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Sometimes, movie releases are delayed because studios don’t know how to sell the film to audiences or because of financial or legal pitfalls. These projects are “shelved,” meaning they sit collecting dust, unseen by audiences for years (or even decades).

1. 'Margaret': Shelved for 6 Years

Margaret completed production in 2005, but it was shelved for six years because of lawsuits against director Kenneth Lonergan. He was contractually obligated to deliver a movie with a run time less than 150 minutes, but the final cut came in more than half an hour longer than that. Fox Searchlight shelved it until the lawsuits between the director and his financiers could be settled.

When it finally came out in 2011 in a limited release of just 14 theaters, Margaret’s run time was exactly 149 minutes and 49 seconds. Now on DVD, you can now enjoy the director’s cut that clocks in at 186 minutes.

2. 'Prozac Nation': Shelved for 4 Years

Although Prozac Nation made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2001, its distributor Miramax then shelved the film for more than four years due to lukewarm test screening reactions. Miramax was under the belief that they couldn’t sell the film to general audiences, so they quietly released it on the premium cable network Starz! in 2005.

3. 'The Cabin in the Woods': Shelved for 2 Years

The Cabin in the Woods was set for release in early 2010, but its distributor MGM was on the verge of bankruptcy. As a result, the post-modern horror film didn’t open until early 2012. When it finally did come out, the rising star power of Chris Hemsworth and co-writer/producer Joss Whedon gave The Cabin in the Woods a boost at the box office.

4. 'Take Me Home Tonight': Shelved for 4 Years

Take Me Home Tonight was completed in 2007, but it didn’t receive a theatrical release date until four years later. According to star Topher Grace, Take Me Home Tonight’s distributor Universal Pictures delayed it because they didn’t know how to market a youth comedy with so much cocaine and drug consumption.

"It's an audience film. It's not drama, but there was a real hesitation because there is so much cocaine in it, and our feeling at the time was, 'You can't do a movie about Prohibition without alcohol, and you really can't do a movie about partying in the '80s, at the age these kids are, without showing cocaine use," said Grace. Rogue Pictures acquired the distribution rights for $10 million and released the film in 2011.

5. 'Fanboys': Shelved for 1 Year

In 2009, Fanboys was finally released in theaters after a shaky post-production period that saw it sit on the shelf at The Weinstein Company for a year. After a re-shoot period where director Kyle Newman had a difficult time getting the cast together again, The Weinstein Company wanted to re-edit the movie's story from a group of teenagers breaking into Skywalker Ranch so their friend could watch The Phantom Menace before he dies of cancer into a road-trip-sex comedy. Without Newman’s consent, Little Nicky director Steven Brill was brought in to shoot new elements to remove the cancer plot and to make it more raunchy.

6. 'The Plot Against Harry': Shelved for 20 Years

Director Michael Roemer’s The Plot Against Harry premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969, but it could not find theatrical distribution because it tested poorly with general audiences. It sat on the shelf for twenty years until Roemer wanted to show it to his children. Both his kids and the film transfer technician working with Roemer thought the film was funny, so Roemer struck new prints and applied to the New York Film Festival. The Plot Against Harry belatedly found critical acclaim and commercial distribution in 1989.

7. 'Red Dawn' (2012): Shelved for 3 Years

Although the film was finished in 2009, the remake of Red Dawn sat on MGM’s shelf for three years. Before an expected summer 2010 release date, MGM had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and was unable to finance projects. After MGM re-structured, Red Dawn was slated for 2011, but another controversy hindered its release.

MGM didn’t want to offend the emerging Chinese movie-going market, so producers decided to change the enemies’ nationalities. Throughout 2011, filmmakers painstakingly changed the Chinese invaders and their insignia into North Koreans using digital special effects.

8. 'A Thousand Words': Shelved for 4 Years

The Eddie Murphy comedy A Thousand Words completed production in 2008 with a release date planned for sometime in 2009. However, it didn’t open until 2012 because it was caught in a legal battle over distribution rights between Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks.

The studios split and equally divided about 200 film projects, but they couldn’t come to terms with two films that were already completed at the time of separation: A Thousand Words and The Lovely Bones. Considering that the latter is from Peter Jackson, an Academy Award-winning director, and the former tracked poorly with test audiences, Paramount and DreamWorks released The Lovely Bones and shelved A Thousand Words.

