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The Rock remembers how his very first time on WWE 'changed his life'

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the rock

The Rock knows what his fans want, and his fans want more of The Rock on the internet all the time.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson launched a new video series known as "The Rock Reacts," with his commentary on video of his very first time in the ring for WWE match all the way back in 1996.

Johnson comes from a wrestling family, and after a failed football career, he went on to an extremely successful gig in pro wrestling before he took over movies and TV.

As he says of his '90s WWE debut, which was at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan and shown on Pay-Per-View, "I was super, super, suuuper amped."

He explained of how he felt, "22,000 people did something that defined my career and literally changed my life in one night. And it's something you can't write, you can't script it. That thing was 22,000 people chanting my name."

He also throws in some colorful humor about what his WWE days then were like:

  • "I got a f---ing Chia Pet on my head as a haircut." (He later says the hair looked like a "pineapple and a Chia Pet all mixed in one.")
  • "I start going crazy right here. All that crazy s--t, in wrestling terms that is called 'babyface fire.'"

And finally he ends on a sweet reminiscence of how the WWE brought him where he is now — which is to say, the highest-paid actor in Hollywood:

  • "There's an old saying in show business: 'If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere.' And my very first night in New York, they embraced me like a son. Since then I have nothing but gratitude and love for New York City and the WWE."

Watch the video below:

SEE ALSO: How The Rock went from failed football player to one of the richest stars in Hollywood

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NOW WATCH: Neil deGrasse Tyson tells us why 'Star Trek' is so much better than 'Star Wars'


Daniel Radcliffe is sitting on a $100 million fortune — and barely spending any of it

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daniel radcliffe gold

Daniel Radcliffe has a whole lot of Harry Potter money, but the Brit isn't living lavishly.

He says in a new interview that since his last time starring in the franchise, 2011's "Deathly Hallows — Part 2," his fortune has mostly gone unspent.

"I don't really do anything with my money," the actor recently told the Belfast Telegraph"I'm very grateful for it, because having money means you don't have to worry about it, which is a very lovely freedom to have. It also gives me immense freedom, career-wise."

CBS News estimates Radcliffe's earnings from the Potter films at about $95.6 million.

In the interview, Radcliffe admits he's very content to keep working on films, and he'd rather focus on the quality stuff than "make loads of money on crap films."

“I don’t know what my life looks like without regularly being on a film set. I’d go crazy. I’m one of the lucky few who loves my job," he said.

In fact, his love of movies seems to get a bit morbid. On how he'd like to die, he said: "On a film set, ideally. I want to ruin someone’s day. I want to have them suddenly go, ‘Dan’s just dropped dead in front of the camera; we have to get his double on.’"

SEE ALSO: 100 movies on Netflix that everyone needs to watch in their lifetime

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Forget the Oculus — PlayStation VR is the virtual reality platform to own

Netflix will start screening original films in movie theaters (NFLX)

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Netflix has partnered with luxury theatre chain iPic Entertainment to provide same-day release of its content in theaters, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The deal marks a horizontal expansion by Netflix into a space traditionally occupied by its Hollywood rivals, and represents another advance in the company’s ambitions to be a bona fide film studio for the 21st century.

Over the next year, Netflix will show at least 10 films across iPic’s 15 US locations, starting with a screening of “The Siege of Jadotville” on October 7. This will make up the majority of Netflix’s original films for the year, and there’s a possibility of extending the deal to include more content. iPic, meanwhile, is in the process of building 20 more multiplexes around America. The Netflix-iPic partnership has several implications for the streaming giant’s strategy:

  • Creating a new way to enjoy Netflix. The partnership aims to play into people’s evolving movie-consumption habits by honing in on an upscale out-of-home viewing experience. A pioneer with its in-theatre dining and oversized leather recliners, iPic specializes in giving customers a taste of luxury, as reflected in the chain’s higher-than-average $30 ticket prices. The fact that nearly all (98%) iPic customers subscribe to a streaming service, with many (84%) subscribing to Netflix, could play in favorably to consumer preferences.
  • Netflix has experimented with movie releases before. It debuted "Beasts of No Nation" last year on its platform and in 31 theatres in 30 US cities, and eventually brought the film to 50 theatres nationwide. Although it flopped in theatres — making only $90,000, according to comScore figures cited by the Journal — Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos endorsed the release strategy as way to expand the range of opportunities for experiencing the film.
  • But this is the first long-term deal between Netflix and an exhibitor. In light of lackluster sales for “Beasts of No Nation,” Netflix and iPic ran another proof-of-concept test by releasing Netflix’s “The Little Prince” on iPic's big screens early this year. The film sold out nearly every seat for the entire length of the run, according to Sarandos, demonstrating that a Netflix-iPic tie could work.
  • And it needs to warm other exhibitors to the thought of partnering up. AMC, Regal, Cinemark, and Carmike — the four largest movie theatres in the US — refused to screen“Beasts of No Nation” last year, because they didn’t want to honor Netflix’s rejection of “windowed” film releases, which typically guarantee a 90-day delay between theatrical and home releases. Netflix could face a strong opponent in AMC, which is majority-owned by the Dalian Wanda Group — a company that has been aggressively strengthening its position the US film industry.
  • It’s also another avenue for Netflix to boost its brand and drive revenue. Premiering content in iPic’s luxury theatres will help validate Netflix’s movies as real-deal, high-quality productions in the same category as Hollywood films. This could also drive signups for Netflix, which has experienced a slowdown in user growth in the US, though Sarandos doesn’t believe that additions to the company’s existing 47 million US subscribers will be significant. It could also create a new and meaningful revenue stream for Netflix from theatre sales.
  • Fundamentally, it's about Netflix reinventing the movie industry. This is Netflix's latest move to redefine “movies” and disrupt industry status quo. The company wants to collapse the notion that movies are tied to the blockbuster lineup, and is trying to eradicate Hollywood’s windowing business rules that prevent consumers from watching films at home until months after the first release in theatres. In doing so, Netflix is revamping what it means to be a film studio in the 21st century.

