Comedian Amy Schumer expressed her deep sorrow for the shooting that occurred in a Louisiana movie theatre on Thursday night, at a showing of her new movie "Trainwreck."
My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana.
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) July 24, 2015SEE ALSO: Shooting at movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana — 3 dead including gunman
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It's hard to find a show on the air right now that successfully manages to top itself every week like "Hannibal". The NBC drama — which was canceled by NBC at the end of June — has been resigned to burning through the second half of its now-final season in the doldrums of Saturday nights, where it is guaranteed to remain relatively unseen until its last episode airs.
That's a shame, because this Saturday marks the beginning of what might as well be a brand-new season, and possibly the series' most accessible jumping-on point ever.
For its final six episodes, "Hannibal" will be adapting the events of Thomas Harris' novel "Red Dragon", the work in which the evil, manipulative Doctor Hannibal Lecter first appeared. It is essentially a miniseries about the hunt for Francis Dolarhyde, a serial killer obsessed with a William Blake painting of the titular Red Dragon, and protagonist Will Graham's struggle to hold onto his sanity after he's dragged back in to a world of killers and madmen he left behind.
It also looks like something the show hasn't really been all season long: Very, very scary.
Check out this trailer that debuted at Comic-Con, previewing the second half of the season:
SEE ALSO: The most disturbingly gorgeous dishes on 'Hannibal'
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In a 2013 script for the movie “Pixels,” intergalactic aliens blast a hole in one of China’s national treasures – the Great Wall.
That scene is gone from the final version of the sci-fi comedy, starring Adam Sandler and released by Sony Pictures Entertainment this week in the United States. The aliens strike iconic sites elsewhere, smashing the Taj Mahal in India, the Washington Monument and parts of Manhattan.
Sony executives spared the Great Wall because they were anxious to get the movie approved for release in China, a review of internal Sony Pictures emails shows. It is just one of a series of changes aimed at stripping the movie of content that, Sony managers feared, Chinese authorities might have construed as casting their country in a negative light.
Along with the Great Wall scene, out went a scene in which China was mentioned as a potential culprit behind an attack, as well as a reference to a “Communist-conspiracy brother” hacking a mail server – all to increase the chances of getting “Pixels” access to the world’s second-biggest box office.
“Even though breaking a hole on the Great Wall may not be a problem as long as it is part of a worldwide phenomenon, it is actually unnecessary because it will not benefit the China release at all. I would then, recommend not to do it,” Li Chow, chief representative of Sony Pictures in China, wrote in a December 2013 email to senior Sony executives.
Li’s message is one of tens of thousands of confidential Sony emails and documents that were hacked and publicly released late last year. The U.S. government blamed North Korea for the breach. In April, WikiLeaks published the trove of emails, memos and presentations from the Sony hack in an online searchable archive.
“We are not going to comment on stolen emails or internal discussions about specific content decisions,” said a spokesman for Sony Pictures, a unit of Tokyo-based Sony Corp. “There are myriad factors that go into determining what is best for a film’s release, and creating content that has wide global appeal without compromising creative integrity is top among them.”
Chinese government and film-industry officials didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story.
“Pixels” wasn’t the only Sony movie in which the China content was carefully scrutinized. The emails reveal how studio executives discussed ways to make other productions, including the 2014 remake of “RoboCop,” more palatable to Chinese authorities.
In a 2013 email about “RoboCop,” the senior vice president at Sony Pictures Releasing International at the time, Steve Bruno, proposed relocating a multinational weapons conglomerate from China. His solution: Put it in a Southeast Asian country like Vietnam or Cambodia. Ultimately, that change wasn’t made, a viewing of the movie shows. Bruno has since left Sony.
The Sony emails provide a behind-the-scenes picture of the extent to which one of the world’s leading movie studios exercised self-censorship as its executives tried to anticipate how authorities in Beijing might react to their productions. The internal message traffic also illustrates the deepening dependence of Hollywood on audiences in China, where box office receipts jumped by almost a third last year to $4.8 billion, as revenues in the United States and Canada shrank.
Other studios have made changes to movies in a bid to get them approved by Beijing, altering the version that is screened in China. A scene showing a Chinese doctor who helps the main character in “Iron Man 3,” for example, was lengthened in the Chinese version and included popular Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, a comparison of the Chinese and international versions shows. Produced by Marvel Studios, “Iron Man 3” was the second top grossing movie in China in 2013. Marvel declined to comment.
In the case of “Pixels,” in which the aliens attack Earth in the form of popular video game characters, the Sony emails point to the creation of a single version for all audiences – a China-friendly one. The logic behind Sony’s thinking was explained by Steven O’Dell, president of Sony Pictures Releasing International, in a September 12, 2013 email about “RoboCop.”
