1.
Newport, Rhode Island
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Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The City of Newport is located approximately 37 miles southeast of Providence,21 miles south of Fall River and it is known as a New England summer resort and famous for its mansions. It was a major 18th-century port city and also contains a number of surviving buildings from the colonial era of the United States. The city is the county seat of Newport County and it was known for being the city of some of the Summer White Houses during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The population was 24,027 as of 2013 and its eight founders and first officers were Nicholas Easton, William Coddington, John Clarke, John Coggeshall, William Brenton, Jeremy Clark, Thomas Hazard, and Henry Bull. They left Portsmouth, Rhode Island after a fallout with Anne Hutchinson. As part of the agreement, Coddington and his followers took control of the side of the island. They were soon joined by Nicholas Easton, who had recently expelled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for holding heretical beliefs. The settlement grew to be the largest of the four settlements of Rhode Island. Many of the first colonists in Newport became Baptists, and the second Baptist congregation in Rhode Island was formed in 1640 under the leadership of John Clarke, peace did not last long in Newport, as many did not like Coddingtons autocratic style. As a result, a counter-faction was formed by 1650, led by Nicholas Easton, Newport became the most important port in colonial Rhode Island, and a public school was established in 1640. In 1658, a group of Jews were allowed to settle in Newport who were fleeing the Inquisition in Spain, the Newport congregation is now referred to as Congregation Jeshuat Israel and is the second-oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It meets in Touro Synagogue, the oldest standing synagogue in the United States, in 1663, the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations received its Royal Charter, and Benedict Arnold was elected its first Governor at Newport. The commercial activity which raised Newport to its fame as a port was begun by a second wave of Portuguese Jews who settled there about the middle of the 18th century. They brought with them experience and connections, capital. Most prominent among those were Jacob Rodrigues Rivera who arrived in 1745, Rivera introduced into America the manufacture of sperm oil, which became one of the leading industries and made Newport rich. Newports inhabitants who were engaged in whaling developed 17 manufactories of oil and candles, Aaron Lopez fled to Newport from Lisbon in 1752 and is credited with making Newport an important center of trade. To him in a degree than to any one else was due the rapid commercial development which made Newport for a quarter of a century afterward the most formidable rival of New York
2.
Boy Meets World
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Boy Meets World is an American television sitcom that chronicles the coming-of-age events and everyday life-lessons of Cory Matthews. The show follows Cory and his friends and family through seven seasons, the show aired from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the networks TGIF lineup. The entire series has since released on DVD, as well as on iTunes. A sequel titled Girl Meets World, focusing on Cory and Topanga and their teen daughter Riley, the first season begins with Cory Matthews and his best friend Shawn Hunter, two average sixth-graders. They do not care about schoolwork, despite the efforts of their longtime teacher George Feeny, initially, their main interest is sports, though later Shawn and then Cory begin to express an interest in girls. This season focuses specifically on Corys relationships with the characters in the show. He begins to understand his parents more and respect them for all that they do and his relationship with his elder brother Eric becomes confusing as Erics constant obsession with girls is foreign to Cory, and he becomes more protective of his younger sister Morgan. Cory begins to show interest in Topanga, an outsider in his class. Cory and Topanga have known each other since they were kids, Cory and Shawns friendship is tested for the first time, and Cory must often choose between doing what Shawn wants him to do and doing what is best for their friendship. During the second season, Cory, Topanga, and Shawn start high school and meet Jonathan Turner, although they initially view Mr. Turner as cool, they soon realize that he is a teacher first—hence why Cory calls him Feeny with an earring. Throughout the second season, Cory and Shawn try a variety of ways to become popular with their classmates, in doing so, they nearly get into fights with school bullies and trouble with Mr. Feeny. Eventually, Shawn becomes cool and popular at school, but still keeps his friendship with the less popular Cory, Shawn’s mother Virna deserts her son and husband Chet, which upsets Shawn greatly. Chet then leaves to find Virna, after this occurs, Shawn lives briefly with Cory and his parents, but soon figures out that its just not the right fit for him, and later moves in with Mr. Turner. Cory tries at some points to begin a relationship with Topanga, sensing this, Topanga is wary of his advances, and despite the mutual attraction, the two do not date during this season. During the third season, Cory finally admits that he wants to ask out Topanga, consequently, his best friend Shawn asks her out. Although Cory was hurt, he soon realized Shawn set the thing up so he could unite Cory and Topanga. He tells her how he feels, and they become a couple, later in the third season, Cory and Topanga are worried that their relationship has hit a rut, and decide it would be best to break up while they are still able to keep the friendship. They get back together a few later, when Cory follows her to Disney World to win her back
3.
High Incident
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High Incident is a police drama series produced by DreamWorks Television for the ABC network. The show was created by Steven Spielberg, Michael Pavone, Eric Bogosian and it first aired on March 4,1996, running a total of 32 episodes. The show focused on the stories of a group of El Camino Police Department officers investigating and solving crimes. Although it received reviews and fair ratings, it was canceled after the end of its second season in May 1997. Thursdays 8,00 p. m. Tuesday 10,00 p. m, high Incident at the Internet Movie Database
4.
Nowhere (film)
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Nowhere is a 1997 American black comedy drama film written and directed by Gregg Araki. It stars James Duval and Rachel True as Dark and Mel, the film is part of a series of three films by Araki nicknamed the Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy. The other films in that trilogy are Totally Fucked Up and The Doom Generation, with Nowhere being the third, the film is highly sexual and contains scenes of graphic violence. Various mentions of a party at Jujyfruits along with plans for a game of kick-the-can are made. The story progresses towards the party at Jujyfruits house, a bacchanalian orgy of excess, drinking. Dark and Mel argue about her desire to have an open relationship, zero and Zoe are ambushed by the Atari Gang on their way to Jujyfruits house and their car, belonging to Zeros mother, is stolen while they are left helpless on the side of the road. Egg and Bart, separately watching the same televangelist, Moses Helper, ducky receives word of his sisters death and attempts to drown himself in a swimming pool, but is saved by Dingbat diving in and pulling him out. Barts drug dealer Handjob is beaten to death by Elvis for selling them cut drugs, Montgomery – who claims that he escaped from aliens that had abducted him during the game of kick the can – comes to Darks home. He appears at the window and asks if he can come in, Dark and Montgomery discuss their mutual attraction for one another and Montgomery asks Dark if he can spend the night. Dark agrees but makes Montgomery promise he will never leave him, after a momentary loving embrace, Montgomery begins coughing uncontrollably. As Dark shakes him to try to get him to stop, Montgomery explodes in a shower of flesh and blood. A cockroach-like alien who had apparently been using him as a host, turns to Dark and says, Im outta here, before crawling out the window, leaving Dark covered in blood and staring at the audience. Cowboy is another one of Darks best friends, he is a gay rock musician struggling with balancing his band duties and his bandmate/boyfriend Bart, kriss and Kozy are drug dealer Handjobs two S & M mistresses. Alyssa and Elvis, are another couple touched on only briefly, in contrast to her brothers rather indicatively violent nature Alyssa is more demure, coquettish, and sweet. Her boyfriend Elvis, a biker, is apparently flaky in his commitment to Alyssa. Elvis has a streak, capable of extreme violence. Egg is a girl who becomes starstruck, resulting in an inadvertent meeting with a nameless heartthrob television star. Egg, along with Dingbat and Alyssa, have eating disorders, (binging and purging, anorexia, shad and Lilith are a nihilistic couple, crazed with sex and lust for life, and their short segments serve little else except to illustrate this
5.
American Beauty (1999 film)
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American Beauty is a 1999 American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey stars as Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old advertising executive who has a crisis when he becomes infatuated with his teenaged daughters best friend. Annette Bening co-stars as Lesters materialistic wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays their insecure daughter, Wes Bentley, Chris Cooper, and Allison Janney also feature. Ball began writing American Beauty as a play in the early 1990s and he shelved the play after realizing the story would not work on stage. After several years as a screenwriter, Ball revived the idea in 1997 when attempting to break into the film industry. The modified script had a cynical outlook that was influenced by Balls frustrating tenures writing for several sitcoms, producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen took American Beauty to DreamWorks, the then-fledgling film studio bought Balls script for $250,000, outbidding several other production bodies. DreamWorks financed the $15 million production and served as its North American distributor, principal photography took place between December 1998 and February 1999 on soundstages at the Warner Bros. backlot in Burbank, California, and on location in Los Angeles. Mendes dominant style was deliberate and composed, he made use of static shots and slow pans. Cinematographer Conrad Hall complemented Mendes style with peaceful shot compositions to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events, during editing, Mendes made several changes that gave the film a less cynical tone than the script. Released in North America on September 17,1999, American Beauty was positively received by critics, reviewers praised most aspects of the production, with particular emphasis on Mendes, Spacey, and Ball, criticism focused on the familiarity of the characters and setting. It was nominated for and won other awards and honors, mainly for the direction, writing. Lester Burnham is an advertising executive and magazine writer who despises his job. He is unhappily married to Carolyn, a neurotic yet fiercely ambitious real estate broker who grows red roses in their yard, their daughter, Jane. His job as a part-time bar caterer serves as a front for his secret marijuana dealings, Frank is a strict disciplinarian who previously sent Ricky to a military school and briefly committed him to a psychiatric hospital. Jim Olmeyer and Jim Berkley, a gay couple who live nearby, on the way to school, Frank reveals his homophobia while he angrily discusses the incident with Ricky. Lester becomes infatuated with Janes vain friend, Angela Hayes, after seeing her perform a dance routine at a high school basketball game with Jane. He starts having sexual fantasies about Angela, in red rose petals are a recurring motif. Carolyn begins an affair with her married business rival, Buddy Kane, when Lesters boss and efficiency expert, Brad, tells him that he is to be laid off, Lester instead blackmails him for $60,000 and quits his job
6.
