1.
Spike Jonze
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Spike Jonze is an American director, producer, screenwriter and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television. Jonze is well known for his music video collaborations with Daft Punk, Fatboy Slim, Weezer, the Beastie Boys, Björk and he was a co-creator and executive producer of MTVs Jackass. He is currently the director of Vice Media, Inc. He is part owner of skateboard company Girl Skateboards with riders Rick Howard and he co-founded Directors Label, with filmmakers Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry, and the Palm Pictures company. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, Best Director for Being John Malkovich and he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay, and the 2014 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Her. Jonze was born on October 22,1969 in Rockville, Maryland and his father, Arthur H. Spiegel III, was a distant relation of the Spiegel catalog family, and founded APM Management Consultants. His mother, Sandra L. Granzow, is a writer, communications consultant in developing countries and his brother, Sam Squeak E. Clean Spiegel, is a producer and DJ. He also has a sister, Julia and his father was from a German Jewish family, while his mother has German, Scottish, and English ancestry. Jonze attended the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, California, when he was a junior in high school, Jonze spent time at a Bethesda community store, where the former owner Mike Henderson gave him his nickname Spike Jonze in reference to Spike Jones. He fronted Club Homeboy, an international BMX club, with Mark Lew Lewman and Andy Jenkins, the three also created the youth culture magazines Homeboy and Dirt. In 2006, he was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Achievement in Commercials in 2005 and he was nominated for a body of work that included Hello Tomorrow for Adidas, Lamp for IKEA, and Pardon Our Dust for The Gap. He was a producer and co-creator of MTV television series Jackass and Jackass, The Movie, also directing some of the segments. Jonze has acted in videos and films, his most prominent role was in Three Kings as the sweet, dimwitted, casually racist Conrad. Jonze was a co-founder and editor of Dirt magazine along with Mark Lewman and Andy Jenkins, as well as an editor for Grand Royal Magazine and senior photographer for Transworld Skateboarding. In the past, Jonze shot street skateboarding videos, most notably Blinds highly influential Video Days in 1991 and he co-directed the Girl Skateboards film Yeah Right. and the Chocolate Skateboards video Hot Chocolate. In the closing montage of Yeah Right. Spike is shown doing a nollie heelflip in loafers and he is co-owner of Girl Skateboards. Jonze has many alter egos, including Richard Koufey, the leader of the Torrance Community Dance Group, the Koufey persona appeared when Jonze, in character, filmed himself dancing to Fatboy Slims The Rockafeller Skank as it played on a boom box in a public area
2.
Kanye West
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Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. Intent on pursuing a career as a rapper, West released his debut album The College Dropout in 2004 to widespread critical and commercial success. He went on to pursue a variety of different styles on subsequent albums Late Registration, Graduation, and 808s & Heartbreak. In 2010, he released his fifth album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to rave reviews from critics, West released his abrasive sixth album, Yeezus, to further critical praise in 2013. His seventh album, The Life of Pablo, was released in 2016, Wests outspoken views and life outside of music have received significant mainstream attention. He has been a frequent source of controversy for his conduct at award shows, on social media and he is the founder and head of the creative content company DONDA. His 2014 marriage to television personality Kim Kardashian has also been subject to media coverage. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time, three of his albums have been included and ranked on Rolling Stones 2012 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. He has also included in a number of Forbes annual lists. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2005 and 2015, West was born on June 8,1977 in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents divorced when he was three years old, after the divorce, he and his mother moved to Chicago, Illinois. His father, Ray West, is a former Black Panther and was one of the first black photojournalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ray West was later a Christian counselor, and in 2006, opened the Good Water Store and Café in Lexington Park, Maryland with startup capital from his son. West, was a professor of English at Clark Atlanta University, West was raised in a middle-class background, attending Polaris High School in suburban Oak Lawn, Illinois after living in Chicago. At the age of 10, West moved with his mother to Nanjing, China, according to his mother, West was the only foreigner in his class, but settled in well and quickly picked up the language, although he has since forgotten most of it. When asked about his grades in school, West replied, I got As. West demonstrated an affinity for the arts at an early age and his mother recalled that she first took notice of Wests passion for drawing and music when he was in the third grade. Growing up in Chicago, West became deeply involved in its hip hop scene and he started rapping in the third grade and began making musical compositions in the seventh grade, eventually selling them to other artists
3.
Los Angeles Film Festival
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The LA Film Festival is an annual film festival held in June in Culver City, California. It showcases independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, since 2001 it is run by the organization Film Independent, which also has been arranging the annual Film Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica since 1985. The festival began as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1995, the LAIFF ran for six years, until it was absorbed into Film Independent in 2001. At its height, the LAIFF attracted 19,000 attendees, today, the LA Film Festival attracts more than 36,000 visitors. With an attendance of more than 36,000 people, it more than 100 feature films. The event also includes world premieres of such as Disney/Pixars Brave, and a variety of panels, seminars. The Festival features signature programs including the exclusive Filmmaker Retreat, hosted by a film director. In 2010, the Filmmaker Retreat was hosted by Kathryn Bigelow, in 2011, it was hosted by George Lucas at his Skywalker Ranch. In addition to films, it also screens short films created by high school students. Films submitted to the Festival are reviewed by Film Independents programming department, in 2011, the Festival showed over 200 films, music videos and shorts from over 30 countries. The first LAIFF took place over the course of five days in a single location, in 1996, the LAIFF expanded to include the Directors Guild of America Building in Hollywood. In 2001, the Festival became part of the organization Film Independent, in 2006, the Los Angeles Times became the Festivals main sponsor. In 2010 the Festival was moved to the Regal Cinemas at the L. A, live complex in downtown Los Angeles, with additional screenings at several other downtown venues including the Downtown Independent, Orpheum Theatre and the REDCAT Theatre. The Festival also has a tradition of screenings at the open-air John Anson Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood. Free screenings are scheduled at California Plaza, in conjunction with Grand Performances, today the LA Film Festival attracts over 36,000 visitors. The LA Film Festival is a festival in all categories for Film Independents Spirit Awards. It is also a festival for the short films categories of the Academy Awards. During the festival of 2009, festival officials was approached by Dole Food Company, Dole urged festival officials to immediately cease and desist their sponsorship of the documentary Bananas. *, directed by Fredrik Gertten
4.
