1.
Ruben Fleischer
–
Ruben Samuel Fleischer is an American film director, film producer, television producer, music video director, and commercial director who lives in Los Angeles. He is best known as the director of the acclaimed and financially successful Zombieland. He followed it by making the films 30 Minutes or Less and Gangster Squad, electric Six, DJ Format, and Gold Chains. Ruben Fleischer was born and raised in Washington, D. C, the son of Karen Lee and David Elliot Fleischer and his brother, Lucas, works in new media. His father was born to a Jewish family, while his mother converted to Judaism, Fleischer was raised in Reform Judaism. After graduating with a major in history from Wesleyan University, Fleischer moved to San Francisco and he found himself working as a freelance HTML programmer in San Francisco. Taking the advice of close friend Mike White, Fleischer worked as a PA in the office of Dawsons Creek. He eventually turned to directing and worked his way through the industry, tackling music videos and television commercials before landing his first feature film, Zombieland and his second feature film,30 Minutes or Less, opened in theaters on August 12,2011. Fleischer directed Gangster Squad, a 2013 crime drama film, based on the tactical group created by the LAPD to combat the Los Angeles crime family. Flming began in September,2011, and the cast included Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, and Holt McCallany
2.
Woody Harrelson
–
Woodrow Tracy Woody Harrelson is an American actor, activist and playwright. He is a two-time Academy Award nominee and has won one Emmy Award out of seven nominations and his breakout role came in 1985, joining the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd, for which he earned five Emmy Award nominations. Larry Flynt, country singer Dusty in A Prairie Home Companion and he will be portraying the Colonel in War for the Planet of the Apes. Larry Flynt and The Messenger, Harrelson earned Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, Harrelson was born in Midland, Texas, the son of Diane and Charles Voyde Harrelson. He has two brothers, Jordan and Brett Harrelson, Charles Voyde Harrelson, who was a hitman, was arrested in 1979 for killing Federal Judge John H. Wood Jr. in San Antonio, Texas. His father was convicted and eventually died during his sentence in the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility. In 1973, Harrelson moved to his mothers native city, Lebanon and he attended Lebanon High School, working through much of high school as a woodcarver at Kings Island amusement park. He attended Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity and he received a Bachelor of Arts in theater and English in 1983. He told Playboy in October 2009, I was getting into theology and studying the roots of the Bible, I started seeing things that made me ask, Is God really speaking through this instrument. My eyes opened to the reality of the Bible being just a document to control people, at the time I was a real mamas boy and deeply mesmerized by the church. Harrelson is widely known for his work on the NBC sitcom Cheers and he played bartender Woody Boyd, who replaced Coach. He joined the cast in 1985 in season four, spending the final eight seasons on the show, for this role, Harrelson was nominated for five Emmy Awards, winning once in 1989. His character, Woody Boyd, was from Hanover, Indiana, in 1999, Harrelson guest-starred in the Cheers spin-off success Frasier, in which he reprised the role of Woody Boyd. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for this performance and he appeared in several 2001 episodes of Will & Grace as Graces new boyfriend Nathan. On the November 12,2009 episode of the Comedy Central show The Colbert Report, Harrelson was interviewed by Stephen Colbert, in response to Colberts questioning of his support for the troops, Harrelson agreed to let Colbert shave his head on camera. On June 6,2010, Harrelson took part playing in Soccer Aid 2010 for UNICEF UK at Old Trafford in Manchester, the match was broadcast live on UKs ITV television. After being brought on as a substitute for Gordon Ramsay, Harrelson took the penalty in the penalty shootout. When later interviewed he claimed that he didnt even remember the moment of scoring, Harrelson also took part in Soccer Aid 2012 on May 27,2012
3.
Jesse Eisenberg
–
Jesse Adam Eisenberg is an American actor, author and playwright. Born and raised in New York City, Eisenberg began acting in plays at an early age, in 2006, Eisenberg won the Vail Film Festival Rising Star Award for his role in The Living Wake. In 2009, he starred in the comedy-drama film Adventureland with Kristen Stewart and the horror comedy Zombieland with Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, and Woody Harrelson. He then played Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the 2010 film The Social Network, for which he received nominations for awards, including the BAFTA, Golden Globe. He also starred in Holy Rollers, which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Since then, he has gone on to voice the character, Blu, a male Spixs macaw, in the animated films Rio and Rio 2. Eisenberg then starred in two films by Woody Allen, To Rome with Love and Café Society, and the magician heist film Now You See Me, Eisenberg has contributed pieces to The New Yorker and McSweeneys websites. He has written and starred in three plays for the New York stage, Asuncion, The Revisionist, and The Spoils, Eisenbergs first book, Bream Gives Me Hiccups, and Other Stories, a short story collection, was released in September 2015. Eisenberg was born in Queens, New York, and grew up in East Brunswick and his mother, Amy, who now teaches cross cultural sensitivity in hospitals, previously worked as a clown at childrens parties and choreographer for a Catholic high school for 20 years. His father, Barry Eisenberg, drove a taxicab, then owned and worked at a hospital, Jesse Eisenberg is Jewish and was brought up in a secular Jewish family that originated in Poland and Ukraine. He attended the East Brunswick Public Schools at Frost School, Hammarskjold Middle School, and Churchill Junior High School, Eisenberg then transferred to the High School of Performing Arts in New York. When he was a senior, he received his role in the independent comedy-drama film Roger Dodger. His work in the film prevented Eisenberg from enrolling at New York University, Eisenberg struggled to fit in at school due to an anxiety disorder, and began acting in plays at an early age. At 13, he understudied the role of Young Scrooge in a version of A Christmas Carol starring Tony Randall. Eisenberg made his first professional role in Arje Shaws off-Broadway play, The Gathering and he stated, When playing a role, I would feel more comfortable, as youre given a prescribed way of behaving. Pre-fame, Eisenberg got into trouble with Woody Allens lawyers, as a teenager he penned a play about how Allen came to change his name and managed to get the script to Allens people. Instead of a seal of approval, Eisenberg received two cease and desist letters, ironically, Eisenberg went on to star in two films directed by Allen, To Rome with Love, and Café Society. Eisenberg made his debut in the series Get Real, from 1999 to 2000
4.
Emma Stone
–
Emily Jean Emma Stone is an American actress. One of the worlds highest-paid actresses in 2015, Stone has received accolades as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award. She appeared in Forbes Celebrity 100 in 2013, and is described by the media as one of the most talented actresses of her generation. Born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Stone began acting as a child, in a theater production of The Wind in the Willows in 2000. As a teenager, she relocated to Los Angeles with her mother, and made her debut in VH1s In Search of the New Partridge Family. After small television roles, she won a Young Hollywood Award for her debut in Superbad. The 2010 teen comedy Easy A was Stones first starring role and earned her nominations for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and this breakthrough was followed by the commercially successful film Crazy, Stupid, Love, and a supporting part in the critically acclaimed drama The Help. Stone gained wider recognition for playing Gwen Stacy in the 2012 superhero film The Amazing Spider-Man and she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the role of a recovering drug addict in the black comedy-drama Birdman or. Her Broadway debut came in a revival of the musical Cabaret, Stone won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for playing an aspiring actress in the highly successful musical film La La Land. Emily Jean Stone was born on November 6,1988, in Scottsdale, Arizona, to Krista Jean Stone, a homemaker, and Jeffrey Charles Stone, Stone lived on the grounds of the Camelback Inn resort from the age of 12 to 15. She has a brother, Spencer. Her paternal grandfather, Conrad Ostberg Sten, was from a Swedish family that anglicized their surname to Stone when they immigrated to the United States through Ellis Island and she also has German, English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. As an infant, Stone had baby colic and cried frequently, Stone has described herself as having been loud and bossy while growing up. She was educated at Sequoya Elementary School and attended Cocopah Middle School for the sixth grade, although she did not like school, she has stated that her controlling nature meant that I made sure I got all As. Stone suffered panic attacks as a child, which she caused a decline in her social skills. She underwent therapy but states that it was her participation in local theater plays that helped cure the attacks and she has recalled, The first time I had a panic attack I was sitting in my friends house, and I thought the house was burning down. I called my mom and she brought me home, and for the three years it just would not stop. I would go to the nurse at lunch most days and just wring my hands, I would ask my mom to tell me exactly how the day was going to be, then ask again 30 seconds later
5.
Abigail Breslin
–
Abigail Kathleen Breslin is an American actress and singer. She appeared in her first commercial when she was three years old, and in her first film, Signs, at the age of five. In September 2015, she began acting in the horror-comedy Scream Queens on Fox, Breslin was born in New York City, the daughter of Kim and Michael Breslin, a telecommunications expert, computer programmer, and consultant. She has two brothers, Ryan and Spencer, who are also actors. The Breslin siblings live in New York in a very close-knit family and her maternal grandmother, Catherine, died in June 2015. She is named after Abigail Adams, the second First Lady of the United States, Breslins career began at the age of three when she appeared in a Toys R Us commercial. Her first acting role was in Signs, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, where she played Bo Hess, Signs garnered mostly positive reviews and was a box office success, grossing $408 million worldwide. Breslins performance in the film was praised by critics, david Ansen of Newsweek wrote that she and co-star Rory Culkin gave terrifically natural, nuanced performances. In 2004, she appeared in Raising Helen, in which she and her brother Spencer played siblings, Breslin had a small role in The Princess Diaries 2, Royal Engagement. In the independent film Keane, she played Kira Bedik, a girl who reminds the mentally disturbed protagonist William Keane of his missing. Keane had a theatrical release and grossed only $394,390 worldwide but it received positive reviews. Meghan Keane of The New York Sun wrote that the scenes between Mr. Lewis and the charmingly fragile Kira, winningly played by Ms. Breslin, bring a captivating humanity to the film. Breslins breakthrough role was in the 2006 comedy-drama Little Miss Sunshine, where she played Olive Hoover, a beauty pageant contestant and she was cast at the age of six, years before filming was started. Her co-stars, Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin, both stated that they were astounded by her seriousness of purpose during shooting, Little Miss Sunshine was a critical and commercial success, grossing $100 million worldwide. Her performance was praised, Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote that, If Olive had been played by any other little girl. She received nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, although Jennifer Hudson won the Oscar, Breslin co-presented with actor Jaden Smith at the 79th Academy Awards on February 25,2007. Breslin was part of the Disney Year of a Million Dreams celebration, annie Leibovitz photographed her as Fira from Disney Fairies with Dame Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio. In 2007, Breslin was ranked #8 in Forbes Magazines list of Young Hollywoods Top-Earning Stars, Breslin next appeared in the 2007 romantic comedy No Reservations, playing the niece of master chef Kate Armstrong
6.
