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11 Things We Learned About Tina Fey On 'Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee'

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Could there be a more New York experience than Jerry Seinfeld taking you to eat your very first Cronut? Tina Fey, the latest guest on "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," did just that in the newest episode of the web series.

The two legendary TV stars drove around uptown Manhattan, taking a pit stop in Harlem at Floridita to make a coffee break, although they ended up getting getting a "wheat puff" milkshake. They then headed to Dominique Ansel Bakery, where Ansel himself reserved one of his infamous croissant/donut hybrids for the pair to share.

Here are 11 things we enjoyed learning about Tina Fey throughout her chat with Seinfeld.

1. She likes living on Manhattan's Upper West Side, because people look normal. "If walk around the Upper West Side, you will never, ever see a truly good looking person," she said. "If you're on 14th Street, you might [think], oh, that girl's a model."

2. She does not have a driver's license -- and has forgotten how to drive. In fact, she almost ran herself over during a commercial shoot when she got out of a car without shifting the gear into park.

3. Does she miss working on "30 Rock"? No way. "I want to go to an office where I make coffee, work for 40 minutes thinking about something, then think, should I walk out to lunch?"

5. What she really wants to do is license people to use Twitter. A non-tweeter herself, Fey said her ideal post-"30 Rock" job would be to decide who gets to use the service. "You would give me 10 examples of what you wanted to talk about, and I would tell you if that's something we all needed to know."

6. She wants to write another movie (her first and only so far is "Mean Girls"), but has found it difficult to get inspired. "Once you've done it and you know how much work it is, you can't fake that."

7. She admires stand-up comedy, but does not wish to perform it. "I tried it three times in Chicago. Compared to improv, it's so much scarier, and so much more thrilling. If you did get a laugh, it was all yours. But if you're flop sweating, that's also all you."

8. Her husband handles their daughters' vomit, and Tina handles the poop. "Feces are my purview."

9. She does not understand why some people think her pal Amy Poehler is generous and Fey is not. She read an article about a charity Poehler promoted, and an online commenter wrote that they never would expect Tina to do such a thing. "Is it my face?! Why do you think that?"

10. She does not have a key to her apartment. But don't get any ideas, would-be thieves -- her doorman keeps her Emmy stash safe from intruders.

11. Chris Rock gave her a Rolex with an engraving that reads, "Thanks for your help, motherfucker." He also gave the watch with the same inscription to Louis C.K. after Tina, Louie and a few others helped him punch up a movie. (Louie makes a cameo in the episode telling the same story. Watch his full "Comedians in Cars" here.)

Where Would You Live On This Amazing Map Of The Internet?

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Some people -- your friendly editors and reporters at HuffPost Tech included -- are on the Internet so much, they may as well live there.

Over on his Deviant Art profile, Martin Vargic has imagined such a place with "The Map of the Internet," an exhaustively detailed map featuring places like the Spam Ocean and an island country known as BitTorrent.

Check out a condensed version of the map below. Click here to enlarge for a full-sized version.

internet map

Vargic, a student and amateur graphic designer from Slovakia, told The Huffington Post he originally was inspired to create the map after seeing xkcd's "Map of the Internet" in 2010. Vargic started by increasing the scale and creating a new model based off National Geographic maps, working 10 hours a day for three weeks. The result, according to Vargic, is still a work in progress.

"The map is divided into two main parts; software companies, gaming companies and some of the real-world oriented websites are located on the right part of the map, or 'the old world,'" Vargic told HuffPost in an email. "The websites and majority of Internet itself is located on two eastern continents, the upper one showing social networks, forum websites, blogs, and the lower one filled with adult-oriented websites and Internet crime."

The project also includes four mini maps showcasing NSA surveillance, a list of Alexa Top 500 websites and a short timeline of the Internet's history, in addition to other quirks. Vargic has the 34-by-22-inch version of the map for sale for $34.70.

The real question is: What country would you move to? Let us know in the comments.

The Weirdest War Movie Of 2013 Comes To America

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Practically the moment Ben Wheatley's psychedelic period movie, "A Field In England" hit the British circuit last year, it was proclaimed a "future cult classic," and Wheatley the next Sam Raimi.

