While "Pokémon GO" has seen a decline in its userbase, the game is still immensely popular all over the world. That doesn't mean everyone is perfectly happy with the game as it is. Players have been waiting months for Niantic to add things like tracking and trading to the game. We talked to cosplayers at the 2016 New York Comic Con to find out what they wanted to see most in future updates. We also asked them to name their favorite Pokémon.

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Trevor Noah is really angry that Donald Trump feels he can explain away vulgar and aggresive comments about women that he made on a recently unearthed tape as "locker room talk."

"Trying to make Trump's comments sound normal is not something [Trump and his representatives] are achieving," the host said on Monday's episode of "The Daily Show." "That is not normal. There's a big difference between saying dirty words and glorifying nonconsensual sexual contact. Not every guy has these conversations. No, that's a crime. There's a big difference."

On the video from 2005 that surfaced on Friday, Trump, who was newly married to Melania Trump at the time, boasted to other men, including Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood," that he tried to sleep with entertainment journalist Nancy O'Dell. At the time, O'Dell was a married woman and cohosted "Access Hollywood" with Bush.

Trump also talked about being able to "grab" women "by the p---y" because "when you're a star, they let you do it." All the while, Bush egged on the real-estate mogul.

Noah also took issue with Trump's insistence that the words were just "locker room talk," and not emblematic of how he actually feels about women.

"He wasn't in a locker room. He was in a TV interview," Noah pointed out. "If you conduct locker room talk everywhere, it's not the locker room, it's you, motherf----r!"

Watch Noah's enraged take on Trump's comments below:

SEE ALSO: Nancy O'Dell responds to vulgar Donald Trump tape: It's not OK 'even in the locker room'

DON'T MISS: Sources say Billy Bush 'will never be on' the 'Today' show again

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NOW WATCH: INSTANT POLLS: Clinton wins decisive victory over Trump in second debate

Creepy clowns have dominated headlines of late, and the student loan crisis has earned its fair share of alarming coverage as well. But these two horrifying storylines haven't converged — until now. 

Business Insider came across a new lyric music video bemoaning the perils of the student loan crisis. The video, published Monday by the band One Man Mambo under the title "Buck the Trend (I BORROWED AGAINST MY LIFE!)," features a clown in a graduation cap and gown singing lines like:

"Student loan application
Brace for litigation
Late on a payment
Tax refund garnishment
Degreed, unemployed or underpaid"

The music is pretty catchy, in a distinctly classic rock kind of way. I found the lyrics less compelling, but I am not a song writer, nor have I attempted to write verse about student loans (a hard task, I would imagine). So I'm loath to judge. Also, I've watched it at least a dozen times by now, so let him who is without sin cast the first stone. 

The chorus goes like this:

"Buck the trend
Buck the admissions man
Buck the trend
Sell organic hen
Buck the trend
Buy a plot of land

"I borrowed against my life"

I followed up with band member Lazar Wall, who sent us the video, and he acknowledged that he had no personal school debt horror story that inspired him, but rather he is alarmed by the student loan bubble in general. Americans now owe $1.3 trillion in student debt.

"I have a major in business that was paid for by my parents, but the plight of student debtors is heartbreaking," Warren said. "Also, the US government borrowing money at 0.25%, then lending to students at 4%-plus is sickening."* 

Wall cited his musical influences as Rush and Guns N' Roses.

Asked about the clown in the video, Wall explained: "It's a cap-and-gown clown who borrowed beyond his means to get a degree."

If you're not averse to clowns, check out the video below. 

*Note: The US 1-month treasury rate is currently 0.26%; student loans are in the 4% ballpark depending on the type of loan and when it was taken out, but they're benchmarked against the 10-year Treasury note, which is currently at 1.75%. 

SEE ALSO: This graphic perfectly sums up who's being pummeled by America's student loan crisis

DON'T MISS: Police departments around the country are cracking down on creepy clowns

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NOW WATCH: There is a secret US government airline that flies out of commercial airports

"Mafia III" is out this week, and based on the 10 or so hours I've played so far, it's pretty good! Its fictional version of 1968 New Orleans is a joy to drive around in, its handling of racial tension is bold, and the story is keeping me hooked.

