1.
Deauville American Film Festival
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The Deauville American Film Festival is a yearly film festival devoted to American cinema, taking place since 1975 in Deauville, France. It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then Mayor of Deauville Michel dOrnano, although not competitive at its origin, the festival began to award prizes in 1995, for feature films, and 1998 for short films. This award was named Grand Prix spécial Deauville from 1995 to 2007,1989, Torch Song Trilogy by Paul Bogart 1990, Pump Up the Volume by Allan Moyle Tune in Tomorrow by Jon Amiel 1991, Trust by Hal Hartley Hangin with the Homeboys by Joseph B. It carries a grant of 3,000 euros for the awarded director-writer,3,000 euros for the films producer, and 10,000 euros for the French distributor to help promote the film. The award, which is named in honour of the former Mayor of Deauville and co-founder of the festival, thomas for Willy 1er The Revelation Prize is awarded by a Revelation jury composed of up-and-coming actors and filmmakers. 1996, Charlotte Rampling, Sabine Azéma, René Cleitman, Dominique Farrugia, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Chiara Mastroianni, Laura Morante, Ornella Muti, Melvil Poupaud and Alain Rocca. 1997, Sophie Marceau, Élodie Bouchez, Philippe Carcassonne, Étienne Chatiliez, Alain Finkielkraut, John Hurt, Michèle Laroque, Inés Sastre, Nathalie Quintane and Lambert Wilson. 1998, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Michèle Halberstadt, Sandrine Kiberlain, Virginie Ledoyen, Russell Banks, Maurice Bernart, Alessandro Gassman, Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Éric Serra and Christian Vincent. 1999, Régis Wargnier, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Humbert Balsan, Richard Berry, Gabriel Byrne, Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Marie Gillain, Michel Houellebecq, Marie-France Pisier and Elsa Zylberstein. 2000, Neil Jordan, Guillaume Canet, Clotilde Courau, Tchéky Karyo, Philippe Labro, Samuel Le Bihan, François Ozon, Vincent Perez, Danièle Thompson and Marie Trintignant. 2001, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Sandrine Bonnaire, Marion Cotillard, Arielle Dombasle, Gérard Darmon, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Darius Khondji, Benoît Poelvoorde and Gabriel Yared. 2002, Pierre Lescure, Chantal Akerman, Richard Anconina, Jean-Marc Barr, Charles Berling, Amira Casar, Julie Gayet, Irène Jacob, Cédric Kahn and Bruno Wolkowitch. 2003, Roman Polanski, Claudia Cardinale, Pawel Edelman, Jacques Fieschi, Ben Kingsley, Anne Parillaud, Zbigniew Preisner, Ludivine Sagnier, Fernando Trueba and Tom Tykwer. 2004, Claude Lelouch, Anouk Aimée, Marie-Josée Croze, Danièle Heymann, Diane Kurys, Jeanne Labrune, Lio, Claudie Ossard, Bettina Rheims and Mathilde Seigner. 2005, Alain Corneau, Enki Bilal, Dominique Blanc, Romane Bohringer, Rachida Brakni, Christophe, Dominik Moll, Melvil Poupaud and Brigitte Roüan. 2006, Nicole Garcia, Maurice Barthélémy, Guillaume Canet, Amira Casar, Emmanuelle Castro, Antoine de Caunes, Julien Clerc, Philippe Djian and Marthe Keller. 2007, André Téchiné, Odile Barski, Xavier Beauvois, Nicolas Cazalé, Charlélie Couture, Émilie Deleuze, Anouk Grinberg,2008, Carole Bouquet, Édouard Baer, Ronit Elkabetz, Diane Fleri, Pierre Jolivet, Cédric Kahn, Cristian Mungiu, Leonor Silveira and Dean Tavoularis. 2009, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Hiam Abbass, Dany Boon, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Émilie Dequenne, Déborah François, Sandrine Kiberlain, Patrice Leconte, Géraldine Pailhas and Bruno Podalydès
2.
