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Pixar is unleashing its Oscar-winning rendering software—for free

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After over three decades of using RenderMan to gradually move from a niche visual effects company to a major Hollywood studio, Pixar is releasing a version of the revolutionary visual effects software to the public.

RenderMan isn't just a software—it's a technology that Pixar developed in the early '80s, originally dubbed REYES (Render Everything You Ever Saw). Rendering is a long-used process that allows animators to create images based on mathematical representations of 3D images, or models. Pixar's RenderMan technology was used in dozens of movies, from early effects-heavy films like Star Trek: Wrath of Khan to numerous animated films like The Lion King. In 2001, it became the first software package ever to receive an Academy Award for "significant advances to the field of motion picture rendering."

Now, all that power can be yours with no watermarks. The animation studio announced Thursday that it will soon release a version of RenderMan for free to the public. (The commercial version is available for $495 per license.) The company cited a wish to advance open-source practices and standards as part of their rationale for releasing the free version:

As a further commitment to the advancement of open standards and practices, Pixar is announcing that, in conjunction with the upcoming release, free non-commercial licenses of RenderMan will be made available without any functional limitations, watermarking, or time restrictions.

Those wanting to download the free version can do so by registering at Pixar's website to be notified when the package is available. You can't use RenderMan on its own, however; you'll also need one of four separate modeling and animation software packages, Maya, Houdini, Katana, or Cinema4D.

We can't wait to see how this galvanizes the already-amazing amateur animation community. DeviantART is already full of gorgeous samples of what talented artists can do with the technology. Imagine all those 2D animated GIFs of your OTP making out on Tumblr, transformed through the magic of 3-D rendering.

Pixar, this may be the best gift you have given us yet.

Illustration by blue-lemmonade/Tumblr


Premier YouTube network to lay off 10 percent of its staff

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Maker Studios is planning to cut about 10 percent of its 380 employees this week just a few months after Disneypurchased the multichannel network.

It’s unclear exactly when the layoffs will occur or what prompted the layoffs in the first place.

This is now the second instance in just over a year’s time that the company has laid off a large number of its employees; Maker let go between 30 and 40 employees last May just days after CEO Ynon Kreiz took over the company. At the time, Maker cited an evolving business and planning for the “next phase of growth” as the reason for the cuts.

This time around, Maker is offering a similar explanation for the cuts.

“Maker’s business is constantly evolving, and we routinely reassess our internal resources and make strategic adjustments, reducing staff in some areas while actively hiring in others,” a rep for Maker told Variety in a statement.

It’s possible that Disney could be looking to cut excess jobs in certain areas while hiring in others, but Maker, after acquiring investments from Time Warner and purchasing Blip.tv, has shown that it’s capable of obtaining financing.

The news comes just over two months after Disney acquired the company in hopes of being able to attract a younger audience online. At the time, the deal was estimated at approximately $500 million, but that number could go up to $950 million if certain goals are met.

However, the cuts don't seem to indicate that Maker is in any trouble just yet; in the latest Comscore U.S. Online Video Rankings Maker ranked fourth among the top YouTube networks.

H/T Tubefilter | Illustration by Jason Reed

Here are all the films that influenced the original 'Star Wars' movie

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Need something else to sate that Star Wars thirst between almost-daily leaks from Episode VII? Why not dig just a little deeper and uncover some of the source material behind the original trilogy?

Michael Heilemann, interface director at Squarespace, is going through the Star Wars films to trace their inspirations, cultural and historical, and present them side-by-side as one movie-length video mashup. Heilemann’s project will look at the different the cultural mediums which contributed to the Star Wars series, which he considers a “watershed moment” in film, technology, and cultural history. He calls his mashup work “Kitbashed”—a term that describes using a scale model kit to build something other than its intended design—which, of course, Lucas did to build his epic Star Destroyers.

Some of the inspirations Heilemann notes are pretty shocking, including the incredibly famous title and introduction—in which text glides up the screen, introducing the characters and setting—which is very similar to Flash Gordon (1936) and Forbidden Planet (1956). 

He says, however, he doesn’t want this to be an exposé of the Star Wars films, but an homage to the “amazing” creativity of the Star Wars team, because it's a series he admires. “I just love that period of film making, and spending time with it," Heilemann told the Daily Dot. "Star Wars in particular is such an interesting watershed moment [...] For me it became a way to deep dive into film history with a purpose.”

He’s not the first to do so: In 2007, a documentary called Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed detailed some of the parallels between the Star Wars series and history and culture. 

Though it’s incomplete, he’s “tired of sitting on it” and has launched his mashup of first film, A New Hope, on Vimeo.

Heilemann told the Daily Dot that, if he gets time, he will attempt the prequel series, but “while I love the idea of doing at least Empire, I doubt I'll be able to find the time to get it done.” No wonder: Getting this far has taken him four long years, so that dream might just have to stay far, far away.

H/T Vox and Digg | Photo via Ricky Brigante/Flickr

Even Ryan Lewis can't get an answer about who he is or what he does

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When it comes to wearing the viral video crown of late night, Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon seem to be locked in a ceaseless battle of one-upmanship. 