Relativity Media
–
Relativity Media LLC is an American media company headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, founded in 2004 by Lynwood Spinks and Ryan Kavanaugh. The studio was the third largest mini-major globally until bankruptcy on July 30,2015 and its full-scale film studio acquires, develops, produces and distributes films. The companys partners and financial institutions have invested $20 billion as of 2012 in entertainment investments with partners such as Citibank, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Relativity Media also works in fashion, sports, digital and music. On July 30,2015, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York after lawsuits, in March 2016, the company emerged from the bankruptcy. The studio was founded by Ryan Kavanaugh and Lynwood Spinks in 2004 as a middleman company arranging multi-film slate deals with studios then arranging financial support through banks, Relativity Media would receive film equity, producers credit and a fee. Initially, Stark Investments, a Wisconsin-based hedge fund, funded the companys single-picture business, by 2007, these investors stopped making movie-finance deals. Elliott Management, a $16 billion New York–based hedge fund run by Paul Singer, then took a minority share of the company access to around $1 billion in capital. On January 4,2009, the acquired the genre label Rogue from Universal. Relativity oversaw Rogues 2009 film offerings, which consisted of Last House On The Left, The Unborn, Come Out Fighting, the deal also included the Rogue film library, featuring such films as Assault On Precinct 13 and The Strangers. One of the first arrangements was that the movie 21 and Over was partially filmed in Dongshigu, on May 18,2012, it was reported that Relativity was in talks to buy German producer-distributor Senator Entertainment. On July 6,2010, Relativity and Netflix announced a five-year-plus Pay-TV deal, the first two films to stream on Netflix were The Fighter and Skyline. On July 23,2010, Relativity acquired the 45-person marketing and distribution staff of Starz Overture Films, the studio distributed its first film on December 3,2010. The Warriors Way was directed by Sngmoo Lee and starring Jang Dong-gun, Geoffrey Rush, on May 20,2012, it was reported that Relativity and EuropaCorp signed a co-production and co-financing deal on two movies and Relativity will distribute in U. S. Relativity also has deals with Atlas Entertainment and Virgin Produced. In September 2011, Robbie Brenner was promoted from Executive Vice President, Production to President, on November 27,2011 it was reported Ron Burkle loaned $200 million to Relativity for Immortals and Mirror Mirror. On January 23,2012, Burkle purchased an equity stake in Relativity Media from Elliot Capital Management for at least $800 million. On May 31,2012 Relativity and Ron Burkle announced they raised $350 million in funding for films, Ron Burkle will also join the board of Relativity, along with Jason Colodne and Jason Beckman who are partners at Colbeck Capital. In July 2012, Relativity merged its Rogue Sports, an agency with Maximum Sports Management, a football agency
7.
Columbia Pictures
–
The studio was founded in 1918 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn and Jacks best friend Joe Brandt, released its first feature film in August 1922. It adopted the Columbia Pictures name in 1924, and went public two years later and its name is derived from Columbia, a national personification of the United States, which is used as the studios logo. In its early years, it was a player in Hollywood. With Capra and others, Columbia became one of the homes of the screwball comedy. In the 1930s, Columbias major contract stars were Jean Arthur, in the 1940s, Rita Hayworth became the studios premier star and propelled their fortunes into the late 1950s. Rosalind Russell, Glenn Ford, and William Holden also became major stars at the studio, in 1982, the studio was purchased by The Coca-Cola Company, and launched TriStar Pictures as a joint venture with HBO and CBS. Five years later, Coca-Cola spun off Columbia, which was sold to Tri-Star, after a brief period of independence with Coca-Cola maintaining a financial interest, the combined studio was acquired by Sony in 1989. It is one of the film studios in the world. It was one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, Brandt was president of CBC Film Sales, handling sales, marketing and distribution from New York along with Jack Cohn, while Harry Cohn ran production in Hollywood. The studios early productions were short subjects, Screen Snapshots, the Hall Room Boys. The start-up CBC leased space in a Poverty Row studio on Hollywoods famously low-rent Gower Street, among Hollywoods elite, the studios small-time reputation led some to joke that CBC stood for Corned Beef and Cabbage. Brandt eventually tired of dealing with the Cohn brothers, and sold his stake to Harry Cohn. In an effort to improve its image, the Cohn brothers renamed the company Columbia Pictures Corporation on January 10,1924, Cohn remained head of production as well, thus concentrating enormous power in his hands. He would run Columbia for the next 34 years, the second-longest tenure of any studio chief, even in an industry rife with nepotism, Columbia was particularly notorious for having a number of Harry and Jacks relatives in high positions. Humorist Robert Benchley called it the Pine Tree Studio, because it has so many Cohns, Columbias product line consisted mostly of moderately budgeted features and short subjects including comedies, sports films, various serials, and cartoons. Columbia gradually moved into the production of higher-budget fare, eventually joining the tier of Hollywood studios along with United Artists. Like United Artists and Universal, Columbia was an integrated company. It controlled production and distribution, it did not own any theaters, helping Columbias climb was the arrival of an ambitious director, Frank Capra
8.
Fantastic Fest
–
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Aint It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, the festival focuses on genre films such as horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, Asian, and cult. The festival takes place in September at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, filling eight screens for eight days and hosting many writers, directors and actors, a notable feature of this festival is the inclusion of secret screenings by Knowles. For these screenings, the audience often does not know what the film will be until seated and it also features many themed parties, outings, film-themed feasts, and other events that are hallmarks of the original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. In 2007, Variety publisher Charles Koones included Fantastic Fest as one of ten festivals we love, in 2008, Moviemaker named Fantastic Fest one of the 25 film festivals worth the entry fee. The 2005 festival was three days long, October 6–9. Screened films included Feast, Wolf Creek, and Zathura, the official sponsors of the 2005 festival were, Milkshake Media, KOOP Radio, The Austin Chronicle, Jackson Walker L. L. P. and Independence Brewery. US premieres Hakugei, Legend of the Moby Dick Texas premieres The Big White The Birthday Creep The Dark Hours G. O. R. A, legendary make-up and effects supervisor Howard Berger presided over a special effects Q&A. The 2006 festival was expanded to 8 days and held September 21–28. com, Edwin Neal of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Peter Martin of Twitch. com, and Chris Cargill of AintItCoolNews. com. com. com. Audience Awards 1st Place - Hatchet 2nd Place - Isolation 3rd Place - Firefly A notable highlight for the audience occurred when Mel Gibson walked into the theater. The official sponsors of the 2007 Fantastic Fest were, AMD, Stella Artois, AT&T, Twitch. com, B-Side, Rue Morgue, Fangoria, romero Flash Point Hells Fever La Hora Fria Inside Invisible Target Maiko Haaaan. The Genetic Opera Rule of Three South of Heaven Spine Tingler — The William Castle Story The Substitute Surveillance with Q&A by director Jennifer Lynch Terra Tokyo, hollow Director Nacho Vigalondo covering his face with honey and shooting himself with a confetti cannon following the screening of his short films. The shaky-face badge photos required attendees to submit a picture of themselves taken while violently shaking their heads back and this resulted in some very unusual portraits. The Fantastic Debates pitted film lovers against one another in spirited arguments about Horror Remakes — Reinvented Classics, or Modern Abominations, debators unable to resolve their differences with words then stepped into the boxing ring to settle things with fists. Closing party, sponsored by the film City of Ember was held at Longhorn Caverns and it was the first year of the Fantastic Fest Lifetime Achievement Award, given to director Jess Franco. The official sponsors of the 2009 Fantastic Fest were, Real D, G4, Dark Sky Films, Best Buy, Stella Artois, Jeremiah Weed, Aint It Cool News, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. World premieres Zombieland, with a Q&A by director Ruben Fleischer and stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and it was the first year of the Fantastic Arcade, a showcase of independent video games. The presenting sponsors of the 2010 Fantastic Fest were, Dell, AMD, RealD, Ambhar Tequila, FearNet. com, Sony PlayStation and Qriocity
9.
Post-apocalyptic fiction
–
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, science fantasy or horror fiction literature in which the Earths technological civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The story may involve attempts to prevent an event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or it may be post-apocalyptic. Post-apocalyptic stories often place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society. And recognizable modern apocalyptic novels had existed since at least the first quarter of the 19th century, however, this form of literature gained widespread popularity after World War II, when the possibility of global annihilation by nuclear weapons entered the public consciousness. As shown above, the apocalypse is also depicted in visual art, the story may involve attempts to prevent an apocalypse event, deal with the impact and consequences of the event itself, or may be post-apocalyptic, and be set after the event. Post-apocalyptic stories often place in a non-technological future world, or a world where only scattered elements of society. The scriptural story of Noah and his Ark describes the end of the original civilization. Noah is assigned the task to build the Ark and save the lifeforms so as to reestablish a new post-flood world, numerous other societies, including the Babylonian, had produced apocalyptic literature and mythology which dealt with the end of the world and of human society. Many of which included stories that refer back to the Biblical Noah or describe a similar flood. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written ca, 2000–1500 BC, details a myth where the angry gods send floods to punish humanity, but the ancient hero Utnapishtim and his family are saved through the intervention of the god Ea. A similar story about the Genesis flood narrative is found in Sura 71 of the Quran, even in the Hindu Dharmasastra, the apocalyptic deluge plays a prominent part. According to the Matsya Purana, the Matsya avatar of Lord Vishnu, at the time of deluge, Vishnu appeared as a horned fish and Shesha appeared as a rope, with which Vaivasvata Manu fastened the boat to the horn of the fish. Variants of this story appear in Buddhist and Jain scriptures. The first centuries AD saw the recording of the Book of Revelation, which is filled with prophecies of destruction, as well as luminous visions. In the first chapter of Revelation, the writer St. John the Divine explains his errand, Write the things which thou hast seen, the things which are. He takes it as his mission to convey—to reveal—to God’s kingdom His promise that justice will prevail, the apocalyptist provides a beautific vision of Judgement Day, revealing God’s promise for redemption from suffering and strife. Revelation describes a New Heaven and a New Earth, and its intended Christian audience is often enchanted and inspired and these Christians believed themselves chosen for God’s salvation, and so such apocalyptic sensibilities inspired optimism and nostalgia for the end times. The fear of the end is about as old as civilization itself
10.
