1.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
2.
The Hurt Locker
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The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller film about an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are being targeted by insurgents with booby traps, remote control detonations and ambushes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, it stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, the film shows soldiers varying psychological reactions to the stress of combat, which though intolerable to some, is addictive to others. The story unfolds after a staff sergeant is killed by an insurgent trap and his comrades suspect that their new team leader is being driven to take terrifying risks. Writer Mark Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to provide a background for the production. The Hurt Locker received widespread acclaim and won six Academy Awards. Bigelow won the award for Best Director, as of 2017 and his team includes Sergeant J. T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. His maverick disposal methods and attitude lead to Sanborn and Eldridge considering him reckless, meanwhile, James is often approached by an Iraqi youth named Beckham attempting to sell DVDs. James challenges him to a game of soccer and takes a liking to him, when they are assigned to destroy some explosives, James returns to the detonation site to pick up his gloves. Sanborn openly contemplates killing him by accidentally triggering the explosion, making Eldridge somewhat uncomfortable, returning to Camp Victory in their Humvee, the team encounters five armed men in traditional Arab garb and casual attire standing near a Ford Excursion, which has a flat tire. James team has an encounter with their leader, who then reveals they are private military contractors. They have captured two prisoners featured on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, the entire group suddenly comes under fire, and when the prisoners attempt to escape in the confusion, the leader of the mercenaries remembers the bounty for them is dead or alive and shoots them. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaries, including their leader, Sanborn and James borrow a Barrett.50 cal to dispatch three attackers, while Eldridge kills a fourth. During a raid on a warehouse, James discovers the body of a young boy, during evacuation, Lieutenant Colonel John Cambridge, the camps psychiatrist and a friend of Eldridges, is killed in an explosion, Eldridge blames himself for his death. Later, James breaks into the house of an Iraqi professor, seeking revenge for Beckham, called to a petrol tanker detonation, James decides on his own to hunt for the insurgents responsible, guessing they are still nearby. Sanborn protests, but when James heads out, he and Eldridge reluctantly follow, after they split up, insurgents capture Eldridge. James and Sanborn rescue him, but accidentally shoot him in the leg, the following morning, James is approached by Beckham, who he believed was dead, and walks by without saying a word. Before being airlifted for surgery elsewhere, Eldridge angrily blames James for his injury, James and Sanborns unit is called to another mission in their last two days of their rotation. An innocent Iraqi civilian man has had a bomb vest strapped to his chest, James tries to cut off the locks to remove the vest, but there are too many of them
3.
Tennessee Williams
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Thomas Lanier Tennessee Williams III was an American playwright. Along with Eugene ONeill and Arthur Miller he is considered among the three foremost playwrights in 20th-century American drama, after years of obscurity, he became suddenly famous with The Glass Menagerie, closely reflecting his own unhappy family background. This heralded a string of successes, including A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and his later work attempted a new style that did not appeal to audiences, and alcohol and drug dependence further inhibited his creative output. His drama A Streetcar Named Desire is often numbered on the short list of the finest American plays of the 20th century alongside Long Days Journey into Night, much of Williams most acclaimed work was adapted for the cinema. He also wrote stories, poetry, essays and a volume of memoirs. In 1979, four years before his death, Williams was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame. Thomas Lanier Williams III was born in Columbus, Mississippi, of English, Welsh, and Huguenot ancestry and his father was an alcoholic traveling shoe salesman who spent much of his time away from home. Williams early childhood was spent in the parsonage there, Williams had two siblings, sister Rose Isabel Williams and brother Walter Dakin Williams. As a small child Williams suffered from a case of diphtheria which nearly ended his life, leaving him weak, at least in part as a result of his illness, he was less robust as a child than his father wished. Cornelius Williams, a descendant of hearty East Tennessee pioneer stock, had a violent temper and was a man prone to use his fists. He regarded his sons effeminacy with disdain, and his mother Edwina, locked in an unhappy marriage, many critics and historians note that Williams found inspiration for much of his writing in his own dysfunctional family. When Williams was eight years old, his father was promoted to a job at the office of the International Shoe Company in St. Louis. He attended Soldan High School, a setting he referred to in his play The Glass Menagerie, Later he studied at University City High School. At age 16, Williams won third prize for an essay published in Smart Set entitled, a year later, his short story The Vengeance of Nitocris was published in the August 1928 issue of the magazine Weird Tales. That same year he first visited Europe with his grandfather, from 1929 to 1931, he attended the University of Missouri, in Columbia, where he enrolled in journalism classes. Williams found his classes boring, however, and was distracted by his love for a girl. He was soon entering his poetry, essays, stories, and plays in writing contests and his first submitted play was Beauty Is the Word, followed by Hot Milk at Three in the Morning. As recognition for Beauty, a play about rebellion against religious upbringing, at University of Missouri, Williams joined the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, but he did not fit in well with his fraternity brothers
4.