Versailles, Yvelines
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According to the 2008 census, the population of the city is 88,641 inhabitants, down from a peak of 94,145 in 1975. A new town, founded by the will of King Louis XIV, it was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789, before becoming the cradle of the French Revolution. After having lost its status of city, it became the préfecture of Seine-et-Oise département in 1790, then of Yvelines in 1968. Versailles is historically known for numerous treaties such as the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War and this word formation is similar to Latin seminare which gave French semailles. From May 1682, when Louis XIV moved the court and government permanently to Versailles, until his death in September 1715, during the various periods when government affairs were conducted from Versailles, Paris remained the official capital of France. Versailles was made the préfecture of the Seine-et-Oise département at its inception in March 1790, Versailles was made the préfecture of the Yvelines département, the largest chunk of the former Seine-et-Oise. At the 2006 census the Yvelines had 1,395,804 inhabitants, Versailles is the seat of a Roman Catholic diocese which was created in 1790. The diocese of Versailles is subordinate to the archdiocese of Paris, in 1975, Versailles was made the seat of a Court of Appeal whose jurisdiction covers the western suburbs of Paris. Since 1972, Versailles has been the seat of one of Frances 30 nationwide académies of the Ministry of National Education. Versailles is also an important node for the French army, a tradition going back to the monarchy with, for instance, the palace of Versailles is in the out-skirts of the city. Versailles is located 17.1 km west-southwest from the centre of Paris, the city of Versailles has an area of 26.18 km2, which is a quarter of the area of the city of Paris. In 1989, Versailles had a density of 3, 344/km2, whereas Paris had a density of 20. Born out of the will of a king, the city has a rational and symmetrical grid of streets, by the standards of the 18th century, Versailles was a very modern European city. Versailles was used as a model for the building of Washington, the name of Versailles appears for the first time in a medieval document dated 1038. In the end of the 11th century, the village curled around a medieval castle, the 14th century brought the Black Death and the Hundred Years War, and with it death and destruction. At the end of the Hundred Years War in the 15th century, in 1561, Martial de Loménie, secretary of state for finances under King Charles IX, became lord of Versailles. He obtained permission to four annual fairs and a weekly market on Thursdays. The population of Versailles was 500 inhabitants, Martial de Loménie was murdered during the St. Bartholomews Day massacre
3.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
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Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American romantic science fiction comedy-drama film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry. It follows a couple who have erased each other from their memories. Pierre Bismuth created the story with Kaufman and Gondry, the ensemble cast includes Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson. The title of the film is a quotation from Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope, the film uses elements of the psychological thriller and a nonlinear narrative to explore the nature of memory and romantic love. It opened in North America to wide acclaim on March 19,2004 and it won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and Winslet received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress. The film developed a following in the years after its release. Shy, soft-spoken Joel Barish and the unrestrained free-spirit Clementine Kruczynski begin a relationship on a Long Island Rail Road train from Montauk and they are almost immediately drawn to each other despite their different personalities, though both had felt the need to travel to Montauk that day. Although they do not realize it at the time, Joel and Clementine are, in fact, former lovers, after a fight, Clementine had hired the New York City firm Lacuna, Inc. to erase all of her memories of their relationship. Upon discovering this from his friends Rob and Carrie, Joel was devastated and decided to undergo the procedure himself, much of the film subsequently takes place in Joels mind, during this memory erasure procedure. As his memories are erased, he tries to evade the erasing effects of the procedure by hiding Clementine in remote parts of his subconscious, Joel finds himself revisiting them in reverse. Upon seeing happier times of love with Clementine from earlier in their relationship, he struggles to preserve at least some memory of her, despite his efforts to either hide the memories or wake up and stop the process, the memories are slowly erased. He comes to the last remaining memory of Clementine, the day he had first met her at a house in Montauk. As this memory disintegrates around them, she tells him, Meet me in Montauk, separate, but related, story arcs, which revolve around the employees of Lacuna, are revealed during Joels memory erasure. Patrick, one of the Lacuna technicians performing the erasure, uses Joels memories, mary, the Lacuna receptionist, is dating the other memory-erasing technician, Stan. On learning this, she asks Stan whether he knew about this, mary then quits her job and steals the companys records, and mails the two former clients their records from Lacuna. The film returns to the present, after Joel and Clementine have met aboard the train, Joel beckons Clementine to start over, Clementine initially resists, pointing out it could go the same way. Joel accepts this, and they decide to attempt a relationship anyway, on Metacritic, the film has a score of 89 out of 100, based on 41 reviews, indicating universal acclaim. Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a four stars, referring to Kaufman as the most gifted screenwriter of the 2000s
4.
