Quantcast
Channel: Business Insider
Viewing all 103365 articles
Browse latest View live

The new book on iconic filmmaker Orson Welles looks at his infamous unreleased final movie

$
0
0

The Last Movie_FC[1]

Considered one of the greatest artists of all time, Orson Welles is best known for his legendary work as an actor and director on Broadway. His work included scaring the country with his fake “The War of the Worlds” radio broadcast and then going to Hollywood and creating masterpieces like “Citizen Kane,” for which he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1942.

But his later years brought financial turmoil and were marked by a stubborn obsession with having creative freedom on anything he touched. He ended up living in exile in Europe for more than a decade.

Then in the summer of 1970, Welles returned to Hollywood with dreams of a comeback — but on his own terms.

He prepared to self-finance and direct a film he “wrote” (it’s still uncertain if there ever was a complete script) titled “The Other Side of the Wind.”

The story would take place during a single day in the life of a legendary, self-destructive filmmaker named Jake Hannaford (played by John Huston) who returns to Hollywood after years of a self-imposed exile. Despite the obvious similarity to his own life, Welles always insisted that the film was not autobiographical.

Like all things in Welles' life, the proposed eight-week shoot on a micro-budget did not go as planned. The film would consume the maverick’s life until his death in 1985. And to this day, the unfinished film has been tied up in legal and financial battles that you’d think could only have been possible in a sensational story penned by Welles.

In the new book, “Orson Welles’s Last Movie: The Making of ‘The Other Side of the Wind,’” author Josh Karp looks back on the turbulent making of the film, to help pay for it Welles took on commercial work, and the bizarre happenings related to the film following his death.

welles paul masson click americana

welles jim beam vintage ad browser

In a related note, just this week (which happens to fall on Welles’ 100th birthday) it was announced that a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo had begun to raise the finishing funds needed to get the film closer to being released to audiences. (Welles completed shooting, but never finished editing.)

Here are excerpts from the book, which is currently on sale.

Art 9 Carefree Studio 5 ed final

Orson Welles always loved telling a good story. It didn’t matter if it was for the screen or at a dinner party. As Karp writes below, one of those stories, about Welles' fistfight with Ernest Hemingway, led to the inspiration for “The Other Side of the Wind.”

It was May 1937: before “War of the Worlds,” before “Citizen Kane,” and more than thirty years before he shot the first frame of “The Other Side of the Wind.”

Hired to narrate Hemingway’s script for “The Spanish Earth,” a pro-leftist Spanish Civil War documentary made by Jorvis Ivens, Orson entered a Manhattan recording studio and encountered the legendary author.

On the day the two men met, Welles was only twenty-two but had already achieved more than most artists dream of accomplishing in a lifetime. He was a Broadway wunderkind with his own theater company and his own radio show. As a radio performer he was making more than $1,000 a week during the Depression and was the voice of the title character on the wildly popular radio detective show “The Shadow,” meaning he was heard in millions of living rooms each week.

It was a juncture in his life when Welles was so busy that he allegedly hired an ambulance (sirens blaring to avoid traffic) to get him from radio gigs to the theater on time. It wasn’t illegal and he was Orson Welles, so why not?

By the time he met Hemingway, Welles had staged an all-black “Macbeth” set in nineteenth-century Haiti and was working on a fascist-themed, modern-dress “Julius Caesar.” Within a year he’d appear on the cover of Time magazine. Then that Halloween there was the broadcast of “The War of the Worlds,” and if anyone hadn’t heard of Orson Welles by November 1983, they were either living in a cave or dead.

Now famous, he went to Hollywood, where by the age of twenty-six he’d co-written, directed, and starred in his first feature-length film: “Citizen Kane.” It was a time, said one friend, where “anything seemed possible” when you were working with Orson.

Anything was possible. Everything was possible. And the day he met Hemingway, Orson was on the cusp of exploding as an artist and a star.

Hemingway, meanwhile, was thirty-seven and had already written “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Sun Also Rises.” He’d driven an ambulance in World War I, where he’d been injured by mortar fire and witnessed violent death firsthand while still in his early twenties. Hemingway knew life in the most physical sense. He was a man’s man who stalked big game, reeled in gigantic marlins, and chased adventure to such an extreme that years later he survived two plane crashes in the same day while hunting in Africa. It fit perfectly with the image he cultivated — one crash simply wasn’t enough. It had been a life consciously marked by death and violence, things that were in his blood and affirmed his existence.

They didn’t know it, but Welles and Hemingway shared more than artistry and big personalities. Both men had a deep love for Spain and the art of bullfighting, and each was friendly with legendary torero Antonio Ordóñez. But in May 1937, their shared passions were of no consequence. What mattered was what Orson did after entering the studio.

Having reworked Shakespeare, Welles likely didn’t think twice about trying to improve Hemingway’s script. Orson claimed he’d tried only to make it more Hemingwayesque, cutting the words back to their essence and letting images on-screen speak for themselves. Perhaps they could do away with lines such as “Here are the faces of men who are close to death” and just show the faces themselves.

Shocked by Welles’s audacity, Hemingway immediately went after the softest spot he could find and used Orson’s theater background to infer that he was gay and didn’t know a thing about war or other manly pursuits. More than a decade later, Hemingway would tell John Huston that every time Welles said “infantry” it “was like a cocksucker swallowing.”

Not yet fat, young Orson Welles was still a big man, tall and sturdy, with large feet. Despite his size, however, Welles wasn’t prone to violence. But having dealt with bullies since his youth, he knew just how to retaliate. If the hairy-chested author wanted a faggot, Orson would give him one. So, great actor that he was, Welles camped it up and drove Hemingway over the edge.

“Mister Hemingway,” Welles lisped in the swishiest voice he could muster, “how strong you are and how big you are!”

The counterpunch hit Hemingway exactly where Orson intended, and the novelist exploded, allegedly picking up a chair and attacking Welles, who grabbed a chair of his own. The aftermath, as Orson described it, was a cartoonish sound booth brawl played out with bloody images of the Spanish Civil War flickered behind them.

Eventually, however, both men concluded that the fight was insane, collapsed to the floor in laughter, and shared a bottle of whiskey. Thus began a friendship that lasted until Hemingway shot himself in the head on July 2, 1961. — "Orson Welles’s Last Movie" (pgs 7-9)

In the early years of shooting “The Other Side of the Wind” (1970), Welles was able to rent time on the MGM studio backlot at a cheap rate because he had his crew pretend they were UCLA film students. On the dilapidated sets of old Westerns shot there, Welles and his team filmed scenes that didn’t involve Hannaford (Welles hadn’t cast Huston yet; when they needed a shot of Hannaford’s back or a line said off-camera, Welles would play him). Though the crew quickly learned that Welles’ methods were unorthodox and volatile.

Much time at MGM, however, was consumed by Orson searching for inspiration and without a clear vision of how he wanted things to appear on-screen. Many scenes were rehearsed and filmed numerous times, after which Orson would change things around and do it again, and again, until the right image or interpretation emerged. Then he'd move the camera again and reenvision the action from a different perspective.

On another film, the producer might have pushed Orson to be more efficient. But since it was how own money and he had an accommodating crew, Wells had total control over the set, how long they worked, and what they shot. As a result, when the lot was available for only one final weekend, Wells had the crew work seventy-two hours straight until they got all the footage they needed.

Because of the free-form nature of the MGM shoot, Welles often became exasperated over technical glitches or shots taken from the wrong angle. Many times he would lament that they were "losing the light" and explode in a way that terrified some but was part of the job to most.

One outburst took place when Welles sent someone out for dinner during the late afternoon. Upon his return, the crew member handed out wrapped plates of food and plastic silverware. Orson went ballistic, launching into a twenty-minute tantrum about how they'd lost the light.

"I wanted sandwiches!" he screamed as the precious light dissipated behind him. "So that they could eat with one hand!"

Everyone, including those stifling laughter, put on an appropriate face out of respect for Orson and to avoid the line of fire.

[Actor on the film Bob] Random recalled that Welles blew up on another occasion and told everyone to get off the set and never return. Knowing it was just another explosion, they left and then came back as if nothing had happened when [the film’s cinematographer, Gary] Graver called later that week. — "Orson Welles's Last Movie" (pg 77)

Photograph by José María CastellvíMost of the crew were obsessed with pleasing Welles. That was evident by 1974, when the production moved to Carefree, Arizona, and Welles was in need of a few props for a scene.