9. 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer': Shelved for 4 Years

While it was completed in 1986, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer wasn’t released until four years later because of its violent and bloody subject matter. Director John McNaughton experienced a long battle with the MPAA when he couldn’t deliver an R-rated version without compromising his vision. However, Roger Ebert felt a passion for Henry, and the critic led a campaign to see its release in theaters. The MPAA eventually gave it an unrated tag in 1990.

10. 'Repo Men': Shelved for 2 Years

Although the film was completed in 2008, Repo Men didn’t come out in theaters until two years later. Relativity Media and Universal Pictures shelved Repo Men when they learned that the film adaptation of cult rock musical Repo! The Genetic Opera was opening around the same time. Both featured similar titles and plots involving men tasked with repossessing organ implants when customers were unable to pay their bills. While the musical gained cult status, the other film failed to find an audience or admirers when it was released in early 2010.

11. 'Romance and Cigarettes': Shelved for 2 Years

John Turturro’s Romance and Cigarettes premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2005 but sat on the shelf for two years until its eventual self-financed release. It found distribution with United Artists, but was lost in the shuffle when Sony bought out the smaller company. Frustrated with the lack of movement, Turturro put up his own money to finance a limited release in 2007.

12. 'Rampage': Shelved for 5 Years

The William Friedkin film Rampage screened at European film festivals in 1987, but it didn’t receive a theatrical release until 1992. Its production company, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, filed for bankruptcy, which contributed to the five-year lag between premiere and release. When Rampage finally found new distribution with Miramax during the early '90s, Friedkin changed his point of view on the death penalty and shot a new ending, and re-edited the film accordingly. Instead of committing suicide in prison, the main character sends his victims’ families disturbing and violent letters and is scheduled for a parole hearing.

13. 'Blue Sky': Shelved for 3 Years

Blue Sky was completed in 1991, but it wasn’t released in theaters until 1994. Its distributor, Orion Pictures, filed for bankruptcy shortly after Blue Sky wrapped production and, after Orion's restructuring, the film was released and received widespread critical acclaim. Jessica Lange received an Academy Award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role.

14. 'Lovers on the Bridge' (Les Amants du Pont-Neuf): Shelved for 8 Years

French director Leos Carax’s Lovers on the Bridge gained some critical acclaim when it premiered during the Cannes Film Festival in 1991. Impressed with how audiences and critics took to the film, Miramax acquired the distribution rights for the stateside market. However, Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein didn’t see any commercial appeal with Lovers on the Bridge and let it sit on the shelf for eight years. Director Martin Scorsese’s passion and enthusiasm for the film led to its release under the Miramax Zoë subdivision in 1999.

15. 'I Love Lucy: The Movie': Shelved for 48 Years

Wikimedia Commons

In 1953, MGM made a feature film version of the widely popular TV comedy I Love Lucy. It was made up of three episodes of the television show with new footage that bridged the gaps. However, MGM shelved the movie because studio executives believed it would interfere with the release of The Long, Long Trailer, which also starred Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. I Love Lucy: The Movie sat on the shelf for almost 50 years until it was screened at a fan convention in 2001.

There are a lot of cool trailers here, but I'm probably most excited for Cuphead , the game styled after 1930's animation:

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[Photographs: Aubrey Boonstra]

Growing up, my dad used to take me to Tommy's Red Hots in suburban Crystal Lake for the two hot dog special. I've spent the rest of my life trying to enjoy food as much as I liked wolfing down those dogs with fries and a Mountain Dew. I know nostalgia plays a role in this obsession, but a great Chicago-style hot dog also offers a balance of taste, texture, and color that some pretty good restaurants I know would be incredibly lucky to hit on their best day.

It's with this lifelong love in mind that I resolved to become a master of the hot dog. First step: learn how to run a hot dog cart in the world's finest city for such things.

Going to Hot Dog University

I've been to college and have a master's degree, but to do justice to this pursuit, I needed to enroll in Hot Dog University, which is totally a real thing. It was partly to get instruction on profit margins and strategy, partly to figure out the nuances that separate successful vendors from unsuccessful ones, and partly because I was really digging the idea of telling people I graduated from Hot Dog University.

The program is the life's work of Mark Reitman, a 67-year-old Chicago native and current Wisconsin resident who only got into hot dogs professionally after a career as a school counselor and occasional appliance salesman. He started Hot Dog U as a pet project, but Vienna Beef quickly brought him in-house a few years ago to train new vendors. His is the first educational institution to ever offer me a full scholarship. My mother has promised to inform my high school alumni newsletter.