But the game has also been pretty messed up for lots of players in the days following its release. Fortunately, it appears to mostly be in humorous ways. Here are some of the funniest glitches we've seen so far:

SEE ALSO: An incredible amount of research went into making the new 'Mafia' game feel ultra realistic

First, we have an incredibly acrobatic boat:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/785477676064702464
Bro, I barely touched youhttps://t.co/PmiS4Gtjb4pic.twitter.com/3q1aV2VWgV

I hope you like boats, because this boat GIF is borderline NSFW (but not really):

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/785146844053696512
Je viens de voir 2 bateaux faire l'amour sauvagement avant d'exploser dans Mafia III. C'était très traumatisant. pic.twitter.com/aNoYQLIP8f

Don't worry, the game's protagonist Lincoln Clay is also capable of spontaneous flight:

Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/785523430317776896
Ok, superman glitch is a cool glitch.

Mafia 3, before you ask. :p pic.twitter.com/fKlJnpOyp3

In the wake of Donald Trump's vulgar-tape controversy, there has been a stampede of Republicans pulling their support of the GOP presidential candidate. Samantha Bee thinks they're too late.

"A whole lot of Republicans were grappling with the discovery that their Muslim-banning, Mexican-insulting, race-baiting, disability-mocking, alt-right-channeling demagogue might not be such a good guy after all."

John McCain, Condoleeza Rice, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carly Fiorina, George Pataki, and John Kasich are among the many Republicans who have said they're no longer voting for Trump.

"If you haven't stood cravenly by while he insulted [women] for a year," Bee said of the fleeing Republicans, "you wouldn't be in the pile of elephant s--- you're in today."

Bee suggested they should have listened to Barbara Bush in February, when the former First Lady said she couldn't vote for Trump after seeing how he spoke about women. 

Bee didn't spare Paul Ryan. The House Speaker condemned Trump's comments on the recent tape, and said he would no longer defend or campaign for Trump. Instead, he's turning his attention to this election's congressional races. Yet he stopped short of officially pulling his endorsement of Trump.

"In the past year, you've condemned Trump's disgusting stance on Muslims, the KKK, Gold Star families, Latino judges, and now women," Bee addressed Ryan, "without ever withdrawing your support for his presidency. You don't have the courage of a single one of your convictions. But you were smart to disinvite Trump from your Fall Fest. He wouldn't have been able to resist grabbing a p---y like you."

Watch the video below:

SEE ALSO: Trevor Noah angrily rips apart Donald Trump's 'locker room' excuse for vulgar tape: It's a 'crime'

DON'T MISS: Nancy O'Dell responds to vulgar Donald Trump tape: It's not OK 'even in the locker room'

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NOW WATCH: INSTANT POLLS: Clinton wins decisive victory over Trump in second debate

Nicolas Cage's latest film finds the Oscar-winning actor in a surreal comedy about one man's hunt for Osama bin Laden.

In "Army of One," Cage stars as Gary Faulkner, "an ex-con, unemployed handyman, and modern-day Don Quixote," who heads to Pakistan after a vision of God — played by Russell Brand — tells him to find bin Laden, according to Entertainment Weekly. 

The film is loosely based on a 2010 GQ article, which details how the real-life Faulkner attempted to capture the Al Qaeda leader in Pakistan while "equipped with little more than a sword he'd bought on a home-shopping network." 

"Army of One" is directed by Larry Charles ("Borat," "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and written by renowned playwright Rajiv Joseph and Scott Rothman. It costars Wendi McLendon-Covey ("Bridesmaids"), Rainn Wilson ("The Office"), and Paul Scheer ("The League").

The film will be released to video on demand on November 4 before arriving on Blu-ray November 15.

Watch the trailer below, via Entertainment Weekly.

