"America"s Got Talent" Recap: Live Shows Begin With Flames, Power Singers, & Tape Face

Brian Justin Crum: Singer Captivates the Audience With Radiohead Cover - America"s Got Talent 2016
Let the live shows begin! Week 9 of Americas Got Talent kicked off the live performances from Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, and the first 12 acts broughttheir best material in hopes ofcontinuing on. Get the details on the performances right here!

Making the first appearance on the Dolby stage wasLouis Tomlinsons Golden Buzzer recipient Jayna Brown. The 14-year-oldsang a hauntingrendition of Foy Vances Make It Rain, closing out the song with one powerful high note. Simon Cowell couldnt help completely gushing over her performance and told her she killed the song (in a good way, of course)!

Japanese illusionist Hara is up next, impressing everyone with yet another visually amazing trick. He used doves, rain, a dragon, and even made a woman appear out of nowhere. All of the judges told him how perfect his trick was!

Friends-turned-dance-crew Outlawzfell flat for Simon this week, who pressed his buzzer about halfway through their Ghostbusters-themedperformance.The rest of the judges agreed that it wasnt their best. But then things did a total 180, as acappella group Musicality sang Ariana Grandes One Last Time and got the judges to agree thatit wasthe best theydever heardthe group!

Grace VanderWaal: See Pics Of The Americas Got Talent Prodigy

Tween comedian Lori Mae Hernandez focused her materialon the 2016 election, ripping on Donald Trump with joke after joke.Howie Mandel also reminded Lori that she killed half of the votes she could get because no Republicans will vote for her after dissing Trump, but well see where she ends up!

Deadly Games somehow made their latest routineeven more dangerous than they have in the past. Starting out with a blindfolded act and finishing with a spinning, flaming wheel, they managed to flawlessly execute both while keeping the judges on their edge of their seats(and some covering their eyes). They certainly never fail to entertain!

NFL star magic man Jon Dorenbos did yet another jaw-droppingtrick that he called the Personality Test. He had the judges draw four images and guessed who drew what, but then took things one step further and wowed the panelby showing them that he had predicted the pictures all along. Its something you need to see to believe holy cow was it mind-blowing!

Daniel Joyner sang Crazy Little Thing Called Love to his girlfriend, with whom he was celebrating three years on the night of his big performance. His stage presence was out of this world, but his vocals didnt quiteshowcase his voice the way that he has in previous auditions. But Simon still called on America to keep him in so we can hear more, so clearly he has something going for him!

Tape Face seemingly one of the seasons favorites used both Heidi and Nick Cannon for his live show act.He didnt do a whole lot, simply swaying with Heidi and poking fun at Nick with a sunglasses routine, but he had the crowd laughing as he always does. Simon even admitted that he thinks a star has been born!

The seasons oldest contestant, 90-year-old dancer Dorothy Williams, performeda hip-shaking, hassle twirlingact that had the judges on their feet by the end. She really didnt do much of the work in her routine, butshes so adorable that we wouldnt doubt it if America wants to keep her around!

Multimedia dance performers Sila Sveta brought another visually appealing act to the stage, but failed to tickle Simons fancy. Howie was on board, though, so they didnt totally strike out!

Closing out the first night of live shows was Laura Bretan, the opera singing teen that earned Mel Bs Golden Buzzer after her initialaudition.She gaveone of the most powerful vocalperformances the show has seen this season, blowing everyone away with an incredibly high note that had the judges on their feet. Simon told her this is why we made this show well see if America thinks so too!

Tune in tomorrow to find out which seven actsAmerica voted through!

HollywoodLifers, which acts do you think deserve to continue on in the competition? Tell us below!

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Source: http://hollywoodlife.com/2016/07/26/agt-live-shows-week-9-recap-dolby-theatre-season-11/

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What the US Presidential Candidates Are Missing in the Immigration Debate

Jimmy Kimmel and Kids Rate The Presidential Candidates

Carl Nettleton is a writer, speaker, facilitator, analyst, and the president of Nettleton Strategies LLC, a firm specializing in oceans, all things water, energy, climate, and U.S./Mexico border issues.