Spike Lee
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Shelton Jackson Spike Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company,40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983, Lee has acted in ten of his own films. Lees movies have examined race relations, colorism in the community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty. Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Jacqueline Carroll, a teacher of arts and black literature, and William James Edward Lee III, a jazz musician and composer. Lee also had three younger siblings Joie, David, and Cinqué, who all worked in different positions in Lees films. Director Malcolm D. Lee is his cousin, when he was a child, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York. His mother nicknamed him Spike during his childhood and he attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyns Gravesend neighborhood. Lee enrolled in Morehouse College, a black college, where he made his first student film. He took film courses at Clark Atlanta University and graduated with a B. A. in mass communication from Morehouse and he did graduate work at New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in film & television. In 1991, Lee taught a course at Harvard about filmmaking and it was there that he received his Master of Fine Arts and was appointed Artistic Director in 2002. Lees independent film, Joes Bed-Stuy Barbershop, We Cut Heads, was the first student film to be showcased in Lincoln Centers New Directors/New Films Festival, in 1985, Lee began work on his first feature film, Shes Gotta Have It. With a budget of $175,000, he shot the film in two weeks, when the film was released in 1986, it grossed over $7,000,000 at the U. S. box office. Lees 1989 film Do the Right Thing was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1989, many people, including Hollywoods Kim Basinger, believed that Do the Right Thing also deserved a Best Picture nomination. Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture that year, after the 1990 release of Mo Better Blues, Lee was accused of antisemitism by the Anti-Defamation League and several film critics. They criticized the characters of the club owners Josh and Moe Flatbush, Lee denied the charge, explaining that he wrote those characters in order to depict how black artists struggled against exploitation. Lee said that Lew Wasserman, Sidney Sheinberg or Tom Pollock and he said he could not make an antisemitic film because Jews run Hollywood, and thats a fact. His 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls, about the killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham. On May 2,2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honored Spike Lee with the San Francisco Film Societys Directing Award and he received the 2008 Wexner Prize
5.
The Wrestler (2008 film)
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The Wrestler is a 2008 American sports drama film co-produced and directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Robert D. Siegel, and starring Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on April 21,2009 and it was released in the United Kingdom on June 1,2009. Rourke plays a professional wrestler who, despite his failing health and waning fame. He also tries to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter, the film received universal critical acclaim and won the Golden Lion Award at the 65th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered. Film critic Roger Ebert called it one of the years best films, Tomei also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Robin Ramzinski, better known by his ring name Randy The Ram Robinson, is a wrestler who became a celebrity in the 1980s. A regular at a club, Randy befriends a stripper, Cassidy. After winning a match, Randy agrees to a proposed 20th anniversary rematch with his most notable opponent, The Ayatollah. Randy intensifies his training, which includes steroid injections, after wrestling in a hardcore match, Randy suffers a heart attack backstage and undergoes coronary artery bypass surgery. His doctor tells him that his heart can no longer handle the stress of wrestling, as a result, Randy decides to retire and begins working a full-time shift at the supermarkets deli counter. At Cassidys suggestion, Randy visits his estranged daughter Stephanie, whom he had abandoned when she was a child, while helping Randy buy a gift for Stephanie, Cassidy reveals that she has a son. Randy makes romantic advances toward her, which she rejects on the grounds of her job, later, Randy gives the gift to his daughter and apologizes for abandoning her. The two bond over a visit to a beachfront boardwalk, where he took her as a child, Randy goes to Cassidys strip club to thank her, but she once more rejects him, resulting in a heated exchange. Upset, Randy goes to see a match and finds solace in his wrestling friends. While at a bar with them, he gets drunk, snorts cocaine and has sex with a woman in the womens restroom and he sleeps the entire next day and misses his dinner with Stephanie. He goes to her house to apologize, but she tells him she never wants to see him again. At the deli counter, a patron recognizes Randy as the wrestler, the customer persists, which agitates Randy, who then cuts his hand on the delis slicer and goes into a rampage in the store, hurling abuse at Wayne and the customers. Spurred by the recognition of him and with nothing left, Randy decides to return to wrestling
6.