American Pie (film)
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American Pie is a 1999 teen sex comedy film written by Adam Herz and directed by brothers Paul and Chris Weitz, in their directorial film debut. It is the first film in the American Pie theatrical series, the film was a box-office hit and spawned three direct sequels, American Pie 2, American Wedding, and American Reunion. The film concentrates on five best friends who attend East Great Falls High, with the exception of Stifler, the guys make a pact to lose their virginity before their high school graduation. Writer Adam Herz has stated that the title refers to the quest of losing ones virginity in high school. The films theme song is Laid by James, which is also the theme for the entire franchise. In addition to the primary American Pie saga, there are four direct-to-DVD spin-off films bearing the title American Pie Presents, Band Camp, The Naked Mile, Beta House, and The Book of Love. In response to the success of American Reunion, a theatrical film. Vicky later accuses Kevin of being with her only for sex, so he must try to repair his relationship with her before the prom night. Oz, meanwhile, joins the jazz choir in an attempt to find a girlfriend. From a college girl he tried to seduce, Oz learns about sensitivity and he soon wins the attention of Heather, a girl in the choir. Jim, meanwhile, attempts to pursue Nadia, a student from Slovakia who asks Jim for help to study for an upcoming history test. After being told by Oz that third base feels like warm apple pie, he practices having sex with a pie, Stifler persuades him to set up a webcam in his room so that they can all watch Nadia changing clothes. The plan suffers a hiccup, though, when Nadia discovers Jims pornography collection and sits half-naked on his bed to read, Jim is persuaded to return to his room, where he joins Nadia, unaware that he accidentally sent the webcam link to everyone on the school list. Nadia is interested in him, but he suffers premature ejaculation twice and is unable to have sex with her. Nadias exchange family sees the video and sends her home, now leaving Jim dateless for the upcoming prom. In sheer desperation, Jim asks band camp geek Michelle Flaherty to the prom as she is apparently the only girl at his school who did not see what happened. Finch, meanwhile, pays Vickys friend, Jessica, $200 to spread rumors around the school of his sexual prowess, hoping that it will increase his chances of success. Unfortunately, he runs into trouble when Stifler, angry that a girl turned him down for the prom because she was waiting for Finch to ask her, puts a laxative into Finchs mochaccino
7.
British Academy Film Awards
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The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to honour the best British and international contributions to film. Between 2008 and 2016, the ceremony was held in central London at the Royal Opera House, the 70th British Academy Film Awards were held on 12 February 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in 1947 as The British Film Academy, by David Lean, Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Roger Manvell and others. BAFTA stated charitable purpose is to support, develop and promote the art forms of the image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners. In addition to awards ceremonies BAFTA runs a year-round programme of educational events including film screenings. BAFTA is supported by a membership of about 6,000 people from the film, television, the Academys awards are in the form of a theatrical mask designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, which was commissioned by the Guild of Television Producers in 1955. The ceremony previously took place in April or May and since 2002 it takes place in February in order to precede the Oscars. The awards are open to all nationalities, though there is an award for Outstanding British Film. Only UK films are eligible for the categories of The British Short Film, the Awards ceremony is delayed broadcast on British television the same evening, and across the world for example its shown on BBC America in the United States. It has been broadcast in colour since 1970, the award ceremony is held in London. From 2000 to 2007 the ceremonies took place at the flagship Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, between 2008 and 2016, the ceremonies took place at the Royal Opera House. The 70th Awards in 2017 were held at the Royal Albert Hall, until 2012, the mobile network Orange sponsored the awards and starting in 2013 Oranges parent company, EE, began sponsorship. British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy Television Awards Official website BAFTA Awards database Museum of Broadcast Communications, BAFTA IMDB, BAFTA
8.
American Pie 2
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American Pie 2 is a 2001 American sex comedy film and the sequel to the 1999 film American Pie and the second film in the American Pie film series. It was written by Adam Herz and David H. Steinberg, the film picks up the story of the five friends from the first film as they reunite during the summer after their first year of college. It was released in the United States on August 10,2001 and it was followed by another sequel, American Wedding. The film tells the story of five friends Jim, Kevin, Steve, Chris and Paul, much of the film takes place at a summer beach house in Grand Haven, Michigan, per Kevins older brothers suggestion. After breaking up for the summer, the four friends regroup for a party held by Stifler, their overtly sex-crazed class clown and his party is shut down thanks in part to the neighbors calling the police. Kevin is inspired by his brother to make his summer with his friends count by renting a beach home and he, Jim, Oz and Finch plan to take off to a beach house together, where they intend to spend the summer. Kevin realizes a problem and worked out that they can afford the house if they have a fifth member to work along with them. Stifler takes charge of much of the organizing, often ending up leading the group in their misadventures, Oz is miserable, being away from his girlfriend Heather who is in Spain. During the stay at the house, they proceed to start having phone sex to vent some of their loneliness. Heather later shows up early to the party, ending the storyline that Oz is involved in. After arriving in Grand Harbor they settle in, they manage to work painting a house in the area together. Jim, Stifler and Finch end up performing like for like sexual acts on each other in return for being able to watch the girls doing the same thing, Oz and Kevin take turns watching up a ladder and listening on the walkie-talkie also in the room. The conversation is accidentally picked up and heard by other people in the neighborhood. Finally at the end of the last party, Stifler manages to have a threesome with the owners of the house. After this, many concurrent stories run at the time, some interacting with each other. Nadia is coming to visit Jim in August, when she arrives early, Jim asks for help from band geek Michelle, humiliating himself in front of the audience when he pretends to be Petey, a mentally challenged boy who plays the trombone. They pretend to be in a relationship so that Nadia will not expect Jim to have sex, Nadia also realizes this and tells him, Go, get your band geek, and I will find mine. Jim goes and plays the trombone once more whilst Michelle is playing the flute at a recital in order to show her that she is the one he wants to be with
9.
American Reunion
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American Reunion is a 2012 ensemble sex comedy film written and directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. It is the installment in the American Pie theatrical series. Thirteen years after graduating high school, Jim Levenstein, Chris Oz Ostreicher, Kevin Myers, Paul Finch. Jim lives in the Chicago area and is married to Michelle and now has a two-year-old son. Since the birth of their son, Jim and Michelles sex life has deteriorated, Oz is an NFL sportscaster living in Los Angeles with his supermodel girlfriend Mia. Kevin is married to Ellie and works from home as an architect, Finch tells his friends that he has been travelling the world, and still searching for his one true love. Stifler works as a temp at an investment firm, where he is also the victim of humiliating verbal abuse by his cold-hearted employer, former classmate John, one half of the MILF duo, organizes a Class of 1999 high school reunion in East Great Falls. Jim and Michelle return to Jims old home, where his father Noah is now a widower, Jim encounters his neighbor Kara, whom he used to babysit and who is soon to turn 18. Jim meets Oz, Kevin, and Finch at a bar, Stifler appears unexpectedly, and joins them for weekend activities. The next day, the group goes to the beach, Oz meets his high school girlfriend, Heather, who is dating a cardiologist named Ron, and Kevin reconnects with Vicky. The guys have an altercation with Karas boyfriend, A. J. and his friends and that night, most of the group go to the falls and find a high school party celebrating Karas birthday. Finch and Selena reconnect, and they fall in love, Kara gets drunk, Jim drives her home, and she tries to seduce him. They are discovered by John, who simply mistakes Kara for Michelle, Oz, Finch, and Stifler help Jim return Kara to her parents home, but A. J. spots them. Kevin wakes up next to Vicky and assumes they had sex. Jim and Michelle attend a party thrown by Stifler, hoping to recreate their prom night, Noah gets drunk and encounters Stiflers mother Jeanine for the first time. Kevin confronts Vicky about the night before, but she insists there was no sex, Mia takes ecstasy, and Ron humiliates Oz. A newly sympathetic Heather comforts Oz, and they reconcile and they are interrupted by Mia, who starts a fight with Heather. Stifler performs oral sex on a classmate named Long Lips Loni hoping she would return the favor
10.
The Rage: Carrie 2
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The Rage, Carrie 2 is a 1999 American supernatural drama horror film directed by Katt Shea. It is a sequel to the 1976 horror film Carrie, based on the novel of the name by Stephen King. Directed by Katt Shea, the film stars Emily Bergl, Jason London, Dylan Bruno, J. Smith-Cameron, the film was released on March 12,1999, and received generally poor reviews from critics. The film was a box office bomb at the time of release, Barbara Lang paints a barrier around her living room to protect her telekinetic daughter, Rachel, from the devil. Barbara is soon institutionalized for schizophrenia, years later Rachel, living with foster parents, talks with her best friend Lisa, who has lost her virginity to Eric, a football player. The football players have a game where they sleep with girls and receive points, after Eric rejects her, Lisa commits suicide. Her death ignites Rachels dormant and latent telekinetic powers, Rachel discovers a photo of Lisa and Eric. She tells school counselor Sue Snell and Sheriff Kelton that Lisa, Kelton looks into charging Eric with statutory rape. Walter, Rachels dog, is struck by a car, after taking Walter to an animal hospital, they get coffee. Learning that Rachel gave Kelton the photograph, Eric, Mark and they become victims of her powers and flee when her foster parents arrive. Jesse pursues Rachel, angering popular cheerleader Tracy, Jesse convinces Rachel he was unaware of their attack, and Rachel agrees to date him. The Senior D. A. covers up the rape because of the political influence of the families of the players. Encouraged, Mark plots to humiliate Rachel for what she did to Eric and he apologizes to Jesse and offers his parents cabin so Jesse can spend the night with Rachel. The two share an evening, and Rachel loses her virginity, both unaware that a hidden video camera is filming them. After a football game, one of the players, Brad and she leaves with Monica, while Jesse is sidetracked by Tracy, who attempts to seduce him. Rachel is with Jesses friends when the players reveal their sex game and claim that Rachel was added to Jesses list. They also play the videotape and abuse her, as it triggers Rachels telekinesis, she closes the doors and kills most of the party-goers, including Deborah and Chuck. Sue takes Barbara from the hospital and goes to Marks house
11.
Loser (film)
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Loser is a 2000 American teen romantic comedy film starring Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear. Paul Tannek, a small-town, intelligent kid from Upstate New York is accepted into NYU on an academic scholarship, trying to follow the advice of his father he tries to gain friends by trying to be polite and interested in others. To salvage their reputation, the trio concoct a story to the housing administration about Pauls attitude and have him thrown out of the dorm. Paul takes residence in a veterinary hospital, Paul meets classmate Dora Diamond and develops an attraction to her, unaware that she is having an affair with their decorated but highly pretentious English professor Edward Alcott. Dora is equally as intelligent as Paul but doesnt have a scholarship, Paul and Dora bump into each other one night and Paul invites her to an Everclear concert after discovering when they met that she is a fan. Dora agrees to the date, but first goes to a job interview for a shift in a convenience store. Adam is at the store buying beer and pretends to be sympathetic as a ploy to invite her to a party which she accepts. At the party, one of the boys slips a roofie into Doras drink, Paul returns dejected from the concert to a huge mess and an unresponsive Dora and immediately rushes her to the hospital. At the hospital, Paul pretends to be her boyfriend since neither he or Dora can afford to keep her there overnight and he also learns that Dora listed Alcott as her case of emergency contact which he tells Chris the next morning without thinking. While Paul continues with his studies, Dora searches for a new job and she pulls Paul out of class and invites him out to celebrate receiving a spot in a medical experiment. They steal a loaf of bread from a bakery, coffee from a dispenser in the park, after discovering roofies were involved at the party, he steals Noahs supply and replaces them with placebos. Dora then realizes that Paul is the one who loves her and terminates her affair with Alcott. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 24% based on reviews from 96 critics, the sites consensus states, In the grand tradition of teen flicks, Loser comes across as another predictable and underwritten movie with nothing new to offer. Roger Ebert gives the two stars out of four. He enjoyed the performance of Kinnear and enjoyed the chemistry between the leads, but found it totally unremarkable, film critic James Berardinelli gave the film 3. 0/4.0 stars, stating that the film was one of the pleasant surprises of the 2000 film season. The film opened at #8 at the North American box office, the film generated a total of US$15.6 million in the US. It failed further when released worldwide, grossing a total of just US$2.7 million, the film did not break even on its production costs. Loser at the Internet Movie Database Loser at Box Office Mojo
12.