Over the last few years, there’s been much talk about the “death of TV.” However, television is not dying so much as it's evolving: extending beyond the traditional television screen and broadening to include programming from new sources accessed in new ways.

It's strikingly evident that more consumers are shifting their media time away from live TV, while opting for services that allow them to watch what they want, when they want. Indeed, we are seeing a migration toward original digital video such as YouTube Originals, SVOD services such as Netflix, and live streaming on social platforms.

However, not all is lost for legacy media companies. Amid this rapidly shifting TV landscape, traditional media companies are making moves across a number of different fronts — trying out new distribution channels, creating new types of programming aimed at a mobile-first audience, and partnering with innovate digital media companies. In addition, cable providers have begun offering alternatives for consumers who may no longer be willing to pay for a full TV package.

Dylan Mortensen, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, has compiled a detailed report on the future of TV that looks at how TV viewer, subscriber, and advertising trends are shifting, and where and what audiences are watching as they turn away from traditional TV. 

Here are some key points from the report:

  • Increased competition from digital services like Netflix and Hulu as well as new hardware to access content are shifting consumers' attention away from live TV programming.
  • Across the board, the numbers for live TV are bad. US adults are watching traditional TV on average 18 minutes fewer per day versus two years ago, a drop of 6%. In keeping with this, cable subscriptions are down, and TV ad revenue is stagnant.
  • People are consuming more media content than ever before, but how they're doing so is changing. Half of US TV households now subscribe to SVOD services, like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, and viewing of original digital video content is on the rise.
  • Legacy TV companies are recognizing these shifts and beginning to pivot their business models to keep pace with the changes. They are launching branded apps and sites to move their programming beyond the TV glass, distributing on social platforms to reach massive, young audiences, and forming partnerships with digital media brands to create new content.
  • The TV ad industry is also taking a cue from digital. Programmatic TV ad buying represented just 4% (or $2.5 billion) of US TV ad budgets in 2015 but is expected to grow to 17% ($10 billion) by 2019. Meanwhile, networks are also developing branded TV content, similar to publishers' push into sponsored content.

In full, the report: 

  • Outlines the shift in consumer viewing habits, specifically the younger generation.
  • Explores the rise of subscription streaming services and the importance of original digital video content.
  • Breaks down ways in which legacy media companies are shifting their content and advertising strategies.
  • And Discusses new technology that will more effectively measure audiences across screens and platforms. 

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
  2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. »BUY THE REPORT

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Donald Trump supporters explain to Samantha Bee why the election is 'definitely rigged'

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samantha bee election rigged trump full frontal tbs

Donald Trump reprised his fear-stoking about a potentially "rigged" election this week at a rally in Pennsylvania. In response, Samantha Bee sent some "Full Frontal" staffers to rallies to see how Trump supporters feel about the threat of election rigging.

"I think you get the subtext here," the host said on Wednesday's show. "Trump and his supporters are absolutely terrorized of 'riggers.'"

After playing a clip of Trump telling his supporters at the Pennsylvania rally on Saturday that they had to monitor "certain areas" of the state for election rigging, Bee sussed out what she considers the meaning of the speech.

"He's talking about areas historically teeming with 'riggers,'" she said.

Two "Full Frontal" staffers went out to the campaign trail to find out how Trump supporters understood the Republican candidate's warning.

One man wearing a National Rifle Association shirt said he feels the election is "definitely rigged." (Another puts it this way: "Of course it's rigged!") But when asked whether Trump was setting up an argument in case he loses in November, the man with the NRA shirt said Trump won't lose. Pressed further on the logic of a rigged election that would still result in a Trump win, the man couldn't answer.

samantha bee trump voterWhen asked the same question, another male Trump supporter answered, "Oh, it's not going to be rigged in his favor."

When asked if that means it would be rigged only if Hillary Clinton won, the man said, "Exactly."

The show's research found that voter fraud is so minimal that it doesn't affect the outcomes of elections. A Bee staffer told a Trump supporter that there were only 31 instances of voter fraud in 1 billion votes. He didn't seem to believe her.

"So that's what the media is saying then," he responded.

One man complained that the news channels favor Clinton so much, they don't hammer her on topics like Benghazi or her emails. But when asked how he knows so much about the topics, he answered, "I watch the news."

One woman brought up that George Soros, a prominent businessman and Democrat, owns a company that builds voting machines, and that's one way an election could be rigged. But when asked why the Democrats didn't use that to their advantage to help them in congressional races in 2010 that they lost, the woman suggested, "Maybe to throw us off."

