1.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
Philadelphia
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From top left, the Philadelphia skyline, a
statue of Benjamin Franklin, the
Liberty Bell, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Philadelphia City Hall, and
Independence Hall
Philadelphia
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An 18th century map of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia
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Penn's Treaty with the Indians by
Benjamin West
Philadelphia
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Benjamin Franklin, 1777
2.
Manhattan
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Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York City, its economic and administrative center, and the citys historical birthplace. The borough is coextensive with New York County, founded on November 1,1683, Manhattan is often described as the cultural and financial capital of the world and hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Many multinational media conglomerates are based in the borough and it is historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626 for 60 guilders which equals US$1062 today. New York County is the United States second-smallest county by land area, on business days, the influx of commuters increases that number to over 3.9 million, or more than 170,000 people per square mile. Manhattan has the third-largest population of New York Citys five boroughs, after Brooklyn and Queens, the City of New York was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan, and the borough houses New York City Hall, the seat of the citys government. The name Manhattan derives from the word Manna-hata, as written in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, a 1610 map depicts the name as Manna-hata, twice, on both the west and east sides of the Mauritius River. The word Manhattan has been translated as island of hills from the Lenape language. The United States Postal Service prefers that mail addressed to Manhattan use New York, NY rather than Manhattan, the area that is now Manhattan was long inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano – sailing in service of King Francis I of France – was the first European to visit the area that would become New York City. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, a permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624 with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam, the 1625 establishment of Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan Island is recognized as the birth of New York City. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 to US$23, variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars, as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director General of the colony, New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2,1653. In 1664, the English conquered New Netherland and renamed it New York after the English Duke of York and Albany, the Dutch Republic regained it in August 1673 with a fleet of 21 ships, renaming the city New Orange. Manhattan was at the heart of the New York Campaign, a series of battles in the early American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16,1776. The city, greatly damaged by the Great Fire of New York during the campaign, became the British political, British occupation lasted until November 25,1783, when George Washington returned to Manhattan, as the last British forces left the city
Manhattan
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View from
Midtown Manhattan, facing south toward
Lower Manhattan
Manhattan
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Peter Minuit, early 1600s.
Manhattan
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The
Castello Plan showing the Dutch colonial city of
New Amsterdam in 1660 – then confined to the southern tip of Manhattan Island.
Manhattan
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J.Q.A. Ward 's statue of
George Washington in front of
Federal Hall (on
Wall Street) where he was inaugurated as the first
U.S. President in 1789.
3.
Precious (film)
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Precious, Base on Nol by Saf, or simply Precious, is a 2009 American drama film, directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels. Precious is an adaptation by Geoffrey S. Fletcher of the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire, the film stars Gabourey Sidibe, MoNique, Paula Patton, and Mariah Carey. This film marked the debut of Sidibe. The film, then without a distributor, premiered to acclaim at both the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, under its title of Push. At Sundance, it won the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize for best drama, Precious won the Peoples Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The films title was changed from Push to Precious, Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, Precious was also an official selection at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Lionsgate gave the film a release in North America on November 6,2009. Precious received largely positive reviews critics, the acting, the story. In the films opening weekend in limited release, it grossed $1.8 million, as of February 2010, the film had grossed over $47 million domestically, ranking no.65 for 2009, recouping its $10 million budget, and making it a box office success. Precious received six Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Picture, Geoffrey Fletcher won for Best Adapted Screenplay. MoNique won the award for Best Supporting Actress, for which she received an ovation at the ceremony. In 1987, 16-year-old Claireece Precious Jones lives in the New York City ghetto of Harlem with her mother, Mary. Precious has been raped by her father, Carl, resulting in two pregnancies, the family resides in a Section 8 tenement and survives on welfare. When Precious second pregnancy is discovered, her school principal arranges for her to attend an alternative school. Precious finds a way out of her daily life by escaping into daydreams in which she is loved and appreciated. Inspired by her new teacher, Blu Rain, Precious finally learns to read and she meets sporadically with social worker Ms. Weiss, who learns about incest in the household when Precious reveals who fathered her children. While Precious is in the giving birth to her second child, Abdul, she meets John McFadden. Upon returning home, her mother carelessly drops 3-day-old Abdul and hits her, Precious fights back and runs away from her home with Abdul
Precious (film)
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Theatrical release poster
Precious (film)
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Carey at the premiere of
Tennessee in 2008. Daniels stated he cast her as Ms. Weiss based on her performance in that film.
Precious (film)
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The film's director, Lee Daniels, said that he was, at first, "embarrassed" to screen Precious at the Cannes Film Festival because he felt that it would show African-Americans in a negative light, due to its content.
Precious (film)
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Actress Mo'Nique who played the role of "Mary Johnston" in the film, received critical acclaim for her performance, which earned her a
Golden Globe, a
SAG Award, a
BAFTA and an
Academy Award.
4.
Academy Award
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
Academy Award
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Academy Awards
Academy Award
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31st Academy Awards Presentations,
Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1959
Academy Award
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81st Academy Awards Presentations,
Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, 2009
Academy Award
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Pantages Theatre, 2008
5.
Academy Award for Best Director
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The Academy Award for Best Director is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of a director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry. However, these categories were merged for all subsequent ceremonies, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the directors branch of AMPAS, winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. For the first eleven years of the Academy Awards, directors were allowed to be nominated for multiple films in the same year, the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture have been very closely linked throughout their history. Of the 89 films that have been awarded Best Picture,63 have also been awarded Best Director, since its inception, the award has been given to 69 directors or directing teams. John Ford has received the most awards in this category with four, william Wyler was nominated on twelve occasions, more than any other individual. As of the 2017 ceremony, Damien Chazelle is the most recent winner in category for his work on La La Land. Chazelle also became the youngest director in history to receive this award, two directing teams have shared the award, Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins for West Side Story in 1961 and Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men in 2007. The Coen brothers are the siblings to have won the award. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933. Since the 7th ceremony held in 1935, the period of eligibility became the full calendar year from January 1 to December 31. org The Academy Awards Database Oscar. com
Academy Award for Best Director
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Frank Borzage, co-winner of the first award.
Academy Award for Best Director
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Lewis Milestone, co-winner of the first award.
Academy Award for Best Director
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John Ford has the most awards with four.
Academy Award for Best Director
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Clint Eastwood is the oldest winner for directing
Million Dollar Baby.
6.
