The reasons the Olympics enthrall viewers — the atmosphere, the joy of winning, the agony of defeat, the spectacle of sport — are the same reasons they produce some of the best photos.

The Winter Olympics are nearing the end and photographers have captured some stunning images from the games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Though there's too many great photos to count, we used Getty to compile some of our favorites so far.

Take a look below.

Figure skating is an exhausting sport, both physically and emotionally.

But when you get a gold medal, it's all worth it.

Lydia Lassila of Australia floats upside down, as freestyle skiers do.

This is a preview of a research report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about BI Intelligence, click here.

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. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
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The biggest problem with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is its villains.

"Black Panther" has been praised for having one of the best villains in the universe (and in movie history). Loki, who fluctuates loyalty so often it's hard to keep up, is another great example. 

But many of the other villains aren't exactly compelling. There's not much there in terms of the motives, goals, and overall, a lot of them don't feel like a genuine threat to our heroes. But that doesn't mean that all of these MCU villains are bad: they're just forgettable, even in some of the best movies to date including "Iron Man 3," "Ant-Man," and "Captain America: Civil War."

Still, there are a few gems in there, and we took a look at the top 20 to give you a sense of which were the best.

This list doesn't include all villains in the MCU: just major ones with some very special exceptions (Jeff Goldblum). It also excludes Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes and Nebula, who are good now and it was kind of obvious they would be eventually. 

Here's our ranking of the MCU villains, from worst to best:

SEE ALSO: 'Black Panther' had one of the best opening weekends in movie history — here's how it stacks up against the biggest blockbusters of all time

20. Thanos, “Guardians of the Galaxy” and end credit scenes in "The Avengers" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

We still don’t know that much about Thanos, besides the fact he’s had multiple redesigns and has been played by several actors. But so far, he’s been mediocre: he’s not as menacing as character like Red Skull and his connection to the heroes: being Nebula and Gamora’s father - isn’t nearly as powerful as Ego’s connection to Starlord or Thor’s connection to Loki. We’ll know more about whether he’s a good villain or not after “Avengers: Infinity War.”

19. Emil Blonsky/Abomination, “The Incredible Hulk”

Remember when Ed Norton was the Hulk? Tim Roth played the Abomination, and it wasn’t bad, but he was pretty much only there to help Hulk destroy as many buildings as possible.

18. Whiplash, "Iron Man 2"

Mickey Rourke was having quite the moment when “Iron Man 2” came out, being nominated for a best actor Oscar for his role in "The Wrestler." In the marketing and trailers, his character, Whiplash, seemed menacing, creepy, and a major threat. But he was just kind of there. The movie is bad, his character is lame, and Rourke’s lack of enthusiasm didn’t help — especially compared to Sam Rockwell’s Justin Hammer.

• "Ghostbusters World," a location-based smartphone game with augmented reality elements similar to "Pokémon Go," was announced for iOS and Android phones.
• Besides a 30-second teaser trailer, there aren't many details available yet — but we know it's coming in 2018.

A Ghostbusters-themed smartphone game was just announced for 2018. 

"Ghostbusters World" will apparently be a location-based smartphone game with augmented-reality elements similar to "Pokémon Go," the mobile phenomenon that took the world by storm in 2016. "Ghostbusters World" will let players hunt and collect "specters, poltergeists, full-roaming vapors, and more," according to a post on the game's official Facebook account.  

The specific release date has yet to be announced. 

Here's the official teaser trailer:

4:33 Creative Lab and Columbia Pictures are developing the "Ghostbusters World" app, which will encourage players to answer the call by going outside and searching for virtual ghosts in real space, the same way Niantic (with help from The Pokémon Company) got users to go outside capturing location-locked virtual creatures. 

The art on the website for "Ghostbusters World" features recognizable characters from a variety of Ghostbusters movies, cartoons and comic books, including Slimer, the ghost of Gertrude Aldridge from the recent reboot film, and the Bug-Eye ghost from a 1980s line of Ghostbusters toys.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Elon Musk's The Boring Company sold out of these $500 flamethrowers

Duncan Jones has wowed us his whole career with movies like “Moon,” “Source Code,” and “Warcraft,” but his latest is his most ambitious work yet — which might explain why it took over a decade to get made.

“Mute” is a futuristic who-done-it set in Berlin starring Alexander Skarsgård as a mute bartender named Leo. In the film, Leo must navigate the shady underworld of the city, filled with unique characters like two ex-pats Cactus (Paul Rudd) and Duck (Justin Theroux), to track down his missing girlfriend. 

With the backing of Netflix (which released the movie on Friday), this movie that is part “Blade Runner,” part David Fincher fever dream, has been let out to the masses.

And if you’ve seen it, you probably want more insight on what you’ve experienced. 

Here Jones chatted with Business Insider about three standout scenes from the movie, and one that’s his favorite.

