1.
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
–
There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
–
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
–
MBE as awarded in 1918
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
–
Close up of an MBE from 1945 showing the "For God and the Empire"
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
–
Lieutenant General Sir
Robert Fulton, KBE
2.
Ballymena
–
Ballymena /ˌbæliˈmiːnə/ is a large town in County Antrim, and the eighth largest in Northern Ireland. It is part of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and it had a population of 29,467 people in the 2011 Census. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I in 1626, as of 2016, the Saturday market still runs. Ballymena is the hometown of notable actor Liam Neeson, who was awarded Freedom of the Borough in 2013, the town used to host Irelands largest one-day agricultural show at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The town centre has many historic buildings, the Town Hall was built in 1924 on the site of the old Market House, and was refurbished in 2007 at a cost of roughly £20 million. The recorded history of the Ballymena area dates to the Early Christian period from the 5th to the 7th centuries, ringforts are found in the townland of Ballykeel and a site known as Camphill Fort in the townland of Ballee may also have been of this type. There are a number of sites within a 1 1⁄4 miles radius of the centre of Ballymena. Two miles north in the townland of Kirkinriola, the ancient parish church and graveyard possess several indicators of Early Christian settlement, also in 1868, a gravedigger found a large stone slab on which was carved a cross with the inscription ord do degen. This refers to Bishop Degen, who lived in Ireland during the 7th century and this stone is now in the porch of St. Patricks Church at the end of Castle Street. At the end of the 5th century, a church was founded in Connor and this was followed by a monastery at Templemoyle, Kells. In 831, however, the Norse invaded the Ballymena area, in the 12th century, the Normans conquered much of County Antrim and County Down after having taken over England the century before. They created the core of the Earldom of Ulster, during this campaign, they built great mounds of earth topped by wooden towers, referred to as mottes, as defensive structures. The Harryville areas motte-and-bailey is one of the best examples of type of fortification in Northern Ireland. In 1315, Edward Bruce invaded Ireland, on 10 September 1315, at the Battle of Tawnybrack, Edward conquered the army of Richard De Burgo, the Norman Earl of Ulster. In 1576, Queen Elizabeth I granted land, including the town of Ballymena, the lands had been forfeited to the crown after Shane ONeills resistance in the 1560s. Smith brought English settlers to the area, among the first pioneers in planting English, by 1581, Smiths settlement failed and the lands reverted to the crown. On 10 May 1607, King James I granted the native Irish chief, the estate passed through several owners, eventually passing into the possession of William Adair, a Scottish laird from Kinhilt in southwestern Scotland. The estate was temporarily renamed Kinhilstown after Adairs lands in Scotland, the original castle of Ballymena was built in the early 17th century, situated to take advantage of an ancient ford at the River Braid
Ballymena
–
Ballymena town hall
Ballymena
–
Coat of arms
Ballymena
–
The remains of the 1707 church. The tower was built in 1822 and is a listed building.
3.
County Antrim
–
County Antrim ) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland and one of the nine counties of the province of Ulster, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,046 square kilometres and has a population of about 618,000, County Antrim has a population density of 203 people per square kilometer /526 people per square mile. The majority of Belfast, the city of Northern Ireland, is in County Antrim. It is currently one of two counties of Ireland to have a majority of the population from a Protestant background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Down to the south, a large portion of Antrim is hilly, especially in the east, where the highest elevations are attained. The range runs north and south, and, following this direction, the most remarkable cliffs are those formed of perpendicular basaltic columns, extending for many miles, and most strikingly displayed in Fair Head and the celebrated Giants Causeway. From the eastern coast the hills rise instantly but less abruptly, all are somewhat exposed to the easterly winds prevalent in spring. It is partially arable, and supports a small population, islandmagee is a peninsula separating Larne Lough from the North Channel. The valleys of the Bann and Lagan, with the shores of Lough Neagh. These two rivers, both rising in County Down, are the ones of importance. The latter flows to Belfast Lough, the former drains Lough Neagh, the fisheries of the Bann and of Lough Neagh are of value both commercially and to sportsmen, the small town of Toome, at the outflow of the river, being the centre. Immediately below this point lies Lough Beg, the Small Lake, County Antrim has a number of air, rail and sea links. Northern Irelands main airport, Belfast International Airport, at Aldergrove is in County Antrim, Belfast International shares its runways with the Royal Air Force base RAF Aldergrove, which otherwise has its own facilities. It is the fifth-largest regional air cargo centre in the UK, there are regular services to Great Britain, Europe and North America. The region is served by George Best Belfast City Airport, a mile east of Belfast city centre on the County Down side of the city. Two of Northern Irelands main ports are in County Antrim, Larne, ferries sail from Larne Harbour to destinations including Cairnryan and Troon in Scotland, and Fleetwood in England. The Port of Belfast is Northern Irelands principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and it is a major centre of industry and commerce and has become established as the focus of logistics activity for Northern Ireland. Around two-thirds of Northern Irelands seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole, is handled at the port, the population of County Antrim was 615,384 according to recent census information, making it the most populous county in Northern Ireland
County Antrim
–
The famed Glens of Antrim at Glendun
County Antrim
–
Fair Head seen from Ballycastle
County Antrim
–
Columnar
basalt at Giant's Causeway
4.
Northern Ireland
–
Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
Northern Ireland
–
Scrabo Tower,
County Down
Northern Ireland
–
Location of Northern Ireland (dark green) – in
Europe (green & dark grey) – in the
United Kingdom (green)
Northern Ireland
–
Cannon on
Derry 's
city walls
Northern Ireland
–
Signing of the
Ulster Covenant in 1912 in opposition to Home Rule
5.
Irish nationality law
–
Irish nationality law is contained in the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004 and in the relevant provisions of the Irish Constitution. A person may be an Irish citizen through birth, descent, the law grants citizenship to individuals born in Northern Ireland under the same conditions as those born in the Republic of Ireland. Dual citizenship is permitted under Irish nationality law, Ireland previously had a much less diluted application of jus soli which still applies to anyone born on or before 31 December 2004. The previous legislation was replaced by the 1999 changes, which were retroactive in effect. Before 2 December 1999, the distinction between Irish citizenship and entitlement to Irish citizenship rested on the place of birth. The provisions of the 1956 Act were, in terms of citizenship by birth, retroactive and replaced the provisions of the previous legislation, under that legislation, those born in Northern Ireland on or after 6 December 1922 did not have an entitlement to Irish citizenship by birth. Like most countries, Ireland does not normally grant citizenship to the children of diplomats and this does not apply, however, when a diplomat parents a child with an Irish citizen, a British citizen or a permanent resident. In 2001, Ireland enacted a measure which allowed the children of diplomats to register as Irish citizens if they chose to do so, however, the option to register remains for those born to diplomats before 2005. A person is an Irish citizen by descent if, at the time of his or her birth, place of birth is not a deciding factor. In cases where at least one parent was an Irish citizen born in the island of Ireland or an Irish citizen resident abroad in the service, citizenship is automatic. In all other cases citizenship is subject to registration in the Foreign Births Register, Citizenship by registration had previously been back-dated to birth. Anyone with an Irish citizen grandparent born in the island of Ireland is eligible for Irish citizenship and his or her parent would have automatically been an Irish citizen and their own citizenship can be secured by registering themselves in the Foreign Births Register. In contrast, those wishing to claim citizenship through an Irish citizen great-grandparent would be unable to do so unless their parents were placed into the Foreign Births Register. Their parents can transmit Irish citizenship to only those born after they themselves were registered. Citizenship acquired through descent may be maintained indefinitely so long as each generation ensures its registration before the birth of the next. All adoptions performed or recognised under Irish law confer Irish citizenship on the child if at least one of the adopters was an Irish citizen at the time of the adoption. From 30 November 2005, citizenship of the spouse of an Irish citizen must be acquired through the normal naturalisation process, the residence requirement is reduced from 5 to 3 years in this case, and the spouse must intend to continue to reside in the island of Ireland. Previously, the law allowed for the spouses of most Irish citizens to acquire citizenship post-nuptially by registration without residence in the island of Ireland, from 17 July 1956 to 31 December 1986, the wife of an Irish citizen could apply for post-nuptial citizenship
Irish nationality law
–
Irish passports are issued to Irish citizens by the
Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin
Irish nationality law
–
Irish Free State passport cover as issued 1927 (holder's name removed)
Irish nationality law
–
... and its associated 'Request' page.
6.
Natasha Richardson
–
Natasha Jane Richardson was an English stage and screen actress. Richardson was a member of the Redgrave family and she was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. Some of her films included Patty Hearst, The Handmaids Tale, Nell, The Parent Trap. Richardson died on 18 March 2009 from an epidural hematoma after a accident in Quebec. Richardson was born and raised in Marylebone, London, a member of the Redgrave family, known as a theatrical and film acting dynasty. The following year, she made her debut at the age of four in an uncredited role in The Charge of the Light Brigade. Her first professional work in Londons West End was in a revival of Anton Chekhovs The Seagull in 1985, soon after, she starred in a London stage production of High Society, adapted from the Cole Porter film. In 1993 she made her Broadway debut in the role of Anna Christie. In 1998, she played the role of Sally Bowles in Sam Mendes revival of Cabaret on Broadway, the two were due to star in a brand new Broadway production, which never came to existence. In 1984, Richardson made her first credited appearance as an art tutor in the James Scott-directed Every Picture Tells A Story. She later starred as Mary Shelley in the 1986 film Gothic, the following year she starred opposite Kenneth Branagh and Colin Firth in A Month in the Country, directed by Pat OConnor. Director Paul Schrader signed her for the role in Patty Hearst, his 1988 docudrama about the heiress. In 1991, she appeared in The Favour, the Watch and he later credited her with giving him the best kiss of his life during the film. She got hold of me and kissed me like Ive never been kissed before, Richardson was named Best Actress at the 1994 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival for Widows Peak, and that same year appeared in Nell opposite Jodie Foster and future husband Liam Neeson. Her last screen appearance was as headmistress of a school in the 2008 comedy Wild Child. Director Anthony Geffen described listening to the film since her death as harrowing, Richardson made her American television debut in a small role in the 1984 CBS miniseries Ellis Island. That same year she made her British television debut in an episode of the BBC series Oxbridge Blues, the following year she appeared as Violet Hunter alongside Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in the episode entitled The Copper Beeches. Richardsons first marriage was to filmmaker Robert Fox whom she had met in 1985, during the making of Anton Chekhovs The Seagull, they were married from 1990 to 1992
Natasha Richardson
–
Richardson in 1999
7.
Order of the British Empire
–
There is also the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, occasionally, honorary appointees are, incorrectly, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bill Gates or Bob Geldof, for example. In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War, when first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was divided into Military. The Orders motto is For God and the Empire, at the foundation of the Order, the Medal of the Order of the British Empire was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the British Empire Medal, in addition, the BEM is awarded by the Cook Islands and by some other Commonwealth nations. The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, and appoints all members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales, Queen Mary, and the current Grand Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross,845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the number of members of the fourth and fifth classes. Foreign recipients, as members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, and so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, and second-lowest of knighthood. Because of this, Dame Commander is awarded in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor, for example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges become Knights Bachelor. The Order has six officials, the Prelate, the Dean, the Secretary, the Registrar, the King of Arms, the Bishop of London, a senior bishop in the Church of England, serves as the Orders Prelate. The Dean of St Pauls is ex officio the Dean of the Order, the Orders King of Arms is not a member of the College of Arms, as are many other heraldic officers. From time to time, individuals are appointed to a higher grade within the Order, thereby ceasing usage of the junior post-nominal letters
Order of the British Empire
–
Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
–
MBE as awarded in 1918
Order of the British Empire
–
Close up of an MBE from 1945 showing the "For God and the Empire"
Order of the British Empire
–
Lieutenant General Sir
Robert Fulton, KBE
8.
