1.
Longview, Texas
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Longview is a city in Gregg and Harrison counties in the U. S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 80,455, the estimated population in 2015 was 82,287. Most of the city is located in Gregg County, of which it is the county seat, Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U. S. Highways 80 and 259 converge just north of the Sabine River, Longview is the principal city of the Longview Metropolitan Statistical Area, comprising Gregg, Upshur, and Rusk counties. Longview is considered a hub city for East Texas, as is the nearby city of Tyler. In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked Longview as the sixth fastest-growing small city in the United States, Longview was founded in the 1870s by Ossamus Hitch Methvin, Sr. In 1870, Methvin sold 100 acres to the Southern Pacific Railroad for one dollar to persuade them to build their line in the direction of land he owned, later that year, he sold another 100 acres for $500 in gold. He hoped the coming of the railroad would increase the value of the rest of his land, Methvin coined the name of the town when he stated, What a long view. In June 1871, Longview was incorporated as the first town in Gregg County, in July 1919, a reporter for The Chicago Defender was in Longview looking into the mysterious death of a black man named Lemuel Walters. An armed white mob attacked a home where the reporter, S. L, jones, was staying and attempted to batter their way in. A gunfight began between the attackers and the men in the house, the white men then began to burn buildings in the black section of the town. In 1942, construction began on the Big Inch pipeline in Longview, from 1943 to 1945, the pipeline transported over 261,000,000 barrels of crude oil to the East Coast. At the time of construction, Big Inch and its twin, Little Inch. Both were integral in supplying the United States war effort in World War II, Longview is located at 32°30′33″N 94°45′14″W. It is bordered to the west by the city of White Oak and is surrounded by other cities and towns, including Kilgore, Gladewater, Gilmer, Ore City, Harleton, Hallsville. It is 37 miles northeast of the similarly sized city of Tyler, incorporated areas include Spring Hill, Greggton, Pine Tree, Judson, and Longview Heights. Average snowfall is less than 2 inches, with one or two ice storms each winter. Normal highs are from the 50s–60s, lows range from the 30s to the 40s
2.
Bird (film)
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Bird is a 1988 American biographical film, produced and directed by Clint Eastwood of a screenplay written by Joel Oliansky. The film is a tribute to the life and music of jazz saxophonist Charlie Bird Parker and it is constructed as a montage of scenes from Parkers life, from his childhood in Kansas City, through his early death at the age of 34. The film moves back and forth through Parkers history, blending moments to find some truth to his life. Much of the movie revolves around his only grounding relationships with wife Chan Parker, Bebop pioneer trumpet player and band leader Dizzy Gillespie, forest Whitaker as Charlie Bird Parker Diane Venora as Chan Parker Michael Zelniker as Red Rodney Samuel E. There was a delay of a few years while the trade was completed, the film was eventually shot in 52 days for $14.4 million, not counting Eastwoods fee, although in interviews Eastwood sometimes said the film only cost $9 million to make. Locations used for filming include the Sacramento Valley, Los Angeles, Bird received positive reviews from critics, scoring a 78% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Forest Whitakers performance as Parker earned him acclaim and several awards, including the Best Actor award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival. In addition, the also won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association. Another common criticism of the film is that it overstates Parkers level of fame, Eastwood had some recordings of Parker made by Parkers wife, Chan, from which he had a sound engineer electronically isolate Parkers solos. Contemporary musicians such as Ray Brown, Walter Davis, Jr. Ron Carter, Barry Harris, Dizzy Gillespie was on tour at the time of recording, so trumpet player Jon Faddis was hired to record his parts. Bird at the Internet Movie Database Bird at Rotten Tomatoes Bird at AllMovie Bird at Box Office Mojo
3.
The Crying Game
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The Crying Game is a 1992 thriller film written and directed by Neil Jordan. The film explores themes of race, gender, nationality, however, unexpected events force Fergus to decide what he wants for the future, and ultimately what his nature dictates he must do. The IRA demands the release of jailed IRA members, threatening to execute Jody in three days if their demands are not met, Fergus is tasked to guard Jody and develops a bond with the prisoner, much to the chagrin of the other IRA men. During this time, Jody tells Fergus the story of the Scorpion, Jody persuades Fergus to promise to seek out his girlfriend Dil in London should Jody be killed. The deadline set by Jodys captors passes and with none of the IRAs demands being met, when Fergus takes him into the woods to carry out the sentence, Jody makes a break for it. With his IRA companions seemingly dead after the attack, Fergus flees to London, a few months later, Fergus finds Dil at a hair salon. Later they talk in a bar, where he sees her singing The Crying Game, Fergus suffers from guilt about Jodys death and sees him in his dreams bowling a cricket ball to him. He pursues Dil, protecting her from a suitor and falling in love with her. Later, when he is about to love to her in her apartment. His initial reaction is of revulsion, rushing to the bathroom to throw up, he accidentally hits Dil in the face. A few days later, he leaves her a note and the two make up, despite everything, Fergus is still attracted to Dil. Around the same time, Jude unexpectedly reappears in Fergus apartment and she tells him that the IRA tried and convicted him in absentia, and she forces him to agree to help with a new mission to aid in assassinating a judge. She also mentions that she knows about Fergus and Dil, warning him that the IRA will kill her if Fergus does not co-operate, Fergus, unable to overcome his feelings for Dil, continues to woo her. To shield her from possible retribution, he gives her a haircut, the night before the IRA mission is to be carried out, Dil gets heavily drunk and Fergus escorts her to her apartment, where she asks him to stay with her. Fergus complies, then admits he had a hand in Jodys death. Dil, drunk, appears not to understand, but in the morning, before Fergus wakes up and she unwittingly prevents Fergus from joining the other IRA members and completing the planned assassination. Holding Fergus at gunpoint, Dil forces him to tell her that he loves her and she unties him, saying that, even if he is lying, it is nice to hear his words. Dil then breaks down in tears, meanwhile, Jude and Maguire gun the judge down, but Maguire is shot dead by one of the bodyguards
4.
Platoon (film)
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Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone, starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, and Charlie Sheen. It is the first film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films directed by Stone, followed by Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven & Earth. Stone wrote the screenplay based upon his experiences as a U. S. infantryman in Vietnam, Platoon was the first Hollywood film to be written and directed by a veteran of the Vietnam War. Platoon won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1986, it also won Best Director for Oliver Stone, as well as Best Sound Mixing, in 1998, the American Film Institute placed Platoon at #83 in their AFIs 100 Years. In 1967, U. S. Army volunteer Chris Taylor arrives in Vietnam and is assigned to a platoon near the Cambodian border. Taylor is immediately sent out with Barnes, Elias and veteran soldiers on a night ambush for a North Vietnamese Army force. The NVA soldiers manage to get close to the sleeping Americans before a brief firefight ensues, Taylors fellow new recruit Gardener is killed, after his return from hospital, Taylor bonds with Elias and his circle of marijuana-smokers while remaining aloof from Barnes and his more hard-edged followers. During a subsequent patrol, three men are killed by traps and unseen assailants. Already on edge, the platoon is further angered when they discover an enemy supply, Elias then arrives, getting into a physical altercation with Barnes over the killing before Wolfe breaks it up and orders the supplies destroyed and the village razed. Taylor later prevents a gang-rape of two girls by some of Barnes men, on their next patrol, the platoon is ambushed and pinned down in a firefight, in which numerous soldiers are wounded. More men are wounded when Lieutenant Wolfe accidentally directs an artillery strike onto his own unit before Barnes calls it off, Elias takes Taylor and two other men to intercept flanking enemy troops. Barnes orders the rest of the platoon to retreat and goes back into the jungle to find Elias group, Barnes finds Elias alone and shoots him, then returns and tells the others that Elias was killed by the enemy. While the platoon is extracting via helicopter, they glimpse Elias, mortally wounded, emerging from the treeline and being chased by a group of North Vietnamese soldiers, noting Barnes anxious manner, Taylor realizes that he was responsible. At the base, Taylor attempts to talk his group into fragging Barnes in retaliation when Barnes, having them, enters the room. Taylor assaults the intoxicated Barnes but is quickly overpowered, Barnes cuts Taylor near his eye with a push dagger before departing. The platoon is sent back to the front line to maintain defensive positions and that night, a major NVA assault occurs, and the defensive lines are broken. Much of the platoon, including Wolfe and most of Barnes followers, are killed in the ensuing battle, during the attack, an NVA sapper, armed with explosives, destroys the battalion headquarters in a suicide attack. Now in command of the defense, Captain Harris orders his air support to all their remaining ordnance inside his perimeter
5.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
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Ghost Dog, The Way of the Samurai is a 1999 American crime action film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. Critics have noted similarities between the movie and Jean-Pierre Melvilles 1967 film Le Samouraï, Ghost Dog sees himself as a retainer of Louie, a local mobster, who saved Ghost Dogs life years ago. While living as a hitman for the American Mafia, he adheres to the code of the samurai. Louie tells Ghost Dog to kill a gangster, Handsome Frank, Ghost Dog arrives and kills the gangster, before seeing that the girl is also in the room at the time, she lends him a book, he leaves her alive, and exits. In order to avoid being implicated in the murder of a man, Vargo. Louie knows practically nothing about Ghost Dog, and the hitman communicates only by homing pigeon, the mobsters start by tracing all the pigeon coops in town. They find Ghost Dogs cabin atop a building and kill his pigeons, Ghost Dog realizes he must kill the entire mafia or otherwise they will kill him and his master. During the day, Ghost Dog frequently visits the park to see his best friend, Ghost Dog does not understand French and Raymond does not understand English, but the two seem to understand each other. Ghost Dog also makes friends with a girl named Pearline, to whom he lends the book —Rashōmon. Eventually, Ghost Dog attacks Vargos mansion single-handedly and kills almost everyone he encounters, sparing only Louie, at night, Ghost Dog kills Sonny Valerio in his house, shooting a bullet through Valerio´s bathroom pipe. Ghost Dog is later expecting that Louie attacks him and he goes to the park and gives Raymond all his money, helping him to stay in the country and build a boat. Pearline appears and gives back Rashōmon to Ghost Dog, expressing that she liked it, Ghost Dog then gives Pearline his copy of Hagakure and encourages her to read it. Though Louie feels some loyalty to Ghost Dog, he finally confronts Ghost Dog at Raymonds ice cream stand with Raymond, Ghost Dog is unwilling to attack his master and allows Louie to kill him. His last act is to give Louie the copy of Rashōmon and it is then revealed that Vargos daughter ordered Louie to murder Ghost Dog. Pearline takes Ghost Dogs gun and shoots at Louie, but the gun is empty, Ghost Dog dies peacefully with Raymond and Pearline at his side. Later, Pearline reads passionately the Hagakure, indicating that she may follow Ghost Dogs way in the future, license plates reveal it is in The Industrial State and a vehicle from another state has on its license plate The Highway State, both of which are fictional state nicknames. Critical response to the film was largely positive, on the Rotten Tomatoes review site, the film received an 82% Certified Fresh rating. The critical consensus was that the movie is An innovative blend of samurai, the film was nominated for a few awards but did not win any of them
6.