The Butler
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The Butler is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and produced by Lee Daniels and written by Danny Strong. It was the last film produced by Laura Ziskin, who died in 2011, the film was theatrically released by The Weinstein Company on August 16,2013, to mostly positive reviews and grossing over $176 million worldwide against a budget of $30 million. In 2009, an elderly Cecil Gaines recounts his story while waiting at the White House to meet the newly inaugurated president. In 1926, at the age of seven, Gaines is raised on a plantation in Macon. When the farms owner rapes Cecils mother, Cecils father confronts him and is killed, Cecil is taken in by the estates caretaker, who trains Cecil as a house servant. In 1937, at age eighteen, Cecil leaves the plantation, desperately hungry, he breaks into a hotel pastry shop. The elderly master servant, Maynard, takes pity on Cecil, Cecil learns advanced serving and interpersonal skills from Maynard, who later recommends Cecil for a position in a Washington, D. C. hotel. While working there, Cecil meets and marries Gloria, and the couple has two sons, Louis and Charlie, in 1957, Cecil is hired by the White House during Dwight D. Eisenhowers administration. White House maître dhôtel Freddie Fallows introduces Cecil to head butler Carter Wilson, Cecil witnesses Eisenhowers reluctance to use troops to enforce school desegregation, then his resolve to uphold the law by racially integrating Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Louis, the son, becomes a university student at Fisk University in Tennessee. Louis joins a student program led by Southern Christian Leadership Conference activist James Lawson, which leads to a nonviolent sit-in at a segregated diner, Gloria, who feels that Cecil puts his job ahead of her, descends into alcoholism. In 1961, after John F. Kennedys inauguration, Louis and others are attacked by members of the Ku Klux Klan while on a ride to Birmingham. As a goodwill gesture, Jackie Kennedy gives Cecil one of the former presidents neckties, Louis participates in the 1965 Selma Voting Rights Movement, which inspires Johnson to demand that Congress enact the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Johnson also gives Cecil a tie bar, in the late 1960s, after civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. s assassination, Louis tells his family that he has joined the Black Panthers. Cecil orders Louis and his girlfriend to leave his house, Cecil becomes aware of President Richard Nixons plans to suppress the Black Panthers. Charlie confides to Louis that he plans to join the war in Vietnam, after enlisting, Charlie is killed and buried at Arlington National Cemetery. When the Black Panthers resort to violence, Louis leaves the organization and returns to college, earning his masters degree in political science, Cecil repeatedly confronts his supervisor at the White House over the unequal pay and career advancement provided to the black White House staff. With President Ronald Reagans support, Cecil prevails, his growing to the point that he
The Butler
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Theatrical release poster
7.
White House
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The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States, located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D. C. It has been the residence of every U. S. president since John Adams in 1800, the term White House is often used to refer to actions of the president and his advisers, as in The White House announced that. The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the Neoclassical style, construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior, reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824, because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, in the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as an area for social events. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space, by 1948, the houses load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the rooms were completely dismantled. Once this work was completed, the rooms were rebuilt. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, the property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the Presidents Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of Americas Favorite Architecture, in May 1790, New York began construction of Government House for his official residence, but he never occupied it. The national capital moved to Philadelphia in December 1790, the July 1790 Residence Act named Philadelphia, Pennsylvania the temporary national capital for a 10-year period while the Federal City was under construction. The City of Philadelphia rented Robert Morriss city house at 190 High Street for Washingtons presidential residence, the first president occupied the Market Street mansion from November 1790 to March 1797, and altered it in ways that may have influenced the design of the White House. As part of an effort to have Philadelphia named the permanent national capital, Pennsylvania built a much grander presidential mansion several blocks away. President John Adams also occupied the Market Street mansion from March 1797 to May 1800, on Saturday, November 1,1800, he became the first president to occupy the White House. The Presidents House in Philadelphia became a hotel and was demolished in 1832, the Presidents House was a major feature of Pierre Charles LEnfants plan for the newly established federal city, Washington, D. C
White House
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Top: the northern facade, facing
Lafayette Square Bottom: the southern facade, facing
The Ellipse
White House
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First Presidential Mansion:
Samuel Osgood House, Manhattan, New York. Occupied by Washington: April 1789 - February 1790.
White House
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Second Presidential Mansion:
Alexander Macomb House, Manhattan, New York. Occupied by Washington: February - August 1790.
White House
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Third Presidential Mansion:
President's House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Occupied by Washington: November 1790 – March 1797. Occupied by Adams: March 1797 – May 1800.
8.
Empire (2015 TV series)
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Empire is an American musical drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong which debuted on January 7,2015 on but began in late 2014. Fox. On January 15,2016, the series was renewed for a third season, on January 11,2017, Fox renewed the series for a fourth season, which will consist of 18 episodes. Looking to groom one of his three sons – Empire CFO Andre, R&B singer-songwriter Jamal, and rapper Hakeem – to take over the family business, Lucious pits them against each other. Empire also stars Taraji P. Henson as Lucious ex-wife Cookie Lyon, who is released from prison after serving a 17-year sentence, and also pulls for control of both the company and her sons. Taraji P. Henson as Loretha Cookie Lyon Lucious outspoken ex-wife, upon her return from prison, she is determined to bring the Lyon family back together and reclaim her share of Empire Entertainment. In the second season, Cookie leaves Empire and starts her own record label, after allowing Empire Entertainment to acquire Lyon Dynasty, she returns to Empire as co-CEO with Lucious and Head of A&R. Cookies new lovers are Malcolm, Laz and Angelo. Gray as Hakeem Lyon The fame-obsessed youngest son and Lucious favorite child, Hakeem starts to find feelings for his mother, Cookie, and has a great relationship with Jamal. He has relationships with Tiana, Camilla, Anika, Valentina, Jussie Smollett as Jamal Lyon The middle son of the Lyon family, a talented gay singer-songwriter who despises the corporate aspect of the music industry. He is estranged from his father who considers him the black sheep of the family, Jamal is Cookies favorite and has a strong relationship with his brother Hakeem. At the end of the first season, Lucious appoints Jamal as his successor and, later and he later relinquishes control of Empire back to Lucious. After being shot accidentally by Freda Gatz in Season 2, Jamal begins to present symptoms of PTSD and his addiction ultimately leads to a visit to rehab. Trai Byers as Andre Lyon The eldest son of the Lyon family and he is Wharton educated, power hungry, and suffers from bipolar disorder. He is married to his sweetheart, Rhonda. He plans to run Empire, but is in a battle for the chair with his younger brothers. In the second season, Andre initially helps Cookie and Hakeem set up Lyon Dynasty, Lucious later promotes Andre to President of Gutter Life Records, a sub-division of Empire Entertainment consisting of mainly urban rappers, such as Freda Gatz. In Season 3, he loses his wife and becomes Nessas new love interest, Grace Gealey as Anika Calhoun Initially the ambitious head of Empire Entertainment A&R who becomes engaged to Lucious, but they eventually separate. After leaving Empire, Anika begins to sleep with Hakeem, leading to Anikas pregnancy, fearful of Rhondas pregnancy and the unborn childs claim to being the Heir of Empire, Anika pushes Rhonda down a set of stairs, leading to the death of her unborn child. Cookie and Anika share a dislike for one another, with Cookie referring to Anika as the derisive nickname Boo Boo Kitty
Empire (2015 TV series)
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Empire
9.
Radnor High School
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Radnor High School is a public high school in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania. Of all high schools in Pennsylvania, Radnor is ranked 5th by U. S. News & World Report, Radnor High School is the only public high school in Radnor Township, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Radnor Township School District, located 13 miles west of Philadelphia, Radnor Township lies along the Philadelphia Main Line. Radnor High School offers many AP and honors courses, the high school has about 1,200 students in grades 9 through 12. The student body is white, with a total minority enrollment of 21%. 90% of former Radnor students go on to graduate from colleges and universities. Radnor offers a range of extracurricular and athletic activities with teams competing in the Central League. Their many clubs for students include Model UN, Robotics, Hi-Q, U. S. News & World Report ranks Radnor as the 5th best public high school in Pennsylvania, and the PA Department of Education ranks it 1st. In 2012, The Daily Beast ranked Radnor as one of the top 500 public high schools in the nation, Radnor High School Website Radnor Township School District Website Radnor Baseball Radnor Boys Soccer
Radnor High School
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Chester Upland
10.
