a lot about this movie is, for a big budget blockbuster from a major studio such as Sony, it doesn't look to cater to all audiences. That's evident in its opening, which is a single shot that goes on for around five minutes or so — a very ambitious move.

But Espinosa does this to cleverly kill two birds with one stone: the single shot gives us the layout of the international space station, where we will be spending most of our time throughout the movie; and also shows a major moment in the movie, the crew retrieving a probe back from Mars with a sample from the planet.

We find out that the sample is the first proof of life on Mars.

Then we’re given the usual beats of the space thriller: getting to know the crew, including the wise ass Rory Adams (Ryan Reynolds); the person in charge of the mission's risk management, Miranda Bragg (Rebecca Ferguson); Hugh Derry (Ariyon Bakare), who will be doing the experimenting on the Mars life form, and Dr. David Jordan (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has recently broken the record for most time in space.

Jokes are constant and we’re shown that back down on Earth, where everyone is celebrating the news of the discovery on Mars, a school has been rewarded with the honor of naming the Martian — calling it Calvin.

But, as you would imagine (or if you've seen the trailer), something goes terribly wrong. Calvin turns out not to be the cute little thing it first looked to be and soon is crawling throughout the ship looking to kill the whole crew.

Oh, and it's growing in size, by the way.

From then on, the jump scares are constant, as well as homages to "Alien" (even Calvin having a tracking device on it so the crew knows where it is on the ship and Ferguson doing voice over diary logs a la Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character).

And I would be the first to say that this is a total rip-off of "Alien" if it weren't for the last five minutes of the movie, which makes the entire film worth the watch. I'm not going to give it away — all I'll say is Ferguson is certainly not this movie's Ripley and the story turns out to be nothing like "Alien."

"Life" is the perfect buy-the-ticket-take-the-ride Saturday night movie. If you’re looking to cuddle up and squeeze your partner’s arm for 100 minutes, this is for you. It’s a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time and has an ending you will never see coming.

But if Sony is smart it will make this movie a one-and-done.

If it's not made into a franchise, I could see “Life” becoming a cult classic. With a disregard to pander to its audience (and the huge movie stars that inhabit it), “Life” has the potential of building a loyal fan base, and if Sony goes long tail with this, I would not be shocked if the next generation of movie lovers see this as a landmark title in the sci-fi genre.

In the meantime, just ignore everyone who calls it an “Alien” rip-off.

SEE ALSO: 30 movies to watch in your 20s

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The "Mass Effect" series is beloved by millions, both hardcore gamers and casual players alike.

It's a space opera like no other in video games; it shares more in common with the "Star Wars" films than it does with other game franchises.

The original trilogy followed the exploits of Commander Shepard, a player-created character who was shaped by your actions in-game. The male version is seen above (center), but you could also play a female version of Shepard.

Unfortunately, when the credits rolled on "Mass Effect 3," the story was over: No more space opera, no more tales of heroic Commander Shepard.

That's where "Mass Effect: Andromeda" comes in. 

The next "Mass Effect" is out now — a $60 game on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC! Here's what you should know if you're thinking about checking it out:

SEE ALSO: I'm a huge 'Mass Effect' fan — the new game is the worst in the series

First things first: "Mass Effect" is a third-person action-RPG series from Bioware (an EA-owned game studio).

In "Mass Effect: Andromeda," you'll be doing plenty of third-person shooting — expect a lot of running to take cover, then popping out to fire shots off at various alien enemies.

But people come to "Mass Effect" for the story, and "Andromeda" is the beginning of a new epic. You're a "Pathfinder," tasked with finding a new home for the Milky Way's sentient life forms (including humanity, of course).

What does it mean to live like Drake, the No. 1 man in the rap game?

The hip-hop superstar reveals himself in all his new music, including his latest project, "More Life," which is touted as a "playlist" and includes some of the rapper and singer's best tracks to date.

He may not talk about the insane pool surrounded by caves in his California mansion on "More Life," but he admits to his love of material things: "I don't take naps / Me and the money are way too attached to go and do that," he raps on "Gyalchester."

The Toronto native certainly lives like he's rolling in it in his home in Hidden Hills, California, a gated neighborhood next to Calabasas.

The area near Los Angeles has been home to Kanye West, the Kardashian clan, Justin Bieber, and plenty of other rich and/or very famous folks.

But there's something unique about Drake's mansion, which he bought for $7.7 million from Saddle Ranch owner Larry Pollack in mid-2012, Curbed reports.

It has one of the most luxurious pools in the world. With its own grottos, it was designed to outdo Hugh Hefner's notorious Playboy Mansion pool, Drake said in an interview. Drizzy is apparently somewhat obsessed with pools —he once bragged in a song that his was bigger than Kanye's.

Check out Drake's luxurious $8 million mansion with an insane pool:

Note: The real-estate listing photos were taken before Drake moved in.

SEE ALSO: Inside Prince's massive $10 million mansion where he was found dead

This aerial shot gives you a sense of the enormous size of the house ... and especially of that pool.

But the front is friendly and not ostentatious.

There are beautiful wooden beams running throughout the house.

We finally have some insight into how Disney is confronting the death of its "Star Wars" star, Carrie Fisher, as it prepares to released the next movie in the saga, "Episode VIII," aka "The Last Jedi," which comes out December 15.

One thing has been made clear by Disney CEO Bob Iger in a new interview: Fisher's General Leia role will not undergo any tweaking, nor any CGI reviving of the actress along the lines of what we saw in "Rogue One."

"We had to deal with tragedy at the end of 2016. Carrie appears throughout 'VIII,'" Iger said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "We are not changing 'VIII' to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it is in 'VIII.' In 'Rogue One,' we had some digital character. We are not doing that with Carrie."

Fisher did complete her work on production of "The Last Jedi" before she died following a heart attack in December, so this isn't a huge surprise. But it raises the question of what will happen in the next chapter after "The Last Jedi," "Episode IX," which is also the final chapter in the new trilogy. If there are no story tweaks to "Episode VIII," how will its sequel suddenly deal with the loss of Fisher? Will a CGI Leia appear then, or will the movie use another offscreen way to address the absence of such an important character?

Either way, it'll add a heaviness to both "The Last Jedi" and its sequel that fans couldn't have previously expected.

SEE ALSO: 50 movies that critics really hate but normal people love

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At Atlanta's Fulton County Jail, one out of every five inmates is affiliated with an organized gang.

But behind bars, rival gang members behave a little differently than they do on the outside. In fact, the biggest threat to gang members in jail often comes from within their own gang.

That's what Nate, one of the undercover participants on A&E's documentary series "60 Days In," learned during his stay at Fulton County Jail.

The show, now in its third season, follows nine volunteers who enter the jail for two months under false identities in order to expose problems from within the system.

"I didn't see any issues between opposing gangs," said Nate, who did not use his last name on the show. "Rival gangs tended to coexist."

Much more common was intra-gang violence between members of different branches, or sets, of the same gang, such as east-side Bloods and west-side Bloods. And the gangs would go to great lengths to conceal their internal disputes from the rest of the inmate population, Nate told Business Insider.

