• "Fiji Water Girl" stole the show on the red carpet Sunday at the Golden Globes. 
• Many people may not have realized that the photographer who caught the photo-bombing model carrying Fiji Water was actually commissioned to photograph the Golden Globes by the bottled water brand. 
• While the photographer was told to get shots of celebrities drinking Fiji Water on the red carpet, she changed plans and had the Fiji Water ambassador creep into the background of shots.

A new twist has emerged in the saga of the Fiji Water Girl. 

Model and Fiji Water ambassador Kelleth Cuthbert stole the show at the Golden Globes on Sunday after appearing in photograph after photograph on the red carpet. 

While the shots may have seemed to have happened by chance, they were actually part of a very strategic campaign by Fiji Water. 

"For more than a decade, Fiji Water has proudly maintained a presence at high-profile events, including major award shows, international film festivals and movie premieres," Fiji said in a statement.

Read more: 'Fiji Water Girl' went viral at the Golden Globes — and it's part of a brilliant marketing strategy more than a decade in the making

The bottled water brand has appeared in the background of countless awards shows, fashion shows, and other high-profile events in recent years. 

This year's Golden Globes could have been a continuation of the same trend, if a photographer commissioned by Getty hadn't have changed her plans at the last minute. 

According to a Getty representative, Stefanie Keenan — a photographer for Getty Images STUDIO, the company's commissioned-content brand — was onsite to take photos intended to "elevate" Fiji Water. The bottled water brand's brief had stated that her priority should be to get photos of celebrities holding or sipping Fiji Water, with or without straws. 

However, due to the chillier weather, no one was actually drinking the water, according to Getty. Celebrities on the red carpet were posing for a perfect shot, typically holding nothing but a clutch or perhaps an equally famous co-star — but not a bottle of water. 

"She was limited to a very small area of the carpet but came up with the idea to have a Fiji brand ambassador creep in to some shots," Kirstin Benson, Getty's vice president of global entertainment, said in an email to Business Insider.

"The stars aligned, the ambassador was great at deadpan, people started picking it up online, and it caught on, leading to fantastic engagement for our client!"

The shots of Cuthbert lurking in the background broke the mold for what people expected from red carpet photos. Typically, even photos from events commissioned by a brand (as Fiji has done for years) feature the product and ambassadors in a much more subtle manner. 

Getty Images STUDIO photos appear on Getty's website for download alongside other photos from the Golden Globes. So, many people may not have noticed that the photos on social media and featured in articles were commissioned by Fiji. 

Not everyone has been thrilled by the focus on Fiji Water on the red carpet. Actress Jaime Lee Curtis slammed Fiji Water for what she called "blatant promotion." 

"I specifically moved away from the blatant promotions by Fiji and Moet where young women with their trays filled with their wares stood near a designated camera," Curtis said in an Instagram post. "I knew why there was a photographer poised there and I moved away as I said out loud that I didn't want to be doing advertising for either." 

Fiji Water, the Golden Globes, and Getty did not respond to a request for comment on Curtis' criticism. 

SEE ALSO: Jamie Lee Curtis slammed the Fiji Water Girl and the brand's 'blatant promotion' at the Golden Globes

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tried the Costco food court and it totally blew us away

• "Green Book" has emerged as an Oscar frontrunner after multiple Golden Globes wins and notable nominations throughout this awards season.
• But controversy has surrounded the movie.
• One of the writers, Nick Vallelonga, deleted his Twitter account this week after a controversial 2015 reply to Donald Trump resurfaced.
• Director Peter Farrelly apologized this week for flashing his genitals in front of colleagues in 1998.
• Relatives of Don Shirley, who Mahershala Ali plays in the movie, have raised concerns that "Green Book" misrepresents the real-life musician.

Universal's "Green Book" has emerged as an Oscar frontrunner in recent weeks thanks to major wins at the Golden Globes on Sunday, and notable nominations throughout the awards season.

But as it's entered the spotlight, controversy has followed it.

"Green Book" tells the true story of Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian-American bouncer at clubs in New York City who takes a job driving African-American musician Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) during a tour through the Deep South in the 1960s. It's directed by Peter Farrelly, who's known for slapstick comedies like "Dumb and Dumber," and written by Farrelly, Brian Hayes Currie, and Tony's son, Nick Vallelonga.

The movie won three Golden Globes, including best comedy or musical, best supporting actor (Ali), and best screenplay. It's racked up Producers Guild, Writers Guild, and Directors Guild of America Award nominations this month, positioning it as a formidable player in the Oscar race.

READ MORE: 'Bohemian Rhapsody' has been a runaway hit outside the US, which helps explain its big Golden Globes upset

The recognition has come with backlash, though.

Nick Vallelonga deleted his Twitter account this week after a 2015 tweet resurfaced, in which Vallelonga replied to a claim by Donald Trump that "thousands of people" were cheering in Jersey City, New Jersey after the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001.

"100% correct. Muslims in Jersey City cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news," Vallelonga tweeted.

The claim was debunked by multiple outlets including The Washington Post, which wrote in 2015, "an extensive examination of news clips from that period turns up nothing," and "neither can we find any examples of Trump previously talking about this." 

Farrelly also came under fire this week after The Cut resurfaced 1998 reports that Farrelly flashed his genitals in front of colleagues. Farrelly quickly apologized for his past behavior.

"I was an idiot," Farrelly told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. "I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny and the truth is I'm embarrassed and it makes me cringe now. I'm deeply sorry."

Additionally, the contents of the movie itself have sparked criticism from a number of Shirley's family members, who claim the movie misrepresents him. Both Vallelonga and Shirley died in 2013.

"They decided to make Don Shirley estranged from his black family, though that was not true," Shirley's great niece, Yvonne Shirley, told The Hollywood Reporter. "They decided to make him absurdly disconnected from black community and culture, though that was not true. They decided to depict him as having spent his formative years in Europe, though he spent them in the Deep South where he was born and raised. They decided to create a story of a white man's redemption and self-realization using an extraordinary black life and a history of black oppression in this country as their backdrop."

READ MORE: Fox fired 'Bohemian Rhapsody' director Bryan Singer, but he still thanked the Golden Globes for the movie's big win

Farrelly and Vallelonga have pushed back against the Shirley family's concerns. In an October email provided to THR, Farrelly wrote to one of Shirley's relatives, "At no time in the film do we state that Dr. Shirley was never close to his family; we just show that during that two-month period in his life, they weren't particularly close, which makes sense."