Kimmel had Drake take to the streets in the spring as part of his I Witness News Series. The rapper donned a fake beard, wig, and glasses before hitting Hollywood to get people’s candid opinions about him. Not to be outdone, Fallon had the bearded white guy that stands next to Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, hit the streets of New York disguise-free to answer some eternal questions.

  • What's a Ryan Lewis?
  • Does he work at Urban Outfitters part-time for the clothing discounts?
  • Is he Macklemore's brother?
  • Or lover?
  • Is he the guy who sat behind me in Psych 101? He looks like the guy who sat behind me in Psych 101. 
  • What does he do?
  • Why is he on stage?

Lewis was happy to indulge in a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor for our amusement, and we all learned a little more about the producer counterpart of Macklemore in the process. 

H/T Ora.tv | Photo via: der_robert/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

YouTube salutes LGBT athletes with #ProudToPlay campaign

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BY SAM GUTELLE

YouTube has established itself as a fervent supporter of the LGBT community, and for the second year in a row, the site has used Pride Month as a platform to promote LGBT awareness. This time, YouTube is particularly focused on LGBT athletes, who it has honored through a campaign called #ProudToPlay.

As explained in an accompanying blog post, YouTube chose to focus on LGBT athletes because of several relevant current events:

From the Sochi Olympics to the recent NFL draft, this year has seen a growing, global conversation about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community in the world of sports.  Many LGBT athletes are sharing their stories on YouTube, and the support they’re getting from teammates and fans has helped others find the courage to do the same… In celebration of the upcoming World Cup in Brazil and LGBT Pride month, we’re honoring the LGBT athletes, their supporters, as well as the YouTube Creators who stand up for diversity in sports and elsewhere—all of whom help create an equal and inclusive playing field for everyone.

As with last year’s #ProudToLove campaign, the centerpiece of #ProudToPlay is a video on the YouTube Spotlight channel that reaffirms the site’s support of the LGBT community. The video’s stars include openly gay athletes, such as Jason Collins and Michael Sam; straight athletes who support their LGBT peers, such as Kobe Bryant and Neymar Jr.; and two of YouTube’s most popular LGBT creators, Hannah Hart and Tyler Oakley.

Beyond the main video, YouTube has also crammed its Spotlight channel with #ProudToPlay playlists. As Pride Month rolls on, viewers will be able to browse through videos from LGBT athletes, LGBT content creators, and the You Can Play project. All of this content shows that, as far as LGBT rights are concerned, YouTube is proud of its position.

Screengrab via YouTube Spotlight

What I learned about style from Ariana Grande's 'Problem'

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BY KAT GEORGE

You know you’re old when someone who is apparently already huge with the Nickelodeon set is news to you: I’ve been a fan of Ariana Grande since she released “The Way” with Mac Miller last year, but Ariana Grande has been a thing on Nickelodeon for much longer. The rest of us are finally catching up. Her new track with Iggy Azalea, “Problem” is contending for Official Summer Jam of 2014 and putting up a good fight. Having teased the video for the past million years—because now it’s not enough to just release a video without letting everyone know about it 17 times a day for at least 6 weeks before you actually do—she finally let it drop on Friday. The problem is that after all the hype, the “Problem” video is kind of lame. Cute! But lame.

That’s Ariana Grande in a nutshell though: cute but sort of lame. Actually, she’s straight up adorable, and her doe eyed flirtiness is kind of captivating, which is why I’ve watched the “Problem” video more times than a grown ass woman should voluntarily admit to. That, and the track features Iggy Azalea, who I think is the next Nicki Minaj (hint: I love Nicki Minaj). Even though the “Problem” video is a schticky mod throwback (another description that also perfectly summarizes Ariana’s persona), it did teach me a thing or two about Carmela Soprano nails and letting your friends choose your outfits.

I am turning into my grandmother

Apparently I am old because when I saw that opening shot of Ariana from behind my first thought was, “Someone get that girl a rack of lamb, a loaf of bread and some feta cheese.” I am unofficially becoming an old Greek grandmother. If I were actually an old Greek grandmother, I’d take her a plate of food by any means necessary. I don’t want to judge women's bodies based on what is sexy/beautiful or not sexy/ugly, but sometimes when a woman is so visibly emaciated she looks ill, it’s worrying. I think I missed the part where it became politically correct to be okay with a person’s bones protruding from their skin in unnatural ways.

Carmela Soprano-style nails look cool

As a woman who you know, does stuff—hang shelves, cook, masturbate—I have a natural hatred of long nails. It’s impossible to do anything when you’re in constant fear of breaking a nail and, more importantly, when your fingers can’t even reach the thing they’re trying to touch. But Ariana Grande’s white, Carmela Soprano style talons look good—although it could be because they’re on her delicate little fingers at the end of her tiny little bird hands rather than on excessively accessorized, gaudy gold jewelry drenched hands of a fictional mobster’s wife.

Every woman needs a sparkly dress

Watching Ariana in a spangly little A-line dress reinforces the rule that every woman should have a sparkly dress in her arsenal. I guess it’s anti-feminist to tell women what to wear, but even if you’re in overalls or parachute pants or whatever it is a woman regularly puts on to go about her business, there’s no reason why she shouldn’t have a sparkly dress as well. I mean even Beyoncé, Queen Woman, suggests we all have a freakum dress. Ariana’s dress in “Problem” is a little bit Mariah Carey too, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little Mariah Carey.

