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Amazon and Netflix won't be saving 'Hannibal' from cancelation

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hannibal petitions

Sorry, Fannibals. Neither Amazon nor Netflix will be bringing "Hannibal" back from cancelation.

Executive producer Bryan Fuller broke the news on Twitter on Monday night.

 "I'M SORRY TO REPORT @amazon AND @netflix HAVE PASSED ON #HANNIBAL S4 BUT WE'RE STILL INVESTIGATING POSSIBILITIES," Fuller wrote.

Fans have been piling the pressure on the streaming companies since NBC announced the "Silence of the Lambs" prequel series would not move forward beyond the current third season in late-June.

Amazon was considered the best possibility for the drama's resurrection, since it already holds streaming rights to the show. Netflix was a less likely candidate, because the agreement with Amazon "precludes a Netflix component," Fuller had said.

hannibal grahamThere are other avenues the series can go, such as cable networks and other video companies like Yahoo and Hulu.

While "Hannibal" has never been a ratings barn burner for NBC, it has been a critical favorite. Its airings during the late-spring/summer when ratings needs are lower also allowed the network to give it a break.

The series returned on June 4 for Season 3 and is currently averaging a low .50 in the advertiser-coveted 18-49-year-old demographic and 1.74 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

"Hannibal" was based on characters from the Thomas Harris novel, "Red Dragon."

It starred Hugh Dancy as FBI special agent Will Graham, a crime scene investigator with a special understanding of murderers and psychopaths, and Mad Mikkelsen as Lecter, a forensic psychiatrist with a hunger for human flesh who will become Graham's biggest challenge.

SEE ALSO: Here's how 'Hannibal' fans and producers are feverishly trying to save the show from cancelation

MORE: 'Hannibal' is the best TV show that no one is watching

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Hollywood mourns the death of 'Oceans' super-producer Jerry Weintraub

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jerry weintraub george clooney matt damon brad pitt

Jerry Weintraub died Monday at age 77 of cardiac arrest in Santa Barbara. 

The legendary producer worked with everyone from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to Led Zeppelin and George Clooney. He is perhaps most well known for producing "Karate Kid" and the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise starring Clooney, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon.

Jerry Weintraub brad pitt angelina jolie"Weintraub was the considered the ultimate showman and a guy who seemed to know and had worked with literally everyone. And over decades," notes Deadline.

The three-time Emmy winner, who was executive producing the HBO political comedy "The Brink" at the time of his death, was also the star of HBO documentary "His Way" and wrote the autobiography "When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead."

After news of Weintraub's death, his close celebrity friends released statements: 

 George Clooney:

"In the coming days there will be tributes, about our friend Jerry Weintraub. We’ll laugh at his great stories, and applaud his accomplishments. And in the years to come the stories and accomplishments will get better with age, just as Jerry would have wanted it. But not today. Today our friend died. To his family and friends, Amal and I send our love. And to those who didn’t know him we send our deepest sympathy. You would have loved him."

Brad Pitt:

"He was an absolute original. I loved him and will genuinely miss him."

Many other celebrities and Hollywood execs took to social media to mourn the loss:

Watch the trailer for the HBO documentary "His Way" about Weintraub's career below:

  

SEE ALSO: PAUL MCCARTNEY: I was frustrated that John Lennon became ‘The Beatles’ after his death

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NOW WATCH: Happy Birthday, Dalai Lama! His Holiness shares his infectious laugh in this delightful short video










Now you can get Showtime on the Apple TV without a cable subscription

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masters sex season 3 premiere

Following in the footsteps of HBO, Showtime is officially available cable-free on the Apple TV.

The network's stand-alone streaming service is available on the Apple TV, other TV set-top boxes like the Roku, and iOS devices through the App Store. It's also slightly cheaper than HBO's competing streaming service HBO Now, and Showtime is offering a 30-day free trial.

Showtime has been on the Apple TV for about a year now, but until today it required a cable subscription to work. Now you can pay $10.99 per month to unlock all Showtime content, like the new season of "Masters of Sex" and "Ray Donavan."

HBO charges $15 per month for its steaming service, and Apple users were able to sign up for a three-month free trial when it first debuted earlier this year.

You can get Showtime's 30-day trial on Apple TV, the App Store, Roku, PlayStation Vue, and through Hulu.

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NOW WATCH: Here's how to get HBO Now on your TV without Apple TV










Donald Trump just took another hit

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Real-estate magnate Donald Trump's presidential campaign continues to exact a toll on his business relationships.

