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Louis C.K. Goes On Epic Tweetstorm Rant Against ISIS [NSFW]

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Louis CK

Comedian Louis C.K. just broadcasted his unfiltered thoughts on the jihadist Islamic State group (also known as ISIS) — on Twitter.

In a series of profanity-laced tweets Monday morning, C.K. advocated various forms of violence against ISIS, which has recently beheaded multiple US and British hostages.

At one point, C.K. even wondered, "Whether or not ISIS is really a bunch of Halliburton employees."

View the full set of tweets below:

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Comedian Billy Eichner Calls Out Burger King Commercial For Stealing His Schtick

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billy eichner seth meyers emmys

Billy Eichner is famous for his Fuse and Funny or Die show "Billy On The Street," in which the comedian, often accompanied by a celebrity, yells questions about pop culture at unsuspecting people on the street.

Eichner was even featured doing his famous schtick at the Emmys this year.

But now it appears Burger King is trying to get in on Eichner's act.

In a new commercial, an actor who looks like Eichner but isn't as funny yells at kids on the street about BK's new chicken nuggets. Watch below:

After seeing the new ad, Eichner tweeted:

Eichner's celebrity and comedian friends were quick to come to his defense:

Eichner was moved by the suport:

Then even McDonald's chimed in!

Watch a recent "Billy on the Street" webisode with Amy Poehler below. Do you think Burger King copied the comedian?

SEE ALSO: How Twitter Landed Comedian Billy Eichner His 'Parks And Recreation' Role

MORE: Billy Eichner And Seth Meyers Accost New Yorkers On The Street In Funny Emmys Segment

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How Marvel Prevents Video Footage From Leaking At Comic Con

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daredevil nycc panel 2014Marvel doesn't mess around when showing off exclusive footage at New York Comic Con.

The studio took extra precautions to make sure footage debuted for its upcoming "Daredevil" series on Netflix at New York Comic Con didn't make it online.

Before the panel began, fans were warned to put away all electronics. If any phones were out and appeared to be recording, devices would be taken and attendees would be escorted out of the theater. 

Simple enough. That's typical protocol for movie screenings.

Marvel went one step further. 

The studio brought a team dressed in suits who Marvel TV president Jeph Loeb playfully referred to as a few of their "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D," a reference to ABC's Marvel series.

jeph loeb daredevil nycc 2014

Marvel's "agents" were stationed both on the floor and in the balcony areas of the Main Stage room of Javits' Convention Center with night vision goggles to make sure no one was capturing footage during the panel. 

daredevil panel nycc 2014 agents daredevil panel marvel suits nycc 2014

Here are a few we saw on the balcony as we looked around.marvel shield daredevil panel

Loeb reminded fans of the rules to follow before the event began.

It would not be a Marvel security measure without me talking a little bit about that. What you guys are going to see today on this panel and maybe some other surprises ... belongs in this room. It is a gift from us to the folks at New York Comic Con and for all of you as fans. What this means, if you look around, you will see gentlemen that are standing, and I'm not making this up, they're wearing ties and they look S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and they actually are S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents.

Believe it or not, what they have with them is night-vision goggles. I am not making that up either. They do not have radar sense, but they can tell whether or not you are recording the clips that are going on up here. So if you have a recording device: a telephone, anything that is doing something other than your eyeballs, put it away. And the reason I'm saying that is, they're gonna find you and they're gonna take it away and then you're going to be asked to leave, and I don't want that to happen. It's our party folks. So let's enjoy the party and have a great time.

Any time one of several "Daredevil" clips were shown, the suits yelled out "all cell phones away, all cell phones away" repeatedly.

Earlier this year at San Diego Comic Con, Disney and Marvel were able to keep video footage from its "Avengers" sequel from being widely spread online. The studios showed off the first trailer for the film along with other video clips.

It was a bit of a surprise. When Warner Bros. debuted the first teaser trailer from its upcoming "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" film at SDCC, recordings quickly made their way to YouTube and continued circulating for more than 24 hours before the studio was able to pull the leaked footage.

Marvel has a system. 

It's highly unlikely you'll see any leaked footage from the studio's "Daredevil" panel at New York Comic Con or its secret "Avengers" and "Ant-Man" teaser screenings.

SEE ALSO: Marvel showed footage for 'Ant-Man' And 'The Avengers' sequel at a secret comic con event and fans loved it

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LinkedIn Has An Employee Rock Band, And They're Pretty Awesome

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linkedin bandSilicon Valley tech companies are known for showering their employees with all kinds of amazing perks, from free gourmet food to futuristic nap pods.

At LinkedIn, employees are encouraged to jam out like rock stars in rooms that are stocked with high-end music equipment. 

The company's music program got its start in 2010, during a monthly community-building event the company calls InDays. One week after engineering director Michael Olivier joined the company, he caught the finals of a LinkedIn Idol singing contest, the InDay activity for the month. 

One of the finalists was Caitlin Crump, a data scientist who had also recently joined LinkedIn.

"I was taken by her singing," Olivier told Business Insider. "I wanted to play music in Mountain View, so I followed up with her to see if she would be interested."

After they found a drummer during another all-hands event, when new hires were asked to demonstrate a special skill, they decided to form a band together. 

