title: Human Rights Campaign

text: Some transgender people have criticized the HRC for its stance on the 2007 version of ENDA, which at the time included sexual orientation as a protected category but not gender identity and expression. Once the legislation was submitted by Rep. Barney Frank, HRC officially neither opposed nor supported it. This followed a speech by former HRC President Joe Solmonese at the transgender Southern Comfort Conference the previous month, where he said that HRC "oppose[d] any legislation that is not absolutely inclusive". HRC later explained that it could not actively support a non-inclusive bill, but did not oppose it because the legislation would strategically advance long-term efforts to pass a trans-inclusive ENDA. However, in a letter to U.S. Representatives, HRC did express support for the bill, stating that while HRC is "greatly disappointed that the current version of ENDA is not inclusive ... we appreciate the steadfast efforts of our ... allies ... even when they are forced ... to make progress that is measured by inches rather than yards."


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: HRC has been criticized both for favoring the Democratic Party and for endorsements of Republican candidates. Andrew Sullivan, a gay political columnist and blogger, has called HRC "a patronage wing of the Democratic party." However, HRC has also received backlash and criticism for several nominations of Republican candidates when their Democratic opponents scored higher on HRC's own index.


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: HRC was criticized for its endorsement of New York Republican Al D'Amato in his 1998 campaign for re-election to the U.S. Senate. HRC defended the endorsement because of D'Amato's support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". However, many liberal LGBT leaders objected to D'Amato's conservative stances, including his opposition to affirmative action and abortion, and thought that HRC should have taken those positions into account when deciding on the endorsement.


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: In 2014, long-time supporter of same-sex marriage Shenna Bellows was nominated for a U.S. Senate seat in Maine. HRC endorsed her opponent, incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, who had previously lacked a history of supporting same-sex marriage initiatives. However, Collins later clarified her view in support gay marriage.


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: On March 11, 2016, HRC voted to endorse Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk over his Democratic Party challenger Representative Tammy Duckworth in his re-election bid to the United States Senate. Though Kirk later announced his support for same-sex marriage, the endorsement was met with widespread surprise and criticism in news media and social media as HRC had given Kirk a score of 78 percent out of 100 percent on LGBT issues, while it had awarded Duckworth a score of 100 percent. David Nir at Daily Kos called the endorsement as "appalling as it is embarrassing" and "pathetic and stupid", while "Slate" observed that Democratic control of the Senate was effectively necessary for passing the Equality Act of 2015 and beneficial for many other LGBT equality issues, and thus it would be in line with the organization's stated goals for Duckworth to be elected rather than Kirk. Meanwhile, "The New Republic" stated that, in light of a recent internal report revealing HRC's "serious diversity problem", "Choosing the white male candidate in this race over the Asian-American female candidate—someone who happens to have a better voting record anyway—is probably the worst way of convincing your detractors that you are taking a core problem seriously." HRC president Chad Griffin defended the endorsement in a column published by the "Independent Journal Review", describing the senator's work on behalf of LGBT equality issues, including co-sponsoring the Equality Act of 2015. Griffin stated: "The truth is we need more cross party cooperation on issues of equality, not less", adding "when members of Congress vote the right way and stand up for equality — regardless of party — we must stand with them. We simply cannot ask members of Congress to vote with us, and then turn around and try to kick them out of office."


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: On October 28, 2016, on the day following Mark Kirk's controversial debate comment on Tammy Duckworth's heritage, HRC explicitly stated their endorsement of Kirk "remains unchanged" while asking him to "rescind" his comment. "Slate" stated this proved HRC's "worst critics right" and that HRC "is simply irredeemable". On October 29, two days after the comment, HRC described Kirk's statement as "deeply offensive and racist," revoked its endorsement of Kirk, and instead endorsed Duckworth for the U.S. Senate.


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, Human Rights Campaign's 32-person Board of Directors voted to endorse Hillary Clinton for president. This resulted in considerable controversy, causing thousands of users on HRC's Facebook page to post comments critical of the decision. Many cited HRC's own "congressional scorecard" (which records a 100% rating for her rival for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders, while Clinton herself only scores 89%) as inconsistent with their endorsement. Additional scrutiny was also placed upon the connections Clinton herself has to the organization when it was revealed that HRC's President, Chad Griffin, had previously been employed by Clinton's husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton.


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: In the 2018 New York gubernatorial election, the Human Rights Campaign endorsed incumbent governor Andrew Cuomo. However, Cynthia Nixon, who is bisexual, announced that she was running on March 25, 2018. Despite this, HRC still supported Cuomo. In response, HRC received criticism for not supporting an LGBTQ+ candidate, and supporting her opponent instead. Jimmy Van Bramer, a gay New York City Council Member who endorsed Nixon, said, "The HRC endorsement hurts Cynthia Nixon's chances," and that "coming out against a viable progressive queer woman is the wrong thing to do."


title: Human Rights Campaign

text: A report released in August 2021 following an independent investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia "Tish" James described then HRC president Alphonso David's efforts to cover up sexual harassment claims against Governor Andrew Cuomo (prior to joining HRC, David was chief counsel to Cuomo) and undermine the credibility of accusers. David allegedly released the full personnel file of accuser (and former Cuomo adviser) Lindsay Boylan to the governor's office. Her file was then leaked to the press. David also assisted in drafting an unpublished letter in support of Cuomo and questioning Boylan's motivations. On September 6, 2021, David was fired as president of HRC. In February 2022, David filed a lawsuit against the Human Rights Campaign, alleging discrimination. He argued that the organization underpaid him and eventually fired him because of his race, while also saying the organization has a "deserved reputation for unequal treatment of its non-white employees."


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up!" is a funk and R&B song originally recorded by American funk band Cameo in 1986. It was released as the first single from their twelfth album, "Word Up!" (1986). The song was written by band members Larry Blackmon and Tomi Jenkins. Its frequent airing on American dance, R&B, and contemporary hit radio, as well as its MTV music video (in which LeVar Burton appears as a police detective trying to arrest the band), helped the single become the band's best known hit.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up!" was Cameo's first US Top 40 hit, peaking at number six on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and spending three weeks at number one on the "Billboard" R&B chart and one week at number one on the "Billboard" Hot Dance Singles chart.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Word Up" spent ten weeks in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number three on September 21, 1986 – for the week ending date September 27, 1986.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: Besides being a commercial success, the track also earned critical acclaim from several publications. "Word Up!" won Cameo the Soul Train Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Single as well as the NME Award for Best Dance Record. Like the band's previous single "Single Life", "Word Up!" features a reference to the opening notes of Ennio Morricone's theme to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up" was a colloquialism, popular in New York City and other US urban areas, that acted as an affirmation of what was said — a kind of a more-hip "You Bet."


title: Word Up! (song)

text: It just sounded good, and it was before its time. You can play 'Word Up' anyplace anywhere, and someone is going to be grooving and bobbing their head. Our sound was unique, as well. I haven’t heard another one like it, and we probably won’t hear another one like it in the future. It was that significant for us."


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up!" has been covered numerous times by other artists. It is an easy song to sing, being riff-based and having a simple vocal melody.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: In the 1990s, "Word Up!" was first covered by Scottish hard rock band Gun, whose version carried a harder, more rock-oriented sound, including a guitar solo. Taken from their album "Swagger", it was released on July 1, 1994, and peaked number eight on the UK Singles Chart. Two versions of the CD single were released in the UK, each carrying different cover art and different tracks.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up!" was later covered by British singer Mel B of the Spice Girls (known as Melanie G at that time, and her only single under that name) from the film soundtrack "". It was released on June 28, 1999, and peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was also included on the Japanese edition of her album "Hot". Static sings uncredited background vocals on the track. Brown's bandmate Emma Bunton sings background vocals on the B-side, "Sophisticated Lady", with an uncredited rap by Dexter.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up!" by American nu metal band Korn is a cover of the Cameo song. Its musical arrangements are similar to that of the cover version by Gun, except it is played in a lower sounding 7 string guitar tuning instead of the standard E. "Word Up!" was the first track featured on Korn's 2004 retrospective album, "Greatest Hits, Volume 1", and was one of two new tracks along with Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" that was exclusive to the album (the "Word Up!" CD single also featured a live performance of the latter).


title: Word Up! (song)

text: It was released as the album's first single in July 2004, and received heavy airplay on alternative radio at its time of release, peaking in the top 20 of both "Billboard" charts, whilst making a respectable impression on the mainstream charts of other countries, including Australia (where it debuted at number 28), and Germany (number 46). It is the only Korn single to be sent out to Top 40 radio stations, notably receiving airplay on New York City's Z-100, the largest Top 40 station in the US. Lead singer Jonathan Davis has said of the band's decision to include the song on their greatest hits, "We've been doing 'Word Up!' for years as a sound-check song—not the full version, just messing around with the riff."


title: Word Up! (song)

text: In 2007 German singer Jan Delay recorded a mashup of the music from "Word Up!" with the lyrics of Das Bo's "Türlich, Türlich (Sicher, Dicker)". The new song was titled "Türlich Türlich (Word Up)" and was a hit in German-speaking countries.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: British girl group Little Mix released a cover version of the song for Sport Relief 2014, through Syco Music and Columbia Records. It was released digitally on March 16, 2014, followed by a physical release the following day, which was only available to purchase from Sainsbury's supermarkets.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: "Word Up" peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top twenty in Ireland. The song also charted in Australia, Austria, Denmark, France, Czech Republic, and Japan. It has been certified gold in Brazil. The single is also included on the expanded edition of the group's second studio album "Salute" (2013).


