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Watch The Incredible Trailer For Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar'

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"We're not meant to save the world," says Christopher Nolan regular Michael Caine in the new trailer for the director's "Interstellar." "We're meant to leave it." Which is to say: Wow, here is 2014's best trailer. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway, Casey Affleck and many, many more, "Insterstellar" is out on Nov. 7.


FDR Walks In Rare Footage Showing 'Brave Struggle'

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Rare film footage featuring President Franklin D. Roosevelt walking to his seat at a baseball game helps dispel the myth that he completely hid his disability and shows the courage it took to go about his daily life, experts said Friday.

The clip (http://youtu.be/CvKDwBMEycw ) shows FDR, who was paralyzed from the waist down by polio in 1921, grasping a rail with one hand while being supported on the other side by an assistant. FDR used a wheelchair because he could walk only with braces on his legs and the support of a cane.

"Here is FDR going to a stadium full of people," said Bob Clark, deputy director of FDR's Presidential Library and Museum. "Even the simple act of going to a baseball game required a great deal of logistics and preparation."

Former Major League Baseball player Jimmie DeShong shot the film at the 1937 All-Star game in Washington. On Thursday, the Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg announced it had acquired the clip from the family of DeShong, a native of the state's capital city.

DeShong's daughter Judy Savastio said she showed the clip to officials at the FDR library in Hyde Park, New York, about two years ago. She allowed the footage to be used in a montage that has been on view at the museum for about a year.

"I was very surprised that they were so excited about it," Savastio said Friday.

Filmmaker Ken Burns calls the footage "one of the very best pieces of film that so clearly shows what a brave struggle it was for FDR to move." Burns plans to incorporate it into his upcoming documentary on the Roosevelts, which is slated to air on PBS this fall.

The footage is rare in part because not many people had personal movie cameras in those days. The press generally did not film FDR struggling to move under his own power, as the Secret Service did not want to publicize the president's vulnerability, according to historians.

The lack of historical imagery gives the impression that Roosevelt actively concealed his paralysis. But experts say he tried to minimize it to make the public more comfortable and to ensure that other nations didn't view him as a weak leader.

"Thousands of people saw him walk like that quite frequently, in person. That was no secret at all," said Ray Begovich, a journalism professor at Franklin College near Indianapolis who has researched Roosevelt's public image. "Americans knew he had polio, that he was sick and that he struggled, but they just did not know the extent of his disability."

The FDR snippet is about eight seconds of DeShong's silent footage, which overall is more than five minutes long.

The rest of the film, shot with an 8 millimeter camera during batting practice at Griffith Stadium, features a slew of baseball players, including Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Hank Greenberg and Dizzy Dean.

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Associated Press writers Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia and Rick Callahan in Indianapolis contributed to this story.

You Won't Believe What's Under These Ordinary Folks' Clothes (NSFW)

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Tattoos. That's what's under these ordinary folks' clothes.

And they're AWESOME. Photographer Spencer Kovats explored some of his subjects' biggest secrets as part of an exhibition called "The Tattoo Project." What he found is that anyone -- your colleague, your girlfriend, your step-dad -- could be hiding some weird, wacky and wonderful tattoos under their clothes.

Kovats explains:

In referring to the process of photographing almost 100 people in three days, I liken the experience to that of an assembly line. I was the first point of contact for each participant, and although I had only 10 minutes with each subject, I felt that I still had enough time to break down any initial barriers and give people a chance to break out of their shells.








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The Unconvincing Ballet Ad That Has Dancers Everywhere Fuming

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The ballet world has issued a collective "WTF?" in response to a certain Free People ad featuring what many have dubbed the worst ballet impression on the internet. As Jezebel put it, the dance "truthers" have come out in full force to denounce the campaign, calling it "painful" to watch, "offensive," and "embarrassing."






So what's all the fuss about? According to the hundreds of commenters who watched a video for the FP Movement Ballet on YouTube, and the sizable amount of Facebook users who subsequently took to the Free People page in protest, the ad's unnamed female "ballet dancer" modeling Free People clothing is not a ballet dancer at all. Or, at least, not a trained one.