Among the other things Orson needed during the shoot were: a real human bone; fake but authentic posters for old Hannaford films that existed only in Orson's imagination; dummies to fill a crowd scene; a cigar store Indian for Jake's den; and hunting trophies, including a swordfish for the mantel.

Anywhere other than the desert, it might have been easy to find a swordfish, but in Arizona they were hard to come by, so Orson sent [crew member Glenn] Jacobson to a Hollywood prop house. After driving from Carefree to Los Angeles and back, Jacobson proudly placed an enormous grouper over the mantel.

Welles took one look and said, "No! I want a swordfish! Like in Hemingway!"

So the grouper sat in a corner and the search continued until [one of the film’s actors Peter] Jason asked a bartender where he could find a big stuffed swordfish and was given the name of a local taxidermist with one on his own mantel.

Jason called the man, explained his predicament, and was lent a beautiful, much treasured swordfish only because it was for Orson Welles. Jason placed it in the back of a station wagon and drove back a Carefree, holding the fish's delicate bill the entire way.

Knowing how happy he'd make Welles, Jason was beaming as he and [crew member and future Hollywood producer Frank] Marshall brought the swordfish inside and placed it carefully on the living room floor during dinner.

"Oh my God!" Welles said. "It's fantastic!"

While Welles continued to express his pleasure, Jason warned everyone that he was responsible for the swordfish and that no one was to touch or move it. But minutes later there was a crunch, and Jason turned to see that [crew member] Larry Jackson had accidentally stepped on the bill and broken it into three pieces.

With everyone shrieking and moaning "like they were at an Indian funeral," Jason tore Jackson to pieces and then spent the next several days finding the proper shade of black, blue, and silver spray paint to glue the bill back together so they could see it over the mantle. It then remained there for weeks and weeks, while the taxidermist called to see when he'd get his swordfish back. — "Orson Welles's Last Movie" (pgs 141-142)

The bizarre stories on set only increased when John Huston came on the film.

"Don't worry," Welles assured Larry Jackson, who was lying in the trunk of the convertible, holding a boom mike. "We won't even be going that fast."

Welles and Jackson were about to shoot a scene in which Hannaford drives to his party, with [famous director and Welles friend Peter] Bogdanovich (formerly in the backseat as [another character in the film] Higgam in August 1970) no sitting in the passenger seat with a crew member crammed into his footwell. Orson and Graver, meanwhile, strapped a camera to his side of the car and squished into the back with handhelds.

Having already consumed a considerable amount of vodka that day, Huston pulled the car onto a street, where he drove only briefly before running up a curb onto a street, where he drove only briefly before running up a curb onto somebody's front lawn, clipping a tree, and destroying the side-mounted camera, which swung violently toward — and nearly decapitated — Bogdanovich.

When the car stopped, Welles looked at the camera and said, "I'll have to do another commercial to pay for that." Then he turned his attention to Huston, wanting to know what just happened. Though Hannaford was supposed to be driving recklessly, this was more than Orson had in mind.

Huston, however, was neither acting nor drunk. Instead, he explained that long ago he'd concluded that drinking and driving didn't mix and that he'd have to make a choice of one or the other. Drinking won, and for decades he'd hardly been behind the wheel.

Undeterred, Orson yelled, "Action!" and Huston steered back onto the road and drove for a bit before he was told to merge onto a highway. Following the directions, Huston turned the car and entered by going the wrong way down an exit ramp and into high-speed traffic on an expressway, with Jackson clinging to the trunk, thinking, "The obituary won't even mention that I was here."

With everyone screaming and the cameras rolling, Huston swerved away from oncoming cars until he was able to jump the meridian with a hard left and then calmly join the flow of traffic on the other side.

When they exited the highway and Huston pulled over, everyone was deadly silent, until Welles sighed deeply and said, "Thanks, John. That'll do.” — "Orson Welles's Last Movie" (pgs 152-154)

Art 1 OW FerrisAt the time of Welles’ death of a heart attack in the fall of 1985, “The Other Side of the Wind” was still in post production and Welles was in battles with his financiers over its completion. The drama around the film only increased in the following years. But Welles’ longtime mistress and star of “Wind,” Oja Kodar, was determined to hand the film over to another iconic filmmaker for completion. She first tried John Huston in 1986, but petty matters led to that not going forward. Kodar then tried to reach out to some of the filmmakers that made up New Hollywood.

With Huston out, Oja and Graver showed “The Other Side of the Wind” to several prominent directors, including Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, George Lucas, and Clint Eastwood, hoping that one of them would take on the project.

After striking out with Stone, Lucas, and Spielberg, Oja found out that Peter Jason had recently appeared as Eastwood's commanding officer in “Heartbreak Ridge” and called him, insisting that he take the film to Eastwood, who had a reputation for rescuing obscure and offbeat projects from the scrap heap. Jason told Oja that she should write a letter that he'd drop off at Eastwood's Malpaso Productions on the Warner Bros. lot. When he read the handwritten note in Oja's somewhat broken English, however, Jason retyped the letter, fixed the grammar, and took it to Eastwood's office.

Expecting nothing, Jason was back at home when he received a call from a secretary at Malpaso who asked him to wait on the line for Eastwood.

"Pete?" the “Dirty Harry” star said when he came on the line. "It's Clint. What is this?"

"It's Orson Welles's last movie," Jason replied.

"Can I look at it today?" Eastwood asked.

Jason quickly called Graver, and they grabbed reels of two scenes (the rain-car-sex scene and Hannaford's arrival at his party) and drove them to Eastwood's office, where they showed the footage to Clint and his associates Tom Rooker and David Valdes.

At one point Valdes said, "There's nothing here we can use," and left the screening, which Rooker said everyone had come into anticipating a lost treasure, only to see a film that "was all over the place and kind of a mess."

Dejected, Graver and Jason struck their film cans back in the trunk and began driving off the lot when Rooker ran out and told them Eastwood was intrigued by some of what he'd seen. "He couldn't figure out how you did the rain on the window," Rooker said, adding that Eastwood was leaving the next day but would love to see a script or have the film put on tape so he could try to figure it out when he returned from Africa, where he was portraying a fictionalized Huston in “White Hunter Black Heart.”

While Eastwood was gone, Jason and Graver took footage to Eastwood's editor five reels at a time. But when “White Hunter” didn't do well at the box office, it extended Eastwood's financial losing streak and left him with less clout at Warner Bros., which Jason said made any chance of a deal evaporate. Rooker, however, said the reason that financial and creative problems the film carried with it.

Regardless, Eastwood certainly was influenced by what he'd seen of Hannaford when developing his own characterization of Huston for “White Hunter Black Heart” — including a scene when an overzealous man introduces himself and Clint's character, John Wilson, replies, "Of course you are.” [A line Welles delivers as Hannaford in “The Other Side of the Wind” during the shooting when Huston wasn’t cast yet] — "Orson Welles’s Last Movie" (pgs 249-250)

SEE ALSO: How Orson Welles pulled off the scariest media hoax of all time

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How a legendary rock band ended up influencing the 'Game of Thrones' books









Against all odds, 'World of Warcraft' still has over 7 million players (ATVI)

$
0
0

world of warcraft screen

It's been years since the acronym "MMO" meant much of anything.

It originally stood for "massive multiplayer online" – a short-hand for games like "World of Warcraft," which enable huge groups of people to play games together in a shared online world. But "WoW" launched in November 2004, before the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 launched. It was the last monumental success in the category.

Amazingly, that success continues in 2015, even with two newer, more powerful living room consoles. The company that owns and operates "WoW" – Activision Blizzard – told investors during its quarterly conference call on Thursday that 7.1 million people are still actively playing the game. Over 7 million people! 

Many publications rightly looked at that number and balked – Business Insider's headline was, "World of Warcraft lost three million subscribers in three months." That's accurate! A big content expansion launched last year ("Warlords of Draenor") that revived the game's player base; it helped spike users to over 10 million. Since then, the number has been dropping.

Here's a handy chart from Statista showing the game's player base across the last 10 years:

"World of Warcraft" subscriber numbers

So here's the deal: yes, "World of Warcraft" lost millions of subscribers between late 2014 and now, but those subscribers were just there for the new content. When they finished playing that new content, they once again disappeared. 

That's not so much a huge "loss" as it is a return to the average number of people continuing to play "WoW" – a game that launched over 10 years ago. For most video game companies, over 7 million people playing your game 10+ years after launch is an incredible feat. 

"World of Warcraft" subscribers will likely continue to decline over time, but we'll almost certainly see another spike when the next content expansion launches (and then decline once more, thus continuing the cycle). The game — once a monolith in its genre — is on its way out, no doubt about it. But for it to still be this successful this many years out is an incredible achievement. 

