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AwesomenessTV partners with Kohl's for clothing line and new series

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Dressing in a way inspired by your favorite YouTuber just got easier, thanks to a partnership between tween and teen YouTube hub AwesomenessTV and retailer Kohl's that will bring a new clothing line and YouTube series to audiences this month.

The limited-edition junior's fashion line S.o. R.a.d. will be accompanied by Life’s S.o. R.a.d., an original, four-season YouTube series featuring top teen influencers Lia Marie Johnson and Amanda Steele. Johnson rose to prominence on The Fine Bros. Kids React series and has since made a name for herself on her own channel as a comedic actress, while Steele has focused on the fashion and beauty side of YouTube with her MakeupByMandy24 channel. Together they command 3 million followers, and on Life's S.o. R.a.d., they'll bring the clothing to life by meeting with designers and going vintage shopping, among other activities. The series premieres Sept. 19 and the clothing line comes swiftly after on Sept. 22. 

“We are thrilled to partner with a cutting-edge company like AwesomenessTV and leverage the power of their new frontier of YouTube influencers to bring amazing product to our junior’s shoppers,” said Will Setliff, executive vice president of marketing at Kohl’s, in a press release. “We recognize the growing value of digital content creation and social media consumption, and are confident this new platform will create genuine, organic conversation among our teen demographic.”

This is not the first time YouTube and retail have partnered, from Bethany Mota's Aéropostale line to Michelle Phan's line of cosmetics, but this does break new ground for multi-channel networks collaborating on such a large scale with a brick and mortar retailer. The broader partnership with an MCN allows Kohl's to tap into a variety of influencers. While Steele and Johnson will helm the first season, each of the subsequent (the partnership involves four) will focus on a different pair of YouTubers. The partnership will span across multiple digital advertising channels and encourage audience participation.

“We understand that our teen audience wants to engage with both content and influencers, that's why the S.o. R.a.d. campaign operates on so many levels,” said Brian Robbins, Founder and CEO at AwesomenessTV in a press release. “We developed the brand first, found the perfect partner to execute in Kohl’s and then created an original series that positions Kohl’s as a style destination in a cool way.”  

Photo via Michael/Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Jason Reed


'Video Game High School' returns for a third season

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Who wouldn't want a high school that taught you how to rule at video games instead of algebra? YouTube series Video Game High School imagines that possibility, set in a near-future where esports have become the highest form of stardom, and elite games are trained at the selective Video Game High School.

The series began in 2012, and follows protaginist BrainD who unwittingly gains admittance to the school after defeating a champion first-person shooter on live television. Created in part by YouTuber Freddie Wong and starring his brother Jimmy as Ted, the show returns for its third season Oct. 13, but Rocket Jump Studios has released an action-packed trailer to amp up fans' excitement.

The third season adheres to the previous seasons' style of highlighting the typical dramas of high school, as well as live-action gameplay sequences. The race for class president heats up, romance goes public, and corporate sponsorship rears its ugly head. This season will also serve as the finale for the series, closing out the tale in a six-episode arc. The series will take its bow in style, after more than 84 million views, an $800,000+ Kickstarter campaign for its second season, and cameos from the likes of Stan Lee and Chris Hardwick. Season 3 will be no exception, with a cameo from comedian Conan O'Brien already announced, and more sure to come.

Screengrab via Video Game High School / YouTube

Streamys ICON Award honors Tyler Oakley, Pitbull, Shay Carl, and Michelle Phan

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A  few years ago it would be hard to imagine a single award that honors both Tyler Oakley and Pitbull at the same time, but the two entertainers are among a handful of digital creators being honored with a Streamys ICON Award this Sunday.

The ICON award is a new addition to the Streamys, which celebrate their fourth award show in 2014. The award honors digital creators who've demonstrated leadership in online video, and in addition to Oakley and PItbull, they will also honor beauty vlogger Michelle Phan and Maker Studios co-founder Shay Carl. Each recipiant will be honored in a different area of achievement; Oakley for activism, Phan for inspiration, Carl for entreprenuership, and Pitbull for convergence. 