Comedy horror
–
Comedy horror is a literary and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types, black comedy, parody and spoof, the genre almost inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre. Comedy horror will often use satire on horror cliches as its source of humour or take a story in a different perspective, such as The Cabin in the Woods. Author Bruce G. Hallenbeck cites the short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving as the first great comedy horror story, the story made readers laugh one moment and scream the next, and its premise was based on mischief typically found during the holiday Halloween. Horror and comedy have been associated with each other since the days of horror novels. Shortly after the publication of Frankenstein, comedic parodies appeared, edgar Allan Poe put humor and horror on the same continuum, and many nineteenth century authors used black humor in their horror stories. Contemporary author Robert Bloch called them opposite sides of the same coin, in comedy horror film, gallows humor is a common element. In the era of silent film, the material for early comedy horror films came from stage performances instead of literature. One example, The Ghost Breaker, was based on a 1909 play, in the United States following the trauma of World War I, film audiences sought to see horror on screen but tempered with humor. The pioneering comedy horror film was One Exciting Night, written, directed, and produced by D. W. Griffith, while the film included blackface performances, Griffith also included footage of a hurricane for a climactic storm. As an early experiment, the genres were not well-balanced with horror and comedy. Charles Bramesco of Vulture. com identifies Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein as the first commercially successful horror film. Its success legitimized the genre and established it as commercially viable, List of comedy-horror films List of genres Zombie comedy – a subgenre involving zombies Hallenbeck, Bruce G. Comedy-Horror Films, A Chronological History, 1914–2008. Jefferson, NC, McFarland & Company, Inc, transnational Horror Across Visual Media, Fragmented Bodies. Routledge Research in Cultural and Media Studies
11.
Geek
–
Although often considered as a pejorative, the term is also used self-referentially without malice or as a source of pride. Its meaning has evolved to refer to someone who is interested in a subject for its own sake and this word comes from English dialect geek or geck. Geck is a term in modern German and means fool or fop. The root also survives in the Dutch and Afrikaans adjective gek, as well as some German dialects, in 18th century Austria, Gecken were freaks on display in some circuses. In 19th century North America, the term referred to a performer in a geek show in a circus. The 1976 edition of the American Heritage Dictionary included only the definition regarding geek shows and this variation of the term was used to comic effect in an episode of popular 1970s TV show Sanford & Son. Professional wrestling manager Classy Freddie Blassie recorded a song in the 1970s called Pencil-Necked Geek, the definition of geek has changed considerably over time, and there is no longer a definitive meaning. The term nerd has a similar, practically synonymous meaning as geek, technologically oriented geeks, in particular, now exert a powerful influence over the global economy and society. At the time, Zuckerberg’s company had grown to one billion users. According to Mark Roeder the rise of the geek represents a new phase of human evolution, previously, such people may have been at a disadvantage, but now their unique cognitive traits enable some of them to resonate with the new technological zeitgeist and become very successful. The Economist magazine observed, on June 2,2012, Those square pegs may not have a time in school. They may be mocked by jocks and ignored at parties, but these days no serious organisation can prosper without them. Meanwhile, in the world, many NBA players wore geek glasses during post-game interviews. The term geek chic was appropriated by some self-identified geeks to refer to a new, Geek Culture, The Third Counter-Culture, an article discussing geek culture as a new kind of counter-culture. The Origins of Geek Culture, Perspectives on a Parallel Intellectual Milieu, are you a nerd or a geek. Geek Chic, USA Today, October 22,2003 How Geek Chic Works
12.
Road trip
–
A road trip is a long distance journey on the road. Typically, road trips are long distances traveled by automobile, presently there is a dedicated signposted scenic route in Baden-Württemberg called the Bertha Benz Memorial Route to commemorate her historic first road trip. The first successful North American transcontinental trip by automobile took place in 1903 and was piloted by H. Nelson Jackson and Sewall K. Crocker, the trip was completed using a 1903 Winton Touring Car, dubbed Vermont by Jackson. The trip took a total of 63 days between San Francisco and New York, costing US$8,000, the total cost included items such as food, gasoline, lodging, tires, parts, other supplies, and the cost of the Winton. The first woman to cross the American landscape by car was Alice Ramsey with three passengers in 1909. Ramsey left from Hells Gate in Manhattan, New York and traveled 59 days to San Francisco, Ramsey was followed in 1910 by Blanche Stuart Scott, who is often mistakenly cited as the first woman to make the cross-country journey by automobile East-to-West. New highways in the early 1900s helped propel automobile travel in the United States, commissioned in 1926, and completely paved near the end of the 1930s, U. S. Route 66 is a living icon of early modern road tripping. Motorists ventured cross-country for holiday as well as migrating to California, the modern American road trip began to take shape in the late 1930s and into the 1940s, ushering in an era of a nation on the move. The 1950s saw rapid growth of ownership of automobiles by American families, the automobile, now a trusted mode of transportation, was being widely used for not only commuting, but leisure trips as well. As a result of this new style, many businesses began to cater to road-weary travelers. More reliable vehicles and services made long distance road trips easier for families, within one week, the average family can travel to destinations across North America. The greatest change to the American road trip was the start, the higher speeds and controlled access nature of the Interstate allowed for greater distances to be traveled in less time and with improved safety as highways became divided. Travelers from European countries, Australia, and elsewhere came to the US to take part in the American idea of a road trip. Canadians also engaged in road trips taking advantage of the size of their nation. Many people may go on trips for recreational purpose (e. g. sightseeing or to reach a desired location. Other motivations for long distance travel by automobile include visitation of relatives, generally, while road trips can occur at any mass of land, large masses of land are the most common location for the occurrence of road trips. The most popular locations for road trips include Canada, Mainland U. S. and this may also be due to the distance required to qualify as a road trip, which residents of smaller bodies of land may find themselves incapable of achieving. Some argue that travel may not require a set distance to qualify as a road trip, in the United States, a road trip typically implies leaving the state, or in extreme cases, leaving the country for others such as Canada or Mexico
13.
Southwestern United States
–
The population of the area is around 11 million people, with over half that in Arizona, the most populous cities are Phoenix, El Paso, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Most of the area was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in the Spanish Empire before becoming part of Mexico and it became part of the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the Gadsden Purchase. The deserts dominate the southern and western reaches of the area, the two major rivers of the region are the Colorado River, running in the northern and western areas, and the Rio Grande, running in the south. Formed approximately 8000 years ago, the Chihuahuan Desert is a dry desert. The Chihuahuan Desert spreads across the portion of the region, covering from southeastern Arizona, across southern New Mexico. While it is the second largest desert in the United States, only a third of the desert is within the United States, El Paso is the major city in this desert, with other smaller cities being Las Cruces and Roswell in New Mexico. The Chihuahuan is a rain shadow desert, formed two mountain ranges which block oceanic precipitation from reaching the area. The most prolific plants in this region are agave, yucca and creosote bushes, when people think of the desert southwest, the landscape of the Sonoran Desert is what mostly comes to mind. Rainfall averages between 4–12 inches per year, and the deserts most widely known inhabitant is the saguaro cactus and it is bounded on the northwest by the Mojave Desert, to the north by the Colorado Plateau and to the east by the Arizona Mountains forests and the Chihuahuan Desert. The portion of the Sonora Desert which lies in the Southwestern United States is the most populated area within the region. Six of the top ten major population centers of the region are found within its borders, Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, also within its borders are Yuma and Prescott Arizona. The most northwest portion of the American Southwest is covered by the Mojave Desert, bordered on the south by the Sonoran Desert and the east by the Colorado Plateau, its range within the region makes up the southeast tip of Nevada, and the northwestern corner of Arizona. In terms of topography, the Mojave is very similar to the Great Basin Desert, the Mojave is the smallest, driest and hottest desert within the United States. The Mojave gets less than six inches of rain annually, the most prolific vegetation is the tall Joshua tree, which grow as tall as 40 feet, and are thought to live almost 1000 years. Other major vegetation includes the Parry saltbush and the Mojave sage, the Colorado Plateau varies from the large stands of forests in the west, including the largest stand of ponderosa pine trees in the world, to the Mesas to the east. Although not called a desert, the Colorado Plateau is mostly made up of high desert, the Plateau is characterized by a series of plateaus and mesas, interspersed with canyons. The most dramatic example is the Grand Canyon, but that is one of many dramatic vistas included within the Plateau, which includes spectacular lava formations, painted deserts, sand dunes, and badlands. One of the most distinctive features of the Plateau is its longevity, the Plateau can be divided into six sections, three of which fall into the Southwest region
14.
Zombie
–
A zombie is a fictional undead being created through the reanimation of a human corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works, the term comes from Haitian folklore, where a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magic. Modern depictions of zombies do not necessarily involve magic but often invoke science fictional methods such as carriers, radiation, mental diseases, vectors, viruses, scientific accidents, etc. The English word zombie is first recorded in 1819, in a history of Brazil by the poet Robert Southey, the Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of the word as West African, and compares it to the Kongo words nzambi and zumbi. One of the first books to expose Western culture to the concept of the zombie was The Magic Island by W. B. This is the account of a narrator who encounters voodoo cults in Haiti. Time claimed that the book introduced zombi into U. S. speech, Zombies have a complex literary heritage, with antecedents ranging from Richard Matheson and H. P. Lovecraft to Mary Shelleys Frankenstein drawing on European folklore of the undead. In 1932, Victor Halperin directed White Zombie, a film starring Bela Lugosi. Here zombies are depicted as mindless, unthinking henchmen under the spell of an evil magician, a new version of the zombie, distinct from that described in Haitian folklore, has also emerged in popular culture during the latter half of the twentieth century. This zombie is taken largely from George A. Romeros seminal film Night of the Living Dead, the word zombie is not used in Night of the Living Dead but was applied later by fans. The zombie apocalypse concept, in which the world is brought low by a global zombie infestation. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of the word as West African, in Haitian folklore, a zombie is an animated corpse raised by magical means, such as witchcraft. The concept has been associated with the religion of voodoo. How the creatures in contemporary zombie films came to be called zombies is not fully clear, the film Night of the Living Dead made no spoken reference to its undead antagonists as zombies, describing them instead as ghouls. Although George Romero used the term ghoul in his original scripts, the word zombie is used exclusively by Romero in his 1978 script for his sequel Dawn of the Dead, including once in dialog. According to George Romero, film critics were influential in associating the term zombie to his creatures and he eventually accepted this linkage even though he remained convinced at the time that zombies corresponded to the undead slaves of Haitian voodoo as depicted in Bela Lugosis White Zombie. Zombies are featured widely in Haitian rural folklore as dead persons physically revived by the act of necromancy of a bokor, the bokor is opposed by the houngan or priest and the mambo or priestess of the formal voodoo religion. A zombie remains under the control of the bokor as a personal slave, the Haitian tradition also includes an incorporeal type of zombie, the zombie astral, which is a part of the human soul
15.