Warning: Spoilers coming if you haven’t seen “Mute” yet:

SEE ALSO: Here are all the confirmed original shows coming to Netflix in 2018

The Sam Bell clones cameo

Sam Bell is the beloved main character of Jones’ debut feature “Moon,” which follows an astronaut, played by Sam Rockwell, at the end of his three-year stint working on the Moon who realizes he’s a clone. At the end of the movie we see him get off the Moon and head back to Earth (there’s a lot more to this movie, you should really see it if you haven’t yet).

Jones always planned to continue telling the Sam Bell story in future films, and in “Mute” he does that by having the story take place when Bell has landed back on Earth, and is testifying about the misuse of clones by the company that does work on the Moon.

In a scene where Leo walks into a coffeehouse, the TV screen behind him shows a live look-in on the Bell testimony, which is interrupted by other Sam Bells who are in the courtroom. 

And if you look close enough, you can catch “free the Sams” graffiti throughout the movie in shots of the streets of Berlin.      

“I wanted to have some way of not exactly wrapping up ‘Moon’ in this film but at least giving those who are curious about what happened to Sam an answer to that in this film,” Jones said. “But at the same time, ‘Mute’ is its own story and I wanted to see if there was a way that I can do that and at the same time not be too distracting from the film that we're trying to make.”

Jones had Rockwell come in for a day of shooting. Rockwell had numerous wardrobe changes, including beards and wigs put on him to play the Sam Bell clones.

Jones said he hopes to close out the Sam Bell storyline in a third film. 

“For the third film you’ll see Sam again probably in the same way you saw him in ‘Mute’ — him in the universe of the story being told,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking, but it’s flexible.”

Cactus confronts Duck

In a movie that has a lot of disturbing moments, one of the most chilling is a scene an hour into the movie when Cactus goes to Duck’s office. There he notices Duck’s been secretly videotaping his female teen patients, which enrages Cactus, since he's the father of a little girl, and leads to the two war buddies (which Jones based on the friendship between “Trapper” John McIntyre and “Hawkeye” Pierce in Robert Altman’s “M*A*S*H”) having a heated encounter.  

The scene highlights how dark Rudd and Theroux got in their performances for this movie, which Jones said came from shooting the movie chronologically as much as possible.

“Paul and Justin were able to get some of the fun friendly scenes done earlier, so there was already a rhythm before we allowed them to sort of play with ‘How do I get furious with someone that I’m normally cool with?’” Jones said.

Jones said he also allowed both actors to improvise as much as they wanted on the movie, often doing a few takes of he and Michael Robert Johnson’s screenplay and then letting them do some takes on their own.

The director said the biggest challenge with this scene was getting Rudd to a point where he begins to slap around and shove Theroux.

“I think I did push Paul a little bit to be more physical,” Jones said. “Between the three of us we agreed we’d work our way up to really whacking Justin, but Paul needed to be the psychopath in that moment. We had dropped hints over the course of the film, he needed to be the violent guy at this moment.”

Cactus’ final moments

You get the feeling in "Mute" that sooner or later the bad guys are going to get some kind of gruesome end, and Jones doesn’t disappoint with Cactus. 

Leo’s journey to find his love Naadirah (Seyneb Saleh) leads him to Cactus’ basement at the end of the movie, where he learn her fate. Leo then avenges her by putting Cactus’ trusty knife through his throat. 

The graphic death was how Jones always saw Cactus going out, but he also wanted to give the buildup another darkly twisted feel like the Cactus/Duck confrontation. So he wrote Cactus taunting Leo and cracking jokes before his death.

“I wanted a weird energy and for me it comes out of that excitement Cactus gets out of confrontation,” Jones said. “He carries that in this scene, he doesn’t want this to be the situation, he didn’t want Leo to show up, but he comes down those stairs and he knows he’s going to have this confrontation and Cactus gets off on that.”

And playing off the Trapper/Hawkeye vibe, he also wanted Cactus to have a swagger like he’s going to survive the encounter with Leo. 

“He thinks he’s going to get out of it,” Jones said. “He’s always thought he and Duck are smarter than anyone else around them.”

• Elaine McMillion Sheldon's Oscar-nominated documentary "Heroin(e)" confronts the challenges of the opioid epidemic by depicting those who are fighting the rampant crisis in Huntington, West Virginia. 
• Sheldon spoke to Business Insider about the misconceptions of the drug crisis that she sought to counterbalance, including the reach of opiate addiction, the plight of first responders, and negative perceptions of West Virginia, her home state.

In her Oscar-nominated documentary, "Heroin(e)," director Elaine McMillion Sheldon confronts the national opioid epidemic by depicting those who are fighting the rampant crisis in Huntington, West Virginia — a town that suffers an opioid overdose rate 10 times the national average.

In an interview with Business Insider, Sheldon discussed a number of misconceptions that surround the opioid crisis, many of which she sought to counterbalance in her Netflix original film. 

Sheldon described how the crisis has reached beyond the common perception of heroin and opioid abuse as a "lower-class issue," infiltrating communities of all kinds across the nation.