Beyond its novel take on an English Civil War drama -- in this one, a gang of murderous war-dodgers lose their minds to drugs on a small patch of battlefield -- critics were taken with the film's visuals. Wheatley and cinematographer Laurie Rose chose to shoot in black and white, a decision that somehow doesn't cramp the plot's trippy twists and turns.

A FIELD IN ENGLAND [Trailer] In Theaters & On VOD February 7th from Drafthouse Films on Vimeo.




U.S. audiences will experience an update on that aesthetic come February 7, when "A Field" starts its run in select theaters nationwide. While the film's palette remains muted, the posters promoting it are anything but. Lurid and overheated, they recall one of the greatest accidental canons in film history: Polish posters of the mid- to late 20th century, when the country's communist government forbade American-made imagery.

2014-01-30-AFIE_Poster.jpeg

The resemblance is no accident. In a statement to The Huffington Post, designer Jay Shaw explained how he conceived of the posters for "A Field." Perusing through a "visual guidebook" compiled for him by Drafthouse Films, the movie's American distributors, Shaw found himself struck by an arresting Polish poster. The movie it advertised wasn't Polish, or even European -- rather, it's the 1966 Mexican border drama, "Rage."

2014-01-30-Rage.jpeg

Yet another Mexican-American-Polish intersection provided further inspiration. This poster, designed for Polish audiences, promoted Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 cult film, "La Montaña Sagrada," or "The Holy Mountain."

2014-01-30-HolyMountain.jpeg

The curve of the rainbow in the "Holy Mountain" imagery returns in one of the posters Shaw designed for "A Field," pictured below. Now it's an inverted arc built of cross-sections of mushrooms, a reference to the hallucinogenic fungi chomped by the main characters in the film.

2014-01-30-AFIE_ALT_2.jpg

Shaw sees a through-line connecting his work to Wheatley's. "The film is gorgeously shot in black and white but the story is so colorful it just made sense to allow the posters to match," he explained. As a result, a Polish look will guide a highly British production into America. Communism, meet globalism.

22 Diva Collaborations To Rival Madonna And Miley Cyrus' Duet

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There's nothing like a great diva collaboration. Every time we see two top-notch chanteuses join forces, it feels like something special is happening. Miley Cyrus and Madonna mark the latest combination to get us in the girl-power zone. Their duet on Cyrus' episode of "MTV Unplugged" recalls a slew of performances that have spotlighted the pipes of pop's greatest divas. Join us in jamming to these multi-octave gems. No man can do it better.

The Most Breathtaking Photos From Around The World This Week

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Welcome to "Moving Image," our roundup of the best photos from around the world this week.

The following images tell the story of the past seven days' most compelling events, capturing happenstance moments and monumental occurrences all over the globe.

Our picks for this week are:





This story appears in Issue 84 of our weekly iPad magazine, Huffington, in the iTunes App store, available Friday, January 24.

Here's What Daft Punk Looks Like Without Those Helmets

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Daft Punk attracted quite a few inquiries when they accepted multiple Grammys in silence from underneath their signature robot helmets. But who is really under all of that metal and glass?

Daft Punk's two members are Frenchmen Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, both 39 years old, who've been making music as a group since 1993. The duo has come to be known for their intriguing anonymity, which started when they wore trash bags over their heads at early performances. Bags evolved into helmets and wigs, and eventually into the sleek helmets they wear today.

As far as the real meaning goes, Rolling Stone published Daft Punk's own explanation:

Bang­alter describes the robot look as both a high-concept philosophical gambit – "We're interested in the line between fiction and reality, creating these fictional personas that exist in real life" – and a way to enfold Daft Punk's music within a tradition of flamboyant pop theatricality that includes "Kraftwerk and Ziggy Stardust and Kiss; people thought the helmets were marketing or something, but for us it was sci-fi glam.


Of course, the costumes only make the world more eager to learn about the people behind the punk. The duo were caught grabbing their bags in Paris with their helmets safely packed away.

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This is Thomas Bangalter, who has not only been photographed helmet-less, but shirtless, too.

daft

Here, the "Get Lucky" artists both avoid the camera's direction as they stack their luggage onto a cart.