Trump's office announced Tuesday that he and the PGA of America agreed not to conduct the coming Grand Slam of Golf at the Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles. The tournament pits the winners of the year's four major golf championships against one another.

The Republican candidate's statement said the decision was due to the ongoing controversy over his harsh rhetoric against illegal immigration.

"Due to the controversy surrounding statements made by Mr. Trump having to do with illegal immigrants pouring into the United States from Mexico and other parts of the world, Mr. Trump does not want his friends at the PGA of America to suffer any consequences or backlash with respect to the Grand Slam of Golf," Trump's office said.

Trump added that the move would give him time to improve his California golf course.

"I have great respect for the PGA of America and everything they stand for," he said. "This also allows me the time to rebuild the golf course in Los Angeles, fronting the Pacific Ocean and considered to be one of the finest parcels of land anywhere in the United States, into the course I always wanted it to be."

The announcement came a day after ESPN said it would move a charity golf tournament off one of Trump's courses amid the backlash.

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Trump's reaction this time was far less aggressive than it was after some other businesses cut ties with him because of comments he made in his June presidential-campaign announcement. In the speech, he accused the Mexican government of sending "rapists" and drug runners to the US.

When Univision and NBC dropped one of Trump's beauty pageants, he mocked NBC for being "weak" and said he would sue Univision for $500 million. When Macy's said it would no longer carry its Trump-branded products, he urged his fans to boycott the department store.

"Fortunately it doesn't have any impact on me because it's not big stuff, monetarily," Trump said last week. "But I will tell you something: People, they're just not able to handle the pressure."

SEE ALSO: Here's how much money Donald Trump's 'rapist' comments may have already cost him

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I got a MoviePass subscription to see in-theater movies and it's saved me $50 in 5 months

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Moviepass

I love going to the movies, but it's expensive. In New York, it costs about $15 a ticket.

That's why I decided to try MoviePass, a subscription service that lets you see one movie a day in theaters for a fee of $30 to $35 a month, depending on where you live.

More than 3,700 theaters in the US participate, including all major movie theaters. You can only purchase one ticket at a time, and it doesn't apply to 3-D and IMAX movies.

It's pretty simple to use. You subscribe, download the app, and receive a credit card in the mail. When you're ready to go to the movies, you check in to the showing you want through the app and swipe your MoviePass card at the theater to get your ticket. After 24 hours from a movie's start time, you can see another one.

I've been using it for the past five months, and I've seen 15 movies. If I had paid out of pocket, it would have cost about $225. But with the subscription I paid $175, a savings of $50. At this rate, my annual savings would be $120.

Moviepass screenshot

If you were really a movie fanatic and stretched the service to its upper limit, in theory you could see a movie a day for a year and save more than $5,000 at the New York box office.

Of course, there are some downsides.

In order to save money, I have to see at least three movies a month. During some of the past five months I didn't have as much time to go to the movies or there weren't that many I wanted to see. However, I've realized that if I take a broader perspective, say quarterly or annually, I still net a savings because some slower months balance out the busier ones.

More importantly, you have to commit for a full year, and if you cancel early, you're hit with hefty cancellation fees. You'll pay $75 to cancel in month two or three, and the fee decreases from there depending on how long you've been using the subscription.

Moviepass

I also ran into some problems with the app itself, but MoviePass handled them pretty quickly. Towards the beginning, an update to the app temporarily barred me from checking in to a movie. I paid out of pocket, and MoviePass refunded the price of my ticket. Another time, the showtime I wanted wasn't showing up in the app, and after a five-minute wait to talk to customer service, a MoviePass rep manually checked me in.

Because I'm a big movie-lover and go to the movies regularly, it's been a good deal for me so far. Besides the savings, it's helpful from a budgeting perspective to know exactly how much I'll spend on movies each month. I've also felt more freedom to try movies that, previously, I might've thought looked interesting but didn't want to risk $15 on.

MoviePass is not for everyone. Subscription services like this make sense if you would buy the product anyway, but the monthly fee and annual contract might make you feel pressured to go to the movies more than you otherwise would.

At this point, I'm not sure if I'll renew after my first year is up, but I've certainly had fun going to the movies.

SEE ALSO: How often you have to work out to make a ClassPass membership worth it

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NOW WATCH: We tried the app that's like Netflix for movie theaters — and it's totally worth it










Prince William and Kate Middleton still receive a hefty allowance from Prince Charles

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prince charles prince william kate middletonPrince William and Kate Middleton may be 33-years-old and have two children, but they're still on the royal payroll, along with 30-year-old Prince Harry and Prince Charles' 67-year-old wife, Camilla Parker Bowles.