Lindenwood University
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Lindenwood University is a private, coeducational, liberal arts university located in Saint Charles, Missouri, United States. Lindenwood offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees through nine colleges and its annual enrollment is more than 12,000 students in all programs, including 5,662 undergraduate day students at its main campus in St. Charles. The 500-acre main academic and residential campus is located 24 miles northwest of St. Louis, Missouri, the university formerly owned the Daniel Boone historic site in Defiance, Missouri 26 miles southwest of the St. Charles campus. The historic site was donated to the people of St. Charles County in April 2016, in addition to numerous satellite campuses, Lindenwood also has an independently accredited sister college in Belleville, Illinois, known as LU–Belleville. The university offers a number of activities to its students, including athletics, honor societies, clubs. Alumni and former students have gone on to prominent careers in government, business, science, medicine, education, sports, and entertainment. On June 1,2015, Michael Shonrock, President of Emporia State University, succeeded James Evans as the 22nd president, who retired May 31,2015. Lindenwood University traces its roots back to George Champlin Sibley, an early 19th-century American explorer, soldier, Indian agent, and politician, and his wife Mary Easton Sibley, an educator. In 1808, Acting Governor and friend Frederick Bates promoted Sibley to the position of factor at Fort Osage in western Missouri, near present-day Kansas City. While at Fort Osage, Sibley immediately set to work creating relationships with the neighboring Osage tribes and he also Mary Easton, the daughter of Rufus Easton, a prominent St. Louis attorney and Missouris second Attorney General. The couple were married in 1815, during the Sibleys time at Fort Osage, Mary began teaching the children at the fort. In 1813, Sibley opened a trading post at Fort Sibley, now known as the town of Arrow Rock, Missouri. After the trading post shut down, George and Mary remained at Fort Osage, the couple then settled in St. Charles, where Mary began teaching family members and later, in 1827, other young women from the community. In 1829, the Sibleys purchased 280 acres of land, known as the Linden Wood because of the linden trees. The Sibleys borrowed money and began clearing the property to convert it into a farm with livestock brought from Fort Osage. They completed construction of a cabin and outhouses and moved into Linden Wood in December 1829, as the work on Linden Wood continued, the idea of opening a boarding school evolved. Mary Sibley took in students within a year of moving into the cabin and her 12-year-old sister, Alby, became the first student at Linden Wood in the fall of 1830. Mary took charge of the school and developed a strict curriculum that included literature, grammar, writing, spelling
Lindenwood University
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Tree-lined entrance in the historic part of the Lindenwood University campus
Lindenwood University
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Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University
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Sibley Hall, as it appeared in 1912
Lindenwood University
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Lindenwood College seal
11.
St. Charles, Missouri
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St. Charles is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65,794 at the 2010 census, making St. Charles the ninth-largest city in Missouri and it lies to the northwest, and is a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri on the Missouri River. For a time, it played a significant role in the United States westward expansion, the city served as the first Missouri capital from 1821 to 1826, and is the site of the Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne shrine. Native American peoples inhabited the area for at least 7,000 years, when the Europeans arrived the area was inhabited by the Ilini, Osage and Missouri nations. According to Hopewells Romantic Legends of the Missouri and Mississippi, Blanchette met another French Canadian at the site of St. Charles in 1765. Blanchette, determined to settle there, asked if Guillet, who had become a chief of a Dakota tribe, had chosen a name for it, I called the place Les Petites Côtes replied Bernard, from the sides of the hills that you see. By that name shall it be called, said Blanchette Chasseur, Blanchette settled there in about 1769 under the authority of the Spanish governor of Upper Louisiana. He was appointed as the civil and military leader, serving until his death in 1793. Although the settlement was under Spanish jurisdiction, the settlers were primarily Native American, considered to begin in St. Charles, the Boones Lick Trail along the Missouri River lowlands was the major overland route for settlement of central and western Missouri. This area became known as the Boonslick or Boonslick Country, at Franklin, Missouri, the trail ended. Westward progress continued on the Santa Fe Trail, the first church, built in 1791, was Catholic and dedicated to the Italian saint Charles Borromeo, under the Spanish version of his name, San Carlos Borromeo. The town became known as San Carlos del Misuri, St. Charles of the Missouri, the original location of the church is not known but a replica has been built just off Main Street. The fourth St. Charles Borromeo Church now stands on Fifth Street, the name of the town, San Carlos, was anglicized to St. Charles. William Clark arrived in St. Charles on May 16,1804, with him were 40 men and three boats, they made final preparations, as they waited for Meriwether Lewis to arrive from St. Louis. They attended dances, dinners, and a service during this time. Lewis arrived via St. Charles Rock Road on May 20, the expedition launched the next day in a keel boat at 3,30 pm. St. Charles was the last established American town the expedition visited for more than two and a half years. When Missouri was granted statehood in 1821, the decided to build a City of Jefferson to serve as the state capital, in the center of the state
St. Charles, Missouri
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Historic Main Street
12.
Under the Cherry Moon
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Under the Cherry Moon is a 1986 American musical drama film directed by and starring Prince in his directorial debut. The film also stars former The Time member Jerome Benton, Steven Berkoff, Kristin Scott Thomas, the film was a critical and commercial failure, winning five Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, tying with Howard the Duck. Gigolos Christopher Tracy and his brother, Tricky, swindle wealthy French women, the situation gets complicated when Christopher falls in love with heiress Mary Sharon after planning to swindle her when he finds out that she receives a $50 million trust fund on her 21st birthday. Marys father Isaac disapproves of the romance and provides an excellent adversary for Christopher, Christopher rivals his brother Tricky for the affection of Mary. The cast was changed during pre-production. Prince originally had planned to have Susannah Melvoin play Mary Sharon, appearing in the credits as Orchestra Composed and Arranged by. It was held there after a fan won a contest to have the film shown in her hometown, the film earned $3,150,924 in its opening weekend from 976 venues, ranking #2 at the domestic box office, and the highest among the weekends new releases. At the end of its run, the final domestic gross was $10,090,429. The film received negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 33% score based on 33 reviews. The sites consensus states, Under the Cherry Moon may satisfy the most rabid Prince fans, the film was a multiple winner at the 7th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning five awards. The categories were, Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Director, Worst Supporting Actor and it was also nominated for Worst Supporting Actress and Worst New Star, and Worst Screenplay. The film was nominated for a Stinkers Bad Movie Award for Worst Picture. Under the Cherry Moon was first released on DVD on February 8,2005, the film was released on Blu-ray for the first time on October 4,2016 separately in a purple case and as part of the Prince Movie Collection. Under the Cherry Moon at the Internet Movie Database Under the Cherry Moon at Box Office Mojo Under the Cherry Moon at Rotten Tomatoes
Under the Cherry Moon
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Theatrical release poster
13.