Immigrants from the Middle East have been a primary subject in the U.S. presidential campaign and a key factor in Great Britains Brexit vote. However, discussion has been missing of how drought, likely exacerbated by climate change, is a root cause of the influx of Middle East immigrants, both in the U.S. and Europe.

Because some percentage of Middle Eastern immigrants could be supporters of ISIS, the solution is a call for War on ISIS. This strategy by itself ignores the role drought has had in supporting the growth of the terror group and how reducing emissions and adapting to climate change could prevent future political instability in other parts of the world.

According to Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute in his 2014 article, Weather, Climate and Society, starting in 2006, Syria experienced a multi-season, multiyear period of extreme drought that contributed to agricultural failures, economic dislocations, and population displacement.

The economic ramifications of that drought were one of the key elements that allowed ISIS to build its strength in the region.

Gleicks paper says this dry period has continued and cites sources describing it as the worst long-term drought and most severe set of crop failures since agricultural civilizations began in the Fertile Crescent many millennia ago.

According to Gleik, between 2006 and 2009, around 1.3 million inhabitants of eastern Syria were affected by agricultural failures. An estimated 800,000 people lost their livelihoods and basic food supports. The drought returned in 2011, and Gleicks sources say in that year the UN estimated between 2 million and 3 million people were affected, with 1 million driven into food insecurity. More than 1.5 million people mostly agricultural workers and family farmers moved from rural land to cities and camps on the outskirts of Syrias major cities of Aleppo, Damascus, Daraa, Deir ez-Zour, Hama and Homs.

These economic dislocations caused by water shortages and political instability placed millions of people in a position of food insecurity and financial jeopardy. What better conditions for a well-funded organization like ISIS to recruit unemployed young men so they could feed their families?

Drought was only one element that contributed to the growth of political instability and the flow of Middle Eastern immigrants to adjacent countries, Europe and the U.S. It is an example, however, of what climate change is predicted to do in the future.

Four primary climate change impacts will directly affect humans: drought, famine, severe weather, and sea level rise. The media stories that focus on these four elements rarely discuss the immigrants that will result.

Understanding that a precursor of ISIS growth was severe drought helps to recognize that climate change isnt just about hotter summers. It is about tens of millions of people, and maybe more, unable to survive literally and/or economically where they once successfully thrived. Those people will become immigrants. Todays immigrants from the Middle East are harbingers of what will be coming as climate change intensifies.

Military leaders globally have been preparing for the unrest likely to emerge in a world where millions of people will follow the path of the Syrian immigrants displaced farmers and massive numbers of unemployed hungry people fleeing areas untenable for existence. How will countries accepting immigrants be able to provide social services? How will immigrants be accepted,and their basic needs addressed? How will they be protected from or stopped from participating in organized or spontaneous unrest, including affiliations with opportunistic terror groups. That protection will in part be provided by giving them economic support, making them less likely to take funding from sources intent on political or physical disruption.

Places like Bangladesh have already been affected by flooding from rising sea levels. GRID Arendal, a research center collaborating with the United Nations Environment Program, predicts that a 1.5-meter sea level rise will affect 17 million people in Bangladesh and 22,000 square kilometers, 16% of the land. A 2014 New York Times article pointed out that the country only contributes .3% of the emissions driving climate change but that Bangladesh is at the top of everyones list of countries at risk from sea level rise.

According to Atiq Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies, the migrants that result from rising sea levels in his country should have the right to move to the countries from which all these greenhouse gases are coming. Millions should be able to go to the United States, he told the Times. Bangladesh is only one country that will be affected and thinking in much the same way.

Severe weather is the final major element that will directly affect humans. What happens when category 5 hurricanes, fueled by warmer ocean water and air temperatures, destroy communities? Even Hurricane Katrina, striking New Orleans, created U.S. immigrants (dislocation within our boundaries) and neighborhoods that have not been rebuilt. The image of New Orleans residents stranded on a highway overpass, something we only expect in other countries, not the U.S., reminds us that it can happen here, too. We are not immune.