title: Word Up! (song)

text: Little Mix first announced the single on January 16, 2014, through their official Twitter. The song was first played on BBC Radio 1 on January 20, 2014, during Nick Grimshaw's Breakfast show.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: The song received mostly positive reviews with "Popjustice" ranking it as third for the best version of the song and third for the best Sport Relief single and gave the song 7 out of 10 stars. Kevin Kevinpod of DirectLyrics said that "[Little Mix's] harmonies are spot-on, and the whole record is pure fire." and that the song is a chance of the band getting a number one hit. Its production was also likened to Janet Jackson's single "Black Cat."


title: Word Up! (song)

text: The shooting for the music video started in early February 2014. The band posted an exclusive picture from the video on February 25, 2014. The video was first shown on the Chart Show TV on February 28, 2014 and was posted on Vevo on March 3, 2014. It features celebrity cameos from Nick Grimshaw, Louie Spence, Louis Smith, Arlene Phillips, Melanie C and Chris Barrie.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: The video starts off with the band in a changing room of a gym. As they walk out of the changing room, Jade tries to pick up a barbell pretending that she cannot lift it but then she lifts it up and walks away carrying it. Perrie then walks along four women who are working out while Jade is on a stationary bicycle among three other women, following the instructions of a trainer. With the bicycle, Jade starts going forward with the rest following her at the back.


title: Word Up! (song)

text: The scene then switches to a court with the band exercising and dancing the same time along with other people while singing the chorus of the song. Afterwards, Leigh-Anne is stood in front of some athletes with one using her as a barbell at the end of her part. Jesy continues with her part while dancing in front of two men working out on treadmills and fall off them after some time. During the chorus, the scene changes again to the court with the owner (Barrie, who had previously played a gym manager in BBC sitcom "The Brittas Empire") of the gym seeing the girls and the rest dancing and runs upset out of his office. As he is going down to the court, he sees the athletes in the swimming pool shaping out the title of the song. When he reaches the court, he starts dancing with them.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal Cinemas (also Regal Entertainment Group) is an American movie theater chain headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee. A division of Cineworld, Regal operates the second-largest theater circuit in the United States, with over 7,200 screens in 549 theaters as of October 2019. The three main theatre brands operated by Regal Entertainment Group are Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theatres, and United Artists Theatres.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: These chains retain their exterior signage, but most indoor branding (popcorn bags, policy trailers) uses the Regal Entertainment Group name and logo. Most new cinema construction uses the Regal Cinemas name. Regal has acquired several smaller chains since this merger; these, however, have been rebranded as Regal Cinemas.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On December 5, 2017, it was announced that the British theater chain Cineworld would acquire Regal for $3.6 billion, making it the second largest global cinema exhibitor behind AMC. On September 7, 2022, Cineworld filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal Cinemas was established in 1989 in Knoxville, Tennessee, with Mike Campbell as CEO. Its first location was the Searstown Cinema in Titusville, Florida. Regal began to grow at a rapid pace, opening larger cinemas in suburban areas. Many of these contained a "premium" café (later called Cafe Del Moro) and a more upscale look than typical theaters of the time.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal Cinemas embarked on a large-scale expansion throughout the decade, acquiring smaller chains as well as building new, more modern multiplexes. Its largest acquisition during this original period was the 1998 combination of it and Act III Theatres, although it had acquired some smaller chains as well in the mid-1990s, including the original Cobb Theatres, RC Theatres, and Cleveland-based National Theatre Corp.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: By 2001, Regal was overextended, and went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It became the namesake for the theater chain in which it would be merged into with the Edwards and United Artists chains.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: The chain's famous "Regal Roller Coaster" policy trailer, which was shown before every movie shown from the early 1990s to the fall of 2004, was revived in 2010 and the current version was made in 2015, which was animated by The Tombras Group.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: United Artists Theatres (established in 1924) has its roots in the movie studio of the same name founded by Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith, but legally has always been separate from it. Joseph Schenck was brought in to become UA's president in 1924; as part of the deal, Schenck entered into a partnership with Chaplin and Pickford to buy and construct theatres using UA's name. Over time, the chain became separate from the studio and by the 1970s was part of a larger company, United Artists Communications.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: United Artists Theatres was purchased in the late 1940s by the Naify Brothers, who owned theatres in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their company up to this time was called Golden State Theatres. About this time they also acquired the San Francisco Theatres owned by Samuel H Levin. These theatres were the Balboa, Alexandria, Coliseum, Vogue, Metro, the Harding, and Coronet, which was opened in 1949. In 1988 UA bought the Philadelphia-based Sameric chain of about 30 locations in PA, NJ, and DE. The UA Theatres main office was in San Francisco until 1988 when it was sold to TCI. Thereafter, it was relocated to Englewood, CO.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: UA was an early pioneer in cable television, and aggressively bought smaller regional systems. By the end of the 1980s, John Malone's Tele-Communications, Inc. was majority owner; on June 8, 1991, it purchased the remainder of the company. Then on February 19, 1992, TCI sold the theatre chain in a leveraged buyout led by Merrill Lynch Capital Partners Inc and UA management.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Edwards Theatres was a family-owned chain in California, started in 1930 by William James Edwards Jr. It became one of California's best-known and most popular theater chains, and by Edwards' death in 1997, operated about 90 locations with 560 screens. Edwards Theatres had its headquarters in Newport Beach, California. His son, W. James Edwards III, became president and announced an ambitious expansion plan that would nearly double the company's screen count. The expansion plan gave Edwards a crushing debt load, and in 2000 it filed for bankruptcy.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: When all three chains went into bankruptcy, investor Philip Anschutz bought substantial investments in all three companies, becoming majority owner. In 2002, Anschutz consolidated his three theatre holdings under a new parent company, Regal Entertainment Group. Regal's Mike Campbell and UA's Kurt Hall were named co-CEOs, with Campbell overseeing the theatre operations from Regal Cinemas' headquarters in Knoxville, and Kurt Hall heading up a new subsidiary, Regal CineMedia, from the UA offices in Centennial, Colorado. The Edwards corporate offices were closed.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal and United Artists had attempted to merge before in 1998, using a similar method. Investment firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst announced plans to acquire Regal, then merge it with UA (which would be bought by Hicks, Muse) and Act III (controlled by KKR), with the new company using the Regal Cinemas name. UA eventually dropped out of the merger, but the merger between Regal and Act III went through.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: As Regal consolidated the three chains, CineMedia began work on a new digital distribution system to provide a new "preshow," replacing the slides and film advertisements with digital content. NBC and Turner Broadcasting were among the first to sign on to provide content for the venture, and the preshow, dubbed "The 2wenty," debuted in February 2003; this pre-film preshow is now known as "Regal FirstLook." The new distribution system was also meant to be used for special events such as concerts. Regal CineMedia merged with AMC Theatres' National Cinema Network in 2005 to form National CineMedia. In effect, this was a takeover of NCN by Regal CineMedia, as Kurt Hall stayed on as CEO and AMC adopted Regal's preshow. Regal owned 50% of the new company before it went public.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Since the 2002 formation of REG, it has acquired several smaller chains. It took over the US assets of Hoyts Cinemas in March 2003 and announced the acquisition of San Ramon, California–based Signature Theatres in April 2004. Unlike the merger with UA and Edwards, Regal has rebranded all of these theatres as Regal Cinemas. In April 2005, Eastern Federal, which was a theatre company in the Southeastern United States, was acquired by Regal. In February 2013, Regal agreed to purchase Hollywood Theaters, a nationwide chain of 46 theaters that operated from Portland, Oregon. The sale was closed on April 1, 2013. In May 2017 Regal purchased the $200 million company Warren Theaters based in Wichita, Kansas. The sale included all Warren Theater locations in Wichita KS as well as those in Moore and Broken Arrow OK. The theaters will continue operation under the Warren name.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In 2007, REG opened its first all-digital projection theatre in Henderson, Nevada (a suburb of Las Vegas), the Fiesta Henderson Stadium 12. Regal sold Fandango to leading cable company Comcast Corporation in 2007.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal Entertainment Group completed its acquisition of Consolidated Theatres on May 1, 2008. In the transaction, Regal acquired Consolidated's 28 theaters and 400 screens for $210 million. Consolidated's concentrations of theatres in the Mid-Atlantic states of Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and North and South Carolina overlapped in some places with Regal's. As of a condition of approval of the merger, the United States Department of Justice required that Regal divest itself of several theaters in areas where it would have a monopoly. Regal agreed to sell off four theaters in the Asheville, Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina markets, but a large number of theaters still remains in all three markets.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On May 17, 2009, Regal signed a deal with Sony Corporation to equip all of its theaters with Sony 4K digital projection over the next three to five years.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In April 2010, Regal launched Regal Premium Experience (RPX), an upgraded theater format. Each RPX theater features a 60-foot screen, dual 30,000 lumen digital projectors, a 7.1 sound system, a Dolby Atmos sound system or an Auro 11.1 sound system with 273 loudspeaker components including eight 21 inch subwoofers. There are reclining leather seats with headrests. Both digital 2D and RealD 3D films can be screened. As of January 2016, there are 87 operating RPX locations.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In June 2011, after posting a loss for the first quarter, Regal began downsizing its theater employees by removing managers from projection and replacing them with lower paid floor staff. This move allowed Regal to lay off part-time managers across the country and forcibly demote many full-time managers to part-time. As theaters converted to all digital automated screens, Regal also removed projectionists altogether. This focus on "cost control" helped the company post better than expected profits for the 3rd quarter of that year.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In March 2014, AEG and Regal announced an agreement to add 4DX—a 4D film format—to its location at L.A. Live. As of 2018, it operated six 4DX screens nationwide, with plans to expand to at least 79.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In December 2015, Regal took over managing operations of Cinebarre, a former joint venture between Regal Entertainment Group and Terrell Braly. There are eight Cinebarre locations in the Regal Entertainment Group circuit. These locations feature a full bar as well a full made-from-scratch restaurant menu which is delivered right to the customer's seat.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In January 2016, Regal was issued a temporary injunction by a district court in the state of Texas following complaints by the Houston-based cinema chain iPic Entertainment, which found that Regal had colluded with 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Universal by threatening boycotts of their releases if they did not refuse clearance of their films to smaller cinema chain locations (such as iPic).