“The Streamys have always honored emerging talent in the online video community, but this year, these innovators have engaged audiences with their creativity and impacted the zeitgeist like never before,” Michael Mahan, President of dick clark productions, which puts on the awards, said in a press release. “It’s my honor to recognize Pitbull, Tyler Oakley, Michelle Phan, and Shay Carlwith the inaugural Streamys ICON Awards Presented by Samsung for their accomplishments and social influence in online video and entertainment."

The Streamys will stream live from Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 7, with hosts Hannah Hart and Grace Helbig. Nominations this year have stretched beyond YouTube and other digital outlets to include Vine, as well as digital achievement for television programs.

Photo via Streamys.org.

Tyler Oakley wants you to apply for this Taco Bell scholarship

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Tyler Oakley and his teen fanbase share a love of Taco Bell, so it's only natural that the restaurant chain would team with the YouTube star to find a teen scholar for 2015.

The Taco Bell Foundation for Teens is launching a Graduate for Mas campaign in partnership with Get Schooled that aims to find a teen ambassador who will appear in a Taco Bell ad, on materials inside stores, and be awarded a $30,000 scholarship to further his or her education.

“Being involved in the search to find the next Teen Scholar is a big deal for me. I’m excited to be part of an organization that is providing life-changing opportunities and the right resources to teens,” said YouTube personality Tyler Oakley in a press release. “Most of my viewers are teens, and they are passionate about so many different causes. The next Teen Scholar will help spread the inspiration to their peers to change the world!”

Taco Bell is a frequent supporter of Oakley and other teen-focused YouTubers. He's been part of the company's Feed the Beat campaign covering music events on red carpets, as well as an ambassador for a campaign to lower high school dropout rates since April. While the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens might sound like a new ploy to increase marketing to their teen base, it's actually been around since 1992 and has awarded over $45 million in grants and scholarships. Teens and Taco Bell have gone hand-in-hand for more than 20 years; it's just the method of getting those teens' attention that has changed with the YouTube generation.

Submissions for the Graduate for Mas program will stay open until Sept. 17, and the winner will be selected based on video submissions in which the entrants explain who they are and why they'd be an inspiration to other teens.

Screengrab via Tyler Oakley/YouTube

Rolling Stones fans can rent official concert footage through Facebook

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Taking cues from Paul McCartney and Katy Perry, the Rolling Stones are jumping into the social media streaming business Thursday. The iconic rockers have debuted a new app that streams six Stones concert films and documentaries via the band’s 19.5 million Likes-strong Facebook page.

For $5.50, one can rent 48-hour access to this media and access it on-demand through Facebook video-on-demand platform Screenburn. Expect the usual nudges to publish the activity to your Facebook feed from the app. But also expect a hefty bundle of Stones performances packaged around last summer’s Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live—a 50th anniversary DVD filmed during two London performances from summer 2013’s 50 and Counting tour.

There are a few holes, unfortunately: The app doesn’t budget in Martin Scorsese’s Shine a Light, or 1970’s paragon of rock ethics and virtues concert film, Gimme Shelter

But the other Stones titles that are available here include: 2012’s Brett Morgen-helmed early days doc, Crossfire Hurricane; a remastered version of 1974’s Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (filmed in Texas on the band’s circa-’72 Exile on Main St. tour); a concert from 1978’s Some Girls tour (also filmed in Texas at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth); 1971’s Stones in Exile, a doc outlining the making of Exile on Main St. in France; and 1981’s Live at the Checkerboard, a Stones pilgrimage to Muddy Waters’ Checkerboard club in Chicago that saw the Stones sit in with Waters, Buddy Guy, and Lefty Dizz. 

Find the whole set on the Rolling Stones' Facebook page.

Photo by choubistar/Flickr (CC By 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III

Terry Crews has a seriously impressive hidden talent

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Terry Crews’s on-screen presence has only scratched the surface of what he can actually do.

He’s already had a football career, an acting career (currently charming audiences in Brooklyn Nine-Nine), and he used both his body and boisterous voice in Old Spice commercials. But he had honed in on a different talent early in life, especially when he got cut from the football team as a kid.

Crews is a gifted artist, making sports portraits so realistic that they look like photographs to the naked eye, and he revealed he got an art scholarship before he ever got one for football. And that’s not all he does.

Jimmy Kimmel showed off his portfolio, and even from the small glimpses we see, it’s obvious that he has some real talent.