To help cover the costs of official royal activities, Prince Charles doles out around $4.667 million (£2.965 million) to his offspring and wife each year, according to a recent Annual Review released by Clarence House.

"The future king, 66, pays for his official life by drawing an income from the Duchy of Cornwall, a massive estate given to the heir to the throne to fund his official and private livelihoods," reports People magazine. "That income in the year to March 31 was $31.1 million, a rise of 1.7 percent."

While specific expenditures are not detailed, the annual funds are used to cover things like travel and wardrobe. But according to People, William and Kate independently pay for their country home and personal staff, including a nanny.

SEE ALSO: 20 iconic photos of Kate Middleton and Prince William

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Here's when you'll be able to see Adam Sandler's first original Netflix movie

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Netflix has just announced the release dates for its upcoming slate of original films, and it's a pretty eclectic set of movies. 

We finally know the release date of Adam Sandler's comedy "The Ridiculous Six," which will be the first of four original films the actor will release on the streaming platform.

"The Ridiculous Six" will be available to stream December 11, 2015. You may remember it made headlines for being so racially offensive that Native American actors walked off the set.

Among the other Netflix releases:

October 16, 2015 you'll be able to see "Beasts of No Nation," the long-awaited film about a child soldier in the middle of an African country's civil war from "True Detective" season one's virtuoso director Cary Fukunaga.

Then in March 2016 "Pee-Wee's Big Holiday" premieres, thanks to Judd Apatow and Paul Ruebens.

The fourth film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend" wasn't given a date more specific than First Quarter 2016, but the standalone sequel to Ang Lee's 2000 classic will also debut theatrically in China.

SEE ALSO: Everyone's freaking out about this incredible fake trailer for a Netflix show

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NOW WATCH: There's no other way to put it — the trailer for Netflix's 'Wet Hot American Summer' reboot is INCREDIBLE










Here's why Aziz Ansari 'refused' to pitch his new Netflix show to traditional TV networks

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Aziz Ansari recently wrapped six years on NBC's "Parks and Recreation," but the actor-comedian says when it came to pitching his own new show, he "refused" to go to a traditional network.

Aziz AnsariIn April, Netflix picked up Ansari's untitled sitcomordering 10 episodes of the half-hour comedy. Netflix also picked up the 32-year-old's stand-up specials "Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden" and "Buried Alive."

Ansari is a big fan of working with the streaming service because, as he recently told Deadline, it's "creative and friendly."

When asked about working in the Netflix model  as opposed to network TV  Ansari explained to Deadline:

It’s great. We didn’t even pitch this to any traditional networks. I kind of refused to do it. I don’t want to work in that environment. So many friends of mine have done that stuff and it just seems like a process that’s not fun. And I think people are able to do it and some people make good shows. But I’m so used to working from a mode of stand-up where it’s like, I write something. I work on it. Audiences think it’s funny. I film it. And then I give it to Netflix, and they put it on. That’s why I was excited to partner with Netflix because they seemed like they were creative and friendly.

Ansari says there are more perks to working with Netflix, too.

There are little things you don’t even think about—there’s no commercials. You don’t have to get an episode to exactly 30 minutes. In editing it’s so much help. When you’re editing a Parks episode, it will be like, “Well, we have a commercial break here so we’ve got to find 40 seconds to cut.” Weird, little tasks like that are just kind of gone. And so this feels like 10 little movies that have different lengths, there’s a through line, there is a serialization, and there’s a payoff.

Read Ansari's full interview with Deadline here.

SEE ALSO: 6 reasons comedies are failing on network TV

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NOW WATCH: There's no other way to put it — the trailer for Netflix's 'Wet Hot American Summer' reboot is INCREDIBLE











Incredible before and after visual effects of the best fight scene from 'Game of Thrones' season 5

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Jon Snow and Tormund go to Hardhome game of thrones

Every season, "Game of Thrones" manages to top itself with an increasingly breathtaking battle sequence. Season five included a stunning showdown with the White Walkers in "Hardhome." The sequence did not dissapoint.  

The Hardhome battle was a visual effects marvel, and one of the highlights of the season. 

Along with a video released by HBO last month, El Ranchito Imagen Digital, one of the companies responsible for the show's visual effects, released a very thorough breakdown of the battle, showing how much green screen came in handy.