Danny Boyle
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His debut film Shallow Grave won the BAFTA Award for Best British Film. Boyles 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won eight and he also won the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Director. Boyle was presented with the Extraordinary Contribution to Filmmaking Award at the 2008 Austin Film Festival, in 2012, Boyle was the Artistic Director for Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. He was subsequently offered a knighthood as part of the New Year Honours, in 2014, it was announced that Boyle would become a patron of HOME in Manchester. Danny Boyle was born on 20 October 1956 in Radcliffe, Lancashire, although he now describes himself as a spiritual atheist, he was brought up in a working class Catholic family. Boyle was a boy for eight years and his mother had the priesthood in mind for him. Whether he was saving me from the priesthood or the priesthood from me, but quite soon after, I started doing drama. And theres a connection, I think. All these directors — Martin Scorsese, John Woo, M. Night Shyamalan — they were all meant to be priests, Theres something very theatrical about it. It’s basically the same job — poncing around, telling people what to think and he later studied at Thornleigh Salesian College in Bolton, and studied English and Drama at Bangor University. While at university, Boyle dated the actress Frances Barber, Boyle is the patron of North West-based young peoples substance misuse charity, Early Break, which was founded and based in his home town of Radcliffe. Boyle is also a trustee of the UK-based African arts charity Dramatic Need, upon leaving school he began his career at the Joint Stock Theatre Company, before moving onto the Royal Court Theatre in 1982 where he directed The Genius by Howard Brenton and Saved by Edward Bond. He also directed five productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 2011 he directed Frankenstein for the National Theatre. This production was broadcast to cinemas as a part of National Theatre Live on 17 March 2011, Boyle was Artistic Director for the 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in London. The ceremony, entitled Isles of Wonder, charted aspects of British culture, including the Industrial Revolution and British contributions to literature, music, film, reception to the ceremony was generally positive, both nationally in the United Kingdom and internationally. In December 2012 it was reported that Boyle turned down a knighthood in the New Year Honours list. He told BBC Radio 4 Im very proud to be an equal citizen, in 2014, it was announced that Boyle would become a patron of HOME in Manchester. These were Masonic Mysteries and Cherubim and Seraphim and he was also responsible for the BBC2 series Mr. Wroes Virgins
7.