They named themselves "NextPlay" in honor of CEO Jeff Weiner's business philosophy. Legendary Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski yells out "next play" whenever the team completes a play, regardless of how it went. That refusal to dwell on failure informs Weiner's approach to leadership, and it's a big catchphrase around the office. 

 Once they had three people committed to NextPlay, the band contacted the company for funding. 

"It was right around the time of the IPO, so obviously it was a good time to do it, but they've always been supportive of the idea," Olivier said. "It turns out there are a lot of musicians here." 

Not unlike your classic garage band, NextPlay got their start practicing in a loading dock that had been converted into a makeshift studio. They set up their equipment in a dusty corner with exposed rafters and packed file cabinets. 

On November 18, 2011, NextPlay put on their first show. A few dozen people showed up to watch the band perform during their lunch break. 

linkedin bandlinkedin band

Three years later, the music room has improved a great deal. When the weather's nice, they can open the garage door and play to the neighborhood. The room has state-of-the-art AV equipment, drums, guitars, keyboards, microphone stands, and stage lighting. 

linkedin band

LinkedIn's music program includes well-developed facilities at their Mountain View headquarters, as well as at their offices in San Francisco and Dublin. Soon there will be music rooms at their Sunnyvale and New York City outposts as well. 

And now there are two other bands in town: MYMK (or Musicians You May Know, a twist on LinkedIn's connection recommendation feature) and Colonel Panic, a geeky pun that's a play on Kernel Panic, the name for what happens when a computer freezes.

But none of that would have happened without NextPlay. The original band hosts jam sessions every Friday, which anyone can join, and their performances are a key feature of the tour the company gives to executives and interviewers who visit campus. 

The band has changed quite a bit, too, as some members have changed offices, while others have left the company altogether. 

The current team includes Olivier on keys and vocals, senior systems engineer Andrey Bibik on guitar, senior product marketing manager Andrew Kaplan also on guitar, senior systems engineer Levi Doucette on bass, and senior videographer and AV technical engineer Phil Jackson on drums. Crump still fronts the band.

Olivier describes their sound as "an eclectic mix of rock, pop, blues, and funk" that mixes songs from the '70s and '80s with today's radio hits. They've also played a few original songs written by Olivier and Crump. 

This past May, as part of the company's Cinco de LinkedIn anniversary celebration, NextPlay took the stage at the Shoreline Amphitheater, an enormous 22,500-capacity venue in Mountain View. It was their biggest show yet. 

"We all saw that the Jumbotron was behind us when we were practicing, but we were glad we couldn't see it when we were actually playing," Olivier said with a laugh. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us to be able to play on that stage where so many world-class musicians have played."

NextPlay usually practices for an hour during lunch twice a week, but anyone with an interest in music can access the facility after they've completed the proper training. Employees can even take lessons on the acoustic guitar, piano, and drums. 

And according to Olivier, it's not only amateurs goofing around on the drum set.

"It's hard to make money in the music industry," Olivier said. "These are people who are amazing musicians but also happen to work at a tech company." 

SEE ALSO: 22 Mouthwatering Pictures Of Google's Legendary Free Food

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Not Even An All-Star Cast Can Save Jason Reitman's 'Men, Women & Children'

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men women children adam sandler rosemarie dewitt

Not even a cast full of famous faces such as Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, Emma Thompson, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Ansel Elgort can save director Jason Reitman's new movie, "Men, Women & Children."

It's a movie full of big, relevant ideas that all fail to make any impact due to the film's lack of subtlety. By employing an omniscient, overbearing narration style, Reitman breaks a cardinal rule of writing: he's telling rather than showing. Instead of understanding how these characters feel through their actions, I know how they feel because an important-sounding British woman tells me so.

The film pretentiously opens in outer space, as a Woody Allen-esque jazz number croons and the dulcet tones of Emma Thompson, the film's narrator, lecture the audience on the Voyager space program. This all-knowing entity describes how satellites that amplified human sounds were sent into space to give any potential extraterrestrials a sample of life on earth.

After this unnecessary history lesson, we home in on a morose man (Adam Sandler) as he goes to his son's room to use his computer to masturbate. When he discovers his son's Internet history is full of pornography, the narrator tells us Sandler feels sad that the old-school ritual of finding your dad's stack of porn magazines seems to have been lost in this technological age.

men women children posterSandler is just one poor sap in this ensemble piece, but this scene encapsulates all you need to know about the film: these characters are not believable people, just conduits for spreading a Luddite mentality. The movie wishes to shame those embracing the internet age by exaggerating the dangers and showcasing how disconnected we are as people because of it.

This perfectly valid criticism gets overshadowed by all the melodramatic excess, as Reitman can't help but shoehorn in other important, controversial topics no matter how tenuous their relationship to technology dependence. For example, there's an entire subplot surrounding a young woman with an eating disorder, and this is tied to the narrative through the pro-anorexia Tumblrs she visits. The film also deals with eating disorders, stage parents and the idea of celebrity, overprotective parents, bullying, teenage pregnancy, and suicide, but the film's two-hour runtime allows for only the broadest of strokes. There's even a way of dealing with 9/11 that made me cringe with how lazily it was thrown in.