Bangalter and de Homem–Christo aren't as excited about you seeing them as we are. "We're not performers, we're not models. It would not be enjoyable for humanity to see our features, but the robots are exciting to people," de Homem Christo told Rolling Stone of the novelty of their disguise.

"One thing I like about the masks is that I don't have people constantly coming up to me and reminding me what I do. It's nice to be able to forget," Bangalter elaborated.

It seems like the helmets are just as much about personal privacy as they are about performance. The performers decided in 2001 to not appear publicly, as Daft Punk, without their helmets and have honored that refusal since.

Let's be honest. At this point, you're into their music with or without the helmets.

The Beatles Rooftop Concert: The Fab Four's Final Performance Turns 45

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It was Jan. 30, 1969, when the four gentleman of The Beatles gathered on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building in London. It had been three years since they had performed live together, and that frigid afternoon would be the last time they ever would.

In the next year, the band fell apart for a number of reasons -- the swift rise of the band's dark horse, George Harrison, divergent personal and professional interests and, obviously, clashing egos, to name a few.

Thankfully, the final, unexpected concert was recorded so that we might treasure it for years and years to come. In honor of the 45th anniversary, watch the fabled performance below.

Get Down With Some Casual Electro-Swing Dancing (VIDEO)

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It's Thursday afternoon, which can mean only one thing... time for a dance party!

Yeah, that's right. Put your dancing shoes on, turn the volume way up and click play to get down to this sweet video above from WhyNot demonstrating some seriously slick "casual electro-swing dance" moves on display. You'll thank us later.

Watch 2 Pretentious Comedians Narrate Their Cat Movie, Then Narrate Their Narration

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Matt Ingebretson (of "Idiot Fencing" Internet fame) and Jake Weisman (WOMEN Comedy) made a remarkably up-its-own-ass short film about Weisman's cat, and as all serious filmmakers are wont to do, they offered a commentary track to that film. Then, in an unprecedented act of pretension, they offered a commentary track on that. You can almost hear the slow claps from Echo Park.



Late-Blooming Celebrities Prove No One's Too Old To 'Make It' In Hollywood

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Many people think that it's impossible to "make it" in the entertainment industry once they've hit a certain age. With so many child and teenaged stars in the mix, it's easy to understand how an aspiring entertainer who has already reached adulthood might think he or she is over the hill in Hollywood-years. But that hill is actually far from insurmountable.

Passion, determination and talent are more important than age when it comes to making a career in entertainment. These 10 stars prove that it's never too late to follow your dreams.

Here's Rihanna On Grammys Night For #tbt

10 Reasons Art Lovers Need To Visit Sri Lanka Right Now

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When you think about global art capitals, a few usual suspects probably jump to mind. New York, Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong -- it's true, these regions offer more than their fair share of cultural riches. But these days we're navigating the lesser-known spaces where the art floweth freely. The first of such cultural treasure troves is none other than Sri Lanka.

sri lanka

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, an island country often culturally defined by Buddhism, Kandyan dance and, of course, M.I.A., is also a hotbed of contemporary artistic activity. As evidence, we humbly present the 2014 Colombo Art Biennale, an international festival of contemporary art now in its third edition. This year's festival revolves around the theme of "Making History," as international artists examine contemporary aesthetics from a past, present and future point of view.

"History is inescapable," explained Anoli Perera on the festival website. "As human beings, our bodies are inscribed with connotations that in many ways defy temporality, and in our modernity, refers to parallel representations of cultures, events, moments and emotions. Our bodies are historically marked, while emotionally ‘present’ with a desire to invent the future. Do we make history or does history makes us what we are today?"

The following artists are contributing to the still evolving contemporary art landscape in the island country. Behold, 10 beautiful reasons art lovers should head to Sri Lanka right now.

1. T.V. Santhosh

horse
Effigies of Turbulent Yesterdays



2. Jo Hodges

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Biosphere Drinking Fountain



3. Thor McIntyre-Burnie

thor
Ayr Many Wide



4. Pietro Ruffo Revolution

pietro
Globe III



5. Chinthaka Thenuwara

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Kaleidoscope Photo



6. Reginald S. Aloysius

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38e,9W255



7. Moe Satt

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Golden Barrel Man



8. Andrew Jay Weir & Christto Sanz

andrew
Untitled



9. Anoli Perera

anoli
Memory Keeper- The Blue Cupboard



10. Poornima

poornima
Towards A Bright Future (Suba Anagathayak)


Colombo Art Biennale runs from January 31 to February 9, 2014.