Dawn of the Dead (2004 film)
–
Dawn of the Dead is a 2004 American horror film directed by Zack Snyder in his feature film directorial debut. A remake of George A. Romeros 1978 film of the name, it is written by James Gunn and stars Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber. The special effects were done by Heather Langenkamp and David LeRoy Anderson who co-own AFX Studio, the film depicts a handful of human survivors living in a shopping mall located in the fictional town of Everett, Wisconsin surrounded by swarms of zombies. After finishing a shift as a nurse, Ana returns to her suburban neighborhood and her husband. Caught up in a date night, they miss an emergency news bulletin. The next morning, a girl named Vivian enters their bedroom. Luis approaches her to see whats wrong and she bites him on the neck. Ana locks Vivian out of the room and tries to tend to Luis who goes into shock, then dies. She attempts to call the only to find that there is no connection, as she keeps ringing, Luis rises up, now infected with the same disease. She flees in her car and drives away, seeing all around her neighbourhood. The intro scene rolls in, depicting riots and war in the major cities, upon waking, Ana is confronted by Police Sergeant Kenneth Hall, electronics salesman Michael, petty criminal Andre and his pregnant wife, Luda and joins them, after they prove she is still alive. They break into a mall and are attacked by a zombified security guard. Kenneth is also injured while wrestling with the zombie but Ana manages to subdue with his shotgun. They are then confronted by three living guards — C. J. Bart, and Terry — who make them surrender their weapons in exchange for refuge. They split into groups to secure the mall and then go to the roof where they see another survivor, Andy, the next day, a delivery truck carrying more survivors enters the lot, with zombies in close pursuit. C. J. and Bart wish to turn away but are overruled and disarmed. The newcomers include Norma, Steve Marcus, Tucker, Monica, Glen, Frank and his daughter, another woman is too ill to walk, she is wheeled inside via wheelbarrow only to die. As Ana drapes her with a cloth, however, the woman reanimates and attacks her, Ana theorizes with the group that the disease is passed by bites from the infected individuals, as she had already seen it happen with Luis
16.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
17.
World War Z (film)
–
World War Z is a 2013 American action horror film directed by Marc Forster. The film stars Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop a zombie pandemic, Pitts Plan B Entertainment secured the film rights in 2007, and Forster was approached to direct. In 2009, Carnahan was hired to rewrite the script, filming began in July 2011 in Malta, on an estimated $125 million budget, before moving to Glasgow in August 2011 and Budapest in October 2011. Originally set for a December 2012 release, the production suffered some setbacks, in June 2012, the films release date was pushed back, and the crew returned to Budapest for seven weeks of additional shooting. Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite the third act, but did not have time to finish the script, the reshoots took place between September and October 2012. World War Z premiered in London on June 2,2013, the film premiered in New York, and Los Angeles on June 14,2013, and released everywhere on June 21,2013, in the United States, in 2D and RealD 3D. The film received positive reviews for Brad Pitts performance and as a revival of the zombie genre. Regardless, the film was a success, grossing over $540 million against a production budget of $190 million. A sequel was announced shortly after the release, it was tentatively scheduled for a June 2017 release. Former UN employee Gerry Lane, his wife Karin and their two daughters are in heavy Philadelphia traffic when the city is attacked by zombies. As chaos spreads, the Lanes escape to Newark, New Jersey and take refuge in an apartment, home to a couple with a young son, dr. Andrew Fassbach posits that the plague is a virus, and that development of a vaccine depends on finding the origin. Gerry reluctantly agrees to help Fassbach find the outbreaks source after it is clear that he. Gerry and Fassbach fly to Camp Humphreys, a base in South Korea. Turning to re-enter the aircraft, Fassbach slips, falls and accidentally discharges his gun, as Gerry and his team bike back to their aircraft, zombies attack, kill several soldiers and infect Captain Speke, who commits suicide to prevent himself from turning. Israel had thereupon quarantined Jerusalem, erecting walls around it. Just as Jurgen shows Gerry that Israel is allowing survivors to take refuge in the city, loud celebratory singing from refugees prompts zombies to scale the walls, Jurgen orders some Israeli soldiers to escort Gerry back to his plane. On the way, Gerry notices zombies ignoring an emaciated boy, soon after, one of Gerrys escorts, a soldier who identifies herself only as Segen, is bitten in the hand, which Gerry quickly amputates to stop her turning. Gerry and Segen escape on a commercial airliner as Israel is overrun, Gerry contacts Thierry, and the airliner is diverted to a World Health Organization facility outside Cardiff, Wales
18.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
–
BSE has a long incubation period, of 2.5 to 5 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of four to five years. BSE is caused by a misfolded protein—a prion, in the United Kingdom, the country worst affected by an epidemic in 1986–1998, more than 180,000 cattle were infected and 4.4 million slaughtered during the eradication program. The disease may be most frequently transmitted to humans by eating food contaminated with the brain, spinal cord, however, the infectious agent, although most highly concentrated in nervous tissue, can be found in virtually all tissues throughout the body, including blood. Between 460,000 and 482,000 BSE-infected animals had entered the food chain before controls on high-risk offal were introduced in 1989. The epidemic was probably accelerated by the recycling of infected bovine tissues prior to the recognition of BSE, the origin of the disease itself remains unknown. The infectious agent is distinctive for the temperatures at which it remains viable. This contributed to the spread of the disease in the United Kingdom, another contributory factor was the feeding of infected protein supplements to very young calves. Symptoms are not seen immediately in cattle due to the extremely long incubation period. Some cattle have been observed to have an abnormal gait, changes in behavior, tremors, hindlimb ataxia affects the animal’s gait and occurs when muscle control is lost. This results in poor balance and coordination, behavioural changes may include aggression, anxiety relating to certain situations, nervousness, frenzy or an overall change in temperament. Some rare but previously observed symptoms also include persistent pacing, rubbing or licking, additionally, nonspecific symptoms have also been observed which include weight loss, decreased milk production, lameness, ear infections and teeth grinding due to pain. Some animals may show a combination of symptoms, while others may only be observed demonstrating one of the many reported. Once clinical symptoms arise, they typically get worse over the weeks and months, eventually leading to recumbency, coma. The infectious agent in BSE is a type of misfolded protein called a prion. Prions can be transmitted to humans by eating food contaminated with them, Prions are not destroyed even if the beef or material containing them is cooked or heat-treated. Prion proteins carry the disease between individuals and cause deterioration of the brain, transmission can occur when healthy animals come in contact with tainted tissues from others with the disease. In the brain, these proteins cause native cellular prion protein to deform into the infectious state, Different hypotheses exist for the origin of prion proteins in cattle. In the 5th century BC, Hippocrates described a similar illness in cattle and sheep, publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus recorded cases of a disease with similar characteristics in the fourth and fifth centuries AD
19.
Americans
–
Americans are citizens of the United States of America. The country is home to people of different national origins. As a result, Americans do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, although citizens make up the majority of Americans, non-citizen residents, dual citizens, and expatriates may also claim an American identity. See Names for United States citizens. S, virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands in the 20th century. It also includes influences of African-American culture, westward expansion integrated the Creoles and Cajuns of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the culture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from Southern and Eastern Europe introduced a variety of elements, immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America has also had impact. A cultural melting pot, or pluralistic salad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics, in addition to the United States, Americans and people of American descent can be found internationally. As many as seven million Americans are estimated to be living abroad, the United States of America is a diverse country, racially, and ethnically. Some other race is also an option in the census and other surveys, people of European descent, or White Americans, constitute the majority of the 308 million people living in the United States, with 72. 4% of the population in the 2010 United States Census. They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the peoples of Europe, the Middle East. Of those reporting to be White American,7,487,133 reported to be Multiracial, with largest combination being white, additionally, there are 29,184,290 White Hispanics or Latinos. Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 46 states, there are four minority-majority states, California, Texas, New Mexico, and Hawaii. In addition, the District of Columbia has a non-white majority, the state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is Maine. The largest continental ancestral group of Americans are that of Europeans who have origins in any of the peoples of Europe. This includes people via African, North American, Caribbean, Central American or South American and Oceanian nations that have a large European diaspora, the Spanish were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the United States. Martín de Argüelles born 1566, San Agustín, La Florida, was the first person of European descent born in what is now the United States. Twenty-one years later, Virginia Dare born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the Thirteen Colonies to English parents. 8% of the total population, Hispanic or Latino Americans constitute the largest ethnic minority in the United States. They form the second largest group after non-Hispanic Whites in the United States, hispanic/Latino Americans are very racially diverse, and as a result form an ethnic category, rather than a race
20.
Austin, Texas
–
Austin is the capital of the U. S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. It is the 11th-most populous city in the U. S. and it is the fastest growing large city in the United States and the second most populous capital city after Phoenix, Arizona. As of the U. S. Census Bureaus July 1,2015 estimate and it is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population of 2,056,405 as of July 1,2016. In the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River, in 1839, the site was officially chosen to replace Houston as the new capital of the Republic of Texas and was incorporated under the name Waterloo. Shortly thereafter, the name was changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas and the republics first secretary of state. The city subsequently grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of Texas at Austin. After a lull in growth from the Great Depression, Austin resumed its development into a city and, by the 1980s, it emerged as a center for technology. A number of Fortune 500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin, including Amazon. com, cisco, eBay, Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Texas Instruments, 3M, and Whole Foods Market. Dells worldwide headquarters is located in nearby Round Rock, a suburb of Austin, residents of Austin are known as Austinites. They include a mix of government employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers. The city also adopted Silicon Hills as a nickname in the 1990s due to an influx of technology. In the late 1800s, Austin was known as the City of the Violet Crown because of the glow of light across the hills just after sunset. Even today, many Austin businesses use the term Violet Crown in their name, Austin is known as a clean-air city for its stringent no-smoking ordinances that apply to all public places and buildings, including restaurants and bars. The FBI ranked Austin as the second-safest major city in the U. S. for the year 2012, U. S. News & World Report named Austin the best place to live in the U. S. in 2017. Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of habitation since at least 9200 BC. When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area, the Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area. Spanish colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area for centuries, in 1730, three missions from East Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River, in what is now Zilker Park, in Austin. The mission was in area for only about seven months
21.
Columbus, Ohio
–
Columbus is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Ohio. It is the 15th-largest city in the United States, with a population of 850,106 as of 2015 estimates and this makes Columbus the fourth-most populous state capital in the United States, and the third-largest city in the Midwestern United States. It is the city of the Columbus, Ohio, Metropolitan Statistical Area. With a population of 2,021,632, it is Ohios third-largest metropolitan area, Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County. The city proper has also expanded and annexed portions of adjoining Delaware County, named for explorer Christopher Columbus, the city was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, and assumed the functions of state capital in 1816. As of 2013, the city has the headquarters of five corporations in the U. S, fortune 500, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, American Electric Power, L Brands, Big Lots, and Cardinal Health. In 2012, Columbus was ranked in BusinessWeeks 50 best cities in America. In 2013, Forbes gave Columbus an A rating as one of the top cities for business in the U. S. and later that included the city on its list of Best Places for Business. Columbus was also ranked as the No.1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation by Forbes in 2008, and the city was ranked a top-ten city by Relocate America in 2010. In 2007, fDi Magazine ranked the city no.3 in the U. S. for cities of the future, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was rated no.1 in 2009 by USA Travel Guide. The area including modern-day Columbus once comprised the Ohio Country, under the control of the French colonial empire through the Viceroyalty of New France from 1663 until 1763. In the 18th century, European traders flocked to the area, the area found itself frequently caught between warring factions, including American Indian and European interests. In the 1740s, Pennsylvania traders overran the territory until the French forcibly evicted them, in the early 1750s, the Ohio Company sent George Washington to the Ohio Country to survey. Fighting for control of the territory in the French and Indian War became part of the international Seven Years War, during this period, the region routinely suffered turmoil, massacres, and battles. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ceded the Ohio Country to the British Empire, after the American Revolution, the Ohio Country became part of the Virginia Military District, under the control of the United States. Colonists from the East Coast moved in, but rather finding a empty frontier, they encountered people of the Miami, Delaware, Wyandot, Shawnee. The tribes resisted expansion by the fledgling United States, leading to years of bitter conflict, the decisive Battle of Fallen Timbers resulted in the Treaty of Greenville, which finally opened the way for new settlements. By 1797, a surveyor from Virginia named Lucas Sullivant had founded a permanent settlement on the west bank of the forks of the Scioto River
22.