SEE ALSO: World of Warcraft lost three million subscribers in three months

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: These scientists are using video games to help find a cure for AIDS








Go inside the $4.3 million Malibu home of 'Silicon Valley' creator Mike Judge

$
0
0

mike judge house

Mike Judge, creator of "Office Space," "Beavis and Butthead," and, most recently, HBO's "Silicon Valley," has sold his Malibu ranch house for $4.3 million, Variety reports.

"Silicon Valley," partially inspired by Judge's time as an engineer in the 1980s, is a hilarious satire of today's tech industry.

Judge's 3,696-square-foot home has six bedrooms, a large pool area, and a detached guest house. It was originally listed for $5.3 million in 2013. 

Judge also owns a 7,300-square-foot mansion in Austin, in addition to a large house in Santa Monica.

The home sits on a large, grassy lot in the Point Dume section of Malibu.



Originally built in the 1970s, the home was remodeled in 2002.



Inside, you'll find lots of the dark wood typical of the Craftsman style.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Stunning composite shows how Scarlett Johansson has changed over 20 years

$
0
0

Photo agency Getty Images is celebrating an anniversary this year. They've been supplying the world with stock, news, and celebrities images for 20 years and have become one of the foremost places for publications to go to get quality photos when they need them.

In celebration of this milestone, Getty has teamed up with ad agency AlmapBBDO to create an ad campaign to mark the occasion. Mining their massive archive of over 80 million images, the company found images of some of our favorite well-known personalities, to see how they have changed along with Getty over the past 20 years.

The result is a fascinating look at aging, as well as a testament to the depth of Getty's library. Scarlett Johansson's is especially telling.getty scarlet johansen

SEE ALSO: Here's what it actually means to die 'of old age'

FOLLOW US: Business Insider is on Instagram!

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how the stars of 'Fast & Furious' have changed over the years








16 TV shows that have just been canceled

$
0
0

2015 canceled shows hart of dixie mindy project revenge

It's that time of year when the broadcast networks are bringing down the ax on several of its series.

In order to make room for its new series and prepare for May's presentation to advertisers, executives have been crunching the ratings numbers, checking their pilot inventory and making both easy and difficult decisions on which shows have to go.

"Revenge" had the dubious honor of becoming the first casualty of the season when ABC officially announced its farewell after the current fourth season.

That would be followed by other tough (though expected) goodbyes to Fox's "The Mindy Project" and The CW's "Hart of Dixie."

*Updated as networks announce decisions

"Cristela" (ABC)

In many ways, "Cristela" was never really given much of a chance.

ABC stuck it on Fridays between low-rated "Last Man Standing" and "Shark Tank" — neither of which made any sense with the comedy about a middle class Mexican family.

That aside, ABC has been a trailblazer in show diversity and has several pilots in the wings that would make up for the loss of "Cristela." So, it had to go.



"Forever" (ABC)

This supernatural drama about a man who can't die struggled for an audience since its premiere episode. It was a surprise when ABC decided to order a full season of the series.

No doubt, it hoped it would find an audience. Plus, it hales from Warner Bros. Television, a partner on high-profile Marvel shows “Agents of SHIELD” and “Agent Carter.” It never did find its audience and WBTV should be happy that ABC gave it a fighting chance.



"Resurrection" (ABC)

There is no more coming back for ABC's "Resurrection."

Last year, the series premiered with huge ratings for ABC but fell consistently after that. That should have been a sign for the network to bury the show.

But, it went on to a second season that just couldn't recapture its audience.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Jennifer Hudson sang at a swanky benefit at the Plaza Hotel featuring tons of New York power players

$
0
0

Harbor Boys and Girls

On Wednesday night, the Plaza Hotel hosted the Boys & Girls Harbor’s Annual “Salute to Achievement” Benefit, a first for the organization that usually sticks to its campus on E 104th Street.

New York titans of industry like Bill Ackman and Lyor Cohen and came together to honor David R. Weinreb, CEO of the Howard Hughes Corporation, for his contributions to The Harbor, a non-for-profit based in East Harlem that encourages creativity and critical thinking through the performing arts. 

Each year, The Harbor provides free after-school programming for over a thousand students, from preschool through high school, with a heavy emphasis on the creative arts. Last night was no exception. Students from the Harbor program sang and danced choreographed performances to the delight of the audience, which included both donors and alumni of the program, which was founded 1937.

Other guests included CeCe Peniston, Andrew Rosen, Rusty Staub, Rachel Axelrod, Sylvester & Gillian Miniter, Will Carey, Colin & Elizabeth Callender, Bill Pickens, Joseph & Amy Perella, Stephen & Beth Dannhauser, Paul Selver, Jonathan Carver, Ana Laspetkovski, Byron Garrett, Catherine Smith, David Wassong, Paul & Christine Scheele, Kevin Liles, Bill Burrs, Jonathan Canter, Mark & Ronda Axelowitz, Alain & Leah Lebec, and Morgan & Sacha Bale, and many more. 

Dr. Thomas Howard, Executive Director of The Harbor, made his way around each table, thanking donors, joking around with Harbor alumni, and even stopping to hang out with 11-year-old DJ Fulano before introducing the evening with a big smile.



Here's a look at young DJ phenom, DJ Fulano, on the ones and twos.



Sandra Bookman, reporter and weekend anchor at WABC-TV, as the host for the evening.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






5 reasons so many moms are obsessed with Starz's sexy new historical fantasy show 'Outlander'

$
0
0

outlander moms women ratings

Starz's new fantasy series "Outlander" is pretty popular with a lot of moms. Not only have we heard that anecdotally from those around us, but Zap2it even referred to it in April as "'Game of Thrones' for the soccer moms."

So is it true? According to ratings statistics, there's some support for the theory. 

"Outlander" is watched predominately by women. According to Nielsen numbers, 64% more women than men watch the epic period drama. Drilling down further, you'll find an average of 2.5 million women are watching each episode of the current season. One million of them belong to the older-skewing 25- to 54-year-old demographic — which can be viewed as one indicator for the mom demographic.

Why are women flocking to watch the romantic adventures of a woman sent back in time and forced to marry a man she barely knows?

1. Moms read the books and became hooked.

diana gabaldon outlanderMany of the series' fans started with the book series written by Diana Gabaldon. Spanning eight novels released between 1991 and 2014, the "Outlander" world has expanded to include short stories, a graphic novel, and a musical album. And Gabaldon is writing a ninth book for the series.

"It's the history. It's the story itself and the romance at the heart of it and it's just these characters," mom and "Outlander" watcher Karen Mitchell, 60, told BI. "It's the whole package. I'm an avid reader and I've read so many bad books in my life. This is not it. This is a book series that can really engage readers on so many levels."

Mitchell, who lives near Portland, Oregon, said there was a fear for her and within the books' fandom that Starz would make "horrible" casting choices. "Right with the first episode, even before, everyone became very happy with the way things were going," she said.

Conversely, Mitchell's daughter is also a fan of the TV series, but that's where she discovered the story. She's now going back to read the books.

A grandmother now, Texas-native Connie Sandlin, 64, also read the books first and told BI she's very happy with what Starz did with the series. Sandlin is prone to say, "If it's OK with Diana, it's OK with me."

2. Moms like the characters' family values.

outlander moms women ratings 1Sandlin appreciates what the main characters Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and Jaime (Sam Heughan) stand for.

"They're good examples of the real values we should have: loyalty and being honest, standing up for your family, making sure your children are well cared for to the best of your ability. As a mother, that all appeals to me," she said.

3. Women find inspiration in Claire and Jaime's marriage.

outlander moms women ratings 3"I like watching these two central characters," Mitchell said. "Jamie and Claire navigate the rocky shores of marriage at different places in their lives. All of us bring our own lives to the books and it's like watching, if you will, our lives in Jamie and Claire's. We learn something about marriage from them."

Sandlin found herself in a unique position in which she pulled inspiration from the couple.

"I started my life over again seven years ago with my husband when we moved to Costa Rica," she said. "I learned from Jamie and Claire about taking risks and that wherever we were, we were home with each other."

4. Moms appreciate the show's female point of view.

Outlander Lotte Verbeek Caitriona Balfe StarzAside from rare exceptions in which another character narrates an episode, "Outlander" is told primarily from Claire's point of view.

"One of the reasons that female viewers are so drawn to the show is because you're getting to see things the way a woman would see them," Mitchell pointed out.

That's not only a gesture toward Gabaldon's books, but also a reflection of who's behind the camera on the Starz series.

