1.
The Beverly Hilton
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The Beverly Hilton is a hotel located on an 8. 9-acre property at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards in Beverly Hills, California. Conrad Hilton opened the Beverly Hilton in 1955, architect Welton Becket designed the hotel as a showpiece with 582 rooms. Since 1961, the hotels International Ballroom has hosted the Golden Globe Award ceremony, in 1975, 50% of the property was sold to Prudential Insurance Company forming a partnership with the Hilton Hotels Corporation. The partnership sold the hotel to entertainer and businessman Merv Griffin for $100.2 million in December 1987, the Beverly Hilton had completed a $35 million renovation prior to Griffins purchase. Griffin owned the hotel from 1987 to 2003, during which time its reputation faded as maintenance was deferred, in 2003, Griffin sold the Beverly Hilton for $130 million to Beny Alagem, co-founder of Packard Bell Electronics, through his company Oasis West Realty. Commemorating its 50th anniversary, an ambitious $80 million renovation by architecture firm Gensler began in conjunction with Hilton Hotels, the renovation reduced the number of rooms to 570, which feature 42-inch plasma high-definition televisions and Bose Wave radios. The meeting spaces and the International Ballroom—where the Golden Globes ceremony is also renovated. On February 11,2012, singer Whitney Houston died in her bathtub in Suite 434, Hotel management has since renovated the room. In April 2006, owners unveiled plans for an expansion to the Beverly Hilton property. One intent of the plan was to position the upgraded hotel as a less-expensive 4½-star alternative to nearby five-star rivals such as the Peninsula. Two new three-story buildings on Wilshire Boulevard would house 96 guest rooms, the Beverly Hilton will be renovated into a smaller, 402-room hotel, renamed the Beverly Hilton Oasis. A 120-room Waldorf-Astoria Beverly Hills hotel, designed by Gensler with interiors by Pierre-Yves Rochon, the Waldorf-Astoria Beverly Hills will be the first new hotel for the brand on the West Coast. The Beverly Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria would be separate premises, with both operated and managed by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the Beverly Hills City Council approved the $500 million project by a 3-2 vote. Measure H authorized the Beverly Hills City Council to amend the citys plan to allow a luxury hotel, condominiums. On December 2,2008, Proposal H passed by 129 votes with over 15,000 cast, the 12-story, 170-room Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills was designed by architecture firm Gensler with interior designer by Pierre-Yves Rochon. Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills is slated to open in 2017, measure HH was a November 2016 ballot initiative to allow Oasis West Realty to build a 37-story condominium tower on the Beverly Hilton site. The initiative was rejected by Beverly Hills voters, with nearly 56% voting no, presidential candidate and Senator John Edwards was videotaped visiting Rielle Hunter, during his extramarital affair scandal. American singer and actress Whitney Houston died at the hotel on February 11,2012 after accidentally drowning while in the bathtub of her room, Hilton Worldwide The Beverly Hilton website
2.
Beverly Hills, California
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Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. By 2013, its population had grown to 34,658, sometimes referred to as 90210, one of its primary ZIP codes, it was home to many actors and celebrities throughout the 20th century. The city includes the Rodeo Drive shopping district and the Beverly Hills Oil Field, gaspar de Portolá arrived in the area that would later become Beverly Hills on August 3,1769, travelling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard. The area was settled by Maria Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828 and they called their 4,500 acres of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. in 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Wilson and Henry Hancock. By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres and was being bought up by anglos from Los Angeles. Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker acquired most of it, at this point, the area was known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch. By 1888, Denker and Hammel were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings and they did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, therefore, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property Beverly Hills, subdivided it, the development was named Beverly Hills after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts and because of the hills in the area. The first house in the subdivision was built in 1907, although sales remained slow, Beverly Hills was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. Restrictive covenants prohibited non-whites from owning or renting property unless they were employed as servants by white residents and it was also forbidden to sell or rent property to Jews in Beverly Hills. Burton Green began construction on The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911, the hotel was finished in 1912. The visitors drawn by the hotel were inclined to purchase land in Beverly Hills and that same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company decided to separate its water business from its real estate business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was split off from the company and incorporated in September 1914, buying all of the utilities-related assets from the Rodeo Land. In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built a mansion, finished in 1921, the glamor associated with Fairbanks and Pickford as well as other movie stars who built mansions in the city contributed to its growing appeal. By the early 1920s the population of Beverly Hills had grown enough to make the water supply a political issue, in 1923 the usual solution, annexation to the city of Los Angeles, was proposed. There was considerable opposition to annexation among such famous residents as Pickford, Fairbanks, Will Rogers, the Beverly Hills Utility Commission, opposed to annexation as well, managed to force the city into a special election and the plan was defeated 337 to 507. In 1925, Beverly Hills approved an issue to buy 385 acres for a new campus for UCLA. The cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice also issued bonds to pay for the new campus
3.