To successfully implement a War on ISIS requires successfully implementing a War on Climate Change that will avoid political destabilization and unrest to minimize immigrant flows in other parts of the world. All parties in the current election cycle need to recognize this and that immigration related to climate change is likely to become a new norm. Unfortunately, the current campaign cycle has not made this a priority. Calls for a War on ISIS without recognizing the need to concurrently call for a War on Climate Change seems like an effort to treat the symptom of immigration with a Band-Aid rather than taking on the disease of climate change itself.

Source: http://fortune.com/2016/07/26/dmc-rnc-immigration/

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Howard Dean has finally embraced The Scream.

Former Gov. Howard Dean invokes "scream" speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention

At a press conference on Wednesday morning, Trump was asked about alleged Russian involvement in the recent release of thousands of DNC emails, his alleged ties to Vladimir Putins circle, and the allegation that Russia hacked the DNC in an attempt to get him elected. At first, Trump dismissed the rumors, saying that it was absurd to suggest that he and Putin were in cahoots. (That, it should be said, is the outer edge of the conspiracy theorythe conventional wisdom at the moment is that Russia is working behind the scenes to get Trump elected because it believes it would benefit geopolitically from a Trump presidency.) And then he said this:

Russia, if youre listening, I hope youre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think that you will probably be rewarded mightily by our presslets see if that happens, thatll be nice.

This is, to put it bluntly, an absolutely insane thing for a presidential candidate to say. Trump may be speaking facetiously, but he isnt being playful in the clip; instead, hes calling directly on a foreign power to cyberattack the United States so it can acquire damaging information about his opponent and leak it to the press. (That Trump is focusing on the 30,000 emails, which he regularly implies contain nefarious state secrets, only makes his invitation more egregious, as my colleague Brian Beutler pointed out on Twitter.)

That Trump is pro-Putin is, at this point, hardly debatable. Four years ago, Mitt Romney said that Russia was Americas greatest political foein this presser, Trump said about Putin: I hope he likes me. Trump calling on Russia, even in jest, to continue to hack the United States is the latest, strangest chapter in the already very bizarre Trump-Putin relationship.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFvKTbbWgK6rNCTSPDyANw0iYQizA&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779168433873&ei=QtyYV7DONM2P3QHPuq7QAw&url=https://newrepublic.com/minutes/135551/howard-dean-finally-embraced-scream

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Exploring The Atmosphere And Addiction Of We Happy Few

90 minutes of We Happy Few Xbox One gameplay - Live stream

How do you view the world? The inhabitants of We Happy Fews twisted quasi-England see things pretty differently. That is, as long as theyre taking their Joy a government sanctioned drug that makes everyone happy. Its safe to say that the real world is somewhat different to how they perceive it though, and following your characters freshly-found clarity, escaping from this drug-addled place becomesthe key to everything.

Set in an alternate 1960s, youre trapped in the procedurally generated town of Wellington Wells, with the Early Access build that goes live today seeing you take control of one of the main characters, Arthur Hastings. Hard at work in the Town Hall using a Redactor machine, youre approving stories for the newspaper and removing any that are deemed too unhappy. However, after seeing a story featuring you and your brother Percy, your mind begins to reel, with memories washing over you.

Amongst the cacophony you hear the words When life annoys, top off your Joy, and you reach for the medicine bottle, at which point the game offers you the choice to not take the Joy and remember what happened, or to take it and return to a state of compliant torpor. I opted to remember.

Its here that you begin to see the primary method of interacting with the world, as changing your viewpoint alters your options and your context sensitive movement, whether its to stand up from a chair or to interact with the machine in front of you. After a brief appearance by an intimidating female colleague, and a stint at finding a new power source for your Redactor, youre then given a further option, to accept or censor the story about you and your brother.

