title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: Preston envisioned "Hyper Light Drifter" as a video game as a means "to tell a story [he] can identify with, expressing something personal to a larger audience, so [he feels] more connected and have an outlet for the many emotions that crop up around life-altering issues". Further, he had yearned to develop a game that combined the best elements of "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" and "Diablo" for many years, which would feature world exploration and combat that required some strategy by the player, depending on foes they faced. After several years of being an animator, he felt he could do so in 2013. The theme and story for the game, featuring a protagonist suffering from a terminal disease, is meant as a simile for his own health.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: Preston originally set out to make the game for Windows, OS X, and Linux computers and started a Kickstarter campaign in September 2013 to secure in funding to complete the title. Prior to starting the campaign, Preston had secured the help of programmer Beau Blyth who created titles like "Samurai Gunn", and musician Disasterpeace, who worked on the music for "Fez". He opted to develop the game under the studio name Heart Machine as an allegory for the various medical devices he often needs to track his own health, and to use for future projects following "Hyper Light Drifter".


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: The project funding was exceeded in a day, and quickly grew over within a few days of its launch. To encourage additional funding, Preston created new stretch goals, including additional gameplay modes, more bosses and characters, and expanding the release to include the PlayStation 4 and Vita, the Ouya, and the Wii U consoles. These goals were all met by the completion of the campaign, with more than raised. Preston stated that he had had these additional platforms in mind when first launching the Kickstarter, but did not want to over-promise what he felt he could deliver. The additional funds have helped Preston hire additional developers to aid in porting the game to these additional consoles.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: The game was originally set for release in mid-2014 but was delayed until the second quarter of 2016, due to the expanded scope of the game, the need to perfect the game before its first release, and the lead developer's health issues. Preston found help from several developer friends around the Los Angeles area. He and a number worked together to build out Glitch Space, a small open office space for small developers to work from and share ideas with others. Besides his own team, Preston got frequent help from developers Ben Esposito ("Donut County"), Brandon Chung (Blendo Games), and Ben Vance. Preston was also encouraged by letters of support he got from people across the globe after reporting on some of his health conditions. The letters influenced Preston to alter the story in "Hyper Light Drifter" as to not make it about a problem facing a single character but something shared by many.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: With the most recent delay announced in August 2015, Heart Machine said that they will plan to release the Windows and OS X version first with the console versions shortly thereafter once they clear the console certification processes. The Windows and OS X versions were released on March 31, 2016. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions were released on July 26, 2016. In February 2016, Heart Machine revealed that there were contractual issues at the time between Nintendo and YoYo Games, the developer of the engine, that was beyond their control that may prevent the game from being ported to the Wii U, and while they hoped they can offer for this platform at the end, they have considered the Wii U version "in limbo."


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: Several patches have been applied to the game since its initial release. One of these patches made the game slightly easier, in response to feedback about the game's difficulty. This patch made a number of minor changes to the game, most notable of which was the addition of a brief period of invincibility when the player uses the Dash mechanic. The reduction in difficulty led to debate within the game's fan community, split between those who liked the new patch, and those who preferred the old, more challenging version. Three days after this patch, the developers re-balanced the game to add back some of the difficulty.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: A mode featuring two-player co-op gameplay was planned during the initial development of the game and was intended to be a feature at launch, but it was cut due to time constraints. On April 27, a beta version of the co-op mode was released. An update that went live on May 5 fully implemented the co-op multiplayer feature in the game.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: In September 2016, Preston announced that they had to cancel the planned Wii U and PlayStation Vita versions, offering those backers the ability to redeem the game on another system or be refunded if desired. Preston cited issues with rebuilding the game from the ground up on these systems due to issues with GameMaker Studio on these platforms, noting that it took six months to get the game ported to PlayStation and Xbox. Preston also had further concerns on his own health, putting his well-being as a priority.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: After Preston’s announcement, Abylight Studios got in contact with him to lend a hand, which resulted in the collaboration between Heart Machine and Abylight Studios for an adaptation and publication of Hyper Light Drifter for the Nintendo Switch. Abylight Studios worked closely with YoYo Games, the developer of the game development software GameMaker Studio, which was used to create Hyper Light Drifter. On September 6, 2018, Hyper Light Drifter: Special Edition was launched for the Nintendo Switch featuring exclusive content, such as the Tower Climb challenge.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: The Special Edition was also ported to iOS devices with 120 fps gameplay on iPad Pro and 60 fps on both iPhone and iPad, and released on July 25, 2019. . The Hyper Light Drifter - Special Edition Collector's Set for Nintendo Switch, which includes the physical copy of the game and other collectible items, was announced for pre-order by Abylight Studios in December 2020 and started shipment in January 2021.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: "Hyper Light Drifter" received critical acclaim, holding a score of 84/100 at the review aggregator Metacritic. Common praise has been given to the game's visuals, sound design and combat mechanics. Kyle Hilliard of "Game Informer" awarded the game a 9.5/10, claiming that the game "has already positioned itself as one of the best experiences of the year." Brandin Tyrrel of "IGN" called the game a "gorgeous, trendy hunk of stylish old-school sensibilities mated with the iconic hues of pixelated indie charm." Christian Donlan of "Eurogamer" praised the game's "intoxicating" atmosphere, as well as Disasterpeace's "typical delight" of a soundtrack. Kevin VanOrd of "GameSpot" cites the game's art direction as "rich and thoughtful," and comments on its "fluid, demanding, and fair" combat system.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: Mixed criticism commonly falls upon the minimalism of the game's storytelling method. Tyrrel alleges its "abstract storytelling" is a negative aspect, while Griffin McElroy of "Polygon" claims that the game's story is replaced with "moods," and "quiet moments with constant scenes of breakneck, pitch-perfect action."


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: Heart Machine's next game, Solar Ash (originally announced as "Solar Ash Kingdom"), was announced in March 2019, and is set in the same universe as "Hyper Light Drifter" though not as a direct sequel. The game was published by Annapurna Interactive and was released on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Windows PCs in December 2021.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: In March 2022 another follow-up game that set in the same universe as the other games but is also not a sequel titled "Hyper Light Breaker" was announced. The game will published by Gearbox Publishing with a planned early access release in early 2023 and will feature single-player and cooperative online multiplayer gameplay set in a 3d world.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: The Drifter is a playable character in the games "Runbow" and "Brawlout", as well as in the upcoming game "Hex Heroes". The Drifter will also be added as an expansion character in the board game "". "Hyper Light Drifter" is also featured on one of the clothing options for Travis Touchdown in "".


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: A sequel, "Hyper Light Breaker" was announced in March 2022 for planned early access release through Gearbox Publishing on Windows in 2023. The sequel will shift to a 3D environment but continue the story of the Drifter.


title: Hyper Light Drifter

text: A limited animated television series based on "Hyper Light Drifter" was announced in March 2019 by Preston and Adi Shankar, who had helped led adaptions of current "Castlevania" and planned "Devil May Cry" series. The two are currently writing scripts for the episodes and developing the series. They plan to retain elements of the game's pixel art style, but still borrow from anime influences.


Party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines refers to a system in which 20% of the House of Representatives is elected. While the House is predominantly elected by a plurality voting system, known as a first-past-the-post system, party-list representatives are elected by a type of party-list proportional representation. The 1987 Constitution of the Philippines created the party-list system. Originally, the party-list was open to underrepresented community sectors or groups, including labor, peasant, urban poor, indigenous cultural, women, youth, and other such sectors as may be defined by law (except the religious sector). However, a 2013 Supreme Court decision clarified that the party-list is a system of proportional representation open to various kinds of groups and parties, and not an exercise exclusive to marginalized sectors. National parties or organizations and regional parties or organizations do not need to organize along sectoral lines and do not need to represent any marginalized and underrepresented sector.


title: Party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines

text: The determination of what parties are allowed to participate—who their nominees should be, how the winners should be determined, and the allocation of seats for the winning parties—has been controversial ever since the party-list election was first contested in 1998 and has resulted in several landmark COMELEC and Supreme Court cases.


text: Party-list representatives are indirectly elected via a party-list election wherein the voter votes for the party and not for the party's nominees (closed list); the votes are then arranged in descending order, with the parties that won at least 2% of the national vote given one seat, with additional seats determined by a formula dependent on the number of votes garnered by the party. No party wins more than three seats. If the number of sectoral representatives does not reach 20% of the total number of representatives in the House, parties that haven't won seats but garnered enough votes to place them among the top sectoral parties are given a seat each until the are filled. A voter therefore has two parallel votes in House of Representatives elections—for district representative and for the under-represented sectoral-party list representative/s. Neither vote affects the other.


text: Party-list representation makes use of the tendency for proportional representation systems to favor single-issue parties, and applies that tendency to allow underrepresented sectors to represent themselves in the law-making process.


text: The Constitution mandates that the sectoral representatives shall compose 20% of the House of Representatives. For three consecutive terms after the ratification of the constitution, one-half of the seats allocated to party-list representatives were filled "by selection or election." For the 1987, 1992 and 1995 elections, the president appointed sectoral representatives, subject to the confirmation from the Commission on Appointments, half of whose members are derived from the House of Representatives.


text: On March 3, 1995, Republic Act No. 7941 or the Party-List System Act was signed into law. It mandated that "the state shall promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives through a party-list system". The five political parties with the highest number of members at the start of the 10th Congress of the Philippines were banned from participating. Each voter can vote one party via closed list; votes are then tallied nationwide as one at-large district, with the number of sectoral representatives not to surpass 20% of the total number of representatives. The law provided that each party that has 2% of the national vote be entitled one seat each, and an additional seat for every 2% of the vote thereafter until a party has three seats. This means that a party can win the maximum three seats if it surpasses 6% of the national vote.


