Before the Kardashian family had their own reality-TV show and fashion line, they were known for their close ties to O.J. Simpson and his slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown. 

Robert Kardashian, Kris Kardashian's ex-husband and the father of Kourteny, Kim, Khloé, and Rob, was close friends with Simpson when he was arrested and tried for the murder of Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman.

Robert Kardashian, who died in 2003, was an attorney and served on Simpson's legal team during his 1995 murder trial.

Kim was 13 years old and living with her father when Simpson moved in for a time and stayed in Khloe's room after the killings in Los Angeles in 1994. In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Kim said the experience was bizarre.

"It was surreal, with Johnnie Cochran and Robert Shapiro and all these guys having meetings at my dad's house," Kim said. "I definitely took my dad's side [believing in O.J. Simpson's innocence]. We just always thought my dad was the smartest person in the world, and he really believed in his friend."

As she's gotten older, she said, "It's weird. I just try not to think about it." 

Khloé opened up about the experience during an episode of her show, "Kocktails with Khloé," on Wednesday.

“My sisters [Kourtney and Kim], who are older than me, they would be in the courtroom with my dad all the time,” she said. “They have more information, but even if I would get pulled over the cops hated us 'cause my dad was defending O.J. Simpson.”

The sister revealed the family had bad experiences with the community in LA at the time.

“[Our] cars [would] get keyed, like, with ‘guilty’ all over it," she said. "People would not allow us to eat at their establishments ... But cops hated us. Like if they would run our plates, we would get pulled over for anything and everything.”

Ryan Murphy's new FX show, "American Crime Story: The People v. OJ Simpson," focuses on the murder trial and features David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. Actors portraying the Kardashian children have appeared in a few episodes. 

In one particular episode, Robert begs Simpson not to kill himself in "Kimmy's bedroom."

According to an interview Robert did with Barbara Walters in 1996, this confrontation did occur, though Kim wasn't in the house at the time. The interview resurfaced during a 2014 interview Kris did on "The View." 

SEE ALSO: Police are investigating newly uncovered evidence in the O.J. Simpson murder case

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NOW WATCH: The doctor who inspired the movie 'Concussion' is convinced OJ Simpson has a brain disease

As a 14-year-old, Daymond John had yet to be diagnosed with dyslexia but knew that he struggled with reading.

But there was one book — Napoleon Hill's 1937 classic "Think and Grow Rich" — that so enthralled him that he not only pushed through it, but decided to read it again every year.

In John's own book, "The Power of Broke," he writes that the tome profoundly changed his mindset from focusing on what he didn't want to become to instead concentrating on what he did want to become. This shift allowed him to start the FUBU clothing brand in his early 20s and then grow it into a multimillion-dollar business, he says.

In a recent Reddit AMA, the "Shark Tank" investor shared several books that he thinks every new entrepreneur should read. We've collected them here along with some books John previously told Business Insider had changed his life.

SEE ALSO: 'Shark Tank' investor Daymond John says this daily ritual changed his life

'Think and Grow Rich' by Napoleon Hill

When the legendary businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie met Hill as a young journalist in 1908, Carnegie decided he liked Hill so much that he would use him as a vehicle for distributing the strategies he considered responsible for his success. This essentially launched Hill's career as one of the founders of the personal-success genre.

Hill's greatest work, "Think and Grow Rich," was first published in 1937 and became one of the top-selling books of all time. It's a collection of insights derived from interviews with Carnegie, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford that teaches readers how to develop the drive and habits necessary to maximize one's potential.

"The main takeaway from that was goal-setting," John says. "It was the fact that if you don't set a specific goal, then how can you expect to hit it?" One of the fundamental ideas in the book is determining your purpose in life and working toward concrete milestones.

John says that "Think and Grow Rich" made him realize that when he didn't set very specific goals for himself, he could find himself making excuses for why he wasn't working as hard as he could.

Find it here »

'How to Win Friends & Influence People' by Dale Carnegie

John says that he's a fan of all of Carnegie's books. Carnegie was a contemporary of Hill's, and his writings on how to maximize success have had just as much longevity.

Carnegie's most widely read book is "How to Win Friends and Influence People," first published in 1936. It is a collection of advice on self-promotion and describes how the most influential people listen more than they speak.

Warren Buffett famously took Carnegie's class on the subject when he was 20 and still has the diploma he received for it in his office.

Find it here »

'Who Moved My Cheese?' by Spencer Johnson

Johnson's parable has been a consistently best-selling business book since it was released in 1998. It tells the story of two mice and two sprite-like people living in a maze where the location of the cheese suddenly starts changing every day.

When Johnson wrote the book, companies around the world were adapting to the rise of a more accessible internet and new ways of doing business. Its lessons on how to let go of a fear of change, however, are timeless.

John says that he used to think that throwing money at a failing business would somehow save it, but at this point in his career he understands that he needs to take a more measured approach.

