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The 'Suicide Squad' PG-13 exposes what's really twisted about movie ratings

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Will Smith Suicide Squad

The rating system for movies has been a confusing, unexplained practice for years, frustrating every director in its wake.

However, to disobey the Motion Picture Association of America's rating board can lead to the dreaded "NC-17" rating, and those movies won't play in most theaters.

The ire toward the MPAA and its ratings surfaced again on Wednesday when comedian Mike Birbiglia, director of the movie "Don't Think Twice," spoke out, asking why his new movie, about a group of New York City improv comics, got an R rating, while the very violent "Suicide Squad" got a PG-13.

Here's his tweet:

Director Judd Apatow also chimed in, adding this comment while retweeting Birbiglia:

The ratings board (whose members are kept secret — not even the filmmakers who are pleading their case to the board know who they're pleading to) has often been criticized for allowing more violence in movies than sex. In fact, a 2013 study showed that gun violence in PG-13 movies exceeds that in violent R movies.

If you want a real deep dive on how twisted the MPAA rating system really is, seek out the Kirby Dick documentary, "This Film Is Not Yet Rated."

SEE ALSO: Here's what the cast of "Suicide Squad" looks like in real life

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NOW WATCH: The directors of 'Catfish' and 'Nerve' reveal how to make it in Hollywood without going to film school


Lucasfilm and ABC are in talks for a 'Star Wars' TV show — here are the details

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New ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey confirmed reports that ABC has been in talks for a "Star Wars" television show.

During the 2016 Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills, a reporter asked Dungey whether the network is working on a rumored "Star Wars" series.

"As a fan, I'd love to say yes," Dungey answered. "The conversations with [Lucasfilm], we've had them, we will continue to have them. It would be wonderful to extend that brand onto our programming."

As with Marvel, Lucasfilm and ABC are currently sibling companies under Disney. And reports of a "Star Wars" TV show have been circling for years. With the franchise's resurgence in movie theaters, those TV-show reports have become active again.

In January, Dungey's predecessor, Paul Lee, had said that there were no plans for a TV show, since Lucasfilm was focusing on the movies. At the same time, Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy hinted at some possibility of adapting George Lucas' old "Star Wars: Underworld" scripts for TV.

The overwhelming message back then seemed to be that Lucasfilm wasn't interested in going down the path that Marvel did with its TV shows. One factor that may affect the possibility of a "Star Wars" show is ABC's record with its Marvel programs.

While "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is going on to a fourth season this fall, its ratings haven't ever been stellar. Then earlier this year, ABC canceled "Agent Carter" and decided not to move on with "Marvel's Most Wanted." Lucasfilm may not see those decisions as a reason to branch into TV with "Star Wars."

SEE ALSO: 'Star Wars' stars create fake auditions for the movie in new 'SNL' video

DON'T MISS: Viral-video star 'Chewbacca Mom' got a huge 'Star Wars' surprise from James Corden

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NOW WATCH: A Harvard law professor reveals what ‘Star Wars’ teaches us about Donald Trump

Mariah Carey admits she had a hard time giving up control: 'I'm never sure who to trust'

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Mariah Carey thinks it's time to show her fans another side of her life with a new E! reality television show.

Set to debut on E! Entertainment on December 4, "Mariah's World" will follow the singer as she kicks off her “Sweet Sweet Fantasy” tour of the UK, Europe, and Africa, as well as the planning of her upcoming wedding to Australian billionaire James Packer.

"I was, like, let's just show the behind-the-scenes, what it really takes to do a tour, what it really takes for all these people to get together and work together and become a family, and mainly watch how the music evolves, watch the process, and watch how the different personalities interact," Carey said during the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday. "But it's also I mean, it's my life, and I figured, if I don't document this right now, I'm not sure when I'm going to go on tour again. I'm not sure what I'm going to do."

Carey, who's used to being in total control of her image, said she found it hard to drop her guard while shooting the series. 

"I was a little bit withholding in terms of the amount of access that I was giving, because I'm never sure who to trust. That's just the honest truth," she admitted. "I just didn't know exactly how things were going to be perceived. It was a lot of work to put the tour together and to get onstage, and it was not a lot of time, so I was a little bit less free with my personality and stuff."

Relinquishing control is still a work in progress, the singer explained.

"We are still in the process of filming and getting more real moments is the honest truth," Carey, 46, continued. "But, again, my goal was to make it something that can be a lasting piece of work for my fans and even just great footage for my kids and for myself to have."

At the same time, Carey said she doesn't feel one can reveal their true self over an eight-episode series.

"I don't know that anybody really knows the real me, because if somebody just sees me on TV or a video or this or an interview, it's not enough time to get to know somebody," the five-time Grammy winner said. "If you know somebody for 10 years and they are your friend, you kind of know the real them... Hopefully, they'll see other sides of me that they either find entertaining or does something good instead of bad."

Watch the first "Mariah's World" trailer below:

SEE ALSO: The ex-showrunner for Netflix's 'The Get Down': It was 'one of the odder TV experiences'

DON'T MISS: 'The Apprentice' network distances itself from Donald Trump's campaign: 'It surprised all of us'

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NOW WATCH: Mariah Carey explains what’s wrong with today’s pop singers

The writer behind Beyoncé's viral hit reveals the truth about 'Becky with the good hair'

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beyonce lemonade

When Beyoncé released her blockbuster album "Lemonade" in April, one lyric from the single "Sorry"— "He better call Becky with the good hair" — set the internet aflame with rumors about who "Becky" might be, many presuming that it involved Jay Z.