“Changing the China elements to another country should be a relatively easy fix,” O’Dell wrote. “There is only downside to leaving the film as it is. Recommendation is to change all versions as if we only change the China version, we set ourselves up for the press to call us out for this when bloggers invariably compare the versions and realize we changed the China setting just to pacify that market.”
Efforts by the U.S. motion-picture industry to woo China come as the ruling Communist Party under President Xi Jinping is engaged in the biggest crackdown on civil society in more than two decades. About a dozen human rights lawyers were taken into police custody this month, and hundreds of dissidents have been detained since Xi took power in late 2012.
As China rises, its efforts to contain civil liberties at home are radiating outward. The removal of scenes from “Pixels” thought to be offensive to Beijing shows how global audiences are effectively being subjected to standards set by China, whose government rejects the kinds of freedoms that have allowed Hollywood to flourish.
“I think the studios have grown pretty savvy,” said Peter Shiao, founder and CEO of Orb Media Group, an independent film studio focused on Hollywood-Chinese co-productions. “For a type of movie, particularly the global blockbusters, they are not going to go and make something that the Chinese would reject for social or political reasons. That is already a truism.”
Sony’s emails were hacked ahead of the release of “The Interview,” a comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. When Sony halted the film’s release in response to threats made against movie theaters, U.S. President Barack Obama warned of the dangers of self-censorship. Ultimately, Sony released the movie.
“If somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don’t like, or news reports that they don’t like,” Obama said at his year-end White House press briefing. “Or even worse, imagine if producers and distributors and others start engaging in self-censorship because they don’t want to offend the sensibilities of somebody whose sensibilities probably need to be offended. That’s not who we are. That’s not what America is about.”
For Hollywood studios, the allure of the Chinese box office has become increasingly difficult to resist. While box office receipts in the United States and Canada combined fell five percent last year to $10.4 billion compared with 2013, box office receipts in China jumped 34 percent to $4.8 billion in the same period, according to the Motion Picture Association of America Inc.
China is on course to set a new record this year: Box office receipts were $3.3 billion in the first half of 2015, China’s state-run media reported. Action movie “Fast & Furious 7” was the best ticket seller in China by early June 2015, grossing $383 million – higher than the $351 million in the United States and Canada combined. It was followed by “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Jurassic World.”
Last November, the vice president of the China Film Producers’ Association, Wang Fenglin, said the Chinese film market would overtake the United States to become the largest in the world within three years.
The importance of the China market appears to have informed decisions taken by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc in its 2012 remake of the action movie “Red Dawn.” MGM changed the nationality of the soldiers who invade the United States from Chinese to North Korean in post-production, according to Red Dawn producer Tripp Vinson. MGM did not respond to requests for comment.
To get on the circuit in China, a movie must win the approval of the Film Bureau, which is headed by Zhang Hongsen, a domestic television screenwriter and senior Communist Party member. “Foreign films come to China one after another like aircraft carriers; we are facing great pressure and challenges,” Zhang said last year. “We must make the Chinese film industry bigger and stronger.”
The Film Bureau is part of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), which reports directly to China’s cabinet, the State Council. The administration controls state-owned enterprises in the communications field, including China Central Television and China Radio International.
Censorship guidelines are included in a 2001 order issued by the State Council. The order bans content that endangers the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of China, harms national honor and disrupts social stability. Harming public morality and national traditions is forbidden.
SAPPRFT guidelines also include bans on material seen as “disparaging of the government” and political figures. The broadening scope of these guidelines can be seen in an email sent last November by Sanford Panitch, who has since joined Sony as President of International Film and Television, to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.
The email outlines new measures that were being implemented by SAPPRFT officials: “What is different is now they are clearly making an attempt to try to address other areas not been specified before, decadence, fortune telling, hunting, and most dramatically, sexuality,” Panitch wrote.
Studios also have to work with China Film Group Corp, a state-owned conglomerate that imports and distributes foreign movies. In some cases China Film also acts as an investor. In the emails, Sony executives discussed a co-financing arrangement whereby China Film will cover 10 percent of the budget of “Pixels.” China Film is run by La Peikang, a Communist Party member and the former deputy head of the Film Bureau.
A total of 34 foreign films are allowed into China each year under a revenue-sharing model that gives 25 percent of box office receipts to foreign movie studios. Fourteen of those films must be in “high-tech” formats such as 3D or IMAX.
The censorship process in China can be unpredictable, the Sony emails show. In early 2014, the studio was faced with a demand to remove for Chinese audiences a key but disturbing scene from “RoboCop,” the story of a part-man, part-machine police officer.
“Censorship really hassling us on Robocop…trying to cut out the best and most vital scene where they open up his suit and expose what is left of him as a person,” reads a January 28, 2014 email written by international executive Steven O’Dell. “Hope to get through it with only shortening up the scene a bit. Don’t think we can make a stand on it either way, too much money on the line, cross fingers we don’t have to cut the scene out.”