Know how to identify friends from frenemies

Whoever dressed Iggy Azalea for this video is either not a very good stylist or was hell bent on playing her looks down so she wouldn’t upstage Ariana. Ariana Grande, obviously, is an attractive girl, very waifish and pretty. But Iggy Azalea is a straight up hot babe. She also exudes a certain power that I think comes from her womanliness, and by “womanliness” I mean her perfect curves. You wouldn’t know it in the “Problem” video, though. She only gets to wear one really fucking boring outfit that doesn’t do her body any justice. Her hair is ridiculous (Dolly Parton bouffants are for Dolly Parton only), and her makeup detracts from her natural beauty. Meanwhile, Ariana Grande dances around next to Iggy in a sparkle princess dress and then a perfectly mod era-appropriate two piece, which, in my opinion, Iggy would have slain if she had worn it. Ariana also gets to wear non-stupid makeup and her regular, pretty hair. This is an important lesson for any woman taking fashion advice from her “friends”: not everyone has your best interests at heart.

Read the full story at Noisey.

This webseries takes the crown for most absurd product placement

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It doesn't matter if you have never heard of Cimorelli—six sisters who have gained a degree of success singing a cappella covers on YouTube. Because Subway has, and it's ensuring that the group’s new webseries Summer With Cimorelli is “served fresh.”

Product placement is hardly new, and indeed this isn’t even the first webseries that a fast food chain has been involved in (nor even Subway’s first), but it would be difficult to find a more brazen, complete disregard for any subtlety in the process. You could use an expression like “shoe-horned” to illustrate how the references to sandwiches find their way into the narrative, but it would not be strong enough, seeing as at least feet belong in shoes, no matter what sort of fight they sometimes put up. It’s as if the makers of Summer With Cimorelli saw that scene from Wayne’s World and interpreted it as being instructional.

In episode 1, the girls have been left alone (“for the summer”) by their archaeologist parents, but by the time we arrive on the scene, things have already, in a Nickelodeon sort of way, gone a little bit crazy. There are streamers everywhere, and a llama is out by the pool. A police officer sees the suspicious pile of sandwiches (curiously uneaten) and hints that the subs that were ordered for their party were to blame for the chaos. “We were on a budget,” reply the girls, taken aback by this line of interrogation. “Subway is affordable, and you get your food just the way you want it.”

Sure, it’s an easy target, and fooling your children into thinking that a “couple of kids ordering some subs and hanging out” is the epitome of youthful rebellion is certainly one upside of this program’s clunky insidiousness. But it’s also hard to ignore that the whole thing is underscored by a strange vibe created by adults playing themselves as children. It’s not exactly Don’t Look Now, but it feels odd when eldest sister Christina “wanted to prove so bad” that she was capable of looking after her siblings. She’s almost 24; why does she even have a “summer”? And when 20-year-old Lisa reveals she has a crush on a guy at Subway it is painted in a way as if they are both only 15.

If it were just used as a delivery mechanism for Cimorelli’s songs—which are bright, if not particularly memorable—then Summer With Cimorelli could well have been an inoffensive springboard for the sisters’ talents. Instead, the group is left with a shameful testament to a poor early career choice, basically an advertisement that they are open for business. Let’s just hope Depends doesn't call in time for season 2.

Screengrab via AwesomenessTV/YouTube

Jonah Hill apologizes on 'Fallon' for homophobic slurs

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Jonah Hill gave an emotional apology on The Tonight Show after getting into trouble for calling a paparazzi photographer a homophobic slur during the weekend.

Hill was on the show to promote 22 Jump Street, and instead of launching straight into a funny bit (or one of Jimmy Fallon’s many games), he started things on a serious note. He explained that he said “the most hurtful word I could think of at that moment” after a paparazzi photographer verbally insulted him and his family while he was out over the weekend.

“I didn’t mean this in the sense of the word, I didn’t mean it in a homophobic way,” he said while Fallon listened. “And I think that doesn’t matter, how you mean things doesn’t matter. Words have weight and meaning. The word I chose was grotesque and no one deserves to say or hear words like that.”

As a lifelong supporter of the LGBTQ community, he felt that he had let everyone down and offered his apologies, even if people didn’t want to forgive him for it.

“I know I’m usually funny and shit, but this wasn’t funny,” he said. “It was stupid, and I deserve the shit I’m going to get for it.”

Hill already owned up to saying the slurs earlier that day on The Howard Stern Show, but with Fallon’s audience size and the tendency for his clips to go viral, he was able to reach a bigger audience. With his press tour in full swing, this might not be the last time he apologizes for using the slurs.

H/T Variety | Photo via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube


The YouTube celebrity culture debate: How can creators and fans coexist?

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Most YouTube creators never intended to be famous. In fact, many of them started their channels with the intention of sharing their thoughts, beauty tips, and creative endeavors to whoever might be listening. But over time, millions of people have listened, transforming many creators such as Jenna Marbles, John and Hank Green of the Vlog Brothers, and PewDiePie into full-blown celebrities.