Vallelonga told THR that he interviewed both his father and Shirley in the 1980s for research. He claimed that Shirley requested that the script only focus on his and Vallelonga's relationship, that he not interview anyone else, and that the movie not be released during his lifetime.

"Green Book" has not been a wild success at the box office, but has at least surpassed its production budget since debuting last month. It's grossed $37 million and was made for $23 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The biggest question will be whether the Oscars can give it a boost in the midst of multiple controversies. 

This year's Oscar nominations are announced on January 22.

SEE ALSO: Netflix's 'The Kominsky Method' got a big boost in popularity after its Golden Globes wins

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch the extreme workout regimen of a professional ballerina

• Nintendo's latest major game, "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate," stars over 70 of gaming's most iconic characters — from Super Mario to Mega Man.
• It's the most detailed many of those characters have ever looked, but it's still far from the level of detail of the biggest PlayStation and Xbox blockbusters.
• The artist behind the gorgeous, highly-detailed "God of War" has been reimagining major "Super Smash Bros." characters on Twitter — to hilarious and horrifying results.

What would it look like if the high-resolution, super-high detail art style of 2018's incredible "God of War" was applied to some of Nintendo's most iconic characters?

"God of War" art director Raf Grassetti is answering exactly that question on his Twitter feed, where he's been drawing up new versions of major Nintendo characters like Bowser and Samus Aran.

Here's the Hero of Time, Link of "The Legend of Zelda" himself, reimagined:

Not too shabby, right?

And that's just for starters:

SEE ALSO: A huge new game starring Disney's biggest characters is nearly out — here's what you need to know about 'Kingdom Hearts 3'

As you might've already noticed, these depictions of Nintendo's characters are specifically pulling from their "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" versions:

Instagram Embed:
//instagram.com/p/BsMFiA0AIms/embed
Width: 800px

Samus Aran of "Metroid" fame, seen above, is stylistically pulling from the version of Samus in the new "Super Smash Bros."

Here's a significantly beefier version of Fox McCloud, the protagonist of the "Star Fox" franchise:

Instagram Embed:
//instagram.com/p/BsQirokAQL0/embed
Width: 800px

This version of Fox is probably more at home in a "Gears of War" game than a Nintendo title.

Mario's longtime rival Browser, the King of the Koopas, is more horrifying than ever in Grassetti's interpretation:

Instagram Embed:
//instagram.com/p/BsTJn9mgC2c/embed
Width: 800px

• "Black Mirror" creator Charlie Brooker told fans who don't like making choices in "Bandersnatch" to "f--- off" in an interview with Huffington Post.
• "Black Mirror: Bandersnatch" is an interactive movie with at least five different endings and a trillion different permutations. 
• Brooker also addressed critics who say it's "too simple" to be a game: "Well this isn’t on a gaming platform, it’s on Netflix."

Netflix's new interactive "Black Mirror" movie, "Bandersnatch," allows viewers to make choices throughout the story, and has at least five possible endings. Some fans don't like that, and "Black Mirror" creator Charlie Brooker has harsh words for them.

In an interview with Huffington Post published on Thursday, Brooker told fans to "f--- off" if they don't like making decisions during "Bandersnatch."

READ MORE: 'Bird Box' gave 'Stranger Things' season 2 a run for its money as Netflix's biggest original in the first week

"It’s been interesting that you get different reactions from different people, partly based on what they’re expecting, or what they want," Brooker said. "So some people go, ‘oh, I’m sh-- at this’, and you sort of go, ‘no no, it’s alright, we’ve built in that you’re going to fail.'"

He added: "We’re trying to make you fail a couple of times so that you have to go around and do things again, and that’s sort of baked into the story. There’s also some people that are like ‘I don’t wanna make decisions’, ‘I don’t want to do any of it’... well f--- off, then. Do something else!"

Brooker also briefly waded into the debate on whether "Bandersnatch" is a game or not, and addressed those who think it's "too simple" for a game.

"Well this isn’t on a gaming platform, it’s on Netflix," he said. "I’m well aware of what a computer game is, thanks."

"Bandersnatch" was released on Netflix last month, and features over a trillion different permutations. It stars Fionn Whitehead as a programmer in 1984 tasked with designing an interactive video game based on a novel called "Bandersnatch." He starts to question reality throughout the process.

"Bandersnatch" has a 73% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 63% audience score, well below previous "Black Mirror" seasons.

Season five of "Black Mirror" was delayed because "Bandersnatch" took so long to make, producer Annabel Jones told The Hollywood Reporter. But season five is still coming in 2019, a Netflix representative confirmed to Business Insider.

SEE ALSO: Hulu gained on Netflix in the US during a year of massive user growth, but there's a big challenge it will have to overcome in 2019 to keep up the pace

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch the extreme workout regimen of a professional ballerina

• "Aquaman" is expected to cross $1 billion worldwide this weekend.
• It will join four other movies released in 2018 that hit the box-office milestone.

"Aquaman" is about to join an exclusive club. Warner Bros.' DC Comics superhero movie grossed $971.5 million globally as of Wednesday, and it is expected to cross $1 billion this weekend, according to Deadline.

Four movies hit that box-office milestone in 2018, helping to propel the worldwide box office to a record year. The global box office was expected to hit $41.7 billion in December, largely thanks to North America, which had a record year at nearly $12 billion.

We've rounded up the four movies that crossed $1 billion in 2018, listing them with their domestic, foreign, and global takes based on numbers from Box Office Mojo.

Below are the four movies that hit $1 billion at the worldwide box office in 2018, ranked by how much they've made total:

SEE ALSO: The 43 biggest movies coming out in 2019, which could propel the box office to another record-breaking year

4. "Incredibles 2"

Domestic total: $608 million

Foreign total:$634 million

Worldwide total: $1.24 billion

3. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom"

Domestic total: $417 million

Foreign total: $892 million

Worldwide total: $1.31 billion

2. "Black Panther"

Domestic total: $700 million

Foreign total:$647 million

Worldwide total: $1.35 billion

There’s nothing better to help a Hollywood career than Oscar buzz.

Though you can make the argument that some of people in the race this year — like Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, and Mahershala Ali — are going to do just fine in their careers regardless if they get Oscar nominated (chances are very high all three of these people will), for others who are in contention this year, it marks the moment in their careers when they elevate their profile to the next level.

For some, being an Oscar contender means getting bigger projects and heftier pay days. For others, especially those in the below-the-line categories, getting nominated or winning a little gold statue can solidify a career.