Flashing Lights (Kanye West song)
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Flashing Lights is a song by American hip-hop artist Kanye West. It features Detroit R&B singer Dwele and contains vocals from Australian singer Connie Mitchell. West co-wrote and co-produced the song with Eric Hudson and released it on November 22,2007 as the single for his third studio album. The singles cover art was designed by Japanese pop artist, Takashi Murakami, the single received acclaim from music critics and is cited as one of the best songs on Graduation. The song features Detroit R&B singer Dwele on its chorus and contains vocals provided by Connie Mitchell of the Australian electronic group Sneaky Sound System. The collaboration came about when Kanye met Mitchells bandmates Angus McDonald and Daimon Downey at a diner in Sydney, seeking musical inspiration, West asked McDonald for ideas, who in turn suggested that he be introduced to Mitchell. After their meeting, West asked Mitchell to record vocals for the song, Mitchell later admitted that while she previously didnt know who West was and never really cared for hip-hop, the collaboration had changed her views. As a result of its popularity, Flashing Lights was utilized by media outlets. In December 2007, the song was used in an ad campaign for French vodka Cîroc and it is featured in the popular action-adventure video game Grand Theft Auto IV on the in-game contemporary hip-hop radio station, The Beat 102.7. The song came to be included on Now Thats What I Call Music 27, the promo won gold at the North American Promax Awards. The song has been confirmed to be included within the setlist of the music video game Scratch. The song appeared in one episode of the MTV series My Life as Liz, Flashing Lights is an electronic-tinged hip-hop/R&B song composed in the key of F♯ minor. It is written in time and moves at 90 beats per minute. The main and background vocal range for the song spans nearly three octaves, from C4 to E5. After the introduction, in which Mitchells processed vocals repeat the titular hook four times, following a break, the song enters a passage where its heavily manipulated hook echoes in and out before the coda draws the composition to a close. Flashing Lights received widespread acclaim from music critics and was widely regarded as the best song on Graduation. Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy highly approved of the single, awarding it a four-star review, mixing chilled-out electronics, jittering synths and laid-back, old-skool hip-hop, he creates a sumptuous track that grows more intriguing with every listen. Billboard gave a review, claiming that it does a great job of reintroducing Miami Vice-esque keys
5.
See You in My Nightmares
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See You in My Nightmares is a song from Kanye Wests fourth studio album 808s & Heartbreak. Produced by West and his former mentor No I. D. the song features a duet between West and rap artist Lil Wayne. It was to be sent to radios on March 10,2009, while to Rhythm/Crossover radio on February 28,2009. Though not released as a single, See You in My Nightmares still managed to enter the top forty on charts in Canada, along with Amazing, See You in My Nightmares charted without actually being released as a single following the release of 808s & Heartbreak. In the U. S. the song was certified as a Hot Shot Debut and that same week, it also a Hot Shot Debut on the Pop 100, peaking at number twenty-seven. The song was a Hot Shot Debut once more in Canada, West has collaborated with Spike Jonze to direct a short film, We Were Once a Fairytale for See You in My Nightmares. According to Jonzes producing partner, Vincent Landay, the project was mostly for fun and is not necessarily a video for See You in My Nightmares. Set to run between ten and fifteen minutes, the film was shot near the end of January within two days in Los Angeles and has received editing over the course of several weekends. Its plot is based on a developed by Jonze, who then reached out to Kanye under the belief that hed be perfect for it. On October 18, “We Were Once a Fairytale” was leaked to the Internet and posted on Mr. West’s official Web site, kanyeuniversecity. com. Mr. Jonze said the film was leaked from the postproduction studio of a friend. “I think he was like, ‘Oh, it’s out, i’ll link to it, ’ ” Mr. Jonze said. On October 19th the video was removed from the site, with only a message left from West saying SORRY I HAD TO TAKE IT DOWN. The video, however, can still be found on video sharing websites and is now available through iTunes. Information taken from 808s & Heartbreak liner notes, songwriters, Kanye West, Ernest Wilson, Jeff Bhasker, Dwayne Carter Producers, Kanye West, No I. D. Recorders, Andrew Dawson, Anthony Kilhoffer Keyboards, Jeff Bhasker Strings arrangements, violins, Emma Kummrow, Igor Szwec, Luigi Mazzochi, Gregory Teperman, Olga Konopelsky, Charles Parker Viola, Davis Barnett, Alexandra Leem. Cello, James J. Cooper, III, Jennie Lorenzo, bass, Miles Davis Mixer, Manny Marroquin Engineer, Jeff Chestek Assistant engineers, Montez Roberts, Rick Friedrich, John Stahl Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
6.
Fonzworth Bentley
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Derek Watkins, better known as Fonzworth Bentley or Farnsworth Bentley, is a musician and author. He is perhaps best known for being Sean Combs former personal valet and assistant, as first seen in Making the Band 2 and he was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He first appeared rapping on Da Bands 2002 album Too Hot for TV, in the track Cheers to Me, in 2003, Bentley was featured on the Good Day, Good Sir skit on OutKasts Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. In 2004, he had a role in the video of Kanye Wests The New Workout Plan. His debut album, C. O. L. O. U. R. S. was released via iTunes on April 26,2011 and he was also featured, playing the violin in the Yes We Can music video in support of Barack Obamas 2008 presidential campaign. Bentley was a producer for Borrow My Crew in 2005, in which he allowed one boy, Cory Cole. Since 2008, he has been hosting the MTV series From Gs to Gents, in 2007, Bentley authored an etiquette book, Advance Your Swagger, How to Use Manners, Confidence and Style to Get Ahead. In May 2009, Bentley hosted one of the parties following the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington. In 2007, Bentley contributed to KnowHow2GO, recently, Bentley sang as a member of the chorus for We Are The World, a remake of the original for Haiti, in February 2010. From Gs to Gents Top Ten Gentlemens Club Confessions of a Celebrity Assistant VH1 Fashion Rocks All Shades of Fine,25 Hottest Women of the Past 25 Years P
7.
Lil Wayne
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Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American hip hop recording artist and author from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1991, at the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, in 1996, Lil Wayne joined the southern hip hop group Hot Boys, with his Cash Money label-mates Juvenile, Young Turk and Lil Doogie. Hot Boys debuted with Get It How U Live. that same year, Most of the groups success came with their platinum-selling album Guerrilla Warfare and the 1999 single Bling Bling. Along with being the flagship artist of Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne is also the Chief Executive Officer of his own imprint, Young Money Entertainment. Lil Waynes solo debut album Tha Block Is Hot, was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and his subsequent albums, Lights Out and 500 Degreez, went on to be certified gold. Wayne reached higher popularity with his fourth album Tha Carter, which was led by the single Go D. J. and his appearance on Destinys Childs Top 10 single Soldier, that same year. The album was followed by Tha Carter II, as well as several mixtapes, Wayne gained more prominence with his sixth album Tha Carter III, which became his most successful album to date, with first-week sales of over one million copies in the United States. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and includes the hit singles Lollipop, A Milli, following the success of Tha Carter III, Wayne decided to record a rock-esque album titled Rebirth. The album, released in 2010, was certified gold by the RIAA, in March 2010, Lil Wayne began serving an 8-month jail sentence in New York after being convicted of criminal possession of a weapon stemming from an incident in July 2007. Waynes eighth album I Am Not a Human Being, was released during his incarceration and his 2011 album and first following his release, Tha Carter IV, sold 964,000 copies in its first week of availability in the United States. It includes the singles 6 Foot 7 Foot, How to Love, on September 27,2012, Lil Wayne passed Elvis Presley as the male with the most entries on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 109 songs. The record has since passed by other artists. Lil Waynes thirteenth studio album, Tha Carter V has been delayed multiple times and has no scheduled release date, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. was born on September 27,1982, and grew up in the Hollygrove neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. His mother, a cook, gave birth to him when she was 19 years old and his parents divorced when he was 2, and his father permanently abandoned the family. Although Wayne and Birdman have a relationship and Birdman calls Carter his son, Waynes biological father. Lil Wayne has also spoken about his stepfather, Rabbit. Carter has a dedicated to Rabbit, who was murdered before Carter became a star. Carter enrolled in the program of Lafayette Elementary School and in the drama club of Eleanor McMain Secondary School
8.
