1.
Errol Morris
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Errol Mark Morris is an American film director primarily of documentaries examining and investigating, among other things, authorities and eccentrics. He is perhaps best known and most revered for his 1988 documentary The Thin Blue Line, in 2003, his documentary film The Fog of War, Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. He has also made short films under contract for the controversial lab diagnostic company Theranos, Morris was born on February 5,1948, and raised in a Jewish family in Hewlett, New York. After being treated for strabismus in childhood, he refused to wear an eye patch, as a consequence, he has limited sight in one eye and lacks normal stereoscopic vision. In the 10th grade, Morris attended The Putney School, a school in Vermont. He began playing the cello, spending a summer in France studying music under the acclaimed Nadia Boulanger, Morris attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Morris graduated in 1969 with a B. A. in history, for a brief time Morris held small jobs, first as a cable television salesman and then as a term-paper writer. His unorthodox approach to applying for grad school included trying to get accepted at different graduate schools just by showing up on their doorstep and his concentration was in the history of physics, and he was bored and unsuccessful in the prerequisite physics classes he had to take. This, together with his relationship with his advisor Thomas Kuhn ensured that his stay at Princeton would be short. Morris left Princeton in 1972, enrolling at Berkeley as a Ph. D. student in philosophy, at Berkeley, he once again found that he was not well-suited to his subject. Berkeley was just a world of pedants, I spent two or three years in the philosophy program. I have very bad feelings about it, he later said and he became a regular at the Pacific Film Archive. As Tom Luddy, the director of the archive at the time, later remembered and he claimed we werent showing the real film noir. So I challenged him to write the program notes, then, there was his habit of sneaking into the films and denying that he was sneaking in. I told him if he was sneaking in he should at least admit he was doing it, inspired by Hitchcocks Psycho, Morris visited Plainfield, Wisconsin in 1975. While in Wisconsin, he conducted interviews with Ed Gein. Herzog arrived on schedule, but Morris had second thoughts and was not there, Herzog did not open the grave. Morris later returned to Plainfield, this time staying for almost a year, although he had plans to either write a book or make a film, Morris never completed his Ed Gein project
2.
Danny Elfman
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Daniel Robert Danny Elfman is an American composer, singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 1976 Elfman entered the industry as an actor. In 1982 he scored his first film, Forbidden Zone, directed by his older brother Richard Elfman, among his honours are four Academy Award nominations, a Grammy for Batman, an Emmy for Desperate Housewives, the 2002 Richard Kirk Award, and the Disney Legend Award. Danny Elfman was born on May 29,1953 in Los Angeles and he is the son of Blossom Elfman, a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a teacher who was in the Air Force. He was raised in a racially mixed affluent community in Baldwin Hills and he spent much of his time in the neighborhoods local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman. Stating that he hung out with the band geeks in high school, after dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. He was never officially a student at the CalArts, nonetheless, Elfman stated, He just laughed, and said, Sit. I continued to sit and play for a couple years, at this time, his brother Richard was forming a new musical theater group. In 1972 Richard Elfman founded the American new wave band/performance art group and they played several shows throughout the 1970s until Richard Elfman left the band to become a filmmaker. As a send-off to the original concept, Richard Elfman created the film Forbidden Zone based on their stage performances. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan, by the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group. From 1976 and on, it was led by Danny Elfman, the semi-theatrical music and comedy troupe had transformed into a ska-influenced new wave band in 1979, and then changed again towards a more guitar-oriented rock sound, in the late 1980s. Oingo Boingo, still led by Danny Elfman, performed as themselves in the 1986 movie Back to School, in 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wees Big Adventure. Elfman also provided the voice for Jack Skellington in Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas. Years later he provided the voice for Bonejangles the skeleton in Corpse Bride and the voices of the Oompa-Loompas in Charlie, one of Elfmans notable compositions is The Simpsons Theme. He composed the theme in 1989, and it has been in use ever since, in 2002 Elfman composed the opening theme for the Sam Raimi Spider-Man series. This as well as altered versions made its way to all 3 Spider-Man movies, in 2004 Elfman composed Serenada Schizophrana for the American Composers Orchestra. It was conducted by John Mauceri on its recording and by Steven Sloane at its premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York City on February 23,2005, after its premiere, it was recorded in studio and released onto SACD on October 3,2006
3.
Participant Media
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Participant Media is an American film production company founded in 2004 by Jeffrey Skoll, dedicated to entertainment that inspires and compels social change. The company finances and co-produces films, and its hub, TakePart serves millions of socially conscious consumers each month with daily articles, videos. The companys name descriptively politicizes its basis on currently topical subjects presented to induce awareness in social aspects. The company has produced, financed, or co-produced over 75 films and its films have been nominated for 50 Academy Awards, and have won 11, including Best Picture for Spotlight. The company was founded in January 2004 as Participant Productions by Jeffrey Skoll, with $100 million in cash from Skolls personal funds, Skoll was the companys first chief executive officer, but stepped down from that position in August 2006. Participant Productions initial plans were to produce four to six films per year, the company focused on films in six areas – the environment, health care, human rights, institutional responsibility, peace and tolerance, and social and economic justice. It evaluated projects by running them past its creative executives first, assessing their cost and commercial viability second, once the decision was made to go ahead with production, the company reached out to non-profit organizations to ask them to build campaigns around the release. In some cases, the studio has spent years creating positive word-of-mouth with advocacy groups, the new company quickly announced an ambitious slate of productions. Its first film was the drama film American Gun, with equity partner IFC Films, two weeks later, the company announced a co-production deal with Warner Bros. on two films – the geopolitical thriller film Syriana and the drama film Class Action (later re-titled North Country. Participant Productions contributed half the budget of each film and its fourth production, a documentary film, was announced in November 2004. In 2005, the company suffered its first stumble and it again agreed to co-finance a picture with Warner Bros. this time Vadim Perelmans second feature, Truce. Although Perelman claimed he had never been moved by a script to such an extent, North Country did poorly at the box office despite having recent Academy Award-winner Charlize Theron in the lead. The World According to Sesame Street never found a distributor for theatrical release, the company announced in March 2005 that it would executive co-produce the Warner Bros. drama film Good Night, and Good Luck. A month later, it bought the rights to the documentary film Murderball in return for an equity stake in the film. It also executive produced and co-financed Al Gores global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, as heavier production scheduling grew, the company added staff. Ricky Strauss was named first president in March 2005, with oversight of production, marketing, diane Weyermann, director of the Sundance Institutes Documentary Film Program, joined the company in October 2005 as Executive Vice President of Documentary Production. The companys non-film-production efforts continued to grow as well, the company provided an undisclosed amount of financing in February 2005 to film distributor Emerging Pictures to finance that companys national network of digitally equipped cinemas. The company had a very successful 2005 awards season, with eleven Academy Award nominations, Good Night, and Good Luck garnered six nominations, including Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Original Screenplay
4.
Sony Pictures Classics
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Sony Pictures Classics is a film production and distribution studio division of Sony Pictures founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, and Marcie Bloom. It distributes, produces and acquires specialty films such as documentaries, independent and art films in the United States, as of 2015, Barker and Bernard are co-presidents of the division. Sony Pictures Classics was founded on January 1,1992, by Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, the model of the company is to produce, acquire and/or distribute independent films from the United States and internationally. Sony Pictures Classics has a history of making investments for small films. It has a history of not overspending and its largest commercial success of the 2010s is Woody Allens Midnight in Paris, which grossed over $56 million in the U. S. becoming Allens highest-grossing film ever in the United States. Leviathan Love Is Strange The Lunchbox Magic in the Moonlight Mr
5.
Documentary film
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A documentary film is a nonfictional motion picture intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record. Documentary has been described as a practice, a cinematic tradition. Polish writer and filmmaker Bolesław Matuszewski was among those who identified the mode of documentary film and he wrote two of the earliest texts on cinema Une nouvelle source de lhistoire and La photographie animée. Both were published in 1898 in French and among the written works to consider the historical. Matuszewski is also among the first filmmakers to propose the creation of a Film Archive to collect, the American film critic Pare Lorentz defines a documentary film as a factual film which is dramatic. Others further state that a documentary stands out from the types of non-fiction films for providing an opinion. Documentary practice is the process of creating documentary projects. Documentary filmmaking can be used as a form of journalism, advocacy, early film was dominated by the novelty of showing an event. They were single-shot moments captured on film, a train entering a station and these short films were called actuality films, the term documentary was not coined until 1926. Many of the first films, such as made by Auguste and Louis Lumière, were a minute or less in length. Films showing many people were made for commercial reasons, the people being filmed were eager to see, for payment. One notable film clocked in at over an hour and a half, using pioneering film-looping technology, Enoch J. Rector presented the entirety of a famous 1897 prize-fight on cinema screens across the United States, in May 1896, Bolesław Matuszewski recorded on film few surigical operations in Warsaw and Saint Petersburg hospitals. In 1898, French surgeon Eugène-Louis Doyen invited Bolesław Matuszewski and Clément Maurice and they started in Paris a series of surgical films sometime before July 1898. Until 1906, the year of his last film, Doyen recorded more than 60 operations, Doyen said that his first films taught him how to correct professional errors he had been unaware of. These and five other of Doyens films survive, all these short films have been preserved. I must say I forgot those works and I am thankful to you that you reminded them to me, unfortunately, not many scientists have followed your way. Travelogue films were popular in the early part of the 20th century
6.