Here is a shot that lays out the scope of the soldiers:

Game of Thrones Hardhome

In reality, there was a lot less people there, and a lot less snow:

Game of Thrones Hardhome

A lot of the details were created with the computer. At first, the landscape was a bit more bare bones:

Game of Thrones Hardhome

Watch as a tennis ball on a stick becomes a giant:

Game of Thrones Hardhome Giant GIF

One of the most impressive parts of the scene is watching Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) literally shatter a much-feared White Walker with one blow:

Jon Snow Whitewalker GIF

Before that awesome VFX ice shattering, it was a little less dramatic:

Game of ThronesAt one point, a  mix of living and dead jump off a giant cliff:

GoT Cliff GIF

The tumble looks a lot less risky without the CGI: 

Game of Thrones Hardhome

Check out the video below:

 

SEE ALSO: The Visual Effects In 'Game Of Thrones' Season 4 Are Mind-Blowing

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NOW WATCH: HBO just released another new trailer for 'Game of Thrones'










The voice actor behind Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, and Skinner is returning to 'The Simpsons' after all

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"Simpsons" fans can let out a collective sigh of relief.

Talented voice actor Harry Shearer has changed his mind and will be returning to the long-running animated series after all, Fox announced on Tuesday in a press release.

Shearer has signed a deal to return for two more seasons, the 27th and 28th, with an option for two more seasons after that. Shearer will be paid $300,000 per episode, according to THR.

This is the same renewal deal signed by his colleagues Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, and Hank Azaria.

Back in May, Shearer announced on Twitter that he would be leaving the series. At the time, he cited a desire to "do other work." Shearer is the voice behind numerous characters on "The Simpsons," including Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, and Mr. Burns.

The two-year extension on the series will bring the show to 625 episodes.

Still the backbone of Fox's animation block on Sundays, the Emmy-winning animated series averaged 4.8 million viewers in live plus same day ratings and increased to 7.6 million viewers across all platforms last season.

SEE ALSO: The voice actor behind Ned Flanders, Mr. Burns, Skinner, and many more characters just quit 'The Simpsons'

MORE: 6 reasons comedies are failing on network TV

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Here’s how a filmmaker shot his critically-acclaimed movie using just an iPhone

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TANGERINE Mickey O'Hagan & Kitana Kiki Rodriguez & Radium Cheung & Sean Baker Photo Courtesy of Shih Ching Tsou

Earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, audiences were taken by zany comedy “Tangerine,” the latest film from “Greg the Bunny” co-creator Sean Baker.

Baker enjoys telling stories set in real settings, casting actors with little to no experience, and exploring stories you’ve likely never seen before on the big screen. That can range from a New York garment district wholesaler dealing with fatherhood (“Price of Broadway”) to a porn actress befriending an elderly woman (“Starlet”).

“Tangerine” continues that motif as Baker tells the story of a transgender prostitute named Sin-Dee (Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) who learns that her pimp is cheating on her and navigates through Los Angeles on Christmas Eve to confront him.

Tangerine1But what has grabbed people’s attention beyond Baker’s unconventional tale is his decision to shoot the film only using the iPhone 5S.

“I didn’t see any other way the film could be done,” Baker told Business Insider in the Manhattan office of the film’s distribution company, Magnolia Pictures, last week.

With a micro budget of only around $120,000 to make the film, Baker knew he had used up all his favors doing his previous films, and that if he wanted to make “Tangerine” he had to be creative.

“The film that turned me onto [shooting on an iPhone] was Spike Lee’s ‘Red Hook Summer,’” Baker said, referring to Lee’s low budget 2012 drama. “Remember the kid shooting on his iPad? There’s something about every time it cuts to his iPad footage I got more interested. I thought, Why isn’t anyone doing a whole film like this yet?”

Around the same time Baker realized that the iPhone 5S was coming out, and included an upgraded camera lens from its predecessors.

Baker realized he could pull off shooting the movie with the phone (he used three total, but never at the same time).

Moondog 081Through camera tests with his co-cinematographer Radium Cheung, Baker liked the high quality of the picture the 5S provided. But he was completely sold on shooting with the phone after coming across a new anamorphic lens adapter for smartphones created by Moondog Labs and the app, FiLMiC Pro

With the lens adapter and the app, which made it possible for the phone to shoot at the level a pricey DSLR camera provides, Baker felt the phone would be “elevated to a cinematic level.” (The FiLMiC Pro app costs $7.99 and the Moondog lens adapters range from $160-$175.)

And his financiers, who included Mark and Jay Duplass (creators of HBO’s “Togetherness”), agreed after Baker showed them his test footage.