"People have described it as like an 'addiction of misery,'" Sheldon said of the epidemic. "But the problem with describing it as such is that it seems to say that those who aren't in misery, those with good jobs and a good standing in society are exempt from addiction, which just isn't the case. I think America has pushed addiction off as a largely lower-class or a very racialized issue. And addiction doesn't see color. It doesn't see gender."

Sheldon's film partly follows the Huntington, West Virginia firefighters and first responders who revive overdose victims with the opioid antidote-drug naloxone.

She described how the process of making the film changed her own perception of those fighting the epidemic on the front lines, who also suffer from the difficulty of their selfless work. 

"I think the biggest surprise and the biggest concern for me was learning that the people on the front lines also need care," Sheldon said. "The first responders that are quite exhausted from this, they have this exhaustion from being compassionate and being able to help. And they feel helpless in that they're bringing back the same person several times in one week, and they're not feeling like they're doing their job helping people."

Sheldon added that her effort to depict the "kindness" and "inner-resilience" of those fighting the crisis also served to combat negative perceptions of West Virginia, her home state.

"Especially in a place like West Virginia, in media portrayals you wouldn't think of West Virginia as a place that's leading a progressive way forward and treating people differently, but Huntington was one of the first places in the state to have [naloxone] syringe exchange," she said. "And it was important for us as native West Virginians to show that we're part of the solution, too. Yeah, it's a problem here, but the people here have come together and decided, we're not enabling, but we have to do something because it's a public health crisis."

Watch "Heroin(e)" on Netflix.

SEE ALSO: What Facebook is looking for in the TV-like series it's bankrolling, according to an exec who just got a show renewed

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

• Critics and audiences aren't always on the same page when it comes to movies.
• The Oscars are a great example of this, as there are plenty of films that critics liked way more than audiences.
• We picked 13 Oscar best-picture nominees that have divided critics and moviegoers throughout the years, based on their critics and audience scores on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Critics and audiences don't always see eye-to-eye, and the Oscars put it into focus.

At the Academy Awards, some best-picture nominees are ones that audiences enjoyed more than critics — like "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," which has a 46% critics score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes compared to a 61% audience score.

But there are also plenty of movies nominated that critics loved a lot more than audiences.

We went back in time over four decades to find Oscar best-picture nominees that drew a clear line between critics and general moviegoers.

We picked 13 that had above an 80% critics score, but below a 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. A few may come as a shock; the 1997 crowd-pleaser and box office champ "Titanic" doesn't seem to have aged well with the public, at least by Rotten Tomatoes standards. 

Below are 13 Oscar best picture nominees that critics liked a lot more than audiences:

SEE ALSO: All 89 Oscar best-picture winners, ranked from worst to best by movie critics

"Phantom Thread" (2017)

Critics score: 91%

Audience score: 69%

Also nominated for: actor, supporting actress, director, costume design, original score

An acclaimed dress designer played by Daniel Day-Lewis poorly balances work and romance in 1950s London.

"The Tree of Life" (2011)

Critics score: 84%

Audience score: 60%

Also nominated for: director, cinematography

Terrence Malick directed this surreal look at the history of the universe, centered around a young boy's life and relationship with his parents. 

"A Serious Man" (2009)

Critics score: 90%

Audience score: 67%

Also nominated for: original screenplay

Michael Stuhlbarg, who appeared in 2017 best picture nominees "The Shape of Water" and "Call Me by Your Name," plays a professor who experiences one life crisis after the next in this Coen Brothers-directed film. 

Nintendo is on a roll, with no end in sight.

The company's latest big game — "Super Mario Odyssey" — received near-universal praise, and the Nintendo Switch is beating the competition month after month in sales.

There's a good reason for that: The Nintendo Switch is the best console to buy. Here's why!

SEE ALSO: With over 70 million sold, the PS4 is the most popular game console in the world — these are its 29 best games

1. The Switch has the best lineup of games ...

Since launching in March 2017, the Nintendo Switch has taken the mantle as the must-have console for playing the best games. This is the number one reason to buy the Switch: It's the only place to play the best games available right now.

Yes, there are excellent exclusives on the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. "Horizon Zero Dawn" on PS4 and "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" on Xbox One stick out as strong arguments for each, and that's not wrong.

But let's be clear: The Switch is stacked with huge, new games that can be played only on the Switch.

... like "Super Mario Odyssey" ...

The latest hit that can be played only on the Switch is "Super Mario Odyssey." It has an average score of 97/100 on Metacritic, putting it among the 10 highest-rated games.

It's highly rated because it's an outrageously good game, full of delight and surprise around every turn. "Odyssey" is the latest example of Nintendo's approach to major games of late: Take classic franchises and evolve them to new heights.

It's hard to overstate the quality of "Super Mario Odyssey"; it's clever, and massive, and beautiful, and deeply referential, and so much more. It is, frankly put, one of the best Nintendo games of the past decade — perhaps of all time.