Although Sandler might be commended for taking on a more ambitious role than usual, he sleepwalks through most of the film. It's not his fault, though, as this is how his character is written. Other stars like DeWitt, Garner, and Simmons are wasted in boring roles, and there are brief hints of life when the film spends time with Judy Greer and "Breaking Bad's" Dean Norris, who actually give decent performances in spite of everything that surrounds them. The two youngest characters in the film, played by Kaitlyn Dever and Ansel Elgort, are the most interesting, as their relationship is the only thing that comes off as genuine. 

men women children kids

Reitman is best known for his unique style of comedy that deal with serious issues, like "Juno" with teen pregnancy or unemployment in "Up In The Air." Something has been lost in his transition to full blown drama, as this and its critically-panned predecessor "Labor Day" just don't work. Here's hoping his next directorial effort sees Reitman returning to the more darkly comedic territory he knows best. 

SEE ALSO: Paul Thomas Anderson's New Movie 'Inherent Vice' Is Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen

MORE: 'Birdman' Starring Michael Keaton Is The Best Movie Of The Year

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The Underground Parking Lot At Comic Con Serves As A Giant Meet Up For Cosplayers

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nycc cosplay 2014 disney meetupOver the weekend, hordes of costumed New York Comic Con attendees packed into the Javits Center: attending panels, meeting their favorite comic book artists, and shopping the showroom floor for posters and collectibles.

If you happened to go downstairs and out the glass doors below the 35th street entrance, however, you'd find yourself in the most fantastical world possible.

It's a private park lot, a few acres wide, with two-story concrete walls keeping outsiders away. Some discover it by chance, in search of a quiet place to smoke a cigarette or eat their greasy convention-center grub. For others, this backlot is a highlight of the annual convention.

Cosplayers gather here, which is accessible to anyone with a ticket to Comic Con, with other cosplayers of the same genre to conduct photo shoots. In just an hour, we saw meetups take place for Disney, Marvel, and "Attack on Titan," a Japanese manga comic.

Nearly 50 Ariels, Snow Whites, Meridas, Rapunzels, Elsas, Annas, and other characters from the House of Mouse came together for the Disney meetup. They posed on the stairs, striking just the right prince and princess mannerisms.

This is what the scene looked like from their perspective. There were just as many photographers as cosplayers.

nycc cosplay 2014, disney meetupMorgan Campbell, a 22-year-old recent graduate of Marymount Manhattan College, says each year cosplayers arrive and ask other cosplayers in their genre if a meetup has been organized yet. Eventually someone takes on the responsibility of planning it themselves.

morgan cambell, nycc cosplay 2014, disney meetup

Campbell created a Facebook event and posted it to other cosplayers' pages. Although it only gathered 20 acceptances, word of mouth carried the invitation like wildfire throughout the weekend. The news also picked up traction on Tumblr, according to Campbell.

nycc cosplay 2014, morgan campbell, disney meetupAfter the initial group photo, which took about a half hour to pose and shoot, Campbell divided the cosplayers into characters for more intimate portraits. Here are some of our favorite shots, republished with Campbell's permission.

The Ariels, from "The Little Mermaid," seemed pretty stoked to be on land.

nycc cosplay 2014 disney meetup, ariel, the little mermaid, princess

Anna, the freckle-faced heroine of "Frozen," was a much less popular cosplay than her sister Elsa. It looks like she and Olaf were on their way to find the Snow Queen.

Anna, olaf, frozen, nycc cosplay 2014 photo shoot, disney meetup

Disney's "Brave" is looked upon as being a box-office disappointment when compared to other Pixar films. Still, Merida kept her chin up at Comic Con.

nycc cosplay 2014 disney meetup, Merida, brave, princess

If you were patient and stuck around long enough, Campbell photographed princesses individually. Rapunzel, from the movie "Tangled," was one of the last cosplayers to have her portrait taken.

nycc cosplay 2014 disney meetup, rapunzel, tangled

Meanwhile, across the lot, an "Attack on Titan" meetup was underway. The organizers of this event were reminding guests that if someone didn't want to participate in the shoot, do not force them. They made the crowd repeat back to them, "Cosplay isn't consent" — a phrase that appeared on posters throughout the Javtis Center.

attack on titan meetup, nycc cosplay 2014

And earlier in the Con, Beast, Black Widow, Star-Lord, Loki, Magneto, Spider-Man, Captain America, and other members of the Marvel universe came together for a family portrait.

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For more photos of the best cosplay at New York Comic Con, click here.

SEE ALSO: Everyone Is Going Crazy For This Chris Pratt Look-Alike At New York Comic Con

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The Most Expensive Cosplays At New York Comic Con

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Cosplay can be quite the expensive hobby. If you're going for accuracy, it's going to cost you.

Many New York Comic Con attendees say they repurposed clothing items they already had or used cardboard, EVA foam, and duct tape as primary building materials — spending between $100 and $250 on their costumes

But customized props and body makeup add up quickly, reaching high triple figures. We rounded up those who spent more.

Here are some of the most expensive cosplays below.