Belfast
–
Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, the second largest on the island of Ireland, and the heart of the tenth largest Primary Urban Area in the United Kingdom. On the River Lagan, it had a population of 286,000 at the 2011 census and 333,871 after the 2015 council reform, Belfast was granted city status in 1888. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, and was an industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century. It has sustained a major aerospace and missiles industry since the mid 1930s, industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast Irelands biggest city at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education, business, and law, additionally, Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square. Belfast is served by two airports, George Best Belfast City Airport in the city, and Belfast International Airport 15 miles west of the city. Although the county borough of Belfast was created when it was granted city status by Queen Victoria in 1888, the site of Belfast has been occupied since the Bronze Age. The Giants Ring, a 5, 000-year-old henge, is located near the city, Belfast remained a small settlement of little importance during the Middle Ages. The ONeill clan had a presence in the area, in the 14th century, Cloinne Aodha Buidhe, descendants of Aodh Buidhe ONeill built Grey Castle at Castlereagh, now in the east of the city. Conn ONeill of the Clannaboy ONeills owned vast lands in the area and was the last inhabitant of Grey Castle, evidence of this period of Belfasts growth can still be seen in the oldest areas of the city, known as the Entries. Belfast blossomed as a commercial and industrial centre in the 18th and 19th centuries, industries thrived, including linen, rope-making, tobacco, heavy engineering and shipbuilding, and at the end of the 19th century, Belfast briefly overtook Dublin as the largest city in Ireland. The Harland and Wolff shipyards became one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, in 1886 the city suffered intense riots over the issue of home rule, which had divided the city. In 1920–22, Belfast became the capital of the new entity of Northern Ireland as the island of Ireland was partitioned, the accompanying conflict cost up to 500 lives in Belfast, the bloodiest sectarian strife in the city until the Troubles of the late 1960s onwards. Belfast was heavily bombed during World War II, in one raid, in 1941, German bombers killed around one thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless. Apart from London, this was the greatest loss of life in a raid during the Blitz. Belfast has been the capital of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921 following the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and it had been the scene of various episodes of sectarian conflict between its Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in conflict are now often termed republican and loyalist respectively. The most recent example of conflict was known as the Troubles – a civil conflict that raged from around 1969 to 1998
Belfast
–
Top: Skyline of Belfast Middle top left to right,
Queen's University Belfast,
Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast, The Boat,
Titanic Belfast Bottom left to right:
Belfast City Hall, view of Belfast with
Samson and Goliath.
Belfast
–
Belfast Castle
Belfast
–
Donegall Square in the early 1900s
Belfast
–
Aftermath of the Blitz in May 1941
9.
King Arthur
–
King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthurs story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, the sparse historical background of Arthur is gleaned from various sources, including the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum, and the writings of Gildas. Arthurs name also occurs in early sources such as Y Gododdin. Arthur is a figure in the legends making up the so-called Matter of Britain. The legendary Arthur developed as a figure of international interest largely through the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouths fanciful, how much of Geoffreys Historia was adapted from such earlier sources, rather than invented by Geoffrey himself, is unknown. Geoffrey depicted Arthur as a king of Britain who defeated the Saxons and established an empire over Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and Gaul. The 12th-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes, who added Lancelot, in these French stories, the narrative focus often shifts from King Arthur himself to other characters, such as various Knights of the Round Table. Arthurian literature thrived during the Middle Ages but waned in the centuries that followed until it experienced a resurgence in the 19th century. In the 21st century, the lives on, not only in literature but also in adaptations for theatre, film, television, comics. The historical basis for the King Arthur legend has long debated by scholars. These culminate in the Battle of Badon, where he is said to have single-handedly killed 960 men, recent studies, however, question the reliability of the Historia Brittonum. The other text that seems to support the case for Arthurs historical existence is the 10th-century Annales Cambriae, the Annales date this battle to 516–518, and also mention the Battle of Camlann, in which Arthur and Medraut were both killed, dated to 537–539. These details have often used to bolster confidence in the Historias account. Problems have been identified, however, with using this source to support the Historia Brittonums account, the latest research shows that the Annales Cambriae was based on a chronicle begun in the late 8th century in Wales. Additionally, the textual history of the Annales Cambriae precludes any certainty that the Arthurian annals were added to it even that early. They were more likely added at point in the 10th century. The Badon entry probably derived from the Historia Brittonum and this lack of convincing early evidence is the reason many recent historians exclude Arthur from their accounts of sub-Roman Britain. These modern admissions of ignorance are a recent trend, earlier generations of historians were less sceptical
King Arthur
–
Tapestry showing Arthur as one of the
Nine Worthies, wearing a
coat of arms often attributed to him (c. 1385)
King Arthur
–
Statue of King Arthur at the
Hofkirche in
Innsbruck, designed by
Albrecht Dürer and cast by
Peter Vischer the Elder (1520s)
King Arthur
–
The 10th-century
Annales Cambriae (from a copy c. 1100)
King Arthur
–
A facsimile page of
Y Gododdin, one of the most famous early Welsh texts featuring Arthur (c. 1275)
10.
Excalibur (film)
–
The film is named after the legendary sword of King Arthur that features prominently in Arthurian literature. The films soundtrack features the music of Richard Wagner and Carl Orff, Excalibur was shot entirely on location in Ireland, employing Irish actors and crew. Excalibur achieved moderate box office success while receiving mixed reviews, Film critics Roger Ebert and Vincent Canby criticised the films plot and characters, although they and other reviewers praised its visual style. Excalibur opened at one in the United States, eventually grossing $34,967,437 on a budget of around US$11 million to rank 18th in that years receipts. The sorcerer Merlin retrieves Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake for Uther Pendragon, who secures an alliance with Gorlois. Uthers lust for Cornwalls wife Igrayne soon ruins the truce, Merlin transforms Uther into Cornwalls likeness with the Charm of Making. Nine months later, Merlin takes Uthers son Arthur, Uther pursues but is mortally wounded by Gorlois knights. Uther thrusts Excalibur into a stone, crying that None shall wield Excalibur, and Merlin proclaims, He who draws the sword from the stone, he shall be king. Years later Sir Ector and his sons, Kay and Arthur attend a jousting tournament, Sir Leondegrance wins the chance to try pulling Excalibur from the stone, but he fails. Kays sword is stolen, and Arthur pulls Excalibur from the stone while trying to replace the stolen sword. Word spreads, and Merlin announces to the crowd that Arthur is Uthers son and, hence, Leondegrance immediately proclaims his support for the new king, but not all are willing to accept. While the others argue, Merlin and Arthur enter the forest, where Merlin tells Arthur that he is the king and that the king. Overwhelmed, Arthur falls into a long sleep, when he wakes, Arthur goes to aid Leondegrance, whose castle is under siege by Arthurs enemies, led by Sir Uryens. During the battle, Arthur defeats Uryens and then demands Uryens knight him, Uryens is tempted to kill him but is deeply moved by Arthurs display of faith and decides to knight him. Uryens falls to his knees to declare his loyalty, which leads the others to follow suit, Arthur meets Leondegrances daughter Guinevere soon afterwards and is smitten but Merlin foresees trouble. Years later, the undefeated knight Lancelot blocks a bridge and will not move until he is defeated in single combat, Lancelot defeats Arthur and his knights, so Arthur summons Excaliburs magic and defeats Lancelot but breaks Excalibur in the process. Arthur is ashamed of abusing the power to serve his own vanity and throws the swords remains into the lake. The Lady of the Lake offers a restored Excalibur to the king, Lancelot is revived and Arthur, Arthur creates the Round Table, builds Camelot and marries Guinevere, Lancelot confesses that he has fallen in love with her too
Excalibur (film)
–
Theatrical release poster by
Bob Peak
Excalibur (film)
–
Excalibur locations trail in County Wicklow, 28 years after filming
11.
Mel Gibson
–
Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson AO is an American actor and filmmaker. He was born in Peekskill, New York, and moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia and he studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art. During the 1980s, he founded Icon Entertainment, a company which independent film director Atom Egoyan has called. Director Peter Weir cast him as one of the leads in the critically acclaimed World War I drama Gallipoli, the film also helped to earn Gibson the reputation of a serious, versatile actor. He later directed and produced the successful and controversial, biblical drama film The Passion of the Christ. He received further critical notice for his work of the action-adventure film Apocalypto. Gibson was born in Peekskill, New York, the sixth of eleven children, and the son of Hutton Gibson, a writer. One of Gibsons younger brothers, Donal, is also an actor, because of his mother, Gibson retains dual Irish and American citizenship. Mel was twelve years old at the time, Gibson was educated by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at St Leos Catholic College in Wahroonga, New South Wales, during his high school years. Gibson gained very favorable notices from critics when he first entered the cinematic scene. In 1982, Vincent Canby wrote that Mr. Gibson recalls the young Steve McQueen, I cant define star quality, but whatever it is, Mr. Gibson has it. Gibson has also likened to a combination Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart. Gibsons roles in the Mad Max series of films, Peter Weirs Gallipoli, later, Gibson expanded into a variety of acting projects including human dramas such as Hamlet, and comedic roles such as those in Maverick and What Women Want. He expanded beyond acting into directing and producing, with, The Man Without a Face, in 1993, Braveheart, in 1995, The Passion of the Christ, in 2004, jess Cagle of Time compared Gibson with Cary Grant, Sean Connery, and Robert Redford. Connery once suggested Gibson should play the next James Bond to Connerys M. Gibson turned down the role, Gibson studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. The students at NIDA were classically trained in the British-theater tradition rather than in preparation for screen acting. As students, Gibson and actress Judy Davis played the leads in Romeo and Juliet, and Gibson played the role of Queen Titania in an experimental production of A Midsummer Nights Dream. After graduation in 1977, Gibson immediately began work on the filming of Mad Max, but continued to work as a stage actor, and joined the State Theatre Company of South Australia in Adelaide
Mel Gibson
–
Gibson at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival
Mel Gibson
–
Mel Gibson in 1990 at an
Air America premiere.
Mel Gibson
–
Gibson at the Christmas party for charity
Mending Kids International in 2007. His former wife Robyn was president of the charity.
12.
Anthony Hopkins
–
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins CBE, is a Welsh actor of film, stage, and television. In 1968, he got his break in film in The Lion in Winter, since 2016, he has starred in the critically acclaimed HBO television series Westworld. Along with his Academy Award, Hopkins has won three BAFTA Awards, two Emmys, and the Cecil B, in 1993, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003, Hopkins was born on New Years Eve 1937, in Margam, a suburb of Port Talbot, Glamorgan. His parents were Annie Muriel and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker and his school days were unproductive, he would rather immerse himself in art, such as painting and drawing, or playing the piano, than attend to his studies. In 1949, to discipline, his parents insisted he attend Jones West Monmouth Boys School in Pontypool. He remained there for five terms and was educated at Cowbridge Grammar School in the Vale of Glamorgan. Hopkins was influenced and encouraged by Welsh compatriot Richard Burton, whom he met at the age of 15, Hopkins promptly enrolled at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, from which he graduated in 1957. After two years in the British Army doing his national service, he moved to London, where he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Hopkins made his first professional appearance in the Palace Theatre, Swansea. In 1965, after years in repertory, he was spotted by Laurence Olivier. Hopkins became Oliviers understudy, and filled in when Olivier was struck with appendicitis during a production of August Strindbergs The Dance of Death, despite his success at the National, Hopkins tired of repeating the same roles nightly and yearned to be in films. He made his debut in a 1967 BBC broadcast of A Flea in Her Ear. His first starring role in a film came in 1964 in Changes, in 1968, he got his break in The Lion in Winter playing Richard I. Although Hopkins continued in theatre he gradually moved away from it to more established as a television. He portrayed Charles Dickens in the BBC television film The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens in 1970, and Pierre Bezukhov in the BBCs mini series War and Peace. In 1972 he starred as British politician David Lloyd George in Young Winston, in 1980, he starred in The Elephant Man as the English doctor Sir Frederick Treves, who attends to Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man in 19th century London. That year he starred opposite Shirley MacLaine in A Change of Seasons
Anthony Hopkins
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Hopkins at the
Toronto International Film Festival, September 2010
Anthony Hopkins
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Isabella Rossellini and Sir Anthony Hopkins in Berlin to shoot scenes for
The Innocent (1993)
Anthony Hopkins
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Hopkins at the
Tuscan Sun Festival,
Cortona,
Italy, August 2009
Anthony Hopkins
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Panorama of
Snowdonia in north Wales which Hopkins described as "one of the most beautiful places in the world and Snowdon is the jewel that lies at its heart. It must be cherished and protected."
13.