8 Stunning Portraits Capture Blindness In A Different Light

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"My father-in-law is going more and more blind each time I visit him. I am conscious how much his focus is changing. He used to look at me, but now he practically sees through me," photographer Julia Fullerton-Batten explained to The Huffington Post in an email.

Inspired by her father-in-law's bravery and strength, Fullerton-Batten embarked on a photographic journey to capture others whose worlds don't consist of colors and shapes. In a moving series simply titled "Blind," Fullerton-Batten grapples with questions many have when contemplating a life without sight. "How different my life would be if I was surrounded by dark, blurred scenes of mottled grey and colors?" she asks. "How do they dream without the background knowledge stored in their memory?"

The artist resolved to learn more through a series of personal, photographic portraits each with an accompanying story. For each image, Fullerton-Batten asked her models to choose a background to pose before and write of their experiences with blindness, in their own words, using speech recognition software and Braille keys. The combination of images and words allows access into an existence that, for those of us who don't experience it firsthand, is almost impossible to imagine.

See the stunning images and the stories that led to them below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

1. Adam and David

adam and david

“Both David and I have Ocular Cutaneous Albinism. This leads us to have just below 10% vision with nystagmus (involuntary eye wobble), very pale skin and we burn very easily.  We have both had the condition since birth but have both adapted to it as it is only what we know.

"The background in the photograph relates to us because as a family we love to travel. Unable to sit in the sun, we have to find other things to do on holiday.  A few years ago we decided to try scuba diving, and that has now become a family passion. When we are under the water (20m down)  we are protected from the sun, thus can't be burnt.  Being underwater is a safe world away from the sun and somewhere where we can forget all about our eye condition. (Even though we may not see everything everybody else does underwater).”



2. Adam

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“My name is Adam, I'm 29, from London, registered severely visually impaired. I suffer from something called Retinitis Pigmentosa, which has gradually affected my sight in many ways. Large patches of blind spots around my peripheral field cause "tunnel vision", while blind spots in my central field make focusing on details difficult/impossible. I can't make out many colours, for instance distinguish between various pastels or dark shades, and this is all dependent on there being good levels of light; in dim conditions such as night time or even a cloudy day, I'm virtually totally blind.

"One of the toughest obstacles I have to deal with is people thinking I'm faking my blindness, or simply need to get a good pair of spectacles, and/or that I'm crazy or suffer mental difficulties. I asked Julia to picture me on a beach because I very much enjoy the beach. I love the sound of the waves, I love the sand between my toes. I like it if it's sunny or rainy, and I love the sensation of being on the edge of a great expanse. Having grown up in the city of London, the beach is almost alien, surreal, and I find it very soothing.”


3. Anna

anna

“I was born blind, with an eye condition called bilateral microphthalmia, which means that my eyes are much smaller than other people’s.  I have very slight light perception and am able to see shadows, but apart from that, I can’t see anything at all.  Having always been blind though, I’m very used to it and I’m definitely someone who believes in getting out there and getting on with life!

"I also have an amazing black guide dog called Reno, who comes out and about with me every day and makes getting around so much easier; he’s also wonderful company!

"The sea is very important to me.  I have many happy memories of times spent by the sea and it has also been a great source of power, strength and inspiration for me.  As a child, I spent many happy days on the beaches in Sussex with my family and in my late teens and early twenties, when I had difficult decisions to make about my life and my work, I spent a lot of time in Cornwall and on the beaches in that part of the country.  The sea helped me find the strength to move forward and to become who I am today, so I have much to thank it for.”




4. Ashar

ashar

“I went blind in one eye at the age of 10 after being severely myopic since birth. I then lost sight in the other eye after a string of 8 major operations when I was around 13/14.  Both eyes suffered retinal detachments. The operations had differing levels of success with some completely repairing my vision but with others causing further complications which eventually ended in blindness.

The picture references a strong memory from my youth where I remember watching fireworks and listening to music with my friends and family. This was one of the first occasions where I remember being captivated by music and because composing, producing and listening to music has grown to be an integral part of my life since going blind, I thought that this image would have a lot of personal significance.”


