1.
Paul Haggis
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Paul Edward Haggis is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners, Million Dollar Baby and Crash, Paul Edward Haggis was born in London, Ontario, the son of Mary Yvonne and Ted Haggis. He was raised as a Catholic, but considered himself an atheist in early adulthood, the Gallery Theatre in London was owned by his parents, and Haggis gained experience in the field through work at the theatre. Haggis attended St. Thomas More Elementary School, and after being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, after viewing Michelangelo Antonionis 1966 film Blowup, he traveled to England with the intent of becoming a fashion photographer. Haggis later returned to Canada to pursue studies in cinematography at Fanshawe College, in 1975, Haggis moved to Los Angeles, California, to begin a career in writing in the entertainment industry. Haggis began to work as a writer for television programs, including The Love Boat, One Day at a Time, Diffrent Strokes, with The Facts of Life, Haggis also gained his first credit as producer. During the 1980s and 1990s, Haggis wrote for series including The Tracey Ullman Show, FM, Due South, L. A. Law. He helped to create the television series Walker, Texas Ranger, Family Law, Haggis served as executive producer of the series Michael Hayes and Family Law. Haggis had read two stories written by Jerry Boyd, a trainer who wrote under the name of F. X. Haggis later acquired the rights to the stories, and developed them into the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby, clint Eastwood portrayed the lead character in the film. Eastwood also directed the film, and used the written by Haggis. Million Dollar Baby received four Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture, after Million Dollar Baby, Haggis worked on the 2004 film Crash. Haggis came up with the story for the film on his own, and then wrote and directed the film, Crash was his first experience as director of a major feature film. Critical reception of Crash was positive, and Roger Ebert called it the best film of 2005, Crash received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, in addition to four other Academy Award nominations. Haggis received two Academy Awards for the film, Best Picture, and Best Writing for his work on the screenplay, with Million Dollar Baby and then Crash, Haggis became the first individual to have written Best Picture Oscar-winners in two consecutive years. Haggis lives in Santa Monica, California and he has three daughters from his first marriage to Diana Gettas and one son from his second marriage to Deborah Rennard. Haggis founded the non-profit organization Artists for Peace and Justice to assist impoverished youth in Haiti, in an interview with Dan Rather Haggis mentions that he is an atheist. After maintaining active membership in the Church of Scientology for 35 years, Haggis wrote to Thomas Davis, the Churchs spokesman, and requested that he denounce these statements, when Davis remained silent, Haggis responded that Silence is consent, Tommy
Paul Haggis
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Paul Haggis, November 2013
Paul Haggis
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Haggis at the
2007 Toronto International Film Festival
2.
Don Cheadle
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Donald Frank Don Cheadle Jr. is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. He had a role in Hamburger Hill, before building his career in the 1990s with performances in Devil in a Blue Dress, Rosewood. He started a collaboration with director Steven Soderbergh that resulted in the films Out of Sight, Traffic and Oceans Eleven. Other films include Volcano, The Rat Pack, Things Behind the Sun, Swordfish, Crash, Oceans Twelve, Oceans Thirteen, Reign Over Me, Talk to Me, Traitor and The Guard. Cheadle co-wrote, directed and starred in Miles Ahead, based on the life of jazz musician Miles Davis. He plays the superhero Colonel James Rhodey Rhodes / War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and has appeared in Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Avengers, Age of Ultron and Captain America, Civil War. He stars as Marty Kaan on the Showtime sitcom House of Lies, for which he most recently won a Golden Globe Award in 2013. Cheadle has campaigned to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and co-authored, with John Prendergast, in 2010, Cheadle was named U. N. Cheadle was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bettye, a teacher and he has a sister, Cindy, and a brother, Colin. His family moved from city to city throughout his childhood, after he graduated from East, Cheadle went on to California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a BFA in Acting. Cheadle first became eligible for his Screen Actors Guild card when he appeared as a burger joint employee in the 1985 comedy Moving Violations. He then appeared in Hamburger Hill in 1987, and played the role of Jack in the April 1,1988 Jung, although his character was supposed to be 16 years old, Cheadle was 23 at the time. Cheadle then played the role of Rocket in the 1988 movie Colors, in 1989, he appeared in a video for Angela Winbushs No.2 hit single Its the Real Thing, performing dance moves in an orange jump suit, working at a car wash. In 1990, he appeared in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air titled Homeboy, Sweet Homeboy, playing Will Smiths friend and Hilarys first love interest, in 1992, he played a supporting role in The Golden Girls spin-off The Golden Palace. Cheadle subsequently played district attorney John Littleton on three seasons of Picket Fences, following soon thereafter was his performance in the title role of the 1996 HBO TV movie Rebound, The Legend of Earl The Goat Manigault. He also starred in the 1997 film Volcano, directed by Mick Jackson, Cheadles television credits include Emmy-nominated performances in the movies The Rat Pack, A Lesson Before Dying, Things Behind the Sun and in a guest appearance on ER. The last of these four episodes during the shows ninth season, in which he portrayed Paul Nathan. He has made appearances in films including Rosewood, The Family Man, Boogie Nights, an appearance in the film Abby Singer, Out of Sight, Traffic
Don Cheadle
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Cheadle shooting for
UNEP as an ambassador, Feb 2011
Don Cheadle
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Cheadle in February 2007
3.
Sandra Bullock
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Sandra Annette Bullock is a German-American actress, producer, and philanthropist. Her breakthrough role was in the film Demolition Man and she subsequently starred in several successful films including Speed, While You Were Sleeping, The Net, A Time to Kill, Hope Floats, and Practical Magic. Bullock achieved further success in the decades in Miss Congeniality, Two Weeks Notice, Crash, The Proposal. Bullocks greatest commercial success is the comedy film Minions, which grossed over US$1 billion at the box office. In 2007, she was one of Hollywoods highest-paid actresses and she was also named Most Beautiful Woman by People magazine in 2015. In addition to her career, Bullock is the founder of the production company Fortis Films. She has produced some of the films in which she starred, including Two Weeks Notice, Miss Congeniality 2, Armed and Fabulous and she was an executive producer of the ABC sitcom, George Lopez, and made several appearances during its run. Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia and her father, John W. Bullock, was a U. S. Army employee and part-time voice coach, her mother, Helga Mathilde Meyer, was an opera singer and voice teacher. Helga was German, while John is from Birmingham, Alabama and has English, French, German, Bullocks maternal grandfather was a German rocket scientist from Nuremberg. John, who was in charge of the U. S. Armys Military Postal Service in Europe, was stationed in Nuremberg when he met Helga. They married in Germany and moved to Arlington, where John worked with the Army Materiel Command before becoming a contractor for The Pentagon, Bullock has a younger sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, who went on to serve as vice president of Bullocks production company Fortis Films. Until the age of 18, Bullock held American-German dual citizenship and she then held only American citizenship until 2009, when she reapplied for German citizenship. Bullock was raised in Germany for 12 years, and grew up speaking German and she attended the humanistic Waldorf School in Nuremberg. As a child, while her mother went on European opera tours, Bullock usually stayed with her aunt Christl and cousin Susanne, Bullock studied ballet and vocal arts as a child and frequently accompanied her mother, taking small parts in her opera productions. She sang in the childrens choir at the Staatstheater Nürnberg. Bullock has a scar above her eye, caused by falling into a creek when she was a child. She attended Washington-Lee High School, where she was a cheerleader, after graduating in 1982, she attended East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where she received a BFA in Drama in 1987. While at ECU, she performed in theater productions, including Peter Pan
Sandra Bullock
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Bullock at the Australian premiere of
The Heat in 2013
Sandra Bullock
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Bullock at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996
Sandra Bullock
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Bullock at the
Cannes Film Festival in 2002
Sandra Bullock
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Bullock at the
83rd Academy Awards in 2011
4.
Matt Dillon
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Matthew Raymond Matt Dillon is an American actor and film director. He made his film debut in Over the Edge and established himself as a teen idol by starring in films such as My Bodyguard, Little Darlings, Tex, Rumble Fish The Outsiders. In a 1991 article, famed movie critic Roger Ebert referred to him as the best actor within his age group, along with Sean Penn. In the 2000s, he made his debut with City of Ghosts and went on to star in the films Crash, Factotum, You, Me and Dupree, Nothing but the Truth. Since 2015, he has starred in the FOX television show Wayward Pines, Dillon was born in New Rochelle, New York, the son of Mary Ellen, a homemaker, and Paul Dillon, a portrait painter and sales manager for Union Camp, a bear toy manufacturer. His paternal grandmother was the sister of comic strip artist Alex Raymond, Dillon is the second of six children, he has one sister and four brothers, one of whom, Kevin Dillon, is also an actor. He is of mostly Irish descent, with some Scottish and German ancestry, Dillon was raised in a close-knit Roman Catholic family. He grew up in Mamaroneck, New York, in 1978, Jane Bernstein and a friend were helping director Jonathan Kaplan cast the violent teen drama Over the Edge when they found Dillon cutting class at Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont. Dillon auditioned for a role and made his debut in the film, the film received a regional, limited theatrical release in May 1979, and grossed only slightly over $200,000. The films, released in March and July 1980, respectively, were box office successes, another of Dillons early roles was in the Jean Shepherd PBS special The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters. The only available copies of this film are stored at UCLA, one of his next roles was in Liars Moon, where he played Jack Duncan, a poor Texas boy madly in love with a rich bankers daughter. In the early 1980s, Dillon also had prominent roles in three adaptations of S. E. Hinton novels, Tex, The Outsiders and Rumble Fish, All three films were shot in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Hintons hometown. The Outsiders and Rumble Fish had Dillon working with Francis Ford Coppola and he followed those up with The Flamingo Kid in 1984. He made his Broadway debut with the play The Boys of Winter in 1985, Dillon did voiceover work in the 1987 documentary film Dear America, Letters Home from Vietnam. In 1989, Dillon won critical acclaim for his performance as an addict in Gus Van Sants Drugstore Cowboy. Also in 1987, Dillon appeared as a policeman in the video to The Pogues, Dillon continued to work in the early 1990s with roles in films like Singles. In 2002, he wrote and directed the film City of Ghosts, starring himself, James Caan, in 2005, he starred in Factotum, a film adaptation of an autobiographical work by Charles Bukowski. Two years later he received praise and earned Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for his role in Crash
Matt Dillon
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Matt Dillon in 2010
Matt Dillon
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Dillon at the
Festival Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara, March 2010
5.
Jennifer Esposito
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Jennifer Esposito is an American actress, author, baker, and health advocate. Blue Bloods, and Mistresses among others and she currently appears as a regular cast member on the CBS hit television series NCIS in the role of Special Agent Alexandra Alex Quinn. Esposito was born in Brooklyn, the second of two daughters of Phyllis, a decorator, and Robert Esposito, a computer consultant. She was raised on Staten Island and is a graduate of Moore Catholic High School, Esposito made her first television appearance in Law & Order in 1996. She then joined the cast of Spin City, where she appeared for two seasons and she also appeared in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. One of her notable roles was as Ruby in Spike Lees Summer of Sam in 1999. Esposito has made appearances on the series Law & Order, SVU, Rescue Me. She was a regular cast member on Related and Samantha Who, in 2010, Esposito joined the cast of the CBS drama Blue Bloods playing the role of Detective Jackie Curatola, the partner of Detective Danny Reagan. Rather than work around her schedule, Blue Bloods producers chose to write her character out of the series in 2012. In 2014, she joined the NBC series Taxi Brooklyn, the book made The New York Times Best Sellers list on July 6,2014. She played Dominic Wests sister in the hit Showtime series The Affair for three episodes, in 2015, Esposito became the brand ambassador for Eclair Naturals, a gluten-free, GMO-free, and vegan body and skin care line available in Rite Aid stores across the United States. NCIS leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, will lure Quinn back into the field as part of his team where he will take advantage of her wit, quick mind. Upon joining the cast of NCIS as Special Agent Alex Quinn, NCIS executive producer Gary Glasberg said and she embodies everything that we hoped for in the character of Quinn and we cant wait to have her come be a part of our team. Esposito appeared on the September 10,2016 episode of Oprah, where she said her doctor had her hospitalized in a psych ward. She said the hospitalization happened during the time she was an actress on the show Samantha Who, Esposito married American actor Bradley Cooper on December 30,2006. They filed for divorce in May 2007, and it was finalized that November, in 2009, Esposito became engaged to Australian tennis player Mark Philippoussis. The couple separated in August 2010, in October 2011, Esposito announced that she had celiac disease on The Late Show with David Letterman. In 2012, she opened a gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, celiac-friendly bakery, Jennifers Way, in May 2014, Esposito announced her engagement to British model Louis Dowler
Jennifer Esposito
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Esposito at the Premier of the film 'Sunday' in 2008.
6.