Sugar & Spice
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Sugar & Spice is a 2001 American teen crime comedy film directed by Francine McDougall, and starring Marley Shelton, Marla Sokoloff, Mena Suvari, James Marsden, and Melissa George. The plot follows a group of school cheerleaders who conspire and commit armed robbery when one of them becomes pregnant. It was loosely based on a 1999 series of robberies perpetrated by four girls from the Kingwood area of Houston. Sokoloff stated that Its not the same, of course, yet Im not sure if Sugar & Spice would have made if that hadnt happened. Bruce Westbrook of the Houston Chronicle wrote that The actors didnt seem worried by taking an approach to teen crime. The story is narrated by Lisa Janusch, the bitter and jealous head cheerleader of Lincoln High Schools B-squad, Diane Weston, the popular head cheerleader of Lincoln High Schools A-squad, becomes pregnant by the star football quarterback Jack Bartlett. The two move out of their parents homes to find an apartment of their own, Jack initially has problems staying in a job, due to his tactless personality, but finally gets hired at a video rental store. In spite of their problems coming up with the rent money, Jack, Lisa, Dianes bitter rival, occasionally runs into Jack at the rental store. She is interested in winning Jacks heart, but fails to get his attention and they promise each other not to tell Jack about their plan, because of his inability to lie to others. The squad watches heist films to learn how to rob banks, following the womens advice, Diane and her friends visit a bug exterminator, The Terminator, who sells illegal arms and ammo. He refuses to sell them the guns unless they accept his daughter, Fern Rogers, the squad agrees to do so and they begin rehearsing the robbery, as well as their choreography for the winter ball. During winter break, they order masks to hide their identities, Lucy backs out of the heist because she receives a scholarship to Harvard. At Christmas, Diane receives an engagement ring from Jack and she then finds out he sold his GTO in order to buy her the ring. The squad is forced to buy a new vehicle, which turns out to be an old van with bad brakes. At their first robbery at a supermarket, Lucy returns to the group having decided to help them after all, Lisa happens to be in the store at the time of the robbery, and notices that they perform cheerleader stunts in order to cover up the security cameras. The squad robs the bank and come close to shooting a customer after one of the guns discharges and they make off with armloads of cash and celebrate their success after burning their costumes. The robbery is reported on TV, neither Diane nor her friends expect Lisa to suspect them until they are confronted by her and the B-squad in the high school cafeteria, followed by the FBI. The group is outraged, but come to appreciate this decision, in order to cover up her actions, Diane tells Jack she won the lottery and after they have their children, Jack wins his senatorial campaign, and Dianes squad lead successful lives after high school
13.
Spun
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It is Åkerlunds debut as a feature film director, having already become known for his work in music videos. The film was shot in 22 days, and centers on various people involved in a drug ring. The film blends elements of comedy and drama in its storytelling. Its title is a reference to the term for the way users feel after going multiple days without sleep while on a methamphetamine binge. The characters take a total of 23 hits during the course of the movie. Ross is a customer of Spider Mike, a methamphetamine dealer, Spider Mike and his girlfriend Cookie are constantly arguing, and Ross strikes up a friendship with Nikki, a fellow addict. Nikki takes Ross to meet her boyfriend, The Cook, who supplies Spider Mike with drugs from a meth lab he has set up in a motel room. The Cook gives a small amount of meth to Ross in exchange for bringing Nikki home, back at his apartment, Ross gets messages from his mother and his former girlfriend, Amy, wishing him a happy birthday. Ross, assuming that Amy still loves him, sporadically calls her and he then goes to the local strip club while high, leading to an intense pornographic hallucination. He takes April, one of the dancers he has a relationship with, home and has sex with her in a variety of positions, as they finish, the Cook calls with an emergency regarding Nikkis dog, Taco, which needs to be taken to the veterinarian. April tells him to untie her but Ross, still high, duct-tapes Aprils eyes and mouth shut to keep her quiet and leaves her handcuffed to the bed, playing music to cover her gagged screams. Elsewhere, two policemen working with a TV crew raid the trailer where Frisbee, another one of Spider Mikes customers, lives and they take Frisbee and his overweight mother into custody, where they threaten him into cooperation in a drug bust. After driving the Cook around town to buy ephedrine pills, beer, in the Cooks motel room, he and Nikki have a fight after a prostitute arrives in response to the Cooks inviting her around. Nikki ends their relationship, and calls Ross and asks him to take her to a bus station so she can go back to Las Vegas, which Ross does, leaving April still tied to the bed. While Ross and Nikki are out, Frisbee is coerced by the cops to wear a wire, when he enters, Cookie attempts to seduce him, as revenge for Spider Mike using a phone sex line. After Cookie finds a wire and the cops bust in, Spider Mike, furious at Frisbees betrayal, shoots him in the testicles, Spider Mike and Cookie are both arrested. After Ross and Nikki go back to his apartment and find April gone, Ross finally drops Nikki off at the bus station, where they share a kiss, and hope to reunite if he ever goes to Vegas. Meanwhile, the Cooks meth lab catches fire and destroys the room, forcing him to return to the adult film store
14.
Trauma (2004 film)
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Trauma is a 2004 British psychological thriller directed by Marc Evans and written by Richard Smith. Ben awakens from a coma to discover his wife has killed in a car accident. A few weeks later, Ben is out of the hospital and, attempting to start a new life, haunted by visions of his dead wife, Ben starts to lose his grip on reality. The film has been described as stylish, with calling it a triumph of style over content. Shadows on the Wall adds, Evans fills the screen with, moody, atmospheric, and evocative visuals, and Filmcritic. com says the film has The Ring-inspired creepy imagery. Colin Firths performance is the most praised aspect of the film and he delivers a performance which highlights the range of his considerable talent cites one critic. EFilmCritic says Firth does the best with what hes given and iofilm says, reel Film Reviews adds Firths performance, not surprisingly, is the best thing about the movie, and the actor does a nice job of portraying Bens increasing paranoia
15.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
16.
Six Feet Under (TV series)
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Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the cable network HBO in the United States on June 3,2001 and ended on August 21,2005. The show depicts members of the Fisher family, who run a home in Los Angeles. The series traces these characters lives over the course of five years, the ensemble drama stars Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, the series was produced by Actual Size Films and The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, and was shot on location in Los Angeles and in Hollywood studios. Six Feet Under received widespread acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting. Regarded by many as one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, it has since included on TIME magazines All-TIME100 TV Shows. It has also described as having one of the finest series finales in the history of television. It won numerous awards, including nine Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Peabody Award. The show stars Peter Krause as Nathaniel Samuel Nate Fisher, Jr. whose funeral director father dies and bequeaths to him and his brother, David, the Fisher clan also includes widow, Ruth, and daughter, Claire. Other regulars include mortician and family friend, Federico Diaz, Nates on-again/off-again girlfriend, Brenda Chenowith, on one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, infidelity, and religion. At the same time, the show is distinguished by its focus on the topic of death. The show also utilises dark humor and surrealism running throughout, sometimes, the characters converse with other, recurring deceased characters, most notably Nathaniel Fisher, Sr. The shows creator, Alan Ball, avers that this represents the characters internal dialogues expressed in the form of external conversations. Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, there are conflicting reports on how the series was conceived, in one instance, Ball stated that he came up with the premise of the show after the deaths of his sister and father. However, in an interview, he intimates that HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss proposed the idea to him. Ball stated in an interview, The show focuses on human mortality, the nature of life and death feeding off of each other. Throughout its five-season, 63-episode run, major characters experience crises which are in relation to their environment
17.
Vogue (magazine)
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Vogue is an American fashion and lifestyle magazine made up of many components including fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Vogue began as a newspaper in 1892 in the United States. The British Vogue was the first international edition launched in 1916, Turnures intention was to create a publication that celebrated the ceremonial side of life, one that attracts the sage as well as debutante, men of affairs as well as the belle. From its inception, the magazine targeted the new New York upper class, the magazine at this time was primarily concerned with fashion, with coverage of sports and social affairs included for its male readership. Despite the magazines content, it very slowly during this period. Condé Montrose Nast purchased Vogue in 1905 one year before Turnures death and he changed it to a bi-weekly magazine and started Vogue overseas in the 1910s. Under Nast, the magazine shifted its focus to women. The magazines number of publications and profit increased dramatically under Nasts management, by 1911, the Vogue brand had garnered a reputation that it continues to maintain, targeting an elite audience and expanding into the coverage of weddings. According to Condé Naste Russia, after the First World War made deliveries in the Old World impossible, the decision to print in England proved to be successful causing Nast to release the first issue of French Vogue in 1920. The magazines number of subscriptions surged during the Great Depression, during this time, noted critic and former Vanity Fair editor Frank Crowninshield served as its editor, having been moved over from Vanity Fair by publisher Condé Nast. In July of 1932, American Vogue placed its first color photograph on the cover of the magazine, the photograph was taken by photographer Edward Steichen and portrays a woman swimmer holding a beach ball in the air. Nast was responsible for introducing color printing and the two-page spread and he greatly impacted the magazine and turned it into a successful business and the womens magazine we recognize today and greatly increased the sales volumes until his death in 1942. Toward this end, Vogue extended coverage to include East Village boutiques such as Limbo on St, marks Place, as well as including features of downtown personalities such as Andy Warhols Superstar Jane Holzers favorite haunts. Vogue also continued making household names out of models, a practice continued with Suzy Parker, Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton, Lauren Hutton, Veruschka, Marisa Berenson, Penelope Tree. In 1973, Vogue became a monthly publication, under editor-in-chief Grace Mirabella, the magazine underwent extensive editorial and stylistic changes to respond to changes in the lifestyles of its target audience. Mirabella states that she was chosen to change Vogue because women werent interested in reading about or buying clothes that served no purpose in their changing lives and she was selected to make the magazine appeal to the the free, working, liberated woman of the seventies. She changed the magazine by adding text with interviews, arts coverage, when that type of stylihtic ceange f ell out of favor in the 1980s, Mirabella was brutally fired. Her take on it, For a magazine devoted to style, in July of 1988, after Vogue had began to lose ground to a three-year-old upstart Elle, Anna Wintour was named editor-in-chief
18.
