1.
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
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Jennifer Yuh Nelson, also known as Jennifer Yuh, is an American director and storyboard artist. She is best known for her directorial debut Kung Fu Panda 2, Yuh is the first woman to solely direct an animated feature from a major Hollywood studio. After the film proved to be one of the most financially successful films directed by a woman, Yuh returned to direct Kung Fu Panda 3, released on January 29,2016. Yuh was born in 1972 in South Korea and immigrated to the United States with her parents, Yuh spent her childhood in Lakewood, California, where she enjoyed watching martial arts movies, playing with cars, and drawing. I have been drawing since age 3 and making movies in my head for almost as long, in fact, drawing for me was a way to express those films when I had no other means of doing so, said Yuh. As a young girl, she would sit at the table for hours and watch her mother draw. As a kid, she would fancy stories with her sisters and was learning to draw to get down those stories, Yuh traces the lineage of her career to those formative family experiences. Interested in art, Yuh followed her sisters to California State University, Long Beach, there she got introduced to animation, When I was in college years later, a veteran storyboard artist came to talk to my class. He showed us how he drew movies for a living, and that led to a career in animation. Jennifer then followed her sisters into an animation business - at first as a cleanup artist at Jetlag Productions, in 1997, she got hired as a storyboard artist on HBOs Todd McFarlanes Spawn series. In 1998, Yuh joined DreamWorks Animation as a storyboard artist, while her sister, Catherine Yuh Rader, Jennifer worked then on Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad, Legend of the Seven Seas and Madagascar. As a big fan of martial arts movies, she asked to work on the first Kung Fu Panda film, where she was a head of story, after the release of Kung Fu Panda, Jeffrey Katzenberg, DWAs CEO, approached Yuh about directing Kung Fu Panda 2. She still holds the record for highest-grossing film by a female director. She eventually became the first woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, Jennifer returned for Kung Fu Panda 3, which was released in 2016 and was the first American animated film to ever been co-produced with a Chinese firm. In July 2016, she was added as one of the board of Governors by Academy of Motion Picture Arts. It was announced in 2016 that Yuh will be making her live action directorial debut for the adaptation of Alexandra Bracken Young Adult Novel, The Darkest Minds
2.
Jack Black
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Thomas Jacob Jack Black is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. His acting career has been extensive, starring primarily in comedy films and he has been nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. Black is the lead vocalist of the rock group Tenacious D which he formed in 1994 with friend Kyle Gass. They have released the albums Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny and his mother was born Jewish, while his father converted to Judaism. Black was raised in the Jewish faith, attending Hebrew school, on a guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he said his surname may have come from the occupational name of blacksmith. Blacks parents divorced when he was 10, Black moved to Culver City with his father, as a child, Black appeared in a commercial for the Activision game Pitfall. in 1982. This was shown during his appearances as an adult actor on Jimmy Kimmel Live. For high school, Blacks parents enrolled him at the Poseidon School, Black also attended the Crossroads School, where he excelled in drama. He later attended UCLA but dropped out during his year to pursue a career in entertainment. Fellow UCLA student, Tim Robbins, later cast Black in Bob Roberts, Black gained recurring roles on the HBO sketch comedy series, Mr. Show. Black first acted in a commercial at age 13 for the video game Pitfall. Blacks adult career began with acting on prime time television and he played roles on shows including Life Goes On, Northern Exposure, Mr. Show, Picket Fences, The Golden Palace, and The X-Files. Black appeared in the unaired TV pilot Heat Vision and Jack, directed by Ben Stiller and he was accompanied by his friend who had merged with a motorcycle, voiced by Owen Wilson. Black later took on roles in Airborne, Demolition Man, Waterworld, The Fan, The Cable Guy. Tim Robbins Dead Man Walking, The Jackal, Enemy of the State and he had a small role in True Romance as a security guard, but the scene was deleted. In 2000, Black appeared in the movie High Fidelity as an employee in John Cusacks record store. He soon gained leading roles in such as Shallow Hal, Nacho Libre, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, Year One. He received particular praise for his role in the well-received School of Rock, earning critical acclaim
3.
Bryan Cranston
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Bryan Lee Cranston is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, comedian and voice actor. For Breaking Bad, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, after becoming one of the producers of Breaking Bad in 2011, he also won the award for Outstanding Drama Series twice. Cranston was also nominated three times for the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role in Malcolm in the Middle. In June 2014, he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson in the play All the Way on Broadway. He reprised his role in the film of the same name. For the 2015 film Trumbo, he received acclaim and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He has also appeared in several acclaimed films, such as Saving Private Ryan, Little Miss Sunshine, Drive, Argo, and Godzilla. In 2015, Cranston, together with David Shore, executive produced and wrote the story for the Amazon Studios original crime drama Sneaky Pete, the pilot episode of which aired on August 7,2015. Cranston was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Audrey Peggy, an actress, and Joseph Louis Joe Cranston. He is the second of their three children and he was raised partly by his grandparents, living on their poultry farm in the Canoga Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. His father was of German, Austrian-Jewish, and Irish descent and he has stated that his parents were broken people and that they were incapacitated as far as parenting, causing the family to lose their house in a foreclosure. Cranstons father held many jobs before deciding to become an actor and he eventually walked out on the family when Cranston was 11 years old, and they did not see each other again until 11 years later, when Cranston and his brother decided to track their father down. Cranston was 22 at the time, and he and his father maintained a relationship until his fathers death in 2014. Cranston later claimed that he based his portrayal of Walter White on his own father, during his preteen years, Cranston encountered a young Charles Manson while riding a horse at the Spahn Ranch. This happened about a year before the Tate-LaBianca murders and he graduated from Canoga Park High School, where he was a member of the schools chemistry club. He earned a degree in police science from Los Angeles Valley College in 1976. After college, Cranston began his career in local and regional theaters. He had previously performed as a youth, but his show business parents had mixed feelings about their son being involved in the profession, Cranston was ordained as a minister by the Universal Life Church, and performed weddings for $150 a service to help with his income
4.
Angelina Jolie
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Angelina Jolie Pitt, DCMG is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and has cited as Hollywoods highest-paid actress. Jolie made her debut as a child alongside her father, Jon Voight. Her film career began in earnest a decade later with the low-budget production Cyborg 2, followed by her first leading role in a major film, Hackers. She starred in the critically acclaimed biographical cable films George Wallace and Gia, Jolies starring role as the video game heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft, Tomb Raider established her as a leading Hollywood actress. Beginning in the 2010s, she expanded her career into directing, screenwriting and her biggest commercial success came with the fantasy picture Maleficent. Her personal life is the subject of wide publicity, divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, she separated from her third husband, actor Brad Pitt, in September 2016. They have six children together, three of whom were adopted internationally, born in Los Angeles, California, Jolie is the daughter of actors Jon Voight and Marcheline Bertrand. She is the sister of actor James Haven and niece of singer-songwriter Chip Taylor and her godparents are actors Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. On her fathers side, Jolie is of German and Slovak descent, and on her mothers side, she is of primarily French Canadian, Dutch, like her mother, Jolie has stated that she is part Iroquois, although her only known indigenous ancestors were 17th-century Hurons. After her parents separation in 1976, Jolie and her brother lived with their mother, when Jolie was six years old, Bertrand and her live-in partner, filmmaker Bill Day, moved the family to Palisades, New York, they returned to Los Angeles five years later. Jolie then decided she wanted to act and enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Jolie first attended Beverly Hills High School, where she felt isolated among the children of some of the areas affluent families because her mother survived on a more modest income. She was teased by other students, who targeted her for being extremely thin and her early attempts at modeling, at her mothers insistence, proved unsuccessful. She dropped out of her classes and aspired to become a funeral director. She also struggled with insomnia and an eating disorder, and began experimenting with drugs, by age 20, she had used just about every drug possible, particularly heroin. Jolie suffered episodes of depression and twice planned to commit suicide—at age 19 and again at 22, when she was 24, she experienced a nervous breakdown and was admitted for 72 hours to UCLA Medical Centers psychiatric ward. Two years later, after adopting her first child, Jolie found stability in her life, later stating, I knew once I committed to Maddox, I would never be self-destructive again. Jolie has had a dysfunctional relationship with her father, which began when Voight left the family when his daughter was less than a year old
5.
Dustin Hoffman
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Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor and a director, with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. Hoffman has been known for his portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1980 for Kramer vs. Kramer, and in 1989 for Rain Man. Widely considered one of the finest actors in history, Hoffman first drew praise for starring in the play, Eh. for which he won a Theatre World Award. This achievement was followed by his breakthrough 1967 film role as Benjamin Braddock. Since that time, Hoffmans career has largely focused on the cinema, with sporadic returns to television. Hoffmans notable films include, Midnight Cowboy, Little Big Man, Straw Dogs, Papillon, Lenny, Marathon Man, All the Presidents Men, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, Rain Man, Hook and he made his directorial debut in 2012, with Quartet. Along with 2 Academy Award wins, Hoffman has been nominated for 5 additional Academy Awards and he has won 4 BAFTAs,3 Drama Desk Awards,2 Emmy Awards, and a Genie Award. Hoffman received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1999, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2012, Dustin Lee Hoffman was born on August 8,1937 in Los Angeles, California, the second son of Lillian and Harry Hoffman. His father worked as a supervisor at Columbia Pictures before becoming a furniture salesman. Hoffman was named after stage and silent screen actor, Dustin Farnum and his older brother, Ronald, is a lawyer and economist. Hoffman is Jewish, from an Ashkenazi family of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland and his upbringing was non-religious, and he has said, I don’t have any memory of celebrating holidays growing up that were Jewish, and that he had realized he was Jewish at around age 10. Hoffman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955 and enrolled at Santa Monica College with the intention of studying medicine. He left after a year to join the Pasadena Playhouse, although when he told his family about his career goal and he also took classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Hoffman initially hoped to become a classical pianist, having studied piano during much of his youth, while at Santa Monica College, he also took an acting class, which he assumed would be easy, and caught the acting bug. He recalls, I just was not gifted in music, now an aspiring actor, he spent the next ten years doing odd jobs, being unemployed, and struggling to get any available acting roles. He composed a song called Shooting the Breeze and Bette Midler wrote the words and his first acting role was at the Pasadena Playhouse, alongside future Academy Award-winner, Gene Hackman. After two years there, Hackman headed for New York City, with Hoffman soon following, Hoffman, Hackman and Robert Duvall lived together in the 1960s, all three of them focused on finding acting jobs
6.