Brendan Fraser
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Brendan James Fraser is a Canadian-American actor. He also starred in dramatic roles, such as Gods and Monsters, The Quiet American, Crash. Fraser was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Canadians Carol Mary and his mother was a sales counselor, and his father was a former journalist who worked as a Canadian foreign service officer for the Government Office of Tourism. His ancestry includes Czech, French Canadian, German, Irish and his maternal uncle, George Genereux, was the only Canadian to win a gold medal in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He has three brothers, Kevin, Regan, and Sean. Frasers family moved often during his childhood, living in Eureka, California, Seattle, Washington, Ottawa, Ontario, the Netherlands and he attended Upper Canada College, a private boarding school in Toronto, Ontario. While on vacation in London, he attended his first professional theatre show in the West End and he graduated from Seattles Cornish College of the Arts in 1990. He began acting at a small acting college in New York City and he planned on attending graduate school in Texas, but stopped in Hollywood, California on the way and decided to stay there to work in film. Fraser made a appearance in the reenactment of Americas Most Wanted. After his film debut Encino Man, he starred with Matt Damon, in 1994, he played Steve Nebraska in The Scout and Montgomery Monty Kessler in With Honors. He went on to supporting roles, such as Philip Ridleys The Passion of Darkly Noon. He went on to appear in comedy films, such as Blast from the Past, Bedazzled. He also starred in two based on Jay Ward creations, George of the Jungle and Dudley Do-Right. He also starred in Gods and Monsters, which was based on the life of James Whale who directed Frankenstein and his biggest commercial success came with the adventure fantasy film, The Mummy and its sequel The Mummy Returns, both of which were hugely successful at the box office. He lent his voice for the animated film Big Bug Man. In 2004, he appeared in the Academy Award-winning film Crash and he has also made guest appearances on the television shows, Scrubs, King of the Hill and The Simpsons. In March 2006, he was inducted into Canadas Walk of Fame, however, as of 2014, he does not have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. After a six-year hiatus in the franchise, Fraser returned for the sequel to The Mummy released in August 2008 and titled The Mummy
Brendan Fraser
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Fraser in
Canada 2006
7.
Terrence Howard
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Terrence Dashon Howard is an American actor and singer. Having his first major roles in the 1995 films Dead Presidents and Mr. Hollands Opus, Howard broke into the mainstream with a succession of television and he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Hustle & Flow. Howard has had prominent roles in other movies including Winnie, Ray, Lackawanna Blues, Crash, Four Brothers, Get Rich or Die Tryin, Idlewild, August Rush, The Brave One. Howard played James Rhodes in Iron Man and reprised the role in the game adaptation. However, he was replaced by Don Cheadle for the future films and he currently stars as the lead character Lucious Lyon in the television series Empire. His debut album, Shine Through It, was released in September 2008, Howard was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 11,1969 to Tyrone and Anita Howard. The great-grandson of stage actress Minnie Gentry, he was raised in Cleveland, Ohio by father Tyrone Howard, the killing resulted in Tyrone Howard spending 11 months in jail for manslaughter. Howards parents divorced upon his fathers release, Howard first entered the entertainment world when he portrayed Jackie Jackson in The Jacksons, An American Dream, an ABC miniseries. Three years later, he made his big break in 1995s Mr. Hollands Opus. Howard made an appearance on the TV series Family Matters, Howard has stated that he looks for characters that teach him about himself when choosing his film roles. Howard has also worked as a producer, receiving such a credit for the film Pride. In 2008, Howard hosted the PBS series Independent Lens, Howard was the highest-paid cast member of the 2008 film Iron Man. He did not appear in either of the follow-up sequels because it was reported that he would have had to take a 50 to 80 percent pay cut and was replaced by actor Don Cheadle. Howard released his debut adult alternative album, Shine Through It and he described the album as urban country and either wrote or co-wrote all the tracks on the album. During rehearsals he allegedly attacked and seriously injured musical composer Tex Allen, in October 2008, Allen filed a $5 million lawsuit against Howard. In October 2008, Howard made a guest appearance in the short film For All Mankind directed by Daniel L. Clifton, filmed on location in Conshohocken, in 2009, he starred in the movie Fighting. It was reported on July 30,2010, that Howard had joined the cast of the new Law & Order, Los Angeles installment of the Law & Order franchise and he alternated shows with Alfred Molina, who portrayed Deputy District Attorney Ricardo Morales. The series was cancelled after one season, in 2011, Howard played Nelson Mandela in Winnie Mandela alongside Jennifer Hudson
Terrence Howard
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Howard at the
2011 Toronto International Film Festival
Terrence Howard
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Howard in May 2007
8.
Ludacris
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Christopher Brian Chris Bridges, better known by his stage name Ludacris, is an American hip hop recording artist and actor from Atlanta, Georgia. Alongside his manager, Chaka Zulu, Ludacris is the co-founder of Disturbing tha Peace, throughout his career, Ludacris has won Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice, MTV, and Grammy Awards. Along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Big Boi and André3000 of OutKast, born in Champaign, Illinois, Ludacris moved to Atlanta at age nine, where he began rapping. In 2001, he released Word of Mouf, followed by Chicken-n-Beer in 2003 and he took a more serious approach with his next two albums, Release Therapy, and Theater of the Mind. His next record, Battle of the Sexes, was released in 2010, Ludaversal was released on March 31,2015. As an actor, he has appeared in films including Crash, Gamer, and New Years Eve, but is best known for playing Tej Parker in the The Fast and the Furious film series. Ludacris was born as Christopher Brian Bridges in Champaign, Illinois and he later moved to the Chicago area, where he attended Emerson Middle School in Oak Park, and Oak Park & River Forest High School for one year. He then moved to Centreville, Virginia and attended Centreville High School for one year and he attended Banneker High School in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated in 1995. From 1998 to 1999, he studied management at Georgia State University. His parents were both African-American, and he also has some English and Native American ancestry and he is a distant cousin of late comedian Richard Pryor. Bridges wrote his first rap song at age nine when moving to Atlanta, Bridges served as an intern and then a DJ at Atlantas Hot 97.5 under the name Chris Lova Lova. He was also known for DJing during Freaknik at one point, Ludacris collaborated with Timbaland on the track Phat Rabbit from his album Tims Bio, Life from da Bassment. This song was a hit in many countries, in Ludacris early music career he collaborated with Dallas Austin and Jermaine Dupri. In 1998, Ludacris began to record his debut album Incognegro and this album was the defining example of Ludacris fast, wild, and comedic flow, a unique style for southern rappers. Timbaland handled part of the production, despite its poor sales, it was never deleted and is still sold today. Ludacris also appeared on Timbalands 1998 debut on Phat Rabbit, a track that would later be used on his re-issue of Incognegro called Back For The First Time, in 2000, Ludacris released his major label debut, Back for the First Time. It was produced with the help of the underground producer Sessy Melia, the album reached as high as #4 on the U. S. Billboard 200, and was a major success. Ludacris made his mark on the industry with such as Southern Hospitality and Whats Your Fantasy, along with his first ever single the Phat Rabbit
Ludacris
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Ludacris at Midtown 2012
Ludacris
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Ludacris during a 2011 New Year's Day concert in a Miami Beach nightclub
Ludacris
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Heel window of the Clyde x Luda
Puma Clyde sneaker showing the
Disturbing tha Peace logo
9.
Thandie Newton
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Melanie Thandiwe Thandie Newton is an English actress. She also currently portrays DCI Roz Huntley in Series 4 of the BBC One police procedural series Line of Duty, Newton was born in Westminster, London, England, the daughter of Nyasha, a Zimbabwean, and Nick Newton, an English laboratory technician and artist. Her birthplace has been reported to be Zambia in some biographies. The name Thandiwe means beloved in Ndebele, Zulu, Xhosa or siSwati, according to Newton, her mother is a Shona princess. Regarding her childhood, Newton remarked at a TED conference, From about the age of 5, I was aware that I didnt fit, I was the black, atheist kid in the all-white, Catholic school run by nuns. Newton was brought up in London and Penzance, Cornwall and studied dance at the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, between 1992 and 1995, Newton attended Downing College, Cambridge, where she studied social anthropology. After the film Flirting, Newton played a house slave Yvette in the Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise film Interview with the Vampire. The film also starred Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover, Newton then starred as Nyah Hall, again opposite Cruise, in Mission, Impossible II. Her next role was in the low-budget film It Was an Accident, written by her husband, between 2003 and 2005, Newton played Makemba Kem Likasu, love interest and later wife of Dr. John Carter on the American television series ER. She reprised the role for the finale in 2009. In 2004, she appeared in The Chronicles of Riddick. Newton won a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress in 2006 for her role in Crash and she played Chris Gardners wife, Linda Gardner, in The Pursuit of Happyness. Also in 2006, Newton performed on radio in a version of Cinderella. In 2007, Newton co-starred with Eddie Murphy in the comedy Norbit as his love interest, Newton next portrayed U. S. National Security Advisor-turned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in W. Oliver Stones film biography of President George W. Bush. The film was released 17 October 2008, Newton was an introducer at Wembley Stadium on 7 July 2007, for the UK leg of Live Earth. She was due to introduce Al Gore to the concert, but he was delayed, first Daughter Laura Wilson in 2012, a disaster film directed by Roland Emmerich and released 13 November 2009. In July 2011, Newton delivered a TED Talk on Embracing otherness and she discussed finding her otherness as a child growing up in two distinct cultures, and as an actress playing many different selves. In 2012, she starred alongside Tyler Perry in the drama film Good Deeds
Thandie Newton
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Newton at the
10 Downing Street visit in 2010.
Thandie Newton
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Newton at the 2007 BAFTAs
10.
Ryan Phillippe
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Matthew Ryan Phillippe is an American actor, director, and writer. In the 2000s, he appeared in films, including Gosford Park, Crash, and war drama Flags of Our Fathers, Breach. In 2010, Phillippe starred as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Greg Marinovich in The Bang-Bang Club, currently, he stars in the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger in the USA Network thriller drama Shooter. He was married to actress Reese Witherspoon from 1999 to 2007, together, they have a daughter and he also has a daughter from a relationship with actress Alexis Knapp. Phillippe was born in New Castle, Delaware and his mother, Susan, ran a day care center in the familys house, and his father, Richard Phillippe, was a chemist. Phillippe is of part French descent and he attended New Castle Baptist Academy, where he played basketball and soccer, as well as earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, he was also the yearbook editor in his senior year. Phillippe also attended and graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Talent Agency in Wilmington, Phillippes acting career began after being signed to Cathy Parker Management in Voorhees, New Jersey. Shortly after he made an appearance in the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live and his character Billy Douglas, whom he played from 1992 to 1993, was the first gay teenager on a daytime soap opera. He was cast in the 1997 horror film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, which co-starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film was a success, and led to Phillippe gaining wider renown and being cast in a few more films, including 54 in 1998 opposite Neve Campbell, Salma Hayek. It was a success among its intended audience, cementing Phillippes ability to play characters that require sex appeal. Phillippe can also be seen in the Marcy Playground music video Comin Up From Behind, subsequently, Phillippe had supporting parts in the films Igby Goes Down and Crash, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. His 2003 film The I Inside premiered on cable and his performance was positively received by film critic Richard Roeper, who thought it was Phillippes best performance to date. Phillippes next role was in the thriller Breach, in which he played FBI investigator Eric ONeill opposite Chris Cooper and he has since commented that he believes Cooper to be the best actor America has to offer. He then starred in Chaos, in which he plays an officer, Five Fingers, a drama set in Morocco, Kimberly Peirces Iraq war film Stop-Loss. Next up for Phillippe was a comedic role as Lt. Dixon Piper in MacGruber. It was released in the US and Canada on May 21,2010, as part of the films promotion, Phillippe made his SNL hosting debut on April 17,2010, along with first-time musical performer Kesha. Two days later, on April 19,2010, Phillippe co-hosted WWE Raw with Jonathan Swift and Charo, Phillippe stars as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Greg Marinovich
Ryan Phillippe
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Phillippe in April 2011
Ryan Phillippe
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Phillippe at the premiere of
The Bang Bang Club, during the
2010 Toronto International Film Festival
11.
DEJ Productions
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DEJ Productions was an American film studio founded in 1998 by Dean Wilson, Ed Stead and John Antioco. DEJ was a film company which began in 1998, shortly after the introduction of the medium of DVD. The home video industry was undergoing an economic change and DEJ was established to pick-up low-budget films primarily to get exclusive DVD releases for its parent company. The company released a few of its acquired films theatrically, based in Los Angeles, DEJ picked up around three dozen films annually. Its first film acquired was the video distribution of Still Breathing, starring Brendan Fraser. It acquired the rights to the biopics of two murderers in Dahmer and Gacy. DEJ also picked up such as Party Monster and Grand Theft Parsons at festivals including the Sundance Film Festival. In the case of a theatrical release such as 2004s My Date With Drew, in the media industry, this was considered a synergistic business model. One of the partners, Dean Wilson, explained DEJs philosophy on convincing filmmakers of their business model in an interview in 2002. But I think theyre now coming to terms with the theatrical release isnt available for everything. We offer up exposure to people, which, when it comes down to it, is really what they want. Because of some success in the video marketplace with a few of the picked up films. An example was when DEJ picked up the video rights to The Boondock Saints which had failed at the box office but proceeded to make almost $12 million in home video. DEJ began co-financing higher profile films for theatrical release including, Monster, DEJ’s first Oscar winner was Charlize Theron in Monster. DEJ’s increasing notoriety led to involvement in the production side. The first result was that the scaled back the number of productions it was involved with. The second was that the risk increased as the push for quality was raised. As a company looking to grow over time, the objective is to find projects that are bigger and better
DEJ Productions
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Three different logos used by the company
12.