Here are eight Hollywood players who are getting the most out of their Oscar buzz:

SEE ALSO: The 43 biggest movies coming out in 2019, which could propel the box office to another record-breaking year

Olivia Colman (Actress) — "The Favourite"

Colman has had an established career in the UK for over a decade, but with her acclaimed performance as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Favourite" (which has already earned her a Golden Globes win), it's likely roles for her will only increase on this side of the pond.

It's likely Colman will be nominated in the best actress Oscar category when nominations are revealed later this month. Competition to win will be tough with Lady Gaga ("A Star Is Born") and Glenn Close ("The Wife") also likely to be nominated as well. But in the case of Colman, getting the nomination is the win. 

John David Washington (Actor) — "BlacKkKlansman"

John David Washington has spent most of his life trying to not follow in his famous dad's footsteps. Being the son of Denzel Washington, John only recently got into acting as most of his life, he tried to become a pro football player (which made him the perfect fit to star in the HBO series "Ballers"). Now in the family business, John is forging an impressive career path thanks to one of the directors who made his dad an icon, Spike Lee. 

John playing Ron Stallworth in "BlacKkKlansman" is a major reason why Lee will likely get a best director Oscar nomination. Though it's a longshot that John will get a nomination, his performance in the movie will launch him to big roles. 

Tony McNamara (Screenwriter) — "The Favourite"

This Australian writer's exposure in Hollywood has jumped big time thanks to taking on a rework of "The Favourite." Originally penned by Deborah Davis, McNamara teamed with director Yorgos Lanthimos when he became attached to the project. They worked on making the story even more focused on the three main female leads than it originally was, while also plugging in the little quirks that makes a Lanthimos project so unique.

On top of McNamara and Lanthimos working on another project together, "The Favourite" is a (sorry) favorite to win the Oscar for best original screenplay.

• Atlas Film Studios is a 322,000 square-foot studio in southwestern Morocco that is considered to be the largest film studio in the world.
• More than 200 major films and television shows have filmed there, including "Gladiator," "Ben Hur," "Kingdom of Heaven," "The Mummy," "The Passion of the Christ," and, most recently, "Game of Thrones" and "Aladdin."
• Located in a stunning red desert landscape, Atlas is often used for its dramatic landscapes, the relative cheap cost of production, and its promixity to the striking medieval ksar of Aït Benhaddou, also a popular filming location. 
• I recently visited and it was a strange place strewn with the elaborate replicas of biblical towns, Egyptian temples, Tibetan monasteries, and more. It's very weird, but definitely worth the visit.

Think about any biblical or historical epic you've ever seen. There's probably a barren landscape of soft golden-red rocks, mud brick buildings, and thatched straw roofs. 

From "Lawrence of Arabia," "Noah," and "The Passion of the Christ," to "Ben Hur," "Gladiator," and "Kingdom of Heaven," the landscape is the same. There's a reason for that.

They were all filmed near Ouarzazate, a desert city in southwestern Morocco, that is known as "the door of the desert."

Just outside Ouarzazate lies Atlas Film Studios, a 322,000-square-foot property that is considered to be one of, if not, the biggest film studio in the world.

Founded in 1983 by Moroccan entrepreneur Mohamed Belghmi for the filming of the 1985 action-adventure film "The Jewel of the Nile,"  Atlas has since become a premier destination to film big budget blockbuster films thanks to the area's dramatic landscapes, the relative cheap cost of production, and its promixity to the striking medieval ksar of Aït Benhaddou, also a popular filming location. 

Most recently, Atlas Film Studios was used for filming scenes in "Game of Thrones" and Disney's upcoming live-action "Aladdin," starring Will Smith.

On a recent trip to Morocco, I decided to make a stop in Ouarzazate to check out Atlas Studios. It was about as strange a place as I've ever been to. 

Here's what it was like:

SEE ALSO: An otherworldly desert in Jordan has doubled as distant planets in movies like 'Star Wars' and 'The Martian' — after seeing it myself, I can tell you it's just as breathtaking in person

DON'T MISS: I rang in the New Year at an all-night rave in the Moroccan desert. It left Times Square in the dust.

Ouarzazate lies about 125 miles or so from Marrakech, where most people start their trip to Morocco. After driving for hours through winding mountain passes, I came upon the desert town. It's a barren landscape.

A few miles outside of the town lies Atlas Studios, opened in 1983 by Moroccan entrepreneur Mohamed Belghmi. It is now run by Amine Tazi, who owns Atlas Studios and nearby CLA Studios.

When Atlas isn't being used by crews to film movies, it's open to visitors for only $5 a ticket.

• Video game publishing powerhouse Activision and blockbuster game development studio Bungie are splitting up.
• The two companies agreed to a 10-year, multi-game deal tied to the "Destiny" franchise.
• That deal has been dissolved, and it appears to be an amicable split.

Video game publisher Activision and blockbuster video game development studio Bungie are parting ways, in a huge move that sees Bungie take the publishing rights for "Destiny" with it. 

Bungie announced as much in a blog post on Thursday. Activision confirmed the news over social media, and in an 8-K filing.

Activision is most well-known for publishing the "Call of Duty" franchise, but has become just as well-known in recent years for its work on the "Destiny" franchise — published by Activision, and developed by Bungie.

The two companies signed a 10-year contract in 2010, specifically aimed at turning "Destiny" into a major video game franchise. It's coming to an end one year early, and the terms appear to be amicable.

"We have enjoyed a successful eight-year run and would like to thank Activision for their partnership on 'Destiny,'" the blog post says. "Looking ahead, we’re excited to announce plans for Activision to transfer publishing rights for 'Destiny' to Bungie. With our remarkable 'Destiny' community, we are ready to publish on our own, while Activision will increase their focus on owned IP projects."

The 10-year, $500 million contract between Bungie and Activision led to the creation of "Destiny" and "Destiny 2," as well as a variety of expansion packs and other additional content.

Previous to "Destiny," Bungie was already an iconic game development studio: It was the studio that created the beloved "Halo" franchise. When Bungie left Microsoft in 2007, it left behind the "Halo" franchise as terms of the split.

Notably, that doesn't appear to be the case here, as Bungie specifically says that the "Destiny" franchise publishing rights are transferring to Bungie.

Activision issued the following statement regarding the split, via social media:

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested out $30 tiny spy cameras from Amazon by spying on our co-workers

• Amazon is working on a video game streaming service, like Netflix but for video games, according to a new report in The Information.
• Amazon's competition at Microsoft and Google are already openly preparing similar services.
• And Sony is out ahead of everyone else: The company has been operating the PlayStation Now streaming service for years.

Amazon's already a major video game retailer, and it operates the largest video game livestreaming service in the world with Twitch.