Ricky Gervais
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Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, writer, producer, director, singer, and musician. Gervais appeared on The 11 OClock Show on Channel 4 between 1998 and 2000, in 2000, he was given a Channel 4 talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais, and then achieved greater mainstream fame a year later with his BBC television series The Office. It was followed by Extras in 2005 and he co-wrote and co-directed both series with Stephen Merchant. In addition to writing and directing the shows, he played the roles of David Brent in The Office. He reprised his role as Brent in the comedy film Life on the Road and he has also starred in the Hollywood films Ghost Town, and Muppets Most Wanted, and wrote, directed and starred in The Invention of Lying and the Netflix released Special Correspondents. He has performed on four stand-up comedy tours and written the Flanimals book series, Gervais also starred with Merchant and Karl Pilkington in the podcast The Ricky Gervais Show, which has spawned various spin-offs starring Pilkington and produced by Gervais and Merchant. He hosted the Golden Globe Awards in 2010,2011,2012 and 2016, Gervais has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the 2006 Rose dOr, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. In a 2004 poll for the BBC, he was named the third most influential person in British culture, in 2007 he was voted the 11th greatest stand-up comic on Channel 4s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups and again in the updated 2010 list as the 3rd greatest stand-up comic. In 2010 he was named on the Time 100 list of the worlds most influential people, Gervais was born at Battle Hospital in Reading. He was raised in Whitley, along with brother Larry, sister Marsha and his father, Lawrence Raymond Jerry Gervais, a Franco-Ontarian from Pain Court, Ontario, emigrated while on foreign duty during the Second World War and worked as a labourer and hod carrier. He met Gervaiss mother, Eva Sophia, who was English, during a blackout and she died, aged 74, of lung cancer. He intended to study biology but changed to philosophy after two weeks, and earned an upper second-class honours degree in the subject, during his time at UCL, he met Jane Fallon, with whom he has been in a relationship since 1982. He is the boss of Coldplay drummer Will Champion. In 1983, during his year as a student at UCL, Gervais and college friend Bill Macrae formed the new wave pop duo. They were signed by London Records, which released two of their singles—More to Lose and Bitter Heart, the songs failed to chart inside the UK top 75. Despite not being successful in the UK, Seona Dancing did manage to score a hit in the Philippines with More to Lose and he also worked as the manager for Suede before they became successful in the 1990s. In 2013, Gervais performed a tour as David Brent along with a band under the name Foregone Conclusion. Gervais and the band performed songs written under the Brent character including songs such as Equality Street, Gervais also produced a series of YouTube videos under the title Learn Guitar with David Brent, featuring acoustic guitar versions of nine songs
4.