"The thing is, the gang doesn't want to show civilians that they are fighting within the gang," he said. "So what they do is they hold a meeting in a cell and make sure no civilians are around. Two individuals have them fight in the cell for a period of time — there's a set amount of time, and then it's squashed.

"They take care of it that way, and you never even know anything happened unless any of them have marks."

On the other hand, when occasional violence between rival gangs did erupt, there was no hiding it.

"If it was another gang, they'd take care of it in the outside so everyone would see it," Nate told Business Insider. "That way it would be a warning." 

Intra-gang fights were arranged by the gang leaders, who were inmates with the most street credibility, or "stain," in the outside world, Nate said. The leaders would call other gang leaders on the outside and get the fight approved. Fights generally lasted 20 to 30 seconds depending on the gang, he said.

Any minor slight could provoke a fight, Nate said, from gossiping behind another gang member's back to publicly disrespecting them.

The two previous seasons of "60 Days In," which were filmed at Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana, also highlighted violence among inmates. Some of the undercover participants were shocked by the casual attitude toward violence held by many of the inmates — something that surprised Nate as well.

"You'd give it, like, a good four, five minutes after a fight, and everybody would be back to laughing, back to chilling," he said.

As many as 500 of the jail's 2,500 inmates are affiliated with gangs, according to data provided by chief jailer Col. Mark Adger. His staff goes to great lengths to ensure rival gang members do not get paired in cells together — a safe measure, considering inmates at Fulton County Jail spend 15 hours a day in their cells.

For new inmates, who are constantly being tested and provoked by those higher on the social ladder, the allure of a gang can be tough to resist.

"They desperately want to fit in to keep from being victimized, and the lifestyle starts to grow on them," Adger told Business Insider. "That is usually what happens when people come to jail." 

Episode 2 of the third season of "60 Days In" airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST on A&E.

SEE ALSO: A Marine who went undercover in a jail for 2 months discovered a disturbing truth about veterans who are locked up

DON'T MISS: These are the strange homemade drugs inmates use in jail

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NOW WATCH: Terry Crews explains how intermittent fasting keeps him in shape

What is eSports? History & Rise of Video Game Tournaments

Years ago, eSports was a community of video gamers who would gather at conventions to play Counter Strike, Call of Duty, or League of Legends.

These multiplayer video game competitions would determine League of Legends champions, the greatest shooters in Call of Duty, the cream of the crop of Street Fighter players, the elite Dota 2 competitors, and more.

But today, as the history of eSports continue to unfold, media giants such as ESPN and Turner are broadcasting eSports tournaments and competitions. And in 2014, Amazon acquired Twitch, the live streaming video platform that has been and continues to be the leader in online gaming broadcasts. And YouTube also wanted to jump on the live streaming gaming community with the creation of YouTube Gaming.

eSports Market Growth Booming

To put in perspective how big eSports is becoming, a Google search for "lol" does not produce "laughing out loud" as the top result. Instead, it points to League of Legends, one of the most popular competitive games in existence. The game has spawned a worldwide community called the League of Legends Championship Series, more commonly known as LCS or LOL eSports.

What started as friends gathering in each other's homes to host LAN parties and play into the night has become an official network of pro gaming tournaments and leagues with legitimate teams, some of which are even sponsored and have international reach. Organizations such as Denial, AHQ, and MLG have multiple eSports leagues.

And to really understand the scope of all this, consider that the prize pool for the latest Dota 2 tournament was more than $20 million.

Websites even exist for eSports live scores to let people track the competitions in real time if they are unable to watch. There are even fantasy eSports leagues similar to fantasy football, along with the large and growing scene of eSports betting and gambling.

So it's understandable why traditional media companies would want to capitalize on this growing trend just before it floods into the mainstream. Approximately 300 million people worldwide tune in to eSports today, and that number is growing rapidly. By 2020, that number will be closer to 500 million.

eSports Industry Analysis - The Future of the Competitive Gaming Market

Financial institutions are starting to take notice. Goldman Sachs valued eSports at $500 million in 2016 and expects the market will grow at 22% annually compounded over the next three years into a more than $1 billion opportunity.

And industry statistics are already backing this valuation and demonstrating the potential for massive earnings. To illustrate the market value, market growth, and potential earnings for eSports, consider Swedish media company Modern Times Group's $87 million acquisition of Turtle Entertainment, the holding company for ESL. YouTube has made its biggest eSports investment to date by signing a multiyear broadcasting deal with Faceit to stream the latter's Esports Championship Series. And the NBA will launch its own eSports league in 2018.

Of course, as with any growing phenomenon, the question becomes: How do advertisers capitalize? This is especially tricky for eSports because of its audience demographics, which is young, passionate, male-dominated, and digital-first. They live online and on social media, are avid ad-blockers, and don't watch traditional TV or respond to conventional advertising.

So what will the future of eSports look like? How high can it climb? Could it reach the mainstream popularity of baseball or football? How will advertisers be able to reach an audience that does its best to shield itself from advertising?

Robert Elder, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled an unparalleled report on the eSports ecosystem that dissects the growing market for competitive gaming. This comprehensive, industry-defining report contains more than 30 charts and figures that forecast audience growth, average revenue per user, and revenue growth.

Companies and organizations mentioned in the report include: NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, NHL, Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1, Ligue de Football, Twitch, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Electronic Arts, EA Sports, Valve, Riot Games, Activision Blizzard, ESL, Turtle Entertainment, Dreamhack, Modern Times Group, Turner Broadcasting, TBS Network, Vivendi, Canal Plus, Dailymotion, Disney, BAMTech, Intel, Coca Cola, Red Bull, HTC, Mikonet

Here are some eSports industry facts and statistics from the report:

• eSports is a still nascent industry filled with commercial opportunity.
• There are a variety of revenue streams that companies can tap into.
• The market is presently undervalued and has significant room to grow.
• The dynamism of this market distinguishes it from traditional sports.
• The audience is high-value and global, and its numbers are rising.
• Brands can prosper in eSports by following the appropriate game plan.
• Game publishers approach their Esport ecosystems in different ways.  
• Successful esport games are comprised of the same basic ingredients.
• Digital streaming platforms are spearheading the popularity of eSports.
• Legacy media are investing into eSports, and seeing encouraging results.
• Traditional sports franchises have a clear opportunity to seize in eSports.
• Virtual and augmented reality firms also stand to benefit from eSports.  

In full, the report illuminates the business of eSports from four angles:

• The gaming nucleus of eSports, including an overview of popular esport genres and games; the influence of game publishers, and the spectrum of strategies they adopt toward their respective esport scenes; the role of eSports event producers and the tournaments they operate.
• The eSports audience profile, its size, global reach, and demographic, psychographic, and behavioral attributes; the underlying factors driving its growth; why they are an attractive target for brands and broadcasters; and the significant audience and commercial crossover with traditional sports.
• eSports media broadcasters, including digital avant-garde like Twitch and YouTube, newer digital entrants like Facebook and traditional media outlets like Turner’s TBS Network, ESPN, and Canal Plus; their strategies and successes in this space; and the virtual reality opportunity.
• eSports market economics, with a market sizing, growth forecasts, and regional analyses; an evaluation of the eSports spectacle and its revenue generators, some of which are idiosyncratic to this industry; strategic planning for brand marketers, with case studies; and an exploration of the infinite dynamism and immense potential of the eSports economy.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now
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Good news: The first "Super Mario" game for iPhone and iPad — which finally arrived on Android this week, after a 99-day exclusivity period with Apple — is really, really good. 