The company's next move into gaming, though, is even more ambitious: Amazon is working on a Netflix-like service for playing games, according to a new report from The Information.

Like Sony's PlayStation Now, the new service from Amazon will reportedly allow players to stream games rather than having to buy and download individual titles. The company is said to be discussing potential games for the new service with game publishers, but it sounds like plans are still early; the streaming service isn't expected to arrive until 2020 "at the earliest."

Amazon has yet to officially announce such a service, and a representative didn't return a request for comment as of publishing.

But even without official confirmation or an announcement, multiple jobs listings spotted by The Verge point to Amazon building just such a service. One such listing even explicitly says, "This is a rare opportunity to take a technical leadership role to shape the foundation of an unannounced AAA games business." 

Logic also points toward Amazon making such a service.

Amazon is one of the few tech companies with a cloud computing infrastructure already in place, worldwide, to pull off such a challenging technological issue. It's called "Amazon Web Services" (AWS for short), and it's the type of infrastructure required to pull off video game streaming on a mainstream consumer scale.

Sony's PlayStation Now largely obtained its infrastructure from two companies that Sony purchased: OnLive and Gaikai. In the case of Microsoft's Project xCloud, Microsoft is relying on its Azure cloud infrastructure. Google, similarly, has a cloud infrastructure built out for use with its Project Stream initiative.

Both services promise high-end video game streaming on low-end tech, and that idea comes with a lot of potential: No more buying expensive game consoles. Instead, the heavy lifting would be offloaded to a cloud server somewhere and beamed into your home. 

Though several services have attempted such a feat, none have upended the video game industry in the way that Netflix and other streaming services upended the film and TV business.

Read the full report over at The Information.

SEE ALSO: Microsoft's Project xCloud will let you stream Xbox games straight to your smartphone or tablet

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Apple went from a $1 trillion company to losing over 20% of its share price in 3 months

• Anime is a style of Japanese film and television animation with a global fan base of millions.
• Hollywood studios have largely failed to adapt anime for western audiences.
• Hollywood's $100 million remake of "Ghost in the Shell" completely bombed at the box office and lost at least $60 million.
• Watch the video above to learn why anime adaptations are terrible and what studios can do to make them better.

Narrator: During the course of the original anime film, "Ghost in the Shell," director Mamoru Oshii, asks an ambitious question. In a world where humans can merge with machines, he asks the viewer, "What is it" "that makes us fundamentally human?" It's a beautiful film with a sprawling world that, as cliché as this sounds, really makes you think.

Hollywood's $100 million remake falls far short of the original concept. It also completely bombed at the box office, losing at least $60 million. The "Ghost in the Shell" remake is not alone. Virtually every Hollywood anime adaptation is critically panned and doesn't make any money. Why?

Justin Sevakis: Well, for the most part, they're just not good.

Narrator: Justin Sevakis is a writer for Anime News Network. He believes it's the practical differences between film and anime that lend a hand to Hollywood's flops.

Sevakis: When we see an animated character, we're never thinking about the actor, we're never thinking about the day on the set. We very much lose ourselves in that fantasy world. So a lot of things that are really fanciful and interesting in animation just don't work in live action. They're just kinda dumb-looking.

Narrator: The "Dragon Ball" franchise is a great example. It first aired in 1986 and follows the adventures of a human-like, alien child, who protects Earth by fighting otherworldly enemies. As the series continues, the battle scenes become epic as the characters fire rays of energy at each other. As you can imagine, this is absolutely cringeworthy in Hollywood's 2009 adaptation

So why are comic book movies so successful, given that they also feature characters with superpowers and ambitious fight scenes? It has to do with the source material.

Sevakis: Adaptations of the existing comic book is very freewheeling. They don't have to change where it takes place because it's already in a Western land with tropes that are already familiar to filmmakers. There's a lot of shared visual language between American comic books and movies because they've influenced each other greatly over the decades.

Narrator: Our favorite superheroes exist in cities we live in. When some evil force threatens New York City, for example, that means something to American audiences. In that sense, comic book adaptations already have a leg up on anime adaptations.

Sevakis: I think a lot of times, filmmakers go into an anime adaptation without really fully understanding what made the anime or its original manga compelling in the first place.

Narrator: Netflix's adaptation of "Death Note" is an example of this. In the original anime series, the main character, Light, stumbles upon a supernatural notebook. If you write someone's name in that book, that person then dies. Light feels like a judge and goes on to kill hundreds, taking up a pseudonym, "Kira," so no one knows who he is or how he kills.

There are a plethora of rules, though. For instance, you have to write how the person dies within 40 seconds. Otherwise, they'll just die of a heart attack. The many rules for the book and how they complicate things is part of why people loved the series. But the Netflix adaptation foregoes all of this.

The adaptation also fails to understand why viewers of the original series loved the characters, specifically. In the anime, Light is a smart kid from a nice, supportive family. That's what makes his choice to become death sentencer so interesting. In the adaptation, though, Light's mom is killed by people who get away with it, making his motive to kill people much more obvious and straightforward.

It's indicative of how complex ideas are lost in translation when being adapted.

Sevakis: Obviously, a lot is going to be lost because what the original filmmaker wanted to say, example, Mamoru Oshii of "Ghost in the Shell," was not going to be replicated by a director, making a "Ghost in the Shell" film that was not the same movie.

Narrator: Let's look at a specific scene from the anime. Police are pursuing a man who steals and destroys people's memories. At the end of the conflict, they realize the man is part machine and had been programmed to commit these crimes.

Sevakis: So there was this great emotional moment at the end of that fight scene where you're like, "Oh, there was nothing behind that." He's just kind of this poor, lost soul that has been programmed to be this, you know, this foot soldier. And now, he's just kind of this empty shell, lost and without purpose. And that was really haunting.

Narrator: This scene is recreated in the 2017 remake. And while it succeeds in its visual cues to the original, it serves no greater purpose to the story. It's just a fight scene. In general, the remake is streamlined into a simple story about the protagonist's quest for her memories, losing the deeper meaning of the original story.

For better anime adaptations, Hollywood needs to do two things. First, they need to do a much better job at figuring out exactly which anime is going to translate well into live action. Once they do that, they need to be sure of why fans like the anime in the first place.

For a genre of animation chock-full of amazing stories and beautifully complex ideas, this really shouldn't be that hard for Hollywood studios to figure out.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Red Dead Online, the multiplayer online mode in "Red Dead Redemption 2," is currently in a beta phase.
• A new update will add a "Fortnite"-style battle royale mode called Gun Rush to Red Dead Online, along with some quality of life improvements.
• Creator Rockstar Games expects the beta to continue for a few more months, and is developing separate story missions for Red Dead Online.