Purple Rain (film)
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Purple Rain is a 1984 American rock musical drama film directed by Albert Magnoli, produced by Robert Cavallo, Joseph Ruffalo, and Steven Fargnoli, and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. The film inspired the soundtrack and studio album of the same name, the film stars Prince in his acting debut, playing a quasi-biographical person called The Kid. Purple Rain was developed to showcase his talents and hence contains several extended concert sequences, the film grossed more than US $35 million at the box office in the United States and over 220 million worldwide, thus making a large profit on its $7.2 million budget. Purple Rain is the feature film that Prince starred in. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score, currently the last to receive the award and it was nominated for two Razzie Awards, Worst New Star for Apollonia Kotero and Worst Original Song for Sex Shooter. A semi-sequel, Graffiti Bridge, was released in 1990, the Kid is the talented but troubled frontman of his Minneapolis-based band The Revolution. First Avenues three house band slots are held by The Revolution, the flashy Morris Day and his group The Time and she eventually joins Morriss group, which Morris names Apollonia 6. When she reveals her partnership to the Kid, he becomes furious and slaps her, at the club, the Kid responds to the internal band strife, the pressure to draw more crowds, and his strained private life with the uncomfortably personal Darling Nikki. His performance publicly humiliates Apollonia, who runs off in tears, Billy confronts the Kid, castigating him for bringing his personal life onto the stage and warning him that hes wasting his musical talent like his father did. The debut of Apollonia 6 is a success, and Billy warns the Kid that his First Avenue slot is at risk, the Kid seizes Apollonia from a drunken Morris and the two argue, Apollonia then abandons him. Returning home, he finds the house in tatters, with his mother nowhere to be found, when he turns on the basement light, his father – who had been lurking in the basement with a loaded handgun – shoots himself in the head. In a frenzy after a night of torment, the Kid tears apart the basement to release his anger, the next morning, the Kid picks up a cassette tape of one of Wendy and Lisas compositions, a rhythm track named Slow Groove, and begins to compose. That night at First Avenue, all is quiet in The Revolutions dressing room until The Time stops by to taunt the Kid about his family life. Once on stage, the Kid announces that he will be playing a song the girls in the band wrote, as the emotional song ends, the Kid rushes from the stage and out the back door of the club, intending to ride away on his motorcycle. However, before he can mount his motorcycle, he realizes that the crowd is thrilled by his new song, the Kid returns to the club, to be greeted by the approval of his fellow musicians and the embrace of a teary-eyed Apollonia. A montage of all the plays as the credits roll. Prince as The Kid Apollonia Kotero as Apollonia Morris Day as Morris Olga Karlatos as Mother Clarence Williams III as Father, the film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. The soundtrack sold over 15 million copies in America alone, and 25 million worldwide, the film also coincided with spin-off albums by The Time and Apollonia 6
Purple Rain (film)
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Theatrical release poster
14.
My Big Break
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My Big Break is a 2009 documentary film directed by Tony Zierra starring Wes Bentley, Tony Zierra, Brad Rowe, Chad Lindberg and Greg Fawcett. The film was produced by MBB Group, Elizabeth Yoffe and Tony Zierra, filmed over ten years, this controversial documentary follows five roommates trying to make it in Hollywood who face the unexpected consequences of fame. Tony Zierra, a filmmaker with no money, stars or crew. Three of the actors, Brad Rowe, Chad Lindberg and Wes Bentley quickly hit it big, while the fourth actor and it doesnt take long for the unsettling reality of stardom to set in. A. lifestyle. As the actors struggle with life in the eye, Zierra deals with constant obstacles while he tries to complete his film - including being scrutinized and blocked by the actors nervous agents. Each of the subjects is tested and changed by their encounters with the film industry, the documentary ends with a follow-up Zierra filmed when he returns to Hollywood after a five-year absence to find out what happened to each of his former roommates. He thought that their pursuit of success in the business would make an interesting story. At the time, in the 1990s, the concept of reality media was virtually unknown so Zierras idea was considered by the actors and others in the industry to be unusual. He self-financed the production through the money he made at various jobs, Zierra ended up filming almost every aspect of his roommates lives. He thought that it was possible that one of them beat the odds and get some kind of break. Whatever happened, Zierra felt that it would make for an intriguing film, however, three of the roommates ended up becoming successful quickly. Brad Rowe was cast as the love interest in Billys Hollywood Screen Kiss, the film launched Rowes career, he was featured prominently on the cover of US Magazine and labeled The Next Big Thing. Chad Lindberg was cast in the film October Sky and in television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ER. Wes Bentley won the part of Ricky Fitts in the Oscar-winning film American Beauty. Zierra, who had already been following his roommates lives before they got their break was able to capture their success on camera as it happened, once the actors became successful, Zierras project began to draw interest from the media and film industry insiders. However, that interest didnt immediately translate into financial backing which, as years passed, the representatives of Wes Bentley at the William Morris Agency were particularly concerned. Zierra refused requests to show the footage to anyone until he had finished filming, in 2001, Zierra began to edit the 200+ hours of footage into a film titled Carving Out Our Name, a name taken from a line in the Counting Crows song Round Here. At the time, there were no non-linear editing systems that could allow independent filmmakers a way to edit their projects on a modest budget, editing costs were exorbitant, so from week to week Zierra had to find a variety of ways to raise money to continue with post-production
My Big Break
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Film poster
My Big Break
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2008 poster for the film
My Big Break
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This article includes a
list of references, related reading or
external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
inline citations. Please
improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2015)
15.
Wes Bentley
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Wesley Cook Wes Bentley is an American actor known for blockbusters and independent films. He was one of four subjects in the documentary My Big Break, rebuilding his career, he starred in the premiere of Venus in Fur by David Ives in the off-Broadway production in 2010. His other film roles include The Claim, The Four Feathers, The Game of Their Lives, Weirdsville, There Be Dragons, The Time Being, Pioneer, After the Fall, We Are Your Friends and Petes Dragon. He began appearing in the FX anthology series American Horror Story in 2014, in 2015, he starred as Detective John Lowe in Hotel, for which he received a Critics Choice Television Award nomination. The following year, he played Dylan in the sixth cycle. Bentley was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and raised in Little Rock and his father is a minister, and his mother is a chaplain and ordained elder in the Arkansas Conference, both in the United Methodist denomination. In 1996, he graduated from Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood and he attended the Juilliard Schools Drama Division as part of its Group 29 but left the school after one year to pursue his acting career. Bentley has starred in films, including the Oscar-winning film American Beauty, The Four Feathers, P2. He starred in the thriller Dolans Cadillac, based on the story by Stephen King. In the 2007 film Ghost Rider, Bentley played Blackheart, a demonic being that was the main antagonist, in 2010, he starred opposite Nina Arianda in the premiere of the David Ives play Venus in Fur at the Classic Stage Company in New York City. In March 2012, Bentley had a role in the blockbuster movie The Hunger Games. In 2012, Bentley also starred with Amber Tamblyn and Vincent Piazza in the indie feature 3 Nights in the Desert, directed by Gabriel Cowan, in June 2013, Bentley was selected to star in Ryan Murphys HBO production, titled Open, along with Scott Speedman. After guest-starring in American Horror Story, Freak Show in 2014, Bentley was promoted to main cast for the season of American Horror Story, entitled Hotel. Bentley was married to actress Jennifer Quanz from 2001 to 2009 and they separated in 2009 due to his substance abuse. He married producer Jacqui Swedberg in 2010 and they have a son, Charles, born in late 2010 and a daughter, Brooklyn, born in 2014. In a New York Times article on February 8,2010 and he said he hid his addiction from his wife, they separated in 2006, and he moved to an apartment where he began doing drugs full-time. During this time he worked sporadically, just enough to pay bills and buy drugs and he relapsed, however, and continued using heroin until he was broke. In July 2009, he said, he confessed to a friend, I’m a drug addict, and an alcoholic, I need help or I’m going to die
Wes Bentley
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Bentley at The Hunger Games premiere in March 2012
16.
