• Fergie gave a unique rendition of the National Anthem at the NBA All-Star game on Sunday.
• It instantly went viral in part because of the reactions by the players and Jimmy Kimmel, who were all caught on-camera holding back laughs and smiles.
• Kimmel explained why he was smiling during the song on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Tuesday.

To kick off Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, singer Fergie had the honor of singing the National Anthem. But her unique rendition didn't go the way she planned, and it instantly went viral.

A big reason for it becoming an internet sensation was because of the reaction of the players and Jimmy Kimmel, who were all caught holding back smiles and laughs while Fergie belted out a sensual rendition of the anthem.

On Tuesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," the late-night host explained why he was smiling during what he described as, an "unusually sultry" version of the song.

"The reason I was smiling is because I love the National Anthem so much," he jokingly told his audience. "That’s the face I make."

Kimmel went on to say, "I didn’t realize I was on camera, then my phone started buzzing and texting."

Fergie has released a statement saying, "I've always been honored and proud to perform the National Anthem and last night I wanted to try something special for the NBA. I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best."

"Here’s the thing about taking risks," said Kimmel Tuesday night, who noted that the singer didn't intentionally try to ruin the song. "When it comes to the National Anthem — don’t. Don’t take risks when you’re doing brain surgery, don’t take risks when you’re driving a school bus or singing the National Anthem. Just regular is fine."

Kimmel added, however: "In Fergie’s defense, we don’t know what Francis Scott Key was thinking when he wrote 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' maybe he wanted it to be sexy."

Here's Kimmel talking about being part Fergie's viral moment:

SEE ALSO: The 25 best supervillains of all time, ranked

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• The "Black Panther" character Erik Killmonger is such a compelling villain that #KillmongerWasRight was trending on Twitter after the film's release.
• Many Twitter users expressed sympathy with Killmonger's argument.

Michael B. Jordan's turn as the "Black Panther" villain Erik Killmonger has earned praise from critics and fans alike as one of the most compelling supervillain performances in movie history since the film's release last week.

What makes the plight of Killmonger so compelling for both critics and fans is the strength of his argument despite his violent methods. And the strength of Michael B. Jordan's sympathetic performance as the character is also a major factor, as Business Insider's Jason Guerrasio noted in his review of the film.

Many fans of the film have thus taken to Twitter after seeing "Black Panther" to voice their agreement with Killmonger's argument against the seclusion of the film's fictional African nation Wakanda, which is rich with resources and the precious metal Vibranium.

Here are some of the best #KillmongerWasRight tweets:

Many Twitter users that tweeted #KillmongerWasRight also disagreed with the character's approach.

However, Jordan's performance is just one factor in an exceptional film that has taken the country and world by storm. "Black Panther" scored the second-highest four-day opening in US history with $242 million earned domestically, and it stands at a 97% "Fresh" rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. 

SEE ALSO: The 25 best movie supervillains of all time, ranked

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• Actor Ryan Reynolds is now the owner and chairman of American drinks brand Aviation Gin.
• The company told Business Insider Reynolds will "play an active leadership role in the business and creative direction."
• However, an automated email reply from Reynolds suggests the actor is more likely to sit around being photographed and drinking gin.

Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds is well known for his roles in the likes of Deadpool and The Proposal, and for frequently making headlines for his hilarious relationship with his actress wife Blake Lively.

What you may not know is he's also the owner of a gin company.

The actor announced today that he is now the official owner and chairman of Aviation Gin, owned by Davos Brands — and it all came about after he tried the gin for the first time, declared it the "best-tasting gin in the world," and decided to invest.

Aviation, which was founded in Portland, Oregon, is one of the world's best-rated gins, according to data from Wine Enthusiast, a drinks magazine. The company told Business Insider that it sold around 25,000 cases in 2017.

It claims to have a "much smoother, easier drinking flavor than typical London Dry gins."

"Once I tried it, I knew I wanted to get involved with the company in a big way," Reynolds said. "If you think all gin tastes the same, you’d be mistaken. Aviation is in a completely different league and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of the company."

The company told Business Insider that as owner and chairman, Reynolds "will play an active leadership role in the business and creative direction of the Aviation Gin brand."

However, his public statements so far suggest that this might be less hands-on than this suggests.

Reynolds is hardly the first celebrity to jump on the liquor bandwagon, with the likes of Drake, Jay-Z, and P.Diddy also buying into booze brands.

Last year, George Clooney's Casamigos tequila company sold for $1 billion to drinks giant Diageo— so it's easy to see the appeal.

When we dropped the new gin owner an email to hear more about the deal, we, understandably, received an automated reply.

In the message, Reynolds joked that he doesn't have a desk or an assistant, and is likely to spend his days being photographed, and drinking gin.

He also added: "I don’t know whose idea it was to allow me into the gin business, but I can assure you, there are smarter, more reasonable people in charge."

Here's the email reply in full:

Thank you for your email and interest in Aviation American Gin! I’m away from my desk at the moment but will respond the moment they give me a desk.

About a year ago, I tried Aviation for the first time. Since that day, I’ve spent my time finding some way to infiltrate the company. I did this for one simple reason:  It’s the best damn gin on the planet. Period.

My responsibilities here at the company are vast. I’ll spend my days being photographed intermittently clinching my jaw muscles while pointing at things and nodding. I’ll drink Aviation Gin. I’ll sit in board meetings, imagining my very own Red Wedding.

I don’t know whose idea it was to allow me into the gin business, but I can assure you, there are smarter, more reasonable people in charge.

Thank you again for your email... If the matter is urgent, please contact my secretary, Bruce, who’ll respond the moment I get a secretary named, Bruce.

His tweets about the brand were equally light-hearted.

It's possible that he's controlling the Aviation Gin Twitter account, too, which called him a "professional goodlooking person."

Whatever his involvement, it'll be interesting to see if it works as well for him as it did for Clooney.

SEE ALSO: George Clooney's tequila company just sold for $1 billion — here's the story of how it was set up by accident

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• YouTube promoted a conspiracy theory video that claims one of the Florida school shooting survivors is a paid actor.
• The video was first in the site's list of trending videos Wednesday morning.
• YouTube continues to struggle with people gaming the site to promote fake news.