H/T Reddit | Photo via Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

YouTube's Bethany Mota officially joins 'Dancing With the Stars'

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One of the brightest faces of YouTube is about make an impression on the rest of America.

YouTube beauty and fashion guru Bethany Mota joins Olympian Lolo Jones, actor Alfonso Ribeiro (and his Carlton dance), fashion designer Betsey Johnson, and nine other celebrities on the cast for the 19th season of Dancing With the Stars. Good Morning Americamade the announcement earlier Thursday, and it’s the first time that DWTS has dipped into YouTube in search for the celebrity cast.

Mota’s been partnered with Derek Hough, who’s already won five separate times with his celebrity partner.

The news that Mota would be joining the cast was first reported last week when many of the names on the casting list leaked, but nothing was confirmed until today's official reveal.

After the segment aired, Mota took to Twitter to announce the news for those who may have missed it.

“I think it’s going to be very interesting because I’ve never done anything like this before, so it’ll be a fun experience,” Mota said. Hough, whom she’s already started training with, told GMA that “she’s great, she’s got some sass.”

Her twoYouTube channels have more than 8 million subscribers combined and may help bring in an audience who might not normally watch DWTS to keep her on every week.

It’s safe to say that her fans are excited.

The new season of DWTS returns Sept. 15.

H/T Good Morning America | Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Terry Gilliam calls Robin Williams 'the most extraordinary person I ever met'

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At Dragon Con last week, legendary director Terry Gilliam spoke at a press conference about the passing of Robin Williams. Gilliam, who was at the con promoting his recent independently produced film Zero Theorem, directed Williams in what many critics consider to be his finest performance in The Fisher King.

“He was the most exceptional person I ever met,” Gilliam said.

I don’t understand how he was able to gather, absorb so much information. There seemed to be nothing he didn’t know. It was in this reservoir, which he could then take and reassemble in forms and shapes and juxtapositions we never imagined. It was such a delight with Robin.

It was almost, when you’re with Robin, as if he was surprised and amazed as we were—he was just channeling all the knowledge of the universe and making it funny.

Gilliam's body of work as a director includes dystopic fantasy classics like Brazil and Twelve Monkeys. But he is perhaps best known as a comedian himself, being the only American-born member of legendary British comedy troupe Monty Python. Gilliam praised Williams as a fellow comedian, citing his “extraordinary combination” of brilliance and sweetness, calling him a “genius child” and recalling a time when Williams entertained at a friends’ birthday party in Scotland.

Robin got up and gave his speech as if he was Bobbie Burns—it was all in rhyme with a Scottish accent, and it went on and on. Five minutes later, we were just in hysterics, amazed. I said, ‘Robin, how long did it take you to write that?’ and he said, ‘Write that? They just asked me about a minute and a half before to come up and do something.

An audience full of stand-up comedians was there and they were all in awe: nobody had that power that Robin had.

Gilliam said Fisher King’s grief-stricken widower was “the closest to who Robin really was” of any of the roles he played.

“It had the innocence, it had the madness, the anguish, the pain, everything... to have that range of joy and pain is a very difficult burden to carry.”

Gilliam also said he found certain scenes from The Fisher King difficult to watch following Williams’ suicide on Aug. 11. Here's one of our favorite moments from The Fisher King, in which Williams illustrates the depth of that range of joy and pain.

Screengrab via YouTube


Short film 'The Weight of Mountains' makes geology into poetry

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Haven’t you ever wondered whether mountains are sentient? Whether swathed in green trees or bearing sharp spires of rock, mountains are inspiring, imposing figures on the landscape.

Now you can meditate on the birth, growth, and death of some of these most striking geological formations through an incredible video. Let the beautiful images, a hypnotic British narrator, and stirring writing take you away:

Mountains: "They are beautiful in their immensity and all the good and evil things that happen in the world are of no consequence to the magnitude of their scale."

When the name for the birth of mountains is the stately sounding "orogenesis," perhaps one can’t help but be inspired. 

The video’s Vimeo page explains that the film is based on work by British geographer L. Dudley Stamp. The filmmaker, Temujin Doran of Studiocanoe, makes this work into epic poetry. Wind, water, ice, and gravity all sculpt mountains, as we know. Plants and animals (humans included) also play their role. But somehow, the video translates these basic facts into something sublime. And in the shots, the mountains themselves dwarf the life surrounding them.

