Scatty.com

Category: Celebrities

5 Football Clubs With Truly Fanatical Support

Posted on by scatty

Football undoubtedly inspires passion from many of its fans, but some clubs seem to attract more fanatical support than others. We rounded up five clubs who, for better or worse, really took following a sports team to the next level.

1. Manchester United

While Manchester City may be having a moment at the moment, we’re giving this one to Manchester United due to its generational fan love. While all fans like to think their club is the greatest club ever, the Red Devils’ remarkable legacy may actually give the team’s fans true bragging rights to this distinction.

This isn’t to say the fans blindly go along with club leadership—quite the opposite, in fact. For the past few years, United fans have staged many public demonstrations objecting to the club’s current owners, the Glazer family.  In one instance, protesters were so riled up that they stormed the pitch at Old Trafford before a match with Liverpool leading to the game’s cancellation for safety reasons.

These same fans had tried to block the Glazers’ purchase of the team, and were so outraged when the sale went through that they formed their own breakaway club, FC United of Manchester.

Those that stuck around, meanwhile, implored Elon Musk to abandon his plans to take over Twitter and use his $41 billion to buy the club instead.

2. Liverpool

Speaking of Liverpool, they’ve got some truly fanatical—and creative!—fans of their own.

If you take in a match at Anfield, prepared to be wowed by its awe-inspiring crowd mosaics. The idea of one longtime super-fan, Andy Knott, they involve thousands of fans coming together to create a cohesive living piece of art.

These massive displays may look seamless, but it’s a true labor of love—and the embodiment of the lengths Liverpool fans go to again and again.

3. Chelsea

No roundup of fan bases would be complete without mention of Chelsea Football Club, AKA the Blues and the Pensioners. True diehard supporters, Chelsea fans have passionately—and loudly!—backed their team for decades with cheering, chanting, singing, and seas of blue flags.

They’ve also backed their team with death threats. In 2005, top referee Anders Frisk quit his job after he and his family were inundated with threats for Chelsea fans.

They’ll also go to the ends of the earth for their team—or nearly so. In 2019, two Chelsea fans went above-and-beyond to make it to the Euro final: They took four flights, a train, a taxi, and a total of 8 days to make it to the match.

4. Barcelona

Europeans love their football…and their football teams. Barcelona FC’s iconic Culés are the embodiment of fervent fans. According to a Sport+Markt study, the Blaugrana has more fans than any other club in Europe—and nearly twice the fan base of rival Real Madrid.

Just how crazy are Barcelona fans? On the 10-year anniversary of Barcelona’s Champions League victory over Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United, the shirt Lionel Messi wore when he scored the game’s second goal was going for a whopping $3,500 on eBay.

And then there’s how they react when players move on. Take in 2002, for example, when Barcelona fans hurled the severed head of a pig at former player Luis Figo during a match against his current team Real Madrid.

5. Real Madrid

While Barcelona may outnumber Real Madrid in European fans, Real Madrid reigns supreme in the teams’ home country of Spain.

This is no better evidenced than by the tens of thousands of crazed Real Madrid fans who swarmed the Bernabeu in the hours before the team’s Champions League semi-final against Manchester City in May.  It’s hardly surprising that the crowd—and city!—went absolutely wild when Los Blancos took home the victory in extra time.

When things don’t go their way, they can be equally rapid. In 2015 after a loss to Barcelona, three Real Madrid fans attacked Gareth Bale’s car. (They were each fined and banned for their actions.)

5 Mediocre Footballers Who Achieved Greatness Late in Their Careers

Posted on by scatty

The sporting world loves a football wunderkind — someone who takes over a match despite being one of the youngest players on the pitch. For most players, however, it isn’t so easy to endure years of toil and sacrifice in the lower leagues. That being said, a select few manage to find their stride later in life. They even convert their experience into production on the grand stage. Noteworthy examples include:

 

Teddy Sheringham

Hall of Famer Teddy Sheringham had a solid early career with Millwall and Nottingham Forest. Still, it wasn’t until he joined Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 27 that his career really took off. Despite this, individual and team honors still eluded him. 

A transfer to Manchester United remedied this, as Sheringham was a key player in the Red Devils’ Treble winning season of 1998-99. After this breakthrough, Sheringham continued to play for more than a decade. He retired in 2008 at the age of 42.