Though the ballerina claims she's been dancing since she was three years old, critics have pointed out several faults in her technique, including weak ankles and sickled feet -- essentially, big no-nos in the ballet community. While the novice's eye (including some of our own) may be satisfactorily wowed by her elegant movement and pretty physique, pros and seasoned dancers alike are not happy with FP's choice of aligning themselves with ballet in order to sell "barre-ready dancerwear" without paying it proper respect.

The backlash -- for the most part -- has not been directed toward the model, but toward the apparel company, for prioritizing appearance over talent in the casting process.

"I’ve been a dancer for many years, and though I focus more on modern these days, I studied ballet for over fifteen years," Bustle writer Erin Mayer wrote. "I was never an amazing ballerina, but I know the difference between proper and improper technique...The model/dancer in the Free People advertisements looks the part -- until you put her in pointe shoes. Then, she looks like she’s about to break her ankles."

"OUCH," proclaimed Tadej Brdnik, Martha Graham Dance Principal Dancer and Manager of Special Projects, wrote on Twitter, "this was really painful to watch,..who was doing their casting???"

"This girl claims she's been dancing since she was three years old. Honey pie, whoever trained you needs to be fired YESTERDAY," said Meghan Sanett, professional dancer with Go2Talent and a friend of one of our HuffPost Arts editors, on Facebook.

The anger still continues on social media. And more than a few writers have pointed out another ballet ad by Under Armor, which manages to do right by dancers by featuring the renowned ballerina Misty Copeland. We've reached out to Free People for comment, but have yet to hear back. In the meantime, we want to know what you think in the comments. What's your take on the advertisement?



































'Saturday Night Live' Star Noël Wells Remembers Her Audition

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Noël Wells began her first season as a featured player on "Saturday Night Live" by leading a parody of "Girls." As the show's 39th season draws to a close on Saturday (with host Andy Samberg), Wells can be seen playing a character who might feel at home on Lena Dunham's HBO series: Sophie, a struggling actress who decides to marry her neighbor after a string of bad luck in the indie comedy "Forev."

Directed by Molly Green and James Leffler, from their own script (with contributions from Wells and stars Matt Mider and Amanda Bauer), "Forev" was shot back in 2012 and made the festival rounds last year before arriving on iTunes and on-demand services this week.

"I haven't seen it since it premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival last year," Wells told HuffPost Entertainment. "But when we were shooting it, I thought I was just so bad. I tend to beat myself up a lot over everything that I do. Seeing it a year later, though, I was like, 'Oh, I'm not that bad.'"

Wells is being modest: Her easy-going performance is the standout part of "Forev," and portends to greater things in the future.

"I feel like I'm a very different performer from where I was two years ago," Wells said. "I'm a lot less self-conscious and I have a little bit of a stronger handle of who I am as a performer. Looking at the movie, I feel like I'm more of a blank slate in it. Maybe I was a little unsure of who I was, but maybe that also works for the character."

Wells moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, where she focused on film editing and directing. "I just thought trying to be an actor -- especially wanting to be on 'Saturday Night Live' -- was the dumbest thing to want to do. Nobody gets there," she said.

But after building up a diverse resume of comedy shorts and performing with Upright Citizens Brigade, Wells auditioned for "Saturday Night Live."

"They have you stay in this really bad hotel," she said of her "SNL" audition memory. "It's like a hotel for businessmen who haven't seen their family in months. I swear to God, I heard a man talking to his kid on Skype or FaceTime. She was like, 'Daddy, where are you?' He was like, 'I'm sorry, Tiffany, happy birthday.' I just remember being so sad about that, and also realizing everybody could hear everything I was doing in my room. I couldn't practice my audition without feeling super self-conscious."

To combat that feeling, Wells decided to go to Central Park, where she had anticipated doing her audition in front of a tree ("which made a lot of sense because nobody laughs at your audition"). Unfortunately, the sight of a person gesturing wildly to no one in particular drew the attention of park visitors, which necessitated a new course of action.

