• Actor Will Ferrell was hospitalized Thursday night after his chauffeur-driven SUV was side-swiped by another car and flipped over on the I-5 freeway in Los Angeles, Variety reported.
• TMZ first reported that Ferrell and two others were taken to the hospital on Thursday.
• Ferrell's representative told TMZ that the actor did not suffer serious injuries and was released from the hospital.

Actor Will Ferrell was hospitalized Thursday night after his chauffeur-driven SUV was side-swiped by another car and flipped on the I-5 freeway in Los Angeles, Variety reported on Friday, citing the California Highway Patrol.

TMZ first reported that Ferrell and two others were taken to the hospital. Video footage on TMZ showed Ferrell sitting upright on a stretcher and talking on a cell phone as he was being loaded into an ambulance.

Ferrell's representative told TMZ that the actor did not suffer serious injuries and was released from the hospital on Thursday.

He was one of three passengers in the SUV, which was reportedly returning from a "Funny or Die" event in San Diego, according to TMZ.

Ferrell's representatives did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

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• Popular messaging app Telegram has become a new haven for people sharing pirated movies and shows, in addition to stolen login credentials for services like Netflix and Spotify, according to an investigation by The Outline.
• The Outline explored some of the groups and channels created for the purpose of sharing pirated content, and, in some instances, even managed to obtain stolen login details for streaming sites.
• Telegram has also been in the news this week following a court-ordered ban in Russia.

Popular messaging app Telegram has become a haven for people sharing pirated movies and shows, in addition to stolen login credentials for services like Netflix and Spotify, according to a recent investigation by The Outline.

The Outline explored some of the groups and channels created for the purpose of sharing pirated content, and, in some instances, even managed to obtain stolen login details for streaming sites.

They also interviewed more than a dozen creators of those channels and groups. The takeaway? Those using Telegram for illicit purposes say they view Telegram as a platform that offers increased anonymity compared to other alternatives, and one that isn't as heavily policed when it comes to removing groups and channels focused on sharing pirated or illegal material.

The main selling point of Telegram has always been privacy, so it's not entirely unexpected that those looking to share copyrighted or illegal material (stolen account details) would gravitate toward it. To be clear, using Telegram to share pirated or stolen material violates the app's terms and service, which clearly states the company has a "zero tolerance" policy.

In a statement to The Outline, a Telegram spokesman acknowledged that the app has experienced "new challenges" as it has grown. In May, the site tallied its user-base at 200 million monthly active users. 

While its privacy-focused features have also drawn journalists, politicians, and privacy enthusiasts to the app, the company has also faced criticism when groups such as ISIS began using it. In September, The New York Times reported that Telegram was widely used among terrorist groups like ISIS, and the service was faced with the task of trying to scrub its channels clean of terrorist-related activity following a June attack in Paris.

Telegram has also been in the news this week following a court-ordered ban in Russia. On Friday, a Moscow court ruled in an 18-minute hearing to block the popular cloud-based messaging service following an extensive dispute around government access to messages. The court had demanded access to Telegram's encryption keys and messages, which they say they need in order to investigate crime and terrorist attacks. Telegram refused, and pointed out that what the court is asking for is impossible due to the way the service is built.

As The New York Times points out, this puts the Russian governement in an unusual position, as the  messaging app has been known to be used by Russian government officials, including President Vladimir Putin's press office.

You can read The Outline's full investigation into Telegram here.

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• There's something comforting about poetic, funny, or interesting last words.
• These quotations give us hope about facing death with dignity or even humor.
• From an early American patriot to a famous rock star, these individuals all died after uttering some particularly memorable last words.

We love famous last words.

There's a reason there are so many books listing memorable deathbed sayings throughout history out there. Perhaps we'd just rather believe well-known figures tend to die saying something clever and profound. It makes death itself a little less scary.

But, for that reason, final words can be quite tricky. As with any quotes on the internet — and historical quotes, in general — it's hard to sort out what's true and what's phony or exaggerated.

Here are several poignant, strange, or otherwise memorable last words from throughout history:

SEE ALSO: 18 people who accomplished incredible things at a shockingly young age

Jane Austen

At the age of 41, the celebrated novelist suffered a painful death in 1817 from an unidentified disease — although Addison's or Hodgkin's lymphoma are potential culprits, according to the blog Science-Based Writing. Her final words were recorded by her brother Henry, according to "The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes."

Winston Churchill

In 1965, the British Prime Minister fell into a coma and died in his London home at the age of 90, according to the Phrase Finder. According to "The Private Lives of Winston Churchill," he was speaking to his son-in-law Christopher Soames, who had offered him some champagne.

Nathan Hale

Historians believe the 21-year-old school teacher-turned-spy was paraphrasing a line from the popular 18th century play "Cato" as he stood on the scaffold, according to the book "Cato's Tears and the Making of Anglo-American Emotion." The British hanged Hale after he was captured during a failed 1776 espionage mission in Long Island.

• The beloved blockbuster "BioShock" series has been dormant for five years.
• According to a report in Kotaku, a new "BioShock" game is currently in development.
• The rumored project hasn't been announced, and the studio reportedly working on it is brand new.

It sounds like a new "BioShock" is in the works.

The first-person shooter series, that's beloved for its style and story. is apparently getting an entirely new entry, according to a new report on Kotaku. 

The last game in the series, "BioShock Infinite," was released in 2013. It was a gorgeous, ambitious first-person shooter with a lot of flaws. Nonetheless, the series remains beloved by fans, and it looks like another one is on the way.

According to Kotaku, the project is currently code-named "Parkside" and is being developed by a small group in Novato, California. There are next to no details about it outside of its existence.

One thing is clear: The "BioShock" series is a blockbuster, and it makes perfect sense that a new game would be in the works. The last major entry was made with the last generation of game consoles in mind, and there's been ample time for publisher 2K Games to start work on a whole new game for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 generation.

For now, 2K hasn't officially announced a new game in the "BioShock" series, nor did the publisher respond to request for comment.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk loves video games — here are his favorites

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NOW WATCH: Stop blaming violent video games for mass shootings

• The viral 'yodeling kid' just performed at Coachella.
• 11-year-old Mason Ramsey became a YouTube sensation after performing a Hank Williams country song at an Illinois Walmart last week.
• On Friday afternoon, he appeared on the Coachella stage wearing a cowboy hat.
• He performed 'Lovesick Blues' in front of a cheering crowd of thousands.
• You can watch the video below.

The 11-year-old boy who went viral for yodelling a Hank Williams country song in a Walmart just performed at one of the biggest music festivals in the world.

YouTube sensation Mason Ramsey appeared on stage alongside DJ Whethan at the 2018 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California on Friday afternoon — and the crowd went wild.

Wearing a massive cowboy hat, he performed "Lovesick Blues" in front of thousands of cheering fans — and Justin Bieber was reportedly one of them.