The game is "Super Mario Run," and it's the first smartphone game starring Nintendo's ubiquitous mustachioed plumber.

It looks like classic 2D Mario, and it plays like it too.

There's one huge caveat: This isn't a Mario game about pixel-perfect jumps and deep challenge. Yes, Mario moves from left to right, and there are enemies/obstacles in the way of his progress. But you don't actually control the speed or direction of Mario's movement.

Instead, little Mario automatically runs from left to right — your one job is to tap the screen to jump. If you hold after tapping, Mario jumps a little higher. No swiping, no virtual d-pad on-screen, no Bluetooth gamepads connected to your iPhone/iPad/Android phone.

Instead of worrying about moving Mario forward, you're instead concerned with stomping on enemies and carefully timing your taps to jump at just the right moment.

That doesn't mean "Super Mario Run" is easy, per se.

It's slightly easier than your average Mario game, perhaps, but there's still plenty of challenge to be found. If you've spent any time playing "Super Mario" games, you're rarely going to find yourself unable to complete a level in "Super Mario Run" solely because of enemy placement or intentionally challenging level design. 

Much of the challenge in "Super Mario Run" is in the game's "pink coins" mechanic — collect all five pink coins strewn throughout a given level, and the level moves them to five new, slightly harder to find places. Collect those, and the five pink coins become five bronze coins hidden in question mark boxes, down pits, and in the clouds. I've only found all three sets on the very first few levels, and finding the final five bronze coins was genuinely tough.

Another layer of replay value to the game's somewhat meager offering of 24 levels is the ability to play as a variety of other Mario characters. 

In "Super Mario Run," you'll start out as Super Mario, but a gaggle of his friends also appear as playable characters. Maybe you're more of a Princess Peach kinda player? Perhaps you identify most with an affable green dinosaur named Yoshi? 

Both are playable characters in "Super Mario Run," with a total of six to choose from. Since each of the characters plays slightly differently — Luigi jumps higher, Princess Peach floats in mid-air, etc. — you could replay levels to get more excitement out of them.

So, what else does "Super Mario Run" have to offer?

There are two modes that are distinct from the classic Mario gameplay of "World Tour" mode — they are "Toad Rally" and "Kingdom Builder." In the former, you race against other players to collect the most coins, stomp the most enemies, and generally play as skillfully as possible. If you do better than your opponent, you're rewarded with new followers (Toads of various types). The more followers you have, the higher your level is; the higher your level is, the larger your kingdom is.

And that last bit is important, because it determines the size of your buildable land in the "Kingdom Builder" mode. If you've ever played "Clash of Clans" or "Game of War," you're already familiar with this game mode — you build stuff using coins earned in the "World Tour" mode. This stuff ranges from decorations (mushrooms of various types) to houses for various Toads. 

But let's be clear: Both Toad Rally and Kingdom Builder are ancillary modes to the meat and potatoes of World Tour mode. Players are coming to "Super Mario Run" looking for classic Mario gameplay, and World Tour mode is where they're going to find it.

Thankfully, the two ancillary modes serve to complement World Tour.

Kingdom Builder allows you to see the progress you're making in the game beyond just completing levels; Toad Rally allows you to put your playing skills to the test against other players. Neither is fantastic by itself, but they do a good job of accenting the classic Mario gameplay of World Tour.

So, should you spend $10 on "Super Mario Run"? I think you should, yes.

There are no microtransactions, so that $10 is an "all-in" price. And for that $10, you get a solid — if somewhat limited — "Super Mario" game from the folks who created the franchise. "Super Mario Run" isn't going to make anyone's top five list of all-time Mario games, but it's certain to please returning fans and new fans alike.

Since I started this with some good news, here's some more: There's a free version of "Super Mario Run" that has the first three levels in entirety available to play. Go give it a shot and decide for yourself!

SEE ALSO: The first 'Super Mario' game for iPhone is now available — download it here

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I just played Nintendo's first 'Super Mario' game for the iPhone — here are the best and worst things about it

English actress Emma Thompson ("Love Actually," the live-action "Beauty and the Beast") told a shocking story while being interviewed by Swedish talk-show host Fredrik Skavlan on Thursday. President Donald Trump once asked out her on a date, she said.

"I was doing a film called 'Primary Colors' with John Travolta in Hollywood," the two-time Oscar winner said on the show. "I was in my trailer and I had just been divorced ... So the phone rings in my trailer, which it's never done before ... I lift up the phone: 'Hi. It's Donald Trump here.' I said, 'Really? What? Can I help you?'"

Thompson added that it was "like a moose has just entered my trailer" when the phone went off.

And with her best American accent, the actress recounted what Trump said to her, which began with the real-estate mogul offering to put her up in one of his Trump-branded towers.

"Why are you offering me somewhere to stay in my trailer?" Thompson recalled asking Trump.

"'Well, you know, I think we would get on very well, maybe we could have dinner some time,'" Trump said, according to Thompson.

"I didn't know what to do with myself," Thompson said. "I was on my own and I said, 'OK, well, I'll get back to you.'"

And then she hung up the phone.

Skavlan asked whether she had ever met Trump before that call.

"I'd never met him — I've never met him since," she said.

But she said she regretted not going out with him.

"I wish I had — think of the stories," she said.

Skavlan then said, "You could be the first lady."

The Washington Post pointed out that the call to Thompson was between May and August of 1997, when "Primary Colors" was shooting, and that Trump had announced his separation from his second wife, Marla Maples, in May of that year. The two would finalize their divorce in 1999.

Watch Thompson tell the story below:

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The vote for the Republican healthcare plan is scheduled to happen Friday, but Seth Meyers believes the bill is too flawed to go forward and that GOP leaders are being "reckless" for rushing the House vote.

"Republicans who have complained for years that Obamacare was rushed through Congress have literally been rewriting the bill behind closed doors, with no public input, in an attempt to ram it through the House before most members of Congress, let alone most Americans, have any idea what's in it," the host said on his "A Closer Look" segment from Thursday's "Late Night."

Since being introduced earlier this month, the American Health Care Act, also known as "Trumpcare" or "Ryancare" (after House Speaker Paul Ryan), has seen much opposition, even while supporters work to push it through in an effort to make good on a promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.

The Congressional Budget Office reported that it estimates that 24 million more people will be uninsured under Trumpcare compared to Obamacare, a blow to support for the new bill.

Recent reports have tried to bring clarity on how Trumpcare will differ from the Affordable Care Act. That includes removing rules on "essential health benefits," according to Buzzfeed, including "prescription drugs, pregnancy, maternity, newborn care, and hospitalization."

"That's right. Republicans believe that your insurance plan shouldn't be required to cover hospitals," Meyers said. "Don't worry, every American gets one free ride on the cart that picks up your dead... Here's the problem with getting rid of essential health benefits: If you don't require all insurance provide them, no one will."

Meyers called Republicans' rush to pass its embattled healthcare bill "insane, cruel, and reckless."