4. Corey Batten cosplayed as X-Men character Iceman, who can freeze anything around him and turn his body to ice. To get the mutant's icy exterior, Batten used an alcohol-based body paint in varying shades. It's considered a hazardous shipping material, so he had to order it in batches of 4-ounce bottles — totalling $400.

nycc cosplay 2014, silver surfer

3. Chris Pratt's Star-Lord from "Guardians of the Galaxy" was one of the more popular cosplays at New York Comic Con. John Esposito wore a red leather jacket, jeans, silver-spraypainted Nerf guns and knee pads, and a custom-made helmet that "was pushing $1,000."

nycc cosplay 2014, guardians of the galaxy, star-lord, peter quill

Here's a close-up of the helmet. We hope he gets to wear it again for the sequel.

nycc cosplay 2014, guardians of the galaxy, star-lord, peter quill

2. While Stormtroopers were aplenty, Erica Maldonado was the only Darth Talon cosplayer we saw. Maldonado spent six or seven months crafting her headpiece, made of foam, cotten, and latex. The biggest expense was creating a plaster cast of her head shape.

darth talon, nycc cosplay 2014

1. A crowd gathered around this larger-than-life Transformer Friday. Many thought it was there to promote Chevy's Camaro; however, it actually cost $1,000 to build and six months to make. We were told the entire base was made out of eva foam. There's also a metal base made out of aluminum underneath. 

transformers cosplay nycc 2014

The costume is built by Thomas DePetrillo who accepts commissions for cosplays. He shows off tips and tricks to building cosplay outfits on his YouTube Channel, Extreme Costumes.

SEE ALSO: Photos Of The Best Cosplay From New York Comic Con 2014

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Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Casino Hit The Jackpot With Britney Spears

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britney spears las vegas showgirls

In September 2013, Britney Spears spent $100,000 to elaborately announce her career comeback two year residency at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

That December, Spears took the stage to debut her new show, titled "Britney: Piece of Me."

Spears' original 2-year contract reportedly had her earning $30 million to perform 48 shows per year. With ticket prices at $60 to over $500, the residency has been so successful that in September, Spears announced she had extended her contract for an additional two years through 2017.

While Spears' most recent album "Britney Jean" was a total flop, the singer's Las Vegas residency has been a huge win for Planet Hollywood. Citi credit analyst Jenna Giannelli explains in a new research note:

"Planet Hollywood – The property is doing very well, having been revitalized by the Britney Spears show. Prior to her contract, the company had EBITDA of ~$80mm that is now run-rating near $100mm. Her contract expires at the end of 2015, and the company is already engaging new acts to keep the momentum going. Further, as capex wraps up on the Quad, it will be reallocated toward properties that need refreshes including Planet Hollywood, whose rooms and pool need upgrades."

In other words, Spears can take at least some credit for boosting Planet Hollywood's annual operating earnings by around $20 million. Note, this is the money the house keeps after paying Spears.

The resort and casino was taken over by Caesars Entertainment in 2009 after the casino defaulted on its mortgage.

As someone who has watched Spears lip-synch her way through the Vegas show, Planet Hollywood should consider itself lucky that people will still pay to see pop's one-time princess.

SEE ALSO: Unedited Britney Spears Song Without Auto-Tune Leaks And It's Painful

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Why 'The Walking Dead' Changed An Iconic Line From The Season 4 Finale

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rick the walking dead season 4"The Walking Dead" season 4 ends on an iconic line from the comic series.

Rick, played by Andrew Lincoln, and a group of survivors are reunited after being kidnapped and thrown into a railroad car by others. 

The group isn't fearful for their lives. Instead, the camera passes over the trapped characters before stopping on Rick and slowly zooming in before he delivers the line, "They're screwing with the wrong people." 

In the comics, the line is less TV friendly and delivered under slightly different circumstances: "They're f------ with the wrong people."

The line was filmed as such and is available for diehard fans on the Blu-Ray release of season 4.

During Saturday's New York Comic Con panel a fan asked both Lincoln and series showrunner Scott Gimple why the line was changed for television.

the walking dead nycc 2014

The simple answer is that the cable television show couldn't air the word due to strong language and Gimple didn't want the last line of season 4 to be censored.

Gimple showed the audience how the line would have sounded delivered on AMC if they kept in the curse word.

"It could have been, 'They're (pause) the wrong people,'" said Gimple. "You all are looking at me like it's weird. It would have been weird. 'They're (pause) with the wrong people.'"

scott gimple the walking dead nycc 2014

Panel host Chris Hardwick elaborated that Gimple was pausing to demonstrate AMC cutting sound from the episode rather than "bleeping" it.

"[It would have been] the last line of the season and I think people would have been hitting their sets like Homer," added Gimple. "We did know that we were going to be able to do it on the Blu-Ray. Andy Lincoln can say screwing in a way that frightens me."

Lincoln, Gimple, and series director and executive producer Greg Nicotero then expanded on the line swap more. 

"I only gave one take of the actual screwing line because I refused. I just went, 'No, that's the way they say it in the script," added Lincoln. 

the walking dead panel nycc 2014

"Oh, yeah. That was my own mistake. I put f------- in the script," said Gimple.