But unlike their traditional media counterparts, those YouTubers have won hearts by simply being themselves rather than playing a part. Now, with millions of fans following their every move, creators have begun discussing the need to change their relationship with fans and find a balance that maintains the intimate spirit of YouTube while creating barriers of safety on both sides.  

Early last month, popular UK lifestyle and beauty vlogger Louise Pentland, best known for her channel Sprinkle of Glitter, uploaded a video to discuss with fans all the reasons they should not idolize YouTube creators.

“It’s now become easy for me just to give you perfect,” Pentland states to fans. “Perfect Louise. Louise with her hair done, Louise with her makeup done, Louise with a tan on. I feel like I can confidently say this: I don’t think you should idolize any YouTuber. … Don’t idolize us; enjoy us.”

Pentland’s video came on the heels of her recent trip to Playlist Live, where she was met with thousands of screaming fans and security line between creators and their subscribers. Her overwhelming interactions with fans lead Pentland to bravely ask the questions on many creators’ minds: What is the best way for creators and fans to interact that is safe, is efficient, and doesn’t lose the personal spirit of YouTube?

While many fans claim to have fallen in love with these YouTubers, creators have set out to remind viewers that their lives are not perfect. Rather, they’re simply presenting the best version of themselves—with the rest of the footage left on the proverbial cutting-room floor.

In support of Pentland’s video, Zoe Sugg, better known by her channel name Zoella, wrote on her personal blog:

People ask me if i'm a celebrity … and the answer is no. I'm not. I just make videos that [lots] of people like to watch. Does that mean that it's okay for groups of girls to sit outside my house and wait for me to leave, or to ring my doorbell multiple times? I'm not sure it does. Does that mean I am able to perfectly handle walking into a room at an event or a meet and greet to be greeted by a wall of screams? No, I'm still not quite used to that one either haha!

As Sugg writes, there are very few YouTubers who originally set out to make content in the name of being famous. And years later, these same YouTubers have become some of the most subscribed, well-known names in new media. 

The need to redefine these relationships is not just to provide more privacy and safety for creators; it's important for fans as well. Earlier this year, allegations of sexual abuse were made against YouTube musicians Alex Day and Tom Milsom, who were accused of taking advantage of their celebrity status and their fans’ trust. These allegations quickly spurred conversations about consent and the need for both YouTubers and fans to engage in healthy, respectful relationships. Moving forward, where do things go from here?

Sugg is just one of many YouTubers, including Hank Green, Carrie Hope Fletcher, and Charlie McDonnell, who have come forward to continue Pentland’s conversation in both their own videos or in the comment section of hers. While few answers have been discovered, McDonnell suggests the solution is more respect on both sides of the security line.

“The big YouTubers on this side of things, I think, they don’t want to feel other. They don’t want to feel special. They want to feel normal. They want you to see them as human beings,” explains McDonnell, a creator who boosts over 2.3 million subscribers to his name. “I believe we need some more respect on both sides.”

For all the videos on the topic, check out McDonnell's playlist here.

Screengrab via Sprinkle of Glitter/YouTube

Hear Philip Seymour Hoffman's heartbreaking speech on happiness

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He's no longer lighting up the silver screen, but even after his death, Philip Seymour Hoffman is still sharing his artistic inspiration with the rest of the world. 

A new video from PBS Digital Studios beautifully animates the words of the late esteemed actor to make a poignant statement on the delicate art of achieving happiness. Hoffman delivered the speech, "Happy Talk," as part of a series of talks at the Rubin Museum last year with Simon Critchley. The final talk, from which the animation is taken, is available in full here.

The animation is part of the series Blank on Blank, which remixes celebrity interviews to give them powerful new meaning and nuance. In its 32 segments so far, it's transformed the words of icons from Fidel Castro to Grace Kelly.

For the segment on Hoffman, animator Patrick Smith captured Hoffman's self-deprecating whimsy as he discussed the difference between pleasure and true, lasting contentment.

Hoffman also discussed the ever-present nature of the past and the fleeting status of moments of happiness—as well as how each person's internal darkness affects how he plays his parts. 

"Learning how to die," he explains, "and therefore learning how to live."

H/T The Daily What | Photo via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA-3.0)

J.J. Abrams tries to plug 'Star Wars VII' leaks by… leaking another photo

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J.J. Abrams has a message for the people who have been leaking photos from the set of the new Star Wars movie: Please stop.

Filming for Episode VII has only been going on for close to three weeks, and unofficial photos from the set have leaked online almost from the start, mainly from TMZ.

Aside from a glimpse at a new creature and a slate, Lucasfilm has been silent on the state of filming—although it did announce the casting of Lupita Nyong’o and Gwendoline Christie on Monday.

Once rumors spread that the Millennium Falcon would appear in Episode VII, Abrams finally took to Twitter to shoot down any rumors and to nicely ask for the leaked photos to stop.

The location of Abrams’s handwritten message (which isn’t his first) is a curious thing for Star Wars fans. To some, it might just look like a ship part, but some will notice that the note is on what looks like a Dejarik board.