Watch Meyers' latest "A Closer Look" below:

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert tries to cheer up Trump in the middle of his White House turmoil

DON'T MISS: Samantha Bee blasts the 'Trump whisperer' who is the president's terrorism 'expert'

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NOW WATCH: BIOSECURITY EXPERT: Trump's budget cuts on health care pose a major threat to Americans' safety

To say the new Netflix documentary "Casting JonBenet" is different would be an understatement.

After seeing it at this year's Sundance Film Festival, we can tell you that it's a powerful movie that focuses on the 20-year mystery of who killed 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, but through a different means of storytelling.

Director Kitty Green uses real neighbors and actors who live in the area of Colorado where the Ramseys lived to reenact events that happened leading up to, during, and after JonBenet's death. 

At times funny or creepy, but always powerful and striking, it's a movie-watching experience you don't often get.

Here's the trailer for "Casting JonBenet." The movie will be available on Netflix April 28.

SEE ALSO: A fascinating new movie about JonBenet Ramsey explains our obsession with the case

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In early February, Daymond John was preparing to launch his latest company, his spin on a coworking space he named Blueprint + co.

He's looking to the future: Going forward, the business could allow the Shark Tank investor to leverage the influence he's established over the last eight years as a "Shark" long after the series, or his participation in it, inevitably ends.

A few days before the Blueprint launch, Business Insider stopped by the 17,000-square-foot space filled with new office furniture as contractors with power tools wrapped up small projects.

Blueprint comprises the two top floors and a 3,000-square-foot roof deck in a 14-floor high-rise in Manhattan's Garment Distric. It can hold 150 employees or 300 people total, for special events. Downstairs is John's company The Shark Group, formerly known as Shark Branding, a small business he founded during the second season of "Shark Tank" when he realized he needed to formalize management of his growing portfolio of investments.

Since John moved into this building a year ago, he's seen it as an evolving home base, with the perk of having a beautiful view of the Empire State Building. It's a place where he can develop his own businesses and foster relationships with entrepreneurs, both upstarts and veterans.

He has lofty ambitions for the location, telling us that he wants his center to be like the old MTV Times Square studio, where musicians, celebrities, and producers were always making exciting entertainment in the heart of the city — except his will be all around entrepreneurship.

"We're taking the whole building by the time we're done," John said.

From FUBU to Shark

In 2008, John was 39 years old and ready for a change.

He had achieved notoriety and wealth through his clothing brand FUBU, which he started from nothing out of his mother's house in Hollis, Queens in 1992. Though it brought in over $300 million in revenue at its peak, its popularity faded in the early 2000s. He contracted himself as a marketing adviser and acquired stakes in about 10 clothing companies, but after the Great Recession hit, only a couple were actually bringing him money.

So when famed reality television producer Mark Burnett told John that he wanted him to be a founding cast member of "Shark Tank" — an American version of the international series "Dragon's Den"— in which he would invest in small businesses that convinced him they were worthy of his money, John thought it would be a great idea.

It would not only bring him back into the spotlight, but it would allow him to move beyond the clothing industry.

John wrote in his 2016 book "The Power of Broke" that he lost $750,000 on the first season of "Shark Tank," due to a combination of bad investments and wasted money on consultants he hired to help him manage the portfolio (which is why he then hired his own employees for the company that became The Shark Group). But after this adjustment period, his participation has proven to have reignited his career.

Over the past eight years, John has become a household name to millions of Americans and has become a savvier investor, with a hand in about 60 small businesses. He noted that some of his best investments now are things he never would have dreamed of getting involved in back when he was laser-focused on FUBU — he likes to point out his stake in Bubba-Q's Boneless Ribs as a prime example.

It's why he sees now as a perfect time to kick off Blueprint. It's a way to leverage the influence and connections he's enhanced over the course of "Shark Tank" to establish a launch pad for the next phase of his career.

Mentor and student

John told us that his idea for Blueprint came out of "necessity."

He found himself with a wide variety of "Shark Tank" businesses to which he could teach general lessons about how they should grow a nascent business, but found himself wanting to learn more about industries he had no experience with beyond investing. He had his protegés but wanted teachers, and it got him thinking that there was a gap in the market for co-working spaces for more seasoned entrepreneurs.

There's an application to get space at Blueprint. John and his team are looking for companies bringing in a minimum of roughly $250,000 in revenue a year, and who want access to other growing companies, either to toss around ideas or collaborate. Blueprint makes money through desk rental fees and rents out its roof to members and non-members alike.

Basic access costs $275 monthly, access with added advisory perks runs $700 monthly, and getting dedicated desk space comes in at $1,000 monthly. Contracts are signed for a minimum of three months, and prices are competitive with what coworking space leader WeWork charges for similar access arrangements, minus the mentorship and other perks, across its New York locations.

John said that the office, which opened on February 6 this year, is running at 65-70% capacity.

"It goes from the independent entrepreneur who's been in business for 10 years to a corporation who, they may have 500 people working for them but they want innovation so five, or 10, or 15 of their people are based here, so they see what's going on in the middle of New York City with all the fast-thinking individuals," John said.

Currently, Blueprint hosts representatives of companies like direct-to-consumer mattress company Leesa, women's clothing company Ashley Stewart, and private jet ride-sharing company JetSmarter.

Leesa CEO David Wolfe told Business Insider on a phone call that even though his company is based in Virginia Beach, he's happy that he chose to have five of his employees located in Blueprint. He said that the main thing that distinguishes the it from other coworking spaces is the way John and his team are intimately involved with the operation, as if they have a personal stake in each of the company's success.

Wolfe also noted that he preferred the Blueprint space to those of its competitors, and that his company stands to save money by taking advantage of its photography studio, a unique perk. Adding Leesa employees to Blueprint is a seamless experience, he said, and noted that when he visited the space he found a productive balance between the way Blueprint allows teams to have their own space and gives them a chance to interact with each other.

John is using the early days of Blueprint to deepen his connections to his existing network. He's been the brand ambassador of the online market service Shopify since 2011, for example (also how he connected to Leesa), and it held a contest to send two of its clients (which they call "Partners") to Blueprint. "We're viewing this as an experiment to see how our Partners like working in the space, and based on our experience so far, we'll be looking to work closely with them in the future," a Shopify representative told us in an email.

We talked to both of these winners, web developer Durlan Vega and digital design firm MiGSiG founder Michael Tizol, over email, and both said that John has made himself a regular presence in the Blueprint space, and that the ability to work with him and his team has been the biggest benefit of their first weeks there.

John is also planning ways to use the space as his window to the world, including shooting live videos and recording podcasts in Blueprint's studio. He's already brought in his "Shark Tank" friends Barbara Corcoran and Robert Herjavec for a chat, and VaynerMedia CEO and celebrity entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk sat down with John for an interview for the launch party.

Vaynerchuk told us he's "always open" to doing more collaborations with John in the future and said about Blueprint, "I like the concept a lot, and feel the leadership will help it excel."

John declined to share financials regarding his investment or projected revenue for Blueprint, but it's an undertaking that's still in its infancy. And while we heard positive feedback from people already working there, Blueprint's success will be based on those companies choosing to send more of their representatives to the space, and their presence in turn attracting more talent to keep an entrepreneurial ecosystem going.