Amref Health Africa
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Amref Health Africa is the largest African health development non-governmental international organisation based in Africa, committed to improving health and health care in Africa. In addition, Amref Health Africa works in more than 30 African countries through its outreach, training and they became known as the Flying Doctors of East Africa, which later evolved to become the African Medical and Research Foundation, now known as Amref Health Africa. The Amref Flying Doctors was converted into a limited by guarantee in 2011 to raise funds for the organisation’s charity work. Amref Health Africa works with the people of these communities to build their knowledge, skills, to do this, partnership and networking are key elements of Amref Health Africa’s approach. Amref Health Africa is governed by an International Board of Directors from a range of backgrounds, bringing a great wealth of wisdom, insight. The offices in Europe and North America also have individual Boards of Directors, mr Omari Issa is the Chair of the International Board, while Dr Githinji Gitahi is the Group Chief Executive officer of the organisation. Amref Health Africa has a tolerance policy towards corruption and unethical behaviour. Integrity and ethical standards expected of employees, partners, suppliers, Medical facilities were sparse, with rough terrain and often impassable roads making access to medical care difficult for people in rural and remote areas. As this was where the majority of the population lived, Archie, Tom, Amref Health Africa delivered mobile health services and provided mission hospitals with surgical support. A medical radio network was developed to coordinate the service, in the early 1960s, ground-based mobile medical services were added, along with ‘flight clinics’ for the under-served and remote areas in the Kajiado and Narok districts of Kenya. By 1975, training and education for health workers were already a major part of Amref Health Africas efforts. This included the development of learning materials. In the late 1970s, Amref Health Africa continued providing mobile clinical and maternal and it also started to focus on community-based health care and training community health workers to deliver primary health care. During the 1980s, Amref Health Africa moved into community development, closer collaboration with the ministries of health in the region. This set the course for the 1980s and beyond. Greater emphasis was given to strengthening health systems and staff development, Amref Health Africa staff gained experience in the planning and management of health services at a national level – expertise that has since been shared in-house with health ministries. In the early 1990s, Amref Health Africa established a unique training course in community health. The 1990s also saw Amref Health Africa’s work expand to include disease control initiatives, focusing on malaria, HIV/AIDS and TB
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Greeks
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The Greeks or Hellenes are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Turkey, Sicily, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world, many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of ancient Greek colonization. The cultural centers of the Greeks have included Athens, Thessalonica, Alexandria, Smyrna, most ethnic Greeks live nowadays within the borders of the modern Greek state and Cyprus. The Greek genocide and population exchange between Greece and Turkey nearly ended the three millennia-old Greek presence in Asia Minor, other longstanding Greek populations can be found from southern Italy to the Caucasus and southern Russia and Ukraine and in the Greek diaspora communities in a number of other countries. Today, most Greeks are officially registered as members of the Greek Orthodox Church, the Greeks speak the Greek language, which forms its own unique branch within the Indo-European family of languages, the Hellenic. They are part of a group of ethnicities, described by Anthony D. Smith as an archetypal diaspora people. Both migrations occur at incisive periods, the Mycenaean at the transition to the Late Bronze Age, the Mycenaeans quickly penetrated the Aegean Sea and, by the 15th century BC, had reached Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus and the shores of Asia Minor. Around 1200 BC, the Dorians, another Greek-speaking people, followed from Epirus, the Dorian invasion was followed by a poorly attested period of migrations, appropriately called the Greek Dark Ages, but by 800 BC the landscape of Archaic and Classical Greece was discernible. The Greeks of classical antiquity idealized their Mycenaean ancestors and the Mycenaean period as an era of heroes, closeness of the gods. The Homeric Epics were especially and generally accepted as part of the Greek past, as part of the Mycenaean heritage that survived, the names of the gods and goddesses of Mycenaean Greece became major figures of the Olympian Pantheon of later antiquity. The ethnogenesis of the Greek nation is linked to the development of Pan-Hellenism in the 8th century BC, the works of Homer and Hesiod were written in the 8th century BC, becoming the basis of the national religion, ethos, history and mythology. The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was established in this period, the classical period of Greek civilization covers a time spanning from the early 5th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC. It is so named because it set the standards by which Greek civilization would be judged in later eras, the Peloponnesian War, the large scale civil war between the two most powerful Greek city-states Athens and Sparta and their allies, left both greatly weakened. Many Greeks settled in Hellenistic cities like Alexandria, Antioch and Seleucia, two thousand years later, there are still communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, like the Kalash, who claim to be descended from Greek settlers. The Hellenistic civilization was the period of Greek civilization, the beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexanders death. This Hellenistic age, so called because it saw the partial Hellenization of many non-Greek cultures and this age saw the Greeks move towards larger cities and a reduction in the importance of the city-state. These larger cities were parts of the still larger Kingdoms of the Diadochi, Greeks, however, remained aware of their past, chiefly through the study of the works of Homer and the classical authors. An important factor in maintaining Greek identity was contact with barbarian peoples and this led to a strong desire among Greeks to organize the transmission of the Hellenic paideia to the next generation
20.
Estonians
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Estonians are a Finnic ethnic group related to the Finns that mainly inhabit Estonia, a country located south of Finland and the Finnish Gulf. Their national language belongs to Finnic branch and is known as Estonian, Estonia was first inhabited about 10,000 years ago, just after the Baltic ice lake had retreated from Estonia. Living in the area for more than 5,000 years would put the ancestors of Estonians among the oldest permanent inhabitants in Europe. On the other hand, some recent linguistic estimations suggest that Fenno-Ugrian language arrived around the Baltic Sea considerably later, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians is Maarahvas. Eesti, the endonym of Estonia, is thought to be derived from the word Aestii. The Roman historian Tacitus in 98 AD was the first to mention the Aestii people, and early Scandinavians called the south of the Gulf of Finland Eistland. Proto-Estonians were also called Chuds in Old East Slavic chronicles, the Estonian language belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic family of languages, as does the Finnish language. The first known book in Estonian was printed in 1525, while the oldest known examples of written Estonian originate in 13th-century chronicles, Estonians are genetically closest to their neighbouring Tver region Russians and Latvians. However, Estonians are still the nearest genetic relatives of Finns, although Estonian national consciousness spread in the course of the 19th century during the Estonian national awakening, some degree of ethnic awareness preceded this development. By the 18th century the self-denomination eestlane spread among Estonians along with the older maarahvas, anton thor Helles translation of the Bible into Estonian appeared in 1739, and the number of books and brochures published in Estonian increased from 18 in the 1750s to 54 in the 1790s. By the end of the more than a half of adult peasants could read. The first university-educated intellectuals identifying themselves as Estonians, including Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Kristjan Jaak Peterson and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, the ruling elites had remained predominantly German in language and culture since the conquest of the early 13th century. By the end of 1860 the Estonians became unwilling to reconcile with German cultural and political hegemony, before the attempts at Russification in the 1880s, their view of Imperial Russia remained positive. Estonians have strong ties to the Nordic countries stemming from important cultural and religious influences gained over centuries during Scandinavian and German rule, indeed, Estonians consider themselves Nordic rather than Baltic, in particular because of close ethnic and linguistic affinities with the Finns. An estimated 40,000 Estonians lived in Russia in 1920, in sum,37,578 people moved from Soviet Russia to Estonia. During World War II, when Estonia was invaded by the Soviet Army in 1944, many refugees who survived the risky sea voyage to Sweden or Germany later moved from there to Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia. Some of these refugees and their descendants returned to Estonia after the nation regained its independence in 1991 and this is at least partly due to the easy access to oscillating migration to Finland. Recognising the problems arising from low birth rate and high emigration, the country has launched various measures to both increase the birth rate and to lure migrant Estonians back to Estonia
21.
Rice-A-Roni
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Rice-A-Roni is a product of PepsiCos subsidiary the Quaker Oats Company. It is a pilaf-like boxed food mix that consists of rice, vermicelli pasta, to prepare, the rice and pasta are browned in butter, then water and seasonings are added and simmered until absorbed. In 1895, Italian-born immigrant Domenico DeDomenico moved to California, where he set up a fresh produce store, a successful businessman, he married Maria Ferrigno from Salerno, Italy. Back home, her family owned a factory, so in 1912 she persuaded him to set up a similar business in the Mission District of San Francisco. The enterprise became known as Gragnano Products, Inc and it delivered pasta to Italian stores and restaurants in the area. Domenicos sons, Paskey, Vince, Tom, and Anthony, in 1934, Paskey changed the name to Golden Grain Macaroni Company. Inspired by the recipe she received from Mrs. Pailadzo Captanian, Toms wife, Lois, created a dish of rice and macaroni. In 1958, Vince invented Rice-A-Roni by adding a dry soup mix to rice. It was introduced in 1958 in the Northwestern United States and went nationwide four years later, because of its origins, it was called The San Francisco Treat. After a trip to Italy in 1964, Vince returned with the idea for Noodle Roni Parmesano, as the product line extended with other shapes and sauces it was renamed from Noodle Roni to Pasta Roni in 1995. In 1986 Quaker Oats Company purchased the Golden Grain Company from the DeDomenico family, in 2001, the Quaker Oats Company was purchased by PepsiCo. American Italian Pasta Company bought the Golden Grain brand in 2003, but the sale did not include Rice-a-Roni, Rice-a-Roni is marketing low sodium versions of its primary products. The company has marketed a line of products with brown rice. consumerreports. org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/january/shopping/product-packaging/wasted-space/product-packaging-wasted-space. htm
22.
Charleston, South Carolina
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Charleston had an estimated population of 132,609 in 2015. Charleston was founded as Charles Town—honoring King Charles II of England—in 1670 and its initial location at Albemarle Point on the west bank of the Ashley River was abandoned in 1680 for its present site, which became the 5th-largest city in North America within 10 years. Despite its size, it remained unincorporated throughout the period, its government was handled directly by the state legislature and by its Anglican parish wardens. It adopted its present spelling with its incorporation as a city in 1783 at the close of the Revolutionary War. The Confederates burned the town prior to its evacuation but continued demand for the cotton and rice, along with growing industry. In 2016, Charleston was ranked the Worlds Best City by Travel + Leisure, the city proper consists of six distinct areas, the Peninsula or Downtown, West Ashley, Johns Island, James Island, Daniel Island, and the Cainhoy Peninsula. The old town fit into 4–5 square miles as late as the First World War, the city limits also have expanded across the Cooper River, encompassing Daniel Island and the Cainhoy area. The present city has an area of 127.5 square miles. North Charleston blocks any expansion up the peninsula, and Mount Pleasant occupies the land directly east of the Cooper River, Charleston Harbor runs about 7 miles southeast to the Atlantic with an average width of about 2 miles, surrounded on all sides except its entrance. Sullivans Island lies to the north of the entrance and Morris Island to itself south, the entrance itself is about 1 mile wide, it was originally only 18 feet deep, but began to be enlarged in the 1870s. The tidal rivers are evidence of a submergent or drowned coastline, there is a submerged river delta off the mouth of the harbor and the Cooper River is deep. Charleston has a subtropical climate, with mild winters, hot, humid summers. Summer is the wettest season, almost half of the rainfall occurs from June to September in the form of thundershowers. Fall remains relatively warm through November, winter is short and mild, and is characterized by occasional rain. Measurable snow only occurs several times per decade at the most, however,6.0 in fell at the airport on December 23,1989, the largest single-day fall on record, contributing to a single-storm and seasonal record of 8.0 in snowfall. The highest temperature recorded within city limits was 104 °F on June 2,1985, and June 24,1944, and the lowest was 7 °F on February 14,1899. At the airport, where records are kept, the historical range is 105 °F on August 1,1999. Hurricanes are a threat to the area during the summer and early fall
23.