Military police
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Military police are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In the Second World War, the police of the German Army still used a metal gorget as an emblem. Naval police members are sometimes called masters-at-arms and shore patrol, Military police in Brazil has two meanings. There are provost corps for each of the Brazilian Armed Forces, Army Police for the Army, Navy Police for the Navy, the second type are the civilian preventative police, with military organization comparable to gendarmerie, called the Military Police. Each State has their own Military Police, there is also a joint National Public Security Force, created in 1999. This force is composed of the most qualified State Military Police personnel from all the states and they have the power to arrest anyone who is subject to the Code of Service Discipline, regardless of position or rank under the National Defence Act. If in fact a crime is committed on or in relation to DND property or assets, MP have the power to arrest and charge the offender, military or civilian, under the Criminal Code. It is important to note though that the purpose of the CFMP is not to replace the job of a police officer. MP also have the power to enforce the Provincial Highway Traffic Acts on all military bases in Canada pursuant to the Government Property Traffic Regulations, in Colombia, MPs are very common. They can be seen guarding closed roads, museums, embassies, government buildings, in the National Army of Colombia they are assigned to the 37 Military Police Battalions, wearing green uniforms with the military police helmet. A Naval Police battalion is in service in the Colombian Marine Corps, Each branch of the military of the United States maintains its own police force. The U. S. CGIS primarily investigates and charges those in its own population with serious crimes, such as rape, assault or forgery, Navy, designated as Naval Security Force, primarily responsible for law enforcement and force protection. NSF personnel are led by Naval commissioned officers from the Limited Duty Officer and Chief Warrant Officer communities, additionally, a host installations Security Force are augmented by Sailors on Temporary Assignment of Duty from their parent units, as part of the Auxiliary Security Force. Prior to the 1970s, Master-at-Arms and Shore Patrol were used synonymously to refer to Sailors assigned to law enforcement. Air Force Security Forces —United States Air Force Each service also maintains uniformed civilian police departments and they are referred to as Department of Defense Police. These police fall under each directorate they work for within the United States Department of Defense, for example, the Department of the Air Force Police operate under the Air Provost Marshal. The police officers duties are similar to those of civilian police officers. They enforce the Uniform Code of Military Justice, federal and state laws, the United States Constabulary was a gendarmerie force used to secure and patrol the American Zone of West Germany immediately after World War II
7.
Abu Ghraib prison
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The Baghdad Central Prison, formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison was a prison complex in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km west of Baghdad. The prison was built by British contractors in the 1950s, the prison held as many as 15,000 inmates in 2001. In 2002, Saddam Husseins government began a project to add six new cellblocks to the prison. In October 2002, he gave amnesty to most prisoners in Iraq, after the prisoners were released and the prison was left empty, it was vandalized and looted. Almost all of the documents relating to prisoners were piled and burnt inside of prison offices and cells, known mass-graves related to Abu Ghraib include, Khan Dhari, west of Baghdad - Mass grave with the bodies of political prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Fifteen victims were executed on 26 December 1998 and buried by prison authorities under the cover of darkness, al-Zahedi, on the western outskirts of Baghdad - Secret graves near a civilian cemetery contain the remains of nearly 1,000 political prisoners. According to an eyewitness,10 to 15 bodies arrived at a time from the Abu Ghraib prison and were buried by local civilians, an execution on 10 December 1999 in Abu Ghraib claimed the lives of 101 people in one day. On 9 March 2000,58 prisoners were killed at a time, the last corpse interred was number 993. Until August 2006, the known as the Abu Ghraib prison was used for detention purposes by both the U. S. -led coalition occupying Iraq and the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has controlled the area of the facility known as The Hard Site, the prison was used to house only convicted criminals. Suspected criminals, insurgents or those arrested and awaiting trial were held at other facilities, the U. S. housed all its detainees at Camp Redemption, which is divided into five security levels. This camp built in the summer of 2004 replaced the three-level setup of Camp Ganci, Camp Vigilant, the remainder of the facility was occupied by the U. S. military. Abu Ghraib served as both a FOB and a detention facility, when the U. S. military was using the Abu Ghraib prison as a detention facility, it housed approximately 7,490 prisoners there in March 2004. The U. S. military initially held all persons of interest in Camp Redemption, some were suspected rebels, and some suspected criminals. Those convicted by trial in Iraqi court are transferred to the Iraqi-run Hard Site, the story included photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners. The events created a political scandal within the U. S. On April 20,2004, insurgents fired 40 mortar rounds into the prison, killing 24 detainees, commentators thought the attack was either an attempt to incite a riot or retribution for detainees cooperating with the United States. In May 2004, the U. S. -led coalition embarked on a policy to reduce numbers to fewer than 2,000
8.
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse
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These violations included physical and sexual abuse, torture, rape, sodomy, and murder. The abuses came to public attention with the publication of photographs of the abuse by CBS News in April 2004. The incidents received widespread condemnation both within the United States and abroad, although the soldiers received support from conservative media within the United States. The administration of George W. Bush attempted to portray the abuses as isolated incidents and this was contradicted by humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. Several scholars stated that the abuses constituted state-sanctioned crimes, the United States Department of Defense removed seventeen soldiers and officers from duty, and eleven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery. Between May 2004 and March 2006, these soldiers were convicted in courts-martial, sentenced to military prison, two soldiers, Specialist Charles Graner and PFC Lynndie England, were sentenced to ten and three years in prison, respectively. Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, the officer of all detention facilities in Iraq, was reprimanded and demoted to the rank of colonel. Several more military personnel who were accused of perpetrating or authorizing the measures, documents popularly known as the Torture Memos came to light a few years later. The memoranda also argued that international humanitarian laws, such as the Geneva Conventions, several subsequent U. S. Supreme Court decisions, including Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, have overturned Bush administration policy, and ruled that Geneva Conventions apply. The September 11 Attacks in the United States led to demands from the public that US president George Bush take actions that would prevent further attacks and this pressure led to the launch of the War on Terror. In addition, these tactics created the perception that the techniques used in the cold war would not be of much use. US vice-president Dick Cheney stated, for example, that the US to work sort of on the side. The Iraq War began in March 2003 as an invasion of Baathist Iraq by a led by the United States. The Baathist government led by Saddam Hussein was toppled within a month and this conflict was followed by a longer phase of fighting in which an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. During this insurgency, the United States was in the role of an occupying power, the Abu Ghraib prison in the town of Abu Ghraib was one of the most notorious prisons in Iraq during the government of Saddam Hussein. The prison was used to hold approximately 50,000 men and women in poor conditions, the prison was located on 280 acres of land 32 kilometers west of Baghdad. After the collapse of Saddam Husseins government, the prison was looted, following the invasion, the U. S. army refurbished it and turned it into a military prison. It was the largest of several centers in Iraq used by the U. S. military
9.
Janis Karpinski
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Janis Leigh Karpinski is a career officer in the US Army Reserve, now retired. She is notable for having commanded the forces that operated Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, at the time of the related to torture. She commanded three prisons in Iraq, and the forces that ran them. S, in June 2003, during the U. S. Karpinski was also given command of the National Guard and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of Mosul. In January 2004, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands, an investigation was started into the abuse at Abu Ghraib, and Karpinski left Iraq for reasons that were explained at the time as part of routine troop rotations. On April 8,2005 Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade, on May 5,2005, President George W. Bush approved Karpinskis demotion to Colonel from the rank of Brigadier General. Her demotion was not officially related to the abuse at Abu Ghraib and she said her demotion was political retribution. Haynes, the General Counsel of DOD, and finally revealed in 2008 as a result of a Senate hearing into enhanced interrogation techniques, Karpinski was commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant in 1977. She was awarded a Bronze Star, in 1987 she moved from the regular Army to the Army Reserve. In the private sector, she became a consultant who ran military-styled training programs for executives and she is married to George Karpinski, a Lieutenant Colonel at the Oman US embassy. In June 2003, during the U. S. -led occupation of Iraq and this put her in charge of the fifteen detention facilities in southern and central Iraq run by Coalition forces. She had no experience running correctional facilities, Karpinski was also given command of the National Guard and Army reserve units in the Iraqi city of Mosul who handled prisoners. Most of the forces had no training in handling prisoners, but at least two of the guardsmen later convicted of prisoner abuse had lengthy civilian experience as prison guards. In September 2003, Karpinski led US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on a tour of the Abu Ghraib prison to demonstrate the way it had used by Saddam Hussein to torture his enemies. In October 2003, allegations of torture in the US-managed Iraqi prisons began to surface, Karpinski insisted that prisoners under her watch were treated humanely and fairly. In an interview with the St, in January 2004, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez formally suspended Karpinski and 16 other soldiers with undisclosed reprimands. An investigation was started into the abuse, Karpinski was reassigned in what was said at the time to be part of routine troop rotations. In July 2003, Karpinski stated she had evidence Israelis were involved in interrogations, on April 8,2005, Karpinski was formally relieved of command of the 800th Military Police Brigade. On May 5,2005, President Bush approved Karpinskis demotion to Colonel from the rank of Brigadier General and her demotion was not officially related to the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison
10.
Brigadier general (United States)
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In the United States Armed Forces, brigadier general is a one-star general officer with the pay grade of O-7 in the U. S. Army, U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Air Force. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general, the rank of brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services. The rank of brigadier general has existed in the U. S. military since the inception of the Continental Army in June 1775, later, on June 18,1780, it was prescribed that brigadier generals would instead wear a single silver star on each epaulette. At first, brigadier generals were infantry officers who commanded a brigade, however, over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the responsibilities of the rank expanded significantly. During the period from March 16,1802, to January 11,1812, foreseeing the need for an expanded general staff in case of war, which seemed imminent, Congress restored the rank of major general in January 1812. The first brigadier general in the U. S. Marine Corps was Commandant Archibald Henderson, the insignia for a brigadier general is one silver star worn on the shoulder or collar, and has not changed since the creation of the rank two centuries ago. Since the Mexican-American War, however, the rank of colonel has been the normal rank appointed to command a brigade that is organic to a division. In an infantry brigade not organic to a division, a brigadier general serves as the units commander, an Air Force brigadier general typically commands a large wing. Additionally, one-star officers of all services may serve as staff officers in large military organizations. U. S. Code of law explicitly limits the number of general officers who may be on active duty. The total of active duty general officers is capped at 230 for the Army,60 for the Marine Corps, the President or Secretary of Defense may increase the number of general slots in one branch, so long as they subtract an equal number from another. Some of these slots are reserved by statute, for promotion to the permanent grade of brigadier general, eligible officers are screened by a promotion board consisting of general officers from their branch of service. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank and this list is then sent to the service secretary and the joint chiefs for review before it can be sent to the President, through the defense secretary, for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary, and if applicable. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, the Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once the nominee is confirmed, they are promoted to that once they assume or hold an office that requires or allows an officer of that rank. For positions of office reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position, for all three uniformed services, because the grade of brigadier general is a permanent rank, the nominee may still be screened by an in-service promotion board. The rank does not expire when the officer vacates a one-star position, tour length varies depending on the position, by statute, or when the officer receives a new assignment
11.