SEE ALSO: A UK intelligence source reportedly based information about Iraq chemical weapons on a Nicolas Cage movie

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

The late-night ground is shifting, and with the 2016 election less than a month away — and wilder than ever — the shows are particularly relevant in this moment.

Now that legends of late night like David Letterman and Jay Leno have finally moved on, others are quickly rising or trying to figure out their place: Stephen Colbert, in a move from Comedy Central to Letterman's CBS spot; Trevor Noah, the still-newish millennial face of "The Daily Show"; and perhaps most notably, Samantha Bee, whose acerbic, bawdy, and pointedly feminist weekly take on the news on TBS feels connected to Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" tenure. Larry Wilmore, after struggling to find his audience, was sadly canceled by Comedy Central.

There are the other hosts of course, like Jimmy Fallon and James Corden, whose work only occasionally touches on political satire, yet they've amassed passionate followings for their antics like "Carpool Karaoke" and "Lip Sync Battle."

But which of the late-night shows is most worth your time? We watched all the current major players, focusing on the comedy-centric programs, and assessed the best and worst.

Here are the best and worst in late night, ranked:

SEE ALSO: Here are the must-see movies most likely to win Oscars in 2017

13. "Last Call with Carson Daly" (NBC)

Carson Daly's very late offering, "Last Call," feels like the gig that best fits the former '90s MTV V.J. He's come out of his shell on "The Voice" and shows his chipper side in the morning for "Today's" Orange Room. But "Last Call" allows him to use strange camera angles, don his leather jacket, and give bands some exposure. From performances to interviews, the show plays with artsy technique and effects. It's not for everyone, but that's probably why it's at 1:35 a.m.

12. "@midnight with Chris Hardwick" (Comedy Central)

Perhaps the first late-night show catering to the millennials, "@midnight" combines the most trending topics from the internet with comedians to create a hilarious half-hour of television. Chris Hardwick is the perfect mix of geek and jokester as the host, not overshadowing the comics but also holding his own. If you are tired of the traditional late-night format, give this a try.

11. "Real Time With Bill Maher" (HBO)

Sometimes on a Friday night you need to vent, and over on HBO, there's no one better to give you that release than Bill Maher. His venom is usually directed toward the Republicans, but in this current climate of gun violence and presidential hopefuls, he has enough hate for everyone. Sometimes his guests can't get a word in, but on the right night when there's a good mix of topics to discuss and guests who aren't scared by Bill, it can be a lot of fun.

Halloween Terror has come to "Overwatch"!

Blizzard's multiplayer shooter tries to keep its players interested by rolling out new content on a regular basis. For October, that new content will be in the form of a Halloween-themed event, which is live now through November 1.

Here's everything you can expect to see when you log on.

SEE ALSO: Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan talked to us about 'Titan,' the yearslong game development failure that never saw the light of day

Lots of new Halloween-themed skins, emotes, and victory poses.

"Overwatch" site Overpwn posted a slew of images showing the Halloween-themed skins for Mercy, Junkrat, Ana, Symmetra, Reinhardt, Zenyatta, Bastion, Reaper, Pharah, Roadhog, and Soldier: 76.

Additionally, some characters have an R.I.P. victory pose and other Halloween-themed emotes.

A new Weekly Brawl called Junkenstein's Revenge

This new game mode shakes up the structure of "Overwatch" in a significant way: Rather than be structured as a player-versus-player event, the new "Junkenstein's Revenge" mode appears to be a mode in which players will fight against waves of computer-controlled enemies.

The event will let players choose between Ana, Hanzo, McCree, and Soldier: 76 as they fight against the forces of Junkenstein, the Halloween-themed alter-ego of Defense hero Junkrat.

Special Halloween loot boxes

Much like the Summer Games event, special Halloween loot boxes are guaranteed to drop at least one Halloween item.

According to Reddit, these new items can also be purchased with regular coins, though they appear to be significantly more expensive than normal items. This will be a welcome departure from the structure of the Summer Games event, in which items could only be acquired at random.

Billy Bush is leaving NBC after his involvement in a vulgar tape with Donald Trump that leaked Friday, CNN's Brian Stelter is reporting.