The Bounty (1984 film)
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The Bounty is a 1984 British historical drama film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins, and produced by Bernard Williams with Dino De Laurentiis as executive producer. It is the film version of the story of the mutiny on the Bounty. The screenplay was by Robert Bolt and it was based on the book Captain Bligh and it was made by Dino De Laurentiis Productions and distributed by Orion Pictures Corporation and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment. The music score was composed by Vangelis and the cinematography was by Arthur Ibbetson, the attempt to round Cape Horn fails due to harsh weather, and the ship is obliged to take the longer eastern route. During their stay in Tahiti, ship discipline becomes problematic, many of the develop a taste for the easy pleasures that island life offers. Bligh, at the time, subjects the crew to pressure. When the ship leaves Tahiti, Fletcher is forced to leave his wife, Mauatua. The resumption of naval discipline on the return voyage turns Bligh into a tyrant not willing to tolerate any disobedience whatsoever, creating an atmosphere of tension, Bligh insists that the ship is dirty and orders the crew to clean up several times a day. Many of the men, including Christian, are singled out for tongue-lashings by Bligh, playing on Christians resentment against Blighs treatment of both him and the men, the more militant members of the crew finally persuade Christian to take control of the ship. Bligh is roused from his bed and arrested, along with those loyal to him, and they are forced into a ships boat, minimally supplied. One man, however, is killed by natives as the stop for supplies on a hostile island. The mutineers sail back to Tahiti to collect their wives, girlfriends, King Tynah, however, is concerned that their presence on the island could incite King George to declare war against Tahiti and his people. Realising the folly of staying, they gather supplies and sail away to try to find a safe refuge, Christian pleads with Tynah to allow Mauatua to decide her own destiny. Tynah concedes, and Mauatua chooses the uncertainty of a life with Christian over remaining with her father, the search for a safe haven is long and seemingly impossible, as they realise that any pursuing Royal Navy vessels will search all known islands and coastlines to find them. At this point, those who remained on board the Bounty are so frustrated that they are ready to rebel against Christian to turn the back towards Tahiti. After Christian forces the crew to continue on, they eventually find Pitcairn Island, meanwhile, Fletcher Christian and his men realise that they will never go back home to Britain. Melvyn Bragg ended up writing a considerable portion of the script, Anthony Hopkins was one of two actors considered for the role of Captain Bligh by David Lean. Christopher Reeve, Sting and David Essex were considered for the role of Fletcher Christian, the role of Peter Heywood was originally intended to be played by Hugh Grant
The Bounty (1984 film)
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Theatrical release poster
14.
Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
Robert De Niro
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De Niro at the 2011
Tribeca Film Festival
Robert De Niro
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De Niro in 1971
Robert De Niro
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De Niro at the
2011 Cannes Film Festival
Robert De Niro
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De Niro with
Matt Damon in Berlin in February 2007 for the premiere of
The Good Shepherd
15.
Jeremy Irons
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Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppards The Real Thing, Irons first major film role came in the 1981 romantic drama The French Lieutenants Woman, for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Actor. After starring in such as Moonlighting, Betrayal, and The Mission. In 1990, Irons played accused murderer Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune, other notable films have included Steven Soderberghs mystery thriller Kafka, the period drama The House of the Spirits, the romantic drama M. Irons has also made several notable appearances on TV. He earned his first Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in the ITV series Brideshead Revisited. In 2005, Irons starred opposite Helen Mirren in the historical miniseries Elizabeth I, for which he received a Golden Globe Award, from 2011 to 2013 he starred as Pope Alexander VI in the Showtime historical series The Borgias. He is one of the few actors who won the Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, in October 2011, he was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Irons was born in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, the son of Paul Dugan Irons, an accountant and his paternal great-great-grandfather was a Metropolitan Policeman who was sacked for drunkenness, and later a Chartist. He has an amount of Irish ancestry, tracing back to County Cork. Irons has a brother, Christopher, and a sister, Felicity Anne and he was educated at the independent Sherborne School in Dorset from 1962 to 1966. He was the drummer and harmonica player in a school band called the Four Pillars of Wisdom. Irons trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and he made several appearances on British television, including the childrens television series Play Away and as Franz Liszt in the BBC1974 series Notorious Woman. More significantly he starred in the 13-part adaptation of H. E, the role which brought him fame was that of Charles Ryder in the television adaptation of Evelyn Waughs Brideshead Revisited. First broadcast on ITV, the ranks among the greatest British television dramas. Brideshead reunited him with Anthony Andrews, with whom he had appeared in The Pallisers seven years earlier, in the same year he starred in the film The French Lieutenants Woman opposite Meryl Streep. On 23 March 1991, Irons hosted Saturday Night Live on NBC in the US, in 2005, Irons won both an Emmy award and a Golden Globe award for his supporting role in the TV mini-series, Elizabeth I. A year later Irons was one of the participants in the series of the BBC documentary series Who Do You Think You Are. In 2008, he played Lord Vetinari in Terry Pratchetts The Colour of Magic, on 6 November 2008, TV Guide reported he would star as photographer Alfred Stieglitz with Joan Allen as painter Georgia OKeeffe, in a Lifetime Television biopic, Georgia OKeeffe
Jeremy Irons
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Irons in 2014
Jeremy Irons
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Irons at the 2011 Berlin Film Festival
Jeremy Irons
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Irons in Paris, 2014
Jeremy Irons
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Kilcoe Castle, built c. 1450 by the
Clan Dermod MacCarthy
16.
The Mission (1986 film)
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The Mission is a 1986 British drama film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th century South America. Written by Robert Bolt and directed by Roland Joffé, the film stars Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Aidan Quinn, Cherie Lunghi and it won the Palme dOr and the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. In April 2007, it was elected number one on the Church Times Top 50 Religious Films list, furthermore, it is one of fifteen films listed in the category Religion on the Vatican film list. The music, scored by Italian composer Ennio Morricone, ranked 1st on the Australian Broadcasting Corporations Classic 100 Music in the Movies, following mixed to positive reviews from critics, the film bombed at the box office and caused the deterioration of Goldcrest Films. Father Gabriel travels to the falls, climbs to the top, the Guaraní warriors, captivated by the music, allow him to live. After returning from another kidnapping trip Mendoza is told by his assumed fiancée, Carlotta, Mendoza later finds them in bed together and in a fit of rage kills Felipe in a duel. Although he is acquitted of the killing by Cabeza, Mendoza spirals into depression, Father Gabriel visits and challenges Mendoza to undertake a suitable penance. Mendoza accompanies the Jesuits on their return to the Guaraní village, scaling a cliff while dragging a heavy bundle containing his armour, Father Gabriels mission is depicted as a place of sanctuary and education for the Guaraní. Moved by the Guaranís acceptance, Mendoza wishes to help at the mission, in time, Mendoza takes vows and becomes a Jesuit under Father Gabriel and his colleague Father Fielding. The Jesuit missions were safe because they were protected under Spanish law, the Treaty of Madrid reapportioned South American land the Jesuit missions were located on, transferring the area to the Portuguese who allowed slavery. Under pressure from both Cabeza and Portuguese Governor Don Hontar, Cardinal Altamirano is forced to choose between two evils, Altamirano visits the missions and is amazed at their industry and success, both in converting the Indians and, in some cases, economically. At Father Gabriels mission of San Carlos he tries to explain the reasons behind closing the mission, the Guaraní question the validity of his claim, and argue Gods will was to settle and develop the mission. Father Gabriel and Mendoza, under threat of excommunication, state their intention to defend the mission alongside the Guaraní if the plantation owners and they are, however, divided on how to do this, and they debate how to respond to the impending military attack. Father Gabriel believes that violence is a crime against God. Mendoza, however, decides to break his vows to defend the Mission. Against Father Gabriels wishes, he teaches the natives the European art of war, when a joint Portuguese and Spanish force attack, the mission is initially defended by Mendoza, Fielding and the Guaraní. They are no match for the force and Mendoza is shot and fatally wounded after the soldiers destroy a trap. Fielding sacrifices himself by killing the Portuguese commander before he is killed, upon seeing the Church at the mission village the soldiers become reluctant to fire
The Mission (1986 film)
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Original film poster
The Mission (1986 film)
17.
Patrick Swayze
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Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. During his career he received three Golden Globe Award nominations and was named by People magazine as its Sexiest Man Alive in 1991. Patrick Wayne Swayze was born on August 18,1952, in Houston, Texas, the child of Patsy Swayze, a choreographer, dance instructor, and dancer, and Jesse Wayne Swayze. He had two brothers, actor Don and Sean Kyle, and two sisters, Vickie Lynn and Bambi. Swayze and his siblings were raised in their mothers Roman Catholic faith, during this time, he pursued multiple artistic and athletic skills, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He played football for his school and was hoping to receive a football scholarship for college until a knee injury ended his career. He studied gymnastics at Coastal Carolina University for two years, in 1972, he moved to New York City to complete his formal dance training at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet schools. Swayze had a role in the television series M*A*S*H, in season 9 episode 18 Blood Brothers. His first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade and he then starred as a replacement playing the role of Danny Zuko in the long-running Broadway production of Grease before his debut film role as Ace in Skatetown, U. S. A. Swayze became known to the industry after appearing in The Outsiders as the older brother of C. Thomas Howell. Also in 1983, Swayze played a U. S. M. C, trainer in Vietnam rescue film Uncommon Valor with Gene Hackman. The following year, Swayze, Howell, and Howells friend Darren Dalton reunited in Red Dawn, then in 1986, Lowe and his first major success was in the 1985 television miniseries North and South, which was set during the American Civil War. Swayzes breakthrough role came with his performance as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the film Dirty Dancing, alongside his Red Dawn co-star, the song became a top-10 hit and has been covered by other artists. After Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself in great acting demand and appeared in several films and his biggest role came when he starred in Ghost with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. In 1991, he starred alongside Youngblood castmate Keanu Reeves in another major hit, Point Break. For his contributions to the industry, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997. Swayze was seriously injured in 1998 while filming HBOs Letters from a Killer near Ione, California, both of his legs were broken, and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, and the aired in 1999
Patrick Swayze
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Swayze greeting fans after
Guys and Dolls, September 27, 2006
Patrick Swayze
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Swayze and
Paula Abdul at the 1990 Grammy Awards
Patrick Swayze
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Swayze and his wife,
Lisa Niemi, arrive at the 1989 Academy Awards ceremony
18.
Next of Kin (1989 film)
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The screenplay was based on a story of the same title, both written by Michael Jenning. Truman Gates, raised in Appalachia, has migrated to Chicago to become a police officer, married to Jessie, who is pregnant, he seems to have made the transition from hillbilly to respectable lawman. When the local coal mine closes, Truman persuades his younger brother Gerald to look for work in Chicago, Truman returns to Kentucky for the funeral. When his surviving brother, Briar Gates, insists on a traditional mountain blood feud, Briar finds Trumans reluctance to be disgraceful. Determined to deal with the murderers in his own way, Briar travels to Chicago in search of his youngest brothers killer, meanwhile, Truman desperately tries to solve the crime before Briar takes revenge on his own. He approaches John Isabella and explains the code to him. He suggests that if Geralds murderer surrenders peacefully, it would save both a lot of trouble. John, however, refuses on principle, and Truman is left to continue his investigation. After arriving in town, Briar gets a room at a flop house, before he leaves, he gives the front desk clerk the phone number of his cousin back home and asks him to call the number if he doesnt return by morning. Not wasting any time, Briar goes looking for information on the man who killed Gerald and, during his search, when Truman arrives a little later, Joey, embarrassed by the attack, says he is not pressing charges against Briar. He intends to handle things himself, when Poppa John says he feels things are getting out of hand, Joey dismisses the threat, saying that the Gates family, plow rocks for a living. John responds, Thats what they said about our people back in, working together for a time, Briar and Truman learn the identity of the hijackers from a witness. Truman pressures Lawrence, the son of Poppa John, to turn states evidence against Joey, Lawrence goes to Joey for help, only to have Joey betray him. Lawrences body is found with evidence of being tortured and evidence found at the points to Briar. Joey goes to Poppa John, who devastated by his sons death, before he can, Briar breaks into Rosellinis trucking company and engages in a gunfight with Joeys crew and kills two of Joeys guys before Joey shoots Briar twice. Fatally wounded, Briar dies in Trumans arms, when the flop house desk clerk hears about the deaths at the Trucking Company on the news, he calls Briars next of kin. Even though both Truman and the police know the evidence against Briar was planted, and Briars death was an ambush, Truman resigns from the police force and goes after the Rosellini mob himself. As the Gates family gathers together and travels to Chicago to begin a war against the Outfit, Truman goes on the offensive, when Joey comes out, he finds You forgot one, painted on Joeys car and vows to murder Truman without his uncles permission
Next of Kin (1989 film)
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Theatrical release poster
19.