Lionsgate Films
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Lionsgate Films is an American film production/distribution studio and a division of Lions Gate Entertainment. It is the largest and most successful film studio in North America. Cinépix was founded in 1962 by John Dunning and Andre Link and was based in Montreal, Cinépix was a leading Canadian independent motion picture company, releasing both English- and French-language films and making ten to 12 modestly budgeted titles annually. Initially a distribution company, Cinépixs first production was the 1969 erotic drama Valérie, the company was also responsible for launching the careers of, among others, David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman. The company also distributed films like grunge rock documentary Hype, Vincent Gallos Buffalo 66. From 1989 to 1994, Cinépix was partners with Famous Players in C/FP Distribution, by 1997, Cinépix had a New York-based U. S. distribution arm and 56 percent of Ciné-Groupe, an animated film production company. Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation was formed in the summer of 1997 by Frank Giustra, LGE purchased Cinépix and kept its leadership. Cinépix Film Properties was renamed Lions Gate Films on January 12,1998, LGE also purchased the Vancouver-based North Shore Studios, which became Lions Gate Studios. In June 1998, LGE purchased International Movie Group, whose film library included Jean-Claude Van Dammes Kickboxer and its first major box office success was American Psycho in 2000, which began a trend of producing and distributing films too controversial for the major American studios, including Lolita. In 2000, Giustra left the firm and it was taken over by Jon Feltheimer and they decided to focus on the profits of videos and DVDs and began buying struggling firms that controlled large libraries. The two most notable acquisitions were Trimark Holdings in 2000 and Artisan Entertainment in 2003, the Trimark purchase also included CinemaNow, a broadband streaming website, where Lionsgate could feature its own movies. Lions Gate occasionally co-produces films with major studios, for example, Lions Gate teamed with Miramax Films for the 2004 sequel Dirty Dancing, Havana Nights and with Paramount Pictures for 2002s Narc and 2004s The Prince & Me. Lions Gate was also a silent partner in 20th Century Foxs 2004 sci-fi film The Day After Tomorrow, and also in 2004, for the first time ever, Lions Gate joined forces with independent rival United Artists in producing Hotel Rwanda. On August 1,2005, Lions Gate Entertainment acquired the library of Modern Entertainment. On October 17,2005, Lions Gate Entertainment acquired Redbus Film Distribution for $35 million, following this, Zygi Kamasa, who co-founded Redbus with Simon Franks, became CEO of Lionsgate UK and Europe. Lionsgate cut back its production by four in February 2009. The Lionsgate film The Hunger Games grossed $68.3 million when it premiered at the U. S. box office on March 23,2012 and it was the best opening day ever for a non-sequel and the fifth highest of all time. Of that total, $19.7 million was earned via Thursday midnight screenings, in its first weekend, The Hunger Games grossed $152.5 million, making it Lionsgates highest grossing film after just three days
Lionsgate Films
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Lionsgate Films
13.
2004 Toronto International Film Festival
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The 29th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 through September 18. The festival screened 328 films of which 253 were features and 75 were shorts, sweet Smell of Success This Sporting Life Withnail and I Astronauts Automne Boats out of Watermelon Rinds The Buffalo Boy Le Cou de la girafe Crying. A Tribute Concert for Harold Leventhal Keane Kung Fu Hustle Ladies in Lavender The Libertine The Merchant of Venice Millions Noel P. S, official site 2004 Toronto International Film Festival at IMDB
2004 Toronto International Film Festival
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Festival poster
14.
Los Angeles
–
Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
15.
Porsche
–
F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans. Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, and is owned by Volkswagen AG, Porsches current lineup includes the 718 Boxster/Cayman,911, Panamera, Macan and Cayenne. Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called Dr. Ing. h. c, F. Porsche GmbH in 1931, with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, that is a Volkswagen. This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time, the Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle. During World War II, Volkswagen production turned to the version of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kübelwagen,52,000 produced. Porsche produced several designs for heavy tanks during the war, losing out to Henschel & Son in both contracts that ultimately led to the Tiger I and the Tiger II. However, not all work was wasted, as the chassis Porsche designed for the Tiger I was used as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. Porsche also developed the Maus super-heavy tank in the stages of the war. At the end of World War II in 1945, the Volkswagen factory at KdF-Stadt fell to the British, Ferdinand lost his position as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, and Ivan Hirst, a British Army Major, was put in charge of the factory. On 15 December of that year, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes, during his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsches son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car, because he could not find an existing one that he wanted to buy. He also had to steer the company through some of its most difficult days until his fathers release in August 1947, the first models of what was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set threshold, production was begun by Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH founded by Ferry, many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it was the first model sold by the fledgling company. After the production of 356 was taken over by the fathers Dr. Ing. h. c. In 1952, Porsche constructed a plant across the street from Reutter Karosserie, the main road in front of Werk 1. The 356 was road certified in 1948, Porsches company logo was based on the coat of arms of the Free Peoples State of Württemberg of former Weimar Germany, which had Stuttgart as its capital. The arms of Stuttgart was placed in the middle as an inescutcheon, on 30 January 1951, not long before the creation of Baden-Württemberg, Ferdinand Porsche died from complications following a stroke. The 356, however, had several stages, A, B, and C, while in production
Porsche
–
Panzerjäger Elefant, after the loss of the contract to the Tiger I Porsche recycled his design into a
tank destroyer.
Porsche
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1952 Porsche 356 K/9-1 Prototype
Porsche
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The
Porsche 912, from the 1960s
Porsche
–
The second-generation Porsche 911 (
964), introduced in 1989, was the first to be offered with Porsche's
Tiptronic transmission and four-wheel drive.
16.
Carjacking
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Not to be confused with a car jack, a device for lifting up the body of a vehicle. Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle, the word is a portmanteau of car and hijacking. The term was coined by EJ Mitchell, an editor with The Detroit News, Police departments, security agencies, and auto insurers have published lists of strategies for preventing and responding to carjackings. When stopped in traffic, keeping some distance between the vehicle in front, so one can pull away easily if necessary, there were 16,000 carjackings in 1998. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, several new, unconventional anti-carjacking systems designed to harm the attacker were developed and marketed in South Africa, among these was the now defunct Blaster, a small flame-thrower that could be mounted to the underside of a vehicle. The 1992 Act, codified at 18 U. S. C, §2119, took effect on October 25,1992. S. Throughout 1993, articles about carjackings appeared at the rate of more than one a week in newspapers throughout the country. The November 29,1992, killing of two Osceola County, Florida men by using a stolen 9 mm pistol resulted in the first federal prosecution of a fatal carjacking. According to the survey, over time period men were more often victims than women, blacks more than whites. Some 93 percent of carjackings occurred in urban areas, there were multiple carjackers in 56% of incidents, and the carjacker or carjackers were identified as male in 93% of incidents. A weapon was used in 74% of carjacking victimizations, firearms in 45%, knives in 11%, about 14 murders a year involved car theft, but not all of these were carjackings. There were multiple carjackers in 56% of incidents, and the carjacker or carjackers were identified as male in 93% of incidents, some 68% of carjackings occurred at nighttime hours. Some 98% of completed carjackings and 77% of attempted carjackings were reported to police, about 44% of carjacking incidents occurred in an open area while 24% occurred in parking lots or garages or near commercial places. According to the NCVS, from 1992 and 1996, about 49,000 completed or attempted nonfatal carjackings took place each year in the United States, the carjacking was successful in about half of incidents. Data on fatal carjackings are not available, about 27 homicides by strangers each year involved automobile theft, carjackings were common in Newark, New Jersey, in the 1990s, and a wave of carjackings took place again in 2010. There were 288 carjackings in the city in 2010, and Essex County had 69 in December 2010 alone, after federal, state, and law enforcement agencies formed a task force,42 suspects were charged, and carjackings dropped dramatically. Four defendants were indicted in connection with the crime, the major U. S. city with the highest rates of carjacking is Detroit. In 2008, Detroit had 1,231 carjackings, more than three a day, by 2013, that number had fallen to 701, but this was still the highest known number of carjackings for any major city in the country
Carjacking
–
A sign in South Africa warning drivers
17.
Wilshire Boulevard
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Wilshire Boulevard is one of the principal east-west arterial roads in Los Angeles, California. This road was used by Spanish explorers and settlers, calling it El Camino Viejo. The route that ultimately became Wilshire crossed the original pueblo of Los Angeles and five of the original Spanish land grants, Wilshire was pieced together from various streets over several decades. It began in the 1870s as Nevada Avenue in Santa Monica, Nevada and Orange were later renamed as parts of Wilshire. The boulevard was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire, an Ohio native who made and lost fortunes in real estate, farming, the road first appeared on a map under its present name in 1895. A historic apartment building on the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and S. Kenmore Ave. the Gaylord, aon Center, at one point Los Angeles largest tower, is at 707 Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles. The Wilshire Boulevard home of J. Paul Getty was used as the filmset for the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, one particularly famous stretch of the boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues is known as the Miracle Mile. Many of Los Angeles largest museums are located there, the area just to the east of that, between Highland Avenue and Wilton Place, is referred to as the Park Mile. Between Westwood and Holmby Hills, several tall glitzy condominium buildings overlook this part of Wilshire and this section is also known as the Wilshire Corridor and Condo Canyon. The Wilshire Corridor, located next to Century City, is one of Los Angeles busiest districts, the Fox and MGM studios are located in a series of skyscrapers, along with many historic Los Angeles hotels. Wilshire Blvd is also the street of Los Angeles Koreatown. Koreatown and Mid Wilshire are among Los Angeless densest districts, the construction of the future Purple Line Extension Section 1 commenced in November 2014. The phase two and three of the Purple Line, when completed, will extend to Westwood/VA Hospital. Phase four to Santa Monica Beach are still in the planning stages, Metro Local Line 20, Metro Rapid Line 720, and Santa Monica Transit Line 2 operate along Wilshire Boulevard. Due to the ridership of line 720, 60-foot NABI articulated buses are used on this route. All of the boulevard is at least four lanes in width, the widest portion is in the business district of central Westwood, where mobs of pedestrians crossing Wilshire at Westwood Boulevard must traverse ten lanes. According to a 1991 study by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, this, the boulevards widest portion is in Westwood and Holmby Hills, where it expands to six, and briefly, eight lanes. The sections of Wilshire Boulevard in the city of Los Angeles are notorious for their giant potholes, Wilshire Boulevard formerly ended at the MacArthur Park lake, but in 1934 a berm was built for it to cross and link up with the existing Orange Street into downtown Los Angeles
Wilshire Boulevard
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Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown
Wilshire Boulevard
–
The Miracle Mile
Wilshire Boulevard
–
Wilshire Boulevard in West LA
Wilshire Boulevard
–
Wilshire Boulevard and the Los Angeles County Art Museum in 1965.
18.
Hollywood
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Hollywood is an ethnically diverse, densely populated neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is notable as the home of the U. S. film industry, including several of its studios, and its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the industry. Hollywood was a community in 1870 and was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. It was consolidated with the city of Los Angeles in 1910, in 1853, one adobe hut stood in Nopalera, named for the Mexican Nopal cactus indigenous to the area. By 1870, an agricultural community flourished, the area was known as the Cahuenga Valley, after the pass in the Santa Monica Mountains immediately to the north. According to the diary of H. J. Whitley, known as the Father of Hollywood, along came a Chinese man in a wagon carrying wood. The man got out of the wagon and bowed, the Chinese man was asked what he was doing and replied, I holly-wood, meaning hauling wood. H. J. Whitley had an epiphany and decided to name his new town Hollywood, Holly would represent England and wood would represent his Scottish heritage. Whitley had already started over 100 towns across the western United States, Whitley arranged to buy the 500-acre E. C. Hurd ranch and disclosed to him his plans for the land. They agreed on a price and Hurd agreed to sell at a later date, before Whitley got off the ground with Hollywood, plans for the new town had spread to General Harrison Gray Otis, Hurds wife, eastern adjacent ranch co-owner Daeida Wilcox, and others. Daeida Wilcox may have learned of the name Hollywood from Ivar Weid, her neighbor in Holly Canyon and she recommended the same name to her husband, Harvey. In August 1887, Wilcox filed with the Los Angeles County Recorders office a deed and parcel map of property he had sold named Hollywood, Wilcox wanted to be the first to record it on a deed. The early real-estate boom busted that year, yet Hollywood began its slow growth. By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479 lay 10 miles east through the vineyards, barley fields, and citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it, but service was infrequent, the old citrus fruit-packing house was converted into a livery stable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood. The Hollywood Hotel was opened in 1902 by H. J. Whitley who was a president of the Los Pacific Boulevard, having finally acquired the Hurd ranch and subdivided it, Whitley built the hotel to attract land buyers. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue, the hotel was to become internationally known and was the center of the civic and social life and home of the stars for many years. Whitleys company developed and sold one of the residential areas
Hollywood
–
The Four Ladies installation at the
Hollywood Boulevard –
La Brea Avenue Gateway
Hollywood
–
Glen-Holly Hotel, first hotel in Hollywood, at the corner of what is now Yucca Street. It was built in the 1890s.