The political climate under President Xi may also be playing a role, one email indicates. “As to greater flexibility, I am not so sure about that,” Sony China executive Li Chow wrote in early 2014, commenting on a media report that Beijing was mulling an increase in its foreign film quota. “The present government seems more conservative in all aspects and this is reflected by the repeated cuts to Robocop. Lately, members of the censorship board seem uncertain, fearful and overly careful.”
In the messages in which “Pixels” is discussed, Sony executives grapple with how to gauge the sensitivities of the Chinese authorities.
In a November 1, 2013 email, Li Chow suggested making a number of changes to the script, including the scene in which a hole is smashed in the Great Wall. “This is fine as long as this is shown as part of a big scale world-wide destruction, meaning that it would be good to show several recognizable historical sites in different parts of the world being destroyed,” she wrote.
She also advised altering a scene in which the President of the United States, an ambassador and the head of the CIA speculate that China could be behind an attack using an unknown technology. In the final version, which moviegoers are now getting to see, the officials speculate that Russia, Iran or Google could be to blame.
“China can be mentioned alongside other super powers but they may not like ‘Russia and China don’t have this kind of technology’,” Li wrote in the email. “And in view of recent news on China hacking into government servers, they may object to ‘a communist-conspiracy brother hacked into the mail server...’”
In mid-December 2013, Li suggested doing away with the Great Wall scene altogether, saying it was “unnecessary.”
Around the same time, the emails show Sony executives also discussed relocating a car-chase scene involving the video-game character Pac-Man from Tokyo to Shanghai, and whether that might help with the release date in China.
Li Chow advised against the change. “As to relocating the Pac-Man action from Tokyo to Shanghai, this is not a good idea because it will involve destruction all over the city and may likely cause some sensitivity,” she wrote in a December 18, 2013 email. “In other words, it is rather hard to say whether it would be a problem because the unwritten rule is that it is acceptable if there is no real intention in destroying a certain building or street and if it is just collateral damage. But where would you draw the line?”
Ultimately, all references to China in the movie were scrubbed. That decision appears to have been made in early 2014. “It looks like Doug is going to heed Li’s advice and get all China references out of Pixels (including not using the Great Wall as one of the set pieces),” international executive O’Dell wrote, referring to then-Columbia Pictures President Doug Belgrad.
The cost of not winning approval to distribute a movie in China is also evident in the Sony emails. In February 2014, a Sony marketing executive circulated an email: “Please note that CAPTAIN PHILLIPS will not be released theatrically in China” – a reference to the movie in which Tom Hanks stars as Captain Richard Phillips, who was taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009.
Budget discussions about “Captain Phillips,” contained in the emails, show Sony executives had expected to earn $120 million globally from the movie, but that changed when they didn’t get approval for it to be screened in China. “We are short $9M and we won’t be getting into China,” emailed notes from a conference call read. “We need to grab every dollar we can to meet our objectives. It is incumbent on all of us to try to figure out how we can get more money from this picture.”
In a December 2013 email, Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony Pictures, had speculated that “Captain Phillips” was unlikely to be approved by China’s censors. In the film, the U.S. military rescues the ship’s captain. That plot element, Bruer noted, might make Chinese officials squirm.
“The reality of the situation is that China will probably never clear the film for censorship,” wrote Bruer. “Reasons being the big Military machine of the U.S. saving one U.S. citizen. China would never do the same and in no way would want to promote this idea. Also just the political tone of the film is something that they would not feel comfortable with.”
Beijing shows every sign of being comfortable with “Pixels.” This week, Sony had some good news: “Pixels” has been approved for release in China. It opens there on September 15.
SEE ALSO: Peter Dinklage is a Donkey Kong champ in new 'Pixels' trailer
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Spoiler alert: Don't read on if you didn't watch Thursday's finale of "Wayward Pines."
The entire time I watched Fox's "Wayward Pines," M. Knight Shyamalan's first entry into television, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
As many of you know, Shyamalan is the famous movie director known for his surprise (and at times unsubstantiated) plot twists. It was used very well in movies like "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable," but not so much in "The Village" and "The Happening."
So, I braced myself for that moment when "Wayward Pines" would go off the rails and I'd curse myself for ever watching it every week.
I thought it would happen around Episode 5, halfway through the limited season and the point in which the town's big secret was exposed: It is actually two thousand years into the future, humanity has died off and been replaced by savage wild versions of itself called "aberrations" or "abbies" for short, and Wayward Pines is a community made of people chosen by a scientist named David Pilcher (Toby Jones) to mate and carry on humanity.
There are a couple reasons why this didn't become a major problem in the show.
First, it was revealed early in the storytelling -- a very important writing rule whenever you're creating a new world. In several of Shyamalan's movies, the twist occurs way too late in the action so that it just seems to be a cheat or unearned.