Ashley Hall (Charleston, South Carolina)
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Ashley Hall is an all-girls day school in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. It was founded in 1909 by Mary Vardrine McBee, who headed the institution for many years and it is the only girls college-preparatory school in the state. Originally accepting boarding students, Ashley Hall transitioned to a day school in 1974, students today number 650 strong and range in grade level from two-year-olds in pre-primary classes, to graduating seniors. Pre-school is the part of Ashley Hall which admits boys. Ashley Hall has always been a mission-driven school. The school motto is Possunt Quae Volunt, or “Girls who have the will have the ability. ”The previous motto was Possunt Qui Volunt, or “Those willing are able. ”This is the form of the phrase, which was not realized until 2003. This number includes students from the age of 2 years to seniors in high school, pre-school is coeducational, and from kindergarten through senior year the student body is made up of only girls. Ashley Hall is the only school in the state of South Carolina. Mary Vardrine McBee William Piper Caroline Pardue Marian Bell Leland Margaret C, Ashley Hall is famed for its excellent Varsity Volleyball and Tennis Teams. Several events during the year highlight this relationship, other “sister” associations develop, juniors and seniors, seniors and freshmen, and mentors for new students throughout all grades. Acanthus Acanthus is Ashley Halls literary magazine, for over fifty years it has presented prose, poetry, photography and art contributed by students from all divisions within the school. Since that time it has given annually as a Christmas gift to the city. Students, faculty and staff from all divisions participate in the play. Fathers Day Since boarding school days, Fathers’ Day has been a spring break tradition at Ashley Hall, students eagerly awaited their fathers who had come to pick them up for the holiday. As guests of their daughters, fathers would spend the morning on campus enjoying the company of students, today, Fathers’ Day is a special day of classroom visits and socializing. Georgie Georgie, the friendly ghost, lives in McBee House and is the friend of all first graders. Each October first grade students develop a correspondence with Georgie and climb to the top of the stairs in hope of seeing their special friend. Graduation Although all members of the Ashley Hall family are invited, the faculty, staff, students must wear pure white dresses and shoes to the baccalaureate service and to graduation
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California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
25.
Providence High School (Burbank, California)
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Providence High School in Burbank, California, is a co-ed Catholic college preparatory high school, founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1955. Joe Sciuto has been the Head of School since 2011 and Allison Castro has been the Principal since 2014, on September 19,1955, Providence High School officially opened its doors to 81 female students. A recent cement strike had resulted in a shortage of building materials, under the guidance of the school’s first principal, Sr. Mary Gleason, SP, the first classes were taught in donated circus tents in the parking lot. On November 2,1955, classes were able to move into the first floor of what is now known as the A building, but only three rooms were accessible to students at that time. By the end of the year, students and faculty alike had settled into a routine, the first uniforms were chosen. In the spring,135 prospective freshmen took the entrance exam, in fall 1957, the school adopted the Alma Mater, written by Cathy Wade Shepard 60, with music by her father, William Wade, and created a variety of clubs for the students enjoyment and enrichment. On June 15,1959,68 young women took part in the schools first annual commencement and it was a proud, elegant occasion for both the young women and the young school. In May 1960, the Board of Admissions and Relations of the University of California granted accreditation to Providence High School, since that time Providence has enjoyed continuous accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. In May 1973, school began to discuss with the Archdiocese the possibility of making the school coeducational. It was decided in January 1974 that the school should indeed include boys, in order to accommodate the increased student body this decision would create, the school undertook several large construction projects. On the first day of school that fall, September 3,1974, the transition was relatively smooth and, although it took some time for the girls and boys to adapt to one another, young men have become a valued part of the school community. Unfortunately, enrollment declined in the 1980s, a problem faced by many Catholic schools in the area, leading to the most difficult challenge in the schools history. In the fall of 1988, with enrollment at a low of fewer than 200 students. A group of determined parents were upset by the news and banded together along with Principal Sr. Lucille Dean. Graduates of the school were very concerned that their alma mater would not continue. The parent group worked with the administration and faculty to design a series of recruitment and education programs, in the fall of 1991, the Medical and Media Focus Programs debuted on campus. In 1992, the established the Board of Regents, an advisory board of interested. In the fall of 1993, the school surpassed the enrollment goal of 400 students set by the Sisters of Providence
26.
Burbank, California
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Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States,12 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The population at the 2010 census was 103,340, Entertainment, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, NBC, Cartoon Network Studios with the West Coast branch of Cartoon Network, and Insomniac Games. The city is home to Bob Hope Airport. Burbank consists of two areas, a downtown/foothill section, in the foothills of the Verdugo Mountains. Burbank is the easternmost city in the San Fernando Valley, Burbanks neighbor, Glendale, is the westernmost city in the San Gabriel Valley. The city was referred to as Beautiful Downtown Burbank on Laugh-In, the city was named after David Burbank, a New Hampshire-born dentist and entrepreneur who established a sheep ranch there in 1867. Historically, this area was the scene of a skirmish which resulted in the unseating of the Spanish Governor of California. Remnants of the battle reportedly were found many years later in the vicinity of Warner Bros. Studio when residents dug up cannonballs, by 1876, the San Fernando Valley became the largest wheat-raising area in Los Angeles County. But the droughts of the 1860s and 1870s underlined the need for water supplies. A professionally trained dentist, Dr. Burbank began his career in Waterville and he joined the great migration westward in the early 1850s and, by 1853 was living in San Francisco. At the time the American Civil War broke out he was well established in his profession as a dentist in Pueblo de Los Angeles. In 1867, he purchased Rancho La Providencia from David W. Alexander and Francis Mellus, Dr. Burbanks property reached nearly 9,200 acres at a cost of $9,000. Dr. Burbank wouldnt acquire full titles to both properties until after a decision known as the Great Partition was made in 1871 dissolving the Rancho San Rafael. Dr. Burbank also later owned the Burbank Theatre, which opened on November 27,1893, though the theater was intended to be an opera house, instead it staged plays and became known nationally. The theatre featured famous actors of the time including Fay Bainter and Marjorie Rambeau, when the area that became Burbank was settled in the 1870s and 1880s, the streets were aligned along what is now Olive Avenue, the road to the Cahuenga Pass and downtown Los Angeles. These were largely the roads the Indians traveled and the settlers took their produce down to Los Angeles to sell. At the time, the primary long-distance transportation methods available to San Fernando Valley residents were stagecoach, stagecoaching between Los Angeles and San Francisco through the Valley began in 1858
27.
ER (TV series)
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It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television, in association with Warner Bros. ER follows the life of the emergency room of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The show became the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history and it won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, including the 1996 Outstanding Drama Series award, and received 124 Emmy nominations, which makes it the most nominated drama program in history. ER won 116 awards in total, including the Peabody Award, in 1974, author Michael Crichton wrote a screenplay based on his own experiences as a resident physician in a busy hospital emergency room. The screenplay went nowhere and Crichton focused on other topics, in 1990, he published the novel Jurassic Park, and in 1993 began a collaboration with director Steven Spielberg on the film adaptation of the book. Crichton and Spielberg then turned to ER, but decided to film the story as a pilot for a television series rather than as a feature film. Spielbergs Amblin Entertainment provided John Wells as the executive producer. The script used to shoot the pilot was virtually unchanged from what Crichton had written in 1974. Because of a lack of time and money necessary to build a set, the episode of ER was filmed in the former Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles. After Spielberg had joined as a producer, NBC ordered six episodes, ER premiered opposite a Monday Night Football game on ABC and did surprisingly well. Then we moved it to Thursday and it just took off, ERs success surprised the networks and critics alike, as David E. Kelleys new medical drama Chicago Hope was expected to crush the new series. Crichton remained executive producer until his death in November 2008, although he was credited as one throughout that entire final season. Wells, the other initial executive producer, served as showrunner for the first three seasons. He was one of the shows most prolific writers and became a director in later years. Lydia Woodward was a part of the first season production team and she took over as showrunner for the fourth season while Wells focused on the development of other series, including Trinity, Third Watch, and The West Wing. She left her executive position at the end of the sixth season. Joe Sachs, who was a writer and producer of the series, believed keeping a commitment to medical accuracy was important, Wed bend the rules. A medication that would take 10 minutes to work might take 30 seconds instead, a 12- to 24-hour shift gets pushed into 48 minutes
28.
Chicago Hope
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Chicago Hope is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It ran on CBS from September 18,1994, to May 4,2000, the series is set in a fictional private charity hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The show starred Mandy Patinkin as Dr. Jeffrey Geiger, a surgeon with emotional issues stemming from the psychiatric condition of his wife. Adam Arkin plays Dr. Aaron Shutt, a world-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Keith Wilkes played by Rocky Carroll, often clashed with Nyland and was known for his back-to-basics and rough demeanor. He was good friends with Peter Bergs character, Dr. Billy Kronk, Peter MacNicol, Héctor Elizondo and Alan Rosenberg feature as the hospitals in-house attorney and chief of staff, respectively. Christine Lahti joined in the season as a talented cardiac surgeon with a chip on her shoulder. She was known fighting in a battle with her malicious ex-husband and businessman, Tommy Wilmette. Mr. Wilmette did everything he could to get Austin to lose custody of their daughter and he purchased the hospital at the end of Season 2. Dr. Austin is suspended because she and her daughter go AWOL on a trip to New Zealand, Mr. Wilmette was upset because it took him three months to find his ex-wife and daughter. In Season 3, the doctors want Mr. Wilmette to sell the hospital, the doctors viewed that Wilmette didnt know how to run a hospital and cut too many costs that involved patient care. Mr. Wilmette later met with Senator Kennedy at the White House to talk about Healthcare Reform, in Season 2, Geiger resigns from Chicago Hope after trying to save Alan Birch from a deadly gunshot wound to his heart. Geiger later rejoins the doctors at the end of Season 5 when he becomes Chairman of the Board, in Season 4, Dr. Shutt became a psychiatrist and temporarily lost his ability to operate after suffering from a brain aneurysm. In Season 6, Shutt returns to Neurosurgery and works alongside Carla Guginos character, Chicago Hope ran six seasons, airing a total of 141 episodes. Fyvush Finkel and Kathy Baker appeared as their Picket Fences characters in the first season, likewise, Mandy Patinkin and Hector Elizondo brought their Chicago Hope characters to Picket Fences that year. Both Adam Arkin and Lauren Holly had previously appeared on Picket Fences as a lawyer and as a deputy sheriff, Mandy Patinkin appears in an uncredited role as Geiger in a 1994 episode of Homicide, Life on the Street. Chicago Hope producer John Tinker shot this footage as a favor to his St. Elsewhere colleague Tom Fontana, Chicago Hope characters crossed over to Early Edition early in that shows run. Rocky Carroll, Jayne Brook, and Héctor Elizondo all guest-starred in scenes taking place in the hospital, the pilot episode of Chicago Hope was broadcast the day before NBCs ER in a special Sunday,8 p. m. time slot. After the first week, however, the two Chicago-based hospital dramas went head to head in their primetime 10 p. m, ER was the victor, its first season proved a ratings winner
29.