Red Dead Online, the online multiplayer mode in "Red Dead Redemption 2," is getting some major updates to mark the start of 2019 — including Gun Rush, a new game mode that's similar to "Fortnite: Battle Royale."

Gun Rush was added an update landing on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One today, and lets up to 32 players play at once. Like "Fortnite," Gun Rush tosses players into a shrinking battle zone and forces them to search for weapons to survive. Players can ride solo or join up with a team, and the last squad standing wins the game.

Rockstar is planning more quality of life improvements for Red Dead Online, too, like daily challenges, a revised bounty system for aggressive players, and other changes that will help organize player interactions on the online frontier. Future updates will include new story missions, dynamic events, collectible items, and different competitive modes like races.

Though Red Dead Online is included with every purchase of "Red Dead Redemption 2," Rockstar says the online mode is still in a beta phase and will remain so for a few more months.. Prior to the launch of Red Dead Online, Rockstar said it planned to work alongside the community to build an ideal online experience.

"We look forward to working with our amazing and dedicated community to share ideas, help us fix teething problems and work with us to develop 'Red Dead Online' into something really fun and innovative," the company said in a statement.

In the past, Rockstar developers have said they consider Red Dead Online and "Red Dead Redemption 2" to be two different games. Rockstar still provides regular updates to Grand Theft Auto Online, even though "Grand Theft Auto V" launched more than five years ago in 2013. Rockstar's ongoing support has helped that game sell more than 100 copies worldwide.

"Red Dead Redemption 2" was one of the most celebrated games of 2018, and with ongoing support for Red Dead Online, the game won't soon be forgotten.

SEE ALSO: This guy followed 'Red Dead Redemption 2' characters for a full day and discovered just how detailed the game really is

SEE ALSO: The 20 best video games of 2018, from 'Red Dead Redemption 2' to 'God of War'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: British Airways has a $13 million flight simulator that taught us how to take off, fly, and land an airplane

• The sixth-busiest airport in the world is taking on an unusual vibe.
• As TSA agents go unpaid, Travis Scott and Kanye West songs are blasting through JFK's loudspeakers, some passengers reported on Twitter.
• "We're living in a simulation," one passenger tweeted.

The US dealing with the second-longest government shutdown ever.

Most of the effects have been unsavory. Some 800,000 federal workers are furloughed, meaning they are not working and receiving no pay, or working without pay (though those workers are due back pay when the government reopens) until the shutdown ends. The Food and Drug Administration has ceased food inspections. And the 40 million Americans who receive SNAP benefits won't receive food assistance after February, if the shutdown continues.

Lines at airports nationwide have also become incredibly long as Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees call in sick at work and go unpaid. Air-traffic controllers have also gone unpaid since December 22.

SEE ALSO: TSA employees working unpaid because of the government shutdown are quitting — and this could create a 'massive security risk' for travelers

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Bernie Madoff was arrested 10 years ago — here's what his life is like in prison

• Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California continued to tease her potential 2020 US presidential run during an appearance on CBS' "The Late Show" Thursday night, smiling and telling host Stephen Colbert two words: "I might."
• Harris' response drew raucous cheers and applause from the audience. The former California attorney general, who has been promoting her book, has made waves lately, amid speculation she may seek the White House.
• She is one of several prominent Democrats in a growing field of potential candidates vying to challenge President Donald Trump in the next election.

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California continued to tease her potential 2020 US presidential run during an appearance on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Thursday night, smiling and telling Colbert two words: "I might."

Colbert pointed to the striking clues about her potential presidential bid, namely her media blitz and book tour after the publication of her memoir: "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey."

"Many people who put out books two years before a presidential election do so to introduce themselves in a broad way to the American people," Colbert said. "Um, are you going to run for president?"

The audience cheered and applauded loudly as Harris pondered her answer.

Watch the moment here »

Harris is one of several prominent Democrats in a growing field of potential candidates vying to challenge President Donald Trump in the next election. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts announced her candidacy earlier in January, and former Housing and Urban Development secretary Julián Castro has formed a presidential exploratory committee.

Other potential candidates include Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas.

Harris is currently serving her first term in the Senate, similar to former President Barack Obama, who, as a first-term senator, was initially criticized for his inexperience after he announced his 2008 presidential campaign. Prior to her role in the Senate, Harris was California's attorney general and served as the district attorney of San Francisco.

Harris, an Indian American, rose to prominence within the Democratic Party after becoming an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration policies and political nominees, namely Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

"When we talk about the immigration debate, there are powerful forces — including this president — that are attempting to vilify immigrants because they were born in another country," she said during a CNN interview on Wednesday. "This should offend all of us."

SEE ALSO: 'You're such a smart-a--': Kellyanne Conway unloads on CNN's Jim Acosta in fiery exchange after he asks if Trump 'will tell the truth'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'

• Sir Andy Murray is stepping away from the world of tennis.
• The former world No. 1 announced on Friday that he would be retiring at Wimbledon this summer, if not sooner.
• The Brit has been plagued by a hip injury for nearly two years and, in an emotional press conference, he admitted that the constant pain was becoming too much.
• Tributes have poured in from tennis stars past and present who praised Murray for his ability on-court, his regimented devotion off it, and his voice for gender equality.
• The most touching tribute of all came from tennis 'bad boy' Nick Kyrgios who struck up an unlikely friendship with Murray, who he said is like an older brother to him.

"I've been struggling for a long time," Sir Andy Murray said in a press in Melbourne, Australia on Friday.

"I've been in a lot of pain for... it's been about 20 months now."

Thus began Murray's tearful resignation from the world of tennis, where he has been on the podium of giants like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, for much of the past decade.

The former world No. 1 announced that this year's Australian Open may be the last tournament of his career as he continues to suffer with a hip injury that has plagued him for nearly two years.

Murray said he would like to end his career in the place where he put a stop to a 76-year Grand Slam drought for British men's singles players — at Wimbledon — though, he's not sure it will be possible.

"I said to my team I can get through this until Wimbledon, that's where I would like to stop playing. But I'm also not certain that I'm able to do that," Murray said.

The announcement was an emotional one, and one that has rocked the world of tennis. Unsurprisingly, tributes have poured in from players past and present and those in the media who had the chance to follow Murray on tour.

Perhaps the most touching tribute of all came from tennis "bad boy" Nick Kyrgios who has often made headlines for his fiery temper and lack of discipline.