text: While the law was first used for the 1998 election, and several parties did meet the 2% quota during the succeeding elections, they did not fill up the required 20% allocation for party-list representatives of the constitution. Furthermore, the votes for parties that had more than 6% of the vote were considered wasted. Ateneo de Manila University mathematics professor Felix Muga II said that "Any seat allocation formula that imposes a seat-capping mechanism on the party-list proportional representation voting system contradicts the social justice provision of the 1987 Constitution."


text: Any vacancy is filled by the person next in line on the list; in cases where a seated sectoral representative switches parties, that representative loses their seat and the person next in line on the list assumes the seat.


text: In 2000, the Veterans Federation Party (VFP), the Akbayan! Citizens' Action Party and several other parties sued the COMELEC which led a case in the Supreme Court; the court ruling changed the way how the seats are allocated for the winning parties. In 1998, only 14 representatives were elected out of 13 winning parties, well short of the then 52 representatives needed to fill up 20% of the House. The so-called "Panganiban formula," named after Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban, calculates that the number of seats a party will win is dependent on the number of votes of the party with the highest number of votes.


text: First, the twenty percent allocation – the combined number of all party-list congressmen shall not exceed twenty percent of the total membership of the House of Representatives, including those elected under the party list.


text: Second, the two percent threshold – only those parties garnering a minimum of two percent of the total valid votes cast for the party-list system are “qualified” to have a seat in the House of Representatives;


text: Third, the three-seat limit – each qualified party, regardless of the number of votes it actually obtained, is entitled to a maximum of three seats; that is, one “qualifying” and two additional seats.


text: Fourth, proportional representation – the additional seats which a qualified party is entitled to shall be computed “in proportion to their total number of votes.”


text: The court came up with the following procedure on how to determine how many seats a party wins. First, the party with the highest number of votes gets at least one seat. It can win additional seats for every 2% of the national vote until it reaches the three-seat limit.


text: For the other parties surpassing the 2% threshold, they all automatically win one seat; additional seats will be won according to the following formula.


text: Prior to the adopting the "Panganiban formula," the court considered applying the Niemayer formula used in the allocation of seats in the German Bundestag. However, since R.A. 7941 limits the maximum number of seats for each party to three, of the existence of a 2% quota, and that 20% of the seats can be filled up, the court instead devised the formula above to ensure that the 20% allocation for sectoral representatives would not be exceeded, the 2% threshold will be upheld, the three-seat limit enforced and the proportional representation be respected. The formula was first used in determining the result of the 2001, and was first applied in the 2004 elections.


text: The use of this formula by the COMELEC had been labeled by certain groups as to "annihilate independent voices in the House," according to Akbayan representative Etta Rosales. The court upheld this in subsequent cases, such as the "Partido ng Manggagawa vs. COMELEC" and "Citizens' Battle Against Corruption vs. COMELEC".


text: Panganiban in 2010 remarked in a lecture at the Ateneo Law School that "It's very complicated and there must be an easier formula to compute," adding that the party-list law has to be amended by Congress.


text: In 2007, another party-list group, the Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency (BANAT, now Barangay Natin!) sued the COMELEC for not proclaiming the full number of party-list representatives (they were not among on those who were proclaimed winners). As with the other cases, the Supreme Court condensed all the cases to one case. The court ruled on April 21, 2009, that the 2% election threshold unconstitutional, and stipulated that for every four legislative districts created, one seat for sectoral representatives should be created; this thereby increased the sectoral seats in the 14th Congress from 22 to 55; the Supreme Court, however, upheld the 3-seat cap.


text: To get the first guaranteed seat, a sectoral party or organization should at least get 2% of the total votes cast for partly list elections. The formula for the quotient is:


text: If the total number of guaranteed seats awarded is less than the total number of seats reserved for sectoral representatives ("S"), the unassigned seats will awarded in the second round of seat allocation. To get the number of additional seats, this formula will be followed.


text: If the total number of seats awarded after two rounds is still less than the total number of seats reserved for sectoral representatives ("S"), the remaining seats will be assigned to sectoral organizations next in rank (one seat each organization) whose formula_1 result is 0 until all available seats are completely distributed.


text: Senator Joker Arroyo criticized the ruling of the Supreme Court, saying that the court "overreached itself and engaged in judicial legislation." Arroyo later compared with parties with between "155,000 to 197,000 votes... a measly 1 percent to 1.24 percent of the votes" to a city which needs a population of 250,000 or more to obtain its own legislative district.


text: In 2010, there are 57 party-list seats being contested, with 29,311,294 valid votes cast, and 12 parties having at least 2% of the vote.


text: While the party-list system has been used by some sectors that have not been able to participate in government in order to have a voice in Congress, allegations from left-leaning party-list organizations state that several parties were used as fronts by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's ruling administration to further its interests. Parties such as 1-UTAK, purportedly representing transport groups, and PACYAW, which claims to advocate athletes and sports personnel, have government officials for nominees. The first nominee of Ang Galing Pinoy, for instance, a group claiming to represent security guards and tricycle drivers, was former Pampanga 2nd district representative Mikey Arroyo, the son of the former president; Arroyo won a seat through Ang Galing Pinoy in the 2010 election.


text: Left-leaning parties in the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance) bloc including Bayan Muna (Nation First), Kabataan Party-list (Youth Party-list), GABRIELA Women's Party, and Anakpawis, have been criticized in that the personalities in these parties were merely pursuing "ideological objectives" within Congress to support the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines' objective of overthrowing the ruling system through "bloody means."


text: In January 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte urged leaders of the Congress to abolish the party list system, due to allegations that some parties, particularly the Makabayan bloc, were "sympathizers or connected" to the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New Peoples' Army (NPA).


text: In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled in "Ang Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party vs. COMELEC" that nominees "must be Filipino citizens belonging to marginalized and unrepresented sectors, organizations and parties, as the constitution intended to give genuine power to the people, not only by giving more law to those who have less in life, but more so by enabling them to become veritable lawmakers themselves."


text: In the same "BANAT vs. COMELEC" case stated above, while the "ponencia" thereof pointed out that neither the 1987 Constitution nor R.A. 7941 prohibits major political parties from participating in the party-list election, it was emphasized that they must do so by establishing or forming coalitions with sectoral organizations for electoral or political purposes. In fact, Associate Justice Antonio Carpio noted that "it is not necessary that the party-list organization's nominee 'wallow in poverty, destitution and infirmity' as there is no financial status required by the law." This effectively allowed anyone to be nominated by a party participating in the party-list election.


text: However, by a vote of 8–7, the Supreme Court still decided to continue disallowing major political parties from participating in the party-list elections, directly or indirectly.


text: In "Bagong Bayani-OFW Labor Party vs. COMELEC", the Supreme Court laid down the requirements in which groups can qualify to the ballot:


text: In "Atong Paglaum vs. COMELEC", the Supreme Court ruled that the party-list system is not for sectoral parties only, but also for non-sectoral parties. The Supreme Court then laid down the basic on which organizations can join:


title: Nina Gordon

text: Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro (born November 14, 1967), known as Nina Gordon, is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She co-founded the alternative rock band Veruca Salt and played on their first two studio albums, "American Thighs" (1994) and "Eight Arms to Hold You" (1997). During that time, Gordon wrote the band's hit singles "Seether" and "Volcano Girls". After leaving Veruca Salt, she released two solo albums, "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" (2000) and "Bleeding Heart Graffiti" (2006). She then rejoined Veruca Salt for their album "Ghost Notes" (2015).


title: Nina Gordon

text: Nina Rachel Gordon Shapiro was born November 14, 1967 in Washington, D.C. Her father was a law student at the time of her birth. She was raised along with her brother, Jim Shapiro, in several different locations, moving between Washington, D.C. and Madison, Wisconsin before settling in Chicago when Gordon was a teenager. Gordon has commented that her parents had a turbulent relationship and eventually divorced in her childhood. Gordon attended high school in Chicago. She intended to major in music while attending university but ultimately graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Tufts University. She is Jewish.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Veruca Salt was formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1992 by Gordon and Louise Post. Introduced by Gordon's good friend, actress Lili Taylor, Gordon and Post quickly became friends and began playing music together. In 1993, they enlisted bassist Steve Lack and Gordon's brother Jim Shapiro, a guitarist who joined as the band's drummer as a favor to his sister. Gordon and Post both sang and played guitar on Veruca Salt's material during the 1990s. The two were also the band's primary songwriters, each writing their songs separately.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Veruca Salt released a self-funded demo tape and shopped it to labels while playing a handful of small club shows. The buzz around the band grew, and after only a few live gigs, the band was signed to Minty Fresh Records and began recording with producer Brad Wood, who had recently worked on Liz Phair's critically acclaimed "Exile in Guyville".


title: Nina Gordon

text: The band released an orange 7" single for the song "Seether", which Gordon wrote. The song was a distorted alt-rocker about an angry and misunderstood woman. Compared to the rest of Veruca Salt's material, "Seether" sounded very pop. They sent "Seether" to radio, as it was the most radio-friendly song they had written, and the reaction was positive. It quickly became a hit on college and alternative stations. The album was not complete, and the band rushed to finish it before "Seether" lost its radio momentum. The song ended up peaking at #8 on the Modern Rock charts and became a hit on MTV.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Veruca Salt's debut studio album "American Thighs" was released through Minty Fresh on September 27, 1994 and re-released on November 8, 1994 by the major label Geffen Records after the label signed the band following an intense bidding war. The album peaked at #69 on the "Billboard" Top 200 and was eventually certified gold. The second single, "Number One Blind", written by Gordon and Shapiro, peaked at #20 on the Modern Rock charts, but did not do as well as "Seether". Gordon and Post were unhappy with the song's video, and it was pulled after airing fewer than five times on MTV's "120 Minutes".