American Beauty (1999 film)
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American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenaged daughters best friend. Annette Bening co-stars as Lesters materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney also feature. Ball began writing American Beauty as a play in the early 1990s and he shelved the play after realizing the story would not work on stage. After several years as a screenwriter, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry. The modified script had a cynical outlook that was influenced by Balls frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms, producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took American Beauty to DreamWorks, the then-fledgling film studio bought Balls script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor, principal photography took place between December 1998 and February 1999 on soundstages at the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California, and on location in Los Angeles. Mendes dominant style was deliberate and composed, he made use of static shots and slow pans. Cinematographer Conrad Hall complemented Mendes style with peaceful shot compositions to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events, during editing, Mendes made several changes that gave the film a less cynical tone than the script. Released in North America on September 17,1999, American Beauty was positively received by critics, reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey, and Ball, criticism focused on the familiarity of the characters and setting. It was nominated for and won other awards and honors, mainly for the direction, writing. Lester Burnham is an advertising executive and magazine writer who despises his job. He is unhappily married to Carolyn, a neurotic yet fiercely ambitious real estate broker who grows red roses in their yard, their daughter, Jane. His job as a part-time bar caterer serves as a front for his secret marijuana dealings, Frank is a strict disciplinarian who previously sent Ricky to a military school and briefly committed him to a psychiatric hospital. Jim Olmeyer and Jim Berkley, a gay couple who live nearby, on the way to school, Frank reveals his homophobia while he angrily discusses the incident with Ricky. Lester becomes infatuated with Janes vain friend, Angela Hayes, after seeing her perform a dance routine at a high school basketball game with Jane. He starts having sexual fantasies about Angela, in red rose petals are a recurring motif. Carolyn begins an affair with her married business rival, Buddy Kane, when Lesters boss and efficiency expert, Brad, tells him that he is to be laid off, Lester instead blackmails him for $60,000 and quits his job
American Beauty (1999 film)
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Theatrical release poster
American Beauty (1999 film)
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Principal cast. First row, left to right: Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch, Mena Suvari Second row: Chris Cooper, Wes Bentley, Allison Janney
American Beauty (1999 film)
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The aerial shots of the Burnhams' neighborhood at the beginning and end of the film were captured above Sacramento, California.
17.
Halle Berry
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Halle Maria Berry is an American actress. She won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the romantic drama Monsters Ball, as of 2017, she is the only black woman to have won a Best Actress Academy Award. Berry was one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood during the 2000s and has involved in the production of several of the films in which she performed. She is also a Revlon spokesmodel, before becoming an actress, she started modeling and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the 1st runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and coming in 6th place in the Miss World Pageant in 1986. She then appeared in the X-Men sequels, X2 and X-Men, in the 2010s, she appeared in movies such as the science fiction film Cloud Atlas, the crime thriller The Call and X-Men, Days of Future Past. Berry was formerly married to baseball player David Justice, and singer-songwriter Eric Benét and she has a daughter by model Gabriel Aubry, and a son by actor Olivier Martinez. Berry was born Maria Halle Berry, her name was changed to Halle Maria Berry at age five. Her parents selected her name from Halles Department Store, which was then a local landmark in her birthplace of Cleveland. Her mother, Judith Ann, who is of English and German ancestry, was a psychiatric nurse and her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, was an African-American hospital attendant in the psychiatric ward where her mother worked, he later became a bus driver. Berrys maternal grandmother, Nellie Dicken, was born in Sawley, Derbyshire, England, while her maternal grandfather, Berrys parents divorced when she was four years old, she and her older sister, Heidi Berry-Henderson, were raised exclusively by their mother. Berry has said in published reports that she has been estranged from her father since her childhood, noting in 1992 and her father was very abusive to her mother. Berry has recalled witnessing her mother being beaten daily, kicked down stairs, Berry graduated from Bedford High School where she was a cheerleader, honor student, editor of the school newspaper and prom queen. She worked in the department at Higbees Department store. She then studied at Cuyahoga Community College, in the 1980s, she entered several beauty contests, winning Miss Teen All American in 1985 and Miss Ohio USA in 1986. She was the 1986 Miss USA first runner-up to Christy Fichtner of Texas, in the Miss USA1986 pageant interview competition, she said she hoped to become an entertainer or to have something to do with the media. Her interview was awarded the highest score by the judges and she was the first African-American Miss World entrant in 1986, where she finished sixth and Trinidad and Tobagos Giselle Laronde was crowned Miss World. According to the Current Biography Yearbook, Berry. pursued a career in Chicago. Berrys first weeks in New York were less than auspicious, She slept in a homeless shelter, in 1989, Berry moved to New York City to pursue her acting ambitions
Halle Berry
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Berry at the
San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2013.
Halle Berry
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Berry signs autographs for American soldiers in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, December 24, 1996
Halle Berry
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Berry in
Hamburg in 2004
Halle Berry
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Berry, visiting with sailors and Marines during the opening day of
Fleet Week, New York 2006
18.
Kevin Bacon
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Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American actor and musician. Bacon is also known for taking on roles such as that of a sadistic guard in Sleepers. Also on television, he starred in the Fox series The Following from 2013 to 2015, Bacon has won a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination, in 2003, Bacon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bacon has become an icon for the concept of interconnectedness, having been popularized by the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in 2007, he created SixDegrees. org, a charitable foundation. Bacon, one of six children, was born and raised in a family in Philadelphia. The experience solidified Bacons passion for the arts, Bacon left home at age 17 to pursue a theater career in New York City, where he appeared in a production at the Circle in the Square Theater School. I wanted life, man, the thing, he later recalled to Nancy Mills of Cosmopolitan. The message I got was The arts are it, art and creative expression are next to godliness. Combine that with an ego and you wind up with an actor. Bacons debut in the fraternity comedy National Lampoons Animal House did not lead to the fame he had sought and he briefly worked on the television soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Guiding Light in New York. In 1980, he had a prominent role in the slasher film Friday the 13th, some of his early stage work included Getting Out, performed at New Yorks Phoenix Theater, and Flux, at Second Stage Theatre during their 1981–1982 season. In 1982, he won an Obie Award for his role in Forty Deuce, bolstered by the attention garnered by his performance in Diner, Bacon starred in the box-office smash Footloose. To prepare for the role, Bacon enrolled at a school as a transfer student named Ren McCormick. Bacon earned strong reviews for Footloose, and he appeared on the cover of People magazine soon after its release. Bacons critical and box office led to a period of typecasting in roles similar to the two he portrayed in Diner and Footloose, and he had difficulty shaking this on-screen image. For the next years he chose films that cast him against either type and experienced, by his own estimation. In 1988, he starred in John Hughes comedy Shes Having a Baby, in 1990, Bacon had two successful roles
Kevin Bacon
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Bacon at the 2014
San Diego Comic-Con
Kevin Bacon
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Bacon speaking before a premiere of
Taking Chance in February 2009
19.
Kyra Sedgwick
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Kyra Minturn Sedgwick Bacon is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama The Closer. Sedgwicks role in the series won her a Golden Globe Award in 2007, the series ended on August 13,2012, following the completion of its seventh season. She is also known for her role as Madeline Wuntch on the successful sitcom Brooklyn Nine Nine. Sedgwick was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance in Something to Talk About and she also has one of the starring roles in the critically acclaimed 2016 comedy-drama movie The Edge of Seventeen. Sedgwick was born in New York City, the daughter of Patricia, a teacher and educational/family therapist, and Henry Dwight Sedgwick V. Her father was Episcopalian and of English heritage, and her mother was Jewish, Sedgwick has identified herself as Jewish and has stated that she participates in Passover seders. Sedgwick is also a sister of actor Robert Sedgwick, half-sister of jazz guitarist Mike Stern, the first cousin once removed of actress Edie Sedgwick, and she is also the aunt of R&B/pop singer George Nozuka and his younger singer-songwriter brother Justin Nozuka. Sedgwicks parents separated when she was 4 and divorced when she was 6, her mother subsequently married Ben Heller, Sedgwick went to high school with Matthew Broderick. When both were guests on WWHL, both revealed they actually dated on and off, Broderick even went as far to say he knows Sedgwicks mother well. Sedgwick graduated from Friends Seminary and attended Sarah Lawrence College before transferring to the University of Southern California, Sedgwick made her debut at the age of 16 on the television soap opera Another World. In 1988 she made an impression in a TV version of Lanford Wilsons Lemon Sky. She starred in the Emmy Award–winning 1992 made-for-TV film Miss Rose White as a Jewish immigrant who comes to terms with her ethnicity and she played the parts of Mae Coleman in 2003s Secondhand Lions and Stella Peck in the 2007 film The Game Plan. She also starred alongside her husband Kevin Bacon in the 2004 film The Woodsman and she dubbed the voice of Batwoman in the animated movie Batman, Mystery of the Batwoman. Sedgwick starred in the television series The Closer from 2005 to 2012, in 2007 she began earning roughly US$300,000 per episode. Over the life of the series she was nominated for and won awards for her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. She received a Golden Globe award in 2007 for her performance as lead actress, in 2009, Sedgwick was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television. The Closer ended on August 13,2012, following the completion of its seventh season, a sequel series starring most of the same cast called Major Crimes continues in its place
Kyra Sedgwick
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Sedgwick receiving a star at the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, June 2009
20.