Bowie knife
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The knife pattern is still popular with collectors, in addition to various knife manufacturing companies there are hundreds of custom knife makers producing Bowies and variations. The early history of the Bowie knife is complicated by murky definitions, limited supporting documentation, the Bowie knife is not well defined. By the mid-20th century most would include some combination of blade length, in the mid-19th century, when the popularity of the knife was at its peak, the term was applied to a wide range of blades. Absent a consensus definition, it is impossible to define the origin of the knife. To complicate matters, some American blades that meet the definition of the Bowie knife may pre-date Bowie. The Bowie knife derives part of its name and reputation from James Bowie, a notorious knife fighter, James Bowie left a very thin paper trail, in the absence of verifiable facts his history was buried in unverifiable knife-fighting legend. Historians seriously entertain the possibility that Bowie only fought one personal knife fight and that Sandbar Fight received national publicity within months of the event. James Bowie prominently wore a large knife after the Sandbar fight, the Bowie family provided a variety of conflicting knife histories. His brother Rezin Bowie provided a terse history 2 years after James death, sixteen years after James death someone slightly amended Rezins explanation to include a blacksmith. Rezins grandchildren named a different blacksmith, a later Bowie claimed that the information attributed to John was a lie and that John probably never saw the document, etc. In the mid-20th century a Bowie knife book author took liberties with the historical facts, some documents were misquoted, some reported facts cannot be confirmed, etc. Others incorporated the errors into their accounts of both Bowie and his knives, with no solid definition and conflicting accounts of knife history, many were credited with the invention or improvement of the blade. The historical Bowie knife was not a design, but was a series of knives improved several times by Jim Bowie over the years. The earliest such knife, made by Jesse Clift at Bowies brothers request resembled Spanish hunting knives of the day, the blade, as later described by Rezin Bowie, was 9.5 inches long,0.25 inches thick and 1.5 inches wide. It was straight-backed, described by witnesses as a butcher knife. They are about the size of a common English carving knife, after the Vidalia Sandbar fight, Bowie was a famous man, and the Bowie brothers received many requests for knives of the same design. Bowie and his brothers would later commission more ornate custom blades from various makers including Daniel Searles. George William Featherstonhaugh described them as, These formidable instruments. are the pride of an Arkansas blood, and got their name of Bowie knives from a conspicuous person of this fiery climate
9.
808s & Heartbreak
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808s & Heartbreak is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Kanye West. It was released on November 24,2008, by Roc-A-Fella Records, West recorded the album during September and October 2008 at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, Hawaii, with the help of producers No I. D. 808s & Heartbreak debuted at one on the Billboard 200. Despite varying responses from listeners, the received positive reviews from most critics and was named one of 2008s best records in several year-end lists. Four singles were released to promote the record, including the hit singles Love Lockdown, by 2013, it had sold 1.7 million copies in the United States. Following the release of his studio album Graduation, the remainder of 2007. On November 10,2007, Wests mother Donda West died due to complications arising following cosmetic surgery involving a tummy tuck, months later, West and fiancée Alexis Phifer ended their engagement and their long-term intermittent relationship, which had begun in 2002. At the same time, West struggled to adapt to his pop star status he had once striven to achieve. The loss, loneliness and longing for companionship and a sense of normality served to inspire 808s & Heartbreak, West stated that This album was therapeutic – its lonely at the top. A photograph taken by Danny Clinch of West kissing his mother on the cheek was included in the booklet liner notes. West felt that his emotions could not be expressed simply through rapping. There were melodies that were in me, he explained, what was in me I couldnt stop. Either call it pop or pop art, either one Im good with, the album was recorded over a span of approximately three weeks from September to October 2008. Recording sessions took place at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California and at Avex Recording Studio in Honolulu, as implied by its title, 808s & Heartbreak prominently features the Roland TR-808 drum machine. West utilized the sounds created by the 808 and manipulated its pitch to produce a distorted, electronic sound and he felt the characteristic of the sound was representative of his state of mind. According to West, the fact that Hawaiis area code was 808 was coincidental, the realization inspired him to pursue his direction with the album, however. In terms of direction, Wests intentions, according to Mike Dean, were to go against the typical sound of hip hop beat. Overall, West maintained a minimal but functional approach towards the studio production
10.
Girl Distribution Company
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Crailtap is a skateboarding distribution company based in Torrance, California, United States. The distribution company houses the following brands, Girl Skateboards, Chocolate Skateboards, Royal Skateboard Trucks, Ruby Republic, Howard explained in a 2000 interview, Part of the reason we started Girl was so pro skateboarders would have a future. When Guy Mariano and Rudy Johnsons legs dont work anymore, at least what theyve done for skateboarding, all the Girl Distribution companies are based around people who have helped Girl get to where it is today. Howard and Carroll revealed in 2013 as part of the companys 20-year anniversary commemoration that the majority of the industry at the time was acrimonious towards the new enterprise. Carroll stated that a particular woodshop was threatened by another company and consequently severed ties with Girl, Carroll explained that Vitello he always just, kinda, let us know that he had our back. In addition to Howard and Carroll, the original Girl team consisted of Jovontae Turner, Guy Mariano, Rudy Johnson, Tim Gavin, Tony Ferguson, Sean Sheffey, and Jeron Wilson. The company has evolved into a company that distributes skateboard hard goods, skateboard videos and films. The Girl logo is similar to the symbol on womens bathrooms and was designed by Girls in-house artist Andy Jenkins, named the Art Dump, the design department of Girl is overseen by Jenkins. Artists such as Geoff McFetridge, Kevin Lyons, and Hershel Baltrotsky have contributed to the aesthetic of Girl through their work for the Art Dump, Biebel had moved from Chicago, US to California, US and had met Ty previously in southern California. At the 2000 premiere of the video, Carroll asked Biebel to join the Lakai skate shoe team, Biebel was assigned professional status in 2002 and stated in a 2012 interview, Girl, Lakai—thats a dream come true. I aint never leaving that shit, rogers left the company in 2007 due to his dissatisfaction with his royalty payments, while Capaldi, Malto, and Olson were assigned professional status the following year. Rogers later explained his issues with Girl in an October 2012 interview, I was getting my cheque, just not my actual royalties. I got a three thousand dollar guarantee a month, which operated as a minimum, meaning I get that no matter what, but if I sell over the minimum, I get the extras - royalties kick in. So what had happened was, they were letting my royalties fall back into the company to cover their overhead, for two years I apparently didnt break my three thousand dollar minimum. Dont forget, were taking about Girl here who sells all around the world, the following month I got a six thousand dollar cheque. The first time I broke my three thousand dollar minimum, apparently, and on top of that, it was April, a statement from Girl was not released in response to Rogerss claims. After winning the Bang Yo Self 2 contest, held by the Berrics website, in April 2009, in regard to Kennedys victory, the Berrics wrote, Today, April 2nd,2009, is the beginning of Cory Kennedys tyranny over skateboarding. May God have mercy on our souls, after 20 minutes, Kennedy eventually realized that his name was written on the decks
11.