The Descendants
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The Descendants is a 2011 American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash is based on the novel of the name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Matthew Matt King is a Honolulu-based attorney and the trustee of a family trust of 25,000 pristine acres on Kauai. The land has great value, but is also a family legacy. While Matt has always managed his own finances, most of his cousins have squandered their inheritances. With the trust expiring in seven years due to the rule against perpetuities, amidst these discussions, a boating accident has rendered Matts wife, Elizabeth, comatose. Doctors determine that Elizabeths coma is irreversible and her living will directs all life support to be discontinued, when Matt tells Alex, she reveals that she caught Elizabeth having an affair before the accident, causing a major rift between mother and daughter. Two close family friends tell Matt that Elizabeth was unhappy and wanted to him for her lover, Brian Speer. After Matt arranges for friends to bid Elizabeth goodbye, he decides Speer should also have an opportunity and he and the girls, and also Alexs slacker boyfriend Sid, travel to Kauai to find Brian. While there, Matts cousin, Hugh mentions that Brian is brother-in-law to Don Hollitzer, Brian stands to make a small fortune from the sales commission. Matt confronts Brian and informs him Elizabeth is dying and offers him an opportunity to see her one last time. Brian declines, admitting that although Elizabeth was in love him, it was only a fling to him, he loves his wife, Julie. When Elizabeth is disconnected from life support, her father, Scott admonishes Matt for not being a more generous, choosing not to disclose the details of her affair to Scott, Matt agrees, but Sid and Alex both unexpectedly defend Matt. At the King family meeting, Matt overrules the majority of his cousins who favor selling to Hollitzer, Matt decides to keep the land and look for a different solution to the problem posed by the rule against perpetuities. Shocked, Hugh tells Matt that he and the other cousins will take action if Matt refuses to sell. After learning of Brians affair with Elizabeth and realizing that he will not visit, Julie comes to the hospital and she tearfully admits to Elizabeth that she wants to hate her for trying to destroy her family, but that she forgives her. Matt finally comes to terms with his wifes betrayal and her impending death and he tenderly kisses her goodbye, followed by Alex and Scottie, and later, scatter Elizabeths ashes in the ocean off Waikiki. The film concludes with the three at home sitting together sharing ice cream and watching television, all wrapped in the Hawaiian quilt Elizabeth had been lying in, the film began its on-location shoot in Hawaii on March 15,2010
5.
The Artist (film)
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The Artist received highly positive reviews from critics and won many accolades. Dujardin won the Best Actor Award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and it was also the first French film to win Best Picture, and the first mainly silent film to win since 1927s Wings won at the 1st Academy Awards in 1929. It was also the first film presented in the 4,3 aspect ratio to win since 1953s From Here to Eternity, in France it was nominated for ten César Awards, winning six, including Best Film, Best Director for Hazanavicius and Best Actress for Bejo. The Artist has received more awards than any other French film, in 1927, silent film star George Valentin is posing for pictures outside the premiere of his latest hit film when a young woman, Peppy Miller, accidentally bumps into him. Valentin reacts with humor to the accident and shows off with Peppy for the cameras, the next day, Peppy finds herself on the front page of Variety with the headline Whos That Girl. Later, Peppy auditions as a dancer and is spotted by Valentin, while performing a scene in which they dance together, Valentin and Peppy show great chemistry, despite her being merely an extra. With a little guidance from Valentin, Peppy slowly rises through the industry, two years later, Zimmer announces the end of production of silent films at Kinograph Studios, but Valentin is dismissive, insisting that sound is just a fad. In a dream, Valentin begins hearing sounds from his environment and he decides to produce and direct his own silent film, financing it himself. The film opens on the day as Peppys new sound film as well as the 1929 Stock Market Crash. Now Valentins only chance of avoiding bankruptcy is for his film to be a hit, unfortunately audiences flock to Peppys film instead and Valentin is ruined. His wife, Doris, kicks him out, and he moves into an apartment with his valet/chauffeur, Clifton, Peppy goes on to become a major Hollywood star. Depressed and drunk, Valentin angrily sets a match to his collection of his earlier films. As the nitrate film quickly blazes out of control he is overwhelmed by the smoke and passes out inside the burning house, however, Valentins dog attracts the help of a nearby policeman, and after being rescued Valentin is hospitalized for injuries suffered in the fire. Peppy visits the hospital and discovers that the film he rescued is the one with them dancing together and she asks for him to be moved to her house to recuperate. Valentin awakens in a bed at her house, to find that Clifton is now working for Peppy, Valentin seems to remain dismissive of Peppy having taken him in, prompting Clifton to sternly remind Valentin of his changing luck. Peppy insists to Zimmer that Valentin co-star in her next film, after Valentin learns to his dismay that it had been Peppy who had purchased all his auctioned effects, he returns in despair to his burnt-out apartment. Peppy arrives, panicked, and finds that Valentin is about to attempt suicide with a handgun, Peppy tells him she only wanted to help him. They embrace and Valentin tells her its no use, no one wants to him speak
6.