Read our review of "Super Mario Odyssey" right here.

... "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" ...

Whether you've been playing "Mario Kart" games for years or you've never touched one, "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" is a tremendous delight. 

It's the definitive "Mario Kart" experience, with a ridiculous number of courses and playable characters. Best of all, the Switch becomes a portable "Mario Kart" machine if you take the console in portable mode — each Joy-Con becomes a gamepad, and the Switch is the screen. Being able to casually challenge a friend to "Mario Kart" by simply having the Switch with you is pretty incredible.

Crucially, "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" is a perfect game to play alone or with friends. The vast majority of the time I've spent with the game has been sitting next to my wife, playing together online against the world. Since the game came out in late April 2017, it's been a recurring delight in my apartment. 

Read our review of "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" right here.

• "Black Panther" took in an estimated $108 million at the box office its second weekend in theaters.
• That's the second-best performance for a movie ever in its second weekend.
• It's also only the fourth movie ever to have a $100 million second weekend.

"Black Panther" has no signs of slowing down at the domestic box office.

The Disney/Marvel Studios hit scored an estimated $108 million this weekend, according to boxofficepro, making it the second-best performance ever (passing "Jurassic World," $106.5 million) for a movie's second weekend in theaters. Its domestic total is now $400 million.

This marks only the fourth movie ever to score a $100 million second weekend, joining "The Avengers," "Jurassic World," and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." All three of those movies would go to earn lifetime box office returns of over $650 million domestically and over $1 billion worldwide (over $2 billion in the case of "The Force Awakens").

After taking the crown last weekend for best opening weekend ever for the month of February ($202 million) and best Presidents' Day weekend ever ($242 million), Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" showed it wasn't going to be one of those movies that has a dramatic drop in sales its second weekend in theaters.

The movie took in an impressive $28.8 million on Friday and an incredible $47.6 million on Saturday. That proves that there's still a big audience for the movie and that folks are returning to theaters to see the movie multiple times.

"Black Panther" also didn't have much competition to worry about this weekend.

The comedy "Game Night," starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, came in second place with $16.6 million (on a $37 million budget). The sci-fi thriller "Annihilation," starring Natalie Portman, only earned around $11 million.

SEE ALSO: The top 20 Marvel Cinematic Universe villains, ranked from worst to best

DON'T MISS: The official numbers are in, and 'Black Panther' soared past the latest 'Star Wars' for a historic $242 million opening weekend

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

• 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

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• 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

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• The "Clerks" director Kevin Smith survived a massive heart attack Sunday.
• Smith tweeted a selfie from the hospital bed.

Kevin Smith, the director of critically acclaimed comedies including "Clerks," "Chasing Amy," and "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," said he had a heart attack Sunday night.

Smith, 47, who now stars on the AMC reality series "Comic Book Men," was filming an episode of the show before the heart attack. He tweeted the news late Sunday along with a selfie from his hospital bed.

"After the first show this evening, I had a massive heart attack," Smith wrote. "The Doctor who saved my life told me I had 100% blockage of my LAD artery (aka “the Widow-Maker”). If I hadn’t canceled show 2 to go to the hospital, I would've died tonight. But for now, I'm still above ground."

SEE ALSO: 'Black Panther' earns $108 million at the box office in its 2nd weekend — the 2nd-best performance ever

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• The fashion label of Harvey Weinstein's estranged wife is in jeopardy as the pair reportedly prepares to file for divorce.
• Georgina Chapman is a co-founder of the fashion label Marchesa.
• Chapman's career at Marchesa is tightly tied to her husband's success. Stars of Weinstein-backed productions, including Renée Zellweger, Cate Blanchett, and Blake Lively, have worn Marchesa designs on the red carpet.

As The Weinstein Company prepares to file for bankruptcy following accusations of sexual misconduct against ex-chairman Harvey Weinstein, another company's future is also in question. 

Marchesa, a fashion label co-founded by Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, has struggled in the wake of accusations against Weinstein. According to the New York Post, Marchesa pulled out of New York Fashion Week after Chapman was too afraid to go through with the scheduled February show.

Chapman, who co-founded the fashion label Marchesa, reportedly left Weinstein in October and is set to receive $15-$20 million in a divorce settlement that has yet to be filed in court.

Chapman's career as the co-founder of Marchesa is tightly tied to her husband's success. Stars of Weinstein-backed productions, including Renée Zellweger, Cate Blanchett, and Blake Lively, have worn Marchesa on the red carpet, and rumors have floated for years that Weinstein pushed actresses to wear the fashion brand. With the allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Weinstein, many are wondering whether Marchesa will disappear from the red carpet altogether.

"No star is ever going to want to wear the brand again," The Hollywood Reporter quoted an unnamed New York fashion publicist as saying in October, after Weinstein was ousted from The Weinstein Company, the studio he founded.