"Money's not going to make it any better. It may make the opportunity come faster, but it also can hurt you if you think that money's going to solve it," John says.

Find it here »

Stars are, in fact, a lot like us — which includes sitting on their couches and endlessly consuming new TV shows they heard were great.

Celebrities haven't escaped this new national pastime. And who would expect them to? According to a recent TiVo survey, about nine out of 10 people are regularly binge-viewing at least three episodes of a program in one sitting.

TV and film stars often count themselves among the biggest entertainment fans out there. Not only that, but watching a lot of programming in spurts could be considered homework for them — at the very least it's helping to sharpen their craft.

Business Insider asked several stars — from Jane Fonda to Donald Glover and Rami Malek ("Mr. Robot") — what they're binge-watching these days.

Here's what they said they're obsessively keeping up with:

SEE ALSO: See how the amazing cast of 'American Crime Story' transformed to bring the O.J. Simpson trial back to life

SEE ALSO: What happens behind the scenes of a hit NBC show as it airs live

"'The Profit.' I love that guy." — Jake Johnson, "New Girl" (Fox)

"I just binge-watched 'Getting On.'" — Sarah Paulson, "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" (FX)

"'Fargo.'" — Rami Malek, "Mr. Robot" (USA Network)

The knife found on O.J. Simpson's property is inconsistent with the killings of O.J.'s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, Los Angeles law enforcement officials told NBC on Saturday. 

The knife is a relatively inexpensive, small knife carried by landscapers and gardeners. The characteristics and condition of the knife, which had no traces of blood, were inconsistent with the weapon used to murder Brown and Goldman, sources told NBC. 

The LAPD sources cautioned that they will still conduct forensic tests on the knife "just in case," according to NBC. 

The knife was allegedly found by a construction worker in 2002, who handed it to off-duty LAPD officer George Maycott, according to TMZ.

Instead of turning the knife over to investigators, Maycott, now retired, kept the knife in his home. When he contacted a friend who worked for the LAPD's Robbery-Homicide Division about his plans to have the knife framed on his wall, his friend contacted his superiors who demanded that Maycott turn in the knife in January of last year, reports Business Insider's Jethro Nededog. 

Regardless of the outcome of the forensic testing, Simpson cannot be charged with same crime twice due to the US's double jeopardy law. 

Simpson was acquitted of the murders in 1995, though he's serving a 33-year sentence in Nevada for an armed robbery in 2007. He isn't eligible for parole until 2017. 

SEE ALSO: The 11 best moments from the 'trial of the century' everybody is obsessed with again

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NOW WATCH: The doctor who inspired the movie 'Concussion' is convinced OJ Simpson has a brain disease

Adam Savage has been co-hosting "MythBusters" on Discovery for 12 years. While he has learned his share of amazing facts while investigating myths, there have been some challenges along the way. Savage finds this one myth to be particularly challenging. 

Produced by Justin Gmoser 

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Even in great shows, not all seasons are created equal.

Amazon has recently begun to challenge Netflix for the crown of best original streaming content.

We decided to pull data from reviews aggregator Metacritic to find out which seasons of Amazon hits like "Transparent" and "Mozart in the Jungle" had the best ratings, and how they compared to new arrivals like "The Man in the High Castle." We left out shows aimed at kids and ones resurrected from other networks.

Here is every season of every Amazon original show, ranked based on their critical reception:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every single season of every Netflix original show from best to worst

12. "Hand of God" Season 1 — 44/100

Average critic score (19 critics): 44/100

Audience score: 6.8/10

Amazon description: "A psychological drama about a morally-corrupt judge who suffers a breakdown and believes God is compelling him onto a path of vigilante justice."

Watch here.

11. "Mad Dogs" Season 1 — 64/100

Average critic score (14 critics): 64/100

Audience score: 8.3/10

Amazon description: "When a group of underachieving 40-something friends gather in Belize to celebrate the early retirement of an old friend, a series of wild events unfold, exposing dark secrets, deception and even murder."

Watch here.

10. "Alpha House" Season 1 — 68/100

Average critic score (18 critics): 68/100

Audience score: 6.8/10

Amazon description: "They work in the Senate. They live in the house - Alpha House."

Watch here.

Wes Bentley is best known for his roles as a brooding extrovert, as in “American Beauty” or “The Hunger Games.” His piercing eyes and stern look have made him the perfect choice for roles in which dark and mysterious are requirements.

His latest movie, "Knight of Cups," by legendary director Terrence Malick, is filled with mystery, exploring the befuddling past of a Hollywood screenwriter, played by Christian Bale. Bentley is the writer's troubled but loyal brother.

We talked to Bentley about some of the highlights from his career, starting with "Knight of Cups," out this weekend.