"The presence of females in the writers room, female executive producers, and the fact that [executive producer] Ron D. Moore is so attentive to what women might be thinking, how women might be viewing it, what a strong woman looks like, how a strong woman sounds and that women at any age can have full lives," Mitchell said.

5. But, of course, Sam Heughan as Jamie doesn't hurt.

outlander moms women ratings 5"I couldn't be happier," said Sandlin of the casting. "I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the role of Jamie other than Sam Heughan. He has the right body type and a kind nature."

Mitchell agreed. "Obviously, Sam's looks have drawn a lot of people to the show. The fact that he's an honestly decent, nice man really makes it a much worthwhile pursuit to watch."

"Outlander" airs Saturdays at 9 p.m. on Starz.

SEE ALSO: Michael Bay's Pirate Drama 'Black Sails' Had Starz' Biggest Premiere In The Channel's History

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life








Reese Witherspoon is the latest celebrity to launch a lifestyle site and it's completely polarizing

$
0
0

Reese Witherspoon Draper James

Following in Gwyneth Paltrow's Goopy footsteps, Reese Witherspoon is the latest celebrity to launch an e-commerce site devoted to lifestyle content.

On Tuesday, the actress announced that the site is called "Draper James," named after her grandparents — Dorothea Draper and William James. 

In a video posted on the site, Witherspoon explains that her new project was "inspired by my love of the South, combined with the modern woman who I am today."

“Draper James is all about the grace and charm I was raised with in Nashville, Tennessee," she continued. "In the South you can never be too kind, too gracious or too well dressed... With Draper James, our goal is to bring contemporary, yet timeless Southern style to your wardrobe and your home, no matter where you live."

 

 on

 

The Draper James tagline appears to be: "You only get one life, so let's make it pretty. Please."

The site is very girly and very Southern.

Reese Witherspoon Draper James

And while the price point usually falls below Blake Lively's Preserve and Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop e-commerce sites, it will still set customers back $98 for a "horseshoe object."

Reese Witherspoon Draper JamesAnd $155 for a "Totes Y'all" bag does seem a little steep.

Reese Witherspoon Draper JamesAccording to Racked, "Witherspoon told WWD that 40% of Draper James's products are produced in the South, and she's planning to roll out five new collections each year. The sportswear runs from $50 to $400, jewelry is priced from $25 to $250, handbags and small leather goods will sell from $40 to $325, and home decor ranges from $14 to $400."

But Draper James — which poached C. Wonder's former president, Andrea Hyde, to fill the CEO position — also features content like "I Love a Lunchoen!," which offers advice on entertaining because "We Southern girls will look for any excuse to get our girlfriends together to dress up, eat, drink, and of course laugh."

reese witherspoon draper jamesThe site will also feature interviews with Southern chefs, writers, musicians, and other artisans.

The internet, so far, has responded kinder to Witherspoon's site than it has to Gwyneth's Goop:

But there are, of course, also the critics:

 

 Regardless, Witherspoon already has a celebrity following.

Her pal, model Molly Sims, posted Tuesday:

"So proud to be one of the first Southern ambassadors for my good friend, @ReeseWitherspoon's new fashion brand, #DraperJames! It just launched so check it out at DraperJames.com for updates, #Southernisms, beauty and fashion tips, and other goodies! We really want this to feel like a family so we would love for you to be a part of it! Xo #GraceandCharm #SouthernStyle"

 on

Watch Witherspoon explain why she started Draper James below:

 

The Draper James Instagram account already has over 23,000 followers since it started on April 30th. Below are images that reflect the brand's "Southern charm" aesthetic: 

 on

 

 

 

 on

 on

 on

 on

 on

SEE ALSO: Actress Blake Lively has a lot to say about women in the tech industry

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How Women's Looks Have Changed Over The Last 100 Years









Kim Kardashian's 3 rules for succeeding in business

$
0
0

kim kardashian selfie book signing

Say what you will about Kim Kardashian, but there's no denying the reality TV star is also a savvy businesswoman.

The 34-year-old is an executive producer on her family's hit, long-running reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," which was recently renewed at E! for a reported $100 million for the next four years.

Kim also has a super successful video game app, product endorsement deals, a selfie book, and nearly 31 million Instagram followers tracking her every move.

According to Forbes, Kardashian earned $28 million in 2014 alone and was recently named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2015.

But Kardashian, 34, works hard for her money.

In a new interview with Variety, Kardashian reveals her three rules for succeeding in business:

  1. "You have to be organized. It might be really simple, but if you’re not fully organized, it becomes a huge problem."
  2. "Not being lazy. The reality is people don’t want to get up and work. It sounds crazy, but I see it all the time."
  3. "If you find something you’re really passionate about, figure out a way to make that your job. Then you’ll be happy. If you aren’t doing what you want to do, you’ll be frustrated."

Despite her reality TV roots, Kardashian says she has always considered herself a businesswoman.

"When the opportunity for our TV show came about, I wanted to do it to bring attention to our stores [DASH, which she opened with her sisters in 2006]," she tells Variety. "I was thinking this might not last very long, but we’ll grow a great business and expand online. I thought it would be great press. I didn’t think it would turn into what it turned into."

Kim Kardashian book Kourtney Khloe Kardashian sistersKardashian tells Variety it was her father, the late attorney Robert Kardashian, who instilled a business sense in her from a young age.

When I turned 16, my dad made me sign a contract — he made us sign contracts for everything — that if I hit my car, I would be responsible for paying for it. I was in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and I tapped someone. It was so not a big deal, but I had to pay for it. It was during the O.J. trial. They saw my last name and said, “Kardashian, your dad’s that lawyer?!” They sued me for a lot of money. After I paid them back, I kept on working to buy myself some clothes.

After working in stores, Kim soon discovered a whole new world of online shopping  and selling.

Kim Kardashian ebay"I discovered eBay and I loved shopping. I had to be on a budget. I didn’t have credit cards. How do I figure out how to make this a business? I remember I bought these Manolo Blahnik shoes that were $700. He [Kim's late father, Robert] let me buy five pairs. I had to pay him back plus interest. I sold every pair on eBay for $2,500. I became so obsessed with seeing that return, I would sell off the things I wouldn’t be wearing."

Kim Kardashian young Robert Kardashian dadKardashian explains that she made such a profit off of the shoes because she had a good eye for trends and what people would want to buy.

"They were these Manolo Blahniks that Jennifer Lopez had worn in her first or second video," Kardashian explains. "Everyone had to have them. I called at the right time and the girl at the store had five pairs and I took them."

From there, Kardashian created a business of cleaning out her celebrity friends' closets and selling the goods on eBay, while taking a cut of the profit.

Kardashian even spun that infamous 2007 sex tape into a reported $5 million deal that still swells her bank account to this day. After Kardashian's nude Paper magazine cover piqued interest in November, Vivid Entertainment president Steve Hirsch told TMZ the reality star would rake in $55,000 for that week alone.

Later in 2007, Kim pivoted the press surrounding the tape into an E! reality show about her family, and the Kardashian brand was built.

In a biography of Kim Kardashian by Martha Stewart for last month's Time Magazine '100 Most Influential People' list, Stewart wrote: "She [Kim] and her famous, entrepreneurial siblings—shepherded by a savvy, tireless matriarch—have also expanded the very definition of family."

"Kim comes across as an enviable big sister in a clan where everyone seems to love one another, wrote Stewart. "Where does Kim go from here? There seem to be very few barriers to further explosive success."

Kardashians E! keeping up with the kardashians

SEE ALSO: Kim Kardashian's late father taught her a great lesson about business and money

MORE: Before she was famous, Kim Kardashian had a successful eBay business

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Kanye West explains how marriage has helped him become a better man








This is the Upper East Side penthouse where Sinatra used to host wild ragers with his Rat Pack

The 10 coolest graduation speakers of 2015

$
0
0

The spring semester is winding down for college seniors across the US, and graduation ceremonies will take place throughout May and June.

Many colleges have lined up impressive commencement speakers, landing reputable industry leaders in business, politics, and entertainment. But reputable doesn't necessarily mean cool, so we pored over the list to find the speakers with the most buzz this year.

Take a look at the coolest graduation speakers scheduled for 2015:

4648629041. Ryan Seacrest — The radio personality, reality television host, and TV producer of "Keeping up with the Kardashians" acclaim will speak at Boston University.

2. Maya Rudolph— The actress and comedian is speaking at Tulane University. She has some big shoes to fill as fellow "Saturday Night Live" cast member Amy Poehler gave a hilarious speech at Harvard in 2011. 