You can see a TMZ video of the performance here:

Williams had announced he would be appeared at the festival in an Instagram post yesterday. TMZ had also confirmed he would be appearing.

You can watch Ramsey's original Walmart performance here:

SEE ALSO: A 96-year-old country song is back on the charts after the Walmart yodeling kid turned it into a viral meme

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NOW WATCH: In 50 years we'll have 'robot angels' and will be able to merge our brains with AI, according to technology experts

• The Titanic— billed as an unsinkable ship —hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912.
• Over 1,500 people died in the maritime disaster, while 705 individuals survived.
• A number of the victims and survivors were famous people.

The Titanic is one of the most famous tragedies in maritime history.

And a number of its victims and survivors were quite famous too.

The ocean liner, which sank off the coast of Newfoundland on its maiden voyage to New York City, was billed as the paragon of luxury travel. As a result, many prominent individuals decided to book a trip on the doomed ship.

Some of the ship's most famous passengers included a top fashion designer, one of the wealthiest men in the world, and a famous British countess.

For the most part, most of the well-known people on board were first-class passengers. Researcher Chuck Anesi crunched the numbers, breaking down the demographics of the survivors. He found that 97.22% of the 144 female first-class passengers were rescued, while only 32.57% of their 175 male counterparts were saved. Ultimately, he found that male second-class passengers fared the worse in terms of survival, with only 14 out of 168 making it out alive. The total survival rate for women was 74%, while the male survival rate was 20%.

Here are 12 of the most famous victims of the Titanic disaster— and 11 prominent people who survived:

SEE ALSO: 5 wild conspiracy theories surrounding the sinking of the Titanic

DON'T MISS: The 'Irish little boy' from 'Titanic' reveals how much he still makes from the film 20 years later

SEE ALSO: 17 historical photos that show how the wealthy traveled in the early 20th century

DIED: John Jacob Astor, millionaire

Millionaire John Jacob Astor was a member of the prominent Astor family and helped build the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. He was also an inventor, a science fiction novelist, and served in the Spanish-American War.

Astor was traveling with his wife Madeleine in Europe when she became pregnant. To ensure the child would be born in the US, the couple booked a trip home on the Titanic.

He was last seen clinging to the side of a raft. His wife survived the disaster.

Astor was worth nearly $87,000,000 at the time — $2.21 billion in today's dollars. He was the richest passenger onboard the Titanic.

SURVIVED: Archibald Gracie IV, historian and author

Gracie achieved prominence in the wake of the Titanic disaster due to his meticulous and detailed account of the tragedy.

The historian and Alabama native, who'd written a book on the American Civil War's Battle of Chickamauga, was returning from a European vacation on the Titanic.

He was woken up when the ship crashed into an iceberg. After escorting a number of women to the lifeboats, Gracie helped other passengers evacuate the ship.

When the ship sank, Gracie surfaced beside an overturned lifeboat. He managed to climb on top with a number of other men, and they spent much of the night balanced there.

The historian was one of the first Titanic survivors to die after being rescued, passing away on December 4, 1912 at the age of 54. Gracie's final words reportedly were "we must get them all in the boats."

DIED: W. T. Stead, investigative journalist

Stead was a highly influential editor who, in an uncanny twist, may have foreseen his death on the Titanic.

As the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, the newspaperman published an explosive and controversial investigative series about child prostitution. He is credited with helping to invent investigative journalism.

A devoted spiritualist, Stead also established a magazine dedicated to the supernatural and a psychic service known as Julia's Bureau.

He also penned a fictional story in 1886 that bore an unsettling resemblance to the real-life events of the Titanic.

"How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic, by a Survivor" tells a story of an ocean liner that sinks in the Atlantic. In the story, only 200 passengers and crew members of the original 700 people on board survive the disaster, due to a lifeboat shortage. 

According to Biography.com, Stead didn't hang around on deck as the Titanic sank. He spent his final hours reading in his cabin.

You are not ready for "God of War" on PlayStation 4. I certainly wasn't. 

Maybe you've seen the trailers, or read our review? Or maybe you're only vaguely aware of a PlayStation 4 reboot to the long-running "God of War" franchise? Maybe you've never played a "God of War" game! Maybe you're a veteran video game journalist who was expecting a 10-to-12 hour hack-and-slash game?

Turns out, we're all in the same wobbly boat as Kratos and his son Atreus, the game's heroes. It's hard to imagine someone being adequately prepared for the sweeping epic that is the new "God of War." It's not just a really good game —  it's an absolutely massive blockbuster that's full of surprises for even seasoned, cynical video game nerds like myself.

Allow me to explain:

SEE ALSO: The new 'God of War' on PS4 is the first must-play game of 2018

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1. It's incredibly fun to play.

At its basest level, "God of War" is a fun game.

I don't mean that to sound reductive — the minute-to-minute gameplay of "God of War" is thoroughly enjoyable. Whether Kratos is taking on groups of enemies, toppling massive mythological creatures, solving puzzles, or just exploring, the simple act of playing "God of War" is a delight.

Best of all: "God of War" has that "just one more" quality shared by the best games. Maybe that's "just one more" fight, or "just one more" objective you want to complete — I found myself constantly playing "God of War" past when I'd planned to stop. 

In the same way that 2017's incredible "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" was constantly pushing players to seek out a new adventure just over the horizon, "God of War" encourages players to keep going. What's that shiny thing in the distance? What's down that canal? How do I get to that treasure chest?!

It's a somewhat dangerous quality for a game to have when you're playing it well past midnight in the middle of the week, but that's a testament to how much pure fun it is to play "God of War."

2. There's mystery and adventure around every corner.

As hinted at above, the world of "God of War" — the mythological Norse realm of Midgard — is rife with mystery.

While exploring the vast expanse of Midgard, you're extremely likely to stumble on one of the dozens of mysteries hiding around every corner. You might find a hulking dragon being held captive, or a massive, abandoned fortress full of treasures (and traps).

Most likely, you'll find hours of your time being filled with entirely optional (yet fulfilling) exploration. For instance: What's through this crack in the wall?! You better believe I found out.

For every new area I found, another half dozen paths teased me with as yet unexplored regions. Up to and including when I finished the game, after over 50 hours of play time, I was still finding new areas. Having now completed the game, there are loads of places I've never been — entire storylines I've never completed, or even begun.

It's incredibly impressive, honestly. The level of detail is what makes Midgard feel alive, despite it's clearly fantastical trappings.

3. The main characters are actually good, as is their banter.

Video game characters attempting sincerity tends to not work out. Frankly speaking: Most games that make an attempt at sincerity fail.

There are exceptions of course — Joel and Ellie from "The Last of Us" come to mind — but those are exceptions, not the rule. "God of War," unbelievably," nails it.