The film was shot in Iceland and created as part of The Weight of Mountains filmmaker residency program, which is "a project to explore our humanity within the throws of the vast, overwhelming expanse of our surrounding environments."

This film was posted about six months ago. However, it's seen a recent resurgence after having been recently featured on The Science Studio, a curated collection of the best science multimedia on the Web. For more inspiration and wonder, definitely check out that collection. 

Screengrab via Studiocanoe/Vimeo.com

'American Psycho' perfectly retold through Google Ads

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How does one reimagine a classically controversial novel about the all-consuming capitalism of the late 1980s? With a little help from Gmail’s “relevant” advertising algorithms.

Putting a knowledge of post-postmodernism honed at Rhode Island School of Design’s MFA program to devilish good use, Mimi Cabell and Jason Huff crafted an appropriately alienating edition of Bret Easton EllisAmerican Psycho, a comedy of manners far more shocking and gruesome than the Mary Harron film it spawned. The pair simply emailed the text of the book back and forth, one page at a time, to generate its 21st century shadow (available as a PDF):

We collected the ads that appeared next to each email and used them to annotate the original text, page by page. In printing it as a perfect bound book, we erased the body of Ellis’ text and left only chapter titles and constellations of our added footnotes. What remains is American Psycho, told through its chapter titles and annotated relational Google ads.

Given the virulent misogyny and racism of yuppie narrator Patrick Bateman, his cultish belief in the virtues of consumerism, and his deliberately tedious descriptions of pornographic violence inflicted upon all manner of innocents, could Google glean any useful data, and would it show a hint of sensitivity to the subject matter? Quite a bit, and no, not really:

In one scene, where first a dog and then a man are brutally murdered with a knife, Google supplied ample ads regarding knives and knife sharpeners. In another scene the ads disappeared altogether when the narrator makes a racial slur. Google’s choice and use of standard ads unrelated to the content next to which they appeared offered an alternate window into how Google ads function—the ad for Crest Whitestrips Coupons appeared the highest number of times, next to both the most graphic and the most mundane sections of the book, leaving no clear logic as to how it was selected to appear.

Photos via mimicabell.com

So there you have it: a book about the hollow superficiality of American culture, hollowed out and replaced with superficially apropos advertising. We’re not sure the literary world can handle anything more meta, but something’s bound to come along.

H/T Electric Literature | Photo by Maarten Van Damme/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Fans can weigh in on minor league hockey team’s Puffy Shirt tribute

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Giddyup, we’re headed for Bakersfield.

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Seinfeld episode "The Puffy Shirt" on Nov. 16, the Bakersfield Condors of the minor league ECHL will be wearing jerseys that replicate the iconic garb Jerry Seinfeld agreed to wear as a guest on the Today Show. In that memorable episode, Kramer's low-talking girlfriend inaudibly asked Seinfeld to wear the shirts she manufactured when he appeared on the NBC morning show. Just to be agreeable, he said yes.

And so a ’90s pop culture legend began.

For devotees of the series, it gets even better. Each jersey will bear the word “Condors” on the front wrapped in the TV show’s logo. The back of each of the game day shirts will bear the name of a famous character from the show. Already cast in dark ink are Jerry, George, Kramer, Newman, Frank Costanza, Puddy, J. Peterman, Jackie Chiles, Bubble Boy, Keith Hernandez, Mickey Abbott, and, of course, the Assman. But fans will get their say via Facebook and Twitter for which five additional character names will be added to the list to complete the set.

Early comments on Twitter about the promotion, even more than two months before the game, are on point.

An ESPN reporter has this suggestion for the Condors’ PA announcer:

And while they’re at it, the Condors would like to feature an unusual mode of transportation on Puffy Shirt Night:

Why not weave in another classic line from an episode featuring Terri Hatcher?

One thing is for sure: Whoever heads promotion for the Bakersfield Condors deserves a promotion, if not part ownership in the team. It won't be easy for another sports team to outdo this theme night (although I’m betting the Charleston Riverdogs could give them a run for their money).

As for name suggestions? I’d go with Babu Bhatt, Uncle Leo, Justin Pitt, or even Kenny Bania. If we’re going obscure, how about Ray McKigney (also in thePuffy Shirt episode)? One can only assume the shirts will be made by Vandelay Industries from a mix of velvet and latex.

