black mag: July 2021

Saturday, 31 July 2021

Fun & Games & Riches: We're All Living In Ryan's World

Anyone with a child at home is probably familiar with the YouTube unboxing videos. Fans all over the globe watch with rapt attention as the YouTube host carefully opens a box or package, revealing a new toy or addition to the many popular collectible toy franchises.

Surprisingly, one successful YouTuber began his reign at just three-years-old and now, nine-year-old Ryan Kaji has ranked on Forbes’ list of highest-paid YouTube stars for the past three consecutive years.

Ryan’s World, formerly known as Ryan Toys Review, began when the Kaji family started posting the youngest of the Kaji clan, Ryan, opening a variety of toys. His popularity and relatable personality skyrocketed the channel and made Ryan a media sensation.

In 2015, the then toddler was featured with his mother, father and twin sisters Emma and Kate as Ryan began sharing his opinions and interest in a variety of toys. According to Biography Tree, Ryan was inspired at such a young age by watching other toy review channels and as he began emulating them, his father and mother, Shion and Loann Kaji began taping Ryan’s experience and posting them on YouTube.

Slowly, instead of the Kaji family filming their trip to the toy store, hundreds of toy companies began sending Ryan their products for his review.

He quickly welcomed a large band of followers with 24 billion views by 2018. With monthly income from his daily YouTube posts paired with a variety of other ventures, Ryan and his family have a net worth of $112 million and growing.

Early on, the channel’s success was attributed to the review made by a kid, for kid viewers and created a relatable relationship between Ryan and his biggest fans.

Skyrocketing into millionaire status, Ryan and his family began expanding the highly successful social media empire with the 2019 Nickelodeon show, “Ryan’s Mystery Playdate”, in addition to Roku and Hulu contracts.

Ryan’s World toys was launched at the New York Toy Fair in 2018 and includes his image on packaging. The toy line is produced by Bonkers Toys and Pocket Watch marketing, and sold at more than 2,500 Walmart stores. Not only have toys hit the market but fans can also buy clothing, a series of video games and home products as well.

In fact, the family has licensed Ryan’s name and image to more than 5,000 products in stores today, including toys, action figures, face masks and children décor.

The business reached such success that Ryan’s mother quit her job as a high school teacher to manage the YouTube channel full time, according to Celebrity Net Worth.

Techie Gamers breaks down the pay structure for popular YouTubers. Those living in Australia, Canada, UK and the United States receive $2 to $12 per 1,000 views on their channel. The YouTube host also receives revenue from the ads played on Ryan’s World and other channels.

In just one day, the Kaji channel receives 22 million views which brings in earnings of approximately $150,000 or $55 million annually to the family. As of 2021, the Ryan’s World channel has nearly 30 million subscribers and his videos now receive more than 45 billion views.

He doesn’t do it all by himself though; the family now manages a network of 30 employees under Sunlight Entertainment, helping to produce more content.

The continuing growth doesn’t come without controversy.

The family operates nine YouTube channels to date, including Ryan’s World Japanese and Ryan’s World Chinese, leading critics to accuse the Kaji’s of capitalizing on their young son’s childhood. In their efforts to expand and grow along with Ryan, the family has started participating in the video’s and changing the overall feel of the posts fans originally fell in love with.

Critics have also called attention to the example YouTube stars like Ryan are setting for children at home. For example, the use of advertisements targeted to young children and the perceived waste of food and other products in the experiments and challenges posted.

Kaji has surpassed other famous YouTube personalities on the highest-paid list, such as Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson), Dude Perfect and Markiplier (Mark Fischbach).

His superhero alter-ego, Red Titan appeared in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2020 according to International Business Times (IBTimes), ultimately confirming his popularity with children across the world.

He continues to collaborate with other YouTube stars and works to expand his channel to include daily challenges and experiences. The more he shares, the more fans seem to fall in love with the grade school student, a “bond” Kaji’s father believes, has been the key to their success.

Sources: Biography Tree, Celebrity Net Worth, Techie Gamers, International Business Times

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Tom Girardi's Law Firm Auctioning Julia Roberts Poster & Other Items Amid Bankruptcy

Amidst of a stream of grizzly lawsuits, former attorney Tom Girardi is in some pretty hot water. Girardi, the ex-husband of pop music and reality television star Erika Jayne, was sued last year for embezzling over $2 million of funds intended for the victims of the 2018 Boeing Lion Air plane crash. As if that weren't enough, he was subsequently sued by his business partner for not paying him up to $315 thousand that he was entitled to for his work.

All the legal chaos, on top of having to pay Erika Jayne spousal support, put Girardi's law firm into bankruptcy in December. Now, Girardi's trying to make some extra cash by auctioning off a number of items from the building of his now inactive law firm.

The main purpose of Girardi's impromptu auctioning is to pay off the creditors in which he owes quite a bit of money. But there's a chance that the former attorney may be able to make enough to pay the bill with the luxurious pieces her selling through Three Sixty Asset Advisors.

The listing on the auction house's website details the items up for grabs as, "the firm’s office furniture, business machinery and equipment, as well as furnishings and decorations comprised of art, oriental rugs, sports memorabilia, wine, music memorabilia, statues, vintage law (and other) books, a vintage piano, a Cadillac DTS and much more."