Here's the story of how Chapman's Marchesa became a red-carpet mainstay — and how her fate became intertwined with her husband's:

SEE ALSO: Harvey Weinstein's film studio to file for bankruptcy following #MeToo allegations

Georgina Chapman founded Marchesa with Keren Craig in 2004. The same year, Chapman, then a 28-year-old former model from England, began dating Harvey Weinstein.

Source: Jezebel

A 2007 Teen Vogue article — spotted by Jezebel — says Marchesa caught on with Hollywood starlets after Renée Zellweger wore a gown from the line to the premiere of "Bridget Jones." "Bridget Jones" was distributed by Miramax, which Weinstein founded, and Zellweger thanked Weinstein during her Oscar speech in 2004.

"Maybe I helped, but just very, very little, with Renée Zellweger," Weinstein told Vogue in 2013.

Source: Vogue

Nearly 17 years ago, an episode of "The Simpsons" predicted that Donald Trump would one day become US president.

And this wasn't the only time the writers have managed to predict the future.

The most recent prediction to come to light is from an episode eight years ago, when Marge and Homer Simpson win Olympic gold for the U.S. in curling in a huge upset over Sweden, the favorite to win. 

On Saturday, the U.S Men’s Olympic Curling Team won a gold medal after defeating Sweden 10-7 in the Pyeongchang Games. The victory is the second curling medal ever for the United States.

"The Simpsons" has been running for over 27 years, so it's inevitable that some themes that crop up in the show might occur in real life. But some of the plotlines are eerily close to events that have happened throughout the world.

We've listed some of the strangest predictions the cartoon's writers have made since the show's launch in 1989.

From Homer discovering the Higgs boson to animators drawing The Shard in London almost 20 years before it was built.

Edith Hancock and Amanda Luz Henning Santiago contributed to previous versions of this post.

Here are 17 times "The Simpsons" predicted the future:

SEE ALSO: ‘The Simpsons’ creator is making a new animated series for Netflix, with 20 episodes on the way

SEE ALSO: The 17 best animated TV shows of all time

15. Nobel Prize Winner - Season 22, Episode 1

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Fun fact: @TheSimpsons' Milhouse once predicted MIT Prof. Holmström would win a #NobelPrize. Today, he was right! https://t.co/CC0LRk1avypic.twitter.com/syhMiJBK2A

MIT professor Bengt Holmström won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2016, 6 years after he was bet on to win the Nobel Prize on "The Simpsons."

Holmström's name appears on a betting scorecard when Martin, Lisa, Database, and Milhouse bet on Nobel Prize winners.

14. Smart watches - Season 6, Episode 19

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The Simpsons Smartwatch prediction (1995) via @mashable. lol pic.twitter.com/TmKgiXulxS

 "The Simpsons" introduced the idea of a watch you could use as a phone in an episode aired in 1995, nearly 20 years before the Apple Watch was released.

13. Lady Gaga's Super Bowl halftime show - Season 23, Episode 22

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In 2012, Lady Gaga performed for the town of Springfield hanging in midair. Five years later, she flew off the Houston NRG Stadium roof in real life to perform her Super Bowl halftime show. 

• Jennifer Lawrence said in an interview with "60 Minutes" on Sunday that she "wanted to kill" Harvey Weinstein after learning of the dozens of sexual harassment and assault allegations against the film mogul.
• Lawrence said in November, after the allegations surfaced, that Weinstein was "always almost paternal to me" and "never inappropriate with me."

Jennifer Lawrence gave a candid interview to "60 Minutes" on Sunday and discussed topics including the Harvey Weinstein scandal and feeling empowered to appear nude in her new film, "Red Sparrow."

In the interview, CBS News' Bill Whitaker asked Lawrence if Weinstein had ever been inappropriate with her.

"No, he was never inappropriate with me," Lawrence said. "But what he did is criminal and deplorable. And when it came out and I heard about it, I wanted to kill him. The way that he destroyed so many women's lives. I want to see him in jail."

Dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual harassment and assault since The New York Times and The New Yorker published bombshell reports on allegations against the producer in October.

In November, Lawrence told The Hollywood Reporter that the allegations against Weinstein were "shocking," and described Weinstein as "always almost paternal to me" and "never inappropriate with me."

"I thought that we had a nice relationship where, when he acted like an a------, I called him an a------. I actually think the word I used was 'a sadistic monster' — but it was just never of that nature, so that was really shocking," she said.

Earlier in the "60 Minutes" interview, Lawrence discussed being the victim of a 2014 photo hack that led to nude photos of her leaking online. She said that the hack made her feel "empowered" to appear nude in her new spy thriller "Red Sparrow."

"I realized that there was a difference between consent and not and I showed up for the first day and I did it and I felt empowered," Lawrence said. "I feel like something that was taken from me I got back and am using in my art."

Watch the interview:

SEE ALSO: Jennifer Lawrence says Harvey Weinstein was almost like a dad to her before the scandal: 'We had a nice relationship'

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• MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe explained why a "small percentage" of MoviePass subscribers were terminated in the beginning of February.
• Lowe addressed the customer service issues the company has been dealing with since its gigantic increase in subscribers.