Bush, who has served as a cohost on NBC's "Today" show in the 9 a.m. hour since August, is negotiating his exit, according to CNN's sources.

One source told the news channel that the network will announce Bush's departure "in the coming days."

Neither Bush nor his assistant has been in the office this week, according to CNN.

Despite the CNN report, a person with knowledge of the situation told Business Insider that NBC News is still reviewing the matter.

There are some matters still reportedly under investigation. Bush allegedly bragged about the tape back in August, but didn't inform officials at NBC News of its existence at the time.

NBC Universal claims "Access Hollywood" reported the tape to NBC News on October 3. Before going public with it, NBC News vetted the tape with legal in the days that followed. Meanwhile, the tape was leaked to The Washington Post, and the newspaper released the video.

Bush is featured heavily with Trump in a video from 2005 that surfaced on Friday. The recording shows Trump, who was newly married to Melania Trump at the time, boasting of trying to sleep with a married woman. Bush is heard egging him on. "Access Hollywood" identified the woman Trump was referring to as Nancy O'Dell, a current "Entertainment Tonight" host. She and Bush formerly hosted "Access Hollywood" together.

Trump also talked about being able to "grab" women "by the p---y" or kiss them because "when you're a star, they let you do it." All the while, Bush eggs on the real-estate mogul.

Both Trump and Bush apologized for the tape over the weekend but are still dealing with the repercussions of what was said. Many Republicans withdrew their support of Trump, and polls show him now trailing Hillary Clinton by double digits.

Meanwhile, Bush has been suspended from "Today," pending further review. Lester Holt replaced Bush on Monday, and Carson Daly replaced him on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Nancy O'Dell responds to vulgar Donald Trump tape: It's not OK 'even in the locker room'

DON'T MISS: John Oliver tears into vulgar Donald Trump tape: 'F--- Billy Bush'

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NOW WATCH: The Trumps' family church explains everything you need to know about Donald

Video game fans are second to none. And among video game fans, "Gears of War" fans are in a universe of their own. They have more in common with Super Bowl-level football fans than your average "Super Mario" player.

It's not uncommon for "Gears of War" fans to get tattooed in the name of their devotion to the series. To be clear, that is in no way a common trait of even the most hardcore video game fans.

Yet here we are, with "Gears of War 4" having just arrived on the Xbox One and PC:

The iconic Xbox series just got its first major installment on the Xbox One, and it's some of the finest work in the series so far. 

And with new entries comes new stuff, big changes, and more gorgeous graphics than ever before. Here's your primer on all things "Gears of War 4":

SEE ALSO: This is the most beautiful game on Xbox One by a mile

DON'T MISS: Here are all the free Xbox games for October

In all previous "Gears of War" games, the iconic Marcus Fenix led his small group of soldiers against the "Locust" (you'll see them in a moment).

Instead, in "Gears of War 4," you're mostly playing as Marcus Fenix's son, JD Fenix.

You'll actually play as a variety of different soldiers throughout the "Gears of War 4" campaign.

The Comedy Central celebrity roasts have made fun of everyone from William Shatner to Justin Bieber over the years, but the behind-the-scenes story of Donald Trump's time in the roastee chair has brought some interesting insight.

For the 2011 Trump roast, the real-estate mogul and now Republican presidential candidate was reportedly open to jokes about anything — except his wealth. And he reportedly even rewrote some jokes himself to help out in that regard.

Roast writer Anthony Jeselnik recalled the mandate like this when he talked to Joan Rivers about it in 2013: "Make fun of my kids, do whatever you want, just don’t say I don’t have that much money."

A new Huffington Post story on the making of the Trump roast reveals that Trump was extremely sensitive of not just slighting his wealth, but he also didn't want his business bankruptcies mentioned. As Roast Master Jeff Ross told Jimmy Kimmel over the summer, bankruptcy jokes are the "one thing he's sensitive about."

The Huffington Post story also highlights how Trump was heavily involved with the jokes that would be told to him.