It’s a popular game in the Star Wars universe with a circular chessboard on a hologame table and 3D “holomonsters” as the pieces. If you’ve seen A New Hope, you’ve already seen a Dejarik board—aboard the Millennium Falcon.

Is it possible that this board is located somewhere other than the Millennium Falcon? Of course, but Abrams’s wish for people to stop “making ridiculous claims that the Millennium Falcon is in the movie” paired with the board seem like too much of a coincidence.

We won’t know for sure until we see a trailer—or yet another leaked picture.

Photo via JD Hancock/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Justin Bieber's racist leaked videos just won't end

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Days after Justin Bieber apologized for a video of him making a racist joke, the pop star has his foot in his mouth again.

The video comes courtesy of the U.K. tabloid The Sun and TMZ, both outlets to originally receive footage of Bieber's original comment. The new clip seems to be taken before or after an interview session, with Bieber sitting primed and ready to go on camera. Perhaps unaware the camera is rolling, he sings a snippet of his hit “One Less Lonely Girl.” Only he changes the lyrics.

“If I kill you,” he sings, smiling blithely at the camera, “I’ll be part of the KKK, and there’ll be one less lonely n****r.”

Previously, media reports were confused about the date of the first joke, in which Bieber says the N-word five times. But the Daily Mail claims that both videos are from the same source—unused footage collected in 2009, when Bieber was 14, for the documentary Never Say Never

While Bieber already apologized for the previous video, citing his ignorance and claiming that he was "a kid" when the footage took place, it's hard to imagine that even at the age of 14 he was unaware of the implications of his words. Especially disturbing are the fact that both jokes contain implied physical harm. The first joke, "Why are black people afraid of chainsaws?" "Run, n****r, n****r, n****r, n****r, n****r" takes on an even more disturbing overtone combined with the overt threat of the second.

When Usher said last year that fans would soon "see the truth" about Bieber, we're pretty sure this wasn't what he had in mind.

Photo via Instagram

‘Fantastic Four’ director chosen for second ‘Star Wars’ spinoff

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Just two days after Lucasfilm announced additional casting for Star Wars: Episode VII, the company revealed today that Josh Trank has been tapped to direct one of the upcoming spinoff films. Trank made a name for himself with his directorial debut Chronicle and is currently directing 20th Century Fox’s The Fantastic Four reboot.

“The magic of the Star Wars Universe defined my entire childhood. The opportunity to expand on that experience for future generations is the most incredible dream of all time,” he said in a statement.

Trank also created a short Star Wars fan film in 2007 called Stabbing at Leia's 22nd Birthday.

Last month it was announced that the first standalone Star Wars film would be directed by Godzilla reboot director Gareth Edwards and Gary Whitta would write the screenplay. Just as fans were given no hints as to what that first spinoff would be about, nothing has been said about the content of Trank’s standalone film either. While fans were excited for more news regarding the standalones and seemed happy with Trank being chosen, some were also disappointed that there is still no word on the the spinoffs’ subject matter.

In the statement, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said they are “thrilled to welcome Josh into the family.”

“He is such an incredible talent and has a great imagination and sense of innovation,” she said. “That makes him perfectly suited to Star Wars, and for this new slate of movies that reach beyond the core characters and storylines of Episodes I through IX.”

Photo via StarWars.com

The AMC formula strikes again with 'Halt and Catch Fire'

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BY CHRIS OSTERNDORF

The protagonist of AMC’s new drama is smart, sexy, and mysterious. He’s also a great salesman, climbing to the top in a very competitive world. That world, incidentally, has a lot do with the one we live in today, even though the story this protagonist inhabits is a period piece. While we don’t know much about his tortured past yet, we know he’s driven and ruthless, and by all accounts, effortlessly charismatic. 

And before we go on, it’s probably worth mentioning that he’s not Don Draper. Well, not exactly. 

This week, both BuzzFeed’s Jace Lacob and Entertainment Weekly’s Jeff Labrecque noticed similarities between Lee Pace’s Joe McMillan, the lead character in the recently debuted Halt and Catch Fire, and Jon Hamm’s iconic role on AMC flagship show Mad Men. Lacob suggests, “It’s no coincidence that Joe is introduced to the audience as he runs over an armadillo, trailing destruction in his wake, wherever he goes, not unlike Mad Men’s Don Draper before him.” 

Labrecque takes it a step further. He posits that not only is McMillan a version of Draper, but that the show’s second biggest character, the brilliant but unsuccessful Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy,) is a version of Breaking Bad’s Walter White. Labrecque elaborates: “Joe is handsome, dapper, and extremely smooth in front of an audience. … Gordon is a hard-working schlep, an idealistic computer engineer who has played by the rules and has nothing to show for it. Like Walter White, he’s also bitter about losing out on his greatest intellectual achievement.” 

It should be noted that despite these heavy comparisons, Lacob and Labrecque both liked the show quite a bit. Lacob gushes, “Joe creates an arms race on the forefront of the technological revolution and the result, at least if the pilot is anything to go by, is intoxicating to watch. … [T]he bare bones of the series opener offer up an incredibly appealing cast, exquisitely sculpted dialogue, and a gorgeous soundtrack that makes the wait for the second episode absolutely unbearable.” And Labrecque invokes the T.S. Eliot quote, “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different.” 

