Quantcast
Channel: Business Insider
Viewing all 101934 articles
Browse latest View live

Here's The Next Big Marvel Villain That Gets Teased In 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'

0
0

guardians of the galaxyWarning: There are spoilers ahead.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" is in theaters this weekend.

The film is a lot of fun and should have a huge opening weekend for Disney and Marvel. It's currently aiming to make north of $70 million, according to BoxOffice.com.

While there are many action and fight sequences in the film, the one moment that had fanboys on the edge of their seats was the slow reveal of a huge villain in the Marvel universe named Thanos, played by Josh Brolin.

It's a very rewarding scene if you've been paying close attention to the many end-credits sequences Marvel places in its movies. Thano's appearance has been two years in the making since the character was first teased in an end-credits sequence of 2012's "The Avengers."

If you're not familiar with the character, Thanos is one of the most important characters you'll want to familiarize yourself with as the Marvel universe continues to expand. 

Who is Thanos?thanos the avengers 2012

Think of any of the villains you know in a superhero film and multiply that number exponentially. That may start to come close to describing Thanos who is often considered one of the biggest Marvel villains ever created.

Thanos is a Titan born with a deformity which caused him to have an oversized body. He's obsessed with three things: killing, death, and power.

The guy's literally insane (one of his aliases is the Mad Titan). He was responsible for the near destruction of his own home planet and his people.

You thought Loki was bad for wanting to rule Earth and Asgard? Thanos makes the God of Mischief look like a saint. 

So what kind of powers does he have?

It may be more appropriate to ask what powers Thanos doesn't have. Thanos is intelligent, has some telepathic abilities including the ability to teleport himself. The guy is virtually unstoppable. 

He was cursed by death to be immortal. In other words, he can't die.

Oh, and don't let his size fool you, he's extremely fast. 

His importance in future Marvel films:

If you've been following along with all of the end-credits, Marvel has slowly been teasing Thano's grand entrance on screen. 

In the comics, the Mad Titan is widely known for his appearance in "The Infinity Gauntlet" storyline where his main objective is to collect six power gemstones known as Infinity Stones to make him all powerful.the infinity gauntlet

We've talked about it a bit before here, but Marvel has slowly been revealing some of the different stones on screen. So far, we've seen three. Loki's Chitauri scepter holds one of the stones while another was recently seen in "Thor: The Dark World" as the object villain Malekith wanted to obtain to make the world dark. 

loki sceptre the avengers

Expect to hear more of Thanos' name in the future.

This is a storyline Marvel has been building toward which many believe will finally culminate in "The Avengers 3" possibly merging the "Guardians of the Galaxy" with the "Avengers."

SEE ALSO: There Is Only One End-Credit Scene After 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' — Here's What It Means

Join the conversation about this story »









Here Are The 10 Weirdest Song Lyrics Of All Time

0
0

michael jackson

Some of these could should also probably be on the the list of worst song lyrics of all time.

But users of U.K. music service BlinkBox have voted the following phrase-turns the 10-weirdest of all time.

No. 1? "Are we human, or are we dancer?" by The Killers. We've actually always kind of liked that one.

But things swiftly deteriorate thereafter. Check it out. We first saw this at the AV Club » 

  1. The Killers, Human "Are we human, or are we dancer?"
  2. The Beatles, I Am The Walrus "I am the eggman, they are the eggmen, I am the walrus, goo goo g'joob."
  3. Michael Jackson, Earth Song "What about elephants? Have we lost their trust?"
  4. Lionel Richie, All Night Long "Tom bo li de se de moi ya, yeah jambo jambo."
  5. Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe "Before you came into my life, I missed you so bad."
  6. Black Eyed Peas, Boom Boom Pow "Beats so big I'm stepping on leprechauns."
  7. Duran Duran, The Reflex "The reflex is an only child, he's waiting in the park."
  8. Wham! Club Tropicana "Club Tropicana, drinks are free, fun and sunshine, there's enough for everyone, all that's missing is the sea."
  9. Taylor Swift, Love Story -"Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter, and my daddy said stay away from Juliet."
  10. Oasis, Champagne Supernova "Slowly walking down the hall, faster than a cannonball."

There are some clear omissions here, including half of Led Zeppelin's catalogue ("This is the wonder of devotion – I see the torch we all must hold; This is the mystery of the quotient – upon us all a little rain must fall,”  anyone? UltimateClassicRock has a great list of the 10 weirdest Zep lyrics here »), and 90% of Rush's lyrics.