"I had the idea that the only way to get through five minutes would be to find somebody on the field and perform it for them," Wells said. "I spent 30 minutes picking somebody out, walking really close to them and then bailing at the last second. Finally, I was like, 'Stop being a pussy. You want to be on 'Saturday Night Live.' You will approach a stranger and ask them to watch the audition.'"

Wells found two men in their early 20s who agreed to listen to her material.

"So I did it for them and at the end of it, they were like, 'We have some notes.'"



As mortifying as that experience might sound, it's nothing on Wells' first-ever audition, a situation that she replayed to comic effect in "Forev." (The sequence can be seen above.)

After arriving in Los Angeles, Wells received an email notice that Hebrew National was looking for an "all-American girl" for a new commercial. "I was like, 'That's me! I am an all-American girl!'"

The audition required Wells to eat a hot dog bun, but without the hot dog.

"They said for me to take a bite and look like I was really enjoying it, because it's a close up of my face," Wells said. "I took a bite, and if you've ever had a hot dog bun without anything in it, you suffocate. It expands in your mouth. I was just trying to look like I was enjoying it, but probably way over-acting with a lot of meaningful eye contact with the camera."

After the director said cut, Wells was forced to spit the bun out in the trash can, which was filled with other hot dog buns from prior auditions and, as she recalled, "other girls' dreams."

"I felt disgusted. As I left, I felt like I had to said something. I stopped and looked at the guy and said, 'That was degrading,'" Wells said. "He just looked so ashamed and said, 'I've been watching it all day.'"

Find out more about "Forev" at the film's official website.

Stunning Images Show The Old As Young Once Again

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Have you ever wondered what you'll look like in 10, 15, or 20 years? Or have you ever been stunned to see photos of your parents or grandparents when they were younger? This week, even the hosts on the TODAY Show got a look into the future by using a new computer program that predicts what we'll look like in older age.

Aging affects all of us, but just because our appearance has changed, doesn't mean our identities have. That's exactly what Czech photographer Jan Langer wanted to capture with his collection, "Faces Of Century." Langer photographed nearly a dozen Czech centenarians and juxtaposed those images with older photos of the subjects in their younger years.

The changes that accompany aging are visible -- wrinkles, graying hair, and changing hairlines. But what's even more striking than the changes from the past are their hopes for the future. Langer asked each of the subjects to share a wish or two that they have. Their answers are heartwarming. "To visit Italy one more time," said Bedriska Kohlerova, 103. "To play the clarinet once again," said Antonin Kovar, 102. "Health and good mood for all," said Prokop Vejdelek 101.

Check out the stunning images in the GIF and video below:

Courtesy of Jan Langer

This Talented Toddler Can Sing The Blues With The Best Of Them

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Meet Luca, a talented toddler who isn't even two years old yet, but can somehow play harmonica and sing the blues with the best of them. (Or at least at a 5-year-old level.)

Don't just take our word for it, though. Watch for yourself in this video from Tota Blues that is sure to impress. All we can say is that Luca must be one very old soul!

Make Up For Ever's Radical Mannequin Campaign Is Pretty Freaking Fantastic

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We've seen mannequins that represent every form of beauty, and now a new mannequin campaign is calling on artists to collaborate on creating "something beautiful." This time, it's cosmetics brand Make Up For Ever asking their fans to design masterpieces in honor of their 30th anniversary.

Those who choose to "reveal their inner artist" can share their creation with the hash tag #innerartist on Instagram or Twitter for a chance to be featured on Makeupforever.com. While the company is revealing a new mannequin created by their pro artists every day, we got a sneak peak at a few of the featured mannequins. If we do say so ourselves, they're pretty freaking fantastic!


Jessica Chastain's Secret 'Interstellar' Role Revealed

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This post contains certain plot reveals about "Interstellar."

Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar" doesn't come out until November, but the Internet is already ablaze with speculation about the roles that co-stars Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway portray in the forthcoming epic.