title: Nina Gordon

text: To support the album, Veruca Salt toured, opening for acts such as Hole, Live and PJ Harvey. They also headlined a club tour, after which they entered the studio with Bob Rock to record their second album. The band was inspired to work with Rock after hearing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" over the house PA system before a Veruca Salt concert at an outdoor music festival. The band released an EP in 1996 titled "Blow It Out Your Ass It's Veruca Salt" to tide fans over until their next album. It was produced by Steve Albini and contains the Gordon-penned "Shimmer Like a Girl" and "New York Mining Disaster 1996".


title: Nina Gordon

text: During this time, Gordon also collaborated with other musicians on side projects. With Scott Miller, she co-wrote the song "The Softest Tip of Her Baby Tongue", which appeared on The Loud Family's 1996 album "Interbabe Concern". She worked with James Iha on the Smashing Pumpkins song "...Said Sadly" (the b-side to their 1995 single "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"), and also recorded duets with Fig Dish and Triple Fast Action.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Veruca Salt's second album "Eight Arms to Hold You", which was released February 11, 1997 on Geffen Records, proved to be a difficult and dividing album. Some fans of "American Thighs" were disappointed by the polished, hard-rock and distinctively Bob Rock production, in comparison to the laid back, indie buzz-bin vibe of "American Thighs". The new album garnered mixed reviews from music critics, as well. Band members later admitted that the recording process for this album was more tense than the previous one, and the creative differences between Gordon and Post increased.


title: Nina Gordon

text: However, "Eight Arms to Hold You" sold well due to the success of the first single, "Volcano Girls", written by Gordon. It was a catchy, power-pop tantrum that matched "Seether"'s success, peaking at #8 on the Modern Rock charts. The album peaked higher (Billboard Top 200 at 55) than "American Thighs", but sales dropped off when the second single "Shutterbug" failed to chart, despite a high-budget video and "Saturday Night Live" performance. Three more singles were sent to radio ("The Morning Sad", "Straight", and "Benjamin") but none of them did well enough to warrant a video. The Gordon-penned "Benjamin" was released internationally as the third and last commercial single from the album despite having no video and no promotion.


title: Nina Gordon

text: After recording the album, Shapiro left the band and was replaced on drums by Stacy Jones. Veruca Salt toured extensively for "Eight Arms to Hold You", opening for Bush as well as doing a lengthy international headlining club tour.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Gordon and Post then started work on Veruca Salt's third album. However, the tension between the two soon came to a head, and after an argument with Post, Gordon left the band in early 1998. Jones left the band at the same time, and Gordon and Jones dated for the next few years. In 1998, Gordon sang on James Iha's solo album "Let It Come Down" on the song "Beauty."


title: Nina Gordon

text: Soon after leaving Veruca Salt, Gordon demoed solo material in Boston with friends Kay Hanley and Michael Eisenstein from the band Letters to Cleo. Shortly after, she began recording with "Eight Arms" producer Bob Rock. The album, titled "Tonight and the Rest of My Life", was finished in early 1999 and was set to be released by the Outpost Records label, owned by Geffen Records, in August 1999. However, the merger of Geffen Records with Interscope Records forced Outpost Records to fold, leaving Gordon without a label.


title: Nina Gordon

text: A few months later, Gordon was signed by Warner Bros. Records. "Tonight" was finally released on June 27, 2000. The first single, also titled "Tonight and the Rest of My Life", did well on radio and was later included in commercials for hit films such as "Chocolat" and "The Notebook" in addition to an appearance on an episode of "Charmed". The second single "Now I Can Die" did not perform as well, but the third single, a radio-only single titled "2003", performed better despite having little promotion and no video. Gordon toured with David Gray as an opening act, and did a headlining tour with Paloalto.


title: Nina Gordon

text: "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" peaked at a disappointing 123 on the Billboard Top 200. However, it floated around the mid-100s for months, and sold close to 300,000 copies in the U.S. and 50,000 in Japan.


title: Nina Gordon

text: In the early 2000s, Gordon and Post reconciled via email, but the two did not work together professionally for years afterward. Post recruited new musicians for Veruca Salt, and the band released studio albums in 2000 and 2006 without Gordon.


title: Nina Gordon

text: After Gordon finished promoting "Tonight and the Rest of My Life" in late 2001, she took a break and began writing material for her second solo album. However, she did not get into the studio again until late 2003, and Gordon said it was because she wanted to write a lot of great material. To tide fans over, Gordon released b-side material from "Tonight" on her website and a demo for a song called "The Time Comes", which was featured in the independent film "Stealing Innocence". Around that time, she moved to California.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Gordon began recording her second album with Ethan Johns in late 2003, and via her website stated she was excited with the direction the album was going, even though it was very mellow and sad. Gordon finished recording with Johns in early 2004 and stated that she had named it "Even the Sunbeams". A few months later, Gordon admitted she was unhappy with the album and she was not going to release it. The only song that surfaced from this recording session was "Lighter on the Moon", which was available on Gordon's MySpace page. In April 2006, Gordon said in the "Chicago Reader", "It's a really sad and really slow record. I guess that's how I was feeling at the time, but when I sorta snapped out of that, I thought, 'I don't know that I want this to be the album I put out next.' It's really a lovely record, but it didn't have the spirit of the records I've made in the past." Some songs were re-recorded and included on her next album. The remaining songs were eventually made available free on her website as an EP titled "Songs from Even the Sunbeams".


title: Nina Gordon

text: During this time, Gordon was performing at Largo in Los Angeles, for "Bring the Rock" nights, covering songs by N.W.A, Skid Row, Backstreet Boys, Phil Collins, and others. Her cover of N.W.A's "Straight Outta Compton" gained her popularity on Internet music blogs. She also wrote a song with Fefe Dobson titled "Get You Off" for Dobson's album "Sunday Love" (on which Gordon also sang back-up), as well as a song for Courtney Jaye's album "Traveling Light" titled "This Is the Day", which she wrote with her boyfriend Jeff Russo.


title: Nina Gordon

text: Still seeing promise in the material from "Even the Sunbeams", Gordon booked producer and long-time friend Bob Rock to record an album in 2005. In a few months, Gordon re-did most of the songs and recorded new songs, as well. The album, now titled "Bleeding Heart Graffiti", was released August 8, 2006. The first song to see the light of day from the project was the b-side "The Blue Hour", a half-French, half-English rock song that could be heard on Gordon's website.


title: Nina Gordon

text: The lead single from "Bleeding Heart Graffiti", "Kiss Me 'Til It Bleeds" was released in mid-July. There was a physical promotional single for "Kiss Me 'Til It Bleeds" and it contained the "Bleeding Heart Graffiti" album track "Don't Let Me Down", as well as Gordon's previous hit single, "Tonight and the Rest of My Life". Almost all radio stations received digital copies of the single rather than physical CD singles, however. After "Bleeding Heart Graffiti", Gordon did not release any new music during the rest of the decade.


title: Nina Gordon

text: In the late 2000s, Gordon had two children with her boyfriend, musician Jeff Russo. Gordon and Russo later married.


title: Nina Gordon

text: In 2012, with Veruca Salt on hiatus, the original members – Gordon, Post, Lack, and Shapiro – met with each other for the first time since the 1990s. In 2013, the band announced that their original lineup had officially gotten back together. The band announced tour dates in April 2014 and released a 10" single on Record Store Day. That year, they played several concerts in the United States and Australia.


title: Nina Gordon

text: The fifth Veruca Salt album, "Ghost Notes", contained songs about the original members' breakup and eventual reunion. It was released on July 10, 2015 to favorable reviews.


title: Vidio

text: Vidio is an Indonesia-based over-the-top video streaming service established on 15 October 2014. Originally owned by Kreatif Media Karya, it is now owned by Surya Citra Media, both of which is a subsidiary of Elang Mahkota Teknologi (Emtek). The service's content consists of free-to-air and subscription channels, live streaming, films and dramas, and television. It is one of the largest streaming platforms in Southeast Asia, while also having proven to be one of the least dependable - proven by social media outcry due to its failure to stream the 2022 World Cup Final with any semblance of stability.


title: Vidio

text: Vidio was founded on 15 October 2014 and aimed to be the YouTube for Indonesians. Originally, Vidio's content was dominated by user-generated content and TV content from Emtek's media outlets. In 2015, Vidio had about 3,000 to 4,000 monthly active users.


title: Vidio

text: Emtek's total investment in Vidio as of March 2019 reached IDR 240 billion. Surya Citra Media plans to take over Vidio at a price of IDR 115 billion. After producing 3 original series in 2019, Vidio began to release more original series on Vidio Premier, their premium subscription service, dubbed as "Vidio Originals" in 2020. In the same year, Vidio had 40 million active users.


title: Vidio

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform saw 225% growth and records more than 5 million downloads in App Store and Play Store.