What Baker didn’t realize until principal photographer on “Tangerine” began in the February of 2013 was the level of sophisticated shots they could pull off with the phone. Baker used his talents as a former bike messenger in Manhattan to weave closely around his characters as they said their lines. Biking with one hand on the handle bar and another holding a smart-phone designed Steadicam called a “Smoothee” ($149), the movie has these slick, eye-catching passing shots of Sin-Dee as she walks furiously throughout L.A.

TANGERINE Sean Baker & Mickey O'Hagan & Kitana Kiki Rodriguez Photo Courtesy of Shih Ching TsouBut perhaps the most dazzling of the cinematography in the film are the “crane” shots.

Throughout the film a handful of scenes begin high above buildings and then smoothly travel down to the faces of the characters. On traditional movie sets giant crane rigs that cost in the thousands of dollars are used to pull this off. Baker was able to do the same shots cheaper and in a more practical way.

“We purchased a large painter’s pole and we would rig the phone to the end of it and do these up and down movements,” Baker explains has he stands and imitates the movements, almost like he’s painting the walls off the Magnolia meeting room with a long paint roller. “We would do like 10 shots, one after the other, and then look at all of them on the phone and decide if we had to do it again. It was basically like being back in your parent’s yard, 12 years old, doing stuff with the VHS camera.”

Baker admits if the film was done a few years later they probably would have used drones for some of those shots.

Though shooting with the phone was a success, Baker was weary about promoting how “Tangerine” was shot. When the film got into this year’s Sundance Film Festival back in January, he did not allow any of the publicity material to state that it was shot with an iPhone.

“We didn’t want people to have any preconceived notions about how it would look,” he said. “I have to say, if I had a choice to see a movie between a film shot on 35mm and a film shot on an iPhone, I would pick the film shot on 35mm.”

Sean BakerBut following the premiere screening, Baker knew he had to reveal how they shot it. Overnight, he became the poster child of the future of low budget filmmaking.

“It’s starting to get crazy,” Baker admits. “I’m getting way too many Facebook messages and Twitter DMs from people asking how I made the movie. I just don’t have the time to answer all of them. It’s so easy — you get the phone, you get the app, you get the rig and you just do it.”

Apple has even warmed to the film.

Baker said when they originally sent Apple the film treatment they got the typical response that the company didn’t want to be involved. But after the Sundance premiere he began hearing from multiple departments in the company. Some praising what he did. Others, not so much.

“A few times they had been really nice to me, but a few times they rubbed me the wrong way,” he said. “One time a department was like, “We’re coming to your apartment and we’re going to shoot the way you edit and shoot and we’re going to spend two days with you.’ I was like no, you're not.”

But all is well, as Baker said Apple invited the film to take part in one of their Apple Store filmmaker chats recently, and they were all given new iPhones.

Baker is not planning to make another film on an iPhone, hoping that he will have a much larger budget to work with on his next one. But he believes audiences will be seeing more movies made on phones in the years to come.

“I went to Sundance thinking we would be one of many films shot on a phone,” he said. “But a lot of people are starting to use it for features and shots. And a lot have been used for commercials already. It’s about time.”

“Tangerine” opens in theaters on Friday.

Watch the “Tangerine” trailer below, and see the amazing picture quality yourself.

SEE ALSO: Hollywood's biggest enemy is launching an app that will let anyone watch pirated movies on an iPhone

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Behold, your first look at Mulder and Scully back together again

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Leading up to the brand new season of "The X-Files," FOX will be showing one episode of "The X-Files" every day in order.

FOX released a promo for the event. The significant part comes towards the end in which fans will get their first view of the new season of "The X-Files" and the first glimpse of Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder (David Duchovny) together again for the first time since the show ended in 2002, albeit a very brief, dark glimpse.

The marathon begins on July 7. The new season of "The X-Files" premieres on January 24, 2016.

Produced By Ian Phillips. Video courtesy of FOX.

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The villain in the 'Ghostbusters' reboot isn't a household name, but he's a fixture in the comedy community

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Neil Casey

It's not the Stay Puft marshmallow man, but it'll do. 

According to Deadline, comedian Neil Casey has been cast to play the villain in Sony's "Ghostbusters" reboot. 

Casey joins an already stacked comedic lineup that includes Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones.

Details of Casey's character, Rowan, are mostly being kept under wraps. 

While Casey isn't a household name just yet, it is likely you have seen him pop up in a number of places. 

Casey got his start as a performer at New York's Upright Citzens Brigade (UCB). If you ever went to one of their famed Assscat 3000 shows, you would very likely have seen him perform.

Neil Casey Broad CityCasey was a writer for "Saturday Night Live." He has also written for critically acclaimed sketch shows "Inside Amy Schumer" and "Kroll Show" on Comedy Central.