Mark is a retiree, compact and stocky, and has the Chicago accent that you think of when you think the words "Chicago accent." He's also impossible to keep up with as he strides across the factory floor. I've never met someone who loves what he does more—1970s Hugh Hefner would have killed to be so satisfied in his day-to-day. "We are the nation's college of encased meat knowledge," is Mark's practiced one liner, but he seems to be little doubt that he means it.

Mark's classes, both the original "Art of the Cart" I was attending and a newer "Hot Dog Stand" class, take place weekly in Chicago and occasionally in Los Angeles. Class sizes range from two to six, and include a mix of Chicago locals, Koreans, Romanians, and even Germans. (That Germans would come here to learn about sausage seems as great an accolade as any school of higher hot dog learning is likely to get.)

School of Hot Dog Basics

So, the question that you've been wondering and that I've been asked 600 times: what did I actually learn at Hot Dog University? More details than I ever thought possible.

The first day is mostly lecture, though calling it that doesn't really represent the mix of extremely entertaining anecdotes and numbers-centric small business instruction. Mark starts with the difference between a hot dog with a natural (pork or lamb) casing and a skinless frank. The distinctive snap of a natural casing dog cannot be improved upon, and all hot dogs used to be sold this way. Skinless franks have the same makeup, but get stuffed into synthetic casings, which are removed by being shot at high speed over razor-sharp blades to remove the blue-striped casings. Kids tend to like the skinless dogs, because they have a softer bite. Kids also put ketchup on hot dogs, but that's neither here nor there.

The best-known version of the Chicago-style hot dog starts with a natural casing dog that is simmered (never boiled), steamed, or even grilled. It's served on a steamed poppy seed bun—and I can't stress how important the steamed bun is—with, in this order: Yellow mustard, neon green relish, chopped raw onion, two half-slices of tomato, a Kosher dill pickle spear, sport peppers (optional), and celery salt.

Other important lessons:

• Polish sausage, at least at Vienna Beef, is basically a larger hot dog with more paprika and garlic.
• The number of hot dogs per pound determines how each is labeled. So if there are six to a pound, then it's listed as a 6:1.
• The classic Chicago dog is most often an 8:1 size. Elsewhere, like in New York or even at Gene and Jude's in suburban Chicago, the smaller 10:1 is used.
• A good rule for general traffic at a hot dog stand is that you can plan on 5 percent of foot traffic stopping to make a purchase —you generally hope for 1,000 people an hour passing by. Many a purveyor has taken a bath by picking a spot that looked good without actually scouting how many people pass by.
• Large 4:1 skinless franks (4 oz. per sausage) seem like a good idea and profit driver, but the toppings start to fall off and the bun isn't particularly up to the task.
• You're technically not allowed to cook from raw on carts here in Chicago, but a camp stove, some oil, and a bunch of chopped onions creates an aroma that can single-handedly drive traffic when you're slow. You're not technically selling or serving these onions, so think of them like a really Midwestern version of a Yankee Candle.

In addition to knowing the ins and outs of the hot dog business, Mark is the poet laureate of cured sausages. "Your first bite into a natural casing Chicago-style hot dog ... there's a tingling rush of exhilaration and you can't wait for the second bite," he said. "It's about you, and your experience of tasting, and nothing else. At your best, you're trying to create that first bite experience for every customer."

How the Sausage is Made

As an ex-salesman (who is apparently still licensed to sell used cars in Wisconsin), Mark follows that most hallowed rule of sales—know your product. After an hour introduction in a classroom, we go on a factory tour as comprehensive as OHSA allows.
One of the oldest maxims about hot dogs is that you don't want to see how they're made. But living your hot dog dream means breaking all the rules, so it was a white smock and beard net for me. Plus, if you can't stand to eat something after seeing how it's made, you probably shouldn't be eating it in the first place. All I can say is that after my time on the floor, I didn't feel any need to jump on Twitter and start muckracking like a hashtag-era Upton Sinclair.

Visiting the hot dog floor isn't as easy as you'd expect. Vienna currently offers limited tours, but only until they move to a modernized plant on the South Side later this year. After that, FDA sanitation regulations will largely preclude non-employees from partaking in this bizarro Wonka-scape. That's a shame, because it's the closest thing on earth to Ralph Wiggum's dream of Bovine University.