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In November 2017, Regal began merger talks with the UK theater chain Cineworld. On December 5, it was officially announced that Cineworld would buy Regal for $3.6 billion, forming the world's second-largest cinema group.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal adopted a new logo in October 2018, featuring an emblem resembling a camera aperture and crown. In recognition of the company's Knoxville heritage, Regal adopted orange as a corporate color in reference to the Tennessee Volunteers.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In July 2019, Regal announced a new movie ticket subscription service known as Regal Unlimited. This service allows users to see an unlimited number of movies and receive a 10% discount on concessions, although there is an additional surcharge for premium movie formats. The service is modeled upon a similar program employed by Cineworld.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On January 7, 2020, in alignment with existing agreements with Cineworld, it was announced that PepsiCo would replace The Coca-Cola Company as the exclusive supplier of non-alcoholic beverages to all Regal cinemas, notably breaking a monopoly held by Coke among the top three cinema chains in the United States. Pepsi also became the "exclusive sponsor" of Regal's 4DX screens.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On March 16, 2020, Regal Cinemas closed all 543 of its theaters in the United States indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming the first theater chain in the United States to close all its theater locations as a result of the pandemic.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: Regal Cinemas started reopening most of its theaters on August 21, 2020, with a few delayed until August 28 and others closed indefinitely due to local restrictions or having already been planned to close prior to the pandemic.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On October 5, 2020, Cineworld announced it would close most Regal, and all Cineworld, and Picturehouse Cinemas locations in the US, UK, and Ireland indefinitely, beginning October 8. CEO Mooky Greidinger specifically cited that the continued reluctance of New York to allow cinemas to open was the main factor, as well as the lack of tentpole Hollywood films due to the high cost of operating a cinema without new releases (describing the delay of the James Bond film "No Time to Die" from November to April 2021 as being the "last straw"). Mooky argued that the studios were holding off on new releases until New York cinemas reopen (accusing Governor Andrew Cuomo of being inflexible, despite having allowed other forms of indoor businesses to resume operations), and that the company only planned to reopen its cinemas once it is confident there is a "clear" and "solid" lineup of new releases.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: The closures initially excluded seven recently opened locations in California, and 11 New York state locations (after it began to allow cinemas outside of New York City to reopen on October 23 at 25% capacity if specific health metrics are met). However, on November 9, Regal announced that these locations would close until further notice effective November 12.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On March 23, 2021, Cineworld announced that in light of theaters in New York City and Los Angeles being given the go-ahead to reopen theaters earlier in the month, they would begin reopening select Regal locations on April 2, in time for the release of "Godzilla vs. Kong", with the company aiming to have most Regal locations reopened by April 16, in time for the release of "Mortal Kombat", which was pushed back a week to April 23. The wide reopening was pushed back to May 7, with all but 13 open by May 28. Cineworld reached agreements with Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. to commit to theatrical windows.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On June 19, 2021, Regal Cinemas acquired the lease of the former Arclight Cinemas at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles, with plans for a $10 million remodel that would include premium large format, 4DX, and ScreenX screens.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: In August 2022, the "Wall Street Journal" reported that Cineworld would file for bankruptcy after struggling to rebuild attendance and incurring debts of more than $4.8 billion amid the pandemic. Cineworld confirmed that Regal Cinemas would remain in operation while Cineworld would evaluate their financial strategies. On September 7, 2022, Cineworld announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Cineworld plans to emerge from Chapter 11 in the first quarter of 2023, and planned to pursue "a real estate optimisation strategy", including the closure or sale of theaters and other discussions with landlords on its cinema lease terms with Regal.


title: Regal Cinemas

text: On September 28, 2022, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that Canadian exhibitor Cineplex was exploring the possibility of merging with Regal; Cineworld had attempted to acquire Cineplex in 2020, but was forced to pay US$1 billion in damages for breach of contract after backing out of the deal. Cineworld was denied an appeal by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, which had ruled in favor of Cineplex in the associated legal dispute.


title: Indentation style

text: In computer programming, an indentation style is a convention governing the indentation of blocks of code to convey program structure. This article largely addresses the free-form languages, such as C and its descendants, but can be (and often is) applied to most other programming languages (especially those in the curly bracket family), where whitespace is otherwise insignificant. Indentation style is only one aspect of programming style.


title: Indentation style

text: Indentation is not a requirement of most programming languages, where it is used as secondary notation. Rather, indenting helps better convey the structure of a program to human readers. Especially, it is used to clarify the link between control flow constructs such as conditions or loops, and code contained within and outside of them. However, some languages (such as Python and occam) use indentation to determine the structure instead of using braces or keywords; this is termed the off-side rule. In such languages, indentation is meaningful to the compiler or interpreter; it is more than only a clarity or style issue.


title: Indentation style

text: This article uses the term brackets to refer to parentheses, and the term braces to refer to curly brackets.


title: Indentation style

text: The main difference between indentation styles lies in the placing of the braces of the compound statement (codice_1) that often follows a control statement (codice_2, codice_3, codice_4...). The table below shows this placement for the style of statements discussed in this article; function declaration style is another case. The style for brace placement in statements may differ from the style for brace placement of a function definition. For consistency, the indentation depth has been kept constant at 4 spaces, regardless of the preferred indentation depth of each style.


title: Indentation style

text: The displayed width for tabs can be set to arbitrary values in most programming editors, including Notepad++ (MS-Windows), TextEdit (MacOS/X), Emacs (Unix), vi (Unix), and nano (Unix). In addition, these editors can be configured to generate a mix of tabs and spaces or to convert between tabs and spaces, to match specific indentation schemes. In Unix, the tab width can also be set in pagers, such as less, and converted on the fly by filters, such as expand/unexpand.


title: Indentation style

text: Unix editors default to positioning tabs at intervals of eight columns, while Macintosh and MS-Windows environments defaulted to four columns. This difference causes source code misalignment, when indentation that mixes tabs and spaces is displayed under a configuration that displays tabs differently from the author's configuration.


title: Indentation style

text: There is ongoing debate amongst programmers about the choice between hard tabs and spaces. Many early programmers used tab characters to indent, for ease of typing and to save on source file size. Some programmers, such as Jamie Zawinski, state that using spaces instead of tabs increases cross-platform portability. Others, such as the writers of the WordPress coding standards, state the opposite: that hard tabs increase portability. A survey of the top 400,000 repositories on GitHub found that spaces are more common.


title: Indentation style

text: The size of the indentation is usually independent of the style. An experiment performed on PASCAL code in 1983, found that indentation size significantly affected comprehensibility. Indentation sizes between 2 and 4 characters proved optimal. For Ruby, many shell scripting languages, and some forms of HTML formatting, two spaces per indentation level is generally used.


title: Indentation style

text: There are many tools to convert between indentation styles, such as codice_5, a program included with many Unix-like operating systems.


title: Indentation style

text: In Emacs, various commands are available to automatically fix indentation problems, including hitting codice_6 on a given line (in the default configuration). codice_7 can be used to properly indent large sections of code. Depending on the mode, Emacs can also replace leading indentation spaces with the proper number of tabs followed by spaces, which results in the minimal number of characters for indenting each source line.


title: Indentation style

text: Elastic tabstops is a tabulation style which requires support from the text editor, where entire blocks of text are kept automatically aligned when the length of one line in the block changes.


title: Indentation style

text: The K&R style (Kernighan & Ritchie Style), and the closely related "one true brace style" in hacker jargon (abbreviated as 1TBS), are commonly used in C, C++, and other curly-brace programming languages. It was the style used in the original Unix kernel, Kernighan and Ritchie's book "The C Programming Language", as well as Kernighan and Plauger's book "The Elements of Programming Style".


title: Indentation style

text: When following K&R, each function has its opening brace at the next line on the same indentation level as its header, the statements within the braces are indented, and the closing brace at the end is on the same indentation level as the header of the function at a line of its own.


title: Indentation style

text: "The C Programming Language" does not explicitly specify this style, though it is followed consistently throughout the book. From the book:


title: Indentation style

text: The position of braces is less important, although people hold passionate beliefs. We have chosen one of several popular styles. Pick a style that suits you, then use it consistently.


title: Indentation style

text: In old versions of the C language, argument types needed to be declared on the subsequent line (i.e., just after the header of the function):


title: Indentation style

text: The "one true brace style" (abbreviated as 1TBS or OTBS) is very similar to K&R. The main two differences are that functions have their opening braces on the same line separated by a space, and that the braces are not omitted for a control statement with only a single statement in its scope.