Twinkie
–
A Twinkie is an American snack cake, marketed as a Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling. It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands, the brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc. having been formerly owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company as the incarnation of Hostess Brands. Twinkies are produced in Canada by Saputo Incorporateds Vachon Inc. which owns the Canadian rights to the product and were available during the absence in the U. S. market. In Egypt, Twinkies are produced under the company Edita, Twinkies are also available in the United Kingdom and Ireland under the Hostess brand name where theyre sold in Sainsburys, Tesco, ASDA and B&M stores. Twinkies are produced and distributed by commercial bakeries in China. Twinkies were invented in Schiller Park, Illinois on April 6,1930, by James Alexander Dewar, ritchy Koph said he came up with the name when he saw a billboard in St. Louis for Twinkle Toe Shoes. During World War II, bananas were rationed and the company was forced to switch to vanilla cream and this change proved popular, and banana-cream Twinkies were not widely re-introduced. The original flavor was occasionally found in limited-time promotions, but the company used vanilla cream for most Twinkies, in 1988, Fruit and Cream Twinkies were introduced with a strawberry filling swirled into the cream. Vanillas dominance over banana flavoring would be challenged in 2005, following a promotion of the movie King Kong. Hostess saw its Twinkie sales rise 20 percent during the promotion, on January 11,2012, parent company Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Twinkie sales for the year ended December 25,2011, were 36 million packages, Hostess said customers had migrated to healthier foods. Bakery operations were suspended at all plants, on November 19,2012, Hostess and the Bakers Union agreed to mediation, delaying the shutdown for two days. On November 21,2012, U. S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain approved Hostess request to shut down, on March 12,2013, it was reported that Twinkies would return to store shelves in May of that year. Twinkies, along with other famed Hostess Brands, were purchased out of bankruptcy by Apollo Global Management, Twinkies returned to U. S. shelves on July 15,2013. Apollo subsequently sold Hostess for $2.3 billion, before Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy, Twinkies were reduced in size. They now contain 135 kilocalories and have a mass of 38.5 grams, the new Twinkies also have a longer shelf life of 45 days, which was also a change made before bankruptcy, compared to the 26 days of the original Twinkies. Twinkies have notably been used as a component ingredient in other dishes, a deep-fried Twinkie involves freezing the cake, dipping it into batter, and deep-frying it to create a variation on the traditional snack cake
23.
Cadillac Escalade
–
The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV engineered and manufactured by Cadillac. It was Cadillacs first major entry into the popular SUV market, the Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year in response to German and Japanese competitors and to Fords 1998 release of the Lincoln Navigator. The Escalade project went into production only ten months after it was approved, the Escalade is built in Arlington, Texas. The word escalade refers to a siege warfare tactic of scaling defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of ladders or siege towers. The 1999 Escalade was nearly identical to the 1999 GMC Yukon Denali, Escalade production was skipped for the 2001 model year. The Escalade ESV and its sibling the Escalade EXT were made in Silao, Mexico, before the 2007 redesign. As of 2015, the Cadillac Escalade is available in country that Cadillac is available in. The Escalade ESV version is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and it is Cadillacs largest luxury oriented, passenger and load carrying vehicle which was previously served by the Cadillac Commercial Chassis. The introduction of the Lincoln Navigator in the 1998 model year necessitated that General Motors be able to compete in the burgeoning American market for full-size luxury-type trucks and this generation was only a five-seat SUV. Fearing the growing hegemony of the Lincoln Navigator, the Escalade was rushed through the process to reach dealers quickly. Essentially little more than a badge-engineered GMC Yukon Denali, the SUVs aesthetics were similar to the Denali, the Escalades underpinnings were borrowed from the Yukon Denali line, with the GMC logos on the center caps replaced with Cadillacs crest. The Escalade also used the same 5.7 L Vortec 5700 V8 at 255 hp, all first-generation Escalades featured Auto-Trac selectable 4x4. The 1999-2000 Escalade achieves 11 mpg‑US city and 15 mpg‑US highway based on U. S. EPA test protocols, the Escalade also included a Bose surround system, a first for an SUV. The Escalade gauge cluster differed slightly from the used in the Tahoe. The Escalade gauges features white needles instead of orange and the speedometer reads to 120 mph, in 2005 all Rear-wheel drive and All-wheel drive Escalades came with the High output 6. 0L Vortec V8. All models offered seating up to 8 people, for 2004, XM Satellite Radio, second-row bucket seats, and a tire pressure monitoring system were made standard on all Escalades except the EXT.0 liter V8 producing 345 horsepower. The OnStar system was upgraded for the 2005 model year and had become a system instead of the analog system that had been in use. 2002–20035. 3L LM7 Vortec V8,285 horsepower 2004–20065. 3L LM7 Vortec V8,295 horsepower 2002–20066, the regular Escalade was again joined by a stretched ESV version as well as a new EXT sport utility truck
24.
Hummer H2
–
The Hummer H2 is an SUV and SUT that was marketed by Hummer and built by AM General from 2002 to 2009. It is a truck, slimmer than the Hummer H1, while being longer, lighter. The rearmost part of the H2 SUV was modified to a truck bed for the 2005 H2 SUT. The Hummer H2 was the one of the trucks to have the letters HUMMER between the grille. The H2 SUT is considered a truck for its abilities to haul cargo with an extendable box to reach 6 feet in length. This makes the SUT able to haul the same cargo most trucks can haul, the H2 was built under contract by AM General at a specially constructed plant in Mishawaka, Indiana, USA. The H2 was nominated for the North American Truck of the Year award for 2003, Hummer launched a special 2009 Black Chrome Limited Edition version of the truck. Rod Hall racing have won their class several times in Hummer H3 and it was marketed as both a general purpose vehicle and as an off-road vehicle. The objective of GMs mass marketing was to maximize sales, along with the Ford Excursion, the H2 is also a common base for a limousine conversion. General Motors is not required to provide official H2 fuel economy due to the vehicles GVWR. Under the United States income tax code, the cost of vehicles over 6,000 pounds can be deducted from specific forms of income and this deduction was enacted decades ago to assist self-employed people in purchasing a vehicle for business use. The weight minimum was intended to limit the deduction to commercial-type trucks, for many years, the deduction remained below the average cost of a new vehicle, since large trucks were relatively inexpensive. Since it is a reduction in income, the actual value of this deduction averages 30% of the price of the vehicle in question. The increasing popularity of commercial vehicles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, however. In response, the 2002 Tax Act increased this Section 179 depreciation deduction to US$75,000 and this is more than three times the current average cost of a passenger car in the United States and covers a large number of luxury models, including the Hummer H2. In late 2006, the deduction was reduced to US$25,000 for vehicles with GVWR between 6,000 lb and 14,000 lb. Base price MSRP in 2008 for the H2 was $53,286, Hummer H2 Hummer Israel AM General
25.
Los Angeles
–
Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
26.
Hollywood
–
Hollywood is an ethnically diverse, densely populated neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is notable as the home of the U. S. film industry, including several of its studios, and its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the industry. Hollywood was a community in 1870 and was incorporated as a municipality in 1903. It was consolidated with the city of Los Angeles in 1910, in 1853, one adobe hut stood in Nopalera, named for the Mexican Nopal cactus indigenous to the area. By 1870, an agricultural community flourished, the area was known as the Cahuenga Valley, after the pass in the Santa Monica Mountains immediately to the north. According to the diary of H. J. Whitley, known as the Father of Hollywood, along came a Chinese man in a wagon carrying wood. The man got out of the wagon and bowed, the Chinese man was asked what he was doing and replied, I holly-wood, meaning hauling wood. H. J. Whitley had an epiphany and decided to name his new town Hollywood, Holly would represent England and wood would represent his Scottish heritage. Whitley had already started over 100 towns across the western United States, Whitley arranged to buy the 500-acre E. C. Hurd ranch and disclosed to him his plans for the land. They agreed on a price and Hurd agreed to sell at a later date, before Whitley got off the ground with Hollywood, plans for the new town had spread to General Harrison Gray Otis, Hurds wife, eastern adjacent ranch co-owner Daeida Wilcox, and others. Daeida Wilcox may have learned of the name Hollywood from Ivar Weid, her neighbor in Holly Canyon and she recommended the same name to her husband, Harvey. In August 1887, Wilcox filed with the Los Angeles County Recorders office a deed and parcel map of property he had sold named Hollywood, Wilcox wanted to be the first to record it on a deed. The early real-estate boom busted that year, yet Hollywood began its slow growth. By 1900, the region had a post office, newspaper, hotel, Los Angeles, with a population of 102,479 lay 10 miles east through the vineyards, barley fields, and citrus groves. A single-track streetcar line ran down the middle of Prospect Avenue from it, but service was infrequent, the old citrus fruit-packing house was converted into a livery stable, improving transportation for the inhabitants of Hollywood. The Hollywood Hotel was opened in 1902 by H. J. Whitley who was a president of the Los Pacific Boulevard, having finally acquired the Hurd ranch and subdivided it, Whitley built the hotel to attract land buyers. Flanking the west side of Highland Avenue, the structure fronted on Prospect Avenue, the hotel was to become internationally known and was the center of the civic and social life and home of the stars for many years. Whitleys company developed and sold one of the residential areas
27.