Coming of age
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Coming of age is a young persons transition from being a child to being an adult. The certain age at which this takes place changes in society. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual or spiritual event, in the past, and in some societies today, such a change is associated with the age of sexual maturity, especially menarche and spermarche. In others, it is associated with an age of religious responsibility, particularly in western societies, modern legal conventions which stipulate points in late adolescence or early adulthood are the focus of the transition. In either case, many cultures retain ceremonies to confirm the coming of age, Coming of age is often a topic of fiction, in the form of a coming-of-age story. In written literature, a novel which deals with the psychological and moral growth often associated with coming of age is called a bildungsroman. Similar stories that are told in film are called coming-of-age films, turning 15, the age of maturity, as the Bahai faith terms it, is a time when a child is considered spiritually mature. Declared Bahais that have reached the age of maturity are expected to begin observing certain Bahai laws, such as obligatory prayer, theravada boys, typically just under the age of 20 years, undergo a Shinbyu ceremony, where they are initiated into the Temple as Novice Monks. They will typically stay in the monastery for between 3 days and 3 years, most commonly for one 3-month rainy season retreat, held annually from late July to early October. After living the monastic life for some time, the boy, now considered to have come of age. Confucianism had a ceremony called Guan Li for young men, at around the age of 20, they would receive their style name. In many Western Christian churches, a young person celebrates his/her Coming of Age with the Sacrament of Confirmation and this is usually done by the Bishop laying his hands upon the foreheads of the young person, and marking them with the seal of the Holy Spirit. In some denominations during this sacrament the child adopts a name which is added onto their Christian name. In Christian denominations that practice Believers Baptism, the ritual can be carried out after the age of accountability has arrived. Some traditions withhold the rite of Holy Communion from those not yet at the age of accountability, mid-teens in the United States, early teens in Ireland and Britain, has in some areas been abandoned in favour of restoring the traditional order of the three sacraments of initiation. These individuals are seen, according to some Christians, as existing in a perpetual state of innocence. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sets the age for baptism at 8 years of age and calls this the age of accountability. All persons younger than 8 are considered innocent and incapable of sinning, the LDS Church considers mentally challenged individuals whose mental age is under 8 to be in a perpetual state of innocence, similar to other Christian churches
30.
Gregg Araki
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Gregg Araki is an American independent filmmaker and film director involved heavily with New Queer Cinema. His film Kaboom was the first ever winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm awarded in 2010, Araki was born in Los Angeles on December 17,1959 to Japanese American parents. He grew up in nearby Santa Barbara, California and enrolled in college at the University of California and he graduated with a B. A. from UCSB in 1982. He later attended the University of Southern Californias School of Cinematic Arts, Araki made his directorial debut in 1987 with Three Bewildered People in the Night. With a budget of only $5,000 and using a stationary camera, two years later, Araki followed up with The Long Weekend, another film with a $5,000 budget. His third film, The Living End, saw an increase to $20,000 and he had to shoot his early movies often spontaneously and lacking proper permits. Despite the financial constraints, Arakis films received critical acclaim and he received awards from the Locarno International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, with an additional nomination for a Sundance Film Festival award. Arakis next three movies — Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere — were collectively dubbed the Teen Apocalypse Trilogy, the trio has been characterized as. Teen alienation, hazy sexuality and aggression, a former student of his at UC Santa Barbara, Andrea Sperling, co-produced the films with him. The Trilogy received varying degrees of reviews, from a thumbs down and zero stars by Roger Ebert to Literally the Best Thing Ever by Rookie, hailed as the directors most optimistic film to date, it made its premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. Arakis next project was the ill-fated MTV production This Is How the World Ends and he viewed it as a chance to reach the masses through MTVs viewership and signed on to do the project despite the budget being cut to $700,000. Araki wrote, directed, and shot the episode, but ultimately MTV decided against the project. Following a short hiatus, Araki returned in 2004 with the critically acclaimed Mysterious Skin and this marked the first time that Araki worked with someone elses source material. Arakis next feature was the stoner comedy Smiley Face, featuring Anna Faris, Adam Brody and it marked a stark change from the dark, heavy drama of Mysterious Skin, a change purposely planned by Araki. It received very favorable reviews, with some describing it as another of Arakis potential cult classics, Kaboom marked Arakis tenth film and made its premiere at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. It was awarded the first ever Queer Palm for its contribution to lesbian, gay, bisexual, both The Living End and Nowhere owe their titles to this shoegaze influence, The Living End after like-named The Jesus and Mary Chain song and Nowhere after Rides album entitled Nowhere. In 2010, Kaboom was named the first ever winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm, Araki has also been honored with the 2006 Filmmaker on the Edge Award at the Provincetown International Film Festival. In 2013, Araki was recognized by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City with the retrospective God Help Me, Araki has previously self-identified as a gay Asian American
31.
James Duval
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Duval was born in Detroit, Michigan. His family moved to California in 1974 and he attended Gladstone High School in Covina, as well as Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, and Fair Valley in Covina. Although, as a child, he was trained as a classical pianist, Duval is of mixed ancestry, his mother, a native of Saigon, is of Vietnamese-French descent, and his father is of Irish-Native American-French ancestry. Duval is a practitioner of hatha yoga. He also teaches yoga at Earths Power Yoga studio, Los Angeles, Duval has starred in numerous independent films, including the 2009 psychological thriller The Black Waters of Echos Pond and the mystery crime-thriller film Noirland directed by Ramzi Abed. He plays guitar and piano, and sings in a band named Gene Wilder with friends and fellow actors Brian McGuire and he formerly played for Antoneus Maximus & The Nuthouze Band who had been playing gigs at local venues in Los Angeles. Their first album in 2004 included guest appearances by such luminaries as apl. de. ap of The Black Eyed Peas, DJMotiv8, Dante Santiago, ATX Music Magazine Donny Darko Action figure Played by James Duval James Duval, staying true to indie roots. Youthquake Magazine Article Cathy L. Witbrodt James Duval at the Internet Movie Database James Duval Fan Site Closing Time Starring James Duval
32.
Heather Graham
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Heather Joan Graham is an American actress. In 1999, she co-starred in Bowfinger and Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me, in the 2000s, Graham starred in films Committed, Say It Isnt So, Mary, Gray Matters, The Hangover and its sequel, The Hangover Part III. She also had a role on the television series Scrubs in 2004 and she also had recurring roles on Showtimes Californication and Netflixs Flaked. Noted for portraying characters with vast sex appeal, she appears in magazine lists of Most Beautiful. Graham is an advocate for Children International, and supported the climate change campaign Global Cool in 2007. Graham was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at St. Michaels Hospital and her family is of three-quarters Irish descent, with her fathers side from County Cork. Her younger sister, Aimee Graham, is also an actress and their mother, Joan, is a teacher and author of childrens books. Their father, James Graham, is a retired FBI agent and her family relocated repeatedly before moving to Agoura Hills, California, when she was 9 years old. She was introduced to acting during a production of The Wizard of Oz. After high school, Graham enrolled in classes at the University of California at Los Angeles where she studied English for two years. Despite her parents objections, Graham withdrew from UCLA to pursue acting full-time, grahams first film appearance was an uncredited cameo in Mrs. Soffel. Her first credited appearance was in the television film Student Exchange. In 1986, she appeared on a special Teen Week episode of the NBC game show Scrabble, then she appeared in numerous television commercials, and an episode of the sitcom Growing Pains in 1987. Her first high-profile starring role came in the 1988 Corey Haim/Corey Feldman vehicle License to Drive, as a girl named Mercedes Lane. Her efforts won her a Young Artist Award nomination in the Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Fantasy category and her strict parents forbade her to accept a role in the black comedy Heathers, which had an expletive-rich script. The same year she had an appearance as Danny DeVito. In 1989, Graham was featured in Gus Van Sants Drugstore Cowboy as Nadine and her performance gave her career an initial boost and earned her a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress. She rejected a steady role in a TV soap opera and a deal with a major studio because she thought it would be too restrictive
33.
Ryan Phillippe
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Matthew Ryan Phillippe is an American actor, director, and writer. In the 2000s, he appeared in films, including Gosford Park, Crash, and war drama Flags of Our Fathers, Breach. In 2010, Phillippe starred as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Greg Marinovich in The Bang-Bang Club, currently, he stars in the lead role of Bob Lee Swagger in the USA Network thriller drama Shooter. He was married to actress Reese Witherspoon from 1999 to 2007, together, they have a daughter and he also has a daughter from a relationship with actress Alexis Knapp. Phillippe was born in New Castle, Delaware and his mother, Susan, ran a day care center in the familys house, and his father, Richard Phillippe, was a chemist. Phillippe is of part French descent and he attended New Castle Baptist Academy, where he played basketball and soccer, as well as earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, he was also the yearbook editor in his senior year. Phillippe also attended and graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Talent Agency in Wilmington, Phillippes acting career began after being signed to Cathy Parker Management in Voorhees, New Jersey. Shortly after he made an appearance in the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live and his character Billy Douglas, whom he played from 1992 to 1993, was the first gay teenager on a daytime soap opera. He was cast in the 1997 horror film, I Know What You Did Last Summer, which co-starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The film was a success, and led to Phillippe gaining wider renown and being cast in a few more films, including 54 in 1998 opposite Neve Campbell, Salma Hayek. It was a success among its intended audience, cementing Phillippes ability to play characters that require sex appeal. Phillippe can also be seen in the Marcy Playground music video Comin Up From Behind, subsequently, Phillippe had supporting parts in the films Igby Goes Down and Crash, which won the Oscar for Best Picture. His 2003 film The I Inside premiered on cable and his performance was positively received by film critic Richard Roeper, who thought it was Phillippes best performance to date. Phillippes next role was in the thriller Breach, in which he played FBI investigator Eric ONeill opposite Chris Cooper and he has since commented that he believes Cooper to be the best actor America has to offer. He then starred in Chaos, in which he plays an officer, Five Fingers, a drama set in Morocco, Kimberly Peirces Iraq war film Stop-Loss. Next up for Phillippe was a comedic role as Lt. Dixon Piper in MacGruber. It was released in the US and Canada on May 21,2010, as part of the films promotion, Phillippe made his SNL hosting debut on April 17,2010, along with first-time musical performer Kesha. Two days later, on April 19,2010, Phillippe co-hosted WWE Raw with Jonathan Swift and Charo, Phillippe stars as Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Greg Marinovich
34.