3. Bill Nye — The famed "science guy" will speak at Rutgers University.

4. Tim Cook — Although the launch of the Apple Watch has dominated most of the news reports for the Apple CEO, Cook will take a break from touting the watch to speak to students at George Washington University. 

5. Christopher Nolan — Writer-producer of mega-blockbusters "Inception," the "Dark Knight" trilogy, and, most recently, "Interstellar," Nolan will speak to students at Princeton University.

6. President Barack Obama — The President of the United States gave the commencement speech at Lake Area Technical Institute on Friday, and he will deliver another speech at the US Coast Guard Academy on May 20.

4704615087. Michelle Obama — Not to be outdone by the president, the first lady will speak at Tuskegee University on Saturday and Oberlin College on May 25.

8. Katie Couric — The author and journalist will give the commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin.

9. Matthew McConaughey  —After a stellar year that yielded an Oscar for his performance in "Dallas Buyers Club," and highly acclaimed performances in "Interstellar" and the HBO series "True Detective," McConaughey will speak at the University of Houston. 

10. Stephen Colbert — He's made a number of the "Funniest Commencement Speeches of All Time" lists with his appearances at Northwestern University and the University of Virginia, so students at Wake Forest University must be excited to have him as their 2015 commencement speaker.

SEE ALSO: This might be the best graduation speech of all time

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 9 animated maps that will change the way you see the world








This iPhone cover is the secret to Kim Kardashian's amazing selfies

Rumor has it Beyonce and Jay Z bought this converted church in New Orleans

$
0
0

Beyonce and JayZ's foyer

Music's hottest couple is putting down roots in NOLA.

According to Zillow, rumor has it Beyoncé and Jay Z have purchased a converted church in the Garden District of New Orleans for $2.6 million.

First built in 1925 as a Presbyterian church, the 13,292-square-foot space was then converted into a ballet school before being converted to a single-family home with three 1,000-square-foot apartments.

This purchase comes after the couple sold their Tribeca condo in New York City and made a very public move to Los Angeles.

It's clear Beyonce and Jay Z have great taste. The converted church has a distinctive exterior design, featuring wrought iron and dramatic window arches.



Up close, the beauty shows a bit of its age.



As you enter, you immediately experience a sense of space.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






Here's everything new on Netflix this month

$
0
0

It's May, so you know what that means!

Netflix has rolled out its list of new releases to the streaming site. 

"Inglorious Basterds," "Legally Blonde," and a group of shows from History, Lifetime, and A&E including "Duck Dynasty" and "Counting Cars" will all be available.

We'll continue to update this list throughout the month.

Here's what you should check out on Netflix in May:

TV

grace and frankie netflix"Longmire" (available 5/1)

The third season of A&E's crime drama.

"Royal Pains" (available 5/3)

The sixth season of the USA series will be available ahead of the seventh season premiere June 2, 2015.

"Grace & Frankie" (available 5/8)

The Netflix original stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as "two women forced to reinvent their lives" after their husbands (Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston) leave them for each other.

"Graceland" (available 5/26)

The first two seasons of USA's hit series about a group of FBI, DEA, and US customs officers who move into a beach house called Graceland.

Movies

inglourious basterds

"Inglourious Basterds" (available 5/22)

Brad Pitt vs. Nazis. 

"Legally Blonde" (2001)

Before she was an Oscar-winning actress, Reese Witherspoon played the ditzy, but smart Harvard law student Elle Woods who was obsessed with the color pink. 

"The Boxtrolls" (available 5/23)

Here's one for the kids. In between "Big Hero 6" and "The LEGO Movie," you may have missed this stop-motion Oscar-nominated feature following a group of trolls that only comes out at nighttime. 

Here's the full list of May releases:

Available 5/1

"Beyond Clueless" (2014)
"Jimi: All is by My Side" (2013)
"Legally Blonde" (2001)
"Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, & Blonde" (2003)
"Longmire" (Season 3)
"No No: A Dockumentary" (2014)
"Shameless" (series 10)
"The Last Waltz" (1978)
"The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio" (2005)
"Underclassman" (2015)
"Witnesses" (Season 1)

Available 5/2

"Lalaoopsy: Festival of Sugary Sweets" (2015)
"LeapFrog Letter Factory Adventures: Amazing Word Explorers" (2015)

Available 5/3

"Anita" (2013)
"D.L. Hughley: Clear" (2014)
"Royal Pains" (Season 6)

Available 5/5

"A Few Best Men" (2011)

Available 5/6

"The Longest Week" (2014)

Available 5/8

"Grace & Frankie" (Netflix original)
"Puss in Boots" (Season 1 with 5 additional episodes)
"Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas" (2013)

Available 5/9

"Jinn" (2014)
"The Liberator" (2013)

Available 5/12

"Extraterrestrial" (2014)
"Fruitvale Station" (2013)
"Magical Universe" (2013)

Available 5/13

"The Identical" (2014)

Available 5/14

"American Restoration"
"Counting Cars"
"Dance Moms"
"Duck Dynasty"
"Hoarders"
"Modern Marvels"
"The Universe"

Available 5/15

"Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown" (Season 4)
"Cyber-Seniors" (2014)
"Dawg Fight" (2015)
"Give Me Shelter" (2014)
"Granite Flats" (Seasons 1-3)

Available 5/16

"First Period" (2013)

Available 5/17

"Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast" (2015)

Available 5/19

"Before I Disappear" (2014)
"Girlhood" (2014)
"Zombeavers" (2014)

Available 5/21

"Between" (Season 1)

Available 5/22

"H20 Mermaid Adventures" (2015)
"Inglourious Basterds" (2009)
"Jen Kirkman: I'm Gonna Die Alone (And I Feel Fine)" (2015)
"Richie Rich" (season 2)
"The Other One: the Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir"
"Transporter: The Series" (Season 1)

Available 5/23

"Antarctica: A Year on Ice" (2013)
"The Boxtrolls" (2014)

Available 5/24

"Love and Honor" (2013)
"Welcome to the Punch" (2013)

Available 5/26

"Graceland" (Seasons 1-2)

Available 5/27

"Before I Go to Sleep" (2014)

Available 5/29

"Hot Girls Wanted" (2015)
"Mako Mermaids" (Season 3)

SEE ALSO: Everything that just left Netflix

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Netflix's new 'Daredevil' show looks way better than Ben Affleck's version of the superhero








9 characters who have been able to lift Thor's hammer

$
0
0

chris hemsworth thor the avengers

Warning: There are some spoilers ahead if you haven't seen "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

One of the running gags in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" revolves around Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and the other Avengers' inability to lift it.

As legend goes, only those "deemed worthy" are able to lift Mjolnir.

In one of the film's more lighthearted scenes, Thor's teammates, ranging from Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) to Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), all try their best to give it a lift. Though Captain America (Chris Evans) makes it budge, everyone's efforts prove futile.

You can check out the scene below.

 

Major spoilers ahead.

So it's a complete shock later in the film when Vision (Paul Bettany) effortlessly picks up Thor's hammer to hand it to the Asgardian God. 

paul bettany vision avengers age of ultronNear the film's end, Stark speculates why Vision is able to lift Mjolnir. He says since he's not human, the rules of the hammer probably don't apply to him. 

Vision's not the only other character to wield the power of Thor on screen. Below are several others who have been deemed worthy enough to hold the hammer.

1. Beta Ray Bill: The Mighty Thor #337 (1983)

beta ray bill marvel

Alien Beta Ray Bill holds a special place in the Marvel Universe. He was the first one outside the Norse pantheon worthy enough to wield Thor's hammer. Originally, thinking he picks up a stick, Bill accidentally picks up Mjolnir to gain Thor's power. Trying to figure out who gets to claim Mjolnir, Bill beats Thor in a fight, and Odin eventually creates a separate hammer for him.

2. Captain America - The Mighty Thor #390 (1988) 

captain america thor hammer
Captain America went to pick up the hammer to give it to Thor during an onslaught battle from Seth, the Egyptian God of Death. When things were looking most bleak for Captain (who renamed himself to The Captain at the time), he was able to pick it up to hand it off to Thor.

Later in the issue, Thor and Cap share a moment holding Mjolnir side by side.
 
thor captain america hammer
The next time Cap picked it up the hammer was to inspire heroes and civilians alike during 2011's "Fear Itself."

3. Ragnarok - Dark Avengers #189 (2013)

ragnarok thor hammer
Ragnarok, a "cyber-clone of Thor," is stuck in a dark, alternate world where the Dark Avengers are the ones being terrorized. In this alternate universe, Thor has fallen, giving others the opportunity to wield Thor's mighty hammer.
 