SEE ALSO: This is the most bizarre movie-set story ever — from an actor in mysterious director Terrence Malick's new "Knight of Cups"

To prepare for "Knight of Cups," Bentley spent a lot of time "in rooms."

To fully understand what Terrence Malick wanted from him, Bentley said there was “lots of time spent in rooms, building the history.”

First, that meant meeting the director, which led to a discussion less about the movie and more about their past.

“Geographically we’re from a similar area,” said Bentley, who is from Arkansas; Malick is from Illinois. “We also had a lot of similarities in our childhood and family life, so we mostly talked about that.”

That talk carried over into prep for the film, as Bentley and Bale spent a lot of time together talking about themselves.

“I took it all as the experience of now. Whether it’s in the film or not, I’m all good with that,” he said of the notoriously unique process Malick employs. “I knew working with Terry, a lot of what I did might not make the film.”

The success of “American Beauty” was hard for him to cope with.

Most of us first met Bentley on the screen in his breakout role in the best picture Oscar-winning 1999 film “American Beauty,” playing Ricky, the loner-next-door neighbor who loves to record plastic bags floating in the wind.

Then in his early ‘20s, the actor admits it was hard to take in the exposure of the movie.

“It was a blessing as an actor,” he said. “Personally, it was tough. It was tough to follow up on that. I feel I have a skewed vision of it. It was so weird and felt extreme. I was young and had a lot of big lessons learned, and a lot of that had to do with the attention that came from the movie. At the end of the day, I just didn’t know what to do at that moment, as far as dealing with the attention.”

Why he thinks no one went to see “The Four Feathers.”

A few years after the success of “American Beauty,” Bentley starred in one of the most anticipated movies of 2002, “The Four Feathers,” the latest adaptation of the A.E.W. Mason novel that follows the British Army’s Gordon Relief Expedition in the Sudan in the late 1800s.

Putting him alongside Heath Ledger (Bentley plays his best friend in the role) and Kate Hudson, the movie was touted as a modern-day “Lawrence of Arabia,” with its lush desert cinematography. The movie turned out to be a bomb, only taking in $30 million worldwide (the film cost $35 million to make).

Looking back, Bentley speaks very highly of the experience.

“I’ve seen it a few times since its release, and I’m proud of it,” he said. “There’s no CGI in that movie. Spending three months in Morocco and three months in London, it was an incredible life experience. Heath [Ledger] really did become one of my best friends.”

Bentley believes it was bad timing that led to the film’s disappointing release.

“We shot it before 9/11, and they had no choice to release it after, and the subject matter was close [to the events]. That’s all I could ever reason with,” he said.

The "Shark Tank" investors were charmed by baby-faced Benjamin Stern, the 16-year-old founder and CEO of bottle-less bath products company Nohbo, whose pitch involved washing his grandmother's hair.

But after the high-school junior from Florida explained how he cold-called invention headhunters at companies like Clorox and then set forth to secure patents after hearing interest, the Sharks respected him as a bona-fide entrepreneur.

Mark Cuban said he saw himself in Stern, calling Stern "Mini Me," and made a deal with him for $100,000 in exchange for 25% of the company.

Stern and Cuban closed the deal since filming the pitch last summer, and Stern said his business has been kicked up a level since his segment premiered in a season-seven episode two weeks ago.

Stern told Business Insider that Cuban and his team have already revamped Nohbo's website and secured it with a manufacturing deal, as well as given him plenty of valuable guidance. Stern shared several key lessons they've already taught him.

You have to walk before you run

When he was 14, Stern watched a documentary about the plastic-bottling industry and realized that much of the plastic that goes unrecycled came from people's bathrooms, where they're more likely to toss an empty bottle into the trash.

He decided to find a way to take the idea behind detergent pods and apply it to shampoo, body wash, and shaving cream. He and a chemist developed a prototype that looked like a Lindt chocolate ball — a dissoluble ball held in a biodegradable wrapper.

Stern has always wanted Nohbo to be a revolutionary product; one that could end up in hotels and licensed to major toiletry manufacturers. Cuban was drawn to Stern's passion but taught him to minimize risk and keep his ambitions grounded.

"They have taught me I shouldn't start something without knowing and preparing for the absolute worst outcome that could happen, even if we expect the best," Stern said.

You don't need to wait for the perfect time to seek a deal

While Cuban taught Stern to stay grounded, he's also given him the assurance that reaching out to potential licensing partners this early in the company's life "is never a bad thing," and that he was right to follow his instinct when he called Clorox a couple years ago to gauge its interest in his product.

Cuban wants Stern to hedge his bets, but not to lose his aggressive confidence.

You need to foster excitement over your brand

Stern has already exceeded the $10,000 goal for his Indiegogo campaign for the launch of Nohbo and has been fielding investment offers. But Cuban and his team told Stern the "Shark Tank" buzz won't last forever.

Stern said he realized that "keeping up the excitement is an inevitable and ongoing challenge." He's determined to build relationships with customers and clients, making the most of the momentum he's got.