Casey has also popped up on "Broad City" and stars in the Yahoo original series "Other Space." "Other Space" was created by Paul Feig, who is directing "Ghostbusters."

"Ghostbusters" will be out in theaters in 2016.

SEE ALSO: Here's what the outfits in the all-female 'Ghostbusters' movie will look like

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Don't watch this 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' trailer for the movie — do it for the video of a chipmunk hosting a rave

Pluto is brighter this week than any other time of the year— here's how to spot it

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pluto

This week is the best time of year to spot Pluto in the night sky with your telescope.

That's because On Monday, July 6, Pluto reached opposition, meaning it appears opposite the sun in our sky. So, just as the sun sets in the west, Pluto rises in the east.

This trend will continue over the next few days, which will make Pluto easier to track down. Moreover, opposition is also the time when Pluto is brightest, giving observers the best opportunity to see it.

The timing for this opportune viewing of Pluto couldn't be better: One week from today, NASA will fly its New Horizons spacecraft closer to Pluto than any spacecraft has ever been before.

So, while New Horizons approaches Pluto, you can join in the excitement by spotting the tiny, icy world yourself.

But beware: Locating Pluto is no easy feat and is often referred to as the Pluto Challenge. If you manage, however, you'll have succeeded in observing the most distant object in our solar system that you can see with amateur astronomy instruments!

As shown in the image below, Pluto looks similar to the background stars. The only exception is that it moves faster across the sky, covering more area in a shorter amount of time because it's closer to Earth and moving relatively fast as it orbits the sun. Pluto is just above center, indicated by the four red lines below:

plutoTo catch a glimpse of the dwarf planet, you'll need a telescope with at least an 8-inch diameter mirror, according to Sky and Telescope.

Even at its brightest, Pluto is not visible to the naked eye and is about 27 million times fainter than Venus. This also means that you'll need very clear, dark skies to see this faint object. So, if you live in the city, you'll have to get out of town.

Right now Pluto is located in the constellation Sagittarius, which is visible at mid-northern latitudes — this includes observers in the US. And after it rises in the east following sunset, it will travel south staying low to the horizon. Therefore, make sure you have a clear, unobstructed view of the eastern and, especially, southern horizons.

To help you spot Pluto, you can use astronomy apps like Stellarium, which allow you to coordinate exactly when and where objects in the night sky will be anywhere on Earth.

Here, we made a map with Stellarium to determine where Pluto will be in New York night skies at around 10 pm this evening (July 7). It should be about halfway between the eastern and southern horizons:

pluto2For more information on where Pluto will be in the night sky throughout the year, check out this chart made by the experts at Sky and Telescope.

It's a challenge to see Pluto, but it's an even greater challenge to get there. NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has spent the last nine years in space on its way there.

Now, that epic journey is quickly approaching its exciting goal of flying by the planet on July 14 and collecting information about the dwarf planet's geology, chemical composition, atmospheric composition, and much more. Stay tuned for more details about the exciting event!

LEARN MORE: Something 'scary' went wrong with NASA's probe to Pluto

CHECK OUT: Scientists discover that Pluto has some of the craziest moons in the entire solar system

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NOW WATCH: Neil deGrasse Tyson: Pluto Is Not A Planet So 'Get Over It'











'Give me a break!': Donald Trump blasts media in sarcastic, taunting statement

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RTX1GRA6

Real-estate magnate Donald Trump is out with a fiery new statement mocking the media for its coverage of his presidential campaign.

Trump's Tuesday statement focused on ESPN, which canceled an upcoming tournament at a Trump golf course, and NASCAR, which is moving an upcoming banquet from a Trump resort.

Both moves, the Republican businessman said, are not a big deal at all. 

"The disassociation of ESPN and NASCAR with the Trump Organization was covered by the press in headlines all over the world as though it was a major setback for me. Really? What were the losses?" Trump asked.

He added that he would now be able to rent out space to new groups of people, boosting his profit margins, and that both ESPN and NASCAR would be losing their deposits.

Trump also extensively praised the properties the events were scheduled to take place at.

"One NASCAR banquet in a magnificent ballroom at Trump National Doral in Miami for which I will keep their very substantial deposit and rent the ballroom to someone else that night — in other words, two fees instead of one (NASCAR has already apologized to me)!" Trump exclaimed. "In the case of ESPN ... they lost a large deposit. I will now let people use the course on that day, receiving substantial additional greens fee income. Again, I get two fees instead of one." 

ESPN and NASCAR are just two of several business entities that have cut ties with Trump since his June 16 campaign launch, during which he railed against the Mexican government for supposedly sending its "rapists" and drug runners to the US.