Things started right here: After watching the trailer a handful of times, it dawned on me that Hathaway and actress Mackenzie Foy, who plays Matthew McConaughey's onscreen daughter in the film, look very much alike.




As it turns out, however, it's Chastain and not Hathaway who will apparently play Foy as an adult in the film. (You'll note their red hair and the fact that Chastain is wearing the same coat that McConaughey does earlier in the teaser.)




That speculation was verified on Twitter by TheWrap's Jeff Sneider.




HuffPost Entertainment contacted a representative for Paramount to confirm Sneider's tweet; this post will be updated if and when they respond.

While this all might seem like too much information to know months before a film's release, much of the content in the "Interstellar" trailer likely happens in the first act:




Watch the amazing "Interstellar" trailer below; expect a lot more speculation about its plot -- which involves wormholes and space and time travel -- before the film's release on Nov. 7.

UC Berkeley Professor Drops Pre-Final Computer Science Rap (VIDEO)

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Well, this is one way to prepare for a final.

UC-Berkeley professor Dan Garcia recently laid down a full-blown "Gin & Juice" remix to help get his students ready for a final.

Thankfully, Yongsheng Li had the cameras rolling for what we hope will turn into a music video.

Aw, Ben Affleck Is The Saddest Batman Ever

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Fans were up in arms when director Zack Snyder released a photo of Ben Affleck in his Batman costume looking bulky, blurry and incredibly dour. While the photo quality alone was disappointing -- revealing very little about the upcoming "Man Of Steel" sequel -- fans took the gloom-and-doom Caped Crusader and did what the Internet does best: They made a meme out of it.

You could blame the new Sad Batman meme on Irish journalist Will Hanafin, who used the hashtag #SadBatman on top of the newly revealed pic. Soon, photoshopped pictures of Affleck's masked hero began cropping up faster than you can say "To the Batmobile."

Many of these pictures show the Dark Knight moping around no matter what the occasion is, showing that this particular Batman's bark and bite are probably equally unimpressive and probably is still traumatized from the murder of his parents. If Affleck's dejected pose is any indication, it seems that Snyder has gone in a darker, moodier direction with his Batman than the comics did (a move that earned him no love from audiences when he tried it with Superman in "Man Of Steel"). But the mopey expression has at least given fans an opportunity for some good ol', all-American Photoshoppin' fun. Check out some of the photos of Gotham's best-known, utterly unimpressed hero:





























Photo Series Captures The Endearing Misery Of Dogs At Bath Time

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Dogs are one of nature's most enthusiastic and loving creatures. Whether it's going for a walk, having a snuggle on the couch or playing a game of fetch, man's best friend always seems to be on board with a big puppy grin and a wagging tail. However, there is one activity that will halt those eager paws in their tracks and send them running in the other direct. The dreaded (dun dun dun!) bath.

Sophie Gamand, a French photographer living in New York, decided to get a closer look at our furry friends' least favorite activity in her photo series, "Wet Dog."

Gamand set up shop at pet stylist Ruben Santana's Bronx studio earlier this year to catch the groomers in action, Today reported. She photographed more than a dozen dogs in an attempt to capture the adorable expressions of misery on the faces of the now clean canines.

"The expressions were priceless and really entertaining," Gamand told the outlet. "It was magic."

"Wet Dogs" won the Portraiture category at the 2014 Sony World Photography Awards, and the series is currently being expanded into a book, which is due out Fall 2015.

Enjoy the delightfully pained expression of these pups below as they endure the torture that is good hygiene.



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These Spooky, Surreal Gargoyles Are Watching You From Above (PHOTOS)

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Gargoyles are essentially elaborate, stylized rain gutters. Their mouths provide a spout that lets water drain from the roofs of churches and temples where they typically reside -- which begs the question of why a place of worship would want such eerie statues to adorn its walls.

In addition to their functional purpose, gargoyles in Medieval times were thought to ward off evil and to serve as a frightening visual incentive for people to obey church teaching. Over time they became more ornamental but largely continued the 'grotesque' aesthetic most associate with gargoyles.