Now, Diana Gordon, the songwriter who was the main force behind crafting "Sorry," has shut down the rumors by explaining to Entertainment Weekly that there is no real "Becky."

"I laughed, like this is so silly," Gordon said. "Where are we living? I was like, 'What day and age from that lyric do you get all of this information?' Is it really telling you all that much, accusing people?"

Gordon said that she hadn't spoken to Beyoncé about the lyric since the release of "Lemonade," but she could sense that the singer hadn't anticipated how strongly the world would react to it. 

"I don’t think she expected it," Gordon said. "I saw her at her Formation tour... But I didn’t say much about it at the time because I wanted to give her space. The idea started in my mind but it’s not mine anymore. It was very funny and amusing to me to watch it spread over the world.

"If it's not going to be me saying it, and the one person in the world who can say it is Beyoncé, I was f---ing happy," Gordon continued. "With Beyoncé, I feel like the songs we worked on were specifically for her."

Watch the video for "Sorry," the most recent single from "Lemonade," below. 

SEE ALSO: Here are the revealing lyrics in Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' that people speculate are about Jay Z cheating

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NOW WATCH: Watch Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dance and sing in the first trailer for 'La La Land'

Here's how much 'Suicide Squad' needs to make at the box office to be successful

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The good news for Warner Bros.’ latest DC Comics movie, “Suicide Squad,” is that it will make a lot of money its opening weekend.

It'll likely grab $100 million-plus in the debut (it might be as high as $140 million), which would be a record breaker for August. The current record holder is “Guardians of the Galaxy,” with $94.3 million.

But what happens after this weekend will decide if it succeeds, and if we go by what happened to the previous DC movie, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” the squad is on shaky ground.

“Batman v Superman” had the highest opening weekend ever for a March release when it took in $166 million in 4,242 theaters, but in its second weekend (adding 14 more screens) it nose-dived, with only $51.3 million. That’s a 69.1% drop in sales.

In an era when film criticism is questioned often, media (plus word of mouth) led to “Batman v Superman” taking in only $872.6 million worldwide.

That would be an astounding figure for most movies, but not enough to consider this hulking blockbuster a success.

“Suicide Squad” is in the same boat. After this weekend, it’s likely to take a dive in sales following a bashing by critics. (It currently has a 29% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.) But it doesn’t have the lofty goals “BvS” had.

deadpoolFocusing here on a ragtag group of bad guys who aren’t as iconic to audiences as Batman and Superman, Warner Bros. is looking for the kind of success fellow fringe comic-book character Deadpool had in February, when the movie became that month’s biggest all-time opening with $132.4 million.

“Suicide Squad” can match that kind of success. Warner Bros. is opening the film domestically on 4,200 screens (380 in IMAX, which means a more expensive ticket price), while 20th Century Fox released “Deadpool” on 3,558 screens.

But, again, it’s the long game that’s the question mark.

The word of mouth for “Deadpool” was beyond what anyone at Fox expected, and it led to the movie earning $782.5 million worldwide. It's the third-highest-grossing movie domestically this year ($363 million). That's basically unheard of for an R-rated movie.

With “Suicide Squad” rated PG-13, it means there’s more opportunity for larger audiences than “Deadpool” had (added to it appearing on more screens). But that theory only works if the word of mouth is as good, and sadly, that won’t be the case for “Squad.”

"Squad" also comes with a higher price tag, at $175 million, than "Deadpool" ($58 million).

So Warner Bros. is now in the same predicament it was in with “BvS,” trying to muscle as much money as it can out of “Suicide Squad” so as not to have egg on its face for a second time.

If “Squad” hits at least $800 million worldwide, it will be considered a success.

However, industry insiders I've spoken to since this story originally ran tell me even at around $750 million the movie can make a profit, following merchandise and home video/streaming sales.

One silver lining is that "Squad" is already outpacing "Deadpool" and even "Guardians of the Galaxy" in the overseas markets — at least for now.

But with two films from its DC Comics cinematic universe being slaughtered by critics, Warner Bros. may have more to worry about going forward than box-office projections. Reputation, after all, still matters.

SEE ALSO: The 15 worst movie sequels ever, ranked

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NOW WATCH: Here's how the 'Suicide Squad' cast looks compared to their comic-book counterparts

Here is ABC's plan to make the first non-white Bachelor a reality

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New ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey laid out the network's plan for a non-white choice to lead its "Bachelor" and "Bachelorette" franchises.

Among the many things she inherited from her predecessor, Dungey – who's the first black female to lead a major network — has shouldered the pressure of bringing diversity to the man and woman being courted on its long-running reality dating show.

"I would very much like to see some changes there," she said of picking a minority bachelor and bachelorette during the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills on Thursday.

"I think one of the biggest changes we need to do is we need to increase the pool of diverse candidates in the beginning," Dungey continued. "Part of what ends up happening as we go along is that there aren’t as many candidates to pull out as the next bachelor or bachelorette."

Dungey sounds as if she won't trade ratings and fan engagement for simply making history. She's looking for the process to be more organic and that could take another season or two.

"We could," she said of just picking a non-white bachelor or bachelorette. "But the show has been very much in the cycle of where the first runner-up of one cycle becomes the person who leads the next cycle. That works really well for us, because the audience feels engaged."