Hollywood
–
Hollywood Hotel, 1905
Hollywood
–
The intersection of
Hollywood and Highland, 1907
19.
Iranian citizens abroad
–
Iranians abroad or Iranian diaspora are Iranian people living outside of Iran and their children born abroad. For the most part, they emigrated after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, according to the Iranian government in 2013,55,686 Iranian students were studying abroad. Out of this number,8,883 students were studying in Malaysia,7,341 in the United States,5,638 in Canada,3,504 in Germany,3,364 in Turkey,3,228 in Britain, and the rest in other countries. According to an estimate by the Iranian Ministry of Education, between 350 and 500 thousand Iranians were studying outside of Iran as of 2014, in Dubai, Iranian expatriates have invested an estimated $200 billion. Migrant Iranian workers abroad remitted less than two billion dollars home in 2006, the government has proposed setting up a joint investment fund with $5 billion in basic capital and an economic union to serve Iranians living abroad. The stated goal is to attract investment from Iranian expatriates and using their experience in stimulating foreign investments, later, in 2010, it was announced that Iran will start the process by creating a national fund with a basic capital of eight million euros. This fund will later transform into a bank, the currency used in the fund is the euro and investors are supported by the Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance of Iran. Iran will pay a guaranteed 10 percent interest on foreign investment, the value of each share in the fund is 1,000 euros. The minimum and the maximum investment amounts are 100,000 and 500,000 shares, a number of Iranians have converted to Christianity in the diaspora from the predominant Shia Islam. There also notable groups of Bahai and Jewish Iranians, a significant number of Iranians abroad are irreligious, Agnostic and Atheist. Iranians Abroad - resources and links parstimes. com Iranian Alliances Across Borders Iranian diaspora - press article Seminar for Iranians Abroad Held in Tehran on August 2010
Iranian citizens abroad
–
Africa
20.
Hispanic
–
The term Hispanic broadly refers to the people, nations, and cultures that have a historical link to Spain. It commonly applies to countries once colonized by the Spanish Empire in the Americas and Asia, particularly the countries of Latin America and the Philippines. It could be argued that the term should apply to all Spanish-speaking cultures or countries and it is difficult to label a nation or culture with one term, such as Hispanic, as the ethnicities, customs, traditions, and art forms vary greatly by country and region. The Spanish language and Spanish culture are the main traditions, the term Hispanic derives from Latin Hispanicus, the adjectival derivation of Latin Hispania and Hispanus/Hispanos, ultimately probably of Celtiberian origin. In English the word is attested from the 16th century, the words Spain, Spanish, and Spaniard are of the same etymology as Hispanus, ultimately. Hispanus was the Latin name given to a person from Hispania during Roman rule, in English, the term Hispano-Roman is sometimes used. The Hispano-Romans were composed of people from different indigenous tribes. A number of men, such as Trajan, Hadrian. Hispano-Roman is used to refer to the culture and people of Hispania, Hispanic is used to refer to modern Spain, to the Spanish language, and to the Spanish-speaking nations of the world and particularly the Americas. Spanish is used to refer to the people, nationality, culture, language, Spaniard is used to refer to the people of Spain. Hispania was the Roman name for the territory of the Iberian Peninsula. Initially, this territory was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior, in 27 B. C, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Hispania Baetica and Hispania Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Tarraconensis. This division of Hispania explains the usage of the singular and plural forms used to refer to the peninsula and this revival of the old Roman concept in the Middle Ages appears to have originated in Provençal, and was first documented at the end of the 11th century. In the Council of Constance, the four kingdoms shared one vote, the word Lusitanian, relates to Lusitania or Portugal, also in reference to the Lusitanians, possibly one of the first Indo-European tribes to settle in Europe. From this tribes name had derived the name of the Roman province of Lusitania, the terms Spain and the Spains were not interchangeable. Spain was a territory, home to several kingdoms, with separate governments, laws, languages, religions, and customs. Spain was not an entity until much later, and when referring to the Middle Ages. The term The Spains referred specifically to a collective of juridico-political units, first the Christian kingdoms, although colloquially and literally the expression King of Spain or King of the Spains was already widespread, it did not refer to a unified nation-state
Hispanic
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Pope Francis
Hispanic
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De español y torna atrás, tente en el aire Spanish colonial
casta painting, Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz (Mexico, 1713-1781)
Hispanic
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Pablo Picasso
Hispanic
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Shakira
21.
William Fichtner
–
William Edward Bill Fichtner, Jr. is an American actor. He has appeared in a number of films and TV series. & Mrs. Smith, The Dark Knight, Date Night, The Lone Ranger, Phantom, Elysium, Independence Day, Resurgence, Fichtner was born on Mitchel Air Force Base on Long Island, and was raised in Cheektowaga, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. He is the son of Patricia A. and William E. Fichtner, Fichtner graduated from Maryvale High School in 1974. After graduating from Farmingdale State College in 1976 with a degree in criminal justice, he attended SUNY Brockport. Fichtner then studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, Fichtner credits his Farmingdale State College admissions counselor, Don Harvey, with his decision to study acting. Harvey, who became a friend, took Fichtner to his first Broadway show. On May 18,2008, Fichtner was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Farmingdale State College, Fichtner began his acting career as Josh Snyder in As the World Turns in 1987. Fichtners film credits include Contact, Heat, Armageddon, Go, Equilibrium, Black Hawk Down, The Perfect Storm, The Longest Yard, Crash, Ultraviolet and The Dark Knight. Mainly a character actor, one of Fichtners few leading roles is in Passion of Mind, also starring Demi Moore, for his role in Crash, he won a Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance Award and a Best Acting Ensemble Award from Broadcast Film Critics Choice. Credited as Bill Fichtner, he voiced the character Ken Rosenberg in the video games Grand Theft Auto, Vice City and Grand Theft Auto, between 2005 and 2006, Fichtner also starred in the science-fiction TV series Invasion as Sheriff Tom Underlay. After Invasion was canceled, Fichtner played FBI Agent Alexander Mahone in the second through fourth seasons of Prison Break, later that year, he presented an award at the National Hockey League award show. He also appears in The West Wing episode, The Supremes as Christopher Mulready, Fichtner also had a role as the Gotham National Bank manager in the feature film The Dark Knight, and as Jurgen in Equilibrium. In June 2009, Fichtner signed on to guest star on Entourage playing TV producer Phil Yagoda and he also voices Master Sergeant Sandman in the 2011 video game Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3. Fichtner played Eric Sacks in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as of June 2014, Fichtner lives in Prague, Czech Republic, where he filmed the television series Crossing Lines. Fichtner is a fan of the National Football League s Buffalo Bills, more recently, Fichtner narrated the ESPN30 for 30 documentary titled Four Falls of Buffalo, chronicling the Buffalo Bills four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990–93. William Fichtner at the Internet Movie Database William Fichtner at the official Contact movie website Random Roles, William Fichtner at The A. V
William Fichtner
–
Fichtner at the 2011
USA Film Festival
William Fichtner
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Fichtner, 2003
22.
Academy Award
–
The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
Academy Award
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Academy Awards
Academy Award
–
31st Academy Awards Presentations,
Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1959
Academy Award
–
81st Academy Awards Presentations,
Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, 2009
Academy Award
–
Pantages Theatre, 2008
23.
Academy Award for Best Director
–
The Academy Award for Best Director is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year, the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture,63 have also been awarded Best Director, since its inception, the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams. John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four, william Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions, more than any other individual. As of the 2017 ceremony, Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in category for his work on La La Land. Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award, two directing teams have shared the award, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007. The Coen brothers are the siblings to have won the award. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full calendar year from January 1 to December 31. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com
Academy Award for Best Director
–
Frank Borzage, co-winner of the first award.
Academy Award for Best Director
–
Lewis Milestone, co-winner of the first award.
Academy Award for Best Director
–
John Ford has the most awards with four.
Academy Award for Best Director
–
Clint Eastwood is the oldest winner for directing
Million Dollar Baby.
24.
Academy Award for Best Film Editing
–
The Academy Award for Best Film Editing is one of the annual awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Nominations for this award are closely correlated with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 33 consecutive years,1981 to 2013, every Best Picture winner had also nominated for the Film Editing Oscar. Only the principal, above the line editor as listed in the credits are named on the award, additional editors, supervising editors. The nominations for this Academy Award are determined by a ballot of the members of the Editing Branch of the Academy. The members may vote for up to five of the films in the order of their preference. The Academy Award itself is selected from the films by a subsequent ballot of all active. This award was first given for films released in 1934, the name of this award is occasionally changed, in 2008, it was listed as the Academy Award for Achievement in Film Editing. Michael Kahn won for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Schindlers List, thelma Schoonmaker won for Raging Bull, The Aviator, and The Departed. To date, two film directors have won this award, James Cameron and Alfonso Cuarón for the films Titanic and Gravity, also, nominated editors Robert Wise, Francis D. West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Sand Pebbles and The Andromeda Strain for Wise, Crazylegs for Lyon and Bound for Glory, superlatives taken from a document published by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. These listings are based on the Awards Database maintained by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy Award for Best Film Editing
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Thelma Schoonmaker and Columba Powell at the
Cannes Film Festival (2009). Schoonmaker is among the deans of film editing; Powell is the son of
Michael Powell, a prominent film director to whom Schoonmaker was married until his death in 1990.
25.
78th Academy Awards
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The ceremony was scheduled one week later than usual to avoid conflicting with the 2006 Winter Olympics. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories honoring films released in 2005, the ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Gil Cates and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actor Jon Stewart hosted the show for the first time, two weeks earlier in a ceremony at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California held on February 18, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Rachel McAdams. Crash won three awards including Academy Award for Best Picture, the telecast garnered nearly 39 million viewers in the United States. Brokeback Mountain earned the most nominations with eight total, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, all five Best Picture nominees received corresponding Best Director nominations. The winners were announced during the ceremony on March 5,2006. Several notable achievements by individuals and films occurred during the ceremony. Crash was the first Best Picture winner since 1976s Rocky to win only three Oscars, Best Director winner Ang Lee became the first non-Caucasian winner of that category. For this first time since the 34th ceremony held in 1962 and its Hard out Here for a Pimp became the second rap song to win Best Original Song and the first such song to be performed at an Oscars ceremony. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger, robert Altman — In recognition of a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike
78th Academy Awards
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Official poster
78th Academy Awards
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Ang Lee, Best Director winner
78th Academy Awards
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Philip Seymour Hoffman, Best Actor winner
78th Academy Awards
–
Reese Witherspoon, Best Actress winner
26.
Shaun Toub
–
Shaun Toub is an Iranian film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Yinsen in 2008s Iron Man, Farhad in the 2004 movie Crash, Rahim Khan in the movie The Kite Runner, Toub, who is of Persian Jewish background, was born in Tehran, Iran. At age 2, he moved in Manchester, England, where his mother attended podiatry school and he returned to Iran, where he lived until he was 13, before moving to Switzerland. He crossed the Atlantic to Nashua, New Hampshire to finish his last year of high school and he decided at age 5 he wanted to become an actor. His high school yearbook notes, The funniest guy in school, after two years of college in Massachusetts, Shaun transferred to USC. Shaun is active in the Iranian Jewish community, through various charity events and public speaking engagements, he inspires the community to embrace the arts, as the arts enhance everyday life. He has been a recipient of the Sephard award at the Los Angeles Sephardic Film Festival, Toub currently resides in Los Angeles, with his wife, Lorena. Through a chance encounter with a talent agent, he broke into the Hollywood scene, Toub has received accolades for several of his appearances in over 100 television episodes including Seinfeld, The Sopranos, ER, NCIS, Married. With Children, Lost, Homeland and various movies made for television and his performance as Farhad in Paul Haggiss Oscar-winning film Crash received positive reviews. He played the part of the Virgin Marys father in The Nativity Story and he also played Rahim Khan in The Kite Runner. Toub played Ho Yinsen in the 2008 film Iron Man, Yinsen is the surgeon held captive by terrorists who first saves Tony Starks life then helps Stark escape by helping him construct the first Iron Man suit. Toub reprises the role in an appearance in the 2013 film Iron Man 3. His most recent role is in the series Grimm, playing the part of Bonaparte, Shaun Toub at the Internet Movie Database Shaun Toubs website Shaun Toub cover story in OCPC magazine
Shaun Toub
–
Toub at the
83rd Academy Awards
Shaun Toub
–
Shaun Toub as Yinsen helping
Tony Stark (
Robert Downey, Jr.) with the
makeshift Mark I Armor in the 2008 film
Iron Man.