H/T Uproxx | Photo by dsasso/Flickr (CC By SA 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III

Negative review sends author into 4-month-long public meltdown

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It’s common knowledge among authors that responding in any way, shape, or form to an unfavorable review is never a good look—but try telling that to Stephan J. Harper.

Harper, you see, employed the iBooks Authorapp to create an interactive, Venice-set noir mystery whose characters are all teddy bears. He then glowingly reviewed his work as one of his stuffed characters. So far so good, right? Enter: Michael E. Cohen.

Cohen, as resident iBooks aficionado at the Apple blog TidBITS, took it upon himself to engage with Venice Under Glass, producing a thoughtful if not entirely positive review. No sooner had he dropped the descriptors “workmanlike” and “juvenile,” however, than Harper was gnawing on his ankles in the comment section, quoting his own strained prose at length and demanding to know whether Cohen had actually read the book.

Comparing yourself to two of literature's great stylists is enough to earn you the contempt of any potential reader, though Harper didn’t stop there: as other commenters piled on, he handed out amazing burns such as: “You didn't write this book; I did,” “My god, your triviality...do either of you contribute anything to the world of Ideas or Art?” and “[you] never heard the term MultiTouch Fiction until I officially named the genre on May 9th!”

images via iTunes

The outburst—which remains ongoing four months after Cohen’s mild critique first ran—soon earned him ridicule in writers’ forums, on Reddit, and even in a French newspaper. Nevertheless, Harper continued to spar throughout with rubberneckers who showed up mostly to witness his complete self-destruction; most recently he called Cohen “disingenuous and perverse.”

Finally, TidBITS publisher Adam Engst saw fit to intervene, making this statement yesterday:

We have been shocked by how this comment thread has gone viral, and we've been watching it closely, because many of the posts have crossed over the line of civility we require of commenters. It was so unusual, though, that we let it grow organically despite the vilification that Harper continually heaped on Michael’s review and increasingly on his person.

Until now. Harper's most recent abuse-laden post—which I have deleted—drew in details about people in Michael's personal life that I won't allow to appear here. There are discussions about this situation elsewhere on the Internet that will undoubtedly continue, but I'm closing comments on this article.

And so fizzles perhaps the greatest meltdown the self-publishing industry has witnessed this year. Harper claims that the controversy has brought his sales numbers up—at just $2.99, you too could own a delusional artist’s masterpiece—but Goodreads tells a different story.

Photo by Erica Zabowski/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Parody YouTube channel inspires tighter logic in 'Captain America'

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The Honest TrailersYouTube channel has been skewering Hollywood movies for two years now, making fun of obvious cliches and plot holes in movies like Twilight, Transformers, and superhero franchises. But Captain America: The Winter Soldier may be the first movie to beat Honest Trailers at its own game.

When the honest trailer for Winter Soldier came out last month, subscribers were surprised to discover that it really didn’t make fun of the movie at all. Actually, Honest Trailers could barely find anything to pick apart, with most of their criticisms being linked to other parts of the Marvel franchise. “This one was hard, you guys,” they wrote in the video summary.

Basically, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was too good to mock. And as it turns out, there’s a reason for that. The film’s directors are fans of Honest Trailers, and they purposefully engineered the film so it would be harder to parody.

In a recent interview with Collider, Winter Soldier directors Joe and Anthony Russo were asked how they felt about achieving a positive Honest Trailers review. Joe Russo answered:

“Flattered and amused. What’s so funny is that I’m an avid honest trailer watcher. I love it, it cracks me up… We used to sit in the room and go, 'This is not going to end up in an honest trailer. This logic isn’t sound enough yet.' We literally tried to Honest Trailer proof the movie.  Because what Honest Trailers really is… is 'How sound is the logic in your film? How ridiculous are the buys that you’re asking the audience to make?' So we would just comb through the script over and over again and go, 'How do we shore up this logic?' So it was a very helpful exercise for us.”

So, the good news is that some filmmakers do actually listen to fan criticism, even from YouTube parody channels. Although of course, Honest Trailers aren’t just there to make people laugh; they pick up on genuine, usually very stupid flaws that were left in Hollywood movies due to lazy storytelling.