The most notable item of the auction, which is said to take place either next month or in September, is a movie poster of Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich. While it may be a simple poster to most, there's a major deal of significance between Girardi and the film. If you're aware of Erin Brockovich, you'd know that the plot was derived from the real life court case the water containment case that Girardi's firm won in 1993.

The onslaught of legal misconduct has resulted in Girardi losing his law practicing license in March. Currently, he's under the conservatorship of his younger brother Robert Girardi.

The whole scandal was the subject of a recent Hulu documentary called The Housewife and the Hustler. It's also been a reoccurring topic of conversation in Bravo's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, in which ex-wife Erika Jayne is a cast member.

Sources: People, Daily Mail, Vulture

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Rich Reads: The 10 Biggest Book Advances Of All Time | TheRichest

When people think of authors, they tend to think of dark loners or people from the Victorian age who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the grueling world of information, research, and half-present experience. But there is another side to literature and books that comes from the celebrity culture, one that has wealth, taste, extravagance, that makes their life seem a little bit more like a Wes Anderson movie and a little less like Barfly.

These writers are the former, successful entrepreneurs, businessmen and women, powerful characters and Presidents who shape culture and commanded the public with the flick of their wrist, the nod of their head, or the post of their Instagram. They can sell books like a man who hucks peanuts out into the crowds at a stadium or circus, where interaction and taste doesn't matter but everyone seems to be craving something salty to satisfy themselves if only for a second. Some of these books have been ghostwritten, while others on this list put in the time, the effort, and the strenuous task of using the jaws of life to pry out their inner soul just long enough to scribble it down on a piece of paper and document that one short moment of truth that someone out there will relate to. Those are the ones who have earned their reputation and spot as having the biggest book advances in the history of literature.

10 Jennifer Egan: Manhattan Beach, $1 million

Jennifer Egan stormed onto the literary scene with her debut novel The Invisible Circus. Shortly after its release a feature film was made which earned her a much wider audience. But it wasn't until the release of A Visit From The Goon Squad that she became a certified literary master, blending genres, styles, and escaping the elements of time altogether. The novel earned her a Pulitzer Prize as well as a $1 million deal for her next book, Manhattan Beach. Her next novel, The Candy House, will be released in April of 2022.

9 Emma Cline: The Girls, $2 million

Few books have earned more controversy and attention in the modern era than Emma Cline's debut The Girls. The bidding war for the novels rights was between 12 publishers, resulting in Random House paying the $2 million winning bid to the 2-year-old. The novel went on to win the Shirley Jackson Prize, but also found itself in another controversy between Cline and a former boyfriend which involved plagiarism, cheating, blackmail, and more scandals. The life of the book has a plot of its own.

8 Kristen Roupenian: You Know You Want This, $1.2 million

Kristen Roupenian is best recognized for her short stories including Cat Person which is one of the few literary works to go viral across the internet. Her $1.2 million advance for her collection of short stories featured the hefty price as Cat People was included in the anthology. The short story about dating in the metaverse was featured in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post which all contributed to the additional hype.

7 Tom Wolfe: Back to Blood, $7 million

The chameleon in the white suit, Tom Wolfe blended in with the most radical, subversive, and culturally relevant groups of his time and portrayed them in a subjectively-objective point of view that created its honest from its perspective. He single-handedly created the genre of New Journalism through his articles and books which has in turn created the endless blogs, vlogs, and Facebook posts of the modern era. His contributions to journalism and fiction are incalculable so it's only fitting that his last novel, Back To Blood, earned a $7 million advance.

6 J.K. Rowling: The Casual Vacancy, $8 million

J.K. Rowling is a mythological figure in her own right whose personal story contains the same elements of bravery and innovation as the hero's journey she outlined in her Harry Potter series. The first novel in the series was published in 1997 when Rowling was coming off a turbulent life experience which included the death of her mother, the birth of her first child, a divorce, and abject poverty. She funneled her energy into a funny looking kid and quickly they both took the world by storm. The Casual Vacancy was one of Rowlings first ventures into the world of adult fiction and the hype around the novel resulted in an $8 million advance.

5 Pope John Paul II: Crossing The Threshold of Hope, $8.5 million

Pope John Paul II was known for his ability to unify groups of people together over common ideals and beliefs. He strengthened relations between much of the Jewish, Islamic, and Eastern Orthodox religions and his ability to relate to varying groups of different experience is also in part what led to his successful $8.5 million book deal. He was later canonized as a Saint in part due to his passion for his Polish roots which eventually led to Pope John Paul II ending the communistic rule of the country.

4 Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run, $10 million

Born to run or born to write? Springsteen created a crowd behind his everyday, workingman aesthetic and regardless of whether it was planned or honest, it worked. He not only made a fortune through his music, but his songwriting carried over into the world of literature. His autobiography, Born to Run, earned a $10 million advance. And his influence over the culture still shows no signs of slowing down as Springsteen recently announced he will be co-hosting a podcast with another author featured on this list, President Barack Obama.

3 Hillary Clinton: Living History, $14 million

Hillary Clinton is a powerful woman whose life has consisted of a series of calculated decisions that landed her close to the President of the United States several times throughout her career. Whether it was beside her husband, as a confidante of Barack Obama, or as a candidate herself, Clinton has done more for the country that most political figures of the past century. With a power that no one truly knows the extent of, she has proven herself further by receiving a $14 million book deal for Living History, just one of her books in a canon of over 30 unique titles.