The game's main characters, Kratos and Atreus, are entirely believable as a father-son duo. As the duo grieve the death of the family matriarch — Kratos' wife / Atreus' mother — they have to reckon with each other.

Kratos, as he's known to be, is a relentless dour, embittered man. He hates the Gods, expects nothing from life, and is always serious. He offers life lessons like, "If you never expect anything, you'll never be disappointed." 

This is his resting facial expression:

That tone is delightfully contrasted by Atreus, who's excited to explore a world he's never seen before.

He's fascinated by history, impressed by the amazing things he's seeing, and excited to talk about it all (much to the chagrin of his angry dad). In this way, Atreus stands in for the player — impressed and excited rather than over it— while Kratos is putting on his usual stiff upper lip. 

He's also a realistic depiction of an adolescent boy. He asks his father for reassurance often, overplays his own abilities, and is generally excited for adventure. He's clearly trying to find himself while asserting his own maturity. He's awkward, just like so many pre-teen boys, and grumpy, and isolated, all on top of the fact that he's grieving the death of his mother. Atreus' growth throughout the game is a joy to watch.

And that's before we start talking about the game's other central characters, each of which is surprisingly fleshed out and integral to the story. But you should discover them yourself rather than have me spoil them.

At this point, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a lot of characters. Some might even say too many.

A lot of its heroes are pretty similar: men who are full of themselves, get superpowers (or great technology), become heroes, and go through a lot of personal growth (or not).

In anticipation of "Avengers: Infinity War," we ranked all the superheroes who have been main characters in their own movies, and significant side characters who have fought with the Avengers. 

In February, we ranked the MCU villains, and since they were all bad, the ranking wasn't as fraught. But this one was a little more tricky because the majority of the MCU heroes are compelling characters with many layers to unpack, who leave a lot to look forward to in every scene. But that doesn't mean that all of these MCU heroes are great. Some, like Hawkeye and Black Widow, are forgettable despite appearing in several films over nearly a decade. 

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

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

18. Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff — played by Aaron Taylor Johnson

Who? Quicksilver was Scarlet Witch's annoying brother, who Ultron killed during the Battle of Sokovia. He didn't even last an entire movie, and that's a good thing. He wasn't a fully fleshed-out character, and "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014) used this character in a much more clever way the same year. 

17. Tony Stark/Iron Man — played by Robert Downey Jr.

Flaws are good for any character, especially a superhero — and a lack of them is one of the reasons Superman is so hard to translate to the big screen. Tony Stark is probably the most flawed hero in the MCU, which was fun for a few movies, along with his one-liners. But over time, he became relentlessly arrogant, ignoring the needs of others unless they related to his need to feel glorified.

16. Hawkeye/Clint Barton — played by Jeremy Renner

The only thing that makes Hawkeye any different from arrow-slinging heroes like Legolas or Katniss Everdeen is that he has a secret family, which is not even a secret anymore because he introduced them to the Avengers in “Age of Ultron.” The most personality we’ve seen from Hawkeye was in “Captain America: Civil War” when he shows up out of retirement to help fight on team Cap. Why? We don’t know and probably never will.

• After an extended period of stagnation, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio, has seen significant growth in recent years under the Hall's CEO and president Greg Harris.
• Harris spoke to Business Insider about how the Hall has bloomed to become a "major international attraction," while generating an annual record of $199 million in economic impact to the region last year.

When Rock & Roll Hall of Fame CEO and president Greg Harris took on his job as the head of the renowned music foundation and museum in 2012, he saw significant room for improvement.  

For about the previous dozen years, attendance at the Hall's museum in Cleveland, Ohio, had been flat. Harris' predecessors, he said, were getting by managing expenses, but there was more that the museum could do to reach an international audience of music fans. 

"We dug in deep to better understand our customers, understand our different audience segments," Harris told Business Insider. "And then we started running after our targeted segments hard."

The Hall identified that prospective visitors wanted more immersive activities and more modern forms of storytelling, along with more of the museum's longtime staple of music artifacts.

Among its recent renovations addressing these goals, the museum opened a new exhibit last summer that included a state-of-the-art, three-screen theater, which premiered with the release of the final film from the late, Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme, a documentary about the Hall's induction ceremonies.

This week, tied to its latest induction ceremony on Saturday, the museum unveiled a renovated "Hall of Fame" floor and interactive voting stations for visitors to weigh in on the Hall's next class of inductees. 

Overall, the Hall's series of changes have proven to be a considerable success, as the museum's attendance has increased 64% over the four years since Harris implemented his plan in 2014. The Hall has also grown to be a greater boon to the Cleveland economy over the same period, with an estimated annual record of $199 million in economic impact generated for the region in 2017. 

While the Hall was gearing up to induct its 33rd set of artists on Saturday — a class of inductees that includes acts like Nina Simone, Bon Jovi, and The Cars — Harris spoke to Business Insider earlier this week about how the museum has grown to become a "major international attraction."

"In Cleveland, it's a jewel" 

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland in 1995, after the city beat out several larger locations for the museum, including New York, San Francisco, Memphis, and Chicago, through a groundswell of local support and a multi-million-dollar investment from city officials. 

In Cleveland, just the 51st most-populated city in the US, the museum stands out in a number of ways.

While the Hall's distinct, modern architecture makes it a conspicuous sight in the city's skyline on the shore of Lake Erie, the museum's business has made a significant mark on Cleveland's economy for more than two decades — and particularly in recent years.

"We opened 22 years ago, and the initial investment to build the place was $92 million," Harris said. "We've returned that amount to the regional economy every year since opening. It's been a great investment for northeast Ohio, and a great draw for the region." 

But since 2014, when Harris instituted his targeted four-year plan to "spur growth and engagement" for the museum, he said the Hall has seen significant attendance growth and a furthered economic impact.

The museum's website touts an infographic on the Hall's estimated total economic impact of $199 million in 2017, a figure which includes nearly $60 million in wages generated to 1,872 jobs, and $127.4 million in visitor spending from an annual record of 568,000 visitors.

Harris, in calling the Hall one of Cleveland's "major international attractions," said that between 80 to 90 percent of the museum's visitors come from out of town.

"In Cleveland, it's a jewel," he said of the museum. "In a bigger market, we would be one of numerous attractions. But here, we've become symbolic as the signature piece for this city. When you walk through the airport in Cleveland, you know you're in the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." 

Finding success "through the power of rock and roll"

From its opening, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has benefited greatly from an inherent marketing edge: its access to the 323 legendary artists it has inducted.  

"One of the greatest advantages is having artists themselves telling your story. When you have U2 pushing out your message, or Pearl Jam pushing out your message," Harris said. "Or Ronnie Wood sharing it with all the Rolling Stones fans. That creates a great connection and relevance, and we do look to our inductees to help get the word out." 