In the beginning of February, a “small percentage” of MoviePass subscribers were startled to find an email in their inboxes from the app announcing their accounts had been terminated. The reason: They had allegedly violated the company’s terms of service.

This move led to a slew of complaints on social media by those who received the email, and many stories from those who claimed MoviePass had canceled their subscriptions without proper cause.

Since then, Business Insider has received over a dozen emails from customers who believe they should not have lost the service. Some said they had spent hours trying to get through to a customer service agent to plead their case, only to be told they either had violated the terms of service and nothing could be done, or that their request to be reactivated would be sent to another department. This led to days of waiting for the customers to learn their fate.

So why did MoviePass delete accounts, and what do customers need to do to make sure they never get flagged by the app?

Business Insider had a phone call with MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe to get answers.

Trying to kick out those that are taking advantage of MoviePass

Lowe said MoviePass started terminating accounts after it found a group of repeat offenders who consistently violated MoviePass' terms of service. The violations were found by a loss prevention team Lowe hired, and included users checking in for a basic 2D ticket but then getting a 3D, RealD, or IMAX ticket; using MoviePass to obtain movie-theater gift cards; or buying concessions along with a ticket, according to Lowe.

Lowe said these overcharges “cost a lot of money” for MoviePass to cover.

The reason why the MoviePass MasterCard is able to buy more than a 2D movie ticket, Lowe explained, is because MoviePass always keeps more than a 2D ticket price on the card just in case a movie theater suddenly raises the price. That way the MoviePass customer won’t get shut out of a movie they are allowed to see with the app.

“We’re trying to run a business, we offer a great service at an amazing value, and you have a small percentage of people who are taking advantage of us to the detriment of our customers who are enjoying the service,” Lowe told Business Insider.

Lowe pointed out that MoviePass even sent out a warning email a month ago to some of the customers who were part of the group of accounts terminated in the beginning of February. The warning said they had been violating the terms of service and if they continued to do so, their accounts would be canceled.

However, Lowe did admit that upon further review, MoviePass found not all of those accounts were terminated due to the fault of the customers. The aftermath has highlighted that MoviePass needs to have a better relationship with movie theaters and improve its customer service.

Making inroads with movie theaters and winning back customers

A majority of the MoviePass customers who contacted Business Insider had similar theories for why their accounts were flagged: They all bought tickets at the box office (rather than a kiosk) and a theater staff member did not know how to properly run the transaction.

This has occurred in numerous ways. One example given was the box office combining the charge of the MoviePass subscriber and non-MoviePass patron with them, causing the MoviePass subscriber’s account to look like it went over its allowed total. Another was a situation when the theater’s box office was also the concession stand, and the theater staff combined both the MoviePass charge and the concession.

Some theaters that accept MoviePass have caught onto this happening and have taken steps to better educate their staff and patrons.

In fact, one customer sent Business Insider a photo of the sign their local theater has put up to help remind MoviePass customers how to correctly use it.

“I know for a fact theaters are taking advantage of the customer in this scenario,” Lowe said.

Lowe stressed that despite having a MoviePass subscription — which means with the service you get to see one movie a day per month — you should look at your theater receipt to make sure your charge is done properly by your theater.

And to help theaters better understand how to accommodate MoviePass subscribers, Lowe said he'd hired on four additional staff members to MoviePass' movie theater relations team. He also said MoviePass would have a presence at April’s CinemaCon, the annual movie theater convention, in hopes of improving its relationship with theater owners.

“We need to do a good job in better communicating to the exhibitor community so they can help us help their customers,” Lowe said.

But what happens if a MoviePass subscriber realizes they were overcharged? What are they supposed to do so MoviePass doesn’t terminate their account?

The logical answer would be to call MoviePass customer service, but since the app changed its price plan to $10 a month, its customer service has been overwhelmed by new subscribers. If you take a glance at the MoviePass social media accounts, you will notice they are flooded with complaints from subscribers who can't get through to anyone in customer service.

However, Lowe is confident that is about to improve.

“We are not fulfilling quickly the customer service demand and a lot of that is because we were not working with the right provider nor had the right team in place,” he said. “And we have just recently put in a new leader in that group and brought in a new provider that is essentially starting this week. We’re making some big improvements.”

Lowe said the company’s revamp of its customer service includes having over 100 full-time customer service reps on the team.

“It’s definitely not something I’m proud of,” Lowe said of the customer service woes. “It’s just not been as easy as throwing bodies at it. It’s a combination of a lot of different things. But I feel very good about our new direction and its ability to create a much better experience for our customers.”

And it starts with reactivating the customers who had their accounts deleted but had legitimate excuses for charges larger than their allotted amount per-movie.

Lowe said that roughly 10% of the members terminated in early February have been reinstated.  