Secondly, the twist was revealed slowly over Episode 5 and then was dealt with further on Episode 6. It wasn't just dropped on the viewers as Shyamalan is known to do in some of his movies.
That pacing of the reveal may be attributed to the fact that there was a cushion between Shyamalan and the series, because it was based on the novels by Black Crouch and Chad Hodge ("The Playboy Club") created and wrote on the series. Shyamalan served as an executive producer.
Fast forward to Thursday when the show's finale would become its last chance to throw something wacky at us and make us regret we watched it at all. That moment never happened.
The finale was an exciting, edge of your seat ride with the hungry abbies descending on Wayward Pines after Pilcher decided this group knew too much and it's time to kill it off and start over again. It would take Ethan (Matt Dillon) sacrificing his life, the town, and Pilcher's volunteer staff coming together to survive his dangerous reboot plan. But, even here there was a Shyamalan twist...
Before the finale ends, we fast forward three or so years into the future to find that the young adults (those who grew up to know Pilcher as a hero) had commandeered the town, put the adults in a sustained sleep, and restored it to Pilcher's rules. What a great way to set up a second season. And, still there's no regrets here.
MORE: 'Wayward Pines' producer M. Night Shyamalan hopes show lures in fellow 'lazy viewers'
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NOW WATCH: What really happened to Jon Snow in 'Game of Thrones'?
After the success of "Bates Motel," "American Horror Story," and "The Walking Dead," television is expanding further into the horror genre with MTV's "Scream" and "Scream Queens."
"When you have something that’s successful, there’s a lot of attempts to duplicate it," The Paley Center's TV curator, David Bushman, told Business Insider. "In recent years, you have shows that have been passionately been embraced by audiences, like 'The Walking Dead,' 'Buffy [the Vampire Slayer].' Producers are seeing that certain things are striking a chord."
In fact, the horror trend isn't just seen on the small screen. Horror movie releases are also becoming more year-round affairs, rather than Halloween fare. Last year, we saw "The Conjuring" open to almost $42 million June, "Insidious Chapter 2" opened with $40 million in September, and "The Purge: Anarchy" opened in the No. 1 position in July with $29 million, according to TheWrap.
"I think everything is cyclical and I think horror as a genre is something that has been on TV throughout the years, but it’s something people always come back to," MTV's "Scream" executive producer, Tony DiSanto, told BI.
But why are we presently seeing so many scary shows popping up on the small screen? Bushman believes it's a combination of factors.
1.) The rise of cable. Cable TV has probably done the most to help bring horror-based shows back to TV. Unlike the broadcast channels, cable can afford to take a chance since it requires much less viewers to make a a hit. And horror usually appeals to loyal, niche audiences.
"Being able to find niche audiences has a been a good thing for the horror genre," Bushman said. "Instead of having to attract seven, eight million viewers as on the broadcast networks, these shows can have audiences of three, four million."
2.) More opportunities to be unpredictable. "For horror shows to work, they have to be unpredictable," Bushman said. He said one big aspect of this is the ability to kill main characters.
"It’s now permissible to kill off major characters," Bushman continued. "TV needed to shake things up, because of the competition. You can do that now. 'Scream' just had a major character that was killed. Practically every season, 'The Walking Dead' kills major characters."
3.) TV horror shows are more accessible. "A lot of horror movies are rated R. There’s something cool with kids and horror. So TV is the first exposure for horror, because they’re unable to do it in the movie theater."
Of course, that means today's horror may be more attuned to modern tastes: They're more comedic.
"I think what’s consistent about the horror that’s connecting now is that it’s fun," DiSanto said. "It’s a ride, and I think people are scared but they’re having fun watching it and I think that’s also why you’re seeing, surprisingly, you’re seeing a huge female audience, too, with a lot of this horror."
And they're more self-aware.
"They’re more self aware because 'Buffy' and 'Scream' introduced that," said Bushman. "We’re so much more knowledgeable, and so much more conscious of storytelling method. And in order to be current, you have to be that way."
SEE ALSO: 'Scream' producer reveals 3 things to expect from MTV's new reboot
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Though things aren’t looking good for "Pixels" this weekend, Adam Sandler’s latest comedy has a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, one thing that can’t be ignored is the brilliance of Peter Dinklage in the movie.
Known best for his dramatic work, especially as Tyrion Lannister in "Game of Thrones," Dinklage is one of the saving graces of the film playing the hilarious former arcade champion Eddie “The Fire Blaster” Plant.
Rocking an impressive mullet, tattoos and an attitude, he seems like a character only Hollywood could come up with.
But in fact some movie lovers may link Fire Blaster’s pretentious ways to a real-life gaming legend.
Though Dinklage has not addressed it publicly, many believe his character in "Pixels" channels the swagger of Billy Mitchell, who is known for earning the first-ever perfect score in Pac-Man in 1999 and stars in the documentary "The Kind of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters." Mitchell was also named one of the Video Game Players of the year in 1984 and later became Video Game Player of the Century.