With each annual induction class, the Hall becomes decked out with exclusive music artifacts from the inducted acts, including displays of performance outfits, instruments, and, specifically in the case of this year's induction, a notebook of Jon Bon Jovi's handwritten lyrics to his 1986 hit, "Livin' On a Prayer."

Each year's induction ceremony and performances are recorded by and later broadcasted on HBO, yet another outlet that Harris said has helped spread the word for the museum's goal to "engage, teach and inspire through the power of rock and roll." 

When asked to name his single most memorable experience with an inductee over the course of his tenure, Harris instead listed a long series of induction performances he has witnessed from artists like Stevie Wonder, U2, and Bruce Springsteen.

"Though I might say, in Cleveland," Harris added, "in 2015, having Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney reunite on the same stage that they'd performed on 50 years earlier, in 1965, in Cleveland, was quite special."

SEE ALSO: The 50 best-selling music artists of all time

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This might come as a shock for those in the Northeast, but summer is just around the corner.

That means we're coming up on the multiplexes being filled with Hollywood's big blockbusters. 

In the coming months that includes titles like "Deadpool 2," "Solo: A Star Wars Story," and "Incredibles 2."

And we can't leave out the movie a decade in the making: "Avengers: Infinity War."

Here are 32 movies we think you should go out and see this summer:

SEE ALSO: 12 of the worst TV reboots of all time, ranked from bad to unbearable

April 27 - “Avengers: Infinity War”

You might have heard about this little movie. It has a few superheroes in it and they finally battle a big purple guy. Yes, it’s going to make a couple of dollars at the movie theaters. Get ready for the most ambitious crossover event in history.

May 4 - “Overboard”

The classic Goldie Hawn/Kurt Russell 1987 romantic comedy gets a gender swap for its reboot, as Anna Faris plays the overworked employee of a spoiled Mexican playboy (Eugenio Derbez) who gets some payback when he gets amnesia after falling off his yacht.

May 4 - “Tully”

Jason Reitman reteams with "Young Adult" screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno”) and star Charlize Theron for his latest movie about a mother (Theron) who forms a unique bond with her nanny (played by Mackenzie Davis).

The director Jason Hehir spent over a year doing the ultimate deep dive into the life of the legendary professional wrestler Andre the Giant to separate the man from the myth for his HBO documentary, "Andre the Giant."

The journey took Hehir all over the globe and face-to-face with some of the biggest names in wrestling.

Business Insider talked to Hehir to break down some of the biggest revelations, talk  about his emotional encounter with Vince McMahon, and ask why the Samuel Beckett story isn't in the movie.

SEE ALSO: The 32 movies coming out this summer you can't miss

Finding Andre's real hometown.

Until the day "Andre the Giant" aired on HBO, the wrestler's Wikipedia page stated that he was born and raised in Grenoble, France. Like most of the world, whoever contributed that piece to his Wikipedia page thought the hometown given during his introduction to the ring was the truth. But that was just one of many inaccuracies about Andre Roussimoff.

Hehir discovered that Andre was born in Moliens, a small village of 40 people 6 miles outside Paris. The wrestling backstory of Andre's coming from Grenoble was created early in his wrestling career when he was touted by promoters as a friendly lumberjack found in the mountains.

"The most recognizable town in the Alps to a North American audience was Grenoble because they hosted the Olympics," Hehir said.

Once Andre's real hometown was discovered, Hehir and his crew traveled to Moliens with a few pictures of Andre with family friends.

"We literally went door-to-door and just walked the streets of that village showing these photos to people via a translator, because the people there spoke zero English," Hehir said.


They also found Andre's two brothers. One let Hehir and his crew into the family's home where Andre grew up, and there they found a treasure trove of old photos and wrestling memorabilia of Andre's that had never been seen by the public. They also filmed the giant chair for Andre in the kitchen, which is featured in the documentary. Andre's mother had it specifically made for him.

"Andre the Giant is a mythical character, but Andre Roussimoff is a mother's son, and she wanted him to be comfortable when he came home," Hehir said. "She had that made for him. He was still her baby though he could barely fit through the door."

Vince McMahon's emotional recollection of Andre.

One of the most shocking moments of the documentary is toward the end when the WWE owner Vince McMahon begins to choke up and hold back tears during an interview in which he discusses how much Andre meant to him and his company (despite the two having a falling out at the end of Andre's career).

Hehir said that wasn't the first time McMahon, known for his tough-guy swagger, showed a softer side in front of him.


"He got emotional when no cameras were there," Hehir said. "The first meeting I had with him I mentioned that Andre had a really close relationship with his daughter, and he got pretty emotional there."

Hehir said McMahon agreed to a 45-minute interview for the movie, with Hehir allowed to come back later in production to shoot any follow-ups. The 45-minute shoot turned into a three-hour interview.

McMahon getting emotional on camera was hard to film, Hehir said.

"Vince seemed to be trying to keep it together, and as an interviewer it's excruciating because your instinct is to turn the camera off," he said. "But you have a responsibility to the viewer to let them experience this feeling vicariously through the person who knows the subject well, so we included that in the film."

That was really Hulk Hogan's handwriting on the choreographed outline of his WrestleMania III match with Andre.

For wrestling die-hards, the recollections by Hulk Hogan of the lead-up to his match with Andre at WrestleMania III are something special. One great detail is his explaining how he wrote out the entire match on a yellow legal pad McMahon gave him when McMahon asked the wrestler how he thought the match should go down. Hogan scripted the entire match — but left how it would end empty for Andre to decide. Andre didn't reveal the ending until during the match, according to Hogan.


In the movie, while Hogan is telling the story, there are shots of yellow legal-pad sheets with handwriting on them. Hehir said that was really Hogan's handwriting of the match.


"That yellow legal pad is crucial to the telling of that story," he said. "But that has been long crumbled and thrown into the trash. Probably the night of the event. So for months I tried to get Hogan to re-create to the best of his recollection what he wrote down."

Hehir interviewed Hogan for the movie in April of last year. He said he finally got the pages from Hogan in the middle of December on the final day they could possibly get it in the movie before handing a finished version over to HBO.

"When we got it you could feel your heart beat opening the envelope," Hehir said. "I told Hogan even if he could write a few lines, we could shoot them really tight. He ended up writing all those pages you see in the shot — two single-spaced pages. And he wrote it as if he was in the moment, so if you freeze-frame it, you can see it says something like, 'Don't let Andre see this.'"

"Any of us could have written those pages and no one would know whose handwriting it was," Hehir continued. "But I just thought it would be a cool wink to people who do know this world that they would recognize Hogan's handwriting."

E-sports — which is to say, competitive, professional online video gaming — have exploded in popularity in recent years.