title: Indentation style

text: In this style, the constructs that allow insertions of new code lines are on separate lines, and constructs that prohibit insertions are on one line. This principle is amplified by bracing every if, else, while, etc., including single-line conditionals, so that insertion of a new line of code anywhere is always safe (i.e., such an insertion will not make the flow of execution disagree with the source code indenting).


title: Indentation style

text: Suggested advantages of this style are that the starting brace needs no extra line alone, and the ending brace lines up with the statement it conceptually belongs to. One cost of this style is that the ending brace of a block needs a full line alone, which can be partly resolved in if/else blocks and do/while blocks:


title: Indentation style

text: There are many mentions of The One True Brace Style, but there is some confusion as to its true form. Some sources say that it is the variation specified above, while others note that it as just another "hacker jargon" term for K&R.


title: Indentation style

text: A minor variant of the K&R style is the Linux kernel style, which is known for its extensive use in the source tree of the Linux kernel. Linus Torvalds strongly advises all contributors to follow it. The style borrows many elements from K&R.


title: Indentation style

text: The kernel style uses tab stops (with the tab stops set every 8 characters) for indentation. Opening curly braces of a function go to the start of the line following the function header. Any other opening curly braces go on the same line as the corresponding statement, separated by a space. Labels in a codice_10 statement are aligned with the enclosing block (there is only one level of indents). Line length used to be limited to 80 characters it was raised to 100 in 2020, but the original limit is still preferred. A single-statement body of a compound statement (such as if, while, and do-while) need not be surrounded by curly braces. If, however, one or more of the substatements in an codice_11 statement require braces, then both substatements should be wrapped inside curly braces:


title: Indentation style

text: Some advocate mandatory braces for control statements with only a single statement in its scope, i.e., bracing every if, else, while, etc., including single-line conditionals, so that insertion of a new line of code anywhere is always "safe" (i.e., such an insertion will not make the flow of execution disagree with the source-code indentation).


title: Indentation style

text: The cost of this style is that one extra full line is needed for the last block (except for intermediate blocks in if/else if/else constructs and do/while blocks).


title: Indentation style

text: While Java is sometimes written in other styles, a significant body of Java code uses a minor variant of the K&R style in which the opening brace is on the same line not only for the blocks inside a function, but also for class or method declarations.


title: Indentation style

text: This style is widespread largely because Sun Microsystems's original style guides used this K&R variant, and as a result, most of the standard source code for the Java API is written in this style. It is also a popular indentation style for ActionScript and JavaScript, along with the Allman style.


title: Indentation style

text: Stroustrup style is Bjarne Stroustrup's adaptation of K&R style for C++, as used in his books, such as "Programming: Principles and Practice using C++" and "The C++ Programming Language".


title: Indentation style

text: Stroustrup does not indent the labels and . Also, in this style, while the opening brace of a "function" starts on a new line, the opening brace of a "class" is on the same line as the class name.


title: Indentation style

text: Stroustrup allows writing short functions all on one line. Stroustrup style is a named indentation style available in the editor Emacs. Stroustrup encourages a K&R-derived style layout with C++ as stated in his modern "C++ Core Guidelines".


title: Indentation style

text: Also termed Kernel Normal Form, this is the form of most of the code used in the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) operating systems. Although mostly intended for kernel code, it is also widely used in userland code. It is essentially a thoroughly documented variant of K&R style as used in the Bell Labs Version 6 & 7 Unix source code.


title: Indentation style

text: The SunOS kernel and userland uses a similar indentation style. Like KNF, this also was based on AT&T style documents and is sometimes termed Bill Joy Normal Form. The SunOS guideline was published in 1996; ANSI C is discussed briefly. The correctness of the indentation of a list of source files can be verified by the "cstyle" program written by Bill Shannon.


title: Indentation style

text: In this style, the hard tabulator (ts in vi) is kept at eight columns, while a soft tabulator is often defined as a helper also (sw in vi), and set at four. The hard tabulators are used to indent code blocks, while a soft tabulator (four spaces) of additional indentation is used for all continuing lines that must be split over multiple lines.


title: Indentation style

text: Moreover, function calls do not use a space before the parenthesis, although C-language native statements such as codice_2, codice_3, codice_14, codice_10 and codice_16 do (in the case where codice_16 is used with parens). Functions that declare no local variables in their top-level block should also leave an empty line after their opening block brace.


title: Indentation style

text: The Allman style is named after Eric Allman. It is also sometimes termed "BSD style" since Allman wrote many of the utilities for BSD Unix (although this should not be confused with the different "BSD KNF style"; see above).


title: Indentation style

text: This style puts the brace associated with a control statement on the next line, indented to the same level as the control statement. Statements within the braces are indented to the next level.


title: Indentation style

text: This style is similar to the standard indentation used by the Pascal languages and Transact-SQL, where the braces are equivalent to the keywords codice_18 and codice_19.


title: Indentation style

text: Consequences of this style are that the indented code is clearly set apart from the containing statement by lines that are almost all whitespace and the closing brace lines up in the same column as the opening brace. Some people feel this makes it easy to find matching braces. The blocking style also delineates the block of code from the associated control statement. Commenting out or removing a control statement or block of code, or code refactoring, are all less likely to introduce syntax errors via dangling or missing braces. Also, it is consistent with brace placement for the outer-function block.


title: Indentation style

text: A popular variant for use in education, Allman-8 uses the 8-space indentation tabs and 80-column limit of the Linux Kernel variant of K&R. The style purportedly helps improve readability on projectors. Also, the indentation size and column restriction help create a visual cue for identifying excessive nesting of code blocks. These advantages combine to help provide newer developers and learners implicit guidance to manage code complexity.


title: Indentation style

text: The Whitesmiths style, also sometimes termed Wishart style, was originally used in the documentation for the first commercial C compiler, the Whitesmiths Compiler. It was also popular in the early days of Windows, since it was used in three influential Windows programming books, "Programmer's Guide to Windows" by Durant, Carlson & Yao, "Programming Windows" by Petzold, and "Windows 3.0 Power Programming Techniques" by Norton & Yao.


title: Indentation style

text: Whitesmiths, along with Allman, have been the most common bracing styles with equal popularity according to the Jargon File.


title: Indentation style

text: This style puts the brace associated with a control statement on the next line, indented. Statements within the braces are indented to the same level as the braces.


title: Indentation style

text: The advantages of this style are similar to those of the Allman style. Blocks are clearly set apart from control statements. The alignment of the braces with the block emphasizes that the full block is conceptually, and programmatically, one compound statement. Indenting the braces emphasizes that they are subordinate to the control statement. The ending brace no longer lines up with the statement, but instead with the opening brace.


title: Indentation style

text: Like the Allman and Whitesmiths styles, GNU style puts braces on a line by themselves, indented by two spaces, except when opening a function definition, where they are not indented. In either case, the contained code is indented by two spaces from the braces.


title: Indentation style

text: Popularised by Richard Stallman, the layout may be influenced by his background of writing Lisp code. In Lisp, the equivalent to a block (a progn) is a first-class data entity, and giving it its own indentation level helps to emphasize that, whereas in C, a block is only syntax. This style can also be found in some ALGOL and XPL programming language textbooks from the 1960s and 1970s. Although not directly related to indentation, GNU coding style also includes a space before the bracketed list of arguments to a function.


title: Indentation style

text: This style combines the advantages of Allman and Whitesmiths, thereby removing the possible Whitesmiths disadvantage of braces not standing out from the block. One disadvantage is that the ending brace no longer lines up with the statement it conceptually belongs to. Another possible disadvantage is that it might waste space by using two visual levels of indents for one conceptual level, but in reality this is unlikely because, in systems with single-level indentation, each level is usually at least 4 spaces, same as 2 * 2 spaces in GNU style.


title: Indentation style

text: The GNU Coding Standards recommend this style, and nearly all maintainers of GNU project software use it.


title: Indentation style

text: The GNU Emacs text editor and the GNU systems' indent command will reformat code according to this style by default. Those who do not use GNU Emacs, or similarly extensible/customisable editors, may find that the automatic indentation settings of their editor are unhelpful for this style. However, many editors defaulting to KNF style cope well with the GNU style when the tab width is set to two spaces; likewise, GNU Emacs adapts well to KNF style by simply setting the tab width to eight spaces. In both cases, automatic reformatting destroys the original spacing, but automatic line indenting will work properly.


title: Indentation style

text: Steve McConnell, in his book Code Complete, advises against using this style: he marks a code sample which uses it with a "Coding Horror" icon, symbolizing especially dangerous code, and states that it impedes readability. The Linux kernel coding style documentation also strongly recommends against this style, urging readers to burn a copy of the GNU coding standards as a "great symbolic gesture".


title: Indentation style

text: The 1997 edition of "Computing Concepts with C++ Essentials" by Cay S. Horstmann adapts Allman by placing the first statement of a block on the same line as the opening brace. This style is also used in examples in Jensen and Wirth's "Pascal User Manual and Report".


title: Indentation style

text: This style combines the advantages of Allman by keeping the vertical alignment of the braces for readability, and identifying blocks easily, with the saving of a line of the K&R style. However, the 2003 edition now uses Allman style throughout.


title: Indentation style

text: This is the style used most commonly in the language Pico by its designers. Pico lacks return statements, and uses semicolons as statement separators instead of terminators. It yields this syntax:


title: Indentation style

text: The advantages and disadvantages are similar to those of saving screen real estate with K&R style. An added advantage is that the starting and closing braces are consistent in application (both share space with a line of code), relative to K&R style, where one brace shares space with a line of code and one brace has a line alone.