In an Instagram reel filled with photos of the pair, Kyrgios captioned the post: "Andy, I know you take me for a joker most of the time, but at least hear me out on this one old friend.

"You will always be someone that impacted the sport in so many different ways, I know this was never the way you wanted to go out, but hey it was a heck of a ride. You took me under your wing as soon as I got on tour, and to this day you have been someone I literally just look forward to seeing.

"You are one crazy tennis player, miles better than me, but I just want you to know that today isn't only a sad day for you and your team, it's a sad day for the sport and for everyone you've had an impact on. Which leaves me big fella.. these are a couple photos, that should make you smile and think, I was actually a little bit of a younger brother to you.

"Anyways, I just want you to know, and I'm sure you already do, everyone wants you to keep fighting and to keep being you. Goodluck at the Australian Open muzz, I'll be behind you."

Juan Martin Del Potro, meanwhile, urged the Scot not to give up.

"Andy, just watched your conference. Please don’t stop trying," the Spaniard said.

"Keep fighting. I can imagine your pain and sadness. I hope you can overcome this. You deserve to retire on your own terms, whenever that happens. We love you @andy_murray and we want to see you happy and doing well."

US tennis star Andy Roddick praised Murray's on-court abilities, saying: "Absolute legend. Short list of best tacticians in history. Unreal results in a brutal era ...... Nothing but respect here. I hope he can finish strong and healthy."

Murray's former coach Ivan Lendl also paid tribute to the star, reportedly saying: "He will leave a measure of true grit that we all can learn from.

"Andy always left it all out on the court and I will look back with great feelings about the years we worked together. They were a lot of fun and filled with excitement. "

Off the court, Murray was known for being a vocal supporter of the women's tour and equality in sport and beyond.

"You are a champion on and off the court," women's tennis legend Billie Jean King wrote in a tweet.

"So sorry you cannot retire on your own terms, but remember to look to the future. Your greatest impact on the world may be yet to come. Your voice for equality will inspire future generations. Much love to you & your family."

Courtney Nguyen, who is a Senior Writer for WTA Insider, wrote: "I think the women in the press room will back me up on this: Andy Murray always treated us great.

"Sometimes I'd chuckle at his penchant for giving a thoughtful answer to a q asked by a woman, which he just brushed off when asked by a guy."

According to New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg, German tennis player Andrea Petkovic said: "He [Murray] was always my favorite, and I think it will be a huge loss for tennis in general, but also for the WTA.

"Because even nowadays, when you think everything is equal, you still need men, especially successful men, to speak up for women."

Murray, who has won 45 singles titles, including three Grand Slam titles, is due to play his Australian Open first-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut (22) of Spain on Monday.

SEE ALSO: Andy Murray praised for challenging journalist who ignored achievements of female tennis players

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I went on Beyoncé's 22-day diet — and I lost 15 pounds

• The latest game in the Resident Evil franchise is "Resident Evil 2," a remake of the 1998 classic arriving on January 25th, 2019.
• "Resident Evil 2" is rebuilt from the ground up, blending the horror elements of the original with the action-oriented gameplay of newer "Resident Evil" games.
• "Resident Evil 2" takes gore to another level, using an updated graphics engine to show the damage done to zombies in real-time.

Picking up Capcom's remake of "Resident Evil 2" for the first time, I thought I knew what to expect. I've beaten the 1998 original, and I still remember the parts that scared me out of my seat. But less than 10 minutes into the new demo, I felt myself gripping the controller in fear all over again.

A special 30-minute demo of "Resident Evil 2" is available now in the PlayStation Network store and on Xbox Live. Capcom is calling it the "1-shot" demo because you'll only have 30 minutes total to try the game, whether you survive to the end or get caught by zombies. The demo arrives two weeks before the full game, which is due out on January 25th.

For me, returning to the monster-infested Raccoon City Police Department as rookie cop Leon Kennedy felt surreal; the setting was immediately familiar, but the remake's overhauled graphics and camera angles offer a new perspective. Even with my memories of where to go, it took some time to navigate the dark hallways, as the game's dynamic lighting left me relying on Leon's flashlight to guide the way.

By the time I encountered my first zombies, I was fully on edge, despite carrying a full clip of pistol ammo. I could see their bodies falling to pieces as I fired, but they just kept coming, with some even attacking from the floor. Damage done to the zombies and monsters appears in real time — this "Resident Evil 2" remake benefits from the fresh game engine Capcom developed for "Resident Evil 7." Before I could find a way to restore power to the dimly lit hallways, I was forced to run for my life back to the main lobby and look for another way to escape.

The "Resident Evil" series is credited with coining the term "survival horror" to define the unique genre the games pioneered in the late '90s. "Resident Evil" made players feel vulnerable by stealing away their sense of control and limiting their resources, a stark contrast from the superheroic protagonists of most action games.

Building from the success of the first game, the developers of "Resident Evil 2" understood how to manipulate the technology of the time to build a terrifying experience. Fixed camera angles made the game feel less focused on the player, instead emphasizing the horrific setting and leaving the potential for surprises lurking off-screen. With difficult controls and limited weaponry, each confrontation was a stressful choice between fight or flight. Surviving the game meant properly managing items, solving puzzles under stress, and staying aware of your surroundings.

This changed with "Resident Evil 4" and its sequels, as Capcom shifted the game to an over-the-shoulder camera and more action-oriented gameplay. While the run-and-gun style of the newer games found an audience, fans of the earlier games complained that "Resident Evil" had abandoned survival horror to become a more generic action franchise.

The redesigned "Resident Evil 2" strikes a healthy balance between the two styles of gameplay, giving players greater control with the over-the-shoulder camera, but continuing to limit resources as they explore the constant dangers of the police department. Using the updated RE Engine, "Resident Evil 2" completely recasts the game's visuals, creating a dark and frightening environment to match the suspense of the gameplay.

The game's storytelling has also been revamped, expanding short conversations into full-blown cutscenes. Leon's story is one of two campaigns in "Resident Evil 2." The other story belongs to Claire Redfield, who we've seen battling the mutated Doctor William Birkin in earlier demos of the remake.

Dr. Birkin pursues Claire through the tunnels beneath the police department and Claire is forced to flee and search the area for ammo to defend herself. While the fight is rather basic in the original game, the remake makes the updated boss battle feels suspenseful in all the right ways. Birkin's behavior has been improved to make him a true threat, and the improved controls give Claire more of a fighting chance.

In the original game, the two story campaigns were interconnected and the order they were completed impacted the course of the story, as well as the items you can obtain in the game. Capcom said the storytelling in "Resident Evil 2" has been modified to make the plot more cohesive, though the two campaigns remain separate.