In fact, experts have predicted that e-sports viewership is likely to surpass that of traditional sports leagues, including the NBA and MLB, by 2020. Indeed, esports revenue is likely to climb to more than $900 million this year as television channels like ESPN continue to incorporate e-sports into their daily lineups, and streaming services like Amazon's Twitch become more mainstream.

In a world where competitive video games have the potential to be as lucrative an industry as professional sports, the title "pro gamer" has evolved massively since the '90s, where a relatively small group of die-hard gamers played in relatively unnoticed tournaments for community notoriety and occasional prize money. 

In the modern world of e-sports, pro gamers are salaried employees with medical benefits and 401-ks, and who have personal nutritionists and fitness trainers. They are celebrities and role models for the fans who purchase jerseys and other merchandise in their honor. They also happen to play the same video game for 8 to 10 hours a day.

Business Insider got to interview professional gamers who play in the Overwatch League, competing at the highest levels of Blizzard's acclaimed and best-selling competitive first-person shooter "Overwatch."

We got an inside look at the ups and downs of their everyday lives and, the journeys that they've taken to get to the highest level for their game of choice.

SEE ALSO: This 26-year-old makes $500,000 every month playing 'Fortnite' in his bedroom — here's how he does it

During an average week, teammates spend the majority of the day practicing "Overwatch" for hours at a time.

"Practices are really hard and really demanding," said Daniel "dhaK" Martinez, a professional player on the San Francisco Shock, one of the twelve permanent teams in the Overwatch League. 

Martinez said that on a typical practice day, he and his teammates play two hours at a time, for two or three times a day. These practice hours include running drills and skirmishes. The practice time give the players time to perfect or experiment with different in-game characters, called "heroes."

While the notion of getting paid to play video games all day may seem like a fantasy for many gamers, the reality of the training sessions can be both physically and mentally taxing, explained Jacob "Jake" Lyon, who plays on the league's Houston Outlaws.

For example, Lyon said he struggles with severe wrist pains thanks to the long hours spent working a keyboard and mouse in practice, and has to wear "geriatric gloves" while sleeping and regularly do special stretches to reduce strain.

"That's definitely not something I thought I'd have to worry about at 21," he laughed.

Match days come with the extra stresses of competing for a live audience of millions, doing press and meeting with fans, says Martinez.

"It's definitely surreal—knowing you're playing for tens of thousands of people, all watching from home," said Lyon, who plays for the Houston Outlaws. 

Any level of public notoriety comes with the responsibility of learning to be a role model for young fans — especially since "Overwatch" is smash hit with younger and older fans alike.

“It definitely requires a lot of personal responsibility," said Martinez, of the San Francisco Shock. “There are a lot of young kids watching, so you have to be extra careful — especially when you’re streaming."

Martinez is referring to the practice of streaming "Overwatch" matches on platforms like Amazon's Twitch — something that is not required by the Overwatch League, but which several players do on their own time to promote their personal brand and blow off steam.

Martinez says despite the pressures of fame, he's welcomed the opportunity to have an impact on young gamers and fans.

"It’s also really nice, knowing you can affect other people’s lives...knowing that someone looks up to you," he said.

• The Titanic— a ship billed as an "unsinkable" luxury cruise liner — sank on April 15, 1912.
• Over 1,500 people died in the disaster.
• Two fictional stories penned in 1886 and 1898 describe events that share uncanny similarities with the tragedy.
• W.T. Stead, the author of one of the pieces, ultimately lost his life on the Titanic.

The Titanic disaster has inspired countless stories.

That's not surprising. A luxury ocean liner sinking into the freezing Atlantic Ocean on its maiden voyage, dooming over 1,500 people, makes for a tale charged with pathos and danger.

Starting with "Saved from the Titanic," a short silent film starring one of the survivors, artists have churned out work after work detailing the chilling events of the April 15, 1912 disaster.

Libraries are stocked with plenty of non-fiction books and novels about the doomed ship. Critics praised the highly accurate 1958 British drama "A Night to Remember," which boasts a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. A 1997 Broadway musical about the disaster earned five Tony awards. And, of course, that same year, James Cameron came out with his blockbuster epic, Titanic, which broke a ton of box office records. The hit still earns bit actors residuals.

But two fictional stories written before the disaster are truly remarkable. They include details that bear an eerie resemblance to what happened during the real-life catastrophe. Of course, it's important to note that transatlantic ocean liners were a major facet of travel in the late 19th and early 20th century. But some of the coincidences are uncanny, nonetheless.

The first work was written in 1886 by W.T. Stead, a prominent spiritualist and investigative journalist.

"How the Mail Steamer Went Down in Mid Atlantic, by a Survivor" tells the story of an unnamed ocean liner that sinks in the Atlantic. In the story, the protagonist is a sailor named Thompson, who grows concerned over the lifeboat shortage on deck. Sure enough, the liner collides with a small sailing ship in a fog.

As the ocean liner sinks, women and children are given priority seating on the lifeboats, but chaos reigns and only 200 passengers and crew members of the original 700 people on board survive the disaster. Thompson himself survives when a lifeboat circles back around and pulls him from the water.

Stead concludes the piece with a word of advice: "This is exactly what might take place and what will take place if the liners are sent to sea short of boats."

In a horrible twist of fate, Stead lost his life in the disaster, and in another strange twist, he reportedly was convinced he'd die by either lynching or drowning.

The second novella — "The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility" by Morgan Robertson — boasted even more startling similarities to the sinking of the Titanic.

The story follows the fictional ocean liner Titan, which ultimately hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sinks. And the name and circumstances of the plot aren't the only details that fit the real-life disaster — the History of the Net breaks down a number of striking connections between the real-life and fictional ships.

Like the Titanic, the Titan was described as the largest ship afloat at the time. In fact, the sizes and lengths of the ships are quite close, as well as the speed at which they crash into the iceberg. Both liners have a dangerous shortage of lifeboats. In the story, the Titan was both dubbed "unsinkable," and proceeded to sink on a cold April night.

The Titan's sinking resulted in the deaths of all 2,500 people on board, save 13. Over 1,500 people died on the Titanic, while 705 survivors made it out.

After the sinking of the Titanic, the book was reissued and Roberston was labeled a clairvoyant. He said that he simply was knowledgeable about maritime operations saying, "I know what I'm writing about, that's all."

SEE ALSO: 5 wild conspiracy theories surrounding the sinking of the Titanic

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DON'T FORGET: The 'Irish little boy' from 'Titanic' reveals how much he still makes from the film 20 years later

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• CoinDaddy is the most famous "bitcoin rapper" in San Francisco.
• The 28-year-old behind CoinDaddy, Arya Bahmanyar, left a lucrative career in commercial real estate after he said he made a fortune in bitcoin.
• Bahmanyar now makes rap music inspired by bitcoin, and the community of power brokers and devotees who evangelize the digital currency.