With "Thor: Ragnarok" in theaters in 2017, we may get to see a version of this scene played out in the cinematic universe. 

4. Wonder Woman - Marvel v. DC #3 (1996)

Wonder Woman Hammer ThorSure, there might be a real-life rivalry between Marvel and DC, but the two universes have crossed over. 
 
While Thor was busy fighting Captain Marvel, he lost his hammer and it ended up in the hands of Wonder Woman, who knew how to handle the power of a goddess.

5. Superman - Avengers/JLA #4 (2004)

Superman Thor Hammer
When Thor falls to the forces of Krona, it is up to Superman to save the day. For this moment, Superman got to use Captain America's shield as well. He is the only one (besides Captain America himself) to use both the hammer and the shield at the same time. 

6. Hulk - Avengers Assemble #4 (2012)

Hulk Thor's HammerYet another Avenger got the chance to wield Thor's hammer, albeit not for a very long time. Hulk held it while Thor moved it around. 

7. Awesome Android - She-Hulk #14 (2006)

awesome andy thor hammer
While many of the characters on this list got the hammer based on circumstance, Awesome Android (a.k.a. Awesome Andy) got it by becoming Thor.

This flashback-heavy issue showed that Andy has the power to copy any personality trait. He used this to "copy Thor's nobility" and thus, gave himself the ability to both use and wield Mjolnir.

8. Magneto - The Ultimates 3 #5 (2008)

magneto thor hammer
Magneto, who can control metal with his mind, used his power to take Mjolnir for himself after both his son and daughter were killed.

9. Loki - Avengers & X-Men: Axis #9 (2014)

Loki Thor Hammer
Thor's brother Loki has been jealous of him ever since he was given Mjolnir instead of him.
 
Loki tried again and again to steal Thor's hammer. When he found out that he was one of the few deemed worthy of wielding Mjolnir, Loki made his own. When Loki gets a chance to hold the real thing, he almost defeats Thor with his own weapon. But then, Thor received some help from a few friends (Scarlet Witch, Doctor Doom, the inverted Red Skull), and Loki's evil plans were foiled once again. 
 
It is only in a slightly inverted universe that Loki is able to almost finally claim victory. 

Bonus:  

Deadpool also got the chance to hold Mjolnir, albeit a fake one, in Deadpool #37 (2000).
deadpool thor
deadpool thor hammer

SEE ALSO: There is one mid-credits scene in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" — Here's what it means for future Marvel movies

AND: How Robert Downey Jr. got a shirt of Bruce Lee DJing into "Age of Ultron"

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This Was Marvel Legend Stan Lee's One Big Mistake









David Letterman says viral videos by Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon drove him out of late-night TV

$
0
0

1035x1407 LettermanCover

Viral videos helped to kill the late-night star.

As the late-night antics of Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel went viral, David Letterman identified one of many reasons it was time to retire from CBS's "Late Show."

The lack of ability to create viral videos is "a weakness of the show," Letterman told Rolling Stone as part of a wide-ranging interview set to hit newsstands on Friday.

"I hear about things going viral and I think, 'How do you do that?'" the 68-year-old told the magazine. "I think I'm the blockage in the plumbing."

Fallon and Kimmel have indeed served up many segments that have proved to be successful draws for the YouTube generation, such as Fallon's "Lip Sync Battle," which is now a hit Spike TV show, and Kimmel's "Mean Tweets" and infamous failed twerk video prank.

Despite the tough competition in late night, Letterman has some glowing praise for his colleagues. He calls Fallon's style "bright and colorful" and says Kimmel is "friendly" and "very sweet."

The longtime late-night host has had his own success with innovative sketches. We've all probably clicked on a video of Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" and "Top Ten Lists," among other great segments, but he's probably right about coming just shy of the variety-show-like format of late-night programs nowadays.

"If you look around at the other people doing it and look at me, it's almost like a pair of shoes you haven't worn in a hundred years," he said. "'Gee, I think we can probably get rid of these.' I still enjoy what I'm doing, but I think what I'm doing is not what you want at 11:30 anymore."

On May 20, Letterman will say farewell to his show after 22 years at CBS, with the help of a cadre of big stars, including Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, and one of the Obamas. Even former nemesis Jay Leno has been invited, according to the magazine, though he has yet to say whether he will make an appearance.

Comedy Central's former "Colbert Report" host Stephen Colbert will take over "Late Show" on September 8.

SEE ALSO: The fitting way CBS is sending off David Letterman

MORE: How Spike's new 'Lip Sync Battle' landed its A-list celebrity contenders and became a breakout hit

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This is what it's like trying the Oculus Rift for the first time








The new book on iconic filmmaker Orson Welles looks at his infamous unreleased final movie

$
0
0

The Last Movie_FC[1]

Considered one of the greatest artists of all time, Orson Welles is best known for his legendary work as an actor and director on Broadway. His work included scaring the country with his fake “The War of the Worlds” radio broadcast and then going to Hollywood and creating masterpieces like “Citizen Kane,” for which he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1942.

But his later years brought financial turmoil and were marked by a stubborn obsession with having creative freedom on anything he touched. He ended up living in exile in Europe for more than a decade.

Then in the summer of 1970, Welles returned to Hollywood with dreams of a comeback — but on his own terms.

He prepared to self-finance and direct a film he “wrote” (it’s still uncertain if there ever was a complete script) titled “The Other Side of the Wind.”

The story would take place during a single day in the life of a legendary, self-destructive filmmaker named Jake Hannaford (played by John Huston) who returns to Hollywood after years of a self-imposed exile. Despite the obvious similarity to his own life, Welles always insisted that the film was not autobiographical.

Like all things in Welles' life, the proposed eight-week shoot on a micro-budget did not go as planned. The film would consume the maverick’s life until his death in 1985. And to this day, the unfinished film has been tied up in legal and financial battles that you’d think could only have been possible in a sensational story penned by Welles.

In the new book, “Orson Welles’s Last Movie: The Making of ‘The Other Side of the Wind,’” author Josh Karp looks back on the turbulent making of the film, to help pay for it Welles took on commercial work, and the bizarre happenings related to the film following his death.

welles paul masson click americana

welles jim beam vintage ad browser

In a related note, just this week (which happens to fall on Welles’ 100th birthday) it was announced that a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo had begun to raise the finishing funds needed to get the film closer to being released to audiences. (Welles completed shooting, but never finished editing.)

Here are excerpts from the book, which is currently on sale.

Art 9 Carefree Studio 5 ed final

Orson Welles always loved telling a good story. It didn’t matter if it was for the screen or at a dinner party. As Karp writes below, one of those stories, about Welles' fistfight with Ernest Hemingway, led to the inspiration for “The Other Side of the Wind.”

It was May 1937: before “War of the Worlds,” before “Citizen Kane,” and more than thirty years before he shot the first frame of “The Other Side of the Wind.”

Hired to narrate Hemingway’s script for “The Spanish Earth,” a pro-leftist Spanish Civil War documentary made by Jorvis Ivens, Orson entered a Manhattan recording studio and encountered the legendary author.

On the day the two men met, Welles was only twenty-two but had already achieved more than most artists dream of accomplishing in a lifetime. He was a Broadway wunderkind with his own theater company and his own radio show. As a radio performer he was making more than $1,000 a week during the Depression and was the voice of the title character on the wildly popular radio detective show “The Shadow,” meaning he was heard in millions of living rooms each week.

It was a juncture in his life when Welles was so busy that he allegedly hired an ambulance (sirens blaring to avoid traffic) to get him from radio gigs to the theater on time. It wasn’t illegal and he was Orson Welles, so why not?

By the time he met Hemingway, Welles had staged an all-black “Macbeth” set in nineteenth-century Haiti and was working on a fascist-themed, modern-dress “Julius Caesar.” Within a year he’d appear on the cover of Time magazine. Then that Halloween there was the broadcast of “The War of the Worlds,” and if anyone hadn’t heard of Orson Welles by November 1983, they were either living in a cave or dead.

Now famous, he went to Hollywood, where by the age of twenty-six he’d co-written, directed, and starred in his first feature-length film: “Citizen Kane.” It was a time, said one friend, where “anything seemed possible” when you were working with Orson.

Anything was possible. Everything was possible. And the day he met Hemingway, Orson was on the cusp of exploding as an artist and a star.