Bizarre, grotesque and just spooky, here are 20 amazing gargoyles looking altogether too real:

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The interior of Rosslyn Chapel on February 9, 2012 in Roslin, Scotland. Built between 1446 and 1484 it is a category A listed building, covered in ornate stonework and carvings of individual figures and scenes. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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Gargoyle on Notre Dame in Paris, France. (Getty Images)

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The gargoyles see all from the top of Notre Dame cathedral on Ile de la Cite - one of two islands in the middle of Paris, France, that are neither Left nor Right Bank. (Photo by Josh Noel/Chicago Tribune/MCT via Getty Images)

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Gargoyle perched on Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France. (Getty Images)

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Gargoyle from the old city-hall in Stein am Rhein - Kanton Schaffhausen, Switzerland, Europe. (Getty Images)

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Dragon Gargoyle of Milan Cathedral. (Getty Images)

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'Cabeza Clava' (Gargoyle heads, representation of the Jaguar god) at the Chavin archaeology complex, in Huaraz department of Ancash, some 460 km northeast of Lima on October 20, 2011. (ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP/Getty Images)

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The hundred fountains: Built in the 16th century for Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, by architect Pirro Ligorio, the villa is renowned for it's landscaped gardens and fountains. (Getty Images)

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Gargoyles watch over the streets of Paris from the top of the 11th century Notre Dame cathedral, Friday Jan 10, 1997. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

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Gargoyles at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Dijon in the Burgundy region of France (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

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Saint-Corentin cathedral, Quimper Stone gargoyle. (Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Notre Dame gargoyle above the Paris skyline. (Getty Images)

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Gargoyle in Notre-Dame de Consolation church designed by Raymond Vaillant. (Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Gargoyle at St Peter's Church, St Albans. (Flickr)

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A gargoyle watches over the cloisters of St Gatien cathedral in Tours, France. (Getty Images)

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Gargoyles on Freiburg Cathedral, Freiburg, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, Europe. (Getty Images)

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Gargoyle and bird statue. (Getty Images)

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Notre Dame de Paris cathedral gargoyle and Left Bank of the Seine river (Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Gargoyle carved stone grotesque carving of a figure on St Peter's church in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

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Gargoyle carved stone grotesque carving of a figure on St Peter's church in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

'SIDESHOW,' Queer Brooklyn Party, Presented By The Culture Whore

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Art collective and "living magazine" The Culture Whore is back with another massive queer party -- and this is one has an incredible line-up that you really don't want to miss.

The Culture Whore is already known for throwing some of Brooklyn's most immersive queer parties, and now the collective is presenting SIDESHOW on Tuesday, May 20, a showcase of the borough's strangest and most talented performers. This party aims to highlight the true freaks of Brooklyn, featuring performances by the likes of Boy Georgia, Gabe Gonzalez, Boywolf and Untitled Queen.

“We wanted to do something a little different,” Mark Dommu, Culture Whore founder and co-director, told The Huffington Post. “Our parties are these massive fantasy events where art and hedonism come together in this beautiful, glittery explosion, but our audience is diverse enough that it also contains people who are looking for something just as strange and wonderful but maybe a bit more accessible. Not everyone is comfortable dancing through sunrise! So we’ve created this event that concentrates what we’re doing and heightens the performance angle of it.”

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The Culture Whore is a "living magazine" that celebrates "the glorious spectrum of New York City's luminously weird artistic community through immersive, high-concept, queer-focused events," according to Dommu. The group's past events have included AN1M0RPHS, SATANIC SMOKEOUT, Halloween's HOGWARTZ RAVE and DICK THE BALLS.

SIDESHOW will also serve as the release of "ARTSLUT:: a ZiNE for Culture Whores," a new publication from Dommu featuring the work of a number of talented artists. In the words of the Culture Whore himself, "Rip off your homogenous veil, shower your scars with glitter and come meet us where the wild things are!"

Check out the Facebook event for "SIDESHOW" here or head here to purchase tickets.

Judge Rules Billboard Music Awards Can Use Michael Jackson Hologram

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that the Billboard Music Awards can use a hologram of deceased pop icon Michael Jackson at this weekend's show, rejecting efforts from tech companies seeking to block the digital performance.