You need to surround yourself with people better than you

"I want to run Nohbo in a way that allows flexibility and secures a sense of loyalty for all of our workers," Stern said.

"As a CEO, I'm adjusting to working with people all the time, and jumping into an area which I know little about," he said. In his journey as a founder-CEO, he's already recognized that Cuban and his team have helped him avoid mistakes he would have made on his own. He wants to bolster his team even further, and not let his ego get in the way.

"I know how many bad turns I have avoided by surrounding myself with geniuses in the business field, so if I can get them on board to back us completely, that would be amazing, and would progress Nohbo more than anything I could possibly do," Stern said.

SEE ALSO: 'Shark Tank' investor Daymond John shares 9 business books he thinks everyone should read

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NOW WATCH: 'Shark Tank' investor reveals the biggest mistake you can make in the office

Chelsea Handler is wildly successful.

In 2006, at age 31, the New Jersey native got her own talk show on the E! network; she's authored five New York Times bestsellers; she has landed spots on Forbes' Celebrity 100 and Power Women lists, and was named one of Time's Most Influential People in 2012.

Most recently, the millionaire comedian and actress explored racism, drugs, marriage, and Silicon Valley in the four-part Netflix docuseries "Chelsea Does."

How did she accomplish all this — and more — by age 40?

She showed up ... for almost everything.

In a recent post for LinkedIn's latest editorial package, "How I Launched My Career," Handler, now 41, says she learned the importance of showing up while waitressing in her early 20s. 

"I was never the best waitress, but I was always the person people called when they needed a shift covered because I would always say yes," she writes.

SEE ALSO: This is the one thing I regret not doing on my first day of work

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We showed real résumés to an expert and the feedback was brutal

"There was a major reason to come back. Last year was a different show, and the people who are in charge this year wanted it to be more political and sharper, just smart. So I said, 'All right, I'm in.' And why not? There are very few jobs like this."

That's how Joy Behar explains her return to ABC's daytime talk show "The View." She walked away for two seasons and thought she was done for good, but the lure of the show's open forum and the 2016 election proved too strong.

"By the time I left, I had had enough," the 73-year-old comedian told Business Insider. "But then I took off two years and wrote a solo show that I performed off-Broadway, and I started to get into writing and more creative endeavors, and then this came back. It came back just in the nick of this election and it was an offer I couldn't refuse."

Just renewed for a 20th season, the show has reached back to its roots this season, reinvigorating the political commentary during its "Hot Topics" segment and bringing on notable presidential hopefuls from Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders in unusually conversational, off-the-cuff interviews.

In a year in which the female vote could prove decisive for several reasons — among them Hillary's historic attempt to become the first female president, all while struggling to attract young female voters, and Democrats' opportunity to steal away moderate female voters turned off by Republicans' stance on abortion rights — "The View" has positioned itself as a leading forum.

After a turbulent 2015, the election has helped lift ratings for "The View," especially in the key demographic of women ages 25 to 45. It's also inspired Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina to take shots at the primarily liberal, all-female hosts. Fiorina accused them of sexist double standards, while Trump, after being criticized by the show, tweeted his assessment: "Whoopi Goldberg is terrible. Very sad!"

But for "The View," this is all good news.

"When you talk to longtime 'View' fans, what you hear most was the heyday for a lot of people was the 2008 election," co-executive producer Brian Teta told BI. "That was kind of a momentous time in 'The View's' history. I think what’s happening now is hearkening back to that a little bit."

Here's how "The View" has made itself a central part of the political conversation:

SEE ALSO: Samantha Bee has a fascinating theory for why Donald Trump is winning the Republican race

SEE ALSO: What happens behind the scenes of CBS daytime talk show 'The Talk' from start to finish

"The View" needed a reboot

"The View" survived one of its most tumultuous seasons in 2015. Whoopi Goldberg was the last one standing after Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie Perez, and Nicole Wallace left the show. It had also ceded ratings ground to "The Talk," when for the first time ever the younger CBS all-female talk show beat the ABC show in total viewers.

Launched in 1997 by Barbara Walters and TV producer Bill Geddie, "The View" in early episodes featured an opening voiceover from Walters explaining that the show was meant to bring together "women of different generations, backgrounds, and views," who would discuss everything from home life to relationships, entertainment, and politics.

"Our goals coming in this season were actually bringing 'The View' back to its original intention," Candi Carter, who was just named the show's first black executive producer, told BI. "And a piece of that is politics. This show has always done politics."

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Behar returned to sit alongside Goldberg, the show's moderator, "Full House" star Candace Cameron-Bure, "Cosby Show" alum Raven Symone, ABC News correspondent Paula Faris, and entertainment veteran Michelle Collins.