Arya Bahmanyar, 28, makes rap music about driving Lamborghinis, "slinging coin," and indulging an urge to check the price of bitcoin on his phone while he's having sex.

His style of hip-hop is an acquired taste. But the biggest bitcoin devotees in the world are here for it.

After he said he made a million dollars in bitcoin, Bahmanyar left a lucrative career in commercial real estate and became the "bitcoin rapper" known as CoinDaddy. He writes and performs songs for YouTube, and lives off his earnings from investing early in bitcoin.

The self-described cryptocurrency millionaire hopes to turn his hobby into an entertainment brand, leveraging the character CoinDaddy to bring crypto culture to the mainstream.

CoinDaddy is the 'Weird Al' Yankovic of bitcoin rap

The first CoinDaddy track was inspired by a bad cryptocurrency trade that resulted in a big loss. Bahmanyar channeled his negative energy into creating a parody meditation tape that told listeners to breathe "bit" in and exhale "coin" out.

Friends shared the video: The song really spoke to down-on-their-luck traders. Its swift virality sparked an idea.

"I'm going to make songs that aren't that good," Bahmanyar said he thought to himself.

Though his music is inspired by prolific rappers Eminem and Sean "Diddy" Combs, it more closely resembles the stylings of "Weird Al" Yankovic, with a more specific appeal. The concepts string together bizarre crypto slang, like "HODL" and "mooning," and iconic crypto figures.

In "Holding the Bag," he name-drops several cryptocurrencies and boasts of buying the dips — the term for purchasing coin when the price is down, with an eye towards collecting big gains later. The second verse starts:

"Apartment's looking like the Palace of Versailles/Long position riding on an all time high/If you want the ride, and you want the riches/Then buy more coin and get the b-----s"

Here's the song:

The idea was to create music that holds a mirror to the crypto community. It aims to comfort investors in times of volatility, and self-congratulate when the price of bitcoin soars.

One of his most popular videos, called "The Siphoning," tells the tale of two tokens: bitcoin and bitcoin cash. Bitcoin split in two last August when the popular cryptocurrency forked, creating bitcoin cash. The event divided bitcoin's power brokers and caused the coin's price to take a hit.

In the song, CoinDaddy assures his audience, "Bitcoin gonna live, bitcoin's gonna live."

How Bahmanyar made a fortune in bitcoin

Created in 2008, bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that allows people to buy things and send money without attaching their names to transactions. The core technology doesn't rely banks or middlemen to function, and there are no obstructions to sending bitcoin across international borders. 

It was the decentralized nature of bitcoin that first excited Bahmanyar, he said.

In 2013, Bahmanyar was a recent graduate of George Washington University looking for work and sharing an apartment with four other people in New York City. After a fateful encounter with a group of bitcoin boosters in a bar, he found himself at the apartment of one of the most vocal evangelists for what turned out to be an educational session on cryptocurrency. His new friend told him to dump all his savings into bitcoin, which he did.

Years passed, and he checked the price of bitcoin almost daily.

His parents begged him to undo his investment, calling bitcoin a scam, referring to it as "magic internet money." But the price mostly trickled up.

"I just held," Bahmanyar said.

He worked a series of unrelated jobs in entertainment, business development, pharmaceuticals, and commercial real estate before quitting his last job and taking off for a backpacking trip across Europe in 2017. He stopped checking the price of bitcoin.

It was during a visit to see extended family in Oslo, Norway, in October that a relative asked Bahmanyar what he knew about this crazy thing called bitcoin, according to Bahmanyar.

He pulled out his phone to show them an exchange app and saw that the price of bitcoin had more than doubled to nearly $6,000 per coin within the four months since he stopped checking. He packed his bags for home, abruptly ending his visit. 

"I was like, 'What? I love you but not that much," he remembered saying.

Bahmanyar returned to the place where he grew up — the San Francisco Bay Area — to be part of the action. He would not disclose his initial investment in bitcoin or his current net worth.

His advice: 'HODL'

Last year at a holiday party for the San Francisco Bitcoin Meetup group, Bahmanyar stepped out for the first time in his new look.

He wore a long white fake-mink coat over a leopard print shirt and a matching porkpie hat. A photographer with the New York Times snapped his photo at the party, giving CoinDaddy his first brush with mainstream fame. He has the article framed in his apartment across the bay from San Francisco, near Oakland.

Bahmanyar said more people today know him as CoinDaddy than as Arya, his real name.

He spends most of his time traveling for speaking engagements and conferences. Bahmanyar said he drives the same car that he owned before making a fortune in bitcoin, but he eats out more often. He spends frugally, knowing that the price of bitcoin remains extremely volatile.

Bahmanyar plans to ramp up production of new videos in 2018 and create songs that educate people who are new to cryptocurrency investing — like a "Bill Nye the crypto guy," he said.

When asked what advice he has for other bitcoin investors, he said, "Just hold."

"I've done pretty well so far," he added.

Disclosure: The author owns small amounts of bitcoin and ether.

SEE ALSO: This 24-year-old said he quit his job after making a fortune in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — here's how he did it

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NOW WATCH: NFL superstar Richard Sherman is all-in on cryptocurrencies, but doesn’t think his grandmother should invest

"God of War," which launches as a PlayStation 4 exclusive on April 20, is a major technical achievement that raises the bar for all other video games.

While we've already shared many of our (very positive) thoughts on the game itself, we also wanted to highlight the important ways in which "God of War" nails the little details.

Take a look:

1. "God of War" kills the loading screen, and it's a beautiful thing.

Sony's Santa Monica Studios did something with "God of War" that's never been done before in a video game: It's made a complete video game that takes place in one continuous shot, in real time, with no loading screens at all. The game's cinematics, or movies where you don't control the characters, are seamlessly woven into the actual meat of the game, where you play, fight, and explore. The result is a level of intimacy and immersion rarely explored in the video game medium.

2. You can pause and quit the game at any time — even in the middle of a fight, or a cinematic.

This is a nice little touch that only some of the best video games do, but it's certainly appreciated here in "God of War." Since the game does take place in one continuous shot, it makes it feel like you can "pause the movie" at any given time, and come back whenever you feel. It's a game that respects the player's time.

3. Characters will tell stories — but not if you're in the middle of an activity.

Without giving anything away, you'll meet plenty of different characters on your journey, and some of them even come along with you.

And it's great to have company, because the side characters in "God of War" have lots of great dialogue and stories to share — but the game is extremely good at timing these things so you're not getting an important speech in the middle of a fight.

The game saves these great quiet moments for when you're not close to any action — like while you're on the way to a destination, for example. It's a subtle touch that shows an understanding of how and when to keep the player engaged.