 

Gareth McAuley

It took Gareth McAuley more than a decade of solid performances in the NIFL Premiership, EFL League Two, and Championship before he finally made it to the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion. His top goal-scoring season came at the age of 37. He also made twelve appearances for the National Team in Northern Ireland in 2016 — more than any other year in his career.

 

Jamie Vardy

Jamie Vardy climbed the ranks of European football slowly but consistently. After solid seasons spent with FC Halifax Town and Fleetwood Town, Vardy finally made his ascent to the top with Leicester City.

Despite being with the squad since 2012, it took Vardy several years before he found himself playing for England on the international stage in 2015. Vardy continued to flourish — and in 2020 he became the oldest player to win the Premier League Golden Boot.

 

Antonio Di Natale

Italian football club Empoli enjoyed nine solid seasons from Antonio Di Natale, who helped the squad gain Serie A promotion. Not much was made of his transfer to Udinese in 2004, but it turned out to be the greatest move of his career. Di Natale would go on to flourish, scoring 191 goals in 385 appearances with the club.

 

Kevin De Bruyne

Now a star with Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne began his career with some notable disappointment. His first stint in the Premier League, for example, was brief. After only three appearances with Chelsea, he made his way to Wolfsburg and the Bundesliga.

It was there that De Bruyne began to flourish as a player, winning Germany’s Footballer of the Year in 2015. Back in the Premier League with Manchester City, De Bruyne has become one of the best overall players in the world.

If the footballers referenced above are any indication, it really is never too late to make your mark. They should serve as enduring inspiration for people from all walks of life. No, not everybody can achieve athletic greatness at any time, but these examples remind us that the adage “slow and steady wins the race” is worth repeating.

5 Times Kim Kardashian Landed Acting Roles

Posted on by scatty

When you think of Kim Kardashian, you instantly think of her career as a socialite and general influencer. There’s no doubt that she’s one of the biggest celebrities in the world, but she isn’t really known for acting or singing like a lot of other megastars. However, that doesn’t mean that Kardashian hasn’t tried her hand at acting.

Kardashian’s megastar status has landed her a few roles over the years, though they haven’t exactly been met with critical acclaim. If you’re struggling to remember the times when Kardashian acted (and not as herself), let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember some of those roles in film and television.

Disaster Movie

There have been a lot of spoof movies over the year, with some of them being hailed as comedy classics like “Airplane” and “The Naked Gun”. Then, there are those which are considered the bottom of the barrel, including ones that have been rated among the worst movies ever made. Unfortunately for Kim Kardashian, she starred in one of those spoof films that falls into the latter category: “Disaster Movie”.

The 2009 comedy was actually the acting debut for Kardashian, with the reality star taking on the role of Lisa Taylor. Despite being universally panned (including Kardashian’s performance), the movie did make a profit at the box office. The budget was $20 million while ticket sales added up to $34.8 million. “Disaster Movie” being, well, a disaster, didn’t hurt Kardashian’s career.

Deep in the Valley

If you want a movie that pretty much went to the bottom of the bargain bin upon release but featured some eventual A-list stars, then “Deep in the Valley” is your movie. Released in 2009, “Deep in the Valley” is a comedy that stars Brendan Hines and Chris Pratt. Hines would go on to star in the hit series “Lie to Me” while Pratt became one of Hollywood’s biggest actors.

As for Kardashian, she took on the role of Summa Eve, which was a small part that didn’t have a lot of screen time. The movie didn’t make any money in theaters as it was released straight to DVD and ended up being a footnote in the careers of Hines, Pratt, and Kardashian. The rated-R comedy didn’t even receive a single Rotten Tomatoes review, that’s how obscure it was.

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

Tyler Perry has released a lot of movies throughout his career, and one of the more forgettable films was “Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor”. The film was released in 2013 while Perry was on a hot streak in Hollywood, which is why the film was given a $37 million budget. Though it made a profit, it came up well short of his previous entries.

Kim Kardashian had one of the lead roles in the movie, playing Ava, the co-worker of the lead character Judith (played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell). Kardashian wasn’t given positive reviews for her performance and was even given a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. The film also received just a 17% rating from critics.

Drop Dead Diva

We now turn our attention to the small screen with a television series that had a lot of success. “Drop Dead Diva” debuted on Lifetime in 2009, and lasted for six seasons with nearly 80 episodes. Four of those episodes featured Kim Kardashian, who was playing the part of Nikki LePree. Kardashian’s character appeared during an arc of the fourth season and wound up in jail for theft.