2 Bill Clinton: My Life $15 million

A powerful couple, it's no surprise that Hillary and Bill have landed spots next to one another on the list. Bill Clinton knew exactly who to talk to and how to climb the political ladder. He went from a governor of Arkansas to President of the United States in just under 10 years and was able to surround himself with some of the richest and most controversial figures in all of US history. While his presidency and personal life have almost always been a whirlwind of controversy, it has made for an interesting tale. On that Knopf publishing was able to put a monetary value on, $15 million, the highest fee ever paid by a publisher at the time.

1 Barack Obama: Dreams From My Father, $20 million

Contrary to Hillary Clinton's book title, Barack Obama truly is living history. He was the first black President of the United States, a statistic everyone has written about but no one can truly comprehend. He changed the world and the status quo and gave hope to eternal generations of citizens in the country. It was only fitting that his $20 million book endeavor would also feature generational impacts within the title, Dreams from My Father. Obama continues to shape the culture of the country with a more hands off role which has included podcasts, book lists, movie reviews, and his own job as a curator for Netflix. Despite leaving the Presidency, Obama is just as much involved in the shape of the culture as he was during his inauguration.

Regardless of how or why these writers write, they have all accomplished the monumental task of completing a book. And while some grifters have found ways to skirt out of their deliveries, each of these figures managed to produce a work of art based on their lives, experiences, or emotions. No matter the intent or the content, publishing a book with this much of a nominal amount behind it is an accomplishment that should be acknowledged and celebrated, ghost writer or not. And while they may not end up sustaining the lists of the greatest literature of all time, they have found their way onto a list of their own, one that involves finance over content, but one that still holds significance in the overall canon of literature.

Sources:

CelebrityNetWorth, LitHub, Flavorwire, TheStreet, TheGuardian, GoodReads, WhatCulture, NPS, CBS, Pulitzer, FT, ChiPubLib, BBC, Magiscenter, NewYorker, ShortForm, IGN

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ASRock Unveils C621A WS Motherboard, Designed for Xeon W-3300 Workstations

On the back of Intel's recent Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 announcement, ASRock has announced one of the first motherboards to support the new processors, the ASRock C621A WS. Some of its core features include four full-length PCIe 4.0 slots, three full-length PCIe 3.0 slots, two M.2 slots, eight memory slots with support for up to 2TB of DDR4 memory, and dual 10 Gb plus dual Gigabit Ethernet on the rear panel.

The latest iteration of Intel's 3rd generation Xeon Scalable platform comes via the Xeon W-3300 family, which is essentially Ice Lake for workstations. The top SKU, Xeon W-3375, contains 38 cores (76 threads), with a base frequency of 2.5 GHz, 57 MB of L3 cache, and a maximum TDP of 270 W. All of Intel's Xeon W-3300 family includes 64 PCIe 4.0 lanes, up to eight-channel DDR4, and support for up to 256 GM LRDIMMs with a maximum capacity of up to 4 TB per socket.

The ASRock C621A WS motherboard uses a transposed single LGA4189 socket and is flanked by eight horizontally mounted memory slots. There's support for up to DDR4 DIMMs at speeds up to 3200 MT/s, with a maximum capacity of up to 2 TB, with RDIMM, LRDIMM, and 3DXP memory types all supported. Dominating the lower section of the board are four full-length PCIe 4.0 x16 slots and three full-length PCIe 3.0 x8 slots, with one PCIe 3.0 x4/SATA M.2 slot and one PCIe 3.0 x1/SATA M.2 slot. For conventional SATA devices, ASRock includes two SATA ports with one mini-SAS HD connector.

As for network connectivity, ASRock includes a pair of 10 GbE that are powered by an Intel X710-ATX Ethernet controller, as well as another pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports driven by a pair of Intel I210 controllers. Other connectivity includes a D-sub video output which allows users to access the board's BMC functionality, which is provided via an ASPEED AST2500 controller, with a dedicated Ethernet port allowing for remote access to the BMC. In terms of USB, there are four USB 3.2 G1 Type-A ports on the rear panel, with further expansion available through internal headers. This includes room to installed up to four USB 3.2 G2 Type-C ports through front panel headers, one USB 3.2 G1 Type-A header for two ports, and one USB 2.0 header, which also can support another two ports.

Although the new Intel Xeon W-3300 family of processors includes native support for Thunderbolt 4 and Intel's Wi-Fi 6E CNVi, ASRock has opted not to use either of these features. Whether this is intentional from ASRock remains to be seen, as it may release more variants later. At the time of writing, ASRock hasn't given pricing information, but we expect the C621A WS to be available in retail channels soon.

Gallery: ASRock Unveils C621A WS Motherboard, Designed for Workstation

Kim Kardashian's SKKN Brand Hit With Cease & Desist Letters Over Name

The Kardashians are certainly no stranger to the court room. Just recently, they saw a $11.5 million victory in a lawsuit against their former cosmetics partners. Though it seems like one of the uber famous sisters is in he midst of yet another legal mishap.

Kim Kardashian attempted to trademark the name 'SKKN' for her new makeup line. Though, she was hit with a cease and assist from another company that already has the name claimed.

Kim's corporation, Kimsaprincess Inc filed paperwork to trademark the name on July 9th. She took to social media to announce that her current website, KKW Beauty will become inactive starting August 1st. It's clear that the mogul is looking to rebrand her beauty line and this potential new name is a pivotal step in that direction.