"We get outlines and then we get the scripts," explained Nicotero. "In the outline Scott had written it, you know, 'They're f------ with the wrong people.' And I said, 'We have to shoot it. We have to find a way.' We actually, for a long time, experimented with how much we [could] dip the word so we can still say it."

greg nicotero andrew lincoln the walking dead nycc 2014

Hardwick jumped in to say how strange it is that "The Walking Dead" can show copious amounts of blood, guts, and violence, but not a swear word before moving on to the next audience question.

"Isn't that kind of weird though that this is the way that television works now? And it's not their fault," said Hardwick. "It's not the network's fault. It's just the way that you can show another guy rip another guy's throat out with his teeth [a reference to a scene from "The Walking Dead" season 4], and you're like, all right but no swearing!'"

"Kids have the internet anyway now, so f--- it," he added.

You can watch the uncensored clip seen on the Blu-Ray here.

SEE ALSO: The most terrifying part of the season 5 premiere was inspired by 'Alien'

AND: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from HBO's hit show "The Wire"

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7 Awesome Things To Do Before You're 40

Go Inside The Creepy Abandoned Mall Featured In 'Gone Girl'

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Those of you who have seen David Fincher's new drama, "Gone Girl," will certainly remember the creepy and ominous abandoned mall visited by police in the semi-fictional town of East Carthage, Missouri.

For those of you haven't seen the movie (go see it now!), we won't spoil anything, other than to say that the setting was mysterious and fascinatingly foreboding. The location fits perfectly with the cold, dark, and eerie mood of the movie.

The abandoned mall is actually not in Missouri at all, but instead is a "dead mall" in Hawthorne, California, southwest of Los Angeles.

While initially popular when it opened in 1977, The Hawthorne Plaza Mall saw a steady decline in the 90's and finally closed its doors in 1999.hawthorne mall

Since then, the mall has been a popular spot for Hollywood location scouts. "Gone Girl" is not the only movie to film there. Other productions have included "Evolution," "Minority Report," "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift," and "The Green Hornet."hawthorne mall

The mall originally was anchored by department stores J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, and The Broadway. Today, only a Quiznos and a few government offices remain open.hawthorne mall

The mall is 900,000 square feet and features a five-acre parking lot, though not many cars park there anymore.hawthorne mall

Hawthorne Plaza was looted in the Los Angeles riots of 1992, and from there, things never got much better for the mall.hawthorne mall

Police Officer (and celebrity food critic) Chris Cognac grabbed these shots when he visited the mall during a security check prior to some demolition inside the building. hawthorne mall

Currently, there are no plans to remodel or renovate the mall. At the very least, it will continue to serve Hollywood as a spooky place to film movies.hawthorne mall

To see more, check out this video inside the mall, made by YouTuber Tom Explores Los Angeles:

SEE ALSO: 21 Hauntingly Beautiful Photos Of Deserted Shopping Malls

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Michael Keaton Turned Down The Chance To Star In 'Groundhog Day' And 'Lost'

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Michael Keaton

It's difficult to imagine anyone but Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day" and unfathomable imagining another actor telling Evangeline Lily they need to go back to an island on ABC's "Lost," but it nearly happened.

groundhog day bill murrayWhile making the press rounds for his new movie "Birdman," Michael Keaton tells Entertainment Weekly he passed up on the two big roles.

Keaton says he turned down the lead in 1993's "Groundhog Day" because he "didn't get it."

"This guy sounds like the kind of wry, sardonic, glib young man I've played—and it ended up being so great," Keaton tells EW. "But you can't do it better than Bill Murray did it."

It's a role Keaton tells the magazine he regrets passing up.

Keaton starred in Tim Burton's 1989 superhero movie, "Batman." Funny enough, Murray was reportedly considered for that role. Murray told MTV News in 2008 he "would have been a fine Batman."

Keaton also passed up the opportunity to star as the lead on ABC's hit show "Lost."

Via EW:

"He turned down Matthew Fox's role in the Lost pilot when ABC convinced J.J. Abrams that he had to keep the character alive after the first two hours."

lost jack"Lost" went on to air for six seasons receiving a Golden Globe win for best television series. Fox was nominated in 2010 at the Primetime Emmys for outstanding lead actor in a drama series.

Keaton tells EW he has no regrets on passing on the show because he didn't want to do a TV series.

You can read a portion of EW's Michael Keaton interview here. The full interview is in the October 17 issue of EW.

SEE ALSO: Michael Keaton wasn't impressed the first time he read the "Batman" script

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Kim Kardashian's Youngest Sister Kylie Is Suddenly The Most Influential Family Member

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kim kardashian kanye westKim Kardashian may be sitting front row at fashion week, but it's her younger half sisters who are proving to be the most influential in the fashion world.

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While Kendall Jenner, 18, has been strutting down the runway next to Naomi Campbell this year, it's actually 17-year-old Kylie Jenner who holds the most influence over young fans' fashion choices.

According to data provided to Bloomberg Businessweek by fashion site Polyvore, "an analysis of its 20 million monthly unique users shows that Kylie has been gradually trending up compared with her sisters in the past two years."Kylie Jenner

Polyvore, whose users are mainly age 18 to 24 females who spend money on clothes, put together a chart showing  the daily search interest for each of the five Kardashian and Jenner sisters since 2012. Kylie has quickly risen the ranks of popularity in the past two years.