Mos Def
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Yasiin Bey, best known by his stage name Mos Def, is an American hip hop recording artist, actor and activist from Brooklyn, New York City, New York. He subsequently formed the duo Black Star, alongside fellow Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli and he was featured on the roster of Rawkus Records and in 1999 released his solo debut, Black on Both Sides. His debut was followed by The New Danger, True Magic, the editors at About. com listed him as the 14th greatest emcee of all time on their 50 greatest MCs of our time list. Prior to his career in music, Mos Def first entered public life as a actor, having played roles in television movies, sitcoms. He is also known as the host of Def Poetry Jam, Mos Def has been vocal on several social and political causes, including police brutality, the idea of American exceptionalism, and the state of African Americans. Dante Terrell Smith Bey was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the eldest of 12 children and step-children, he was raised by his mother in Brooklyn, while his father lived in New Jersey. At 19, he took his shahada, the Muslim declaration of faith and he is close friends with fellow Muslim rappers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Kamaal Ibn John Fareed of the rap group A Tribe Called Quest. Mos Def attended middle school at Philippa Schuyler Middle School 383 in Bushwick, after returning from filming You Take the Kids in Los Angeles, and getting into a relationship with an older girl, Mos Def dropped out of high school during sophomore year. In a particularly traumatic childhood experience, Mos Def witnessed his then five year old younger brother Ilias Bey get hit by a car, Bey, who later adopted the alias DCQ, was described by Smith as my first partner in Hip Hop. Mos Def began his rap career in 1994, forming the rap group UTD along with younger brother DCQ. In 2004, they released the album Manifest Destiny, their first, the album features a compilation of previously unreleased and re-released tracks recorded during the original UTD run. In 1996, Mos Def emerged as a solo artist and worked with De La Soul and Da Bush Babees, before he released his own first single, Mos Def signed with Rawkus Records and formed the rap group Black Star with Talib Kweli. The duo released an album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star, mostly produced by Hi-Tek, the album featured the singles Respiration and Definition, which both reached in the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Mos Def released his debut album Black on Both Sides in October 1999. The single Ms. Fat Booty charted, while the album reached #25 on the Billboard 200, around this time he also contributed to the Scritti Politti album Anomie & Bonhomie. In January 2002 Rawkus Records was taken over by Geffen Records and it included contributions by Shuggie Otis and Bernie Worrell, Doug Wimbish, and Will Calhoun as the Black Jack Johnson Band. The album reached #5 on the Billboard 200, making it the most successful for the artist to date, the single Sex, Love & Money charted, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. Mos Defs final solo album for Geffen Records, titled True Magic, was released in 2006, the song Crime & Medicine is a remake of GZAs 1995 single Liquid Swords
Mos Def
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Mos Def performing at the 2012
Ilosaarirock festival
Mos Def
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Mos Def in 1999
Mos Def
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Def performing at Rock the Bells (New York).
Mos Def
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Def and
Bruce Willis on the set of 16 Blocks, filmed on location in
Chinatown, Manhattan on Pell Street.
21.
Sundance Film Festival
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The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, is an American film festival that takes place annually in Park City, Utah. With 46,660 attendees in 2016, it is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the 2017 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 19 to January 29,2017. Sundance began in Salt Lake City in August 1978, as the Utah/US Film Festival in an effort to more filmmakers to Utah. It was founded by Sterling Van Wagenen, John Earle, the 1978 festival featured films such as Deliverance, A Streetcar Named Desire, Midnight Cowboy, Mean Streets, and The Sweet Smell of Success. The festival also highlighted the work of filmmakers who worked outside the Hollywood system. The jury of the 1978 festival was headed by Gary Allison, and included Verna Fields, Linwood G. Dunn, Katharine Ross, Charles E. Sellier Jr. Mark Rydell, and Anthea Sylbert. More than 60 films were screened at the festival that year, also that year, the first Frank Capra Award went to Jimmy Stewart. The festival also made a profit for the first time, in 1980, Catania left the festival to pursue a production career in Hollywood. Several factors helped propel the growth of Utah/US Film Festival, first was the involvement of actor and Utah resident Robert Redford, who became the festivals inaugural chairman. By having Redfords name associated with the festival, it received great attention, secondly, the country was hungry for more venues that would celebrate American-made films as the only other festival doing so at the time was the USA Film Festival in Dallas. Response in Hollywood was unprecedented as major studios did all they could to contribute their resources, in 1981, the festival moved to Park City, Utah, and changed the dates from September to January. It was called the US Film and Video Festival, in 1984, the now well-established Sundance Institute, headed by Sterling Van Wagenen, took over management of the US Film Festival. The branding and marketing transition from the US Film Festival to the Sundance Film Festival was managed under the direction of Colleen Allen, Allen Advertising Inc. by appointment of Robert Redford. In 1991 the festival was renamed the Sundance Film Festival, after Redfords character The Sundance Kid from the film Butch Cassidy. The majority of the screenings, including the festivals premieres. The 2013 Sundance London Festival was held April 25–28,2013, Sundance London 2014 took place on April 25–27,2014 at the O2 arena. The Sundance London 2015 Festival was cancelled in an announcement on January 16,2015, Sundance London will return to London in 2016 from June 10–12 at Picturehouse Cinema in Londons West End
Sundance Film Festival
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Sundance Film Festival
22.
Independent Spirit Awards
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The Film Independent Spirit Awards, founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films, in 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit Awards. Since 2006, winners have received a trophy depicting a bird with its wings spread sitting atop of a pole with the shoestrings from the previous design wrapped around the pole, Film Independent Members vote to determine the winners of the Spirit Awards. The awards show is held inside a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California, the show is broadcast live on the IFC network, as well as Hollywood Suite in Canada and A&E Latin America. The 32nd Independent Spirit Awards ceremony, hosted by Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, was broadcast live on IFC on Saturday, official website Film Independent Film Independents channel on YouTube Film Independent at the Internet Movie Database Independent Spirit Awards at the Internet Movie Database
Independent Spirit Awards
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Film Independent's Spirit Awards
23.