J. K. Simmons
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Jonathan Kimble J. K. Simmons is an American actor and voice actor. In television, he is known for playing Dr. Emil Skoda on the NBC series Law & Order, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger on the HBO prison-drama Oz and his film roles include J. Jonah Jameson in Sam Raimis Spider-Man trilogy and music instructor Terence Fletcher in 2014s Whiplash. He is also known for voicing Cave Johnson in the video game Portal 2, Tenzin in The Legend of Korra, Stanford Pines in Gravity Falls, Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3, and Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia. Simmons also reprised his role as J. Jonah Jameson in various Marvel animated series and he has also appeared in a series of television commercials for Farmers Insurance. Jonathan Kimble Simmons was born on January 9,1955 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, the son of Patricia, an administrator, and Donald William Simmons, in 1965, when he was 10 years old, his family moved to Worthington, Ohio. In 1973, when he was 18, they moved to Missoula, Montana, the younger Simmons graduated from the University of Montana in 1978 with a music degree. During his tenure, he was part of the music-oriented fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Later, Simmons moved to Seattle and became a member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre, on Broadway, Simmons played Benny Southstreet in the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. In 1994 he sang roles in the Wagner opera satire. He also played the role of Jigger in a revival of Carousel with the Houston Grand Opera and he also stars as Ralph Earnhardt, the father of race-car driver Dale Earnhardt, in 3, The Dale Earnhardt Story. He plays Will Pope, Assistant Chief of the LAPD, in the series The Closer. In an interesting precursor to his joining the Law & Order cast as Skoda, Simmons appeared in Homicide, Life on the Street, portraying a criminal in a Law & Order cross-over episode. Other roles include that of a general in the television sitcom Arrested Development. He played B. R. in the film Thank You for Smoking and has been praised for his performance in Juno as Mac McGuff, in all three of Sam Raimis Spider-Man films, Simmons played J. Jonah Jameson, editor-in-chief of the newspaper Daily Bugle. In 2008, he played a CIA superior in Burn After Reading and he also appeared in I Love You, Man. Simmons starred in films produced or directed by his friend Jason Reitman, including Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air. In 2013, he had a role as Mr. Jervis in Reitmans film Labor Day. He voices Tenzin, an Airbending master and the son of Aang and Katara and he starred as blind lawyer Mel Fisher in Growing Up Fisher
7.
Lucy Liu
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Lucy Liu /ˈluː/ is an American actress, voice actress, director, producer, singer and artist. In 2008, she starred in an ABC comedy-drama, Cashmere Mafia, the show was one of only a few American television shows to have an Asian American series lead. In 2012, Liu joined the cast of the TNT series Southland in the role of Jessica Tang. Lucy Liu was born on December 2,1968 in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, in high school, she adopted a middle name, Alexis. She is the youngest of three born to Cecilia, who worked as a biochemist, and Tom Liu, a trained civil engineer who sold digital clock pens. Lius parents originally came from Beijing and Shanghai and emigrated to Taiwan as adults before meeting in New York and she has an older brother, Alex, and an older sister, Jenny. Her parents worked many jobs while Lucy and her siblings were growing up, Liu has stated that she grew up in a diverse neighborhood. She learned to speak Mandarin at home and began studying English when she was 5 and she studied the martial art kali-eskrima-silat as a hobby when she was young. Liu attended Joseph Pulitzer Middle School, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1986 and she later enrolled at New York University and transferred to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. Liu earned a degree in Asian languages and cultures. Liu worked as a waitress at the Ann Arbor Comedy Showcase club circa 1988–89, Liu was discovered by an agent at the age of 21 while traveling on the subway. As a member of the Basement Arts student-run theater group, she auditioned in 1989 for the University of Michigans production of Alice in Wonderland during her year of college. Although she had tried out for only a supporting part. While queuing up to audition for the musical Miss Saigon in 1990, she told The New York Times, There arent many Asian roles, in May 1992, Liu made her New York stage debut in Fairy Bones, directed by Tina Chen. Liu had small roles in films and TV, marking her debut, Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle Porter, and the character Ling Woo was later created specifically for her. Lius part on the series was originally temporary, but high audience ratings secured Liu as a permanent cast member, in Payback, Liu portrayed Pearl, a high-class BDSM prostitute with links to the Chinese mafia. Liu was cast as Alex Munday in the film Charlies Angels, alongside Drew Barrymore, the film opened in November 2000 and earned more than $125 million in the United States. Charlies Angels earned a total of more than $264 million
8.
Seth Rogen
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Seth Aaron Rogen is a Canadian-American actor, filmmaker, and comedian. He began his career performing stand-up comedy during his teenage years, while still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a supporting role in the series Freaks and Geeks. Shortly after he moved to Portland, Oregon for his role, Rogen later got a part on sitcom Undeclared, which also hired him as a staff writer. After landing his job as a writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show, for which he. Rogen made his first movie appearance in Donnie Darko with a role as a rebellious student in Donnies high school classes in 2001. Rogen was cast in a supporting role and credited as a co-producer in Apatows directorial debut. After Rogen received critical praise for his performance, Universal Pictures agreed to cast him as the lead in Apatows films Knocked Up, Rogen co-starred as Steve Wozniak in Universals Steve Jobs biopic in 2015. In 2016, he developed the AMC television series Preacher with his writing partner Evan Goldberg and he also serves as a writer and executive producer, and directed the first two episodes of the series with Goldberg. Rogen and Goldberg co-wrote the films Superbad, Pineapple Express, The Green Hornet, This Is the End and he has also done voice work for the films Horton Hears a Who. The Kung Fu Panda film series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Monsters vs. Aliens, Paul, Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. His mother, Sandy, is a worker, and his father, Mark Rogen, worked for non-profit organizations. Since Rogens father is American, he has American citizenship by birth and he has described his parents, who met on kibbutz Beit Alfa in Israel, as radical Jewish socialists. Rogen has a sister named Danya. Rogen attended Vancouver Talmud Torah Elementary School and Point Grey Secondary School and he was also known for the stand-up comedy he performed at Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp. As a child, Rogen did not want to pursue any other than comedy, As soon as I realized you could be funny as a job. He got his start in business at age 12 after enrolling in a comedy workshop taught by Mark Pooley. His early comedy routines involved jokes about his bar mitzvah, his grandparents, during his teenage years he would perform stand-up comedy routines at places like bar mitzvahs and small parties, later shifting to bars. A mohel paid him to write jokes, at the age of 13, he co-wrote a rough draft of Superbad with childhood friend Evan Goldberg, whom he had met at bar mitzvah classes
9.
David Cross
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Cross was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Barry and Susi, the former of whom emigrated from Leeds, England. Six months after his birth, Cross family moved to Florida, after additional moves to New York and Connecticut, the family settled back in Roswell, Georgia, where Cross remained for nearly a decade. Cross and his family were evicted from their home while living in Georgia and he spent some time living in motels and at friends homes while growing up. He has two sisters and once bailed his youngest sibling out of jail, at age 17, Cross began performing stand-up comedy. The day after he graduated from Northside High School in Atlanta, lacking a plan, he drifted, working briefly for a lawn care company on Long Island. Later, he enrolled at Emerson College in Boston and he would drop out after only a semester, but during his time there, Cross joined This is Pathetic, a college sketch group, where he met John Ennis. In the summer of 1985, the two aspiring actors took a trip to Los Angeles, although this did not significantly further their acting careers. In Boston, Cross began to perform more regularly. From the mid-1980s to the early 1990s, Boston had a comedy scene. He recalls that it was a loud-, dumb-, pandering-, racist-, in 1990, a new comedy scene began to emerge at the famous comedy club chain called Catch a Rising Star. Alongside Janeane Garofalo, Louis C. K. and other comics, Cross formed the sketch comedy group Cross Comedy with 12 other performers, and they put on a new show every week. They were known for playing tricks on the audience, such as introducing fake comics or planting fake hecklers, Cross became increasingly focused on his comedy work. Cross performed at the comedy club Un-Cabaret in Los Angeles. Cross also starred in the Joe Frank program Jam, produced in 1999 and has recently worked with Joe Frank on radio shows for KCRWs Unfictional. Cross stand-up comedy blends political commentary and satire, in 1999, he performed a one-hour comedy special, The Pride Is Back, on HBO. He has released three recordings, Shut Up You Fucking Baby and its Not Funny, and Bigger and Blackerer. Cross stand up material was featured in Comedy Centrals animated series Shorties Watchin Shorties, in 2004, Shut Up You Fucking Baby. was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. In 2003, he released his first tour film Let America Laugh and was named #85 on Comedy Centrals list of the 100 greatest stand-ups of all time and he appears on Un-Cabaret compilation albums, including Freak Weather Feels Different and The Good, the Bad and the Drugly
10.
James Hong
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James Hong is an American actor, producer and director of Chinese descent. He has worked in productions in American media since the 1950s. He is known for his roles in various Hollywood films, such as Hannibal Chew in Blade Runner, David Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China, Jeff Wong in Waynes World 2, and Chi-Fu in Mulan. Hong is also known for playing Dalong Wong in the television series Jackie Chan Adventures, Hong is a former president of the Association of Asian/Pacific American Artists. Hong was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Frank W. Hong and his father emigrated from Hong Kong to Chicago, Illinois via Canada, where he owned a restaurant. For his early education, Hong moved to Hong Kong, where he lived in Kowloon and he graduated from Minneapolis Central High School. He studied civil engineering at the University of Southern California, but later became interested in acting, Hong was a road engineer in Los Angeles County for seven and a half years, acting during his vacations and sick days. He finally quit engineering for good to himself to acting. Hong served in the United States Army at Fort McClellan and Camp Rucker with the Special Services, but then if we were to retreat and I turned around and ran back the Americans would try to kill me too because theyd think Im an enemy in disguise. I definitely think I would have shot from one side. Hong has played over 500 television and film roles and his career in show business began in the 1950s when he redubbed soundtracks of several Asian films. He dubbed the voices of characters Ogata and Dr. Serizawa in the 1956 Godzilla, in 1956, he was cast as Jimmy Ling in the episode Red Tentacles of the western aviation adventure series Sky King, starring Kirby Grant. He guest starred in the NBC western series The Californians, in 1957-1958, he was cast as the Number One Son, Barry Chan, in the British-American TV show The New Adventures of Charlie Chan starring J. Carrol Naish as Charlie Chan. The role of the Number One Son was played by Keye Luke in the predecessor films, however, Keye Lukes character was known as Lee Chan. In 1959, he appeared as a prince on an episode of Walt Disneys ABC series and he was thereafter cast as Chung Lind in the 1960 episode East of Danger in the David Janssen NBC crime drama series Richard Diamond, Private Detective. In 1962 he appeared on CBSs Perry Mason as Dean Chang in The Case of the Weary Watchdog and he also appeared three times on the NBC military sitcom, Ensign OToole. In 1965, Hong was one of the founding members of the East West Players. He appeared as an accused of performing an illegal abortion in the Blake Edwards movie The Carey Treatment in 1972
11.