In other words, Trump supporters, or at least the ones Bee's staffers talked to, don't seem to have an issue with the logic that our voting system is rigged — unless Trump comes out on top.

Watch the segment:

SEE ALSO: Seth Meyers rips apart Donald Trump for a 'baseless' accusation against Hillary Clinton

DON'T MISS: Stephen Colbert mocks Mike Pence's most ridiculed line of the VP debate: 'That Mexican thing'

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One of the biggest Xbox games ever made, 'Gears of War,' is getting its own movie

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Gears of War 4

One of Microsoft's biggest video game exclusives, the "Gears of War" franchise, is getting adapted for the big screen.

"We have a partnership with Universal Studios and 'Gears of War' is getting a movie," franchise development director Rod Fergusson announced on a "Gears of War 4" livestream on Wednesday.

Rather than focusing on the story or characters of any one "Gears of War" game, the film will instead pull concepts, characters, and plot from the games to create something entirely new.

"The thing about the way you do a movie like this, you have to realize it's a different medium with a different audience," Fergusson said. "If you were to go in and say it's going to be 100% faithful to the game canon, or the story of the game, what's going to happen is it's not going to be the best movie. What we're going to focus on is making the best 'Gears' movie possible, as opposed to one that's closest to the games."

In a world where every game series, from "Double Dragon" to "Super Mario Bros.," has its own film, it's surprising that the beloved "Gears of War" video game franchise doesn't already have a series of silver screen adaptations.

Double Dragon (Movie)

The game's already got iconic characters and locations — given the series' focus on chainsawing man-sized aliens in half, it's not exactly known for its cinematic storytelling. It looks like the film adaptation, which is still in pre-production, will aim to fill that missing component.

"There's a lot of source material to pull stuff out of, but you have to make a movie story," Fergusson said.

He also addressed the mercurial nature of these video game to film projects — frankly speaking: Many are optioned, few actually get made. Microsoft spent years trying to make a movie based on its popular "Halo" video game franchise, to no avail.

"We're still early," he said. "I'm not announcing a director, I'm not announcing a writer. We're still early in pre-production, working through that stuff, but the fact that we're locked into a partnership, we know a movie's gonna happen, it's just a matter of making it."

There is no planned release window for the "Gears of War" film; the newest game in the series, "Gears of War 4," launches on October 11 for both Xbox One and Windows 10-based PCs.

SEE ALSO: The 20 games you can't miss this holiday

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NOW WATCH: 5 hidden features to get the most out of your Xbox One

Stephen Colbert calls out Mike Pence for making up an old Russian proverb

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stephen colbert mike pence russian proverb

While Mike Pence is widely believed to have won this week's vice presidential debate, the record could be marred by using what he claimed to be an old Russian proverb. Stephen Colbert decided to look into the matter on Wednesday's "Late Show."

"This could be the biggest Trump campaign scandal since Melania quoted the ancient proverbs of Michelle Obama," Colbert said, alluding to Melania Trump's plagiarism of the First Lady's convention speech.

The proverb in question? As Pence stated it during the debate, "A Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates." It's a pretty good Russian proverb. The trouble is that it's allegedly neither Russian, nor old.

"Normally when you hear a proverb, you smile," Colbert said, "you wait for grandpa to nod off, then rifle through his wallet before you tiptoe out of his room. He's not going to miss a 20. But this one deserves a little more attention, because it has come to light that Mike Pence may have just made up that proverb about Russia."

Buzzfeed rounded up the reactions to Pence's proverb, which included some razzing on social media, and some fact-checking by experts who said the alleged Russian proverb didn't exist until Pence brought it into existence. Furthermore, the site discovered that the only other instance of its use was by Mike Pence in a 2014 interview.

"Those were the ancient days, 2014," Colbert said. "Those were the ancient times when we cured diseases by pouring ice buckets on our heads."

Colbert then read from a book called, "Mike Pence's Fake Russian Proverbs." For example, he read, "The wise polar bear pretends to be deaf when asked to defend the orange jacka--."

Watch the whole Colbert segment below:

 

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump voters explain to Samantha Bee why the election is 'definitely rigged'

DON'T MISS: Seth Meyers rips apart Donald Trump for a 'baseless' accusation against Hillary Clinton

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Donald Trump mispronounced Nevada while trying to teach a Nevada crowd how to say it

How Apple could use Netflix to fight Amazon

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reed hastingsEarlier this week, Netflix stock popped over 4% on rumors that Disney might be interested in buying it.

It’s not the first time Wall Street has buzzed about the idea of a Disney takeover of Netflix, nor is Disney the only company that has sparked Netflix acquisition rumors. One of the other companies that comes up again and again is Apple, as it’s one of the only ones that could both afford to buy Netflix, and seems to have (largely thwarted) ambitions in TV.

But does Apple buying Netflix make sense? In a note on Wednesday, analysts from Bernstein laid out the case both for and against such a purchase. They concluded that while buying Netflix would bolster Apple in certain ways, a partnership between the two companies was much more likely. 

Apple's problem

The most compelling reason the Bernstein analysts gave for an acquisition was that it could help Apple create its own bundle to combat Amazon Prime, and move Apple away from a transactional business model towards a subscription-based model. If Apple keeps selling you one iPhone at a time, Bernstein thinks Apple is in bad shape.