"Pixels" director Chris Columbus has confirmed that Plant is partially based on Mitchell. The physical resemblance between Mitchell and Dinklage's character is hard to ignore too, particularly the mullet.
Most recently, Mitchell has gained recognition from "King of King."
Seth Gordon’s film follows underdog Steve Wiebe as he attempts to break the 20-year-old world record for Donkey Kong (you guessed it, it's held by Mitchell). But like any great heel, Mitchell plays mind games with Wiebe, and says things on camera like, “Oh, Billy Mitchell always has a plan,” to get under Wiebe (and the viewer’s) skin.
Dinklage certainly gives Plant the same traits. In “Pixels” he belittles Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler) for coming in second to him in an arcade tournament when they were kids. And he only becomes more cocky when Sam turns to him for help to beat the arcade characters that have come to Earth to destroy it.
When asked about Dinklage’s character at an interview for the 35th anniversary event for Pac-Man, Mitchell initially seemed humbled.
“Well, I think Peter is a good actor,” he said.
But he followed that with...
“People tell me I got beat out by the little guy finally,” referring to Dinklage’s height.
“Pixels” opens in theaters on Friday.
Watch Dinklage as Fire Blaster in this clip from the movie:
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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's (R) presidential campaign released a new video on Friday of the candidate discussing "Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!"
The Syfy channel movie series is famous for its over-the-top premise and celebrity cameos, which all seemed to confused Bush.
"I get to the hotel like at 10:30 last night. And I'm flipping around, looking at the cable stations. And there's a thing called 'Sharknado.' And I think I see Ann Coulter as vice president of the United States. It's kind of weird," Bush says in the video, filmed from the backseat of a car.
Bush suggested that the most surprising thing about the movie was that there were two prequels he had never heard about. "Sharknado 3" features billionaire Mark Cuban as president gunning down sharks that are raining down on top of the White House.
"Sharks coming out of the sky. People are getting killed. The White House is being collapsed. The Washington Monument is going down. And lo and behold, Mark Cuban is president of the United States! This is the strangest show I've ever seen. What is going on?" he asked.
"And then I find out that this is the third version of this," he added. "Please help me. Give me some information about what's going. I'm culturally illiterate, apparently."
Watch below:
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George R.R. Martin really liked "Ant-Man," but in the author's opinion, the film had one big problem that it shares with almost all of the Marvel movies: The villain.
Martin took to his LiveJournal to post about the movie:
I am tired of this Marvel movie trope where the bad guy has the same powers as the hero. The Hulk fought the Abomination, who is just a bad Hulk. Spider-Man fights Venom, who is just a bad Spider-Man. Iron Man fights Ironmonger, a bad Iron Man. Yawn. I want more films where the hero and the villain have wildly different powers. That makes the action much more interesting.
What's interesting about Martin's critique of Marvel villains is how it zeroes in on the visuals of these movies' big conflicts. Action is at its best when it tells a story, and the dynamics of a hero learning about and trying to overcome a villain with totally different abilities allows for all sorts of fun, high-stakes moments.
Of course, there is also a problem with making these villains memorable, even though they're being played by incredible actors.
SEE ALSO: Bryan Singer has a plan for an 'X-Men' and 'Fantastic Four' crossover movie
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Hulk Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, says an audio transcript of his using the N word was "unacceptable" and didn't represent who he was.
"Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation," he said in a statement to People magazine. "It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it."
The statement arrived after the conversation surfaced via an investigation by The National Enquirer, which reportedly shows the famed wrestler saying the N word repeatedly while discussing his daughter's boyfriend.
On Friday morning, the WWE terminated Hogan's employment, including his role on WWE's "Tough Enough." The wrestling organization also wiped mentions of Hogan on its website.
Hogan's statement continued: "This is not who I am. I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs, or otherwise. I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs."
Hogan also posted the following ominous tweet earlier on Friday morning:
In the storm I release control,God and his Universe will sail me where he wants me to be,one love. HH
— Hulk Hogan (@HulkHogan) July 24, 2015SEE ALSO: WWE fires Hulk Hogan
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It seemed like a home run for Adam Sandler. The trailer for “Pixels” came out in March and broke Sony’s record for the most-viewed trailer in its first 24 hours ever.
Adapted from a two-and-a-half minute short film with the same title, "Pixels" is about classic video games from the 1980s being controlled by aliens who want to take over Earth. And only the games' best players (played by Sandler, Kevin James, Peter Dinklage and Josh Gad) can stop them.
This premise seemed perfect for Sander’s brand of comedy (his production company Happy Madison is behind the film). But it turns out even silly 8-bit characters from the past can't revive the former SNL star's career.
“Pixels” has a 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it's shaping up to become Sandler’s latest box office bomb.
Here's why critics are ripping it apart.