Kate Hudson
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Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She rose to prominence in 2000 for playing Penny Lane in Almost Famous, Hudson also co-founded Fabletics, a fitness brand and membership program operated by JustFab. Hudson was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Academy Award-winning actress Goldie Hawn and Bill Hudson, an actor, comedian, Hudson has stated that her biological father doesnt know me from a hole in the wall, and that she considers Russell her father. Her biological father indicated that though he had several efforts to connect with Kate. Hudson has described her mother as the woman that Ive learned the most from, and who I look up to, Hudsons ancestry is Italian, Hungarian Jewish, and the remainder a mix of English and some German. Like her mother, Hudson practices Buddhism, in 1997, she graduated from Crossroads, a college preparatory school in Santa Monica. She was accepted to New York University, but chose to pursue a career instead of an undergraduate degree. Hudsons first film came in 1998 with two films, the comedy-drama Desert Blue and Ricochet River. She subsequently appeared in the 1999 New Years Eve-set comedy ensemble comedy film, in 2002, Hudson starred in the remake of the historical romance The Four Feathers, which was panned by critics and audiences. Her next film, the romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, was a box office success, Hudson subsequently appeared in several romantic comedies, including Alex and Emma and Raising Helen, the films met with varying degrees of success. Hudson later headlined the 2005 thriller The Skeleton Key, the film, which had a production budget of $43 million, grossed over $91.9 million worldwide. Her next film, a comedy titled You, Me and Dupree and co-starring Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon, in 2007, Hudson directed the short film Cutlass, one of Glamour magazines Reel Moments based on readers personal essays. Cutlass co-stars Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Virginia Madsen, Chevy Chase and she also appeared in My Best Friends Girl, another romantic comedy, in 2008. Hudson next appeared in the musical film Nine, alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, the film, directed by Rob Marshall, was released in December 2009. Hudson was critically acclaimed for her skills, showcased in a 1960s-inspired original piece called Cinema Italiano. She later starred in the adaptation of Jim Thompsons The Killer Inside Me. In 2011, she starred in romantic comedy, Something Borrowed, based on Emily Giffins novel of the same name. In 2012, Hudson was cast in the role on Fox teen comedy series, Glee as Cassandra July
12.
Randall Duk Kim
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Randall Duk Kim is a Korean-American stage, television and film actor. Kim was also the director and mainstay lead actor at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Since he was eighteen, Kim has portrayed a variety of roles on the stage. He has spent most of his career in theatre and he also played the title role in Hamlet at the Guthrie Theatre in 1978-79. He played Kralaholme in the 1996 revival of The King and I on Broadway and he voiced Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda. In 2008 he played Dashiell Kim in an episode of the television series Fringe and he also played Grandpa Gohan in the 2009 live action adaptation of Dragonball Evolution and a tattoo master in Ninja Assassin. Randall Duk Kim at the Internet Movie Database Randall Duk Kim at the Internet Broadway Database Randall Duk Kim at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
13.
Jackie Chan
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Chan Kong-sang, SBS, MBE, PMW, known professionally as Jackie Chan, is a Hong Kong martial artist, actor, film director, producer, stuntman, and singer. In his movies, he is known for his fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts. He has trained in Kung Fu and Hapkido and he has been acting since the 1960s and has appeared in over 150 films. Chan has received stars on the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars, and he has been referenced in various pop songs, cartoons, and video games. He is a trained vocalist and is also a Cantopop and Mandopop star, having released a number of albums. He is also a notable philanthropist, in 2015, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth to be $350 million. Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in British Hong Kong, as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan and his mother or parents nicknamed him Pao-pao Chinese, 炮炮 because the energetic child was always rolling around. His parents worked for the French ambassador in Hong Kong, Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father emigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy. Chan trained rigorously for the decade, excelling in martial arts. He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a group made up of the schools best students. Chan became close friends with group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. After entering the industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim. Jackie Chan also trained in other styles of arts such as Karate, Judo, Taekwondo. He began his career by appearing in roles at the age of five as a child actor. At age eight, he appeared with some of his fellow Little Fortunes in the film Big, Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne and had a small role in King Hus 1966 film Come Drink with Me. In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another kung fu film, A Touch of Zen, at seventeen, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung. He received his first starring role later that year in Little Tiger of Canton that had a release in Hong Kong in 1973
14.
Hans Zimmer
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Hans Florian Zimmer is a German composer and record producer. Since the 1980s, he has composed music for over 150 films, Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States. He is the head of the music division at DreamWorks studios and works with other composers through the company that he founded, Remote Control Productions. His studio in Santa Monica, California has a range of computer equipment and keyboards. Zimmers works are notable for integrating electronic music sounds with traditional orchestral arrangements and he has received four Grammy Awards, three Classical BRIT Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award. He was also named on the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses, Zimmer was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. As a young child, he lived in Königstein-Falkenstein, where he played the piano at home but had piano lessons only briefly as he disliked the discipline of formal lessons and he moved to London as a teenager, where he attended Hurtwood House school. In an interview with Mashable in February 2013, he said of his parents My mother was very musical, basically a musician and my father was an engineer and an inventor. In an interview with the German television station ZDF in 2006, he commented, My father died when I was just a child, and I escaped somehow into the music and music has been my best friend. In a speech at the 1999 Berlin Film Festival, Zimmer stated that he is Jewish, Zimmer began his career playing keyboards and synthesizers in the 1970s, with the band Krakatoa. He worked with the Buggles, a new band formed in London in 1977 with Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes. Zimmer can be seen briefly in the Buggles music video for the 1979 song Video Killed the Radio Star, after working with the Buggles, he started to work for the Italian group Krisma, a new wave band formed in 1976 with Maurizio Arcieri and Christina Moser. He was a featured synthesist for Krisma’s third album, Cathode Mamma and he has also worked with the band Helden. Both Zimmer and Cann, were invited to be part of the Spanish group Mecano for a performance in Segovia in 1984. Two songs from this concert were included in the Mecano, En Concierto album released in 1985 only in Spain, in 1985, he contributed to the Shriekback album Oil & Gold. While living in London, Zimmer wrote advertising jingles for Air-Edel Associates, in the 1980s, Zimmer partnered with Stanley Myers, a prolific film composer who wrote the scores for over sixty films. Zimmer and Myers co–founded the London–based Lillie Yard recording studio, together, Myers and Zimmer worked on fusing the traditional orchestral sound with electronic instruments. Some of the films on which Zimmer and Myers worked are Moonlighting, Success is the Best Revenge, Insignificance, Zimmers first solo score was Terminal Exposure for director Nico Mastorakis in 1987, for which he also wrote the songs
15.
DreamWorks Animation
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DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. is an American animation studio that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast. It is based in Glendale, California and produces animated feature films, television programs, DreamWorks Animation currently maintains its Glendale campus, as well as satellite studios in India and China. On August 22,2016, NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, as of January 2017, its feature films have grossed $13.83 billion worldwide, with a $419.2 million average gross per film. Shrek 2 is among the 50 highest-grossing films of all time, although the studio also made traditionally animated films in the past, as well as stop-motion co-production with Aardman Animations, all of their films now use computer animation. The studio has received three Academy Awards, as well as 22 Emmy and numerous Annie Awards, and multiple Golden Globe & BAFTA nominations, in recent years, the animation studio has acquired and created new divisions in an effort to diversify beyond the high-risk movie business. To build the talent base, Spielberg brought over artists from his London-based studio, Amblimation, some of Amblimations artists came to DreamWorks in 1995, when the studios last feature was completed, with the rest doing so following the studios closure in 1997. In 1995, DreamWorks signed a deal with Pacific Data Images to form subsidiary PDI. This new unit would produce computer-generated feature films, beginning with Antz in 1998, in the same year DreamWorks SKG produced The Prince of Egypt, which used both CGI technology and traditional animation techniques. In 1997, DreamWorks partnered with Aardman Animations, a British stop-motion animation studio, to co-produce and distribute Chicken Run, two years later they extended the deal for an additional four films. With Aardman doing stop-motion, they covered all three styles, besides traditional and computer animation. This partnership had DreamWorks participating in the production of films in Bristol. Three years later, DreamWorks SKG created DreamWorks Animation, a new division that would regularly produce both types of animated feature films. The same year DW acquired majority interest in PDI, and reformed it into PDI/DreamWorks, in 2001, Shrek was released and went on to win the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Due to the success of CGI animated films, DWA decided the year to exit hand-drawn animation business after the next two of total four hand-drawn films. Beginning with Shrek 2, all released films, other than some co-produced with Aardman, were expected to be produced with CGI, the releases of Shrek 2 and Shark Tale also made DWA the first studio to produce two CGI animated features in a single year. The animation division was spun off into a publicly traded company named DreamWorks Animation SKG, Katzenberg headed the new division, while Spielberg and Geffen remained on board as investors and consultants. DWA also inherited interests in PDI/DreamWorks and they made an agreement with their former parent to distribute all of their films until they deliver twelve new films, or December 12,2010, whichever came last. On January 31,2006, DWA entered into an agreement with Paramount Pictures
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Oriental DreamWorks
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Shanghai Oriental DreamWorks Film & Television Technology Co. Ltd. is a Chinese-American film production company founded in 2012 by DreamWorks Animation and Chinese investment companies. The company will mainly produce Chinese-themed animated and live action films and their derivatives for distribution within China, Ltd. or Oriental DreamWorks for short. The new venture is expected to develop and produce original Chinese animated and live action content for distribution within China, the company will also produce live entertainment content, theme parks, games and consumer products. Oriental DreamWorks, owned 45% by DWA and 55% by the Chinese partners, launched on August 6,2012, with the cash and intellectual capital worth $350 million. To produce animated films,37 Entertainment, a Chinese animation studio with 175 employees, beside producing its own content, Oriental DreamWorks acts also as a distributor for DWAs productions. Releasing The Croods in 2013, ODW became the first company in 20–30 years that got a license to import Western films. The studios first animated film, Kung Fu Panda 3, was released on January 29,2016. The studios first original film, titled Everest, will follow in 2019, on March 15,2017, it was reported that NBCUniversal would sell off its stake as Oriental DreamWorks is heading to restructure. A film adaption to The Tibet Code, co-produced by China Film Group, was announced, Kung Fu Panda 3 Everest Part of the deal with the Chinese partners is also an entertainment and culture complex called Dream Center. Official website Oriental DreamWorks at the Internet Movie Database
