title: Jimmy Page

text: Page frequently employed a scaled-down version of the Theremin known as the Sonic Wave, first using the instrument during live performances with the Yardbirds. As a member of Led Zeppelin, Page played the Sonic Wave on the studio recordings of "Whole Lotta Love" and "No Quarter", and frequently played the instrument at the band's live shows.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page owns two hurdy-gurdies, and is shown playing one of the instruments in the 1976 film "The Song Remains the Same". The second hurdy-gurdy owned by Page was produced by Christopher Eaton, father of renowned English hurdy-gurdist Nigel Eaton.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page usually recorded in studio with assorted amplifiers by Vox, Axis, Fender and Orange amplification. Live, he used Hiwatt and Marshall amplification. The first Led Zeppelin album was played on a Fender Telecaster through a Supro amplifier.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page used a limited number of effects, including a Maestro Echoplex, a Dunlop Cry Baby, an MXR Phase 90, a Vox Cry Baby Wah, a Boss CE-2 Chorus, a Yamaha CH-10Mk II Chorus, a Sola Sound Tone Bender Professional Mk II, an MXR Blue Box (distortion/octaver) and a DigiTech Whammy.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page is credited for the innovations in sound recording he brought to the studio during the years he was a member of Led Zeppelin, many of which he had initially developed as a session musician:


title: Jimmy Page

text: This apprenticeship ... became a part of [learning] how things were recorded. I started to learn microphone placements and things like that, what did and what didn't work. I certainly knew what did and didn't work with drummers because they put drummers in these little sound booths that had no sound deflection at all and the drums would just sound awful. The reality of it is the drum is a musical instrument, it relies on having a bright room and a live room ... And so bit by bit I was learning really how "not" to record.


title: Jimmy Page

text: He developed a reputation for employing effects in new ways and trying out different methods of using microphones and amplification. During the late 1960s, most British music producers placed microphones directly in front of amplifiers and drums, resulting in the sometimes "tinny" sound of the recordings of the era. Page commented to "Guitar World" magazine that he felt the drum sounds of the day in particular "sounded like cardboard boxes." Instead, Page was a fan of 1950s recording techniques, Sun Studio being a particular favourite. In the same "Guitar World" interview, Page remarked: "Recording used to be a science" and "[engineers] used to have a maxim: distance equals depth." Taking this maxim to heart, Page developed the idea of placing an additional microphone some distance from the amplifier (as much as twenty feet) and then recording the balance between the two. By adopting this technique, Page became one of the first British producers to record a band's "ambient sound" – the distance of a note's time-lag from one end of the room to the other.


title: Jimmy Page

text: For the recording of several Led Zeppelin tracks, such as "Whole Lotta Love" and "You Shook Me", Page additionally utilised "reverse echo" – a technique which he claims to have invented himself while with the Yardbirds (he had originally developed the method when recording the 1967 single "Ten Little Indians"). This production technique involved hearing the echo before the main sound instead of after it, achieved by turning the tape over and employing the echo on a spare track, then turning the tape back over again to get the echo preceding the signal.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page has stated that, as producer, he deliberately changed the audio engineers on Led Zeppelin albums, from Glyn Johns for the first album, to Eddie Kramer for "Led Zeppelin II", to Andy Johns for "Led Zeppelin III" and later albums. He explained: "I consciously kept changing engineers because I didn't want people to think that they were responsible for our sound. I wanted people to know it was me."


title: Jimmy Page

text: John Paul Jones acknowledged that Page's production techniques were a key component of the success of Led Zeppelin:


title: Jimmy Page

text: In an interview that Page himself gave to "Guitar World" magazine in 1993, he remarked on his work as a producer:


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page was with American recording artist Jackie DeShannon during the 1960s, who is cited as a possible inspiration for the Page composition and Led Zeppelin recording "Tangerine".


title: Jimmy Page

text: French model Charlotte Martin was Page's partner from 1970 to about 1982 or 1983. Page called her "My Lady" and together they had a daughter, Scarlet Page (born in 1971), who is a photographer.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Also during the 1970s, Page had a well-documented, one-year-long relationship with "baby groupie" Lori Mattix (also known as Lori Maddox), beginning when she was 14 or 15 and while he was an adult of twenty-eight. In light of the Me Too movement four decades later, their relationship attracted renewed attention.