"I think 'The View' has an identity dealing with political issues," Paley Center for Media curator Ron Simon said. "If you’re interested in what might have happened and want to hear of some other points of view, then ‘The View’ is perfect for you. I mean it does have its own voice and quality."

"The View" has more competition than ever — but it's doubling down

Not even 10 blocks south of the ABC Studios in New York City, there was another small group of women sharing their thoughts with millions of viewers when CBS' "The Talk" shot for a week in the Big Apple, where BI spent some time behind the scenes.

Created by former "Roseanne" star Sara Gilbert in 2010, "The Talk" sought to also bring together women to talk about the day's headlines, pop culture, and life experience, but with differences. One of those? No politics.

"That was the original idea and we said let’s never discuss politics," cohost Julie Chen told Business Insider during our visit. "At that time, ‘The View’ was very strong. Nobody did it better than them, right? All the news makers who were running for office and trying to get a pop, that was a must on their campaign stop. So we thought, we’re not going to try and compete with a group who have been doing it forever and do it so well."

In the five years it took "The Talk" to catch up with "The View's" ratings, and with the start of the 2016 election cycle, Chen said producers never considered rolling back the show's ban on politics.

"We continued to keep politics off the table, because it worked for us," she said. "The main thing is once you discuss politics, you will divide the country. You will have half the nation cheering you on for your thoughts, your opinion. And the other half will think you are the most ignorant person because you don’t see eye-to-eye with them."

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In response to that, Carter said, "When you bring politics into it, it just adds another level. I’m not saying 'The Talk' is fluff. They do very hard-hitting issues, too, but I’m just saying that politics is an area that sometimes a lot of people just don’t have the time to keep up with. But when you turn on 'The View,' if you can hear these women talking about it, explaining things, talking to the candidates, you learn something."

Behar, for one, doesn't mind being polarizing.

"I don't know about the rest of them, but it doesn't bother me," she said. "It's part of my job. The show is called 'The View,' and that's what I was hired to do and that's what I do. I'm sure I would have had a more lucrative career if I had stayed in the middle of the road somewhere, but it's not my personality."

Why politicians know they need to be on "The View"

"It’s been interesting to watch when some of these candidates have been on and they’ve really taken them to task," Carter pointed out. "People care about it, and it gets big pickup, and that’s what we’ve been seeing."

"The View" frequently generates headlines for polarizing takes on the latest election curveball or a candidate's statement. Hosts recently referred to Trump as a "dictator." And Behar was under attack when she said she would vote for a Democratic candidate regardless of their personal faults.

"The evangelicals are now interested in Trump," Behar defended herself. "They're interested in Trump not because he is so pure and Christian — and he's also been divorced and what have you and that goes against their religion in some ways and their philosophy — but they perceive that he'll vote in their interest, and that's the way people should vote, without taking umbrage and making it personal. It's not personal to me."

"It’s adventurous. It goes against the grain," Simon said. "Politics can be polarizing. You can end up with the shouting matches. But I think ‘The View’ is doing something different. It is an interesting conversation. Sometimes it gets pointed. Other times, it feels comfortable — more like a conversation in your living room than a shouting match on cable television. I think that’s to ‘The View’s’ credit."

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And as we've seen in the bouts between Sanders and Hillary Clinton, women have become a battleground group that candidates are focusing on.

"Women are crucial in this election, and this show has a substantial viewership," Simon said. "And that’s why [the candidates] appear. I’m sure they monitor what 'The View’ says about them, as well."

After its troubled 18th season, many wondered if "The View" shouldn't just pack its bags. But in taking full advantage of the election, its ratings have been climbing.

“The View” beat its 2015 November Sweep numbers, which help to determine how much to charge for advertising. It has actually beaten itself year-over-year for the first seven weeks of 2016.

But for Behar, the job isn't about the ratings.

"I don't pay attention," she told us of the numbers. "I hope that we have empowered women to speak their mind. We're always encouraging women to make sure that they vote and make sure that you stand up for yourself."

Donald Trump has come under intense fire in the past week over his refusal to disavow racist groups and supporters, such as KKK leader David Duke.

In addition, his fellow Republicans have turned out to try to stop the acceleration of the Trump train toward becoming the party's presidential candidate with a damning address by former Massachusetts governor and 2012 presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

But what do average Americans think of Trump?

On this week's "Saturday Night Live," the sketch show added to the anti-Trump pileup with a campaign-commercial parody spotlighting different types of "real Americans." Each has a different take on what they find admirable about the real-estate mogul, but then reveal themselves to be connected to some kind of racist group.

Cast member Taran Killam opens up the sketch, looking like an average clean-cut young man, saying, "The guy's a winner." Later, he lifts his arm to reveal he's wearing an armband with a Nazi swastika on it.

Another example: Vanessa Bayer appears as a sweet homemaker. "He's authentic," she said while ironing. But later in the faux commercial, it's revealed she's ironing a KKK robe.