Part of the pressure of choosing a non-white bachelor comes from the Lifetime series "UnReal." On its second season, the drama chose a black bachelor to lead the next season of its fictional "Bachelor"-like dating show.

When asked if ABC has had any conversations about "UnReal," Dungey responded, "I don’t think we’ve had full network conversations on 'UnReal.' I enjoy watching it as a viewer."

SEE ALSO: Lucasfilm and ABC are in talks for a 'Star Wars' TV show — here are the details

DON'T MISS: 'Nashville' just found a new network after ABC canceled it

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NOW WATCH: The star of Super Size Me explains the key strategy that has made him go on to be a huge TV success

18 teens who are dominating Instagram

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Kylie Jenner

Instagram is an extremely popular tool for sharing photos.

Some accounts have more followers than others — tens of thousands more.  

We've compiled a list of 18 teens that have massive followings on Instagram.

Some are celebrities, some are models, some are simply social-media stars, but all of them know how to add the perfect filter and have captured the attention of the internet.

These stars are easy to spot with their stunning selfies and thousands of likes. 

SEE ALSO: I tested 11 of New York's most popular ice cream spots — here's the verdict

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Alexis Ren (@alexisren)

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Age: 19

Approximate number of followers: 6 million

Why she's Insta-famous: Ren began her modeling career on Tumblr, according to Cosmopolitan, where she connected with her boyfriend, Jay Alvarrez. The two continue to share photos of their travels and together have gained huge followings.



Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner)

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Age: 18

Approximate number of followers: 70 million

Why she's Insta-famous: Jenner is arguably the queen of Instagram. She may be the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner squad, but her presence on social media is comparable to her big sisters'. You'll see lots of perfectly pouted posts on her Instagram promoting her insanely popular lip kit.  



Bretman Rock (@bretmanrock)

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Age: 18

Approximate number of followers: 6 million

Why he's Insta-famous: The Hawaii native shares his makeup skills and sharp-witted humor on Instagram. The majority of his posts are videos, and you'll frequently see him discussing highlight powder and "on fleek" eyebrows.



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Author of new Silicon Valley tell-all says this is what outsiders most often get wrong about Mark Zuckerberg

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Mark Zuckerberg

To Antonio García Martínez, the former Facebook employee who wrote the new Silicon Valley tell-all "Chaos Monkeys," the 2010 Academy Award-winning film "The Social Network" is a piece of pure fiction loosely inspired by actual events.

And though the film about the birth of Facebook, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, came out six years ago, Martínez still thinks it's silly how it shaped so many Silicon Valley outsiders' view of its subject, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Martínez spent 2011 to 2013 as the company's first ad-targeting product manager, where he would report to chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, and though he didn't work as closely with Zuckerberg as he did with Sandberg, he said he was able to get enough of a feel for who Zuckerberg was as a person.

While he has observed Zuckerberg grow into a more capable leader in the years since he left, Martínez thinks Zuckerberg is essentially the same person he met back in 2011, and he told Business Insider the public consistently got two main things wrong about Zuck.

He's not 'the sneaky, loser, little dips---' portrayed in 'The Social Network'

Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Zuckerberg as a conniving, backstabbing, severely socially awkward introvert made for great drama, but it's just not who Zuck is, Martínez said.

Sure, he added, Zuckerberg "doesn't exactly make a lot of eye contact," isn't a great speaker, and gets unnaturally obsessed with certain details, but that's par for the course in Silicon Valley. It's not as if he's some sort of evil "Rain Man," though.

"In fact, on the contrary, he's actually very alpha male and very dominant," Martínez said. "He's the sort of guy who, if you challenge him that he can't do 100 push-ups, he'll bet a million dollars that he can, and he'll win."

Martínez said that Zuckerberg was not a blowhard who liked to throw his weight around but that "the claws will come out very suddenly," like the time when Martínez was in a meeting with him and Zuckerberg interrupted an overly long explanation with, "Just shut up and answer the question."

He truly believes in his mission

One of the reasons "Chaos Monkeys" is so interesting is that it tears apart the press-release-friendly optimism of Silicon Valley, but Martínez insists that when Zuckerberg talks about Facebook's mission to connect every person in the world, he's not putting a fake sheen over old-school capitalist greed.

"That really is his life's mission, and that's what he does," Martínez said.

He called the subplot in "The Social Network" that showed Zuckerberg starting Facebook as a way to meet girls to be "utter bulls---" not based on anything factual. In a Facebook question-and-answer session in 2014, Zuckerberg said he found this aspect of the movie to be especially hurtful because it undermined what he had dedicated his life to.

Martínez pointed to the recent news that Facebook successfully tested its drone project Aquila, which is meant to bring free high-speed internet to the poorest parts of the world. "He's not doing it for money, because like, the monetization in those countries is zero," Martínez said.

When you read Martínez's book or talk to him, you'll see that he has plenty of gripes with Facebook and Silicon Valley in general, but at the end of the day he has plenty of respect for Zuckerberg.

SEE ALSO: Author of new Silicon Valley tell-all: Only the 'most deluded, douchiest people' think it's a meritocracy

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NOW WATCH: Malcolm Gladwell shuts down his critics in just 3 words


These were the top hit songs 58 years ago, when rock 'n' roll was born

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elvis hard headed woman

On August 4, 1958, Billboard magazine launched its first Billboard Hot 100 chart.

When the chart ranking premiered that day in print, Billboard was tracking the nation's top songs through a formula that encompassed "such factors as [radio] disc jockey plays, jukebox activity, and record sales."