The Science of Sleep
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The Science of Sleep is a 2006 surrealistic science fantasy comedy film written and directed by Michel Gondry. The film stars Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou-Miou, the film stems from a bed-time story that was written by Sam Mounier, then-10-year-old. Stéphane Miroux is a man whose vivid dreams and imagination often interfere with his ability to interact with reality and he is coaxed back to his childhood home after his divorced father passes away and his mother, Christine, finds him a job in a calendar printing company in France. His mother implies the position is a role, and he prepares colourful drawings, each showing a disaster. However, nobody appreciates his talents and it transpires that his mother had led him on - the real vacancy is for nothing more than mundane typesetting work. While leaving his apartment to go to one day, Stéphane injures his hand helping his new neighbor move a piano into her apartment. The new neighbor, Stéphanie, invites Stéphane into her apartment where her friend Zoé tends to his wound, Stéphane initially forms an attraction to Zoé, though he suspects it is instead Stéphanie who likes him. Stéphane realizes that Stéphanie, like him, is creative and artistic and they plan a project for use in a short animated film. Following the advice of Guy, Stéphanes sex-obsessed co-worker, Stéphane pretends that he isnt Stéphanies neighbor and that night, when he is sleepwalking he writes a confusing note to Stéphanie that asks for Zoés phone number. Stéphane realizes his mistake upon waking and retrieves the letter with a coat hanger, surrealistic and naturalistic elements begin to overlap, and the viewer is often uncertain of which portions constitute reality and which are merely dreams. One such sequence, in which Stéphane dreams his hands become absurdly giant, was inspired by a recurring nightmare director Michel Gondry had as a child, Stéphanes dreams encroach on his waking life as he tries to win Stéphanies heart and misses time at work. He breaks into her apartment, taking her stuffed toy horse, while putting it back into her apartment, Stéphanie arrives and catches him, demanding he leaves and becoming more upset with him. As the months go by, waking and dreaming become even more intermixed, to Stéphanes surprise, the calendar manufacturer accepts his Disastrology idea and it becomes a great success. A party is thrown in his honour, but he becomes depressed, the next day, Stéphane and Stéphanie have a confrontation in their hallway when Stéphane announces that he doesnt want to be Stéphanies friend any longer. Stéphanie becomes very upset, offering Zoés phone number and reciting Stéphanes note, Stéphane, still unaware that Stéphanie has read the note, assumes that they are connected through Parallel Synchronized Randomness, a rare phenomenon he has examined in his dreams. Stéphanie offers that they discuss their issues on a date, but on Stéphanes walk to the café to meet her, he has a vision that she isnt there. He runs back to her apartment and bangs on her door, demanding that she stop torturing him, in actuality, she is indeed waiting for him at the café. Stéphane runs at her door, attempting to break it down, but winds up bashing his head and collapsing in the hall, tired of waiting, Stéphanie returns home while Stéphane, coaxed by his mother and her friend, decides to move back to Mexico
5.
Be Kind Rewind
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Be Kind Rewind is a 2008 comedy-drama film written and directed by Michel Gondry, and starring Jack Black, Mos Def, Melonie Diaz, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow and Sigourney Weaver. The film first appeared on January 20,2008 at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and it was later shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film opened on February 22,2008 in the United Kingdom, the title is inspired by a phrase that was commonly displayed on VHS rental cassettes in America during the mediums heyday. In Passaic, New Jersey, the declining Be Kind Rewind VHS rental store owned by Mr. Mr, before leaving Mr. Fletcher cautions Mike to keep his paranoid and klutzy friend, Jerry, away from the store. Mike quickly discovers the disaster, and is pressed when Miss Falewicz, Mr. Fletchers friend. They complete the movie just in time when another customer asks for Rush Hour 2, Mike and Jerry repeat their filming, enlisting the help of Alma, a local woman, for some of the parts. Word of mouth spreads through Miss Falewiczs nephew of the hilarious results of Mike and Jerrys filming. Mike, Jerry, and Alma quickly pass off the movies as being sweded, insisting the films came from Sweden and thus able to demand long wait times and higher costs for the rental. Soon, to demand, Mike and Jerry enlist the locals to help out in making the movies. When Mr. Without any money to renovate the building, Mr. Fletcher gives up hope, Mr. Fletcher is given a week to evacuate the building before it will be razed. On the day the building is scheduled for demolition, Mr. Fletcher invites all the locals to watch the final film, as their film ends, Mr. Films that were erased and recreated are referred to as having been sweded. These remakes are unedited with only a single take per scene, the tapes are described as having come from Sweden as an excuse for higher rental fees and longer wait times. Jerry fabricated the word sweded while arguing with Craig and his gang, in light of the theme of sweding, director Michel Gondry sweded a version of the trailer of the film, starring himself. On the official website, users can engage in sweding, which puts their faces on the VHS cover of a movie, the Be Kind Rewind YouTube channel also encourages filmmakers to create sweded versions of popular movies. The theme of sweding also relates to film history, in that the collectively made remakes represent social memories of films, filming of Be Kind Rewind took place over several weeks in autumn of 2006 largely in and around Passaic, New Jersey. The famed former location of the Video Room of the Upper East Side of New York City was used for one of the video stores in the film. The sites critical consensus of the film, Slighter and less disciplined than Gondrys previous mind-benders, metacritic reported the film had an average score of 52 out of 100, based on 35 reviews. Writing in The New York Times, reviewer A. O. Scott called the film inviting, undemanding and altogether wonderful and added that you’ll want to see it again, or at least Swede it yourself
6.