Watch the full 'Racists for Trump' commercial below:

SEE ALSO: Stephen Colbert has the perfect explanation for Chris Christie's sad Trump appearance

SEE ALSO: Jimmy Fallon breaks out a scathing Donald Trump Super Tuesday impression: 'I love the KKK'

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: TRUMP: Here's why I supported Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential run

Since 2007, London-based Mubi has quietly built a reputation as a stellar streaming service for serious film lovers.

While Netflix has grabbed the headlines, Mubi has survived and thrived, snagging a recent valuation of $125 million and sweeping into China ahead of its much-larger rival.

Last year, Paul Thomas Anderson, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker and indie heavyweight, chose to give Mubi the exclusive streaming rights to his new film, "Junun." For reference, Mubi has 100,000 subscribers, while Netflix has 75 million.

So how has Mubi found success in a Netflix world? In part, it's because Mubi thinks of films as something distinct from "video" or "content," CEO Efe Cakarel tells Business Insider.

"We used to have this all-you-can-eat buffet, similar to Netflix but for independent films," Cakarel says.

But a few years ago, Cakarel realized that people don't consume movies the same way they do TV shows. Searching Netflix for a new show might be annoying, but once you've found it, you can settle into hours of binge-watching before you go back into research. With movies, it's more painful, since you have to start that search again every two hours. In other words, too much choice can be a burden.

That's when Cakarel decided to shift Mubi's $4.99-per-month service to a heavily curated model.

"We have the rights to thousands of films per country," he says.

But as a Mubi subscriber, each country's curatorial team picks 30 films every month that you can watch — one is added and one removed every day. This makes the process of picking easier, he says.

You trust that you'll enjoy any of the 30, though you have to enjoy movies of a particular type — indie, no Michael Bay.

Into China

But limiting selection doesn't mean Mubi doesn't have expansive ambition. It has teamed up with local partner Huanxi Media Group to launch in China. The two have a joint venture, Mubi China, but Huanxi has also invested $10 million in Mubi directly, valuing the company at $125 million.

The Chinese film market is exploding, Cakarel says, and a niche service like Mubi is better positioned to take advantage of it than Netflix in the short term. Because of the onerous process of getting foreign movies approved in China, Mubi's task of getting a few dozen by the government is feasible, while Netflix's task of getting thousands vetted is nigh impossible without rule changes. Mubi will also have 70% local Chinese films, with only 30% foreign imports.

Mubi's basic theory is that it has developed a distinct and attractive way to structure a streaming service — specifically for indie films. Now the company has the chance to make headway in the Chinese market before the Netflix juggernaut rolls into town.

But Cakarel says that he also has his sights set on markets where Netflix is under-serving film buffs, like in the US. Even with Netflix's recent spree of buying original films, Cakarel thinks that many Americans who aren't yet familiar with Mubi might simply prefer the way his company does business.

Mubi grew up with Netflix as a big brother, Cakarel says. "You instinctively develop a sense of 'How can I grow with that, how can I differentiate myself?'"

Cakarel's bet is that the Netflix for indie-film lovers should actually look nothing like Netflix at all.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How to see if someone is mooching off your Netflix account

After years of being overshadowed by Disney's other animation house, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios has finally stepped up with stories that are both moneymakers and high in quality and concept.

Now their latest, "Zootopia," is a record-breaker for the studio at the box office.

The movie, following a bunny cop as she tries to solve a mystery with the help of a fox, was a hit with audiences over the weekend as it took the top spot at the box office with an estimated $73.7 million, according to pro.boxoffice.com. That's the biggest opening ever for a non-Pixar Disney animated film.

Yes, that's even more than the opening of Walt Disney Animation Studios' monster hit, "Frozen," which opened with $67.4 million its first day of wide release.

The success of "Zootopia" was led by stellar reviews (it has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) that pushed home the notion that the movie was entertaining for both kids and adults.

The movie started off with a very strong Thursday evening preview showing, taking in $1.7 million, the biggest Thursday-night opening for a non-summer Disney animated movie. Then it took in an impressive $19.5 million on Friday.

It's looking like 2016 will be another strong year for Disney, which has a string of anticipated movies coming out, from Pixar's "Finding Dory" to Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War," and, of course, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" at the end of the year.

"Zootopia" finally dethroned box office champ "Deadpool," which came in third with an estimated $16.4 million (over $311 million domestically, to date).

And in second was "London Has Fallen" with an estimated $21.7 million. Though only with a 26% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie performed to distributor Millennium Films' opening weekend projections.

That means don't be surprised if Gerard Butler returns once again to play a secret service agent who seems to be awful at his job.

The new release this weekend that performed the worst was Tina Fey's new comedy "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," which only took in $7.6 million on over 2,300 screens.

SEE ALSO: Disney's "Zootopia" is the best animated movie since "Inside Out" — here's why

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"Saturday Night Live" didn't let New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's bizarre appearance during a recent Donald Trump press conference go unnoticed.