Quebec
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Quebec is the second-most populous province of Canada and the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Quebec is Canadas largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division and it also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canadas second-most populous province, after Ontario, most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, the Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are severe in inland areas, Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995, in 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become an economically influential province within Canada, early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq and Kébec. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the seat for the French colony of New France. The province is sometimes referred to as La belle province, the Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the Treaty of Versailles ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada and Upper Canada, with each being granted an elected legislative assembly, in 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867, each became one of the first four provinces. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal peoples. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Located in the part of Canada, and part of Central Canada. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the composition of the ground, the climate. The Saint Lawrence Lowland and the Canadian Shield are the two main regions, and are radically different
8.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
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Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is a 1993 Canadian biographical-anthology film about the pianist Glenn Gould, played by Colm Feore. It was directed by François Girard, with a screenplay by Girard, the film is presented as a series of 31 short films rather than as one narrative. Segments include documentaries, consisting of interviews with individuals who knew the real Gould, Gould Meets McLaren uses animated spheres reminiscent of those in Norman McLarens animation. The film received reviews and won four Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture. With memories revolving around the cottage near Lake Simcoe, Glenn Gould recalls how in his childhood. In fact, he believes his mother had chosen that career for him. He recalls being able to read music before he could read books, Gould later imagines interviewing himself, in which he confronts himself about why he chose to quit giving concerts at the age of 32, preferring to communicate to his audience through media instead. Gould reminds himself that the musician is inescapably an autocrat, no matter how benign, in crafting radio documentaries, Gould works on a piece called The Idea of North, which touches on the affects the environment has on the solitude and isolation of the people of Northern Canada. Interviewers also push him to explain how he could achieve his level of perfection without interest in being overly technical in his piano playing. They ask why he insists on being interviewed only over the telephone, others question if Goulds supposed obsession in technology is merely a smokescreen to keep his distance from real people. Many chambermaids find Gould eccentric, and prefer to avoid working for him, Gould becomes the only client to profit in the wake of financial meltdown. However, Margaret Pacsu, a friend, notices Goulds bathroom is stocked heavily with various pills, including Valium, Trifluoperazine, Gould laughs off the idea that he is taking all of the pills simultaneously, and Pacsu does not notice any affects on his personality. As his birthday approaches, Gould becomes concerned that no one will intend his funeral, despite being aware of strong sales in Central Europe. Gould dies at age 50 of a stroke and his cousin, Jessie Greig, says Gould was wrong and his funeral was heavily attended. He had noted Voyager I and Voyager II, space probes launched for possible contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, rhombus Media was established in 1979 with the goal to make a film about pianist Glenn Gould, who was still alive at the time. Producer Niv Fichman explained, He was our greatest hero, so we thought we would have to make a few short films before we approached Gould to make one about him. After Gould died in 1982, director François Girard mentioned the idea of making a biopic of the pianist in 1990, wishing to have an English Canadian screenwriter, Fichman and Girard proposed the idea to Don McKellar, who had a musical education. McKellar was initially opposed to the idea of adapting Goulds life into a film, however, Girards concept of 32 short films intrigued him
9.
Brad Pitt
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William Bradley Brad Pitt in Shawnee Oklahoma. He is an American actor and producer and he has received multiple awards and nominations including an Academy Award as producer under his own company Plan B Entertainment. Pitt first gained recognition as a hitchhiker in the road movie Thelma & Louise. His first leading roles in big-budget productions came with the dramas A River Runs Through It and Legends of the Fall, Pitt starred in the cult film Fight Club and the heist film Oceans Eleven and its sequels, Oceans Twelve and Oceans Thirteen. As a public figure, Pitt has been cited as one of the most influential and powerful people in the American entertainment industry, as well as the worlds most attractive man and his personal life is also the subject of wide publicity. Divorced from actress Jennifer Aniston, to whom he was married for five years and they have six children together, three of whom were adopted internationally. In September 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, William Bradley Pitt was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma, to William Bill Alvin Pitt, manager of a trucking company, and Jane Etta, a school counsellor. The family soon moved to Springfield, Missouri, where he lived together with his siblings, Douglas. Pitt has described Springfield as Mark Twain country, Jesse James country, having grown up with a lot of hills, Pitt attended Kickapoo High School, where he was a member of the golf, swimming and tennis teams. He participated in the schools Key and Forensics clubs, in school debates, following his graduation from high school, Pitt enrolled in the University of Missouri in 1982, majoring in journalism with a focus on advertising. As graduation approached, Pitt did not feel ready to settle down and he loved films—a portal into different worlds for me—and, since films were not made in Missouri, he decided to go to where they were made. Two weeks before earning his degree, Pitt left the university and moved to Los Angeles, while struggling to establish himself in Los Angeles, Pitt took lessons from acting coach Roy London. Pitts acting career began in 1987, with uncredited parts in the films No Way Out, No Mans Land and his television debut came in May 1987 with a two-episode role on the NBC soap opera Another World. In November of the same year Pitt had a guest appearance on the ABC sitcom Growing Pains and he appeared in four episodes of the CBS primetime series Dallas between December 1987 and February 1988 as Randy, the boyfriend of Charlie Wade. Later in 1988, Pitt made a guest appearance on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street, in the same year, the Yugoslavian–U. S. Co-production The Dark Side of the Sun gave Pitt his first leading film role, the film was shelved at the outbreak of the Croatian War of Independence, and was not released until 1997. He made guest appearances on television series Head of the Class, Freddys Nightmares, Thirtysomething, and Growing Pains. Pitt was cast as Billy Canton, an addict who takes advantage of a young runaway in the 1990 NBC television movie Too Young to Die. the story of an abused teenager sentenced to death for a murder
10.