Unlike some of the previous roles on the list, Kardashian wasn’t really panned by critics for her performance. Many felt that she was well cast for the role and played well off of some of the other stars including Brooke Elliott and April Bowlby. You have to go back quite a ways to find these episodes as they aired in 2012.

Beyond the Break

If you don’t remember “Beyond the Break”, it’s likely that you didn’t have the channel it aired on. The coming-of-age drama series was part of The N, which was the adolescent programming block for the Noggin network. The series starred four young women, airing from 2006 to 2009 over three seasons.

Kardashian found herself with a recurring role in “Beyond the Break”, playing the role of Elle. Just like “Drop Dead Diva”, Kardashian appeared in a total of four episodes. “The most challenging part of playing the role of Elle was just trying to be the mean girl,” Kardashian said of her role. “I’ve never really been that outspoken girl. It’s the confrontation that I’m not used to, so I think doing that was really kind of refreshing in a weird, sick way.

5 Best Movies Starring Rappers

Posted on by scatty

There is a lot of soul that goes behind rap, and that emotion can actually translate well to the big screen. Though some rappers have been used as actors because of their star power, some have proven to be great actors who can carry a movie. Today, we’ll look at the five best movies that starred A-list rappers (in no particular order).

For this list, we wanted to use rappers who were still in the prime of their music careers when they decided to hop into acting. We tried to exclude any films that used a rapper who had been years removed from their last album release. Also, some of the films that just missed the cut include “Four Brothers”, “House Party”, “New Jack City”, “Juice”, and “ATL”.

Friday

Many consider “Friday” to be a stoner comedy cult hit while others believe it’s one of the best comedy films of the 1990s. There was plenty of acting experience on the set of “Friday” thanks to the likes of Chris Tucker and Nia Long, but the top billing went to Ice Cube just a couple of years removed from his days with NWA.

In the movie, Ice Cube plays the role of Craig Jones, who had just lost his job and spends most of his time with his friend Smokey. The two get into a lot of hijinx in their Compton neighborhood, and Ice Cube himself wrote the film alongside fellow rapper DJ Pooh. “Friday” only cost $3.5 million to make, but pulled in over $27 million at the box office plus plenty of VHS rentals and sales.

Boyz N The Hood

“Friday” isn’t the only classic 1990s film starring Ice Cube, but his other major foray came a few years earlier in his career and had a much more serious tone. Starring alongside Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, and Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube was one of the mains tars of “Boyz N The Hood”. This film also featured South Central Los Angeles as a backdrop, and it became a critically acclaimed smash hit.

With a $6.5 million budget, “Boys N The Hood” took home $57.5 million in ticket sales, giving many of those in middle America a glimpse of what gang life in Los Angeles was like. The coming-of-age film was nominated for a slew of awards, including a pair of Oscars for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The soundtrack wasn’t too bad, either, going number one on the R&B charts.

8 Mile

There have been only a handful of cameo appearances as an actor for Detroit-based rapper Eminem, and only one film in which he starred. The movie, of course, is “8 Mile”, which is loosely based on the life of Eminem back when he was simply Marshall Mathers. In “8 Mile”, his stage name is B-Rabbit, but you certainly get the feeling that much of “8 Mile” was based on truth.

The film also stars Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, and Kim Basinger, all of whom were already accomplished actors. Still, Eminem wasn’t outperformed and looked comfortable in the role, leading to “8 Mile” being a massive blockbuster. The movie made more than $240 million at the box office and Eminem won an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Performance to go along with his Oscar for Best Original Song.

Set It Off

Fresh off of a several-year stretch where she was the most well-known female rapper in the world, Queen Latifah took to acting and had her best performance in 1996 with “Set It Off”. Queen Latifah stars alongside Jada Pinkett, Vivica A. Fox, and Kimberly Elise in a heist film that, like the first two movies on our list, takes place in Los Angeles.

While it might not have been as critically acclaimed as “Boyz N The Hood”, “Set It Off” did get met with overall positive reviews and earned an impressive $41.6 million at the box office. Queen Latifah earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for her performance, setting the stage for her acting career.

Above the Rim

During his illustrious yet brief music career, Tupac Shakur also had a knack for acting. This was showcased in multiple films, including 1994’s sports drama “Above the Rim”. Centered around basketball and penned by “New Jack City” writer Barry Michael Cooper, Shakur stars as Birdie, the younger brother of Leon’s character Shep.