Steven Spielberg
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Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE, OMRI is an American director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the pioneers of the New Hollywood era. He is also one of the co-founders of DreamWorks Studios, in a career spanning more than four decades, Spielbergs films have spanned many themes and genres. His other films include Jurassic Park, A. I, artificial Intelligence, and War of the Worlds. Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindlers List and Saving Private Ryan, three of Spielbergs films—Jaws, E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Jurassic Park—achieved box office records, originated and came to epitomize the blockbuster film. The unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $9 billion worldwide and his personal net worth is estimated to be more than $3 billion. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an Orthodox Jewish family and his mother, Leah Posner, was a restaurateur and concert pianist, and his father, Arnold Spielberg, was an electrical engineer involved in the development of computers. His paternal grandparents were immigrants from Ukraine who settled in Cincinnati in the first decade of the 1900s, in 1950, his family moved to Haddon Township, New Jersey when his father took a job with RCA. Three years later, the moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Spielberg attended Hebrew school from 1953 to 1957, in classes taught by Rabbi Albert L. Lewis, as a child, Spielberg faced difficulty reconciling being an Orthodox Jew with the perception of him by other children he played with. It isnt something I enjoy admitting, he said, but when I was seven, eight, nine years old, God forgive me. I was embarrassed by the perception of my parents Jewish practices. I was never really ashamed to be Jewish, but I was uneasy at times, Spielberg also said he suffered from acts of anti-Semitic prejudice and bullying, In high school, I got smacked and kicked around. His first home movie was of a wreck involving his toy Lionel trains. Throughout his early teens, and after entering school, Spielberg continued to make amateur 8 mm adventure films. In 1958, he became a Boy Scout and fulfilled a requirement for the merit badge by making a nine-minute 8 mm film entitled The Last Gunfight. Years later, Spielberg recalled to an interviewer, My dads still-camera was broken. He said yes, and I got an idea to do a Western, I made it and got my merit badge
Steven Spielberg
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Spielberg at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival
Steven Spielberg
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Steven Spielberg and
Chandran Rutnam on a location in Sri Lanka during the filming of
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Steven Spielberg
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Spielberg in March 1990
Steven Spielberg
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Spielberg in 2011, at the Paris premiere of
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
20.
Michael Collins (film)
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Michael Collins is a 1996 historical biopic written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Liam Neeson as Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish Civil War. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, in 1922, Joe OReilly attempts to console Kitty Kiernan, who is mourning the death of Michael Collins. At the end of the Easter Rising in 1916, Collins, Harry Boland, Éamon de Valera, as the Dublin Metropolitan Polices G Division identifies the leaders, Collins tells Boland that next time, We wont play by their rules, Harry. All the other leaders die by firing squad, but de Valera, Collins, Boland, and the others are sent to Frongoch internment camp. After his release, Collins gives a speech at a rally at the South Longford by-election,1917. Collins is injured when the Royal Irish Constabulary break up the rally, while recovering on a friends farm, they meet Kitty, who begins a romance with Boland. Collins is tipped off by Detective Ned Broy that the British plan to arrest de Valera, however, de Valera forbids anyone to go into hiding, stating that the ensuing public outcry will force their immediate release. Only Collins and Boland escape arrest and imprisonment, and there are no protests, Boland and Collins travel to England and break de Valera out of Lincoln prison. Angry that Collins has overshadowed him, de Valera announces that he travel to the United States to seek recognition from Woodrow Wilson. Before they depart, Collins suggests to Boland his belief that de Valera fears leaving them alone together, left in command, Collins orders the IRA to begin raiding police barracks for weapons. He also issues a statement that all collaboration with the British will be punished by death, Collins then recruits a squad from the IRAs Dublin Brigade, which, on Bloody Sunday, assassinates fourteen British agents. In retaliation, the Black and Tans fire into the crowd at a Gaelic football match at Croke Park, Broy is caught burning documents, and is tortured and killed. After returning from America empty-handed, de Valera decrees that the IRA must make a military attack on The Custom House. Collins argues that fighting conventionally will allow the British to win, the attack fails catastrophically, leaving six men dead and seventy captured. In the aftermath, Collins declares that the IRA can only hold out for a month, in private, he tells Boland that the IRA will be lucky to hold out for another week. To his surprise, however, the British soon call for a cease fire, de Valera orders Collins to go to London to participate in negotiations with the British, despite Collinss objections that he is not a diplomat. After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, de Valera erupts upon learning that the terms have been published without his agreement, Collins argues that the Treaty gives them the freedom to achieve the Republic, albeit at the expense of six of the nine Ulster counties. De Valera and his supporters resign in protest after the Dáil approves the Treaty 64–57, both Collins and de Valera try to sway the Irish people in their respective directions
Michael Collins (film)
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Theatrical release poster
21.
Victor Hugo
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Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers, outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Misérables,1862, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,1831. In France, Hugo is known primarily for his collections, such as Les Contemplations. He produced more than 4,000 drawings and also campaigned for causes such as the abolition of capital punishment. He is buried in the Panthéon in Paris and his legacy has been honoured in many ways, including his portrait being placed on French currency. Victor Hugo was the son of Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo and Sophie Trébuchet, his brothers were Abel Joseph Hugo. He was born in 1802 in Besançon in the region of Franche-Comté. On 19 November 1821, Léopold Hugo wrote to his son that he had conceived on one of the highest peaks in the Vosges Mountains. This elevated origin, he went on, seems to have had effects on you so that your muse is now continually sublime, Hugos childhood was a period of national political turmoil. Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor of the French two years after Hugos birth, and the Bourbon Monarchy was restored before his 13th birthday, since Hugos father was an officer, the family moved frequently and Hugo learned much from these travels. On a childhood trip to Naples, Hugo saw the vast Alpine passes and the snowy peaks, the magnificently blue Mediterranean. Though he was five years old at the time, he remembered the six-month-long trip vividly. They stayed in Naples for a few months and then headed back to Paris, at the beginning of her marriage, Hugos mother Sophie followed her husband to posts in Italy and Spain. Thereafter she dominated Hugos education and upbringing, as a result, Hugos early work in poetry and fiction reflect her passionate devotion to both King and Faith. It was only later, during the leading up to Frances 1848 Revolution. Young Victor fell in love and, against his mothers wishes, because of his close relationship with his mother, Hugo waited until after her death to marry Adèle in 1822. Adèle and Victor Hugo had their first child, Léopold, in 1823, on 28 August 1824, the couples second child, Léopoldine was born, followed by Charles on 4 November 1826, François-Victor on 28 October 1828, and Adèle on 24 August 1830. Hugos eldest and favourite daughter, Léopoldine, died aged 19 in 1843, on 4 September, she drowned in the Seine at Villequier, pulled down by her heavy skirts when a boat overturned
Victor Hugo
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Woodburytype of Victor Hugo by
Étienne Carjat, 1876.
Victor Hugo
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Illustration by
Luc-Olivier Merson for
Notre-Dame de Paris (1881), showing the recently restored
galerie des chimères.
Victor Hugo
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Victor Hugo in 1853
Victor Hugo
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Portrait of "
Cosette " by
Émile Bayard, from the original edition of
Les Misérables (1862)
22.
Epic film
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Epic film is a style of filmmaking with large scale, sweeping scope, and spectacle. The usage of the term has shifted over time, sometimes designating a film genre, like epics in the classical literary sense it is often focused on a heroic character. An epics ambitious nature helps to set it apart from other types of such as the period piece or adventure film. The most common subjects of epic films are royalty, and important figures from various periods in world history, the term epic originally came from the poetic genre exemplified by such works as the Iliad, Epic of Gilgamesh, or the Odyssey. In classical literature, epics are considered works focused on deeds or journeys of heroes upon which the fate of a number of people depend. Similarly, films described as epic typically take a historical character, common subjects of epics are royalty, gladiators, great military leaders, or leading personalities from various periods in world history. Such films usually have a setting, although fantasy or science fiction settings have become common in recent decades. The central conflict of the film is seen as having far-reaching effects. The main characters actions are often central to the resolution of the societal conflict, in its classification of films by genre, the American Film Institute limits the genre to historical films such as Ben-Hur. However, film scholars such as Constantine Santas are willing to extend the label to science-fiction films such as 2001, A Space Odyssey and Star Wars. Stylistically, films classed as epic usually employ spectacular settings and specially designed costumes, often accompanied by a musical score. Epics are usually among the most expensive of films to produce and they often use on-location filming, authentic period costumes, and action scenes on a massive scale. Biographical films may be less lavish versions of this genre, many writers may refer to any film that is long as an epic, making the definition epic a matter of dispute, and raise questions as to whether it is a genre at all. As Roger Ebert put it, in his Great Movies article on Lawrence of Arabia, what you realize watching Lawrence of Arabia is that the word epic refers not to the cost or the elaborate production, but to the size of the ideas and vision. Werner Herzogs Aguirre, The Wrath of God didnt cost as much as the catering in Pearl Harbor, but it is an epic, the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail had the joking tagline Makes Ben Hur look like an epic. This boom period of international co-productions is generally considered to have ended with Cleopatra, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Epic films continue to be produced, although since the development of CGI they typically use computer effects instead of an actual cast of thousands. Since the 1950s, such films have regularly been shot with an aspect ratio for a more immersive. Epic films were recognized in a montage at the 2006 Academy Awards, War epics are generally focused on specific battles in a war, P. O. W camps or the personal consequences of living in an invaded/occupied country
Epic film
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Charlton Heston starred in Biblical epics such as
The Ten Commandments and historical epics such as
El Cid
23.
Space opera
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Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, melodramatic adventure, interplanetary battles, as well as chivalric romance, and often risk-taking. Set mainly or entirely in space, it usually involves conflict between opponents possessing advanced abilities, futuristic weapons, and other sophisticated technology. The term has no relation to music, but is instead a play on the soap opera and horse opera. Space operas emerged in the 1930s and they continue to be produced in literature, film, comics, notable space opera novels include the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, the Lensman series by E. E. Smith and the Enders Game series by Orson Scott Card. An early notable space opera film was Flash Gordon created by Alex Raymond, in the late 1970s, the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas brought a great deal of attention to the subgenre. Space opera is defined as an adventure science-fiction story, the term space opera was coined in 1941 by fan writer and author Wilson Tucker as a pejorative term in an article in issue 36 of science fiction fanzine Le Zombie. At the time, serial dramas in the United States had become popularly known as soap operas because many were sponsored by soap manufacturers. Tucker defined space opera as the science fiction equivalent, a hacky, grinding, stinking, outworn, even earlier, the term horse opera had come into use as a term for Western films. Still, during the late 1920s and early 1930s, when the stories were printed in science-fiction magazines, beginning in the 1960s, and widely accepted by the 1970s, the space opera was redefined, following Brian Aldiss definition in Space Opera as the good old stuff. Yet soon after his redefinition, it began to be challenged, for example, by the practice and marketing of Judy-Lynn del Rey and in the reviews of her husband. In particular, they disputed the claims that space operas were obsolete, by the early 1980s, space operas were again redefined, and the label was attached to major popular culture works such as Star Wars. The term space opera began to be recognized only in the early 1990s as a genre of science fiction. It often deals with war, piracy, military virtues, and very large-scale action, early works related to but preceding the subgenre contained many elements of what would become space opera. They are today referred to as proto-space opera, defontenay and Lumen by Camille Flammarion. Not widely popular, proto-space operas were nevertheless occasionally written during the late Victorian and Edwardian science fiction era, examples may be found in the works of Percy Greg, Garrett P. Serviss, George Griffith and Robert Cromie. One critic cites Robert William Coles The Struggle for Empire, A Story of the Year 2236 as the first space opera, the novel does depict an interstellar conflict between solar men of Earth and a fierce humanoid race headquartered on Sirius. Despite this seemingly early beginning, it was not until the late 1920s that the opera proper began to appear regularly in pulp magazines such as Amazing Stories. In film, the genre began with the 1918 Danish film
Space opera
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Classic pulp space opera cover.
Planet Stories, Jan.1954
Space opera
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Back cover of
Galaxy #1, October 1950
24.