title: Indentation style

text: In the book "Programmers at Work", C. Wayne Ratliff discussed using the style below. The style begins much like 1TBS but then the closing brace lines up with the indentation of the nested block. Ratliff was the original programmer behind the popular dBase-II and -III fourth-generation programming languages. He indicated that it was originally documented in material from Digital Research Inc. This style has sometimes been termed "banner" style, possibly for the resemblance to a banner hanging from a pole. In this style, which is to Whitesmiths as K&R is to Allman, the closing control is indented the same as the last item in the list (and thus properly loses salience) The style can make visual scanning easier for some, since the "headers" of any block are the only thing exdented at that level (the theory being that the closing control of the prior block interferes with the visual flow of the next block header in the K&R and Allman styles). Kernighan and Plauger use this style in the Ratfor code in "Software Tools".


title: Indentation style

text: A programmer may even go as far as to insert closing braces in the last line of a block. This style makes indentation the only way to distinguish blocks of code, but has the advantage of containing no uninformative lines. This could easily be called the Lisp style (because this style is very common in Lisp code) or the Python style (Python has no braces, but the layout is very similar, as shown in the code blocks below). In Python, layout is a part of the language, called the off-side rule.


title: Indentation style

text: Haskell layout can make the placement of braces optional, although braces and semicolons are allowed in the language. The two segments below are equally acceptable to the compiler:


title: Indentation style

text: Usually the braces and semicolons are omitted for procedural codice_14 sections and the program text in general, but the style is commonly used for lists, records and other syntactic elements made up of some pair of parentheses or braces, which are separated with commas or semicolons. If code following the keywords codice_23, codice_24, or codice_25 omits braces and semicolons, then indentation is significant.


title: Indentation style

text: For an example of how terse APL typically is, here is the implementation of the step function for the Game of Life:


title: Indentation style

text: APL style C resembles the terse style of APL code, and is commonly used in their implementations. This style was pioneered by Arthur Whitney, and is heavily used in the implementation of K, Arthur's own project. The J programming language is implemented in this style as well. Notably, not all implementations of APL use this style of C, namely: GNU APL and Dyalog APL.


title: Indentation style

text: In addition to APL style C indentation, typically the names are shortened to either single or double characters: To reduce the amount of indentation, and expressions spanning multiple lines.


title: Indentation style

text: In some situations, there is a risk of losing track of block boundaries. This is often seen in large sections of code containing many compound statements nested to many levels of indentations. By the time the programmer scrolls to the bottom of a huge set of nested statements, they may have lost track of which control statements go where. However, overly-long code could have other causes, such as being too complex, and a programmer facing this problem might instead consider whether code refactoring would help in the longer term.


title: Indentation style

text: Programmers who rely on counting the opening braces may have difficulty with indentation styles such as K&R, where the starting brace is not visually separated from its control statement. Programmers who rely more on indentations will gain more from styles that are vertically compact, such as K&R, because the blocks are shorter.


title: Indentation style

text: To avoid losing track of control statements such as codice_4, a large indentation can be used, such as an 8-unit-wide hard tab, along with breaking up large functions into smaller and more readable functions. Linux is done this way, while using the K&R style.


title: Indentation style

text: In text editors of the vi family, one means to track block boundaries is to position the text cursor over one of the braces, and press the codice_27 key. The cursor then jumps to the opposing brace. Since the text cursor's codice_28 key (viz., the codice_29 key) retained directional positioning information (whether the codice_30 or codice_31 key was formerly pressed), the dot macro (the codice_32 key) could then be used to place the text cursor on the next brace, given a suitable coding style. Instead, inspecting the block boundaries using the codice_27 key can be used to enforce a coding standard.


title: Indentation style

text: Another solution is implemented in a folding editor, which can hide or reveal blocks of code via their indentation level or compound-statement structure. Many editors will also highlight matching brackets or braces when the cursor is positioned next to one.


title: Indentation style

text: K&R style prevents another common error suffered when using the standard Unix line editor, ed. A statement mistakenly inserted between the control statement and the opening brace of the loop block turns the body of the loop into a single trip.


title: Indentation style

text: K&R style avoids this problem by keeping the control statement and the opening brace on the same line.


title: Billy Idol discography

text: The discography of Billy Idol, his solo recordings post-Generation X, consists of eight studio albums, one live album, five compilation albums, two extended plays, and 37 singles.


title: Billy Idol discography

text: Starting with the 1983 re-release of "White Wedding", Chrysalis issued Idol's singles with an IDOL vanity catalogue numbering system, which lasted for roughly seven years and sixteen singles (including various re-issues) until the release of "Prodigal Blues" in 1990.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: Boogie is a 2021 American sports drama film written and directed by Eddie Huang in his directorial debut. It stars Taylor Takahashi, Taylour Paige, Pop Smoke, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. The film marks the first and only acting film appearance by Pop Smoke before his death in February 2020. It was released on March 5, 2021, by Focus Features. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $4.3 million.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: A basketball phenom in Queens, New York, Alfred “Boogie” Chin struggles to balance the pressure from his traditional East Asian parents to earn a scholarship to an elite college over chasing his NBA dreams.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: In August 2019, it was announced Taylor Takahashi, Pamelyn Chee, and Jorge Lendeborg Jr. had joined the cast of the film, with Eddie Huang directing from a screenplay he wrote, with Focus Features distributing. In September 2019, Mike Moh, Dave East, Perry Yung, Alexa Mareka, Taylour Paige, and Domenick Lombardozzi joined the cast of the film.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: Principal photography began August 2019 in the New York City sections of Queens and Manhattan. Filming lasted 26 days, also taking place in Flushing, New York.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: In the United States and Canada, "Boogie" made $430,000 from 1,252 theaters on its first day of release. It went on to debut to $1.2 million, finishing fifth at the box office. The film made $730,000 in its second weekend, remaining in fourth place.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 42% based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads: ""Boogie" misses its shot with a contrived plot and uneven tone." According to Metacritic, which sampled 24 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 70% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 55% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: Teo Bugbee at "The New York Times" gave a mixed-to-positive review, writing "It's a competent movie, but it doesn't quite make it to the big leagues". Chris Vognar for the "San Francisco Chronicle" gave the film a "sitting Little Man", roughly translating to 3/5 stars, stating that it's "refreshing to see the rare Asian American drama on the big screen, but a lot of the conflict in "Boogie", on the court and off, feels undercooked." Alison Willmore of "Vulture" gave a mixed-to-negative review, writing that the film's "ideas about Asian American identity and being Chinese in America are vague" and that "it regards Blackness with a roiling mixture of covetousness and resentment."


title: Boogie (2021 film)

text: Robert Daniels at "IndieWire" rated the film 'D', stating that "Eddie Huang's coming-of-age sports drama uplifts the Asian American struggle while falling into the same othering it purports to despise".