But this is a pretty good place to start.  

Join the conversation about this story »








The 5-Year-Old Superhero Who Saved San Francisco Will Soon Have His Own Movie

0
0

batkid key to the city

Last November, San Francisco turned into Gotham City to make the wish of 5-year-old Miles Scott come true.

Miles is a leukemia survivor, and his wish, through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, was to be a real-life superhero. As Batkid, he saved the city from the evil doings of The Penguin and The Riddler, and even rescued a damsel in distress. 

Sounds like the makings of a movie, right? 

Filmmaker Dana Nachman thinks so. She plans to bring Miles' story to the big screen. 

It's called "Batkid Begins," and she has started an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds for the documentary. 

"'Batkid Begins' follows the events leading up to the day Batkid saved San Francisco and what happens when an event goes unintentionally viral," the campaign page says. 

Mike Jutan, who played The Penguin, isn't surprised that the story went viral.

Mike_Jutan_Penguin.JPG"It was a beautiful combination of motivated people and child-like enthusiasm for a noble cause," he tells Business Insider. "All the companies and officials donated so much time and positive energy to this, there was such a ball of good will and optimism, I'm not surprised 25,000 people showed up to experience it. Positive news is a powerful force, too, we just don't pay attention to it as much as we should."

But with more than 2 billion people watching, even The Penguin got some butterflies.

"I was so concerned about the messaging and making sure I represented the spirit of the day and the bigger, deeper messages of the event," Jutan says. "But, of course ... It was all for Miles, and that remained my focus on the day-of."

Jutan, who works at Industrial Lights and Magic, the film division of Lucasfilm, was thrilled to help with the making of "Batkid Begins." When he heard Nachman was making a movie, he jumped at the chance to lend a hand.

"I'm so excited to see what story she's telling with all the great source material from Batkid Day," Jutan says. "My hope is that this film is a way to continue reminding people that there is, in fact, a whole lot of beauty in the world."

The campaign is more than halfway to its $100,000 goal with still 19 days left to go, as of this writing. The film's proceeds will go to the Batkid Fund, which supports San Francisco charities, according to the campaign page.

Watch the trailer for "Batkid Begins" below:

SEE ALSO: San Francisco turns into Gotham to make a 5-year-old's dream come true

Join the conversation about this story »








A NIGHT IN SECOND LIFE: The Virtual World Is Still Around But Getting Weirder

0
0

Second Life sun

Remember Second Life?

Launched in 2003 by Linden Lab, it was an unprecedentedly wide and open free online world (which allowed real-money purchases). Complete with its own in-game currency, it was a virtual reality with no objective other than to let people build and do what they want, and people were obsessed with it. Second Life was on the cover of Businessweek, major brands like Disney and Amazon opened up virtual shops, and universities were re-created with classes to boot. By 2009, around 1,400 companies were using the space to hold meetings and conduct trainings, and there was an attempt to launch an enterprise-friendly version.

But somewhere along the line, the excitement died. Companies started pulling out of the world. Updates were few and far between. What started out as a social network was replaced by new networks, not least of which was Facebook, which is "probably better, cheaper, and more reliable, and no doubt more accessible," wrote Wired's Mark Wallace.

"Practically speaking, Second Life is stagnant, and has been for years," Second Life content creator William Reed Seal-Foss commented recently.

Despite gloomy developments such as this, however, as many as 1 million people still regularly log into Second Life, a number close to peak users. What's changed is a collapse in expectations and media attention. Also a shift in the in-game focus away from lectures and re-created life and toward sex clubs, dancing, and contests. Second life is having a "strange second life," as The Verge's Chris Stokel-Walker wrote last year.

Also there is hope for a resurgence as Linden Lab develops integration of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

I signed up for Second Life when it launched and played for a couple of days before deciding the world wasn't for me. Intrigued to see what it's like today, however, I signed up again and spent a few hours there last weekend. For help getting around, I recruited a woman who goes by the name Judy Brodie in the game, who has played at least 7 hours a week since 2004 and who met her real-life husband in the virtual world.

When I first logged in, I was dropped in a kind of beginner world full of other users. But there's little to do there other than learn figure out the controls. I discovered I can fly, which is cool.



I soon got the hang of walking (and flying) and tried to figure out where to go. Intrigued by talk of a "Game of Thrones" simulator, I teleported to King's Landing. Fans of the show were there indeed, but they were talking to each other and ignored my greeting of "hey guys."