A video that claims to show evidence that one of the survivors of the school shooting in Florida last week is a paid actor was promoted by YouTube as the top video in the site's trending section on Wednesday morning. The video was removed from the trending section later in the morning after several news stories and tweets about it started to spread.

The video shows a local news clip featuring David Hogg, one of the shooting survivors who has made several news appearances over the last few days calling for gun control. The segment comes from a CBS Los Angeles local newscast from last summer that shows Hogg telling a reporter how he got into an argument with a lifeguard. Conspiracy theorists say the clip is proof that Hogg shows up in media appearances as a paid actor.

Searching for Hogg's name on YouTube also brought up a large number of conspiracy videos as the top results.

A YouTube spokesperson said in a written statement to Business Insider that the conspiracy video made it to the top of the site's trending section by mistake. Since the video uses a clip from an "authoritative news source," the system allowed it to sneak past its safeguards.

Here's YouTube's statement:

"This video should never have appeared in Trending. Because the video contained footage from an authoritative news source, our system misclassified it. As soon as we became aware of the video, we removed it from Trending and from YouTube for violating our policies. We are working to improve our systems moving forward."

The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a followup question as to why other conspiracy videos about Hogg were showing up as top results in searches.

Hogg has become a central figure in a the far-right's effort to discredit the survivors of last week's shooting as they call for tighter gun control laws.

The problem spread on Facebook too. Hogg was one of the top topics in Facebook's "Trending" module Wednesday morning. Clicking his name brought up several videos promoting the conspiracy that he's a paid actor.

YouTube has failed to weed out fake news and conspiracy theories from its trending sections, search results, and other corners of the site that are promoted through algorithms in the wake of several major news events over the last several months. It happened with the mass shooting in Las Vegas last fall. It happened with the Amtrak crash involving Republican members of Congress. It happened too many times to count.

YouTube has said it made changes to its search algorithms to make sure it promotes news videos from "trusted" sources. The company has also said it plans to hire thousands of human content moderators to make sure videos comply with its policies. So far, those efforts haven't solved the problem.

The trending YouTube video had more than 200,000 views Wednesday morning before it was removed. A Facebook representative did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

SEE ALSO: Insiders say Google never answered a key question about its Alphabet gamble and now it's coming back to haunt them

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We built Nintendo's next big thing, Nintendo Labo

• Netflix's latest foreign find, the UK cult hit "The Frankenstein Chronicles," is a binge-worthy detective drama that stars "Game of Thrones" actor Sean Bean.
• Netflix released its first two six-episode seasons to US and global audiences on Monday.

Netflix has found yet another great foreign series in the UK cult hit "The Frankenstein Chronicles," which the streaming service released the first two seasons of on Monday for US and global audiences.

Set in London in 1827, "The Frankenstein Chronicles" follows detective John Marlott (played by "Game of Thrones" star Sean Bean) as he tracks down a killer who combined the bodies of eight missing children. 

The show's plot parallels Mary Shelley's classic 1818 novel "Frankenstein," but it's more a reimagining of that story than an adaption of it.

Its first two six-episode seasons aired on ITV's now-defunct Encore channel.

Netflix's decision to pick up the series globally and label it a "Netflix Original" has some criticsspeculating that the service could carry the series for subsequent seasons if it performs well.

"The Frankenstein Chronicles" has yet to find much traction with US critics a few days after its domestic release, but the series has earned consistent praise in the UK.

The Telegraph called it "bold, eerily effective and chillingly atmospheric," and The Guardian labeled it a "genuinely rather good" series that "offers real rare shivers."

Watch the first two seasons on Netflix.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's binge-worthy series 'Babylon Berlin' is a decadent and dark crime series set in pre-Nazi Germany

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• On Tuesday night's "The Daily Show," host Trevor Noah went after the way Fox News has reacted to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
• Noah said that conservative solutions to gun violence from people including Jeanine Pirro and Newt Gingrich were "absurd."

Trevor Noah had some sharp critiques of how Fox News has reacted to the shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Tuesday night's episode of "The Daily Show."

"If you told someone that they had to solve gun violence, but they couldn't talk about guns, most people would be like, 'Well, then, there's nothing I could do.' But most people are not Fox News," Noah said. "Over the past few days, Fox showed us that once you remove the obvious solution, you have no choice but to get creative."

First, Noah criticized Judge Jeanine Pirro for her suggestion that schools have metal detectors, cops, and perimeter controls. “Wait, is she still speaking about schools?” Noah said. “Because it sounds like she wants to build a compound in The Walking Dead.'"

Noah mockingly suggested some additions to Pirro's vision: "Why not post snipers on the roof? Dig a moat. Fill it with gun-eating sharks."

Then Noah slammed Newt Gingrich and Judge Andrew Napolitano for saying that teachers need to have guns. 

“These ideas are so absurd,” Noah said. “It might be fun to live in their world, you know, if you think about it. Like it’s a world free of embarrassment. No idea is too ridiculous.”

Bu Noah said that "we can't blame people on Fox for coming up with ridiculous ideas, right? It's not their job to be responsible, or even solve problems at all. So they can just shut up and dribble," a jab at conservative Laura Ingraham, who said that LeBron James should "just shut up and dribble" last week. 

Watch the full segment below: 

SEE ALSO: 'Black Panther' director Ryan Coogler says support for the movie has moved him to tears, and shared an emotional thank-you letter to fans

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• Terry Crews said he still has to send checks to the agency that employs the man who allegedly sexually assaulted him.
• Crews has alleged that Adam Venit, an agent at William Morris Endeavor, groped him at a party in 2016.
• Crews' allegation are under review at the Los Angeles Country District Attorney's Office.

Terry Crews said he still has to pay the man who he has alleged sexually assaulted him.

Crews came forward with his allegation of being groped by William Morris Endeavor agent Adam Venit in October, becoming part of the "Me Too" movement that rose to prominence following the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

Since, Crews has continually opened up about it. On Tuesday night, Variety reports that Crews discussed the allegation at Esquire’s 2018 Mavericks of Hollywood party. (Crews' allegation is now under review at the Los Angeles Country District Attorney's Office.)

“This is the deal," Crews said. "What’s so strange and crazy is that I’m still paying them [William Morris Endeavor]. I go to work, and I still have to send a check to my molester."