When you walk onto the production floor, the first thing you notice is that the hot dog factory smells unexpectedly delicious. The second thing is that at least here, there's nary a mechanically-separated meatstuff to be found. Instead, Vienna Beef uses 95 percent lean bull meat, sourced from a variety of purveyors, and a mixture of bone-in brisket and navel cuts. They all come down the conveyor belt into the waiting knives of a handful of butchers who have the highest-paid and most coveted jobs on the production floor.

From there, bull meat and trimmed navel are processed through a vacuum chopper and go into large UFO-looking kettles that emulsify the meat with fat trimmings from the beef, garlic extract, spices, corn syrup, ice, and sodium nitrite curing salt. Each machine handles approximately 4,000 pounds of future hot dogs, which are then stuffed into natural or artificial casings of varying sizes. The artificial casings are machine-stuffed, while the natural casing dogs are stuffed with machine assistance by a half-dozen or so watchful veterans. Both hot dogs are then smoked with hickory sawdust in cavernous temperature-controlled smokers whose components have long outlived the original manufacturers.

Time to Eat

Full of knowledge and newly-familiar with operations, Mark pulled out his trusty personal cart and let me serve dogs and Polishes in front of the factory loading dock. Our customers? The men and women of Vienna Beef's staff. Apparently, they are not yet sick of hot dogs. I focused my energy on avoiding deadly cart steam and making my mustard squiggles look like they did on the posters of my childhood hot dog stands. Soon, the cart was empty, the employees were sated, and I'd just performed my own personal 1980s training montage, Steve Winwood blaring in my head all the while. It was awesome.

Vendor trainees at Hot Dog University (everyone but me, really) leave with $350 in rebate coupons for Vienna products and a commitment for another $350 in marketing materials and signage from Vienna, both of which help offset the $699 cost of the class. I left with a binder full of ordering information and further instruction, a blue t-shirt with a glorious hot dog drawing, and the promise that my diploma would be in the mail eventually.

I'd learned everything that I came to find out, ate a few free hot dogs, and gained a pretty unique line for my resume. But the important work was to come: me, a cart, and a park full of hungry Chicagoans. It was time to enter the poppy-seeded gauntlet and see what it was really like to run a hot dog cart.

Check back next week to read the next installment.

Thomas Fallows is a Google e-commerce product manager, and he works on Google Shopping Express, the same-day delivery service that is the search giant's would-be competitor to Amazon.

Last weekend, anarchists picketed his house.

They yelled into the intercom of his apartment building, leafleted his neighbors' cars, and held up a banner outside his home that said, "GTFO! Row Ur Ass Back 2 Harvard!"

It was not pleasant, according to a video of the demonstration (below).

It all happened because Fallows allegedly evicted tenants from four buildings that he owns in the Bay Area, according to the protestors. We can't verify independently whether that is true, but activists who oppose the way wealthy tech workers have gentrified San Francisco have documented evictions by tech employee landlords before. In fact, creating a database of evictions is part of their "thing."

The event was part of a string of demonstrations by people who believe that tech companies like Google and Facebook, whose corporate headquarters' are south of the city in Silicon Valley, are causing real estate prices to skyrocket in San Francisco partly because they provide private express bus services for their commuters. Those buses allow wealthy tech staff to live in San Francisco because it's convenient. They might have lived in the 'burbs if the buses didn't exist.

The good news for Fallows is that on June 8 only three people turned up at his Pierce Street building to harass him. One man shouted into his apartment intercom:

"Hey there Thomas, we just stopped by to let you know that you're a greedy piece of s--- and you probably should stop doing what you're doing. You have way to much money than you know what to do with and people are pretty angry, so were letting people know where you live and what you're responsible for."

The protestors published this explanation of their acts (along with copious references to Thomas Piketty's "Capital In The Twenty-First Century"):

Thomas Fallows is a man who has used the Ellis Act to evict the occupants of four buildings filled with dozens of people and their lives. He caught our attention by not only being a Google employee but also for being a stark example of the entitled and greedy tech-entrepreneurs inhabiting San Francisco.

We reached out to Fallows but did not immediately get a response.