Mayer Hawthorne
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Cohen also performs and records in the groups Tuxedo and Jaded Incorporated. Cohen was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the stage name Mayer Hawthorne is a combination of Cohens real middle name and Hawthorne Road, the street he grew up on. Hawthorne moved to Los Angeles in 2005 and he was signed to Stones Throw Records by label head Peanut Butter Wolf. Originally the Mayer Hawthorne tracks were created for sampling purposes and for pleasure, Hawthorne has had no previous vocal training. His debut single, Just Aint Gonna Work Out/When I Said Goodbye, was released on a red heart-shaped 7 record on Stones Throw Records on November 4,2008. His second single Maybe So, Maybe No/I Wish It Would Rain was released on a 12 record on Stones Throw Records on April 19,2009 and his debut album, A Strange Arrangement was released on CD and LP on Stones Throw Records on September 8,2009. The song When I Said Goodbye, was featured in the Kanye West/Spike Jonze short film We Were Once a Fairytale, in 2011, Hawthorne performed guest vocals for the Sebastian song Love in Motion featured on Sebastians 2011 album Total. On July 15,2011, Mayer Hawthorne was a guest, along with famed Memphis/Stax Records keyboardist Booker T. Jones, on Episode 43 of Daryl Halls Live From Daryls House webcast. During Halls dinner for the group, Hawthorne stated that, when working as a hip hop DJ and he also played all the instruments on each of those tracks, in addition to recording all his own vocals. Mayer Hawthorne was a musical guest on the Conan TV show on October 17,2011, on both shows, the group performed The Walk, his first single from How Do You Do. In 2012 Hawthorne released the six-track live EP KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic, in late May 2013, Hawthorne released his single Her Favorite Song from his album Where Does This Door Go. It is noted that the album is a departure from his style in his past three albums. Later that year, he received a Grammy nomination for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package for his album How Do You Do, discussing How Do You Do, Hawthorne says, I found my own unique sound on this album, which Im excited about. He first found his voice in hip-hop and rap from his father. In July 2009, Hawthorne was featured on the cover of the anniversary issue of Beyond Race magazine. Hawthornes song, Your Easy Lovin Aint Pleasin Nothin was featured in the season of Ugly Betty in its finale episode. The song begins in the scene at Bettys goodbye party when Marc asks Troy if he would like to dance, Hawthornes track Do It, released under the alias Tuxedo with Jake One was sampled on Pitbulls track of the same name from his 2013 studio album Global Warming. The title track from Hawthornes album, Where Does This Door Go was featured over the credits of the season one Masters of Sex episode Thank You For Coming in October 2013
12.
Ludwig van Beethoven
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Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he one of the most famous. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies,5 piano concertos,1 violin concerto,32 piano sonatas,16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis, and one opera, Fidelio. At the age of 21 he moved to Vienna, where he began studying composition with Joseph Haydn and he lived in Vienna until his death. By his late 20s his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost completely deaf. In 1811 he gave up conducting and performing in public but continued to compose, many of his most admired works come from these last 15 years of his life. Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven, a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant in the Flemish region of what is now Belgium, who at the age of twenty moved to Bonn. Ludwig was employed as a singer at the court of the Elector of Cologne, eventually rising to become, in 1761. The portrait he commissioned of himself towards the end of his life remained proudly displayed in his grandsons rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage. Ludwig had one son, Johann, who worked as a tenor in the musical establishment and gave keyboard. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767, she was the daughter of Johann Heinrich Keverich, Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn. There is no record of the date of his birth, however. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, caspar Anton Carl was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776. Beethovens first music teacher was his father and he later had other local teachers, the court organist Gilles van den Eeden, Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini. Beethovens musical talent was obvious at a young age, some time after 1779, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was appointed the Courts Organist in that year. Neefe taught Beethoven composition, and by March 1783 had helped him write his first published composition, Beethoven soon began working with Neefe as assistant organist, at first unpaid, and then as a paid employee of the court chapel conducted by the Kapellmeister Andrea Luchesi. His first three piano sonatas, named Kurfürst for their dedication to the Elector Maximilian Friedrich, were published in 1783, Maximilian Frederick noticed Beethovens talent early, and subsidised and encouraged the young mans musical studies. Maximilian Fredericks successor as the Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Francis, the youngest son of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, echoing changes made in Vienna by his brother Joseph, he introduced reforms based on Enlightenment philosophy, with increased support for education and the arts
13.
Moonlight Sonata
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The Piano Sonata No.14 in C♯ minor Quasi una fantasia, Op.27, No. 2, popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata, is a sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil and this piece is one of Beethovens most popular compositions for the piano, and it was a popular favorite even in his own day. Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata in his thirties, after he had finished with some commissioned work. The first edition of the score is headed Sonata quasi una fantasia, grove Music Online translates the Italian title as sonata in the manner of a fantasy. Translated more literally, this is sonata almost a fantasy, the name Moonlight Sonata comes from remarks made by the German music critic and poet Ludwig Rellstab. In 1832, five years after Beethovens death, Rellstab likened the effect of the first movement to that of moonlight shining upon Lake Lucerne, within ten years, the name Moonlight Sonata was being used in German and English publications. Later in the century, the sonata was universally known by that name. Other critics have approved of the sobriquet, finding it evocative or in line with their own interpretation of the work, instead, the sonata possesses an end-weighted trajectory, with the rapid music held off until the third movement. In his analysis, German critic Paul Bekker states, The opening sonata-allegro movement gave the work a character from the beginning. Which succeeding movements could supplement but not change, Beethoven rebelled against this determinative quality in the first movement. He wanted a prelude, an introduction, not a proposition, the movement opens with an octave in the left hand and a triplet figuration in the right. A melody that Hector Berlioz called a lamentation, mostly by the hand, is played against an accompanying ostinato triplet rhythm. The movement is played pianissimo or very quietly, and the loudest it gets is mezzo forte or moderately loud. The adagio sostenuto has made an impression on many listeners, for instance. Beethovens student Carl Czerny called it a nocturnal scene, in which a ghostly voice sounds from the distance. The movement was popular in Beethovens day, to the point of exasperating the composer himself. Franz Liszt is said to have described the movement as a flower between two chasms
14.