title: Vidio

text: In December 2022, Vidio was widely denounced on social media for its spectacular failure to provide a stable streaming platform for the World Cup Final between France and Argentina.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: My Blueberry Nights is a 2007 romantic drama film directed by Wong Kar-wai, his first feature in English. The screenplay by Wong and Lawrence Block is based on a Chinese-language short film written and directed by Wong. "My Blueberry Nights" stars Norah Jones (in her acting debut), Jude Law, David Strathairn, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Jeremy, an émigré from Manchester, owns a small New York City café. It becomes a haven for Elizabeth, as he provides her with clues which soon reveal that her boyfriend is cheating on her. Devastated, she leaves, but returns for solace and to share stories.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Jeremy explains his bowl of keys, and the story behind each, while she gluttonously eats his blueberry pie until she falls asleep. He tries to steal a kiss while Elizabeth sleeps, and she pretends to continue sleeping. But after the kiss she subtly smiles, but he doesn't see it. Elizabeth leaves Jeremy's café and he puts the key to her and her ex's in the key bowl.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Elizabeth, now calling herself Lizzie, eventually drifts to Memphis, Tennessee, where she takes two jobs, waitress by day and barmaid by night, to earn enough money to finance the purchase of a car. She regularly sends postcards to Jeremy, taking a liking to him, without revealing where she lives or works and, although he tries to locate her by calling all the restaurants in the area, he fails to find her. Later on, he decides to send out postcards to any restaurants she may be at to try to find her.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: One of Lizzie's regulars at both jobs is local police officer Arnie Copeland, an alcoholic who cannot accept his wife Sue Lynne has left him. She flaunts her debauchery by openly socializing with a younger man. He shows Lizzie his many attempts at getting sober have not worked, with a pocket full of AA sobriety tokens.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: One night off duty in Lizzie's bar, Arnie drunkenly threatens Sue Lynne with his gun if she leaves. Later on, he drives drunk, crashing into a pole and dies. Lizzie comforts Sue Lynne at the crash site, also where she had met him, suggesting he may have committed suicide. Before both women say goodbye to the town, Sue Lynne gives her Arnie's tab money, admitting she had made a mistake and she misses him.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Heading west, Elizabeth – now Beth – gets another server job at a casino in a small town in Nevada. Here she meets Leslie, an inveterate poker player who has lost all her money. Beth lends her her $2200 in exchange for the money back, plus a third of her winnings or her car, a new Jaguar XK, if she loses. When she loses, she fulfills her promise by giving Beth her Jaguar, but asks for a lift to Las Vegas to borrow money from her father, whom she has not seen in a long time.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: En route, a call comes from a Vegas hospital informs Leslie her father has been admitted and is dying. She believes the call is a ruse to lure her back, but upon arrival she discovers he actually died the previous night. Leslie announces she's keeping the car, which she had stolen from her father. He had sent her the title and registration despite their estrangement. She confesses she actually won the poker game and subsequently helps Beth negotiate the purchase of her dream car.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Elizabeth returns to Manhattan and the café, where Jeremy has had a stool at the counter reserved for her ever since she left. As she eats a slice of blueberry pie, Elizabeth realizes her feelings for him are reciprocated. She 'passes out' on the counter after spending the night in conversation. Jeremy again steals a kiss while she is asleep, but now she returns the kiss as the film ends.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: The idea for "My Blueberry Nights" originated from an anthology film that Wong planned to make under the title "Three Stories About Food"; one of the film's chapters was ultimately released as its own film, "In the Mood for Love" (2000), while "My Blueberry Nights" originated from another short film titled "In the Mood for Love 2001", which had only been screened once, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. Wong expanded the idea into a road movie that would take place in other locations besides New York, as filming entirely in the state would have been too expensive. Wong chose to make the film in 2005, after the postponement of another film.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Crew members went on three location scouting trips across the United States. Darius Khondji, the film's cinematographer, accompanied the crew on two trips, while Wong accompanied them for one; both of them took extensive photographs of diners, highways, and motels during their trips. Ely, Nevada was discovered by Wong while traveling along U.S. Route 50, and was chosen as a filming location. Ely's Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall, as well as its Liberty Club bar, were scouted as possible filming locations. New Orleans was also considered as a filming location, but ultimately was not chosen because of logistical reasons; Memphis, Tennessee was chosen instead.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: In "Making My Blueberry Nights", a bonus on the DVD release of the film, Wong reveals his first choice for Elizabeth was singer Norah Jones despite her lack of prior acting experience. Wong called Norah Jones "a natural" and instructed that she not take acting lessons. Prior to filming, poker expert Peter Alson was hired to coach Natalie Portman for scenes that involved her playing poker.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Production began in New York on June 21, 2006. By June 27, 2006, production had moved to Ely, Nevada, after filming concluded in New York. Wong had Alson come along to Ely for further advice on the film's poker scenes. Filming locations in Ely included the Hotel Nevada and Gambling Hall. Other scenes in Ely were to be shot at a bar. Wong, known for last-minute decisions, chose a different bar on the day of filming, after concluding with Alson the night before that the bar in Ely was too small.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Filming in Las Vegas was set to begin on June 27, 2006, and was expected to last five days. Poker scenes set in Ely were instead filmed inside a poker room that had been constructed inside the Art Bar in downtown Las Vegas, as no suitable locations for the poker scenes could be found in Ely. Scenes involving Jones and Portman at the Art Bar were filmed over the course of a week. Other filming locations in Las Vegas included a diner, a car lot, a medical clinic, and the Blue Angel and La Palm motels, all located on East Fremont Street. Scenes were also shot in a hallway at Desert Springs Hospital.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Scenes in Memphis were scheduled to be filmed from July 17 to 21, at the Blues City Café and at the Arcade Restaurant. Wong said that the film's Memphis segment was a tribute to Tennessee Williams. Wong originally intended to shoot the film in sequence, but when he discovered Rachel Weisz, whom he wanted to cast as Sue Lynne, was pregnant, he agreed to film the Memphis scenes last to allow her time to give birth and recuperate before beginning work. Wong consistently revised existing scenes and added new scenes to the script, usually at the last minute. Jude Law called it "a living story that's still being decided."


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: In August 2006, filming took place at the Palacinka café on Grand Street in SoHo, Manhattan. Scenes shot at the café the primary filming location in New York included a kissing scene between Law and Jones that was re-shot 150 times, with different speeds and from various angles, over the course of three days. Law, speaking about Wong, said, "I've never worked with someone who's put so much emphasis on a single moment. It's extraordinary how he'll take a moment and replay it and slice it up."


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Filming was completed in seven weeks. Wong returned to Hong Kong in September 2006, with most of the film finished. The Weinstein Company acquired the American distribution rights in November 2006, while the film was being edited by Wong and William Chang. Wong said he would probably return to the United States to conclude filming in the winter, but stated that he would not make a decision about additional filming until he had a first cut. The film's ending had not been decided at that time.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2007, with David Lynch’s "Absurda", from the "To Each His Own Cinema" anthology, shown as an opening short. It was also shown at the Hamburg Film Festival, the Valladolid International Film Festival, and the Munich Asia Filmfest before going into limited theatrical release in Canada on November 16. It opened throughout Europe and Asia before opening on six screens in the United States on April 4, 2008, as a limited release. The theatrical US version was edited to be slightly shorter than the version that was premiered in 2007.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: The film was released on DVD by the Weinstein Company on July 1, 2008. The film has yet to receive a Blu-ray release in the United States. The film debuted on Blu-ray on June 23, 2008 in the United Kingdom in a Region B Locked release. Shortly after, a Blu-ray was released in Japan on September 29, 2008 as a Region free disc, which also contains the extras found on the DVD.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: On its opening weekend, "My Blueberry Nights" grossed $74,146 in six theaters in the United States, ranking No. 43 at the box office. By the end of its run, the film grossed $867,275 domestically and $21,140,396 internationally, totaling $22,007,671 worldwide.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes collected 128 reviews and identified 46% of them as positive, with an average rating of 5.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Though well filmed, "My Blueberry Nights" is a mixed bag of dedicated performers working with thin material." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 52 based on 27 critic reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" observed, "The movie's overall story is modest, and if it were any longer the film might start to drag. But at 90 minutes, it's short enough to be carried along on the drama of its individual scenes and the strength of its performances . . . The nice thing about Wong is that, like a good gambler, he knows when to bet the farm and when to hold back. Most of the time, he plays it straight, and other times he will speed up the action into a kind of blur, to indicate time passing; or he'll fade out and back into the same shot, as though to indicate renewed focus. Everything he does re-creates a state of mind. It's such a relief to realize he's doing everything for a reason and not to show off."


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Meghan Keane of the "New York Sun" said the film "keenly displays Wong Kar Wai's aptitude for relationship drama and showcasing the female form, but the Chinese director's American debut often makes the earnest miscalculation of a dubbed foreign film . . . [I]n translating his fascination with the distances between two people into American vernacular, Mr. Wong betrays an unfamiliarity with his subject matter that often undermines his story . . . Sadly, [his] interpretation of American lives and landscapes has an alien quality to it. He fetishizes the American countryside, drowns his characters' sorrows in whiskey, and makes plot-oriented decisions based on aesthetics rather than continuity or logic. The image of beautiful women in oversize sunglasses leaning against convertibles is not an accurate depiction of Americana – but it doesn't make for a bad visual."


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: In Hong Kong, critical reception was generally mixed. Perry Lam of "Muse" Magazine compared the film to Wong's earlier work, "Chungking Express", and found "My Blueberry Nights" "a much lesser, more ordinary affair."