The Great Debaters
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The Great Debaters is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by and starring Denzel Washington. It is based on an article written about the Wiley College debate team by Tony Scherman for the spring 1997 issue of American Legacy, the film co-stars Forest Whitaker, Kimberly Elise, Nate Parker, Gina Ravera, Jermaine Williams and Jurnee Smollett. The screenplay was written by Robert Eisele, the film was released in theaters on December 25,2007. Based on a story, the plot revolves around the efforts of debate coach Melvin B. In the movie, the Wiley team eventually succeeds to the point where they are able to debate Harvard University and this was their 47th annual debate team. The movie also explores the social constructs in Texas during the Great Depression including not only the day-to-day insults and slights African Americans endured, also depicted is James L. Farmer, Jr. who, at 14 years old, was on Wileys debate team after completing high school. Wells also happened to be a minor African American poet whose papers are housed at the Library of Congress, the key line of dialogue, used several times, is a famous paraphrase of Augustine of Hippo, An unjust law is no law at all. Another major line, repeated in different versions according to context. In all instances, these lines are spoken by the James L. Farmer Sr. and James L. Farmer. The film depicts the Free Wiley Debate team beating Harvard College in the 1930s and they did not debate Harvard, however. The debate depicted in the film mirrored the match up between Wiley and the University of Southern California, who at the time were the reigning debating champions. Wiley College did indeed win this matchup, according to Robert Eisele, In that era, there was much at stake when a black college debated any white school, particularly one with the stature of Harvard. We used Harvard to demonstrate the heights they achieved, the Great Debaters debuted at No.11 in its first weekend with a total of $6,005,180 from 1,171 venues. The film grossed $30,236,407 in the US, as of November 20,2012 the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 79% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 131 reviews. The consensus reads, A wonderful cast and top-notch script elevate The Great Debaters beyond a familiar formula for a touching, uplifting drama, metacritic reported the film had an average score of 65 out of 100 based on 32 reviews. Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer named it the 5th best film of 2007, some critics have criticized the film for playing it safe. Cities of focus included Denver, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, on December 19,2007, Denzel Washington announced a $1 million donation to Wiley College so they could re-establish their debate team. June 2007, after completing filming at Central High School, Grand Cane, Louisiana, the Great Debaters was released on DVD on May 13,2008 on 1-disc and 2-disc editions
7.
The Butler
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The Butler is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and produced by Lee Daniels and written by Danny Strong. It was the last film produced by Laura Ziskin, who died in 2011, the film was theatrically released by The Weinstein Company on August 16,2013, to mostly positive reviews and grossing over $176 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million. In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines recounts his story while waiting at the White House to meet the newly inaugurated president. In 1926, at the age of seven, Gaines is raised on a plantation in Macon. When the farms owner rapes Cecils mother, Cecils father confronts him and is killed, Cecil is taken in by the estates caretaker, who trains Cecil as a house servant. In 1937, at age eighteen, Cecil leaves the plantation, desperately hungry, he breaks into a hotel pastry shop. The elderly master servant, Maynard, takes pity on Cecil, Cecil learns advanced serving and interpersonal skills from Maynard, who later recommends Cecil for a position in a Washington, D. C. hotel. While working there, Cecil meets and marries Gloria, and the couple has two sons, Louis and Charlie, in 1957, Cecil is hired by the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhowers administration. White House maître dhôtel Freddie Fallows introduces Cecil to head butler Carter Wilson, Cecil witnesses Eisenhowers reluctance to use troops to enforce school desegregation, then his resolve to uphold the law by racially integrating Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Louis, the son, becomes a university student at Fisk University in Tennessee. Louis joins a student program led by Southern Christian Leadership Conference activist James Lawson, which leads to a nonviolent sit-in at a segregated diner, Gloria, who feels that Cecil puts his job ahead of her, descends into alcoholism. In 1961, after John F. Kennedys inauguration, Louis and others are attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan while on a ride to Birmingham. As a goodwill gesture, Jackie Kennedy gives Cecil one of the former presidents neckties, Louis participates in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, which inspires Johnson to demand that Congress enact the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson also gives Cecil a tie bar, in the late 1960s, after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. s assassination, Louis tells his family that he has joined the Black Panthers. Cecil orders Louis and his girlfriend to leave his house, Cecil becomes aware of President Richard Nixons plans to suppress the Black Panthers. Charlie confides to Louis that he plans to join the war in Vietnam, after enlisting, Charlie is killed and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. When the Black Panthers resort to violence, Louis leaves the organization and returns to college, earning his masters degree in political science, Cecil repeatedly confronts his supervisor at the White House over the unequal pay and career advancement provided to the black White House staff. With President Ronald Reagans support, Cecil prevails, his growing to the point that he
8.
Rogue One
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It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the first installment of the Star Wars Anthology series, the cast includes Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Rogue One follows a group of rebels on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star, principal photography on the film began at Elstree Studios near London during early August 2015 and wrapped in February 2016. The film went through extensive reshoots and additional filming in mid-June 2016, the film premiered in Los Angeles on December 10,2016, and was released in the United States on December 16,2016. The film has grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film of 2016 and it received two Academy Awards nominations for Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. Research scientist Galen Erso and his family are in hiding on the planet Lahmu, Imperial weapons developer Orson Krennic arrives to press him into completing the Death Star, a space station-based superweapon capable of destroying planets. Galens wife Lyra is killed in the confrontation while their daughter Jyn escapes and is taken to safety by Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera, fifteen years later, cargo pilot Bodhi Rook defects from the Empire, smuggling a holographic message from Galen to Gerrera on the desert moon Jedha. Cassian is covertly ordered by General Draven, an Alliance military officer, with the aid of blind spiritual warrior Chirrut Îmwe and his mercenary friend Baze Malbus, Jyn makes contact with Gerrera, who has been holding Rook captive. On the Death Star, Krennic orders a low-powered shot from the superlaser to destroy Jedhas capital, Jyn and her group take Rook and flee the planet, but Gerrera remains to die with the city. Grand Moff Tarkin congratulates Krennic before using Rooks defection and security leak as a pretext to take control of the project, Rook leads the group to Galens Imperial research facility on the planet Eadu, where Cassian chooses not to kill Galen. When Krennic orders Galens team killed for causing the security leak, the research team is executed anyway. Jyn makes her presence known moments before Rebel bombers attack the facility, Galen is wounded and dies in his daughters arms, before she escapes with her group on board a stolen Imperial cargo shuttle. Krennic is summoned by Darth Vader, to answer for the attack on Eadu, Krennic seeks his support for an audience with the Emperor, Vader ignores it and orders him instead to ensure no further leaks about the Death Star occur. Jyn proposes a plan to steal the Death Star schematics using the Rebel fleet but fails to get approval from the Alliance Council, frustrated at their inaction, Jyns group is supported by a small squad of Rebel volunteers intent on raiding the databank themselves. The Rebel fleet learns about the raid from intercepted Imperial communications, K-2SO sacrifices himself so Jyn and Cassian can retrieve the data. Îmwe is killed after activating the switch to allow communication with the Rebel fleet. Rook is killed by a grenade after informing the Rebel fleet that it must deactivate the shield surrounding the planet to allow the transmission of the schematics, Malbus dies in battle shortly after. Jyn and Cassian seize the schematics, but they are ambushed by Krennic, Krennic corners Jyn, declaring the Empires victory, but Cassian, who has survived, shoots and wounds Krennic
9.
Black Panther (film)
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Black Panther is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is directed by Ryan Coogler from a screenplay by himself and Joe Robert Cole, and stars Chadwick Boseman as TChalla / Black Panther, alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyongo, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, in Black Panther, TChalla returns home as king of Wakanda but finds his sovereignty challenged by a long-time adversary in a conflict that has global consequences. Wesley Snipes first mentioned his intention to work on a Black Panther film in 1992, with that going through multiple iterations over the next decade. Black Panther was officially announced in October 2014, with Boseman appearing first in Captain America, by the end of 2015, Cole and Coogler had both joined the film, and additional cast members came on board beginning in May 2016. Black Panther is set to be released in the United States on February 16,2018, Chadwick Boseman as TChalla / Black Panther, The king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Producer Kevin Feige described the character as a bit of a prince, he may become a bit of a king. Boseman, who called TChalla an anti-hero, said that he is very aware of the responsibility and how important his role. He worked with the dialect coach he had during Message from the King for the film. Boseman signed a contract with Marvel. Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, A Wakandan exile who seeks to overthrow TChalla, corey Calliet once again served as Jordans trainer on the film, after doing so on Creed. Lupita Nyongo as Nakia, TChallas love interest and member of the Dora Milaje, Danai Gurira as Okoye, The head of the Dora Milaje. Gurira said that the skills she learned playing Michonne complemented the skills of Okoye. Okoye is a whole nother thing, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, A member of the Joint Counter Terrorism Center. Daniel Kaluuya as WKabi, A confidant to TChalla, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, TChallas mother. Calliet also served as Bassetts trainer, working with her before she began filming and while she was on set, Forest Whitaker as Zuri, An elder statesman in Wakanda. Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, A black-market arms dealer, smuggler and gangster working out of South Africa, additionally, Florence Kasumba and John Kani reprise their roles as Ayo and TChaka respectively from Captain America, Civil War. Winston Duke is cast as MBaku / Man-Ape, the leader of a rival Wakandan tribe, while Sterling K. Brown is cast as NJobu, a figure from TChallas past, Phylicia Rashad and Atandwa Kani have been cast in undisclosed roles
10.