One original joke went: “What’s the difference between a wet raccoon and Donald Trump’s hair? A wet raccoon doesn’t have $2 billion.” Trump eventually agreed to use the joke as long as the $2 billion was changed to $7 billion. Ross told Kimmel that initially Trump wanted the number to be $10 billion.

Then during Trump's rebuttal at the end of the show, a line in which he talked about his “25,000-square-foot penthouse atop my solid-gold space station” was changed on Trump's orders to a 50,000-square-foot home. He also changed a line that read, “I’m sorry, I must go now and make a million dollars somewhere else,” to say a “billion” dollars.

This is on the heels of the recent news that Trump may not be as wealthy as he claims, as The New York Times recently obtained tax records that show Trump declared close to a $1 billion loss in 1995.

Comedy Central did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best TV shows of all time, according to experts

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NOW WATCH: Here is the best cosplay of the 2016 New York Comic Con

A strange, animatronic Donald Trump fortune telling machine has been popping up all over New York. No one seemed to know who made it or where it would appear next. We found the Zoltar-like machine outside of the News Corp. building and spoke with the group behind the art project that has everyone in the city talking. "Basically the concept is that Trump foretells a very dark future where he has become president," the artists said. "And of course he's very happy about it, but the rest of us... not so much."

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Amazon is doubling down on its video streaming content this year, which seems like a direct strike against Netflix.

But in fact, Amazon's new service could be a bigger threat to retailers.

According to this chart by Cowen & Co., 66% of Prime households are paying Netflix subscribers, with another 10% having access to the service one way or another.

That means video-streaming may not be a zero-sum game, but rather a market where a mixture of standalone services coexist with each other.

Instead, the real threat may be in the retail space, as Prime members tend to spend more on Amazon.com and less on other competitors.

"Amazon is just creating an incredible moat, because remember, Prime Video and Prime Music are add-ons, it’s part of the bundle which is also incredible," Cowen & Co. analyst John Blackledge said in a recent conference call.

The data shows Prime members significantly increase their spending on Amazon the longer they stay a member. According to a recent Morgan Stanley note, about 40% of Amazon Prime members spend over $1,000 a year on Amazon, while only 8% of non-Prime shoppers do so. They also spend about 4.6x more money on Amazon than non-Prime members.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's plan to open grocery stores actually makes a lot of sense

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NOW WATCH: A regular guy tests out Apple’s wireless AirPod headphones — here’s what he thought

Amazon is barging into the crowded music streaming market with a trio of new services designed to one-up heavyweights like Spotify and Apple.

Amazon is launching three versions of a flagship "Amazon Music Unlimited" streaming plan.

These plans will give you everything we've come to expect in a marquee service: no ads, music from all the major labels, offline listening, customized playlists, and so on. But Amazon will try and set itself apart with price, and a focus on voice commands.

Bargain Pricing

Amazon music service has a standard $9.99 per month plan that's basically a direct competitor to Spotify's premium tier and Apple Music.

But Amazon also has two other options that undercut the industry norms on price by a hefty percentage.

Amazon's second music plan is identical to the first plan, but is available only to members of the $99-a-year Amazon Prime club. For an additional $7.99 per month or $79 per year (which works out to $6.58 per month), Amazon Prime members get the new music service.

The third option is much cheaper at $3.99 per month, but only works with Amazon’s Echo speaker. It also technically has the same features as the other two plans, though some — offline playback, for instance — won’t make much sense in an Echo-only environment.

The Home

With the introduction of these new plans, Amazon hopes to capitalize on one big thesis, VP of Amazon Music Steve Boom tells Business Insider: That the next wave of streaming music growth will come from the "home," not the smartphone.

The "home," meaning the connected smart home, has become a major battleground for tech companies.

The general feeling is that, eventually, there will be a virtual assistant that connects your TV, speakers, appliances, and so on. Wherever you are in the house, you’ll be able to talk to this assistant like you would a human, asking it to turn on your lights, flip the channel, or play a song. Companies from Amazon to Apple to even Comcast have dreams of being the one to win this market.