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: Wong Kar Wai was nominated for the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and for Best Foreign Film at the Cinema Writers Circle Awards in Spain.


title: My Blueberry Nights

text: The soundtrack, released on the Blue Note Records label, features tracks by the star of the film Norah Jones, Cat Power, Ry Cooder, Oscar-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla, Otis Redding, Cassandra Wilson, and Amos Lee.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Anand Bakshi (21 July 1930 – 30 March 2002) was an Indian poet and lyricist. He was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best lyricist a total of 40 times, resulting in 4 wins.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Anand Bakshi (Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid) was born in Rawalpindi in the Punjab Province of British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan), on 21 July 1930 into a Mohyal Brahmin family of the Vaid clan. The family arrived in Delhi, via a Dakota aircraft after the Partition of India and then migrated to Pune, then Meerut and settled again finally in Delhi.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Bakshi was fond of writing poetry since his youth, but he did this mostly as a private hobby. In a 1983 interview with Doordarshan, Bakshi recounted that after his initial studies, he joined the Indian Navy, where due to a paucity of time, he could only write occasionally. He continued to write poetry whenever time permitted, and used his songs and lyrics in local programmes related to his troop. He worked in the Navy for many years and simultaneously tried to market his songs in the Mumbai film world.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Anand Bakshi came to Hindi films to make a name for himself in writing and singing, but ended up becoming more successful in writing lyrics. He got his break writing songs in a Brij Mohan film titled "Bhalaa Aadmi" (1958), acted by Bhagwan Dada. He wrote four songs in this film. His first song in this film was "Dharti Ke Laal Na Kar Itna Malaal" which was recorded on 9 November 1956. (In his own voice on All India Radio interview)


title: Anand Bakshi

text: After writing for a few movies from 1956 onwards, he first found success in 1962 with "Mehendi Lagi Mere Haath", which was produced by (LimeLight), Music Kalyanji & Anandji, Music Pub-HMV/Saregama. Bakshi later made another mark for himself writing a quawwali for the 1962 film "Kala Samundar", the song was "Meri Tasveer Lekar Kya Karoge Tum" composed by N. Datta. He got his real big breakthroughs in 1965 with "Himalay Ki God Mein", and a huge breakthrough again in 1965 with the super-hit film "Jab Jab Phool Khile", starring Shashi Kapoor and both composed by Kalyanji–Anandji; and yet again in 1967 with the super-hit movie "Milan" (starring Sunil Dutt). These six hit films within a decade of his entry into films cemented his status as a lyrics writer of immense calibre.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: He went on to work as a lyricist of over 4000 songs and 638 films in his career.(See Filmography below for films reference, names of the films and their year of censorship.)


title: Anand Bakshi

text: He got his first break as singer in a film directed by Mohan Kumar – "Mom Ki Gudiya" (1972). The first song he sang was a duet – "Baaghon mein bahaar aayi hothon pe pukaar aayi", along with Lata Mangeshkar, with music composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal. He also sang the solo "Main dhoondh raha tha sapnon mein" from the same film.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: He also sang songs in four other films: "Sholay" (1975), where he sang the qawwali "Chand Sa Koi Chehera" along with Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey and Bhupinder, (the song was released on vinyl, but not in the feature film); Maha Chor (1976); Charas (1976) Song : Aaja Teri Yaad Aayi; and Balika Badhu (1976).


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Anand Bakshi was widely associated with music composers such as Laxmikant–Pyarelal, R D Burman, Kalyanji Anandji, SD Burman, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan and Anand–Milind, and his songs have been sung by all the top singers as well as other singers such as Shamshad Begum, Ila Arun, Khursheed Bawra, Amirbai Karnataki, Sudha Malhotra and more. He is known to have worked with more than one generation of music composers.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: He wrote the first recorded songs of many first time male and female leads who went on to become stars, and also of singers such as Shailendra Singh, Kumar Sanu, Kavita Krishnamurthy etc., and he established himself as a versatile lyricist with the song "Dum Maro Dum" in the movie "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" (1972).


title: Anand Bakshi

text: After this, he wrote memorable lyrics in many movies including "Bobby", "Amar Prem" (1971), "Aradhana" (1969), "Jeene Ki Raah", "Mera Gaon Mera Desh", "Aaye Din Bahar Ke", "Aya Sawan Jhoom Ke", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Sholay" (1975), "Dharam Veer", "Nagina", "Lamhe, "Hum" (1991), "Mohra" (1994), "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (1995), "Pardes" (1997), "Heer Raanjha", "Dushman" (1998), "Taal" (1998), "Mohabbatein" (2000), "" (2001), and "Yaadein" (2001).


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Bakshi was married to Kamla Mohan Bakshi. The couple had two daughters, Suman Datt and Kavita Bali and two sons Rajesh Bakshi and Rakesh Bakshi.


title: Anand Bakshi

text: Late in his life, he suffered from heart and lung disease as a consequence of lifelong smoking. In March 2002, he caught a bacterial infection at Nanavati hospital during a minor heart surgery. He finally died of multiple organ failure on 30 March 2002, 8:45 PM at Mumbai's Nanavati Hospital, at the age of 71. The last released movie with lyrics by Anand Bakshi (after his death) was "Mehbooba", "Mujhse Dosti Karoge!".


title: Country Strong

text: Country Strong is a 2010 American drama film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim McGraw, Garrett Hedlund, and Leighton Meester. The film, about an emotionally unstable country music star who attempts to resurrect her career, was directed and written by American filmmaker Shana Feste. It premiered in Nashville, Tennessee on November 8, 2010, and had a wide release in the United States on January 7, 2011. This is the second film in which McGraw and Hedlund have worked together, the first being "Friday Night Lights" in 2004. At the 83rd Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Original Song ("Coming Home").


title: Country Strong

text: Beau Hutton sings with Kelly Canter, a recovering alcoholic country music singer going through rehab. He is clearly smitten by her, and it is later revealed that the two have been having an affair, even though Kelly is married to James. Kelly is checked out of rehab a month early by James, who wants her to go on a three-city tour to restore her image. She agrees on the condition that Beau becomes her opening act. James has already planned to see Chiles Stanton, a beauty queen with potential to become a rising singer, perform that night in hopes that she will be Kelly's opener instead.


title: Country Strong

text: On the night of Chiles' performance, Beau dismisses Chiles as a "Country Barbie" and does not want her on the tour. Chiles' performance nearly falls apart as she gets stage fright and can not sing; however, Beau steps in and begins to sing "Friends in Low Places". The two sing the song together, and it gives Chiles the courage to continue on her own. James is impressed by Beau's performance, and offers the opening act to both of them. He suggests that Beau and Chiles could make quite the duo, but Beau disagrees. Nevertheless, Beau agrees to go on the tour because he cares about Kelly.


title: Country Strong

text: The first show is a disaster: before going on, Kelly receives an anonymous package containing a bloody baby doll with a note reading "Baby Killer," referring to the baby Kelly miscarried when she fell off the stage in Dallas during her last concert before she went into rehab. At that concert, she was five months pregnant and was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.19 when she was in the hospital for the injuries related to the fall. Kelly falls apart, starts drinking, and almost refuses to go on. However, she is coerced into going on stage by James. She begins to sing "Country Strong" but breaks down on stage. She attempts to try another song, "A Fighter", but breaks down again and is led off stage by her husband, ending the show. They tell the media at a press conference that they had to cancel the show due to food poisoning and head off to the next show.


title: Country Strong

text: Beau ends his relationship with Kelly, and begins to spend more time with Chiles, whose fame has been increasing as the tour progresses. Chiles and Beau form a bond and Beau lets go of his earlier hostilities towards her. She even finishes the chorus to his song "Give in to Me". Later, Beau confronts James about Kelly's worsening condition. James insists that Kelly may get better, and says that he can't let her go out with a failure. Beau disagrees and subtly admits their affair. Enraged, James punches him in the jaw.


title: Country Strong

text: Before the next show in Austin, Kelly is unable to go on stage after drinking. Beau and Chiles still do their opening act, where they perform "Give in to Me" for the first time together. JJ, Kelly's agent, nearly cancels the tour but is dissuaded by Kelly's offer of sex; having witnessed this, Beau becomes frustrated with Kelly. That same night, Chiles and Beau have sex, and Beau confesses to Chiles that he likes her. In Dallas, Beau gives Chiles a pair of star-shaped earrings and asks her to move with him to California. Chiles immediately agrees, but then asks for more time to consider the offer.


title: Country Strong

text: The two perform and Kelly comes out, this time sober and ready, and performs her entire set for the first time. Kelly performs "Country Strong", "Shake That Thing", and "Coming Home". After the concert, James and JJ immediately begin making plans for Kelly's future. That night, Kelly commits suicide by overdosing on prescription medication. She leaves a letter to Beau, echoing his earlier words that "Love and fame can't live in the same place." In the letter, she gives him the advice to choose "love". Beau takes her advice, and after Kelly's funeral, he moves to California.


title: Country Strong

text: Later on, Beau is singing in a bar in California, when Chiles walk in, wearing the earrings he gave her. They begin singing "Give in to Me" together.


title: Country Strong

text: With a budget of $15 million, pre-production work on the project, then titled "Love Don't Let Me Down", began in November 2009. Shana Feste was working as a nanny for Tobey Maguire, caring for his daughter, when she wrote the screenplay. She showed him her "work-in-progress" at his request and he agreed to co-produce the film. She had real country stars in mind when she wrote the script.


title: Country Strong

text: Garrett Hedlund took guitar lessons because he could not play the guitar nor sing before the film. He explained: "When I read the script and started playing guitar I knew I wanted to get there. I mean I wasn't going to have a hand double come in and be playing the chords, having to have two different set ups just because I couldn't get it down." Gwyneth Paltrow also took guitar lessons. Paltrow stated she had trouble understanding her character's alcohol abuse and sought advice in playing the character from Marvel Cinematic Universe co-star Robert Downey Jr., who has suffered from addiction in the past. In interviews, Feste has said that American pop singer Britney Spears inspired Paltrow's character in the film.


title: Country Strong

text: Principal photography took place in Nashville, Tennessee. Locations used for the film include the Ryman Auditorium, the Union Station Hotel, Belle Meade Plantation, Mount Olivet Cemetery, the Fontanel Mansion, (Whites Creek, Tenn.) the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, and the Andrew Jackson Hall. Filming also took place in Liberty, Tennessee. The film was shot in 2010 from early January to the first week of March.


title: Country Strong

text: On December 14, 2010, the official screening took place at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California. It was attended by the film's stars and included Tim McGraw, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leighton Meester, Garrett Hedlund, and many other stars of Hollywood and country music. In the United States, the film received a wide release on January 7, 2011.


title: Country Strong

text: The film was released on DVD/Blu-ray on April 12, 2011. The special features include the soundtrack, deleted scenes, music videos, extended performances, the original ending, as well as featurettes about the cast, the songwriters, and the costumes.


title: Country Strong

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 22% based on 134 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The cast gives it their all, and Paltrow handles her songs with aplomb, but "Country Strong"s cliched, disjointed screenplay hits too many bum notes." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Country Strong

text: "Country Strong" had two weeks of limited release, where it grossed $137,239. It was released nationwide alongside "Season of the Witch" on January 7, 2011, and was projected to gross $5–6 million from 1,424 theaters in its opening weekend. The film went on to debut to $7.5 million, coming in sixth place that weekend. It went on to gross a worldwide total of $20.6 million, against its $15 million production budget.