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20th Century Fox
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Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation is an American film studio currently owned by 21st Century Fox. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios and is located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, the studio was formerly owned by News Corporation. 20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2015, 20th Century Fox celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. Spyros Skouras, then manager of the Fox West Coast Theaters, the studios biggest star, Will Rogers, died in a plane crash weeks after the merger. Its leading female star, Janet Gaynor, was fading in popularity and promising leading men James Dunn, at first, it was expected that the new company was originally to be called Fox-20th Century, even though 20th Century was the senior partner in the merger. However, 20th Century brought more to the bargaining table besides Schenck and Zanuck, the new company, 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation, began trading on May 31,1935, the hyphen was dropped in 1985. Schenck became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, while Kent remained as President, Zanuck became Vice President in Charge of Production, replacing Foxs longtime production chief Winfield Sheehan. The company established a training school. The contracts included an option for renewal for as long as seven years. For many years, 20th Century Fox claimed to have founded in 1915. For instance, it marked 1945 as its 30th anniversary, however, in recent years it has claimed the 1935 merger as its founding, even though most film historians agree it was founded in 1915. The companys films retained the 20th Century Pictures searchlight logo on their credits as well as its opening fanfare. Also on the Fox payroll he found two players who he built up into the studios leading assets, Alice Faye and seven-year-old Shirley Temple, favoring popular biographies and musicals, Zanuck built Fox back to profitability. Thanks to record attendance during World War II, Fox overtook RKO, while Zanuck went off for eighteen months war service, junior partner William Goetz kept profits high by going for light entertainment. The studios—indeed the industrys—biggest star was creamy blonde Betty Grable, in 1942, Spyros Skouras succeeded Kent as president of the studio. Together with Zanuck, who returned in 1943, they intended to make Foxs output more serious-minded. During the next few years, with pictures like The Razors Edge, Wilson, Gentlemans Agreement, The Snake Pit, Boomerang, and Pinky, Zanuck established a reputation for provocative, adult films. Fox also specialized in adaptations of best-selling books such as Ben Ames Williams Leave Her to Heaven, starring Gene Tierney and they also made the 1958 film version of South Pacific
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3D film
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A three-dimensional stereoscopic film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception, hence adding a third dimension. The most common approach to the production of 3D films is derived from stereoscopic photography, 3D films are not limited to theatrical releases, television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods, especially since the advent of 3D television and Blu-ray 3D. 3D films became more and more throughout the 2000s, culminating in the unprecedented success of 3D presentations of Avatar in December 2009. The stereoscopic era of motion pictures began in the late 1890s when British film pioneer William Friese-Greene filed a patent for a 3D film process, in his patent, two films were projected side by side on screen. The viewer looked through a stereoscope to converge the two images, because of the obtrusive mechanics behind this method, theatrical use was not practical. Frederic Eugene Ives patented his stereo camera rig in 1900, the camera had two lenses coupled together 1¾ inches apart. On June 10,1915, Edwin S. Porter and William E. Waddell presented tests to an audience at the Astor Theater in New York City. However, according to Adolph Zukor in his 1953 autobiography The Public Is Never Wrong, My 50 Years in the Motion Picture Industry, nothing was produced in this process after these tests. The earliest confirmed 3D film shown to an audience was The Power of Love. The camera rig was a product of the producer, Harry K. Fairall. Whether Fairall used colored filters on the ports or whether he used tinted prints is unknown. After a preview for exhibitors and press in New York City, the film dropped out of sight, apparently not booked by exhibitors, and is now considered lost. Kelley then struck a deal with Samuel Roxy Rothafel to premiere the first in his series of Plasticon shorts entitled Movies of the Future at the Rivoli Theater in New York City. Also in December 1922, Laurens Hammond premiered his Teleview system, Teleview was the first alternating-frame 3D system seen by the public. Using left-eye and right-eye prints and two interlocked projectors, left and right frames were alternately projected, each pair being shown three times to suppress flicker. Viewing devices attached to the armrests of the seats had rotary shutters that operated synchronously with the projector shutters, producing a clean. The show ran for weeks, apparently doing good business as a novelty. In 1922, Frederic Eugene Ives and Jacob Leventhal began releasing their first stereoscopic shorts made over a three-year period, the first film, entitled Plastigrams, was distributed nationally by Educational Pictures in the red-and-blue anaglyph format
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Computer animation
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Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images. The more general term computer-generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation refers to the moving images. Modern computer animation usually uses 3D computer graphics, although 2D computer graphics are used for stylistic, low bandwidth. Sometimes, the target of the animation is the computer itself, Computer animation is essentially a digital successor to the stop motion techniques used in traditional animation with 3D models and frame-by-frame animation of 2D illustrations. It can also allow a single graphic artist to such content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces. To create the illusion of movement, an image is displayed on the monitor and repeatedly replaced by a new image that is similar to it. This technique is identical to how the illusion of movement is achieved with television and motion pictures, for 3D animations, objects are built on the computer monitor and 3D figures are rigged with a virtual skeleton. For 2D figure animations, separate objects and separate transparent layers are used with or without that virtual skeleton, then the limbs, eyes, mouth, clothes, etc. of the figure are moved by the animator on key frames. The differences in appearance between key frames are calculated by the computer in a process known as tweening or morphing. For 3D animations, all frames must be rendered after the modeling is complete, for 2D vector animations, the rendering process is the key frame illustration process, while tweened frames are rendered as needed. For pre-recorded presentations, the frames are transferred to a different format or medium. The frames may also be rendered in real time as they are presented to the end-user audience, low bandwidth animations transmitted via the internet often use software on the end-users computer to render in real time as an alternative to streaming or pre-loaded high bandwidth animations. To trick the eye and the brain into thinking they are seeing a moving object. With rates above 75-120 frames per second, no improvement in realism or smoothness is perceivable due to the way the eye, at rates below 12 frames per second, most people can detect jerkiness associated with the drawing of new images that detracts from the illusion of realistic movement. Conventional hand-drawn cartoon animation often uses 15 frames per second in order to save on the number of drawings needed, to produce more realistic imagery, computer animation demands higher frame rates. Films seen in theaters in the United States run at 24 frames per second, for high resolution, adapters are used. Early digital computer animation was developed at Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1960s by Edward E. Zajac, Frank W. Sinden, other digital animation was also practiced at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. An early step in the history of animation was the sequel to the 1973 film Westworld
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Martial arts
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Although the term martial art has become associated with the fighting arts of eastern Asia, it originally referred to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s. The term is derived from Latin, and means arts of Mars, Martial arts may be categorized along a variety of criteria, including, Traditional or historical arts vs. contemporary styles of folk wrestling and modern hybrid martial arts. Such traditions include eskrima, silat, kalaripayat, kobudo, and historical European martial arts, Many Chinese martial arts also feature weapons as part of their curriculum. Similarly, modern Western martial arts and sports include fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat or singlestick. Combat-oriented Health-oriented Many martial arts, especially those from Asia, also teach side disciplines which pertain to medicinal practices and this is particularly prevalent in traditional Asian martial arts which may teach bone-setting, herbalism, and other aspects of traditional medicine. Spirituality-oriented Martial arts can also be linked with religion and spirituality, numerous systems are reputed to have been founded, disseminated, or practiced by monks or nuns. Throughout Asia, meditation may be incorporated as part of training, in those countries influenced by Hindu-Buddhist philosophy, the art itself may be used as an aid to attaining enlightenment. Japanese styles, when concerning non-physical qualities of the combat, are strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Concepts like empty mind and beginners mind are recurrent, aikido, for instance, can have a strong philosophical belief of the flow of energy and peace fostering, as idealised by its founder Morihei Ueshiba. Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the spiritual and philosophical development. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as taekkyeon and taekwondo, is the value of peace in a practitioner. The Koreans believe that the use of force is only justified through defense. Many such martial arts incorporate music, especially strong percussive rhythms, the oldest works of art depicting scenes of battle are cave paintings from Spain dated between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE that show organized groups fighting with bows and arrows. Chinese martial arts originated during the Xia Dynasty more than 4000 years ago and it is said the Yellow Emperor Huangdi introduced the earliest fighting systems to China. The Yellow Emperor is described as a general who, before becoming Chinas leader, wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology. One of his opponents was Chi You who was credited as the creator of jiao di. The foundation of modern Asian martial arts is likely a blend of early Chinese, during the Warring States period of Chinese history extensive development in martial philosophy and strategy emerged, as described by Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Legendary accounts link the origin of Shaolinquan to the spread of Buddhism from India during the early 5th century AD, with the figure of Bodhidharma, to China
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Kung Fu Panda (franchise)