Macy's, Univision, NBC, and others also recently moved to separate themselves from Trump while saying they found his remarks offensive. These moves prompted furious reactions from the GOP businessman, who has repeatedly insisted there isn't anything controversial about pointing to criminals crossing the US border. 

"Give me a break!" Trump's statement concluded. "All of this because of my strong stance on illegal immigration during my run for President...Make America Great Again!"

SEE ALSO: Here's how much money Donald Trump's 'rapist' comments may have already cost him

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An iconic Ferrari from 'Miami Vice' is for sale

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unnamed(292)As far as poster cars go, the 1986 Ferrari Testarossa is one of the most memorable. 

Enzo Ferrari himself agreed to provide two of the 390-horsepower supercars, each with a 4.9 liter flat-12 engine, for use in "Miami Vice," the stylish Reagan Era TV show. In August, the car — and its signature side strakes — will hit the auction block at Mecum’s Daytime Auction.  

The car wasn't driven much. It's been sitting in storage since the end of the series’ run in 1989. The odometer shows only 16,124 miles. The car is also white, which might not wash with Ferrari purists — they like their rides red — but it makes sense given the overall glossy, pastel aesthetic that made 'Vice' some visually compelling. 

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“The sun may have set on Crockett and Tubbs, but the 'Miami Vice' Testarossa remains an enduring icon,” the auction house said in a statement. 

“Authenticated by both Ferrari North America and Ferrari Classiche, with documented service records from Shelton Ferrari in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., this exotic recently received an engine-out service at a cost of $8,000.” 

unnamed(290)The Testarossa's sibling sold for $1.75 million in December, but the auction house hasn't yet set an estimate for this car. It arrived on the scene for the third season of "Miami Vice," which went off the air in 1989.

The interior is vintage '80s. Check out that phone! And it's been a while since Ferrari included a gated shifter in any of its new models. There are no Ray-Ban sunglasses nor Armani jackets, but if you listen closely, you might be able to hear a distant echo of Phil Collins. 

SEE ALSO: David Beckham Suggests New Soccer Team Could Be Named 'Miami Vice'

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A Han Solo 'Star Wars' spinoff movie is coming in 2018

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Christopher Miller and Phil Lord — who are behind hits “The Lego Movie,” the “21 Jump Street” films, and “The Last Man on Earth” — will direct a movie focused on a young Han Solo, according to The Hollywood Reporter

StarWars.com has confirmed the news and notes that the screenplay will be written by Lawrence Kasdan (wrote scripts for "Empire Strikes Back," "Return of the Jedi," and latest "Star Wars" film, "The Force Awarkens"). The film is slated for a May 25, 2018 release. 

phil lord chris miller lego movieWith Miller and Lord on board, the "Star Wars" franchise has a highly coveted duo working for it. The pair have written, directed, and produced films that have collectively grossed over $1 billion worldwide

This is a nice rebound for the "Star Wars" spinoffs Disney is attempting to getting off the ground.

Last month, director Josh Trank dropped out of the spinoff he was directing, which was rumored to be Boba Fett origin story. A search for a director is still ongoing.

Harrison Ford returns as Solo in “The Force Awakens” when it hits theaters December 18.

SEE ALSO: Why Stormtroopers look different in 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens"

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Nintendo has no interest in the device most believe will dictate the future of gaming

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oculus rift virtual reality fashion london

Nintendo's dedication to driving players towards in-person gaming experiences – "local multiplayer" in the parlance of gaming – is infamous, and sometimes to the detriment of its players' interests.

Take, for instance, Nintendo's approach to online gaming: the company only offers online features on its own terms.

Do you want to play "Mario Kart 8" online with friends? Go for it! Uh, except, sorry, you can't actually talk to your friend while playing (only in the game's virtual lobby before matches). Nintendo could've just enabled voice chat, but intentionally didn't. Conscious choices like this one – to disable a feature otherwise standard on other game consoles – are standard for Nintendo. 

In a perfect world, you'd be playing "Mario Kart 8" multiplayer with a bunch of friends in your living room, on a single television. Just like old times!

Except we live in modern times, where silly things like geographic location don't hold us back from dominating friends on Rainbow Road from afar, and talking smack to said friends while doing so. The approach can feel antiquated, despite Nintendo having players' best interests at heart.

Shigeru Miyamoto, senior managing director of Nintendo and general manager of its Entertainment Analysis and Development division, together with Nintendo character Mario (L), introduces the new game It's this approach that Nintendo's taking to the next frontier of game playing: virtual reality. 