Kinsey (film)
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Kinsey is a 2004 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Charles Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of sexology and his 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate sexual behavior in humans. The film also stars Laura Linney, Chris ODonnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, Tim Curry, Professor Alfred Kinsey is being interviewed about his sexual history. Interspersed with the interview, are flashbacks from his childhood and young-adulthood and it then shows adult Kinsey teaching at Indiana University as a professor of biology lecturing on gall wasps. Kinsey falls in love with a student in his class, whom he calls Mac, meanwhile, at the University, Professor Kinsey, who is affectionately called Prok by his graduate students, meets with students after hours to offer individual sexual advice. Eventually, it is approved, but on the grounds that it is only to teachers, graduate or senior students. Nevertheless, Kinsey begins, teaching the sex course to a packed auditorium, Kinsey continues to answer students questions in personal meetings but finds his answers to be severely limited by the complete paucity of scientific data about human sexual behavior. As time progresses Kinsey begins realizing that sexuality within humans, including himself, is a lot more varied than was originally thought, the range of expression he creates later becomes known as the Kinsey scale, which ranks overall sexuality from completely heterosexual to completely homosexual and everything in-between. The first sexological book Kinsey publishes, which is on the habits of the male, is a large-scale success. Kinseys research turns to women, which is met more controversy. With the release of the volume, support for Kinsey declines. McCarthyist pressures lead the Rockefeller Foundation to withdraw its financial support, Kinsey feels that he has failed everyone who has ever been a victim of sexual ignorance. A customs office is tipped off to an importation of some of Kinseys research material, Kinsey suffers a heart attack, and is found to have developed an addiction to barbiturates. Meeting with other philanthropists fails to garner the support needed, still, Kinsey continues his taking of sex histories. The story returns to the interview with Kinsey, and he is asked about love. His response is that love is impossible to measure and impossible to quantify, the final scene is of Kinsey and his wife, pulling over to the side of the road for a nature walk. She remarks about a tree that has been there for a thousand years, Kinsey replies that the tree seems to display a strong love in the way its roots grip the earth. Afterwards, the two walk off together, Kinsey remarking theres a lot of work to do, producer Gail Mutrux handed Bill Condon a biography of Kinsey in 1999 to spark his interest in writing a screenplay
Kinsey (film)
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Theatrical release poster
25.
Batman Begins
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Comic book storylines such as The Man Who Falls, Batman, Year One, and Batman, The Long Halloween served as inspiration. The goal was to get the audience to care for both Batman and Bruce Wayne, the film, which was primarily shot in Iceland and Chicago, relied on traditional stunts and miniatures, while computer-generated imagery was used minimally. Batman Begins opened on June 15,2005, in the United States and it grossed over $48 million in its opening weekend in North America, eventually grossing over $374 million worldwide. The film received reviews and is considered by many to be one of the best superhero films of the 2000s. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and it is followed by The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises in a continual story-arc, which has later been referred to as The Dark Knight Trilogy. The film is presented in a narrative, jumping between the present and past. This is a summary of the plot. As a child, Bruce Wayne falls down into a dry well and is attacked by a swarm of bats, while watching an opera with his parents, Thomas and Martha, Bruce becomes frightened by performers masquerading as bats and asks to leave. Outside, mugger Joe Chill murders Bruces parents in front of him, orphaned, Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Fourteen years later, Chill is freed in exchange for testifying against Gotham City mafia boss Carmine Falcone, Bruce intends to murder Chill, but one of Falcones assassins does so first. Bruces childhood friend, assistant district attorney Rachel Dawes, berates him for attempting to undermine the justice system, Bruce confronts Falcone, who tells him that real power comes from being feared. Bruce decides to travel the world and learn how to confront injustice, while serving a prison sentence for theft in Bhutan, he meets Henri Ducard, who trains him as a member of the League of Shadows, led by Ras al Ghul. After completing his training and purging his fears, Bruce learns that the League intends to destroy Gotham, believing it to be corrupt, Bruce rejects the Leagues cause and burns down their temple during his escape. Ras is killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves the unconscious Ducard, Bruce returns to Gotham intent on fighting crime. Inspired by his fear, he takes up the vigilante identity of the Batman. He takes an interest in his familys company, Wayne Enterprises, company archivist Lucius Fox allows Bruce access to prototype defense technologies including a protective bodysuit and a heavily armored car called the Tumbler. Bruce poses as a shallow playboy to allay suspicion, Batman intercepts a drug shipment, provides Rachel with evidence against Falcone, and enlists Sergeant James Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham, to arrest him. Crane puts on a mask and sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen that drives him insane
Batman Begins
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Theatrical release poster
Batman Begins
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The Batsuit, worn by Christian Bale.
26.
Taken (film series)
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Taken is a series of English-language French action-thriller films beginning with Taken in 2008. All three films feature Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, a television series, set to serve as a prequel and starring Clive Standen as Bryan Mills, premiered in February 2017. A retired CIA operative named Bryan Mills crosses the globe to rescue his 17-year-old daughter after she is kidnapped by human traffickers, Bryan has been framed for the murder of his ex-wife, Lenore. He then sets out to clear his name by going after the real killers, in September 2015, NBC ordered a prequel Taken television series depicting a young Bryan Mills. In February 2016, Vikings actor Clive Standen was announced to play the young Bryan Mills, with Alex Carey as the showrunner
Taken (film series)
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The DVD cover for the 3-film box set
27.
The Grey (film)
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The Grey is a 2011 American survival thriller film co-written, produced and directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney. It is based on the short story Ghost Walker by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers, John Ottway works in Alaska, killing wolves that threaten an oil drilling team. On his last day on the job, he shoots one and that evening, Ottway writes a letter without purpose to his wife, Ana, explaining his plans to commit suicide. He hears a distant wolf howl and doesnt follow through, the next day, Ottway and other oil drillers board a plane. During the flight, Ottway dreams of sleeping with his wife in bed but is awakened by a loud bang and he buckles up in fear of a possible plane crash. Shortly afterwards, the back of the plane is torn off, luggage starts getting sucked out, eight people including Ottway survive the crash. However, an oil worker who had tried to talk with Ottway before the flight and was strongly rebuffed, Lewenden. Taking charge, Ottway sets the survivors on the task of building a fire, while doing this, he discovers a corpse, and is attacked by the grey wolf feeding on it. After saving Ottway, the group surmises that they are in the wolves territory and they decide to take turns keeping watch for the predators. Later, Hernandez is killed by two wolves, Ottway suggests they leave the crash site, but Diaz questions his leadership. While searching for the wallets of their colleagues, intending to return them to their families. The group then leaves the site, while walking, Flannery falls behind, and is killed by wolves. One of them spots a pack of wolves approaching, and the run for the trees. The group sets about producing makeshift weaponry, Diaz threatens Ottway with a knife, but is disarmed and ultimately begins regretting his actions. An omega wolf sent by the wolf to test them attacks. Diaz beheads the corpse and throws the head back at the pack, while sitting around the fire, Diaz tells the group of his atheism, and Talget states he believes in God. Ottway states he is also an atheist, but wishes he could believe, Ottway then recites a simple poem written by his father. A blizzard approaches, and the set to maintaining the fire
The Grey (film)
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Theatrical release poster
28.
Aslan
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Aslan is the main character in C. S. Lewiss The Chronicles of Narnia series. He is the Great Lion of The Lion, the Witch and he is also the only character to appear in all seven books of the series. Lewis often capitalises the word lion in reference to Aslan, since, at least partially, the author, C. S. Lewis, described Aslan as an alternative version of Christ, that is, as the form in which Christ might have appeared in a fantasy world. Throughout the series, it is stated that Aslan is not a lion, since, despite his gentle and loving nature, he is powerful. When Digory, Polly, Jadis of Charn, Uncle Andrew, Aslan appears, and through the power of his singing, calls the world of Narnia into existence. All the characters immediately feel awe for Aslan, Jadis expresses this as fear and hatred, and before fleeing she assaults Aslan with an iron bar that she tore from a lamp-post in London. Aslan is unperturbed and continues calling plants and animals into existence, the power of his song is so great that even the iron bar, dropped on fertile earth, grows into a functioning lamp post, and toffees sprout into fruit trees. Aslan claims the power of his song will last for a few days, Aslan then selects two of most animals that his song has called into existence and gives them the power of speech and reason. He instructs them to look after all the animals and he appoints the cabby to be King Frank of Narnia and brings his wife Nellie from Earth to be Queen Helen. Aslan explains that Jadis will pose a threat to the Narnians. To aid them, he turns Strawberry into a horse named Fledge. When the quest is complete, he crowns Frank and Helen, Aslan is first introduced in the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Narnia is now in the year of the tyrannical rule of Jadis. Jadis has condemned the land to endless winter – but never Christmas – and has turned hundreds of Aslans followers to stone and he is first mentioned by Mr. Beaver, who tells the Pevensie children that Aslan is on the move. He explains that Aslan is the king of Narnia and that the children are the chosen ones to help end the tyrannical rule of the White Witch. Even as the children explore Narnia, Aslans presence begins to weaken Jadis grip on the land, the ice begins to melt and Father Christmas appears at last and gives the children gifts. Edmund, who was enchanted by the White Witch on his first visit to Narnia by eating enchanted Turkish Delight, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver lead the others to Aslan at the Stone Table at a large gathering of Loyal Narnians preparing for war. Aslan sends his creatures to rescue Edmund, Peter slays Maugrim the Wolf, chief of the Witchs secret police, and Aslan makes Peter a knight
Aslan
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Aslan in the 2005 film
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, voiced by
Liam Neeson.
29.
The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
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The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of fantasy films from Walden Media, based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels by C. S. Lewis. The series revolves around the adventures of children in the world of Narnia, guided by Aslan, the children heavily featured in the films are the Pevensie siblings, and a prominent antagonist is the White Witch. The first two films were directed by Andrew Adamson and the film was directed by Michael Apted. The third film is the first of the Chronicles to be released in RealD 3D, the fourth film is now being developed by Mark Gordon Company. Only after seeing a demo reel of CGI animals did Douglas Gresham give approval for a film adaptation. It was rumoured that The Magicians Nephew was chosen as an attempt to reboot the series, in March 2011, Walden Media confirmed that they intended The Magicians Nephew to be next in the series, but stressed that it was not yet in development. Although there is currently a moratorium on the rights, on October 1,2013, The C. S. Lewis Company announced that The Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the novel of the title, is the first film in the series. Directed by Andrew Adamson, it was mainly in New Zealand, though locations were used in Poland, the Czech Republic. The story follows four British children who are evacuated during the Blitz to the countryside, there, they must ally with the lion Aslan against the forces of the White Witch, who has Narnia under an eternal winter. The film was released theatrically on December 9,2005 and on DVD on April 4,2006, Prince Caspian, based on the novel of the same title, is the second film in the series and the last distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The story follows four British children who were transported to Narnia in the film returning to Narnia, where 1,300 years have passed. The four Pevensie children aid Prince Caspian in his struggle for the throne against his corrupt uncle, the film was released on May 16,2008. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, based on the novel of the title, is the last film in the series. This is the first film not co-produced by Disney, who dropped out over a dispute with Walden Media. In February 2009, it was announced that 20th Century Fox would replace Disney for future installments, directed by Michael Apted, the movie was filmed almost entirely in Australia. The story follows the two younger Pevensie children as they return to Narnia with their cousin, Eustace and they join the old king of Narnia, Caspian, in his quest to rescue seven lost lords and save Narnia from a corrupting evil that resides on a lit island. The film was released on December 10,2010 and grossed over $415 million worldwide, S. Lewis estates right to sell the books film option
The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
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The Chronicles of Narnia
30.
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
31.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image – film, television and game in the United Kingdom. David Lean was the founding Chairman of the Academy, the first Film Awards ceremony took place in May 1949 and honouring the films The Best Years of Our Lives, Odd Man Out and The World Is Rich. In 2005, it placed a cap on worldwide voting membership which now stands at approximately 6,500. BAFTA has offices in Scotland and Wales in the UK, in Los Angeles and New York in the United States and runs events in Hong Kong, amanda Berry OBE has been chief executive of the organisation since December 2000. Many of these events are free to online at BAFTA Guru. BAFTA runs a number of programmes across the UK, US. Launched in 2012, the UK programme enables talented British citizens who are in need of support to take an industry-recognised course in film. Each BAFTA Scholar receives up to £12,000 towards their annual course fees, since 2013, three students every year have received one of the Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros. These scholarships are awarded in the name of in his role as President of BAFTA, since 2015, BAFTA has been offering scholarships for British citizens to study in China, vice versa. BAFTA presents awards for film, television and games, including entertainment, at a number of annual ceremonies across the UK and in Los Angeles. The BAFTA award trophy is a mask, designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe. Todays BAFTA award – including the mask and marble base – weighs 3.7 kg and measures 27 cm x 14 cm x 8 cm. BAFTAs annual film awards ceremony is known as the British Academy Film Awards, or the BAFTAs, in 1949 the British Film Academy, as it was then known, presented the first awards for films made in 1947 and 1948. Since 2008 the ceremony has held at the Royal Opera House in Londons Covent Garden. It had been held in the Odeon cinema on Leicester Square since 2000, the ceremony had been performed during April or May of each year, but since 2002 it has been held in February to precede the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Awards, or Oscars. They have been awarded annually since 1954, the first ever ceremony consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors, from 1968 until 1997, BAFTAs Film and Television Awards were presented together, but from 1998 onwards they were presented at two separate ceremonies. The Television Craft Awards celebrate the talent behind the programmes, such as working in visual effects, production
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
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The BAFTA award, designed by Mitzi Cunliffe
32.