With veteran SNL cast member Darrell Hammond returning as Trump and Bobby Moynihan playing Christie, SNL recreated the awkward dynamic of the press conference, complete with Christie's uncomfortable expression. 

"As I was saying, everyone loves me. I've even got this fat piece of crap behind me now. Isn't that right Chris?" Hammond said as Trump. "I mean he really is a sad, desperate little potato back there, aren't you Chris?"

"Yes sir, thank you sir, please sir, may I have another?" Moynihan said.

In real life, Christie's stone-faced appearance behind Trump during a press conference on Tuesday in Florida quickly circulated online — with some noting that the governor looked as if he'd been taken hostage.

Christie himself addressed the meme during a press conference on Thursday. 

“For those who were concerned, I want everyone to know I wasn’t being held hostage. I wasn’t angry, I wasn’t upset, I wasn’t despondent,” Christie said.

Watch the cold open below:

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Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman have worked closely with each other for 14 seasons on "Mythbusters," but that doesn't mean they were close.

Possibly the biggest myth the duo has busted is the belief that you can't work with someone you don't get along with.

"[Our relationship has] radically changed, but it's also stayed the same. Jamie and I make no bones about the fact that we're not friends," Savage told Business Insider recently, as the Discovery and Science Channel show approaches its series finale.

"We don't get along very well together on a personal level. In 25 years we've known each other, we've never had dinner alone together. We do not choose to hang out if we don't have to be in proximity, and yet, there's a couple of things that happened, and they're pretty remarkable."

Savage said there are several ways he and his cohost have made it work. Some ways came quite naturally, while others took some work.

Here's how Savage said he and Hyneman survived 14 seasons of "Mythbusters," although they don't get along:

SEE ALSO: 'Mythbuster’s' Adam Savage recalls the time a little girl proved him wrong

SEE ALSO: Discovery's 'MythBusters' has been canceled

The cohosts had a process that worked and believed in it.

"When we're making something together, our brains begin to run on exactly parallel sets of tracks, and there are few other collaborations that I have found as fruitful in the execution of making things," Savage told BI.

"We challenge each other, we push each other to do better, we pick each other's ideas apart, and there's a real integrity to that process, as annoying as it might be on the temporal level."

They respected each other's work ethic.

"You don't have to get along with someone if you respect their work," Savage told BI.

"It's important to respect what their abilities are. Jamie and I might argue back and forth about how to execute something, but the simple fact is that I know by the end of the day that he'd get it done, even if I wasn't there, and he knows the same about me."

They didn't let their egos get in the way of doing the right thing.

"When the right idea shows up in the room, it's point of pride with us, and it's always been a point of pride with us to step out of the way and execute the right idea," Savage said.

"There's nothing I find more boring than arguing with someone because they want to use their idea instead of the right idea. And half the time, we couldn't figure out which one of us came up with the final way to do something."

He added, "Ultimately, the takeaway is we don't have to get along as long as we have our minds and our eyes on the same goal, which is to tell an elegant story about genuinely coming to an answer about a question we're absolutely, honestly curious about."

On Friday, Los Angeles police announced they were investigating a newly discovered piece of evidence — a knife — that is said to have been found on what was O.J. Simpson's property in the late 1990s.

Regardless of what that investigation determines, Simpson will not be brought forth on murder charges stemming from the development.

The Fifth Amendment's prohibition against double jeopardy prevents Simpson from being tried twice for the same crime, as Business Insider's Allan Smith noted.

Simpson was acquitted of the killing of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ron Goldman, in 1995.

That may disappoint the majority of Americans who believe Simpson is guilty of their murders.

But one expert with close knowledge of the original case believes Simpson is actually being unfairly punished by the system, albeit in a different case.

"I think O.J. is being punished now for what the judge in Nevada thought he did in California," Alan Dershowitz, an appellate adviser for Simpson's defense, told Business Insider in February.

Simpson is serving a 33-year sentence related to a Las Vegas armed-robbery incident in 2007, where Simpson and a group of men he hired allegedly broke into a hotel room of Bruce Fromong, a sports-memorabilia dealer, and stole items while at least one of the men carried a gun.

Simpson denied breaking into Fromong's room and the allegation that guns were involved. However, he admitted to going to his room and taking items that he claims were originally stolen from him. Simpson is eligible for parole in 2017.

"I think the sentence in Nevada was a reflection of the feelings of many people that he got away with murder," Dershowitz said.

SEE ALSO: 'Making a Murderer' has something in common with the most notorious case of the '90s

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Original story here http://www.businessinsider.com/disney-infinity-john-blackburn-interview-2016-3

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In the winter of 2003, then-15-year-old Robyn Rihanna Fenty scored an audition with record producer Evan Rogers while he was vacationing in Barbados with his wife.