5. Georgina

georgina

“My eye condition has lead to total blindness in my left eye and periods of complete sight loss from detached retinas but now have relatively good vision in the right.  However it is only with a lifetime of maintenance and treatment that it will continue to survive.


"I was diagnosed at the age of three with uveitis and secondary glaucoma.  I was immediately to have lensectomy operations and then years spent controlling the pressure and protecting my optic nerve from the unpredictability of the disease. Unfortunately there is no known cause of the condition. I have a tube in the right eye which takes full control of the pressure. It was not available when I was first diagnosed.  Surgical treatments have been the most beneficial and bought me up to ten years without any more. I am positive about the advances in medical science that my sight will never be lost again.


"When asked what images and places came to mind of importance to me, my immediate thoughts where very simple ones.  It’s the simple and most obvious things we miss when they’re gone and also those we take most for granted.  An image I have as a child was the trees at the back of my parent’s large garden that the light used to shine through.  That was an image of home for me.  And the simplicity of light slipping through very tall trees could invoke such emotion was a sight that was devastating to be without but never really felt this until it was no longer there for me.  I have been given a second chance with my sight and will take pride and pleasure in all these images.”



6. Joy

joy

“My name is Joy Addo and I am 18 years old. I have an inflammatory disease at the back of my eyes. This has been an on-going problem throughout my life. 

"My mum noticed something was wrong with my eyes at the age of four. I have had about 11 operations now throughout my life. My vision is slightly improved with glasses. At the moment my vision is stable and doctors say I may grow out of it when I am in my late 20s, however I don't really expect to. I am just trying to get on with life with a visual impairment and if I do grow out of this condition it will be a bonus. 


"The reason I was photographed outside a bus stop was because I have been using that same bus stop for a number of years now. I have been taking very similar routes which mostly consisted using this particular bus journey.
I have now moved out of the family home and therefore will not be using the bus stop as often, however it is a route that I will never forget."


7. Nala

nala

“Nala's left eye has had nerve damage since birth.  She sees some shapes and light. She is sensitive to bright light in that eye. In particular we notice this with snow. We have regularly visited eye doctors but we have been told there is nothing that can be done to rectify the nerve damage. Nala's right eye is short- sighted. She wears glasses for this eye and it enables her to have a normal life and she goes to a regular school and does well. Doctors have said she has learnt ways of coping with just one eye since birth, so with her glasses people rarely notice she has sight issues although during sports and physical education she can struggle with glasses and also with depth of field (ball games etc). We are very proud of Nala.

"The background relates to her love of water and swimming. She loves to swim. She glides elegantly through water, wearing prescription goggles. It seems in water that she is much freer and more confident physically.”
 (Relayed by her mother)


8. Yuen

yuen

"I have a degenerative disease of the retina called Lebers Congenital Amorosis. It causes the light sensitive cells in my eyes to die over time. It is caused by a gene mutation passed down from my parents. There is currently no treatment, but I am talking to the Oxford Eye Hospital about taking part in their research to identify the gene through analysing blood samples. There is research being done to grow new retinas and I am hoping that this will one day restore my sight. I have not been able to see how I look compared to other girls and women, and so have always been very unsure about my looks, particularly as my mum has never been complimentary. I fantasised about being like a beautiful princess one day. I love dancing, so I talked to Julia about shooting a backdrop that was like a beautiful ballroom with glittering chandeliers where I could dance like a beautiful princess."

Why The Golden Era Of Movie Poster Design Happened In 1960s Poland

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There was a time when movie posters were works of fine art, marked by their edgy subject matter, imaginative design and hand-drawn text. That time was the 1960s, during which Poland was an epicenter of the phenomenon. Artists like Jan Lenica, Roman Ciesiewich and Waldemar Swierzy reigned supreme, creating famously dark and inventive images to promote films like Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" or Buster Keaton's "The General."

buster weilka




A new exhibition at London's Kemistry Gallery is paying tribute to this golden era of design in "Ken Sequin’s Polish Adventure," a survey of one graduate student's collection of unique cinematic artworks. Accumulated throughout the early 1960s, Sequin's found posters showcase the sophistication of design beyond the Iron Curtain, illuminating the abstract, psychedelic visions that came out of the period.

polish



‘In the summer of 1964 I set out on a boat and train journey to visit Poland and Czechoslovakia," Sequin explains in a statement for the exhibition. "I had started a proposal during my final year at the Royal College of Art to research into the animators and poster designers I had for so-long admired from those countries."

trzy posada



For more vintage design beauty, check out the Organization of Solidarity for the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America's propaganda posters here. "Ken Sequin's Polish Adventure" will be on view from February 20 to March 22, 2014 at Kemistry Gallery in London.