“[Venit] tried to tell everyone it wasn’t sexual. How do you do that? How is that possible? The level of ridiculousness that this has gone to, and they’re looking at me as if I’m ridiculous for even saying anything,” Crews said. “I’m like, ‘Nope, I’m not putting up with it. No one should. No woman, no child, no man, anywhere, in whatever business, should ever put up with being treated less than a human being, ever.”

Last month, Crews spoke with Business Insider about his experience coming forward with his story. He said he truly found out who his friends were.

"There were a lot of people that I thought were behind me and weren't," Crews told Business Insider. "I didn't cry in my bed, 'Oh, I've been betrayed,' as a businessman the difficult times revealed who was there for me and who wasn't."

SEE ALSO: The creators of Netflix's 'Everything Sucks!' told us how they made the 'sleeper hit' series on a tiny budget, and still managed to pack in all those 90s songs

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• Seven young adults posed as high school students for a semester on the A&E series "Undercover High."
• The undercover students discovered that smartphones have completely changed the lives of teenagers.
• Smartphones have become distractions in the classroom and have made problems like bullying and depression worse.

High school isn't what it used to be.

In fact, rapidly changing technology has made the typical American high school experience nearly unrecognizable for the average adult.

No technological advance has changed the game more than smartphones, according to seven young adults who relived their high-school years on the A&E show "Undercover High."

The show follows the adults aged 21 to 26 as they posed as students at Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas for the spring 2017 semester. The undercover participants took full course loads, joined clubs, and made friends with students in an effort to see what the lives of teenagers are like today.

Here are seven reasons why smartphones have made high school a totally different place for today's teens.

SEE ALSO: A former bully who went back to high school as an adult realized bullying isn't the same problem it used to be — it's worse

DON'T MISS: Adults who went undercover at a high school found 7 things people don't realize about life for teenagers today

Teachers are losing the battle for students' attention

The undercover students immediately noticed that smartphone use is widespread at Highland Park.

And phone use isn't limited to the hallways and cafeteria — many students spent entire class periods on their phones while teachers fought for their attention.

"I'm in my first class just looking around to see, like, what does a high schooler do? And I notice that everyone is on their phone," said Daniel, an undercover student who graduated in 2012.

Students at the school are technically forbidden from using their phones during the school day unless teachers incorporate them into lessons. But in practice, students said they use their phones at all times of the day.

"You're not supposed to have your phone out, but honestly, we don't care," one student said. "I probably check my phone about four times every five minutes," said another.

Cyberbullying is getting out of control

Smartphones have made it easier for bullies to harass their victims around the clock.

On top of that, the types of attacks bullies lob at their victims are different when they're not face-to-face — they're worse.

"People are much more courageous behind a keyboard. They say things they never would have the guts to say in front of someone. So the attacks on people are more vicious than they used to be," an undercover student named Erin told Business Insider.

"It still hurts whether it's in person or on social media, but I think that because social media allows people to be more bold, it's hurting deeper than it used to."

Worse yet, sometimes victims don't even know who their harassers are.

"I've seen a few people make fake pages just so they can be anonymous and basically make fun of people without nobody knowing who it is," one Highland Park student said.

Girls are pressured to share sexual images of themselves

The undercover students quickly learned that female students at Highland Park were often pressured to share sexual images of themselves on social media or via text.

"It's something that's normal for them — posting promiscuous pictures of themselves and rating themselves based on what others think and like off social media," Nicolette, a 22-year-old undercover student, told Business Insider.

One student said that younger, more inexperienced girls are the most likely to give in to the pressure, and face the fallout if their pictures leak online.

• Talk show host Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with Graves' Disease.
• She announced the news on her show "The Wendy Williams Show," and said that she is taking three weeks off to focus on her health.
• Graves' Disease is an autoimmune disease that causes overactivity of the thyroid gland.

Talk show host Wendy Williams revealed Wednesday that she has been diagnosed with Graves' Disease, and that her show will be taking a hiatus.

Williams made the announcement on her show "The Wendy Williams Show" on Wednesday, and said that she will be taking three weeks off for health-related reasons. She posted the announcement on Twitter and urged women to consistently check on their health.

"As women, we always put everything before us," she told the women in the audience. "Stop putting everyone first."

Graves' Disease, according to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), is "an autoimmune disease that leads to a generalized overactivity of the entire thyroid gland," named after Irish physician Robert Graves. The disease is "7-8 times more common in women than men," according to the ATA. Symptoms can include eye swelling or bulging; trouble sleeping; weight loss; muscle weakness; a racing heartbeat; and, in rare cases, a reddish thickening of the skin. It's triggered by antibodies that usually work to protect the body from viruses and bacteria, but in the case of the disease, overstimulate cells in your body.

"Sometimes the immune system can be tricked into making antibodies that cross-react with proteins on our own cells," the ATA explains in a helpful FAQ on the disease. "In many cases these antibodies can cause destruction of those cells. In Graves’ disease these antibodies ... do the opposite — they cause the cells to work overtime." 

You can treat Graves' Disease with antithyroid medication, which controls hyperthyroidism, but if the symptoms last more than six months, the ATA notes surgery may be needed.

SEE ALSO: Jimmy Kimmel explains his reaction to Fergie's 'unusually sultry' rendition of the National Anthem

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

Everyone's ditching cable.

An increasing number of tech companies are trying to attract the millions of "cord-cutters" who have ditched traditional cable TV for internet-based replacements.

Relative newcomers like Hulu and Google's YouTube are breaking in, while old-school heavies like Sony, Dish Network, and AT&T have been fighting it out for months now.

So, which is right for you?

Since this is the TV industry in America, figuring out what's what is complex. To help you see which — if any — make sense for you, we've broken down the biggest live-TV streaming services you can choose from today: PlayStation Vue, Sling TV, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV, as well as a smaller offering called Fubo TV that's focused on sports.

Let's dig into the fine print:

Jeff Dunn contributed to an earlier version of this post.

SEE ALSO: I tried cutting the cord with Sling TV for a month — here's why I returned to cable

1. Sling TV

1. How much does it cost?

It's $20 a month for the base Sling Orange package, or $25 a month for a Sling Blue package with more channels.

For $40 a month, you can buy the Orange and Blue packages together, but the two do not totally overlap in terms of channel selection. (Hold that thought.)