Empire (film magazine)
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Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media of Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney, Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling magazine in the United Kingdom and is also published in the United States, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Italy. Empire organises the annual Empire Awards which were sponsored by Sony Ericsson, the awards are voted for by readers of the magazine. Empire is populist in both approach and coverage and it reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature articles concentrate on the former. As well as news, previews, and reviews, Empire has some other regular features. Each issue features a Classic Scene, a transcript from a film scene. The first such classic scene to be featured was the I could have been a scene from On the Waterfront. The regular Top 10 feature lists Empires choice of the top ten examples of something film-related, for example,10 Best Chase Scenes or 10 Best Movie Gags in The Simpsons. The Re. View section covers Blu-ray and DVD news and releases, Kim Newmans Movie Dungeon is a regular feature in the Re. View section, in which critic Kim Newman reviews the most obscure releases, mostly low budget horror movies. How much Is Pint of Milk presents celebrities answers to silly or unusual questions and this is intended as a guide to the chosen celebritys contact with reality, and as such can be more informative than a direct interview by reporting some surprising responses. Each magazine includes a Spine Quote, in which a relatively challenging quote is printed on the spine of the magazine, there are usually some obvious and obscure links from the quote to the main features of that months edition. Readers are invited to identify the source and the links to win a prize. Celebrity Mastermind is another regular in which a celebrity is given questions about the films they were in or they directed, celebrities range from Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Lee to John Carpenter and Michael Keaton. A regular feature since issue 167, the feature is a two-page essay on a film selected by Empire in the Re. View section. The selection of the films seem to be random and follow no specific pattern. Only a few issues since the first masterpiece feature have not featured one –169,179,196,197,198 and 246, Issue 240 had director Frank Darabont select 223 masterpieces. L. A. Confidential was featured twice, once in issue 191 and this list is as follows, Alien – Dinner chestburster The Omen – Glass decapitation An American Werewolf in London – Wolf transformation The Exorcist – Crucifix abuse Risky Business – Ready Ralph
Empire (film magazine)
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Cover of the July 2011 issue, featuring
Emma Watson,
Daniel Radcliffe, and
Rupert Grint
33.
Property caretaker
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A property caretaker is a person, group, or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations. The caretaking profession includes positions as housesitters, ranch sitters, bed & breakfast and innsitters, property managers, estate managers, caretakers are sometimes used by property owners who are unwilling or unable to hire a professional management company. Many homeowners who rent their properties may hire caretakers instead of property managers in order to save money, caretakers are not licensed by any state or local authority and are often relatively cheaper than their professional counterparts. The caretaker will often live in a rent free. Caretaking is historical, rooted in the British tradition of land maintenance, in 1868, The Times defined a caretaker as a person put in charge of a farm from which the tenant has been evicted. Today that definition has been expanded to cover a multitude of landowner/caretaker relationships, the number and diversity of these relationships has increased during the past decade. The property caretaking field has covered by The The Caretaker Gazette since 1983
Property caretaker
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Court Barn near West Pennard, Somerset. This barn is in the care of the
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty in the
United Kingdom.
34.
Boxing
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Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, in the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw. In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout. While people have fought in combat since before the dawn of history. The earliest evidence for fist fighting with any kind of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete, in Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad,688 B. C, the boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue, weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to dominate. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists, eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex, Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events, however, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor and this is where the term ring came from. In AD393, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality and it was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again, however, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or Fist Fighting, as the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury
Boxing
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Two
Royal Navy men boxing for charity. The modern sport was codified in
England.
Boxing
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Minoan youths boxing,
Akrotiri (Santorini) fresco. Earliest documented use of 'gloves'.
Boxing
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A straight right demonstrated in Edmund Price's The Science of Defense: A Treatise on Sparring and Wrestling, 1867
Boxing
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Tom Cribb vs
Tom Molineaux in a re-match for the heavyweight championship of England, 1811
35.
Ulster
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Ulster is a province in the north of the island of Ireland. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a rí ruirech, the definition of the province was fluid from early to medieval times. It took a shape in the reign of King James I of England when all the counties of Ireland were eventually shired. This process of evolving conquest had been under way since the Norman invasion of Ireland, particularly as advanced by the Cambro-Norman magnates Hugh de Lacy, Ulster was a central topic role in the parliamentary debates that eventually resulted in the Government of Ireland Act 1920. Under the terms of the Act, Ireland was divided into two territories, Southern Ireland and Northern Ireland, with the passing through the province. While these six counties and two boroughs were all in the province of Ulster, three other counties of the province – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan – were assigned to the Irish Free State. Ulster has no function for local government purposes in either country. However, for the purposes of ISO-3166-2, Ulster is used to refer to the three counties of Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan only, which are given country sub-division code IE-U. It has also suggested to have derived from Uladh plus the Norse suffix ster. The Irish name, Cúige Uladh, means the province of the Ulaid, the Ulaidh were a group of tribes who dwelt in the region. Ulaidh has historically been anglicised as Ulagh or Ullagh and Latinised as Ulidia or Ultonia, the latter two have yielded the terms Ulidian and Ultonian. Words that have used in English are Ullish and Ulsterman/Ulsterwoman. Northern Ireland is often referred to as Ulster, despite including only six of Ulsters nine counties and this usage is most common amongst people in Northern Ireland who are unionist, although it is also used by the media throughout the United Kingdom. Most Irish nationalists object to the use of Ulster in this context, Ulster has a population of just over 2 million people and an area of 21,552 square kilometres. About 62% of the area of Ulster is in the UK while the remaining 38% is in the Republic of Ireland. Ulsters biggest city, Belfast, has an population of over half a million inhabitants, making it the second-largest city on the island of Ireland. Three Ulster counties – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan – form part of the Republic of Ireland, about half of Ulsters population lives in counties Antrim and Down. 8% to 42. 7%. While the traditional counties continue to demarcate areas of government in the Republic of Ireland
Ulster
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At White Park Bay
Ulster
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Flag
Ulster
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Countryside west of Ballynahinch
Ulster
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Mourne country cottage
36.
Ian Paisley
–
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC was a loyalist politician and Protestant religious leader from Northern Ireland. He became a Protestant evangelical minister in 1946 and remained one for the rest of his life, in 1951 he co-founded the fundamentalist Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and was its leader until 2008. Paisley became known for his sermons and regularly preached and protested against Catholicism, ecumenism. He gained a group of followers who were referred to as Paisleyites. Paisley became involved in Ulster unionist/loyalist politics in the late 1950s, in the mid-late 1960s, he led and instigated loyalist opposition to the Catholic civil rights movement in Northern Ireland. This led to the outbreak of the Troubles in the late 1960s, in 1970 he became Member of Parliament for North Antrim and the following year he founded the Democratic Unionist Party, which he would lead for almost forty years. In 1979 he became a Member of the European Parliament, throughout the Troubles, Paisley was seen as a firebrand and the face of hardline unionism. He opposed all attempts to resolve the conflict through power-sharing between unionists and Irish nationalists/republicans, and all attempts to involve the Republic of Ireland in Northern affairs and his efforts helped bring down the Sunningdale Agreement of 1974. He also opposed the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, with less success and his attempts to create a paramilitary movement culminated in Ulster Resistance. Paisley and his party opposed the Northern Ireland peace process. In 2005, Paisleys DUP became the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing the Ulster Unionist Party, in 2007, following the St Andrews Agreement, the DUP finally agreed to share power with republican party Sinn Féin and consent to all-Ireland governance in certain matters. Paisley and Sinn Féins Martin McGuinness became First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively in May 2007 and he stepped down as First Minister and DUP leader in mid-2008, and left politics in 2011. Paisley was made a peer in 2010 as Baron Bannside. Paisley married Eileen Cassells on 13 October 1956 and they had five children, daughters Sharon, Rhonda and Cherith and twin sons, Kyle and Ian. Three of their children followed their father into politics or religion, Kyle is a Free Presbyterian minister, Ian is a DUP MP, and Rhonda and he had a brother, Harold, who is also an evangelical fundamentalist. Paisley saw himself primarily as an Ulsterman, however, despite his hostility towards Irish nationalism and the Republic of Ireland, he also saw himself as an Irishman and said that you cannot be an Ulsterman without being an Irishman. When he was a teenager, Paisley decided to follow his father and he delivered his first sermon aged 16 in a mission hall in County Tyrone. In the late 1940s he undertook training at the Barry School of Evangelism
Ian Paisley
–
Revd Dr Ian Paisley MP MLA (2008)
Ian Paisley
–
Martyrs Memorial Free Presbyterian Church where he preached
Ian Paisley
–
A United Ulster Unionist poster, warning that the Sunningdale Agreement would lead to "
Dublin Rule" (i.e. a
united Ireland)
Ian Paisley
–
Paisley,
George W. Bush and
Martin McGuinness in December 2007
37.
Physics
–
Physics is the natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion and behavior through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force. One of the most fundamental disciplines, the main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves. Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy, Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the mechanisms of other sciences while opening new avenues of research in areas such as mathematics. Physics also makes significant contributions through advances in new technologies that arise from theoretical breakthroughs, the United Nations named 2005 the World Year of Physics. Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, the stars and planets were often a target of worship, believed to represent their gods. While the explanations for these phenomena were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, according to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy. The most notable innovations were in the field of optics and vision, which came from the works of many scientists like Ibn Sahl, Al-Kindi, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Farisi and Avicenna. The most notable work was The Book of Optics, written by Ibn Al-Haitham, in which he was not only the first to disprove the ancient Greek idea about vision, but also came up with a new theory. In the book, he was also the first to study the phenomenon of the pinhole camera, many later European scholars and fellow polymaths, from Robert Grosseteste and Leonardo da Vinci to René Descartes, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, were in his debt. Indeed, the influence of Ibn al-Haythams Optics ranks alongside that of Newtons work of the same title, the translation of The Book of Optics had a huge impact on Europe. From it, later European scholars were able to build the devices as what Ibn al-Haytham did. From this, such important things as eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, Physics became a separate science when early modern Europeans used experimental and quantitative methods to discover what are now considered to be the laws of physics. Newton also developed calculus, the study of change, which provided new mathematical methods for solving physical problems. The discovery of new laws in thermodynamics, chemistry, and electromagnetics resulted from greater research efforts during the Industrial Revolution as energy needs increased, however, inaccuracies in classical mechanics for very small objects and very high velocities led to the development of modern physics in the 20th century. Modern physics began in the early 20th century with the work of Max Planck in quantum theory, both of these theories came about due to inaccuracies in classical mechanics in certain situations. Quantum mechanics would come to be pioneered by Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, from this early work, and work in related fields, the Standard Model of particle physics was derived. Areas of mathematics in general are important to this field, such as the study of probabilities, in many ways, physics stems from ancient Greek philosophy
Physics
–
Further information:
Outline of physics
Physics
–
Ancient
Egyptian astronomy is evident in monuments like the
ceiling of Senemut's tomb from the
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
Physics
–
Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), whose
laws of motion and
universal gravitation were major milestones in classical physics
Physics
–
Albert Einstein (1879–1955), whose work on the
photoelectric effect and the
theory of relativity led to a revolution in 20th century physics
38.