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• "Black Panther" has become a major hit with both audiences and critics.
• It's different from other superhero movies before it, which may pose challenges for those to come after it.
• "Black Panther" introduces a unique world with compelling characters. Coming superhero movies seem small by comparison.

The success of Marvel's "Black Panther" means many things for the movie industry: a more balanced release calendar and the possibility that studios will invest more in diverse heroes on-screen, for starters.

It could also spell peril for the rest of the year's still-to-be-released superhero films, as "Black Panther" has raised the bar. If you loved "Black Panther," prepare to be disappointed by coming comic book movies.

There's no doubt that the superhero genre has become oversaturated in the decade since Marvel spearheaded the "cinematic universe" movement and others, like DC and Warner Bros., attempted to follow suit. Just this year we still have "Avengers: Infinity War," "Ant-Man and the Wasp," "Deadpool 2," "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," and "Aquaman" coming.

"Black Panther" poses a challenge for these movies, even the Marvel Studios films that share the same universe. That's not to say these films won't be enjoyable, or that other highly regarded superhero movies from recent years that broke with the genre's norms — like "Logan" and "Deadpool" — are now irrelevant.

But if you loved "Black Panther" for introducing a complex world with prominent nonwhite characters, then it will be hard to feel satisfied with the rest of 2018's offerings.

"Avengers: Infinity War," coming in May, is the culmination of 10 years of buildup. Even the Black Panther himself is featured — but among 20 other major characters. One of the reasons "Black Panther" is so great is its dynamic, fleshed-out supporting cast. Even if "Infinity War" successfully manages to balance its characters, we won't get the same feeling we had while watching "Black Panther."

"Infinity War" is what many people have been waiting for, but it also represents everything that "Black Panther" isn't: a bunch of characters we've seen plenty of times before facing off against a villain who just wants to conquer the universe.

Another underdeveloped mad titan of a villain like Thanos feels especially small compared with the main "Black Panther" villain, Erik Killmonger. As a villain, Killmonger is sympathetic with a crucial backstory and a real purpose that may be morally questionable in execution but thought-provoking in theory. He is such a compelling villain that he prompts the hero's perspective to change by the end of the film. In a post-"Black Panther" Marvel universe, Thanos may not cut it.

The same can be said of another Marvel Cinematic Universe entry this year, "Ant-Man and the Wasp," a movie that now feels as small as its hero compared with "Black Panther." The first "Ant-Man" had the lowest opening gross of any of the MCU movies. With "Black Panther" breaking records, and "Infinity War" coming before it, something tells me the "Ant-Man" sequel will be an afterthought even before it's released.

December's "Aquaman" will be the first movie out of the DC extended superhero universe since "Justice League" bombed with both critics and audiences. Aquaman has always been a joke of a character, and it wasn't until recent years that he started being "cool" — but that's only if you read comic books. To general audiences, the only knowledge people have of Aquaman is what they've seen from "Justice League," which drastically underperformed commercially. There's little reason for moviegoers to be excited for his solo outing at this point.

"X-Men: Dark Phoenix" will be the latest film in a franchise with a convoluted timeline that no longer makes any sense. Not to mention, the Dark Phoenix storyline is one that was done just 12 years ago in "X-Men: The Last Stand," albeit poorly. Compared with "Black Panther," it offers nothing unique to look forward to.

As successful as the first film was, "Deadpool 2" is still a sequel. And the first "Deadpool" ignored superhero norms, but it didn't revolutionize the genre. Neither will its sequel.

Not since 2008's "The Dark Knight" has the superhero genre been energized the way it has been for "Black Panther." And not since that film has a superhero movie sparked so much intelligent discussion.

Studios should take the lessons they learned from "The Dark Knight" a decade ago, when Spider-Man and Superman were revamped in darker tones. They should look at what "Black Panther" has taught us about current audience appetite: creativity and diversity win the game.

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• Chrissy Teigen brought an "emotional support casserole" on an American Airlines flight on Saturday.
• Teigen documented herself cooking the casserole, asking American and TSA if she could bring it on her flight, and carrying it through airport security.
• Teigen has written a cookbook, Cravings, and is working on its sequel.

Airline carry-on rules can be confusing, so Chrissy Teigen went on Twitter this weekend to ask if she could bring her "emotional support casserole" on an American Airlines flight. After checking with the Twitter accounts for American and the Transportation Security Administration, she received permission.

"If I don’t have a carry-on, can I bring a large ceramic casserole dish of scalloped potatoes on the plane? I am not kidding, is this okay? Is it too blunt/heavy an object? I’ll cry if they throw it away," she wrote on Twitter.

"That's a good question, Christine! Scalloped potatoes are allowed in carry-on and checked bags. You can place them in a ceramic casserole dish," the TSA's customer service account replied.

Teigen documented herself cooking the casserole, asking if she could bring it on her flight, and carrying it through airport security.

"We made it!" she wrote after the casserole made its way through security. 