From there, you can tack on a bunch of smaller specialized bundles of channels for between $5 and $15 a month per bundle. There are way too many to list here, so you should have a look at Sling's service page.

2. How many channels does it have?

Sling Orange has about 30 channels. Sling Blue has about 45 channels depending on where you live, but its lineup doesn't include everything in Sling Orange.

The add-on bundles can incorporate a few dozen more channels, but those vary wildly in terms of popularity. The likes of MTV, Starz, and Showtime are very popular; other networks, like the Outdoor Channel, are more niche.

3. Which major channels are not included?

CBS is absent. ABC is there, but only for some markets, and only with a Sling Orange subscription. It also costs an extra $5 a month. For the kids, the main Nickelodeon channel isn't available either.

Also, while Sling does carry some Fox and NBC channels, they're included only in the Sling Blue package — and you're still missing the main NBC and Fox channels. There's a good chance those local channels won't even be available if you don't live in one of a few major markets. Check your coverage before you buy.

Sling TV (continued)

4. Does it include ESPN?

Yes, but like every other Disney-owned channel, it's only in Sling Orange. There, you get ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3 by default. This is the main thing that keeps the Orange and Blue packages from overlapping.

5. What about local sports and non-ESPN sports networks?

This is a little convoluted.

Sling Blue doesn't have ESPN, but it does include Fox and Comcast/NBC regional sports channels. Again, those vary by region — you can use the tool on Dish's FAQ page to check what's covered in your area.

As for other national sports channels, only Sling Blue includes Fox Sports 1, NFL Network, and NBC Sports Network. With Sling Blue, you can add a Sports Extra package that includes the NFL's RedZone channel, NBA TV, NHL Network, and others for $10 a month.

If you have Sling Orange, though, that Sports Extra package costs $5 a month, doesn't include NFL RedZone, and throws in a few more deep-in-the-weeds sports channels. Again, that's in addition to the main ESPN networks, which Sling Blue does not have.

You can probably see why these services aren't quite revolutionary now.

6. What about HBO?

HBO is available as an add-on to one of the core bundles. It costs $15 a month, the same as the standalone HBO Now streaming service.

Sling TV (continued)

7. Which devices does it support?

You can check Sling's support page for the full list, but the only notable no-show is Sony's PlayStation 4.

Otherwise, Roku, Apple TV (fourth gen), Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, iOS, Android, Android TV, Windows, macOS, Xbox One, Google Chrome, and others are all supported.

8. Does it have DVR so I can record shows I missed?

Yes, but it doesn't come included with a basic subscription. Instead, you have to pay an extra $5 a month for up to 50 hours of DVR storage.

Beyond that, a decent chunk of channels — namely Disney's and ESPN's networks — cannot be recorded for the time being. (Here's a full list.) And while Fox networks can be recorded, you'll automatically be reverted to the on-demand version of those shows if they're available. That means you'll have to watch ads.

Sling has done well to roll out DVR support to more devices over the past few months, but Apple's macOS is still out of luck. There's no limit on how long you can keep a recording, though, and Sling now lets you "protect" specific recordings in case you run out of space.

9. Can I pause and rewind live TV?

Technically, yes. But several channels — including ESPN, CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network, and AMC — do not support the feature and can only be watched live.

These channels typically lack support for Sling's replay feature, in which certain recently aired programs are available to stream for a limited time after they first air.

10. How many people can use it at once?

With Sling Orange, you can only have one active stream going at a time. With Sling Blue, that's bumped up to three concurrent streams. With the $40-a-month Orange-plus-Blue combo package, it becomes four.

• Amazon Video Direct allows filmmakers, free of charge, to upload their work (movie, TV series, shorts) on Amazon for customers to buy, rent, or watch on Prime Video.
• However, beginning March 1, filmmaker royalties for projects that are on Prime will decrease 60%.
• Filmmakers are outraged and some in the industry believe Amazon is taking advantage of artists who desperately need the service, as it's one of the few outlets for their work.

Independent filmmakers who for the last few years have found a way to get some cash for their work by distributing it on Amazon's self-distribution arm, Amazon Video Direct (AVD), were disappointed to learn recently that their royalties would soon be slashed by 60%. 

Unlike Amazon Studios — which acquires films for theatrical and streaming, and produces TV series and movies in-house — AVD gives filmmakers an outlet, free of charge, to let their work be available on Amazon to purchase, rent, or be viewed on Prime Video (which filmmakers get royalties from Amazon for).

On January 29, filmmakers who had uploaded their work to AVD were notified that beginning March 1, the royalties they got for putting their work on Amazon Prime would drop from its current 15 cent per-hour rate to 6 cents per-hour for any project worldwide that had under 100,000 hours streamed in a year.

The email, which Business Insider obtained, also stated that all hours streamed for a title would be reset back to zero at the end of 365 days.

This means that, despite how many hours projects pile up in a year's time, all the titles will go back to 6 cents per-hour at the start of a new year.

Amazon touts AVD as a "self-service publishing interface, without the need for complex negotiations or contracts." But Amazon's ability to change things on the fly has now left filmmakers angry, and has forced them to decide if they should continue using the platform, or seek other financially rewarding outlets for their work.

"The new reality for filmmakers is the whole thing is completely one-sided"

For many low-budget filmmakers, being on AVD (as well as YouTube and other web-streaming distribution outlets) is where they will earn a good majority of revenue for their work. Most have put their projects on the service because they are creating content that won't attract the major film festivals or have the potential to be acquired for millions of dollars. The 60% royalty decrease has some filmmakers feeling they are getting the rug pulled from under them by one of the biggest companies in the world.

"I have a hard time imagining that independent film is affecting their bottom line," Lisa Ebersole, director of the web series "37 Problems," told Business Insider. "It feels like such an arbitrary place to cut."

Ebersole said she was earning around $1,500 a month from having "37 Problems" available to Prime subscribers through AVD. She said the extra cash helped her not have to find a third job to support herself and her art.

Filmmaker Rebecca Norris, who has her movie "Cloudy With a Chance of Sunshine" on AVD for purchase or rent (but not Prime), was so impressed by the ease of AVD she even wrote about the advantages of using the service.