• "Rampage" wins the domestic box office with an estimated $34.5 million.
• A big reason for that is because of the movie's star, Dwayne Johnson, who is one of the few actors in today's Hollywood who bring audiences to the theaters. 
• And he draws even bigger bucks overseas. In China alone the movie took in $55 million.
• "A Quiet Place" earned a solid second place finish putting its total domestic earnings to $99.6 million (it was made for $17 million).

Dwayne Johnson proved this weekend that he really is bulletproof.

There's no question that The Rock is the biggest action star in the world, but he proved this weekend with Warner Bros.'s "Rampage," an adaptation of the popular 1980s video game, that if his name is on the project people are going to run to the theater to see it — a lot of people.

Despite the movie sporting a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and last weekend's box office hit, "A Quiet Place," looking to have a strong second weekend in theaters, the Johnson brand went into overdrive leading to "Rampage" winning the weekend at the box office with an estimated $34.5 million, according to boxofficepro.

Johnson (who in a rare occurrence was not on set of another movie while his latest is in theaters) spent Saturday surprising audiences at an AMC theater in Burbank, California and he's been posting video messages on his Instagram reminding his fans to go out and catch the movie.

That led to "Rampage" taking in $13.8 million on Saturday, a 20% hike from its $11.5 million on Friday.

But where Johnson really flexed his muscles is overseas.

"Rampage" opened in 61 markets abroad and is doing strong across the globe, but especially in China. The second-largest movie market in the world is constantly a major focus by Hollywood because of its incredible growth over the last decade, and this weekend proved that they love Dwayne Johnson over there as the movie took in $55 million its opening weekend in the Middle Kingdom when the estimates come in.

"A Quiet Place" had a strong second place finish with $32.6 million. The surprise horror hit for Paramount saw a minuscule 35% decrease in sales from its $50 million opening weekend. The movie, made for $17 million, now has a total domestic gross of $99.6 million.

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• "A Quiet Place" is now a box-office hit, which isn't just a surprise for most in Hollywood, but also for those who made it.
• The production company behind the movie, Platinum Dunes, told Business Insider about the test screening that left its audience confused, and the anxiety of showing the finished movie for the first time.

Warning: Mild spoiler below if you haven't seen "A Quiet Place"

This weekend Paramount’s new horror movie, “A Quiet Place,” about a family forced to live in silence to hide from monsters that kill anything that makes a sound, won the weekend box office after earning an impressive $50 million domestically — exceeding all industry projections.

Made for $17 million, the third (and by far most successful) directing effort by actor John Krasinski snuck up on everyone in Hollywood to become the latest hit horror movie. And according to the producers behind the movie, Andrew Form and Bradley Fuller of Platinum Dunes, no one involved with the movie knew they had a potential hit on their hands until about a month ago.

Horror remake kings

Form and Fuller, along with their mega-blockbuster filmmaker friend Michael Bay, started Platinum Dunes in 2001 and quickly made a name for themselves remaking classic horrors like “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), “The Amityville Horror” (2005), “Friday the 13” (2009), and “A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010). They made a nice profit on all of them — “Chainsaw Massacre” made $107 million worldwide on a $9.5 million budget, “Amityville” made $108 million worldwide on a budget of $19 million, and “Elm Street” made over $115 million worldwide on a $35 million budget.

Since then, the company has expanded its portfolio. It got the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, releasing two movies on the characters for Paramount. It teamed with Jason Blum at Blumhouse Productions to make “The Purge” movies — three releases have earned a combined $319.8 million worldwide (all made for $10 million or under), with a prequel, “The First Purge,” coming July 4. And it's developing TV projects like “The Last Ship” for TNT and the upcoming Amazon series, “Jack Ryan,” starring Krasinski.

But Platinum Dunes’ comfort zone will always be horror, and it proved this weekend it’s a major player in the genre.

Krasinski's power play

Screenwriters Bryan Woods and Scott Beck wrote the “A Quiet Place” script on spec and 18 months ago, while deep into preproduction on “Jack Ryan,” Form and Fuller got a call from their agents at WME that they wanted to pass along the script, which they described as a “high concept” genre movie.

“They send it over and the script is 67 or 68 pages long, and I'm like, 'This is a movie? This is like a one-hour pilot,'” Form told Business Insider. “When we went through it you realize there's no dialogue in the movie. The script had a map of the farm and numbers on a page for a countdown. There were literally pages that were just one number. So it wasn’t even like the script had pages of full text. But the story was there.”

They took the project to Paramount, where Platinum Dunes has a first look deal, and the studio bought it. Then Form and Fuller reached out to their “Jack Ryan” star, John Krasinski, to see if he would play the role of the father in the movie, Lee Abbott.

“John called back a couple of weeks later and said, 'I definitely want to play the dad, but I also want to rewrite the script and direct it,’” Form said. He and Fuller quickly agreed.

The project became even more attractive when Krasinski’s wife, Emily Blunt, signed on to play the role of the mother. On paper, it all seemed right. But would audiences get a “silent” horror movie?

A test screening leads to lots of anxiety

Form and Fuller said they only did one test screening of the movie before its world premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, and it got mixed reactions because of one obvious omission.

“The big problem was there was no creature in the test,” Form said. “It was either plates or a motion-capture actor. Sometimes John was in the motion capture suit playing the monster. In that basement scene he was the creature down there.”

Not having a creature in the test screening was most apparent in the scene where the monster runs away from the daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds), because her hearing aid hurts its sensitive ears.

“When her hearing aid goes off in the cornfield you have her in the shot but there was nothing behind her, so the audience did not understand that a creature came up behind her,” Form said.

But that scene worked incredibly well at the SXSW screening, when audience could see the terrifying creatures brought to CGI life by Industrial Light and Magic.

However, the uncertainty leading up to the night of that screening had everyone on edge. Though Paramount studio executives had seen cuts and liked what they saw, as Form put it, “1,200 strangers in a theater can tell you something very different.”

“If there was optimism it was self-created,” Fuller said of the lead-up to the SXSW screening. “Usually when you go into a screening like that you know what you have, this was totally blind. It was crazy. We were all very apprehensive. When the movie ended and the people started cheering I put my head on my wife's shoulder and cried because it was so fraught with tension and emotion. Because we had no idea.” 

Now the movie is riding high. Leading up to its opening weekend it was sporting a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. And Form and Fuller now have some bragging rights on their horror colleague, Jason Blum, as “A Quiet Place” topped the opening weekend box office of Blumhouse’s last two hit movies — “Get Out” ($33.3 million) and “Split” ($40 million).

“A Quiet Place” is the latest example that audiences will come out to theaters for more than just superhero movies and “Star Wars.” And though Platinum Dunes has no problem getting into the blockbuster game — it’s one of the production companies on the upcoming first Transformers spin-off movie, “Bumblebee” — the company is also striving to develop genre projects that are high in originality and will attract studios.