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The Kung Fu Panda franchise from DreamWorks Animation consists of three films, Kung Fu Panda, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3. The first two were distributed by Paramount Pictures, while the film was distributed by 20th Century Fox. Three shorts, Secrets of the Furious Five, Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special and Kung Fu Panda, a television series for Nickelodeon television network, Kung Fu Panda, Legends of Awesomeness, premiered in the fall of 2011. Although his status is initially doubted, Po proves himself worthy as he strives to fulfill his destiny and learn about his past with his new friends. Po, a clumsy, overweight panda, is a kung fu fanatic who lives in the Valley of Peace and works in his goose father Mr. Pings noodle shop, unable to realize his dream of learning kung fu. Everyone in the valley expects the Dragon Warrior to be one of the Furious Five—Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, to everyones surprise, Oogway chooses Po, who had accidentally stumbled into the tournament arena after arriving late. Refusing to believe that Po can be the Dragon Warrior, Shifu subjects Po to torturous training exercises in order to him into quitting. Determined to change himself into someone he himself can respect, Po perseveres in his training and befriends the Furious Five, who had previously mocked Po for his lack of skill in kung fu. Po soon learns that he must fight Tai Lung, a kung fu warrior who has escaped from prison to take revenge for being denied the Dragon Scroll. However, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of martial arts when motivated by food, after his training is complete, Po is given the Dragon Scroll, which he discovers to be blank. However, Po realizes that the key to limitless power lies within himself, allowing him to defeat Tai Lung, Po now lives his dream as a kung fu master and protects the Valley of Peace alongside the Furious Five. However, he is thrown into conflict when he begins having flashbacks of his mother. Shortly after, Po and the Five are sent on a mission to stop the evil peacock Lord Shen from using a newly developed weapon, Po achieves inner peace, which allows him to destroy Shens new weapon, defeat Shen, and accept Mr. Ping as his father. However, during the last scene of the movie it shows Pos biological father realizing his son is alive, while struggling with this new responsibility, Po rejoices upon reuniting with his biological father, Li. Po eventually discovers that Li had deceived him because the pandas had forgotten at all about how to manipulate the Chi and he just wanted to protect his son from Kai, much to Pos disappointment. Once making amends with his father, Po joins forces with the pandas to make a stand against Kai, mastering the power of Chi in the occasion, after returning to the Valley of Peace, Po spends his days spreading the teachings of Chi. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has said that it is possible that perhaps the series will see three more sequels after Kung Fu Panda 3, bringing it to a six-film series. On January 13,2016, Collider asked the filmmakers of Kung Fu Panda 3 about the possibility of a fourth film, co-director Jennifer Yuh Nelson said, It’s one at a time
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Kung Fu Panda 2
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Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, and Jackie Chan reprise their character roles from the original film. They are joined by Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh and Danny McBride, in the film, Po and the Furious Five battle an evil peacock named Lord Shen who has a powerful weapon that he plans to conquer China with. However Po discovers a secret about his past in the process. The film was released in theatres May 26,2011 in Real D 3D, Kung Fu Panda 2 grossed $665 million worldwide against its $150 million budget. The film was the animated feature film of the year and was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. A sequel, titled Kung Fu Panda 3, and directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson, years before the events of the first film, Lord Shen, the scion of a peacock clan that rules Gongmen City in ancient China, seeks to harness fireworks as a weapon. Shens parents are horrified at this atrocity and exile their son, about twenty years later, Po is living his dream as the Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the Furious Five. His teacher Shifu tells him, however, that he has yet to achieve inner peace, Po asks his goose father, Mr. Ping, about his origins. Ping reveals that he found Po as an infant in a crate and adopted him. Shifu sends Po and the Furious Five to Gongmen City to stop Shen and they find the city occupied by Shens forces, with the two surviving council members Storming Ox and Croc imprisoned. The six heroes ask the members for help to liberate the city. Po and the Five are discovered by the boss and give chase. Upon being brought before Shen in his tower, Po and the Five free themselves, however, Po is again distracted by a flashback upon seeing the same symbol as before on Shens plumage, realizing Shen was there the last night Po saw his parents. This allows Shen to escape and destroy the tower with an arsenal of cannons, though empathetic, Tigress tells Po to stay behind for his own safety. Despite this, Po breaks into the factory to question Shen, Shen claims that Pos parents abandoned him, and then blasts Po out of the factory into a river with a cannon, where he is presumed dead. Po survives and is rescued by the soothsayer, who takes him to the ruins of the nearby village where Po was born. Po attains inner peace, realizing that he has lived a happy, Po returns to Gongmen City to save the captive Five and prevent Shens conquest of China. A battle ensues between Shens armada, sailing in the heart of Gongmen City, and Po and the Five, joined by Shifu, Po modifies the movements used during his inner peace training to redirect Shens firework shells against his own armada, destroying it
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Po (Kung Fu Panda)
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Master Po Ping is a title character and the protagonist of the Kung Fu Panda franchise. He is an anthropomorphic giant panda in his 20s, who is improbably chosen as the Dragon Warrior. Hes the adoptive son of Mr. Ping, and is one of Master Shifus students, Po is also the prophesied Dragon Warrior, as well as the warrior of black and white. In Kung Fu Panda, Legends of Awesomeness, Pos revealed to have the ability to be able to learn kung fu at a glance, Po is also the team leader of the Furious Five. Although he is not properly part of as he is considered as a master after Shifu to the Furious Five. The character has received positive critical reception, reaching influence to serve as the other characters, video games. On the command of Pos father, Li Shan who stayed to defend the village, eventually, Pos mother managed to temporarily elude the wolves and found a crate of radishes in which she hid her son. She then sacrificed herself to lure Shens forces away from her son, the crate was shipped across China to a village in the Valley of Peace, where the owner of a noodle shop, Mr. Ping, found the panda cub. With no clue as to the identity or how he got there, Mr. Ping decided to raise him as his son. With no conscious memories of his past life, Po grew up under the care of Mr. Ping, Po is friendly, kind, energetic, impulsive, good-natured, spunky, innocent, fun-loving, compassionate, smart, naive, loveable, and he never gives up. Though Pos real passion was for Kung Fu, he was reluctant to disappoint his father by revealing it. Despite having a mild and friendly personality, Po also developed a severe self-loathing, believing himself a failure for being obese and a species not known for a warrior tradition. When he gets upset, he usually gorges on food to dull the pain and his main interest lies in Kung Fu. He developed a knowledge of the lore of warriors, famous combat moves, dates. He was popular all his friends and they all loved him as a kid. Despite this preference, Po did not neglect his education in his fathers trade and is an excellent cook as a result. However, as seen in the TV series, nobody can stand to watch him eat due to his lazy behaviour. He does seem perfectly capable of having manners though, Pos naive, gullible, and energetic personality can perhaps be compared to that of a fan of Kung Fu movies
24.
Qi
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In traditional Chinese culture, qì or chi is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi literally translates as breath, air, or gas, and figuratively as material energy, life force, Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. Some elements of the concept of qi can be found in the energy when used in the context of various esoteric forms of spirituality. Notions in the West of energeia, élan vital, or vitalism are purported to be similar, despite widespread belief in the reality of qi, it is a non-scientific, unverifiable concept. The logograph 氣 is read with two Chinese pronunciations, the usual qì 氣 air, vital energy and the rare archaic xì 氣 to present food, pronunciations of 氣 in Sino-Xenic borrowings include, Japanese language ki, Korean language gi, and Vietnamese language khi. Reconstructions of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 氣, standardized to IPA transcription, include, /kʰe̯iH/, /kʰĭəiH/, /kʰiəiH/, /kʰɨjH/, reconstructions of the Old Chinese pronunciation of 氣, standardized to IPA transcription, include, /*kʰɯds/, and /*C. qʰəp-s/. In addition, qì 炁 is an uncommon character especially used in writing Daoist talismans, historically, the word qì was generally written as 气 until the Han dynasty, when it was replaced by the 氣 graph clarified with mǐ 米 rice indicating steam. These oracle, bronze, and seal scripts graphs for qì 气 air, breath, etc. were anciently used as a loan character to write qǐ 乞 plead for, beg, ask. The regular script character qì 氣 is unusual because qì 气 is both the air radical and the phonetic, with mǐ 米 rice semantically indicating steam, vapor. This qì 气 air/gas radical, which was used in a few native Chinese characters like yīnyūn 氤氲 thick mist/smoke, was used to create new scientific characters for gaseous chemical elements. Some examples are based on pronunciations in European languages, fú 氟 fluorine and nǎi 氖 neon, others are based on semantics, qīng 氫 hydrogen and lǜ 氯 chlorine. Qi was an early Chinese loanword in English, romanized as, ki in Church Romanization in the century, chi in Wade–Giles in the mid-19th century. An early form of the idea comes from the writings of the Chinese philosopher Mencius, historically, the Huangdi Neijing/The Yellow Emperors Classic of Medicine is credited with first establishing the pathways through which qi circulates in the human body. The ancient Chinese described it as life force and they believed qi permeated everything and linked their surroundings together. They likened it to the flow of energy around and through the body, forming a cohesive, by understanding its rhythm and flow they believed they could guide exercises and treatments to provide stability and longevity. Although the concept of qi has been important within many Chinese philosophies, until China came into contact with Western scientific and philosophical ideas, they had not categorized all things in terms of matter and energy. Qi and li were fundamental categories similar to matter and energy, yuán qì is a notion of innate or pre-natal qi to distinguish it from acquired qi that a person may develop over the course of their lifetime. The earliest texts that speak of qi give some indications of how the concept developed, the philosopher Mo Di used the word qi to refer to noxious vapors that would in due time arise from a corpse were it not buried at a sufficient depth
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Kung Fu Panda
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Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 American computer-animated action comedy martial arts film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. Set in a version of ancient China populated by talking animals. The idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive, the computer animation in the film was more complex than anything DreamWorks had done before. As with most DreamWorks animated films, Hans Zimmer scored Kung Fu Panda and he visited China to absorb the culture and get to know the China National Symphony Orchestra as part of his preparation. A sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2, was released on May 26,2011, along with a series, Kung Fu Panda. A second sequel called Kung Fu Panda 3 was released on January 29,2016, Kung Fu Panda premiered in the United States on June 6,2008. The film received acclaim upon release. Kung Fu Panda opened in 4,114 theaters, grossing $20.3 million on its day and $60.2 million on its opening weekend. The story is set in the Valley of Peace, a land in ancient China inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Po, a giant panda, is a kung fu fanatic who idolizes the Furious Five, Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Viper, and Crane, a quintet of kung fu students trained by the red panda Master Shifu. As he helps his goose adoptive father Mr. Ping in his noodle restaurant, Shifu is alarmed and sends his messenger, the goose Zeng, to prevent Tai Lungs escape. He then holds a kung fu tournament for the Furious Five so that Oogway may identify the Dragon Warrior, forced to take a cumbersome noodle cart to the tournament, Po arrives as the arena doors close and is unable to enter. To the audiences surprise, Pos confusion, and the Furious Fives dismay, Oogway proclaims Po as the Dragon Warrior. Unwilling to accept that Oogways decision was intentional, Shifu tries to get rid of Po by ridiculing him into quitting kung fu training coupled with a training regime. The Furious Five similarly mock and disdain of Po as an upstart with no skill in kung fu, after receiving encouragement from Oogway, Po endures his grueling training and slowly begins to befriend the Five with his tenacity, culinary skill, and good humor. Meanwhile, Tai Lung escapes from prison as foreseen by Oogway, Shifu learns of Tai Lungs escape from Zeng and informs Oogway, who extracts a promise from Shifu to believe in Po and then ascends to the sky in a cloud of peach blossoms. Still unable to grasp the basics of kung fu, Po despairingly admits that he has no chance of defeating Tai Lung, Shifu, however, discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. Using food as positive reinforcement, Shifu successfully trains Po to incorporate these feats into a kung fu style