Bill Murray
–
William James Bill Murray is an American actor, comedian, and writer. Murray received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2016, Murray was born on September 21,1950 in Evanston, Illinois, and was raised in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago. He is the son of Lucille, a room clerk, and Edward Joseph Murray II. Murray and his eight siblings were raised in a Roman Catholic Irish-American family, three of his siblings, John Murray, Joel Murray, and Brian Doyle-Murray, are also actors. A sister, Nancy, is an Adrian Dominican nun in Michigan and their father died in 1967 at the age of 46 from complications of diabetes when Bill was 17 years old. As a youth, Murray read childrens biographies of American heroes like Kit Carson, Wild Bill Hickok and he attended St. Josephs grade school and Loyola Academy. During his teen years, he worked as a golf caddy to fund his education at the Jesuit high school, one of his sisters had polio and his mother suffered several miscarriages. During his teen years he was the singer of a rock band called the Dutch Masters and took part in high school. After graduating, Murray attended Regis University in Denver, Colorado and he quickly dropped out, returning to Illinois. Decades later, in 2007, Regis awarded him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree, on September 21,1970, his 20th birthday, the police arrested Murray at Chicagos OHare Airport for trying to smuggle 10 lb of cannabis, which he had allegedly intended to sell. The drugs were discovered when Murray joked to the next to him that he was smuggling. Murray was convicted and sentenced to probation, with an invitation from his older brother, Brian, Murray got his start at The Second City in Chicago, an improvisational comedy troupe, studying under Del Close. In 1974, he moved to New York City and was recruited by John Belushi as a player on The National Lampoon Radio Hour. In 1975, an Off-Broadway version of a Lampoon show led to his first television role as a cast member of the ABC variety show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell and that same season, another variety show titled NBCs Saturday Night premiered. Cosells show lasted just one season, canceled in early 1976, after working in Los Angeles with the guerrilla video commune TVTV on several projects, Murray rose to prominence in 1976. He officially joined the cast of NBCs Saturday Night Live for the second season, following the departure of Chevy Chase. Murray was with SNL for three seasons from 1977 to 1980. S, during the first few seasons of SNL, Murray was in a romantic relationship with fellow cast member Gilda Radner. Murray landed his first starring role with the film Meatballs in 1979 and he followed this up with his portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson in 1980s Where the Buffalo Roam
28.
Ghostbusters
–
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis as three eccentric parapsychologists who start a business in New York City. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis co-star as a client and her neighbor, Aykroyd conceived the film as a project for himself and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi, with the Ghostmashers travelling through time and space in the future with magic wands. He and Ramis dramatically rewrote the script following Belushis death and after Reitman deemed Aykroyds initial vision financially impractical, Ghostbusters was released in the United States on June 8,1984. It received a response from critics and audiences and grossed $242 million in the United States. It was nominated for two Oscars at the 57th Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Original Song, but lost to Indiana Jones, the American Film Institute ranked Ghostbusters 28th in its AFIs 100 Years.100 Laughs list of film comedies. In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it culturally, historically, a reboot, also titled Ghostbusters, was released on July 15,2016, by Columbia Pictures. Parapsychologists Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, and Egon Spengler are called to the New York Public Library to investigate recent paranormal activity and they encounter the ghost of a dead librarian but are frightened away when she transforms into a horrifying monster. After losing their jobs at Columbia University, the trio establish a paranormal investigation and elimination service known as Ghostbusters and they develop high-tech equipment capable of capturing ghosts and open their business in a disused, run-down firehouse. Egon warns them never to cross the energy streams of their proton pack weapons and they capture their first ghost, Slimer, at a hotel and deposit it in a specially built containment unit in the firehouse basement. As paranormal activity increases in New York City, they hire a fourth member, Winston Zeddemore, Venkman takes a particular interest in the case, and competes with Danas neighbor, accountant Louis Tully, for her affections. As the Ghostbusters investigate, Dana is demonically possessed by Zuul, which declares itself the Gatekeeper, and Louis by a demon, Vinz Clortho. Both demons speak of the coming of the destructive Gozer and the release of the ghosts. The ghosts wreak havoc throughout the city while Louis/Vinz advances toward Dana/Zuuls apartment, the Ghostbusters are released from custody to combat the supernatural crisis. As they trudge up 22 flights of stairs in Danas building, after reaching the roof, the team is unable to prevent the arrival of Gozer, who appears in the form of a woman. Briefly subdued by the team, Gozer disappears, but her voice echoes that the destructor will follow, the Ghostbusters cross their proton pack energy streams and fire them against Gozers portal, the explosion defeats the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and frees Dana and Louis. As thousands of New Yorkers wipe themselves free of marshmallow, the Ghostbusters are welcomed on the street as heroes, Aykroyd conceived it as a vehicle for himself and his friend and fellow Saturday Night Live alumnus John Belushi. The original story, as written by Aykroyd, was different from what was eventually filmed
29.
Monopoly (game)
–
The current version was first published by Parker Brothers in 1935. Subtitled The Fast-Dealing Property Trading Game, the game is named after the concept of monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity. It is now owned and produced by the American game and toy company Hasbro and it was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies. Magie took out a patent in 1904 and her game, The Landlords Game, was self-published, beginning in 1906. A series of variant board games based on her concept was developed from 1906 through the 1930s that involved the buying and selling of land, cardboard houses were added and rents were increased as they were added. Magie again patented the game in 1923, after the meal, the Darrows played The Landlords Game several times with them, a game that was entirely new to the Darrows, and before he left, Darrow asked for a written set of the rules. After Darrow brought his own Monopoly game out, the Todds never spoke to the Darrows again, but see below for a version in which the Todds shared their own Monopoly-like game with the Darrows. By 1933, a variation on The Landlords Game called Monopoly was the basis of the game sold by Parker Brothers. The original version of the game in this format was based on the streets of Atlantic City, by the 1970s, the false notion that the game had been created solely by Charles Darrow had become popular folklore, it was printed in the games instructions. In 1936, Parker Brothers began licensing the game for sale outside the United States, hidden inside these games were maps, compasses, real money, and other objects useful for escaping. They were distributed to prisoners by British secret service-created fake charity groups, economics professor Ralph Anspach published a game Anti-Monopoly in 1973, and was sued for trademark infringement by Parker Brothers in 1974. The case went to trial in 1976, Anspach won on appeals in 1979, as the 9th Circuit Court determined that the trademark Monopoly was generic, and therefore unenforceable. The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the case, allowing the court ruling to stand. This decision was overturned by the passage of Public Law 98-620 in 1984, with that law in place, Parker Brothers and its parent company, Hasbro, continue to hold valid trademarks for the game Monopoly. However, Anti-Monopoly was exempted from the law and Anspach later reached a settlement with Hasbro, the research that Dr. Anspach conducted during the course of the litigation was what helped to bring the games history before Charles Darrow into the spotlight. In 1991, Hasbro acquired Parker Bros. and thus Monopoly, prior to the Hasbro acquisition, Parker Bros. only acted as a publisher only issuing two versions at a time, a regular and deluxe. Thus Hasbro move to create and license other versions and involve the public in varying the game, in 2003, the company held a national tournament on a chartered train going from Chicago to Atlantic City. Also in 2003, Hasbro sued the maker of Ghetto-opoly and won, while in February, the company sued RAD Games over Super Add On accessory board game that fit in the center of the board
30.
Drop tower
–
A drop tower or big drop is a type of amusement ride incorporating a central structure or tower. Drop towers vary in height, passenger capacity, lift type, many are custom-made, although there are some mass-produced designs. Riders experience free-fall initially, followed by rapid heavy deceleration, with most drop towers, a gondola carrying riders is lifted to the top of a large vertical structure, then released to free-fall down the tower. Brakes activate to slow the gondola as it approaches the bottom of the ride, some designs expand on this concept with features such as rotating gondolas, or several bounces before coming to rest. Certain drop towers propel the gondola down as they fall, accelerating the gondola faster than the riders, as of July 2014, the longest drop is at Zumanjaro, Drop of Doom at Six Flags Great Adventure, at 415 feet. * denotes that the tower is scheduled currently under construction. Scream. at Disney California Adventure Park Following the Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom incident, all the towers were closed, on February 24,2012, 14-year-old Gabriella Yukari Nichimura died in an accident at Hopi Hari, Vinhedo, São Paulo State, Brazil. She fell from the tower ride La Tour Eiffel suffering cranial trauma. Local police are investigating the accident, initial investigations suggest the possibility of mechanical failure in the restraint latch
31.
Coulrophobia
–
A specific fear of clowns has sometimes been discussed in terms of a specific phobia. The term coulrophobia is a neologism coined in the context of informal -phobia lists, the term is not listed in the World Health Organisations ICD-10 nor in the American Psychiatric Associations DSM-5 categorisation of disorders. Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some parts, such as hands and feet. This can be read as monstrous or deformed as easily as it can be read as comical, according to psychology professor Joseph Durwin at California State University, Northridge, young children are very reactive to a familiar body type with an unfamiliar face. Researchers who have studied the phobia believe there is some correlation to the uncanny valley effect, additionally, the fact that much clown behavior is transgressive can create feelings of unease. Killer Klowns from Outer Space is a 1988 horror comedy dedicated to the topic, krusty the Clown is an influential parody of Bozo the Clown in The Simpsons. The phrase inspired an Alice Cooper song in the album Dragontown, websites dedicated to evil clowns and the fear of clowns appeared in the late 1990s. Numerous films on the topic have been produced since the late 1980s, early examples include the horror films Out of the Dark and Clownhouse, followed by It, a miniseries adaptation of Stephen Kings novel. Examples of the late 1990s to 2000s include Carnival of Souls, The Clown at Midnight, Camp Blood, Killjoy, one of the central characters in Álex de la Iglesias The Last Circus is a circuss funny clown who is a violent psychopath in real life. The American rap duo Insane Clown Posse have exploited this theme since 1989, the British arts and music festival Bestival cancelled its planned clown theme in 2006 after many adult ticket-holders contacted the organizers expressing a fear of clowns. Entering the ring to circus-style music – but played with a sinister, minor-key undertone – Doink would play tricks, some amusing, others more malevolent, on fans and fellow wrestlers alike. Following the revival of the Joker character in popular culture in the 2008 Batman movie The Dark Knight, the WWE at various points had other wrestlers playing the character and utilizing the gimmick. Many of them, including some children, stated in the poll that they, in fact. In other studies playing with therapeutic clowns reduced anxiety in children, in late summer and early fall of 2016, several cities in the United States began to experience clown sightings, where menacing-looking clowns would be seen, sometimes at the edge of forests. The Creepy Clown is also referred to as Killer Clown, the first sighting of these Killer Clowns was August 19 in Greenville, South Carolina by a little boy who told his mother that two clowns tried to lure him into the woods. After this appeared in the news, the sightings of clowns spread throughout the country, ben Radford, author of Bad Clowns, says that clown sightings are more common during periods of social anxiety and can be related to the psychological effect of priming. In early October 2016, evil clown sightings occurred in Newcastle upon Tyne, a 13-year-old was cautioned by police after a 17-year-old female was pursued down a street by him. On 4 October 2016, a youth was arrested in Blakelaw, UK, evil clown Insane Clown Posse List of phobias
32.