Norris said she was planning to make her movie available on Prime but then got the email about the royalty change and is now reconsidering adding her title.

"If you do the math for our film, we would have to have 11 people watch the entirety of the film to make a dollar," Norris said of the 6-cent royalty. "We don't know if it's worth it."

And Mike Whitla, whose animated music shorts catered for kids, "Howdytoons," have increased in views on Prime every month since he uploaded them, said with the change in royalties he feels he's going back to square one. He also said the change by AVD shows how filmmakers are at the mercy of Amazon because you have no contract with the company.

"One of the difficulties of the new reality for filmmakers is the whole thing is completely one-sided," Whitla said. "They can decide tomorrow, 'No, it's not going to be 6 cents anymore, we're going to go to 3 cents' and what is my choice? I can remove the content and make zero or keep it there. It's not a good situation to be in so it's very frustrating."

Here is a breakdown of the AVD content rates beginning March 1:

Tier 1: 0-99,999 hours streamed, $0.06/hour
Tier 2: 100,000-499,999 hours streamed, $0.10/hour
Tier 3: 500,000-999,999 hours streamed, $0.15/hour
Tier 4: 1 million-plus hours streamed, $0.06/hour

There was a small amount of good news in the changes, however. The previous 500,000-hour, or $75,000, annual pay cap on AVD titles will be lifted beginning March 1; and filmmakers will continue to receive 50% of the sales from their AVD titles purchased or rented on Amazon.

"The big untold story in our business"

Some in the industry see this as the latest example of powerful companies getting hours of content for pennies. Even the analytics Amazon gives its filmmakers turn out to be unhelpful.

"This is the big untold story in our business," said Emily Best, CEO of Seed & Spark, a crowdfunding and streaming service known well in the independent film community. "The data tech companies can see at any moment — what people are mousing over their website, where a sale exactly came from — filmmakers have none of those tools. We handed all the power to Amazon and Netflix. They have the data and independent filmmakers don't."

Whitla said the data provided by AVD is extremely limited and not very helpful for him.

"I have no idea how people are finding my stuff through Amazon Video Direct," he said. "The analytics we're provided, you feel like you're fumbling around in the dark. I get very meager analytics. I get a report that says the total minutes in each country in each day, and then I can sort that by series. That's it."

Seed & Spark began its own subscription service, similar to Amazon Video Direct, and offers a 22 cents per-minute royalty to its filmmakers. Best said her company is also striving to provide audience data that goes far beyond what AVD and the other big streaming companies will provide its filmmakers.

Vimeo has also expanded into the streaming distribution realm. The company has an eye-popping 90% revenue split for filmmakers who upload their movies to its Vimeo On Demand subscription service.

"We believe that putting more money in the creator's pocket is a good thing for our industry and the broader video ecosystem," Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud said. "It encourages more people to become storytellers and earn a living from those stories."

With the royalty tweak by AVD and the recent change in YouTube's advertising program that has also affected small video makers, companies seem to be trying to distance themselves from DIY filmmakers who need these services the most.

However, in a statement to Business Insider regarding the royalty change on AVD, an Amazon spokeswoman pointed to the fact that titles getting higher "customer engagement" would now be rewarded with higher royalty rates. She also highlighted the elimination of the annual $75,000 cap, and stressed that Amazon always listened to "provider feedback."

Amazon also confirmed to Business Insider that movies that take part in Amazon Video Direct's Film Festival Stars — titles from select major film festivals that join AVD — will get enhanced royalties and not take part in the four-tier rate structure.


It's hard to say if the 60% royalty decrease by AVD will cripple its business model. Many of the filmmakers on AVD Business Insider talked to said they were likely going to continue using the service, or were unsure if they would leave it. And filmmakers getting into the self-distribution game aren't completely dismissing AVD.

Filmmaker Jamie Stuart, who is preparing to self-distribute his debut feature "A Motion Selfie," is currently figuring out how he's going to unveil it to audiences.

"When I blanked the festivals I submitted to and self-publishing looked like the ultimate option, I began focusing on Vimeo and Amazon," Stuart said. "Vimeo seemed more attractive — better features, more customizable. Amazon seemed like a slightly more complex undertaking. For instance, they required close captioning — however, my movie has no spoken dialogue. Plus, it would take several days for the movie to go live once it was submitted. The plan I settled on was to launch with Vimeo, then consider going to Amazon as a step two. Revenue is revenue."


But Emily Best warned that when you deal with a company like Amazon, you have to be wary of every decision.

"The idea that they were ever going to be on the independent filmmaker's side, that's not what they were built to do," Best said.

SEE ALSO: I tried cutting the cord with Sling TV for a month — here's why I returned to cable

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• The sequel to the critically acclaimed "Alto's Adventure," called "Alto's Odyssey," released this month after almost three years of development.
• The game builds on its predecessor's mechanics, but expands on them significantly while still maintaining the soul of the original game that players fell in love with.
• The resulting game, "Alto's Odyssey," might just be the best iPhone game around, if not the best mobile interactive experience outright.

When "Alto's Adventure" was first released in February 2015, expectations among its developers weren't high, and there was little beyond hope that their hard work would pay off.

But that hard work did pay off, with glowing reviews from the press and a deluge of positive comments from players of all kinds.

That's why Team Alto — the group formed by people from the Toronto-based developer Snowman and others like the British artist and programmer Harry Nesbit — faced a much bigger challenge when it came to doubling down on that success with a sequel.

Business Insider talked to Team Alto about "Alto's Odyssey," the saga's second chapter, which launches on iOS devices and the Apple TV on February 22, to get a sense of what the three-year journey was like, and the story behind it:

SEE ALSO: The 10 best smartphones you can buy right now — ranked by price

Moving on from "Alto's Adventure."

The idea behind the original "Alto's Adventure," at least in terms of gameplay, was rather simple and straightforward. "Alto's Adventure" is a 2D, automatically side-scrolling platformer, set in an endlessly descending mountain full of rocks, chasms, ropes to grind on, and so on.

As the character progresses automatically, you only need to tap the screen to jump, or hold your finger on the screen to perform a backflip. That's it.

The game starts at what seems to be the top of a mountain, with Alto (the main character) and his llamas gathering around a fire. When the llamas escape, Alto grabs his snowboard, and the journey begins. As mentioned, there is no real end to the game, in the sense that the mountain never finishes — until it does.