“Above the Rim” didn’t have a ton of box office success with just $16.2 million at the box office, but it was another showcase of Tupac’s acting talents. Even critics who gave it a poor rating couldn’t help but note how Shakur never seemed out of his element in the movie.

5 Greatest Women’s Tennis Players of All Time: A Retrospective

Posted on by scatty

No matter what era it is or if it’s men or women, there are certain people who dominate in tennis for an extended period of time. Out of the many generations of women’s tennis, there have been a handful of names who have been so much better than the rest of the field that you expected them to win each tournament.

It’s hard to say which ones were the best of the best as they mainly come from different eras, but here are our picks for the five greatest women’s tennis players of all time. Before we begin the list, here are some of the women that just missed the cut: Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Kim Clijsters.

5. Margaret Court

The first player on the list is Margaret Court, an Australian player who would dominate when it came to her home country’s largest tournament. At the Australian Open Court won her first title in 1960, the same year she became a professional player. Court went on to win the Aussie Open a total of 11 times, four more than anybody else in tennis history.

Court was no slouch in the other grand slam events, either. She won Wimbledon three times while adding five titles each at the French Open and US Open. Court added a long list of titles as a doubles and mixed doubles player, including 12 combined at the Australian Open. While Court played in an easier era, she still proved that nobody was even close to her skill level at the time.

4. Chris Evert

Someone had to take the mantle from Margaret Court as the next best player in tennis, and that honor went to Chris Evert. Toward the end of Court’s career, Evert started to take off and won her first grand slam titles in 1974, just two years after turning pro. That year, Evert won the French Open and Wimbledon, which was just the start for her career.

Evert won a total of 18 grand slam events as a singles player and another two as a doubles player. Evert was certainly more in her element when playing solo, and she won a total of 157 professional tournaments. The 1995 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee pulled home nearly $9 million in career winnings and her record of 34 grand slam finals appearances is top all time.

3. Steffi Graf

Evert played a good chunk of her career in the 1980s, and during that time she had competition from our next two players. The first of which is Steffi Graf, who was the young up-and-comer during the decade whereas Evert was the seasoned vet. The German-born Graf turned professional in 1982 and won her first grand slam title five years later at the French Open.

Graf would win 107 titles in total, good enough for third all-time. The former number-one player took home the championship at 22 different grand slam events and added a doubles title at Wimbledon in 1988. Graf isn’t in the top 10 of prize money due to the increase in payouts but was still able to take home $21.89 million.

2. Martina Navratilova

For many years, Martina Navratilova was considered the greatest player in women’s tennis history, and it’s easy to see why. After several years of grinding as a young professional, Navratilova won her first grand slam in 1978 at Wimbledon and set the record for most titles at the tournament with nine.

Navratilova would win nine more grand slams spread across the other three events, including four US Open championships. Navratilova won a total of 167 professional tournaments, setting the women’s record. Overall she won 1,442 professional matches and earned $21.6 million in prize money.

1. Serena Williams

It should come as no surprise that Serena Williams is the top player on the list as she dominated in the modern era when players from around the world were at a higher skill level thanks to being able to focus on tennis full-time. Williams made her professional debut in 1995 and was a force all the way up until her retirement in late 2022.

As a singles player, Williams won her first grand slam in 1999 by taking the US Open title, and she would go on to add multiple titles from every grand slam event along the way. Williams won a total of 23 grand slam titles, including seven each from Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Just to make things even more impressive, she added another 14 doubles grand slam titles and brought home a record $94.8 million in winnings.

5 Most Dominating Performances at The Masters

Posted on by scatty

Out of all four of the majors on the PGA Tour, the Masters Tournament is the one that people look forward to the most. The main reason is that it’s the only major where the venue doesn’t change. Each April, the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia is home to the Masters Tournament, with the winner receiving the famed green jacket.

There have been some close calls as well as dominant performances. Today, we focus on the latter category and look at the five most dominating performances in Masters history. Before we begin the list, here are some of the performances that just missed the cut (no pun intended): Claude Harmon (1948), Dustin Johnson (2020), Phil Mickelson (2010), and Ben Hogan (1953).

Arnold Palmer (1964)

The first performance on the list isn’t close to the top of the list in terms of the best overall score, but few were able to leap ahead of the field as the legendary Arnold Palmer did in 1964. After a decent first round that saw him tied for first at -3, Palmer went off in the second round as he shot four-under while nobody else could improve on the first-round scores.