The man who created some of gaming's most iconic franchises – from "Super Mario" to "The Legend of Zelda" – sees virtual reality (VR) as a medium destined for solitary gaming.

"I have a little bit of uneasiness with whether or not that’s the best way for people to play," Nintendo's general manager of game development, Shigeru Miyamoto, told Time last year. He continued:

When you think about what virtual reality is, which is one person putting on some goggles and playing by themselves kind of over in a corner, or maybe they go into a separate room and they spend all their time alone playing in that virtual reality, that’s in direct contrast with what it is we’re trying to achieve with Wii U [the company's latest home game console].

But that was a year ago, when VR still seemed far away. Now we've got a final version of the Oculus Rift from Facebook, and Sony was showing off full games in its PlayStation 4 VR headset, Project Morpheus, during the game industry's annual trade show last month (E3). 

Project Morpheus, Sony's VR headsetMiyamoto's tune this year hasn't changed much, but the reasons have: "At this year’s E3, I noticed a number of dream-like demonstrations for which the schedule and format for commercialization are unknown," he told Nintendo investor's during a Q&A last month. 

More directly: Nintendo doesn't know how VR will make money.

Miyamoto continued:

The current software for these virtual reality devices cannot be played simultaneously by a number of people, and since it is generally expected that the development for the applicable software for a high-performance device will take two to three years, there were a number of visual demonstrations for virtual reality devices.

Despite the fact that, yes, some VR games can be played by multiple people at once (though not within the same headset of course), Miyamoto argued that VR games are not the same type of experiences that Nintendo is aiming to create. 

Of course, Nintendo's own experiments with VR have been happening for years. Nintendo even released a VR headset back in 1995: the "Virtual Boy." It looks like this:

nintendo Virtual BoyIt launched in North America in 1995, and was subsequently taken off the market in 1996. 

Nintendo also experimented with stereoscopic 3D technology in its latest handheld game console, the 3DS, with far greater success. Still, the 3D element of the 3DS – which enables a sense of depth on a 2D plane – is far from the selling point of the console.

With two serious forays into the world of VR behind it, and little incentive to try again, Nintendo is consciously not competing in the burgeoning VR field.

SEE ALSO: The first new 'Minecraft' game is ambitious, risky, and looks like a ton of fun

AND: Nintendo and Sony made a hybrid game console 2 decades ago no one has ever seen — until now

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A Paula Deen employee got the ax after tweeting a racist photo of Deen and her son

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After an insensitive tweet led to the firing of her social media manager, Paula Deen has some explaining to do. 

Earlier Tuesday, the person running Deen's Twitter account tweeted a photo featuring the culinary celebrity and her son, Bobby Deen, dressed up as the characters Ricky and Lucy Ricardo from the television show "I Love Lucy."

The still came from a 2011 episode of "Paula's Best Dishes," according to The Independent

Deen is sporting Lucy Ricardo's signature red hair with a '50s dress, as has anyone who's ever gone as Lucy for Halloween.

But the photo becomes less cheery when you notice that her son is wearing heavy amounts of brown face makeup in order to look like Ricky Ricardo. Both the "I Love Lucy" character and Desi Arnaz, the actor who played him, were Cuban. 

Here's a look at the now deleted tweet, screengrabbed by The Independent

 

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Deen's son's costume has drawn comparisons to blackface, the theatrical makeup technique whereby white actors would paint their skin darker in order to play stereotypical caricatures of African-Americans. This practice was common in theatre and film through the early 20th century.

Nowadays, it's widely considered racist to use skin-darkening makeup to portray members of a different race. And the response to Deen's tweet reflected that.

People were outraged by the tweet and the image has since been removed. Deen has also fired her social media manager, E! Online reported

 

 

Prior to Tuesday's tweet, the photo was also reportedly visible in an album on Deen's Facebook page, The Independent says. The album, entitled "Best Dishes Filming, March 11, 2011," also included photos of Bobby Deen having the brown makeup applied to his face. The entire album has been deleted.

An apology to has been issued on Deen's behalf, E! Online reported

"Paula immediately had this picture taken down as soon as she saw the post and apologizes to all who were offended. As such, Paula Deen Ventures has terminated their relationship with this Social Media Manager," explained Deen's spokesperson on Tuesday.

This is not the first time Deen has been called racist. In 2013, Deen admitted to using ethnic slurs after a discrimination lawsuit was brought against her by a former employee. The lawsuit has since been dismissed

SEE ALSO: No one ever wants to admit the real reason to buy a Kindle

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