(Warning: Some spoilers ahead)
People who have seen the movie say the CGI work in it is done very well. It grabs famous 1980s touchstones like Hall & Oates interview clips and Max Headroom (which the aliens use to communicate to Sandler and his gang), but sadly things go down hill from there.
Variety called it a "barrage of witless one-liners" with "inane celebrity cameos."
“If only the movie in front of us actually fit that description, or truly conveyed the addictive pleasures of gaming," Variety lamented.
Uproxx complains that Adam Sandler doesn't get what audiences today think is funny.
“The problem is, Sandler can still be a likable and emphatic actor, but if he’s given any creative control, it will bring the movie down because Sandler’s sense of humor over the years has become terrible,” Uproxx says. Ouch.
ScreenCrush isn't much nicer. “Adam Sandler used to make comedies," the reviewer wrote. "Now he makes Adam Sandler movies; bland exercises in nostalgia where he hangs out with his actor buddies, cracks a few jokes, and sleepwalks through a forgettable story to the sounds of early ’80s rock.”
About.com says Sandler is trying to reinact a watered-down version of his glory days. “The low points come when you realize that despite having a real director, Sandler is still Sandler here -- a regular guy who happens to be awesome, catnip to the ladies, a hero so unlikely that NYPD and NYFD cheer him.”
The Hollywood Reporter calls it "sometimes mildly amusing.
"With the exception of Monaghan, who seems like a beautiful member of some other species amid this ragtag bunch of comics and slumming character actors, everyone here is doing shtick they've long since mastered, underplaying in Sandler's case, to sometimes mildly amusing effect…”
But critics say Sandler isn't the only reason the movie is unwatchable. The movie, directed by Chris Columbus ("Home Alone," "Mrs. Doubtfire"), in itself is uninspiring:
A Vulture actually scribbled down, "‘Am I high right now?" while watching the movie.
"Don’t get too excited: The film is bad — worse even than it looks, probably — but by that point it had achieved such throwaway weirdness that instead of staring stone-faced at how bland and unfunny it all was, I found myself giggling at its sheer idiocy,” the writer said.
The Daily News also placed blame on Columbus who says he and Sandler "bury that warm feeling [for 1980s video games] under moronic jokes, lame action, drooling for “hot chicks” and sad-assed, middle-aged neuroses.”
But no matter how terrible critics say "Pixels" is, you can bet Adam Sandler movies will continue to churn out:
“Sandler is following his own rules: Every year, he's gotta star in an expensive, anti-intellectual gasbag that anoints him the Best Boy in the World," a disgruntled LA Weekly reporter pens. "And audiences are running out of quarters.”
If you don't believe them, feel free to check out "Pixels" yourself. It opens in theaters Friday.
SEE ALSO: It's baffling that Nintendo let its treasured characters appear in Adam Sandler's new movie
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Following the deadly shooting at a Louisiana multiplex during a screening of “Trainwreck” Thursday night, the film’s director Judd Apatow is speaking out.
“My thoughts and love go out to the victims and anyone touched by this madness or any madness. We, as a country, need to find a way to do better,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
Apatow also told THR: "One of the reasons we make these movies is because the world can be so horrifying and we all need to laugh just to deal with it. So to have this happen in a room where people were smiling and laughing devastates me.”
A 59-year-old white male killed at least two and injured nine in the theater before turning the gun on himself, police officials said.
“Trainwreck” star and screenwriter Amy Schumer took to Twitter following the shootings:
My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana.
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) July 24, 2015SEE ALSO: Shooting at movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana — 3 dead including gunman
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You might not know who Ahmed Best is, but you almost certainly have seen his most famous performance.
Best was the actor whose movements and voice brought the goofy alien Jar-Jar Binks to life in the "Star Wars" prequels.
Of course, this is probably a good thing for Best — Jar-Jar Binks is a character so universally hated that a video of someone dressing up as him getting beat up could conceivably be played for laughs. However, Best doesn't regret his time spent in one of the most beloved universes in all of pop culture, and it even sounds like playing Binks was a huge win for him, considering he may have beat Michael Jackson for the role.
In a long interview with Vice, Best elaborates on that surprising tidbit — one he first mentioned a year ago in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything".
"That's what George told me," Best told Vice, before mentioning an occasion where George Lucas introduced him to the pop star as "Jar-Jar". "I'm having a drink with George and I said, 'Why did you introduce me as Jar Jar?' He said, 'Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like 'Thriller.'' George wanted to do it in CGI. My guess is ultimately Michael Jackson would have been bigger than the movie, and I don't think he wanted that."
The whole interview is worth a read — Best has certainly kept busy the past few years, writing, directing, and acting in several smaller projects. Read it here.
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You've never seen the world's most famous Italian plumber look this good:
These are all the incredible creations of one YouTube user named "CryZENx," who added some of the world's most famous game characters into a gorgeous tech demo for the Unreal Engine (a piece of software that powers many games).