Hemingway, meanwhile, was thirty-seven and had already written “A Farewell to Arms” and “The Sun Also Rises.” He’d driven an ambulance in World War I, where he’d been injured by mortar fire and witnessed violent death firsthand while still in his early twenties. Hemingway knew life in the most physical sense. He was a man’s man who stalked big game, reeled in gigantic marlins, and chased adventure to such an extreme that years later he survived two plane crashes in the same day while hunting in Africa. It fit perfectly with the image he cultivated — one crash simply wasn’t enough. It had been a life consciously marked by death and violence, things that were in his blood and affirmed his existence.

They didn’t know it, but Welles and Hemingway shared more than artistry and big personalities. Both men had a deep love for Spain and the art of bullfighting, and each was friendly with legendary torero Antonio Ordóñez. But in May 1937, their shared passions were of no consequence. What mattered was what Orson did after entering the studio.

Having reworked Shakespeare, Welles likely didn’t think twice about trying to improve Hemingway’s script. Orson claimed he’d tried only to make it more Hemingwayesque, cutting the words back to their essence and letting images on-screen speak for themselves. Perhaps they could do away with lines such as “Here are the faces of men who are close to death” and just show the faces themselves.

Shocked by Welles’s audacity, Hemingway immediately went after the softest spot he could find and used Orson’s theater background to infer that he was gay and didn’t know a thing about war or other manly pursuits. More than a decade later, Hemingway would tell John Huston that every time Welles said “infantry” it “was like a cocksucker swallowing.”

Not yet fat, young Orson Welles was still a big man, tall and sturdy, with large feet. Despite his size, however, Welles wasn’t prone to violence. But having dealt with bullies since his youth, he knew just how to retaliate. If the hairy-chested author wanted a faggot, Orson would give him one. So, great actor that he was, Welles camped it up and drove Hemingway over the edge.

“Mister Hemingway,” Welles lisped in the swishiest voice he could muster, “how strong you are and how big you are!”

The counterpunch hit Hemingway exactly where Orson intended, and the novelist exploded, allegedly picking up a chair and attacking Welles, who grabbed a chair of his own. The aftermath, as Orson described it, was a cartoonish sound booth brawl played out with bloody images of the Spanish Civil War flickered behind them.

Eventually, however, both men concluded that the fight was insane, collapsed to the floor in laughter, and shared a bottle of whiskey. Thus began a friendship that lasted until Hemingway shot himself in the head on July 2, 1961. — "Orson Welles’s Last Movie" (pgs 7-9)

In the early years of shooting “The Other Side of the Wind” (1970), Welles was able to rent time on the MGM studio backlot at a cheap rate because he had his crew pretend they were UCLA film students. On the dilapidated sets of old Westerns shot there, Welles and his team filmed scenes that didn’t involve Hannaford (Welles hadn’t cast Huston yet; when they needed a shot of Hannaford’s back or a line said off-camera, Welles would play him). Though the crew quickly learned that Welles’ methods were unorthodox and volatile.

Much time at MGM, however, was consumed by Orson searching for inspiration and without a clear vision of how he wanted things to appear on-screen. Many scenes were rehearsed and filmed numerous times, after which Orson would change things around and do it again, and again, until the right image or interpretation emerged. Then he'd move the camera again and reenvision the action from a different perspective.

On another film, the producer might have pushed Orson to be more efficient. But since it was how own money and he had an accommodating crew, Wells had total control over the set, how long they worked, and what they shot. As a result, when the lot was available for only one final weekend, Wells had the crew work seventy-two hours straight until they got all the footage they needed.

Because of the free-form nature of the MGM shoot, Welles often became exasperated over technical glitches or shots taken from the wrong angle. Many times he would lament that they were "losing the light" and explode in a way that terrified some but was part of the job to most.

One outburst took place when Welles sent someone out for dinner during the late afternoon. Upon his return, the crew member handed out wrapped plates of food and plastic silverware. Orson went ballistic, launching into a twenty-minute tantrum about how they'd lost the light.

"I wanted sandwiches!" he screamed as the precious light dissipated behind him. "So that they could eat with one hand!"

Everyone, including those stifling laughter, put on an appropriate face out of respect for Orson and to avoid the line of fire.

[Actor on the film Bob] Random recalled that Welles blew up on another occasion and told everyone to get off the set and never return. Knowing it was just another explosion, they left and then came back as if nothing had happened when [the film’s cinematographer, Gary] Graver called later that week. — "Orson Welles's Last Movie" (pg 77)

Photograph by José María CastellvíMost of the crew were obsessed with pleasing Welles. That was evident by 1974, when the production moved to Carefree, Arizona, and Welles was in need of a few props for a scene.

Among the other things Orson needed during the shoot were: a real human bone; fake but authentic posters for old Hannaford films that existed only in Orson's imagination; dummies to fill a crowd scene; a cigar store Indian for Jake's den; and hunting trophies, including a swordfish for the mantel.

Anywhere other than the desert, it might have been easy to find a swordfish, but in Arizona they were hard to come by, so Orson sent [crew member Glenn] Jacobson to a Hollywood prop house. After driving from Carefree to Los Angeles and back, Jacobson proudly placed an enormous grouper over the mantel.

Welles took one look and said, "No! I want a swordfish! Like in Hemingway!"

So the grouper sat in a corner and the search continued until [one of the film’s actors Peter] Jason asked a bartender where he could find a big stuffed swordfish and was given the name of a local taxidermist with one on his own mantel.

Jason called the man, explained his predicament, and was lent a beautiful, much treasured swordfish only because it was for Orson Welles. Jason placed it in the back of a station wagon and drove back a Carefree, holding the fish's delicate bill the entire way.

Knowing how happy he'd make Welles, Jason was beaming as he and [crew member and future Hollywood producer Frank] Marshall brought the swordfish inside and placed it carefully on the living room floor during dinner.

"Oh my God!" Welles said. "It's fantastic!"

While Welles continued to express his pleasure, Jason warned everyone that he was responsible for the swordfish and that no one was to touch or move it. But minutes later there was a crunch, and Jason turned to see that [crew member] Larry Jackson had accidentally stepped on the bill and broken it into three pieces.

With everyone shrieking and moaning "like they were at an Indian funeral," Jason tore Jackson to pieces and then spent the next several days finding the proper shade of black, blue, and silver spray paint to glue the bill back together so they could see it over the mantle. It then remained there for weeks and weeks, while the taxidermist called to see when he'd get his swordfish back. — "Orson Welles's Last Movie" (pgs 141-142)

The bizarre stories on set only increased when John Huston came on the film.

"Don't worry," Welles assured Larry Jackson, who was lying in the trunk of the convertible, holding a boom mike. "We won't even be going that fast."

Welles and Jackson were about to shoot a scene in which Hannaford drives to his party, with [famous director and Welles friend Peter] Bogdanovich (formerly in the backseat as [another character in the film] Higgam in August 1970) no sitting in the passenger seat with a crew member crammed into his footwell. Orson and Graver, meanwhile, strapped a camera to his side of the car and squished into the back with handhelds.

Having already consumed a considerable amount of vodka that day, Huston pulled the car onto a street, where he drove only briefly before running up a curb onto a street, where he drove only briefly before running up a curb onto somebody's front lawn, clipping a tree, and destroying the side-mounted camera, which swung violently toward — and nearly decapitated — Bogdanovich.

When the car stopped, Welles looked at the camera and said, "I'll have to do another commercial to pay for that." Then he turned his attention to Huston, wanting to know what just happened. Though Hannaford was supposed to be driving recklessly, this was more than Orson had in mind.

Huston, however, was neither acting nor drunk. Instead, he explained that long ago he'd concluded that drinking and driving didn't mix and that he'd have to make a choice of one or the other. Drinking won, and for decades he'd hardly been behind the wheel.

Undeterred, Orson yelled, "Action!" and Huston steered back onto the road and drove for a bit before he was told to merge onto a highway. Following the directions, Huston turned the car and entered by going the wrong way down an exit ramp and into high-speed traffic on an expressway, with Jackson clinging to the trunk, thinking, "The obituary won't even mention that I was here."

With everyone screaming and the cameras rolling, Huston swerved away from oncoming cars until he was able to jump the meridian with a hard left and then calmly join the flow of traffic on the other side.

When they exited the highway and Huston pulled over, everyone was deadly silent, until Welles sighed deeply and said, "Thanks, John. That'll do.” — "Orson Welles's Last Movie" (pgs 152-154)

Art 1 OW FerrisAt the time of Welles’ death of a heart attack in the fall of 1985, “The Other Side of the Wind” was still in post production and Welles was in battles with his financiers over its completion. The drama around the film only increased in the following years. But Welles’ longtime mistress and star of “Wind,” Oja Kodar, was determined to hand the film over to another iconic filmmaker for completion. She first tried John Huston in 1986, but petty matters led to that not going forward. Kodar then tried to reach out to some of the filmmakers that made up New Hollywood.