While Teigen gained fame as a model, she has written a cookbook, Cravings, and is working on its sequel. She has posted dishes she's made and shared cooking tips on her Instagram and Twitter accounts.

Teigan jokingly bringing an "emotional support casserole" comes at a time when airlines have faced controversy around how they handle emotional support animals. 

Delta and United Airlines have introduced revised policies, but recent incidents, including a dog that bit a passenger, an emotional support peacock that was denied boarding, and a customer who claimed she was encouraged to flush her hamster down the toilet, have shown how quickly an emotional support animal can become a public-relations disaster.

So while Teigen's request didn't involve an animal, her use of the words "emotional support" to describe her casserole may have put American Airlines on edge. 

SEE ALSO: Airlines want to start charging customers based on who they are — and it means everyone could be paying drastically different prices

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• McDonald's rolled out its famous Szechuan sauce across the US on Monday. 
• "Rick and Morty" fans rioted in October after the fast-food chain gave away Szechuan sauce across the US — and demand far exceeded supply.
• The Szechuan sauce is good, but the goopy sweet-and-sour-style sauce is far from riot-worthy. 

McDonald's Szechuan sauce is finally on the fast-food chain's menu after months of petitions, bidding wars, and riots in fast-food parking lots.

On Monday, McDonald's began serving Szechuan sauce at every location across the US.

In October, McDonald's gave away the sauce at select locations after immense demand from fans of the cartoon show "Rick and Morty." The limited-edition sauce had appeared on an episode of the Adult Swim show. 

"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. 

On Monday, McDonald's wasn't taking any chances and announced it would be distributing 20 million sauce packs across the country. When we arrived at McDonald's on Monday, however, there was no sign of the crowds and riots that plagued the fast-food chain when it announced a super-limited return of the sauce in October. 

Living up to the degree of hype that Szechuan sauce had experienced is a Herculean task. McDonald's locations literally had to call the police because "Rick and Morty" fans were rioting when they didn't get a taste of the sauce. DJ deadmau5 spent roughly $15,000 on a jug of the stuff. 

And, unfortunately, McDonald's didn't pull it off and deliver a truly riot-worthy sauce. 

Szechuan sauce tastes like if you took a classic suburban American Chinese restaurant's sweet-and-sour chicken and mixed it with some soy sauce and maybe a hint of sesame.

It's goopy, sweet, and very salty — and, in its own right, it's a pretty tasty option. We aggressively dunked and quickly downed 40 nuggets doused in the Szechuan sauce, so we can promise that it's tasty, and you'll want to keep on dipping. 

However, there's not much to elevate the sauce over the run-of-the-mill sweet-and-sour sauce. It's good, but it's not great. And, that wouldn't have been a problem if it weren't for the out-of-control "Rick and Morty" backlash. 

Rioting over Chick-fil-A's eponymous sauce? Completely understandable.

Rioting over McDonald's Szechuan sauce? You'd be better served going to the nearest Chinese food restaurant and stealing some sweet-and-sour and soy sauce packets for your McNuggets instead. 

SEE ALSO: White men are the future of beer — and that's terrible news for the struggling industry

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• Jennifer Lawrence said she only watched three minutes of Oscar nominee "Phantom Thread" before she stopped watching.
• She said she didn't "need to watch" a love story about a "narcissistic sociopath" artist who makes the girl "feel bad about herself."
• Lawrence then clarified that she wasn't referring to former boyfriend and "Mother!" director Darren Aronofsky.

"Phantom Thread's" six Oscar nominations don't mean a thing to Jennifer Lawrence.

The Oscar-winning actress recently told Marc Maron on his "WTF" podcast that she only got through three minutes of "Phantom Thread,"which is nominated for best picture at this year's Oscars, before she stopped watching. 

“I got through about three minutes of it. I put in a good solid three. I’m sorry to anybody who loved that movie,” Lawrence told Maron. “I couldn’t give that kind of time ... Is it just about clothes? Is [Daniel Day-Lewis's character Reynolds Woodcock] kind of like a narcissistic sociopath and he’s like, an artist, so every girl falls in love him because he makes her feel bad about herself and that’s the love story? I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know. He is a little narcissistic. I’ve been down that road, I know what that’s like, I don’t need to watch that movie [laughs].”

If that sounds familiar, it's because Lawrence starred in director and former boyfriend Darren Aronofsky's controversial film "Mother!" last year. One of the main themes of the film, among other things, was an artist's obsession with his work.

"Mother!" was received poorly by audiences, with an "F" from audience polling company, CinemaScore. It also has a 69% critics Rotten Tomatoes score compared to "Phantom Thread's" 91%.

But Lawrence quickly clarified to Maron that she wasn't talking about Aronofsky when she mentioned a "narcissistic sociopath."

"I've dated people that nobody knows about," she said.

SEE ALSO: Jennifer Lawrence says she 'wanted to kill' Harvey Weinstein after learning of sexual assault allegations — and hopes he gets jail time

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