"I’m excited to continue to develop and expand my product range and for you to finally be able to experience it the way that I have always envisioned," the celeb said on her Twitter earlier this month.

According to TMZ, the fuss came from lawyers representing Beauty Concepts LLC. They claim that their brand had been using the name 'SKKN' for their website and social media platforms to offer salon and skin services ever since 2017. Beauty Concepts even disclosed in a letter to TMZ that they applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to legally obtain a logo with the name back in March 28. This is a mere two days before Kim first applied to obtain the name herself.

"I have painstakingly built my successful small business with my own sweat equity, hard work, and research. It’s clear that I established my brand first," owner of Beauty Concepts, Cydnie Lunsford says in an email to Complex, "s a young black woman, my mission with SKKN+ is to provide quality skincare and curated full body experiences to enhance each client’s self-care regimen."

Lunsford and her legal team are hoping to stop Kim from using their company's name or this cease and assist. If Kim fails comply, she faces the treat of litigation. Though it's looking like Kim's team isn't intending to back down any time soon. Her attorney, Michael G. Rhodes reached out to TMZ to address the situation.

"We certainly appreciate and support small businesses, and our hat is off to Ms. Lunsford. But the question at hand is one of trademark law and we’ve not done anything deserving of legal action by her," the attorney states.

Sources: TMZ, Page Six, Complex

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Friday, 30 July 2021

Money & Magic: Six Most Expensive Movie CGIs | TheRichest

The most expensive movie CGIs have been the main cause in skyrocketing the cost of production; however, in most cases, it also ends up generating maximum profits in box office sales. CGI stands for computer-generated imagery, and after the invention of photography and motion pictures, it could be seen as the next landmark invention in the world of production.

CGIs are created by using applications on a console that lead to the creation of graphical or visual imagery. CGIs are used in movies across genres; however, they are more prevalent in action, science fiction, and superhero movies. In such productions, the use of CGI is pivotal as it leads to the creation of fantastical effects that are not tangible in real life but are only imaginable.

Here are some of the movies that have spent an enormous chunk of their production budget on CGI.

6 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 (2017)

Guardians of the Galaxy is a movie from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, although it is not strictly tied to the Marvel franchise's other superheroes. The second volume of Guardians of the Galaxy was released in 2017, and once again, Marvel proved that it was the best in creating CGI.

RELATED: 8 Most Expensive Movie Stunts

Guardians of the Galaxy usually features unknown planets and alien characters, but the scene that stole the show in this second volume was that one that showed Ego's planet. This planet was a living creature in the storyline of MCU. To make a planet look like a living thing, the creators crossed all boundaries and created one of the most expensive CGIS in cinema history. The agreed budget for this masterpiece was about $232 million.

5 Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Although Alice's Journey in Wonderland was not on a bed of roses, as she had several antagonistic forces to deal with in the rabbit hole, this movie does not feature as much violence as other superhero movies. This movie nevertheless employs almost the same amount of CGI effects.

Thus, it does not come as a surprise that Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton, is one of the most expensive CGIs. Like Avatar, the characters and their costumes in this movie were part of CGI effects because the story was based on optical illusions and distortions. The budget for this movie was about $200 Million.

4 King Kong (2005)

The movie King Kong has had its share of sequels and remakes, but the one that still remains a classic is the King Kong that came out in 2005. This masterpiece by Peter Jackson also employed heavy CGI effects, which led to the increased budget for film production.

First and foremost, the main character of this movie was the gorilla named King Kong, and he himself was a result of a brilliant CGI effect. The scenes featuring dinosaurs, gigantic wild creatures, helicopter crashes, and explosions were also produced with CGIs. Altogether, it took $207 million to make this movie, but the box office returns were quite handsome - about $550 million.

3 Avatar (2009)

Avatar is the movie that is always used as an example for CGIs in a film studies class. In a sense, the employment of CGIs in this movie is also pretty meta because it is a narration of artificial intelligence and the effects of simulation. As such, 70 percent of the film was CGI.

James Cameron can possibly vouch for the fact that the film's high budget was because of the amazing CGI effects. The main characters do not look like normal humans because it portrays the story of an alien world called Pandora with blue creatures and their fantastical pets. The budget for this film was around $237 million, but it paid off when it became a blockbuster and earned a gross amount of about $760 million.

2 Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Every movie of the Marvel universe is heavily dependent on CGI, but some of them are so brilliant that they out top the others in terms of favorable reception and critical acclaim. One of the recent movies, Avengers: Endgame, that came out in 2019, is one such prime example.

Avengers: Age of Ultron featured an iconic end fight that had blown the minds of Marvel fans, but the Endgame changed made that iconic fight scene look childish. Firstly, it took a lot of money and effort to create Thanos - the ultimate villain against whom all Avengers fought. Secondly, almost the entire movie was a prolonged war scene between the heroes of earth and aliens from other planets. With a jaw-dropping budget of about $356 million, the movie ultimately pulled in about $3 billion in box office sales worldwide.

1 Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

All of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have memorable scenes that portray the most brilliant CGI effects. But the one that stands out among these is the one from the 2011 movie called Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Other than drooling over the fact that Johnny Depp starred in this movie as the infamous Jack Sparrow, fans went gaga over the insane cinematic effects used in it. Other than featuring period-centric pirates and their fancy boats, it also shows the famous Fountain of Youth. No wonder the movie cost $250 million to make.