From the mountains of "Alto's Adventure," to the desert of "Alto's Odyssey."

In a telling promotional image published on the developer's social accounts, we can clearly see that Alto and his friends — the other characters you unlock throughout the game — sit at what seems to be the mountain's valley, gazing at the canyons and hot-air balloons beyond the horizon.

That vast desert, for Alto and his friends, is an unfamiliar environment that represents both change and challenge. The members of Team Alto said they faced their own challenges over the past three years.

"There is a mirroring between the story of Alto the game and Alto as a project for Team Alto," Eli Cymet, one of the game's lead producers, told Business Insider. "Going out of the comfort zone, as when the original Alto launched, a lot of our lives changed."

"When starting to think about a sequel, we really wanted to think about what feelings we wanted to evoke: Upheaval and personal change, and trying to come to grips with the way the world around you was changing."

"That's how we ended up choosing a space that is wildly different from a snowy mountain," Cymet said. "Quite the opposite, in fact: A hot desert space."

Cymet said that "a sense of home" created a safe barrier for exploring these uncharted territories, both in and out of the game. Home, he said, was not meant as a single, physical place, but rather a state of mind that can be brought from place to place — so long as your friends and family are with you.

"Alto and friends start at the top of the mountain in a comfort zone of sort, but as they move to this new, wilder, crazier, ridden desert, they value the theme of exploration while keeping the idea of home," Cymet said.

And that is exactly what "Alto's Odyssey" feels like when you play it: A familiar experience submerged in a new and much larger world.

• Eggo waffles sales saw an increase in 2017 because of "Stranger Things" season 2.
• Eleven, one of the main characters, is obsessed with Eggo waffles.
• The show also helped set a record of Eggo mentions on social media in October 2017, the same month season 2 premiered on Netflix.

"Stranger Things" hasn't just had a huge influence on pop culture. It's also influenced the frozen waffle industry.

According to Create World Class Marketing, the mega-hit Netflix sci-fi series boosted sales for Eggo waffles.

Sam Ro, managing editor of Yahoo Finance, tweeted a slide that showed how the series has benefitted Eggo. The slide was from a Kellog presentation at the  CAGNY (Consumer Analyst Group of New York) conference.

When "Stranger Things" season 2 arrived on Netflix in October 2017, Eggo waffles saw the most social mentions in a single month ever. In Q4 2017, Eggo consumption saw a +14% year-on-year increase, according to the slide. 

"Stranger Things" plays on nostalgia in a lot of ways, borrowing tropes from from movies from the 80s like "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "ET." Throwing in Eggo waffles is just another reference from the decade that adds some 80s flavor. 

Eggo is owned by the Kellog Company. 

SEE ALSO: The creators of Netflix's 'Everything Sucks!' told us how they made the 'sleeper hit' series on a tiny budget, and still managed to pack in all those 90s songs

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• Roku reported fourth-quarter 2017 earnings on Wednesday.
• The company beat Q4 expectations, but gave a weaker than expected revenue forecast for Q1.
• Shares of Roku plunged more than 20% in after hours trading.

Roku, the maker of connected TV boxes and software for smart TVs, reported healthy growth in subscribers and streaming hours during the last three months 2017 but gave a lackluster financial forecast for the current quarter that sent its stock tumbling in after hours trading on Wednesday. 

Although Roku's Q1 revenue forecast only narrowly missed Wall Street targets, the stock's meteoric rise in recent months may have contributed to the steep sell off on Wednesday.

Shares of Rocku, which have more than tripled since the company's September IPO, were down as much as 21% in after-hours trading Thursday following the release of its results. 

Roku also forecast a net loss of between $40 million and $55 million for the full 2018 year. That's deeper than the  $35.9 million that analysts expected the company to lose for the year, according to Wall Street Journal report.

Here are the results versus Wall Street's expectations:

• Q4 EPS (adjusted): $0.06 vs. ($0.10) expected
• Q4 Net Revenue: $188.3 million, up 28% year-over-year, and above the $182.5 million expected
• Active accounts: 19.3 million up 44% year-over-year
• Q4 Average Revenue per User: $13.78 (trailing twelve month basis) vs. $9.28 in year ago quarter
• Q1 Revenue forecast: $120 million to $130 million, compared to $132 million expected by analysts
• Full year 2018 revenue forecast: $660 million to $690 million, versus $661.5 million expected by analysts

Roku has been on a huge run since it went public last year. Even though it faces competition from tech giants like Apple, Google, and Amazon, Roku's stock is nearly triple its IPO price. Part of the stock's success is tied to the company's success with its ad platform.

The company sells low-cost hardware devices that allow consumers to easily stream internet video, such as Netflix, onto their TVs. But Roku has been shifting its business to becoming an online video streaming "platform" that can be built directly into TVs and can serve as the homescreen for the growing number of "cord cutters."

READ MORE: Roku's CEO explains why he hasn't been crushed by giants like Apple and Amazon - and why a newcomer will conquer the streaming TV market (BI PRIME)

SEE ALSO: There are 6 major choices for streaming live TV over the internet — here's how they compare

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it's like to pretend to live on Mars for 8 months

• Kylie Jenner is one of the biggest influencers on Snapchat.
• But now she says it "is so sad" that nobody opens Snapchat anymore. 

Snapchat may have just lost a very influential user.

Kylie Jenner, a member of the Kardashian-Jenner family, tweeted on Wednesday to her 24.5 million followers: "sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad"

"still love you tho snap ... my first love," she followed up in a second tweet. 

Perhaps Snap CEO Evan Spiegel wants to make a call. Kylie Jenner is one of the most important people on social media and one of the original "influencers." She has 104 million followers on Instagram. 

She's used Snapchat in the past to show off a new haircut, or give a peek into her family life with boyfriend Travis Scott. She's a power user, posting frequently to millions of people, and if she's seeing less engagement on the platform, that's a bad sign for Snap, Snapchat's parent company.

She's also been professionally connected with the company, as well. Last year, she partnered with Snap to broadcast exclusive video on Snapchat in a format called "Ask Kylie." 

Snapchat has historically had problems retaining "influencers," who have generally felt more supported by other platforms, like Instagram, which run special programs for people with lots of followers, and provide more data about their posts and followers. 