CACI
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CACI International Inc, is an American multinational professional services and information technology company headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. CACI provides services to many branches of the government including defense, homeland security, intelligence. CACI has approximately 20,000 employees worldwide, CACI is a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 2000 index, and the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. CACI was founded by Herb Karr and Harry Markowitz, who left RAND Corporation in 1962 to commercialize the SIMSCRIPT simulation programming language, the company went public in 1968. CACI, which was originally an acronym for California Analysis Center, Incorporated, was changed to stand for Consolidated Analysis Center, in 1973, the acronym alone was adopted as the firms official name, reflecting the name customers had grown familiar with. In 1975 CACI Limited was founded in the UK, on June 9,2004, a group of 256 Iraqis sued CACI International and Titan Corporation in U. S. federal court. The U. S. Government had hired CACI and Titan to provide interrogation and translation services at military prisons in Iraq, CACI employees Joe Ryan and Steven Stephanowicz were investigated in the Taguba inquiry. Further, investigators found the CACI interrogator encouraged Military Policemen to terrorize inmates, according to CACIs website, the company provided a range of Information Technology and intelligence services in Iraq. Only a small portion of employees worked as interrogators. CACI also adds that they are no longer providing interrogation services in Iraq, CACI also adds nonetheless, we do not condone, tolerate or endorse any illegal behavior by our employees in any circumstance or at any time. CACI further claims a March 2005 report by US Navy Inspector General, church shows that despite the publicity surrounding Abu Ghraib, we found very few instances of abuse involving contractors. CACI Chairman of the Board Dr. Jack London defended the company with a book, CACI, Our Good Name. On August 26,2005, Randi Rhodes, a host for the Air America talk radio program, CACI sued Air America and its parent company, Piquant LLC, for allegedly making false and defamatory charges. CACI sought $1M in compensatory damages and $10M in punitive damages, the claim was dismissed by a US District Court judge on September 21,2006. CACI pursued an appeal, having received permission to do so from a bankruptcy court, one of these former inmates, Emad al-Janabi, sued L-3 and CACI for allowing their employees to abuse him physically and mentally at the prison. On March 19,2009, US District Judge Gerald Bruce rejected claims by CACI that it could not be sued because its interrogators were performing duties prescribed by the contract with the US government. On September 11,2009, the U. S. Court of Appeals ruled that CACI did in fact fall under US military chain of command and thus had government contractor immunity. In October 2010, the U. S. Supreme Court considered hearing an appeal, in the meantime, CACI and L-3 continued to argue in federal appellate court for civil immunity, as clients of the federal government in national defense
12.
Sabrina Harman
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Harman with other soldiers were tried for allowing and inflicting sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of Iraqi prisoners of war. Harman held the rank of specialist in the 372nd Military Police company during her tour of duty in Iraq and she was sentenced to six months in prison and a bad conduct discharge. Harman was imprisoned in the Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar in San Diego, Harman was born in Lorton, Virginia. Her father was a detective, and the family often saw photos of dead people at crime scenes. Harmans mother, Robin, has described as a forensics buff. Harman graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, after the September 11,2001 attacks, Harman joined the Army Reserves and was assigned to the Cresaptown, Maryland-based 372nd Military Police company. While Harman acknowledged that she knew there was a lot of wrong being done, a letter home quoted in The New Yorker, Oct 20,0310, 40pm Kelly, Okay, I dont like that anymore. At first it was funny but these people are going too far, I ended your letter last night because it was time to wake the MI prisoners and mess with them but it went too far even I cant handle whats going on. I cant get it out of my head, I walk down stairs after blowing the whistle and beating on the cells with an asp to find the taxicab driver handcuffed backwards to his window with some underwear over his head and face. At first I had to laugh so I went on and grabbed the camera, again I thought, okay thats funny then it hit me, thats a form of molestation. I took more pictures now to record what is going on and they started talking to this man and at first he was talking Im just a taxicab driver, I did nothing. He claims hed never try to hurt US soldiers that he picked up the wrong people and they turned the lights out and slammed the door and left him there while they went down to cell #4. This man had been so fucked that when they grabbed his foot through the bars he began screaming and crying. After praying to Allah he moans a constant short Ah, Ah every few seconds for the rest of the night, I dont know what they did to this guy. The first one remained handcuffed for maybe 1 ½-2 hours until he started yelling for Allah, so they went back in and handcuffed him to the top bunk on either side of the bed while he stood on the side. He was there for a little over an hour when he started yelling again for Allah, not many people know this shit goes on. The only reason I want to be there is to get the pictures, but I dont know if I can take it mentally. What if that was me in their shoes and these people will be our future terrorist
13.
Sergeant
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Sergeant is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. Its origin is the Latin serviens, one who serves, through the French term sergent, the term sergeant refers to a non-commissioned officer placed above the rank of a corporal and a police officer immediately below a lieutenant. In most armies the rank of sergeant corresponds to command of a squad, in Commonwealth armies, it is a more senior rank, corresponding roughly to a platoon second-in-command. In the United States Army, sergeant is a junior rank corresponding to a four-soldier fireteam leader. More senior non-commissioned ranks are often variations on sergeant, for example staff sergeant, many countries use sergeant rank, whether in English or using a cognate with the same origin in another language. The equivalent rank in Arab armies is raqeeb, meaning overseer or watcher, in medieval European usage, a sergeant was simply any attendant or officer with a protective duty. Any medieval knight or military order of knighthood might have sergeants-at-arms, the etymology of the term is from Anglo-French sergant, serjant servant, valet, court official, soldier, from Middle Latin servientem servant, vassal, soldier. Later, a sergeant was a man of what would now be thought of as the middle class. Sergeants could fight either as heavy to light cavalry, or as well trained professional infantry, most notable medieval mercenaries fell into the sergeant class, such as Flemish crossbowmen and spearmen, who were seen as reliable quality troops. The sergeant class was deemed to be half of a knight in military value. A specific kind of military sergeant was the serjeant-at-arms, one of a body of armed men retained by English lords, the title is now given to an officer in modern legislative bodies who is charged with keeping order during meetings and, if necessary, forcibly removing disruptive members. The responsibilities of a sergeant differ from army to army, there are usually several ranks of sergeant, each corresponding to greater experience and responsibility for the daily lives of the soldiers of larger units. Sergeant is a rank in both the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force, the ranks are equivalent to each other and the Royal Australian Navy rank of petty officer. The Australian Army rank of sergeant is now redundant and is no longer awarded, due to being outside the rank equivalencies. Chief petty officers and flight sergeants are not required to call a warrant officer class two sir in accordance with Australian Defence Force Regulations 1952. The rank of sergeant exists in all Australian police forces and is more senior than a constable or senior constable, New South Wales Police Force, for example, has the additional rank of incremental sergeant. This is a progression, following appointment as a sergeant for seven years. An incremental sergeant rank is less senior than a senior sergeant but is more senior than a sergeant, upon appointment as a sergeant or senior sergeant, the sergeant is given a warrant of appointment under the commissioners hand and seal
14.
Lynndie England
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She was sentenced to three years in prison and dishonorably discharged from the army. England served her sentence from 2005 to 2007, when she was released on parole. Born in Ashland, Kentucky, England moved with her family to Fort Ashby, West Virginia, when she was two years old. She grew up in a park as the daughter of a railroad worker, Kenneth R. England Jr. who worked at the station in nearby Cumberland, Maryland. She aspired to be a storm chaser, as a young child, England was diagnosed with selective mutism. England joined the United States Army Reserve in Cumberland in 1999 while she was a junior at Frankfort High School near Short Gap. England worked as a cashier in an IGA store during her year of high school and married a co-worker, James L. Fike, in 2002. At the time of her marriage, Xavier Amador alleges that she was an Evangelical Christian, England also wished to earn money for college, so that she could become a storm chaser. She was also a member of the Future Farmers of America, after graduating from Frankfort High School in 2001, she worked a night job in a chicken-processing factory in Moorefield. She was sent to Iraq in June 2003, England was engaged to fellow reservist Charles Graner. In 2004, she gave birth to a son fathered by him at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, on July 9,2007, England was appointed to the Keyser volunteer recreation board. As of 2009 England is on antidepressant medication and also has post-traumatic stress disorder, while it has been difficult for her to find a job, as of 2013 she has found seasonal employment as a secretary. England held the rank of Specialist while serving in Iraq, along with other soldiers, she was found guilty of inflicting sexual, physical and psychological abuse on Iraqi prisoners of war. England faced a general court-martial in September 2005 on charges of conspiracy to maltreat prisoners, even before England was formally charged, she was transferred to the U. S. military installation at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on March 18,2004, because of her pregnancy. On April 30,2005, England agreed to guilty to abuse charges. Her plea bargain would have reduced her sentence from 16 years to 11 years had it been accepted by the military judge. She would have pleaded guilty to four counts of maltreating prisoners, in exchange, prosecutors would have dropped two other charges, committing indecent acts and failure to obey a lawful order. At her trial in May 2005, Colonel James Pohl declared a mistrial on the grounds that he could not accept her plea of guilty under a plea-bargain to a charge of conspiring with Spc
15.
Private first class
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Private first class is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel. In the United States Army, recruits usually enter service as a private, Private, designated by a single chevron, is typically an automatic promotion after six months of service. Private first class, equivalent to NATO grade OR-3, is designated by a single chevron, soldiers who have achieved an associate degree or its equivalent are entitled to enter the Army at this pay grade. Advancement from private first class is typically to specialist, although occasionally it may be to corporal, the rank of private first class has existed since 1846 and, prior to 1919, its insignia consisted of the branch of service insignia without any arcs or chevrons. The Secretary of War approved an arc of one bar under the branch of service or trade insignia for privates first class on 22 July 1919. From August 5,1920 to May 28,1968, the insignia for private first class was a single chevron. On May 28,1968, the insignia was changed to its current form, consisting of a single chevron with one arc. In the United States Marine Corps, the rank of Private First Class is the second lowest, just under Lance Corporal and just above Private, equivalent to NATO grade OR-2, at the time the two ranks were directly equivalent. However, since 1968 when the US Army redesignated the E-3 paygrade as PFC, france has the rank of Soldat de première classe indicated with a single red chevron. The rank of private first class in the Singapore Armed Forces lies between the ranks of private and lance-corporal, introduced in 1983, it is awarded to hardworking conscript citizen-soldiers who performed well in their National Service term. Privates first class wear an insignia of a single chevron pointing down. The PFC rank is rarely awarded nowadays by the SAF since 2010s, all private enlistees are eligible to be promoted directly to lance corporal should they meet the minimum qualifying requirements and work performance. In the Vietnam Peoples Army, private first class is the highest junior enlisted rank, Private first class is below corporal and above private second class. The rank of private first class is similar to its original American counterpart, the insignia consist of a single chevron with a triangle below. The rank is also in use with the Philippine Marine Corps, comparative military ranks Gefreiter U. S. Army enlisted rank insignia U. S. Marine Corps enlisted rank insignia U. S. uniformed services pay grades United States military pay
16.