Ethan Hawke
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Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer, and director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards and a Tony Award, Hawke has directed two feature films, three Off-Broadway plays, and a documentary, and written the novels The Hottest State, Ash Wednesday, and Rules for a Knight. He made his debut in 1985 with the science fiction feature Explorers. He then appeared in films before taking a role in the 1994 Generation X drama Reality Bites. Hawke was further honored with SAG Award nominations for films, along with BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for the latter. Hawke was born in Austin, Texas, to Leslie, a charity worker, and James Hawke, Hawkes parents were high school sweethearts in Fort Worth, Texas, and married young, when Hawkes mother was 17. Hawke was born a year later, Hawkes parents were students at the University of Texas at Austin at the time of his birth, and separated and later divorced in 1974. After the separation, Hawke was then raised by his mother, the two relocated several times, before settling in New York City, where Hawke attended the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights. Hawkes mother remarried when he was 10 and the moved to West Windsor Township, New Jersey. He later transferred to the Hun School of Princeton, a boarding school. In high school, Hawke aspired to be a writer, and he twice enrolled in New York Universitys English program, but dropped out both times to pursue acting roles. Hawke obtained his mothers permission to attend his first casting call at age 14 and he secured his first film role in 1985s Explorers, in which he played an alien-obsessed schoolboy alongside River Phoenix. The film received favorable reviews but had poor box office revenues, Hawke later described the disappointment as difficult to bear at such a young age, adding I would never recommend that a kid act. His next film appearance was not until 1989s comedy drama Dad, in 1989, Hawke made his breakthrough appearance, playing a shy student opposite Robin Williamss inspirational English teacher in Dead Poets Society. The film was critically well-received, the Variety reviewer noted Hawke, with revenue of US$235 million worldwide, the film remains Hawkes most commercially successful picture to date. Hawke later described the opportunities he was offered as a result of the success as critical to his decision to continue acting, I didnt want to be an actor. But then the success was so monumental that I was getting offers to be in such interesting movies and be in such interesting places, Hawkes next film, 1991s White Fang, brought his first leading role. The film, an adaptation of Jack Londons novel of the name, featured Hawke as Jack Conroy
11.