The '50s kicked off the heyday of radio and the dominance of rock 'n' roll, which got its name in the decade.

Today, radio airplay still counts for a third of Billboard's song ranking formula, while downloads, physical sales, and streaming — the "modern-era, digital jukebox"— make up the rest. The sound of radio is, of course, much different now.

Check out which songs made the top 10 on Billboard's first Hot 100 list:

SEE ALSO: The biggest hit song the year you were born

MORE HERE: The biggest hit album the year you were born

10. Peggy Lee — 'Fever'

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9. Johnny Otis — 'Willie and the Hand Jive'

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8. Jack Scott — 'My True Love'

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Apple has completely changed its plan to conquer TV (AAPL)

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Tim CookLast year, Apple CEO Tim Cook declared that the "future of television is apps," a refrain that has been repeated by Apple execs over and over since then.

But navigating separate apps is a horrible way to watch TV, and it seems that Apple has finally seen the light.

Apple's big TV plan now revolves around building an advanced TV guide that will tie content services like Netflix, HBO, and ESPN together, industry sources tell Recode's Peter Kafka.

Last year, Apple was working on actually selling a TV package of its own, a take on the "skinny bundle" that everyone from Hulu to YouTube to AT&T is rumored to be launching.

But now it's just focused on building the interface.

Apple "is letting programmers, distributors and customers work out the money part among themselves," Kafka writes.

Good-bye Apple TV package, hello Apple TV guide.

The writing on the wall

While a universal guide interface presents a pretty stark departure from what Apple has been saying publicly, it's right in line with recent Apple TV updates, which emphasize things like Siri's ability to circumvent the app system.

And you can bet that Siri will be a big part of this new endeavor.

Beyond deeper Siri integration, in June Apple also unveiled an Apple TV feature called "single sign-on." While Apple didn't go into the details of exactly how it would work, the idea is that a content service like Netflix or HBO would connect to Apple's system in a way that lets you use a single log-in for all services on your Apple TV.

Recode points to this as the first part of Apple's plan.

The right choice

It's easy to see why Apple is going this way.

Most people don't want to navigate 100 different app menus and designs, each ostensibly tailored to the type of TV content that lives within them. It's annoying to deal with an ESPN app, and a Netflix app, and a Showtime app, and a Sling TV app.

So most people, in their hearts, don't really want an Apple TV as it was initially conceived.

But they also don't want the type of awkward channel guide that you get with most cable packages, according to Apple exec Eddy Cue.

Here's what Cue told The Hollywood Reporter last month: "The fact that I have to set things to record seems idiotic. And channel guides — I get home and I want to watch a Duke basketball game; why do I have to go hunting to find out what channel it's on? Why can't I just say, 'I want to watch Duke basketball.' Or, even better, why doesn't the system know that? 'Here's the Duke basketball game.' Those technical capabilities exist today. They just don't exist for television."

So navigating Apple TV and cable is a pain.

What's much better is a universal search and suggestion mechanism that fetches you the right content — as fast as possible. That is what Apple seems to be building, which is something that will put it in direct conflict with some cable companies like Comcast, which is trying to build its own version of this with X1. It could also face competition from the likes of Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana.

And what's in it for Apple?

The company is likely hoping that it will get the same sort of leverage over TV programmers that it did over music labels with the iTunes store, before the rise of streaming, Kafka points out. If you own part of the distribution platform, then, hopefully, you can take a cut or at least extract some sort of favorable terms.

That could be Apple’s master plan.

Apple declined to comment.

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NOW WATCH: An Apple demo froze during the big WWDC keynote and nobody noticed

America's first Pokémon Go master has finally caught every Pokémon in the world

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complete pokedex Pokémon Go

It's official: Less than a week after leaving on a global Pokémon Go adventure to complete his collection, Brooklyn-based Nick Johnson has caught all of the 145 Pokémon that are currently available — very likely making him the world's first Pokémon Go master.

According to the original video games that Pokémon Go is based on, there are 151 total monsters. We know that there are 142 you can catch in the US, six rare Pokémon that are currently unaccounted for, plus three more exclusive to certain international regions.

In late July, Johnson became the first in America to capture all 142 Pokémon available in the USA. And so, with accommodations covered by Marriott Rewards and travel paid for by Expedia, Johnson set off last week to find those three international Pokémon and complete the set.

It took some doing, and at least one flat-out sprint through Sydney, but Johnson caught 'em all. And he found that he had become something of a celebrity along the way.

And now that it's done, Johnson says he feels "like the very best, like no one ever was."

Pokémon journey

First, Johnson went to Paris, France, to catch Europe's exclusive Mr. Mime, where they were greeted at their hotel by an employee in a Pikachu snuggie.

Mr. Mime was a difficult capture, Johnson says, largely because the same day that he left, Pokémon Go developer Niantic totally changed where Pokémon appeared — meaning all the intelligence he gathered from Reddit and Facebook ahead of his arrival was worthless.

With only a limited timeframe in which to capture Mr. Mime before he had to move on, things got a little tight. Eventually, and luckily, he found it in a small park on the south side of the city with enough time to spare for a little R&R in Paris.

pikachu snuggie nick johnson Pokémon Go

Then, it was off to Hong Kong — with his arrival delayed for a full day by a monsoon blowing into the region. 

In Hong Kong, Johnson says, he was surrounded by fans and media while he searched for Asia's Farfetch'd. Eventually, to keep to the tight travel schedule, his trip sponsors at Expedia drove him around for half an hour until they encountered the monster he needed.