The tech demo is meant to show off the prowess of Unreal Engine, and it does that spectacularly. Here's one more gorgeous look into that world, through the eyes of the Hero of Time, Link, from "The Legend of Zelda." Try to ignore the terrifying moon:
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Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s money woes continue as the rapper/actor was ordered by a Manhattan jury on Friday to pay $2 million in punitive damages to the woman, Lastonia Leviston, whose sex tape he posted online, according to The Wrap.
Previously, Jackson was ordered to pay $5 million in damages in the case. Days later, Jackson filed for bankruptcy.
In the court room on Friday, the lawyer for Leviston urged the Manhattan Supreme Court jury on the case to order Jackson to pay Leviston $15 million in punitive damages. Jackson’s attorney had asked them to order he pay $700,000, according to the New York Daily News.
The jury has now reportedly settled on $2 million.
"The jury saw through the lies and punished Mr. Jackson,” Leviston’s attorney Hunter Shkolnik told The Wrap. “We are so happy for Lastonia, she deserves this.”
On Tuesday, Jackson appeared in court and testified that the appearance that he's wealthy is all for show as he "takes the jewelry and the cars back to the stores."
However, he did admit that he recently visited a Florida strip club, where he was seen throwing around cash. And he bought a Rolls Royce, but the rapper said he had to trade in two other cars to get it, according to the New York Daily News.
"His true financial condition has been exposed as a result of this trial," said Jackson's attorney, James Renard, reports NYDN.
"Although we appreciate the jury's service, we are disappointed in the result," said a statement given to BI by Renard, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. "Our client intends to file post-verdict, pre-judgment motions which we believe should reduce the size of the award. Ultimately, the fate of any obligation to pay a final judgment will be determined by the bankruptcy court."
SEE ALSO: Here's how 50 Cent spent his millions before filing for bankruptcy
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NOW WATCH: 50 Cent testifies his lifestyle is an illusion
Rapper and Cash Money CEO Brian Williams — better known as Birdman — has responded after being named as a conspirator in a recent court filing related to an attack on rapper Lil Wayne's tour bus.
Birdman is listed alongside Jeffrey Williams — a.k.a. rapper Young Thug — and tour manager, Jimmy Winfrey, TMZ reported.
In April, Cash Money rapper Lil Wayne's tour bus was attacked in Atlanta. Shots were fired, but no one was injured.
Winfrey was charged with the shooting and arrested July 2 on charges of terroristic threats and acts, aggravated assault, and other crimes. Birdman was also named in the report, but he and Young Thug were not charged.
This is what happened:
Birdman received a call directly following the April 26 shooting, but he "was not involved in any way" in the incident, according to sources cited by TMZ.
Someone in Lil Wayne's party made a phone call, allegedly to let Birdman know that Winfrey was removed from a venue for harassing Lil Wayne shortly before the shooting.
According to sources cited by TMZ, the calls were made and received on company phones listed in Birdman's name.
Birdman has reportedly assured Lil Wayne he was not involved in the tour bus attack, and wants to help get to the bottom of the matter.
Lil Wayne and Birdman have been at odds since December, because of a dispute over a Lil Wayne album that Cash Money allegedly refused to release. In January, Lil Wayne sued Cash Money for $51 million, while also requesting to be released from the label.
On July 16, Cash Money filed a $50 million lawsuit against music streaming company, Tidal — which is jointly owned by Jay Z, Beyoncé, Madonna and several other music superstars— after the service streamed Lil Wayne's album. The suit claims the album received "tepid reviews" and could hurt the label's attempts to market Wayne's music and brand.
Business Insider has reached out to Birdman for comment and will update the post if/when we hear back.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday refused to recuse himself from a $7 million copyright lawsuit against Jay Z over his Roc-A-Fella Records logo, after the plaintiff said the judge appeared to be biased toward the rap star and music entrepreneur.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis in Manhattan said there was no evidence that he showed "deep-seated favoritism or antagonism" in handling the lawsuit by Bronx clothing designer Dwayne Walker, or that his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
In his July 2012 lawsuit Walker claimed that he created artwork in 1995 depicting a vinyl record that became the basis for Jay Z's Roc-A-Fella logo, which includes a superimposed "R."
He is seeking damages for alleged copyright infringement from Jay Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, and other defendants including Roc-A-Fella and its parent Universal Music Group Inc, a unit of France's Vivendi SA.
In seeking Ellis' recusal, Walker had accused the judge of issuing inconsistent rulings favoring Jay Z, and basing one order on a private call with defense lawyers.
"Walker mischaracterizes both the facts surrounding these decisions and the supporting rationale provided by the court," Ellis wrote.
Gregory Berry, a lawyer for Walker, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case is Walker v Carter et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-05384.