Idi Amin
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Idi Amin Dada was a Ugandan political leader and military officer who served as the President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin was born in either Koboko or Kampala to a Kakwa father, in 1946 he joined the Kings African Rifles of the British Colonial Army. Initially a cook, he rose to the position of lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somali rebels in the Shifta War and then the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. Following Ugandas independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, Amin remained in the forces, rising to the position of major. Aware that Ugandan President Milton Obote was planning on arresting him for misappropriating army funds, Amin launched a 1971 military coup, in 1975, Amin became the chairman of the Organisation of African Unity, a Pan-Africanist group designed to promote solidarity among African states. During the 1977–1979 period, Uganda was a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, in 1977, when Britain broke diplomatic relations with Uganda, Amin declared he had defeated the British and added CBE, for Conqueror of the British Empire, to his title. Radio Uganda then announced his entire title, His Excellency President for Life, Field Marshal Alhaji Dr. Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, CBE. Dissent within Uganda and Amins attempt to annex the Kagera Region of Tanzania in 1978 led to the Uganda–Tanzania War, Amin then went into exile, first in Libya and then in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until his death on 16 August 2003. Amins rule was characterized by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers, Amin did not write an autobiography, and he did not authorize an official written account of his life. So, there are discrepancies regarding when and where he was born, most biographical sources claim that he was born in either Koboko or Kampala around 1925. Other unconfirmed sources state Amins year of birth from as early as 1923 to as late as 1928, Amins son Hussein has stated that his father was born in Kampala in 1928. According to Fred Guweddeko, a researcher at Makerere University, Amin was the son of Andreas Nyabire, Nyabire, a member of the Kakwa ethnic group, converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam in 1910 and changed his name to Amin Dada. He named his son after himself. Abandoned by his father at an age, Idi Amin grew up with his mothers family in a rural farming town in north-western Uganda. Guweddeko states that Amins mother was Assa Aatte, an ethnic Lugbara, Amin joined an Islamic school in Bombo in 1941. After a few years, he left school only a fourth-grade English-language education. Amin joined the Kings African Rifles of the British Colonial Army in 1946 as an assistant cook, in later life, he falsely claimed he was forced to join the army during World War II and that he served in the Burma Campaign
11.
The Last King of Scotland (film)
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The film was a co-production between companies from the United Kingdom and the United States, including Fox Searchlight Pictures and Film4, and was a financial success. The film tells the story of Nicholas Garrigan, a young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda. The film received critical acclaim. Particular focus went to Whitaker, who received outstanding critical acclaim for his portrayal of Amin and he won Best Actor at the Academy Awards, among others. In 1970, Nicholas Garrigan graduates from school at the University of Edinburgh. With dull prospects at home, he decides to seek adventure abroad by working at a Ugandan missionary clinic run by Dr. David Merrit and Merrits wife, Garrigan becomes attracted to Sarah, who enjoys the attention, but refuses to engage in an extramarital affair. Meanwhile, General Idi Amin overthrows incumbent president Milton Obote in a coup détat, Garrigan sincerely believes Amin will help the country, while Sarah warns him of presidents who have taken over before. Garrigan is called to a car accident where he treats Amins hand. During the incident, Garrigan takes a gun and shoots a mortally wounded cow because no one else has the presence of mind to put it out of its misery, Amin is impressed by his quick action and initiative. Later, Amin invites Garrigan to become his physician and take charge of modernising the countrys health care system. Garrigan soon becomes Amins trusted confidant and is relied on for more than medical care. Although Garrigan is aware of violence around Kampala, he accepts Amins explanation that cracking down on the opposition will bring lasting peace to the country. Garrigan discovers that the leader has ostracised the youngest of his three wives, Kay, because she has given birth to an epileptic son, Mackenzie. When treating Mackenzie, Garrigan and Kay form a relationship and sleep with each other, eventually, Garrigan begins to lose faith in Amin as he witnesses the increasing paranoia, murders, and xenophobia in expelling South Asians from the country. Amin replaces Garrigans British passport with a Ugandan one to prevent him escaping, which leads Garrigan to frantically seek help from Stone. Garrigan is told the British will help him leave Uganda if he uses his position to assassinate Amin, Kay informs Garrigan that she has become pregnant with his child. Aware that Amin will murder her for infidelity if he discovers this, delayed by Amins command that he attend a press conference with Western journalists, Garrigan fails to meet Kay at the appointed time. She concludes she has abandoned and seeks out a primitive abortion in a nearby village
12.
Academy Award for Best Actor
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The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered a performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with Emil Jannings receiving the award for his roles in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the branch of AMPAS. In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories, at that time, all of their work during the qualifying period was listed after the award. The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actor is nominated for a performance in a single film. Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year, since its inception, the award has been given to 79 actors. Daniel Day-Lewis has received the most awards in this category with three Oscars, spencer Tracy and Laurence Olivier were nominated on nine occasions, more than any other actor. As of the 2017 ceremony, Casey Affleck is the most recent winner in category for his role as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. 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
13.
Special education
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Special education is the practice of educating students with special educational needs in a way that addresses their individual differences and needs. Ideally, this involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials. Common special needs include learning disabilities, communication disorders, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, for example, even people of high intelligence can be under prepared if their education was disrupted, for example, by internal displacement during civil disorder or a war. In most developed countries, educators modify teaching methods and environments so that the number of students are served in general education environments. Therefore, special education in developed countries is often regarded as a rather than a place. Integration can reduce social stigmas and improve academic achievement for many students, the opposite of special education is general education. General education is the standard curriculum presented without special teaching methods or supports, some children are easily identified as candidates for special needs due to their medical history. The discrepancy model depends on the teacher noticing that the achievements are noticeably below what is expected. The response to intervention model advocates earlier intervention, although the discrepancy model has dominated the school system for many years, there has been substantial criticism of this approach among researchers. One reason for criticism is that diagnosing SLDs on the basis of the discrepancy between achievement and IQ does not predict the effectiveness of treatment. Low academic achievers who also have low IQ appear to benefit from treatment just as much as low academic achievers who have normal or high intelligence. The alternative approach, response to intervention, identifies children who are having difficulties in school in their first or second year after starting school and they then receive additional assistance such as participating in a reading remediation program. The response of the children to this intervention then determines whether they are designated as having a learning disability and those few who still have trouble may then receive designation and further assistance. Sternberg has argued that early remediation can greatly reduce the number of children meeting diagnostic criteria for learning disabilities, a special education program should be customised to address each individual students unique needs. Special educators provide a continuum of services, in which students with special needs receives varying degrees of support based on their individual needs, Special education programs need to be individualised so that they address the unique combination of needs in a given student. In the United States, Canada, and the UK, educational professionals use a student’s Individualized Education Program, the IEP is meant to address each child’s unique learning issues and include specific educational goals. It is a legally binding document, the school must provide everything it promises in the IEP. To ensure that federal law is obeyed, the government requires every school system provide this type of education to each student in order to receive federal funding
14.
Master's degree
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A masters degree normally requires previous study at the bachelors level, either as a separate degree or as part of an integrated course. The original meaning of the degree was thus that someone who had been admitted to the rank of master in one university should be admitted to the same rank in other universities. This gradually became formalised as the licentia docendi, initially, the Bachelor of Arts was awarded for the study of the trivium and the Master of Arts for the study of the quadrivium. The nineteenth century saw an expansion in the variety of masters degrees offered. By 1861 this had been adopted throughout Scotland as well as by Cambridge and Durham in England, when the Philadelphia College of Surgeons was established in 1870, it too conferred the Master of Surgery, the same as that in Europe. In the United States, the first masters degrees were awarded at Harvard University soon after its foundation, at Harvard the 1700 regulations required that candidates for the masters degree had to pass a public examination, but by 1835 this was awarded Oxbridge-style 3 years after the BA. In Scotland, Edinburgh maintained separate BA and MA degrees until the mid nineteenth century, in Scotland all the statutes of the Universities which enforced conditions on the grant of degrees were a dead letter. Probably the most important masters degree introduced in the 19th century was the Master of Science, at the University of Michigan this was introduced in two forms in 1858, in course, first awarded in 1859, and on examination, first awarded in 1862. The in course MS was last awarded in 1876, in Britain, however, the degree took a while longer to arrive. The same two degrees, again omitting the masters, were awarded at Edinburgh, despite the MA being the undergraduate degree for Arts in Scotland. In 1862, a Royal Commission suggested that Durham should award masters degrees in theology and science and this scheme would appear to have then been quietly dropped, with Oxford going on to award BAs and MAs in science. The Master of Science degree was introduced in Britain in 1878 at Durham. At the Victoria University both the MA and MSc followed the lead of Durhams MA in requiring an examination for those with an ordinary bachelors degree. The Bologna declaration in 1999 started the Bologna Process, leading to the creation of the European Higher Education Area, as the process continued, descriptors were introduced for all three levels in 2004, and ECTS credit guidelines were developed. This led to questions as to the status of the masters degrees. In 1903, the London Daily News criticised the practice of Oxford and Cambridge, calling their MAs the most stupendous of academic frauds, in 1900, Dartmouth College introduced the Master of Commercial Science, first awarded in 1902. This was the first masters degree in business, the forerunner of the modern MBA, the idea quickly crossed the Atlantic, with Manchester establishing a Faculty of Commerce, awarding Bachelor and Master of Commerce degrees, in 1903. Over the first half of the century the masters degrees for honours graduates vanished as honours degrees became the standard undergraduate qualification in the UK
15.