John's still a long way from taking over the entire building, but he's working toward his dream of building a base stronger and more wide-ranging than any of his previous pursuits, and one that can outlast "Shark Tank." It's based on a simple premise of wanting to work with people he can help out, and who can make him better, in turn.

"I want to be around like-minded people that I can feed off of them, they can feed off of me," he said.

SEE ALSO: 'Shark Tank' star Daymond John looks for 5 traits before investing in a business

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NOW WATCH: 'Shark Tank' star Daymond John: Making products in the US could cost consumers 25-30% more

Univision just revealed its El Chapo.

Stage and television actor Marco de la O will play Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán on the new Univision series set to roll out in three parts, starting with the first one on Sunday, April 23, at 8 p.m.

From Mexico City, de La O has starred in numerous Spanish-language TV shows, including Mexico's "Tanto Amor" and "Un Día Cualquiera."

“We are thrilled to have Marco take on the role of ‘El Chapo’ as we begin to unfold the story of the most notorious drug lord of our times, revealing the man behind the myth,” General Manager of Story House Entertainment Christian Gabela said in a statement.

“We think viewers will be truly captivated by both Marco’s performance and this story of power, ambition, corruption, secrecy, and deception," he continued.

"El Chapo," which is being coproduced by Netflix and Story House Entertainment, will chronicle Guzmán's life story over three decades — from 1985 when he was a low-level member of the Guadalajara Cartel to his rise to power and his ultimate downfall. Netflix had previously seen success with its original series "Narcos," which revolved around another drug kingpin, Colombia's Pablo Escobar.

The "El Chapo" cast also includes Humberto Busto ("Amores Perros"), Juan Carlos Olivas ("180°"), Alejandro Aguilar (“Rosario Tijeras”), Tete Espinoza (“Wenses y Lala”), Rodrigo Abed ("Reevolución"), Luis Rábago ("Principio y Fin"), Cristina Michaus ("El Tigre de Santa Julia"), Valentina Acosta (“Señora Acero”), and Juliette Pardau  (“De Todas Maneras Rosa”).

Guzmán became legendary after having long evaded authorities. After being captured by Mexican authorities in February 2014, Guzman escaped from a maximum-security Mexican prison in July 2015. He was recaptured nearly six months later, which authorities said was aided by information collected while tracking Sean Penn's controversial meeting with the kingpin. Guzman was extradited to the US earlier this year. His next scheduled court appearance is on May 5, 2017.

Watch the first "El Chapo" teaser below:

SEE ALSO: Sean Penn says he has a 'terrible regret' about 'El Chapo' meeting: 'My article failed'

DON'T MISS: Univision refuses to air Miss USA pageant after Donald Trump's comments on Mexican immigrants

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's footage of 'El Chapo' arriving to the US

Perhaps it's because he refuses to live in LA or he tends to liken the way he makes movies to the classics he grew up on, but when Swedish filmmaker Daniel Espinosa was given the chance to direct the sci-fi thriller "Life," he didn't see a blockbuster. Instead, he saw a chamber piece about life back on earth.

"People compare this to 'Alien,' but this is a movie that takes place now," Espinosa recently told Business Insider from his home in Sweden. "Back in the 1970s people speculated what our future would be, this is a somewhat realistic piece. Yes, it's the feel of an episode of 'The Twilight Zone' or a zombie movie like 'Night of the Living Dead,' but its reality comes from Raymond Chandler."

The movie follows a group of scientists on the International Space Station who discover life on Mars, but while studying it, that life becomes deadly and takes out the crew one by one. It all ends with a dramatic conclusion you never see coming, and that's what hooked Espinosa.

"I wanted to make the two turns in the movie the essence of the picture," he said, referring to the alien suddenly turning on the crew and the surprise ending. "But also have the characters have a complex past that would reflect on their actions. Normally in American movies that doesn't really happen. You get everything told to you. In this movie all these characters had their secrets and that's why they react certain ways."

To explore those complexities, Espinosa got some of the biggest stars in the world to join him: Ryan Reynolds, who was Espinosa's first call, as the two had worked together on the director's 2012 film, "Safe House"; then Jake Gyllenhaal; and finally rising star Rebecca Ferguson ("Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation").

But there was one other person Espinosa had to reach out to before taking on the film: Ridley Scott. Though the legendary director has no real direct involvement in "Life," his fingerprints are all over the story, written by "Deadpool" screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, which very much resembles Scott's "Alien."

"Once I decided to do 'Life' he gave the blessing right away," said Espinosa, who had a relationship with Scott already as he was a producer on Espinosa's 2015 movie "Child 44." "He has always been encouraging of my work and he didn't think it was an 'Alien' rip-off at all. I actually had the opportunity to spend time with him in his office and go through his storyboards for 'Alien' and 'Blade Runner' and talk to him about them. It's an honor that he allowed me to do that."

Though "Life" has the look of a big-budget blockbuster, it was made for a relatively modest $57 million on a shooting schedule of 65 days. Quite barebones for a Hollywood studio movie with A-list stars.

But for Espinosa, it created the perfect working environment. Sony mostly stayed out of his way and let him do unconventional things like ditch having a second camera unit and use preproduction time to come up with extensive backstories for the characters.

"What I do is a tradition of the Danish system in which we create the backstory to each character but they are not allowed to discuss it," Espinosa said. "So as we are doing the scenes, all the actors are equally surprised by the reactions."

It was that kind of detail that instantly grabbed the actors.

"What I loved about this role and how Daniel described it was the philosophy of her and the romance of science," Rebecca Ferguson told Business Insider of her character. "It was all created through the backstory, which is never told, but hopefully it's displayed through our acting."

Then there was also Espinosa's technical ambition. To open the movie, he introduces the cast and their mission with a five-minute single shot (or a "oner") that travels throughout the International Space Station. No cuts allowed.

"I thought I have to do a oner to understand the claustrophobia and the ballet that these characters have to do to survive," he said.

Though it's a standout moment in the movie, looking back now, Espinosa admits it was a lot harder than he anticipated.

"Halfway through [shooting it], I thought that I had gone mad, that this was completely impossible," he said, though with the guidance of his cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (known for his famous oner in "Atonement"), they pulled it off.

But what really makes Espinosa stand out in the Hollywood system today is his feeling about sequels.

"I think it's uninteresting," he said, when asked if there will be a sequel to "Life." "I think you make a piece of work that stands by itself and then to go back on it is like meeting an old lover and trying to start a relationship again."

Espinosa believes it was a big gamble by Sony to allow him the creative freedom to take chances and not be controlled by test-screening audiences or the pressure of building a possible franchise. He hopes "Life" is part of a trend of studio projects that tell unique stories.

"We're in an interesting time where movies that don't fit under the current banner, like 'Deadpool' and 'Logan' and hopefully my movie, show there is an interest in something that is different than the road we've been going down the last 20 years," he said.

"Life" opens in theaters on Friday.

SEE ALSO: How Rebecca Ferguson went from "Mission: Impossible" scene-stealer to the star of "Life"

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NOW WATCH: Terry Crews explains why he decided to build his own PC

Tales of "The Hole" have formed one of the most frightening narratives about Scientology to see the light of day.