(Editing by David Gregorio)
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VidCon, YouTube's annual convention that unites the stars with thousands of teenaged fans, is like a boy-band concert on acid.
Flocks of shrieking teeny-boppers and their reluctant parents descended on Anaheim, California, for the chance to pose for selfies with their favorite internet celebrities, attend workshops on digital content creation, meet people their age, and pose for more selfies.
This year, more than 20,000 attendees are expected at the three-day conference.
After spending Friday at the convention, I quickly realized I stepped into a teenage-dream straight out of Katy Perry's cupcake-filled consciousness. Here's what it was like.
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Amy Schumer is officially a bona fide Hollywood star.
The 34-year-old comedian's debut film, "Trainwreck," opened to impressive box-office numbers this weekend, and she recently earned her first Emmy nomination as an actress for her hit Comedy Central show "Inside Amy Schumer."
But Schumer's rise to fame wasn't easy. Here's how the stand-up comic from New York became a Hollywood star.
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Source: NPR
Source: The New York Times
"I have a joke where I say, 'Oh, I'm going to bring [my mom] to a soccer game because I want to show her what boundaries look like,'" Schumer said in an interview with NPR.
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Kim Kardashian's sphere of influence might be even bigger than we thought.
A Twitter product feature she suggested actually elicited a response from cofounder and interim-CEO Jack Dorsey, who called it a "great idea."
Kardashian proposed that people should be able to edit their tweets for typos, so they wouldn't have to delete and re-post if they made a small error.
She said she emailed Twitter, but, naturally, tweeted about it as well.
That's where things got interesting.
"Great idea!" Dorsey responded to her tweet. "We're always looking at ways to make things faster and easier."
Indeed, the feature does make sense and would be especially valuable for public figures with huge followings, like Kardashian, or organizations that post time-sensitive stories or event announcements.
So, yes, great idea, though not exactly a new one.
Twitter employees reportedly told The Desk that they were working on an editing feature way back in 2013 and people have suggested it long before that.
But, lo, based on the recent Dorsey-Kardashian exchange, maybe tweet-editing capabilities could finally be forthcoming, in which case we might have to thank the reality TV star for speeding up the process.
Here's the exchange in question:
@KimKardashian great idea! We're always looking at ways to make things faster and easier.
— Jack (@jack) July 25, 2015 Thank you @Jack#FounderOfTwitterUnderstands !!! https://t.co/SzCM03xAH2
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 25, 2015 Certain @twitter would have an edit function on its product roadmap far ahead of a Kardashian suggesting it. http://t.co/lBkqplDTVj
— Nichole Bigley (@NicholeBigley) July 25, 2015 See sometimes Kim Kardashian does have good ideas ^ edit tweets.. http://t.co/npMkvNYMIo
— Susan Manniche (@kynbelmont) July 25, 2015 I don’t want to live in a world where I end up having to thank Kim Kardashian for the ability to edit tweets…
— Kevin Fippin (@kfippin) July 25, 2015 Please... @KimKardashian asked twitter for the ability to edit tweets after you posted it. Like she was the first to think of that
— Daddy (@LifeisSavage) July 25, 2015SEE ALSO: 9 Facebook tips and tricks you need to know
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Last fall, comedian Hannibal Buress made a joke about Bill Cosby at a comedy club in Philadelphia, and the resulting media pandemonium brought Cosby's sexual abuse allegations to center stage.
"Pull your pants up blackpeople, I was on TV in the '80s," Buress said in the bit, mocking Bill Cosby's public persona. "Yeah, but you rape women, Bill Cosby," Buress reasoned, "so turn the crazy down a couple notches."
Shaky video footage of Buress' Cosby joke went viral.
Nonetheless, Buress' public reaction to the media firestorm he helped ignite has been one of relative apprehension.
In a new interview with GQ, Buress opened up about the situation and revealed that the buzz around his Cosby joke actually halted Comedy Central's announcement of his new show, "Why? with Hannibal Buress."
While he doesn't exactly regret doing the Cosby bit, Buress said he was definitely shocked by the uproar.
"You can't predict s--- like that," he said.
The GQ interviewer pressed Buress on the subject, asking whether he realized that his Cosby joke had made him "a feminist hero" for giving Cosby's many accusers the opportunity to speak openly about their abuser.
"People are going to put on you whatever they want to put on you," Buress responded, reluctant to accept the "feminist hero" title. "It is conflicting, because people think I'm like this amazing guy or something," he said, with a laugh. "I'm a decent guy."
Still, the comedian in Buress can't resist pulling a shot at Cosby when he's able to get people to laugh about it. At the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber, for instance, Buress joked that he hates Bieber's music "more than Bill Cosby hates my comedy."
In the context of the GQ interview, though, Buress seemed tired of the subject.
"I don't know what the f--- else you want me to say," he concluded.
SEE ALSO: Judd Apatow skewers Bill Cosby while doing a perfect impression of him
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