Akan people
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The Akan /əˈkæn/ are a meta-ethnicity predominantly speaking Central Tano languages and residing in the southern regions of the former Gold Coast region in what is today the nation of Ghana. Akans also make-up the majority of the populace in the Ivory Coast, Akans are the largest group in both countries and have a population of roughly 20 million people. The Akan language is a group of dialects within the Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano subfamily of the Niger–Congo family, subgroups of the Akan proper include, Asante, Akuapem and Akyem, Agona, Kwahu, Wassa, Fante and Bono. Subgroups of the Bia-speaking groups include, the Anyin, Baoulé, Chakosi, Sefwi, Nzema, Ahanta, the Akan subgroups have cultural attributes in common, notably the tracing of descent, inheritance of property, and succession to high political office. A large number of Akans were taken as captives to the Americas, during the 18th and 19th centuries, Akan slaves were all referred to as Coromantees. Oral traditions of the ruling Abrade Clan relate that they originated from ancient Ghana and they migrated from the north, they went through Egypt and settled in Nubia. Around 500AD, due to the pressure exerted on Nubia by Axumite kingdom of Ethiopia, Nubia was shattered, and these kingdoms grew, and around 750AD the Empire of Ghana was formed. From Kong they moved to Wam and then to Dormaa, the movement from Kong was necessitated by the desire of the people to find suitable savannah conditions since they were not used to forest life. Around the 14th century, they moved from Dormaa South Eastwards to Twifo-Hemang, the kingdom of Bonoman was established as early as the 12th century. Between the 12th and 13th centuries a gold boom in the area brought wealth to numerous Akans, during different phases of the Kingdom of Bonoman, groups of Akans migrated out of the area to create numerous states based predominantly on gold mining and trading of cash crops. This brought wealth to numerous Akan states like Akwamu Empire, and ultimately led to the rise of the most well known Akan empire, the Empire of Ashanti, the most dominant of the Akan states. From the 15th century to the 19th century the Akan people dominated gold mining and trading in the region, from the 17th century on, the Akan goldfields, according to Peter Bakewell, were the highly auriferous area in the forest country between the Komoe and Volta rivers. The Akan goldfield was one of three principal goldfields in the region, along with the Bambuk goldfield, and the Bure goldfield and this wealth in gold attracted European traders. Initially, the Europeans were Portuguese, soon joined by the Dutch, Akan gold was also used to purchase slaves from further up north via the Trans-Saharan route. The Akan purchased slaves in order to clear the dense forests within Ashanti. About a third of the population of many Akan states were indentured servants, the Akans went from buyers of slaves to selling slaves as the dynamics in the Gold Coast and the New World changed. Thus, the Akan people played a role in supplying Europeans with indentured servants, Ghana later apologized to the descendants of slaves for the role some of its people may have played in the slave trade. Akan people, especially the Ashanti people, fought against European colonists to maintain autonomy including many Anglo-Ashanti wars, the war of the Golden Stool, and other similar battles
16.
Igbo people
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The Igbo people, also erroneously known as the Ibo people, are an indigenous linguistic and cultural people of southern Nigeria. Geographically, the Igbo homeland is divided into two sections by the Niger River – an eastern and a western section. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects, the Igbo homeland is almost surrounded on all sides by other ethnic peoples of southern and central Nigeria namely, the Ijaw, Edo, Isoko, Ogoni, Igala, Tiv, Yako, Idoma and Ibibio. The Igbo people are one of the largest ethnic groups in Africa, in rural Nigeria, Igbo people work mostly as craftsmen, farmers and traders. The most important crop is the yam, celebrations take place annually to celebrate its harvesting, other staple crops include cassava and taro. Before British colonial rule, the Igbo were a politically fragmented group, there were variations in culture such as in art styles, attire and religious practices. Various subgroups were organized by clan, lineage, village affiliation, there were not many centralized chiefdoms, hereditary aristocracy, or kingship customs except in kingdoms such as those of the Nri, Arochukwu, Agbor and Onitsha. This political system changed significantly under British colonialism in the early 20th century, the Igbo became overwhelmingly Christian under colonization. Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart is one of the most popular novels to depict Igbo culture, by the mid-20th century, the Igbo people developed a strong sense of ethnic identity. Certain conflicts with other Nigerian ethnicities led to Igbo-densely populated Eastern Nigeria seceding to create the independent state of Biafra, the Nigerian Civil War or the Nigerian-Biafran War broke out shortly after. With their defeat, the Republic of Biafra once again was part of Nigeria, MASSOB, a sectarian organization formed in 1999, continues a non-violent struggle for an independent Igbo state. Due to the effects of migration and the Atlantic slave trade, there are descendant ethnic Igbo populations in such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Their exact population outside Africa is unknown, but today many African Americans, according to Liberian historians the fifth president of Liberia Edward James Roye was of Igbo descent. The Igbo people have had fragmented and politically independent communities, before knowledge of Europeans and full exposure to other neighbouring ethnic groups, the Igbo did not have a strong identity as one people. As in the case of most ethnic groups, the British, Chinua Achebe, among other scholars, challenged this because of its negative connotations and possible wrong definition. He suggested defining the Igbo people as a nation although the Igbo do not have an officially recognized state of their own. The most common name for the Igbo in English was formerly Ibo and they have also been known as the Iboe, Ebo, Eboe, Eboans, or Heebo. Their territory and main settlement have also been known by their name
17.
Carson, California
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Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a population of 91,714, located 13 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20,1968, Carson is the youngest municipality in the South Bay region of Metropolitan Los Angeles, according to the United States Census Bureau, Carson has an area of 19.0 square miles. 18.7 square miles of it is land and 0.2 square miles of it is water. Carson is bordered by West Compton on the north, Compton on the northeast, Long Beach on the east, Wilmington on the south, and West Carson and Harbor Gateway on the west. Carson experiences a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, similar to that of the Los Angeles Basin with noticeably cooler temperatures during the due to the nearby Pacific Ocean. Rainfall is scarce during the summer in Carson but receives enough rainfall throughout the year to avoid Köppens BSh, Carson, like many of the Southern California coastal areas, is subject to a late spring/early summer weather phenomenon called June Gloom. This involves overcast or foggy skies in the morning which yield to sun by early afternoon, the 2010 United States Census reported that Carson had a population of 91,714. The population density was 4,835.2 people per square mile. The racial makeup of Carson was 21,864 White,21,856 African American,518 Native American,23,522 Asian,2,386 Pacific Islander,17,151 from other races, Hispanic or Latino of any race were 35,417 persons. The Census reported that 90,411 people lived in households,1,170 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters,3,776 households were made up of individuals and 1,790 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.56, there were 20,726 families, the average family size was 3.90. The median age was 37.6 years, for every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males. There were 26,226 housing units at a density of 1,382.6 per square mile, of which 19,529 were owner-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1. 3%, the vacancy rate was 3. 7%. 68,924 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 21,487 people lived in housing units. As of the census of 2000, there were 89,730 people,24,648 households, the population density was 4,762.2 inhabitants per square mile
18.
Dylan Thomas
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He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his premature death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a roistering, drunken, Thomas was born in Swansea, Wales, in 1914. An undistinguished pupil, he left school at 16 and became a journalist for a short time. Many of his works appeared in print while he was still a teenager, however, while living in London, Thomas met Caitlin Macnamara, whom he married in 1937. Their relationship was defined by alcoholism and was mutually destructive, in the early part of their marriage, Thomas and his family lived hand-to-mouth, they settled in the Welsh fishing village of Laugharne. Thomas came to be appreciated as a poet during his lifetime. He began augmenting his income with reading tours and radio broadcasts and his radio recordings for the BBC during the late 1940s brought him to the publics attention, and he was frequently used by the BBC as a populist voice of the literary scene. Thomas first travelled to the United States in the 1950s and his readings there brought him a level of fame, while his erratic behaviour and drinking worsened. His time in America cemented his legend, however, and he went on to record to vinyl such works as A Childs Christmas in Wales. During his fourth trip to New York in 1953, Thomas became gravely ill and fell into a coma and he died on 9 November 1953. His body was returned to Wales where he was interred at the churchyard in Laugharne on 25 November 1953. Though Thomas wrote exclusively in the English language, he has acknowledged as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century. He is noted for his original, rhythmic and ingenious use of words and his position as one of the great modern poets has been much discussed, and he remains popular with the public. Dylan Thomas was born on 27 October 1914 in Swansea, the son of Florence Hannah, a seamstress, and David John Thomas, a teacher. His father had an honours degree in English from University College, Aberystwyth. Thomas had one sibling, Nancy Marles, who was eight years his senior, the children spoke only English, though their parents were bilingual in English and Welsh, and David Thomas gave Welsh lessons at home. Thomass father chose the name Dylan, which could be translated as son of the sea, after Dylan ail Don and his middle name, Marlais, was given in honour of his great-uncle, William Thomas, a Unitarian minister and poet whose bardic name was Gwilym Marles. Dylan, pronounced ˈ in Welsh, caused his mother to worry he might be teased as the dull one, when he broadcast on Welsh BBC, early in his career, he was introduced using this pronunciation
19.
Under Milk Wood
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Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, an omniscient narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional small Welsh fishing village Llareggub. Later, the town awakens and, aware now of how their feelings affect whatever they do, we watch them go about their daily business. When Thomas was staying at New Quay, Cardiganshire, in West Wales, one winter, he went out one morning into the still sleeping town. He wrote the account of this as a story named Quite Early One Morning. He continued to work on the idea for the eight years of his life. In 1931 a 17-year-old Dylan created a piece for the Swansea Grammar School magazine which included a conversation of Milk Wood stylings with Mussolini, Wife, in it are lines which are nearly identical to those that would later be found in Milk Wood. A year later in 1932, Dylan talked at length with his mentor and friend Bert Trick, The socialist grocer of Brynmill, at Bert Tricks bungalow in Caswell, Gower in 1933 Dylan read an embryonic Under Milk Wood. In an interview with Colin Edwards, Bert Trick recalls, He read it to Nell and me in our bungalow at Caswell around the old Dover stove, I am Mrs. Ogmore Pritchard and I want another snooze. Dust the china, feed the canary, sweep the floor, And before you let the sun in. Thomas wrote to his wife, Caitlin, towards the end of a long letter, the same year, he read a part of the script in public for the first time in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at The Poetry Centre. Soon afterwards, with others, he sound-recorded a performance at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, New York. Thomas is reported to have commented that Under Milk Wood was developed in response to the bombing of Hiroshima. The fictional name Llareggub bears some resemblance to many actual Welsh place names, which begin with Llan-. In early published editions of the play, it was rendered as Llaregyb or similar. A double-g is not used in written Welsh, if the name were to be pronounced in Welsh as spoken in South Wales, it would be. The geographical inspiration for the town has generated intense debate, Laugharne was the village where Thomas lived intermittently from the 1930s. Both towns use the Under Milk Wood association to attract tourists, hence the rivalry, more recent research has indicated that most of the first half of the play was written in South Leigh, Oxfordshire, whilst the second half was mostly written in America in May 1953
20.