Kylie Jenner Kardashian chart

Kylie's rise in popularity is due in part to the fact that she is different from her sisters — a little more punk, gothic, and relatable.

The 17-year-old had a major trendsetting moment at sister Kim's wedding when she showed up for the fancy affair with blue hair.kylie jenner blue hair

The popular look lead to Kylie launching her own hair-extension line, Kylie Hair Kouture, which she often promotes on Instagram to her nearly 13 million followers.Kylie Jenner instagramWith her hair extension line, the "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" E! reality show (for which she reportedly she makes $5,000 per episode), promotional tweets (she makes thousands per tweet), and endorsement contracts with brands like PacSun, the 17-year-old is already a millionaire.

With all of her current projects, Kylie doesn't even have time for high school, opting to be home schooled instead.

Kylie admitted last year that she only spends about "three to four hours" studying per day, "Then I usually work. I’m pretty busy all day." 

Read businessweek's full article on the Kardashian sisters' changing popularity here >

SEE ALSO: I Played The Kim Kardashian iPhone Game, And Now I Finally Get It

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Beststelling Author Describes Being Stalked In A Candid, Disturbing AMA

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A bestselling author named Melissa Anelli spoke out in a Reddit AMA this week about how she realized online abuse had turned into terrifying cyberstalking.  

"[It started with] the first death threat. Actually, I didn't think it was stalking at that point. I thought it was a one-off death threat, and I took it seriously, and warned staff, but I didn't think it would continue," writes Anelli, author of "Harry, A History," which chronicles the "Harry Potter" phenomenon.

"When almost every day thereafter contained some message, threat, or vile insinuation, stalker started to apply. And as it worked itself offline, harassment and abuse applied," she added. "Not that you can only be harassed and abused offline, but that was the first time I started assigning those words to myself."

Anelli says her alleged stalker, a New Zealand woman named Jessica Parker, began harassing her through her online forum. Parker allegedly sent Anelli a death threat when she was asked to stop. At this point, Anelli reached out to the FBI for help.

Parker was first arrested for criminal harassment in New Zealand in 2011. She was instructed not to contact Anelli and to stay off the internet, but allegedly began the harassment again the day these restrictions were lifted, NPR has reported. Anelli told NPR that she can get up to 20 messages in a day from Parker, ranging from "extremely graphic rape threats to really graphic death threats." 

When asked on Reddit if she has taken any extra precautions to protect herself, such as purchasing a gun, Anelli replied that she has never considered owning a weapon and is taking all of the "basic precautions" necessary to secure her personal safety. 

Those precautions include locking down her online presence, she told NPR. This was hard for somebody with such a big online presence. "This has completely changed that in the sense that I'm a much more suspicious person," she told NPR.

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George Clooney's New Wife Is Helping Greece Rescue Ancient Sculptures From Britain's Clutches

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A team of London lawyers, including George Clooney's new wife Amal Clooney, are in Athens to submit proposals to help Greece's campaign to reclaim 5th-century BC Parthenon sculptures that are now in Britain.

Produced by Matt Johnston. Video courtesy of Associated Press.
 
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Look Out Apple: Marc Benioff and Will.i.am Will Launch A Smartwatch On Wednesday

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will.i.am salesforce smartwatch

In a long-awaited move, will.i.am is expected to officially launch his smartwatch in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Oddly, this will not be related to Apple's event this week. On Thursday, Apple is expected to launch new iPads, Macs, and a new OS.

But will.i.am will launch his new product at a huge customer conference being held by enterprise cloud software company Salesforce.com.

That's odd because the Black Eyed Peas front man, otherwise known as William Adams, owned a founding stake in Beats Electronics, just bought by Apple for $3 billion.

No matter. He also owns a fashion/tech company called i.am+ that just landed an investment from Salesforce.com.

Salesforce recently launched a new $100 million venture fund focused on mobile apps and "Internet of Things" devices, called the Salesforce1 Fund. While Salesforce didn't disclose how much of a stake it bought, it did say that i.am+ was one of four inaugural companies to get backing from the fund. (The others are DocuSign, InsideSales.com, and Skuid).

And that means that Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff gets to have will.i.am launch his watch at the Dreamforce conference.

will.i.am smartwatch

The two of them have been teasing this for weeks.

Will.i.am says the tech industry's concept of a smartwatch is all wrong.

Last month, for instance, Benioff interviewed him at a Salesforce.com event in Indianapolis, where he said, "This conversation that we're having about wearables, the thing on your wrist that talks to your phone, that's not the future. ... There's no reason why the thing on your wrist shouldn't be able to do everything. There's no reason for it to talk to a phone at all."

His smartwatch includes a phone, he says, and also does music streaming.

He actually demoed it a bit with English talk show host, Alan Carr, in April. At that time, he expected the watch to launch in the summer around June or July.

On Wednesday, we expect to see and hear more about the watch, Engadget reports, including price, battery life (which he's hinted will last all day), and a date when it will be available (maybe even tomorrow).

(Skip to 9:05 to hear about the watch.)