Computer science
–
Computer science is the study of the theory, experimentation, and engineering that form the basis for the design and use of computers. An alternate, more succinct definition of science is the study of automating algorithmic processes that scale. A computer scientist specializes in the theory of computation and the design of computational systems and its fields can be divided into a variety of theoretical and practical disciplines. Some fields, such as computational complexity theory, are highly abstract, other fields still focus on challenges in implementing computation. Human–computer interaction considers the challenges in making computers and computations useful, usable, the earliest foundations of what would become computer science predate the invention of the modern digital computer. Machines for calculating fixed numerical tasks such as the abacus have existed since antiquity, further, algorithms for performing computations have existed since antiquity, even before the development of sophisticated computing equipment. Wilhelm Schickard designed and constructed the first working mechanical calculator in 1623, in 1673, Gottfried Leibniz demonstrated a digital mechanical calculator, called the Stepped Reckoner. He may be considered the first computer scientist and information theorist, for, among other reasons and he started developing this machine in 1834, and in less than two years, he had sketched out many of the salient features of the modern computer. A crucial step was the adoption of a card system derived from the Jacquard loom making it infinitely programmable. Around 1885, Herman Hollerith invented the tabulator, which used punched cards to process statistical information, when the machine was finished, some hailed it as Babbages dream come true. During the 1940s, as new and more powerful computing machines were developed, as it became clear that computers could be used for more than just mathematical calculations, the field of computer science broadened to study computation in general. Computer science began to be established as an academic discipline in the 1950s. The worlds first computer science program, the Cambridge Diploma in Computer Science. The first computer science program in the United States was formed at Purdue University in 1962. Since practical computers became available, many applications of computing have become distinct areas of study in their own rights and it is the now well-known IBM brand that formed part of the computer science revolution during this time. IBM released the IBM704 and later the IBM709 computers, still, working with the IBM was frustrating if you had misplaced as much as one letter in one instruction, the program would crash, and you would have to start the whole process over again. During the late 1950s, the science discipline was very much in its developmental stages. Time has seen significant improvements in the usability and effectiveness of computing technology, modern society has seen a significant shift in the users of computer technology, from usage only by experts and professionals, to a near-ubiquitous user base
Computer science
–
Ada Lovelace is credited with writing the first
algorithm intended for processing on a computer.
Computer science
Computer science
–
The
German military used the
Enigma machine (shown here) during
World War II for communications they wanted kept secret. The large-scale decryption of Enigma traffic at
Bletchley Park was an important factor that contributed to Allied victory in WWII.
Computer science
–
Digital logic
39.
Guinness Brewery
–
St. Jamess Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a formed from the merger of Guinness. The main product of the brewery is Guinness Draught, originally leased in 1759 to Arthur Guinness at IR£45 per year for 9,000 years, St. Jamess Gate has been the home of Guinness ever since. It became the largest brewery in Ireland in 1838, and the largest in the world by 1886, although no longer the largest brewery in the world, it is still the largest brewer of stout in the world. The brewery also made all of its own power using its own power plant, there is an attached exhibition on the 250-year-old history of Guinness, called the Guinness Storehouse. Arthur Guinness started brewing ales in Leixlip, County Kildare, on 31 December he signed a 9, 000-year lease at £45 per annum for the unused brewery. However, the lease is no longer in effect because the property has been bought out when it expanded beyond the original 4-acre site. Ten years after establishment, on 19 May 1769 Guinness exported his beer for the first time, when six, the business expanded by adopting steam power and further exporting to the English market. On the death of Benjamin Guinness in 1868 the business was worth over £1 million, in 1886 his son Edward sold 65 percent of the business by a public offering on the London Stock Exchange for £6 million. The company pioneered several quality control efforts, because of the Irish Free States Control of Manufactures Act in 1932, the company moved its headquarters to London later that year. Guinness brewed its last porter in 1974, in 1983 a non-family chief executive Ernest Saunders was appointed and arranged the reverse takeover of the leading Scotch whisky producer Distillers in 1986. Saunders was then asked to resign following revelations that the Guinness stock price had been illegally manipulated, in 1986, Guinness PLC was in the midst of a bidding war for the much larger Distillers Company. In the closing stages, Guinness stock rose 25 percent — which was unusual, Guinness paid several people and institutions, most notably American arbitrageur Ivan Boesky, about $38 million USD to buy $300 USD million worth of Guinness stock. The effect was to increase the value of its offer for Distillers, in the course of the investigation, it emerged that Bank Leu was involved in half of the purchases. Two of Guinness directors signed under-the-table agreements in which Bank Leu subsidiaries in Zug, Guinness secretly promised to redeem the shares at cost, including commissions. To fulfill its end of the bargain, Guinness deposited $76 million with Bank Leus Luxembourg subsidiary, as Distillers was worth more than Guinness plc, the Guinness family shareholding in the merged company went below 10 percent, and today no member of the family sits on the board. Guinness acquired the Distillers Company in 1986, the company merged with Grand Metropolitan in 1997 to form Diageo plc, capitalised in 2006 at about 40 billion euros. Although not officially taken over, the Guinness family still owns 51 percent of the brewery
Guinness Brewery
–
Gate at Guinness Brewery
Guinness Brewery
–
St. James's Gate Brewery Guinness Brewery
Guinness Brewery
–
Guinness Original/Extra Stout
Guinness Brewery
–
Smoke from a 2009 fire at the brewery in which two firefighters were injured.
40.
Association football
–
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
Association football
–
The attacking player (No. 10) attempts to kick the ball beyond the opposing team's goalkeeper and between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar to score a
goal
Association football
–
Children playing
cuju in
Song dynasty China
Association football
–
Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who is regarded as the "father of football"
Association football
–
A women's international match between the United States and Germany
41.
Bohemian F.C.
–
Bohemian Football Club, more commonly referred to as Bohs, is a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, during that period they won the Irish Cup once and finished runners up 5 times. They share the record for most wins in European competition with archrivals Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians were founded on 6 September 1890 in the Phoenix Park Gate Lodge beside the North Circular Road entrance and played its first games in the Parks Polo Grounds. One of the members of the League of Ireland in 1921. Bohemians dropped their amateur ethos in 1969 and proceeded to win 2 League titles,2 FAI Cups and 2 League cups during the 1970s. They suffered a further decline throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s before claiming League and Cup doubles in 2001 and 2008, alongside the 2003, Bohemians play their home matches at Dalymount Park in the Northside neighbourhood of Phibsborough. They are owned 100% by the members of the club and their club colours are red and black, which they adopted at the 4th AGM in October 1893. Bohemians supporters often refer to their club by a number of nicknames including Bohs and The Gypsies, seasons Bohemians were founded on 6 September 1890. They were members of the Irish Football League from 1902 to 1911, during this time the clubs greatest success was winning the Irish Cup in 1908. In its first season it finished second in the league, just two points behind St. James Gate, the club won its first league title in 1924. In 1928 the club won its league title and completed a double that season by winning its first FAI Cup also. The club was one of the forces in the early years of the league. The club went 34 seasons without winning a major trophy, in 1969 the club ended its amateur status, and the first player to sign professional terms was Tony OConnell, who signed on 11 March 1969. The club then went on to win two titles, two FAI Cups and two league cups in the 1970s, more trophies than any other club that decade. In 1970 the club entered European competition for the first time where it was beaten in the first qualifying round of the European Cup Winners Cup. The club went through another trophy-less spell after its 1979 league cup victory and it was not until 2001 that it regained the league title, also winning the FAI Cup that season to complete its second double. In September 2009, Bohemians claimed the League Cup for the time in the clubs history with a 3–1 win over Waterford United in the final. On 6 November 2009, Bohemians retained the title after a 1–1 draw against Bray Wanderers and they were already assured of the league title before the final round of matches as they held a three-point lead and 16-goal difference advantage over their nearest rivals Shamrock Rovers
Bohemian F.C.
–
Bohemians were founded on 6 September 1890 at the gate lodge leading onto the
North Circular Road in the
Phoenix Park. A commemorative plaque honours this.
Bohemian F.C.
–
Bohemians
Bohemian F.C.
–
One of the entrances to Dalymount Park, 2012
Bohemian F.C.
–
Panoramic view of inside Dalymount Park
42.
Dublin
–
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
Dublin
–
Clockwise from top:
Samuel Beckett Bridge,
Trinity College,
Custom House,
Dublin Castle,
O'Connell Bridge, and
Convention Centre Dublin.
Dublin
–
Father Mathew Bridge, formerly Dublin Bridge, is understood to be near the ancient "Ford of the Hurdles" (Baile Átha Cliath), the original crossing point on the River Liffey.
Dublin
–
Dublin Castle was the fortified seat of
British rule in Ireland until 1922.
Dublin
–
Henrietta Street, developed in the 1720s, is the earliest Georgian Street in Dublin.
43.
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
–
Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The clubs senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the club has won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24 times. Shamrock Rovers have supplied more players to the Republic of Ireland national football team than any other club, in All-Ireland competitions, such as the Intercity Cup, they hold the record for winning the most titles, having won seven cups overall. Shamrock Rovers were founded in Ringsend, Dublin, the official date of the clubs foundation is 1899. They won the League title at the first attempt in the 1922–23 season and established themselves as Republic of Ireland most successful club by 1949, winning 44 major trophies. During the 1950s, the club won three League titles and two FAI Cups and became the first Irish team to compete in European competition, playing in the European Cup in 1957. They won the first of four League titles in a row in 1983–84, the club played at Glenmalure Park from 1926 to 1987, when the owners controversially sold the stadium to property developers. Shamrock Rovers spent the next 22 years playing home games at various venues around Dublin and on occasions and they moved into Tallaght Stadium prior to the start of the 2009 season after years of delays and legal disputes, during which time the clubs supporters saved them from extinction. Shamrock Rovers wore green and white striped jerseys until 1926, when adopted the green. Their club badge has featured a football and a shamrock throughout their history, the club has a relatively large support base and shares an intense rivalry with Bohemian Football Club. On 26 August 2011 Rovers became the first Irish side to reach the stages of either of the top two European competitions by beating Partizan Belgrade in the play-off round of the Europa League. The foundation of Shamrock Rovers is disputed amongst supporters of the club, no official documentation of the era exists. Essentially, the dispute is whether the two years of exhibition games were played before or after the registration. In light of the discovery of evidence supporting a date before April 1899 the club opened a 1899 Suite in Tallaght Stadium in February 2017. Shamrock Rovers originate from Ringsend, a Southside inner suburb of Dublin, the name of the club derives from Shamrock Avenue in Ringsend, where the first club rooms were secured. In September 1906, after a few seasons in operation, Rovers withdrew from the First Division of the Leinster Senior League, in 1914, they were resurrected and started playing their matches at Ringsend Park. However, the park became unavailable within two years, the club disbanded and played only exhibition games for the next five years. The following season, the won the League of Ireland title at the first attempt, going 21 games unbeaten
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
–
Tolka Park
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
–
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
–
Promotion in 2006
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
–
Tallaght Stadium in 2007
44.
Truck driver
–
A truck driver is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck. Truck drivers are responsible for inspecting all their vehicles for mechanical items or issues relating to safe operation. Others, such as workers, are also responsible for sales. There are also ones that lease a truck from a company, company drivers are employees of a particular trucking company and drive trucks provided by their employer. Both owner operators/owner driver and company drivers can be in these categories, auto haulers work hauling cars on specially built trailers and require specific skills loading and operating this type of specialized trailer. Boat haulers work moving boats ranging in size from 10-foot-long bass boats to full-size yachts up to 60 ft long using a low boy trailer that can be set up for each size of boat. Boats wider than 8 feet 6 inches wide or 13 feet 6 inches high have to have a permit to move and are an oversize load, dry van drivers haul the majority of goods over highways in large trailers. Contents may be perishable or non perishable goods, dry bulk pneumatic drivers haul bulk sand, salt, and cement, among other things. They have specialized trailers that allow them to use pressurized air to unload their product, - Commonly known as Flow Boys among truckers. Flat bed drivers haul an assortment of large bulky items, a few examples are tanks, steel pipes and lumber. Drivers require the ability to balance the load correctly, reefer drivers haul refrigerated, temperature sensitive or frozen goods. Local drivers work only within the limits of their local areas and these areas may include crossing state lines, but drivers usually return home daily. Household goods drivers, or bedbuggers, haul personal effects for families who are moving from one home to another, Regional drivers may work over several states near their homes. They may be away from home for short periods, Interstate drivers often cover distances of thousands of miles and are away from home for days, weeks or even months on end. For time critical loads, companies may opt to employ team drivers which can cover more miles than a single driver. Team drivers are two drivers who take turns driving the truck in shifts, or several people in different states that split up the haul to keep from being away from home for such long periods. Tanker drivers haul liquids, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, milk, & crude oil, liquid tanker drivers need special driving skills due to the load balance changing from the liquid movement. This is especially true for food grade tankers, which do not contain any baffles and are a single compartment, also fuel oil/petroleum drivers require special certifications
Truck driver
–
A truck driver at work.
Truck driver
–
A Nissan Diesel trucker in Hong Kong.
Truck driver
–
An Isuzu Records Management truck
Truck driver
–
A container truck. Cab-over design.
45.