Patrick Swayze
–
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. During his career he received three Golden Globe Award nominations and was named by People magazine as its Sexiest Man Alive in 1991. Patrick Wayne Swayze was born on August 18,1952, in Houston, Texas, the child of Patsy Swayze, a choreographer, dance instructor, and dancer, and Jesse Wayne Swayze. He had two brothers, actor Don and Sean Kyle, and two sisters, Vickie Lynn and Bambi. Swayze and his siblings were raised in their mothers Roman Catholic faith, during this time, he pursued multiple artistic and athletic skills, such as ice skating, classical ballet, and acting in school plays. He played football for his school and was hoping to receive a football scholarship for college until a knee injury ended his career. He studied gymnastics at Coastal Carolina University for two years, in 1972, he moved to New York City to complete his formal dance training at the Harkness Ballet and Joffrey Ballet schools. Swayze had a role in the television series M*A*S*H, in season 9 episode 18 Blood Brothers. His first professional appearance was as a dancer for Disney on Parade and he then starred as a replacement playing the role of Danny Zuko in the long-running Broadway production of Grease before his debut film role as Ace in Skatetown, U. S. A. Swayze became known to the industry after appearing in The Outsiders as the older brother of C. Thomas Howell. Also in 1983, Swayze played a U. S. M. C, trainer in Vietnam rescue film Uncommon Valor with Gene Hackman. The following year, Swayze, Howell, and Howells friend Darren Dalton reunited in Red Dawn, then in 1986, Lowe and his first major success was in the 1985 television miniseries North and South, which was set during the American Civil War. Swayzes breakthrough role came with his performance as dance instructor Johnny Castle in the film Dirty Dancing, alongside his Red Dawn co-star, the song became a top-10 hit and has been covered by other artists. After Dirty Dancing, Swayze found himself in great acting demand and appeared in several films and his biggest role came when he starred in Ghost with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg. In 1991, he starred alongside Youngblood castmate Keanu Reeves in another major hit, Point Break. For his contributions to the industry, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997. Swayze was seriously injured in 1998 while filming HBOs Letters from a Killer near Ione, California, both of his legs were broken, and he suffered four detached tendons in his shoulder. Filming was suspended for two months, and the aired in 1999
33.
Sylvester Stallone
–
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an American actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter. He wrote or co-wrote most of the 14 films in all three franchises, and directed many of the films, Stallones film Rocky was inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum. Stallones use of the front entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the Rocky series led the area to be nicknamed the Rocky Steps, Philadelphia has a statue of his Rocky character placed permanently near the museum. It was announced on December 7,2010 that Stallone was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the non-participant category, in 1977, Stallone was nominated for two Academy Awards for Rocky, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor. He became the man in history to receive these two nominations for the same film, after Charles Chaplin and Orson Welles. He received critical raves, as well as his first Golden Globe Award win and third Academy Award nomination, Stallones father was born in Gioia del Colle, Apulia, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in the 1930s. Stallones mother is of half French and half Russian Jewish descent and his younger brother is actor and musician Frank Stallone. As a result, the left side of his face is paralyzed – including parts of his lip, tongue. Around the age of 4, Stallone was flat-footed and put in a tap dancing school by his mother and his father moved the family to Washington, D. C. in the early 1950s, where he opened a beauty school. His mother opened a gymnasium called Barbellas in 1954. Stallones parents divorced when Sylvester was nine, and he lived with his mother. When Stallone was 16, he scored poorly in school and his mother got him a job at her beauty salon. He attended Notre Dame Academy and Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, and Charlotte Hall Military Academy, prior to attending Miami Dade College, Stallone had his first starring role in the soft core pornography feature film The Party at Kitty and Studs. He was paid US$200 for two days work, Stallone later explained that he had done the film out of desperation after being evicted from his apartment and finding himself homeless for several days. He has also said that he slept three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City prior to seeing a casting notice for the film. In the actors words, it was either do that movie or rob someone, the film was released several years later as Italian Stallion, in order to cash in on Stallones newfound fame. While he was in Switzerland, Stallone got his start in films, playing an extra eating in a restaurant near to stars Robert Redford and Camilla Sparv, in the sports drama, Downhill Racer. In 1970, Stallone appeared in the film No Place to Hide, which was re-cut and retitled Rebel, in the Lemmon film, Jack Lemmons character chases, tackles and mugs Stallone, thinking that Stallones character is a pickpocket
34.
Dwayne Johnson
–
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor, producer, singer, and professional wrestler. He holds American and Canadian citizenships and he later played for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League and was cut two months into the 1995 season. This led him to become a professional wrestler like his grandfather, Peter Maivia and he returned to wrestling part-time for WWE from 2011 to 2013 and continues to make sporadic non-wrestling appearances for the company. Johnson has 17 championship reigns in WWE, including 10 as a champion, winning the WWF/WWE Championship eight times. He won the WWF Intercontinental Championship twice and the WWF Tag Team Championship five times, Johnson is the sixth Triple Crown Champion in WWE history and won the 2000 Royal Rumble. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, co-written with Joe Layden, was published in 2000. It debuted at No.1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, spent 20 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, Johnsons first leading film role was in The Scorpion King in 2002. For this role, he was paid US $5.5 million and he has since appeared in various films, and become known for his ability to reinvigorate film franchises. Perhaps his greatest success in his career can be sourced to his role as Luke Hobbs in The Fast. Forbes listed Johnson No.25 in the Top 100 Most Powerful Celebrities in 2013 and he is the worlds highest-paid actor of 2016. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, in 2015, Muscle & Fitness named Johnson their Man of the Century. Johnson was born in Hayward, California, the son of Ata Johnson and professional wrestler Wayde Douglas Bowles and his maternal grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, was also a wrestler. His maternal grandmother, Lia Maivia, was one of few female promoters, taking over Polynesian Pacific Pro Wrestling after her husbands death in 1982. His cousin, Savelina Fanene, is also a wrestler working for WWE. His father is a Black Nova Scotian, and his mother is of Samoan heritage and his father was part of the first black tag team to win the World Tag Team Championship in the World Wrestling Federation. Through his mother, he is considered a relative of the Anoai wrestling family. Johnson briefly lived in the suburb of Grey Lynn in Auckland and he attended Richmond Road Primary School, before returning to the United States with his parents. Johnson spent 10th grade at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu, as he entered 11th grade, his fathers job required his relocation to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
35.
Matthew McConaughey
–
Matthew David McConaughey is an American actor. He first gained notice for his role in the coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused. Matthew McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born on November 4,1969 in Uvalde, Texas and his mother, Mary Kathleen Kay or KMac, is a former kindergarten teacher and a published author. She was originally from Trenton, New Jersey and his father, James Donald McConaughey, was from Louisiana and ran an oil pipe supply business. He played for the Kentucky Wildcats and the Houston Cougars college football teams, in 1953, Jim McConaughey was drafted in the 27th round by the NFL football team the Green Bay Packers. He was released before the season began and never played a league game in the NFL. Matthews mother and late father married each other three times and his ancestry includes Scottish, English, Irish, Swedish and German. He is a relative of Confederate brigadier general Dandridge McRae, McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas in 1980, where he attended Longview High School. He lived for a year in Warnervale, New South Wales, Australia and he attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He began in the fall of 1989 and graduated in the spring of 1993 with a degree in Radio-Television-Film. His original plan had changed as he wanted to attend Southern Methodist University until a brother told him that private school tuition would have been a burden on the family finances. He also had planned to attend law school graduation from college. McConaughey began working in commercials, including one for the Austin, Texas daily newspaper, the Austin American-Statesman. The line, How else am I gonna keep up with my Horns, – a reference to his beloved Texas Longhorns sports teams – gave the local community a look at the young actor, before he was cast in Richard Linklaters film Dazed and Confused. In 1992, he was cast as Joe in Trisha Yearwoods video for her hit song Walkaway Joe, in the late 1990s, McConaughey was cast in leading roles in more movies, including Contact, Amistad, The Newton Boys, EDtv and U-571. By the early 2000s, he was frequently cast in comedies, including The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. McConaughey starred in the 2005 feature film Sahara, along with Steve Zahn, prior to the release of the film, he promoted it by sailing down the Amazon River and trekking to Mali. That same year, McConaughey was named People magazines Sexiest Man Alive for 2005, in 2006, he co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch and as Marshall head football coach Jack Lengyal in We Are Marshall
36.
Jean-Claude Van Damme
–
The most successful of these films include Bloodsport, Kickboxer, Lionheart, Double Impact, Universal Soldier, Hard Target, Street Fighter, Timecop, Sudden Death, JCVD and The Expendables 2. His father is Walloon from Brussels, and his mother is Flemish and he began martial arts at the age of ten, enrolled by his father in a Shotokan karate school. His styles consist of Shotokan Karate and Kickboxing and he eventually earned his black belt in karate at 18. He started lifting weights to improve his physique, which led to a Mr. Belgium bodybuilding title. At the age of 16, he took up ballet, which he studied for five years, according to Van Damme, ballet is an art, but its also one of the most difficult sports. If you can survive a workout, you can survive a workout in any other sport. Later he took up both Taekwondo and Muay Thai, at the age of 12, Van Damme joined the Centre National De Karaté under the guidance of Claude Goetz in Belgium. Van Damme trained for four years and he earned a spot on the Belgian Karate Team, later training in full-contact karate, at the age of 15, Van Damme started his competitive karate career in Belgium. From 1976 to 1980, Van Damme compiled a record of 44 victories and 4 defeats in tournament and non-tournament semi-contact matches. Van Damme was a member of the Belgium Karate Team when it won the European Karate Championship on 26 December 1979 at La Coupe Francois Persoons Karate Tournament in Brussels, Van Damme placed second at the Challenge Coupe des Espoirs Karate Tournament. At the 3-day tournament, Van Damme defeated 25 opponents before losing in the finals to fellow teammate Angelo Spataro, prior to this match, Teugels had defeated Van Damme twice by decision, including a match for the Belgium Lightweight Championship. Van Damme had a 1977 victory over Teugels, Teugels was coming off an impressive showing at the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations World Championships four months earlier, and was favored by some to win this match. According to reports, and Patrick Teugels own interview, Teugels lost to Van Damme by TKO in the 1st round, Teugels was kicked in the nose and was unable to continue as a result. In a 2013 interview, Van Damme called this fight his most memorable match, Van Damme began his full-contact career in 1977, when Claude Goetz promoted the first ever full-contact karate tournament in Belgium. From 1977 to 1982, Van Damme compiled a record of 18 victories and 1 defeat and he was even named Mr. Belgium in a bodybuilding competition. In 1980, Van Damme caught the attention of Professional Karate Magazine publisher and editor Mike Anderson, both men tabbed Van Damme as an upcoming prospect. Van Damme retired from competition in 1982, since 2009, Van Damme has been planning to make a comeback to fight former boxing Olympic gold-medalist Somluck Kamsing. The fight was a point in his ITV reality show Jean Claude Van Damme
37.