Here’s how the analysts broke down Apple’s future woes:

“Apple has a business model problem. The key challenge is that Apple's business principally involves selling hardware — most notably iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The iPhone alone amounts to ~70% of total company profits today. Over time, smartphone penetration will invariably reach saturation, Apple will no longer be able to gain share, and the iPhone business will essentially become a replacement market.”

Beyond the iPhone market becoming a replacement market, which is bad in itself, the analysts think people’s iPhone upgrade cycle will get longer, so that replacement market will get less valuable over time. The takeaway is that if Apple continues to play the same game, it will see its profits dwindle.

Apple Prime

Bernstein has a solution to Apple's big problem: subscriptions.

“We believe that Apple should look to sell its hardware offerings as a subscription service rather than as transactional product sales, by offering a compelling and attractively priced services bundle (think ‘Apple Prime’) along with any hardware that is purchased on a subscription plan,” the analysts wrote.

So how does Netflix fit in? The analysts say that services and features would be a key to making the subscription model work, and Netflix could help ease Apple fans into the subscription lifestyle.

“Netflix's inclusion in Apple subscription bundles could be important, given that consumers are conditioned to purchase Netflix and other video content on a monthly subscription basis,” the analysts wrote.

Better partners

But the main issue with a potential acquisition is that Apple could still include Netflix in its bundle without actually buying the company, but instead through a deep partnership.

“In fact a partnership with Netflix could be mutually beneficial,” the analysts wrote. “Directionally, we believe that Apple and Netflix could look to sell Netflix for $8 or $8.50 per month (vs. $10 currently) to ‘Apple Prime; users (i.e., those consumers who pay for their iPads or iPhones on a subscription basis). A reduced price on Netflix would be part of a broader offering of services to attempt to entice Apple users to migrate to subscription plans. Alternatively, Apple could pay Netflix to provide unique programming and content only to its ‘Apple Prime’ users.”

Apple and Netflix could split the cost of the price reduction, Bernstein argues, especially if Netflix could use it to snag new customers.

Bottom line: “While the Netflix deal could potentially cost Apple $10+ per user per year, we believe this would be an attractive trade-off to lock in a user to a more predictable annuity revenue stream, and could not only attract new customers, but also could potentially lower churn for Netflix.”

Putting together a "lifestyle bundle" would help Apple take on Amazon, which has seen tremendous growth in its Prime program. One potential edge for Apple is that it can make iOS and the iPhone the center of its subscription offering, and use that to drive interest in services and other products like iPads or Apple TVs. 

SEE ALSO: Why CBS isn't worried about tanking NFL ratings

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NOW WATCH: Forget the Oculus — PlayStation VR is the virtual reality platform to own


Lewis Black returns to yell at 'lazy' millennials to get out the vote

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The Daily Show Hulu final

Comedian Lewis Black showed up on "The Daily Show" Wednesday night to give a little message to the millennials who say they aren't planning to vote this presidential election. 

"What's it going to take to get you people to vote?!" Black screamed to the camera.

Black puts his rant in context by saying he has "no faith in you people" after only 55% of the American electorate voted in the 2012 election.

"More Americans saw 'Taken 2' that year," Black deadpanned. "And the whole plot's right there in the title. Someone gets taken — again!"

Black pokes fun at the "apathy" and "laziness" of young voters interviewed by news shows who say they're not going to vote and that voting is hard.

After showing a clip from an ad campaign that "Avengers" director Joss Whedon is doing with A-list celebrities to motivate young people to go out and vote, Black put his message a little more bluntly.

"That’s not enough? Or does the Rock need to personally give you a piggyback to the polls?" the notoriously short-tempered "Daily Show" veteran said.

Black then pleads: “Come on, millennials, I know we f---ed things up for you. But we were counting on you to fix things, not finish the job.” 

Watch the full "Daily Show" segment below:

SEE ALSO: Chelsea Handler explains why she left E! and how her Netflix show is 'a different level'

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NOW WATCH: Watch Alec Baldwin mock Trump's mic issues on 'Saturday Night Live'

The 19 best TV shows that were canceled too soon

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freaks and geeks castSome of the best shows ever didn't stay on TV for as long as they should have.

That's just how it is in the cutthroat TV industry, in which impatient network executives are focused only on last night's ratings. And things have only gotten more brutal with a saturation of TV content, including from streaming services. 

Great series like HBO's "Deadwood" and Judd Apatow's teen dramedy "Freaks and Geeks" are among the many that have been cut off too soon.

As new series continue to make their way to the small screen this fall, we're looking over the best shows that were canceled before their time, ranked in order of increasing greatness.

Brett Arnold contributed to an earlier version of this article.

SEE ALSO: Why Netflix's 'Luke Cage' is the best superhero show yet, according to critics

19. CBS: "Jericho" fans pulled an incredible stunt that got the show back on the air for one final season.

Seasons: 2 (2006-2008)

What it's about
CBS' sci-fi actioner centers around the small town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on the country.

Why it shouldn't have been canceled: The show was so beloved after only one season that when news of its cancellation went public, fans sent more than 40,000 pounds of peanuts to the CBS offices in an effort to change executives' minds. The nuts were an ode to the final scene of season one in which Jake Green exclaims "nuts" when a neighboring community takes over the town and demands he surrender. The stunt worked, and the show was given one more season before taking the ax yet again after ratings didn't improve. "Jericho" ranks No. 11 on TV Guide's list of "Top Cult Shows Ever."