ITunes Store
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ITunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28,2003, and has been the largest music vendor in the United States since April 2008, and the largest music vendor in the world since February 2010. It offers over 35 -40 million songs,2.2 million apps,25,000 TV shows, iTunes Stores revenues in the first quarter of 2011 totaled nearly US$1.4 billion, by May 28,2014, the store had sold 35 billion songs worldwide. On January 6,2009, Apple announced that DRM had been removed from 80% of its catalog in the US. As of June 2013, iTunes Store possesses 575 million active user accounts, before iTunes Store, most of the online music was download through websites like Napster. Steve Jobs expressed concern that people were illegally obtaining music because it was the option they had. In 2002, Steve Jobs made an agreement with the five major record labels to offer their content through iTunes, iTunes Store was introduced by Steve Jobs at a Worldwide Developers Conference to give music listeners a legal alternative to peer-to-peer file sharing networks. When it opened, it was the only legal digital catalog of music to songs from all five major record labels. At first, it was available on Mac OS X. Following the introduction of iTunes Store, individual songs were all sold for the same price, Music in the store is in the Advanced Audio Coding format, which is the MPEG-4-specified successor to MP3. Originally, songs were available with DRM and were encoded at 128 kbit/s. At the January 2009 Macworld Expo, Apple announced that all music would be made available without DRM. Previously, this model, known as iTunes Plus, had available only for music from EMI. Users can sample songs by listening to previews, ninety seconds in length, some Apps cost money and some are free. Developers can decide which prices they want to charge for apps, from a pre-set list of pricing tiers, when someone downloads an App,70 percent of the purchase goes to the developer, and 30 percent goes to Apple. At the Macworld 2008 keynote, Steve Jobs, who was Apples CEO at the time, movies are available for rent in iTunes Store on the same day they are released on DVD, though iTunes Store also offers for rental some movies that are still in theaters. Movie rentals are only viewable for 24 hours or 48 hours after users begin viewing them, iTunes Store also offers one low-priced movie rental a week, in the United States, this rental costs 99 cents. Movie rentals are not yet available in all countries but it is available in the United States, Mexico, there is a weekly promotion in which one to three songs are available to download for free to logged-in users
15.
The Independent
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The Independent is a British online newspaper. The printed edition of the paper ceased in March 2016, nicknamed the Indy, it began as a broadsheet newspaper, but changed to tabloid format in 2003. Until September 2011, the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as free from party political bias and it tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. In June 2015, it had a daily circulation of just below 58,000,85 per cent down from its 1990 peak. On 12 February 2016, it was announced that The Independent, the last print edition of The Independent on Sunday was published on 20 March 2016, with the main paper ceasing print publication the following Saturday. Launched in 1986, the first issue of The Independent was published on 7 October in broadsheet format and it was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at The Daily Telegraph who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwells ownership, marcus Sieff was the first chairman of Newspaper Publishing, and Whittam Smith took control of the paper. The paper was created at a time of a change in British newspaper publishing. Rupert Murdoch was challenging long-accepted practices of the print unions and ultimately defeated them in the Wapping dispute, consequently, production costs could be reduced which, it was said at the time, created openings for more competition. As a result of controversy around Murdochs move to Wapping, the plant was effectively having to function under siege from sacked print workers picketing outside, the Independent attracted some of the staff from the two Murdoch broadsheets who had chosen not to move to his companys new headquarters. Launched with the advertising slogan It is, and challenging both The Guardian for centre-left readers and The Times as the newspaper of record, The Independent reached a circulation of over 400,000 by 1989. Competing in a market, The Independent sparked a general freshening of newspaper design as well as, within a few years. Some aspects of production merged with the paper, although the Sunday paper retained a largely distinct editorial staff. It featured spoofs of the other papers mastheads with the words The Rupert Murdoch or The Conrad Black, a number of other media companies were interested in the paper. Tony OReillys media group and Mirror Group Newspapers had bought a stake of about a third each by mid-1994, in March 1995, Newspaper Publishing was restructured with a rights issue, splitting the shareholding into OReillys Independent News & Media, MGN, and Prisa. In April 1996, there was another refinancing, and in March 1998, OReilly bought the other 54% of the company for £30 million, brendan Hopkins headed Independent News, Andrew Marr was appointed editor of The Independent, and Rosie Boycott became editor of The Independent on Sunday. Marr introduced a dramatic if short-lived redesign which won critical favour but was a commercial failure, Marr admitted his changes had been a mistake in his book, My Trade
16.
MTV
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MTV is an American cable and satellite television channel owned by Viacom Media Networks and headquartered in New York City. Launched on August 1,1981, the originally aired music videos as guided by television personalities known as video jockeys. In its early years, MTVs main target demographic was young adults and it has received criticism towards this change of focus, both by certain segments of its audience and musicians. MTVs influence on its audience, including issues involving censorship and social activism, has also been a subject of debate for several years, in recent years, MTV had struggled with the secular decline of music-related cable media. In April 2016, MTV announced it would start to return to its original music roots with the reintroduction of the classic MTV series MTV Unplugged. It was also reported that the series MTV Cribs would be making a return on Snapchat, MTV has spawned numerous sister channels in the US and affiliated channels internationally, some of which have gone independent. As of July 2015, approximately 92,188,000 US households have received MTV, several earlier concepts for music video-based television programming had been around since the early 1960s. The Beatles had used music videos to promote their records starting in the mid-1960s, CBS rejected the idea, but Williams premiered his own musical composition Classical Gas on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, where he was head writer. The series featured clips from various popular artists, but was canceled by its distributor in 1971. The channel, which featured video disc jockeys, signed a deal with US Cable in 1978 to expand its audience from retail to cable television, the service was no longer active by the time MTV launched in 1981. The QUBE system offered many specialized channels, One of these specialized channels was Sight on Sound, a music channel that featured concert footage and music-oriented television programs. With the interactive QUBE service, viewers could vote for their favorite songs, the original programming format of MTV was created by media executive Robert W. Pittman, who later became president and chief executive officer of MTV Networks. Pittman had test-driven the music format by producing and hosting a 15-minute show, Album Tracks, the inspiration for PopClips came from a similar program on New Zealands TVNZ network named Radio with Pictures, which premiered in 1976. The concept itself had been in the works since 1966, when record companies began supplying the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation with promotional music clips to play on the air at no charge. Few artists made the trip to New Zealand to appear live. A shortened version of the shuttle launch ID ran at the top of hour in various forms. The first music video shown on MTV was The Buggles Video Killed the Radio Star and this was followed by the video for Pat Benatars You Better Run. Sporadically, the screen would go black when an employee at MTV inserted a tape into a VCR, MTVs lower third graphics that appeared near the beginning and end of music videos would eventually use the recognizable Kabel typeface for about 25 years
17.