Amazon has built an early advantage through Echo, its Bluetooth speaker that has become a cult hit. The Echo is always listening to you, and can do things like play music or tell you the score of a game. All you have to do is call the name of Amazon's virtual assistant, Alexa, and the Echo will respond to your commands. 

That might sound creepy to you, but there has been an outpouring of love for the Echo from customers that surprised even Amazon. Boom says Amazon looked at the Echo’s success and saw a huge opportunity to expand the streaming market.

Smartphones

Since the rise of the smartphone, the music habits of many people have become intertwined with it, Boom says. In Amazon’s research, even when people were in the house, the smartphone largely dominated their consumption.

And while a smartphone is great for interacting with music in particular ways, the Echo showed Amazon a different pattern of behavior, one that was based primarily on voice commands.

That presented Amazon with a dilemma. People loved listening to music on their Echo speakers, but they were doing it through apps not specifically built with voice in mind. In my own experience using an Echo, I found myself leaning away from my usual favorite service, Spotify, in favor of Pandora. Pandora’s radio-like functionality was simply easier for me to navigate while talking to Alexa — especially while cooking, reading, and so on.

Amazon looked at people like me and thought that, if I loved the Echo (or any voice-activated speaker) enough, I might subscribe to a fully-featured music app that was built with voice at the forefront of its mind.

The Demo

In my demo of Amazon's new service, the bells and whistles that take advantage of voice were both useful, but also left me wanting more.

I could ask Alexa to play me “that song that goes 'one, two, three, one, two, three,'” and suddenly Sia’s “Chandelier” was playing. Alexa could also play me songs by the Beatles during a particular time period, or “happy,” “sad,” “funky” (insert any adjective) rock. Those tricks were fun, and there was a bit of the "magic" that Amazon always invokes when talking about the Echo.

But what was more impressive were the ways I could imagine the service being a whole lot better.

Could I ask for just the Beatles songs written by Paul McCartney? No, but eventually yes, according to Boom. Could Alexa field the command: “No, play me the other version of this song.” Again, no, but eventually, yes. With enough metadata and product development, it’s easy to imagine Amazon building a music service around spoken commands.

The Market

The big question is how many people want the "home" experience enough to choose Amazon's new service over competitors like Spotify and Apple Music.

Amazon’s smartphone app design had some useful features, like being able to jump to a specific lyric in a song, but nothing that would pull me away from my Spotify premium subscription. Its edge was in voice-driven features.

Boom says that these Amazon Music Unlimited plans are meant to be profitable on their own, which is noteworthy in a streaming music climate where every major player appears to be losing money (though we don’t know if that's the case with Apple). The new plans aren't just about driving sales for Echo, or about helping sign up and retain Prime subscribers — Prime already has a separate, limited music service (Prime Music). Amazon Music Unlimited is meant to stand on its own two feet in terms of profit, Boom says. That means it needs scale, and Boom says Amazon is going after both people who haven't subscribed to a service yet, and also people who already have Spotify or Apple Music. 

In that goal, Amazon has two advantages: price for Prime members, and a commitment to voice as an interface for listening to music. We’ll see if those two items prove compelling enough to take a bite out of Spotify, which also has a limited free tier, and Apple Music.

SEE ALSO: Dating app Hinge is relaunching after secretly spending 9 months building a new relationship-focused app

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NOW WATCH: The richest village in China is one of the most mysterious places on earth

For some, the changing leaves are indicative of fall, while for others it's that alluring scent of the wildly popular pumpkin spice latte — a seasonal coffee drink, known as a PSL, that mysteriously gives you a burst of delicious pumpkin pie flavor without the hassle of baking or dishwashing.

Surprisingly, those spices that go into a homemade pumpkin pie constitute less than 11% of the pumpkin pie syrup, which gives your fall beverage its incredible flavor. It has an even smaller amount of actual pumpkin.

So how does the PSL manage to taste like pumpkin pie when it has so little of what makes pumpkin pie so awesome?