So the question becomes, how different is Halt and Catch Fire from its predecessors really? While reactions to the show have been mostly positive, it’s still hard not to get the feeling that it may just be a lesser version of better AMC series that came before it.

It’s difficult to say why exactly AMC is struggling for new ideas, although there is a sense in which it’s possible that the golden age of AMC was over before it even began. A New York Magazine profile on AMC from 2011 by Michael Idov mentions the departure of two executives, Christina Wayne and Rob Sorcher, both of whom were instrumental in getting Mad Men on the air (in his book Difficult Men, author Brett Martin also hints that several key players were pushed out by AMC after their initial burst of creativity).

Then there’s the contentious relationship AMC has had with many of its showrunners. Two have already been fired from zombie hit The Walking Dead. And Idov’s article also details the nasty back and forth that went on during a spat between AMC and Mad Men showrunner Matthew Weiner during contract negotiations. Still, Breaking Bad showrunner VInce Gilligan always insisted it was a nice place to work. 

The real reason, however, that Halt and Catch Fire (along with most of AMC’s other original shows in the last couple years) feels like a watered-down version of better AMC series is because that’s how AMC wants it to feel. Executive Vice President Joel Stillerman has been even quoted as saying, “I’m not afraid of diluting the brand.” 

Basically, AMC wants to replicate the formula of Mad Men and Breaking Bad, with the awards and the ratings, but to do it without taking any of the risks. For instance, The Walking Dead has ridiculously good ratings, but it isn’t exactly a critical darling. Like its network brethren, it has plenty of darkness and despair, but its rare to hear anyone say the characters are as nuanced as the ones walking around at Sterling Cooper. As Idov puts it, “the main distinction between The Walking Dead and its AMC predecessors was … well … it wasn’t great. It wasn’t bad, by any means, but the level of artistic ambition everyone had come to associate with AMC was largely absent. … There wouldn’t be think pieces about it in The New York Review of Books.”

But despite the colossal success of The Walking Dead, AMC’s watering-down strategy hasn’t worked that well with any of its other efforts. Since 2010, Rubicon, The Killing, Low Winter Sun, and Turn have all struggled to make a name for themselves. Western Hell on Wheels has gradually become a sleeper hit, although it attracts so much less attention than the network's bigger shows, it’s hard to remember it’s even on the same network. 

The obvious issue with these shows is that they all revolve around brooding white men. Only The Killing, so far, has branched out, daring to follow a straight white woman (The Killing will have one more season this year, but it will air on Netflix, rather than AMC.) With antihero fatigue, and masculinity fatigue starting to grow on cable TV, AMC’s rigid approach to characters is starting to look even more problematic. Of course Don Draper and Walter White are great characters, but to assume that every straight white male with a secret is going to be just as interesting has already harmed the network’s track record. 

Everyone talks about how The Sopranos put HBO on the map, but they tend to gloss over the other deeply formative show for the network: Sex and the City. The two couldn’t be more different, yet HBO’s snooty “It’s not television” mantra remained the same then, as it does now. And while AMC’s other major competitor, fellow basic cable network FX, also broke out with a show about a manly antihero in the form of The Shield, it has gone every which way since, with a lineup that over the years has included It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Damages, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Louie, American Horror Story, The Americans, The Bridge, and Fargo. FX has also had many failures along the way, but it built a brand by taking on the kind of shows that other basic cable networks won’t. 

That idea used to be part of AMC’s brand too. Mad Men and Breaking Bad were famously shopped around to HBO and FX before landing at AMC. But by copying those first two successes again and again, each time a little less surprising, the brand has gone from daring to boring. 

The most fascinating part of Idov’s AMC piece is when Joel Stillerman talks about passing on House of Cards, saying, “It won’t make me happy if it becomes a piece of landmark TV.” Sure enough, House of Cards did go on to become a landmark piece of TV. But even more fascinating is the fact that Orange Is the New Black is Netflix’s most watched show, and even more of a landmark moment for television. Stillerman could learn something from this development; sometimes, people want an alternative to the standard white, male antihero.

Halt and Catch Fire could turn out to be very good—maybe even distance itself from Mad Men and Breaking Bad, assuming it plays its cards right. But AMC doesn’t need another Don Draper or Walter White, and if it wants to continue to be a major player, it'll have to change up its formula quick. Because you can only water down the real deal so much before there’s no flavor left at all.

Chris Osterndorf is a graduate of DePaul University's Digital Cinema program. He is a contributor at HeaveMedia.com, where he regularly writes about TV and pop culture. 

Photo via AMC

How could anyone think this 'Wheel of Fortune' guess was right?

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The pressure to get everything right on a game show is even higher these days. If you mess up, not only will you embarrass yourself on national television, but the recap will circle the Web for the next 24 hours.

The latest contestant on Wheel of Fortune to fall victim to the curse of blundering is Stephen, who almost had the answer right in front of him. He didn’t have any trouble pronouncing words like another contestant, but his attempt at guessing the puzzle wasn’t any better.