Cannes Film Festival
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Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former head of French pay-TV operator Canal+ Pierre Lescure took over as President of the festival, the Board of Directors also appointed Gilles Jacob as Honorary President of the festival. The 2016 Cannes Film Festival took place between 11 and 22 May 2016, australian film director George Miller was the President of the Jury. I, Daniel Blake, directed by British director Ken Loach, in 2017, The Festival de Cannes will celebrate its 70th anniversary edition from May 17 to 28. In 1947, the festival was held as the Festival du film de Cannes, at that time the principle of equality was introduced, with a jury made up of only one representative per country. The festival is now held at the Palais des Festivals, expressly constructed for the occasion, although for its 1949 inaugural the roof was unfinished, the festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. Although its origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with Autumns Venice Film Festival, in 1955, the Palme dOr was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. In 1957, Dolores del Rio was the first female member of the jury as a Sélection officielle – Member, in 1959, the Marché du Film was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce, in 1962, the International Critics Week was born, created by the French Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors all over the world. In 1965, an hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, the next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the festival. The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May, some directors, such as Carlos Saura and Miloš Forman, had withdrawn their films from the competition. The filmmakers achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film Directors Society that same year, during the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972, Robert Favre Le Bret was named the new President and he immediately introduced an important change in the selection of the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose which films would represent them in the festival, Bessy created one committee to select French films, and another for foreign films. In 1978, Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra dOr award, in 1983, a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to host the Festival. It was nicknamed The Bunker and provoked many reactions against it, in 1984, Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret as President of the Festival. It was not until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection and its aim was to support the creation of works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities
35.
Kiss the Girls (1997 film)
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Kiss the Girls is a 1997 American neo noir psychological thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, and Cary Elwes. The screenplay by David Klass is based on the best-selling novel Kiss the Girls by James Patterson, a sequel titled Along Came a Spider was released in 2001. Washington, D. C. detective and forensic psychologist Alex Cross heads to Durham, North Carolina when his niece Naomi and he learns from the local police, including Detective Nick Ruskin, that Naomi is the latest in a series of young women who have vanished. Soon after his arrival, one of the women is found dead, bound to a tree in a desolate forest. When she awakens from a state, Kate discovers that she is being held captive by a masked man calling himself Casanova. She manages to escape and is injured when she jumps from a cliff. After she recuperates, she joins forces with Cross to track down her sadomasochist captor and this means there is time to rescue the other imprisoned women, just as long as they remain subservient. Clues lead them to Los Angeles, where a series of kidnappings and murders have been credited to Dr. William Rudolph. Cross deduces he is working in collusion with rather than imitating his East Coast counterpart, but his efforts to capture and question him are foiled when Rudolph escapes. Upon returning to North Carolina, he traces up the river and alerted by a gunshot discovers the underground hideaway used by, as well as the identity of. Rudolph is revealed to be Casanovas partner, the actual Casanova escapes, while Rudolph is shot by Cross. Cross then rescues the women, including Naomi. After all that has happened, Kate invites Cross to dinner at her house to get away from work, Ruskin drops by Kates house, and sends home the two officers guarding her. While Cross is at getting ready, he discovers that Ruskins signature on the arrest warrants matches that of Casanova. Cross tries calling Kate to inform her that Ruskin is the real Casanova, while conversing with Ruskin, Kate becomes suspicious of his creepy elaborations. Ruskin then drops his Southern accent, revealing his true self to her, after a fight and attempted rape, Kate manages to handcuff him to the oven. Ruskin slashes Kates arm with a kitchen knife, in attempting to free himself, Ruskin pulls the oven away from the wall, breaking open the gas pipe. Ruskin takes out a lighter, which would cause an explosion due to the leaking gas, Cross shows up and tries to talk him down but when this fails, has to shoot Ruskin through a milk carton so the muzzle blast from his pistol does not ignite the gas
36.
Morgan Freeman
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Morgan Freeman is an American actor, producer and narrator. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award and he rose to fame as part of the cast of the 1970s childrens program The Electric Company. Morgan Freeman is ranked as the 4th highest box office star with over $4.316 billion total box office gross, Morgan Freeman was born on June 1,1937 in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the son of Mayme Edna, a teacher, and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, according to a DNA analysis, some of his ancestors were from Niger. Freeman was sent as an infant to his grandmother in Charleston. He moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi, Gary, Indiana, when Freeman was 16 years old, he almost died of pneumonia. Freeman made his debut at age nine, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, a building serves today as Threadgill Elementary School, in Greenwood. At age 12, he won a drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville. Freemans service portrait appears in his characters funeral scene in The Bucket List. During this period, Freeman also lived in New York City, working as a dancer at the 1964 Worlds Fair, and in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Opera Ring musical theater group. He acted in a touring version of The Royal Hunt of the Sun. He continued to be involved in work and received the Obie Award in 1980 for the title role in Coriolanus. In 1984, he received his second Obie Award for his role as the preacher in The Gospel at Colonus, Freeman also won a Drama Desk Award and a Clarence Derwent Award for his role as a wino in The Mighty Gents. He received his third Obie Award for his role as a chauffeur for a Jewish widow in Driving Miss Daisy, although his first credited film appearance was in 1971s Who Says I Cant Ride a Rainbow. Freeman first became known in the American media through roles on the soap opera Another World, during his tenure with The Electric Company, t was a very unhappy period in his life, according to Joan Ganz Cooney. Freeman himself admitted in an interview that he never thinks about his tenure with the show at all, since then, Freeman has considered his Street Smart character Fast Black, rather than any of the characters he played in The Electric Company, to be his breakthrough role. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Freeman began playing prominent supporting roles in feature films, earning him a reputation for depicting wise
37.
Ashley Judd
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Ashley Judd is an American actress and political activist. She grew up in a family of performing artists as the daughter of country music singer Naomi Judd. While she is best known for an acting career spanning more than two decades, she has increasingly become involved in global humanitarian efforts and political activism. She starred as Rebecca Winstone in the 2012 television series Missing, in 2010, she earned a one-year mid-career masters degree in public administration from Harvards Kennedy School of Government. She is a well known Kentucky Wildcats mens basketball fan, being present at most games, Judd was born in Granada Hills, California. She is the daughter of Naomi Judd, a country singer and motivational speaker, and Michael Charles Ciminella. Ashleys elder sister, Wynonna, is also a country music singer and her paternal grandfather was of Sicilian descent, and her paternal grandmother was a descendant of Mayflower pilgrim William Brewster. At the time of her birth, her mother was unemployed, the following year, her mother took Ashley back to Naomis native Kentucky, where Judd spent the majority of her childhood. She also went to school in Marin County, California as a child, Judd attended 13 schools before college, including the Sayre School, Paul G. Blazer High School and Franklin High School in Tennessee. She briefly tried modeling in Japan during a school break, an alumna of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Kentucky, she majored in French and minored in anthropology, art history, theater, and womens studies. She spent a semester studying in France as part of her major and she graduated from the UK Honors Program and was nominated to Phi Beta Kappa, but did not graduate with her class. Forgoing her commitment to join the Peace Corps, after college she drove to Hollywood, during this time, she worked as a hostess at The Ivy restaurant and lived in a Malibu rental house, which burned down in 1993. Around that time, her half-sister Wynonna Judd leased her a historic farmhouse and 10 acres of land in Williamson County and she moved to Tennessee and lived near her mother Naomi and sister Wynonna. Judd appeared as Ensign Robin Lefler, a Starfleet officer, in two 1991 episodes of Star Trek, The Next Generation, Darmok and The Game, from 1991 to 1994, she had a recurring role as Reed, the daughter of Alex, on the NBC drama Sisters. She made her film debut with a small role in 1992s Kuffs. In 1993, Judd fought for and was cast in her first starring role playing the character in Victor Nuñezs Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize dramatic winner Ruby in Paradise. On her way to the audition, she was so nervous about getting a role that she defined her life. From the first three sentences, I knew it was written for me, she told the San Jose Mercury News
38.
Slums of Beverly Hills
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Its hero is a teenage girl struggling to grow up in the late 1970s in a lower-middle-class nomadic Jewish family that moves every few months. The film barely earned back its budget, and thus is not considered a box-office success and it received mixed to positive reviews. It gradually became a cult classic and their father, Murray, is a divorced 65-year-old who refuses to retire, working as an unsuccessful Oldsmobile salesman whose cars are selling poorly due in large part to the Energy crisis of the time. Vivians wealthy Uncle Mickey regularly sends the money to help them survive. When Mickeys 29-year-old daughter Rita runs away from a rehab facility, Vivian must babysit her adult cousin, making sure she gets to nursing school and avoids pills and booze. But Vivian has her own problems, shes curious about sex, likes an older neighbor kid, Eliot, has inherited her mothers ample breasts, vivians younger brother Rickey simply aspires to get attention. Vivian and Rita are close and speak sometimes in their own invented language, Vivian learns that Rita has no desire to attend nursing school and also has no clue as to what to do with her life. Murray attempts to cover up Ritas lack of progress at nursing school, depressed and dejected, Murray once again packs the kids into his car and they take off. In an attempt to cheer her father up, Vivian suggests that the stop for steak for breakfast—a ritual regularly shared by the family as a means of cheering themselves up. On its opening weekend it garnered $125,561, the movie received positive to mixed reviews from critics. The design of the seventies, the humor and the acting have been described as dead-on, roger Ebert said of lead actress Natasha Lyonne, Lyonne has the films most important role, and is the key to the comedy. She does a job of looking incredulous, and theres a lot in her life to be incredulous about. She also has a pragmatic approach to sexuality, as in a scene where she consults a plastic surgeon about on-the-spot breast reduction. San Francisco Chronicle reviewer Ruthe Stein stated, While touching on issues such as loss, this coming-of-age story is first and foremost a comedy. It never strains to be funny, the humor derives from the deadpan responses of family members to circumstances beyond their control. She also stated, Set in the mid-70s, Slums gets the right, from the burnt orange shag carpet on the floor of the familys temporary digs to the dorky clothes. Even the saleslady who sells Vivian her first bra has the overly made-up look of the time, the Abramowitzes behavior when they go out to eat—complaining about the service and that theres too much salt in the food—may seem to border on a Jewish stereotype. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is currently certified Fresh and is described as Warm, real, and hilarious
39.