Cannes Film Festival
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Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former head of French pay-TV operator Canal+ Pierre Lescure took over as President of the festival, the Board of Directors also appointed Gilles Jacob as Honorary President of the festival. The 2016 Cannes Film Festival took place between 11 and 22 May 2016, australian film director George Miller was the President of the Jury. I, Daniel Blake, directed by British director Ken Loach, in 2017, The Festival de Cannes will celebrate its 70th anniversary edition from May 17 to 28. In 1947, the festival was held as the Festival du film de Cannes, at that time the principle of equality was introduced, with a jury made up of only one representative per country. The festival is now held at the Palais des Festivals, expressly constructed for the occasion, although for its 1949 inaugural the roof was unfinished, the festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. Although its origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with Autumns Venice Film Festival, in 1955, the Palme dOr was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. In 1957, Dolores del Rio was the first female member of the jury as a Sélection officielle – Member, in 1959, the Marché du Film was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce, in 1962, the International Critics Week was born, created by the French Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors all over the world. In 1965, an hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, the next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the festival. The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May, some directors, such as Carlos Saura and Miloš Forman, had withdrawn their films from the competition. The filmmakers achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film Directors Society that same year, during the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972, Robert Favre Le Bret was named the new President and he immediately introduced an important change in the selection of the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose which films would represent them in the festival, Bessy created one committee to select French films, and another for foreign films. In 1978, Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra dOr award, in 1983, a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to host the Festival. It was nicknamed The Bunker and provoked many reactions against it, in 1984, Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret as President of the Festival. It was not until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection and its aim was to support the creation of works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities
Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
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Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
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Stars posing for photographers are a part of Cannes folklore.
Cannes Film Festival
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Palme d'Or awarded to
Apocalypse Now at the
1979 Cannes Film Festival
24.
National Board of Review
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The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908, the mayor believed that the new medium degraded the morals of community. Its stated purpose was to endorse films of merit and champion the new art of the people, in an effort to avoid government censorship of films, the National Board became the unofficial clearinghouse for new movies. From 1916 into the 1950s thousands of motion pictures carried the legend Passed by the National Board of Review in their main titles, however, the Board was a de facto censorship organization. Producers submitted their films to the Board before making release prints, they agreed to cut out any footage that the Board found objectionable, up to and including destroying the entire film. In 1930, the NBR was the first group to choose the ten best English-language movies of the year and the best foreign films, everson, Alistair Cooke, and Pearl Buck. In addition, the Awards Jury helps to determine the special achievement awards presented at the gala in January. The organization also works to foster commentary on all aspects of production by underwriting educational film programs. In 2016, the NBR reached out to the community to The Reel Works Teen Filmmaking, The Ghetto Film School, the organization also awarded grants to seventeen student filmmakers as part of its annual Student Grant Program. The boardss official magazine had existed in several forms and different names since its inception, in 1950 the magazine changed its name from Screen Magazine, and launched the first issue as Films in Review on February 1,1950. Note, Until 1945, there were awards for Best Picture and intermittent awards for Best Documentary. Motion Picture Production Code Official website
National Board of Review
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Official logo of the NBR
25.
Tribeca Film Festival
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The mission of the festival is to enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience. The Tribeca Film Festival was founded to celebrate New York City as a filmmaking center. In 2006 and 2007, the Festival received over 8600 film submissions, the Festivals program line-up includes a variety of independent films including documentaries, narrative features and shorts, as well as a program of family-friendly films. The Festival also features panel discussions with personalities in the entertainment world, past artists of the Artists Awards program have included Chuck Close, Alex Katz, and Julian Schnabel. The festival now draws an estimated three million people—including often-elusive celebrities from the worlds of art, film, and music—and generates $600 million annually, the inaugural festival launched after 120 days of planning with the help of more than 1,300 volunteers. It was attended by more than 150,000 people and featured several up-and-coming filmmakers, the 2003 festival brought more than 300,000 people. It became one of the venues of the festival, in an effort to serve its mission of bringing independent film to the widest possible audience, in 2006, the Festival expanded its reach in New York City and internationally. In New York City, Tribeca hosted screenings throughout Manhattan as the Festivals 1, internationally, the Festival brought films to the Rome Film Fest. As part of the celebrations in Rome, Tribeca was awarded the first ever Steps and Stars award, presented on the Spanish Steps. A total of 169 feature films and 99 shorts were selected from 4,100 film submissions, the festival featured 90 world premieres, nine international premieres,31 North American premieres,6 U. S. premieres, and 28 New York City premieres. In 2009, Rosenthal, Hatkoff and De Niro were named number 14 on Barrons list of the worlds top 25 philanthropists for their role in regenerating TriBeCas economy after September 11, as of 2010, the festival is run as a business by Tribeca Enterprises. Andrew Essex has been the CEO of Tribeca Enterprises since January,2016, in 2011, L. A. Noire became the first video game to be recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival. com,02.23.2013
Tribeca Film Festival
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New York Governor
David Paterson opens the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
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Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
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Festival founders
Jane Rosenthal and
Robert De Niro.
Tribeca Film Festival
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The marquee of Tribeca Cinemas
26.
Bill Clinton
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William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the Presidency he was the 40th Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, before that, he served as Arkansas Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideogically a New Democrat, Clinton is married to Hillary Clinton, who served as United States Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013 and U. S. Senator from New York from 2001 to 2009, and served the Democratic nominee for President in 2016, Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham both earned degrees from Yale Law School, where they met and began dating. As Governor of Arkansas, Clinton overhauled the states education system, Clinton was elected President of the United States in 1992, defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush. At age 46, he was the third-youngest president and the first from the Baby Boomer generation, Clinton presided over the longest period of peacetime economic expansion in American history and signed into law the North American Free Trade Agreement. After failing to pass health care reform, the Democratic House was ousted when the Republican Party won control of the Congress in 1994. Two years later, in 1996, Clinton became the first Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt to be elected to a second term, Clinton passed welfare reform and the State Childrens Health Insurance Program, providing health coverage for millions of children. Clinton was acquitted by the U. S. Senate in 1999, the Congressional Budget Office reported a budget surplus between the years 1998 and 2000, the last three years of Clintons presidency. In foreign policy, Clinton ordered U. S. Clinton left office with the highest end-of-office approval rating of any U. S. President since World War II, since then, Clinton has been involved in public speaking and humanitarian work. He created the William J. Clinton Foundation to address international causes, such as the prevention of AIDS, in 2004, Clinton published his autobiography, My Life. In 2009, Clinton was named the United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, since leaving office, Clinton has been rated highly in public opinion polls of U. S. Presidents. Clinton was born on August 19,1946, at Julia Chester Hospital in Hope, Arkansas and he was the son of William Jefferson Blythe Jr. a traveling salesman who had died in an automobile accident three months before his birth, and Virginia Dell Cassidy. His parents had married on September 4,1943, but this later proved to be bigamous. Soon after their son was born, his mother traveled to New Orleans to study nursing, leaving her son in Hope with her parents Eldridge and Edith Cassidy, who owned and ran a small grocery store. At a time when the Southern United States was segregated racially, in 1950, Bills mother returned from nursing school and married Roger Clinton Sr. who owned an automobile dealership in Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his brother and Earl T. Ricks. The family moved to Hot Springs in 1950, although he immediately assumed use of his stepfathers surname, it was not until Clinton turned fifteen that he formally adopted the surname Clinton as a gesture toward his stepfather. In Hot Springs, Clinton attended St. Johns Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs High School—where he was a student leader, avid reader
Bill Clinton
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Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
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William Jefferson Blythe III, in 1950 at age four
Bill Clinton
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Clinton's boyhood home in
Hope, Arkansas
Bill Clinton
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Clinton ran for President of the
Student Council while attending the School of Foreign Service at
Georgetown University.
27.