It was at this point that some paranoia set in; do you censor it to ensure nobody thinks youve stepped out of line, or to keep your name out of the headlines, or do you accept it in the hope that it provides some kind of revolutionary spark against what seems to be an oppressive regime? I censored it.

Walking the halls of the town hall you discover that your immediate neighbour, Clive Bertwhistle, is after your office and its view and is painting you as a subversive in order to get it. Further down the corridor is Prudence Holmes office, a woman that hasnt returned from her summer holiday, leaving the unsettling scene of bowls of rotting fruit beset by flies, alongside an array of welcome back cards. It seems like shes also stopped taking her Joy.

You then find Hopkin Jones in his office repeatedly crying out that h**l take his Joy, while a trenchcoat wearing man forcefully injects him. Moments later Hopkin cheerily waves at you through his window, as his assailant swiftly closes the shutters. It simply begs for you to try and learn more.

Following sounds of laughter, you find your other colleagues about to smash open a colourful piata, and youre handed a baseball bat in order to take a swing at it. Take a swing you do, but as your Joy wears off the colour drains from the scene, and you find that instead of candy youve covered yourself and your colleagues with the blood and entrails of a giant dead rat. Theyre tucking in as you begin to retch and its then that they realise youre a Downer; someone thats stopped taking their joy. The authorities swiftly arrive, and in a frantic attempt to escape youre ultimately brought down by a crushing blow from a policeman. Its up to this point that the recent E3 reveal led us, with many of the same plot beats.

You somehow awaken in a safe house, albeit one featuring a little old lady thats hung herself, and its here that the rest of the games core systems are put to use. You have five character status gauges; health, hydration, satiety, fatigue and Joy levels which you can continue to take in order to fit in all of which you have to keep a watchful eye on. Fortunately the safe house includes various materials to help you make a start, which highlights your characters ability to craft useful items such as lock picks and new clothing from elements you pick up.

Venturing out into the streets, you begin to see the extent of the world laid out in front of you. The early access build thats releasing today features about 50% of the procedurally generated town, and its safe to say that it already feels like a solid and unique landscape. Exploring the map sees you locate points of interest, as well as encounters, while much of your time is spent foraging for materials and keeping yourself alive, and I scurried back and forth from the safe house many times during my session. Played from the first person, all of the combat is melee based, with your character being set upon if people think youre off your Joy. This is mainly caused by performing suspicious deeds such as stealing from homes, or wearing the wrong clothes, or indeed getting into fights.

Beginning this early release of the game, youre given the option of turning permadeath on and off, as well as Second Wind which puts your character in a dying state when their health reaches zero rather than dying instantly. As with anything, leaving the permadeath on adds a level of fear and caution to everything you do, and here it certainly helps to amplify the games unique tone. Of course, if you die youll have to start all over again, and theres shades of Ubisofts Zombi coming through in your drive to survive, with the added wrinkle of the world changing as well.

This early look at the game is darkly comedic, and offers a sinister and oppressive atmosphere unlike anything else. The various elements tie into a twisted amalgam of Fallout, Fable and A Clockwork Orange, and it feels even better than that already sounds. If the overarching narrative is as strong as the opening, this could well be one of the first essential games of 2017.

Source: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2016/07/26/exploring-the-atmosphere-and-addiction-of-we-happy-few/

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Tracy Nicole"s relaxing fashion helps women through inspiration

Keshia Knight Pulliam vs. Amber Rose On The Ryan Report: The RCMS w/ Wanda Smith

This past May, Atlanta native Tracy Nicole Prather and three other clothing designers were selected as winners of Belk"s fourth Southern Designer Showcase. The four were among more than 300 designers who applied and among 20 who were invited to present their lines to executives in North Carolina.

Although this was Prather"s first showcase, her love for fashion started in high school. As creator and founder of Tracy Nicole Clothing, she uses her clothing line as a way to inspire women. However, before she was a clothing designer she was an occupational therapist for about nine years.

She received her bachelor"s degree in occupational therapy from FAMU, but her passion for fashion never left her. So after a long day of working 10 hours as the director of Rehabilitation in Atlanta, she would focus on her real passion at night.