If more directors took a leaf out of the Russo brothers’ book, we wouldn’t have to tolerate nearly so many plot holes every time we go to the movies.

Photo via Marvel

11-year-old builds Lego version of David Foster Wallace's magnum opus

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It’s unclear if Kevin Griffith is the coolest dad in the world or the cruelest: the Capital University English professor had his 11-year-old son, Sebastian, construct Lego versions of more than 100 scenes from the late David Foster Wallace’s magnum opus, Infinite Jest.

If you’re among the countless readers who have failed to put a dent in the densely annotated tome—or someone who finished and won’t stop humblebragging about it—don’t worry: Sebastian didn’t read the novel himself, presumably because it weighs more than he does. Instead, his father selected and explained crucial passages and let the kid run with them.

Here, to take a few examples, we have the preamble to athletic prodigy Hal Incandenza’s opening psychotic episode, a conversation between secret agents, part of a tense match at Enfield Tennis Academy, and snippets of the novel’s hallucinatory coda. Casting a Nelson Muntz figurine as recovering drug addict Don Gately is a particularly inspired choice.

Images via brickjest.com

Sebastian’s work joins a crowded field of fanart surrounding the cult classic—check out some alternate covers, an interactive map, and this Byzantine character diagram, for example. In the meantime, we await some visual approximation of the vortex of transcendental boredom that lies at the center of Wallace’s unfinished The Pale King, though we’re not getting our hopes up. 

H/T The Guardian | Photo by dkwonsh/Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Florida man plans to exhibit Jennifer Lawrence's stolen nudes as 'art'

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The saga of #CelebGate, the uproar over the massive dump of illegally obtained celebrity nudes, has taken yet another bizarre turn. A Florida-based artist intends to exhibit some of the photos in an upcoming show.

The artist, known as XVALA, plans to blow up stolen images of Kate Upton and Jennifer Lawrence and print them “on canvas, life-size and unaltered,” according to a press release from Cory Allen Contemporary Art.

“We share out secrets with technology,” XVALA declared, “and when we do, our privacy becomes accessible to others.”

The show will be called No Delete, and the Celebgate photos will be displayed among his carefully curated “7 year collection of images found on Google of celebrities in their most vulnerable and private moments.”

XVALA is no stranger to appropriating intimate transgressions against women and showing them to the world as “art.” Back in 2011 he plastered leaked pictures of Scarlett Johansson across Los Angeles. He’s also used photos of Britney Spears in his work. 

“In today’s culture, everybody wants to know everything about everybody,” the artist said in a statement. “An individuals privacy has become everyone else’s business. … It has become cash for cache.”

Celebgate began with the leak of dozens of stolen photos of numerous A-list female celebrities onto anonymous message boards like 4chan and AnonIB. Since then, Reddit has become a hub for the content, because it’s one of the few sites not deleting links to the photos (as Imgur and Twitter are doing). Making the issue even more complicated is that many collections of the stolen nudes allegedly contained child porn.

Jennifer Lawrence is among those threatening legal action against anyone hosting or sharing the photos—although the precise legality of the photos remains unclear.

H/T E Online/Betabeat | Painting via Pierre Subleyras / Wikimedia Commons | Photo via Karin4759 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)


Chris Pratt plays baseball on screen, but he sure doesn't throw like it in real life

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Even Chris Pratt can’t do everything.

The star of Guardians of the Galaxy, who’s taken the Internet by storm this summer during his extensive press tour, threw out the first pitch at Wednesday’s Chicago Cubs game. Donning a Cubs jersey and a hat from Groot Industries (a local solid waste management company, not the fan favorite), he tossed the ball out to the catcher.

It may not be as bad as 50 Cent’s first pitch back in May, but let’s be honest, it’s still pretty terrible.

Having completely missed the strike zone, Pratt shrugged it off and was a good sport with fans who wanted to take pictures with him. Later on, he led the crowd in a rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” which, if anything, makes him even more endearing—even if he is off-key.

Correction: An early version of this story's headline misstated the position Chris Pratt's character played in Moneyball.