"I'll be down at the beach and somebody will come up to me and start singing — it's like that," Rogers said according to author John Seabrook's "The Song Machine," which explains the process that has created some of the biggest hit songs.

Rogers recalls the moment Robyn Rihanna Fenty walked in, "... I said to myself, 'If that girl can sing," then — holy shit!"

"... she had such a presence! Her makeup was perfect, and she had these capri pants and matching sneakers, with her green eyes and her long supermodel neck," Rogers told Seabrook.

However, Rogers immediately thought, "She probably can't sing, because usually it's the pretty one who can't," Seabrook wrote.

But as we all know, he was wrong.

"...The whole time I'm thinking, 'OK I have to follow-up meeting with this one,'" Rogers told Seabrook.

Meanwhile, Robyn's mother was 'low-key' about the opportunity.

"She didn't really get that her daughter had anything special. She was like, 'Well, if you see something. I just want her schoolwork to be done. Education is very important,'" Monica Fenty reportedly said to Rogers.

Fifteen year old Robyn, who had no formal training in dance or music, told Rogers during their meeting that being in the music business is "all I've ever wanted to do."

Similar to Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson, Robyn was eager to escape from her sometimes violent childhood.

"... It was more likely a much more urgent need to escape from the anxieties of a violent home life into the illusion of security and boundless love that a life onstage seemed to offer. That desire, more than any inborn talent, is what fans will connect to, and that is what record men look for in a new artist. It's the one thing they can't manufacture."

In December 2004, Robyn recorded the Caribbean jam, "Pon de Replay" and the song was sent off to several record labels. 

When the demo reached Def Jam it was sent all the way to Jay-Z, the president of the label. Robyn was flown to meet with Jay-Z and a few other executives at the label.

"I was very shy ... I was cold the entire time. I had butterflies. I'm sitting across from Jay-Z. Like, Jay-Z," she would later say in a 2007 interview with the Observer, according to Seabrook.

She knocked her audition out of the park which triggered Jay-Z to say, "So what do I have to do to get you guys to cancel all your other meetings?"

According to Seabrook, Jay-Z wouldn't let her leave the building until she signed with the label.

"They were there until three in the morning while the lawyers worked out the details. Fenty later recalled Jay-Z saying, 'There's only two ways out. Out the door'" — if she signed the contract — "'or through this window'" if she didn't.

At the age of 16 years old, she signed the contract 0f her dreams and left through the front door.

Here's Rihanna's debut song:

SEE ALSO: Here's the moment record-label executives knew 15-year-old Britney Spears would be a superstar

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There's never a bad time to dive back into the archives and watch some good movies.

And if you have some time off around the start of the new year, this might be a good time to binge some modern-day classics.

With that in mind, I've come up with 20 essential titles from the past 15 years that you should reexamine or, if you've never seen them, delve into.

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1. “Donnie Darko” (2001)

Jake Gyllenhaal was just starting to get on everyone's radar when he scored one of his first lead roles, playing a troubled teen who is tormented by visions of the future and a disturbing-looking bunny. "Donnie Darko" has become a cult classic, as it captured the angst of the youth who at the time the movie was in theaters were coping with the confusion of a post-9/11 world.

2. "Bowling For Columbine" (2002)

Michael Moore's fourth feature film, which won an Oscar for best documentary, might be his best. The controversial director uses the events of the Columbine High School massacre to address the US' addiction to guns. Sadly, 14 years later the issues explored in this movie are still relevant.

3. "City of God" (2002)

This incredibly stylish look at the slums of Rio de Janeiro charts the lives of two boys as they grow up among guns and drugs. The cast is made up mostly of nonprofessional actors, which gives an authenticity to the movie. But what's most surprising about this extremely violent film is how much comedy is layered into it.

There's something about a good heist movie that makes a moviegoing experience perfect.

With the high stakes and the top-shelf actors and directors who seem to gravitate to the genre, when it's done right, it can be a thrilling cinematic experience.

With this week's "Triple 9" — about dirty cops involved in, yes, a heist (starring Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, and Casey Affleck) — we thought it was a good time to look back on the classics of the genre.

Here are the 21 best heist movies of all time, ranked:

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21. "A Fish Called Wanda"

John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin play a bumbling group who commit a robbery of very pricey diamonds and then try to con one another out of the loot. Cleese and Palin are at top form, and Kline's portrayal of a cocky American earned him an Oscar win for best supporting actor.  

20. “Mission: Impossible”

Though Tom Cruise's first time playing Ethan Hunt showed off all of the fun spy aspects of the franchise, it also had a very elaborate heist element. Hunt breaking into CIA headquarters to steal the "NOC" list is a highlight of the film.

19. “Bottle Rocket”

For Wes Anderson's directorial debut, he cast then-unknown brothers Luke and Owen Wilson as friends who plan the heist of a factory only for things to go horribly wrong.