title: Jimmy Page

text: From 1986 to 1995, Page was married to Patricia Ecker, a model and waitress. They have a son, James Patrick Page (born April 1988). Page later married Jimena Gómez-Paratcha, whom he met in Brazil on the No Quarter tour. He adopted her oldest daughter Jana (born 1994) and they have two children together: Zofia Jade (born 1997) and Ashen Josan (born 1999). Page and Gómez-Paratcha divorced in 2008.


title: Jimmy Page

text: In 1967, when Page was still with The Yardbirds, he purchased the Thames Boathouse on the River Thames in Pangbourne, Berkshire and resided there until 1973. The Boathouse was also the place where Page and Plant first officially got together in the summer of 1968 and Led Zeppelin was formed.


title: Jimmy Page

text: In 1972, Page bought the Tower House from Richard Harris. It was the home that William Burges (1827–81) had designed for himself in London. "I had an interest going back to my teens in the pre-Raphaelite movement and the architecture of Burges", Page said. "What a wonderful world to discover." The reputation of Burges rests on his extravagant designs and his contribution to the Gothic revival in architecture in the nineteenth century.


title: Jimmy Page

text: From 1980 to 2004 Page owned the Mill House, Mill Lane, Windsor, which was formerly the home of actor Michael Caine. Fellow Led Zeppelin band member John Bonham died at the house in 1980.


title: Jimmy Page

text: From the early 1970s to the early 1990s, Page owned the Boleskine House, the former residence of occultist Aleister Crowley. Sections of Page's fantasy sequence in the film "The Song Remains the Same" were filmed at night on the mountainside directly behind Boleskine House.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page also previously owned Plumpton Place in Sussex, formerly owned by Edward Hudson, the owner of "Country Life" magazine and with certain parts of the house designed by Edwin Lutyens. This house features in the Zeppelin film "The Song Remains The Same" where Page is seen sitting on the lawn playing a hurdy-gurdy.


title: Jimmy Page

text: He currently resides in Sonning, Berkshire in Deanery Garden, a house also designed by Edwin Lutyens for Edward Hudson.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page has acknowledged heavy recreational drug use throughout the 1970s. In an interview with "Guitar World" magazine in 2003, he stated: "I can't speak for the [other members of the band], but for me drugs were an integral part of the whole thing, right from the beginning, right to the end." After the band's 1973 North American tour, Page told Nick Kent: "Oh, everyone went over the top a few times. I know I did and, to be honest with you, I don't really remember much of what happened."


title: Jimmy Page

text: In 1975, Page began to use heroin, according to Richard Cole. Cole claims that he and Page took the drug during the recording sessions of the album "Presence," and Page admitted shortly afterward that he was addicted to the drug.


title: Jimmy Page

text: By Led Zeppelin's 1977 North American tour, Page's heroin addiction was beginning to hamper his guitar playing performances. By this time the guitarist had lost a noticeable amount of weight. His onstage appearance was not the only obvious change; his addiction caused Page to become so inward and isolated it altered the dynamics between him and Plant considerably. During the recording sessions for "In Through the Out Door" in 1978, Page's diminished influence on the album (relative to bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones) is partly attributed to his heroin addiction, which resulted in his absence from the studio for long periods of time.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page reportedly overcame his heroin habit in the early 1980s, although he was arrested for possession of cocaine in both 1982 and 1984. He was given a 12-month conditional discharge in 1982 and, despite a second offence usually carrying a jail sentence, he was only fined.


title: Jimmy Page

text: In a 1988 interview with "Musician" magazine, Page took offence when the interviewer noted that heroin had been associated with his name and insisted: "Do I look as if I'm a smack addict? Well, I'm not. Thank you very much."


title: Jimmy Page

text: In an interview he gave to "Q magazine" in 2003, Page responded to a question as to whether he regrets getting so involved in heroin and cocaine:


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page's interest in the occult started as a schoolboy at the age of fifteen, when he read English occultist's Aleister Crowley's "". He later said that following this discovery, he thought: "Yes, that's it. My thing: I've found it."