The New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
18.
NME
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New Musical Express is a British music journalism magazine published since 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. It started as a newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s and 1990s. An online version of NME, NME. com, was launched in 1996 and it became the worlds biggest standalone music site, with over seven million users per month. With newsstand sales falling across the UK magazine sector, the paid circulation in the first half of 2014 was 15,830. In 2013, the list of NMEs The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, NME magazine was relaunched in September 2015 as a nationally distributed free publication. NMEs headquarters are in Southwark, London, England, the brands editor-in-chief is Mike Williams, who replaced Krissi Murison in 2012. The paper was established in 1952, the Accordion Times and Musical Express was bought by London music promoter Maurice Kinn, for the sum of £1,000, just 15 minutes before it was due to be officially closed. It was relaunched as the New Musical Express, and was published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint. On 14 November 1952, taking its cue from the US magazine Billboard, it created the first UK Singles Chart, the first of these was, in contrast to more recent charts, a top twelve sourced by the magazine itself from sales in regional stores around the UK. The first number one was Here in My Heart by Al Martino, during the 1960s the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time. The NME circulation peaked under Andy Gray, Editor 1957–1972, with a figure of 306,881 for the period from January to June 1964, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were frequently featured on the front cover. These and other artists appeared at the NME Poll Winners Concert. The concert also featured a ceremony where the winners would collect their awards. The NME Poll Winners Concerts took place between 1959 and 1972, from 1964 onwards they were filmed, edited and transmitted on British television a few weeks after they had taken place. The latter part of the 1960s saw the chart the rise of psychedelia. During this period some sections of pop music began to be designated as rock, in early 1972 the paper found itself on the verge of closure by its owner IPC. Alan Smith was made editor and in 1972 was told by IPC to turn things around quickly or face closure, according to The Economist, the New Musical Express started to champion underground, up-and-coming music. NME became the gateway to a more rebellious world
19.
SOHH
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SOHH is a hip hop news website. Felicia Palmer and Steven Samuel founded the website in 1996, in 2000, Rolling Stone magazine writer Mark Binelli called it the best overall hip-hop site. Felicia Palmer attended Cornell University to become a veterinarian, but due to the science courses. After graduating, she worked for a small licensing firm founded by two young women and she credited her experience there for giving her the motivation to launch SOHH. Her husband, Steven Samuel, was part the rap group, the Troubleneck Brothers, after leaving the group, Samuel worked as a postal foot messenger in New York. Palmer and Samuel officially launched the website in 1996, after twelve months, the membership grew to 75,000 people. Samuel stated, We picked up a book on HTML and pretty much figured out how to launch the site in a week, SOHH began as a magazine, but was changed to a website due to high printing costs. It is the longest running hip hop community. The website averages 1.5 million unique visitors a month, in late June 2008, a series of attacks took place against the website. The attack took place in stages, the message board section was infiltrated first, on June 23,2008, an apparent hate group which identified themselves as Anonymous organized DDOS attacks against the website, successfully eliminating 60% of the websites service capacity. Following the defacement, the website was shut down by its administration, allHipHop, an unrelated website, also had its forum raided. On June 30,2008 SOHH placed a statement regarding the attack on its main page. It concluded with a notice that it would be cooperating with the FBI, when interviewed, Felicia Palmer, co-founder of SOHH, confirmed that an FBI probe was ongoing, and that each time the website was attacked, data on the suspects was retrieved. Palmer indicated that some of the attackers were located within the United States, initially under the impression that the hackers were pranksters, she came to believe they were beyond pranksters and the attack was racist in nature
20.
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
21.
Being John Malkovich
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Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, both making their feature film debut. The film stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, and Catherine Keener, with John Malkovich, the film follows a puppeteer who finds a portal that leads into Malkovichs mind. Released by USA Films, the film was nominated in three categories at the 72nd Academy Awards, Best Director for Jonze, Best Original Screenplay for Kaufman, Craig Schwartz is an unemployed puppeteer in a forlorn marriage with his pet-obsessed wife Lotte. Gaining a file clerk job through Dr. Craig enters a door hidden behind a filing cabinet. Craig is able to observe and sense whatever Malkovich does for fifteen minutes before he is ejected and dropped into a ditch near the New Jersey Turnpike and he reveals the portal to Maxine and they let others use it for $200 a turn. Craig tells Lotte, who becomes obsessed with the experience, allowing her to out her transgender desires. Lotte becomes attracted to Maxine and they begin a relationship via Lotte being inside Malkovichs head while Maxine has sex with Malkovich. Craig, forsaken by both women, binds and gags Lotte and locks her in a cage, then enters Malkovichs mind and has sex with Maxine, Craig discovers that he is able to control Malkovichs actions while in his head, causing the actor to become paranoid. He is ejected and meets Craig by the turnpike, Malkovich demands that the portal be closed, but Craig refuses. Lotte escapes with the help of the animals in the cage and phones Maxine, Maxine is annoyed but accepts it as she enjoyed the experience. Seeking help, Lotte finds Lester, who reveals himself to be Captain Mertin and he is aware of the portal and has a room dedicated to Malkovich. Lester explains that the connected to it becomes ripe for occupation on the eve of their 44th birthday. However, after the old host turns 44, the moves to its next host. The former allows one to increase their life before moving on to another host while the means being trapped within the unborn child. Lester, who has been using the portal to prolong his life, reveals his plan to use Malkovich for himself, offered the chance to join Lesters group, Lotte warns him that Craig has control. Craig finds he is able to remain in Malkovich indefinitely and he spends the next eight months in Malkovichs body, and through his control turns Malkovich into a world-famous puppeteer. Malkovich marries Maxine and learns that she is pregnant as their relationship grows distant, as Malkovichs 44th birthday approaches, Lester and his friends cut a deal with Maxine and fake her kidnapping. They call up Craig threatening to kill her if Craig does not leave Malkovich, Craig ends the call, causing Lester to think that he called their bluff
22.