The Green Hornet (2011 film)
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Directed by Michel Gondry and written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the film stars Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, David Harbour, Tom Wilkinson and Cameron Diaz. The film was released to theaters in North America on January 14,2011 by Columbia Pictures, in versions including RealD Cinema, the film earned $227.8 million on a $120 million budget. The Green Hornet was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on May 3,2011 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Britt Reid is the irresponsible 28-year-old slacker son of widower James Reid, publisher of the Los Angeles Daily Sentinel. Britts attitude changes when James is found dead from a reaction to a bee sting. After the funeral, Britt fires the staff aside from his maid, but later re-hires Kato, Jamess mechanic, Britt and Kato get drunk together and, upon agreeing that they both hated James, visit the graveyard to cut the head off Jamess memorial statue. After they succeed, they rescue a couple being mugged. When police mistake Britt and Kato themselves for criminals, Kato evades them in a car chase as he, Britt convinces Kato they should become crime-fighters who pose as criminals in order to infiltrate real criminals, and to prevent enemies from using innocents against them. Kato develops a car outfitted with gadgets and weapons, which they call the Black Beauty. Britt plans to capture Benjamin Chudnofsky, a Russian mobster uniting the families of Los Angeles under his command. To get Chudnofskys attention, Britt uses the Daily Sentinel as a vehicle to publish articles about a criminal he calls The Green Hornet. Britt hires Lenore Case, who has a degree in journalism and a minor in criminology, as his assistant and researcher, Britt and Kato blow up several of Chudnofskys meth labs, leaving calling cards so Chudnofsky can contact them. Britt asks Lenore out, but she rebuffs him and instead invites Kato to dinner, Kato learns from her that mobsters often offer a peace summit to rivals in order to get close enough to kill them, Britt then tells Kato that Chudnofsky has offered them such a meeting. Kato tries dissuading him, but Britt, feeling overshadowed, follows his instincts and this nearly proves fatal when Chudnofsky tries to kill them. Barely escaping to the mansion, Britt and Kato argue and fight, Kato receives an email from Chudnofsky on the Hornets calling-card email address, offering $1 million and half of Los Angeles to the Hornet if he kills Britt. Meanwhile, Britt discovers that Scanlon is corrupt, and that he tried to bribe James into downplaying the citys crime level to help his career, Scanlon invites Britt to meet in a restaurant, where he reveals he murdered Britts father. Kato arrives, and instead of killing Britt, he attacks Chudnofskys men, allowing him and Britt, at the Daily Sentinel, Britt intends to upload a recording of Scanlons confession onto the Web--which he belatedly discovers he did not manage to record. Chudnofsky and his men, who followed the duo there, engage them in a firefight, Kato ultimately stabs Chudnofsky in the eyes with wood in self-defense and Britt shoots him to death with Chudnofskys gun. A SWAT team appears and fires at the Green Hornet and Kato, the Green Hornet and Kato flee to Lenores house, where she learns both their real names and that she has been the accidental mastermind behind the Green Hornets plots
7.
Mood Indigo (film)
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Mood Indigo is a 2013 French film co-written and directed by Michel Gondry and co-written and produced by Luc Bossi, starring Romain Duris and Audrey Tautou. It is an adaptation of Boris Vians 1947 novel Froth on the Daydream, the film received two nominations at the 4th Magritte Awards. It also received three nominations at the 39th César Awards, winning in one category, Colin has a very pleasant life, he is rich, he loves the food his cook makes, he loves his pianocktail and his friend Chick. One day while having lunch with Chick, Chick tells him that he met a girl named Alise with whom he has a common passion, Colin meets Chloe at a party Chick invited him to. They fall in love, marry, but Chloe becomes ill during their honeymoon, as time passes, Chloes condition deteriorates while the relationship between Chick and Alise turns sour. Colin spends his fortune on treating Chloe, which causes him to fire his cook and sell his pianocktail. Alise tracks down Partre himself and kills him, the aesthetic of the film changes from colorful and whimsical to monochromatic and tragic as the film progresses. These effects are observed most acutely in Colins home, which decays supernaturally, and his mouse, the novel had previously been adapted into a 1968 French film with the English title Spray of the Days, and a 2001 Japanese film with the title Chloe. Mood Indigo was produced by Brio Films, with support from France 2 Cinéma, StudioCanal. It was pre-acquired by Canal+ and Ciné+, and received 650,000 euro from Eurimages, the total budget was 19 million euro. Filming started 10 April 2012 and ended on 23 July, locations were used in Belgium and around Paris. The film premiered in France and Belgium on 24 April 2013, drafthouse Films released the film in the United States in a version cut down to 94 minutes, compared to the full runtime of 125 minutes. The film had 861,627 admissions in France, at AlloCinés review aggregator, it has an average score of 3.0 out of 5 based on 34 French-language reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 62% rating based on ninety-eight reviews, the critical consensus reads as, Mood Indigo is far from Michel Gondrys most compelling work, but it doesnt skimp on the visual whimsy and heartfelt emotion fans have come to expect. It holds a 54/100 on Metacritic, Mood Indigo at the Internet Movie Database
8.