27.
Persian language
–
Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
Persian language
–
Old Persian
Persian language
–
Ferdowsi 's
Shahnameh
Persian language
–
Kalilah va Dimna, an influential work in Persian literature.
28.
Osama bin Laden
–
He was a Saudi Arabian, a member of the wealthy bin Laden family, and an ethnic Yemeni Kindite. Bin Laden was born to the family of billionaire Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden in Saudi Arabia and he studied at university in the country until 1979, when he joined Mujahideen forces in Pakistan fighting against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. He helped to fund the Mujahideen by funneling arms, money and fighters from the Arab world into Afghanistan and he was banished from Saudi Arabia in 1992, and shifted his base to Sudan, until U. S. pressure forced him to leave Sudan in 1996. After establishing a new base in Afghanistan, he declared a war against the United States, initiating a series of bombings and related attacks. Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigations lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, from 2001 to 2011, bin Laden was a major target of the War on Terror, as the FBI placed a $25 million bounty on him in their search for him. S. There is no accepted standard for transliterating Arabic words and Arabic names into English, however. The FBI and Central Intelligence Agency, as well as other U. S. governmental agencies, have used either Usama bin Laden or Usama bin Ladin, less common renderings include Ussamah bin Ladin and, in the French-language media, Oussama ben Laden. Other spellings include Binladen or, as used by his family in the West, the decapitalization of bin is based on the convention of leaving short prepositions, articles, and patronymics uncapitalized in surnames, the nasab bin means son of. The spellings with o and e come from a Persian-influenced pronunciation also used in Afghanistan, Osama bin Ladens full name, Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, means Osama, son of Mohammed, son of Awad, son of Laden. The Arabic linguistic convention would be to refer to him as Osama or Osama bin Laden, not bin Laden alone, as bin Laden is a patronymic, not a surname in the Western manner. According to bin Ladens son Omar bin Laden, the familys surname is al-Qahtani. Osama bin Laden had also assumed the kunyah Abū Abdāllāh and his admirers have referred to him by several nicknames, including the Prince or Emir, the Sheik, the Jihadist Sheik or Sheik al-Mujahid, Hajj, and the Director. The word usāmah means lion, earning him the nicknames Lion and Lion Sheik, in a 1998 interview, bin Laden gave his birth date as March 10,1957. Mohammed bin Laden divorced Hamida soon after Osama bin Laden was born, Mohammed recommended Hamida to Mohammed al-Attas, an associate. Al-Attas married Hamida in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the couple had four children, and bin Laden lived in the new household with three half-brothers and one half-sister. The bin Laden family made $5 billion in the construction industry, Bin Laden was raised as a devout Sunni Muslim. From 1968 to 1976, he attended the élite secular Al-Thager Model School and he studied economics and business administration at King Abdulaziz University. Some reports suggest he earned a degree in engineering in 1979
Osama bin Laden
–
Osama bin Laden أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن
Osama bin Laden
–
Pakistani journalist
Hamid Mir interviewing Osama bin Laden in Kabul in 1997. The AKS-74U in the background is a symbol of the mujadin's victory over the Soviets, since these weapons were captured from
Spetsnaz forces.
Osama bin Laden
–
United Airlines Flight 175 crashes into the south tower
Osama bin Laden
–
2001 video of bin Laden
29.
Lincoln Navigator
–
The Lincoln Navigator is a full-size luxury SUV marketed and sold by the Lincoln brand of Ford Motor Company since the 1998 model year. Sold primarily in North America, the Navigator is the Lincoln counterpart of the Ford Expedition, while not the longest vehicle ever sold by the brand, it is the heaviest production Lincoln ever built. Considering its Ford counterpart, it is also the Lincoln with the greatest cargo capacity, the Lincoln Navigator was the first Lincoln to be produced in a factory outside the Wixom Assembly Plant since 1958. From 1997 to 2009, production was sourced at the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, since 2007, production has also been sourced from the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky. At the end of the 1980s, in the United States, sport-utility vehicles gradually began to transition from dedicated off-road vehicles towards dedicated family vehicles, in 1991, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer ended its 28-year production run. However, by the time of its discontinuation, the vehicle had gained a reputation for its high content. Following its official entry into the United States in 1987, the Range Rover was upgraded in trim corresponding with its higher price, as a response, General Motors introduced the Oldsmobile Bravada in 1991, convincing several other manufacturers to introduce mid-size luxury SUVs. As full-size SUVs such as the Chevrolet Suburban and Ford Expedition are highly profitable vehicles, the Lincoln Navigator was launched on July 1,1997 for the 1998 model year, with the first vehicle rolling off the assembly line on May 14,1997. Based directly on the Ford Expedition, introduced the year before, in its first calendar year of sales, Navigator contributed to an unprecedented event of recent decades - the overtaking of the Lincoln brand by perennial rival Cadillac in annual sales volume. A subsequent audit resulted in a retraction/apology in May 1999, attributing the error to overzealous low-level employees, the Lincoln Navigator was also developed under the Ford program code name UN173, with the Expedition developed under the UN93 program code name. A full-size body-on-frame vehicle, the Navigator was mechanically related to the Ford Expedition, as with many high-end SUVs, the Navigator featured independent front suspension, the rear suspension was of a live rear axle design. Although technically available with rear-wheel drive, the drivetrain on the Lincoln Navigator was ControlTrac. As with the Expedition, the Navigator was fitted with four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes, using the same 230hp 5. 4L Triton V8 as the Expedition/F-150 paired with the 4-speed 4R100 automatic transmission, the 1998 Lincoln Navigator came with a towing capacity of 7,700 pounds. During 1999, Lincoln would fit two different engines in the Navigator in an effort to better match full-size SUVs from General Motors. At the beginning of the year, the Triton V8 was upgraded to 260hp, as a running change during the model year, Lincoln would replace the SOHC Triton with a 300hp DOHC5. 4L V8. Due to the increase in power, towing capacity would increase to over 8,500 lb. Forward of the windshield, the Lincoln Navigator shares no body panels with its Ford counterpart, with its own front fascia, wheels, roof rack, lower body trim, and taillights. The interior of the two shared more commonality, with the dashboard common to both vehicles, the Navigator was given its own seat design
Lincoln Navigator
–
Lincoln Navigator
Lincoln Navigator
–
First generation (UN173)
Lincoln Navigator
–
2003-2006 Lincoln Navigator, Germany
Lincoln Navigator
–
Third generation (U326)
30.
Loretta Devine
–
She had a role in the series Everybody Hates Chris as Rochelles mother. In film, Devine appeared in Waiting to Exhale, The Preachers Wife, I Am Sam, Urban Legend, Crash, Woman Thou Art Loosed, For Colored Girls, This Christmas and she currently plays Cynthia Carmichael on the NBC sitcom The Carmichael Show. Devine was born in Houston, Texas and her mother, Eunice ONeal, was a beautician, and her father, James Devine, worked as a laborer. She grew up in the Acres Homes area of Houston where her mom was a mom to six children. She was very active on the pep squad, and performed in talent shows at George Washington Carver High School, in 1971, Devine graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Drama. In 1976, she received a Master of Fine Arts in Theater from Brandeis University, Devine was initiated into Alpha Kappa Alpha the Epsilon Lambda Chapter. Devine has worked extensively on Broadway and she appeared in the 1978 musical A Broadway Musical, which closed after one performance. Her first Broadway show was called Comin Uptown, and featured Gregory Hines and she captured attention in Dreamgirls, a Broadway musical loosely based on the history of The Supremes, in which she originated the role of Lorrell Robinson. Minor roles for Devine followed in such as Little Nikita. She has a performance in the film version of Dreamgirls. In 1995, she landed a role as Gloria Matthews in Waiting to Exhale, opposite Whitney Houston, Gregory Hines. The role earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, as did her next movie, The Preachers Wife, her movie with Houston. She later co-starred opposite Alfre Woodard in Down in the Delta and she was a repertory character in the play The Colored Museum with Vickilyn Reynolds. Devine and Reynolds both went on to play sisters in the short-lived TV series Sugar and Spice, during the period between the play and the series, Devine appeared in the first season of the TV series A Different World as Stevie Rollins, dormitory director at fictional Hillman College. From 2000 to 2004, Devine starred as high school teacher Marla Hendricks on the Fox drama series Boston Public, Devine won three more Image Awards for her work in the series. She also continued to work in film, playing prominent roles in Urban Legend, Urban Legends, Final Cut, Devine earned yet another Image Award nomination and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her work in the 2004 film Woman Thou Art Loosed. She also appeared in the 2005 film Crash, in 2007, she appeared in This Christmas, and in the next year had a series regular role on the ABC comedy-drama Eli Stone. Devine also was part of the casts of two Tyler Perry-directed films For Colored Girls and Madeas Big Happy Family
Loretta Devine
–
Devine in December 2010
31.
Keith David
–
Keith David Williams, known professionally as Keith David, is an American film and television, voice actor, and singer. He is known for his role as Childs alongside Kurt Russell in John Carpenters The Thing. He has acted in mainstream films, such as Crash, Theres Something About Mary, Barbershop. David last starred as Elroy Patashnik in the season of the comedy series. In 2016, he began starring as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series and his Emmy Award-winning voice-over career includes work as the narrator of numerous Ken Burns films such as The War. David was born in Harlem and raised in Corona, Queens and his mother, Dolores, was a manager at New York Telephone, and his father, Lester Williams, worked as a director of payroll operations. He initially intended to become an actor playing the Cowardly Lion in a school production of The Wizard of Oz. He attended the Juilliard Schools Drama Division where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1979, in 1980–81, David honed his craft touring the country with John Housemans The Acting Company in productions of A Midsummer Nights Dream and Samuel Becketts Waiting for Godot. Less than two years later, he went on to star as Childs, opposite Kurt Russell in John Carpenters The Thing, in the 1980s run of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, he portrayed Keith the Southwood Carpenter in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe segments. He also played Keith, the coin collector in an episode where Rogers. He went on to appear in such as Oliver Stones Platoon, The Quick and the Dead, They Live, Men at Work, Marked for Death. He played Kirby in the 1995 film Dead Presidents, and he appeared in the 1995 Spike Lees film Clockers and he portrayed Father in the romantic comedy action film Mr. and Mrs. Smith. At the same time, he has appeared in independent films including the critically acclaimed Requiem for a Dream. He has also appeared extensively in television productions since the 1980s and he was a regular on another shoot made for ABC entitled The Big House in 2004. David portrayed Detective Jim Crenshaw in the 2010 horror film Chain Letter, in 2010, David was cast as Max Malini for the NBC television series The Cape. On April 18,2011, Keith appeared in the 21st episode of one of Hawaii Five-0 as criminal tycoon Jimmy Cannon. In 2012, he appeared in the horror film Smiley and the science-fiction drama Cloud Atlas, in 2013, David appeared in the controversial drama Boiling Pot which is based on true events of racism. In 2014, David portrayed Command Sergeant Major Donald Cody in the Fox comedy series Enlisted, later in 2014, David was cast as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the sitcom Community
Keith David
–
David in February 2015
Keith David
–
David in June 2010
32.
Beverly Todd
–
Beverly Todd is an American actress, producer and writer. She is known for her roles in films Brother John, Moving, Lean on Me, Todd was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Virena Todd. She began her career in the Off-Broadway production of Deep Are the Roots. Todd played main role in the Broadway comedy play Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights directed by Sidney Poitier and she later appeared opposite Poitier, who was her mentor early in her career, in films such as The Lost Man, They Call Me Mister Tibbs. And A Piece of the Action, on television, she was regular cast member on the daytime soap opera, Love of Life, from 1968 to 1970, and in 1977 the educational show The Write Channel on PBS. Todd was nominated an NAACP Image Award for her performance in the critically acclaimed PBS production of Six Characters in Search of an Author and she received her second NAACP Image Award nomination for her role in the ABC miniseries, Roots. Todd had the leading roles in films Moving opposite Richard Pryor. She was married to film producer-director Kris Keiser and their son, Malik Smith, died on March 20,1989 at age 18 after being severely beaten at a teen youth center while on spring break. She did not appear regularly on the screen during the 1990s, in 2004, she appeared as Don Cheadles characters mother in the critically acclaimed film, Crash. In 2007, she reunited with Morgan Freeman, in the comedy-drama film, Todd also had supporting roles in the independent films The Lena Baker Story and I Will Follow. The Lost Man They Call Me Mister Tibbs. E, Dont Look Back, The Story of Leroy Satchel Paige Please Dont Hit Me, Mom St. Elsewhere A Touch of Scandal Fraud Squad Magnum, P. I
Beverly Todd
–
Beverly Todd at the 2008 MovieGuide Faith and Values Awards Gala
33.