18. ABC: "Pushing Daisies" suffered from the writers strike.

Seasons: 2 (2007-2009)

What it's aboutBryan Fuller's quirky fantasy/comedy series stars Lee Pace ("Guardians of the Galaxy") as Ned, a piemaker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with a simple touch. 

Why it shouldn't have been canceled: "Pushing Daises" was unlike any other show on television, and that ultimately led to its downfall. The show was simply too out there for general audiences, and while critics and fans adored the series, it never gained a large enough audience to sustain life. "Daisies" also suffered from poor timing, as the infamous writers strike took place during production. The series won seven Emmys and a DGA award and received three Golden Globe nominations in just two years.



17. HBO: "Hung" received multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations but lasted just three seasons.

Seasons: 3 (2009-2011)

What it's aboutThe controversial comedy series stars Thomas Jane ("The Mist") as a family man who resorts to male prostitution to make ends meet.

Why it shouldn't have been canceled: "Hung" is way smarter and more thoughtful than its title and subject matter would suggest. The series functions more as a satirical look at the great lengths Americans have had to go through since the recession than a sex-filled romp, yet it has its fair share of sex and comedy as well. The show was quite well-received and received multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations before ending its short run.



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Facebook just showed off the next version of the Oculus Rift (FB)

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Oculus rift 2

Even though the first ever Oculus Rift launched earlier this year, Facebook's already hard at work on its sequel. Facebook's founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off the second version of the Rift virtual reality headset during a presentation in California.

The headset looks a lot like the version you already know — it's a black set of goggles with headphones built in. There is, however, one crucial difference: no wires! 

Zuckerberg called this new headset, which is still in the prototype/demo stage and not ready for primetime, a middle ground between the super high-end Oculus Rift headset and smartphone-powered Gear VR that Oculus created in partnership with Samsung.

mark zuckerberg oculus VR connect

More than just ditching the (lengthy, intrusive) cables, this new standalone Oculus Rift can handle tracking in an entirely new way.

It sounds boring, but in VR, tracking is crucial— the headset needs to know where in the actual world you are so that it represents the virtual world accurately to you. This is usually handled by using some form of external tracking device — a camera, in the case of Oculus Rift. But with this new standalone device, Zuckerberg said Oculus has figured out how to track your head without any separate device. 

Oculus Rift 2

In the short demo shown, one user explored a standard Oculus Rift demo — a floating city that's going through an emergency scenario — and he was able to move his head in any direction, all while being tracked from within the standalone headset.

Doing this without a PC attached, which is required for using the Oculus Rift, is a major step forward. And doing this without having to buy a Samsung phone is another big change. There were no details given on a release date or price for the new version of the Rift.

Join the conversation about this story »

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How Natalie Portman nailed her incredible, Oscar-favorite performance as Jackie Kennedy

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NataliePortman Jackie TIFF

The Toronto International Film Festival is often where Oscar hype is born, and that's certainly the case with Natalie Portman and her latest movie "Jackie."

The actress's stirring performance as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy during the aftermath of JFK's assassination was the talk of the festival recently, and word of mouth has only increased since the release of the first trailer. That's largely because many believe she's a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination. 

Having seen the movie, we can say that Portman, who previously won an Oscar for her starring role in 2010's "Black Swan," has the look and unique voice of Kennedy down perfectly, which took a lot of preparation leading up to filming.

"I read every biography I could get my hands on," she told Business Insider recently. "And we recreated a lot of the White House tour for the film, so that was helpful to see how she walks and how she moves and her facial expressions."

The movie follows Kennedy as she recounts to a reporter the assassination and planning of her husband's funeral. But the movie also shows the different personas Kennedy had in front of different people — a debutante in public but feisty and no-nonsense behind closed doors.

Portman picked up on that personality-switching in her research, which included listening to recorded interviews Kennedy did with biographer Arthur Schlesinger.

"When she was doing interviews, [her voice] was a lot more girly and soft, and then when you hear her talking to Schlesinger at home, you hear the ice in the glass clinking and the voice is a little deeper and her wit comes out more," Portman said. "So you get this real sense of the two sides."

"Jackie" will open in theaters on December 9.

SEE ALSO: Natalie Portman talks directing her first movie and why you'll never see her on social media

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NOW WATCH: Here's everything we know about 'Westworld' — HBO's mysterious new sci-fi series

The Rolling Stones are releasing their first new album in over a decade this year

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Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have announced their first new album in over a decade. 

"Blue & Lonesome," the band's first album since 2005's "A Bigger Bang," is due out December 2. 

The new LP will feature 12 covers of blues classics by artists like Jimmy Reed, Otis Rush, and Howlin' Wolf, among others.

The Stones have also teased a clip of their cover of "Just Your Fool," which was originally recorded by Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra in 1953. 