For the answer, we must turn to science. We first learned about the amazing science behind the popular drink from food scientist Kantha Shelke on the Institute of Food Technologists.

Here are the facts:

CHECK OUT: Simple science-backed steps to finding your purpose in life

DON'T MISS: QUIZ: Are these pictures of Mars or Earth?

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NOW WATCH: This 3-minute animation will change the way you see the universe

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Jack Ma’s e-commerce giant Alibaba and Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, formerly DreamWorks Studios, have formed a partnership that will lead to the production and distribution of films in Hollywood and China, according to Bloomberg.

The move aims to benefit Alibaba’s ambitious media strategy and the US film industry's push into a highly regulated market while bridging a cultural gap between the two countries.

The deal is the most recent in a wave of Chinese conglomerates pouring into Hollywood.Most notably, Chinese real estate developer turned media giant Dalian Wanda Group bought Legendary Entertainment (creator of hit film Jurassic World) for $3.5 billion earlier this year, and AMC Entertainment (the world’s biggest chain of movie theaters) for $2.6 billion before that. Fosun Group and Huayi Brothers are other Chinese players investing in US media entertainment.  

The recent deal benefits Alibaba’s aggressive video growth strategy in two ways:

• It propels Alibaba’s ambition to build out its entertainment business. Executive chairman Jack Ma has made it clear that he wants his company to become "the world’s largest entertainment company." The deal with Amblin Partners gives Ma and Alibaba another source of expansion in its entertainment arm to increase purchases on Alibaba’s online film-ticketing service, Taobao Movies.
• And it enhances its subscription streaming service. The company rolled out its subscription-video-on-demand (SVOD) service, Tmall Box Office (TBO), just over a year ago and has already made deals with Lionsgate and Disney to bring some of their content to its service. Alibaba could potentially bring future projects from its recent partnership with Amblin to its SVOD platform to entice users to subscribe. 

The deal also benefits Amblin and Hollywood as a whole in the following ways:

• It provides an entrance into the world’s fastest growing movie market. China is currently the second largest movie market in the world (behind only the US), with a total of $6.8 billion in box office revenue, up a whopping 48% from 2014, according to consulting firm Artisan Gateway. In comparison, the US and Canada combined to increase only 7% during the same period. Moreover, PwC projects China’s box office to hit $8.9 billion in 2019, surpassing the US in the process.
• It also allows Amblin access to a pool of valuable consumer data. As per the partnership, Amblin will gain access to Alibaba’s valuable consumer related data. Gaining access to this data will help Spielberg and his company obtain a better understanding of Chinese consumers, as Amblin continues its expansion into the fast growing, highly populated region.   

However, Hollywood and media companies alike still face an uphill battle in their pursuit of the Chinese market. Foreign entertainment companies are heavily restricted from entering and maintaining a position in the market due to strict regulations. Netflix was the most recent company to voice concern: A China entry “doesn’t look good,” according to CEO Reed Hastings. 

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NBC's "Law & Order" franchise has a long history of dedicating episodes to stories "ripped from the headlines," as the show likes to promote, and an upcoming episode of "Law & Order: SVU" will do just that when it tackles a Donald Trump-like character.

In an episode titled "Unstoppable" that is set to air on October 26, Gary Cole ("Veep") will play a character described as a "wealthy and boorish man who makes a run for the White House," according to Variety.

Aspects of the story are inspired by the civil lawsuit pending against the Republican presidential nominee by a woman who alleges she was raped by Trump when she was 13 years old in the mid-1990s.

The anonymous "Jane Doe" filed the lawsuit in June. Trump has denied the allegation. A hearing has been set for December 16 in a New York court.

According to Variety, the episode has been highly scrutinized within the walls of NBC. The story, written by a veteran of the show, Julie Martin, and showrunner Rick Eid, has undergone adjustments and the air date has changed numerous times. It was at one time slotted for November 9, the day after Election Day.

However, NBC has confirmed in the Variety story that the episode will air on October 26.