Redesign problems

Jenner's change of heart may be related to a recent controversial redesign of the Snapchat app. 

A petition for Snapchat to revert to its older design gained 1.2 million signatures before Snap was forced to respond and say that the new design isn't going anywhere. 

Jenner is apparently not a fan of the redesign either. "Mm just saw the new Snapchat.. I don’t know how i feel about it! What do you guys think?" she tweeted earlier this month. 

Jenner's followers might not be using Snapchat as much, but the company said earlier this month that the number of people that opened the app daily had increased 5% in the last quarter in 2017. So while Jenner isn't seeing the same engagement that she used to, Snap says it's still growing. 

It's still not a good sign for Snap when a massive celebrity says that it feels like nobody is using its app.

Jenner's not getting rid of her Snapchat account, though. If you'd like to follow Kylie on Snapchat, her username is Kylizzlemynizzl. 

SEE ALSO: Evan Spiegel sold $50 million in Snap stock — his first sale since the IPO

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Silicon Valley's sexist 'bro culture' affects everyone — and how to fix it

• Roku, the streaming TV platform company, competes with giants like Apple and Amazon.
• But even though those big tech companies have similar gadgets, Roku continues to thrive.
• Roku CEO Anthony Wood attributed the company's success to a variety of factors like its superior software designed specifically for TVs.

Roku CEO Anthony Wood is not afraid to go toe-to-toe with industry heavyweights.

The scrappy streaming TV company he leads is a tiny player, with a relatively modest $5 billion market cap, competing against giants like Google (market cap: $770 billion), Apple (market cap: $868 billion), and Amazon (market cap: $717 billion) in the quest to dominate the future of TV. 

Yet against all odds, Roku is holding its own. The company's 19 million users streamed more than 4 billion hours of video in the last three months of 2017 and its stock has tripled since its September IPO (Although the stock was down in after hours trading on Wednesday when investors got spooked by the company's outlook for 2018.)

Why hasn't Roku become road kill? 

According to Wood, the smart TV market is a new playing field where size and history don't offer any advantages for the tech giants that have dominated PCs, smartphones and other platforms. 

"Look at the trends. Every time a new computing platform emerges, the operating system has changed," Wood told Business Insider in an interview on Wednesday..

"The way I think about these things, they used to be small companies too," Wood said of the tech giants Roku competes with. "They competed with ginormous companies. But when markets change, opportunities abound."

No original content means no conflicts

Roku sells inexpensive hardware gadgets that connect to TVs and allow users to stream online video. The company also licenses its software to TV makers so they can integrate its service directly into their products. Unlike some of its competitors however, Roku's goal isn't just to sell a bunch of dongles and boxes. The goal is  to get its software platform onto as many devices as possible and to become the operating system of choice for the new generation of smart TVs.

Roku's lack of history in the tech industry is actually one of its biggest advantages, Wood argues. Roku is wholly focused on building an operating system for smart TVs from the ground up instead of trying to shoehorn existing software into the TV, the way Google, Apple, and Amazon do. (Apple TV's operating system is based on iOS, and Google and Amazon base their TV platforms on Android.)

Roku's software is designed specifically for TV and TV hardware. Wood said that rival TV operating systems from Apple and others were originally designed to run on pricey smartphone hardware, which can cost hundreds of dollars. Roku's software can run on hardware that costs a lot less and is optimized for TV.

Wood also credited Roku's openness for allowing it to compete against its larger rivals. Roku doesn't produce or sell its own video shows. Roku is effectively a neutral player that supports any and all streaming services, from Netflix to Hulu to Youtube.

By contrast, Apple, Amazon, and Google all make or sell their own content, which creates competing interests as they try to establish their hardware and software products as the smart TV standard. Amazon's Fire TV gadget doesn't support a native YouTube app, for example. Users who choose one of those companies' platforms miss out on content they want to watch. 

That's not good for users, but it's great for Roku.

SEE ALSO: Here's why Apple's going to lose the voice computing war to Amazon

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This vest could help people cope with anxiety and stress by simulating a hug

• McDonald's will begin serving Szechuan McNuggets dipping sauce at all US locations on Monday, February 26. 
• "Rick and Morty" fans rioted in October after the fast-food chain gave away Szechuan sauce across the US — and demand far exceeded supply. 
• Fans had demanded McDonald's bring back the limited-edition sauce after it appeared on an episode of "Rick and Morty" last year. 

McDonald's is finally bringing its Szechuan sauce to the masses after months of petitions, bidding wars, and riots in fast-food parking lots. 

On Thursday, the fast-food chain announced that every McDonald's location across the US will start serving Szechuan nugget sauce on Monday, February 26. McDonald's is distributing 20 million sauce packs across the country in an effort to prevent shortages. The sauce will be available until that supply runs out.

McDonald's knows how dark things can get when locations don't have enough sauce to meet customers' demand — specifically, the demands of "Rick and Morty" fans. 

The decision to bring back Szechuan sauce — which was a limited-time menu item in the '90s — was sparked by a mention of it in an episode of "Rick and Morty" in April 2017. McDonald's released four jugs of Szechuan sauce over the summer, and some "Rick and Morty" fans bid thousands of dollars to get their hands on them. 

Finally, McDonald's announced that select locations across the country would give away a limited amount of Szechuan sauce to customers in October. 

"Rick and Morty" fans swarmed to those locations, only to find that each restaurant had only 20 to 40 sauce packets and 10 special-edition posters. The diehard fans, some of whom had shown up at the locations as early as 4 a.m., were furious at McDonald's. 

"I left Comic Con for this," one woman in a "Szechuan Dipping Sauce" T-shirt sadly told Business Insider at an overcrowded New York City McDonald's location. 

Police were called to some McDonald's locations as customers screamed, jumped on counters, and stuffed themselves into overcrowded restaurants. The next day, McDonald's had to offer fans an apology online. 

Since October, McDonald's has done everything it can to make sure Szechuan sauce's second return goes right. On Thursday, the chain launched a Serial-style podcast called "The Sauce," dedicated to McDonald's "Rick and Morty"-induced nightmare in October. 

"How do we get from the pinnacle of PR perfection to people rioting in the streets on the first of October?" the host asks in the first episode of "The Sauce." 