Listen to the song below, and check out the album cover and tracklist, via Pitchfork and Polydor Records.

rolling stones

Tracklist:

1. "Just Your Fool" 
2. "Commit A Crime"
3. "Blue And Lonesome"
4. "All Of Your Love"
5. "I Gotta Go"
6. "Everybody Knows About My Good Thing"
7. "Ride 'Em On Down"
8. "Hate To See You Go"
9. "Hoo Doo Blues"
10. "Little Rain"
11. "Just Like I Treat You"
12. "I Can't Quit You Baby"

SEE ALSO: The Rolling Stones to Trump: Stop playing our songs

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NOW WATCH: Here's everything we know about 'Westworld' — HBO's mysterious new sci-fi series

The next crucial component of Facebook's VR plans launches this December

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Facebook's next big move in virtual reality is called Oculus Touch, a pair of wireless controllers that bring your hands into VR using the Oculus Rift headset. With the Rift having launched earlier this year, the question remained: When is Oculus Touch going to lauch and how much will it cost?

And now we know: Oculus Touch costs $199, and starts shipping on December 6.

Here's what the final version looks like:

Oculus Touch

The controllers enable you to do stuff like grab virtual objects and push virtual buttons (say, in a virtual elevator?), as well as gestures like pointing, thumbs up, and waving. Beyond buttons and thumbsticks, the Oculus Touch controllers are equipped with motion and touch sensors that enable a surprising amount of fidelity. 

In short: while they look strange, it feels surprisingly natural to use them as "hands" in VR.

Facebook initially planned to release the controllers alongside the Oculus Rift headset earlier this year, but they were delayed to make, "many changes that make Touch even more comfortable, reliable, and natural." The delay pushed them to the latter half of 2016; Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe announced the price and release date on Thursday during the company's annual "Oculus Connect" developer event.

Alongside the controllers, a second Oculus Camera is included in the package, which enables the computer powering the Oculus Rift to "see" your hands as well as the headset, and to track them all in real-time. Facebook is selling extra cameras separately, so that you can connect three and enable "room-scale" VR — which is just what it sounds like, where you can move around an entire room within VR.

Take a look at Oculus Touch in action right here:

SEE ALSO: Facebook just showed off the next version of the Oculus Rift

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'The Birth of a Nation' is a powerful movie you need to see — despite all the controversy

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The Birth of a Nation Elliot Davis

For the foreseeable future, Nate Parker's directorial debut "The Birth of a Nation," which was the big winner at Sundance earlier this year, will be shrouded in the recent news of a rape accusation against its writer-director-star-producer while at Penn State in the late 1990s.

How that will affect the movie's box office and award-season chances is another story.

Here we'll delve into the movie itself, which focuses on Nat Turner (played by Parker), the slave who led a rebellion against the white masters of Southampton County, Virginia, in the 1830s.

A passion project for Parker, who spent years putting it together on his own terms, the movie is an ambitious undertaking for a first-time director. Having enough money to pull off a period piece is essential, but so is possessing the talent to build a compelling story that looks at the life of a person few know about.

The production values and beautiful cinematography make for an authentic 1800s South, but the tone is a slow burn. At times the movie is a slog as we go through the childhood of Turner, who is taught to read by the wife of the plantation owner (played by Penelope Ann Miller). He's taught the Bible, as other books are only for whites and he "wouldn't understand them," he's told.

the birth of a nation fox searchlightIt's when Turner becomes an adult and is told by a master (Armie Hammer) to travel with him to other plantations to preach to fellow slaves to lift their spirits (as rumors have started of emancipation) that the movie finds its groove.

Powered by Parker's emotional portrayal of Turner, the sermons give a jolt the movie needs, and the momentum builds as we begin to see the other slaves on the plantation with Turner begin to flock to him as a person who can lead them to a better future. 

That future involves killing their masters and forming an army that can overtake a nearby armory, where with guns they can take on any foe who comes at them.

News has spread since "The Birth of a Nation" premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year that one of the filmmakers Parker turned to for advice was Mel Gibson, and that is evident.

Parker's movie has a "Braveheart" feel, from the plot of a man attempting to overpower an oppressor to the bloody battle sequences. But you can also find an homage to an African-American writer-director-producer-star previous to Turner.

A shot of Turner running through the woods at the conclusion of the movie harks back to the end of Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 landmark "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song," in which Sweetback runs into the night being chased by police with dogs.

The last 15 minutes of "Birth of a Nation" are its highlight. A stirring score matches the action on-screen, and among the savagery, Parker inserts lasting imagery, like a butterfly on the coat of a dead child.

Parker's talents in front of and behind the camera in this movie are undeniable. It remains to be seen if the open questions around the rape accusation, and subsequently the cloud hovering above the film itself, will cause audiences to miss that talent.

SEE ALSO: The 16 best Tom Hanks performances ever, ranked

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How the 'Friends' cast nabbed their insane salaries of $1 million per episode

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friends

Today, only a few actors make $1 million per half-hour episode of television. And they all happen to be starring on CBS's "The Big Bang Theory."

The only other time that was accomplished was in 2002 when the cast of "Friends" successfully negotiated their historic $1 million-per-episode pay deals.

How did they pull that off? The simple answer is that all six cast members negotiated together. That meant that each one would be paid the same or they would all leave the hit show. 

But there's so much more to the story, like how did they come up with collective bargaining? And how did others involved in "Friends" feel about it? Plus, how much would their $1 million be worth today?