title: Country Strong

text: The film's title track was recorded by Paltrow and released as a single to country radio on August 23, 2010. Country artist Sara Evans' single "A Little Bit Stronger", is featured on the film's soundtrack and was released as a single in September 2010 (which also served as a single for her sixth studio album, "Stronger"). Both singles were promoted by RCA Nashville. The soundtrack debuted at #16 on the "Billboard" Top Country Albums chart upon its release on October 26, 2010. Following the film's release in January 2011, the soundtrack rose to a new peak of #2 on that chart, as well as #6 on the all-genre "Billboard" 200 albums chart.


title: Country Strong

text: The film's score was composed by Michael Brook. "Coming Home" by Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Lindsey, Troy Verges and performed by Gwyneth Paltrow was nominated for Best Original Song at the 68th Golden Globe Awards and 83rd Academy Awards, but it lost both to "You Haven't Seen The Last of Me" from "Burlesque" and "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3", respectively.


title: Deniz Akdeniz

text: Deniz Akdeniz (born 16 May 1990) is a Turkish Australian actor from Melbourne, Australia. He was nominated for the "Award for Best Actor" at the 2010 Inside Film Awards, for his role of "Homer" in the Australian box office hit "Tomorrow, When the War Began". Akdeniz is also known for his role of "Raff" in the Disney television production "As the Bell Rings", Aladdin on season six of the ABC television series "Once Upon a Time", Robb Wellens during the third season of "Siren", and Max on the HBO Max comedic thriller "The Flight Attendant".


title: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)

text: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" which was broadcast in January and February 1981 on UK television station BBC Two. The adaptation follows the original radio series in 1978 and 1980, the first novel and double LP, in 1979, and the stage shows, in 1979 and 1980, making it the fifth iteration of the guide.


text: The series stars Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, David Dixon as Ford Prefect, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Sandra Dickinson as Trillian and Stephen Moore as the voice of Marvin. The voice of the guide is by Peter Jones. Simon Jones, Peter Jones, Stephen Moore and Mark Wing-Davey had already provided the voices for their characters in the original radio series in 1978/80. In addition, the series features a number of notable cameo roles, including Adams himself on several occasions.


text: Although initially thought by BBC executives to be unfilmable, the series was successfully produced and directed by Alan J. W. Bell and went on to win a Royal Television Society Award as Most Original Programme of 1981, as well as several British Academy Television Awards for its graphics and editing.


text: After the success of the first seven episodes of the radio series, all broadcast in 1978, and while the second radio series was being recorded, Douglas Adams was commissioned to deliver a pilot script for a television adaptation on 29 May 1979, to be delivered by 1 August. A fully animated version was briefly discussed in the autumn of 1978, but it was eventually decided to make most of the series feature "live action" and only animate "The Guide"'s entries. John Lloyd, who had worked with Adams on the first radio series, is credited with starting the process of adapting the series for television, after the receipt of the pilot script, with a memo to the head of light entertainment (John Howard Davies) in September 1979. Adams was still working on scripts for the second radio series of "Hitchhiker's" and working as script editor for "Doctor Who", and thus the BBC extended the deadline for the pilot script of the television adaptation to the end of November. The script for the pilot was delivered in December 1979, and terms for the five remaining scripts were agreed upon in January 1980. While there was some resistance to a project considered "unfilmable," Alan J. W. Bell was given the duties to produce and direct the TV adaptation. John Lloyd was signed as associate producer.


text: In early 1980, production on the pilot episode began on several fronts. Rod Lord of Pearce Animation Studios directed a 50-second pilot, hand-animated, giving a 'computer graphic' feel to the Babel Fish speech of the first episode. Douglas Adams and Alan J.W. Bell were both pleased with the animation, and Lord was given the go-ahead to do all of the animation for episode one, and subsequently the complete TV series. Narration for the first episode was recorded by Peter Jones in March 1980. The filming of two green-skinned aliens reacting to Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters was done on 8 May 1980. Further filming of crowd reactions to the Vogons, location filming of Arthur's house and a scene in a pub were done between 11 and 16 May 1980. Scenes aboard the Vogon ship were recorded on 7 June 1980, in the BBC's TC1 studio. The final edit of the pilot episode was completed on 2 July 1980, and it was premiered for a test audience three days later (5 July 1980). Further test screenings were held in August 1980. Based on successful test screenings, the cast was reassembled to complete the six episodes of the series in September 1980. Production continued through the autumn, with filming and recording occurring out of order. Recording and production of the final episode continued into January 1981.


text: The gap in production made for some continuity problems between the pilot episode and the remainder. Notably, Simon Jones's hair was cut short for another role and he wears a noticeable hairpiece in later episodes. Conversely, David Dixon's hair appears longer.


text: One major change first appeared in the stage show and LP adaptations, and made its way into the novels and TV adaptation. Nearly all of the sequences from episodes five and six in the first radio series that were originally co-written with John Lloyd were completely cut. Thus the Hotblack Desiato character and Disaster Area make appearances in TV episode five, and Ford, Arthur, Zaphod and Trillian are all randomly teleported off of Disaster Area's stunt ship in TV episode six. Lloyd does receive a co-writer's credit on episode five, for the material on the statistics about the universe.


text: The complexities of adapting the material for television meant that some episodes became as long as 35 minutes; as a result, material that had appeared in the radio series (e.g.: the seance involving Zaphod's ancestors) had to be cut. The programme is particularly notable for its mock computer animation sequences, actually produced on film using traditional cel animation techniques.


text: There have been several different edits of the series: Some, but not all, American PBS stations recut the series into seven 30-minute episodes when they began transmitting the episodes nearly two years later, in December 1982. Other PBS stations re-edited the programme into TV movies, broadcasting more than one episode at a time without interruption. The UK videotape release was on two cassettes, each consisting of three episodes edited to run together and also adding some previously unseen material. The soundtrack was remixed into stereo. The North American VHS tape released by CBS/Fox Video included this material on a single video cassette. The DVD edition claims to be the final and definitive version of the six TV episodes.


text: Another production problem was that, being a visual adaptation, a solution had to be found to display Zaphod's three arms and two heads, a joke originally written for radio. In a previous stage adaptation, a version of a pantomime horse was used, where two actors filled one costume, providing three arms and two heads between them. For this TV series, a radio-controlled animatronic head was designed and built, incorporating twelve servo motors and two receivers. However, the head was notoriously unreliable and in many scenes merely sits there, inanimate. For the third arm, most of the time it was seen tucked into Zaphod's jacket. But when called for, Mike Kelt, who had designed the extra head (with Joan Stribling; BBC Make-up, Hair, Prosthetics Designer) would hide behind Mark Wing-Davey and slip his arm into the appropriate sleeve.


text: Other elements to the production were done by a variety of BBC designers. The Heart of Gold and B Ark models were built by Perry Brahan. The small, furry creature from Alpha Centauri in episode three was a puppet designed and controlled by Jim Francis, who also built the Magrathean bubble car (also seen in episode three), and was the stunt double for Richard Vernon in the scene in which the bubble car was seen to fly. Matte paintings throughout the series were created by Jean Peyre. Music and sound effects were by Paddy Kingsland, with the exception of the theme music; the familiar "Journey of the Sorcerer" theme by Bernie Leadon was used again, in the arrangement by Tim Souster that had previously been used for the "Hitchhiker's" LP. Video effects using the Quantel system were done by Dave Jervis. Other puppets, including insects seen in episode five, were designed by Susan Moore. Some of the actual puppeteering was done by Stuart Murdoch, including operating parts of the Dish of the Day animal.


text: Two important cast changes were made for the TV version. David Dixon replaced Geoffrey McGivern as Ford, and Sandra Dickinson replaced Susan Sheridan as Trillian. The changes were made because McGivern did not suit the role visually, and Sheridan was unavailable at the time. Another new cast member was Michael Cule, who appears as the Vogon Guard in episode two. Cule had first appeared in one of the "Hitchhiker's" stage adaptations, performing no fewer than twelve roles. He reprised the Vogon Guard part in the 1992 "Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" TV documentary, voiced the Babel fish, appeared in the 1994 photo illustrated edition of the book (as Prosser), and returned a third time as a Vogon Guard for the BBC Radio 4 "Quandary Phase."


text: Because of the sheer number of models used in episodes two to six, a single day of filming just the model sequences was set aside at the BBC Television Centre on 28 October 1980. This has been described as "a luxury few other shows could afford."


text: To provide proper timing of spoken lines on-set, Douglas Adams himself spoke the lines of Eddie the Computer and Deep Thought, until they were redubbed by David Tate and Valentine Dyall respectively. Douglas Adams has several cameo appearances in the TV series:


text: The hand-animated "computer graphics" of "The Hitchhiker's Guide" itself won a BAFTA, a Design and Art Direction Silver award, and a London Film Fest award.


text: Locations for filming included a clay pit and the former Par—Fowey railway tunnel in Cornwall, the Edmonds Farm and Red Lion pub in Haywards Heath, Sussex, the Budgemoor Golf & Country Club near Henley-on-Thames, and at Dovestones in the Peak District National Park.


text: Episode three was originally scripted to have a "pre-credits sequence" where Trillian announces their arrival at "the most improbable planet that ever existed", Magrathea, to Zaphod. This was never filmed. The arrangement of "Journey of the Sorcerer" by Tim Souster, used in the titles, was released as a single in the UK in January 1981. The B-side featured Douglas Adams playing rhythm guitar.


text: Many of the costumes seen in episodes one to four can be seen again during sequences at Milliway's in episode five. In episode five the writing at the start showing 42 crossed out several times also includes the number 101010 which is the 42nd number in the binary number base.