Radiohead
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Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed OBrien, Colin Greenwood and they have worked with producer Nigel Godrich and cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. After signing to EMI in 1991, Radiohead released their debut single Creep in 1992 and it became a worldwide hit after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey. Their popularity and critical standing rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album, despite initially dividing listeners, Kid A was later named the best album of the decade by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and the Times. Radioheads sixth album, Hail to the Thief, mixed rock and electronic music with lyrics inspired by the War on Terror and their subsequent releases have pioneered alternative release platforms such as pay-what-you-want and BitTorrent. Radiohead self-released their seventh album, In Rainbows, as a download for which customers could set their own price, to critical and their eighth album, The King of Limbs, an exploration of rhythm, was developed using extensive looping and sampling. Their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool, prominently featured Jonny Greenwoods orchestral arrangements, Radiohead have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Their work places highly in both polls and critics lists of the best music of the 1990s and 2000s. In 2009, Rolling Stone readers voted the group the second-best artist of the 2000s, the members of Radiohead met while attending Abingdon School, an independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. In 1985, they formed On a Friday, the name referring to the usual rehearsal day in the schools music room. At one point, On a Friday featured a saxophone section, the band disliked the schools strict atmosphere—the headmaster once charged the band for using a rehearsal room on a Sunday—and found solace in the schools music department. They credited their music teacher for introducing them to jazz, film scores, postwar avant-garde music, Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley had an active independent music scene in the late 1980s, but it centred on shoegazing bands such as Ride and Slowdive. Although all but Jonny had left Abingdon by 1987 to attend university, On a Friday continued to rehearse on weekends, in 1991, On a Friday regrouped, sharing a house on the corner of Magdalen Road and Ridgefield Road, Oxford. As On a Friday continued to perform in Oxford, including performances at the Jericho Tavern, record labels. Chris Hufford, Slowdives producer and co-owner of Oxfords Courtyard Studios, impressed, he and his partner Bryce Edge produced a demo tape and became On a Fridays managers, they remain Radioheads managers today. At the labels request, the changed their name, Radiohead was taken from the song Radio Head on the Talking Heads album True Stories. Radiohead recorded their debut release, the Drill EP, with Chris Hufford, released in May 1992, its chart performance was poor. The band enlisted Paul Kolderie and Sean Slade, who had worked with US indie bands Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. to produce their debut album, Radiohead released their debut album, Pablo Honey, in February 1993
9.
Beck
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Beck Hansen, known mononymously as Beck, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is mostly known for his composition, as well as a palette of sonic genres. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his experimental and lo-fi style. Today, he musically encompasses folk, funk, soul, hip hop, alternative rock, country and he has released 12 studio albums, as well as several non-album singles and a book of sheet music. Born in Los Angeles in 1970, Beck grew towards hip-hop and folk in his teens and began to perform locally at coffeehouses and he moved to New York City in 1989 and became involved in the citys small fiery anti-folk movement. Returning to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, he cut his breakthrough single Loser, which became a hit in 1994, and released his first major album, Mellow Gold. Odelay, released in 1996, produced hit singles, topped critic polls and he released the psychedelic Mutations in 1998, and the funk-infused Midnite Vultures in 1999. The soft-acoustic Sea Change in 2002 showcased a more serious Beck and he is reportedly working on a thirteenth studio album, with the singles Dreams and Wow having already been released. Two of Becks most popular and acclaimed recordings are Odelay and Sea Change, the four-time platinum artist has collaborated with several artists and has made several contributions to soundtracks. Beck is married to actress Marissa Ribisi, and is an active Scientologist, Beck was born in Los Angeles, to David Campbell, a Canadian-born musician, and Bibbe Hansen, a visual artist and former Warhol superstar. Bibbes mother was half Jewish, while Bibbes father, Al Hansen, was partly of Norwegian descent, Beck has said that he was raised celebrating Jewish holidays, and that he considers himself Jewish. Becks mother grew up amid New Yorks Andy Warhol Factory art scene of the 1960s, but moved to California at age 17 and his father is a Canadian-born arranger, composer and conductor who worked on hundreds of albums and numerous films. Beck began life in a house near downtown Los Angeles. As a child, he lived in a neighborhood just off Hollywood Boulevard. By the time we left there, they were ripping out miles of houses en masse and building low-rent, giant apartment blocks, the lower-class family struggled financially, moving to Hoover and Ninth Street, a neighborhood populated primarily by Koreans and Salvadorian refugees. He was sent for a time to live with his grandparents in Kansas. Since his paternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister, Beck grew up influenced by church music, Beck also spent time in Europe with his maternal grandfather, Al Hansen, a visual collage artist and a pioneer in the avant-garde Fluxus movement. Beck obtained his first guitar at 16 and became a street musician, during his teens, Beck discovered the music of Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore and X, but remained uninterested in most music outside folk until many years into his career
10.