Courtesy of Tracy Nicole

Tracy Nicole Clothing

"My passion has always been with fashion," said Prather. "I taught myself how to sew in high school, and while I was practicing therapy by day I paid for myself to go to fashion school at night."

Her day job was not completely different from her night time passion. She was often creative with cutting patterns to make splints for patients which helped her later on when she altered her own clothing.

Prather had a difficult time finding clothing to wear when she was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of years ago and would often alter clothing to fit her comfortably. This later served as a style for the designs in her clothing line.

Tracy Nicole Clothing

Dr. Jackie Walters, from Bravo"s "Married to Medicine," noticed her comfortable clothing and asked her to adapt clothing for her breast cancer patients.

"It was kind of like a full circle type of moment," said Prather.

That experience was very fulfilling for her and encouraged her to leave her occupational therapy position and go into fashion full time. She later opened a store in Smyrna called Tracy Nicole. After closing that store, she opened a design studio, which she had for five years before launching her clothing line in 2011.

She describes her clothes as relaxing and for every body type. It is for women going through a transition and women who just want to feel comfortable no matter what they are going through.

"I always think about how every woman wants to look good, but they want to feel good too, so there"s that element of feeling comfortable and looking good, too," said Prather.

Something unique about the clothing is that each piece is named after a woman by whom Prather feels inspired -- some she has met and others she has never met. Some of those women include her friend Keisha Knight-Pulliam, Terri Vaughn and Lisa Price.

Actress Terri Vaughn grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. She later started her Take Wings foundation to help young girls in at-risk communities by organizing activities that will help inspire them to become role models in the community.

"That"s really inspiring to me, when people focus on what they want to do, but they also think about "how can I give back to help others"," said Prather.

Prather had teamed up with Vaughn for a reading of her novel "Who said Peaches were Perfect" in 2012. Vaughn allowed her The Green Room Actor"s Lounge students in Atlanta to act out scenes from the book.

Another woman was Lisa Price, owner and founder of Carols Daughter, whom Prather has never met. Price reached out to Prather on Instagram saying she loved her clothing and ordered a gray long-sleeved angled sweater, which Prather later named after her. Price built her organization from the ground up and it is now international.

"There"s like a really, really cool story behind all these women that a lot of people don"t know, even if it"s someone you"ve heard of you don"t know all the things they do behind the scenes," said Prather.

So many of these women are giving back through a charity or donating to other nonprofit organizations, which Prather is doing as well.

She has been involved with an organization called Elite Sisterhood, which comprises four different high schools in Fulton County. She began making T-shirts with inspiring sayings on them and all the profits go to nonprofits that benefit young girls.

One shirt reads: "I woke up like this," a message about embracing your natural beauty. The other is "I AM ENOUGH," about self acceptance.

Prather says it"s so important to give back and because she is blessed to have achieved her dreams, she often tries to help others do that as well.

"For me it"s bigger than just having a clothing line," said Prather. "It"s building a platform and being able to have an effect to make change."

Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/lifestyles/shopping/tracy-nicoles-relaxing-fashion-helps-women-through/nr3sL/

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Jinger Duggar Is Engaged! The Counting On Star Said "Yes" to Jeremy Vuolo

Jinger"s Big News | Jill & Jessa: Counting On

Another Duggar is saying "I do!"

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal that Jinger Duggar is engaged to former professional soccer player Jeremy Vuolo.

"So excited to share this news that we are now engaged," the pair tell PEOPLE. "From both of us, thank you all for the countless well-wishes we"ve received during the courtship. We are so excited to take this next step in spending our lives together. We are so grateful for how the Lord has brought us together. It has been an incredible journey so far and we are excited about serving Christ together in the coming days."

The news of their engagement comes just a month after Duggar and Vuolo announced they were officially courting (the only Duggar-approved way of dating), but the couple actually met last May.

"I was initially friends with Ben Seewald and Jessa (Duggar) Seewald, and it was through them that I got to meet Jinger," says Vuolo.