Judge Kent Dawson said there wasn't enough evidence to show the planned 3-D image would violate patents held by Hologram USA Inc. and Musion Das Hologram Ltd. The companies own rights to technology known for digitally resurrecting deceased rapper Tupac Shakur at the 2012 Coachella music festival.

"The court's decision is not surprising," attorney Howard Weitzman, who represented Jackson's estate and dick clark productions, wrote in an email. "The request to stop this extraordinary Michael Jackson event was ludicrous."

Plans to use the hologram during the show Sunday emerged with the lawsuit, but they weren't confirmed until the hearing Friday afternoon. Show producers had been promoting only a "history-making performance" at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena that would promote the singer's latest posthumous album, "Xscape."

Hologram USA and Musion said in their emergency lawsuit Thursday that one of their products was being used without authorization by a competitor to create a segment that depicts Jackson performing a new song, "Slave to the Rhythm."

Dawson noted that the lawsuit didn't provide evidence that the company's patents were being used to create the Jackson hologram, and attorneys for the defendants said the techniques being used were in the public domain. Technology and visual tricks that can create holographic-type images have existed for decades, although the Shakur performance sparked more interest in creating realistic performances of dead celebrities.

Attorney Michael Feder, representing the show and Jackson estate, filed a response Friday, saying the holographic performance had been planned for months and was discussed with Alki David, who owns the rights to the technology that creates and projects lifelike images to appear alongside live performers through Hologram USA and Musion.

Plaintiff's attorney Ryan G. Baker said his clients were disappointed with the ruling, but the lawsuit will continue.

"It's only the very beginning of a case that will continue to be prosecuted by my clients, and ultimately they are confident that they will prevail and will recover all available damages for the defendants' infringing conduct," Baker said.

Hologram USA obtained the rights to the patents after the bankruptcy of Florida effects house Digital Domain, which created the Shakur image to wide acclaim two years ago.

The lawsuit also named John C. Textor, the chairman of Florida-based Pulse Entertainment Corp. who was the former head of Digital Domain. Pulse is accused of using the hologram techniques without a proper license. Textor said he could not comment publicly on the case.

The lawsuit names Atlanta-based Pulse Entertainment Inc. as a defendant. Spokesman Ken S. Johnson said the company was listed incorrectly because it had no connection the Billboard Music Awards.

In March, Hologram USA sued Cirque du Soleil and MGM Resorts International over its show, "Michael Jackson ONE" at Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino. The show features a performance by a digital rendition of Jackson, which the company also contends is an unlicensed use of its technology.

The case is being handled in a Los Angeles federal court. Cirque du Soleil and MGM Resorts have been granted an extension until May 23 to respond to the lawsuit.

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Associated Press Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report from Los Angeles. McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .

Powerful Female Street Artists Team Up To Explore The Glamorous Darkness

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It's a good day when we catch word of an exhibition honoring a female street artist, a rare and sadly under-exposed breed. It's an even more glorious day when that exhibition features two. Yes, two street art legends, Miss Van and Olek, are teaming up for a joint exhibition that's essentially a street art version of a feminist masquerade.

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Olek and Miss Van



"I wanted to pay homage to an artist, woman and friend who is also my contemporary," Olek explained to The Huffington Post. "We want to help each other. In this world of men it's important to stick together and support each other to make a bigger impact in the art world." The two creative forces reveal how artistic collaboration, coupled with genuine friendship and respect, yields electric results.

Miss Van's segment of the show, titled "Glamorous Darkness," features the street icon's signature burlesque beauties all dolled up -- bling-ed out in disguises, fabulous accessories and not much clothing. The French-born, Barcelona-based street artist is known for her contemporary Baroque visions, blending art history-sanctioned feminine softness with eerie animal masks, unapologetic sexuality and other "un-ladylike" details. Her "Eyes Wide Shut"-esque scenarios are as classy as they are foreboding; her subjects' pursed lips hide a mean bite.