Blank (cartridge)
–
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. Blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gunpowder into the cartridge, when fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound, the wadding is propelled from the barrel of the gun, and the firearms action cycles. Blanks are often used for simulation, training, for signaling, blank cartridges differ from dummy cartridges, which are used for training or function testing firearms, these contain no primer or gunpowder, and are inert. Specialized blank cartridges are used for their propellant force in fields as varied as construction, shooting sports. In the case of non-crimped blanks, it serves to pulverise the plug to prevent it leaving as a projectile. For movie use, specially designed blank-firing firearms are often used, 5-in-1 blanks are specifically made for theatrical use and are commonly used in real firearms for dramatic effect. 5-in-1 blanks can function in a variety of different calibers, hence the name, special blank cartridges are also used when the explosive power of a cartridge is needed, but a projectile is not. Blank cartridges were used for launching tear-gas or rifle grenades. Larger blanks are used for line launching guns, such as the line launching kit for the Mossberg 500 shotgun. Some forms of fast draw competitions use special blanks that are loaded with a layer of slow burning rifle powder on top of a layer of faster-burning pistol powder. The pistol powder ignites the slower burning powder, and fires it out the barrel much like a shotgun shell. The burning powder only travels a few yards before it completely combusts, wax bullets are also commonly used for competitions and training where a non-lethal projectile is required. This tradition dates back to before cartridge arms, when a muzzle loading musket would be loaded without a ball, the appearance of a blank cartridge can give a false sense of safety. Blank cartridges frequently contain a paper, wood or plastic called a wad which seals the powder in the case. This wad can cause severe penetrating wounds at close range and bruising at medium ranges, there is also muzzle blast – a cloud of hot, expanding gas expelled at extremely high velocity from the muzzle of the firearm. This high velocity gas can inflict severe injury at close ranges, in addition, if there is any small debris lodged inside the barrel it will be expelled at a velocity similar to that of a bullet, with the ability to inflict a severe or lethal wound. Furthermore, the loud noise of blanks being fired can damage the hearing of people in the immediate area. Actors in particular are at risk of injury from blank cartridges used on movie sets
Blank (cartridge)
–
Handgun blanks
Blank (cartridge)
–
Swedish 7.62 with the blank to the left (followed by FMJ, tracer and AP) with the wooden plug clearly visible
Blank (cartridge)
–
Blank cartridges as used in
nail guns
Blank (cartridge)
–
A
7.62x51mm NATO blank cartridge
34.
Saint Christopher
–
Saint Christopher is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Emperor Decius or alternatively under the Roman Emperor Maximinus II Dacian. There appears to be due to the similarity in names Decius. He may be the figure as Saint Menas. Therefore, he is the saint of travelers, and small images of him are often worn around the neck, on a bracelet, carried in a pocket. There are several associated with the life and death of Saint Christopher which first appeared in Greece and had spread to France by the 9th century. The 11th-century bishop and poet, Walter of Speyer, gave one version, according to the legendary account of his life Christopher was initially called Reprobus. He was a Canaanite,5 cubits tall and with a fearsome face, while serving the king of Canaan, he took it into his head to go and serve the greatest king there was. He went to the king who was reputed to be the greatest, on thus learning that the king feared the devil, he departed to look for the devil. He came across a band of marauders, one of whom declared himself to be the devil, but when he saw his new master avoid a wayside cross and found out that the devil feared Christ, he left him and enquired from people where to find Christ. He met a hermit who instructed him in the Christian faith, Christopher asked him how he could serve Christ. When the hermit suggested fasting and prayer, Christopher replied that he was unable to perform that service, the hermit then suggested that because of his size and strength Christopher could serve Christ by assisting people to cross a dangerous river, where they were perishing in the attempt. The hermit promised that service would be pleasing to Christ. After Christopher had performed this service for time, a little child asked him to take him across the river. During the crossing, the river became swollen and the child seemed as heavy as lead, so much that Christopher could scarcely carry him, when he finally reached the other side, he said to the child, You have put me in the greatest danger. I do not think the world could have been as heavy on my shoulders as you were. The child replied, You had on your shoulders not only the whole world, I am Christ your king, whom you are serving by this work. Christopher later visited Lycia and there comforted the Christians who were being martyred, brought before the local king, he refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. The king tried to win him by riches and by sending two beautiful women to tempt him, Christopher converted the women to Christianity, as he had already converted thousands in the city
Saint Christopher
–
St. Christopher Carrying the Christ Child, by
Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1485)
Saint Christopher
–
The earliest known
woodcut, 1423,
Buxheim, with hand-colouring
Saint Christopher
–
St. Christopher, from the
Westminster Psalter, c. 1250
Saint Christopher
–
A bronze St. Christopher medallion
35.
Human trafficking
–
Human trafficking is the trade of humans, most commonly for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extraction of organs or tissues, including for surrogacy, Human trafficking can occur within a country or trans-nationally. Human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the rights of movement through coercion. Human trafficking is the trade in people, and does not necessarily involve the movement of the person from one place to another, according to the International Labour Organization, forced labor alone generates an estimated $150 billion in profits per annum as of 2014. Estimated that 21 million victims are trapped in modern-day slavery, of these,14.2 million were exploited for labor,4.5 million were sexually exploited, and 2.2 million were exploited in state-imposed forced labor. Human trafficking is thought to be one of the activities of trans-national criminal organizations. Human trafficking is condemned as a violation of rights by international conventions. In addition, human trafficking is subject to a directive in the European Union, the protocol is one of three which supplement the CTOC. The Trafficking Protocol is the first global, legally binding instrument on trafficking in over half a century, one of its purposes is to facilitate international cooperation in investigating and prosecuting such trafficking. Another is to protect and assist human traffickings victims with full respect for their rights as established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in 2014, the International Labour Organization estimated $150 billion in annual profit is generated from forced labor alone. The average cost of a trafficking victim today is USD $90,000 which. The average slave in 1800 America was the equivalent to USD $40,000, though illegal, there may be no deception or coercion involved. After entry into the country and arrival at their ultimate destination, Human trafficking, on the other hand, is a crime against a person because of the violation of the victims rights through coercion and exploitation. Unlike most cases of smuggling, victims of human trafficking are not permitted to leave upon arrival at their destination. While smuggling requires travel, trafficking does not, trafficked people are held against their will through acts of coercion, and forced to work for or provide services to the trafficker or others. The work or services may include anything from bonded or forced labor to commercial sexual exploitation, the arrangement may be structured as a work contract, but with no or low payment, or on terms which are highly exploitative. Sometimes the arrangement is structured as debt bondage, with the not being permitted or able to pay off the debt. Bonded labor, or debt bondage, is probably the least known form of labor trafficking today, generally, the value of their work is greater than the original sum of money borrowed
Human trafficking
–
Warning of
Prostitution and Human trafficking in South Korea for G.I. by United States Forces Korea.
Human trafficking
–
Slavery
36.
Chinatown, Los Angeles
–
Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops and art galleries but also has a neighborhood with a low-income. The original Chinatown developed in the late 19th century, but it was demolished to make room for Union Station, a separate commercial center, known as New Chinatown, opened for business in 1938. There are two schools and a library in Chinatown, as well as a city park, a state park. Many motion pictures have filmed in the area. Many of them settled in Los Angeles, in 1871, nineteen Chinese men and boys were killed by a mob of about five hundred white men in one of the most serious incidents of racial violence that has ever occurred in Americas West. This incident became known as Massacre of 1871, the first Chinatown, centered on Alameda and Macy Streets, was established in 1880. Reaching its heyday from 1890 to 1910, Chinatown grew to approximately fifteen streets and it boasted a Chinese Opera theater, three temples, a newspaper and a telephone exchange. But laws prohibiting most Chinese from citizenship and property ownership, as well as legislation curtailing immigration, from the early 1910s Chinatown began to decline. Symptoms of a corrupt Los Angeles discolored the publics view of Chinatown, gambling houses, opium dens, as tenants and lessees rather than outright owners, the residents of Old Chinatown were threatened with impending redevelopment, and as a result the owners neglected upkeep of their buildings. Eventually, the area was sold and then resold, as entrepreneurs and developers fought the area. After thirty years of decay, a Supreme Court ruling approved condemnation of the area to allow for construction of a rail terminal. Residents were evicted to make room for Union Station, causing the formation of the New Chinatown, seven years passed before an acceptable relocation proposal was put into place, situating a new Chinatown in its present location. Old Chinatown was gradually demolished, leaving many businesses without a place to do business, nonetheless, a remnant of Old Chinatown persisted into the early 1950s, situated between Union Station and the Old Plaza. The Chinese American Museum is now situated in Garnier Building, costumed workers greeted tourists, and a Chinese opera troupe performed live shows in front of the shops. Some replica buildings in China City came from the set of the 1937 Hollywood blockbuster, China City received mixed support from Chinese American residents and businessmen. Many welcomed the opportunity the project provided. Others preferred the New Chinatown project, considered less distorted by the lens of Hollywood
Chinatown, Los Angeles
–
Entrance to Los Angeles' Chinatown
Chinatown, Los Angeles
–
Chinese Quarter, ca. 1885, by
Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria
Chinatown, Los Angeles
–
The dragon mural in L.A. Chinatown painted by
Tyrus Wong and restored by Fu Ding Cheng (1984)
Chinatown, Los Angeles
–
New Chinatown main plaza - December 2011
37.
Daniel Dae Kim
–
Daniel Dae Kim is a South Korean born American actor, voice actor, producer, and director currently living in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kim is known for his roles as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-0 and he also played a recurring role on Angel. Kim was born in Busan, South Korea, and moved to the United States with his family when he was two years old and he is now a naturalized citizen of the United States. He grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and he is a graduate of Freedom High School and Haverford College. His theater major was completed at Bryn Mawr College and he graduated from NYUs Graduate Acting Program in 1996. After graduation, Kim made a name for himself playing numerous roles in a variety of television programs. He appeared in CSI, Crime Scene Investigation as an agent as well as episodes of Star Trek, Voyager, Star Trek, Enterprise, Charmed, The Shield, Seinfeld, NYPD Blue. He landed recurring roles on Angel,24 and the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade and he also portrayed Dr. Tsi Chou in a 2008 miniseries based on the acclaimed Michael Crichton novel The Andromeda Strain. His film credits include a part in Spider-Man 2 as a scientist working in Doctor Octavius laboratory, and Crash. He also had roles in films such as The Jackal, For Love of the Game, Hulk. Since the role required him to speak exclusively in Korean, Kim said he was forced to relearn the language. He would go on to play the character up until the 2010 series finale, throughout the shows run, Kim, along with his fellow cast members, received numerous accolades, including a 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble. Kim was individually honored with an AZN Asian Excellence Award, a Multicultural Prism Award, Kim was also named one of People Magazines Sexiest Men Alive in 2005. In February 2010, shortly after Losts conclusion, it was announced that Kim would join the CBS reboot Hawaii Five-0 playing Chin Ho Kelly, Kim was the first actor to be officially cast on the show. That series premiered on September 20,2010 to strong ratings, Kim co-starred in The Divergent Series, Insurgent, the sequel to 2014s Divergent, playing Jack Kang, the leader of the Candor faction. Kim starred as the King of Siam on Broadway in the musical The King and he began the role on May 1,2016. In addition to acting, Kim made his debut with the Hawaii Five-0 Season 5 episode. Kim is the voice of the character Johnny Gat for THQs Saints Row video game series and he also contributed his vocal likeness for 24, The Game in which he played his character from the show, Tom Baker
Daniel Dae Kim
–
Kim on set of Hawaii Five-O in October 2013
Daniel Dae Kim
–
On the cover of
KoreAm, April 2010
38.
Tony Danza
–
Tony Danza is an American actor and former professional boxer. He is best known for starring on the TV series Taxi and Whos the Boss. for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. In 1998, Danza won the Peoples Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series for his work on the 1997 sitcom The Tony Danza Show. Danza was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Anne Cammisa and Matty Iadanza His mother was a bookkeeper, Danzas father was an American of Italian ancestry and Danzas mother was an immigrant from the town of Campobello di Mazara in the Sicilian province of Trapani. He has a brother, Matty Jr. a Los Angeles restaurant owner. When Danza was 14, he and his family relocated to Malverne, New York, Danza attended Malverne High School, graduating in 1969. In the first episode of his show Teach, Tony Danza, Danza describes himself as a bad student in high school and he earned a bachelors degree in history in 1972 from the University of Dubuque, which he attended on a wrestling scholarship. In 1975, as a joke, Danzas friends entered him in the New York City Golden Gloves, after knocking out his first six opponents all in the first round, Danza was knocked out in the finals. During his first year of college, he had the Robert Crumb Keep on Truckin character tattooed on his right arm. In a 1985 interview in Us Weekly magazine, Danza remarked, I was playing pool with a guy who had all these tattoos, Danza also sports a Keep Punching boxing gloves tattoo on his right shoulder as well as Tracy, his wifes name, on his chest. In college, Danza met and married his first wife, Danza was a professional boxer with a record of 9–3, with all but one of his fights, wins and losses, ending in a knockout. Shortly after his graduation, Danza was discovered by a producer at a boxing gymnasium in New York. He then earned a spot on the television show Taxi, for his contribution to the television industry, in 1988, Danza was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard. Danza also plays the role of a player in Angels in the Outfield. Danza also starred in the short-lived sitcoms Hudson Street and The Tony Danza Show, not to be confused with his 2004–2006 talk show and he had a role in the TV drama Family Law from 2000 until 2002. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest-starring 1998 role in the TV series The Practice and his movie debut was in the comedy The Hollywood Knights, which was followed by Going Ape. He received critical acclaim for his performance in the 1999 Broadway revival of the Eugene ONeill play The Iceman Cometh, in 2002, Danza released his debut album The House I Live In as a 1950s-style crooner. Danza hosted his own TV talk show, The Tony Danza Show, on May 9,2005, during a go-kart race with NASCAR star Rusty Wallace, who was a guest on the show, Danzas kart flipped after Wallace accidentally bumped him
Tony Danza
–
Tony Danza at the 2012 Texas Book Festival.