With a four-stroke advantage heading into the third round, Palmer extended his lead by one stroke, even as Australian Bruce Devlin had an amazing day that brought him to -5. It was too little too late for Devlin and the rest of the field as Palmer gained another stroke on everyone else in the final round. He would finish with a score of -12, six strokes ahead of Dave Marr and Jack Nicklaus.

Cary Middlecoff (1955)

While most of the dominating performances on the list included a strong first round, that wasn’t the case for Cary Middlecoff in 1955. He finished with an even 72 that day, putting him one stroke behind Julius Boros and Mike Souchak and a whopping five strokes behind Jack Burke Jr. Burke faded in the second round, though, as Middlecoff had a tremendous performance on cut day, finishing seven under par.

Middlecoff stayed at -7 during the third round, but so did pretty much everyone in the field with some tough conditions. During the final round, nobody threatened Middlecoff and he extended his lead to six strokes heading to the 18th hole. Middlecoff birdied the final hole and finished -9, seven strokes ahead of Ben Hogan.

Raymond Floyd (1976)

The conditions for the 1976 Masters were amazing for the first two rounds and the golfers were able to put up some staggering numbers. Raymond Floyd finished the first round at -7, which was still only able to give him a one-stroke lead above Andy North. Floyd extended his lead with a -6 performance in the second round, and his -13 was five strokes ahead of Jack Nicklaus.

As conditions got a bit tougher, Floyd increased his lead to eight strokes after the third round as he was the only one to improve his overall score. Nobody had a chance to catch him on the last day and that eight-stroke lead he took into Sunday would remain as he finished -17 with Ben Crenshaw taking the runner-up spot.

Jack Nicklaus (1965)

The legendary Jack Nicklaus has been in the top three for a lot of the most dominant performances, and in 1965 he was the one that was doing the dominating. Interestingly enough, though, Nicklaus didn’t have the lead to himself heading into the weekend. Nicklaus (-5) was two strokes behind Gary Player after the first round, then tied with Player and Arnold Palmer at -6 following the second.

Nicklaus raced through the course on Saturday, putting up a 64 to bring his total to -14, separating himself from Player by five strokes. He then shot -3 in the final round while Palmer and Player reunited at second place. Nicklaus finished -17, including a birdie on the final hole for the cherry on top.

Tiger Woods (1997)

We might never see a margin of victory at the Masters like the one that Tiger Woods was able to put up in 1997. Tiger shot a 70 in the first round, which actually put him three strokes behind leader John Huston. The other three days would be an entirely different story, however. After the first nine holes of the tournament, Woods was +4 overall, but following the second day he was -8, giving him a -12 performance over 27 holes.

Woods didn’t look back and extended his lead to nine strokes after the third round, then cruised in the final round with a 69. Woods finished -18 while Tom Kite was a distant second at -6. By the final day, the question was who would finish runner-up as it was a $100,000 difference between second and third.

5 Best Movies for Escape Room Fans

Posted on by scatty

Escape rooms have become such a common part of mainstream media these days that it should come as no surprise that there have been several television shows and movies that have included them. Then, there are entire films that are based around the premise of an escape room, though the consequences are typically much direr than they are in real life.

Most of the films that pertain to escape rooms are recent, but there are also a few that date back to the 1990s. Let’s take a look at five of the best films that have at least some element of having an escape room, how they fared at the box office, and why they’re worth your time if you’re an escape room fan.

Escape Room

Of course, escape room fans would have to check out a film that’s called “Escape Room”, but you have to be careful about which one you’re getting. There are some that are not-so-great, and that includes the 2018 film that was released exclusively on Redbox. The superior “Escape Room” movie was released the following year and stars Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, and Deborah Ann Woll.

When the film was in development, it was known as “The Maze”, but changed to “Escape Room” before being released and even warranted a sequel called “Tournament of Champions”. In this movie, six participants must get through a series of escape rooms after thinking that they’ve won a competition by solving a puzzle cube. Chaos ensues and it makes for an amazing watching experience. “Escape Room” cost just $9 million to make but ended up grossing over $155 million at the box office.

Saw

You can essentially close your eyes and throw a dart at a board that has all of the “Saw” movies listed if you want a film with an escape room premise. For now, though, we’ll stick with suggesting the original “Saw” movie starring Cary Elwes. Tobin Bell plays Jigsaw, the killer who places his victims into nearly impossible (and deadly) escape rooms to teach them a lesson if they survive.