text: Synopsis: Episode one begins with a pre-credits sequence, the only one of the TV episodes to have one. A countdown to the end of the world is displayed through animation, and the narrator begins telling the story of the Guide and Arthur Dent's connection to it as the sun rises over the English countryside for the final time. Arthur wakes, discovers the threat to his house from a yellow bulldozer by looking out the window, and the camera pulls back to the titles. This episode closely follows the plot and dialogue of the first episode of the radio series, cutting the speech by Lady Cynthia Fitzmelton. It ends at a slightly earlier point than the radio episode, after Ford's line "he might want to read us some of his poetry first", and on a cliffhanger that Arthur and Ford are about to be discovered in a Vogon storeroom, but before the Vogon poetry is actually read.


text: Synopsis: The episode opens with a recap of the story, with Ford and Arthur about to be captured. After being read Vogon poetry, they are thrown out of an airlock and improbably rescued by the starship "Heart of Gold", which has been stolen by Ford's semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox, accompanied by Trillian, a young woman who Arthur once met at a party. Ford and Arthur are escorted to the bridge by Marvin the Paranoid Android and meet Zaphod and Trillian. The episode ends after they are introduced, with no cliffhanger.


text: Synopsis: The episode opens with a guide entry explaining the legendary planet of Magrathea, which manufactured planets millions of years ago, until the galactic economy collapsed. Zaphod has been explaining to Ford that he has found the legendary planet of Magrathea, whilst Trillian tends to a pair of white mice. Zaphod orders the computer to land on the planet surface. Before long, they receive a transmission from the commercial council of Magrathea, informing them that the planet is closed for business and asking them to leave. They ignore this and later receive another message, noting that nuclear missiles have been sent at the ship. Attempts to evade the missiles fail, and Arthur uses the ship's infinite improbability drive, which ends up turning the missiles into a very surprised looking whale and a bowl of petunias. Trillian discovers that during the chaos, her mice escaped. The five characters go onto the surface, where they find it desolate. Zaphod suggests that the Magratheans lived beneath the surface of the planet. They split into two groups – Trillian, Zaphod and Ford explore a tunnel, while Arthur and Marvin remain on the surface. Trillian, Zaphod and Ford's thread ends on a cliffhanger, with them seeing something alarming at the end of the corridor. Meanwhile, Arthur and Marvin watch the sunset. Eventually, Slartibartfast arrives, and asks Arthur to come with him. He explains that the Magratheans were in hibernation for the last five million years. They get into his air-car, and descend deep into a tunnel. A guide narrative intervenes, explaining that while humanity had always assumed that it was the most intelligent species on Earth, in fact the dolphins were more intelligent, and had left the planet some time before. However, both the dolphins and humans were less intelligent than the mice. Meanwhile, Slartibartfast shows Arthur the vast tract of hyperspace that acts as the Magrathean's factory floor, and that they have been brought out of hibernation for a special commission — "the Earth Mk II, we're making a copy from our original blueprints". The Earth was originally made by Magrathea for mice; and it was destroyed five minutes too early. The episode ends here.


text: Synopsis: Slartibartfast shows Arthur the archive tapes of Deep Thought being given the Search for the Ultimate Answer and of the result reported by the computer seven and a half million years later. After learning that the Earth was set up to search for the Ultimate Question, Slartibartfast and Arthur join Ford, Trillian, Zaphod, and Trillian's mice, who had guided them to Magrathea. The mice dismiss Slartibartfast, then express their desire to determine the Ultimate Question by first extracting Arthur's brain. While the mice attempt to strike a deal, the galactic police arrive, and Ford, Arthur, Trillian and Zaphod flee the dining hall, only to be cornered by the police in a large bay. After a misunderstanding, the police open fire on a computer behind which the four are hiding, causing it to explode and ending the episode on a cliffhanger.


text: Synopsis: After an initial period of confusion, the four travellers find they have been transported forward in time to just before the end of the universe. They are in "Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe", which was built on the ruins of Magrathea. So, as Arthur says, they have travelled through time but not through space. Waiting for them is Marvin the depressed robot, whom they left on Magrathea 40 million years ago. He's now an attendant at the car park, and still depressed. Just before the universe ends, Zaphod and Ford get Marvin to help them steal a supercool all-black spaceship, which turns out to be the property of a very loud rock band called "Disaster Area". The episode ends on the cliffhanger as the black ship is about to start a dive into the sun of Kakrafoon.


text: Synopsis: Just before the supercool all-black ship crashes into a sun, Zaphod, Trillian, Ford, and Arthur escape in a teleport module that they convince Marvin to stay behind and operate. He is still on the ship when it heads into the sun. Ford and Arthur arrive - without Zaphod and Trillian - on a spaceship carrying millions of people in cryogenic pods. The ship's inhabitants are from Golgafrincham; they are unskilled workers in apparently pointless jobs, the people that the clever Golgafrinchams, the thinkers and the doers, back home wanted to get rid of. The ship lands on pre-historic Earth. Ford realises that the Golgafrinchams, not the primitive cave dwellers already on the planet, are the ones that will evolve into the human race. The episode ends with the two friends lamenting the eventual destruction of the Earth. The regular theme music follows the song "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.


text: A second series was planned at one point, with a storyline, according to Alan Bell and Mark Wing-Davey, that would have come from Adams' abandoned "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen" project (instead of a TV version of the second radio series). However, Adams got into disputes with the BBC (accounts differ: problems with budget, scripts, and having Alan Bell and/or Geoffrey Perkins involved were all offered as causes), and the second series was never made. The elements of the "Doctor Who and the Krikketmen" project instead became the third novel, "Life, the Universe and Everything".


text: In 1992, Kevin Davies wrote and directed a documentary entitled "The Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Davies had previously worked on the stage show at the Rainbow Theatre, and, while working for Pierce Animation Studios in 1980, had introduced Alan Bell to Rod Lord, leading to the animation for the TV series. For the documentary, Davies used many photographs and home movies he shot during the 1980 production of the series and recorded new interviews in October 1992 with the cast and crew. New footage of Simon Jones, David Dixon and Michael Cule, in character, were shot at the farm in Sussex used as Arthur Dent's house, and incorporated into the documentary with some references to "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish", such as Arthur finding his home intact, and placing his (animated) Babel fish into a goldfish bowl. BBC video released the sixty-minute documentary on VHS in 1993. Footage not included in the original documentary was included in the 2002 DVD release of the series. The documentary itself has not (as of 2005) been transmitted on TV.


text: Neil Gaiman reveals in the first edition of his biography of Douglas Adams, "Don't Panic", that the BBC was preparing a Laserdisc release of the "Hitchhiker's" TV series in the mid-1980s, but had to cancel the project due to a legal tangle with the movie rights, although master tapes for the Laserdiscs were prepared. The sound was specially remixed in stereo and Elektra/Asylum records agreed to license the original Eagles theme music. The series was eventually released on VHS format by BBC Video in 1992. This was a dual cassette edition featuring additional material that had originally been cut from the broadcast episodes. CBS/Fox Video made the six episodes available on a single VHS tape in North America starting in 1993. They were joined by "The Making of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", also on VHS, that same year, as well as a Laserdisc release. A double tape box set edition was also released featuring the collected complete series and Making Of releases. Restoration of the six episodes and the Making Of documentary commenced in 2001, with a Region 2 and 4 DVD release in the United Kingdom by BBC Video (Catalogue Number BBCDVD 1092) in January 2002. A Region 1 edition, released by Warner Home Video, followed in April 2002. Both DVD editions are two-disc sets, with the six episodes on the first disc and accompanying bonus materials on the second. The North American DVD edition also has a copy of the "Omnibus" tribute to Douglas Adams from BBC Two that aired on 4 August 2001, which the UK DVD edition does not.


text: A special edition box set of the series was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 1 October 2018. The set featured upscaled HD versions of the original episodes alongside optional stereo or 5.1 surround sound mixes remastered by Mark Ayres, formerly of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.


text: In North America, the complete series is viewable on Hulu, Amazon Prime and BritBox. In the UK, the complete series is viewable on BritBox, with the Special Edition available on Amazon Prime Video.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Ricky Simón (born August 31, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist. He was the former Legacy Fighting Alliance Bantamweight Champion and currently competing in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 6, 2022, he is #10 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón was born in Pendleton, Oregon. Coming from a tight-knit family of Mexican immigrants, his three brothers, Carlos Simón, Brandon Simón, Avi Simón and Ricky have the same tattoo "Simón" inked across their upper back. Simón also grew up with his close second cousin and fellow UFC athlete Vince Morales. Simón started training in wrestling at nine years old. He graduated class of 2010 from Union High School in Camas, WA. After his post-graduation plans to be a collegiate wrestler for Clark College did not materialize, he transitioned to mixed martial arts.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón amassed an amateur record of 3–0 before turning professional in 2014. After compiling a professional record of 12–1, fighting for Main Event Sports, King of the Cage (KOTC), Titan Fighting Championship and he was the formal Legacy Fighting Alliance Bantamweight Champion prior joining the UFC.


title: Ricky Simón

text: In his UFC debut, Simón faced Merab Dvalishvili on April 21, 2018, at in Atlantic City, New Jersey. In the final round, Simón mounted Dvalshvili with a guillotine choke, while Dvalishvili kick his way to the end of the bell. Referee, Liam Kerriga, awarded the win to Simón citing Dvalshivili was thought to have been passed out by the ref who eventually stopped the fight. Dvalishvilli's manager Matthew Culley filed a request to the commission to review the referee decision and the appeal was denied. This fight earned him the "Fight of the Night" award.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón was scheduled to face Benito Lopez at UFC 227 on August 4, 2018. However, it was reported that Lopez pulled out from the bout for undisclosed reason and was replaced by Montel Jackson. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón was expected to face Ricardo Ramos on November 10, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 139. However, it was reported on October 16, 2018, that Ramos was pulled from the bout due to a hand injury and in turn, Simón was removed from the card as well.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón faced Rani Yahya on February 10, 2019, at UFC 234. He won the fight via unanimous decision, knocking Yahya down multiple times in the first round.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón faced Urijah Faber on July 13, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 155. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón faced Rob Font at on December 7, 2019. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the "Fight of the Night" award.