39.
Kathleen York
–
Kathleen York, also known by the nickname of Bird York, is an American actress, screenwriter, and Oscar nominated singer-songwriter-recording artist. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for In the Deep from the 2004 film Crash, York started her professional acting career during her teenage years. Her film credits include Nightcrawler, Crash, Cries of Silence, The Big Day, I Love You To Death, Flashback and Cold Feet, with Tom Waits and Bill Pullman. Series regular roles include Vengeance Unlimited, Aarons Way and The Client List and recurring roles in Murder One, The O. C, Desperate Housewives, musically, York achieved global recognition with her song In the Deep, on whose writing and composition she collaborated with Michael Becker. It appears on her album Wicked Little High, and it was written for the 2005 film Crash, in the Deep was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, with York performing the song live at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006. Her earlier releases include the self-titled Bird York and her EP Have No Fear was released independently in 2008. Bird York The Velvet Hour Wicked Little High Have No Fear EP Official site Kathleen York at the Internet Movie Database Paste Magazine spotlight - 7/25 Band/Artist of the Week
Kathleen York
–
Kathleen York
40.
Marina Sirtis
–
Marina Sirtis is a British-American actress. Marina Sirtis was born in the East End of London, the daughter of working-class Greek parents Despina, a tailors assistant and she was brought up in Harringay, North London. While still in school, Sirtis secretly auditioned for drama school, against her parents wishes, ultimately being accepted to the Guildhall School of Music. In 1976, at the age of 21, Sirtis graduated from Guildhall, in 1986, at the age of 31, Sirtis emigrated to the United States, settling in Los Angeles, to boost her career. She later became a naturalized US citizen, Sirtis started her career as a member of the repertory company at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, West Sussex, in 1976. Directed by Nic Young, she appeared in Joe Ortons What the Butler Saw, before her role in Star Trek, Sirtis was featured in supporting roles in several films. In the 1983 Faye Dunaway film The Wicked Lady, she engaged in a fight with Dunaway. In the Charles Bronson sequel Death Wish 3, Sirtis character is a rape victim, in the film Blind Date, she appears as a prostitute who is murdered by a madman. Other early works include numerous guest-starring roles on British television series, Sirtis appeared in Raffles, Who Pays the Ferryman, Hazell, Minder, the Jim Davidson sitcom Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. She also played the stewardess in a 1979 Cinzano Bianco television commercial starring Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins, in 1986, Sirtis relocated to the US. Sirtis and Denise Crosby initially tried out for each others eventual roles on The Next Generation, Sirtis character was going to be named Lt. Macha Hernandez, the Security Chief. Gene Roddenberry decided to switch them, and Macha Hernandez became Natasha Yar, Sirtis recalls that on the day she received the call offering her the role of Deanna Troi, she was actually packing to return to Britain, because her six-month visa had expired. Deanna Troi is a half-human, half-Betazoid and her Betazoid abilities allow her to read the emotions of others. Her position on the Enterprise-D is ships counselor, looking after the crews well-being and serving as trusted advisor to Captain Picard, initially, the writers found it difficult to write for Troi and even left her out of four of the first-season episodes. Sirtis appeared in all seven seasons of Star Trek, The Next Generation and she has stated her favourite episode is season sixs Face of the Enemy, in which Troi is kidnapped and surgically altered to pose as a Romulan. So I got all my brains back and I was allowed to do things that I hadnt been allowed to do for five or six years. I went on away teams, I was in charge of staff, I had my pips back, I had phasers, I had all the equipment again, and it was fabulous. During her time on the show, she became friends with her co-stars Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn
Marina Sirtis
–
Sirtis at Phoenix Comicon, 2012
Marina Sirtis
–
Sirtis in 2012, showing her tattoo of the logo of English football team
Tottenham Hotspur
Marina Sirtis
–
2005 Star Trek Convention
41.
Monk (TV series)
–
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the eponymous character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a police procedural series, the series was produced by Mandeville Films and Touchstone Television in association with Universal Television. The series debuted on July 12,2002, on USA Network and it continued for eight seasons, with the final season concluding on December 4,2009. Adrian Monk was a brilliant detective for the San Francisco Police Department until his wife, Trudy, was killed by a car bomb in a parking garage, in a later episode, he discovers the bomb was truly meant for Trudy. He later believes that Trudys death was part of a conspiracy that she had uncovered during her time as a journalist. Trudys death led Monk to suffer a nervous breakdown and he was then discharged from the force and became a recluse, refusing to leave his house for three and a half years. Until the final episode, Trudys death was Monks only unsolved case and he is finally able to leave the house with the help of his nurse, Sharona Fleming. Monks compulsive habits are numerous, and a number of phobias compound his situation, Monk has 312 fears, some of which are milk, ladybugs, harmonicas, heights, imperfection, claustrophobia, driving, food touching on his plates, messes and risk. He however had a breakthrough from claustrophobia later in the series, the OCPD and plethora of phobias inevitably lead to very awkward situations and cause problems for Monk and anyone around him as he investigates cases. These same personal struggles, particularly the OCPD, are what aid him in solving cases, such as his memory, specific mindset. In one episode entitled Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan, in another episode, he tries to conquer his fears by doing various activities which involved his phobias. Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randy Disher call on Monk when they have trouble with an investigation, Stottlemeyer is often irritated by Monks behavior but respects his friend and former colleagues amazing insight and observational abilities, as does Disher. Ever since childhood, Monks obsessive attention to detail allowed him to spot tiny discrepancies, find patterns, something someone says or does usually triggers Monk to make the connection. In his spare time, Monk continues to search for information about his wifes death and he dedicates his life to solving other murders because he feels this is fixing disorder in the world. He becomes especially intrigued when a woman is killed, or when someone is killed with some type of bomb, because this reminds him of Trudys murder. In the middle of three, Sharona decides to remarry her ex-husband and move back to New Jersey, prompting Mr. Monk to hire Natalie Teeger as his new assistant. Natalie is a widow and mother of a daughter, Julie. Monk discovers Natalie when she is involved in a murder case herself, in Mr. Monk, Monk has a brother Ambrose and a half-brother, Jack, Jr. whom Monk never knew about until his father tells him in season five
Monk (TV series)
–
Jason Gray-Stanford,
Traylor Howard and
Tony Shalhoub sign autographs at
Edwards Air Force Base after the season 4 episode "
Mr. Monk and the Astronaut ".
42.
The Last Emperor
–
Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures. Puyis life is depicted from his ascent to the throne as a boy to his imprisonment. The film stars John Lone as Puyi, with Joan Chen, Peter OToole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Maggie Han, Ric Young, Vivian Wu, and Chen Kaige. It was the first occidental feature film for which the producers were authorized by the Peoples Republic of China to film in the Forbidden City in Beijing and it won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. The film opens in 1950, five years after the capture of Puyi by the Red Army when the Soviet Union entered the Pacific War in 1945, in the recently established Peoples Republic of China, Puyi arrives as a political prisoner and war criminal at the Fushun Prison. Soon after his arrival, Puyi attempts suicide, but is quickly revived, throughout the film there is a series of flashbacks. 42 years earlier, in 1908, Puyi is summoned to the Forbidden City by the dying Empress Dowager Cixi, after telling him that the previous emperor had died earlier that day, with her last words, Cixi tells Puyi that he will be the next emperor. After his coronation, Puyi, frightened by his new surroundings, repeatedly expresses his wish to go home, which is denied him. Despite having scores of palace eunuchs and maids to wait on him, his real friend is his wet nurse. The final minutes of the shows a flash-forward to 1967 during the rise of Mao Zedongs cult of personality. By now, Puyi has become a gardener who lives a peasant proletarian existence. In the epilogue, Puyi later visits the Forbidden City as an ordinary tourist, there he meets an assertive little boy wearing the red scarf of the Pioneer Movement. The young Communist orders Puyi to step away from the throne, however, Puyi proves to the boy that he was indeed the Son of Heaven, proceeding to approach the throne. Behind it, Puyi finds a 60-year-old pet cricket that he was given by an elderly Mandarin on his coronation day, amazed by the gift, the boy turns to talk to Puyi, but the emperor has disappeared. The film ends with a flash-forward to 1987 where a guide is leading a group through the palace. Stopping in front of the throne, the guide sums up Puyis life in a few, brief sentences, the picture freeze-frames on the throne and the credits roll. Bernardo Bertolucci proposed the film to the Chinese government as one of two possible projects - the other was an adaptation of La Condition Humaine by André Malraux, the Chinese preferred The Last Emperor. Producer Jeremy Thomas managed to raise the $25 million budget for his ambitious independent production single-handedly, at one stage, he scoured the phone book for potential financiers
The Last Emperor
–
Promotional poster for the film
43.
Rotten Tomatoes
–
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by Senh Duong and since January 2010 has been owned by Flixster, in February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcasts Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, since 2007, the websites editor-in-chief has been Matt Atchity. The name, Rotten Tomatoes, derives from the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes when disapproving of a stage performance. From early 2008 to September 2010, Current Television aired the weekly The Rotten Tomatoes Show, featuring hosts, a shorter segment was incorporated into the weekly show, InfoMania, which ended in 2011. In September 2013, the website introduced TV Zone, a section for reviewing scripted TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12,1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His goal in creating Rotten Tomatoes was to create a site where people can get access to reviews from a variety of critics in the U. S. As a fan of Jackie Chans, Duong was inspired to create the website after collecting all the reviews of Chans movies as they were being published in the United States, the first movie whose reviews were featured on Rotten Tomatoes was Your Friends & Neighbors. The website was an success, receiving mentions by Netscape, Yahoo. and USA Today within the first week of its launch. They officially launched it on April 1,2000, in June 2004, IGN Entertainment acquired rottentomatoes. com for an undisclosed sum. In September 2005, IGN was bought by News Corps Fox Interactive Media, in January 2010, IGN sold the website to Flixster. The combined reach of both companies is 30 million unique visitors a month across all different platforms, according to the companies, in May 2011, Flixster was acquired by Warner Bros. In early 2009, Current Television launched the version of the web review site. It was hosted by Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox and written by Mark Ganek, the show aired every Thursday at 10,30 EST on the Current TV network. The last episode aired on September 16,2010 and it returned as a much shorter segment of InfoMania, a satirical news show that ended in 2011. By late 2009, the website was designed to enable Rotten Tomatoes users to create, one group, The Golden Oyster Awards, accepted votes of members for different awards, as if in parallel to the better-known Oscars or Golden Globes. When Flixster bought the company, they disbanded the groups, announcing, in the meantime, please use the Forums to continue your conversations about your favorite movie topics. As of February 2011, new community features have been added, for example, users can no longer sort films by fresh ratings from rotten ratings, and vice versa
Rotten Tomatoes
–
60–100%
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
–
≤0-59%
44.
Metacritic
–
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of media products, music albums, games, movies, TV shows, DVDs, and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged, Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source, a color of Green, Yellow or Red summarizes the critics recommendations and therefore the general appeal of the product to reviewers and, to a lesser extent, the public. It is regarded as the game industrys foremost review aggregator. Metacritics scoring converts each review into a percentage, either mathematically from the mark given, before being averaged, the scores are weighted according to the critics fame, stature, and volume of reviews. Metacritic was launched in July 1999 by Marc Doyle, his sister Julie Doyle Roberts, rotten Tomatoes was already compiling movie reviews, but Doyle, Roberts, and Dietz saw an opportunity to cover a broader range of media. They sold Metacritic to CNET in 2005, CNET and Metacritic are now owned by the CBS Corporation. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal wrote in September 2004, Mr. Doyle,36, is now a product manager at CNET. Speaking of video games, Doyle said, A site like ours helps people cut through. unobjective promotional language and he added that the review process was not taken as seriously when unconnected magazines and websites provided reviews in isolation. In August 2010, the appearance was revamped, reaction from users was overwhelmingly negative. Certain publications are given more significance because of their stature, games Editor Marc Doyle was interviewed by Keith Stuart of The Guardian to get a look behind the metascoring process. Stuart wrote, the phenomenon, namely Metacritic and GameRankings, have become an enormously important element of online games journalism over the past few years. The ranging of metascores is, Metacritic is regarded as the foremost online review site for the video game industry. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal has written that Metacritic influence the sales of games and he explains its influence as coming from the higher cost of buying video games than music or movie tickets. Many executives say that low scores can hurt the sales potential. He claimed that a number of businesses and financial analysts use Metacritic as an early indicator of a games potential sales and, by extension. In 2004, Jason Hall of Warner Bros. began including quality metrics in contracts with partners licensing its movies for games, if a product does not at least achieve a specific score, some deals require the publisher to pay higher royalties. In 2008, Microsoft began using Metacritic averages to de-list underperforming Xbox Live Arcade games and these are the top 10 individual games with the highest scores on the site as of 2 April 2017
Metacritic
–
Metacritic
45.