Newcastle upon Tyne
–
Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the English Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, the regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. Newcastle also houses Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, the city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conquerors eldest son. The city grew as an important centre for the trade in the 14th century. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the lower down the River Tyne, was amongst the worlds largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. Newcastles economy includes corporate headquarters, learning, digital technology, retail, tourism and cultural centres, among its icons are Newcastle United football club and the Tyne Bridge. Since 1981 the city has hosted the Great North Run, a marathon which attracts over 57,000 runners each year. The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius and it was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain, Pons Aelius population at this period was estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrians Wall are visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road, the course of the Roman Wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend—the walls end—and to the supply fort Arbeia in South Shields. After the Roman departure from Britain, completed in 410, Newcastle became part of the powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, conflicts with the Danes in 876 left the river Tyne and its settlements in ruin. After the conflicts with the Danes, and following the 1088 rebellion against the Normans, Monkchester was all, because of its strategic position, Robert Curthose, son of William the Conqueror, erected a wooden castle there in the year 1080. The town was known as Novum Castellum or New Castle. The wooden structure was replaced by a castle in 1087. The castle was again in 1172 during the reign of Henry II. Much of the keep which can be seen in the city dates from this period. Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was Englands northern fortress, incorporated first by Henry II, the city had a new charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589
Newcastle upon Tyne
–
From top-left:
Newcastle Quayside and
River Tyne, with the
Gateshead Millennium Bridge and
Tyne Bridge,
St James' Park stadium,
Theatre Royal, Georgian architecture around
Grey's Monument,
the Castle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
46.
The Troubles
–
The Troubles is the common name for the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is described as a guerrilla war or low-level war. The most recent instalment of violence began in the late 1960s and is deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Belfast Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mainly took place in Northern Ireland, violence spilled over at times parts of the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe. The conflict was political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension, although it was not a religious conflict, a key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who are mostly Protestants and consider themselves British, want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, Irish nationalists/republicans, who are predominantly Catholics, want Northern Ireland to be reunited with the 26 counties which make up the Republic of Ireland in an independent united Ireland. This campaign was met with violence by loyalists who viewed the campaign as a stalking horse. This eventually led to the deployment of British troops, initially to protect Catholic civilians, the security forces of the Republic played a smaller role. More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict, of whom 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, there has been sporadic violence since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, including a campaign by anti-ceasefire republicans. The Troubles refers to the recent three-decade conflict between nationalists and unionists, the term the Troubles was previously used to refer to the Irish revolutionary period, it was adopted to refer to the escalating violence in Northern Ireland after 1969. The violence was characterised by the campaigns of Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups. It thus became the focus for the longest major campaign in the history of the British Army, nationalists regard the state forces as forces of occupation or partisan combatants in the conflict. One part of the Agreement is that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom unless a majority of the Northern Irish electorate vote otherwise and it also established the Northern Ireland Executive, a devolved power-sharing government, which must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties. In 1609, Scottish and English settlers, known as planters, were given land escheated from the native Irish in the Plantation of Ulster. As the Penal Laws started to be phased out in the part of the 18th century, there was more competition for land. With Roman Catholics allowed to buy land and enter trades from which they had formerly been banned, tensions arose resulting in the Protestant Peep ODay Boys and Catholic Defenders. This created polarisation between the communities and a reduction in reformers among Protestants, many of whom had been growing more receptive to democratic reform
The Troubles
–
2009: the
Ulster Banner flying over an
Ulster loyalist area (foreground) of
Derry, and the
Irish tricolour flying over an
Irish republican area (background) of the same city
The Troubles
–
Political map of Ireland
The Troubles
–
The fencing on the Belfast "
peace line ". The peace lines are a series of high
border barriers in
Northern Ireland that separate
Irish nationalist and
unionist neighbourhoods. They have been built at urban
interface areas in
Belfast, Derry,
Portadown and elsewhere. The stated purpose of the peace lines is to minimise inter-communal violence.
The Troubles
–
The
Battle of the Boyne (12 July 1690) by
Jan van Huchtenburg
47.
Project Arts Centre
–
Project Arts Centre is a multidisciplinary arts centre based in Temple Bar, Dublin, which hosts theatre, dance, music and performance. Project Arts Centre was founded by Jim FitzGerald and Colm OBriain in 1967 after a festival at the Gate Theatre in 1966. Project Arts Centre was the first such centre in Ireland. The Centre had several homes before it opened for business in a factory on East Essex Street in 1975. The centre has been a venue for many of the performing arts festivals including Dublin Dance Festival, Dublin Writers Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival. Since the Irish recession there has been an emphasis on cross cultural productions
Project Arts Centre
–
Project Arts Centre
Project Arts Centre
–
Signage detail.
48.
Abbey Theatre
–
The Abbey Theatre, also known as the National Theatre of Ireland, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, first opened its doors to the public on 27 December 1904. Despite losing its building to a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day. The Abbey was the first state-subsidized theatre in the English-speaking world, since July 1966, the Abbey has been located at 26 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1. In its early years, the theatre was associated with the writers of the Irish Literary Revival, many of whom were involved in its founding. The Abbey served as a nursery for many of the leading Irish playwrights and actors of the 20th century, including William Butler Yeats, Lady Gregory, Seán OCasey and John Millington Synge. In addition, through its programme of touring abroad and its high visibility to foreign, particularly American, audiences. The Abbey arose from three bases, the first of which was the seminal Irish Literary Theatre. Founded by Lady Gregory, Edward Martyn and W. B, Yeats in 1899—with assistance from George Moore—it presented plays in the Antient Concert Rooms and the Gaiety Theatre, which brought critical approval but limited public interest. The second base involved the work of two Dublin directors, William and Frank Fay, William worked in the 1890s with a touring company in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, while his brother Frank was involved in amateur dramatics in Dublin. In April 1902, the Fays gave three performances of Æs play Deirdre and Yeats Cathleen Ní Houlihan in a hall in St Theresas Hall on Clarendon Street, the performances played to a mainly working-class audience rather than the usual middle-class Dublin theatregoers. The run was a success, thanks in part to the beauty and force of Maud Gonne. The company continued at the Antient Concert Rooms, producing works by Seumas OCuisin, Fred Ryan, the third base was financial support and experience of Annie Horniman. Horniman was a middle-class Englishwoman with previous experience of production, having been involved in the presentation of George Bernard Shaws Arms. She came to Dublin in 1903 to act as Yeats unpaid secretary and her money helped found the Abbey Theatre and, according to the critic Adrian Frazier, would make the rich feel at home, and the poor—on a first visit—out of place. Encouraged by the St Theresas Hall success, Yeats, Lady Gregory, Æ, Martyn and they were joined by actors and playwrights from Fays company. At first, they staged performances in the Molesworth Hall, on 11 May 1904, the society formally accepted Hornimans offer of the use of the building. As Horniman did not usually reside in Ireland, the letters patent required were granted in the name of Lady Gregory. The founders appointed William Fay theatre manager, responsible for training the actors in the newly established repertory company
Abbey Theatre
–
Front facade
Abbey Theatre
–
A poster for the opening run at the Abbey Theatre from 27 December 1904 to 3 January 1905
Abbey Theatre
–
Lady Gregory pictured on the frontispiece to Our Irish Theatre: A Chapter of Autobiography (1913)
Abbey Theatre
–
John Millington Synge, author of
The Playboy of the Western World, which caused riots at the Abbey on the play's opening night
49.
Translations
–
Translations is a three-act play by Irish playwright Brian Friel, written in 1980. It is set in Baile Beag, a Donegal village in 19th century agricultural Ireland, Friel responds strongly to both political and language questions in the modern-day Republic of Ireland. Baile Beag is a village, created by Friel as a setting for several of his plays. Translations was first performed at the Guildhall, Derry, Northern Ireland and it was the first production by the Field Day Theatre Company founded by Friel and Stephen Rea. The production was directed by Kenneth Albers with scene and lighting design by Richard Gould, the play was staged in New York City later that year by the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Barnard Hughes. It was briefly revived on Broadway in 1995 in a production starring Brian Dennehy, in 2006–2007, the Manhattan Theatre Club returned it to the stage at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey and the Biltmore Theatre in New York, directed by Garry Hynes. The play was published in 1981 by Faber and Faber, who still publish it today and it is published in the United States and performance rights are held by Samuel French Inc. It won the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize for 1985, an Irish-language version of the play has been produced. The play has also translated into Welsh by Elan Closs Stephens. The Welsh version has visited a number of venues in Wales and was first published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, under its Welsh title Torri Gair, Translations was adapted as a radio play directed by Kirsty Williams, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, on 4 September 2010. Translations was adapted for a Catalan audience in February,2014 by Ferran Utzet and it was produced by Perla 29. April 15–19,2015, Pace Performing Arts New York, NY, presented at the Schaeberle Studio Theatre, and playing to sell-out crowds over its 7 show run, Translations was directed by Lester Thomas Shane. The show starred Nikk Tavo, Hayley Griffith, Jeremy Kreuzer, Madison Reiske, Declan Eells, Cydnie Hampton, Keith Boratko, Mikey Andersen, Jade Ziane, the play is set in the quiet community of Baile Beag, in County Donegal, in 1833. Many of the inhabitants have little experience of the world outside the village, in spite of this, tales about Greek goddesses are as commonplace as those about the potato crops, and, in addition to Irish, Latin and Greek are spoken in the local hedge school. Friel uses language as a tool to highlight the problems of communication — lingual, cultural, both Irish and English characters in the play speak their respective languages, but in actuality it is English that is mostly spoken by the actors. This allows the audience to all the languages, as if a translator was provided. However, onstage, the characters cannot comprehend each other and this is due to lack of compromise from both parties, the English and Irish, to learn the others language, a metaphor for the wider barrier that is between the two parties. The action begins with Owen, younger son of the alcoholic schoolmaster Hugh and brother to lame aspiring teacher Manus, Owen acts as a translator and go-between for the English and Irish
Translations
–
Translations on stage in Minsk
50.
John Boorman
–
He has directed a total of 22 films and has received five Academy Award nominations. Boorman was born in Shepperton, Surrey, England, the son of Ivy and he was educated at the Salesian School in Chertsey, Surrey, even though his family was not Roman Catholic. Boorman first began by working as a drycleaner and journalist in the late 1950s and he ran the newsrooms at Southern Television in Southampton and Dover before moving into TV documentary filmmaking, eventually becoming the head of the BBCs Bristol-based Documentary Unit in 1962. While not as successful commercially as Lesters film, it drew good reviews from distinguished critics such as Pauline Kael and Dilys Powell, Lee Marvin gave the then-unknown director his full support, telling MGM he deferred all his approvals on the project to Boorman. Returning to the United Kingdom, he made Leo the Last and this film exhibited the influence of Federico Fellini and even starred Fellini regular Marcello Mastroianni, and won him a Best Director award at Cannes. This film became Boormans first true box office success, earning him several award nominations, at the beginning of the 1970s, Boorman was planning to film The Lord of the Rings and corresponded about his plans with the author, J. R. R. Tolkien. Ultimately the production proved too costly, though elements and themes can be seen in Excalibur. A wide variety of films followed, zardoz, starring Sean Connery, was a post-apocalyptic science fiction piece, set in the 24th century. Boorman was selected as director for Exorcist II, The Heretic, a move that surprised the industry given his antipathy to the original film. Boorman declared, Not only did I not want to do the original film and it was based on Chardins intoxicating Idea that biological evolution was the first step In Gods plan, starting with inert rock, and culminating In humankind. Despite Boormans continued rewriting throughout shooting, the film was rendered incomprehensible, the film, released in June 1977, was a critical and box office disaster. Boorman was denounced by author William Peter Blatty, the author of the original novel The Exorcist, Boorman later admitted that his approach to the film was a mistake. The Heretic is often considered not just the worst film of The Exorcist series, Excalibur, a long-held dream project of Boormans, is a retelling of the Arthurian legend, based on Le Morte DArthur. The production was based in the Republic of Ireland, where Boorman had relocated, for the film he employed all of his children as actors and crew and several of Boormans later films have been family business productions. The film, one of the first to be produced by Orion Films, was a moderate success, Hope and Glory is his most autobiographical movie to date, a retelling of his childhood in London during The Blitz. Produced by Goldcrest Films, with Hollywood financing the film, it proved a box office hit in the US, receiving numerous Oscar, BAFTA, however, his 1990 US-produced comedy about a dysfunctional family, Where the Heart Is, was a major flop. Rospo Pallenbergs original screenplay was adapted into a book of the name by award-winning author Robert Holdstock. When his friend David Lean died in 1991, Boorman was announced to be taking over direction of Leans long-planned adaptation of Nostromo, beyond Rangoon and The Tailor of Panama both explore unique worlds with alien characters stranded and desperate
John Boorman
–
Boorman at the
San Sebastián International Film Festival, September 2006