Nobody would talk to me, so I hit the road. The game glitched and I accidentally walked through a hill and ended up on this cliff, pondering what to do next in front of a giant sun.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






'It's Like A Drug. It's Wonderful': Working With Tom Cruise Sounds Amazing

0
0

Tom CruisePretty much everyone who has worked with Tom Cruise says the same thing. We were particularly impressed with this quote by "Cabin In The Woods" director Drew Goddard, who described his 2008 meeting with the legend in Entertainment Weekly:

“That was definitely one of those surreal experiences.

"It was wonderful. I mean, Tom Cruise — at least in my experience with him — I’ve never met a more enthusiastic, creative, and supportive person.

"He has that energy and to feel that energy directed towards you about you, it’s like a drug. It’s wonderful.

"He was so excited about the script and so complimentary and really just pointed out scenes in the movie that he felt we should bring out more. And he was totally right.”

Amazing, right? After seeing this quote (which also appears in the new Joss Whedon biography we have been covering obsessively), we were inspired to look up more descriptions of what it's like to work with Cruise.

"He has the best reputation in the industry, by far," screenwriter Ken Miyamoto wrote of Cruise on Quora. "He works his ass off and has this utter positive energy that he brings to the development phase, the set, and beyond. He's the hardest working actor in the industry (and most that have worked with him have said so) and he's known as one of the nicest actors to work with."

Tom Cruise Emily BluntCruise's "Edge of Tomorrow" co-star, Emily Blunt, told ABC News that Cruise is "is heaven" to work with.

"He's so sweet and generous," said the actress. "And such a pro at this stuff. He was so emboldening and encouraging. I wanted to do my own stunts because he does his own stunts."

"Oblivion" screenwriter Karl Gajdusek also spoke positively of working with Cruise.

“He’s a very good collaborator,” Gajdusek told ScreenwritingU of his experience working out of Cruise’s house for about three weeks during one phase of the writing process. “The reason he wants to work with you is that you’re spending more hours a day on this thing than he is, and if you don’t know it — in some ways better than him — and can resist ideas when they don’t seem right for the film, then you’re useless, you’re just a stenographer. ... That’s not to say that he didn’t win arguments. He usually wins the argument.”

Cruise's former publicist, Pat Kingsley — who worked with the actor from 1992 until he fired her in 2004 — told The Hollywood Reporter last year that "Tom Cruise was a prince."

During their working relationship, "We talked constantly," Kingsley says. "He was an insomniac. I liked the fact that he was so much fun. And he was so thoughtful. He remembered birthdays, my daughter's birthday. He came to her wedding; she was registered somewhere for the china, and he bought out everything. They've got things they haven't even opened yet, and they've been together 15 years!"

Cruise's infamous ties to Scientology supposedly played a role in his split with Kingsley and have dogged the actor for years. His intensity has sometimes led to controversy too, like when he started jumping like crazy on Oprah's couchBut what concerns there are about Cruise tend to be outweighed by his star power and personal charisma.

Bill HAder Tom Cruise Tropic ThunderPerhaps the greatest story about Tom Cruise comes from comedian Bill Hader, who shot promos for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards with the actor as their "Tropic Thunder" characters — Cruise as movie mogul Les Grossman, Hader as his lackey.

While filming the promos in Los Angeles, new dad Hader heard that a man had tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square, near where his wife and new baby lived, and couldn't reach them.

When Cruise saw the nervous look on Hader's face, he took action.

"He comes over and he's like, 'Are you okay, man?'" Hader recalled what happened next to Vulture:

"He thinks for a second. 'We'll get you home tonight.' And in that moment, Tom Cruise, as Les Grossman, in a karate gi, began to direct all my coverage," Hader explained. "All my footage, all my close-ups. Boom! We do three perfect takes. Boom, boom, boom. Everyone's chest-butting each other, some people are chest-butting themselves, people are going insane." Two days' worth of work, Hader said, "and he got it done in 45 minutes." Then Katie Holmes came up to him and handed him a piece of paper with his new flight information. "You're on the red eye tonight," she told him. "I'm like, 'What?!'" Hader said. Because Cruise got him out of work and on a plane that night, he was able to surprise his wife and daughter by 7:45 the next morning and check in on them in person. "So that's what it's like to work with Tom Cruise," Hader said.