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: Mortal Kombat 4 is a 1997 arcade fighting game and it is the fourth main installment in the "Mortal Kombat" franchise and a sequel to 1995's "Mortal Kombat 3". developed by Midway Games. Released to arcades in 1997, "Mortal Kombat 4" is the first title from the series, and one of the first made by Midway overall, to use 3D computer graphics. It is also the last game of the series to have an arcade release. It was later ported to the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, PC, and Game Boy Color the following year, as well as an updated version titled "Mortal Kombat Gold" released exclusively for the Dreamcast.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The gameplay system in "Mortal Kombat 4" is similar to that of the previous games; one of the most notable additions is the use of weapons and objects during fights. The storyline chronicles the attack from the corrupted Elder God Shinnok against his former comrades who trapped him in the Netherealm millenia prior to the beginning of the series. The other 17 playable characters take part in the battle between good and evil, with the forces of light trying to stop Shinnok and the forces of darkness from conquering all the realms.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: While developing the game, the Midway staff had problems rendering the graphics as it was one of the first 3D fighting games they developed. Co-creator Ed Boon stated that the staff wanted to make "Mortal Kombat 4" more violent than its predecessors, removing the comical finishing moves featured in them. Since its release, the game received generally positive response from critics, with the exception of the Game Boy Color port.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: "Mortal Kombat 4" is played in a similar way to the previous titles from the series; the run button and combos are still used, and despite the 3D graphics, characters are restricted to a 2D path except of sidestepping. "MK4" introduces a limited weapon system, allowing each character to take out a special weapon using a set button combination. Once equipped, the weapons are primarily used through the punch buttons. This includes swinging, clubbing or even tossing the weapons. The weapons can also be purposely dropped, in similar fashion to arena objects such as severed heads and rocks, another addition to the series. If an opponent's weapon is dropped, the other character is able to pick it up and use it.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: "MK4" added a "Maximum Damage" cap to the game's combo system, automatically breaking combos if they deal over a set amount of damage to a player and, thus, preventing infinite combos (although this cap can be removed with a code). Unlike "Mortal Kombat Trilogy" which contained multiple finishing moves of various kinds, "Mortal Kombat 4" has the standard two Fatalities per character, in addition to two Stage Fatalities that can only be done in certain arenas and involve the winning character throwing their opponent into a part of the arena where they are killed. Unlike the first three games, this game does not include non-playable boss characters, except for Goro in the home versions.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: Thousands of years before the setting of the first game, Shinnok, one of the Elder Gods who control the six realms in the "Mortal Kombat" universe, attempted to become the conqueror of them all. The thunder god Raiden fought and defeated Shinnok in a war that spanned hundreds of years, sending him to the Netherrealm, where he would be trapped forever. Now, Shinnok has managed to escape from the Netherrealm with help from the sorcerer Quan Chi, and seeks vengeance against the Elder Gods who banished him. In his plan, he first conquers the realm of Edenia, with the aid of a traitor, Tanya, while he prepares to attack the Elder Gods. In order to stop Shinnok's menace, Raiden requests help from the Earthrealm warriors who saved the realms from Emperor Shao Kahn in previous titles.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The game includes 15 playable characters, with additional secret characters. The following is a list of the characters included in the "Mortal Kombat 4" character selection roster.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: In addition, the game includes a hidden character and skin, Meat, that turns the player's character into a bloody and fleshy skeleton. The game also introduces alternate costumes, as opposed to the palette swaps in previous installments. "Mortal Kombat Gold" features five additional characters and one more secret character.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: Ed Boon, co-creator of the series, found it difficult to lead the development team for "Mortal Kombat 4" due to how large the staff had become since the first "Mortal Kombat" title, with him as the only programmer. Therefore, Todd Allen and Mike Boon (Ed's younger brother) joined as programmers with Boon noting the staff was more than twice its original size. The Midway staff wanted to remove the comical elements from the previous "Mortal Kombat" titles, so they focused on making Fatalities. On the other hand, the Animality finishing moves from "Mortal Kombat 3" were removed since the transformation of a character into an animal was considered to be difficult to make in 3D graphics. In order to make the Fatalities more entertaining, they decided to make some of the Fatalities replay from different camera angles. Since actors were no longer needed to make the characters' movements with the exception of adding some motion capture elements, the staff found it easier to make Fatalities, as it was all done by computer animation. Some members of the development team had previously worked on "War Gods", Midway's first 3D fighting game. However, they abandoned the "digital skin" technique used in that game, since the new Zeus hardware allowed them to create characters with enough polygons that digital skin would offer little benefit; Zeus could generate up to 1.2 million polygons per second.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The gameplay was planned to be similar to the predecessors although this would be the first game from the series to be made in 3D. As Ed Boon was skeptical about the quality of the result noting that the gameplay would be slower than previous titles, he decided to hand-animate frames with timings in a similar fashion to "Street Fighter EX". Several people, including Boon and Richard DiVizio, performed fighting moves to serve as the basis for the animation.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: To advertise the game, Midway organized a 35-stop road tour of the United States. The version of the game shown in the tour had nine characters, and within these nine was Noob Saibot, who would become a hidden character in the console ports only. Art director Tony Goskie created a 3D model used when any character in the game got skinned, which he called "Meat". It was later decided to make Meat a secret playable character. Players first learned of the character's given name after the text "Meat lives!" was placed on Ed Boon's website promoting "Mortal Kombat 4"s third arcade revision. Years after the game's release, Ed Boon commented that he and the staff should not have made Shinnok the final boss from the game as previous titles used enormous characters as bosses. The team opted to use an EPROM instead of a hard drive for the arcade hardware, due to the lower cost, and because it would allow the fast access time needed for familiar "Mortal Kombat" features such as changing backgrounds in mid-fight.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The arcade version of "Mortal Kombat 4" was released in September 1997 in North America and later that same year in Europe. The game was ported to the PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows. An upgraded version titled "Mortal Kombat Gold" was also released exclusively for the Dreamcast. A Game Boy Color game based on "Mortal Kombat 4" was released as well.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: Eurocom, which had previously developed the Sega Saturn version of "Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3", was in charge of making the console versions of the game. They worked for roughly eight months to finish the Nintendo 64 port. One of their main objectives was to have the game run at a consistent 60 frames per second. While all the traits from the arcade mode were added to the home version, Eurocom had to reduce the polygon count due to the more limited resources of the Nintendo 64. Eurocom was also assisted by Ed Boon and the lead artist on the arcade game, Dave Michicich. The port adds the Ice Pit, a snowy environment where players fight in an icy, carved-out pit. Another new feature added to these ports is a second set of alternate outfits for all characters. The arcade version provided only one set of alternate outfits which the player could unlock. The PC and PlayStation versions run FMV intro, bios and endings. The Nintendo 64 version, being a cartridge game, uses the in-game character animations to run them just like its arcade counterpart. The two platforms that offer FMV endings have a different ending for Reiko in which he goes into a portal leading to Shao Kahn's throne room, sits on the throne and has Shao Kahn's helmet come down onto him. In the other platforms, the ending fades to black after Reiko enters the portal.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: An expanded version titled "Mortal Kombat Gold" was developed by Eurocom and released in 1999 as a launch title for the Dreamcast in both regions, on September 9 on North America and on October 14 in Europe. The game contains several additional characters (Baraka, Cyrax, Kitana, Mileena, Kung Lao and hidden Sektor) and stages, as well as a new weapon select mechanism.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The Game Boy Color version of "MK4" was developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway. It is in 2D instead of the others' 3D. It features nine selectable characters: Raiden, Quan Chi, Fujin, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Reiko, Tanya, Scorpion, and the hidden character Reptile; Shinnok is still the final opponent. In addition, there are a few speech clips, and instead of using the in-game graphics for the Fatalities, the game uses short FMV clips. The Game Boy Color port's 2D engine reuses the game engine used in the Game Boy port of "MK3", including the same character select screen, "Choose Your Destiny" screen, and how the characters move and interact. The background music was replaced with repetitive songs that bore instrumentation befitting a Game Boy release, and the port does not contain any blood outside of the Fatality videos. The combo system and weapons were also removed.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: Upon the start of the arcade's road tour, news programs commented on the violence from the game and expressed concern on how it would affect the players' personalities; Ed Boon replied that there were already games more violent than "Mortal Kombat 4", which was only the most popular of the violent games and therefore the most prominent.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: In reviews for the arcade version, "Next Generation" and "GamePro" both noted that while the graphics are in 3D, the gameplay is in the same 2D format as previous installments. Both also opined that the game had sharp graphics and a pleasing blend of old characters with strong newcomers. "Next Generation" called it "a fast-moving, dark, and disturbing fighter that retains many of the series' best qualities." The reviewer felt the lack of genuine innovation was a major strike against it, but concluded, "It may not be what we'd hoped for, but it's much better than "War Gods"." "GamePro" had other misgivings, noting that version 1.0 has a number of bugs, includes only a handful of fatalities, and controls less responsively than previous games in the series. However, they found the weapons system, new characters, and foreboding music make it fresh enough to be worth playing. They gave a more unreservedly positive review to version 2.0, stating that it added true 3D movement and corrected the control issues, though the camera still had occasional problems and certain moves were too hard to block.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: GameRankings had an average of 76.07% from 20 reviews for the Nintendo 64 version of the game, 75.75% with 16 reviews for the PlayStation version, and 72.14% with 14 reviews for the PC version. Although various reviewers did not find it more entertaining than previous games, they still praised the gameplay. On the other hand, the gameplay was said to be very similar to the previous "Mortal Kombat" titles. The PlayStation and PC ports have been said to have improvements over the arcade game such as having more responsive controls and the exclusive FMV scenes. However, "IGN" mentioned that playing the PC port would become "stale" unless the player "had an extra pad and a friend" and the "Official UK PlayStation Magazine" said that the game was "the same old stuff trotted out with a fresh coat of pixels. Tedious."


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The Nintendo 64 port received positive response for being faithful to the arcade version, with "GameSpot" giving it a "Great" 8.9 and "IGN" a "Great" 8.8, though they noted that the graphics were not as good as those of the arcade. The game has received positive response due to the new 3D graphics, the improvement of combos, and how all the characters "are still as cheesy as ever" and because they still have their original movements with a few updates.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: "Next Generation" reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that ""Mortal Kombat 4" is a guilty pleasure; although it's unoriginal, the game is fast and rewarding. "MK4" is an excellent port and, though it's average in general, it is still one of the best fighters for the console."


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: "Next Generation" reviewed the PlayStation version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "Overall, "MK4" is by no means incompetent, and it's a fine port of the arcade game. Had it not been released on a system teeming with great fighting games, it might stand a chance, but on PlayStation, there's little to distinguish it."


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: The Game Boy Color version received poor reviews from publications such as "GameSpot", whose editor Jeff Gerstmann gave it a 3.5 out of 10 due to how different the game is from the other ports and how unresponsive the controls are. Similarly "IGN"s Peer Schneider criticized how limited the gameplay had become in this version and how defeating the opponent was easier. He gave the game a "Poor" 4.0 out of 10.


title: Mortal Kombat 4

text: In retrospective, GamesRadar criticized the endings for the Nintendo 64 version of the game using a compilation from them for an April Fool joke, labelling them as hilarious due to their poor quality. "Mortal Kombat 4" was ranked as having the third best Game Over screen of all time by "GamePro" in 2009. According to a summary in to the series' retrospective by IGN, "With interest in ultraviolence waning, 3D becoming commonplace, and the photorealism now gone, "Mortal Kombat 4" was unable to replicate the success of its predecessors."


title: Biennial plant

text: A biennial plant is a flowering plant that, generally in a temperate climate, takes two years to complete its biological life cycle.


title: Biennial plant

text: In its first year, the biennal plant undergoes primary growth, during which its vegetative structures (leaves, stems, and roots) develop. Usually, the stem of the plant remains short and the leaves are low to the ground, forming a rosette. After one year's growing season, the plant enters a period of dormancy for the colder months. Many biennials require a cold treatment, or vernalization, before they will flower. During the next spring or summer, the stem of the biennial plant elongates greatly, or "bolts". The plant then flowers, producing fruits and seeds before it finally dies. There are far fewer biennials than either perennial plants or annual plants.