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don juan



tak



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Check out designer Jay Shaw's new Polish-inspired poster for "A Field in England" here.

Great Scott! A 'Back To The Future' Musical Is Happening

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NEW YORK (AP) — Director Robert Zemeckis is literally going back into the past for his next project — a stage musical of "Back to the Future."

Producers said Thursday night that a show adapted from the sci-fi comedy franchise starring Michael J. Fox will open in London's West End in 2015, the 30th anniversary of the film. A Broadway run is a possibility if the new musical flies as well as the film's specially equipped DeLorean. The new musical will have a book by Zemeckis, Bob Gale and Jamie Lloyd, and new music and lyrics by composer Alan Silvestri and songwriter and record producer Glen Ballard. Lloyd also will direct.

"The production will include illusions, skateboarding and many other surprises that will capture the spirit of the film but freshly interpret it for a new audience," Lloyd said in a statement Friday.

In the 1985 film, Marty McFly becomes a human guinea pig who travels back to his hometown in 1955. Once there, he gets caught up in the soap opera lives of his own teenage parents, including his mom who develops a crush on her future son.

The film was written by Zemeckis and Gale and had plenty of music, including the Huey Lewis and the News theme tune "The Power of Love" and Marty McFly's futuristic rendition of "Johnny B. Goode."

The film, which co-starred Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson, was so successful that it spawned two more sequels, "Back to the Future Part II" in 1989 and "Back to the Future Part III" in 1990.

The new musical will join such recent Gen X screen-to-stage remakes as "Ghost," ''Little Shop of Horrors," ''Flashdance," ''Dirty Dancing," ''Big," ''Legally Blonde," ''The Wedding Singer," ''Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "Elf."

Oscar-winner Zemeckis has directed all "Back to the Future" films, as well as "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," ''Forrest Gump," "The Polar Express" and "Flight."

Silvestri has scored many of Zemeckis' films, including "Romancing the Stone," ''Forrest Gump" and "Cast Away." Ballard, a six-time Grammy Award winner, co-wrote and produced "Jagged Little Pill" for Alanis Morissette and co-wrote the music for the stage musical adaptation of "Ghost."

Lloyd's credits include "Cyrano de Bergerac" on Broadway, "The Duchess of Malfi" at the Old Vic and "She Stoops to Conquer" at the National Theatre. Gale, a frequent Zemeckis collaborator, has also written comic books, including issues of "Batman."

Set and costume designs will be by Soutra Gilmour, illusions by Paul Kieve, lighting design by Jon Clark, and musical supervision by Alan Williams. Andrew Willis will be skateboard consultant.

The producers of the "Back to the Future" musical will include Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, Colin Ingram, Universal Stage Productions, Donovan Mannato and CJ E&M.

___

Mark Kennedy can be reached at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

'Pageant: The Musical Comedy Beauty Contest' Hits NYC In February (PHOTOS)

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Our friends at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are giving us a sneak peek at their new musical benefit -- and looks just fabulous!

Written by two-time Tony nominee Bill Russell ("Side Show") and Frank Kelly, "Pageant: The Musical Comedy Beauty Contest" puts a high-heeled drag spin on the competitive pageant scene.

Audiences will get the chance to see Broadway veterans, including Frankie James Grande ("Mamma Mia"), Douglas Lyons ("Beautiful") and Marty Thomas ("Xanadu"), face off in pursuit of the coveted Miss Glamouresse crown.

"With swimsuit, talent and evening gown competitions -- the show includes both the thrill of victory and agony of defeat," organizers said of "Pageant," which features music by Albert Evans and is directed by Matt Lenz, in a press release. "Unlike some beauty pageants you've seen before, the female contestants are all played by men. And the audience gets to select the winner each night."