SEE ALSO: 8 Stars Who Other Actors Love Working With

Join the conversation about this story »








What's New On Netflix Streaming In August

0
0

rockyiv

It's a new month, and as is the usual practice, Netflix adds a ton of new titles on the 1st. Sadly, that also means 71 titles will disappear.

But don't despair. There are plenty of titles here to get excited about. If you're in the mood for a marathon, the bulk of the "Rocky" films, one through five, have been added. Also worth noting on the list is "Rounders," an awesome film about no-limit poker players, and 1979's "Mad Max," a film which propelled Mel Gibson to international stardom (and spawned two sequels, with another soon on the way).

As far as television shows, if you didn't catch it when it first aired, Netflix adds Neil deGrasse Tyson's mindblowing reboot of the Carl Sagan classic "Cosmos" in August. You can find the new series in its entirety added on the 7th.

Here's the full list of what you'll see in August:

Available on August 1:

  • Airbud (1997)
  • Airbud: Golden Retriever (1998)
  • D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994)
  • Ella Enchanted (2004)
  • Evita (1996)
  • Face/Off (1997)
  • Freaky Friday (2003)
  • Goodbye World (2013)
  • Harlock: Space Pirate (2013)
  • Kinky Boots (2005)
  • Mad Max (1979)
  • Mean Creek (2004)
  • Prefontaine (1997)
  • Red Dawn (1984)
  • Rocky (1976)
  • Rocky II (1979)
  • Rocky III (1982)
  • Rocky IV (1985)
  • Rocky V (1990)
  • Rounders (1998)
  • Sabrina (1995)
  • Saints and Soldiers (2003)
  • Shooter (2007)
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
  • Spark: A Burning Man Story (2013)
  • Spice World (1998)
  • Switchfoot: Fading West
  • The Birdcage (1996)
  • The Cable Guy (1996)
  • The Gabby Douglas Story (2014)
  • The Killing: Season 4
  • The Mighty Ducks (1992)
  • Turner and Hooch (1989)
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)

Available on August 6:

  • Justin Bieber's Believe (2014)

Available on August 7:

  • Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey (2014)
  • Nymphomaniac: Volume I (2013)
  • Nymphomaniac: Volume II (2013)

Available on August 9:

  • Kill Zombie! (2011)

Available on August 12:

  • Dancing in Jaffa (2013)
  • Haven: Season 4
  • Low Winter Sun: Season 1
  • Stage Fright (2014)

Available on August 13:

  • The Nut Job (2014)

Available on August 14:

  • Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses (2014)

Available on August 15:

  • Great Expectations (2012)
  • Mission Blue (2014)

Available on August 16:

  • Dead Silence (2007)

Available on August 18:

  • Thanks for Sharing (2012)

Available on August 19:

  • From Dusk Till Dawn: Season 1 (2014)

Available on August 20:

  • Dhoom: 3 (2013)

Available on August 22:

  • BoJack Horseman: S1

Available on August 25:

  • Parenthood: Season 5

Available on August 26:

  • Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)
  • The Motel Life (2012)

Available on August 29:

  • Once Upon a Time: Season 3
  • Revenge: Season 4

Join the conversation about this story »








Georgia Can't Find Workers For Its Booming Movie Business, And That Says A Lot About The US Job Market

0
0

movie camera

The recent arrival of aliens and murderous youth in suburban Atlanta might seem like cause for concern. But they are merely characters in films shot at the Atlanta Media Campus and Studios, the largest complex of its kind outside California. The lot has hosted the final two instalments of "The Hunger Games" and "The Fifth Wave", an upcoming science-fiction film. What ought to worry local residents is Georgia's inability to produce workers who can build the sets, run the wires or manage the sound for such films. This skills shortage may endanger the $4 billion or so that Jim Jacoby, whose firm plans to redevelop the complex, reckons the film industry could bring to the state this year.

Georgia offers generous tax incentives to lure production companies. They can receive a credit for up to 30% of the costs incurred while making movies, as long as they spend more than $500,000. This convinced Mathew Hayden to move his firm, Cinipix, from California to Georgia. But Mr Hayden still imports many workers from Florida and New York. "It's a big concern," he says. The state's movie business will only prove as profitable as its workers prove employable.