The film had a lot of twists and turns at the end, which we won’t spoil if you haven’t seen it. “Saw” was one of the biggest surprise hits in cinematic history, grossing well over $100 million despite having just a $1 million budget. Within a year, a second “Saw” was released, launching an all-new horror franchise.

Exam

There aren’t too many big British movies these days, but one of the best psychological thrillers with an escape room element is “Exam”, which was released in 2009. Directed by Stuart Hazeldine, “Exam” stars Adar Beck, Gemma Chan, and Nathalie Cox. The film centers around a group of eight people who think they are taking an employment assessment, but find out that the paper is blank.

It becomes an escape room of sorts as they have to figure out the question asked on the assessment if they want to leave with their lives. There’s a massive twist (that we won’t spoil), and it’s certain to leave you on the edge of your seat. “Exam” wasn’t a hit at the box office, making less than $400,000 on a $600,000 budget. Still, it developed a cult following in the years after.

Cube

Released in 1997, “Cube” came many years before anyone knew what an escape room was. This Canadian film was independently released and only had a budget of $350,000 but ended up making nearly $9 million at the box office. Many also felt that this movie was a precursor to the “Saw” series, especially as it has horror elements.

There are thousands of puzzles within the cube, and the main cast has to try their best to figure each one out to save their lives. Vincenzo Natali directed the original “Cube”, which has been remade in Japan and has had several talks about an American remake. Still, the original holds up just fine for escape room fans.

No Escape (Follow Me)

Also known by its alternate title “Follow Me”, “No Escape was released in 2020 under director Will Wernick. Keegan Allen, Holland Roden, and Denzel Whitaker star in this horror film that takes an internet influencer, his girlfriend, and his friends, and puts them into a deadly escape room in Russia that they thought was harmless.

Things aren’t all that they seem, though, as Allen’s character (Cole Turner) goes for a wild ride in front of a live stream audience of millions. While the film didn’t receive great reviews, it was still considered a cult hit and made a few million worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic on a small budget.

5 Timeless Classics From 50s Hollywood

Posted on by scatty

Some say that the Golden Age of Hollywood was the best and that the 1950s marked the “Fall of the Studio System.” Life Magazine even called the 1950s the “horrible decade” at the time, which seems silly now that we look back at the era. There were many timeless classics that were released between 1950 and 1959, many of which we still quote to this day. Here are five timeless classics from 1950s Hollywood that, if you haven’t seen, you’ll be sure to love.

Vertigo

Jimmy Stewart was perhaps the biggest name in Hollywood during this era and he starred in many classic films that are still heralded to this day. Among his best work was “Vertigo”, one of his team-ups with director Alfred Hitchcock. The two collaborated on four films together, and most critics are split on whether it was “Vertigo” or “Rear Window” that ended up being the best of the best.

“Vertigo” does have a lot of memorable moments and follows the story of Stewart’s character John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, a police officer who develops a fear of heights after seeing one of his fellow officers fall off of a building. The story taps into the psyche of fear and is played beautifully by Stewart with an ending that won’t soon be forgotten thanks to actress Kim Novak.

Singin’ in the Rain

Musicals are still popular today, but back in the 1950s, they were all the rage. Out of the many musicals from the era, the one that has withstood the test of time more than any other is “Singin’ in the Rain” starring the legendary Gene Kelly. The rest of the cast is amazing, as well, including Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor.

Despite not making as much money as you might think, “Singin’ in the Rain” became a classic over the years thanks to television airings and eventually VHS releases. Many started to memorize the words from the soundtrack, including the titular song as well as “Good Morning”, “Make ‘Em Laugh” and “Moses Supposes”. Almost everyone in real life, too, has had their own little parody of ‘Singin’ in the Rain” when the weather allows it.

12 Angry Men

“12 Angry Men” was originally written for television, but the story ended up being so good that Henry Fonda and Reginald Rose adapted it to the big screen, too. Fonda also stars in the film where a jury is trying to decide the fate of a teenage boy who was charged with murder. If you enjoy intense dramas where the scene doesn’t change, then “12 Angry Men” is the one for you. There are a lot of memorable lines and moments with amazing pacing throughout.