The Chemical Brothers
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The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo composed of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, originating in Manchester in 1989. Along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, in the UK, they have had six number one albums and 13 top 20 singles, including two number ones. Ed Simons was born in Herne Hill, South London on 9 June 1970 to a barrister mother, Simons two main interests when he was young were aeroplanes and musicals. Simons attended two South London public schools, Alleyns School and Dulwich College, during his school years, he developed a fondness for rare groove and hip hop music, having frequented a club called The Mud Club from the age of 14. By the time he left school, his two main interests were two Manchester bands, New Order and The Smiths. After finishing school with 11 O levels and three A levels, he continued on to history, especially late medieval history, at the University of Manchester. Tom Rowlands, a classmate of Simons, was born on 11 January 1971 in Kingston upon Thames. When Rowlands was very young, his family relocated to Henley-on-Thames and he later attended Reading Blue Coat School in Berkshire. In his early teens, his interest in music broadened to other genres and he described the first Public Enemy album as the record that probably changed his life, and commented that Miuzi Weighs a Ton was one of the most amazing tracks he had ever heard. Rowlands also started collecting hip hop records by artists like Eric B and Schoolly D. Rowlands left school with similar accomplishments to Simons, achieving nine O levels and three A levels. For university, he followed Simons to Manchester primarily to immerse himself in its music scene in general, Rowlands was also in a band called Ariel prior to meeting up with Simons. Ariel was formed in London by Rowlands and his friends Brendan Melck and their first single was Sea of Beats, which was essentially a white label. Before Philip Brown set up Echo Logik Records, their first promo was Bokadilo, other songs, released on 12, included Mustnt Grumble and their most well-known, Rollercoaster. After a year on Echo Logik they signed to the record label deConstruction and they insisted that they get a female singer and they recruited former Xpansions frontwoman Sally Ann Marsh, and after some disappointing songs like Let It Slide the band fell apart. One of the last things Ariel did was the song T Baby which was remixed by the pair, in regards to the remix, Ed stated that Ariel symbolically ended when Deconstruction asked us for a Dust Brothers remix of an Ariel track. That was the nail in the coffin. Tom would later say in a TV interview from 1995, One of the blokes went a bit mad, but now hes back at college, and the other one drives our van. Rowlands and Simons then started to DJ at a club called Naked Under Leather in the back of a pub in 1992, the pair would play hip hop, techno, and house
11.
The White Stripes
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The White Stripes were an American rock duo formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of Jack White and Meg White, after releasing several singles and three albums within the Detroit music scene, The White Stripes rose to prominence in 2002, as part of the garage rock revival scene. The band recorded two albums, Get Behind Me Satan in 2005 and Icky Thump in 2007. The White Stripes used a low-fidelity approach to writing and recording and their music featured a melding of garage rock and blues influences and a raw simplicity of composition, arrangement, and performance. The bands discography consists of six albums, one live album. Their last three albums each won the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album, as a senior in high school, Jack Gillis, met Megan White at the Memphis Smoke—the restaurant where she worked and where he would read his poetry at open mic nights. The two became friends, and began to frequent the shops, local music venues. By this time, Gillis was already playing drums with friends, including his upholstery apprenticeship mentor. In 1994, he got his first professional job as the drummer for the Detroit cowpunk band Goober & the Peas, after a courtship, Gillis and White got married on September 21,1996, contrary to convention, he took his wifes surname. Shortly after, Goober and the Peas broke up, but Jack continued to play in bands, such as the garage punk band The Go, The Hentchmen. In 1997—allegedly on Bastille Day—Meg first began to learn to play the drums, in Jacks words, When she started to play drums with me, just on a lark, it felt liberating and refreshing. There was something in it opened me up. The couple then became a band and, while they considered calling themselves Bazooka and Soda Powder, Jack explained the band names origin this way, Meg loves peppermints, and we were going to call ourselves The Peppermints. But since our last name was White, we decided to call it The White Stripes and it revolved around this childish idea, the ideas kids have—because they are so much better than adult ideas, right. White has explained that used these colors to distract from the fact that they were young. They were also noted for their lack of a bass player, the White Stripes had their first live performance on August 14,1997, at the Gold Dollar bar in Detroit. They began their career as part of the Michigan underground garage rock scene, playing with bands such as The Hentchmen, The Dirtbombs, The Gories. In 1998, Dave Buick—owner of an independent, Detroit-based, garage-punk label called Italy Records—approached the band at a bar, Jack initially declined, believing it would be too expensive, but he eventually reconsidered when he realized that Buick was offering to pay for it
12.