Homeland (TV series)
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Homeland is an American crime thriller television series developed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War, which was created by Gideon Raff. The series stars Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a Central Intelligence Agency officer with bipolar disorder, and Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody, a U. S. Marine Corps Scout Sniper. Mathison had come to believe that Brody, who was held captive by al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was turned by the enemy, the series is broadcast in the U. S. on the cable channel Showtime, and is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios. It premiered on October 2,2011, the first episode was made available online, more than two weeks before the television broadcast, with viewers having to complete game tasks to gain access. On October 22,2013, Showtime renewed Homeland for a fourth season, on November 10,2014, Showtime renewed the series for a 12-episode fifth season that premiered on October 4,2015. On December 9,2015, the series was renewed for a sixth season, the sixth season debuted on January 15,2017. The series has also renewed for a seventh and eighth season. In Iraq, Carrie was warned by an asset that an American prisoner of war had been turned by al-Qaeda, Carries job grows complicated when her boss, Director of the Counterterrorism Center David Estes, calls Carrie and her colleagues in for an emergency briefing. Carrie comes to believe that Brody is the American prisoner of war whom her asset in Iraq was talking about, however, the federal government and her superiors at the CIA consider Brody a war hero. Later, another Marine, Tom Walker is also rescued casting doubt on which of the Marines is the suspected spy. Realizing it would be impossible to convince her boss to place Brody under surveillance, Carrie approaches the only other person she can trust, her mentor. The two must now work together to investigate Brody and prevent another terrorist attack on American soil, the second season follows Carrie and the CIA working with Brody to capture Abu Nazir. Discovering a video of Brodys confession during a CIA operation in Lebanon, Carrie and Saul, along with analyst Peter Quinn, Brody gives in to the CIA interrogation and is now an asset for the CIA, sending information to both sides. The downside of being an agent as well as a rising Congressman with the Vice Presidents support brings Brody closer to Carrie while worsening his relationship with his family. Brodys friend Mike tries to find the truth behind Tom Walkers death, seemingly free of being Nazirs man, Brody celebrates with Carrie at the CIA headquarters and both survive an explosion that kills Director Estes and many others. Brody then flees the U. S. with Carries help, Saul, who was attending the burying of Nazirs body at sea, is left to pick up the pieces. The beginning of season 3 presents the aftermath of a terrorist attack committed by Abu Nazirs people, Carrie is blamed for the CIAs failings as Senator Lockhart grills Saul, now Acting Director of the CIA, in front of the Senate Committee. However, it turned out to be part of a bigger plot and he later relayed the information to Carrie that the main perpetrator of the bombing was still in the U. S. and the CIA acted to bring the real bomber and the officers lawyers in for questioning
7.