SEE ALSO: After last year's debacle, Salesforce fixes its $1 million hackathon

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'LEAGUE OF LEGENDS' FINALS: Meet The Kids Facing Off In The Biggest Sporting Event Of The Month

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league of legends

"League of Legends" is one of the most popular e-sports games in the world right now, boasting a staggering 67 million active monthly players, according to a recent article in The New York Times. 

The most important moment of the year for "LoL" fans is happening on Saturday: the finals of the "League of Legends" World Championships. It will be held in a stadium in Seoul that was built for the 2002 soccer World Cup.

The top prize is $1 million, a roughly 70-pound trophy called the Summoner's Cup, and, of course, bragging rights.

Gameplay is intense. You can think of it as a very complicated video game version of capture the flag: two teams of five players battle to capture each other's "Nexus." But that's just the beginning. Players from each team choose a Champion, each of which has different strengths, powers, and a backstory to go with it. There are 120 Champions to choose from as of this writing. 

LoL

Champions are followed into battle by Minions, which are generated automatically and help the Champions fight.

The New York Times posted a cool-looking video of 100,000 players in 10,000 games at the same time. You can see all the players descending on the paths of varying difficulty and requirements — Top Lane, Mid Lane, and Bottom Lane – with most of the battles happening in the middle:

 league of legends

Riot Games says it's easy to learn but impossible to master — but there are a couple teams at the top of the pack right now who have mastered the game enough to make it to the finals.

Meet Team Samsung White

Professional "LoL" teams have managers, salaried players, and even sponsors. Such is the case with Korean team Samsung White, which used to be known as MVP White until Samsung took over sponsorship in 2013.

League of Legends team Samsung White

There's Hyeong-seok "Looper" Jang, whose the team's Top Laner. He subbed for another player during the 2013 Championships and soon proved his worth as a very skilled member of the team.  

In-kyu "DanDy" Choi is the team's Jungler. The Jungle is any part of the game that's not part of the main Lanes, and a good Jungler helps the team gain experience points and gold. DanDy is considered one of the top Junglers in the world. 

Won-seok "PawN" Heo is the team's Middle Laner. He's known for his great solo kill skills and is only 17 years old. 

Seung-bin "imp" Gu is the team's AD (Attack Damage) Carry, which means he's in charge of helping the team win in late stages of the game. As far as AD Carrys go, he's one of the best in the business. 

And finally Se-hyoung "Mata" Cho is the Support and leader of the team and has been compared to another top player, named Hong "MadLife" Min-gi. In fact he's so good, that people says, "If MadLife is God then Mata is Buddha." The Support player is in charge of healing his teammates and creates opportunities for his teammates to snag the win. 

Meet Team Star Horn Royal Club

Going up against Samsung White is Star Horn Royal Club, a Chinese team that was founded in 2012. And Royal Club has something to prove: It came in second in last year's World Championship, taking home a $250,000 prize. 

Star Horn Royal Club

The team was rebranded in May and this year became the first pro team ever to make it to the finals two years in a row. 

Jian "Uzi" Zihao is the team's AD Carry and the only member who was on last year's team. He's an aggressive player and is notorious for having a fiery temper. 

Yun "Zero" Kyung-sub, who hails from Korea, used to play mid lane, but has since moved to his current spot as the team's Support. 

The team's Jungler is Choi "InSec" In-seok and is known for being an aggressive and exciting player to watch. He's also from Korea.

Playing as a Mid Laner is Lei "corn" Wen, a talented player with top skills. 

And the Top Laner is Jiang "Cola" Nan, who has done a decent job so far and probably still has a few moves hidden away to whip out at an opportunistic time.

The Road To The Finals

The path to Saturday's main event is not for the faint-hearted. There are three phases: Regionals, Groups, and Knockout Stage.

There are six regional tournaments, plus a wild card round. Each of the regions — North America, Europe, Korea, China, and Southeast Asia and Taiwan — has its own way of advancing. 

The next phase is called Groups. Here, top teams compete in a "Round Robin" style tournament, with four groups composed of four teams each. Eight teams advance after the Group phase, which is played like in a typical bracket. 

League of Legends 2013 Finals

After that comes the Knockout Stage, which itself is divided into three parts: Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and the Finals. Teams play the best of five games, not unlike the World Series or any other sports championships.  

And now here we are at the Finals, with team Samsung White and Star Horn Royal Club each hoping to take home the prize this weekend. 

Based on its stats, Samsung White seems to be the favorite to win. It cleared its whole Group without losing a single match and has a 12-1 record. 

But, even with its 11-5 record, Star Horn Royal Club won't go down easy. 

SEE ALSO: Why 'League of Legends' is bringing in $1 billion

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Here's What The 'Dude You're Getting A Dell' Guy Is Doing Today

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Ben Curtis is a 33-year-old actor best known for his role as the "Dell Dude." He appeared in 26 different commercials for the once goliath PC company in the early 2000s, and became a national sensation for his "Dude, you're getting a Dell!" catchphrase.

After the cops busted Curtis for attempting to buy drugs, though, Dell immediately severed ties with the young actor. Curtis tells us about his time as the "Dell Dude," how much money he made, where all that money went, and what he's up to now.