After that, it was onwards to Sydney, where Johnson just caught Australia's Kangaskhan — marking the completion of his Pokédex, with 145 monsters caught. Regional Pokemon GO map

He says that finding Kangaskhan was a huge pain: He was hanging out around Sydney's Hyde Park for five hours, just waiting, when one of his fans sent a Snapchat message informing him that one had spawned nearby. He got into an Uber, but found that the road was blocked due to construction.

"So I got out and flat out sprinted for about 5 blocks," Johnson says, and ended up capturing it in front of a Tommy Bahama store.

What's next

Next, Johnson is off to Tokyo, where he'll do media interviews, catch up with fellow Pokémon fans, and try to visit Nintendo headquarters (they haven't yet gotten back to his tweet requesting a meeting). 

Meanwhile, Pokémon Go developer Niantic is hinting that those few missing monsters might be coming soon. In fact, thanks to a glitch, some people got ahold of legendary Pokémon ahead of schedule

nick johnson hong kong Pokémon Go

And Johnson's journey has inspired at least one would-be rival — a Wall Street finance worker who gave up after a disastrous encounter with a car in Sydney.

If you want to keep up with Johnson and his global Pokémon adventure, he's chronicling the whole thing on Snapchat:

nick johnson snapchat

SEE ALSO: America's first Pokémon Go master is getting a free trip around the world to complete his Pokémon collection

SEE ALSO: Here are the crazy things that this guy did to become the first person to catch all of the Pokémon in the US

SEE ALSO: This Wall Streeter says he gave up on a worldwide quest to catch every Pokémon after getting hit by a car in Sydney

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 'Pokémon Go' just released an update that fixes its most annoying problems

Jared Leto says 'a lot' of Joker scenes were cut out of 'Suicide Squad'

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the joker suicide squad jared leto

The Joker was the biggest promotional selling point of "Suicide Squad." The character has achieved mythic status in movies, and Jared Leto was clearly gnawing on scenery in the early trailers for the new DC Comics/Warner Bros. film.

But it turns out the final movie, which is out in theaters Thursday night, has a lot less of Leto's Joker than was originally filmed.

As Slash Film reports, Leto told Telestar of the missing material, "Oh, there are a lot of [deleted] scenes, yeah, there are a lot of scenes that didn’t make it to the final film. And hopefully they’ll see the light of day … who knows?"

All told, the Joker adds up to only 15 minutes of the movie, according to Slashfilm.

Director David Ayer confirmed there was cut footage which will "maybe" end up in a future Blu-ray release.

Apparently the Joker is quite nasty in the film, true to Leto's trailer persona, but less of the unpleasantness ended up in the final product than we could've had.

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every actor who's played Batman, from best to worst

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NOW WATCH: Disney just released 3 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the new 'Star Wars' movie

RANKED: Every actor who's played Batman, from best to worst

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batman superman comic con 2

With "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (opening March 25) giving us a new look at the Dark Knight as Ben Affleck takes over the character, it's time to take stock of the best — and the worst — Batmans we've seen in movies and TV.

The Batman of the screen has evolved from a witty crime fighter on TV to a darkly conflicted man in the movies.

Fans of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, are extremely loyal to the actor they believe portrayed him best. Any objection is liable to lead to rowdy debates. Who can forget Seth Rogen and Zac Efron arguing the better Batman — Michael Keaton or Christian Bale — in "Neighbors"?

who is batman Universal
So let's add some more fuel to this superhero debate. Here are the actors who played Batman on TV and in movies (we've excluded animation, with a couple of important exceptions), ranked, starting with the worst.

SEE ALSO: The 21 best heist movies ever, ranked

8. George Clooney ("Batman & Robin," 1997)

Still trying to find his footing post-"ER," Clooney was jumping back and forth between romantic comedies and action movies when he took the Batman role after Val Kilmer was one-and-done in "Batman Forever." It turned out to be a disaster. Fans were exhausted by director Joel Schumacher's colorful aesthetic and the cartoonish villains played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (Mr. Freeze) and Uma Thurman (Poison Ivy). And Clooney’s Batman was too jokey. The gruff Dark Knight had become playful and soft.

"Batman & Robin" is the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise, making $238 million worldwide.

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7. Lewis G. Wilson "The Batman" TV show, 1943)

Wilson has the distinction of being the first actor to play Batman, starring in the 1943 series. Though he had the comics as a reference point, Wilson was still at a disadvantage being the first to put on the tights. He holds his own, but it's certainly not a performance that is memorable, as you can see in the footage here.

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6. Robert Lowery (“Batman and Robin” TV show, 1949)

The second effort at a Batman series led to the casting of a bigger actor to play Batman. Lowery's physique and the show's better fight scenes make for a more enjoyable experience. 

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The creators of Pokémon Go just promised to fix one of the game's worst bugs

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For the last week or so, Pokémon Go players have been in an uproar over an app update to the smash-hit game.

Not only did that update remove a crucial monster-tracking feature... it also introduced a pair of glitches that make it harder to catch Pokémon in the wild, and also made players miss out on certain experience bonuses used to level up when capturing Pokémon.

Well, in a tweet, Pokémon Go developer Niantic promises that they're on it:

Reddit's Pokémon Go community is of two minds about this announcement: On the one hand, Niantic has been skimping on the communication with fans even as glitches and bugs have plagued the game, so any kind of acknowledgement here is good.