NBC has been in the midst of a Trump controversy since footage recently surfaced from a 2005 "Access Hollywood" segment featuring Trump. The tape captures him making lewd and aggresive comments about women. Since then dozens of GOP leaders and members of Congress have distanced themselves from Trump.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best TV shows of all time, according to experts

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NOW WATCH: Here is the best cosplay of the 2016 New York Comic Con

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" — coming to theaters November — will be the very first "Harry Potter" film without the namesake character. So, we went to New York Comic Con to ask fans how they feel about the upcoming spinoff.

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If people believed that Donald Trump would be dangerous as the US president, Seth Meyers warns that he could be just as dangerous to American democracy if he loses in a new edition of his "Late Night" segment "A Closer Look."

In the wake of the leaked tape showing Trump making vulgar and aggressive statements about women, some polls have shown that Hillary Clinton now has a double-digit lead over the real-estate mogul. Meanwhile, Republicans are abandoning the presidential candidate in herds. A New York Times report describes Trump as being "increasingly isolated and upset."

"You know, we're about two weeks away from learning the name of Trump's childhood sled," Meyers joked, referring to the big reveal in the classic film about a sensational newspaper publisher, "Citizen Kane."

In response, Trump has doubled down on appealing to his base. In recent days, he has once again referred to the potential rigging of the election and asked his supporters to volunteer to monitor voting locations for fraud.

"Even if he loses, Trump can still do lasting damage by questioning the legitimacy of our political system," Meyers said. "Our political system depends on people accepting the outcome — even if they don’t agree with it. But Trump cries fraud whenever he disagrees with something or someone."

Meyers then pointed to Trump's previous "birther" accusations that President Barack Obama wasn't born in the US. Then there's his threat during the debate that if he were to become president, Trump would have Clinton sent to prison.

"That's Trump's M.O., to discredit anyone he disagrees with, whether it's his opponent, or the election itself, and even the media," Meyers said.

Watch Meyers' latest "A Closer Look" segment below:

SEE ALSO: Samantha Bee: It's too late for Republicans to turn on Donald Trump now

DON'T MISS: Trevor Noah angrily rips apart Donald Trump's 'locker room' excuse for vulgar tape: It's a 'crime'

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NOW WATCH: Obama: Trump couldn’t get a job at 7-Eleven

HBO is about to see whether HBO Now, its standalone service that lets you get HBO without a cable subscription, has hurt its negotiating power with the big cable companies.

HBO is in the process of making new deals with major US distributors, which the company sees as more important for its continued growth in the US than HBO Now, Bloomberg reports, citing a person familiar with the network’s strategy.

But these deals aren't just a continuation of business as usual. HBO wants the new deals to let it keep more of the subscription money for itself, according to Bloomberg.

One big factor in HBO's potential success will be how cable companies view HBO Now, which HBO launched in April 2015. Cable isn’t the only place you can get HBO anymore. You can get it on your streaming box, smart TV, or game console. There’s the chance this means HBO has lost some of its luster in the eyes of distributors, and that its power at the negotiating table has gone down.

But if distributors see HBO as a shining model of must-see TV, of what a powerhouse TV network looks like going forward, HBO could still secure the terms it wants. The question is whether distributors see the impending end of “Game of Thrones” and the flop of “Vinyl,” which was cancelled after one season, as indication of programming weakness, or look to things like the recent success of the “Westworld” as a sign that HBO has still got it.

Regardless, it will be HBO’s first test in the post-HBO Now landscape to see how distributors will negotiate with a TV network that isn’t exclusively theirs anymore.

Bloomberg points out that consolidation in the cable industry might be a boon for HBO. “Charter Communications Inc.’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc. and AT&T Inc.’s purchase of DirecTV replaced two of the weaker sellers of HBO with stronger ones, according to the person familiar with the network’s strategy,” Bloomberg’s Gerry Smith writes.

HBO already renewed a long-term contract with AT&T and is close to one with Charter, according to Bloomberg.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's new music service is a direct shot at Apple and Spotify

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