Stowaway in the Sky
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Stowaway in the Sky is a 1960 French family adventure film, directed by Albert Lamorisse. Albert Lamorisse used his ten-year-old son Pascal as the character in the film. The film tells the story of Pascal, a child whos fascinated by his grandfathers lighter-than-air balloon. The older man claims hes invented the best mode of transportation, the altitude, direction, and speed of the balloon are all under the direction of the pilot. As the grand-père takes the balloon on a demonstration, Pascal climbs on board, the balloon travels all around France, Brittany, over the ocean, and over Mont Blanc in the Alps. The land-bound adults have conniptions as the balloon wafts by, yet, jack Lemmon, the narrator of the films English version, was so impressed with the film that he bought the American rights. Wins Venice Film Festival, OCIC Award, Le Voyage en ballon,1960, nominations Venice Film Festival, Golden Lion, Le Voyage en ballon,1960. Stowaway in the Sky at the Internet Movie Database, stowaway in the Sky at AllMovie
13.
Music video
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A music video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys or marketing campaigns for food, although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by terms including illustrated song, filmed insert, promotional film, promotional clip, promotional video, song video. Music videos use a range of styles of contemporary videomaking techniques, including animation, live action filming, documentaries. Some music videos blend different styles, such as animation, music, combining these styles and techniques has become more popular because of the variation it presents to the audience. Many music videos interpret images and scenes from the songs lyrics, other music videos may be without a set concept, being merely a filmed version of the songs live performance. Product placement is a technique in music videos, exemplified by the appearance of the Beats Pill in numerous hip hop videos. In 1894, sheet music publishers Edward B, marks and Joe Stern hired electrician George Thomas and various performers to promote sales of their song The Little Lost Child. Using a magic lantern, Thomas projected a series of images on a screen simultaneous to live performances. This would become a form of entertainment known as the illustrated song. In 1926, with the arrival of many musical short films were produced. Vitaphone shorts featured many bands, vocalists and dancers, early 1930s cartoons featured popular musicians performing their hit songs on-camera in live-action segments during the cartoons. The early animated films by Walt Disney, such as the Silly Symphonies shorts and especially Fantasia, the Warner Brothers cartoons, even today billed as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, were initially fashioned around specific songs from upcoming Warner Brothers musical films. Live action musical shorts, featuring such performers as Cab Calloway, were also distributed to theaters. Blues singer Bessie Smith appeared in a short film called St. Louis Blues featuring a dramatized performance of the hit song. Numerous other musicians appeared in short musical subjects during this period, soundies, produced and released from 1940 to 1947, were musical films that often included short dance sequences, similar to later music videos
14.
Human Behaviour
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Human Behaviour is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk from her album Debut. The song was released in June 1993, the song was produced by Björks longtime collaborator Nellee Hooper. Human Behaviour is an art pop song with lyrics reflecting upon human nature, the song and music video were inspired by British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough. Critics praised Human Behaviour and deemed it a highlight of the album, the song was an underground smash, which peaked at number two on the dance charts and reached number 36 in the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry and is the first time the two collaborated, the video, as the song, is a story about the relation between humans and animals, from the animal point of view. Human Behaviour was written by Nellee Hooper and Björk, and was produced by Hooper, the song was first written in 1988 when Björk was still the leading singer of The Sugarcubes, but she decided not to release it with the band. The song was inspired by David Attenborough documentaries and by the relation between humans and animals, Björk explained to Rolling Stone, talking about the inspiration for the song, Human Behaviour is an animals point of view on humans. And the animals are definitely supposed to win in the end, the song was also inspired by the riff from Ray Brown Orchestras Go Down Dying. This is the first song on the Isobel song cycle, a cycle in Björks discography which goes from Human Behaviour to Wanderlust. The B-side contained in the edition of the single is the reggae-influenced Atlantic. Its lyrics talks about Björks family, My son has eight grandmothers and eight grandfathers and its about the love, Human Behaviour bears influences from electronica, alternative rock and alternative dance. The melody-line of Human Behaviour was originally called Murder for Two, however, the band didnt know what music to play to the melody-line, so Björk used it for her debut album. The percussion intro is a mix between African and Asian rhythms and contains a sample from Go Down Dying by Brazilian artist Antonio Carlos Jobim, the song opens with sounds of drums and snapping, during the second verse a bass is heard. Björk sings the bridge accompanied by strings, the song continues with a keyboard solo and finishes as Björk sings Theres definitely, definitely, definitely no logic/Human. In the album version, as the song out, the second track Crying begins. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry, and this was the first time he, Björk talked about the video in an interview with Rolling Stone, Human Behaviour is an animals point of view on humans. And the animals are definitely supposed to win in the end, so why, one might ask, is the conquering bear presented as a man-made toy. I guess I just didnt think it would be fair to force an animal to act in a video, I mean, that would be an extension of what Im against
15.