McDonald's has promised that this time, the chain has taken its time and won't face a similar disaster. And, on Monday, "Rick and Morty" fans and haters alike will finally be able to find out if Szechuan McNuggets dipping sauce lives up to the hype. 

SEE ALSO: People are furious at McDonald's after it brought back Szechuan McNugget sauce — but not enough for 'Rick and Morty' fans

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Diet Coke has released four new flavors — here's what our resident Diet Coke fans have to say

• Rapper Stormzy used his BRIT Awards performance to call out British Prime Minister Theresa May for her handling of the Grenfell tower fire.
• He rapped: "Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell?"
• In response, a spokesman for the Prime Minister insisted she is "absolutely committed" to helping those impacted by the tragedy.
• Stormzy picked up two awards at the Wednesday night event in London.

Grime star Stormzy took home two BRIT Awards on Wednesday night at the O2 in London — and used his time in the spotlight to attack British Prime Minister Theresa May for her handling of the Grenfell Tower apartment block fire that killed 71 people.

Stromzy, whose real name is Michael Omari, used a performance after he won his awards to rap the words "Yo Theresa May, where’s the money for Grenfell? What, you thought we just forgot about Grenfell?"

Rained poured down on the singer during the performance, which also included his songs "Blinded by Your Grace" and "Big For Your Boots."

He rapped: "You criminals, and you’ve got the cheek to call us savages, you should do some jail time, you should pay some damages, you should burn your house down and see if you can manage this."

The singer also went on to attack the Daily Mail newspaper, suggesting the paper should "suck my d---."

The response to the performance has been overwhelmingly positive, with countless Twitter users  — even those don't like the rapper's music — backing Stormzy for his statement.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also praised Stormzy — who endorsed him during last year's general election — for a "powerful performance."

Stromzy's complaint echoes those of survivors at Grenfell who said they could see reports of large donations in the media, but were getting little support. A month after the fire £20 million had been raised but less than £1 million of it had been used, according to the BBC.

However, in an update last month, government figures said the money had largely been spent in the intervening period. £20.9 million of a total £26.5 million had been used, the data said. 

In response to Stormzy's performance, on Thursday morning a spokesman for the Prime Minister insisted she is "absolutely committed" to supporting those affected by the Grenfell fire, adding: "The Prime Minister has been very clear that Grenfell is an unimaginable tragedy that should never be allowed to happen again.

"The public inquiry was set up by the Prime Minister to establish what went so tragically wrong and why people weren’t listened to for so many years. She has met with the families and survivors on a number of occasions."

The south London singer picked up both the British Male Solo Artist and British Album of the Year awards.

You can see the full list of winners here.

SEE ALSO: Here's the complete list of winners from the 2018 Brit Awards

SEE ALSO: A BRIT Awards set designer who's worked on Coldplay tours and Glastonbury told us the craziest demands she's had from a band or artist

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: You can connect all 9 Best Picture Oscar nominees with actors they have in common — here's how

• Cape Town, South Africa, is at risk of running out of water.
• The government has imposed severe restrictions to conserve supplies — including recommending showers that last just 2 minutes.
• Famous South African artists are trying to help, by recording sped-up tracks for people to time their showers to.
• You can listen to them below.

Cape Town, the first major city on earth to be faced with running out of water, has devised a musical solution for its impending crisis.

City authorities teamed up with South African pop stars to launch an album of sped-up hits designed to help people save water by taking shorter showers.

Cape Town has been going through three years of persistent drought — one of the worst in its history. The government warns that there will be a date in 2018, known as "Day Zero," on which the city will run out of water.

To combat that, ten famous South African artists last year produced shower songs lasting exactly 120 seconds to make sure people shower for two minutes or less.

The "2-Minute Shower Songs" album, sponsored by the Cape Town government and finance firm Sanlam, released last November as efforts were building to push back the date at which water reserves will run dry.

You can listen to it here:

All the songs in the album are sped-up versions of the artists' existing songs. Some of the remixes now reference saving water.

South African artist Youngsta raps in his remix of "Wes Kaap": "You need to double check first that you turned off the tap."

The sped-up songs "capture the sense of urgency" around the risk of drought, the creative agency behind the campaign told Quartz.

"Day Zero," the date Cape Town will run out of water, is currently set at July 9, 2018. Most of the city's taps are then due to be be turned off and around 20,000 people would have to queue for their water.

The date for Day Zero has been moved back several times (it was initially in April), which Cape Town says is a sign that its strategy is starting to work.

The government has urged citizens to limit their water usage to 50 litres per day. A five-minute shower uses around 45 litres, while taking two minutes uses less than 20.

To meet the challenge, residents have been storing water in jugs and collecting free water from local breweries.

The government is worried that if people can't conserve enough water to avoid the shutoff, there will be anarchy in the city, which is home to 4 million people.

Helen Zille, the premier of the Western Cape province, said earlier this year that the challenge faced by the city "exceeds anything a major city has had to face anywhere in the world since the Second World War or 9/11."

SEE ALSO: This is how Cape Town is coping with its impending 'Day Zero' when the water will run out

READ MORE: A major South African city is about to run out of water, and officials say it will be the worst disaster since 9/11

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Elon Musk explains the one thing that went wrong with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy flight

• 89 films have won the Oscar for best picture in the history of the Academy Awards.
• We ranked all 89 films based on how well they fared with critics.

As the 90th Academy Awards looms, this year's best picture race is one of the closest, most unpredictable of all time.

But before the winner is finally announced on March 4, we've reflected on the other 89 winners that have taken home the top prize. 

Business Insider ranked all 89 films — from the first winner "Wings" from 1927 to the latest winner, 2016's "Moonlight" — based on their critic score on reviews-aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. In the case of ties, we broke them based on their audience scores on the site. (And if those were the same, the film with more user ratings came out on top.) 

Some of the results may be a surprise ("Argo" is ... pretty high on the list), while others (notorious winner "Crash") probably won't be.

All 89 best picture Oscar winners are ranked below:

SEE ALSO: The 23 best drama movies on Netflix right now

89. "The Broadway Melody" (1929)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 35%

88. "The Greatest Show on Earth" (1952)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 44%

87. "Cimarron" (1931)

Rotten Tomatoes score: 53%