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Bull
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A bull is an intact adult male of the species Bos taurus. Usage of these terms varies considerably with area and dialect, colloquially, people unfamiliar with cattle may refer to both castrated and intact animals as bulls. A wild, young, unmarked bull is known as a micky in Australia, improper or late castration on a bull results in it becoming a coarse steer, also known as a stag in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In some countries an incompletely castrated male is also as a rig or ridgling. The word bull also denotes the males of other bovines, including bison and water buffalo as well as other species of large animals including elephants, camels, elk, moose. Bulls are much more muscular than cows, with bones, larger feet, a very muscular neck. These features assist bulls in fighting for domination over a herd, the hair is generally shorter on the body, but on the neck and head there is often a mane of curlier, wooly hair. Bulls are usually about the height as cows or a little taller. In horned cattle the horns of bulls tend to be thicker and somewhat shorter than those of cows, and in many breeds they curve outwards in a flat arc rather than upwards in a lyre shape. It is not true, as is believed, that bulls have horns and cows do not. Bulls become fertile at about seven months of age, given the small amount of erectile tissue, there is little enlargement after erection. The penis is quite rigid when non-erect, and becomes more rigid during erection. Protrusion is not affected much by erection, but more by relaxation of the retractor penis muscle, Bulls are occasionally affected by a condition known as corkscrew penis. The penis of a bull is about 3–4 cm in diameter. The bulls glans penis has a rounded and elongated shape, a common misconception widely repeated in depictions of bull behavior is that the color red angers bulls, inciting them to charge. In fact, like most mammals, cattle are red-green color blind, in bullfighting, it is the movement of the matadors cape, and not the color, which provokes a reaction in the bull. Other than the few bulls needed for breeding, the vast majority of cattle are slaughtered for meat before the age of three years. Most of these animals are castrated as calves to reduce aggressive behavior and prevent unwanted mating
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Jade
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Jade is an ornamental green rock. The middle member of series with an intermediate composition is called actinolite. The higher the content, the greener the colour. Jadeite is a sodium- and aluminium-rich pyroxene, the precious form of jadeite jade is a microcrystalline interlocking growth of jadeite crystals. The English word jade is derived from the Spanish term piedra de ijada or loin stone, from its reputed efficacy in curing ailments of the loins, nephrite is derived from lapis nephriticus, a Latin translation of the Spanish piedra de ijada. Nephrite and jadeite were used from prehistoric periods for hardstone carving, jadeite has about the same hardness as quartz. Nephrite is slightly softer but tougher than jadeite and it was not until the 19th century that a French mineralogist, Alexis Damour, determined that jade was in fact two different minerals. Among the earliest known jade artifacts excavated from prehistoric sites are simple ornaments with bead, button, additionally, jade was used for adze heads, knives, and other weapons, which can be delicately shaped. As metal-working technologies became available, the beauty of jade made it valuable for ornaments and decorative objects. Jadeite measures between 6.0 and 7.0 Mohs hardness, and nephrite between 6.0 and 6.5, so it can be worked with quartz or garnet sand, of the two, jadeite is rarer, documented in fewer than 12 places worldwide. Translucent emerald-green jadeite is the most prized variety, both historically and today, Burma and Guatemala are the principal sources of modern gem jadeite. In the area of Mogaung in the Myitkyina District of Upper Burma, jadeite formed a layer in the dark-green serpentine, Canada provides the major share of modern lapidary nephrite. Nephrite jade was used mostly in pre-1800 China as well as in New Zealand, the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast of North America, Neolithic Europe, in addition to Mesoamerica, jadeite was used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures. Dushan Jade was being mined as early as 6000 BC, in the Yin Ruins of the Shang Dynasty in Anyang, Dushan Jade ornaments were unearthed in the tomb of the Shang kings. Jade was used to create many utilitarian and ceremonial objects, from indoor decorative items to jade burial suits, Jade was considered the imperial gem. There, white and greenish nephrite jade is found in quarries and as pebbles. The river jade collection is concentrated in the Yarkand, the White Jade, jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, pink, lavender, orange and brown colours was imported from Burma to China only after about 1800. The vivid green variety became known as Feicui or Kingfisher Jade, in the history of the art of the Chinese empire, jade has had a special significance, comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West
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Zombie
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A zombie is a fictional undead being created through the reanimation of a human corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works, the term comes from Haitian folklore, where a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magic. Modern depictions of zombies do not necessarily involve magic but often invoke science fictional methods such as carriers, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, viruses, scientific accidents, etc. The English word zombie is first recorded in 1819, in a history of Brazil by the poet Robert Southey, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of the word as West African, and compares it to the Kongo words nzambi and zumbi. One of the first books to expose Western culture to the concept of the zombie was The Magic Island by W. B. This is the account of a narrator who encounters voodoo cults in Haiti. Time claimed that the book introduced zombi into U. S. speech, Zombies have a complex literary heritage, with antecedents ranging from Richard Matheson and H. P. Lovecraft to Mary Shelleys Frankenstein drawing on European folklore of the undead. In 1932, Victor Halperin directed White Zombie, a film starring Bela Lugosi. Here zombies are depicted as mindless, unthinking henchmen under the spell of an evil magician, a new version of the zombie, distinct from that described in Haitian folklore, has also emerged in popular culture during the latter half of the twentieth century. This zombie is taken largely from George A. Romeros seminal film Night of the Living Dead, the word zombie is not used in Night of the Living Dead but was applied later by fans. The zombie apocalypse concept, in which the world is brought low by a global zombie infestation. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of the word as West African, in Haitian folklore, a zombie is an animated corpse raised by magical means, such as witchcraft. The concept has been associated with the religion of voodoo. How the creatures in contemporary zombie films came to be called zombies is not fully clear, the film Night of the Living Dead made no spoken reference to its undead antagonists as zombies, describing them instead as ghouls. Although George Romero used the term ghoul in his original scripts, the word zombie is used exclusively by Romero in his 1978 script for his sequel Dawn of the Dead, including once in dialog. According to George Romero, film critics were influential in associating the term zombie to his creatures and he eventually accepted this linkage even though he remained convinced at the time that zombies corresponded to the undead slaves of Haitian voodoo as depicted in Bela Lugosis White Zombie. Zombies are featured widely in Haitian rural folklore as dead persons physically revived by the act of necromancy of a bokor, the bokor is opposed by the houngan or priest and the mambo or priestess of the formal voodoo religion. A zombie remains under the control of the bokor as a personal slave, the Haitian tradition also includes an incorporeal type of zombie, the zombie astral, which is a part of the human soul
29.
Yin and yang
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Many tangible dualities are thought of as physical manifestations of the duality symbolized by yin and yang. Duality is found in many systems, but Yin and Yang are parts of a Oneness that is also equated with the Tao. A term has been coined dualistic-monism or dialectical monism, Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, either of the two major aspects may manifest more strongly in a particular object, depending on the criterion of the observation. The yin yang shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the element in each section. In Taoist metaphysics, distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real, so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole. In the ethics of Confucianism on the hand, most notably in the philosophy of Dong Zhongshu. The Chinese terms yīn 陰 or 阴 shady side and yáng 陽 or 阳 sunny side are linguistically analyzable in terms of Chinese characters, pronunciations and etymology, meanings, topography, and loanwords. The first phonetic yīn 侌 cloudy ideographically combines jīn 今 now, present and yún 云 cloud, the second phonetic yáng 昜 bright originally pictured 日 the sun with 勿 rays coming down. This phonetic is expanded with the sun radical into yáng 暘 rising sun, the mound, hill radical 阝full forms semantically specify yīn 陰 shady/dark side of a hill and yáng 陽 sunny/light side of a hill. Compare the Classical Chinese names for these two bodies, Tàiyīn 太陰 moon and Tàiyáng 太陽 sun. Reconstructions of Old Chinese have illuminated the etymology of modern Chinese words, Yin and yang are semantically complex words. A reliable Chinese-English dictionary gives the translation equivalents. Many Chinese place names or toponyms contain the word yang sunny side, similarly, yin refers to north side of a hill in Huayin 華陰, which is north of Mount Hua 華山 in Shaanxi province. English yin, yang, and yin-yang are familiar loanwords of Chinese origin, the Oxford English Dictionary defines, yin Also Yin, Yn. a. Also attrib. or as adj. and transf, comb. as yin-yang, the combination or fusion of the two cosmic forces, freq. attrib. Esp. as yin-yang symbol, a divided by an S-shaped line into a dark. Comb. yang-yin = yin-yang s. v. yin b, for the earliest recorded yin and yang usages, the OED cites 1671 for yin and yang,1850 for yin-yang, and 1959 for yang-yin
30.
Pierce Gagnon
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Pierce Gagnon is an American child actor, known for his roles in One Tree Hill, Looper, Wish I Was Here and Extant. Gagnon was born in Atlanta, Georgia and he has three younger siblings, including his brother Steele. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California and he belongs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After his film debut The Crazies, Gagnon played Logan Evans, in January 2011, he was cast in the action thriller film Looper as Cid Harrington, a child with unusual telekinetic abilities, who becomes a warlord called the Rainmaker. Rian Johnson said, Looking back Im kind of terrified that I hinged the success of the backend of the movie on finding someone like Pierce and its really rare to find a kid who can do what he does. He would do three-page dialogue scenes with Emily and Joe and hold his own against them all the way through. After voicing Tiago in Rio 2, the sequel to the 2011 film Rio, Gagnon played Tucker Bloom and he then starred as Ethan Woods, the android son of Molly Woods, in the CBS science fiction drama series Extant. Gagnon was named one of the best actors under twenty years of age,2017 IT Pierce Gagnon at the Internet Movie Database Pierce Gagnon at Rotten Tomatoes
31.