Adaptation (film)
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Adaptation is a 2002 American comedy-drama metafilm directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. The film is based on Susan Orleans non-fiction book The Orchid Thief, Adaptation had been in development as far back as 1994. Jonathan Demme brought the project to Columbia Pictures with Kaufman writing the script, Kaufman experienced writers block and did not know what to think of The Orchid Thief. Finally he wrote a script based on his experience of adapting the book into a screenplay, Jonze signed to direct, and filming was finished in June 2001. Adaptation received awards at the 75th Academy Awards, 60th Golden Globe Awards, Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Kaufman won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The work was ranked in a British Film Institute poll as one of the thirty best films of the 2000s, the self-loathing Charlie Kaufman is hired to write the screenplay adaptation for Susan Orleans The Orchid Thief. Kaufman is going through depression and is not happy that his twin brother, Donald decides to become a screenwriter like Charlie and attends one of Robert McKees famous seminars. Charlie, who rejects formulaic script writing, wants to ensure that his script is a adaptation of The Orchid Thief. However, he comes to realize that the book does not have a usable narrative, already well over his deadline with Columbia Pictures, and despairing at writing his script with self-reference, Charlie travels to New York City to discuss the screenplay with Orlean directly. Charlie ends up asking Donald to join him in New York to assist with the story structure, Donald pretends to be Charlie and interviews Orlean, but is suspicious of her account of the events of her book because she acts as though she is lying. He and his brother Charlie follow Orlean to Florida where she meets John Laroche and it is revealed that the Seminole wanted the ghost orchid in order to manufacture a drug that causes fascination – Laroche introduces this drug to Orlean. After Laroche and Orlean catch Charlie observing them taking the drug and having sex, Orlean forces Charlie at gunpoint to drive to the swamp, where she intends to kill him. Charlie and Donald escape and hide in the swamp, where they resolve their differences and Charlies problems with women, fleeing, Charlie and Donald drive off but crash into a rangers truck – Donald dies in the accident. Charlie runs off into the swamp to hide but is spotted by Laroche, however, Laroche is killed by an alligator before being able to kill Charlie. Charlie makes up with his mother, tells his former love interest Amelia that he is still in love with her and it ends with Charlie in a voice-over announcing the script is finished and that he wants Gérard Depardieu to portray him in the film. Variety reviewed the film as if Donald were a real person, Cage took the role for a $5 million salary, and wore a fatsuit during filming. Streep expressed strong interest in the role of Susan Orlean before being cast, John Turturro was approached to portray John Laroche. Cooper strongly considered turning down Laroche, but accepted it after his wife urged him to, albert Finney, Christopher Plummer, Terence Stamp and Michael Caine were considered for the role of Robert McKee, but McKee personally suggested Brian Cox to filmmakers
23.
Where the Wild Things Are (film)
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Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Written by Jonze and Dave Eggers, it is adapted from Maurice Sendaks 1963 childrens book of the same name and it combines live-action, performers in costumes, animatronics, and computer-generated imagery. The film stars Max Records and features the voices of James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker, Catherine OHara, and Chris Cooper. The film centers on a lonely boy named Max who sails away to an island inhabited by creatures known as the Wild Things. The film was co-produced by actor Tom Hanks through his production company Playtone, where the Wild Things Are was a joint production between Australia, Germany, and the United States, and was filmed principally in Melbourne. The film was released on October 16,2009, in the United States, on December 3 in Australia, the film was met with mostly positive reviews and appeared on many year-end top ten lists. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2,2010, the film begins with Max, a lonely eight-year-old boy with an active imagination whose parents are divorced, wearing a wolf costume and chasing his dog. His older sister, Claire, does nothing when her friends crush Maxs snow fort during a snowball fight, out of frustration, Max messes up her bedroom and destroys a frame that he had made for her. At school, Maxs teacher teaches him and his classmates about the death of the sun. Later on, his mother, Connie, invites her boyfriend Adrian to dinner, Max becomes upset with his mother for not coming to the fort he made in his room. He wears his costume, acts like an animal. When his mother gets upset, he throws a tantrum and bites her on the shoulder and she yells at him and he runs away, scared by what has transpired. At the edge of a pond, Max finds a boat that he boards. The pond soon becomes an ocean, Max, still in his wolf suit, eventually reaches an island. There, he stumbles upon a group of seven large, monstrous creatures, one of them, Carol, is in the middle of a destructive tantrum while the others attempt to stop him. As Carol wreaks havoc Max tries to join in on the mayhem, when they contemplate eating him, Max convinces them that he is a king with magical powers capable of bringing harmony to the group. They crown him as their new king, shortly after, K. W. returns and Max declares a wild rumpus, in which the Wild Things smash trees and tackle each other. The Wild Things introduce themselves as Carol, Ira, Judith, Alexander, Douglas, the Bull, soon, they all end up piling on one another before going to sleep, with Max at the center
24.
Her (film)
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Her is a 2013 American romantic science-fiction drama film written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze. It marks Jonzes solo screenwriting debut, the film follows Theodore Twombly, a man who develops a relationship with Samantha, an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. The film also stars Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, and Olivia Wilde, Jonze conceived the idea in the early 2000s after reading an article about a website that allowed for instant messaging with an artificial intelligence program. After making Im Here, a film sharing similar themes. He wrote the first draft of the script in five months, principal photography took place in Los Angeles and Shanghai in mid-2012. The role of Samantha was recast in post-production, with Samantha Morton being replaced with Johansson, additional scenes were filmed in August 2013 following the casting change. Her premiered at the 2013 New York Film Festival on October 12,2013, Warner Bros. initially provided a limited release for Her at six theaters on December 18. It was later given a release at over 1,700 theaters in the United States. Her received widespread acclaim upon its release, and grossed over $47 million worldwide on a production budget of $23 million. The film received awards and nominations, primarily for Jonzes screenplay. At the 86th Academy Awards, Her received five nominations, including Best Picture, Jonze also won awards for his screenplay at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, the 66th Writers Guild of America Awards, the 19th Critics Choice Awards, and the 40th Saturn Awards. Unhappy because of his divorce from his childhood sweetheart Catherine, Theodore purchases a talking operating system with artificial intelligence, designed to adapt. He decides that he wants the OS to have a female voice, Theodore is fascinated by her ability to learn and grow psychologically. They bond over their discussions about love and life, such as Theodores avoidance of signing his divorce papers because of his reluctance to let go of Catherine, Samantha proves to be constantly available, always curious and interested, supportive and undemanding. Samantha convinces Theodore to go on a date with a woman, with whom a friend. The date goes well, but Theodore hesitates to promise when he see her again, so she insults him. Theodore mentions this to Samantha, and they talk about relationships, Theodore explains that, although he and Amy dated briefly in college, they are only good friends, and that Amy is married. Theodores and Samanthas intimacy grows through a sexual encounter
25.
How They Get There
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How They Get There is a short film directed by Spike Jonze, which illustrates how lonely shoes wind up in the gutter. It is featured on the The Work of Director Spike Jonze DVD, the opening shot is of a shoe lying in the gutter. It belongs to a man who is leaning against a car drinking a carton of milk. After a moment, the owner of the car then angrily tells him to stop, as the man walks off, he spots a woman across the road and as he stumbles on the curb - the woman mimics him. She again copies him as he discards his milk carton on a fence and they continue mimicking each other until we see that the man is approaching a crossing in the road. However, the man is enjoying the game too much to realise the danger and he is then struck by a car which flips over and forces his shoe to fly through the air and land in the gutter. The music playing through the movie is Sentimental Journey by Juan García Esquivel, rico Bueno as Angry Man Lauren Curry as Girl Mark Gonzales as Guy How They Get There at the Internet Movie Database
26.