The anarchists — who included Erin McElroy, whom Business Insider profiled recently — used this photo of Fallows (below) from his Google+ page, in an attempt to portray him as someone "having a real good time" while tenants are evicted. The photo is labeled "Oktoberfest," and in fairness to Fallows it in no way demonstrates any ill intent. It simply seems to show Fallows drinking a beer in 2008.

It's surprising the anarchists didn't use this photo, which shows Fallows smiling as a lion eats a zebra. The protesters have, after all, described Fallows as "predatory." Fallows' Google+ caption is, "Lion: 1. Zebra: 0."

Here is the video:

Eviction Fighters vs Thomas Fallows, Google Evictor of 24 Units - 8 June 2014 from Peter Menchini on Vimeo.

SEE ALSO: Meet The Woman At The Heart Of San Francisco's Anti-Tech Gentrification Protests

Join the conversation about this story »

Cool or gross you out?

This is the security cam footage from a manufacturing plant in Alberta, Canada, of a pickup truck driving down the road when it gets struck by lightning. The truck was being driven by Al Perry with his wife Betty riding shotgun when the blast occurred. Now, do any of you know what you're supposed to do if your car gets struck by lightning? "Beg God for forgiveness?" Correct -- clearly he has a problem with you.

"It was all blowing up in front of my face," Betty said. Inside the truck, airbags deployed, the metal body was rippled by the heat, and then smoke began to fill the cabin, making it difficult for either Al or Betty to see or breathe.

Damn, if my car got struck by lightning you know what I'd do? Take it right back to the dealership and tell them it spontaneously exploded and I'm going to sue. That should buy me some bargaining power. Because last time my bargaining chips failed me. "They were Doritos." And who doesn't love Doritos?! Honda sales rep Mark Baker, that's who. Keep going for a video news report and check out the holes the blast made in the road.

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When most people board a plane they’re usually leaving home. But not if you’re Bruce Campbell, an innovative engineer who rejected the standards of traditional housing and decided to engage his flight of fancy. He purchased a retired Boeing 727, complete with wings and landing gear, for about $220,000 and situated it in a suburban wooded area outside Portland, Oregon. After many years of work the plane is now a makeshift home with electricity, a shower and kitchen. It’s like a young boy’s dream come true!

Want your own airplane home? “You need to acquire two things: An airliner, and suitable land to host it.” Well, it may not be quite that simple but Campbell has a how-to guide on his webpage to shed light on the process. According to the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association (AFRA) there will be 500 – 600 aircrafts retired annually over the next two decades. That’s 10,000 – 12,000 potentially new aircraft homes coming on the market. Better start making plans now! (via Bored Panda and Huffington Post)

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Hatoful Boyfriend is a Japanese dating sim that replaces the usual array of sexy anime characters with pictures of birds. Devolver Digital and Mediatonichave teamed up to official bring this wonderfully creepy thing to the Western world.

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The only thing better than chocolate chip cookies is more chocolate chip cookies. Beth Klosterboer is here to provide just that. We've previously seen her create a bowl of popcorn made of popcorn. Now she's used a similar approach to make a bowl of chocolate chip cookies made of chocolate chip cookie dough.

She wrapped a layer of the dough over a bowl and baked it on the bowl.

May I suggest that as a topping she add a half gallon of soft-serve ice cream?

I need this so I can listen to my Sheriff Ramb cassette tape that came in the mail today

Want to feel amazed, isolated and inspired all a the same time? Look to the stars. Form here on Earth, space seems like and endless empty void -- but anybody familiar with NASA's Hubble Space Telescope know things look a bit more lively from orbit....

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CD Projekt RED kicked off its summer conference with the release date for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- it's hitting PC, PS4, and Xbox One simultaneously on February 24, 2015.

The standard edition includes the manual, a Witcher universe compendium, a game map, the soundtrack, and stickers at no additional cost. That's what they could fit in the box. The company also detailed the collector's edition, available by pre-order only, that contains a polystone statue, hardcover 200-age art book, wolf medallion, and a steelbook case.

The Witcher 3 is up for pre-order on GOG.com where you'll get a five percent discount per game for owning The Witcher and The Witcher 2. The digital edition comes with extras like a digital artbook, extended soundtrack, a download code for The Witcher: House of Glass comic book, Neverwinter Nights and its expansions, and two beta keys for The Witcher: Adventure Game.

Phew. A trailer was also shown during the conference and it's the new hotness.

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Thanks sg