Megan Ambuhl
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Ambuhl was born in Centreville, Virginia. She graduated from school in 1992 and attended Coastal Carolina Community College. Ambuhl entered military service on January 31,2002 and she attended One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, completing basic training around June 23,2002. After completing Military Occupational Specialty training, she was released from duty on August 23,2002. In civilian life Ambuhl was a technician at LabCorp in Herndon. Including Delayed Entry time, Ambuhl served in the United States Army Reserve for two years and nine months, on February 21,2003, Ambuhl was activated for service in the Iraq War. Ambuhl was originally assigned to the 352nd Military Police Company, but was transferred to the 372nd Military Police Company. The 372nd Company spent three months training at Fort Lee, Virginia on Law and Order Missions, on October 15,2003, the company assumed duties at the Baghdad Central Confinement Facility 12 miles west of Baghdad. Ambuhls particular responsibility was to guard women and juveniles in tier 1B, the 372nd Company was not trained in internment and resettlement. But there were things that were done that I knew were wrong at the time. Ambuhl was served with a court-martial in August 2004 in connection with prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib and she was represented by a Washington, D. C-based civilian lawyer, Harvey J. Volzer. Megan Ambuhl, who England and another soldier both have said was not directly involved in the abuse, Volzer will argue Ambuhl could not have been derelict in her duty to guard prisoners because the memos show that the government believed the rough treatment to get information was justified. Condoning what these people did, he said, in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Volzer was quoted as saying, They dont have a case against her. Shes not in any of the photographs youve seen or in any of the ones you havent, shes not mentioned in any of the statements of doing anything other than being there. Shes being charged because everybody on the shift was being charged. As part of an agreement, Specialist Ambuhl was convicted by court-martial on October 30,2004. In punishment, she was demoted to Private, discharged from the Army, additional charges brought against Ambuhl were dropped following a pretrial guilty plea but had included allegations of conspiracy, maltreatment, and indecent acts. She was the third MP reservist and fourth U. S. soldier convicted in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, in April 2005, she married Charles Graner
17.
Specialist (rank)
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Specialist is a military rank in some countries armed forces. In the United States military, it is one of the four junior enlisted ranks in the U. S. Army, above private first class, unlike corporals, specialists are not considered junior non-commissioned officers. Specialist E-4 is the most common rank that is held by US Army soldiers, in 1920, the Army rank and pay system received a major overhaul. The second grade had two titles, first sergeant, which was three stripes, two rockers, and a lozenge in the middle, and technical sergeant, which was three stripes and two rockers. By World War II, the rank of first sergeant had been elevated to first grade, the wearing of specialist badges inset in rank insignia was abolished, and a generic system of chevrons and arcs replaced them. From 1920 to 1942, there was a rank designated private/specialist that was graded in six classes and they were considered the equal of a private first class, but drew additional specialist pay in relationship to the specialist level possessed on top of their base Pfc. pay. Unofficially, a private/specialist could be authorized, at his commanders discretion, on 8 January 1942, the rank of technician was introduced to replace the private/specialist rank, which was discontinued by 30 June 1942. This gave technical specialists more authority by grading them as non-commissioned officers rather than senior enlisted personnel and they were parallel to pay grades of the time, going up in seniority from technician fifth grade, technician fourth grade, and technician third grade. To reduce the confusion caused in the field, an embroidered T insignia was authorized for wear under the chevrons on 4 September 1942. The rank was finally discontinued on 1 August 1948, on 1 July 1955, four grades of specialist were established, Specialist Third Class, Specialist Second Class, Specialist First Class, and Master Specialist. The insignia was yellow on a blue background. The senior specialist ranks of SP2, SP1, and MSP were indicated by one, in 1956 the Army Green uniform was adopted. The enlisted stripes were changed from yellow on a backing to Goldenlite Yellow on a green backing. The specialist insignia was redesigned to be larger, broader, in 1958 the DoD added two additional pay grades to give enlisted soldiers more opportunities to progress to a full career with additional opportunities for promotion. The Super Grades of Spec. /8 and Spec. /9 were respectively given one, in 1978 the specialist rank at E-7 was discontinued and in 1985, the specialist ranks at E-5 and E-6 were discontinued. These specialist ranks were created to reward personnel with higher degrees of experience, appointment to either specialist or non-commissioned officer status was determined by military occupational specialty. Different military occupational specialties had various transition points, for example, in the band career field, a bandsman could not achieve non-commissioned officer status until pay grade E-6 was attained. In some military occupational specialties, a soldier was appointed either a specialist or non-commissioned officer depending on particular position or slot that he filled in his organization
18.
United States Army Criminal Investigation Command
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The United States Army Criminal Investigation Command investigates felony crimes and serious violations of military law within the United States Army. By position, the USACIDC commanding general is also the Armys Provost Marshal General. S, CID special agents may be military personnel, or appointed civilian personnel. USACIDC was established as a United States Army command in 1971 and is headquartered at Marine Corps Base, Quantico, worldwide, the organization has slightly fewer than 3,000 soldiers and civilians, of whom approximately 900 are special agents. The newly created Criminal Investigation Division was headed by a chief who served as the advisor to the Provost Marshal General on all matters relating to criminal investigations. However, operational control of CID still remained with individual provost marshals, at the end of the war, the United States Army was reduced in size during the transition to peacetime and the size of CID shrank dramatically. However, by early 1942, investigations of crimes committed by military personnel were considered to be a command function to be conducted by local military police personnel. As the Army had expanded, the rate had risen. The organization exercised supervision over criminal activities, coordinated investigations between commands, dictated plans and policies, and set standards for criminal investigators. After the war, the CID was once again decentralized, with control of criminal investigations transferred to area commands in the 1950s, beginning in 1965, criminal investigative elements were reorganized into CID groups corresponding to geographical areas in the United States. In 1966, the concept was introduced to units in Europe, however, this arrangement did not fully resolve all the coordination problems, and in 1969, the U. S. Army Criminal Investigation Agency was established to supervise all CID operations worldwide. On 17 September 1971, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command was established as a major Army command, vested with command, Military Special Agent candidates must be currently serving in the active Army or Army Reserve. There are no active Army National Guard CID units, candidates must be enlisted soldiers who are US citizens, at least 21 years of age, and in the ranks of E4 or E5. Candidates must have demonstrated leadership potential, management abilities and good communication skills. CID does not employ Commissioned Officers as Special Agents, CID Battalions and Brigades are commanded by Commissioned Officers from the Military Police Corps. These officers do not supervise the conduct of criminal investigations, Criminal investigations are conducted by field Special Agents and are typically supervised by senior Warrant Officer Special Agents. Military Special Agent candidates initially receive training at the US Army Military Police School at Fort Leonard Wood, for official photographs, and certain duty assignments, they wear the uniforms, rank and insignia of any other soldier of their respective ranks. The design of the sleeve insignia has the central star. Red, white, and blue are the national colors, the CID distinctive unit insignia has a central star symbolizing centralized command
19.
Charles Graner
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Charles A. Graner, Jr. is a former member of the U. S. Army reserve who was convicted of prisoner abuse in connection with the 2003–2004 Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. Graner was convicted of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty, and maltreatment, as well as charges of assault, indecency, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of all charges on January 14,2005, charges of adultery and obstruction of justice were dropped before trial. On August 6,2011, Graner was released from the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas after serving six, Graner grew up in Baldwin, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. After graduating from school in 1986, Graner attended the University of Pittsburgh for two years before dropping out to join the Marine Corps Reserve in April 1988. He had the Marine Corps emblem and the letters USMC tattooed on his right biceps. In 1990, Graner married Staci M. Dean, a 19-year-old from Ohiopyle, trained as a military policeman, he served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He was in the Marines until May 1996, when he left with the rank of lance corporal. Graner was deployed during the Gulf War, serving with the 2nd MP Co, originally of 4th FSSG, 4th Marine Division, on January 11,1991, he arrived in Saudi Arabia, taking part in Operation Desert Storm. From there, he traveled to the largest prisoner-of-war camp near the Saudi-Kuwaiti border, after his marriage, he moved to Butler, Pennsylvania, a coal mining area in southwestern Pennsylvania. In 1994, he working as a corrections officer at Fayette County Prison in a shift with a no-nonsense reputation. Once, Graner was accused of putting mace in a new guards coffee as a joke, in May 1996, he moved to the State Correctional Institution, Greene, a maximum-security prison in Greene County, Pennsylvania. Almost 70% of the inmates were black, many large cities. Guards at the prison were accused of beating and sexually assaulting prisoners, there were also reports of racism, including reports of guards writing KKK in the blood of a beaten prisoner. In 1998, two guards were fired and 20 others were suspended, demoted or reprimanded for prisoner abuse, in 1998, a prisoner accused Graner and three other guards of planting a razor blade in his food, causing his mouth to bleed when he ate it. The prisoner accused the guards of first ignoring his cries for help, Graner was accused of telling him to Shut up, nigger, before we kill you. The allegations were denied, although a federal judge ruled that the charges had arguable merit in fact and law. A second lawsuit involving Graner was brought by a prisoner who claimed that guards made him stand on one foot while they handcuffed and tripped him and this allegation, however, was ruled to have been made too late under the statute of limitations
20.
Ivan Frederick
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Ivan Frederick II, called Chip Frederick, of Buckingham County, Virginia, is a former Staff Sergeant in the United States Army. He was the senior enlisted soldier at the prison from October to December 2003, prior to his deployment to Iraq, Frederick was a corrections officer at Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Virginia. In 2004, Frederick pleaded guilty to conspiracy, dereliction of duty, maltreatment of detainees, assault and he was sentenced to 8 years confinement and loss of rank and pay, and he received a dishonorable discharge. He was released on parole in October 2007, after spending four years in prison, megan Ambuhl Lynndie England Charles Graner Jeremy Sivits Standard Operating Procedure Zimbardo, Philip. The Lucifer effect, How good people turn evil, interview with Philip Zimbardo Philip Zimbardo at TED. org
21.