Produced by Will Wei. Additional camera by Justin Gmoser.

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We're In The Middle Of An Exciting Shift In The Animation Industry

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Bojack Horseman"BoJack Horseman" — the serialized cartoon on Netflix wekeepwritingabout— is far from the only exciting thing happening in animation.

You've got other brilliant adult cartoons like "Archer," which like "BoJack" and "Bob's Burgers" has links to the offbeat style pioneered by Cartoon Network's Adult Swim shows in 2001; "Family Guy" and related shows are still innovating, as are "The Simpsons" and "South Park"; and then you've got a steady stream of hit feature films, including the third biggest releases this year and last year in "The LEGO Movie" and "Frozen"; not to mention tons of interest in anime and other foreign animation styles.

We asked co-founders Corey Campodonico and Alex Bulkley of animation company ShadowMachine, which worked on "BoJack," about the state of the industry. They say we're in something of a golden age.

"It's pretty booming all around," Campodonico said. "There's a lot of change going on, a lot of new styles, alot of new voices."

What's happening is a generational shift from the Looney Tunes era to the Simpsons era to something new.

"Shows like 'Simpsons,' 'South Park,' have been on 20-plus years and people have grown up with adult animation as a norm, whereas in past generations it was a kids' format, so with that it just becomes second-hand that stories will be told in that format," Campodonico said.

"There's a sophisticated audience out there, which is exciting," Bulkley said. "People are less attuned to it just being a cartoon, as cartoons traditionally were for a younger audience, and suddenly you've got animation simply as a format much like live action or anything it's just a way to reinforce what is your storytelling, and that's a big opportunity."

As audiences grow to accept animation, it's easy to see why creators would use it.

hell and back movie"It comes down to what animation as a format can provide. You can go anywhere: You can go into outer space or underwater all within 30 seconds," Bulkley said.

New technology is also making animation much easier.

"When we first started doing stop-motion animation for Adult Swim, it was right on the cusp of all the cameras going digital," Bulkley said. "Digital cameras were a huge innovation for that format, and they hadn't even yet developed the live views so you couldn't see what the frame was so we were using spy cameras as reference points to see what the cameras were seeing. Obviously, that evolved into digital cameras, and that format just took off by way of a digital workflow that brought cost down and increased the speed and efficiency in which it could get done."

And more and more people are learning to use it.

"In the 2D formats, kids are growing up learning a lot of the Adobe products from Photoshop and Flash and such where you have a much bigger pool of talent familiar with the software and that certainly speeds the process," Bulkley said. "The good old-fashioned skills in illustration and art never go away, it's just that the tools have gotten better.

Even as technology is improving, audiences are more accepting of simple animations.

"You have the pioneers out of adult swim building up shows, and after working with them for so many years, what you've got is a rabid fan base that doesn't need to see perfect CGI state-of-the-art animation as they need to see a characterization or a new world and that immersive experience into new worlds excites an audience," Bulkley said.

ShadowMachine's current projects include "BoJack," an upcoming stop-motion film "Hell & Back," Guillermo Del Toro's announced stop-motion version of "Pinocchio," various ads and music videos, and "TripTank," a Comedy Central sketch show.

"We've been at the forefront of a lot of styles," Campodonico said. "The show 'Triptank' that we do on Comedy Central is a playground for really innovative and new voices. That's something that we're really passionate about and mirrors the booming nature of adult animation across the whole industry."

SEE ALSO: How a comedian with no experience got such huge names to join "BoJack Horseman"

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The ‘Justice League’ Movie Is Coming In 2017

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justice league

Warner Bros. and DC are finally ready to go head to head with Disney and Marvel at theaters. 

Wednesday morning, during a Time Warner investors meeting, Warner Bros.' Chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara announced a huge slate of 10 upcoming films to be released from 2016 through 2020 ranging from a "Flash" movie to a "Wonder Woman" standalone film.  

The biggest announcement was a confirmation on an upcoming “Justice League” film which will be broken up into two parts.  

“Justice League Part One” will be directed by “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” director Zack Snyder. Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Ben Affleck will reprise their roles as Superman, Lois Lane, and Bruce Wayne/Batman. 

The film will be released 2017. 

A sequel, with the working title “Justice League Part Two,” will debut in 2019. 

 

The big superhero team film is DC and Warner Bros.’ answer to Disney and Marvel’s “The Avengers” series. The 2012 film made more than $1.5 billion at the box office.

Here’s the entire film schedule from the press release: 

  • “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” directed by Zack Snyder (2016)
  • “Suicide Squad,” directed by David Ayer (2016)
  • “Wonder Woman,” starring Gal Gadot (2017)
  • “Justice League Part One,” directed by Zack Snyder, with Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams reprising their roles (2017)
  • “The Flash,” starring Ezra Miller (2018)
  • “Aquaman,” starring Jason Momoa (2018)
  • “Shazam” (2019)
  • “Justice League Part Two,” directed by Zack Snyder (2019)
  • “Cyborg,” starring Ray Fisher (2020)
  • “Green Lantern” (2020)

SEE ALSO: George Clooney apologizes to fans for his 'Batman' movie

AND: Warner Bros. is making these 11 superhero movies between now and 2020

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