The show's original Off-Broadway incarnation debuted in 1991 at the Blue Angel in New York. The new version, which is being produced by SAS Productions in association with Kitty Potapow, plays New York's Red Lacquer Club on Feb. 3, 10, 17 and 24.

Check here for more information.

Take a look at some rehearsal photos from the new show below.







Enrique Iglesias Debuts NSFW 'I'm A Freak' Video

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Enrique Iglesias debuted the music video for his latest hit, "I'm A Freak," Friday (Jan. 31), and it is definitely NSFW.

The video depicts a wild and crazy pool party in which Iglesias sings and Pitbull raps about their sexual proclivities. Warning: This video is replete with gyrating and twerking. A human-sized fox mascot also makes an appearance at the rager. It's the stuff that college spring break dreams are made of.

"I'm A Freak" is a single from Iglesias' 10th studio album, "Sex + Love," and it's currently available for download on iTunes. In November of 2013, Iglesias debuted "El Perdedor," a Spanish-language single from the album, which is pretty much the opposite of "I'm A Freak," serving to highlight Iglesias' varied music styles.

As it happens, Iglesias loves The Huffington Post as much as we love him. And that's certainly something to freak out about.


Let's Hope Obama's Swipe At Art History Backfires

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It's President Obama versus the gentlest foes you can imagine. Speaking to an audience in Wisconsin on his post-State of the Union tour, the president compared "skilled manufacturing" to art history, in terms of the better choice of study. Guess which field wins?

“I promise you, folks can make a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree."

He continued, according to Politico: "Nothing wrong with art history degree…I love art history. I don’t want to get a bunch of emails from everybody."

Sounds like a challenge!




So far the angriest "email" sent is from the Washington Post, which published an article yesterday evening blasting the president's record on supporting "high culture."

"Like so many politicians, [Obama] seems reflexively afraid of being associated with anything that might be seen as elitist," reads the article, noting that the position of Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts has gone unfilled under the current administration for more than a year.




The WaPo article hails a contrasting example: John F. Kennedy, who famously addressed the 1963 class at Amherst College with a speech foretelling a day when we reward "achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statecraft."

That day clearly hasn't come. In a wide-ranging study published last year, Georgetown University researchers found that art history majors out-earn all other liberal arts degrees, save U.S. history. Of course, the race isn't exactly high-stakes: the median annual incomes for all liberal arts degrees range from $48,000 to a not-at-all-whopping $57,000 (the study places art historians at $50,000). Compare that to the median annual income of the major the study found to be highest earning -- petroleum engineering -- at $120,000.

It's easy to see why a lover of Italian Renaissance sculpture might feel discouraged:







Journalist David Frum (knower of at least one art historian) has a different take:




What this intriguing card-playing methodology is, Frum doesn't say. (He may want to tweet it to @RachSyme up above though).

Of course, time and again we've learned that judging the value of a scholarly field on earning potential is a flawed exercise. Remember Sarah Palin's dig at fruit fly research -- the findings from which, it so happens, have resulted in huge strides in the study of autism and birth defects, two causes dear to Palin's heart?

That time, the joke backfired, launching a crash course for the public on the value of drosophila science. And here again, art history majors may end up thanking Obama. Since when has the fitness of their salaries been a topic of political discussion? Possibly not since JFK addressed Amherst.








Calm Down, Jesse Eisenberg Can Be A Great Lex Luthor

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Well, Jesse Eisenberg being cast as Lex Luthor wasn’t quite as vitriolic as the Ben Affleck-Batman news.

It’s tempting to repost all of the circa-2006 message board comments from the day Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” in a “look at these morons” kind of way. Though, admittedly, I was one of those morons who thought casting Ledger was just a weird decision. (I had no real opinion of Ledger one way or another at the time, but I was under the impression that any actor cast as the Joker had to be “over the top” or “outrageous.” On the other end of the spectrum, I was convinced Liam Neeson as a Jedi Knight was the greatest casting decision in the history of casting decisions.) Of course, I was really wrong. And I learned a lesson that day: It’s impossible to judge a casting decision before you see a movie.