Between the "Going Clear" book and movie, Leah Remini's hit A&E docuseries, articles, and memoirs from former members, we've learned a lot about what ex-members say is Scientology's alleged prison for executives who have fallen out of favor with the organization's leader, David Miscavige.

"It was a poisonous environment," "Going Clear" author Lawrence Wright said of "The Hole" on the HBO documentary. "People were really frightened. And this went on for years. This wasn't a couple of days."

"He literally created this prison camp," Marty Rathbun, a former executice who left Scientology in 2004, said in "Going Clear" of his time in the Hole. "It was inevitable that I wasn't going to last there."

Here's everything we know about Scientology's alleged "prison" known as the Hole:

SEE ALSO: All the most shocking things about Scientology, according to Leah Remini's revealing show

DON'T MISS: How Scientology leader David Miscavige rose to power, according to insiders

The Hole started as a power grab by David Miscavige, according to former Scientology members.

Former Scientologists say David Miscavige sent dozens of senior executives to the organization's Gold Base near Hemet, California. Leading up to the order, former members said they noticed Miscavige was extremely agitated and paranoid that there was a plot to overthrow him.

"[Miscavige] very definitely wiped out that organizational pattern in order to be able to have ultimate power," former Scientology executive Tom DeVocht said in "Going Clear."

The Hole previously served as the office for the International wing of Scientology, the team David Miscavige allegedly wanted gone.

The executives were reportedly corralled into two double-wide trailers, which then served as the office space for the International wing of Scientology. International President Heber Jentzsch was among them. Many ended up spending months to years living in those trailers, according to accounts. Several people who were held there say the Hole's numbers swelled to as many as 100 people.

The trailer space morphed from being known as the International office to the "A to E Room," named after the church's confessional process, the A to E steps. It was then the "SP Hole." "SP" refers to "suppressive persons," members who are believed to have broken church rules and to be bad influences on other members. Ultimately "SP Hole" was shortened to "the Hole."

It didn't take much to anger Miscavige and find oneself in the Hole, according to insiders.

The Hole quickly grew into a detention center for high-ranking members who displeased David Miscavige, former members have said.

"Honestly, the reasons for that could be anything from answering a question wrongly, not answering a question, a facial expression that was inappropriate, falling asleep after being up for a couple of days — I mean anything, you're in the Hole," ex-Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder said on A&E's "Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath."

Warning: Some spoilers for "Life" are ahead if you haven't seen the movie.

• "Life" is a space horror movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Reynolds, Rebecca Ferguson, and more.
• The plot is about a Mars sample return mission gone terribly wrong.
• The film's creators worked with real scientists to make it more believable.
• NASA is actually working on getting a Mars sample to Earth and is worried about contaminating the planet.

Big-budget science-fiction movies aren't supposed to be documentaries.

They are, however, supposed to take us on journeys to far-flung places, immerse us in vivid alternate realities, and make us wonder "what if?"

But reality itself is a powerful filmmaking spice that, justly applied, helps suspend our disbelief — and sometimes scream our guts out.

Such is the case with the new movie "Life", whose makers consulted a NASA-trained medical doctor, a Mars spacecraft engineer, and a geneticist to help produce their horrifying spectacle.

While the film, directed by Daniel Espinosa, whiffs on quite a lot of science, it does go far enough to be wildly entertaining. In fact, Business Insider's Jason Guerrasio even argues it may be a cult classic in the making.

We join the story just as a Mars sample return spacecraft is being caught by a small crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). With red dirt in hand, NASA astronauts go about analyzing the grit behind several "firewalls" of protection.

After an extraterrestrial microbe is discovered in the soil, it's revived in a soup of water and nutrients. Then, to the astonishment of the crew, it springs to life. "Calvin," as the life form is soon called, quickly divides and grows into a starfish-size creature with incredible strength and intelligence.

What could possibly go wrong?

To understand what doses of reality went into the movie, we called up Dr. Kevin Fong ― a medical doctor, space medicine expert who's trained with NASA and ESA for about a decade, and a paid science consultant for the new Sony Pictures film.

And to answer some of those "what if?" questions on aliens, we spoke to Catharine A. Conley, a planetary protection officer for NASA who gets paid to help humankind avert extraterrestrial disasters in the real world.

Astronaut doctor on set

"Life" features not one but two characters who are doctors, so filmmakers brought Fong on board to answer their pressing questions.

A lot of the early work happened by email, he says, but soon enough Fong was invited to join the set: an elaborate and modular reconstruction of the space station inside a giant green-screen studio.

"They paid more attention to detail than I'd seen in the space agencies," Fong told Business Insider. "Although the modules are different than what they actually are on the space station, it was very close."

The producers occasionally asked Fong to lend his expertise in physiology and emergency care to actor Jake Gyllenhaal (who plays long-duration astronaut David Jordan), actress Rebecca Ferguson (who plays Center for Disease specialist Miranda North), and others in various scenes.

"There are a couple of quite dense medical scenes, where I'd say, 'I'd hold this tool like that,' or 'I wouldn't hold that in the way you are,' and 'here's some terminology I'd use in this situation.' On the set, it came across as a very believable," Fong says.

He was especially impressed with a cardiac arrest scene, saying it was "about as faithful as one could be" in a movie.

While he hadn't seen the movie, at least at the time Business Insider interviewed him, Fong didn't walk away thinking it'd be a documentary.

"I think it pays dividends to any movie producer to go as far as you can in suspending disbelief," he says. "But I'm not expecting 'Apollo 13.' You have to make the drama more realistic without getting in the way of the story."

Fong also said that while there are definitely parallels to the "Alien" space horror movie franchise, "Life" is imminently more believable.

"Around the time 'Alien' was made, you needed to imagine some far-flung place," he says. But with the ISS floating just 250 miles above Earth, he added, "this is happening right on your back door."

Fortunately for us, NASA has put decades of thought into protecting planet Earth.

Defending the planet from real-life Martians

At first blush, the idea of a Mars sample return mission might seem far-fetched. But NASA researchers hope to do just that in the future.

In fact, both Congress and President Trump essentially codified that mission for the space agency by passing the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 into law in March.

The first line of defense for a Mars sample is Catharine Conley, who is NASA's sole planetary protection officer. She has worked in that role since 2006, and helps ensure Earth's microbes don't reach other worlds — and other worlds' microbes don't reach Earth, at least in an uncontained way. (And that includes keeping dead bodies off of other worlds.)

"The phrase that we use is, 'break the chain of contact with Mars,'" Conley told Business Insider.

Conley also hadn't seen the movie, but said if a Mars sample was flying toward Earth, it would be aimed slightly off-course from the planet. That way if something goes wrong, the capsule full of red dirt (and maybe a harmful microbe) wouldn't enter our atmosphere in an uncontrolled way, break open, and induce panic.

Yet before such a capsule would ever leave Mars, she says, international guidelines require that an multi-governmental, multi-space agency committee convene to review the mission and make a recommendation on what to do.

"You'd want the international community to weigh in because it's a of a high-enough concern," she said. "There's a lot of checks and balances."