Roger Ebert
–
Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic and historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, the two verbally sparred and traded humorous barbs while discussing films. They created and trademarked the phrase Two Thumbs Up, used when both hosts gave the film a positive review. After Siskel died in 1999, Ebert continued hosting the show with various co-hosts and then, starting in 2000, Ebert lived with cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands from 2002. This required treatments necessitating the removal of his jaw, which cost him the ability to speak or eat normally. His ability to write remained unimpaired, however, and he continued to publish frequently both online and in print until his death on April 4,2013. Roger Joseph Ebert was born in Urbana, Illinois, the child of Annabel, a bookkeeper, and Walter Harry Ebert. He was raised Roman Catholic, attending St. Marys elementary school and his paternal grandparents were German immigrants and his maternal ancestry was Irish and Dutch. In his senior year, he was president and editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper. In 1958, he won the Illinois High School Association state speech championship in radio speaking, regarding his early influences in film criticism, Ebert wrote in the 1998 parody collection Mad About the Movies, I learned to be a movie critic by reading Mad magazine. Mads parodies made me aware of the machine inside the skin – of the way a movie might look original on the outside, I did not read the magazine, I plundered it for clues to the universe. Pauline Kael lost it at the movies, I lost it at Mad magazine, Ebert began taking classes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an early-entrance student, completing his high-school courses while also taking his first university class. After graduating from Urbana High School in 1960, Ebert then attended and received his degree in 1964. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, One of the first movie reviews he ever wrote was a review of La Dolce Vita, published in The Daily Illini in October 1961. Ebert spent a semester as a student in the department of English there before attending the University of Cape Town on a Rotary fellowship for a year. He returned from Cape Town to his studies at Illinois for two more semesters and then, after being accepted as a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago. Instead Kogan referred Ebert to the city editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim Hoge and he attended doctoral classes at the University of Chicago while working as a general reporter at the Sun-Times for a year
Roger Ebert
–
Ebert giving an interview for
Sound Opinions in 2006
Roger Ebert
–
Roger Ebert (right) with
Russ Meyer in 1970.
Roger Ebert
–
Ebert and his wife Chaz Hammelsmith Ebert (left) giving the thumbs up to
Nancy Kwan (right) at the
Hawaii International Film Festival on October 20, 2010
Roger Ebert
–
Ebert (right) at the
Conference on World Affairs in September 2002, shortly after his cancer diagnosis
46.
Empire (film magazine)
–
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media of Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney, Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling magazine in the United Kingdom and is also published in the United States, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Italy. Empire organises the annual Empire Awards which were sponsored by Sony Ericsson, the awards are voted for by readers of the magazine. Empire is populist in both approach and coverage and it reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature articles concentrate on the former. As well as news, previews, and reviews, Empire has some other regular features. Each issue features a Classic Scene, a transcript from a film scene. The first such classic scene to be featured was the I could have been a scene from On the Waterfront. The regular Top 10 feature lists Empires choice of the top ten examples of something film-related, for example,10 Best Chase Scenes or 10 Best Movie Gags in The Simpsons. The Re. View section covers Blu-ray and DVD news and releases, Kim Newmans Movie Dungeon is a regular feature in the Re. View section, in which critic Kim Newman reviews the most obscure releases, mostly low budget horror movies. How much Is Pint of Milk presents celebrities answers to silly or unusual questions and this is intended as a guide to the chosen celebritys contact with reality, and as such can be more informative than a direct interview by reporting some surprising responses. Each magazine includes a Spine Quote, in which a relatively challenging quote is printed on the spine of the magazine, there are usually some obvious and obscure links from the quote to the main features of that months edition. Readers are invited to identify the source and the links to win a prize. Celebrity Mastermind is another regular in which a celebrity is given questions about the films they were in or they directed, celebrities range from Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Lee to John Carpenter and Michael Keaton. A regular feature since issue 167, the feature is a two-page essay on a film selected by Empire in the Re. View section. The selection of the films seem to be random and follow no specific pattern. Only a few issues since the first masterpiece feature have not featured one –169,179,196,197,198 and 246, Issue 240 had director Frank Darabont select 223 masterpieces. L. A. Confidential was featured twice, once in issue 191 and this list is as follows, Alien – Dinner chestburster The Omen – Glass decapitation An American Werewolf in London – Wolf transformation The Exorcist – Crucifix abuse Risky Business – Ready Ralph
Empire (film magazine)
–
Cover of the July 2011 issue, featuring
Emma Watson,
Daniel Radcliffe, and
Rupert Grint
47.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
–
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American writer, journalist, and educator. Coates is a correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about cultural, social and political issues. Coates has worked for The Village Voice, Washington City Paper and he has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, O, and other publications. In 2008 he published a memoir, The Beautiful Struggle, A Father, Two Sons, and his second book, Between the World and Me, was released in July 2015. It won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction, and is a nominee for the Phi Beta Kappa 2016 Book Awards and he was the recipient of a Genius Grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2015. Coates was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to father William Paul Paul Coates, a Vietnam War veteran, former Black Panther, publisher and librarian, and mother Cheryl Waters, Coates father founded and ran Black Classic Press, a publisher specializing in African-American titles. The Press grew out of an organization, the George Jackson Prison Movement. Initially the GJPM operated a Black book store called the Black Book, later Black Classic Press was established with a table-top printing press in the basement of the Coates family home. Coates father had seven children, five boys and two girls, by four women, Coates fathers first wife had three children, Coates mother had two boys, and the other two women each had a child. The children were raised together in a family, most lived with their mothers. Coates said he lived with his father the whole time, in Coates family, he said that the important overarching focus was on rearing children with values based on family, respect for elders and being a contribution to your community. This approach to family was common in the community where he grew up, Coates grew up in the Mondawmin neighborhood of Baltimore during the crack epidemic. Coates interest in books was instilled at an age when his mother, in response to bad behavior. His fathers work with the Black Classic Press was a huge influence, Coates attended a number of Baltimore-area schools, including William H. Lemmel Middle School and Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, before graduating from Woodlawn High School. Coates father got a job as a librarian at Howard University, after high school, Coates attended Howard University. He left after five years to start a career in journalism and he is the only child in his family without a college degree. In mid-2014, Coates attended a program in French at Middlebury College to prepare for a writing fellowship in Paris. Coates first journalism job was as a reporter at the The Washington City Paper, from 2000 to 2007, Coates worked as a journalist at various publications, including Philadelphia Weekly, The Village Voice and Time
Ta-Nehisi Coates
–
Coates delivering the keynote speech at the
University of Virginia 's 2015 Community
MLK Celebration
Ta-Nehisi Coates
–
Coates at the 2010
Brooklyn Book Festival
48.
Brokeback Mountain
–
Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 American neo-western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the name by Annie Proulx. The film received acclaim and commercial success. In 1963, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are hired by Joe Aguirre to herd his sheep through the summer in the Wyoming mountains, after a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a pass at Ennis, who is initially hesitant but eventually responds to Jacks advances. Despite Ennis informing Jack that it was an incident, they develop a passionate sexual and emotional relationship. Shortly after discovering their summer together is being cut short, they briefly fight, after Jack and Ennis part ways, Ennis marries his longtime fiancé Alma Beers and has two daughters with her. Jack returns the next summer seeking work, but Aguirre, who observed Jack and Ennis on the mountain, Jack moves to Texas, where he meets, marries, and has a son with rodeo rider Lureen Newsome. After four years, Jack visits Ennis, upon meeting, the two kiss passionately, which Alma observes. Jack broaches the subject of creating a life together on a small ranch and he is also unwilling to abandon his family. Ennis and Jack continue to meet for infrequent fishing trips, the marriages of both men deteriorate. Lureen abandons the rodeo, going into business with her father, Alma and Ennis eventually divorce in 1975. Hearing about Ennis divorce, Jack drives to Wyoming and he suggests again that they should live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children. Jack finds solace with male prostitutes in Mexico, Ennis sees his family regularly until Alma finally confronts him about her knowing the true nature of his relationship with Jack. This results in a violent argument, causing Ennis to abandon his connections with Alma, Ennis meets and has a brief romantic relationship with Cassie Cartwright, a waitress. Jack and Lureen meet and befriend another couple, Randall and Lashawn Malone and it is implied that Jack begins an affair with Randall, although he later tells Ennis he had a relationship with a woman, who is assumed to be Lashawn. At the end of a fishing trip with Jack, Ennis tries to delay their next meeting. Jacks frustration erupts into argument, and Ennis blames Jack for being the cause of his own conflicted actions, Jack tries to hold him and there is a brief struggle, but they end up locked in an embrace. Jack watches as Ennis drives away, some time later, Ennis receives a postcard he had sent to Jack, stamped Deceased
Brokeback Mountain
–
Theatrical release poster
Brokeback Mountain
–
Miller speaking to protesters at the
University of Utah regarding his decision.
49.
The Sting
–
The Sting is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters to con a mob boss. The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who had directed Newman and Redford in the western Butch Cassidy, the title phrase refers to the moment when a con artist finishes the play and takes the marks money. If a con is successful, the mark does not realize he has been taken, the film is played out in distinct sections with old-fashioned title cards, the lettering and illustrations rendered in a style reminiscent of the Saturday Evening Post. The film is noted for its use of ragtime, particularly the melody The Entertainer by Scott Joplin. The films success created a resurgence of interest in Joplins work, the Sting was hugely successful at the 46th Academy Awards, being nominated for 10 Oscars and winning seven, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. The film takes place in 1936, at the height of the Great Depression, johnny Hooker, a grifter in Joliet, Illinois, cons $11,000 in cash in a pigeon drop from an unsuspecting victim with the aid of his partners Luther Coleman and Joe Erie. Buoyed by the windfall, Luther announces his retirement and advises Hooker to seek out an old friend, Henry Gondorff, unfortunately, their victim was a numbers racket courier for vicious crime boss Doyle Lonnegan. Corrupt Joliet police Lieutenant William Snyder confronts Hooker, revealing Lonnegans involvement, having already spent his share, Hooker pays Snyder in counterfeit bills. Lonnegans men murder both the courier and Luther, and Hooker flees for his life to Chicago, Hooker finds Henry Gondorff, a once-great con-man now hiding from the FBI, and asks for his help in taking on the dangerous Lonnegan. Gondorff is initially reluctant, but he relents and recruits a team of experienced con men to con Lonnegan. They decide to resurrect an elaborate obsolete scam known as the wire, aboard the opulent 20th Century Limited, Gondorff, posing as boorish Chicago bookie Shaw, buys into Lonnegans private, high-stakes poker game. Shaw infuriates Lonnegan with his obnoxious behavior, then out-cheats him to win $15,000, Hooker, posing as Shaws disgruntled employee, Kelly, is sent to collect the winnings and instead convinces Lonnegan that he wants to take over Shaws operation. Kelly reveals that he has a partner named Les Harmon in the Chicago Western Union office, at the same time, Lonnegan has grown frustrated with the inability of his men to find and kill Hooker. Unaware that Kelly is Hooker, he demands that Salino, his best assassin, a mysterious figure with black leather gloves is then seen following and observing Hooker. Kellys connection appears effective, as Harmon provides Lonnegan with the winner of one horse race, Lonnegan agrees to finance a $500,000 bet at Shaws parlor to break Shaw and gain revenge. Shortly thereafter, Snyder captures Hooker and brings him before FBI Agent Polk, Polk forces Hooker to betray Gondorff by threatening to incarcerate Luther Colemans widow. The night before the sting, Hooker sleeps with Loretta, a waitress from a local restaurant, as Hooker leaves the building the next morning, he sees Loretta walking toward him. The black-gloved man appears behind Hooker and shoots her dead – she was Lonnegans hired killer, Loretta Salino, armed with Harmon’s tip to place it on Lucky Dan, Lonnegan makes the $500,000 bet at Shaw’s parlor on Lucky Dan to win
The Sting
–
Theatrical release poster by
Richard Amsel
The Sting
–
Filming on location in
Pasadena, California. Stand-ins are used to set up the shot.
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