Last summer, I wrote an essay in an attempt to make a case that The Flash (my favorite DC superhero) could be the Iron Man of the DC theatrical universe. In this essay, I threw out the name of Jesse Eisenberg as a possible casting choice for The Flash –- mainly because I think Eisenberg is an interesting actor who can bring an ominous, funny and human element to his performances. This suggestion was met with a collective, “Haha, calm down there, partner, that’s never going to happen. But if it did, I would probably be upset.”

Well! Now Eisenberg is in the next installment of the DC superhero franchise -- still tentatively titled “Batman vs. Superman -– in the role of ... Lex Luthor, of all things.

And, predictably, the Internet seems mad.

This is different than the Affleck casting as Batman for a couple of reasons. Affleck -- even after his years-long grand retribution project that led him to an Oscar win for “Argo” -– still has a name that jolts out a steady stream of instant polarization. When Affleck was announced as our new Batman, it’s almost as if we all forgot about “Argo,” “The Town” and “Hollywoodland.” Our instinct was to point at “Gigli” and “Daredevil” and yell, “This guy?”

Thankfully, people have calmed down, based a lot on some well-timed interviews by Affleck to remind us, “Oh, yeah, we like this guy now.” It’s gotten to the point that the (seemingly unfounded) rumors floating around that Affleck might leave the project have been met with fear that this might be true. It appears, now, people want Affleck to play Batman.

The case with Eisenberg is different. The harsh response almost seems like more a reaction to Bryan Cranston not being cast as Luthor than it does with Eisenberg getting the gig.

Somewhere along the line, it became a foregone conclusion that Cranston would be perfect for the role of Lex Luthor. This is based 100 percent on Cranston’s performance as Walter White on “Breaking Bad.” (It’s doubtful that anyone watching Seinfeld reruns are looking at Tim Whatley and thinking, That’s my Lex. ... on second thought, maybe they are.) Cranston is a pro and Cranston is a guy who likes to play a plethora of different characters. How in the world was Cranston supposed to play Lex Luthor and not have it be a clone of Walter White? Just that he wouldn’t have a goatee and fun hat this time? I’m not saying that having a Walter White-esque Lex Luthor would be a bad thing for us, the audience, but it would have been a bad thing for Bryan Cranston, the actor. (I’m sure he knew this.) If Cranston was approached, I’m sure the sentence, “How can I play this Lex Luthor and not be Walter White?” was spoken and I’m sure that not many people had an answer. (The only other name really in contention for Batman was Josh Brolin –- who was approached –- but no one has a strong connection to Brolin like they do Cranston.)

I’ve read some complaints about Eisenberg’s casting that are basically along the lines of, “Oh, he’s just going to do his version of Mark Zuckerberg again,” which is funny because that’s exactly what people wanted out of Cranston.

Regardless, who knows if Eisenberg will make a good Lex Luthor or not? This movie doesn’t come out until 2016! But, the possibility for something interesting and different is certainly there. The last person who played Lex Luthor in a movie was Kevin Spacey in “Superman Returns,” who was supposedly the same Lex that Gene Hackman played in “Superman” and “Superman II.” (“Superman IV: The Quest For Peace” had been eradicated from this particular timeline.) If nothing else, at least we will see something different from that. (Hackman was a fine Luthor, but he didn't exactly play the version from the comic books, either.)

And, as a bonus, there’s no chance of Jon Cryer showing up as Lex Luthor’s nephew, Lenny Luthor.

Mike Ryan is senior writer for Huffington Post Entertainment. You can contact him directly on Twitter.

How The Cedars-Sinai Art Collection Shines A Healing Light On Patients And Staff Alike

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Art is many things: beautiful, controversial, funny, expensive. But no matter what it looks like, art has the power to heal us.

Since the 1970s, the staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has curated a growing art collection that adds some character to the sterile hospital environment. Curator John T. Lange told HuffPost Live he sees the artwork's powerful effects on patients and staff alike, and it's become an integral part of Cedars-Sinai.

Check out the clip above to hear more about the Cedars-Sinai art collection, and see the full HuffPost Live conversation about the healing power of art below.



Arianna Huffington and Mika Brzezinski are taking The Third Metric on a three-city tour: NY, DC & LA. Tickets are on sale now at thirdmetric.com.
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