With Huston out, Oja and Graver showed “The Other Side of the Wind” to several prominent directors, including Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, George Lucas, and Clint Eastwood, hoping that one of them would take on the project.

After striking out with Stone, Lucas, and Spielberg, Oja found out that Peter Jason had recently appeared as Eastwood's commanding officer in “Heartbreak Ridge” and called him, insisting that he take the film to Eastwood, who had a reputation for rescuing obscure and offbeat projects from the scrap heap. Jason told Oja that she should write a letter that he'd drop off at Eastwood's Malpaso Productions on the Warner Bros. lot. When he read the handwritten note in Oja's somewhat broken English, however, Jason retyped the letter, fixed the grammar, and took it to Eastwood's office.

Expecting nothing, Jason was back at home when he received a call from a secretary at Malpaso who asked him to wait on the line for Eastwood.

"Pete?" the “Dirty Harry” star said when he came on the line. "It's Clint. What is this?"

"It's Orson Welles's last movie," Jason replied.

"Can I look at it today?" Eastwood asked.

Jason quickly called Graver, and they grabbed reels of two scenes (the rain-car-sex scene and Hannaford's arrival at his party) and drove them to Eastwood's office, where they showed the footage to Clint and his associates Tom Rooker and David Valdes.

At one point Valdes said, "There's nothing here we can use," and left the screening, which Rooker said everyone had come into anticipating a lost treasure, only to see a film that "was all over the place and kind of a mess."

Dejected, Graver and Jason struck their film cans back in the trunk and began driving off the lot when Rooker ran out and told them Eastwood was intrigued by some of what he'd seen. "He couldn't figure out how you did the rain on the window," Rooker said, adding that Eastwood was leaving the next day but would love to see a script or have the film put on tape so he could try to figure it out when he returned from Africa, where he was portraying a fictionalized Huston in “White Hunter Black Heart.”

While Eastwood was gone, Jason and Graver took footage to Eastwood's editor five reels at a time. But when “White Hunter” didn't do well at the box office, it extended Eastwood's financial losing streak and left him with less clout at Warner Bros., which Jason said made any chance of a deal evaporate. Rooker, however, said the reason that financial and creative problems the film carried with it.

Regardless, Eastwood certainly was influenced by what he'd seen of Hannaford when developing his own characterization of Huston for “White Hunter Black Heart” — including a scene when an overzealous man introduces himself and Clint's character, John Wilson, replies, "Of course you are.” [A line Welles delivers as Hannaford in “The Other Side of the Wind” during the shooting when Huston wasn’t cast yet] — "Orson Welles’s Last Movie" (pgs 249-250)

SEE ALSO: How Orson Welles pulled off the scariest media hoax of all time

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How a legendary rock band ended up influencing the 'Game of Thrones' books








We tried the $35,000 RED camera that was used to shoot 'House of Cards'

$
0
0

"House of Cards" is as highly regarded for its aesthetics as it is for its signature (read: murdery) plot twists. The series won the Outstanding Cinematography Emmy for its pilot episode and has been nominated in the same category each season it has been eligible. The show's production uses a RED camera, which is quickly becoming a top choice among the filmmaking community. We got our hands on one of the newer models, the Epic Dragon, to take it for a spin. We also tested the Sony FS7 and Canon C300 for comparison.

Produced by Justin Gmoser. Additional camera by Sam Rega, Graham Flanagan, and Alana Kakoyiannis.

Follow BI Video: On Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

Join the conversation about this story »








'Shark Tank' investor Daymond John explains how his mom helped FUBU become a $350 million company

$
0
0

daymond john mom

When Daymond John was in his early 20s, his mother said to him, "Listen, you're going to have to figure out what you're doing the rest of your life, one way or another."

Growing up in Hollis, Queens, as the only child of a single mom, John had wanted to run his own business since grade school and was inspired by his mom's advice that a day job would never make him rich, but dedication to his own venture could.

So he told her one day in 1992 that he wanted to build an apparel company for young men called FUBU. She taught him how to sew, and he started making and selling hats. After seeing how passionate her son was about the project, she mortgaged her home to raise $100,000 in funding and turned half of her house into a factory, working alongside John when she could.

Six years later the company was an international sensation that brought in $350 million in revenue.

John recently sat down with his mom, who goes by Ms. John — or as her son now prefers, "Shark Momma John" — for a video produced by the Understood foundation for learning disabilities (John is dyslexic).

"We did it, and I believed in you because I saw how excited you were about being an entrepreneur, about making your own money, about making your own product," Ms. John told Daymond.

Today, John is in charge of a diverse investment portfolio under his company Shark Branding, which includes many companies he has invested in through the hit show "Shark Tank."

He told Business Insider last fall that his mother gave him his favorite piece of business advice: "Money is a great slave but a horrible master," she told him.

"I think that in the earlier days, when I was a 'wantrepreneur,' I was really doing things because I thought what I wanted was to be rich. For the most part, those businesses failed, and then later when I started doing something casually because I loved it, that business burst," he said, referring to FUBU.

In FUBU's infancy, Ms. John moved out of her house so that her son and three business partners he added could have more room to create apparel to meet increasing demand.

She was confident that Daymond had finally found what he wanted to do with his life.

"Any parent would have been so happy just to see their child so excited," Ms. John said.

You can watch the full interview below:

SEE ALSO: Meet the 13-year-old CEO who built a $200,000 business and is mentored by Daymond John

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 20 tricks for sitting at your desk without hurting your back








These 3 characters were cut from 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'

$
0
0

loki sceptre

Even though it clocks in at 141 minutes, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" still couldn't cover everything. The original cut was over three hours long, and there was a lot of internal debate over which scenes should have been kept in the film.

Director Joss Whedon has said in several interviews that many of the characters he wanted to put in the film had to be cut for various reasons. Included in that bunch? Fan-favorite Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston.

Here are three characters that almost made it into "Age of Ultron":

Captain Marvel

captain marvelWhedon was adamant about getting a Captain Marvel cameo into the movie. She was even in early drafts of the script

However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige thought it would have been unfair to introduce this character hastily at the end.

"[Captain Marvel] was in a draft," Feige told Birth. Movies. Death. "But to me, it would have done that character a disservice, to meet her fully formed, in a costume and part of the Avengers already when 99% of the audience would go, ‘Who is that?’ It’s just not the way we’ve done it before."

However, in a way, Captain Marvel did leave her mark in the movie, as her planned shots ended up going to Scarlet Witch (Elisabeth Olsen).

"The way we reveal Scarlet Witch [in costume] at the end of the movie? Those were Captain Marvel plate shots. Joss said, ‘We’ll cast her later!’ And I said, ‘Yeah Joss, we’ll cast her later.’ [Whispers to an invisible associate who isn't Joss] ‘We’re not putting her in there!’" Feige said.

We'll see Captain Marvel in her own standalone movie in 2018.

Loki

loki thor the dark worldLoki (Tom Hiddleston) is one of the most entertaining and interesting villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He's also one of the most memorable parts of the first "Avengers" movie; so it's no surprise Whedon wanted him to come back for a dream scene in the sequel.

However, "Ultron" was already filled to the brim, and adding Loki into the mix may have been too much.

"We did shoot something, but it didn’t play," Whedon told MTV News. "The movie has so much. It’s so filled. We didn’t want it to feel overstuffed. I really wanted to have Loki in it, but I understood the decision that there were now too many voices in the chorus."

Spider-Man

amazing spider-manWhedon also wanted to get in a cameo from everybody's favorite web-slinger. However, Sony and Marvel were entangled in negotiations over the rights to the character. By the time Marvel and Sony reached a deal, it was too late.

"So I would have put [Captain Marvel and Spider-Man] in, but neither of the deals were made. And then they were like, ‘We’re making a Captain Marvel movie and we’ve got Spider-Man as a property,’ and I’m like, ‘I’ve already locked my film, you f---ers! Thanks for nothing,’" Whedon told Empire.

SEE ALSO: Paul Bettany was told his career was over right before he was asked to play Vision in "Age of Ultron"

AND: Here are the brands that appear the most in "Avengers: Age of Ultron"

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's Why Stan Lee Says You Should Never Do Something Just For Money








Viewing all 103365 articles
Browse latest View live




Latest Images