title: Biennial plant

text: Biennials do not always follow a strict two-year life cycle and the majority of plants in the wild can take 3 or more years to fully mature. Rosette leaf size has been found to predict when a plant may enter its second stage of flowering and seed production. Alternatively, under extreme climatic conditions, a biennial plant may complete its life cycle rapidly (e.g., in three months instead of two years). This is quite common in vegetable or flower seedlings that were vernalized before they were planted in the ground. This behavior leads to many normally biennial plants being treated as annuals in some areas. Conversely, an annual grown under extremely favorable conditions may have highly successful seed propagation, giving it the appearance of being biennial or perennial. Some short-lived perennials may appear to be biennial rather than perennial. True biennials flower only once, while many perennials will flower every year once mature.


title: Biennial plant

text: Biennials grown for flowers, fruits, or seeds are grown for two years, where those grown for edible leaves or roots are harvested after one year—and are not kept a second year to run to seed.


title: Biennial plant

text: Examples of biennial plants are members of the onion family including leek, some members of the cabbage family, common mullein, parsley, fennel, "Lunaria", silverbeet, black-eyed Susan, sweet William, colic weed, carrot, and some hollyhocks. Plant breeders have produced annual cultivars of several biennials that will flower the first year from seed, for example, foxglove and stock.


title: The Infamous

text: The Infamous (stylized as The Infamous...) is the second studio album by the American hip hop duo Mobb Deep. It was released on April 25, 1995, by RCA Records and Loud Records. The album features guest appearances by Nas, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Q-Tip. It was largely produced by group member Havoc, with Q-Tip also contributing production while serving as the mixing engineer. Most of the leftover songs from the album became bonus tracks for Mobb Deep's "The Infamous Mobb Deep" album (2014).


title: The Infamous

text: Upon its release, "The Infamous" achieved notable commercial success, debuting at number 15 on the US "Billboard" 200 and number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums charts. On February 21, 2020, the album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album produced four singles; "Shook Ones (Part II)", "Survival of the Fittest", "Temperature's Rising", "Give Up the Goods (Just Step)"; the first three singles achieved varying degrees of chart success, with "Shook Ones (Part II)" being the most successful.


title: The Infamous

text: The album's dark style, defined by its evocative melodies, rugged beats, and introspective lyrics concerning crime in New York's inner city neighborhoods, received special recognition and critical praise. Along with albums such as "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)", "Illmatic" and "Ready to Die", "The Infamous" is widely credited as a major contributor to the East Coast Renaissance. Furthermore, the album is credited with helping to redefine the sound of hardcore hip hop, using its production style, which incorporated eerie piano loops, distorted synthesizers, eighth-note hi-hats, and sparse filtered basslines. In 2020, the album was ranked 369th on "Rolling Stone"'s updated list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


title: The Infamous

text: During the spring of 1993, while the group was still in their late teens, Mobb Deep released their first album "Juvenile Hell" under the 4th & B'way Records label. The album included production from several revered New York-based producers, including Large Professor, DJ Premier, and Public Enemy affiliate Kerwin Young, and included the underground hit single "Hit It from the Back". Due to "Juvenile Hell" failure to achieve significant commercial and critical success, the duo was dropped from their label several months after the album's release. Havoc and Prodigy later described "Juvenile Hell" as a "learning experience".


title: The Infamous

text: During the summer of 1993, Loud Records was looking for another group to sign, owing to the success of Wu-Tang Clan's first single, "Protect Ya Neck", and by fall 1993, the label had signed Mobb Deep. In 1994, the group released the promotional single "Shook Ones", which served as a preview of their new sound. Unlike the duo's first album, "The Infamous" was mostly self-produced by Havoc and Prodigy, with outside help from Loud A&R representatives Matt Life (aka Matty C) and Schott Free, as well as A Tribe Called Quest producer Q-Tip, who discovered Mobb Deep in the early 1990s. Matt Life later recalled Q-Tip's involvements, stating, "Tip was very involved in "The Infamous" from early on. Probably more than people know. Tip was just a fan of theirs and I knew him from way back, so he was really helpful, giving them advice." Q-Tip's contributions to the album were credited under his alias "The Abstract".


title: The Infamous

text: On the group's decision to handle most of the production, Havoc later commented, "We started producing because other producers was giving us shit that we didn't like, or they was just charging too much. I didn't know nothing about producing music at the time, but I learned by watching others."


title: The Infamous

text: Recording sessions for "The Infamous" began in 1994 and took place at Battery Studios, Platinum Island Studios, Firehouse Studios and Unique Recording in New York City. Havoc produced most of the beats in his Queensbridge apartment, with Prodigy often assisting him; earlier in their career, Prodigy taught him how to sample. Describing their minimal production setup, Prodigy said, "Our first sampler we had was an EPS 16 plus  ... We had that for a little while, and when the MPC came out we bought that, and that was it. A little record player, a little mixer, and that's all we needed."


title: The Infamous

text: Mobb Deep initially recorded 20 songs for "The Infamous", but executive producers Matt Life and Schott Free worked with them to improve the music. Matt Life recalled, "Schott worked closely with them on how the rhymes were coming and I worked closely with them on how production was coming. The first thing that I remember is them creating a semblance of the core of the first album and me creating a rough in-house version of what the album could be and throwing a sticker on the cassette." The early rough version of the album contained five or six songs, including the original versions of the album's four singles. The original "Temperature's Rising" was remade because of sample clearance issues.


title: The Infamous

text: Later on, Q-Tip became the album's mixing engineer; Matt Life explained, "he came in later in the sessions and said he'd help mix a couple records. And then he ended up picking a couple of records they did to re-do. Except for 'Drink Away the Pain', the songs that Tip produced were already a full song before he got to them. He liked the lyrics on those original songs, but he re-did the beats. It was the same song title, same hook, same rhymes, just new beats." Q-Tip also improved the drum programming on "Survival of the Fittest", "Up North Trip" and "Trife Life". Describing his contributions as "a totally different sound than the Tribe stuff", Q-Tip encouraged Mobb Deep to make their dark sound stand out, by telling them to add major chords to their minor key samples. Havoc later stated, "Q-Tip definitely bent his style a little bit to get with what we was doing. Like with 'Drink Away the Pain' you see him trying to get gangsta with it." Schott Free summed up Q-Tip's influence:


title: The Infamous

text: Lyrically, Mobb Deep added to the album's dark aesthetic. Speaking about his verse on "Survival of the Fittest", Havoc explained, "We were just straight hood. It wasn't no pretty boy shit. It was like, 'Yo, let's throw on our Timbs.' It didn't get more harder than that." On each track, they rapped about the realities of prison, murder, robbery, selling drugs and alcoholism, among other topics. Big Noyd had a significant presence on the album, with four guest appearances; discussing the "Just Step Prelude", Prodigy recalled, "That shit right there, that was a rhyme that Noyd used to kick in the projects everyday to niggas  ... He'd spit that shit that had the whole block going crazy." Big Noyd initially preferred to sell drugs and had no desire to be a rapper, until the group convinced him otherwise. The remaining guest appearances happened in various ways; Nas was a childhood friend of Havoc, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan were Mobb Deep's labelmates and Crystal Johnson was an associate of Q-Tip.


title: The Infamous

text: The cover art for "The Infamous" was created in Queensbridge Houses, New York by photographer Delphine A. Fawundu, who later commented about the photography session in Vikki Tobak's 2018 analog hip hop photography collective "" (published by Clarkson Potter), "I was inspired by how all these elements came together, making New York hip-hop such a force at that time. It just felt so powerful and it was all happening right before my eyes, and my camera". In 2019, images from Fawundu's photoshoot with Mobb Deep and the previously unseen contact prints were featured in a full-size museum exhibit at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.


title: The Infamous

text: The album spent 18 weeks on the US "Billboard" 200, peaking at number 15, and it also spent 34 weeks on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, peaking at number 3. "The Infamous" was certified gold, with shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on June 26, 1995. The singles "Shook Ones (Part II)" and "Survival of the Fittest" reached number 59 and 69 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, respectively, and also reached the Top 10 on the Hot Rap Singles chart.


title: The Infamous

text: Upon its release, "The Infamous" received widespread critical acclaim. "Los Angeles Times" critic Heidi Siegmund wrote that Mobb Deep "may be the toughest young force in hip-hop", noting their "slow, stealthy beats" and "dark poetic talents". "NME" remarked that the duo "bring the clipped, rolling style of Rakim or EPMD, adding a chill menace to neighborhood boasts like 'Right Back at You' and 'Eye for a Eye'." "Entertainment Weekly" Tiarra Mukherjee likewise noted their "mostly self-produced, bare-bones beats" and lyrics, which "paint a chilling picture of life on their mean streets, New York City's Queensbridge Housing Projects", concluding, "Underground rap-heads — and those who can break away from Jeep beats — will rejoice." "Spin" journalist Chris Norris highlighted the bleak lyrical content of the album, which he described as "state-of-the-art East Coast reportage: drug-selling, police-fleeing, and homie-dying vignettes, all told with vivid detail and a deadpan thousand-yard flow". Norris also found that the album's production transcended the conventions associated with East Coast hip hop beats, instead "mixing warm, old Quest-style Blue Note whispers, gritty snares, and stark keyboard chimes like Satie or Bill Evans with an MPC-60."