Death of Manadel al-Jamadi
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Manadel al-Jamadi was a suspected terrorist who was tortured to death in United States custody during Central Intelligence Agency interrogation at Abu Ghraib Prison on 4 November 2003. Al-Jamadi had been a suspect in an attack that killed 12 people in a Baghdad Red Cross facility. A military autopsy declared al-Jamadis death a homicide, no one has been charged with his death. In 2011, Attorney General Eric Holder said that he had opened a criminal investigation into al-Jamadis death. In August 2012, Holder announced that no charges would be brought. US Navy SEALs had apprehended al-Jamadi following the 27 October 2003 bombing of Red Cross offices in Baghdad that killed 12 people, news reports called al-Jamadis treatment Palestinian hanging torture. But the guards otherwise, After we found out he was dead, they were nervous. They didnt know what the hell to do, according to Kenner a battle took place among CIA and US military interrogators over who should dispose of the body. Was bleeding from the head, nose, mouth, reese stated that the corpse was locked in a shower room overnight and the next day was fitted with an intravenous drip, he said that this was an attempt to hide what occurred from other inmates. Reese said the body was autopsied, establishing the cause of death as a blood clot from trauma. Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick wrote an account to his family in November 2003 that interrogators had stressed him out so bad that the man died, put his body in a body bag and packed him in ice for approximately twenty-four hours in the shower. The next day the medics came and put his body on a stretcher, placed a fake IV in his arm, al-Jamadi came to be known by some Abu Ghraib personnel as The Iceman and Mr. Frosty. Others called him Bernie, a reference to the movie Weekend at Bernies in which a body is treated as if still alive. SEAL Officer Not Guilty of Assaulting Iraqi, a Deadly Interrogation -- Can the C. I. A. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008
22.
Alim Kouliev
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Alim Kaisynovich Kouliev is a Russian-American actor and director of Balkar origin. Kouliev was born in Nalchik — a small city in USSR and his father was the Balkar poet Kaisyn Kuliev. His elder brother Eldar Kuliev is a Russian film director and a screenwriter and his younger brother Azamat Kuliev is the Russian painter, living and working in Istanbul, Turkey. At the age of seven, Kouliev was influenced by Vladimir Visotsky an acclaimed Russian actor, poet and singer, Alim decided to become an actor. He studied acting at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts in Moscow and his class mate was Natalya Vavilova. Kouliev also studied directing at GITIS in 1981. Ever since he was a student, Kouliev appeared on professional stage and he broke into films starring as a Joseph Codrero in Copper Angel with Leonid Kuravlyov, Anatoly Kuznetsov, Aleksandr Filippenko, Leonid Yarmolnik. He has twelve years of acting experience working in several leading Moscow theaters and has had roles in famous Russian feature films. He has also performed extensively as an actor for radio and TV, Kouliev created many great characters in classic and contemporary productions, under the best Russian theatrical and cinema directors. In 1991 his life changed dramatically and he moved to the United States. After the long break in his career as an actor Kouliev made his comeback, in Los Angeles, he became a key member of the theatrical troupe Dreamhouse Ensemble, where he played Sasha Smirnoff in Room Service and Uncle Tovit in Jimmy Christ. At the present time the works in Hollywood with The Master Project, his own stage adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master. The Staging of Master and Margarita has been Koulievs long-cherished dream as a director and he vividly expresses himself in the Master Project as a mature and sophisticated painter of life. Alim Kouliev at the Internet Movie Database Alim Kouliev, the Master and Margarita Project Alim Kouliev
23.
The A.V. Club
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Club was initially created in 1993 as a supplemental part of The Onion and had a minimal presence on The Onion’s website in its early years. However, a 2005 website redesign placed The A. V, Club in a more prominent position, allowing its online identity to grow. Unlike its parent publication, The A. V, the publication’s name is a reference to school audiovisual clubs, composed of a bunch of geeks who actually knew how to run the film strip and film projectors. In 1993, five years after the founding of The Onion at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, UWM student Stephen Thompson launched an entertainment section, Club, as part of the newspapers 1995 redesign. Both The Onion and The A. V, Club made their Internet debut in 1996. Club acquired its own Internet domain name in December 1999, in December 2004, Stephen Thompson left his position as founding editor of The A. V. Club website was redesigned in 2005 to incorporate blogs and reader comments, in 2006, concurrent with another redesign, the website shifted its model to begin adding content on a daily, rather than weekly, basis. According to Sean Mills, then-president of The Onion, the A. V, Club website received more than 1 million unique visitors for the first time in October 2007. In late 2009, the website was reported as receiving over 1.4 million unique visitors and 75,000 comments per month, the offending review was removed from The A. V. Club, and then-editor Keith Phipps posted an apology on the website, leonard Pierce, the author of the review, was terminated from his freelance role with the website. At its peak, the print version of The A. V, Club was available in 17 different cities. Localized sections of the website were also maintained, with reviews and news relevant to specific cities, the print version and localized websites were gradually discontinued alongside the print version of The Onion, and in December 2013, publication ceased in the final three markets. On 13 December,2012, long-time writer and editor Keith Phipps and he stated, Onion, Inc. and I have come to a mutual parting of the ways. On 2 April,2013, longtime editor and critic Scott Tobias stepped down from his role as film editor of The A. V. Club stating via Twitter, After 15 great years @theavclub, I step down as Film Editor next Friday. In the comments section of the announcing the departures, writer Noel Murray announced he would also be joining their project. On 30 May,2013, it was announced that the six writers would be a part of the staff of The Dissolve. In April and June 2014, senior staff writers Kyle Ryan, Sonia Saraiya and Todd VanDerWerff left the website for positions at Entertainment Weekly, Salon and Vox Media, in 2015, Ryan returned to Onion, Inc. for a position in development
24.
Chicago Reader
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It was founded by a group of friends from Carleton College. The Reader is recognized as a pioneer among alternative weeklies for both its creative nonfiction and its commercial scheme, the Reader also developed a new kind of journalism, ignoring the news and focusing on everyday life and ordinary people. The Reader, as it is known, is dated every Thursday and distributed free on Wednesday and Thursday via street boxes. As of March 2009, the paper claimed more than 1,900 locations in the Chicago metropolitan area, Creative Loafing filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. In 2012, the Chicago Reader was acquired by Wrapports LLC, the Chicago Reader was founded by Robert A. Roth, who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. His ambition was to start a publication for young Chicagoans like Bostons The Phoenix. Those papers were sold on newsstands but were given away, mostly on campuses. They scraped together about $16,000 in capital and published the first issue,16 pages, one year later, in its first anniversary issue, the Reader published an article titled What Kind of Paper is This, Anyway. In which it answered Questions weve heard over and over in the past year and this article reported that the paper had lost nearly $20,000 in its first ten months of operation but that the owners were confident it will work out in the end. It explained the rationale behind free circulation and the paper’s unconventional editorial philosophy, Why doesnt the Reader print news, Tom Wolfe wrote us, The Future of the newspaper lies in your direction, i. e. the sheet willing to deal with the way we live now. That sums up our thoughts quite well, we find street sellers more interesting than politicians, in its early years the Reader was published out of apartments shared by the owner-founders, Roth, McCamant, Rehwaldt and Yoder. The first apartment was in Hyde Park—the University of Chicago neighborhood on the side of Chicago—and the second was in Rogers Park on the far north side. Working for ownership in lieu of pay, the owner-founders ultimately owned more than 90% of the company, in 1975 the paper began to earn a profit, incorporated, and rented office space in the downtown area that later came to be known as River North. In 1979, a reporter for the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Illinois, in 1986, an article in the Chicago Tribune estimated the Reader’s annual revenues at $6.7 million. In 1996, Crains Chicago Business projected revenue of $14.6 million, the National Journal’s Convention Daily reported that the Reader was “an enormous financial success. It’s now as thick as many Sunday papers and is published in four sections that total around 180 pages. ”This report put the circulation at 138,000. Later in 1995 the papers Matches personal ads were made available on the Web, also in 1996 the Reader partnered with Yahoo to bring its entertainment listings online and introduced a Web site and an AOL user area built around its popular syndicated column The Straight Dope. The Reader became so profitable in the late 1990s that it added a suburban edition, The Reader’s Guide to Arts & Entertainment and it faced severe competitive pressure starting near the turn of the century, as some of its key elements became widely available online
25.
Los Angeles Times
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The Los Angeles Times, commonly referred to as the Times or LA Times, is a paid daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008, the Times is owned by tronc. The Times was first published on December 4,1881, as the Los Angeles Daily Times under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and it was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Unable to pay the bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication, in July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara to become the papers editor. Otis made the Times a financial success, in an era where newspapers were driven by party politics, the Times was directed at Republican readers. As was typical of newspapers of the time, the Times would sit on stories for several days, historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis was a businessman capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment. Otiss editorial policy was based on civic boosterism, extolling the virtues of Los Angeles, the efforts of the Times to fight local unions led to the October 1,1910 bombing of its headquarters, killing twenty-one people. Two union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara, were charged, the American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent the brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Upon Otiss death in 1917, his son-in-law, Harry Chandler, Harry Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler, who ran the paper during the rapid growth of post-war Los Angeles. Family members are buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios, the site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler, held that position from 1960 to 1980, Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his familys paper, often forgotten in the power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nations most respected newspapers, notably The New York Times, believing that the newsroom was the heartbeat of the business, Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962, the paper joined with the Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for news organizations. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes, more than its previous nine decades combined, eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, thats the pattern followed over more than a century by the Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The papers early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history Thinking Big and it has also been the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications or social science in the past four decades. In 2000, the Tribune Company acquired the Times, placing the paper in co-ownership with then-WB -affiliated KTLA, which Tribune acquired in 1985
26.