The two then "had the opportunity to go on a missions trip together," adds Jinger. "It was there that I really saw his heart and really admired his character."

Vuolo studied at Syracuse University and played for Major League Soccer club the New York Red Bulls before stepping away from the game to pursue ministry. He later signed with the San Antonio Scorpions in the North American Soccer League in 2014 after completing a missionary trip for relief aid in the Philippines.

"We are very excited to begin this journey together," says Vuolo of his bride-to-be.

The couple"s courtship will be a big part of the new season of Counting On when it returns to TLC Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. ET. Check out an exclusive clip above!

Jinger Duggar Is Engaged! The Counting On Star Said "Yes" to Jeremy Vuolo| Engagements, Marriage, 19 Kids and Counting, TV News, The Duggars

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Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGjcTnqWRMh3Kk9yRyKgCBbrCIdnA&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=_nqYV-C1N5TO3QGl5rm4Aw&url=https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/jinger-duggar-engaged-counting-star-141431203.html

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Why Comic Lovers Just Aren"t Having Batman: The Killing Joke

Wut I Think: BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE (Spoilers)

Negative buzz and bad weather surrounded Monday nights screenings of Batman: The Killing Joke, the highest-selling event in distributor Fathom Events history. Variety reports that Fathom has booked 1,075 screens for the companys biggest release to date, while Comic Book Resources adds that Fathom has expanded its initial one-night-only release to include a second evening Tuesday, July 26. But early ticket sales for the screenings preceded controversy surrounding the films adult content, particularly a s*x scene between Bruce Batman Wayne and Barbara Batgirl Gordon.

The film is based on Alan Moore and Brian Bollands brutal graphic novella The Killing Joke, one of DCs top sellers since its release in 1988. In the comic, Moore explores the origins of psychopathic Batman villain the Joker via a grim story that leaves Barbara Gordon shot in the stomach and paralyzed below the waist. That trauma is meant to shock Police Commissioner James Gordon, Barbaras father, into going insane, thereby proving the Jokers point that anyone is one bad day away from becoming just like him. Aside from that traumatic moment, Barbara is barely featured in Moore and Bollands comic.

In the film, howeverwritten by comics writer Brian AzzarelloBarbara has a romantic relationship with Batman prior to her paralysis. In fact, the two characters have s*x while still wearing their costumes. This addition to Moore and Bollands comic doesnt sit well with some fans, given how much older Bruce Batman Wayne is from Barbara in most Bat stories. At last weekends San Diego Comic-Con, Azzarello took the criticism head-on, insisting that Barbara is stronger than the men in her life in this story. Bleeding Cools Jeremy Konrad scoffed at Azzarellos claim from the safety of the peanut gallery: Yeah, by using s*x, and then pining for Bruce. Azzarello yelled back: Wanna say that again? p***y?

And Konrads not the only one who finds The Killing Joke unsettling. In a 1990 interview conducted by The Comics Journals Gary Groth, Moore insisted that he was uneasy with his storys dark content. He attributed his discomfort to his general ambivalence toward the adventure genre, a comic mode that he applauded Frank Miller for mining in his equally influential The Dark Knight Returns. Moore has since said that he thinks The Killing Joke doesnt say anything very interesting, and that he regrets both The Killing Joke and Watchmens influence on contemporary superhero comics. [Superhero comics] have lost a lot of their original innocence, and they cant get that back, Moore said in 2009. And, theyre stuck, it seems, in this kind of depressive ghetto of grimness and psychosis. Im not too proud of being the author of that regrettable trend.

Say what you want about Moores takeaway, but hes not wrong about The Killing Jokes influence. Early promotional material used for Warner Bros.s upcoming Suicide Squad movie introduced fans to Jared Letos version of the Joker using photographs modeled after Bollands now-iconic Killing Joke artwork. The Killing Joke is also now considered to be the Jokers canonical origin story, as well as a turning point for Barbara in numerous Bat comics (she remains paralyzed in almost all contemporary Bat stories). Moore and Bollands interpretation of the Joker is also probably the only common influence shared by Bat directors Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan.