H/T Vulture | Photo via MLB/YouTube

Legendary entertainer Joan Rivers passes at 81

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On Thursday, the world lost a legendary entertainer in one of its hardest-working comedians, Joan Rivers. Rivers’s only child, Melissa, announced that her 81-year-old mother had passed peacefully on Thursday afternoon at 1:17pm surrounded by loved ones and in the care of wonderful doctors and nurses. In a statement to the press, Melissa memorialized her mother’s delight in laughter and comedy.

My mother's greatest joy in life was to make people laugh. Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon. 

The sharp-tongued comic was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York last week after complications from vocal cord surgery sent her into respiratory arrest. Though Rivers' condition fluctuated during her hospitalization, many held out hope that the brassy personality would return to the mic soon. 

After the 2010 documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work was released, chronicling her life and career, she enjoyed a vibrant career resurgence. Most recently, Rivers’s turn lampooning celebrity fashions with her quick wit and sharp tongue as the anchor host of E!’s Fashion Police introduced her brilliance to a new generation of fans.

Her co-hosts held faith till the end, taking to Twitter to send thoughts and prayers to their fearless leader.

Friends, actors, and fellow comedians were quick to pay their respects on social media to the unapologetic comic who triumphed during a time when entertainment was so male-dominated

Rivers talked about having led an "amazing life" in the second season premiere of Joan and Melissa, and how at peace she was with the idea of death—and, of course, one big joke.

Here's to the actress and comedian at the curtain call of life's "one big movie."

Photo via shankbone/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

BBC removes ‘Doctor Who’ beheading scene out of respect

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In light of the killing of two American journalists by the militant Islamist group Islamic State (alternately referred to as ISIS), the BBC has taken the decision to remove a decapitation scene that was due to be shown in an upcoming episode of Doctor Who, Variety reports.

On Sept. 2 footage was released of the murder of the American Steven Sotloff at the hands of a masked Islamic State executioner—apparently the same British militant dubbed “Jihadi John” who appeared in the execution video of the photojournalist James Foley two weeks prior. 

Graphic footage of both killings was posted online by the Jihadist group, prompting many websites to take a stand and to refuse to host it.  

The edited Doctor Who episode is entitled “Robot of Sherwood,” and is due to air this Saturday. It was filmed in February, the BBC reports, and the edited decapitation scene was apparently a fight scene featuring the Sheriff of Nottingham and Robin Hood. “In light of recent news events,” a BBC spokesperson said, “we have made an edit to episode three out of respect.”

Islamic State holds further Western hostages, and has threatened to kill British aid worker David Haines next. 

H/T Variety | Photo via Ben Sutherland / Flickr (CC BY 2.0) | Remix by Rob Price

Disney veteran raises over $130K to save hand-drawn animation

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Disney may have sworn off hand-drawn animation for a while, but that doesn’t mean animator James Lopez is ready to give it up.

“It’s basically a revered art form that everybody seems to love,” Lopez told the Daily Dot. "Unfortunately, those of us who at one time were able to make a decent living making it are no longer able to do so, because there are so very few productions being made. We’re looking to restore that livelihood and keep it in the public eye.”

Several Disney veterans, including Lopez, Bruce Smith, and Sarah Airriess, have teamed up to create Hullabaloo, a 2D-animated steampunk film. In a little over a week, Hullabaloo has already gotten all the money it needs—and then some. The film’s Indiegogocampaign reached its $80,000 fundraising goal on Wednesday, just one week after it launched on Aug. 27. As of Thursday night, it had raised more than $136,000.

Lopez, the creator and driving force behind the film, has worked on projects like The Lion King, Pocahontas, and 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, which looks to be Disney’s last hand-drawn animated film for the foreseeable future. He and Airriess were also part of the team behind the Oscar-winning short film "Paperman."

Photo via Hullabaloo Indiegogo

It was right after finishing The Princess and the Frog that Lopez first got the idea for Hullabaloo. He said it all started when he saw a steampunk-inspired Halloween display on a friend’s front lawn, as well as the crowd of Victorian-clad spectators taking pictures with it. Lopez said his wife was “enchanted” by the look and feel of steampunk design.

“She said if I could get that feeling of enchantment into a production, I would really have something special,” Lopez said. 

He added that steampunk combines the best of “modern-day technology with old-world aesthetic,” similar to using 2D and 3D animation together, like he did with "Paperman" and plans to do with Hullabaloo. He said the characters will be hand-drawn, but backgrounds and props that are “too intricate” will be computer-generated. He said that will help keep costs down, as well as help dispel the rumor that hand-drawn is too expensive to do nowadays. 