These were not only the most expensive movie CGIs but also the most iconic. Marvel has probably created some of the most expensive CGIs in cinema history, followed by DC. Movie franchises like Avengers, King Kong, Jurassic World, and Star Wars have created such lofty standards for CGIs that now there is no turning back, and the benchmark is set way too high for other production houses.

Source: CBR, Screen Rant, Quirky Byte, Insider

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Master Of The Universe: Kevin Smith Rebuilt Grayskull For A New Generation

Smith has the power!

That's right. The king of all things geeky, Kevin Smith made a home run in the entertainment game as the showrunner for the newest addition to the Masters of the Universe franchise, Masters of the Universe: Revelations. Picking up right where the story left off in the classic 80's television series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, the first season of the new, adult targeted series was released onto Netflix's catalogue July 23rd to rave reviews.

The series features He-Man, Teela and, the rest of the iconic game as they go toe to toe with infamous baddies Skeletor and Evil-Lyn, fighting to save the universe from the claws of injustice.

The most recent screen adaptation of the franchise was Dreamwork Animations colorful animated series She-Ra and the Princess of Power, which first aired on Netflix in 2018. While the show has garner a great deal of positive recognition, even receiving a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming for it's LGBTQ+ representation, fans wanted more. There was especially a market for older fans who had been following the franchise since the Mattel brand when the first Masters of the Universe toys hit the shelves in 1981.

Netflix headed to their call and announced that two Masters of the Universe titles were in the works back in December 2018. One was a CGI movie that the streaming service is teaming up with Mattel Television to produce. The latter is what we now know as the Kevin Smith lead anime inspired series with a more mature tone than its legendary predecessors.

Smith himself brought the project to fans' attention during a panel at the 2019 Power Con.

"I’m Eternia-ly grateful to Mattel TV and Netflix for entrusting me with not only the secrets of Grayskull," the showrunner boasts to his audience, "but also their entire Universe. In ‘Revelation,’ we pick up right where the classic era left off to tell an epic tale of what may be the final battle between He-Man and Skeletor!

Brought to life with the most metal character designs Powerhouse Animation can contain in the frame, this is the Masters of the Universe story you always wanted to see as a kid!"

As Smith took the role of executive producer and showrunner, the writer's room was manned by a collection of industry vets who know their way around crafting adventurous, action packed shows: Diya Mishra, Eric Carrasco and Marc Bernardin Tim Sheridan.

In the eyes of critics, the first season of Masters of the Universe: Revelations was a stunning success. With a studded cast of Chris Woods voicing the leading [He] man, Sarah Michelle Glover taking on the role of his Captain of the Royal Guard, Teela, and Mark Hamil playing Skeletor, the vocal performances were one of the most praised aspects of the show by television critics across the board.

But they gave the biggest hand to Smith's role in spearheading this ambitious reboot.

Zaki Hasan writes in Datebook, "Smith did such a good enough job paying homage to the Eternian mythology we know, while also delving into new, unseen directions, that it’s worth hanging in to see how he’ll wrap things up."

Many were immediately drawn to how faithful the series stayed to the lore of its source material while still putting its own fresh spin on these prolific characters.

"Masters of the Universe: Revelation is less about winning over newbies than about tapping into old fans’ cherished memories of childhood days gone by," Nick Schager says in his review for The Daily Beast, "In that respect, it accomplishes its mission—and there is, to be sure, some chance that Powerhouse’s sterling animation will alone convince a few He-Man novices to take the plunge. Mostly, though, the ability to give the faithful what they crave is this venture’s true power."

While most critics saw the first five episodes as a great start to what could unfold into an even greater series, a rather vocal segment of the fandom disagreed. What was it that turned them off to the show, you might ask. Well, a huge objection to Smith's continuation of the franchise was that it just didn't feature enough He-Man within the span of the five episodes. But there's a huge conception cast upon the show by fans that the storyline was too pandering, or for a lack of better terms, woke.

"It was kind of an homage to every version of ‘Masters of the Universe.’ So I was like, ‘When this comes out, fans are going to lose their s–t!’" Smith explains in an interview with the New York Post And I was half-right. I’ve watched fandoms get mad at creators before like Rian Johnson on ‘The Last Jedi.’ And heading into this I was like, ‘I’m not going to do that!’ And yet, here we stand. So, you never know."

Just like Johnson, who got slammed from Star Wars fans for The Last Jedi showcasing a female protagonist front and center, Smith received a great deal of backlash for Masters of the Universe: Revelations focusing more on Teela than it did He-Man.

"I know there’s some people that are like, ‘Hey, man, this show’s woke'," Smith goes on to defend his work in an interview with Variety, "I’m like, all right, great, then so was the original cartoon we’re sequel-izing. Go watch it again. There are girls in every episode. Deal with it."

Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Slate, New York Post, Variety

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The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra Review - Something Surprisingly Different

ZTE is one of the rare vendors active in the US market, which makes the new Axon 30 Ultra a quite interesting device that’s surprisingly viable in the current flagship landscape. At $749 it makes the right compromises.

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AMD Announces Radeon RX 6600 XT: Mainstream RDNA2 Lands August 11th For $379

Starting next month, AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 desktop product stack is about to get a little deeper – and a little cheaper – with the addition of the forthcoming Radeon RX 6600 XT. Announced this evening, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is the next step down in the RDNA2-based Radeon lineup, adding a card aimed at mainstream, 1080p gamers. The card will offer 32 CUs’ worth of GPU hardware along with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, and will go on sale on August 11^th with prices starting at $379.