Joe Pesci
–
Joseph Frank Joe Pesci is an American actor, singer, musician and comedian. Known for playing tough, volatile characters, in a variety of genres and he is best known for a trio of Martin Scorsese films in which he co-starred with Robert De Niro, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino. Pesci was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Raging Bull, Pesci was born on February 9,1943, in Newark, New Jersey. His mother, Mary, worked part-time as a barber, and his father, Angelo Pesci, was a driver for General Motors. Pesci, of Italian descent, was raised in Belleville, New Jersey, by the time Pesci was five years old, he was appearing in plays in New York. At age 10, he was a regular on a variety show called Startime Kids which also featured Connie Francis. In the 1960s, Pesci began working as a barber, following in his mothers footsteps, at the same time, he tried to start a musical career, playing guitar with several bands. In 1968, he released the album Little Joe Sure Can Sing. on which he sang covers of pop hits. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Pesci joined fellow actor Frank Vincent in performing in clubs including the Arlington Lounge and other venues around North Jersey as Vincent. The comedy duos material was a play on Martin and Lewis and Abbott, in 1975, they appeared in the Broadway show The New Vaudevillians, which only lasted one week. The first film Pesci starred in was the 1976 low-budget crime film The Death Collector alongside Frank Vincent, after the film Pesci returned to The Bronx and lived above Amicis Restaurant, where he was an employee. Pesci won the BAFTA Film Award for Newcomer to Leading Film Roles in 1981 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, over the next few years, Pesci appeared in several smaller films, including Dear Mr. Wonderful, Easy Money and Eureka. In 1984, he was cast in Once Upon a Time in America, next year he starred as private detective Rocky Nelson in the short-lived television comedy series Half Nelson. In 1988, Pesci appeared in the Michael Jackson musical anthology film Moonwalker, in the sixth and longest segment. He played the antagonist, crime boss Frankie Mr. Big LiDeo and he appeared as Leo Getz in the Lethal Weapon sequels, released in 1989,1992 and 1998. In 1990, he reunited with Scorsese and De Niro for Goodfellas, Pesci received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role, which he accepted with one of the shortest speeches in Oscar history, saying simply, Its my privilege. Thank you, before leaving the stage, Pesci also co-starred in the blockbuster Home Alone in 1990, playing Harry Lime, one of two bumbling burglars who attempt to burgle the house of the young character played by Macaulay Culkin. In the films climactic scene, Pesci accidentally bit one of Culkins fingers, two years later, Pesci reprised his role in the sequel Home Alone 2, Lost in New York
38.
Mark Hamill
–
Mark Richard Hamill is an American actor, voice actor, producer and writer. He is known for playing Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series and his other works include Corvette Summer and The Big Red One, among other television shows and movies. Hamill has also appeared on stage in several productions, primarily during the 1980s. He currently recurs in the The CW television series The Flash as James Jesse / Trickster, Hamill is a prolific voice actor who has voiced characters in many animated television shows, movies, and video games since the 1970s. He is known for his role as DC Comics the Joker, commencing with Batman. Hamill was born in Oakland, California, to Virginia Suzanne and he is one of seven children, having two brothers, Will and Patrick, and four sisters, Terry, Jan, Jeanie, and Kim. His father has English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh ancestry and his mother was of half Swedish and his fathers changes of station and attendant family moves led to the Hamill children changing schools often. In his elementary years, he went to Walsingham Academy and Poe Middle School, at age 11, he moved to the 5900 block of Castleton Drive in San Diego, California, where he attended Hale Junior High School. During his first year at James Madison High School, his family moved to Virginia, by his junior year, his father was stationed in Japan, where Hamill attended and was a member of the Drama Club at Nile C. Kinnick High School, from which he graduated in 1969 and he later enrolled at Los Angeles City College, majoring in drama. Hamill was raised as a Roman Catholic, and described his father as a Nixon Republican, Hamills early career included a recurring role on the soap opera General Hospital, and a starring role on the short-lived sitcom The Texas Wheelers. He portrayed the oldest son, David, in the episode of Eight Is Enough, though the role was later performed by Grant Goodeve. He also had guest appearances on The Bill Cosby Show, The Partridge Family, Room 222 and he appeared in multiple television films such as The City, and Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, Robert Englund was auditioning for a role in Apocalypse Now when he walked across the hall where auditions were taking place for George Lucass Star Wars. After watching the auditions for a while, he realized that Hamill, his friend and he suggested to Hamill that he audition for the role, Hamill did and won the role. Released in May 1977, Star Wars was an unexpected success and had a huge effect on the film industry. Hamill also appeared in the Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978 and later starred in the successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back, during the time between the first two films, Hamill was involved in a serious automobile accident, fracturing his nose and left cheekbone. The injuries required surgery on his face which made him look different during the filming of The Empire Strikes Back
39.
Kevin Bacon
–
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American actor and musician. Bacon is also known for taking on roles such as that of a sadistic guard in Sleepers. Also on television, he starred in the Fox series The Following from 2013 to 2015, Bacon has won a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. The Guardian named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination, in 2003, Bacon received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Bacon has become an icon for the concept of interconnectedness, having been popularized by the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in 2007, he created SixDegrees. org, a charitable foundation. Bacon, one of six children, was born and raised in a family in Philadelphia. The experience solidified Bacons passion for the arts, Bacon left home at age 17 to pursue a theater career in New York City, where he appeared in a production at the Circle in the Square Theater School. I wanted life, man, the thing, he later recalled to Nancy Mills of Cosmopolitan. The message I got was The arts are it, art and creative expression are next to godliness. Combine that with an ego and you wind up with an actor. Bacons debut in the fraternity comedy National Lampoons Animal House did not lead to the fame he had sought and he briefly worked on the television soap operas Search for Tomorrow and Guiding Light in New York. In 1980, he had a prominent role in the slasher film Friday the 13th, some of his early stage work included Getting Out, performed at New Yorks Phoenix Theater, and Flux, at Second Stage Theatre during their 1981–1982 season. In 1982, he won an Obie Award for his role in Forty Deuce, bolstered by the attention garnered by his performance in Diner, Bacon starred in the box-office smash Footloose. To prepare for the role, Bacon enrolled at a school as a transfer student named Ren McCormick. Bacon earned strong reviews for Footloose, and he appeared on the cover of People magazine soon after its release. Bacons critical and box office led to a period of typecasting in roles similar to the two he portrayed in Diner and Footloose, and he had difficulty shaking this on-screen image. For the next years he chose films that cast him against either type and experienced, by his own estimation. In 1988, he starred in John Hughes comedy Shes Having a Baby, in 1990, Bacon had two successful roles
40.
Dustin Hoffman
–
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor and a director, with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. Hoffman has been known for his portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1980 for Kramer vs. Kramer, and in 1989 for Rain Man. Widely considered one of the finest actors in history, Hoffman first drew praise for starring in the play, Eh. for which he won a Theatre World Award. This achievement was followed by his breakthrough 1967 film role as Benjamin Braddock. Since that time, Hoffmans career has largely focused on the cinema, with sporadic returns to television. Hoffmans notable films include, Midnight Cowboy, Little Big Man, Straw Dogs, Papillon, Lenny, Marathon Man, All the Presidents Men, Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, Rain Man, Hook and he made his directorial debut in 2012, with Quartet. Along with 2 Academy Award wins, Hoffman has been nominated for 5 additional Academy Awards and he has won 4 BAFTAs,3 Drama Desk Awards,2 Emmy Awards, and a Genie Award. Hoffman received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1999, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2012, Dustin Lee Hoffman was born on August 8,1937 in Los Angeles, California, the second son of Lillian and Harry Hoffman. His father worked as a supervisor at Columbia Pictures before becoming a furniture salesman. Hoffman was named after stage and silent screen actor, Dustin Farnum and his older brother, Ronald, is a lawyer and economist. Hoffman is Jewish, from an Ashkenazi family of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland and his upbringing was non-religious, and he has said, I don’t have any memory of celebrating holidays growing up that were Jewish, and that he had realized he was Jewish at around age 10. Hoffman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955 and enrolled at Santa Monica College with the intention of studying medicine. He left after a year to join the Pasadena Playhouse, although when he told his family about his career goal and he also took classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. Hoffman initially hoped to become a classical pianist, having studied piano during much of his youth, while at Santa Monica College, he also took an acting class, which he assumed would be easy, and caught the acting bug. He recalls, I just was not gifted in music, now an aspiring actor, he spent the next ten years doing odd jobs, being unemployed, and struggling to get any available acting roles. He composed a song called Shooting the Breeze and Bette Midler wrote the words and his first acting role was at the Pasadena Playhouse, alongside future Academy Award-winner, Gene Hackman. After two years there, Hackman headed for New York City, with Hoffman soon following, Hoffman, Hackman and Robert Duvall lived together in the 1960s, all three of them focused on finding acting jobs
41.
Amber Heard
–
Amber Laura Heard is an American actress. She made her debut in 2004 in the sports drama Friday Night Lights. After small roles in North Country and Alpha Dog, Heard played her first leading role in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane and her breakthrough came in 2008 with roles in Never Back Down and Pineapple Express. She received the Breakthrough Award at Young Hollywood Awards and her appearance in films such as The Informers, The Stepfather, Zombieland and The Joneses brought her further attention. She next starred in John Carpenters The Ward, alongside Nicolas Cage in Drive Angry, in 2014 she appeared in 3 Days to Kill, and in 2015 in Magic Mike XXL and The Danish Girl. In 2017, Heard will appear as Mera in Zack Snyders upcoming superhero film, Heard was born in Austin, Texas, the daughter of Patricia Paige, an Internet researcher, and David Clinton Heard, a contractor. She dropped out of school, eventually earning a diploma through a home-study course. When Heard was 16, her best friend died in a car crash, Heard and she said of Rand, Ive read all of her books. Ever since then, I have been obsessed with her ideals, All Ive ever needed is myself. C. She made her debut in the sports drama Friday Night Lights. Heard was next cast as the characters love interest in the CWs teen drama Hidden Palms. In order to get the part, she was required to lose 25 pounds, the series premiered in the United States on May 30,2007 to mixed to negative reviews from the critics. It was also not popular with audiences, and thus the CW decided to cancel it. In 2007, Heard also appeared in the short movie Day 73 with Sarah, the critically panned indie drama Remember the Daze and she also won a Breakthrough Award in Hollywood Film Festival. Certainly, not something you would find in somebody her age, the wisdom she projects, I thought was pretty remarkable. Mandy Lane had already premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, after a negative test screening, Weinstein dropped the film, and it was then released in the United Kingdom in 2008 by a different distributing company. It did not have theatrical release in the United States until 2013, the Los Angeles Times stated that Heard gave her most definitive to date in the film, and The Washington Post wrote that she gave a psychologically interesting performance. In 2009, Heard had roles in the horror film The Stepfather, in their review of the latter, Variety wrote that she steals the show from films more established star, Demi Moore