Modern Family
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Pritchetts family includes his second wife, his son and his stepson, as well as his two adult children and their spouses and children. Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan conceived the series while sharing stories of their own modern families, Modern Family employs an ensemble cast. The series is presented in mockumentary style, with the characters frequently talking directly into the camera. The series premiered on September 23,2009, and the season premiered on September 21,2016. Modern Family was acclaimed by critics throughout its first season, although reception has become more mixed as the series has progressed and it has so far won a total of 22 Emmy awards from 75 nominations. It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy in 2011, the broadcast syndication rights to the series were sold to USA Network and 10 Fox affiliates and CW affiliate WLVI for a fall 2013 premiere. The success of the led to it being the tenth-highest revenue-generating show for 2012. Modern Family revolves around three different types of living in the Los Angeles area who are interrelated through Jay Pritchett and his children, Claire Dunphy. Jays daughter Claire was a homemaker, but has returned to the world, she is married to Phil Dunphy. They have three children, Haley Dunphy, a stereotypical teenage girl, Alex Dunphy, a nerdy, smart middle child, and Luke Dunphy. Jays lawyer son Mitchell and his husband Cameron Tucker have an adopted Vietnamese daughter, as the name suggests, this family represents a modern-day family and episodes are comically based on situations which many families encounter in real life. Dotted lines indicate a relationship through adoption or marriage. Note, The series has also had recurring characters. Reid Ewing appeared in episodes as Haleys boyfriend Dylan. Shelley Long appeared in the first two seasons and occasionally thereafter as DeDe Pritchett, Jays ex-wife and Claire and Mitchells mother, nathan Lane appeared during the second and fifth season as Cameron and Mitchells flamboyant friend Pepper Saltzman. Adam DeVine appeared as Andy Bailey, Jay and Glorias Manny, Phils assistant, stella, Jay and Glorias dog, has appeared in most episodes, played first by Brigitte and then by Beatrice. Larry, Mitchell and Camerons cat, is played by Frosty, as creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan retold stories about their families, they realized that the stories could be the basis for a show. They started working on the idea of a family being observed in a mockumentary-style show and they later decided that it could be a show about three families and their experiences
8.
Downton Abbey
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Downton Abbey is a historical period drama television series created by Julian Fellowes and co-produced by Carnival Films and Masterpiece. It first aired on ITV in the United Kingdom on 26 September 2010, the sixth and final series introduces the rise of the working class during the interwar period and hints towards the eventual decline of the British aristocracy. It was recognised by Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011 and it earned the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, with twenty-seven in total. It was the most watched series on both ITV and PBS, and subsequently became the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited. By the third series, it had one of the most widely watched television drama shows in the world. On 26 March 2015, Carnival Films and ITV announced that the series would be the last. It aired on ITV between 20 September 2015 and 8 November 2015, the final episode, serving as the annual Christmas special, was broadcast on 25 December 2015. The storyline centres on the fee tail or entail governing the titled elite, as part of the backstory, the main character, Robert, Earl of Grantham, had resolved past financial difficulties by marrying Cora Levinson, an American heiress. Her considerable dowry is contractually incorporated into the comital entail in perpetuity, Robert and Cora have three daughters and no sons. As the eldest daughter, Lady Mary Crawley was to marry her second cousin, the first episode begins as news reaches Downton Abbey that both Grantham heirs perished in the sinking of the Titanic. A distant male cousin, solicitor Matthew Crawley, is from an upper-middle-class family - as his mother reminds him in one of series one. Matthew Crawley becomes the new heir, the plot centres on the relationship between Lady Mary and Matthew, who resists embracing an aristocratic lifestyle. A subplot involves John Bates, Lord Granthams new valet, and Thomas Barrow, Bates and Thomas remain at odds in subsequent series. Barrow works to sabotage Bates after learning he was released from jail for theft. In the story line, Barrow, a gay man in late Edwardian England, aided by Miss OBrien, Lady Granthams personal maid, Barrow is caught stealing, but he joins the British army as a medic. Matthew eventually falls in love with Lady Mary, but she rejects his proposal. Cora becomes pregnant, possibly with an heir, but falls and miscarries after OBrien, mistakenly believing she was to be fired. The series ends just after the Archduke Franz Ferdinands assassination and the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, the second series comprises eight episodes and runs from the Battle of the Somme in 1916 to the 1918 flu pandemic
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