Fonda’s character is the only one at the beginning who votes ‘not guilty’ in the jury and spends almost the entire film convincing everyone else to vote alongside him. Eventually, everyone starts to see things his way as there is a lot of reasonable doubt surrounding the crime. The movie brilliantly captures tha ability of one calm person being able to hold back an entire group of people with a mob mentality.

Sunset Boulevard

Billy Wilder’s 1950 film “Sunset Boulevard” is one of those films that Hollywood loves because it gives a good glimpse into the inner workings of the film industry. What most people will remember about “Sunset Boulevard” is the performance of Gloria Swanson, who plays former silent-film actress Norma Desmond.

Norma is trying to make her return to the big screen after vocals have been introduced to films, and won’t accept that her 15 minutes of fame have expired. She tries to get in touch with famous director Cecil B. DeMille, which helps to create the intensely famous final line from Norma, “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.”

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Like musicals, war films were extremely popular during the 1950s, and “The Bridge on the River Kwai” may have been the best of the bunch. Directed by David Lean, this film stars A-lister William Holden alongside Jack Hawkins and Alec Guinness. Guinness, of course, would go on to play Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original “Star Wars” films.

The three men play prisoners of World War II in the early 1940s and the film shows the helplessness that one can feel during that time. “The Bridge on the River Kwai” was a massive hit when it was first released, costing nearly $3 million to make while pulling in well over $30 million in box office sales. For context, that would be a $30 million budget and $325 million revenue in modern times.

5 Times Britney Spears Broke the Internet

Posted on by scatty

Ever since the beginning of her music career, Britney Spears has been a lightning rod for public attention, whether it be for better or worse. Spears came onto the scene during the 1990s and instantly became one of the biggest names in pop music. Since then, she has achieved legendary status and to this day is one of the most talked-about people. This doesn’t apply just to music but in general.

Spears has had moments that have cemented her status as an icon, as well as moments that became the headlines for tabloids around the world. Let’s take a look at Spears’s career and remember some of the times when Spears broke the internet, causing a massive reaction (either good or bad).

The Head Shave

2007 was an extremely tough year for Britney Spears, and on February 16, she reached a boiling point. With the paparazzi looking on, Spears shaved her head almost completely bald while sitting inside a hair salon. For Spears, it came at a time when she wasn’t able to see her two sons following her split with Kevin Federline. Years later, we found out the reason why Spears shaved her head.

Tattoo artist Emily Wynee-Hughes was the first one to speak with Spears immediately after it happened. When she asked Spears why, Wynee-Hughes said “It was, you know, ‘I just don’t want anybody touching my head. I don’t want anyone touching my hair. I’m sick of people touching my hair.’” 

Umbrella Attack

Shortly after Spears shaved her head, she continued to be a target for the paparazzi, with members of the press trying to catch her on film during her downward spiral. Spears grabbed an umbrella and started swinging it at a car owned by a paparazzo. The attack was caught on camera, and Spears was silent on the topic for months.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2007 that Spears addressed the situation. “I apologize to the pap for a stunt that was done four months ago regarding an umbrella,” she said. “I was preparing my character for a role in a movie where the husband never plays his part so they switch places accidentally. I take all my roles very seriously and got a little carried away. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the part.”

Britney’s Freed

For much of her career, Spears had been in conservatorship with her father having control over her estate. Once this was revealed to the public, there was an outcry that led to a trending hashtag, #FreeBritney. This sparked interest in revisiting the conservatorship, especially following the release of the documentary “Framing Britney Spears”.

2021 saw the big push to have this conservatorship removed  It took several months and a lot of court appearances, but on November 21, Spears’s conservatorship came to an end. Shortly thereafter, Spears went back to releasing music, even teaming up with Elton John to record what would end up being a top-10 hit. While the conservatorship has been debated since then, it was a big moment for Spears.

VMA Appearances

It was hard to pick just one of her performances from the MTV Video Music Awards, so we’ll just include the back-to-back performances from 2000 and 2001. The first of the two featured Spears in her sparkling nude-colored outfit. During the performance, Spears belted out “Oops!…I Did It Again” followed by a cover of the Rolling Stones hit “Satisfaction”.

The next year, Spears was somehow able to kick it up a notch when she performed “I’m A Slave 4 U”. This time around, Spears brought out a live Burmese python. Spears said that she received a pep talk from Justin Timberlake prior to the performance when the two were dating, helping to relieve some of the nerves she was feeling prior to taking the stage. 