But on the other hand, it's been a week since this bug started, so some are distressed that it took Niantic this long to make any kind of announcement, especially without a timeline for a fix. 

In the meantime, despite the fact that same fans are raging against Niantic for what they see as the broken state of Pokémon Go — especially in the wake of the controversial shutdown of popular Pokémon Go cheating sites — all available data indicates that the game is as popular as ever. 

SEE ALSO: America's first Pokémon Go master has finally caught every Pokémon in the world

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NOW WATCH: Elon Musk just unveiled Tesla's 'top secret' master plan — here are the details

Christopher Nolan's epic new World War II movie 'Dunkirk' has a teaser

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Christopher Nolan's latest epic has a teaser and a release date.

"Dunkirk," a World War II drama, will come out July 21, 2017, Warner Bros. announced Thursday.

It's the first war movie from the director of "The Dark Knight" trilogy, "Interstellar," "Inception," and "Memento."

Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Mark Rylance star in the drama in which Allied soliders are surrounded in battle by the German army.

Watch the (literally!) sweeping first teaser below:

SEE ALSO: RANKED: Every actor who's played Batman, from best to worst

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NOW WATCH: The directors of 'Catfish' and 'Nerve' reveal how to make it in Hollywood without going to film school


Fireworks, ancient ruins, and celebrities: Inside Larry Page and Sergey Brin's exclusive conference in Italy (GOOG, GOOGL)

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The Camp

This wasn't your average summer camp. 

Earlier this week, Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin hosted an exclusive gathering in Sicily, with a star-speckled guest list that included Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, George Lucas, and Pharrell.

The Camp, in its third year, is a three-day conference full of schmoozing that's been dubbed "Davos on the sea" for bringing together VIPs across tech, music, and fashion.

This year's festivities included intellectual discussions, relaxation, and sumptuous meals, including a dinner among the ruins at the "Valle dei Templi" or "Valley of the Temples."

Here's supermodel Karlie Kloss posing with Malala Yousafzai, who spoke in front of attendees about education and female rights, and Alicia Keys, who performed five songs after dinner on Monday:

I couldn't have wished for a more brilliant group of powerful and passionate women to celebrate with yesterday. ❤️

A photo posted by Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) on Aug 4, 2016 at 7:20am PDT on

Kloss celebrated her 24th birthday at the conference. Here she is sitting next to designer Diane von Furstenberg at one the group's lunches:

Happy birthday dear Karlie ! @karliekloss Love Diane

A photo posted by DVF (@dvf) on Aug 3, 2016 at 2:27pm PDT on

The Italian swing and jazz band Four On Six played for about two hours that night too. 

Bandmate Fausto Savetteri tells Business Insider that other guests he spotted included Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, CEO of Fiat Automobiles, Lapo Elkann, and Queen Rania of Jordan. 

"Everything was beautiful and of course top secret until the end," he says. 

Guests stayed at the luxurious Verdura Resort. Here's Palm's Bruce Bozzi posing with TV exec Brian Grazer and his wife Veronica, who is in marketing:

Love you both to the moon & back! @briangrazer @smiley1128 We will always have Sicily 😎🇮🇹😎 #acuriousmind Ciao Italia

A photo posted by Bruce Bozzi (@brucebozzi) on Aug 3, 2016 at 5:45am PDT on

 

And YouTube star Lilly Singh posing with South African actress Charlize Theron:

We're going to change the world. @charlizeafrica #GenEndIt #GirlLove

A photo posted by Lilly (@iisuperwomanii) on Aug 1, 2016 at 4:16pm PDT on

 This young developer managed to get some pretty epic selfies, including with Alphabet CEO Larry Page:

#google #founder #googlecamp #sciacca #dinner #perfect #night #larrypage @larrypageofficial

A photo posted by Marco Blò (@olaf_ht) on Aug 3, 2016 at 5:41pm PDT on

 And the leader of Alphabet's cash cow — Google's Sundar Pichai:

Finally my dream came true !! #sciacca #googlecamp #ceo #google #dinner #sundarpichai @sundar.pichai

A photo posted by Marco Blò (@olaf_ht) on Aug 3, 2016 at 5:38pm PDT on

 If only he had snagged a shot with Sergey Brin to complete the trifecta!

Though he did track down Pharrell:

#dinner #night #googlecamp #pharrellwilliams #because #im #happy #respect @pharrell

A photo posted by Marco Blò (@olaf_ht) on Aug 4, 2016 at 3:04am PDT on

 As well as Alicia Keys:

Thank you for hosting me at your table ! Love you ! #aliciakeys #sciacca #googlecamp #perfect #night #dinner #loveyou @aliciakeys

A photo posted by Marco Blò (@olaf_ht) on Aug 3, 2016 at 5:43pm PDT on

Here's George Lucas, looking suave: 

#starwars #instamood #instalike #instagram #instagood #georgelucas #film #cinema #noi #party #googlecamp #smile #sciacca

A photo posted by 🇮🇹Salvatore A. M. Monte🎭 (@salvatore.monte) on Aug 3, 2016 at 4:27am PDT on

On the second day of the conference guests flocked to the central square of the fishing town Sciacca, to walk among the traditional carnival floats:

#googlecamp #googlecamp2016 #googlecampsciacca #instacool #nofilter #picoftheday #vip #event #googleevent #siciliabedda #sicily

A photo posted by @vinsanto on Aug 2, 2016 at 11:33am PDT on

 

 The conference also featured wine tastings:

Testing per il Google camp #verduraresort #googlecamp #google #winetesting #etna #etnawines #vini #degustazione

A photo posted by _zsa_zsa_zsu_ (@_zsa_zsa_zsu_) on Aug 3, 2016 at 6:33am PDT on

Cheese tastings:

Tasting some of the most beautiful fermented things Sicily has to offer #sicily #cheese #winetasting

A photo posted by Emily Caldwell (@emilycaldwelll) on Aug 3, 2016 at 5:02pm PDT on

Homemade pasta:

The pasta!!! Thank you these two beautiful Italian women!!!!! Home made pasta!!!!!! 🇮🇹🍝🇮🇹🍝🇮🇹🍝🇮🇹🍝🇮🇹 8/2/16

A photo posted by Bruce Bozzi (@brucebozzi) on Aug 2, 2016 at 12:04pm PDT on

Fireworks:

And more live music:

This was Google's third annual event. 

Right after, Page and Brin flew to Singapore.  

SEE ALSO: Why 'Snapchat stars' love Instagram's new copycat product

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The BBC is using this under-the-radar messaging app to reach millennials

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A&P Top Messaging AppsThis story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Digital Media Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.

Chat apps are increasingly being used by publishers to distribute stories and connect with audiences.

While platforms like LineWhatsAppViber, and Kik regularly feature in discussions about cross-platform strategies, Yik Yak – the anonymous, location-based social platform – has largely evaded the conversation. However, one organization that has taken note of Yik Yak is the BBC, which has effectively wielded the social platform to reach millennial audiences, generate conversations, and source new content, Journalism.co.uk reports.

Two occasions when the BBC tapped into Yik Yak were the 2015 Canadian election and the recent Brexit referendum. For each event, the BBC posed a simple, open-ended question to users on the platform:

  • “How will the Canadian election affect you?”
  • “What are your hopes and fears around Brexit?”

The BBC received tens of thousands of engagements in response. By asking broad questions, the organization found out about the issues and ideas that most concerned Yik Yak user. In turn, these insights revealed clear content opportunities for the BBC. For example, during Brexit, the BBC learned that people felt like they were missing out on the facts. The organization responded by emphasizing more fact-heavy material on its site, since people were likely to read (and share) this content. 

Yik Yak has several distinct characteristics that the BBC has been able to leverage:

  1. An overwhelmingly millennial audience. Ninety-eight percent of Yik Yak’s user base are millennials, an attractive yet elusive demographic. Tapping into Yik Yak provides a straight path for to reach this coveted audience, in a place where millennials already feel at home.
  2. An anonymous social forum. Yik Yak users can create, view and vote on posts anonymously. Although this creates a risk for trolling, it also encourages honest and intimate posts, resulting in more fruitful dialogue. For instance, the BBC found that a surprisingly large number of users did not know what Brexit was. Anonymity allows users to submit posts and questions that would be scoffed at on other, non-anonymous social platforms. 
  3. Crowdsourcing aspect. Yik Yak's open platform gave the BBC a direct ear to a profusion of perspectives. Meanwhile, posts on the platform can be sorted by recency or by most upvotes. Upvoting feature provides a democratic mechanism to surface posts that resonate with the greatest number of people. On the other hand posts with five downvotes are deleted from the platform, which helps minimize the impact of trolls. 
  4. Geo-location. While Yik Yak users can only see posts within a five-mile radius, the BBC was given free range over entire countries when using the platform. For the Canadian election, the BBC engaged with all app users in the country. And during Brexit, the BBC sent a push notification to Yik Yak users in the UK notifying them of the ongoing dialogue in the app. 

The top four messaging apps — Facebook's Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Viber — now claim nearly 3 billion monthly active users combined, narrowly outnumbering the combined active users on the world's four largest social networks, including Facebook.

These numbers have caught the attention of a wide range of businesses, publishers among them. News industry leaders including the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the BBC are establishing a presence on a number of chat apps in an effort to be out front and build an audience on the latest platforms where people are consuming content. These early adopters are experimenting to learn which chat apps work for their audience and how they can leverage chat for the distribution of digital content, including articles, images, surveys, and video. 

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on messaging apps for publishers that looks at the appeal of these apps and how they're becoming a dominant platform for media consumption. It compares the leading chat platforms, including WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook's Messenger, and Viber, and what features publishers should know about when thinking about how they might leverage these properties. It also looks at strategies for content distribution across chat apps and finally spotlights some of the challenges that publishers may encounter as they begin to dip their toes into content distribution via messaging apps.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

  • There are dozens of messaging platforms, each with distinct user demographics and features, and these differences will determine which apps a publisher should try and what type of content is most fitting. 
  • Publishers like The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the BBC are experimenting to learn which chat apps work for their audience and how they can leverage chat for the distribution of digital content, including articles, images, surveys, and video.
  • Chat apps are especially appealing to publishers because they allow these brands to tap into users' "dark social" activity. Dark social traffic stems from people sharing content privately through IM programs, messaging apps, and email, among other means.
  • Because chat apps were once primarily used for peer-to-peer communications, publishers have an opportunity to reach audiences on these platforms through a more conversational exchange. 

In full, the report:

  • Breaks down the pros and cons of each major messaging app.
  • Explains the different ways publishers can distribute content on messaging apps.
  • Highlights the differences between native and linked content.
  • Looks at the potential barriers that could limit chat apps' utility for publishers.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

  1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>START A MEMBERSHIP
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'Black-ish' producer: 'I'm so tired of talking about diversity'

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The cast and showrunner of "Black-ish" don't think it matters what race their viewers come from.