The addition of the RX 6600 XT to their desktop lineup has been a long-time coming, as even though the company is already 4 cards deep into their product stack – most recently adding the 1440p-focused RX 6700 XT nearly 5 months ago – AMD hasn’t been offering a mainstream-focused RDNA2 desktop video card until now. In fact, AMD’s been pretty absent from the mainstream 1080p gaming market as a whole over the last several months, as the capacity-constrained company has been focusing its GPU manufacturing resources on laptop parts and the high-end RDNA2 chips. But finally, and at last, it’s time for the 1080p market to get a much-needed boost from AMD’s RDNA2 architecture.

Underpinning AMD’s new 1080p video card is a GPU we’ve already seen once before: Navi 23. This GPU was first employed back in May as the Radeon RX 6600M, the cornerstone of AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 mobile lineup. Now that the laptop market has had a chance to stock up on Navi 23 hardware, the GPU is making its desktop debut in the aptly named RX 6600 XT. And, unlike the RX 6600M, the RX 6600 XT will feature a fully-enabled version of the chip, giving Navi 23 its first chance to completely show off what it’s capable of.

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7 Luxury Cars Owned By DJ Khaled | TheRichest

DJ Khaled is one of the most successful figures in the music industry currently. With his million-dollar fortune, he owns some of the fanciest items in the world. DJ Khaled was born Khaled Mohamed Khaled in November 1975, in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was born in a Palestinian family that had immigrated to the US. Khaled came from a family of musicians who excelled in Arabic music, and his brother is also well-established as an actor. When he rose to fame, he carved a separate space for himself where he could outshine the rest of his family members with his extraordinary musical talent.

Today Khaled is worth over about $75 million and is a proud owner of some of the fanciest rides in the world. Here is a glimpse at DJ Khaled’s garage.

7 Cadillac Escalade

It is a given that a connoisseur in cars must own a luxury SUV or two. In Khaled’s case, that luxury SUV is the Cadillac Escalade. The Cadillac Escalade is an essential purchase for hip hop moguls with a million-dollar fortune.

Khaled got his hands on this beast for a mind-blowing price of about $75,195. The first Escalade came into the market back in 1998. But the one that Khaled owns is a fourth-generation Escalade released in 2015, and it runs on a 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V8 engine and gives out 420 horsepower.

6 2017 Rolls Royce Wraith Coupe

For a personality like Khaled, who is obsessed over Rolls-Royce cars, the Wraith is just another car in his garage. The Wraith that DJ Khaled owns is an exquisite Arabian-blue beast. This car, released into the market in 2016, churns out 623 horsepower and has a 6,592 cc twin-turbocharged V12 engine.

The musician bought this model for an astounding price of approximately $285,000, and it is one of the least priced luxury cars that the DJ owns. He mentioned in an interview that he always wanted to have the Rolls Royce Wraith, Dawn, and Phantom in his collection, and he has lived up to those terms.

5 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn

Amongst the many Rolls Royce beasts that Khaled owns, the Rolls Royce Dawn is one of a kind. It comes at the striking cost of about $341,125. A brilliant business strategy that Rolls-Royce has always stuck to is choosing innovative names for its models.

The name Dawn is quite striking in that sense, plus the car comes with specifications that stand up to one’s expectations. For example, it comes with a twin-turbo V12 engine that has a capacity of 6.6 liters and produces 563 horsepower, meaning it can reach a top speed of about 155 mph.

4 2012 Maybach 57S

The Maybach 57S is a special model because it was one of the first ones ever produced by this luxury brand after its revival by Daimler-Chrysler AG. The 1997 Tokyo Motor Show was when Maybach unveiled the initial concept for this exclusive model.

DJ Khaled purchased this car at a price of about $417,402. It is his precious possession because the value of this beast began rising when the production stopped after 2012.

3 2018 Rolls Royce Phantom VIII

In 2017, the Rolls Royce Phantom VIII became the most luxurious car of the year, and the following year, Khaled added it to his beautiful collection. It looks like the DJ will not get tired of the Rolls-Royce automobiles anytime soon.

Although he owns a horde of Rolls Royce cars, each is unique and nothing like the others. This model comes at the hefty price of about $450,000. This car is famous for providing the most serene and silent interior atmosphere.

2 2017 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe

The Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead has always been one of the costliest models ever made by the automaker, and it does not come as a surprise to find one of these in Khaled’s car garage. This beautiful model debuted at the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

It is currently considered one of the most luxurious cars in the world. The retro look adds a special touch in the exhibit class, and DJ Khaled purchased this at the jaw-dropping price of about $533,000.

1 2012 Maybach 62S Landaulet

Other than Rolls Royce, the Maybach is another car brand that DJ Khaled is absolutely in love with. He owns not only a Maybach 57S but also a Maybach 62S Landaulet. According to Dexerto.com, this beast cost him way over $1.3 million, and Khaled does not regret the grand purchase at all.

This model is a specially designed convertible and is the epitome of luxury. The beast is a gigantic 672 limousine that comes with a huge fabric roof. A minimal number of these cars were made in Europe, the USA, and the Middle East. The production of this model began in America in 2009 but was stopped by 2012, so DJ Khaled can be considered to be one of its lucky owners.