Even as someone who finished the original game, the "Resident Evil 2" remake feels like a refreshing experience and achieves a wonderful balance between classic survival horror and modern gameplay. "Resident Evil 2" will be released for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on January 25, 2019, you can check out the story trailer below.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested out $30 tiny spy cameras from Amazon by spying on our co-workers

• "Green Book" co-writer Nick Vallelonga apologized on Thursday for an anti-Muslim tweet from 2015.
• "I spent my life trying to bring this story of overcoming differences and finding common ground to the screen, and I am incredibly sorry to everyone associated with 'Green Book,'" he said in a statement.
• In the tweet, Vallelonga had responded to a claim by Donald Trump that thousands of people in New Jersey cheered after the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks.
• "Muslims in New Jersey cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news," Vallelonga tweeted.

"Green Book" is an awards favorite, but it can't escape controversy.

Nick Vallelonga — a co-screenwriter and son of one of the movie's subjects, Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga — apologized on Thursday for a 2015 anti-Muslim tweet that recently resurfaced.

His full statement is below, via Deadline:

"I want to apologize. I spent my life trying to bring this story of overcoming differences and finding common ground to the screen, and I am incredibly sorry to everyone associated with ‘Green Book.’ I especially deeply apologize to the brilliant and kind Mahershala Ali, and all members of the Muslim faith, for the hurt I have caused. I am also sorry to my late father who changed so much from Dr. Shirley’s friendship and I promise this lesson is not lost on me. ‘Green Book’ is a story about love, acceptance and overcoming barriers, and I will do better."

Vallelonga deleted his Twitter account on Wednesday after facing backlash for the tweet, in which he responded to Donald Trump's claim that "thousands" of people in Jersey City, New Jersey cheered after the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001.

READ MORE: 'Green Book' has become an Oscar favorite, but controversies including an anti-Muslim tweet and genital flashing have piled up

Vallelonga tweeted: "@realDonaldTrump 100% correct. Muslims in New Jersey cheering when towers went down. I saw it, as you did, possibly on local CBS news."

The claim was debunked in 2015 by multiple news outlets, including The Washington Post, which wrote, "an extensive examination of news clips from that period turns up nothing," and "neither can we find any examples of Trump previously talking about this."

Participant Media, which co-produced "Green Book," condemned the tweet in a statement this week.

"We find Mr. Vallelonga’s Twitter post offensive, dangerous, and antithetical to Participant Media’s values," the statement said. "We reject it in no uncertain terms."

"Green Book" follows "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), an Italian-American bouncer for night clubs in New York City, who takes a job as a driver for African-American musician Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) for a tour through the Deep South in the 1960s. The two real-life individuals both died in 2013. 

"Green Book" won three Golden Globes on Sunday, including best comedy or musical, best supporting actor (Ali), and best screenplay. But besides Vallelonga's tweet, it has faced criticism from Shirley's family for misrepresenting him.

Director Peter Farrelly also apologized this week after The Cut resurfaced 1998 reports that Farrelly exposed himself in front of colleagues.

SEE ALSO: Fox fired 'Bohemian Rhapsody' director Bryan Singer, but he still thanked the Golden Globes for the movie's big win

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch the extreme workout regimen of a professional ballerina

• Finance assistance app Trim said that, after analyzing 400 million transactions of its users in 2018, 58% of its users with MoviePass subscribers canceled the service last year.
• MoviePass users have complained about changes that have made the service less attractive, as the company has tried to get its cash burn under control.

2018 was not a good year for MoviePass.

After gaining millions of new users to the service starting in August 2017, when the company dropped its monthly price to $9.95 a month to see one movie per day, the movie-ticket subscription startup went into a tailspin in 2018. 2018 saw issues with the app, bad customer service, the company temporarily running out of cash, and finally — just under a year from when it announced the $9.95 plan — a big change to its plan so subscribers could only see up to three movies a month.

And data suggests that roller coaster was simply too much for many users. According to an estimate from financial assistance app Trim, which analysed 400 million transactions of its users over the last year, 58% of MoviePass subscribers canceled the service in 2018.

According to the Trim data, the highest rate of cancellations happened in June and July. Looking back, those were the months when some major things happened that weakened the MoviePass brand. 

Read more: 8 Hollywood players the industry is buzzing about as Oscar night approaches — from actors to screenwriters

AMC launched its own monthly subscription plan, MoviePass introduced surge pricing for titles in high demand, the company temporarily ran out of money and had to borrow $5 million to get the service back up, and by the end of July, it stopped offering many big budget studio movies on the service.

Things haven’t gotten any better in 2019 for the company. 

MoviePass' parent company, Helios and Matheson Analytics, is in danger of being delisted from the Nasdaq (it's currently trading at around $0.02).

There have been problems within MoviePass as well. Business Insider reported recently that there had been employee accusations of inappropriate behavior and that a product manager had sent a company-wide resignation letter describing the work environment as "dangerous and toxic."  

Business Insider contacted MoviePass for comment but did not get a response. 

SEE ALSO: The 43 biggest movies coming out in 2019, which could propel the box office to another record-breaking year

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Watch the extreme workout regimen of a professional ballerina

• Amazon's Fire TV streaming devices have 30 million monthly active users, the company told Business Insider at CES 2019.
• That popularity is despite the fact that Amazon Fire TV devices don't have a YouTube app — a casualty of a streaming feud between Amazon and the Google-owned YouTube.
• Google's own Chromecast streaming platform had 55 milion monthly active users as of October 2017. 

Amazon's Fire TV streaming devices have 30 million monthly active users, Amazon Fire TV marketing director Jennifer Prenner told Business Insider at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.  

That means that Amazon Fire TV devices beat out Roku, which said that it had 27 million monthly active users as of the fourth quarter of 2018. Still, neither stack up to Google's media streaming hardware platforms, including Chromecast and Android TV, were at 55 million monthly active users as of October 2017. 

As of July 2017, Apple TV was lagging behind Google, Roku, and Amazon in terms of users who use the streaming device at least once a month, according to Variety. Barring a major turnaround, this makes it likely that Apple TV has fewer monthly active users than its rivals. 

The only reason for any surprise in the popularity of Amazon Fire TV is the lack of any YouTube app, denying users an easy way to use the most popular video site on the planet. As of May 2018, YouTube had 1.8 billion monthly active users. The missing app is the result of an ongoing dispute between Amazon and Google. Meanwhile, the YouTube app is available on Roku, Google, and Apple streaming devices. 