Palisades Charter High School
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Palisades Charter High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California, United States. The public high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, Palisades Highlands, Kenter Canyon, residents in Topanga, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, may attend Palisades or Taft High School. The school serves grades 9 through 12, formerly directly administered by the Los Angeles Unified School District school, the school is now an independent charter school. Its current enrollment numbers 2,903 students, many students travel long distances to attend Palisades Charter High which is one of the most highly ranked public high schools in the Los Angeles area. In 2005, Palisades was recognized as a California Distinguished School, in 2015, Palisades was named one of Americas Best High Schools by Newsweek and U. S. News & World Report. The school is located at 15777 Bowdoin Street, Pacific Palisades, paul Revere Charter Middle School students are allowed to attend as a feeder school to Pali High. The school was founded in 1961, the founding principal was Herbert L. Aigner. The Class of 2012 was the 50th graduating class, bushman — and their two sons, one of whom, Pat Conway became an actor as well. This property was rented to actress Debbie Reynolds and her husband. It was then taken, some later, by the State by eminent domain to build the high school. At age 94, Mrs. Gilbert was the oldest active teacher in the LAUSD, the success of the book later inspired a short-lived television dramatic anthology series of the same title, which ran from December 1977 to July 1978 on NBC. The character of Maz Kanata was based on her, in 1989 20/20 aired an episode about the students of Palisades High School. Howard Rosenberg of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Palisades High School is characterized here as both an institution of academic performance and high drug and alcohol use. What 20/20 doesnt ask tonight is how both are possible at the same school, circa 1992 there were so few students that LAUSD was considering closing the school. Pali High parents, principal Merle Price, and Pali High staff decided to advocate for making the school into a charter school, in 1993 the school, along with three feeder elementary schools, received approval from the Los Angeles Board of Education to become a charter school. This was the first time a group of schools in California became charter schools, the school asked students to abide by a behavior code and instituted new academic programs. By 1998 student enrollment recovered, it had 200 students previously attending private schools and this school was the focus of a false email chain letter started around 2002. The message falsely claimed that a message to parents about student truancies
21.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
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California State Polytechnic University, Pomona is a public polytechnic university located in Pomona, California, United States. It is one of two polytechnics in the California State University system, in Fall 2013, it had 1,059 faculty, of which 442 were tenure track. The university is designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education by the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, Cal Poly is one of three CSUs, and one of only five California institutions, with this distinction. The university has the oldest and largest Hospitality Management College in California, additionally, Cal Poly has the largest civil engineering student population in the nation. It is the university in Southern California to grant bachelors and masters degrees in agriculture. Cal Poly Pomona currently offers degrees in 94 majors,39 masters degrees,13 teaching credentials. The university is one among a group of polytechnic universities in the United States which tend to be primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts. The satellite campus grew further in 1949 when a horse ranch in the city of Pomona. Its sports teams are known as the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos, the Broncos sponsor 10 varsity sports and have won 14 NCAA national championships. Current and former Cal Poly athletes have won 7 Olympic medals, hence, Voorhis School became the Cal Poly-Voorhis Unit and its educational offerings were raised to the same level as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s, then a two-year college. The horticulture program was moved to the new campus and the two units operated as one institution spanning two locations under the leadership of president Julian McPhee. During World War II most of the student body was called to military duty, enrollment declined. Reopening after the war, Cal Poly-Voorhis Unit operated in San Dimas until 1956 when it moved to Will Keith Kellogg’s former horse ranch in the city of Pomona. Acknowledging its Kellogg legacy, Cal Poly-Voorhis Unit changed its name to Cal Poly Kellogg-Voorhis Unit, also in 1957, Cal Poly Kellogg-Voorhis introduced the College of Engineering, the second academic unit after the College of Agriculture. President McPhee retired in 1966, and Cal Poly split into two different and independent universities, the partnership between the two campuses remains with their involvement in the annual Cal Poly Universities Rose Float. In 1998, Cal Poly Pomona received criticism when it planned to grant a degree to Robert Mugabe. Mugabe’s negative humanitarian record as president of Zimbabwe lead to protests from staff, faculty and students, under then-president J. Michael Ortiz, Cal Poly Pomona launched its first comprehensive capital campaign in fall of 2008 to increase its permanent endowment. The campus office of public affairs recognizes two names for the university, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and Cal Poly Pomona
22.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
23.
USC Thornton School of Music
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The University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, founded in 1884 and dedicated in 1999, is one of the premier music schools in the United States. Founded only four years after the University of Southern California itself, the School is located in the heart of the USC University Park Campus, south of downtown Los Angeles. The school gets its name in honor of a $25 million gift by Flora L. Thornton in 1999, at the time, this was the largest donation to a school of music in the United States. In 2006, she donated an additional $5 million to support the facility needs of the school, the USC Thornton School is noted for quality programs such as orchestral studies, opera, jazz, early music, composition, Film Scoring and Music Industry. Rolling Stone magazine named the school as one of the top-five in the country. A diverse school of music, Thornton is one of the few highly regarded music schools in the United States to offer a program in early music. Students of baroque, renaissance and medieval music may enroll in a degree program in early music. Thornton was one of the first universities to offer a program in Music Industry. Thornton offers the only program in Scoring for Television and Film. It also has a program in studio guitar performance. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, four alumni and four faculty members received awards, at the 2009 Grammy Awards, faculty and alumni won six awards
24.
University of Southern California
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The University of Southern California is a private research university founded in 1880 with its main campus in Los Angeles, California. As Californias oldest private university, USC has historically educated a large number of the regions business leaders. In recent decades, the university has also leveraged its location in Los Angeles to establish relationships with research and cultural institutions throughout Asia, an engine for economic activity, USC contributes $8 billion annually to the economy of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and California. For the 2014–15 academic year, there were 18,740 students enrolled in undergraduate programs. USC also has 23,729 graduate and professional students in a number of different programs, including business, law, engineering, social work, and medicine. The university is one of the top fundraising institutions in the world, consistently ranking among the top 3 in external contributions, multiple academic rankings list the University of Southern California as being among the top 25 universities in the United States. With an acceptance rate of 16 percent, USC is also among the most selective academic institutions in the nation. USC maintains a tradition of innovation and entrepreneurship, with alumni having founded companies such as Lucasfilm, Myspace, Salesforce. com, Intuit, Qualcomm, Box, Tinder. As of 2014, the university has produced the fourth largest number of billionaire alumni out of all institutions in the world. USC is home to the world’s most powerful computer, which is presently housed in a super-cooled. The only other commercially available quantum computing system is operated jointly by NASA, USC was also one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET and is the birthplace of the Domain Name System. Other technologies invented at USC include DNA computing, dynamic programming, image compression, VoIP, USC sponsors a variety of intercollegiate sports and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. Members of the teams, the Trojans, have won 102 NCAA team championships, ranking them third in the nation. Trojan athletes have won 288 medals at the Olympic games, more than any university in the United States. If USC were a country, its athletes would have received the 12th-most Olympic gold medals in history. In 1969, it joined the Association of American Universities, the University of Southern California was founded following the efforts of Judge Robert M. Hellman. The three donated 308 lots of land to establish the campus and provided the seed money for the construction of the first buildings. Originally operated in affiliation with the Methodist Church, the school mandated from the start that no student would be denied admission because of race, the university is no longer affiliated with any church, having severed formal ties in 1952
25.
Tenor
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Tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is one of the highest of the male voice types. The tenors vocal range lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, and A4, the A above middle C, in solo work, this range extends up to C5, or tenor high C. The low extreme for tenors is roughly A♭2, at the highest extreme, some tenors can sing up to two Fs above middle C. The tenor voice type is divided into the leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor. The name tenor derives from the Latin word tenere, which means to hold, in medieval and Renaissance polyphony between about 1250 and 1500, the tenor was the structurally fundamental voice, vocal or instrumental. All other voices were normally calculated in relation to the tenor, until the late 16th century introduction of the contratenor singers, the tenor was usually the highest voice, assuming the role of providing a foundation. It was also in the 18th century that tenor came to signify the male voice that sang such parts, thus, for earlier repertoire, a line marked tenor indicated the parts role, and not the required voice type. Indeed, even as late as the century, partbooks labelled tenor might contain parts for a range of voice types. The vocal range of the tenor is one of the highest of the voice types. Within opera, the lowest note in the tenor repertoire is probably A♭2 in Rossinis rarely performed La donna del lago in the role of Rodrigo di Dhu. Within more frequently performed repertoire, Mime and Herod both call for an A2, a few tenor roles in the standard repertoire call for a tenor C. Some of the few top Cs in the operatic repertoire are either optional or interpolated by tradition. However, the highest demanded note in the standard operatic repertoire is D5. Some operatic roles for tenors require a darker timbre and fewer high notes, in the leggero repertoire, the highest note is F5, therefore, very few tenors can, given the raising of concert pitch since its composition, have this role in their repertoire without transposition. Within the tenor voice type category are seven generally recognized subcategories, leggero tenor, lyric tenor, spinto tenor, dramatic tenor, heldentenor, Mozart tenor, Also known as the tenore di grazia, the leggero tenor is essentially the male equivalent of a lyric coloratura. This voice is light, agile, and capable of executing difficult passages of fioritura, the typical leggero tenor possesses a range spanning from approximately C3 to E♭5, with a few being able to sing up to F5 or higher in full voice. In some cases, the chest register of the leggero tenor may extend below C3, voices of this type are utilized frequently in the operas of Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini and in music dating from the Baroque period. Leggero tenor roles in operas, The lyric tenor is a warm voice with a bright, full timbre that is strong but not heavy
26.