Georgia's skills shortage goes beyond the film industry. For every four tradesmen that retire just one takes their place, even though the state's unemployment rate hovers around 7.4%, over a point higher than the national rate. But a similar problem, albeit in less acute form, is in evidence across America. More than half of the country's tradesmen are aged over 45. According to the Department of Labour, America will need 41,700 more cement masons, 114,700 more electricians and 218,200 more carpenters by 2022. The government already spends around $17 billion a year trying to close what the president, Barack Obama, calls the "skills gap". On July 22nd Mr Obama signed laws that he said would make job-training programmes that receive federal money "more effective, more responsive to employers and more accountable for results".

One such programme is Go Build Georgia, which teaches teenagers a trade. But efforts to train young people as plumbers or pipe-fitters run up against concern from parents. Instead of being proud to raise a future welder, "everyone wants to believe that their child will go to Harvard", says Matthew Gambill, the director of the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education. Despite the lower cost of a skills-based education and the solid job prospects, enrolment at technical colleges has dropped 23% since recession-stricken students clamoured for entry in 2010.

Georgia filmStill, Georgia is pouring money into training, and targeting industries such as the movie business that are particularly short of skilled labour. It spent $24m last year on the teaching of trades in schools, while the state's technical colleges received $318m.

Some of these institutions are already collaborating with film studios to design specialist courses. Lee Thomas, the deputy commissioner of Georgia's film, music and digital entertainment office, says a stand-alone academy is also in the works for those who wish to become stars behind the scenes.

Mr Jacoby, though, is taking matters into his own hands. By next summer he wants the Atlanta Media Campus to host a school that will teach students how to work on a film set. American firms spent $162 billion training their employees in 2012. The success of Mr Jacoby's investment in Georgia may depend on whether he can bridge its skills gap.

Click here to subscribe to The Economist

Join the conversation about this story »








JAY Z: How The Hottest Agent In Sports Makes And Spends His $500 Million

0
0

beyonce jay zThis feature is a part of our Most Influential People Behind The Scenes In Sports series.

A year after launching, Jay Z's sports agency, Roc Nation Sports, has signed one of the best athletes on earth (Kevin Durant) and negotiated one of the biggest contracts of the year (Robinson Cano's $240 million deal).

Jay is a true threat to the sports agency establishment.

He's signing players who grew up idolizing him as both a rapper and a mogul. His lifestyle — the houses, hanging out with Obama, getting married to Beyoncé — makes him an aspirational figure for young athletes and is a big part of his appeal as an agent.

He broke into the sports world by buying a stake of the Brooklyn Nets.



His share was actually a shockingly small 0.067% (worth about $355,000).

Source: Darren Rovell



But he was still a huge part of the branding of the team, and the "Nets owner" label stuck despite how small his ownership stake was.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider







If You Thought Opening A Door Was Easy Just Watch This Robot Try To Do It

0
0

Meet HERB.

HERB is a robot butler featured on the awesome new show Going Deep With David Rees. He appears in the July 28 episode, titled "How To Open A Door."

You can see HERB is well equipped to open doors, with two flexible arms and three fingers on each hand:

herbSo, on Rees' journey to open a door, he meets with HERB and his handler, Siddhartha Srinivasa from Carnegie Mellon's Personal Robotics Lab. First, Srinivasa helps us figure out what a door is. That may sound simple to you, but let Srinivasa explain why it's not:

"A door is a device that allows ingress and egress by means of a revolute joint that is controlled by a handle that one can grasp with forceful actuation."

Dr Sid What Is a door? nat geo going deep That may sound overly-complex, but this kind of description is important when telling something that isn't human how to navigate a complex environment like a house. Because HERB is a robot butler meant to deal with all kinds of different situations like this, he works on his own to figure out problems.

He's not that great at it yet, but he's getting better.

To open a door, HERB first needs to analyze what kind of door he's looking at and the environment he is in — how far away the door is and how he could interact with it to make it revolve open. Then, he figures out where the handle and hinges are on the door. He makes his move:

herb big moveAfter analyzing the situation, HERB takes the plunge. But when he gets his hands in the door, he runs into a problem and gets stuck:

hherb stuck HERB doesn't have the advantages that we do of proprioception — the feedback we get when we pull on something. When we open a door, we can feel the weight of the door and the resistance to pulling straight. We know to start pulling the door to the right, toward the hinge, and not just straight at us, because of what we feel when we pull the door.

You'd get stuck too if you tried to open a door just by pulling it toward you. We've just opened so many doors over our lives that our bodies remember the motion required, without having to think about it.

So, admit it: You underestimated doors. Watch the full episode next week to learn how to open them.