I'm Here (film)
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Im Here is a 2010 sci-fi romance short film written and directed by Spike Jonze. The film is a story about two robots living in Los Angeles where humans and robots co-exist. The plot is based on The Giving Tree, and the character is named after Shel Silverstein. The films robots were created by Alterian, Inc. a Los Angeles-based effects company notable for their design for Daft Punk. The film was funded by and is a promotion for Absolut Vodka, music from the band Sleigh Bells is prominently featured. The film made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, Sheldon is a gray robot with a head shaped like an old PC tower. Every day, he rides the bus to the library then rides home again at the end of the day to recharge himself in his apartment. He appears unhappy and forlorn until one day, while waiting for the bus, he sees Francesca and he sees her again the next day, driving with several other robots and one shirtless human. Though she passes by him at first, she turns her car around and offers Sheldon a ride home, Francesca stops at a mall and she, and Sheldon, walk off together while she sticks pieces of paper on an Exit sign and a palm tree. The papers show a drawing of long hair and eyebrows with the words Im here, Francesca falls off a ledge and injures her knee. Sheldon repairs her knee with his built-in toolkit, and they listen to There Are Many of Us by ASKA & The Lost Trees on her car radio, the two later go to a rock concert, where Francesca gets lost in the crowd and loses her left arm. Sheldon takes her to safety then goes back to retrieve her arm, finding it smashed on the floor, he replaces it with his own arm, transplanting it onto Francescas body. Later, Sheldon finds Francesca lying in the hallway outside his apartment, some time after, Francesca fails to pick up Sheldon at the library, leaving him to take the bus. When he gets home, he receives a call summoning him to the hospital. He arrives to find Francescas body broken and lifeless on an operating table, Francesca is taken out in front of the hospital in a wheelchair, cradling Sheldons head in her lap. The two smile and look out towards the sun as a taxi pulls up to pick them up
27.
Video Days
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Video Days is a skateboarding video by Blind Skateboards released in 1991. It is considered one of the most influential skate videos, as director Spike Jonzes format is frequently cited as its definitive filming template, Video Days is the first movie/video directed by Spike Jonze and stars Mark Gonzales, Rudy Johnson, Jason Lee, Guy Mariano and Jordan Richter. Legendary professional skateboarder Danny Way was briefly on Blind Skateboards from 1990-1991, however, he soon quit Blind, returning to his original team H-Street Skateboards and his footage for Video Days was omitted. A brief shot of Way can be seen during Mark Gonzales part in this video. The film starts off with footage of all 5 skaters driving around in a Blue Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency accompanied to the song Low Rider by War, each skaters name is introduced while riding in the car which is then followed by footage of them performing a trick. The car then drives along a road out of frame which then reveals a sunset overlooking a forest. Guy Marianos name is displayed in white writing in front of a black background thus beginning his part, then footage of Guy performing several tricks is shown before the accompanied song starts playing. Guy Mariano continues to skate in places such as schools, car parks. His part ends with him sliding a rail and being in disbelief about it, Jordan Richters name is then displayed while the accompanying song starts playing. Jordan then proceeds to skate primarily half-pipes and vert-based skateparks and his part ends abruptly after he performs a no handed air and the song ends. Mark Gonzales name is displayed, then footage of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is shown with Willy Wonka saying We are the music makers. Mark then proceeds to skate a wide variety of locations including car parks, streets, ditches, basketball courts, half pipes, short and silent snippets of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory do appear throughout this part. The part ends when Mark frontside boardslides a rail and then loses his board, then footage of a young British girl saying I hope youve enjoyed the skateboarding and everything else, thats all folks, goodbye. She then gives a look to someone off camera. Then footage is shown of all five skaters riding in the Blue Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency interacting with various Support our troops protesters on the sidewalk, Jason Lee yells to the protesters the infamous line No War for Heavy Metal. Rudy Johnsons name is displayed while the song starts playing. Rudy then skates such locations as streets, car parks, plazas, rudys part ends abruptly as he performs an Ollie one foot to lipslide on a rail and almost runs into the camera. Jason Lees name is displayed before he addresses the camera and says You know Ill give you a hundred bucks and he then pulls a face at the camera and says Ill give you 600 tries, Ill be back next week
28.
Yeah Right!
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Yeah Right. is a 2003 skateboarding video by Girl Skateboards, directed by Ty Evans and Spike Jonze. Yeah Right. is notable for its soundtrack, length, a short prologue pays tribute to skater Keenan Milton, who died in 2001. Milton was part of Chocolate Skateboards team, a subset of Girl Skateboards, the introduction credits for the video feature a unique series of shots in ultra-slow motion, filmed with Jonzes personal camera that is capable of shooting 100 frames per second. The camera is low to the ground and very close to the skateboarder as various flip tricks are completed, although Yeah Right features mainly skateboarding, there are many special effects used. A cameo is made by Owen Wilson and he is in a parking lot with Rick Howard, Eric Koston and Mike Carroll preparing to perform a trick on a handrail. By framing the camera very carefully, it appears that Wilson attempts the extremely difficult trick. However, while the camera was facing the direction for a moment, Wilson had slipped out of the frame and is replaced by Eric Koston who is wearing a wig. Koston performs the trick down the staircase and Wilson reappears in the shot after Koston lands to make it look like he completed the trick, features the Girl Skateboards team, along with Chocolate Skateboards. Keenan Milton - memorial section before the intro of the film, at the Internet Movie Database Yeah Right
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Fully Flared
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Fully Flared is a street skateboarding video by the Lakai footwear company, featuring video parts from its team riders. The film is directed by Ty Evans, Spike Jonze, in 2007, it won Best Video of the Year at the Transworld Skateboarding Awards, while Guy Mariano won both the Best Street and Best Video Part awards at the same event. It was one of the first skateboarding videos to use high-definition cameras, the film has become a skateboarding culture icon as the apex of professional skateboarding. The introduction features the skateboarders performing tricks in a vacant urban space, consisting of obstacles, blocks, presented in slow motion, the introduction feature is accompanied by a soundtrack from electronic music group, M83. Originally, Evans, Jonze, and Howard played with different ideas that were more dangerous than what was eventually featured. The introduction was filmed three weeks prior to the premiere. Overall the film took four years to make. Some team members had a lot of footage and are now planning to use it for other videos. Most of the video was filmed with Sony DCR-VX1000 cameras and Panasonic HVX200 high-definition footage is used for second angles, the main group filming was Aaron Meza and Chris Ray. In Europe, an Italian filmer named Fedrico Vitetta - who had living with Oliver Barton in Spain for a year - took on the role. Then was conceptual help from Rick Howard and Spike Jonze, finally, Johannes Gamble helped with all the effects work. The videos release was postponed for two years, mainly due to important team additions. Lakai. com - Lakais official website Skatevideosite. com - Fully Flared soundtrack list