Chaotic

In 2004, Spears had a whirlwind year when it came to her love life. Early in the year, she married Jason Alexander (not the one from “Seinfeld”), but the marriage lasted for just 55 hours. Just a few months later, Spears got married to Kevin Federline, and it was the start of people really starting to wonder about Spears’s personal life.

Things really got interesting in 2005 with the release of the reality television show “Britney and Kevin: Chaotic”, which premiered on May 17, 2005. Spears seemed to be erratic throughout the show and left people with a lot of questions. Several years after it happened, Spears looked back at it in a bad light. “I would never do something like that again,” she said. “Actually, that was really bad. That was probably the worst thing I’ve done in my career.”

5 Artists Who Were Caught Lip Syncing

Posted on by scatty

Lip-syncing isn’t the worst thing in the world since there are a lot of artists who need to move around the stage, and the acoustics of certain venues make live performances sound flat-out bad. Then, there are times when the venue is just fine and the artist isn’t doing anything spectacular on stage, but they cop out of performing live and let the recorded track do the work for them.

There have been several instances where an artist was caught lip-syncing during a performance when they had no real reason to. For some, it has pretty much been a career-ender, while others were able to bounce back because they had a decent excuse. Here are five artists who were caught lip-syncing during live performances. For the sake of the list, we’re excluding any Super Bowl performances where lip-syncing is expected.

Milli Vanilli

There is perhaps no greater example of lip-syncing ending careers than Milli Vanilli. The duo was comprised of Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus, and they churned out a slew of hits in the late 1980s which included “Blame It On the Rain” and “Girl You Know It’s True”. This led to the duo earning the 1990 Grammy Award for Best New Artist, but it was one they’d have to give back.

During a live performance that aired on MTV in July 1989, Milli Vanilli was performing “Girl You Know It’s True,” but the track skipped and Pilatus ran off stage. Many brushed it off, but it was revealed not too long afterward that Morvan and Pilatus weren’t the actual singers. They were lip-syncing the vocals of three other men including Charles Shaw and Brad Howell. With that, Milli Vanilli disbanded and gave back their Grammy.

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson came to prominence after her older sister Jessica became a hit singer and reality television star. As for her own career, Ashlee got off to a good start thanks to her debut album “Autobiography” which included hits like “La La” and “Pieces of Me”. Shortly after the album’s release, Simpson performed the latter song on “Saturday Night Live”.

When she came out for her second song, “Autobiography”, “Pieces of Me” started playing again. It proved that Simpson had lip-synced her first performance, and it became an awkward scene as she did a little jig and walked off the stage. Simpson blamed it on acid reflux and said she made a fool of herself. It was essentially the end of her music career which had just gotten started.

Mariah Carey

You can be one of the best singers of all time and still get caught lip-syncing every now and then. Carey, who is known for an endless list of hits which include “We Belong Together” and “Fantasy”, has had a few instances of obvious lip-syncing during her time. When welcoming in 2017 during Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, though, she had a pretty egregious example of lip-syncing.

Social media was ablaze with jokes about Carey’s performance, and she came out of it feeling bitter. Carey said it was her in-ear audio that was throwing her off. “It’s not going to stop me from doing a live event in the future,” she said. “But it will make me less trusting of using anyone outside of my own team.”

Britney Spears

The Princess of Pop has had her fair share of controversies throughout her career, and lip-syncing feels like just a footnote for Britney Spears. Spears, who has released hits including “…Baby One More Time”, “Toxic” and “Womanizer” has had a few incidents, but perhaps none more famous than during her residency in Las Vegas.

During one performance in 2014, Spears was set to lip-sync alongside her song “Perfume”. However, the cover version by Sia started playing. Spears’s team tried to get the audio wiped from YouTube uploads, but it was too late. Still, Spears didn’t suffer too badly from the incident.

Beyonce

One of the most influential figures in music history, Beyonce has a following that is beyond loyal and no amount of lip-syncing could ever ruin her reputation. Still, that didn’t stop some people from criticizing Beyonce for lip-syncing during one of the more important events in the United States: the Presidential Inauguration.

The inauguration was for Barack Obama, who had won his re-election and beginning his second term as the United States President. Beyonce was tabbed to sing the national anthem and lip-synced her way through. Beyonce admitted that the performance was pre-recorded because she didn’t have time to rehearse. Instead, she had been warming up for her Super Bowl halftime performance which came just days later.