HERB eventually gets out of the sticky situation with a pretty ingenious solution. Watch the entire clip, provided to us by National Geographic Channel, to see HERB in action. You won't regret it, especially if you want to hear a robot swear:

Watch Going Deep on the National Geographic Channel, Mondays at 10 pm. And check out other clips online.

SEE ALSO: Neil deGrasse Tyson Describes His Life-Changing First Encounter With Carl Sagan

Join the conversation about this story »








There's A Bizarre Reason Why Julia Louis-Dreyfus Has Been Banned From Facebook

0
0

Julia

On Thursday night's "Late Show With David Letterman," hilarious "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus confessed she had recently been banned from Facebook.

Why? Well, if you recall her April "Rolling Stone" cover featuring a barely covered Louis-Dreyfus with a tattoo of the Constitution, you may notice something not quite right.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

"My husband Brad called me," Louis-Dreyfus told Letterman, "and he was like, 'flag on the play — John Hancock didn't sign the Constitution.'" 

Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence. 

"Who cares what he signed!" Letterman laughed.

As a joke, Louis-Dreyfus gets the idea to put out a baby photo on Facebook that shows baby Julia with a John Hancock signature tattoo "as if I've always had it," she explains to a hysterically laughing audience.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

The photo was posted to Twitter and Facebook by Louis-Dreyfus.

"I try to get back on my Facebook and it's like, 'insensitive material! Inappropriate!' They think I'm a pervert. It's [a photo of me!]. I can't get into my account."

Watch the full clip here:

[h/t BetaBeat]

Join the conversation about this story »








Taylor Swift Randomly Left Her Insight On Unrequited Love Under A Fan's Instagram Photo

0
0

taylor swift

There's a reason why Taylor Swift is the overlord of the teenage crowd.

In what seems to be a totally random and genuine move, Swift left some really wonderful words about unrequited love and growing up on a fan's Instagram photo. 

Swift's fan, BetaBeat reports, is named Caitlyn, and Swift left the following message under a photo Caitlyn posted on Instagram about heartbreak that had the singer tagged.

Swift left this long comment:

Hey Caitlyn. You are absolutely beautiful. Your pictures are so intriguing and I love your style. You seem so incredibly unique. In the words of one of my favorite Paramore songs, I hate to see your heart break. Honestly I wish it had never happened to you and I wish you could speed up time and all of a sudden see this pain in retrospect.

You and I both know there’s got to be some greater storyline for you than ‘girl gets heart broken, was sad forever.’

I think a nice one would be ‘girl gets heart broken, was sad for a while but in her heartbreak she found freedom, friends, and the ability to look back and laugh at all she’d learned. She now lives her life on her own terms and still has fantastic hair.’ I love you. Hang in there.

“Taylor Swift just commented on my Instagram when I needed her most and I’m going through heartbreak and I’m crying," BetaBeat reports Caitlyn wrote next.

Swift has a long history of commenting sincere messages of love and "it gets better" on her fans' accounts. Earlier that week, Swift left the following on fan Hannah's account (via The Daily Mail), while in June she went on a major commenting spree.

Taylor Swift

Join the conversation about this story »








22 Brilliant Insights From Richard Branson

0
0

richard branson vomit comet zero G

When Richard Branson was 16, he started a magazine called "Student."

Six years later, he opened up a recording studio. The company's first song — a track called "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield — stayed on the U.K. charts for 247 weeks. 

The Virgin empire had begun.

Now at 64, Branson is equal parts man, myth, and legend. His Virgin Group is composed of 400 companies, employs 60,000 people, and operates in more than 30 countries. He has an estimated net worth of $5 billion.

Branson also has a flair for the dramatic. He's crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a hot air balloon and kite-surfed across the English Channel.

To gain an understanding of the adventurous, wildly successful entrepreneur, we combed through his talks, interviews, and profiles. Here's what we found.

On entrepreneurship

"Entrepreneurship is about turning what excites you in life into capital, so that you can do more of it and move forward with it." 

[Virgin, 2014]



On human interaction

"When I was young, every time I criticized someone, my mother would stand me in front of the mirror and say: 'The flaws you see in others are actually a reflection of yourself.' That taught me to pay close attention when I looked at others.

"[My parents] also taught me to listen and value other people's advice and opinions. So I have always applied this in business and tried to be a good leader and bring out the best in people by listening to them, trusting in them, believing in them, respecting them and letting them have a go!"