A reporter sparked some strong comments from the show's panel at the Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills when he brought up some early controversy over the show's title and asked if they had statistics for how much of their audience is black and white.

"I will be so happy when diversity is not a word," "Black-ish showrunner Kenya Bariss said of the reporter's question. “I have the best job in the world and I’m constantly having to talk about diversity. I have the best actors. This is ridiculous. Everything is about black and white ... It doesn’t matter who’s watching our show."

After two seasons on the air, "Black-ish" was recently honored with two Emmy nominations for its leads, Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. On its past season, the show has delved into deeper topics, including an episode that dealt with recent officer shootings involving black victims.

“I’m so tired of talking about diversity,” Barris continued. “It’s clouding the conversation.”

Ross also asked the reporter if he had asked the same question of other show panels. The reporter said he hadn't.

While asking the question, the reporter also mentioned that Trump had called the show's title "racist."

In response to that, actress Jennifer Lewis responded, "Nobody cares what Trump says about anything!"

SEE ALSO: Here is ABC's plan to make the first non-white Bachelor a reality

DON'T MISS: Lucasfilm and ABC are in talks for a 'Star Wars' TV show — here are the details

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'Suicide Squad' has one end-credits scene — here's what it means for future movies

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Warning: If you havent' seen "Suicide Squad," there are spoilers ahead!

Don't leave "Suicide Squad" after the end of the film.

If you stuck around after "Batman v Superman" waiting for an end-credits scene that never came, you'll be happy to know there's one mid-credits scene in "Suicide Squad."

After the initial set of flashy credits there's a short sequence that spends time setting up the upcoming "Justice League" next November 2017. If you left the theater early and missed it, we have you covered.

Last warning before spoilers!

What happens:

amanda waller

We see Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sitting at a table with none other than Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck). Wayne is looking for information on a few select individuals with some superhuman abilities. Waller hands over some files but only as leverage for Bruce to help cover up the entire Suicide Squad/Enchantress mess that unfolded in the film.

The files include info on meta-humans Barry Allen (The Flash) and Arthur Curry (Aquaman). (That shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who has seen "Batman v Superman.")

As Wayne gets up and leaves, Waller tells him he looks tired and that he should stop working nights. Wayne let's her know he's not the only one with a secret. He says if she doesn't "shut it down" then someone else will do it for her.

What it Means:

batman justice league

The mid-credits scene is a complete set up for DC's next movie. It's not a very necessary scene, but it helps to bridge the gap between "Suicide Squad" and next year's "Justice League" film.

At the end of "Batman v Superman," Wayne told Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) that he wanted to start gathering together the rest of the meta-humans they saw in Lex Luthor's files (The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg). We already knew that Wayne would be on a mission to gather together the group. The teaser trailer released at Comic-Con showed him mingling with the likes of Barry Allen and Arthur Curry.

justice league movie trailer 16justice league movie trailer 2

The scene also let's us know that Waller and Wayne each have dirt on one another. Waller makes it clear that she knows Wayne is secretly Batman. The master detective he is, Wayne let's Waller know that he's aware she's responsible for starting this "Suicide Squad." His response will be making a group of superheroes (the Justice League) to protect the world.

This added scene is probably just to drive the point home to fans that a "Justice League" movie is coming next fall. Warner Bros. really needs that to be a big hit after the lackluster performance of "BvS" at theaters this past March. Though "Suicide Squad" is set to have a huge $140 million opening weekend, if early negative reviews are any indication, poor word of mouth may result in a serious second-week dip for the film.

"Suicide Squad" is in theaters now.

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NOW WATCH: 9 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage of the making of 'Suicide Squad'

Spotify's successor to Discover Weekly wants to help you find new music every Friday

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The successor to Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist is here. It's called Release Radar, and it's just for newly released music.

Every Friday, Spotify will update the personalized playlist for each of its users. While algorithmically powered like Discover Weekly, Release Radar serves a different purpose: It's intended to surface "can't miss releases by the artists you love," the company says.

"With the huge amount of new music released every week, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest tracks," Spotify's Matt Ogle, who leads the development of Discover Weekly, said in a statement. "With Release Radar, we wanted to create the simplest way for you to find all the newly released music that matters the most to you, in one playlist."

Spotify Release RadarLike Discover Weekly, Release Radar will be updated with roughly two hours of new music once a week. In an interview with Business Insider, Spotify lead engineer Edward Newett said Release Radar was "just the first in a line of playlist experiences following in the footsteps of Discover Weekly."

He described Release Radar as a "mix" of new singles from the artists Spotify knows you listen to and from ones you might not have heard before. Spotify's audio research team in New York City is also using deep learning techniques to analyze the audio and determine which specific songs from a new album or EP you would like most.

You can save any song from Release Radar and Discover Weekly to your music collection, but you can't currently remove songs you don't like — but that's something Spotify is working on.

"We want to make it easier for you to tell us that you don't like an artist that's been featured," Newett said.

Spotify sees Release Radar as a complement to Discover Weekly, which is intended to be a "modern mixtape" of old and new music from artists you've never listened to before.

The format clearly works: People have streamed over 5 billion songs from Discover Weekly. "We're looking at it as the gold standard for these personalized playlists," Newett said.

SEE ALSO: Spotify is getting unbelievably good at picking music — here’s an inside look at how

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