Acting
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Acting involves a broad range of skills, including a well-developed imagination, emotional facility, physical expressivity, vocal projection, clarity of speech, and the ability to interpret drama. Acting also demands an ability to employ dialects, accents, improvisation, observation and emulation, mime, many actors train at length in specialist programmes or colleges to develop these skills. The vast majority of actors have undergone extensive training. Actors and actresses will often have many instructors and teachers for a range of training involving singing, scene-work, audition techniques. Most early sources in the West that examine the art of acting discuss it as part of rhetoric, one of the first actors is believed to have been an ancient Greek called Thespis of Icaria. Writing two centuries after the event, Aristotle in his Poetics suggests that Thespis stepped out of the dithyrambic chorus, when Thespis stepped out from the chorus, he spoke as if he was the character. To distinguish between different modes of storytelling—enactment and narration—Aristotle uses the terms mimesis and diegesis. From Thespis name derives the word thespian, a professional actor is someone who is paid to act. Professional actors sometimes undertake unpaid work for a variety of reasons, amateur actors are those who do not receive payment for performances. Not all people working as actors in film, television, or theatre are professionally trained, bob Hoskins, for example, had no formal training before becoming an actor. Conservatories and drama schools typically offer two- to four-year training on all aspects of acting, universities mostly offer three- to four-year programs, in which a student is often able to choose to focus on acting, whilst continuing to learn about other aspects of theatre. Other approaches may include a more physically based orientation, such as that promoted by practitioners as diverse as Anne Bogart, Jacques Lecoq, Jerzy Grotowski. Classes may also include psychotechnique, mask work, physical theatre, improvisation, regardless of a schools approach, students should expect intensive training in textual interpretation, voice, and movement. Applications to drama programmes and conservatories usually involve extensive auditions, anybody over the age of 18 can usually apply. Training may also start at a young age. Acting classes and professional schools targeted at under-18s are widespread and these classes introduce young actors to different aspects of acting and theatre, including scene study. Increased training and exposure to public speaking allows humans to maintain calmer, by measuring a public speaker’s heart rate maybe one of the easiest ways to judge shifts in stress as the heart rate increases with anxiety. As actors increase performances, heart rate and other evidence of stress can decrease and this is very important in training for actors, as adaptive strategies gained from increased exposure to public speaking can regulate implicit and explicit anxiety
27.
Berkeley, California
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Berkeley is a city on the east shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley and it borders the cities of Oakland and Emeryville to the south and the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington to the north. Its eastern border with Contra Costa County generally follows the ridge of the Berkeley Hills, the 2010 census recorded a population of 112,580. It also has the Graduate Theological Union, one of the largest religious studies institutions in the world and it is one of the most politically liberal cities in the United States. The site of todays City of Berkeley was the territory of the Chochenyo/Huchiun band of the Ohlone people when the first Europeans arrived, other artifacts were discovered in the 1950s in the downtown area during remodeling of a commercial building, near the upper course of the creek. The first people of European descent arrived with the De Anza Expedition in 1776, today, this is noted by signage on Interstate 80, which runs along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of Berkeley. The De Anza Expedition led to establishment of the Spanish Presidio of San Francisco at the entrance to San Francisco Bay, luis Peralta was among the soldiers at the Presidio. For his services to the King of Spain, he was granted a vast stretch of land on the east shore of San Francisco Bay for a ranch, luis Peralta named his holding Rancho San Antonio. The primary activity of the ranch was raising cattle for meat and hides, eventually, Peralta gave portions of the ranch to each of his four sons. What is now Berkeley lies mostly in the portion that went to Peraltas son Domingo, with a little in the portion that went to another son, no artifact survives of the Domingo or Vicente ranches, but their names survive in Berkeley street names. However, legal title to all land in the City of Berkeley remains based on the original Peralta land grant, the Peraltas Rancho San Antonio continued after Alta California passed from Spanish to Mexican sovereignty after the Mexican War of Independence. The lands of the brothers Domingo and Vicente were quickly reduced to reservations close to their respective ranch homes, the rest of the land was surveyed and parceled out to various American claimants. Politically, the area that became Berkeley was initially part of a vast Contra Costa County, on March 25,1853, Alameda County was created from a division within Contra Costa County, as well as from a small portion of Santa Clara County. The area of Berkeley was at this period mostly a mix of land, farms and ranches. It was not yet Berkeley, but merely the part of the Oakland Township subdivision of Alameda County. In 1866, Oaklands private College of California looked for a new site, according to the Centennial Record of the University of California, In 1866…at Founders Rock, a group of College of California men watched two ships standing out to sea through the Golden Gate. Although the philosophers name is pronounced bark-lee, the pronunciation of the name has evolved to suit American English as burk-lee. The College of Californias College Homestead Association planned to raise funds for the new campus by selling off adjacent parcels of land, to this end, they laid out a plat and street grid that became the basis of Berkeleys modern street plan
28.
Drama Studio London
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Drama Studio London is a drama school based in Ealing, London, England, United Kingdom. It is a member of and accredited by Drama UK, the current principal is the actor and director Chris Pickles. DSL offers both a One and Two Year Diploma in Professional Acting Course, degrees are awarded through additional academic study undertaken and issued by Middlesex University. From September 2016, the school offer a Three Year Hons in Professional Acting validated by De Montfort University. The school theatre is called The Grange Court Theatre, in 1995, Friends of DSL, under the Presidency of Dame Judi Dench, was established in order to help provide scholarships for future students
29.
New York University
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New York University is a private nonprofit research university based in New York City. Founded in 1831, NYU is considered one of the worlds most influential research universities, University rankings compiled by Times Higher Education, U. S. News & World Report, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities all rank NYU amongst the top 32 universities in the world. NYU is a part of the creativity, energy and vibrancy that is Manhattan, located with its core in Greenwich Village. Among its faculty and alumni are 37 Nobel Laureates, over 30 Pulitzer Prize winners, over 30 Academy Award winners, alumni include heads of state, royalty, eminent mathematicians, inventors, media figures, Olympic medalists, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and astronauts. NYU alumni are among the wealthiest in the world, according to The Princeton Review, NYU is consistently considered by students and parents as a Top Dream College. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish in this immense, a system of rational and practical education fitting and graciously opened to all. A three-day-long literary and scientific convention held in City Hall in 1830 and these New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based upon merit rather than birthright or social class. On April 18,1831, an institution was established, with the support of a group of prominent New York City residents from the merchants, bankers. Albert Gallatin was elected as the institutions first president, the university has been popularly known as New York University since its inception and was officially renamed New York University in 1896. In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, in 1835, the School of Law, NYUs first professional school, was established. American Chemical Society was founded in 1876 at NYU and it became one of the nations largest universities, with an enrollment of 9,300 in 1917. NYU had its Washington Square campus since its founding, the university purchased a campus at University Heights in the Bronx because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York Citys development further uptown, NYUs move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken. The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was, as a result, most of the universitys operations along with the undergraduate College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering were housed there. NYUs administrative operations were moved to the new campus, but the schools of the university remained at Washington Square. In 1914, Washington Square College was founded as the undergraduate college of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead and this extension would later become a fully independent Hofstra University. In 1950, NYU was elected to the Association of American Universities, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, financial crisis gripped the New York City government and the troubles spread to the citys institutions, including NYU
30.
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
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The Gallatin School of Individualized Study is a small interdisciplinary college within New York University. Students design their own program that meets their specific interests. Coursework can be taken at any of the schools that comprise NYU in addition to the schools own offerings. Founded in 1972 as the University Without Walls, the school was renamed the Gallatin Division in 1976 after Albert Gallatin, Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson, in 1995, the school took its current name, The Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Herbert London was the schools first dean through 1992, the Gallatin building is situated within the Campus of New York University just east of Washington Square Park at 1 Washington Place. The Gallatin Schools facilities on the corner of Washington Place and Broadway underwent a redesign from 2007-2008 and it was the first renovation project at NYU to achieve LEED certification. The project earned a LEED Gold certification for the renovation of five floors of the building, including the construction of a theater, art gallery, classrooms, studios. Gallatin students develop a concentration, as opposed to a major, a concentration can encompass multiple areas of study and often involves taking courses in various schools within NYU. There are, however, general requirements for graduation, among these are, Gallatin students are required to take 25% of their courses within Gallatin. Options include writing and arts workshops, interdisciplinary seminars reaching across the arts, community learning, tutorials, internships. Foundation courses, either the Liberal Arts Foundation or Historical and Cultural Foundation, the two sets of foundation requirements may overlap and fulfill more than one requirement at once. First year requirements, Students take a First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar, a First-Year Writing Seminar, the Rationale is reviewed and approved by two faculty members. Because Gallatin focuses on students at the level, advising is a major component of the program. The academic advisors help identify the interests of their advisees, approve class schedules, attend advisee Colloquiums, academic advisors are usually faculty members at Gallatin who share similar interests with advisee students, but advisors can come from any of the schools within NYU across several disciplines. Students can request to change academic advisors, in order to qualify for graduation, all students in the Gallatin undergraduate program must successfully complete a final oral examination called the Colloquium. DCA also allows members of the performance community to participate in roles such as musicians, composers. Gallatin Arts Festival is a week-long community-wide celebration of the artistry and interdisciplinary scholarship of NYU’s Gallatin School. The festival features over 50 students presenting work in the visual, Gallatin Cookies and Coloring, invites students to eat cookies and color coloring books
31.
My Own Love Song
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My Own Love Song is a 2010 road movie directed and written by Olivier Dahan and starring Renée Zellweger, Forest Whitaker, Madeline Zima and Nick Nolte. It premiered in Dahans native France on April 7,2010, the soundtrack contains music written by Bob Dylan, including Zellweger singing a cover of Life Is Hard from his 2009 album Together Through Life. In Marysville, Kansas, a former singer, Jane. One day, during her treatment, he messes up her house while searching for a book about angels that he has lent her. He is taken by the police to a hospital, where an angry Jane visits, the following night, Joey escapes and comes back Janes house in clean up. He finds a letter from her young son inviting her to his communion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Joey spends the night on the couch. In the morning, the police ask her if Joey is in her house, Joey begs Jane to go to New Orleans, where an author writing about angels is holding a conference. On the drive, the engine heats up and the car explodes and they buy a new car, but it is stolen. They board a coach and while Jane sleeps, Joey meets Billie by helping her find her wedding ring on the floor and she tells him her husband has disappeared without giving an address. The three dine at Billies sisters house, the next morning, Joey, Jane and Billie are driven to a restaurant by a relative, but Jane forgets her purse in the car, so Joey elaborates a plan to get them to the bus without paying. The plan does not work but they eventually get into the bus, the bus driver abandons them in the middle of nowhere. Jane decides to go home and Joey reveals her sons letter. At night, the three music and meet Caldwell, an old musician with whom they share some cake enhanced with drugs. The following day, Caldwell gives them a lift, as Jane agrees to replace a singer, shortly before the show, Jane argues with Joey about his mothering her. She leaves the group and meets fellow travelers going to Iowa, the woman of the couple is ill and they are going there on their last trip to their children. This inspiring meeting persuades Jane to perform the show and she arrives on stage while Joey prays angels for her to come back. She sings This Land Is Your Land accompanied by Caldwell on electric guitar, as they drive towards New Orleans, they notice their stolen car on the road and chase the thief. An accident ensues and everybody is arrested and subsequently freed except Caldwell, Jane gives him a song written for him, about the beauty of birds
32.