But what do fans think? Not even a torrent of rain could stop ticket-holders from filling up a cavernous auditorium in Manhattans Union Square 14 theater. Many moviegoers knew nothing about the film going into it. Ed, a 38-year-old Manhattanite, had heard mostly positive feedback about The Killing Joke, and was eager to see-slash-hear Batman: The Animated Series voice actors Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill reprise their roles as Batman and Joker, respectively.

Not every ticket-holder was as optimistic as Ed. Ive heard scary, terrible things, said Mara, a 34-year-old Queens native, referring to Barbara and Bruces romantic relationship. Its just not right. That shouldnt happen except in fan [fiction].

Maras onto something. Theres a palpable unease surrounding Batman: The Killing Jokes big s*x scene. This sequence isnt explicit, but we do see Batman grabbing Batgirls hips right before she takes her top off (shes wearing a bra). The scene was met with bewildered laughs Monday, right up until the intentionally funny capper: a shot of a stone gargoyle overlooking the two heroes.

Audience members also laughed heartily at a scene where Batman warns Batgirl that small-time crook Paris Franz (yes, really) is only objectifying [her]. The s*x scenes ending is supposed to lighten things up; Batmans admonition, though, is an over-serious stab at making a comic-book character sound adult and self-aware.

Azzarello tries to give Barbara a meaningful role, but The Killing Joke can only really be taken seriously during scenes in which Hamill sells Jokers metaphysical spiel about the relativity of good and evil. Director Sam Liu doesnt always know how to film the Jokers more long-winded speeches, but Hamill single-handedly elevates his scenes. Some fans didnt care for the Jokers dialogue, much of which is taken verbatim from Moores original comic. One anonymous viewer complained that the screenwriters were trying to cram in as many SAT words as possible.

Still, I tend to agree with Maras take on Batgirl and Batmans relationship. Azzarello may be trying to give his version of Barbara more agency, but it doesnt quite work given how many of her choices are reactions to Batmans decisions. None of these decisions appear in Moores original comic, which suggests that Azzarello and executive producer Bruce Timm were uncomfortable having a major heroine like Barbara get tortured without at least giving her a little backstory first. So in this version of the story, Barbara realizes that shes addicted to the thrill of fightingand that scares her. Batman sees this in Barbara and tries to mansplain her own personality to her. He gives her orders, and she responds accordingly. The net gain of all that backstory is negligible.

In fact, the only times Barbara steps out of Bruces shadow are, first, when she chooses to have s*x with him, and, second, when she decidesbefore shes shot in the stomachto step away from crime fighting. These choices make it harder to see Barbara as a strong, independent heroine. Your enjoyment of Batman: The Killing Joke ultimately depends on how you take Barbaras storyand like it or not, the Joker didnt get the last laugh Monday.

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Jack Nicholson re-created the psychotic whimsy of one of his most celebrated roles in Vanity Fairs May 1989 issue, just ahead of the films debut.

Photograph by Murray Close.

Val Kilmerposing here for photographer Herb Rittsreplaced Michael Keaton in the third installment of Tim Burtons Batman films, Batman Forever.

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Jim Carreyon the heels of his success in The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, and Ace Venture: Pet Detectiveaptly played the Riddler.

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Tommy Lee Jones as D.A.-turned-madman Two-Face.

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Thankfully predating the bromance genre, Batman finally got some crime-fighting help in the form of Robin, played by Chris ODonnell.

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

George Clooney and Chris ODonnell in the suits that launched a million nipple jokes. (April 1997)

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, the franchises pun-iest bad guy to date.

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, in the characters firstand so far, onlyappearance in a major feature film. (With three different actresses playing Catwoman in recent years, were due for a Batgirl comeback, right?)

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Uma Thurman as Poison Ivyone of the all-time best eco-friendly villains.

Photograph by Herb Ritts.

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Source: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/07/batman-killing-joke-premiere

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