Berlin International Film Festival
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The Berlin International Film Festival, also called the Berlinale, is one of the worlds leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held annually in Berlin, Germany, founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With around 300,000 tickets sold and 500,000 admissions it is considered the largest publicly attended film festival based on actual attendance rates. Up to 400 films are shown in sections, representing a comprehensive array of the cinematic world. Around twenty films compete for the called the Golden and Silver Bears. Since 2001 the director of the festival has been Dieter Kosslick, the European Film Market, a film trade fair held simultaneously to the Berlinale, is a major industry meeting for the international film circuit. The trade fair serves distributors, film buyers, producers, financiers, the Berlinale Talent Campus, a week-long series of lectures and workshops, gathers young filmmakers from around the globe. It partners with the festival itself and is considered to be a forum for upcoming artists, the festival, the EFM and other satellite events are attended by around 20,000 professionals from over 130 countries. More than 4200 journalists are responsible for the exposure in over 110 countries. At high-profile feature film premieres, movie stars and celebrities are present at the red carpet, the Berlinale has established a cosmopolitan character integrating art, glamour, commerce and a global media attention. The Berlin International Film Festival was founded in West Berlin in 1951, alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca opened the first Berlinale. Although the film had premiered in 1940, many Germans had been unable to watch it until after the war ended, since 1978 the festival has been celebrated annually in February. The next-to-most recent festival, the 66th Berlinale, was held from 11 February to 21 February 2016, meryl Streep presided over the international jury. Joel and Ethan Coens film Hail, Caesar. was selected to open the festival, the Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian documentary Fire at Sea, directed by Gianfranco Rosi. The 67th Berlin International Film Festival was held February 9 to February 19,2017, the festival is composed of seven different film sections. Films are chosen in each category by a director with the advice of a committee of film experts. Categories include, Competition, comprises feature-length films yet to be released outside their country of origin, films in the Competition section compete for several prizes, including the top Golden Bear for the best film and a series of Silver Bears for acting, writing and production. Panorama, comprises new independent and arthouse films that deal with controversial subjects or unconventional aesthetic styles, films in the category are intended to provoke discussion, and have historically involved themes such as LGBT issues
27.
An Inconvenient Truth
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The film grossed $24 million in the U. S. and $26 million in the foreign box office, becoming the tenth highest grossing documentary film to date in the United States. The idea to document his efforts came from producer Laurie David who saw his presentation at a meeting on global warming which coincided with the opening of The Day After Tomorrow. Laurie David was so inspired by Gores slide show that she, with producer Lawrence Bender, since the films release, An Inconvenient Truth has been credited for raising international public awareness of global warming and reenergizing the environmental movement. The documentary has also included in science curricula in schools around the world. An Inconvenient Sequel, Truth to Power will be in theaters July 28,2017 and he began making these presentations in 1989 with flip chart illustrations, the film version uses a Keynote presentation, which Gore refers to as the slide show. The former vice president opens the film by greeting an audience with his line about his campaign in 2000, I am Al Gore. Gore then begins his slide show on Global Warming, a comprehensive presentation replete with detailed graphs, flow charts, Gore shows off several majestic photographs of the Earth taken from multiple space missions, Earthrise and The Blue Marble. Gore notes that these photos dramatically transformed the way we see the Earth, Gore ties this conclusion to the assumption that the Earth is so big, we cant possibly have any lasting, harmful impact on the Earths environment. For comic effect, Gore uses a clip from the Futurama episode Crimes of the Hot to describe the greenhouse effect, Gore also presents Antarctic ice coring data showing CO2 levels higher now than in the past 650,000 years. The film includes segments intended to refute critics who say that global warming is unproven or that warming will be insignificant, melt water from Greenland, because of its lower salinity, could then halt the currents that keep northern Europe warm and quickly trigger dramatic local cooling there. It also contains various short animated projections of what could happen to different animals more vulnerable to global warming, Gore calls upon his viewers to learn how they can help him in these efforts. The solutions are in our hands, we just have to have the determination to make it happen and we have everything that we need to reduce carbon emissions, everything but political will. But in America, the will to act is a renewable resource, Gores book of the same title was published concurrently with the theatrical release of the documentary. The book contains information, scientific analysis, and Gores commentary on the issues presented in the documentary. Gore became interested in global warming when he took a course at Harvard University with Professor Roger Revelle, later, when Gore was in Congress, he initiated the first congressional hearing on the subject in 1981. Gores 1992 book, Earth in the Balance, dealing with a number of environmental topics and he helped broker the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The treaty was not ratified in the United States after a 95 to 0 vote in the Senate, during his 2000 presidential campaign, Gore ran, in part, on a pledge to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. After his defeat in the 2000 presidential election by George W. Bush and he edited and adapted a slide show he had compiled years earlier, and began featuring the slide show in presentations on global warming across the U. S. and around the world
28.
Tribeca Film Festival
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The mission of the festival is to enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film by redefining the film festival experience. The Tribeca Film Festival was founded to celebrate New York City as a filmmaking center. In 2006 and 2007, the Festival received over 8600 film submissions, the Festivals program line-up includes a variety of independent films including documentaries, narrative features and shorts, as well as a program of family-friendly films. The Festival also features panel discussions with personalities in the entertainment world, past artists of the Artists Awards program have included Chuck Close, Alex Katz, and Julian Schnabel. The festival now draws an estimated three million people—including often-elusive celebrities from the worlds of art, film, and music—and generates $600 million annually, the inaugural festival launched after 120 days of planning with the help of more than 1,300 volunteers. It was attended by more than 150,000 people and featured several up-and-coming filmmakers, the 2003 festival brought more than 300,000 people. It became one of the venues of the festival, in an effort to serve its mission of bringing independent film to the widest possible audience, in 2006, the Festival expanded its reach in New York City and internationally. In New York City, Tribeca hosted screenings throughout Manhattan as the Festivals 1, internationally, the Festival brought films to the Rome Film Fest. As part of the celebrations in Rome, Tribeca was awarded the first ever Steps and Stars award, presented on the Spanish Steps. A total of 169 feature films and 99 shorts were selected from 4,100 film submissions, the festival featured 90 world premieres, nine international premieres,31 North American premieres,6 U. S. premieres, and 28 New York City premieres. In 2009, Rosenthal, Hatkoff and De Niro were named number 14 on Barrons list of the worlds top 25 philanthropists for their role in regenerating TriBeCas economy after September 11, as of 2010, the festival is run as a business by Tribeca Enterprises. Andrew Essex has been the CEO of Tribeca Enterprises since January,2016, in 2011, L. A. Noire became the first video game to be recognized by the Tribeca Film Festival. com,02.23.2013
29.
Charlotte's Web (2006 film)
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Charlottes Web is a 2006 American live-action feature film based on the book of the same name by E. B. White. It was directed by Gary Winick and produced by Paramount Pictures, Walden Media, The K Entertainment Company, the screenplay is by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick, based on Whites book. It is the film adaptation of Whites book, preceded by a 1973 cel-animated version produced by Hanna-Barbera for Paramount Pictures. One spring, on a farm in Somerset County, Maine and she successfully begs him to spare its life. He gives it to her, who names him Wilbur and raises him as her pet, to her regret, when he grows into an adult pig, she is forced to take him to the Zuckerman farm, where he is to be prepared as dinner in due time. Charlotte A. Cavatica, a spider, lives in the space above Wilburs sty in the Zuckermans barn, she befriends him and she gives her full name, revealing her as a barn spider, an orb-weaver spider with the scientific name Araneus cavaticus. The Arables, Zuckermans, Wilbur, Charlotte, and Templeton go to a fair, while there, Charlotte produces an egg sac. She cannot return home because she is dying, Wilbur and Templeton bid emotional goodbyes to her but manage to take her egg sac home, where hundreds of offspring emerge. Most of the young spiders soon leave, but three, named Joy, Aranea, and Nellie, stay and become Wilburs friends and it was the first film based on a book by E. B. White since 2001s The Trumpet of the Swan, Paramount had distributed the film as a result of its acquisition of DreamWorks, whose animation division became its own company in late 2004. Major shooting was completed in May 2006 and it was filmed on location in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria and suburbs in Melbourne, Australia. The fair scene in the story was filmed in Heidelberg in Melbourne, visual effects are by Rising Sun Pictures, Fuel International, Proof, Rhythm and Hues Studios, Digital Pictures Iloura and Tippett Studio. Winick was adamant that Charlotte and Templeton should be realistic and not stylized and it was released in Australia on December 7,2006, and in the United States and Canada on December 15,2006. The U. S. and Canadian release date matches that of 20th Century Foxs Eragon, another film with fantasy elements, the scheduled release date in the UK is February 9,2007. Charlottes Web was released on DVD on April 3,2007, in the United States and Canada and it was released on Blu-ray on March 29,2011, along with The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Reviews were generally positive, especially with respect to Dakota Fannings portrayal of Fern, the film currently holds a 78% Certified Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Michael Medved gave Charlottes Web three and a half stars calling it irresistible and glowing with goodness, Medved also said that Dakota Fannings performance was delightfully spunky. Entertainment Weeklys Owen Gleiberman complains that the film is a bit noisy but applauds the director for putting the book, in all its glorious tall-tale reverence and he goes on to say that What hooks you from the start is Dakota Fannings unfussy passion as Fern
30.
Wanted (2008 film)
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Wanted is a 2008 American-German action thriller film loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. The film, written by Chris Morgan, Michael Brandt, and Derek Haas and directed by Timur Bekmambetov stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Production began in April 2007, with filming in the Czech Republic, Budapest, and the storys main setting, Chicago. Wanted was released in June 2008 to both critical and commercial success, with box office earnings of $341 million worldwide and reviews praising the fast pacing, a sequel was planned the same year as the films release, but ultimately stalled in the development phase. One night at the pharmacy, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox that his murdered father was an assassin, and the killer. Cross and Fox engage in a shoot-out with hi-tech guns, Wesley panics and runs into the parking lot followed by Cross who steals a truck and attempts to run Wesley down. Fox flips Wesley into her car and then executes a spectacular escape. Wesley awakens in a mysterious factory surrounded by Fox and other fellow assassins, the groups leader, Sloan, forces Wesley at gunpoint to shoot the wings off of several flies buzzing around a trash can, which he does, much to Wesleys shock. He reveals that Wesleys father, as well as Cross, were members of the Fraternity, Sloan wants to teach him to become an assassin so that he may help them kill Cross. Wesley awakens the morning in his apartment, quickly stashing the gun Sloan gave him in his toilet. He then discovers that his bank account now contains several million dollars, filled with new confidence, Wesley snaps in a public outburst against his boss before picking up his keyboard and hitting Barry in the face with it as he leaves. Fox arrives while Wesley is outside looking at newspaper headlines that he is wanted by police over the previous nights shooting, Wesley begins training as an assassin under Foxs tutelage, studying under different specialized assassins. Frustrated by his lack of progress and the brutality of the training, Wesley insists to Sloan he is ready, Fox, overhearing Wesley complaining, beats him until he admits he does not know who he is. Sloan tells Wesley about his father, and how he was betrayed by Cross, reinvigorated with new purpose, Wesley begins to take his training to heart and starts to excel. Sloan then shows him the Loom of Fate, which gives the names of targets through errors in the fabric. Those whom the Loom identifies will apparently create evil and chaos in the future, after his first assassination, Wesley tells Fox that he is questioning whether the Fraternity is right. Fox tells him about how her father was burned alive by a killer who had been targeted by the Loom weeks beforehand. After several missions, Wesley returns to his old apartment to retrieve his fathers gun and he soon has a shootout with Cross, wherein Wesley accidentally kills the Exterminator, a Fraternity member he had befriended. Cross shoots Wesley in the shoulder, Sloan grants Wesleys wish to avenge his father and sends him after Cross—but then secretly gives Fox a mission to kill Wesley, saying that his name had come up in the Loom, as well
31.