“It's a miracle that a major studio made a movie that is practically devoid of dialogue,” said Fuller, who wouldn’t address the possibility of a sequel to “A Quiet Place” (though with its big opening weekend number, it would be shocking if Paramount doesn’t want one). “But I also think studios recognize they have to make concepts that get people to leave their homes, so as producers it's incumbent upon us to find things that will get people to go watch a movie in a movie theater. So if you find a strong concept, I think they will always get behind it.”

"A Quiet Place" is currently playing in theaters.

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With the simplicity and convenience of keeping up to date on the biggest stories in the world through two earbuds, podcasts are becoming an increasingly popular medium for people to get their news.

Given the high interest level of the public into knowing everything that is going on with President Donald Trump's administration, news organizations that cover politics have plunged head-first into the audio space.

Here are 10 must-listen political podcasts to add to your list:

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"The Daily"

The political podcast setting the pace these days is "The Daily" from The New York Times.

After hosting its campaign podcast "The Run-Up" before the 2016 presidential election, political reporter-turned-audio man Michael Barbaro is the voice and managing editor behind the premier podcast.

For about 20 minutes every weekday, Barbaro dives deep into one or two stories and interviews Times reporters about the news stories making headlines around the world. This is the podcast to subscribe to if you're looking for a deep-dive on the biggest story of the day.

"Up First"

"The Daily" is not the only early morning podcast making waves; NPR's "Up First" has claimed its place in the ears of morning commuters and others going about their day.

Dubbed as "the news you need to start your day", "Up First" covers the biggest stories in politics and news for about 10 minutes every morning.

Hosted by NPR's "Morning Edition" team of Rachel Martin, David Greene, and Steve Inskeep, "Up First" brings on NPR reporters to discuss three or four of the biggest stories of the day.

While "The Daily" looks to do a deep-dive on one or two stories in longer segments, "Up First" is perfect for the individual looking to know several of the biggest news stories of the day in a shorter time frame.

"Political Gabfest"

Arguably the most popular political podcast is the most informal one: Slate's "Political Gabfest."

Hosted by Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz, iTunes listeners once voted it "Favorite Political Podcast". The trio, which has been together on the podcast since 2005, discusses the biggest political stories and news on a weekly basis for about an hour in a way that other podcasts do not.

Much of the conversation is reportedly off the cuff and unscripted, thus showing the chemistry that the three have with each other. This is the podcast for people looking for good political discussions in a light-hearted, free-flowing manner.

Coachella may be having its greatest year on record.

Fans are losing their minds over one jaw-dropping show after the next at the annual music and arts festival hosted in Indio, California. Though, Coachella is now being called "Beychella" on Twitter, after Beyoncé delivered the headliner-performance of a lifetime on Saturday night.

Here's what you're missing at Coachella 2018.

SEE ALSO: Beyoncé gave what fans are calling the greatest show in history at Coachella — here's what happened

Let's just jump right in: Beyoncé slayed Coachella better than any artist in history.

Queen Bey brought out Destiny's Child, Solange, and Jay-Z for a truly inspired set.

It took no fewer than a hundred backup performers, three months of rehearsals, and five costume changes. Critics and entertainers are calling it the GOAT Coachella show.

Read more: Beyoncé gave what fans are calling the greatest show in history at Coachella — here's what happened

• Netflix has pulled its titles from playing at this year's Cannes Film Festival following a rule change.
• The industry has conflicting thoughts on this latest bold move from the streaming giant.

Since Netflix began releasing its own movies, it has disrupted the film industry by going against decades-old exclusivity agreements with exhibitors. It has also used film festivals as a platform for its titles, putting them on the site soon after they screen and forgoing a theatrical run before streaming.

The latter is what got the exhibitor community in France angry last year when the renowned Cannes Film Festival showed two Netflix films in competition. It led to a rule change this year that no movie could be shown in competition if it had no plans for a theatrical release in France.

Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, fired back last week, announcing that the company would not screen any of its titles at this year's Cannes Film Festival because of the rule change. This has sparked directors, producers, and even Cannes' head programmer, Thierry Fremaux, to ask Netflix to reconsider.

Some in the industry are even wondering whether the streaming giant has finally crossed the line.

"Fundamentally, I believe Netflix does not see value in the existing domestic film-community infrastructure to audiences, but they seem to want the credibility that this infrastructure lends to their prestige projects without having to fully participate in the community," a veteran film-festival director told Business Insider. "This is clear in the current Cannes dispute."

But if Netflix is perceived to lack interest in the film community, will that make filmmakers think twice about working with it?

The producer Filip Jan Rymsza, who had been toiling for years to get Orson Welles' final movie, "The Other Side of the Wind," to audiences, acknowledges that if it weren't for Netflix, that dream would never have become a reality (it will be available on the site later this year). But the movie's coming-out party was to be this year's Cannes (where Welles was beloved), and with the ban, he said last week that his appreciation for Netflix's deep pockets didn't "lessen my disappointment and heartbreak."

There are plenty of other filmmakers who have said that if it weren't for Netflix, their movies would not have been made — from Duncan Jones ("Mute") to Martin Scorsese (his coming "The Irishman").

But it's uncertain whether the latest move by Netflix will cost it future talent.

"In some sense it becomes a question of ego versus practicality," one producer told Business Insider. "The money will still be there aside from the prestige."

"I think it's overblown — I don't think it'll have a huge effect on filmmakers," another industry insider said. "It would really affect business if it were a Sundance ban."

This brings the question: Why does Netflix need any film festivals? It may be that despite the company's constant boasting about trailblazing a new path for moviegoers and filmmakers, Netflix still wants to be respected by the industry. And part of the reason for that could be that film-festival prestige can please shareholders.

"The Monday after 'Icarus' won the Oscar, Netflix's stock popped," a festival veteran noted. "So the value of participating in the film community and playing by community rules might just make economic sense for them."

Still, Cannes is made up mostly of established filmmakers who are at their peak or are legends in business. For filmmakers just getting their break, Netflix is a godsend, and all of this Cannes-ban talk is just noise.

Ryan Koo, whose debut feature, "Amateur," is a Netflix original that recently went live on the site, believes the company is giving opportunities to filmmakers like him that were never possible before. This means not just financing his work but also making it available to millions worldwide instantly.

"For film to survive and thrive, we need to be more inclusive and expand the definition of what a movie is, not restrict it and be more precious by saying 'only these films are eligible for awards or competition,'" Koo told Business Insider. "Everyone in the industry knows that there is no difference in the way a theatrical film is made versus a streaming one. In many cases, during production, you don't even know who's going to pick it up and how it's going to come out. You're simply making a movie. And everyone in the real world — actual human beings who enjoy watching movies — don't care about any of this. A movie is a movie is a movie."

SEE ALSO: The mystery behind why a beautiful movie theater in the town created by Disney World has been closed for almost a decade

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