LL Cool J
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James Todd Smith, known professionally as LL Cool J, is an American rapper, actor, author, and entrepreneur from Queens, New York. LL Cool J is also known as one of the forefathers of pop rap and he has released 13 studio albums and two greatest hits compilations. His twelfth album Exit 13, was his last for his deal with Def Jam Recordings. His latest album, Authentic, was released in April 2013, in 2010, VH1 considered him to be in their 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time list. LL Cool J has also appeared in films, including In Too Deep, Any Given Sunday. He currently stars in a role as NCIS Special Agent Sam Hanna, on the CBS crime drama television series NCIS. LL Cool J is also the host of Lip Sync Battle on Spike, LL Cool J was born James Todd Smith on January 14,1968, in Bay Shore, New York, the son of Ondrea Griffeth and James Louis Smith, Jr. In an episode of Finding Your Roots, LL learned his mother was adopted by Eugene Griffith, the series genetic genealogist CeCe Moore identified LLs biological grandparents as Ethel Mae Jolly and Nathaniel Christy Lewis through analysis of his DNA. LLs biological great-uncle was hall of fame boxer, John Henry Lewis and he began rapping at age 9 and was influenced by hip-hop group The Treacherous Three. His grandfather, a jazz saxophonist, bought him $2,000 worth of equipment, Smith later discussed his childhood background and rapping, stating that By the time I got that equipment, I was already a rapper. In this neighborhood, the kids grow up in rap and its like speaking Spanish if you grow up in an all-Spanish house. I got into it when I was about 9, and since then all I wanted was to make a record and hear it on the radio. In a VH1 documentary, LL Cool J, at 14 years of age, revealed that he wanted to call himself J-Ski. Under his new name, LL Cool J, Smith was signed by Def Jam, which led to the release of his first official record. The single was a hard-hitting, streetwise b-boy song with spare beats, Smith later discussed his search for a label, stating I sent my demo to many different companies, but it was Def Jam where I found my home. That same year, Smith made his debut concert performance at Manhattan Center High School. In a later interview, LL Cool J recalled the experience, stating They pushed the lunch room tables together and me and my DJ, Cut Creator, as soon as it was over there were girls screaming and asking for autographs. Right then and there I said This is what I want to do, LLs debut single sold over 100,000 copies and helped establish both Def Jam as a label and Smith as a rapper
LL Cool J
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LL Cool J in 2010.
LL Cool J
LL Cool J
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LL Cool J performing in Germany.
LL Cool J
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LL Cool J performing in
Wilmington, Delaware in August 2008.
28.
Alicia Keys
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Alicia Augello Cook, known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, pianist and actress. Keys released her album with J Records, having had previous record deals first with Columbia. Keys debut album, Songs in A Minor was released in 2001, producing her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single Fallin, the album earned Keys five Grammy Awards in 2002. Her sophomore album, The Diary of Alicia Keys, was released in 2003, spawning successful singles You Dont Know My Name, If I Aint Got You and Diary, the duet song My Boo with Usher scored her a second number-one single in 2004. The album garnered her an additional four Grammy Awards in 2005, later that year, she released her first live album, Unplugged, becoming the first woman to have an MTV Unplugged album debut at number one. As I Am was released in 2007, producing the Hot 100 number-one single No One, selling 5 million copies worldwide, the Element of Freedom was released in 2009, becoming her first chart-topping album in the UK, and selling 4 million copies worldwide. Keys additionally collaborated with Jay Z on Empire State of Mind as her fourth number-one single, Girl on Fire was released in 2012 as her fifth Billboard 200 topping album, spawning the successful title track. Her second live album, VH1 Storytellers was released in 2013, Here was released in 2016, becoming her seventh R&B/Hip-Hop chart topping album. Keys made her first television appearance on The Cosby Show in 1985 as a four year old child and she made her film debut in Smokin Aces and later in The Nanny Diaries in 2007. Keys then had a NAACP Image Award nominated appearance in The Secret Life of Bees in 2008, Keys also made an appearance on season 2 of Empire in 2015. She is currently a coach on The Voice as of 2016, Keys has won numerous awards such as 15 Grammy Awards and 17 NAACP Image Awards. She has sold over 35 million albums and 30 million singles worldwide, considered a pop icon, Billboard magazine named her the top R&B artist of the 2000s decade and placed her number 10 on their list of Top 50 R&B/Hip-Hop Artists of the Past 25 Years. Time named her in their 100 list of most influential people in 2005, Keys was born Alicia Augello Cook on January 25,1981, in the Hells Kitchen area of Manhattan, New York City. She is the child of Teresa, a paralegal and part-time actress, and Craig Cook. Keys father is African American and her mother is of Italian, Scottish, Keys has expressed that she was comfortable with her multiracial heritage because she felt she was able to relate to different cultures. Her parents separated when she was two and she was raised by her mother during her formative years in Hells Kitchen. Keys has 2 younger half brothers, Clay Cook and Cole Cook, in 1985, Keys made an appearance on The Cosby Show at the age of four, where she and a group of girls played the parts of Rudy Huxtables sleepover guests in the episode Slumber Party. Throughout her childhood, Keys was sent to music and dance classes by her mother and she graduated in four years as valedictorian at the age of 16
Alicia Keys
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Keys at the 2013 ARIA Music Awards in Sydney Australia.
Alicia Keys
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Keys performing at CES, 2004
Alicia Keys
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Keys performing live, March 19, 2008
29.
Shadowboxer
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Shadowboxer is a 2005 crime thriller film directed by Lee Daniels that stars Academy Award winners Cuba Gooding Jr. Helen Mirren, and MoNique. It opened in limited release in six cities, New York, Los Angeles, Washington, Mikey and his stepmother, Rose, are contract killers and lovers. The two continue with their line of work despite the fact that Rose is suffering from cancer, organized crime kingpin, Clayton, suspects that his pregnant wife Vicki may have been unfaithful, so he hires Mikey and Rose to kill her. Upon entering Claytons mansion, Rose heads for Vickis bedroom while Vicki is on the phone with her best friend Neisha, but as Rose enters Vickis bedroom, Vickis water breaks and she goes into labor. Taking pity on Vicki, Rose uses her medical training to deliver Vickis baby. Afterward, Mikey and Rose drive Vicki and her infant son to a local motel, at Roses request, Mikey calls Dr. Don, Claytons private doctor. Dr. Don arrives with his drug addicted nurse/lover, Precious, Dr. Don provides medical assistance to Vicki and her baby before leaving. Over Mikeys objections, Rose insists that they take Vicki and her infant son to a safe place, the four end up in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, Neisha arrives at Claytons mansion demanding to know where Vicki is, Clayton becomes nervous that Neisha knows too much and pays Mikey to kill her, which he does by poisoning. Mikey and Rose then move Vicki and her son to a house in upstate Pennsylvania, Mikey carries on with the contract killings alone as Rose has become too ill to accompany him. At the babys first birthday party, Rose decides she would die than suffer from cancer. She and Mikey have sex in the woods, and she has Mikey shoot her as she reaches orgasm, before she dies, Rose makes Mikey promise to protect Vicki and her baby. Mikey, Vicki, and Anthony live safely for seven years, sometime later, Precious discovers Dr. Don performing oral sex on a patient. Hurt and betrayed, Precious leaves his office while threatening to get her revenge, Vicki becomes concerned about Anthony when she sees him watching Mikey assemble a gun. She later asks Mikey to leave, saying that he not have to protect them anymore. Mikey realizes that he has attached to Anthony and tells Vicki that he wants to stay. Clayton finds out from Precious that Vicki and Anthony are alive, Clayton then kills Precious in front of Dr. Dons, then shoots him in the leg. Mikey, deciding that he no longer wants to kill, determines that his next contract kill will be his final one, when Mikey checks into a hotel he opens the file on his contract, only to find a picture of himself and Vicki leaving their house
Shadowboxer
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Theatrical release poster