Here's everything you need to know about the "Friends" stars' historic $1 million-per-episode salary negotiation:

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All the circumstances were just right.

When the cast won their $1 million/episode salaries (or $22 million per season), the show had just recovered from seasons of declining ratings and was enjoying its highest-rated season in five years. But the stars really wanted to do other things, which meant the show was close to ending. It would end up running just two more seasons, but no one at the time knew exactly. And if NBC felt it could get at least one more year of "Friends," it would take that. The network needed all the time it could get. None of the shows NBC produced in eight years showed the ability to replace "Friends."

That year, "Friends" was averaging 24.7 million viewers a week — about two million viewers more than any other show in television. It also rated highly with young viewers, the kind advertisers always want.

To make the timing even more critical, salary negotiations were still open as the show had just four scripts left in the season. The writers had to know if they needed to write a proper series ending.

It was also getting terribly close to network upfronts, which are annual presentations of the season's upcoming schedule to potential advertisers. If NBC didn't have "Friends" on its schedule, it would've been disastrous for advertising sales.

The odds were stacked against NBC and looking really good for the show's stars.



David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston took a loss so they could band with their costars.

According to accounts of the events, the "Friends" cast didn't just decide to band together for a million dollars in 2002. They had been negotiating their salaries together since the show's third season. But that required two of the stars to take initial pay cuts.

As the central couple of the show, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston made more money than the others. After the hit first season, Schwimmer was being courted with movie offers and his agents felt it was time to renegotiate his "Friends" contract. But he had enough forethought to convince his costars to act as a mini-union and insist on being paid equally.

That may have cost Schwimmer and Aniston initially, but who knew how long they'd stay the most popular actors on the show. By negotiating as a group, they not only gained leverage, but some job security. The show could easily drop one actor, but how could they write around the loss of all of them?

According to various sources, here's how much the cast made each season per episode:

Season one: $22,500

Season two: $22,500 to $40,000

Season three (when they began collective bargaining): $75,000

Season four: $85,000

Season five: $100,000

Season six: $125,000

Seasons seven, eight: $750,000

Seasons nine, ten: $1,000,000



"A million dollars an episode is kinda ridiculous." —"Friends" cocreator

Not everyone believed that the "Friends" cast deserved their $1 million-per-episode haul.

Last year, "Friends" cocreator Marta Kauffman called the salary "inflated."

"A million dollars an episode is kinda ridiculous," Kaufmann said. "Let's be honest, that's a lot of money."

Star Matt LeBlanc was also asked that year if he believed that the cast was worth the hefty salary. He believed that "worth" had no real bearing on the topic.

"I’ve been asked this question before, but phrased as, do I think we were worth it? Were we worth $1 million? To me, that’s such a strange question," LeBlanc told The Huffington Post.

"It’s like, well, that’s irrelevant. Are you worth it? How do you put a price on how funny something is? We were in a position to get it. If you’re in a position in any job, no matter what the job is — if you’re driving a milk truck or installing TVs or an upholsterer for a couch — if you’re in a position to get a raise and you don’t get it, you’re stupid. You know what I mean? We were in a position and we were able to pull it off. 'Worth it' has nothing to do with it."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 'Blade Runner' sequel that's been awaited for years finally has a title and release date

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Warner Bros. released the title and release date for the "Blade Runner" sequel on Thursday. 

"Blade Runner 2049" will open in theaters on October 6, 2017. 

Harrison Ford reprises the role of Rick Deckard from the original, which is based on a Philip K. Dick novel. The sequel will take place several decades after the original film, and will also star Ryan Gosling, Jared Leto, and Robin Wright.

Rumors of a "Blade Runner" sequel in development have been around for years following the influential original, but it's exciting to see it coming to fruition.

The new movie will be directed by Denis Villeneuve, who is one of the most sought-after directors working today coming off hits like "Prisoners," "Sicario," and the upcoming sci-fi movie "Arrival."

The original "Blade Runner," which came out in 1982 and was directed by Ridley Scott (who is a producer on the sequel), has since become a favorite of sci-fi fans. The movie had a $27.5 million theatrical run ($81.2 million counting inflation).

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A new horror movie you've never heard of will literally make you scream

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under the shadow babak anvari

There's a gem of a movie you probably haven't heard of coming out on Friday, that is if you don't mind feeling scared close to death.

The midnight section at the Sundance Film Festival can be hit or miss, but when the program is done right, it includes some of the best movies at the festival, and that was certainly true this year for "Under the Shadow," from a first-time Iranian filmmaker who has looked back on his memories growing up through the Iran-Iraq War in 1980s Tehran to make the chilling debut.

Horror movies have been used perfectly over the decades to comment on topical issues within the US — from civil rights in 1968's "Night of the Living Dead" to the Big-Brother-is-watching-you angle of 1988's "They Live." But only recently have filmmakers of Middle Eastern descent begun to tell such stories on an international stage in a significant way.

"Under the Shadow" director Babak Anvari will quickly be compared to Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour, as she also used the horror genre to explore living in Iran with her acclaimed 2014 film "A Girl Walks Home Alone." But both stories are different in tone and style, with "Alone" shot in black and white and focusing more on female isolation, while "Under the Shadow" has slick camera work and tackles a family dynamic.