Cameron Crowe
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Cameron Bruce Crowe is an American director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author, and actor. Before moving into the industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine. Crowes debut screenwriting effort, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, grew out of a book he wrote while posing for one year undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego, Crowe landed his biggest hit, though, with Jerry Maguire. After this, he was given a light to go ahead with a pet project. Centering on a music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming band. For his screenplay, he won an Academy Award, also in late 1999, Crowes second book was published, a question and answer session with the film director Billy Wilder entitled Conversations with Wilder. Cameron Crowe was born in Palm Springs, California and his father, James A. Crowe, originally from Kentucky, owned a real estate and phone service business. His mother, Alice Marie, was a teacher, activist and she worked as a psychology professor and family therapist and often participated in peace demonstrations and causes relating to the rights of farm workers. Crowe was the youngest of three children with two sisters, but one died when he was young, the family moved around often but spent a lot of time in the desert town of Indio. Crowe commented that Indio was where people owned tortoises, not dogs and his family finally settled in San Diego. Crowe skipped kindergarten and two grades in elementary, and by the time he attended Catholic high school, he was quite obviously younger than the other students, to add to his alienation, he was often ill because he suffered from nephritis. Crowe began writing for the newspaper and by the age of 13 was contributing music reviews for an underground publication. He began corresponding with Lester Bangs, who had left the Door to become editor at the rock magazine Creem. Crowe graduated from the University of San Diego High School in 1972 at the age of 15, on a trip to Los Angeles, he met Ben Fong-Torres, the editor of Rolling Stone, who hired him to write for the magazine. He also joined the Rolling Stone staff as a contributing editor, during this time Crowe interviewed Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, the Eagles, Poco, Steely Dan, members of Led Zeppelin and more. Crowe was Rolling Stones youngest-ever contributor, Crowes first cover story was on the Allman Brothers Band. He went on the road with them for three weeks at the age of 16 and interviewed not only the band, but also the entire road crew. Because Crowe was a fan of the 1970s hard rock bands that the older writers disliked, he landed a lot of major interviews
33.
Coming of age
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Coming of age is a young persons transition from being a child to being an adult. The certain age at which this takes place changes in society. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual or spiritual event, in the past, and in some societies today, such a change is associated with the age of sexual maturity, especially menarche and spermarche. In others, it is associated with an age of religious responsibility, particularly in western societies, modern legal conventions which stipulate points in late adolescence or early adulthood are the focus of the transition. In either case, many cultures retain ceremonies to confirm the coming of age, Coming of age is often a topic of fiction, in the form of a coming-of-age story. In written literature, a novel which deals with the psychological and moral growth often associated with coming of age is called a bildungsroman. Similar stories that are told in film are called coming-of-age films, turning 15, the age of maturity, as the Bahai faith terms it, is a time when a child is considered spiritually mature. Declared Bahais that have reached the age of maturity are expected to begin observing certain Bahai laws, such as obligatory prayer, theravada boys, typically just under the age of 20 years, undergo a Shinbyu ceremony, where they are initiated into the Temple as Novice Monks. They will typically stay in the monastery for between 3 days and 3 years, most commonly for one 3-month rainy season retreat, held annually from late July to early October. After living the monastic life for some time, the boy, now considered to have come of age. Confucianism had a ceremony called Guan Li for young men, at around the age of 20, they would receive their style name. In many Western Christian churches, a young person celebrates his/her Coming of Age with the Sacrament of Confirmation and this is usually done by the Bishop laying his hands upon the foreheads of the young person, and marking them with the seal of the Holy Spirit. In some denominations during this sacrament the child adopts a name which is added onto their Christian name. In Christian denominations that practice Believers Baptism, the ritual can be carried out after the age of accountability has arrived. Some traditions withhold the rite of Holy Communion from those not yet at the age of accountability, mid-teens in the United States, early teens in Ireland and Britain, has in some areas been abandoned in favour of restoring the traditional order of the three sacraments of initiation. These individuals are seen, according to some Christians, as existing in a perpetual state of innocence. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sets the age for baptism at 8 years of age and calls this the age of accountability. All persons younger than 8 are considered innocent and incapable of sinning, the LDS Church considers mentally challenged individuals whose mental age is under 8 to be in a perpetual state of innocence, similar to other Christian churches
34.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
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Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film written by Cameron Crowe, adapted from his 1981 book of the same name. Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences. In addition to Penn, Reinhold, Cates and Leigh, the film marks early appearances by actors who later became stars, including Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stoltz. Among these actors, Penn, Cage, and Whitaker would later win the Academy Award for Best Actor, in 2005, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Brad Hamilton is a senior who is looking forward to his last year of school. He has a job at All-American Burger, where his girlfriend, Lisa. Brad is subsequently fired for losing his temper at an obnoxious customer, when Brad tries to tell Lisa how much he needs her, she says she is breaking up with him to see other guys. Brad quits his job at Captain Hook Fish & Chips because of the humiliation of having to wear a pirate costume when delivering food, Brads sister Stacy is a 15-year-old sophomore and also a virgin. Stacy works at a pizza parlor at the mall alongside her friend, popular. One night at work, Stacy takes an order from Ron Johnson and she then sneaks out to meet him and have sex in a dugout at a softball field. Stacy never hears from Ron again, revealing the loss of her virginity to Linda, Mike Damone, a dilettante who earns money taking bets and scalping tickets, fancies himself a sagacious and worldly ladies man. After Mikes friend Mark Ratner proclaims his love for Stacy to him, Mike later coaxes Mark into taking Stacy on a date to a German restaurant. Afterwards, at her home, Stacy invites Mark into her bedroom and they eventually kiss, but he soon shies away and leaves after Stacy attempts to become intimate with him. Stacy invites Damone over after school for a swim in the pool, Stacy later informs Damone that she is pregnant, and tells him shes scheduled an abortion. But on the day of her appointment, embarrassed at being unable to raise the money for his half of the bill, Stacy asks Brad to drive her to a bowling alley, but she goes to the abortion clinic across the street. When Brad returns, Stacy makes him not to tell their parents. When Stacy tells Linda, Linda becomes angry at Damone, leading to an almost physical confrontation between Damone and Mark in the locker room until it is broken up by the gym teacher. Jeff Spicoli is a surfer and marijuana user who runs afoul of a history teacher Mr. Hand
35.
Martin Scorsese
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Martin Charles Scorsese is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and film historian, whose career spans more than 50 years. Scorseses body of work addresses such themes as Sicilian-American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, faith, machismo, modern crime, many of his films are also known for their depiction of violence and liberal use of profanity. Part of the New Hollywood wave of filmmaking, he is regarded as one of the most significant. In 1990, he founded The Film Foundation, an organization dedicated to film preservation. Their third film together, The Departed, won Scorsese the Academy Award for Best Director in addition to the winning the award for Best Picture. Their collaborations have resulted in numerous Academy Award nominations for both as well as winning several other prestigious awards. His work in television includes the episode of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and Vinyl. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for the crime drama The Departed, with eight Best Director nominations, he is the most nominated living director and is tied with Billy Wilder for the second most nominations overall. Scorsese was born in Queens, New York and his family moved to Little Italy, Manhattan before he started school. His father, Charles Scorsese, and mother, Catherine Scorsese and his father was a clothes presser and an actor, and his mother was a seamstress and an actress. His fathers parents emigrated from Polizzi Generosa, in the province of Palermo, Sicily, Scorsese was raised in a devoutly Catholic environment. As a teenager in the Bronx, Scorsese frequently rented Powell, Scorsese was one of only two people who regularly rented that reel. The other was future Night Of The Living Dead director George A. Romero, Scorsese has cited Sabu and Victor Mature as his favorite actors during his youth. He has also spoken of the influence of the 1947 Powell and Pressburger film Black Narcissus, whose innovative techniques later impacted his filmmaking. Enamored of historical epics in his adolescence, at least two films of the genre, Land of the Pharaohs and El Cid, appear to have had a deep, Scorsese also developed an admiration for neorealist cinema at this time. He acknowledges owing a debt to the French New Wave and has stated that the French New Wave has influenced all filmmakers who have worked since. He has also cited filmmakers including Satyajit Ray, Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and he went on to earn his M. F. A. from NYUs School of the Arts in 1966, a year after the school was founded. Scorsese attended New York Universitys Tisch School of the Arts making the short films Whats a Nice Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This. and Its Not Just You, Murray
36.
The Color of Money
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The Color of Money is a 1986 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese from a screenplay by Richard Price, based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. The film stars Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, the film featured an original score by Robbie Robertson. Newman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, his first Oscar win after eight nominations, seven of them for Best Actor. The film continues the story of pool hustler and stakehorse Edward Fast Eddie Felson from Tevis first novel, The Hustler, the film begins more than 25 years after the events of the previous film, with Eddie retired from the pool circuit. Although Tevis did author a screenplay for the film, adapting the storyline from his novel, the Color of Money was released by Touchstone Pictures. Eddie Felson is a pool hustler turned successful liquor salesman. One night he meets Vincent Lauria, a young, charismatic pool player, with Eddie staking their bets, Vincent visits a series of billiard halls where Eddie tries to teach him that pool excellence is not about excellent pool. Although Carmen is a study, Vincent chafes at Eddies scams. Eventually, Fast Eddie picks up a cue himself, and does well in several games, humiliated, Eddie leaves Vincent and Carmen with enough money to make it to the championships in Atlantic City. Wearing new prescription eyeglasses, Eddie begins working out and practicing and he enters the 9-ball tournament in Atlantic City and, after several victories, finds himself facing off against a more world-wise Vincent. He beats Vincent, but later, when he is celebrating with girlfriend Janelle, Vincent arrives and he gives Eddie $8,000 as his cut. During his semi-final match against Kennedy, Eddie sees his reflection in the cue ball, disgruntled, out-hustled again, Eddie returns the money, saying that he wants to beat Vincent legitimately. The two set up a match, where Eddie informs Vincent that if he doesnt beat him now. Director Scorsese has a cameo walking his dog, and another playing pool, another notable cameo is that of Iggy Pop, who plays one of the many contenders on the road. Screenwriter Richard Price also has a cameo as a bar fly in the hall where Eddie plays Amos. Scorsese has cited the influence of techniques and lighting in the 1947 Powell-Pressburger classic Black Narcissus in making the film, in particular he states that the extreme close ups of Tom Cruise around the pool table were inspired by those of the nuns in that film. Newman said that the best advice he was given by Scorsese was to try not to be funny, Cruise performed most of his own shots. An exception was a shot over two balls to sink another
37.