Jean-Claude Van Damme
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The most successful of these films include Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Street Fighter, Timecop, Sudden Death, JCVD and The Expendables 2. His father is Walloon from Brussels, and his mother is Flemish and he began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shotokan karate school. His styles consist of Shotokan Karate and Kickboxing and he eventually earned his black belt in karate at 18. He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title. At the age of 16, he took up ballet, which he studied for five years, according to Van Damme, ballet is an art, but its also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport. Later he took up both Taekwondo and Muay Thai, at the age of 12, Van Damme joined the Centre National De Karaté under the guidance of Claude Goetz in Belgium. Van Damme trained for four years and he earned a spot on the Belgian Karate Team, later training in full-contact karate, at the age of 15, Van Damme started his competitive karate career in Belgium. From 1976 to 1980, Van Damme compiled a record of 44 victories and 4 defeats in tournament and non-tournament semi-contact matches. Van Damme was a member of the Belgium Karate Team when it won the European Karate Championship on 26 December 1979 at La Coupe Francois Persoons Karate Tournament in Brussels, Van Damme placed second at the Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament. At the 3-day tournament, Van Damme defeated 25 opponents before losing in the finals to fellow teammate Angelo Spataro, prior to this match, Teugels had defeated Van Damme twice by decision, including a match for the Belgium Lightweight Championship. Van Damme had a 1977 victory over Teugels, Teugels was coming off an impressive showing at the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations World Championships four months earlier, and was favored by some to win this match. According to reports, and Patrick Teugels own interview, Teugels lost to Van Damme by TKO in the 1st round, Teugels was kicked in the nose and was unable to continue as a result. In a 2013 interview, Van Damme called this fight his most memorable match, Van Damme began his full-contact career in 1977, when Claude Goetz promoted the first ever full-contact karate tournament in Belgium. From 1977 to 1982, Van Damme compiled a record of 18 victories and 1 defeat and he was even named Mr. Belgium in a bodybuilding competition. In 1980, Van Damme caught the attention of Professional Karate Magazine publisher and editor Mike Anderson, both men tabbed Van Damme as an upcoming prospect. Van Damme retired from competition in 1982, since 2009, Van Damme has been planning to make a comeback to fight former boxing Olympic gold-medalist Somluck Kamsing. The fight was a point in his ITV reality show Jean Claude Van Damme
32.
Al Roker
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Albert Lincoln Al Roker Jr. is an American television personality, weatherman, actor, and book author. He is best known as being the anchor on NBCs Today. Roker also appears occasionally on NBC Nightly News and he holds an expired American Meteorological Society Television Seal #238. On November 14,2014,8 AM EST, Roker set the new official Guinness World Record by reporting for 34 hours. Al Roker was born in Queens, New York, the son of Isabel, of Jamaican descent, Roker initially wanted to be a cartoonist. He was raised Catholic and graduated from Xavier High School in Manhattan and he worked on several projects as a member of the schools Cartooning & Illustration Club. He attended the State University of New York at Oswego where he received a B. A. in communications in 1976 and that makes Kravitz Rokers first cousin once removed. Before the national recognition, Roker worked as a anchor for CBS affiliate WHEN-TV in Syracuse, New York from 1974 until 1976. Rokers career with NBC began in 1978 when he was hired at WKYC-TV in Cleveland, after five successful years in Cleveland, Roker was promoted to the networks flagship outlet, WNBC-TV in his hometown. Roker returned to New York City in late 1983 as a weekend weathercaster, Roker replaced 27-year WNBC-TV veteran Dr. Frank Field, who left the network after a contract dispute. In 1995, he became the host of The Al Roker Show and that led Roker to getting a job as the forecaster for Weekend Today. He also substituted on the edition of Today when Willard Scott was ill or away. In 1996, Scott announced his semi-retirement from the show, and Roker received the weekday weather position on Today and he officially joined Today on January 26,1996. Roker became popular for doing his forecasts outside the studio, interviewing audience members, Roker also began doing more interviews and segments on the show as time progressed. In 2005, Roker reported from inside Hurricane Wilma, a popular viral video exists on the internet of him being swept off his feet by the force of the hurricane and holding on to the cameraman. In November 2014, Roker embarked on what was called Roker-thon, in which he did a non-stop, 34-hour weather forecast on NBC, the event was a fundraiser for the Crowdrise Campaign to help the military and USO. He repeated the event in Roker-thon 2, this time reporting weather from all 50 states and Washington, D. C. in one week from November 6 to November 13,2015, in support of Feeding America. Roker is a game show fan, and hosted a segment on Today in honor of five game shows
33.
Willie Geist
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William Russell Willie Geist is an American television personality, journalist and humorist. He is co-anchor of MSNBC’s Morning Joe and anchor of Sunday Today with Willie Geist, Geist also frequently serves as fill-in anchor on Today for Matt Lauer. Geist is a Correspondent for NBC News and NBC Sports, hosting and contributing to NBCs Olympic coverage and his third book, the self-help satire Loaded. Become a Millionaire Overnight and Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks or Your Money Back, Geist was born in Evanston, Illinois, to author, columnist, and current CBS News correspondent Bill Geist and social worker Jody Geist. He attended Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, where he was captain of the football and basketball teams and he later went on to graduate from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. While at Vanderbilt, he was an editor of the official student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler. On May 24,2003, Geist married his sweetheart, Christina Sharkey, in Humacao. The couple has a daughter, Lucie Joy Geist, and a son, Geist is the older brother of Libby Wildes, the Academy Award-winning documentary film producer, who is married to Kevin Wildes of ESPN, Mr. Half Baked Ideas. Geist is the great-grandson of Herbie Lewis, who captained the Detroit Red Wings to two Stanley Cups and is in the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2004, he became a writer and producer for I, Max and he joined MSNBC television in April 2005 as a senior producer of The Situation with Tucker Carlson. Geist began substituting as a co-host on MSNBCs 6–9 a. m. morning time slot almost immediately after Don Imus was fired in late April 2007, Geist was named permanent co-host of Morning Joe, along with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in September 2007. In late July 2009, Geist began hosting his own 30-minute program Way Too Early with Willie Geist, in 2010, Geist began substituting for Matt Lauer as host of the Today Show and as the shows newsreader. In November 2012, Geist became an official co-host of Today, in 2016, Geist was made solo-host of the new Sunday Today that launched in April. Additionally Geist contributed to NBC Sports and NBC Newss coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, Geist anchored NBCs hours-long coverage of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting on the morning of June 12,2016. Geist was on the air for seven hours in an NBC News Special Report that aired across the United States. Willie Geist later did work in Kung Fu Panda 3 where he voiced Sum opposite of Al Rokers Dim where their characters are twin panda brothers who are related to Po. m. Give Willie a proper talk show—you might have a contempo Dick Cavett on your hands, on December 28,2009, Way Too Early with Willie Geist was listed by The Daily Beast as one of 25 Ways To Get Smarter in 2010. He was also featured in the show, The Daily Show
34.
Mike Mitchell (actor)
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Mike “Mitch” Mitchell is an American actor, comedian, and writer best known as a member of The Birthday Boys sketch comedy group and for his role as Randy Monahan on the Netflix series Love. He currently co-hosts the Feral Audio podcast Doughboys, which discusses chain restaurants, Mitchell was raised in Quincy, Massachusetts, the son of Corinne and William A. Mitchell. He attended North Quincy High School, graduating from Ithaca College in May 2005, Mitchell was first known as an improv and sketch comedian at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles. At UCB, he is currently a member of the sketch comedy groups The Birthday Boys and he went on to write and star in The Birthday Boys for IFC until the show was canceled after two seasons. During this time he appeared regularly on NBC’s Parks and Recreation. He is currently the writer of Hidden America with Jonah Ray on the Seeso streaming service. His Feral Audio comedy podcast Doughboys, which he co-hosts with comedy writer Nick Wiger, was named “The One Podcast to Start With” by pop culture site Vulture, Parks and Recreation – Bjorn Lerpiss Comedy Bang
35.
Jeffrey Katzenberg
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Jeffrey Katzenberg is an American businessman, film studio executive and film producer. As a founder and CEO of DreamWorks Animation, he has overseen the production of such animated franchises as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens and he has since founded a new media and technology company called WndrCo. Katzenberg has also involved in politics. With his active support of Barack Obama, he was called one of Hollywoods premier political kingmakers, Katzenberg was born in New York City, to a Jewish family, the son of Anne, an artist, and Walter Katzenberg, a stockbroker. He attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, graduating in 1969, when he was 14, Katzenberg volunteered to work on Republican John Lindsays successful New York mayoral campaign. He quickly received the nickname Squirt and attended as many meetings as he could, Katzenberg began his career as an assistant to producer David Picker, then in 1974 he became an assistant to Barry Diller, the Chairman of Paramount Pictures. He continued to work his way up and became president of production under Paramounts president, in 1984, Michael Eisner became Chief Executive Officer at The Walt Disney Company. Eisner brought Katzenberg with him to charge of Disney’s motion picture division. Katzenberg was responsible for reviving the studio which, at the time, by 1987, Disney had become the number-one studio at the box office. Katzenberg also oversaw Touchstone Television, which produced such hit TV series as The Golden Girls, under his management, the animation department eventually began creating some of Disneys most critically acclaimed and highest grossing animated features. In addition, Katzenberg also sealed the deal created the highly successful partnership between Pixar and Disney and the deal that brought Miramax Films into Disney. Concerns arose internally at Disney, particularly from Roy E. Disney, when Eisner’s second in command, Frank Wells, died in a helicopter crash in 1994, Eisner refused to promote Katzenberg to the vacated position of president. Tensions between Katzenberg, Eisner and Disney resulted in Katzenberg being forced to resign from the company that October, Katzenberg launched a lawsuit against Disney to recover money he felt he was owed and settled out of court for an estimated $250 million. Later in 1994, Katzenberg co-founded DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, since then, DreamWorks animated feature films have been consistently successful financially and critically with several Annie Awards and Academy Awards nominations and wins. In 2004, DreamWorks Animation was spun off from DreamWorks as a company headed by Katzenberg in an IPO and has recorded mostly profitable quarters since then. The live-action DreamWorks movie studio was sold to Viacom in December 2005, in 2008, the live-action DreamWorks studio again became an independent production company, releasing its films through Disney. In 2006, Katzenberg made an appearance on the season of The Apprentice. He awarded the winners a opportunity to be character voices in Over the Hedge
36.