title: Ricky Simón

text: As the first fight of his new, four-fight contract, Simón faced Ray Borg on May 13, 2020, at . He won the fight via split decision.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón was scheduled to face Brian Kelleher in a featherweight bout on September 5, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 176. However, Simón's cornerman tested positive for COVID-19 and he was forced to withdraw from the event. The pair was rescheduled on January 16, 2021, at UFC on ABC 1. In turn, Kelleher also tested positive on January 1 and was pulled from the bout. He was replaced by newcomer Gaetano Pirrello and the bout took place four days later at . He won the bout via second round arm triangle submission.


title: Ricky Simón

text: The bout between Simón and Brian Kelleher was rebooked for the third time and took place at UFC 258 on February 13, 2021. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón was scheduled to face Timur Valiev on September 25, 2021, at UFC 266. However, the bout was never officially announced by the promotion and Valiev was instead scheduled to face Daniel Santos at .


title: Ricky Simón

text: As the first bout of his new four-fight contract, Simón faced Raphael Assunção on December 18, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus. Simón won the fight via knockout in the second round.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón faced Jack Shore on July 16, 2022 at UFC on ABC 3. He won the fight via arm-triangle submission in the second round. This win earned Simón his first "Performance of the Night" bonus award.


title: Ricky Simón

text: Simón used to be a middle school wrestling coach. He is the cousin of fellow UFC bantamweight fighter Vince Morales.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: La Llorona , also known as The Weeping Woman, is a 2019 Guatemalan horror film directed by Jayro Bustamante.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Former Guatemalan dictator Enrique Monteverde (based on Efraín Ríos Montt) is being tried for orchestrating the brutal genocide of native Mayans in 1982–83. Now elderly, he lives with his wife, Carmen; daughter, Natalia; granddaughter, Sara and their security guard, Letona. During the trial, Natalia is troubled by the indigenous women who describe being brutalized by Monteverde's army, while Carmen dismisses them as liars. He is convicted but the verdict is overturned by the high court, which ruled that his guilt could not be conclusively proven. The decision is met with disgust and unrest by the public, who hold nonstop protests outside Monteverde's home.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Monteverde's sleep is interrupted by the sound of a woman weeping and he narrowly misses shooting his wife in the kitchen. This leads to most of his household staff — who are ethnic Kaqchikel people — quitting. His devoted housekeeper, Valeriana, brings in a young woman named Alma from her village to work as a maid. Supernatural activity involving water, including faucets spontaneously turning on, ensues. One night Monteverde sees Alma wading through the pool into the house; his family discovers him, sexually aroused, watching Alma wash her dress. His disgusted wife tells Natalia that he was always attracted to native women and reveals her suspicions that Valeriana, who arrived at their household as a child, may be his daughter. However, Natalia learns from Sara that even though she is very young, Alma already had a son and daughter who died. Alma teaches Sara to hold her breath under water.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: The protests continue around the clock, leaving the family essentially trapped in the house. Carmen wets the bed during recurring nightmares where she pictures herself as a Kaqchikel woman being chased and abducted with two Kaqchikel children by the military. The house is blanketed with flyers of the disappeared from decades earlier; Sara and Alma notice one of the Kaqchikel men on the flyers is among the crowd of protesters. Suspicion grows within Valeriana when she reveals to Alma that nobody in her village appears to know her.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Valeriana suspects dark magic is at work and attempts to cleanse Monteverde of the evil spirit. Later that night, Sara uses her grandfather’s oxygen cylinder to hold her breath longer under the pool. Terrified, Monteverde starts shooting Alma while accidentally shooting Sara in the arm. The house is surrounded by the spirits of the disappeared. As he searches around the house, Letona encounters the spirits of two Kaqchikel children who calmly take him away and is not seen again. Valeriana performs a Mayan ceremony while a woman's wailing can be heard. Carmen goes into a trance as she is transported back to the nightmare, which are revealed to be Alma's last moments, watching her children drowned by soldiers before being executed herself by Monteverde. A distraught Carmen strangles Monteverde in the trance and in reality.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: At Monteverde's funeral, another old general excuses to the bathroom where he hears a woman wailing as the room begins to flood.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: "La Llorona" had its world premiere on 30 August 2019 at the Venice Film Festival (Giornate degli Autori) and later screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. It was selected as the Guatemalan entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, making the shortlist of 15 films. On 6 August 2020, the film premiered on the horror streaming service Shudder. On October 18th, 2022, the film was released by the Criterion Collection on Blu-ray and DVD.


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Critical reception for "La Llorona" has been positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads ""La Llorona" puts a fresh spin on the familiar legend by blending the supernatural and the political to resolutely chilling effect." On Metacritic the film holds a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on 14 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: "La Llorona" received praise from Katie Rife from "The A.V. Club", who felt that the film offered "a more intelligent spin on the legend than last year’s schlocky "The Curse Of La Llorona"". She praised its direction, visual style and story which "layers elements of class, race, and gender conflict on top of creeping horror atmosphere", but criticized its pacing which "slows to a crawl, as Bustamante delves into inter-familial dynamics that are interesting but ultimately a distraction from a more satisfying tale of supernatural revenge."


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Manohla Dargis from "The New York Times" described the film as "a thoughtful, low-key Guatemalan movie that deploys its genre shocks inside a sober art-house package". She noted that "its early scenes — with their mannered delivery and narrative ellipses — are right out of the modern art-film stylebook", reminding her of Lucrecia Martel's style. She added "With precise framing, compositional flair and a steady hand, Bustamante layers the story, adding daubs that suggest rather than explain."


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Monica Castillo from RogerEbert.com awarded it 3 stars out of 4, stating that ""La Llorona" is filled with bewitching imagery and tension, even if it’s less full of surprises and jump scares than other horror movies. Bustamante uses the old haunted tale not to scare us, but to force his audience to reflect on the ways they are complicit in oppression."


title: La Llorona (2019 film)

text: Meagan Navarro from "Bloody Disgusting" awarded it 2½ skulls out of 5, writing "Bustamante delivers a sobering evocation for justice, and in the case of "La Llorona", it’s by the hands of a folkloric vengeance seeker. Certain aspects of the story are emotionally powerful, while other threads feel underdeveloped. The predictability of the overarching direction means the slow-burn pacing can drag, and the horror elements are very minimal. If you go in expecting something more historically relevant and genre adjacent, it’s easier to find an in to a narrative that's not always easily accessible."


title: Mill Valley, California

text: Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census.


title: Mill Valley, California

text: Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay, and the eastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais. Beyond the flat coastal area and marshlands, it occupies narrow wooded canyons, mostly of second-growth redwoods, on the southeastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais. The Mill Valley 94941 ZIP Code also includes the following adjacent unincorporated communities: Almonte, Alto, Homestead Valley, Tamalpais Valley, and Strawberry. The Muir Woods National Monument is also located just outside the city limits.


title: Mill Valley, California

text: The first people known to inhabit Marin County, the Coast Miwok, arrived approximately 6,500 years ago. The territory of the Coast Miwok included all of Marin County, north to Bodega Bay and southern Sonoma County. More than 600 village sites have been identified, including 14 sites in the Mill Valley area. Nearby archaeological discoveries include the rock carvings and grinding sites on Ring Mountain. The pre-Missionization population of the Coast Miwok is estimated to be between 1,500 (Alfred L. Kroeber's estimate for the year 1770 A.D.) to 2,000 (Sherburne F. Cook's estimate for the same year). The pre-Missionization population of the Coast Miwok may have been as high as 5,000. Cook speculated that by 1848 their population had decreased to 300, and was down to 60 by 1880. As of 2011 there are over 1,000 registered members of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which includes both the Coast Miwok and the Southern Pomo, all of whom can date their ancestry back to the 14 survivors original tribal ancestors.


title: Mill Valley, California

text: In Mill Valley, on Locust Avenue between Sycamore and Walnut Avenues, there is now a metal plaque set in the sidewalk in the area believed to be the birthplace of Chief Marin in 1781; the plaque was dedicated on May 8, 2009. The village site was first identified by Nels Nelson in 1907 and his excavation revealed tools, burials and food debris just beyond the driveway of 44 Locust Ave. At that time, the mound was high. Another famous Mill Valley site was in the Manzanita area underneath the Fireside Inn (previously known as the Manzanita Roadhouse, Manzanita Hotel, Emil Plasberg's Top Rail, and Top Rail Tavern, most of which were notorious Prohibition-era gin joints and brothels) located near the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1. Built in 1916, the "blind pig" roadhouse was outside the dry limits of the city itself. Shell mounds have been discovered in areas by streams and along Richardson Bay, including in the Strawberry and Almonte neighborhoods.


title: Mill Valley, California

text: Beginning with the foundation of Mission San Francisco de Asís, commonly known as Mission Dolores, in 1776, the Coast Miwok of southern Marin began to slowly enter the mission, first those from Sausalito followed by those from areas now known as Mill Valley, Belvedere, Tiburon and Bolinas. They called themselves the "Huimen" people. At the mission they were taught the Catholic religion, lost their freedom, and three quarters died as a result of exposure to European diseases. As a result of the high death rate at Mission Dolores it was decided to build a new Mission San Rafael, built in 1817. Over 200 surviving Coast Miwok were taken there from Mission Dolores and Mission San Jose, including the 17 survivors of the Huimen Coast Miwok of the Richardson Bay Area. California Missions.