Daft Punk
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Daft Punk are a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. The duo were managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter, the duo released their debut studio album Homework through Virgin Records in 1997 to highly positive reviews. The duos next album Discovery was even more successful, driven by the release of the hit singles One More Time, Digital Love, in March 2005, the duo released their third album Human After All to mixed reviews. However, the singles Robot Rock and Technologic achieved considerable success in the United Kingdom, Daft Punk toured throughout 2006 and 2007 and released the live album Alive 2007, which won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. The duo later composed the score for the Disney film Tron, Legacy in 2010, in January 2013, Daft Punk left Virgin for Columbia Records, and released their next album Random Access Memories in 2013 to worldwide critical acclaim. The albums lead single Get Lucky became a success, peaking on top 10 charts in 32 countries. Random Access Memories won five Grammy Awards in 2014, including Album of the Year, Daft Punk later gained their first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 with the song Starboy, a collaboration with The Weeknd. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo met in 1987 while attending the Lycée Carnot, the two became good friends and later recorded demo tracks with others from the school. This eventually led to the formation of the group called Darlin with Laurent Brancowitz in 1992. Bangalter and de Homem-Christo played bass and guitar, respectively, while Brancowitz performed on drums, the trio had branded themselves after The Beach Boys song of the same name, which they covered along with an original composition. Stereolab released both tracks on a multi-artist Duophonic Records EP and invited the band to open for stage shows in the United Kingdom, Bangalter felt that The rock n roll thing we did was pretty average, I think. It was so brief, maybe six months, four songs, a negative review in Melody Maker by Dave Jennings subsequently dubbed the music a daft punky thrash. Instead of dismissing the review, they found it amusing, as de Homem-Christo stated, We struggled so long to find Darlin, and this happened so quickly. Darlin soon disbanded, leaving Brancowitz to pursue other efforts with Phoenix, Bangalter and de Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk and experimented with drum machines and synthesisers. In September 1993, Daft Punk attended a rave at EuroDisney, the demo tape given to Macmillan at the rave formed the basis for Daft Punks debut single, The New Wave, a limited release in 1994. The single also contained the final mix of The New Wave called Alive, Daft Punk returned to the studio in May 1995 to record Da Funk. It became the duos first commercially successful single the same year, after the success of Da Funk, Daft Punk looked to find a manager. The duo eventually settled on Pedro Winter, who promoted them
16.
The Vines (band)
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The Vines are an Australian rock band formed in 1994 in Sydney. Their sound has been described as a hybrid of 1960s garage rock. The bands current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Craig Nicholls, bass guitarist Tim John, in 2003, the album went platinum in Australia, and since then the band has released four albums and a best-of compilation from their time at Capitol Records. The Vines have released six albums to date. They were soon joined by Matthews school friend David Olliffe on drums, the name Rishikesh, suggested by Olliffe, refers to the Indian city where the Beatles visited an ashram in 1968. The local newspapers regularly misprinted the name as Rishi Chasms, so Nicholls suggested a new name, the Vines, as an homage to his father, the group started performing Nirvana and You Am I covers at backyard parties while developing their sound on Nicholls four-track recorder. Over the next few years, the Vines gigged infrequently and remained unknown, even in their hometown. On the strength of their demo, Rex Records put out what was to be their first single, Factory, the release became NMEs Single of the Week in November 2001. In July 2001, the band flew to Los Angeles to start recording their album, Highly Evolved. David Olliffe was replaced a few months later as a result of increasing record company interest, and the band hadwith session drummers such as Joey Waronker of R. E. M. Their debut single, Factory was released in November 2001 in the UK and gained a good response in the press, the band then signed to Heavenly Records in the UK in December 2001 and EMI in Australia in April 2002. The single Highly Evolved earned them critical acclaim as NME made it a single of the week in March 2002. The single charted in the UK at number 32 on the singles chart, the band appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in October 2002 with the words Rock is Back, Meet the Vines boldly emblazoned underneath. The release of the album saw more success, with the band appearing on the cover of NME. The album reached number 11 in the U. S. Billboard Hot 100 albums chart, the band played high-profile slots on the Late Show with David Letterman and the MTV Video Music Awards. Several more singles were released from the album, including Get Free, a fourth single, Homesick, was released in Australia only. The band went on to win an ARIA Award, Breakthrough Artist – Single, for Get Free in 2002, and were nominated for Best Group, Best Rock Album, Best Cover Art, and Breakthrough Artist – Album. Highly Evolved sold 1.5 million copies throughout the world with distribution through Capitol Records, by end of 2003, the album went platinum in Australia