“There’s been this misconception that hand-drawn animation is more expensive to produce,” Lopez said. “It is possible to create a high-quality product with a reasonable budget, and make a considerable profit.” 

Steampunk may be inspiring the look of the film, but Lopez said the feel, tone, and characters come down to two people: his daughters. His two daughters are the inspiration behind the film’s female protagonists: scientist Veronica Daring, who moonlights as goggles-clad heroine Hullabaloo, and inventor Jules. While this might strike comparisons to Disney’s hit 3D animated film Frozen, Lopez said it’s more about bringing his own life to the screen. 

“Part of my training as an animator is take what I observe in life and transcend that into an art,” Lopez said. “I’m very inspired by my kids and their activities, and I wanted to take my feelings about them and share them with the world.”

Photo via Hullabaloo Indiegogo

He’s also bringing his own life and art to the Indiegogo campaign, with a unique reward for select donors. A $500 donation includes a one-and-a-half hour animation tutorial with Lopez himself through Skype or Google Hangout. At least four people have already signed up. Lopez said he chose to hold the animation lessons because it’s something unique he can offer that “no one else could.” In addition, he said part of the reason he’s making this film is to inspire other animators to do the same. 

“It’s an opportunity for us to take the next generation of artists who’ve really openly expressed a strong desire to learn the craft and keep it going,” Lopez said.

Hullabaloo will start as a short film, but Lopez will also develop a proof-of-concept to submit to studios. Lopez said the short film will first be released to donors and then get a wider release online. His goal is to possibly turn the short film into a webseries, TV show, or even a feature-length film. He said Hullabaloo won’t be enough to take hand-drawn animation off the endangered species list but added that it’s a good way to start—and well worth the effort.

“It’s a wonderful art form; it can actually be considered an American-born art form,” Lopez said. “I think, like any other art form, it deserves to be showcased and practiced. So, that’s why I believe it in it.”

Photo via Hullabaloo/Indiegogo

Late-night talk show hosts salute Joan Rivers

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As word spread of Joan Rivers’s death Thursday, the late-night talk show hosts took time out to share their memories of the comedian.

Rivers was a staple with the late-night circuit, and her death clearly affected the many hosts who spoke kindly of her both in their monologues. The news came early enough that they were able to address it on Thursday’s show, and they were even able to speak about her with some of their guests, some who knew and were influenced by Rivers themselves.

She famously made her first appearance on The Tonight Show for the first time after she was banned 26 years ago, and Jimmy Fallon spoke to his audience about getting a kiss from Rivers when she showed up for his first show and encouraged them to watch her documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work.

“It was really emotional and really nice,” Fallon said as he choked up. “I don’t want to show a clip because I don’t think it will do her justice. We loved her. We will definitely miss her.”

Chris Hardwick was already scheduled to appear on Conan when the news broke, and like many, he was broken up about it. He had her on as a guest on the Nerdist Podcast two years ago. He told Conan O’Brien about one of the times she called him to ask about how the Internet works, while O’Brien tried to explain what an event it was in America when Rivers guest-hosted The Tonight Show for Carson.

David Letterman has the longest tenure in late-night, so he had many memories of Rivers over the years. He spoke highly of her high work ethic and her no-apologies attitude to comedy, calling her “a real pioneer for other women” looking to be comedians.

“And talk about about guts—she would come out here and sit in this chair and say some things that were unbelievable, just where you would have to swallow pretty hard... the force of her comedy was overpowering.”

Jimmy Kimmel did his part by speaking fondly of Rivers in his monologue, but he and Sarah Silverman figured that she would want them to be funny. They were sentimental at first, echoing the thought of many in that even after living 81 years, Rivers wasn’t done yet.

And then came the insults, because they figured that's what Rivers would have wanted—laughter. Melissa Rivers said as much when she stated her mother’s final wish.

Both Seth Meyers and Craig Ferguson kept their tributes short. Ferguson called it “a sad day for us in the comedy community” while Meyers talked about her appearance on his show last month, saying that he had never sat next to anyone who told so many jokes as quickly as she did.

Photo via Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

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