Rose McGowan
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Rose Arianna McGowan is an Italian-born American actress, film producer, director and singer. She is best known for playing Paige Matthews in The WB supernatural drama series Charmed from 2001 to 2006 and she made her film debut in the 1992 comedy Encino Man, where she played a small role. Her performance as Amy Blue in the 1995 dark comedy film The Doom Generation brought her wider attention, McGowan then appeared in the 1996 hit horror film Scream and starred alongside Ben Affleck in the 1997 coming-of-age feature Going All the Way. Later, she appeared in several Hollywood films, including Devil in the Flesh, Jawbreaker, Ready to Rumble, Monkeybone, in 2005, McGowan played Ann-Margret alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Elvis Presley in the CBS miniseries Elvis. In 2007, she starred in Planet Terror, part of the film directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. The following year, she starred in the thriller film. In 1996, McGowan was the model for the Henry Mancini tribute album Shots in the Dark. She has also appeared on magazine covers, including Seventeen, Interview, Maxim, GQ, Entertainment Weekly. McGowan, the second-eldest of six children, was born in Certaldo, Italy, the daughter of Terri, a writer and Microsoft employee, and Daniel McGowan. Her parents were American, and she has Irish and French ancestry, Daniel McGowan ran an Italian chapter of the Children of God, to which both he and his wife held membership until 1978. McGowan spent her early childhood amid the groups communes, often traveling through Europe with her parents, through her fathers art contacts in Italy, McGowan became a child model and appeared in Vogue Bambini and various other Italian magazines. Her parents returned to the United States when she was ten years old, settling in Eugene, McGowan had a wayward childhood, living as a teenage runaway in Portland, Oregon and associating with a group of drag queens in the city. After her parents divorced, McGowan lived with her father in Seattle, Washington, attending Roosevelt High School and Nova Alternative High School, at the age of 15, she officially emancipated herself from her parents and relocated to Los Angeles. McGowan made her first appearance in a Hollywood film with a role in the 1992 Pauly Shore comedy Encino Man. Her role in the 1995 dark comedy The Doom Generation brought her to the attention of film critics, McGowan was subsequently cast in a supporting role in the 1996 hit horror film Scream. She was the model for the Henry Mancini tribute album Shots in the Dark. She became the face of American clothing company Bebe from 1998–99, McGowan spent the majority of the 1990s appearing in a variety of independent films, including roles in Southie, Going All the Way, and Lewis & Clark & George. In 1997, she appeared in the short film Seed, directed by San Francisco-born filmmaker Karin Thayer and that year, McGowan gained much attention for the revealing fishnet outfit she wore to the 1998 Video Music Awards
12.
Slumdog Millionaire
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Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson. Set and filmed in India, it is a adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup, telling the story of Jamal Malik, age 18. As a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, who is able to answer every stage correctly, he is accused of cheating. Jamal recounts his history, illustrating how he is able to each question. Regarded as a hit, Slumdog Millionaire was widely acclaimed, being praised for its plot, soundtrack. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight—the most for any 2008 film—including Best Picture, Best Director and it won seven BAFTA Awards including Best Film, five Critics Choice Awards and four Golden Globes. 18-year-old Jamal Malik, an Indian Muslim from the Juhu slum, is a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. and is one question away from the grand prize. Jamal recounts, through flashbacks, the incidents in his life which provided him with each answer, as they flee the riot, they meet Latika, a girl from their slum. Salim is reluctant to take her in, but Jamal suggests that she could be the third musketeer, the three are found by Maman—a gangster who tricks and then trains street children into becoming beggars. When Salim discovers Maman is blinding the children in order to them more effective beggars, he flees with Jamal. Latika fails to board the train as Salim purposefully lets go of her hand and this resulted in her being recaptured by Maman. At Jamals insistence, they return to Mumbai to find Latika, discovering that she is being raised by Maman to be a prostitute, to him soon a high price. The brothers rescue her, and while escaping Maman they shoot him to death, Salim then manages to get a job with Javed—Mamans rival crime lord. Back at their room, Salim orders Jamal to leave him, when Jamal refuses, Salim draws a gun on him, whereas Latika persuades Jamal to obey his brother and go away. Years later, Jamal, now a tea-boy in an Indian call centre, searches the database for Salim. He fails in finding Latika, while succeeding in finding Salim, Jamal reproaches Salim, who then pleads for forgiveness, and offers him to stay in his luxurious apartment. Jamal later bluffs his way into Javeds residence to reunite with Latika but as he professes his love for her, Jamal nevertheless promises to wait for her every day at five oclock at the VT station. Latika attempts to him there, but is recaptured by Javeds men, led by Salim, and once Javed moves to another house, outside Mumbai