Oliver Stone
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William Oliver Stone is an American screenwriter, film director, and producer. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of Midnight Express and he also wrote the acclaimed gangster movie Scarface. As a director, Stone achieved prominence as director/writer of the war drama Platoon, for which Stone won the Academy Award for Best Director, Platoon was the first in a trilogy of films based on the Vietnam War, in which Stone served as an infantry soldier. He continued the series with Born on the Fourth of July —for which Stone won his second Best Director Oscar—and Heaven & Earth. Many of Stones films focus on controversial American political issues during the late 20th century and they often combine different camera and film formats within a single scene, as evidenced in JFK, Natural Born Killers, and Nixon. Stone was born September 15,1946, in New York City, the son of Jacqueline and Louis Stone and he grew up in Manhattan and Stamford, Connecticut. His parents met during World War II, when his father was fighting as a part of the Allied force in France and his American-born father was a non-practicing Jew, and his French-born mother was a non-practicing Roman Catholic. Stone was raised in the Episcopal Church, and now practices Buddhism, Stone attended Trinity School in New York City before his parents sent him away to The Hill School, a college-preparatory school in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. His parents were divorced abruptly while he was away at school, Stones mother was often absent and his father made a big impact on his life, father-son relationships were to feature heavily in Stones films. He often spent parts of his vacations with his maternal grandparents in France. Stone also worked at 17 in the Paris mercantile exchange in sugar, Stone graduated from The Hill School in 1964. Stone was admitted into Yale University, but left in June 1965 at age 18 to teach school students English for six months in Saigon at the Free Pacific Institute in South Vietnam. Afterwards, he worked as a wiper on a United States Merchant Marine ship in 1966 and he returned to Yale, where he dropped out a second time. In April 1967, Stone enlisted in the United States Army, from September 16,1967 to April 1968, he served in Vietnam with 2nd Platoon, B Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry Division and was twice wounded in action. He was then transferred to the First Cavalry Division participating in long range patrols before being transferred again to drive for an infantry unit of the division until November 1968. Stone graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film in 1971, Stone made a short, well received 12-minute film Last Year in Viet Nam. In 1979, Stone won his first Academy Award, after adapting true-life prison story Midnight Express into a hit film for British director Alan Parker. Stones screenplay for Midnight Express was criticized by some for its inaccuracies in portraying the events described in the book, the original author, Billy Hayes, around whom the film is set, spoke out against the film, protesting that he had many Turkish friends while in jail
38.
Good Morning, Vietnam
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Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 American military comedy-drama film written by Mitch Markowitz and directed by Barry Levinson. The story is based on the experiences of AFRS radio DJ Adrian Cronauer. Most of Williams radio broadcasts were improvised, the film is number 100 on the list of the American Film Institutes 100 Funniest American Movies. In 1965, Adrian Cronauer arrives in Saigon to work as a DJ for Armed Forces Radio Service, Cronauer is met at the airport by PFC Edward Garlick. Cronauers attitude and demeanor contrasts sharply with many staff members and his show consists of irreverent humor segments and rock and roll, which are frowned upon by his superiors, Second Lieutenant Steven Hauk and Sergeant Major Phillip Dickerson. Hauk adheres to strict Army guidelines in terms of humor and music programming, however, Brigadier General Taylor and the other DJs quickly grow to like the new man and his brand of comedy. Cronauer meets Trinh, a Vietnamese girl, and follows her to an English class, bribing the teacher to let him take over, Cronauer instructs the students in American slang. Once class is dismissed, he tries to talk to Trinh but is stopped by her brother Tuan, instead, Cronauer takes Tuan to Jimmy Wahs, a local GI bar, to have drinks with Garlick and the station staff. Two soldiers, angered at Tuans presence, initiate a confrontation that escalates into a brawl, Dickerson reprimands Cronauer for this incident, but his broadcasts continue. While relaxing in Jimmy Wahs one afternoon, he is pulled outside by Tuan, moments later, the building explodes, killing two soldiers and leaving Cronauer shaken. The cause of the explosion is determined to be a bomb, the news is censored, Dickerson cuts off the broadcast and Cronauer is suspended. Hauk takes over his shows, but his humor and the polka music he plays lead to a flood of letters. In the meantime, Cronauer spends his time drinking and pursuing Trinh, at the radio station, Taylor intervenes on Cronauers behalf, ordering Hauk to reinstate him, but Cronauer refuses to go back to work. Garlick and Cronauers vehicle is stopped in a congested street amidst a convoy of soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division, the incident reminds him why his job is important, and he soon returns to the air. Dickerson seizes an opportunity to get rid of Cronauer by approving his request to interview soldiers in the field, Cronauer and Garlicks Jeep hits a mine and they are forced to hide from VC patrols. In Saigon, Tuan learns of the trip after Cronauer fails to show up for English class and he steals a van and drives off after them. After finding them, the van breaks down and they flag down a Marine helicopter to take back to the city. At the station, Dickerson tells Cronauer that he is off the air for good and his friend Tuan is revealed as a VC operative who was responsible for the bombing of Jimmy Wahs
39.
Bloodsport (film)
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Bloodsport is a 1988 American martial arts film directed by Newt Arnold. It stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, the film is partly based on unverified claims made by martial artist Frank Dux. It sold well at the box office, grossing $65 million on a budget of $1. 5–2.3 million, Bloodsport was one of Van Dammes first starring films and showcased his athletic abilities. It has since become a cult film, during his childhood, Dux and a group of friends broke into Tanakas home to steal a katana, but Dux was apprehended by the Tanakas while attempting to return the katana to its display rack. Impressed by Duxs honesty and lack of fear, Senzo trained him together with Shingo in martial arts, following Shingos death, Senzo agreed to train Dux as a member of the Tanaka clan. When Duxs superiors learn of his invitation to the Kumite, they refuse to let him go, Dux goes absent without a leave, saying goodbye to his mentor and leaving for Hong Kong. Two Criminal Investigation Command officers, Helmer and Rawlins, are summoned to track down, after arriving in Hong Kong, Dux befriends American fighter Ray Jackson and Victor Lin, who becomes the manager and liaison for Jackson and Dux. The two Americans and the defending Kumite champion Chong Li—a fighter with a savage streak—all make it through the first day of the Kumite, Dux earns the enmity of Li after breaking his record for the fastest knockout. He becomes involved with American journalist Janice Kent, who is attempting to investigate the secretive Kumite, on the second day of the tournament, Jackson is matched against Li. Although Jackson gains the hand, he gloats instead of finishing Li off. Li recovers and brutally beats Jackson, landing him in hospital, Dux vows that he will avenge Jackson. Kent tries to convince Dux to pull out of the tournament for his own safety, on the last day of the competition, Dux is cornered by Helmer and Rawlins, but he defeats them and the local police. He then promises to give himself up once the tournament is over, Dux advances to the tournament final to face Li, who alienated the audience by killing his semifinal opponent. Dux gains the hand, but Li cheats by blinding him with a crushed salt pill. Dux uses his senses as Senzo had taught him to overcome the handicap and defeat Li. He then returns to the United States with the CID officers, I had known Frank Dux for a number of months before I came up with the idea for Bloodsport. Frank told me a lot of tall tales, most of which turned out to be bullshit, but his stories about participating in this so-called Kumite event sounded like a great idea for a movie. There was one guy who he introduced me to, named Richard Bender, who claimed to have actually been at the Kumite event and who swore everything Frank told me was true
40.
Charlie Parker
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Charles Charlie Parker, Jr. also known as Yardbird and Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Parker was an influential jazz soloist and a leading figure in the development of bebop. Parker was a blazingly fast virtuoso, and he introduced revolutionary harmonic ideas including rapid passing chords, new variants of altered chords and his tone ranged from clean and penetrating to sweet and somber. Parker acquired the nickname Yardbird early in his career, Parker was an icon for the hipster subculture and later the Beat Generation, personifying the jazz musician as an uncompromising artist and intellectual rather than just an entertainer. Charles Parker, Jr. was born in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, the child of Charles Parker and Adelaide Addie. He attended Lincoln High School in September 1934, but withdrew in December 1935, Parker began playing the saxophone at age 11, and at age 14 he joined his schools band using a rented school instrument. His father, Charles, was absent but provided some musical influence, he was a pianist. He later became a Pullman waiter or chef on the railways, Parkers mother Addie worked nights at the local Western Union office. His biggest influence at that time was a trombone player who taught him the basics of improvisation. In the late 1930s Parker began to practice diligently, during this period he mastered improvisation and developed some of the ideas that led to bebop. In an interview with Paul Desmond, he said that he spent three to four years practicing up to 15 hours a day, bands led by Count Basie and Bennie Moten certainly influenced Parker. In 1937, Parker played at a jam session at the Reno Club in Kansas City and his attempt to improvise failed when he lost track of the chord changes. This prompted Jo Jones, the drummer for Count Basies Orchestra, in 1938 Parker joined pianist Jay McShanns territory band. The band toured nightclubs and other venues of the southwest, as well as Chicago, Parker made his professional recording debut with McShanns band. As a teenager, Parker developed a morphine addiction while hospitalized after an automobile accident and he continued using heroin throughout his life, and it ultimately contributed to his death. In 1939 Parker moved to New York City, to pursue a career in music and he held several other jobs as well. He worked for nine dollars a week as a dishwasher at Jimmies Chicken Shack, in 1942 Parker left McShanns band and played for one year with Earl Hines, whose band included Dizzy Gillespie, who later played with Parker as a duo. This period is virtually undocumented, due to the strike of 1942–1943 by the American Federation of Musicians, Parker joined a group of young musicians, and played in after-hours clubs in Harlem, such as [[Clark Monroes Uptown House