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Miss Van



Van's hypnotic paintings are paired with photographs by Olek, the Polish-born, Brooklyn-based crochet vigilante who's known for her ever-growing knitting compulsion. For her portion of the show, Olek crafted three-dimensional interpretations of Van's canvases, providing her favorite works in the show with crocheted companions. "I like to experience something coherent in the gallery space," she said. "For this show we used masks to hold everything together. And strong female models, which I always have in my work."

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Olek



Olek crocheted masks, hair, backdrops and even the gallery walls, draping the materials onto models and photographing the results. When asked about the show's obsession with masks, Olek replied: "I have been working with masks for a long time. When you put a mask on you become a different character, you change -- your voice, your movement, your gestures -- you become somebody new. I don't know if the mask is really hiding something or revealing something; that's one of the things I'm experimenting with."

Together the artistic vision is a delicious combination of two creative perspectives, not quite combined but certainly nestled comfortably close. Olek's portion of the show, titled "Let's not get caught, let's keep going," references "Thelma and Louise," a nod to her relationship with Van. "There was an instant love, in a way," she explained. "Vanessa and I are two girls who are running, running, running."

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Miss Van



"It's hard to be an artist, hard to be a woman," Olek said Put them together and it's almost impossible." Although Miss Van and Olek met at a gallery three years ago, the two became close with many key female players in the street art scene at the "Women on the Walls" exhibition in Miami's Wynwood District last year.

"We are all very hardworking women. Everything we do, we have to work harder. We work harder than all those guys put together. When Maya Hayuk painted the Bowery Wall in January, she killed it. No men wanted to do it -- again, it was January -- and she just said 'fuck it.'" Though the task at hand seems impossibly tough, the spirit of collaboration reigns over that of competition. "We realize there is no competition. We are all working in different mediums and doing different things and the only way we can grow is if we're helping each other. We don't have to fight over public space, it's endless."

To all the women street artists of the world, let these two icons show you how it's done. There will be lots of hard work ahead, but the company can't be beat. "Glamorous Darkness" and "Let's not get caught, let's keep going" run until June 1, 2014 at StolenSpace Gallery in London. If you can't make it to the UK, check out a preview below.

Forget Sand Castles, These 3D Sand Drawings Just Upped The Stakes For Beach Art

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“A stick and a beach can provide an infinite number of creative possibilities," proclaims 3DSD, an appropriately named sand art collective that's turning beaches into sprawling canvases. "Our imaginations and the collaborative effort of our small group turn those creative ideas into visual reality.”

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We have Jamie Harkins (from New Zealand), Constanza Nightingale (Chile) and David Rendu (France) to thank for this out-of-the-gallery-box beauty. Two painters and a sculptor, respectively, they create ephemeral outdoor art that brings the mesmerizing aesthetic of anamorphosis to the precarious sands of Mt. Maunganui, New Zealand. They use just a simple stick and a selection of rakes to bend perspective and spread creativity in a public arena.

More recently, the group has started integrating people into their projects, making the 3D artworks even more performative. Of course, the tides' effects on the pieces goes without saying, and watching the designs disappear with each encroaching wave is a touching sight as well. "The artworks provide an acute awareness of time and acts as a metaphor for the brevity of life," 3DSD muses.

As if you needed another reason to yearn for the warmer days of summer, here's a selection of gorgeous 3DSD works that once were.


The Mysterious New York City Island You've Never Heard Of

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By Jordan G. Teicher

island

North Brother Island is a secret hiding in plain sight. Located in New York’s East River, it was once an important part of the city’s infrastructure. In the last 50 years, however, it’s descended into ruin: Buildings have crumbled, vegetation has grown wild, and its primary visitors are now migratory birds. But as photographer Christopher Payne found out in the course of creating his book, North Brother Island: The Last Unknown Place in New York City, the island still has stories to tell.

Payne, a former architect who specializes in photographing what he calls “America’s vanishing architecture and landscape,” became interested in the island while on assignment to document uses of the East River. In 2008, he wrote a proposal to conduct a photography survey of the island, which is usually off-limits to the public. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation agreed to grant him access on the condition that he only visit between September and March, months when migratory birds—including gulls, herons, cormorants, and egrets—are not nesting there.