DJ Khaled can afford such luxury rides because his net worth has risen exponentially over the years. He began as a millionaire with about $7 million in 2014 and earned up to $35 million in 2020. He also has luxury estates in places like Los Angeles and Miami.

Source: Dexerto.com, Rich Files, Geeks, HotCars

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Rhianna Supports Real Housweife Leah McSweeney's New Fashion Line

Everyone knows that Rhianna is a fashion trend setter. As undoubtedly one of the most stylish celebs in pop culture, tons of fans look to her to see what's hot and what's not.

Recently, the singer turned prominent beauty influencer went to bat for her friend Leah McSweeney and supported her new clothing line, Married to the Mob. McSweeney, one of the newest additions to the cast of Bravo's Real Housewives of New York, name dropped the star in a recent episode which prompted Rhianna to rocking some of her apparel on Instagram.

Fans of Bravo would be surprised by the fact that McSweeney and Rihanna actually have a fairly long lasting friendship. An old photo of the two was surfaced from back in 2019, showcasing the two together with Rihanna's coffee table book.

Their friendship was brought to light during Tuesday's episode of the Real Housewives of New York, when McSweeney's clothing line became the topic of a slight tiff between her and longtime Bravo-lebrity, Ramona Singer.

Needless to say, Singer had a few choice words regarding Married to the Mob, mockingly saying, "Let me promote Leah Mob or Mob something."

In true Real Housewives fashion, the fiery new member to the cast had just enough ammunition to swing back at her.

"You aren't exactly my demographic, so it's all good," McSweeney replied, "I already have Rihanna wearing my s***, you think I need you wearing my s***?"

An avid fan of all things Bravo, the singer heard her name on screen and just had to back up her friend. She took to social media to prove McSweeney right, rocking a shirt from the Married to the Mob selection. The caption reads, "what was said @ramonasinger? #RHONY"

There's a chance that Rihanna may be making an appearance on Bravo after show, What What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, to discuss the matter and her relationship with McSweeney. Under her post, the show's official Instagram page commented, "Like this comment if you think Rihanna should come on #WWHL soon to spill all the Bravo tea!"

Meanwhile, Rihanna continues making her own business moves. The star's highly successful cosmetics company, Fenty Beauty is set to extend its selection of fragrances with the release of Fenty Parfum. The product, while still not having an official release date, will accompany the countless other Fenty products like the lipsticks, eyeshadows, and concealers that make up her $5 million makeup brand.

Sources: Page Six, Just Jared, NY Daily News

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Thursday, 29 July 2021

Oprah Sells Orcas Island Waterfront Estate for $14 Million

Over her three decades of being one of America's most revered television personality, Oprah Winfrey has gained an enormous net worth of $2.7 billion. A hefty financial profile like that is sure to come with an amazing estate to match. Lucky for Winfrey, she has at least eight beyond luxurious properties to her name!

From her main residence in Montecito - aprospoly called 'Promised Land' - to her farm estate near the Santa Ynez Mountains that she purchased through an auction in 2016, the billionaire owns around $200 million dollars in real estate.

On Tuesday, she sold her Pacific Northwest waterfront estate that she acquired in 2018. The lavish 43 acre island sanctuary sold for $14 million.

According to the Business Journal, this home stands as the highest priced estate in the Ocras Islands after the seven figure purchase. This certainly makes sense when taking into account the sheer opulence of the property.

Located in the Madroneagle compound just outside of Seattle, the three story main home contains four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Overlooking 3,000 square feet of the shoreline, the interior provides a luxuriant cabin aesthetic made with reclaimed wood. All this is thanks to Winfrey's remodeling almost immediately purchasing the property in 2018 for $8 million.

The home was initially listed for $12 million beforehand, though the price was bumped down due to a lack of interest from buyers. The market crash within the island also added to buyers; reluctant in considering the home.

"People were so timid and cautious about any sort of purchase," Jen Cameron, vice president of the global luxury division of Coldwell Banker Bain told Mansion Global.

The home's new owner actually contacted Oprah's fitness guru to inquire about the place, seeing as how it wasn't officially on the market. Though there were rumors that the tv legend was looking to get the home off her hands.

"They [the buyer] just figured she’s too busy and never going to really use it," Winfrey's representative for the sale Wally Gudgell told Business Journal, "and that’s why they were willing to sell it."

There's a ton of aspects about this home that would well accommodate an A-lister's lifestyle. From the kitchen with a built in pizza oven to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the reading nook, it makes for the perfect island paradise.

Sources: Business Journal, Architectural Digest, Mansion Global

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Intel Launches Xeon W-3300: Ice Lake for Workstations, up to 38 Cores

With the launch earlier this year of Intel’s Ice Lake Xeon Scalable platform, the first Intel enterprise platform based on 10nm, we were always wondering to what extent this silicon would penetrate other markets. Today Intel is answering that question by launching the Xeon W-3300 family, using the same Ice Lake Xeon silicon but in a more focused single socket platform. Xeon W-3300 will offer processors from 12 core up to 38 cores, peaking at 270 W TDP, but offering support for up to 4 TB of memory.

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The Lasting Legacy Of Space Jam | TheRichest.com

Anyone around during the '90s can easily recall the undeniable phenomenon of the original Space Jam. The cultural sensation took the world by storm as one of America's greatest and most beloved sportsmen, Michael Jordan took to the big screen and entered the animated world Looney Toons.