Cult film
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A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, a subculture that engage in repeated viewings, quoting dialogue. Inclusive definitions allow for major productions, especially box office bombs, while exclusive definitions focus more on obscure. The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art, Cult films trace their origin back to controversial and suppressed films kept alive by dedicated fans. In some cases, reclaimed or rediscovered films have acquired cult followings decades after their original release, Other cult films have since become well-respected or reassessed as classics, there is debate as to whether these popular and accepted films are still cult films. After failing in the cinema, some films have become regular fixtures on cable television or profitable sellers on home video. Others have inspired their own film festivals, Cult films can both appeal to specific subcultures and form their own subcultures. Other media that reference cult films can easily identify which demographics they desire to attract, Cult films frequently break cultural taboos, and many feature excessive displays of violence, gore, sexuality, profanity, or combinations thereof. This can lead to controversy, censorship, and outright bans, films that fail to attract requisite amounts of controversy may face resistance when labeled as cult films. Fans who like the films for the reasons, such as perceived elements that represent mainstream appeal and marketing. Likewise, fans who stray from accepted subcultural scripts may experience similar rejection, since the late 1970s, cult films have become increasingly popular. Films that once would have limited to obscure cult followings are now capable of breaking into the mainstream. Films are frequently stated to be an instant cult classic now, fickle fans on the Internet have latched on to unreleased films only to abandon them later on release. At the same time, other films have acquired massive, quick cult followings, easy access to cult films via video on demand and peer-to-peer file sharing has led some critics to pronounce the death of cult films. A cult film is any film that has a following, although the term is not easily defined. Cult films are defined by audience reaction as much as they are content and this may take the form of elaborate and ritualized audience participation, film festivals, or cosplay. Over time, the definition has become more vague and inclusive as it drifts away from earlier, stricter views, academic Mark Shiel has criticized the term itself as being a weak concept, reliant on subjectivity, different groups can interpret films in their own terms. Academic Mike Chopra‑Gant says that cult films become decontextualized when studied as a group, in 2008, Cineaste asked a range of academics for their definition of a cult film
40.
Natasha Lyonne
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Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein, better known as Natasha Lyonne, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jessica in the American Pie series and her appearances in the films Everyone Says I Love You, Slums of Beverly Hills, But Im a Cheerleader, and Blade, Trinity. Lyonne was born in New York City, the daughter of Ivette Buchinger and Aaron Braunstein, a promoter, race car driver, and radio host. Lyonnes parents were both from Orthodox Jewish families, and she herself was raised Orthodox and her mother was born in Paris, France, to Hungarian Jewish parents who were Holocaust survivors. Lyonne sometimes darkly jokes that her family consists of my fathers side, Flatbush and her grandmother Ella came from a large family, but only she and her two sisters and two brothers survived, which Lyonne credits to their blonde hair and blue eyes. Lyonnes grandfather, Morris Buchinger, operated a company in Los Angeles. During the war, he hid in Budapest as a non-Jew working in a leather factory, Lyonne spent the first eight years of her life living in Great Neck, New York. Then she and her parents moved to Israel, where Lyonne spent a year and her parents divorced, and Lyonne and her older brother Adam returned to America with their mother. She was expelled for selling marijuana at school, Lyonne grew up on the Upper East Side, where she felt she was an outcast. Her mother then moved their family to Miami, where Lyonne graduated from Miami Country Day School. Lyonne was estranged from her father, who lived on the Upper West Side until his death in October 2014, Lyonne has said she is not close with her mother and has essentially lived independently of her family since age 16. As a young child, Lyonne was signed by the Ford Modeling Agency, at the age of six, she was cast as Opal on Pee-wees Playhouse, followed by film appearances in Heartburn, A Man Called Sarge, and Dennis the Menace. On working as a young child actor, Lyonne said. I don’t think they are bad people, even if they were ready to have children, it is kind of a wacky idea to put your child in business at six years old. Lyonnes other films include Detroit Rock City, Scary Movie 2, The Grey Zone, Kate and Leopold, Party Monster and she has also made television appearances on shows such as NBCs Will and Grace. In what is perhaps her most well known role, she appeared as Jessica in the American Pie film series. When she was 18 years old, Lyonne used the paycheck from her work on the Woody Allen film Everyone Says I Love You to buy an apartment near Gramercy Park. She attended New York University for a short time, studying film
41.
Atomic Train
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Atomic Train is a 1999 disaster-thriller film about an accidental nuclear explosion destroying the city of Denver. It was originally broadcast as a film on NBC as a two-part miniseries. A waste disposal company has a Russian nuclear bomb to transport, and this train is also loaded with hazardous and flammable chemicals, including metallic sodium, which spontaneously ignites on contact with water. The train suffers a failure and becomes a runaway heading for Denver. John Seger, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, boards the train, the final attempt works successfully, but is short-lived. The following rescue train, unaware of the freights slowing, speeds forward, the force disengages the brakes, this time for good, causing the train to speed up once again. Meanwhile, Denver residents are struggling to collect their families and then town, despite rioters, looters. Realizing that there is no way to stop it, John, the train derails and becomes a terrific wreck. Discovering the now highly unstable bomb on board, firefighters struggle to extinguish the fire at the crash site, after realizing that metallic sodium is on the train, the firefighters and NEST teams retreat to evaluate a strategy. In the meantime, all fire-fighting aircraft are grounded, the misinterpretation of a radio call to a water bombing helicopter leads it to dump its load of water onto the wreck. Water comes into contact with the sodium, which explodes. The blast causes severe damage throughout Denver and releases an electromagnetic pulse, no cars work, electricity is down and anything with a computer is shut down. After the blast, Denver lies in ruins, John then attempts to get his family out of Denver before nuclear fallout starts. After finding a car, John eventually reunites with his family at a FEMA refugee camp in Eminence. Most often quoted is that the train is said to become a runaway when it is still 300 miles west of Denver with a continuous decline ahead. Since this would place it on the side of the Continental Divide, it should be going generally uphill for most of the first 250 miles. Furthermore, for safety reasons all trains are fitted with Westinghouse air brakes. In the event of a failure, such as an air leak like that occurs in the movie
42.
NBC
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The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcast television network that is the flagship property of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The network is part of the Big Three television networks, founded in 1926 by the Radio Corporation of America, NBC is the oldest major broadcast network in the United States. Following the acquisition by GE, Bob Wright served as executive officer of NBC, remaining in that position until his retirement in 2007. In 2003, French media company Vivendi merged its entertainment assets with GE, Comcast purchased a controlling interest in the company in 2011, and acquired General Electrics remaining stake in 2013. Following the Comcast merger, Zucker left NBC Universal and was replaced as CEO by Comcast executive Steve Burke, during a period of early broadcast business consolidation, radio manufacturer Radio Corporation of America acquired New York City radio station WEAF from American Telephone & Telegraph. Westinghouse, a shareholder in RCA, had an outlet in Newark, New Jersey pioneer station WJZ. This station was transferred from Westinghouse to RCA in 1923, WEAF acted as a laboratory for AT&Ts manufacturing and supply outlet Western Electric, whose products included transmitters and antennas. The Bell System, AT&Ts telephone utility, was developing technologies to transmit voice- and music-grade audio over short and long distances, the 1922 creation of WEAF offered a research-and-development center for those activities. WEAF maintained a schedule of radio programs, including some of the first commercially sponsored programs. In an early example of chain or networking broadcasting, the station linked with Outlet Company-owned WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island, AT&T refused outside companies access to its high-quality phone lines. The early effort fared poorly, since the telegraph lines were susceptible to atmospheric. In 1925, AT&T decided that WEAF and its network were incompatible with the companys primary goal of providing a telephone service. AT&T offered to sell the station to RCA in a deal that included the right to lease AT&Ts phone lines for network transmission, the divisions ownership was split among RCA, its founding corporate parent General Electric and Westinghouse. NBC officially started broadcasting on November 15,1926, WEAF and WJZ, the flagships of the two earlier networks, were operated side-by-side for about a year as part of the new NBC. On April 5,1927, NBC expanded to the West Coast with the launch of the NBC Orange Network and this was followed by the debut of the NBC Gold Network, also known as the Pacific Gold Network, on October 18,1931. The Orange Network carried Red Network programming, and the Gold Network carried programming from the Blue Network, initially, the Orange Network recreated Eastern Red Network programming for West Coast stations at KPO in San Francisco. The Orange Network name was removed from use in 1936, at the same time, the Gold Network became part of the Blue Network. In the 1930s, NBC also developed a network for shortwave radio stations, in 1927, NBC moved its operations to 711 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, occupying the upper floors of a building designed by architect Floyd Brown
43.
Rob Lowe
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Robert Hepler Lowe is an American actor. He came to prominence in the 1980s, playing teen and young adult roles in such as The Outsiders, Oxford Blues, St. Elmos Fire. However, he continued acting in less prominent film roles, and went on to roles in television series such as The West Wing, Brothers & Sisters. Lowe was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, the son of Barbara Lynn, a schoolteacher and native of Ohio, and Charles Davis Lowe and his parents divorced when Lowe and his younger brother, actor Chad, were very young. As a result of a virus during infancy, he is deaf in his right ear, Lowe was baptized into the Episcopal church. He is of German, English, Irish, Scottish, on the show Who Do You Think You Are. Lowe found out one of his ancestors, Christopher East, was a Hessian soldier. His ancestor was fighting under the command of Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall and was captured at the American Victory at Trenton, as an American POW, his ancestor was given a choice, and took the option to stay in the US. Lowe was raised in a traditional setting in Dayton, Ohio, attending Oakwood Junior High School, before moving to the Point Dume area of Malibu, California. Lowe attended Santa Monica High School, as did fellow actors Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey, Jr. Sean Penn and his breakthrough role was his big screen debut in 1983, when he and Emilio Estevez were cast in Francis Ford Coppolas The Outsiders. Lowe played the role of Sodapop Curtis, the brother of the main character Ponyboy Curtis, Lowe and Estevez reunited in St. Elmos Fire, making them the two more prominent actors from the group known as the Brat Pack. He then received his second Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the mentally disabled Rory in Square Dance, in August,1987 he performed on stage, playing Baron Tusenbach in Chekovs The Three Sisters at The Williamstown Theatre Festival. Lowe is well known for playing Sam Seaborn in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2003 and his performance in the show garnered Lowe a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Drama Series. Lowe was drawn to the role because of his love of politics, and his longstanding personal relationship with Martin Sheen. When the show premiered, Seaborn was considered the lead, Lowe and series creator Aaron Sorkin soon found themselves at odds over the networks meddling with the show, most notably the network demanding changes in the Sam Seaborn character. Eventually, Lowe left the series, not long before Sorkin, during the final season of The West Wing, Lowe returned to his role of Sam Seaborn, appearing in two of the final four episodes. In 2011, Lowe appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and stated that he left the show because he did not feel he was being respected, after leaving the show, Lowe was the star and executive producer of a failed NBC drama, The Lyons Den. In 2004, he tried again in a series entitled Dr. Vegas, in 2005, he starred as Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee in a London West End production of Sorkins play A Few Good Men, the first time the two had worked together since The West Wing