Electronic music
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In general, a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound producing devices include the telharmonium, Hammond organ, purely electronic sound production can be achieved using devices such as the theremin, sound synthesizer, and computer. During the 1920s and 1930s, electronic instruments were introduced and the first compositions for instruments were composed. Musique concrète, created in Paris in 1948, was based on editing together recorded fragments of natural and industrial sounds, Music produced solely from electronic generators was first produced in Germany in 1953. Electronic music was created in Japan and the United States beginning in the 1950s. An important new development was the advent of computers for the purpose of composing music, algorithmic composition was first demonstrated in Australia in 1951. In America and Europe, live electronics were pioneered in the early 1960s, during the 1970s to early 1980s, the monophonic Minimoog became once the most widely used synthesizer at that time in both popular and electronic art music. In the 1980s, electronic music became dominant in popular music, with a greater reliance on synthesizers, and the adoption of programmable drum machines. Electronically produced music became prevalent in the domain by the 1990s. Contemporary electronic music includes many varieties and ranges from art music to popular forms such as electronic dance music. Today, pop music is most recognizable in its 4/4 form. At the turn of the 20th century, experimentation with emerging electronics led to the first electronic musical instruments and these initial inventions were not sold, but were instead used in demonstrations and public performances. The audiences were presented with reproductions of existing music instead of new compositions for the instruments, while some were considered novelties and produced simple tones, the Telharmonium accurately synthesized the sound of orchestral instruments. It achieved viable public interest and made progress into streaming music through telephone networks. Critics of musical conventions at the time saw promise in these developments, ferruccio Busoni encouraged the composition of microtonal music allowed for by electronic instruments. He predicted the use of machines in future music, writing the influential Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, futurists such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo began composing music with acoustic noise to evoke the sound of machinery. They predicted expansions in timbre allowed for by electronics in the influential manifesto The Art of Noises, developments of the vacuum tube led to electronic instruments that were smaller, amplified, and more practical for performance. In particular, the theremin, ondes Martenot and trautonium were commercially produced by the early 1930s, from the late 1920s, the increased practicality of electronic instruments influenced composers such as Joseph Schillinger to adopt them
32.
372nd Military Police Company (United States)
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The 372nd Military Police Company is a law enforcement unit within the U. S. Army Reserve. The unit is based out of Cresaptown, Maryland, eleven former members of this unit were charged and found guilty in the Abu Ghraib scandal. Another member of the company, Joseph Darby, was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for exposing the abuse at the prison, the 372nd MP Company is credited with the securing and stabilization of the city of AL-Hilla, alongside of the 1st Marines. The unit was responsible for guarding main supply routes, the 372nd Military Police Company was originally activated on 15 October 1942 in Florence, Arizona under the authority of the Ninth Service Command. The unit was given orders in mid-July 1943 to report to Camp Shanks, near Orangeburg and this operation was known as the Naples-Foggai Campaign. The unit also supported the Fifth Army in the Rome-Arno Campaign that began on 22 January 1944, the unit has participated in Operation Dragoon in France, Operation Nordwind. The unit was deactivated on 14 November 1945 and then reactivated in Baltimore, the unit was then relocated to Cumberland, Maryland on South Centre Street. The unit was deactivated on 15 June 1959. The unit was re designated Bravo Company of the 336th Military Police Battalion. In January 1964 members of the unit provided security and acted as guides to the area for the B-52 which crashed in Garrett County. The Unit was then reactivated on 22 February 1972 once again as the 372nd Military Police Company as part of the First Army, the unit drilled at the VFW Hall in Lonaconing, Maryland. On 30 June 1973 the unit shifted its location to Cresaptown, Maryland, in the mid-1970s the unit recruited its first female military police officer. In 1985 a platoon size element was selected for duty in Operation Bright Star in Egypt, in 1986 the entire company was selected to participate in Gallant Eagle in California. Then unit was activated again on 25 September 1990 for Operation Desert Storm. During the Iraq War, several detainees at Abu Ghraib prison were abused and humiliated, charles Graner, Lynndie England, Sabrina Harman and others were later investigated and made to serve time in a military prison
33.
Taxi to the Dark Side
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Taxi to the Dark Side is a 2007 documentary film directed by American filmmaker Alex Gibney, and produced by him, Eva Orner and Susannah Shipman. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and it was part of the Why Democracy. Series, which consisted of ten documentary films from around the world questioning and examining contemporary democracy, as part of this series, the documentary was broadcast in over 30 countries from October 8–18,2007. The BBC showed the film in its Storyville series, Taxi to the Dark Side examines the USAs policy on torture and interrogation in general, specifically the CIAs use of torture and their research into sensory deprivation. The documentary background to the death of Dilawar, an Afghan peanut farmer, who gave up farming to become a driver. Dilawar left his home of Yakubi in eastern Afghanistan in the autumn of 2002, on 1 December 2002 he and three passengers were handed over to US military officials by a local Afghan warlord, accused of organising an attack on Camp Salerno. The warlord was later found guilty of the attack himself, but had been ingratiating himself by handing over alleged terrorists, Dilawar was held at the prison at Bagram Air Base, and given the prisoner number BT421. Chained from the ceiling, he received multiple attacks on his thighs and it is likely that the severe attack caused a blood clot which then killed him. His official death certificate created by the US military to pass to his family, medical conclusion stated that Dilawars legs were pulpified and, had he lived, would have required amputation. The film explores the background of increasingly sanctioned torture since 9/11 in contravention of the Geneva Convention and looks at the exposures of Abu Graib. Interviews include Tim Golden of the New York Times who brought the case into the spotlight, and Moazzam Begg, a British citizen imprisoned at the same time. Military interviewees include Damien Corsetti the main interogator, and Sgt Anthony Morden, cpt Christopher Beiring explains how he was the only person charged. The documentary claims that of the over 83,000 people incarcerated by US forces in Afghanistan up to 2007,93 percent were captured by local militiamen and exchanged for US bounty payments. Also that 105 detainees had died in captivity and that 37 of these deaths had been classified as homicides up to 2007. The film also looks at Guantanamo Bay and how the techniques were implemented there. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on April 28,2007, Taxi to the Dark Side appeared on some critics top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Premiere magazine named it the fifth best film of 2008, the film also scored 100% for critic approval, out of 91 reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes. It was named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of 15 films on its documentary feature Oscar shortlist in November 2007, let’s hope we can turn this country around, move away from the dark side and back to the light
34.
Metacritic
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Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of media products, music albums, games, movies, TV shows, DVDs, and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged, Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source, a color of Green, Yellow or Red summarizes the critics recommendations and therefore the general appeal of the product to reviewers and, to a lesser extent, the public. It is regarded as the game industrys foremost review aggregator. Metacritics scoring converts each review into a percentage, either mathematically from the mark given, before being averaged, the scores are weighted according to the critics fame, stature, and volume of reviews. Metacritic was launched in July 1999 by Marc Doyle, his sister Julie Doyle Roberts, rotten Tomatoes was already compiling movie reviews, but Doyle, Roberts, and Dietz saw an opportunity to cover a broader range of media. They sold Metacritic to CNET in 2005, CNET and Metacritic are now owned by the CBS Corporation. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal wrote in September 2004, Mr. Doyle,36, is now a product manager at CNET. Speaking of video games, Doyle said, A site like ours helps people cut through. unobjective promotional language and he added that the review process was not taken as seriously when unconnected magazines and websites provided reviews in isolation. In August 2010, the appearance was revamped, reaction from users was overwhelmingly negative. Certain publications are given more significance because of their stature, games Editor Marc Doyle was interviewed by Keith Stuart of The Guardian to get a look behind the metascoring process. Stuart wrote, the phenomenon, namely Metacritic and GameRankings, have become an enormously important element of online games journalism over the past few years. The ranging of metascores is, Metacritic is regarded as the foremost online review site for the video game industry. Nick Wingfield of The Wall Street Journal has written that Metacritic influence the sales of games and he explains its influence as coming from the higher cost of buying video games than music or movie tickets. Many executives say that low scores can hurt the sales potential. He claimed that a number of businesses and financial analysts use Metacritic as an early indicator of a games potential sales and, by extension. In 2004, Jason Hall of Warner Bros. began including quality metrics in contracts with partners licensing its movies for games, if a product does not at least achieve a specific score, some deals require the publisher to pay higher royalties. In 2008, Microsoft began using Metacritic averages to de-list underperforming Xbox Live Arcade games and these are the top 10 individual games with the highest scores on the site as of 2 April 2017
35.