"This is a personal story about what I remember as a child and what my family went through, other Iranians went through" during the war, Anvari told Business Insider at Sundance in January. "I used all those memories and put a horror twist on it."

The film focuses on Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi), who have a hot-and-cold relationship that only gets more challenged when Shideh's husband is sent off to serve in the war while Iraqi air raids rain down on their apartment complex.

Under The Shadow Sundance Film Festival finalThe terror of that setting is elevated when Dorsa tells her mother that an invisible figure — or as they call it, djinn, a spirit that steals those they want to posses — keeps entering their place and has stolen her favorite doll.

The tension and scares only increase from there. As neighbors begin to leave because of the bombings, Dorsa becomes ill and Shideh realizes that what Dorsa tells her may be true.

"From day one I felt like this was a great setting for a horror," Anvari said. "Tehran at that time was very intense and dark because of the war."

Babak Anvari Under the Shadow Sundane Film FestivalAnvari, who lives in London now and hasn't been back to Iran in close to five years, remembers as a child staying up late at night to watch VHS tapes of his favorite horror movies. Anvari points out that at that time VCRs were illegal to own.

"I was influenced by horrors, but they freaked me out," he said. "My parents realized what I was doing and banned me from watching horrors."

But he was already hooked. Writing the "Under the Shadow" script on spec, he found the support of producers Emily Leo and Oliver Roskill, who were able to put together financing through their own production deal and a grant from the Doha Film Institute to shoot the film in Jordan last year.

Though there are some computer-generated scares, most of the things that will frighten you are just good old-fashioned tricks that were used by the masters, like Dario Argento ("Suspiria") and Wes Craven ("Scream").

It's been a long time since I've heard actual screams in a movie theater, and they could be heard numerous times throughout the screening of "Under the Shadow" I attended.

It certainly got buyers' attention. Netflix bought worldwide streaming rights to the movie on the first day of the festival. Then two days later, Vertical Entertainment and XYZ Films announced that they were teaming up to give the film a theatrical/VOD day-and-date release, which begins on Friday.

But Anvari is realistic about where the film can be released and where it can't — like in Iran.

"Someone will buy it off the street," he said, referring to the bootleg-movie market in Iran. "It would be great to show it there. I don't feel I offend anyone, but my guess is it will be a bootleg version they see."

"Under The Shadow" opens in theaters on Friday.

SEE ALSO: We talked to Don Cheadle about his new Miles Davis movie, biopics, and why he's not boycotting the Oscars

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The White Stripes are selling 'Icky Trump' t-shirts to protest Donald Trump

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white stripes

After admitting that they were "disgusted" by Donald Trump's use of their song "Seven Nation Army" earlier this week, The White Stripes have taken their protest of the Republican presidential nominee to another level. 

The band's label, Third Man Records, has released an anti-Trump t-shirt, labeled "Icky Trump" after the band's 2007 single "Icky Thump."

The back of the shirt features the following politically charged lyrics from the song "Icky Thump":

"White Americans? What?
Nothing better to do?
Why don't you kick yourself out?
You’re an immigrant too.
Who's using who?
What should we do?
Well, you can be a pimp
And a prostitute too."

The White Stripes are now a part of the long list of musicians who have publicly rebuked Trump for his unauthorized use of their music in his election campaign.

The "Icky Trump" t-shirts are available on the Third Man Records website.

Listen to "Icky Thump" below:

SEE ALSO: Donald Trump's surprising list of favorite movies, TV shows, and music

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JonBenét Ramsey's brother sues investigator who said he killed his sister for $150 million

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burke ramsey dr. phil werner spitz cbs

Burke Ramsey is suing Dr. Werner Spitz, one of the investigators from CBS's recent JonBenét Ramsey documentary special, for defamation.

According to court papers obtained by Business Insider, Burke is suing Spitz for stating that Burke killed his younger sister, JonBenét, during a radio interview with CBS Detroit — not for his participation in the televised CBS special.

In the complaint — filed in the third circuit court for the County of Wayne, Michigan, on Thursday — Spitz is accused of being a "publicity seeker," who on the 20th anniversary of JonBenét's murder has "once again interjected himself into a high-profile case to make unsupported, false, and sensational statements and accusations."

It details that during the radio interview, Spitz "claims Burke, age nine at the time of his sister's death, bludgeoned her to death. Defendant Spitz made this accusation without ever examining JonBenét's body, without viewing the crime scene, and without consulting with the pathologist who performed the autopsy on JonBenét."

The complaint calls for a jury trial and requests no less than $150 million in damages, a retraction, and no further defamatory accusations against Burke.

A representative for Spitz said he had no comment on the lawsuit.

Last month, Burke's attorney said he would be suing CBS over the findings in its special"The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey." The special's investigators landed on the theory that nine-year-old Burke Ramsey allegedly killed his younger sister by accident in a fit of anger. According to their theory, his parents, John and Patsy Ramsey, then allegedly created the scenario of an intruder who killed their daughter in order to protect their son.

Burke's attorney, L. Lin Wood, told Business Insider in an email that the "CBS complaint will be filed at end of October to allow statutory time for correction to expire."

In response to the proposed suit, a network representative previously told Business Insider, "CBS stands by the broadcast and will do so in court." 

SEE ALSO: JonBenét Ramsey's brother plans to sue CBS for 'false and heinous' TV series, lawyer says

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