A Mars sample return mission — ostensibly to seek fossilized signs of ancient life, not actual microbes — wouldn't be the first to test the mettle of protections for Earth: Apollo 11 astronauts had to stay quarantined for three whole weeks in a trailer before emerging.

In fact, she says, planning for a Mars sample return mission started with the nuclear-powered Viking landers of the 1970s and has been going ever since.

Plans "got the most carefully laid out" in the early 2000s, she said, but by then, bringing a sample to the space station had long been ruled out.

Thereason? It seemed far too expensive to ship equipment and experts into space, where they'd be ask to excel in a free-floating (and very foreign) environment). Also, containing a disastrous microbe inside the ISS seemed like a pointless step.

"The space station is going to fall down at some point," she said.

Instead, Conley says scientists would make sure an extra-robust capsule carefully reenters Earth's atmosphere, is quickly retrieved, and hurried away to a Biosafety Level 4 laboratory — the most high-security grade of research facility on the planet. There, scientists could meticulously analyze their invaluable prize to no end.

"I would love to find life elsewhere," Conley said — if for no other reason than to compare it to life here on Earth, where the only organisms we know of exist. "If Earth and Mars life are related, that makes things a lot more complicated."

SEE ALSO: Potatoes can grow in 'extreme' Mars-like conditions, a new NASA-backed experiment shows

DON'T MISS: Astronomers have found 7 Earth-size planets circling a dwarf star — and some might be able to host life

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NOW WATCH: Watch a scene from the new 'Alien' movie that's eerily similar to the original's shocking reveal

Roger Corman is a Hollywood legend. He has directed more than 50 movies and produced over 400. He's widely renowned as the "King of B-Movies." He built his career on an ultra-efficient filmmaking style that demands low budgets and short shooting schedules.

The result is a career that spans six decades, and he hasn't shown any signs that he's ready to retire.   

Business Insider recently sat down with Corman at his office in Los Angeles to talk about his most recent project,"Roger Corman's Death Race 2050,"  a sequel to the cult hit "Death Race 2000," which Corman produced in 1975. 

He will perhaps be most remembered for the roster of A-list Hollywood talent who got their first jobs in the movie business from Corman. Academy Award-winning directors Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, James Cameron, Martin Scorsese, and Jonathan Demme all started out working for Corman. 

Corman is also credited with discovering Jack Nicholson, who appeared in many of the filmmaker's productions before becoming one of the biggest movie stars in history. Watch Nicholson get emotional while talking about what Corman means to him in this clip. 

We asked Corman to reflect on the legacy of his storied career and to reveal the keys to his success. 

Join the conversation about this story »

There's a good chance you've heard a "Tupac is alive" joke more than once in your life (or heard it posed as a serious theory). The 20th anniversary of Tupac’s death was in September of last year, and March marks the 20th anniversary of the death of The Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie or Biggie Smalls. The untimely, tragic shootings of the rap stars still weigh heavily on the music world.

To this day, both murders remain unsolved. Over the past two decades, so many conspiracy theories have been spread surrounding their deaths. And the cases are eerily similar in many ways. 

Here’s everything you need to know about the deaths of Biggie and Tupac and the theories about their cases: 

SEE ALSO: The 18 worst new TV shows of the year so far, according to critics

Tupac and Bigge used to be friends.

The hip-hop icons met in 1993. Tupac (real name: Tupac Shakur), though only a year older than Biggie (real name: Christopher Wallace), was something of a mentor to him. Tupac often gave Biggie career advice since he had a couple years more experience, and was more well-known when they met. 

But then a violent rivalry started.

By the mid-1990s, the West Coast had proved itself in the hip-hop world with Death Row Records, the label that included Tupac, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg.

Meanwhile, Biggie’s 1993 album “Ready to Die" helped give the East Coast label Bad Boy Records — Puff Daddy’s label — some recognition, along with Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt.”

Tupac and his fans interpreted Biggie’s 1994 song “Who Shot Ya?“ as a diss track because he had been robbed and shot two months before the song's release. The track's lyrics described a situation very similar to what happened to Tupac. 

In the 1996 song "Hit 'Em Up," Tupac struck back: He alluded to having an affair with Biggie's wife, Faith Evans. 

Source: LA Times

Tupac was murdered on September 7, 1996, in Las Vegas.

Tupac and Suge Knight — the founder of Death Row Records — were driving to a party around 11:15 p.m., after watching a Mike Tyson fight in Las Vegas. When they stopped their black BMW at a red light waiting for it to change, a white Cadillac pulled up next to them. Fourteen shots were fired, six of them hitting Tupac, who was in the passenger’s seat. One shot punctured his lung. Tupac died six days later, at only 25 years old. 

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told Business Insider of Tupac's murder in a statement, "The case is still open and under investigation. At this time, we have no additional updates to provide."

Source: Biography

It's hard to understate how important Pandora's new on-demand service, which competes with the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, is to its future as a company.

Many investors seem to have lost faith in Pandora's ability to succeed as an independent company without some sort of change. That's why Pandora's stock price swings wildly every time an exec at Liberty Media, which is seen as Pandora's only real suitor, makes a comment about its business.

But Pandora still has a massive and loyal audience, and its leadership is betting big that Pandora Premium, the new on-demand service, will be a hit.

"We intend to be profitable this year," Pandora CEO Tim Westergren said earlier this month on CNBC. A chunk of that goal is likely tied to on-demand, where Pandora wants to have 6 to 9 million subscribers by the end of the year.

I've been trying Pandora Premium, which is being gradually rolled out to the public, for over a week, and I have both good news and bad news for Pandora investors.

The good news is that it's a beautiful and intuitive product, and is likely to snag some of Pandora's internet-radio fans, especially with playlist-building features that leverage Pandora's trove of historical data on longtime users. The bad news is that there are a few places where Pandora Premium really misses on the chance to be the first service to seamlessly integrate on-demand with the "lean-back" style of listening Pandora is famous for. Here's what I mean:

SEE ALSO: This app lets you instantly turn your DVD collection into your own personal Netflix for $2 per title

Services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora Premium share much of the same basic DNA, so I won't spend too much time on those elements. They all let you listen to basically any song you want for $10 a month — with a few high-profile exceptions like Taylor Swift — and they all let you save music offline to listen when you don't have reception.

The first things you'll notice about Pandora Premium, however, is that it generally makes those millions of songs a tiny bit easier to navigate than Spotify. I especially appreciated the ease at which I could toggle to just viewing "downloaded" songs, in the event that I wanted to limit my data usage. Spotify makes that process a tad trickier, and it shows that Pandora is really committed to making things dead simple. 

The piece I truly loved about Pandora Premium was how easy it was to make playlists. Pandora has built a nifty feature that lets you "add similar songs" to your playlists, easily turning that 4-song playlist into 20. It's a really nice touch, especially for longtime Pandora users.

And the "My Thumbs Up" playlist Pandora automatically makes of every song you have ever given a thumbs-up to is a useful trip down memory lane. 

But one place Pandora lags behind Spotify is in marquee pre-made playlists.