[The Gentleman's Journal, December 2012]



On purpose

"A business is simply an idea to make other people's lives better."

[Inc., April 2013]



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






How Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Went From WWE Wrestler To Hollywood's Box Office Champ

0
0

Dwayne Johnson, The ESPYS

During his wrestling days, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was known as the "People's Champion."

But thanks to franchises like "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Fast and the Furious," Johnson is now better known as Hollywood's box office champion.

In total, his movies have made $4.3 billion worldwide, which helped make him Forbes' top-grossing actor of 2013. This year, he ranked No.2 after pulling in a whopping $52 million.

This weekend, he appeared in Brett Ratner's "Hercules," which beat tracking estimates to bring in $29 million opening weekend.

Here's how Dwayne Johnson went from WWE wrestler to one of the top-grossing stars in the film industry.

Before he was "The Rock," Dwayne Johnson was born May 2, 1972, in Hayward, California.

Source: Biography



Wrestling is in Johnson's blood. His father, Rocky "Soul Man" Johnson, was a member of the first African American tag-team champions and his grandfather, Peter Maivia, was of the first Samoan wrestlers.

Source: YouTube

 



But Johnson's first sport was football. After being a high school star, he joined college football team, the Miami Hurricanes. Over his tenure at the school, Johnson only started once but appeared in 39 games, had 77 tackles, and was a part of the 1991 national championship team.

Source: ESPN

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






How To Game Ticketmaster And Get The Concert Seats You Really Want

The Most Complex Makeup In ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Took More Than 4 Hours And A Shaved Head

0
0

nebula karen gillanWhen you head out to see “Guardians of the Galaxy,” you’ll probably spend a few minutes trying to figure out who the different actors are under their detailed prosthetics. 

guardians of the galaxy nebula head

A team of 50 special effects make-up artists made stars from Zoe Saldana to wrestler David Bautista nearly unrecognizable. 

However, special effects makeup artist David White tells Business Insider actress Karen Gillan's prosthetic makeup was the “most complex and interesting" to apply.  

In the film, Gillan plays blue villain and assassin Nebula who is at odds with the Guardians throughout the movie. 

White says it took approximately four hours and 15 minutes to apply her make-up and another 30 minutes to remove. 

“The five-piece prosthetic was a puzzle of butt joins and blend offs all on the same pieces and the density of the prosthetic changes to accommodate the need to control the amount of prosthetic movement from one piece to another," White tells us.

White says Gillan’s character also required 22 millimeter contact lenses. 

Gillan probably underwent one of the biggest transformations for the film. Last year, the “Doctor Who” actress, known for her long red hair, shocked fans when she shaved her head for the role. Gillan debuted the look at San Diego Comic-Con last year by pulling off a wig during the Marvel panel.guardians of the galaxy marvel karen gillan comic-conHere's Gillan's complete transformation:

karen gillan makeup guardians of the galaxy

SEE ALSO: It Took 3 Hours To Do Zoe Saldana's Makeup Every Day For 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'

Join the conversation about this story »









Samuel L. Jackson Had Only One Request For 'The Avengers' — And He Was Denied

0
0

nick fury the avengers

Director and writer Joss Whedon radically changed the script for "Marvel's The Avengers" when he took over the project. Many cast members loved his version, in part because he asked for their insight, particularly with their characters. 

Samuel L. Jackson, playing spy Nick Fury, was pleased to be involved in the writing process but had one request, as Whedon recalls in "Joss Whedon: The Biography," out Aug. 1:

"I don’t want to run," the then-62-year-old actor said. "Don’t make me run a lot."

After reading the script, however, he confronted the director over a stage direction.

"It says, 'Fury run,'" Jackson said.

"I know, it’s just this one time," Whedon said.

Nick Fury running

This isn't the first time Jackson has had a request on set of a major motion picture.

While filming "Star Wars: Episode II — Attack Of The Clones," Jackson requested a purple lightsaber for his character Jedi Master Mace Windu so he could find himself in a big action-sequence of around 300 lightsabers.

Jackson recounted that George Lucas originally tried to tell him lightsabers only came in three colors but eventually relented.star wars episode 2 attack of the clones samuel l jackson

SEE ALSO: Tom Hiddleston sent an amazing email to director Joss Whedon after reading "The Avengers" script for the first time

Join the conversation about this story »








Beyoncé Addresses The 'Elevator Scandal' In A Surprise Remix With Nicki Minaj

0
0

beyonce super bowl halftime show

Last night, Beyoncé dropped a surprise remix to "Flawless" with Nicki Minaj.