Over the next five years, Payne made the 10-minute boat trip from the Bronx’s Barretto Point Park to the island dozens of times, accompanied by parks department staff. At first, Payne had to acclimate himself to the island’s geography, navigating the thick vegetation and discovering the way in which light changed throughout the day. Though the Bronx and Manhattan were within eyesight, Payne found wandering the island alone was a uniquely isolating experience. “Even though visually you have that connection to the city and you can still hear things—I could hear the Mister Softee truck sometimes—there's still this sense that you're disconnected,” he said. “Living in New York, everyone craves their own space and isolation once in a while. When you're on the island you definitely have that. It’s a rare feeling.”

Between the 1880s and the 1930s, North Brother Island was the site of Riverside Hospital, where those suffering from infectious disease were treated in isolation. After World War II, it served as a housing community for returning veterans and their families. In the 1950s and early 1960s, it became a juvenile drug treatment center. While Payne knew the island’s story, he often had trouble finding physical evidence of its past. “It was very hard for me to find the artifacts I expected to find. They really just didn't exist. Most of the time you're looking at the shell of a building, and it's so far gone you can't even tell what it was used for. It forced me to look closer, to see graffiti on the walls or to look on the floor,” he said. “A lot of it was detective work. It was like trying to invent a life for something, trying to find a shot or a view that suggested what it used to be.”

With time, Payne discovered some of the clues he sought, but he ultimately found he was more attracted to the island’s natural environment than its manmade structures. As the seasons changed, the landscape shifted dramatically, affecting the appearance of the buildings it now dominated. “One thing that struck me was seeing how much nature had reclaimed the island. If you go there and don't have any idea what the place used to be, you'd assume that's how it always was, but if you look at the historical photos, you’ll see this campus with manicured streets and lawns. Now it's a forest,” he said. “I read this book called The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. He described what would happen if people left the planet. He has a chapter on New York City, and what he wrote could have been captions for my photographs.”

See more photos on Slate.

America Ferrera Reacts To Bizarre Dress Prank

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America Ferrera got a dress full of Ukrainian prankster when she walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16. The serial jokester and "journalist" Vitalii Sediuk climbed up Fererra's dress at the premiere of "How To Train Your Dragon 2" while she posed for photos with her co-stars.

"I don't even know what happened!" Ferrera told Vulture at a party following the red carpet premiere. "I feel something behind me, and there's this guy under my dress, and then two guys drag him away!"

Sediuk once tried to kiss Will Smith and got slapped, stage-rushed Jennifer Lopez while she presented Adele with a Grammy and hugged Bradley Cooper's knees really, really hard on the red carpet. He got a face full of crotch.

Vulture also reports that during the incident, co-star Kit Harrington (yes, Jon Snow) became protective of Ferrera, who voices Astrid in the Dreamworks animated movie. We'd expect nothing less from the noblest man in Castle Black.

[via Vulture]

'Dark Blood,' River Phoenix's Last Film, To Be Released More Than 20 Years After Actor's Death

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CANNES, France (AP) — More than 20 years after his death, River Phoenix's last film is finally getting a release.

Cinemavault announced Friday that it has sold the North American distribution rights of "Dark Blood" to Lionsgate. The film has been in limbo since Phoenix died of a drug overdose in 1993. He was in production on the movie at the time. "Dark Blood" was left unfinished and most expected it would never see the light of day. Director and co-writer George Sluizer, however, pushed to complete it, despite spending years battling an insurance company that made a claim about Phoenix's drug use.

In 2012, Sluizer edited together an unfinished version that premiered last year at the Berlin Film Festival.

Lionsgate is planning to release the film on video-on-demand.

In "Dark Blood," Phoenix plays a young widower who retreats to the desert after his wife dies of radiation following nuclear tests near their home.

— By AP Film Writer Jake Coyle — http://twitter.com/jake_coyle
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