Despite missing an official app from YouTube, there are several workarounds to watch YouTube on a Fire TV. Chief among them: The Fire TV has a web browser, so users can simply go to YouTube's website and watch away. It's less pleasant than a regular app — you can't cue up a video on your smartphone, as you can with other streaming services on the Fire TV. And you can't control playback with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. But it works.

Even without YouTube, Amazon Fire TV users are likely finding value in the gadgets' other features, like the ability to use it to talk to the Alexa agent. Amazon's Fire TV devices have the same functionality as most of the retailer's own Amazon Echo smart speakers. 

The Fire TV Cube, especially, comes with Amazon's far-field microphones, which have the same kinds of microphones as an Echo, meaning it can pick up your voice across the room. And Fire TV sticks come with remotes with built-in microphones for summoning Alexa. This means Fire TV devices can be used to set reminders and calendar entries, check weather, news, and traffic, and control your smart home devices with your voice. 

One of the benefits of having Amazon's Alexa in a streaming device is using Alexa's artificial intelligence smarts to search for movies and TV shows.  You can ask Alexa to find a specific movie without knowing which app it might be streaming on, for example. You can also ask Alexa to control your TV and switch the channel, too. The Fire TV Cube can even be configured to control your cable box. 

Ultimately, it's clear that Amazon is succeeding despite not getting any love from YouTube. Still, it's equally clear that not having the app isn't doing it any favors, either. 

SEE ALSO: The best TV we saw at CES 2019

Join the conversation about this story »

• The first big new game of 2019 is coming on February 22: "Anthem" is a massive blockbuster title for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
• The game is being made by EA's BioWare studio, which is most well-known for its hugely popular "Mass Effect" series.
• But "Anthem" is a major new franchise for the studio, and it's far more focused on gameplay than narrative development — it's more similar to Activision's "Destiny" than previous BioWare games.

The first huge game of 2019 is nearly here: "Anthem" is scheduled to arrive on February 22 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC players.

So, uh, what is it?

Well, it's the first major new franchise from EA's storied BioWare studio — a crew that's most well-known for having created the beloved "Mass Effect" series — in years. And that means it's got some absurdly high expectations to meet. 

With "Anthem" just a few weeks away from launch, we're diving in to what we know about the first huge game of 2019:

SEE ALSO: The 29 hottest video games you shouldn't miss in 2019

First and foremost: What is "Anthem"? It's a lot like "Destiny."

If you've never played "Destiny," the premise is simple: It's an online-only first-person shooter that puts players into a shared online world.

Sometimes there are public events in that world — a monster that needs to be taken down with combined firepower, for instance. And sometimes you choose to go on private events with friends or strangers — dedicated missions with specific goals. 

It's not an MMO-style game, along the lines of "World of Warcraft," but it's not entirely different either. Players see each other and can interact in a shared online space, just like they did in "WoW." 

The difference with games like "Destiny" and the upcoming "Anthem" is that the shared online space is only shared by a limited number of players. In games like "WoW," servers could hold hundreds of players who all existed in the same virtual world. In games like "Destiny" and "Anthem," the world houses far fewer human players.

Unlike "Destiny," "Anthem" is a third-person shooter. Also unlike "Destiny," "Anthem" has a major focus on mobility — your character has a jet pack!

Whereas "Destiny" is laser-focused on being a great first-person shooter, "Anthem" is seemingly focused on mobility. To that end, each of the game's suits has its own type of jet pack — the primary form of travel in "Anthem."

Those jet packs enable players to fly through the air, and also to fly through underwater sections of the world. If we're being honest, it looks delightful — there are even little flourishes to embellish your flying. And who doesn't want to embellish their flying?

So, what do you do in "Anthem"? You take out monsters!

The planet that "Anthem" is set on is a bizarre world of monsters, ancient gods, and a tiny contingent of humanity that's barely hanging on.

As a "Freelancer" — a human who wears a sweet, Iron Man-esque robot suit — you're in charge of keeping your fellow humans safe. And that means going out into the wild, taking on crazy monsters, and defeating them.

The overarching threat to the world is the monsters, but more specifically, that the monsters will get control of various "tools of the Gods" that were left behind. So the story of "Anthem" goes: The Gods set out to create the world in nine days, but stopped after three and disappeared. What they left behind is their tools — powerful artifacts that you, as a Freelancer, must keep from falling into the wrong hands.

What this means in practice, most likely, is you'll find lots of sweet stuff to power up your character with out in the wilderness.

• AT&T,T-Mobile, and Verizon have all announced plans to cease the sale of real-time location sharing to third parties.
• The development follows an investigation conducted by Vice's Motherboard where a bounty hunter was able to track down a reporter's phone by using just a phone number. 
• Senators and policy makers are now calling for increased legislation on the carriers and have called the practice a breach of national security. 

Amid increasing pressure from federal lawmakers, three of the major US wireless carriers announced plans to end the sale of location data sharing after a report by Motherboard showed just how easy it was for a bounty hunter to track a reporter's phone.

AT&T said Thursday, two days after the report was published, that it will stop selling all location data from mobile phones to brokers beginning in March. T-Mobile chief executive John Legere said in a tweet that it will "completely" end "location aggregator work" in two months as well. As for Verizon, it too will cease its four remaining location-sharing agreements, according to a statement to The Washington Post. 

Verizon said there will be an exception for useful services that, for instance, help customers with roadside assistance or fraud protection, but only after the user gives permission. An AT&T spokesperson said it no longer supports location aggregation services. 

In the Motherboard investigation, a reporter gave a bounty hunter $300 to discover the real-time location of a phone, which was tracked down in Queens, New York by just using its T-Mobile phone number.

The investigation concluded that AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint all sell customer location data in the unregulated black market via data brokers. Data brokers collect information on individuals, most of the time without their knowledge, and distribute it to third-party entities in exchange for money. 

Senators, including Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) all made statements this week urging Congress to pass legislation to ensure location-data sales come to a halt. On Twitter, Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner for the FCC, called for an investigation into the controversial practice to happen "stat" on Jan. 8 on Twitter.

"The FCC needs to investigate," Rosenworcel said Wednesday on MSNBC. "This entire ecosystem needs oversight."

However, these recent demands from lawmakers come nearly seven months after Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile originally pledged to stop providing information on phone owners’ locations to data brokers. In the months since, there have been several other investigations done by news publications highlighting the persistence of the practice, including one from The New York Times, which tracked users doing their usual routines.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: I'm a diehard iPhone user who switched to Android for a week — here's what I loved and hated about the Google Pixel 3 XL