IMDb
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In 1998 it became a subsidiary of Amazon Inc, who were then able to use it as an advertising resource for selling DVDs and videotapes. As of January 2017, IMDb has approximately 4.1 million titles and 7.7 million personalities in its database, the site enables registered users to submit new material and edits to existing entries. Although all data is checked before going live, the system has open to abuse. The site also featured message boards which stimulate regular debates and dialogue among authenticated users, IMDb shutdown the message boards permanently on February 20,2017. Anyone with a connection can read the movie and talent pages of IMDb. A registration process is however, to contribute info to the site. A registered user chooses a name for themselves, and is given a profile page. These badges range from total contributions made, to independent categories such as photos, trivia, bios, if a registered user or visitor happens to be in the entertainment industry, and has an IMDb page, that user/visitor can add photos to that page by enrolling in IMDbPRO. Actors, crew, and industry executives can post their own resume and this fee enrolls them in a membership called IMDbPro. PRO can be accessed by anyone willing to pay the fee, which is $19.99 USD per month, or if paid annually, $149.99, which comes to approximately $12.50 per month USD. Membership enables a user to access the rank order of each industry personality, as well as agent contact information for any actor, producer, director etc. that has an IMDb page. Enrolling in PRO for industry personnel, enables those members the ability to upload a head shot to open their page, as well as the ability to upload hundreds of photos to accompany their page. Anyone can register as a user, and contribute to the site as well as enjoy its content, however those users enrolled in PRO have greater access and privileges. IMDb originated with a Usenet posting by British film fan and computer programmer Col Needham entitled Those Eyes, others with similar interests soon responded with additions or different lists of their own. Needham subsequently started an Actors List, while Dave Knight began a Directors List, and Andy Krieg took over THE LIST from Hank Driskill, which would later be renamed the Actress List. Both lists had been restricted to people who were alive and working, the goal of the participants now was to make the lists as inclusive as possible. By late 1990, the lists included almost 10,000 movies and television series correlated with actors and actresses appearing therein. On October 17,1990, Needham developed and posted a collection of Unix shell scripts which could be used to search the four lists, at the time, it was known as the rec. arts. movies movie database
36.
Rotten Tomatoes
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Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by Senh Duong and since January 2010 has been owned by Flixster, in February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcasts Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, since 2007, the websites editor-in-chief has been Matt Atchity. The name, Rotten Tomatoes, derives from the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes when disapproving of a stage performance. From early 2008 to September 2010, Current Television aired the weekly The Rotten Tomatoes Show, featuring hosts, a shorter segment was incorporated into the weekly show, InfoMania, which ended in 2011. In September 2013, the website introduced TV Zone, a section for reviewing scripted TV shows, Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12,1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His goal in creating Rotten Tomatoes was to create a site where people can get access to reviews from a variety of critics in the U. S. As a fan of Jackie Chans, Duong was inspired to create the website after collecting all the reviews of Chans movies as they were being published in the United States, the first movie whose reviews were featured on Rotten Tomatoes was Your Friends & Neighbors. The website was an success, receiving mentions by Netscape, Yahoo. and USA Today within the first week of its launch. They officially launched it on April 1,2000, in June 2004, IGN Entertainment acquired rottentomatoes. com for an undisclosed sum. In September 2005, IGN was bought by News Corps Fox Interactive Media, in January 2010, IGN sold the website to Flixster. The combined reach of both companies is 30 million unique visitors a month across all different platforms, according to the companies, in May 2011, Flixster was acquired by Warner Bros. In early 2009, Current Television launched the version of the web review site. It was hosted by Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox and written by Mark Ganek, the show aired every Thursday at 10,30 EST on the Current TV network. The last episode aired on September 16,2010 and it returned as a much shorter segment of InfoMania, a satirical news show that ended in 2011. By late 2009, the website was designed to enable Rotten Tomatoes users to create, one group, The Golden Oyster Awards, accepted votes of members for different awards, as if in parallel to the better-known Oscars or Golden Globes. When Flixster bought the company, they disbanded the groups, announcing, in the meantime, please use the Forums to continue your conversations about your favorite movie topics. As of February 2011, new community features have been added, for example, users can no longer sort films by fresh ratings from rotten ratings, and vice versa
37.
Box Office Mojo
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Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way, founded in 1999. In 2008, Box Office Mojo was bought by the Internet Movie Database, the website is widely used within the film industry as a source of data. From 2002–11, Box Office Mojo had forums popular with film fans, on October 10,2014, the websites URL was redirected to Amazons IMDB. com website for one day, but the website returned the following day without explanation. Brandon Gray began the site in 1999, in 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and grew the site to nearly two million readers. In July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon. com through its subsidiary, Box Office Mojo had forums with more than 16,500 registered users. On November 2,2011 the forums were closed along with any user accounts. Tracking is still very closely to the day by day, actual tabulation of distributors. The site also creates an overall chart, combining all box office returns from around the world, excluding the United States. The overall weekend chart currently tracks the Top 40 films as well as approximately fifty additional films with no ranking, the site additionally has yearly and all time features for its various territories. Box Office Mojo was as of June 2009 reporting limited data from overseas and is work on improvements, most of the international charts have not been updated since November 2014. On October 10,2014, all traffic to Box Office Mojo was redirected to IMDbs box office page, queries about the closure to IMDb and Amazon representatives were met with no response. Neither Brandon Gray, who founded the website but left several years ago after its sale to Amazon, nor Ray Subers, on Ray Subers Twitter account, he revealed the websites return, but also stated he would not answer any questions pertaining to closure. Subers subsequently left the website seven months later
38.
AllMovie
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AllMovie is an online guide service website with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. As of 2013, AllMovie. com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by All Media Network, AllMovie was founded by popular-culture archivist Michael Erlewine, who also founded AllMusic and AllGame. The AllMovie database was licensed to tens of thousands of distributors and retailers for point-of-sale systems, websites, the AllMovie database is comprehensive, including basic product information, cast and production credits, plot synopsis, professional reviews, biographies, relational links and more. AllMovie data was accessed on the web at the AllMovie. com website and it was also available via the AMG LASSO media recognition service, which can automatically recognize DVDs. In late 2007, Macrovision acquired AMG for a reported $72 million, the AMG consumer facing web properties AllMusic. com, AllMovie. com and AllGame. com were sold by Rovi in August 2013 to All Media Network, LLC. The buyers also include the founders of SideReel and Ackrell Capital investor Mike Ackrell. All Media Network offices are located in San Francisco, California, AllMusic AllGame SideReel All Media Network Official website
39.
Gates of Heaven
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Gates of Heaven is a 1978 documentary film by Errol Morris about the pet cemetery business. It was made when Morris was unknown and did much to launch his career, the film, like Morris other works, is unnarrated and the stories are told purely through interviews. It is divided into two main sections, the first concerns Floyd Mac McClure and his lifelong quest to allow pets to have a graceful burial. McClures business associates and his competitor, a manager of a plant, are interviewed. Eventually the business fails and the 450 animals have to be dug up and this operation is run by John Cal Harberts and his two sons. This business is far more successful, and continues to operate today, noted director Werner Herzog pledged that he would eat the shoe he was wearing if Morris film on this improbable subject was completed and shown in a public theater. When the film was released Herzog lived up to his wager, Gates of Heaven launched Morris career and is now viewed as a classic. In 1991, Roger Ebert named it one of the ten best films ever made, Roger Ebert wrote that the film is an underground legend, and in 1997 put it in his list of The Great Movies. Gates of Heaven from ErrolMorris. com Gates of Heaven at the Internet Movie Database Gates of Heaven at AllMovie Gates of Heaven at Rotten Tomatoes Bubbling Well Pet Memorial Park
40.
The Thin Blue Line (1988 film)
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The Thin Blue Line is a 1988 American documentary film by Errol Morris, depicting the story of Randall Dale Adams, a man convicted and sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. Adams case was reviewed and he was released from prison approximately a year after the films release, the Thin Blue Line has been lauded since its release, and is considered by many critics to be among the greatest documentaries ever made. In October 1976, 28-year-old Randall Adams and his brother left Ohio for California, en route, they arrived in Dallas on Thanksgiving night. The next morning, Adams was offered a job, on the following Saturday, Adams went to start work but no one turned up because it was a weekend. On the way home, his car ran out of fuel, David Ray Harris, who had just turned sixteen, came by in a car that he had stolen from his neighbor in Vidor, Texas before driving to Dallas with his fathers pistol and a shotgun. The two spent the day together during which also had some alcohol and marijuana. That evening they went to a drive-in movie, Robert Wood, a Dallas police officer, was working the graveyard shift with his partner, one of the first female police officers in Dallas that was assigned to patrol. Shortly after midnight, Wood stopped the car in the 3400 block of North Hampton Road because its headlights were not on. As Wood walked up to the car, he was shot twice, the first shot hit Wood in the arm, passing through his flashlight. The next shot hit Wood in the chest, the Dallas Police Department investigation led back to Harris, who after returning to Vidor had told friends that he was responsible for the crime. When interviewed by police, Harris accused Adams of the murder, Harris led police to the car driven from the scene of the crime, as well as to a.22 Short caliber revolver he identified as the murder weapon. The prosecutor does not appear in the film, the films title comes from prosecutor Doug Mulders comment during his closing argument that the police are the thin blue line separating society from anarchy. This is a re-working of a line from Rudyard Kiplings poem Tommy in which he describes British soldiers as the red line, from the color of their uniforms. The film was directed by Errol Morris and scored by Philip Glass, Morris was originally going to film a documentary about prosecution psychiatrist Dr. James Grigson, known as Doctor Death, who testified in more than 100 trials that resulted in death sentences. As an expert psychiatrist, Dr. Grigson made a name for himself by giving testimony in cases for the prosecution. Under the law in Texas, the penalty can only be issued if the jury is convinced that the defendant is not just guilty. Grigson told the jury that Adams would be an ongoing menace if kept alive but Morris, after meeting Adams, the film contained re-enactment scenes built carefully from witnesses statements, which became common in later documentaries. Although the film recreates several versions of the shooting, it does not recreate one in which David Harris shoots the officer, prior to directing the film, Morris worked as a private detective
41.
A Brief History of Time (film)
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A Brief History of Time is a 1991 biographical documentary film about the physicist Stephen Hawking, directed by Errol Morris. The music is by frequent Morris collaborator, Philip Glass, the film project originated with executive producer Gordon Freedman who brought the project to Anglia Television as a co-producer. After acquiring the property, Freedman met with director Steven Spielberg for advice on how to make the project into an important documentary film, Spielberg suggested Errol Morris as director. Freedmans production company partnered with Anglia Television and Tokyo Broadcasting, david Hickman, of Anglia, became the films producer. A Brief History of Time received largely positive reviews, on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 93% rating based on 15 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a 78/100 rating based on 12 critics, the film was released on VHS in the early 1990s, but remained unreleased via DVD and Blu-ray until 2014, when The Criterion Collection issued a release on April 15,2014. com