In true Beyoncé fashion, no one saw it coming. With the rumor mill running wild about the condition of her marriage to Jay Z, the powerhouse released a song that somewhat addressed the chatter that began when sister Solange was caught hitting and kicking Jay Z in an elevator at New York City's Standard Hotel while Beyoncé stood by and witnessed.

In the beginning of the remix with Minaj, Beyoncé sings: "Of course sometimes sh*t go down when it's a billion dollars on an elevator."

Prior to the song release, Solange, 28, addressed the situation publicly for the first time on July 7 in tandem with a statement from the family:

Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred. They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public. They both have apologized to each other and we have moved forward as a united family," the statement read, in part.

At the end of the day families have problems and we're no different," the statement continued. "We love each other and above all we are family. We've put this behind us and hope everyone else will do the same.

Since then, gossip has suggested the pair is planning on splitting after the "On The Run" tour comes to an end.

Take a listen to the "Flawless" remix from Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj here.

 

Join the conversation about this story »








11 Video Games From The 1980s That Are Better Than Games Today

Meet The Six 'Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills' Before Tonight's Season 2 Premiere

0
0

rich kids of beverly hills

This Sunday, E!'s hit reality show "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" will return for a second season.

The hour-long, "Rich Kids Of Instagram" Tumblr-inspired show features six friends from 90210 who drop thousands of dollars on clothes, shoes, cars, and partying like it's their job  because that's exactly what it is for some of these "funemployed" 20-somethings. 

Get to know the cast and catch up on season one here before this weekend's season two premiere, which takes the "Rich Kids" to China.

Season two of "#RichKids of Beverly Hills" premieres this Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on E!

Meet 25-year-old Dorothy Wang, who was born and raised in Beverly Hills — "The best city in the world."

 

 

 



Dorothy says "Growing up, my parents never talked about money. It wasn't until it was printed in Forbes that I knew how much money we had."



Dorothy is currently "funemployed and fabuluxe," but "when I grow up I want to be the Asian sensation of the world."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Here's A Guide To All The Hidden References In Marvel Movies

0
0

The Avengers shot, MarvelWARNING: MINOR SPOILERS

As "Guardians of the Galaxy" flies into theaters this weekend, the film (which is getting rave reviews) adds another storyline to the ever-expanding Marvel cinematic universe.

As with its predecessors, it is sure to come with a bunch of easter eggs.

Much like PixarDisney's Marvel Studios has been known to sneak in some hidden references that not only mention the other films in the series, but also give a quick wink to the original comic book material.

MTV News has put together an awesome video that explains every easter egg from all the Marvel films (with the exception of the latest two, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Guardians").

The easter eggs all started in Marvel studios' first film, 2008's "Iron Man."

For example, you can see a building for the Roxxon Corporation during the battle between Iron Man and the Iron Monger. Roxxon is a company that is an adversary to Tony Stark and who killed his parents in the comics.

Marvel egg, Iron Man, Roxxon

In 2008's often forgotten about "The Incredible Hulk" the pizza place Bruce Banner goes to is called "Stanley's" or "Stan Lee's" an allusion to the famed Marvel comic creator.

Stanleys, egg, Marvel, Hulk

2011's "Thor" was chock-full of hidden references, such as a shout out to Thor's comic book alias "Donald Blake."

Thor name, egg, Marvel, Thor

And more importantly, our first look at the "Infinity Gauntlet" a powerful glove that will play a huge role in the future of the films.

Infinity Gaunlet, egg, Marvel, Thor

For Captain America's debut, 2011's "Captain America: The First Avenger" the film alluded to the cover of 1941's "Captain America #1" in which Cap knocks out Adolf Hitler. 

Cap punch, marvel, comic, egg

Cap cover, egg, Marvel, Captain America

When Marvel's universe came together for 2012's mega-hit "The Avengers" there was a blink and you'll miss it reference to Project PEGASUS  a research facility used by the heroes in the comics  in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s underground base.

Project Peg, egg, Marvel, Avengers

For the rest of Marvel's easter eggs and hidden references, check out the full video below: 

Get More: Music News

SEE ALSO: 15 Secret References You Never Noticed In Your Favorite Movies

Join the conversation about this story »








Viewing all 101934 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images