title: The Infamous

text: Elliott Wilson from "Vibe" was highly positive in his appraisal of the album: "Each song is a different chapter in the hard street life Havoc and Prodigy have experienced in their Queensbridge neighborhood ... While describing their lives with brutal realism and raw imagery, Havoc's love for his hometown hits you in the head like a Mike Tyson comeback punch." "The Source" Dimitry Leger stated, "Mobb Deep earn credibility, winning the crucial battle between style and substance, who's real and who's a move-faker. Havoc and Prodigy simply report what they know." Writing for "Rolling Stone", Cheo H. Coker called it "a darkly nihilistic masterpiece".


title: The Infamous

text: Since its initial release, "The Infamous" has earned additional critical praise and has been widely regarded as a cornerstone album of New York hardcore rap. AllMusic's Steve Huey wrote that it stands as "Mobb Deep's masterpiece, a relentlessly bleak song cycle that's been hailed by hardcore rap fans as one of the most realistic gangsta albums ever recorded [...] it has all the foreboding atmosphere and thematic sweep of an epic crime drama. That's partly because of the cinematic vision behind the duo's detailed narratives, but it's also a tribute to how well the raw, grimy production evokes the world that Mobb Deep is depicting." According to "Consequence of Sound"s Okla Jones, it "solidified Mobb Deep in hip-hop lore" and became "the blueprint for the traditional New York hardcore sound".


title: The Infamous

text: In 2002, "The Source" reappraised "The Infamous" and gave it a perfect five-mike rating, stating: "Prodigy's thugged-out entertainment and Havoc's sonic production on cuts like the bone-chilling 'Shook Ones Pt. ll'  ... proved to be timeless street joints in the same vein as 'Life's a Bitch' and 'You Gots to Chill.' The album was a staple for all hardheaded delinquents comin' up in the game." In 2004's "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide", critic Chris Ryan called it "one of the greatest rap albums of the [1990s]". "XXL" magazine gave it a classic rating of "XXL" in its retrospective December 2007 issue. In 2013, hip-hop journalist Jeff "Chairman" Mao hailed "The Infamous" as "an iconic New York record", while noting Q-Tip's understated role in its creation. Reviewing the album's 2014 reissue, "Pitchfork" critic Jayson Greene remarked on its lasting impact:


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: Elfrid Payton Jr. (born February 22, 1994) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball at University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where in 2014 he won the Lefty Driesell Award as the National College Defensive Player of the Year. Payton was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, but was then traded to the Orlando Magic.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: Payton was an unheralded recruit from John Ehret High School in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. He chose to attend Louisiana–Lafayette, and after a promising freshman season in 2011–12, Payton came into his own as a sophomore in 2012–13. He averaged 15.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game and was named first team All-Sun Belt Conference.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: After his breakout sophomore season, Payton was a late addition to Team USA's U19 World Championships Trials Roster to compete in the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. After making the team, Payton started in all nine games for Team USA, on a team loaded with talent including other players such as Marcus Smart, Aaron Gordon, Jahlil Okafor and Jarnell Stokes. The team ultimately defeated the Serbian team led by Vasilije Micić and won the gold medal, going 9–0 in the tournament.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: As a junior in 2013–14, Payton emerged as one of the top defensive players in college basketball. He raised his averages to 19.2 points, 5.9 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game and led the Ragin' Cajuns to the 2014 NCAA Tournament. He was again named first team All-Sun Belt and was the conference Defensive Player of the Year. At the end of the season, he was named the National Defensive Player of the Year by winning the Lefty Driesell Award.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: On June 26, 2014, Payton was selected with the 10th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He was traded to the Orlando Magic on draft night for Dario Šarić, a future first-round pick, and a future second-round pick. On July 2, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Magic. He made his NBA debut on October 29, 2014 in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. On January 16, 2015, Payton had a season-best game with 22 points and 12 assists in a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. He was subsequently named the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for January and was named a Rising Stars Challenge participant. On March 18, he recorded his first career triple-double with 15 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks. With a second straight triple-double recorded by Payton on March 20, he became the first Magic player to post consecutive triple-doubles and the first NBA rookie to do it since Antoine Walker, with the Boston Celtics in 1997. Payton's 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists helped the Magic claim a 111–104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: On November 18, 2015, Payton scored a then career-high 24 points in a 104–101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Payton appeared in 116 straight games to begin his career before a left ankle injury forced him to sit out four games in early January 2016. He returned to action on January 14 in London to face the Toronto Raptors, coming off the bench for the first time in 2015–16 and recording four points and four rebounds in a 106–103 overtime loss. On March 23, 2016, he recorded his third career triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 118–102 loss to the Detroit Pistons.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: On December 6, 2016, Payton scored 22 of his career-high 25 points in the first half of the Magic's 124–116 win over the Washington Wizards. He bested that mark on December 13, 2016, recording career highs with 26 points and 14 assists in a 131–120 win over the Atlanta Hawks. On January 14, 2017, he had a career-high 28 points and added nine rebounds and nine assists in a 114–107 loss to the Utah Jazz. On March 6, 2017, he had his first triple-double of the season with 16 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds in a 113–105 loss to the New York Knicks. Two days later, he had his second straight triple-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists in a 98–91 win over the Chicago Bulls. On March 13, 2017, in a 120–115 loss to the Sacramento Kings, Payton had 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season. On March 24, he continued his impressive run with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 115–87 win over the Detroit Pistons. It was his fourth triple-double in 10 games and seventh of his career. Seven days later, he recorded a career-high 15 assists to go with 12 points and nine rebounds in a 117–116 loss to the Boston Celtics. On April 1, he had 20 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds for his fifth triple-double of the season in the Magic's 121–111 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: Payton missed eight games early on the season 2017–18 season because of a left hamstring injury. An important piece in the Magic's offense, he had 11 points and 11 assists in 29 minutes in his return on November 8, helping the team end a two-game losing streak with a 112–99 win over the New York Knicks. On November 22, he had a season-high 13 assists in a 124–118 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. On December 23, 2017, he scored a career-high 30 points in a 130–103 loss to the Washington Wizards.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: On February 8, 2018, Payton was traded to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick. He made his debut for the Suns two days later, recording 19 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 35 minutes in a 123–113 loss to the Denver Nuggets. In his second game for the Suns on February 12, Payton scored a game-high 29 points in a 129–83 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Two days later, he had a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists in a 107–97 loss to the Utah Jazz. On March 4, 2018, he had 11 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high 14 assists in a 113–112 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. It was his second triple-double in nine games with the Suns—his nine games needed with the team to record two triple-doubles are the fewest ever by a Suns player.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: On July 9, 2018, Payton signed with the New Orleans Pelicans. In his debut for the Pelicans in their season opener on October 17, 2018, Payton recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 131–112 win over the Houston Rockets. Payton's minimalist triple-double made him the first player to record exactly 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a single game since March 2, 2013, when Kyle Lowry did it for Toronto. It was Payton's 11th career triple-double. On November 16, against the New York Knicks, Payton returned to the lineup after missing nine games with a sprained right ankle, only to fracture a finger in his left hand after eight minutes on the court. He was subsequently ruled out for approximately six weeks. He returned to action on December 31 against the Minnesota Timberwolves after a 22-game absence. In his second game back on January 2, he scored 25 points in a 126–121 loss to the Brooklyn Nets. On March 10, he had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 128–116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. On March 12, he had his second consecutive triple-double with 14 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 assists in a 130–113 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, becoming the first New Orleans player to have a triple-double in consecutive games since Chris Paul in 2008. On March 15, he had his third consecutive triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high 16 assists in a 122–110 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. The next day, he recorded his fourth straight triple-double with 16 points, 16 assists and 13 rebounds in a 138–136 overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns, joining James Harden, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Russell Westbrook as the only players since the 1983–84 season to record triple-doubles in as many as four straight games, and eighth in NBA history. Payton recorded his fifth consecutive triple-double two days later with 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a 129–125 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks. He also tied Chris Paul for most triple-doubles in a season in franchise history with six, and became only the fifth player to record five consecutive triple-doubles, joining Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and Russell Westbrook.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: On July 9, 2019, Payton signed a reported two-year deal with the New York Knicks. He struggled with injuries early in the season, missing 17 straight games. Upon returning, he provided playmaking ability the Knicks were lacking and was promoted to the starting lineup. On January 31, 2020, Payton received a one-game suspension for pushing Jae Crowder in a January 29 game against the Memphis Grizzlies. On February 3, Payton recorded the 17th triple-double of his career with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists in a 139–134 overtime win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the next game, on February 6, he recorded 15 points, nine assists and a career-high seven steals in a 105–103 win over the Orlando Magic. On November 19, 2020, the Knicks waived Payton. On November 29, Payton was re-signed by the Knicks to a reported one-year contract.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: In the summer of 2013, Payton was a surprise selection to the United States team for the 2013 FIBA Under-19 World Championship. He averaged 6.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in nine games.


title: Elfrid Payton (basketball)

text: Payton was well known for his free-flowing hairstyle during his first four seasons in the NBA, before cutting his hair in May 2018. During his time with the Orlando Magic, his hairdo made him a fan favorite.


title: World B. Free

text: World B. Free (born Lloyd Bernard Free; December 9, 1953) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1975 to 1988. Free was known as the "Prince of Mid-Air", "Brownsville Bomber", and most often as "All-World".


title: World B. Free

text: Born in Atlanta, Free grew up in Brownsville, New York and attended Canarsie High School in Brooklyn, New York before attending Guilford College in North Carolina. As a freshman, he led Guilford's basketball team and helped the team win the NAIA National Championship and was named MVP of the NAIA Tournament.