Apparently he’s not a Beach Boys fan—and somehow saw words that weren’t even on the board.

Even Pat Sajak had to wonder how he came up with that one.

Photo via InTheZoneNews/YouTube


At London's Vine meetup, things got ugly in seconds

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Last Saturday, London’s Trafalgar Square played host to the absolute high point of the British social calendar: the 2014 British Vine Meet. Billed as featuring Vine stars like Daz_Black, Arran Crascall, and more, a screaming horde of British viners descended upon the historic square on May 31 to meet their digital heroes, socialize, and—most importantly—record it all in six-second snippets.

Vine lets users post and comment upon video clips that last for precisely six seconds. This rapid pace produces a kind of social media hyperconsumption, where content is devoured near-instantly, as users flit from one vine to the next. As we were to discover upon meeting the site’s most prolific members, the platform does not exactly breed subtlety.

The meetup was easy to find—one crowd member was handing out what appeared to be Vine-star Top Trump cards. It certainly had a unique feel to it: There are very few events other than ComicCon that could bring together a similar batch of giggling 13-year old girls, socially awkward teenage boys, and heavily tattooed millennials, along with a spattering of almost impossibly loud and brash 20-somethings.

The Vine stars held court at the center of the crowds, basking in the warm glow of a thousand Vine selfies, listening to their catchphrases and personal hashtags repeated ad nauseum—like a Vine video.

After a few briefchats with regular attendees, we quickly gravitated towards the Vine royalty. It was time to interview the best and the brightest the U.K. Vine scene has to offer, the crème de la crème—and what better way to do this than via Vine?

Daz_black here is lauded for being the first British Vine user to reach 1 million followers.

This Vine user claims to have earned hundreds of thousands of followers thanks to his ability to shout “Pussy” unexpectedly. Nobody at the meetup seemed to have any idea who he was.

The unironically named dapperlaughs (famous for his catchphrase “#Moist”) was apparently the biggest big deal of all, consistently drawing the largest crowds and orchestrating the most extravagant group selfies. However, when we finally got to talk to him, the drawbacks of an app that caps videos at six seconds became apparent. I guess we’ll never know what everybody loves.

Our favorite was easily Vine wunderkind Toby Randall. Just 12 years old and with the angelic voice of a choirboy, it’d be easy for appearance requests from the Ellen DeGeneres Show and his absurdly high follower count (898,000 and counting) to go to his head.

But stopping him going full-Bieber is his father Barrie, who keeps him grounded by laying strict ground-rules—including not reading the comments on videos (some are “incredibly cruel”), and not allowing Toby to install the Vine app on his personal phone.

Trafalgar Square security was unimpressed by the incredible social media prowess on display, and over the course of the afternoon the group was forced to move several times before finally coming to rest in the shadow of the National Gallery.

This didn’t stop the assembled Vine users doing what they came to do: make highly self-congratulatory vines, and lots of them.

It all got a bit unpleasant, however, when some Vine fans stumbled across a sleeping homeless man. Rather than leave him be, they embodied all the worst elements of the Vine community’s fetishisation of quick-shock humor: They woke him up to capture his startled reaction for a video.

To their credit, other Vine users showed concern, including a girl who sat and talked with him for several minutes to make sure he was OK. Most people though seemed to make things worse, including (and often while filming) offering him packets of mixed nuts left over from some vague “awareness-raising” event about testicular cancer that the Vine celebrities had organized earlier.

From there matters only deteriorated further, as the disorientated homeless man was goaded into a fight by one of the bracelet-selling street vendors in the square. As he mocked the homeless man’s feeble punches and danced around him, dozens of Vine fans gathered in a circle laughing, and—of course—taking vines.

Only one women said anything at all; she was promptly ignored.

Eventually, the Vine meetup clashed with the Syrian Solidarity Movement, which had organized an international day of protests against the Assad regime. As Syrian refugees began haranguing befuddled tweens and hipsters, the Vine stars slowly retreated to the safety of the National Gallery.

If we learned anything from this Vine meetup, it’s that some things really are better experienced in six-second increments. At least then it’s over faster.

Additional reporting by Ned Donovan.

Photo via Carlesmari/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) | Remix by Rob Price

Don Cheadle shows other celebrities the right way to crowdfund

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Don Cheadle wants to make a movie about the Young Man with a Horn. The way he’s going about it, you could say that it’s The Birth of the Cool

The actor went public with his intentions of making a movie about jazz legend Miles Davis earlier this week, launching an Indiegogo campaign designed to raise $325,000. The money, Cheadle says, is only a portion of the total cost it will take to craft the biopic, something he says he’s wanted to make since he was in elementary school. Cheadle plans to foot the rest of the bill himself.

Deadline reports that the film, titled Miles Ahead, which Cheadle will star in, produce, and make his directing debut, will detail “a few dangerous days in the life of Davis, as he emerged from a silent period to conspire with a Rolling Stone writer to steal back his music.” Funding for the Indiegogo campaign runs out July 10. Cheadle plans to start shooting shortly thereafter. 

Rewards for donations include clothing, box-set recordings, personalized tours of the film’s Cincinnati-based set, as well as unreleased artwork created by Davis himself. He’s raised an excess of $58,500 so far, with 36 days to go.