Bill Damaschke
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Bill Damaschke is an animated film producer and former chief creative officer at DreamWorks Animation. He joined DreamWorks Studios in 1995, and has served in a variety of roles, including head of creative production. Damaschke is the oldest of seven children, and grew up in Chicago and he attended St. Bruno Catholic Elementary and Argo Community High School, and graduated at the School of Theatre Arts at Illinois Wesleyan University. Initially, Damaschke pursued a career in theater, working on Godspell in New York. In 1995, he joined DreamWorks Studios as an assistant on The Prince of Egypt. He then moved on to head of creative production in 1999 and head of creative production. Damaschke served as a producer of Shark Tale and a producer of Over the Hedge. In 2011, he became chief officer of DreamWorks Animation, running the factory floor, working with directors, writers and artists. He was also president of DreamWorks Live Theatricals, and produced Tony Award-winning, in 2013, The New York Times called him as one of the film industrys most important executives
37.
Shanghai
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Shanghai is the most populous city proper in the world, with a population of more than 24 million as of 2014. As one of the four direct-controlled municipalities of the Peoples Republic of China, it is a financial centre and transport hub. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai sits on the edge of the mouth of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the eastern Chinese coast. The municipality borders the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the north, south and west, as a major administrative, shipping and trading city, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th century due to trade and recognition of its favourable port location and economic potential. The city was one of five treaty ports forced open to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the First Opium War, the subsequent 1842 Treaty of Nanking and 1844 Treaty of Whampoa allowed the establishment of the Shanghai International Settlement and the French Concession. The city then flourished as a center of commerce between China and other parts of the world, and became the financial hub of the Asia-Pacific region in the 1930s. However, with the Communist Party takeover of the mainland in 1949, trade was limited to other socialist countries, and the citys global influence declined. In the 1990s, the reforms introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in an intense re-development of the city, aiding the return of finance. The two Chinese characters in the name are 上 and 海, together meaning Upon-the-Sea. The earliest occurrence of this dates from the 11th-century Song Dynasty, at which time there was already a river confluence. There are disputes as to exactly how the name should be understood, Shanghai is officially abbreviated 沪 in Chinese, a contraction of 沪渎, a 4th- or 5th-century Jin name for the mouth of Suzhou Creek when it was the main conduit into the ocean. This character appears on all motor vehicle license plates issued in the municipality today, another alternative name for Shanghai is Shēn or Shēnchéng, from Lord Chunshen, a third-century BC nobleman and prime minister of the state of Chu, whose fief included modern Shanghai. Sports teams and newspapers in Shanghai often use Shen in their names, such as Shanghai Shenhua F. C. Huating was another early name for Shanghai. In AD751, during the dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang. Today, Huating appears as the name of a hotel in the city. The city also has various nicknames in English, including Pearl of the Orient, during the Spring and Autumn period, the Shanghai area belonged to the Kingdom of Wu, which was conquered by the Kingdom of Yue, which in turn was conquered by the Kingdom of Chu. During the Warring States period, Shanghai was part of the fief of Lord Chunshen of Chu and he ordered the excavation of the Huangpu River. Its former or poetic name, the Chunshen River, gave Shanghai its nickname of Shen, two important events helped promote Shanghais development in the Ming dynasty
38.
Guillermo del Toro
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Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican film director, screenwriter, producer, and novelist. He was originally chosen by Peter Jackson to direct The Hobbit films, Del Toros work is characterised by a strong connection to fairy tales and horror, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty. He has a fascination with monsters, which he considers symbols of great power. He is also friends with fellow Mexican directors Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu, Del Toro was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. He was raised in a strict Catholic household, Del Toro studied at the Centro de Investigación y Estudios Cinematográficos, in Guadalajara. When del Toro was about eight years old, he began experimenting with his fathers Super 8 camera, making films with Planet of the Apes toys. One short focused on a serial killer potato with ambitions of world domination, it murdered del Toros mother and brothers before stepping outside and being crushed by a car. Del Toro made about 10 short films before his first feature, including one titled Matilde and he also wrote four and directed five episodes of the cult series La Hora Marcada, along with other Mexican filmmakers such as Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuarón. Del Toro studied special effects and make-up with special-effects artist Dick Smith and he spent 10 years as a special-effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also co-founded the Guadalajara International Film Festival, later in his directing career, he formed his own production company, the Tequila Gang. In 1997, at the age of 33, Guillermo was given a $30 million budget from Miramax Films to shoot another film, during this time, his father, automotive entrepreneur Federico del Toro, was kidnapped in Guadalajara. Although Federico was eventually released safely, due to economic pressure from his captors. The event prompted del Toro, his parents, and his siblings to move abroad, in an interview with Time magazine, he said this about the kidnapping of his father, Every day, every week, something happens that reminds me that I am an involuntary exile. These two films, The Devils Backbone and Pans Labyrinth, are among his most critically acclaimed works and they share similar settings, protagonists and themes with the 1973 Spanish film The Spirit of the Beehive, widely considered to be the finest Spanish film of the 1970s. Del Toro views the horror genre as political, explaining, Much like fairy tales. One is pro-institution, which is the most reprehensible type of tale, Dont wander into the woods. The other type of fairy tale is completely anarchic and antiestablishment and he is close friends with two other prominent and critically praised Mexican filmmakers Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu. The three often influence each others directorial decisions, and have been interviewed together by Charlie Rose, Cuarón was one of the producers of Pans Labyrinth, while Iñárritu assisted in editing the film
39.
Rebel Wilson
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Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson is an Australian actress, writer, and producer. After graduating from the Australian Theatre for Young People in 2003, she began appearing as Toula on the Special Broadcasting Service comedy series Pizza, in 2008, Wilson wrote, produced and starred in the musical comedy series Bogan Pride. The following year, she won the Tropfest best actress award for her role in Bargain, shortly after moving to the United States, Wilson was cast as Brynn in the feature film Bridesmaids. Wilson also appeared in A Few Best Men, What to Expect When Youre Expecting and she then created and starred in Super Fun Night, a television comedy that aired for one season on the American Broadcasting Company. Wilson was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and her mother is a professional dog handler. Wilson grew up in the suburbs of Kenthurst, Parramatta and Castle Hill and she attended Tara Anglican School for Girls. She completed her Higher School Certificate in 1997, including place in the state in food technology. Wilson has three siblings, sisters Liberty and Annachi and a brother, Ryot, Liberty and Ryot appeared on the first season of The Amazing Race Australia in 2011, where they were the first team eliminated. Wilson has claimed that her great-aunt was Lillian Bounds, who was married to Walt Disney until his death in 1966 and this claim was proven false in 2016 by genealogist Dale Sheldon. Wilsons first career choice was mathematics and she told The Sydney Morning Herald, I was very academic at high school and was always good with numbers. She attended the University of New South Wales, graduating in 2009 with Bachelor of Arts, a former Rotary International Youth Ambassador for Australia, she was based in South Africa for one year, where she contracted malaria. She claims the malaria caused hallucinations where she saw herself as an actress who had won an Oscar, there has been some debate about Wilsons claims about her background. In May 2015, Australian magazine Womans Day published a story claiming that Wilson had been misleading about her name, age. The story was picked up by other publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, People Magazine, The Chicago Tribune. Most notably, Wilsons true birth date was revealed and confirmed as a result of business records filed with the ASIC, which were obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald. On 16 May 2016, Wilson said print and online articles in Womans Day, according to a defamation writ filed in the Supreme Court of Victoria, Wilson said her reputation and credit has suffered and she has been humiliated and embarrassed. She is also suing for damages, claiming she missed out on roles. Wilson studied at the Australian Theatre for Young People, in 2003 she moved to New York after winning the ATYP International scholarship, which was funded by Nicole Kidman
40.
Mads Mikkelsen
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Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen is a Danish actor. Originally a gymnast and dancer, he began his career as an actor in 1996, in 2012, he was voted the Danish American Societys Person of the Year. He starred in the critically acclaimed TV series Hannibal as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, in 2016, Mikkelsen portrayed Kaecilius in Marvels film Doctor Strange and Galen Erso in Lucasfilms Rogue One, A Star Wars Story. He is set to star in Hideo Kojimas video game Death Stranding, a. O. Mikkelsen was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, the second son of Bente Christiansen, a nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a bank teller and trade union official. He and his brother, Lars Mikkelsen, who is also an actor, were raised in Nørrebro. In his youth, he trained as a gymnast, wanting to pursue athletics, during his dancing career, Mikkelsen met choreographer Hanne Jacobsen, whom he married in 2000. He was a dancer for almost a decade until he left it behind to study drama at the Århus Theatre School in 1996. He made his debut in Nicolas Winding Refns internationally successful film Pusher which would later spawn two sequels, in which he played a drug dealer. He went on to play marginalized, often comic roles in popular Danish movies, in 1999, Mikkelsen had a leading role as Lenny, a shy film expert who suffers from avoidant personality disorder, opposite Kim Bodnia in Refns Bleeder. In 2000, Mikkelsen played a gangster opposite Søren Pilmark, Ulrich Thomsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas in Anders Thomas Jensens Copenhagen gangster movie, the following year, he gained wider popularity when he starred in the gay comedy Shake It All About. He also won best actor for this performance at the Rouen Nordic Film Festival in 2003, in 2003, Mikkelsen had a leading role as a man who leaves his wife and child in the short picture Nu. He starred opposite Kaas in The Green Butchers, playing an orphaned butchers assistant in a small provincial Danish town and he won the Fantasporto Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the butcher. Although a critical success in Spain, the film was received in Scandinavian countries. In 2004, he returned to his role as drug dealer Tonny in the Pusher sequel and his performance was acclaimed, garnering him the Bodil Award for Best Actor, Zulu Award for Best Actor and Robert Festival Award for Best Actor. One writer likened his pose in the mirror in the film to Robert De Niro in Martin Scorseses Taxi Driver, in 2005, Mikkelsen portrayed an unorthodox country vicar named Ivan who challenges a neo-Nazi to bake an apple pie in Adams Apples. dk. The series 32 episodes stretched over four years and he became more widely known internationally for his role as Tristan in Jerry Bruckheimers production of the movie King Arthur, which was a commercial success despite negative reviews. In 2006, Mikkelsen starred opposite Stine Stengade and Jana Plodková in Ole Christian Madsens award-winning film Prag and his role as Christoffer earned him the Zulu Award for Best Actor and Bodil and Robert Festival nominations for Best Actor. Eddie Cockrell of Variety noted his rigid countenance in an outstanding performance, the same year, Mikkelsen achieved his first widely acclaimed international success as Le Chiffre in the twenty-first James Bond film, Casino Royale