The movie was a huge hit, racking in a stunning $250 million in the box office. With the remake seeing new billionaire status, basketballer Lebron James taking center stage, it's only right to look back on the legacy of this massive movie franchise.

Did you know that the concept for the 1996 Space Jam came from a commercial?

That's right! Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny first met during a Nike commercial called "Hare Jordan" where the iconic rabbit and the basketball legend took it to the court to see who had better hops. The commercial was aired during the twenty sixth Super Bowl. The clip's positive reception gave Jordan's agent David Falk a pretty bright idea. Falk saw a movie just waiting to happen.

He pitched the idea for Space Jam to Warner Bros., who just so happened to be looking for the next big box office hit to revamp their Looney Toons franchise.

The film was beyond ambitious as the first of its kind to bring a real life sports legend into the world of animation. The movie was also one of the earliest examples of digital technology being used by an animation studio. About 150 animators were hired by media company Cinesite to bring the magical world to life. Sat at the director's chair was Joe Pytka, the man behind Let it Ride and the Beatles' music video for Free as a Bird. Pytka was a instrumental figure in Space Jam's earliest stages, seeing as how he also directed the commercial which sparked inspiration for the film.

It takes a great deal of adjustments and rewrites of a script before a motion picture is viewed by the general public. Fun fact: Spike Lee was actually in talks to spruce up the original Space Jam script. Though Pytka had no objections, Warner Bros. wasn't so sure.

"Spike Lee is a friend of mine and he approached me to do a polish on the script. I thought that Spike would have added some stuff that would have been cooler," the director tells Entertainment Weekly, "but Warner Bros. didn’t want to deal with him because of their issues with him when they did Malcolm X together. Remember, Spike got his friends to put money into finishing Malcolm X and the corporation hated the fact that he did that."

Jordan was more than pleased to make his big screen debut, but only under one caveat: the production phase couldn't interfere or overlap with the next basketball season in which he was set to make his return to the Chicago Bulls. This ultimately wasn't a problem, but that's not to say that filming the feature wasn't a full time job in itself.

The basketball legend turned novice actor received a great deal of assistance and assurance in his performance from comedian and actor T.K Carter. Pytka brought Carter on set to help Jordan remember his lines and beef up his acting chops.

Between shooting scenes alongside green suit adorning stand ins and shooting hoops with Pytka in a basketball court made specifically for him, Jordan stayed on set to film Space Jam for ten whole months of production.

"He did as well as he could do. He played himself, and remember, a lot of the film is based on his life, so there were realistic references there," Pytka boasts about the All Star's performance, "He was very professional — he showed up, he knew his lines, we made it as easy as possible."

When the film was finally ready to hit the big screen in November 1996, it was met with sensational reviews. It took the movie world by storm, ranking #1 in the box office in its opening weekend. According to the The Numbers, Space Jam garnished an impressive $27 million when it first hit theatres and went on to gross $250 million worldwide.

When a production company's been sitting on a worldwide sensation for as long as Warner Bros. had, it's only right that they pump out a sequel to bring in those nostalgic hungry movie goers . Thus, Space Jam: A New Legacy was born.

While the follow-up film to the widely acclaimed franchise came out earlier this month, this wasn't the first time a sequel was in the works.

In fact, a sequel was said to be in the works right after the instant success of its predecessor. Warner Bros. was on board to produce the sequel back in 1997 with Pytka retuning to direct it. Though everything feel apart when a producer (who's name will likely forever remain a mystery) mislead Warner Bros. to believe that Jordan had signed up to appear in the film. When word got back to the studio that Jordan was actually not willing to be part in the sequel, they canned the film only weeks into the pre-production phase.

"I felt the whole point of it was – like a lot of sequels – just to cash in on the success of the original," animator tied to the production Bob Camp told Animation Views ,"It wasn’t like it was a great idea that people wanted to make a movie out of. It was just, ‘Hey, Michael Jordan is a cash cow! Let’s milk him for all we can."

A number of subsequent sequel ideas were thrown around - from a spy flick featuring Jackie Chan to a racing movie with Jeff Gordon. Though they were all thrown to way side and Warner Bros. chose to produce the poorly received Looney Tunes: Back in Action in 2003.

Eventually the idea for a Space Jam sequel was brought back to the table in 2014. The star of the film: none other than Lebron James.

The film was set to be produced by James's production company SpringHill Company. Fast and Furious director Justin Lin was the initial to director, but he left the project and was replaced by Terrance Nance in 2018 due to creative differences with the studio.

Nance would eventually leave the production as well almost a month after the filming process commenced in 2019. He was followed by the film cinematographer Bradford Young who left just a bit after Nance.

Maybe the rounds of musical chairs behind the scenes was what ultimately made Space Jam 2: A New Legacy objectively less successful than its sensational predecessor. While the original film was undoubtedly a smash hit, the sequel just didn't mesh well with critics and movie goes alike.

According to Variety, the sequel and the MCU's Black Widow shared a grim fate in their second week at the box office, dropping 70% in ticket sales.

Before the film came out, Pytka was staunchly against the idea of a remake. When it was finally released, he took to TMZ to express his feeling about the picture. It wasn't the most glowing review to say the least:

"The truth is that LeBron ain't Michael."

Sources: Mental Floss, Entertainment Weekly, Animation Views, Variety, TMZ

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