Conventional thinking would suggest that Cheadle would face a bit of opposition for trying to raise money for a movie through Indiegogo when he’s packing a Hollywood-sized checking account that could probably fund a few more movies in addition. But Cheadle’s method is slightly different. Whereas Zach Braff targeted $2 million for Wish I Was Here last spring and Spike Lee sought $1.25 million in July, Cheadle’s only hoping to raise a fraction of the cost–and it’s about a totally cool subject. The world could use more movies about Miles Davis. (Currently, there are zero.)

“Most studios don’t make these kinds of music anymore, so we are doing it independently,” Cheadle said in a statement. “I’m personally putting a big chunk of money into our budget as well as putting all my fees back in. But the extra money we hope to raise on Indiegogo will help us re-create the multiple time periods we’re dealing with and with the logistics of incorporating all the music. We are excited to get people tailing about the movie early, raise awareness, and set into motion the groundswell of support we hope will continue through to the film’s final release.”

Photo via Miles Davis/Facebook

Another YouTube channel is Comedy Central-bound

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After the success of Workaholics, Broad City, and Drunk History, Comedy Central is hoping to turn another comedy sketch channel into a TV show.

The network has now ordered a pilot from Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, the duo behind BriTANicK, based on their channel.

Kocher and McElhaney launched the channel in 2008 after they both graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. It’s accumulated more than 41 million views and has more than 247,000 subscribers despite not posting a new video in almost a year, and they’ve featured cameos from Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion.

They will write the pilot and executive produce along with Arrested Development’s Troy Miller, who will also direct.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show will be a number of adventures based on their real lives, with Kocher faking his own death to escape a relationship in the pilot while McElhaney tries to buy his way back into a relationship.

The show’s premise has a similar feel to Broad City, which has found critical and commercial success on Comedy Central and was recently renewed for a second season. While Broad City managed to make the leap from Web to TV, we’ll have to wait and see if BriTANicK can do the same.

And if they can’t, we’ll always have their (occasionally mildly NSFW) YouTube videos.

H/T Tubefilter | Photo via BriTANicKdotcom/YouTube

Jimmy Fallon reluctantly dances to 'Gangnam Style' like it's 2012

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Back in ye olden days of the Internet (circa 2012), you could hardly go anywhere without hearing “Gangnam Style” or  seeing someone doing the dance, but now it’ll just get groans in response, even from viral kingJimmy Fallon.

“Gangnam Style” broke 2 billion views last weekend (close to 18 months after it past the 1 billion mark), and all Fallon had to do was mention it in the setup for a lame joke before someone in the audience wanted to see him dance.

A couple years ago, Fallon probably would’ve done it, no questions asked. But it’s just not as fun as it used to be, and even if America (aka his audience) wanted it, he wasn’t going to do it—at least not without friendly peer pressure.

Maybe it's the lack of enthusiasm, but perhaps some things should just stay in the recent Internet past.

Photo via The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube

Bieber 'apologizes' for racist remarks by Instagramming a Bible verse

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Justin Bieber's attempts to control the public reaction and media narrative of his recently revealed on-camera racism aren't going so well.

This morning he apologized (again) to the U.K. Sun, which along with TMZ has been revealing five year old video footage of a 14 year old Bieber repeatedly dropping the "N" word in multiple instances of racist jokes. "I need to step up and own what I did," he stated. "I feel now that I need to take responsibility for those mistakes and not let them linger."

It's hard not to be skeptical that this sudden deep conviction and urge to apologize occurred only after his "jokes," which used the "N" word a collective total of nine times and included implicit physical threats, were brought to the attention of the public.

Still, the Bieb seems to be rolling with his newfound sincerity. Last night he took to Instagram in order to share a passage from the daily Christian devotional book Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence. The passage, which doesn't actually come from the Bible, though there are biblical passages later on, emphasizes confession, forgiveness, and healing:

When your sins weigh heavily upon you, come to Me. Confess your wrongdoing, which I know all about before you say a word. Stay in the Light of My Presence, receiving forgiveness, cleansing, and healing.


Photo via Instagram

Though Bieber did not provide his thoughts on the passage, the context was clear: as part of "owning" what he did, he's also asking his community to forgive him. That may be easier said than done. While some of Bieber's pals like boxer Floyd Mayweather, have spoken out in support of their friend in recent days, others, including Usher, have been a bit more equivocal. 

Sources told TMZ yesterday that the videos are surfacing now after years of extortion attempts on Bieber and his family to keep them private. Bieber, who allegedly apologized directly for the incidents years ago to his friends Usher and Will Smith, reportedly finally decided to allow them to go public and take responsibility for his actions.

This all sounds vaguely promising, if not for the fact that Bieber hasn't exactly taken much responsibility for anything lately. He's been too busy offending all of South America, offending all of China, screwing up depositions, randomly "retiring," and getting himself voted out of America.

Still, his antics don't seem to have made a dent in his massive following of Beliebers. It looks like if not even multiple instances of truly heinous racism can topple the Bieb, we might just be stuck with him for a long time to come.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

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