Spotify has popular curated playlists like "Rap Caviar," as well as updating personalized playlists like "Discover Weekly," meant to turn you onto new tunes. Both of those have developed a cult following, and while Pandora's radio stations can plug some of the "Discover Weekly" gap, blockbuster curated playlists feel like a missing element.

Pandora does have pre-made radio stations that function much like playlists (i.e. you can hop ahead to a different song in the queue). These come in varieties like "Today's Hits" in different genres, decades by genre, moods, activities, and so on. But they just don't have the same flavor as Spotify's.

Even if you don't know Rebecca Ferguson by name, trust us: You know her.

Though the Swedish actress has a Golden Globe nomination under her belt (for the 2014 miniseries "The White Queen"), it wasn't until her scene-stealing role as MI6 agent Ilsa Faust in 2015's "Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation" that most of the world realized she was a star in the making.

Since then Ferguson, 33, has been on a breakneck schedule: working opposite Meryl Streep in the Oscar-nominated "Florence Foster Jenkins," starring in the adaptation of the best-selling book "The Girl on the Train," and now sharing the screen with Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds in the sci-fi thriller "Life" (opening in theaters on Friday).

It's the latest smart choice by an actress who made her bones in the business modeling as a teenager and starring in a soap opera in Sweden.

In "Life," Ferguson plays Dr. Miranda North, one of a handful of astronauts/scientists on the International Space Station who have discovered life on Mars and are tasked with researching it. That is, until things go wrong and that life turns on the crew.

Moviegoers have been familiar with the alien thriller for decades, and no other movie has more perfectly executed that setup than Ridley Scott's 1979 "Alien," with Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, the hero going head-to-head with a murderous alien.

About halfway through "Life," Ferguson's soft-spoken Miranda seems like a mirror image of Ripley. But it turns out that's not the case, and Ferguson admits that's why she took the role.

"I actually turned the film down in the beginning because I thought, 'How is this not going to be compared to the Ripley character?'" Ferguson told Business Insider, hours before presenting "Life" as the closing-night film at this year's SXSW festival. "And the producer said, 'Just talk to [director] Daniel [Espinosa], let him explain,' and it was literally 10 minutes into that conversation that I was hooked. He said, 'Take the alien out of it and look at the drama between the characters and their storyline.' It's a character piece set in space where we take something from its natural habitat and we try to control it and provoke it and what we're doing is basically creating our own disaster. Which is a beautiful mirror in how we are treating ourselves on earth."

Then Ferguson joined Reynolds, Gyllenhaal, and the rest of the cast, working with dance instructors and training with wires to imitate conditions on the International Space Station.

Everything has been so fast-paced since starring in "Rogue Nation" that she admits it's tough to reflect on any of her success.

"The biggest shock is how quickly everything has gone and how lucky I've been," Ferguson said. "I never have the break, or give myself the break, to go, 'Wow, let's process that.'"

But with that commitment, she gets less time with those she loves, like her 10-year-old son.

"I'm in a situation where I can fly from one set one evening to another set and start straight away," she said. "I think for any working person no matter what field they are in, it is maintaining a structure for your family life as well. That's very, very hard. I find it to be the better and better it goes, the harder and harder it is."

Along with limited personal time, being more recognizable has also led to Ferguson getting questions that the major stars answer, like about the gender wage gap in Hollywood. In "Life," she stars alongside two of the biggest male actors alive, and she has more screen time than either. Was she paid the same amount as Gyllenhaal and Reynolds?

"It's always a sensitive topic when it comes to equal pay," she said. "It's something we struggle with, but I can say that I have a brilliant team around me and they are very much aware of how the politics work in the world. From my aspect right now, I'm pretty darn happy with the offers I get and how things are working out for me. And what I love is I don't feel like a woman on set with men. I feel one amongst everyone."

Right now Ferguson is in training mode for the sixth "Mission: Impossible" movie, which she says begins shooting in early April.

"Tom and I are in hardcore training right now," she said, referring to Tom Cruise. "Tom never stops. I don't know how he does it."

She says she has no major requests in changing up the Ilsa character for the next movie.

"I'm so relaxed when it comes to my Ilsa character because [director] Chris McQuarrie did wonders, I think, with the last film," she said. "I was so happy with the way that we shot her with her independence, with her strength, with her vulnerability, with her relation to Tom's character, and I think we're all on board where we're just going to maintain her characteristic traits for this film."

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Once again, Amazon Prime Video wants to know what you think of its new pilots.

On Friday, the company kicked off its newest pilot season with two one-hour drama pilots and three half-hour comedy pilots.

Instead of a bunch of suits debating what to greenlight, viewers can watch the pilot episodes and review them in order to help Amazon choose which ones it will order to series.

The stakes are pretty high for Amazon. According to estimates, it's investing more than $3 billion this year on original projects. And that means it's going to need to make more than a tiny dent into Netflix's streaming dominance and get a bigger share of Hollywood's Emmy awards bounty.

We watched Amazon's new batch of pilots. Here's our take:

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Drama: "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"

From Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino, the husband-and-wife team behind "Gilmore Girls," drama pilot "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" follows Miriam “Midge” Maisel's (Rachel Brosnahan) downfall from her perfect life as a 1950s Manhattan wife and mother to becoming immersed in the seedy downtown stand-up comedy scene.

The pilot's excellent cast includes Michael Zegen ("Boardwalk Empire"), Alex Borstein ("MADtv"), Tony Shalhoub ("Monk"), and Marin Hinkle ("Two and a Half Men").

Our take: The pilot is immensely entertaining, with crisp dialogue and smart pacing. Plus, it really captures some very unique cultural aspects of 1958 New York City, such as the Jewish upper-crust and especially the burgeoning careers of comedy iconoclasts such as Lennie Bruce.

Drama: "Oasis"

Based on the cult-hit novel "The Book of Strange New Things" by Michel Faber, drama pilot "Oasis" stars "Game of Thrones" actor Richard Madden, an ecumenical priest who is sent into space to help establish a colony on a distant planet. But once he arrives, he finds morale is low among the settlement team and there's an inexplicable force that makes the planet very deadly.

It also stars Anil Kapoor ("24"), Mark Addy ("Game of Thrones"), and a grown-up Haley Joel Osment, who played the young boy on "The Sixth Sense."

Our take: There's some very good acting on "Oasis," but the dialogue and plot can feel very predictable. There's a real urge here to show off the arid, yet beautiful surroundings of the planet, but a pilot is limited in the amount of character exploration that it can cover. It really only scratches the surface there while setting up what feels like the show's important plot twist.

Comedy: "The Legend of Master Legend"

This dark comedy pilot revolves around Frank Lafount (John Hawkes), who hits the streets of Las Vegas as low-budget superhero Master Legend. Charmingly delusional, Frank has to balance his deep sense of justice with the burdens of actual life and disapproval from his family.

The pilot also stars Dawnn Lewis ("Major Crimes"), Shea Whigham ("Boardwalk Empire"), and newcomer Anjelika Washington.

Our take: This pilot makes it tough not to love and conversely feel sorry for its homemade superhero. Its eclectic characters give the comedy so many directions to go, which makes this pilot a pretty good bet for a surprising full season. This definitely lives up to the expectations of a show that's produced and written by a team whose credits between them include "Argo" and "Transparent."