title: Jimmy Page

text: The appearance of four symbols on the jacket of Led Zeppelin's fourth album has been linked to Page's interest in the occult. The four symbols represented each member of the band. Page's own so-called "Zoso" symbol originated in "Ars Magica Arteficii" (1557) by Gerolamo Cardano, an old alchemical grimoire, where it has been identified as a sigil consisting of zodiac signs. The sigil is reproduced in "Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils" by Fred Gettings.


title: Jimmy Page

text: During tours and performances after the release of the fourth album, Page often had the "Zoso" symbol embroidered on his clothes, along with zodiac symbols. These were visible most notably on his "Dragon Suit", which included the signs for Capricorn, Scorpio and Cancer which are Page's Sun, Ascendant and Moon signs, respectively. The "Zoso" symbol also appeared on Page's amplifiers.


title: Jimmy Page

text: The artwork inside the album cover of "Led Zeppelin IV" is from a painting attributed to the artist Barrington Colby, influenced by the traditional Rider/Waite Tarot card design for the card called "The Hermit". Very little is known about Colby and rumours have persisted down the years that Page himself is responsible for the painting. Page transforms into this character during his fantasy sequence in Led Zeppelin's concert film "The Song Remains the Same".


title: Jimmy Page

text: In the early 1970s Page owned an occult bookshop and publishing house, The Equinox Booksellers and Publishers, at 4 Holland Street in Kensington, London, named after Crowley's biannual magazine, "The Equinox". The design of the interior incorporated Egyptian and Art Deco motifs, with Crowley's birth chart affixed to a wall. Page's reasons for setting up the bookshop were straightforward:


title: Jimmy Page

text: There was not one bookshop in London with a good collection of occult books and I was so pissed off at not being able to get the books I wanted.


title: Jimmy Page

text: The company published two books: a facsimile of Crowley's 1904 edition of "The Goetia" and "Astrology, A Cosmic Science" by Isabel Hickey. The lease eventually expired on the premises and was not renewed. As Page said: "It obviously wasn't going to run the way it should without some drastic business changes, and I didn't really want to have to agree to all that. I basically just wanted the shop to be the nucleus, that's all."


title: Jimmy Page

text: Page was commissioned to write the soundtrack music for the film "Lucifer Rising" by Crowley admirer and underground movie director Kenneth Anger. Page ultimately produced 23 minutes of music, which Anger felt was insufficient because the film ran for 28 minutes and Anger wanted the film to have a full soundtrack. Anger claimed Page took three years to deliver the music and the final product was only 23 minutes of "droning". The director also slammed the guitarist in the press by calling him a "dabbler" in the occult and an addict and being too strung out on drugs to complete the project. Page countered that he had fulfilled all his obligations, even going so far as to lend Anger his own film editing equipment to help him finish the project. Page released the Lucifer Rising music on vinyl in 2012 via his website on "Lucifer Rising and other sound tracks". Side one contained "Lucifer Rising – Main Track", whilst side two contained the tracks "Incubus", "Damask", "Unharmonics", "Damask – Ambient", and "Lucifer Rising – Percussive Return". In the December 2012 Rolling Stone cover story "Jimmy Page Looks Back", Page said: "... there was a request, suggesting that Lucifer Rising should come out again with my music on. I ignored it."


title: Jimmy Page

text: Although Page collected works by Crowley, he has never described himself as a Thelemite nor was he ever initiated into the OTO. The Equinox Bookstore and Boleskine House were both sold off during the 1980s, as Page settled into family life and participated in charity work.


title: Jimmy Page

text: Early in his career, Page played on a number of recordings by British rock and pop artists as a session guitarist. As a member of the Yardbirds, he recorded "Little Games" (1967) (expanded in 1992 as "Little Games Sessions & More"), "" (1971), and "Cumular Limit" (2000). Beginning in 1968, he recorded nine albums with Led Zeppelin (see Led Zeppelin discography for the complete list). After Zeppelin, Page has recorded in several different settings. One of the first is the soundtrack album "Death Wish II" (1982). As a member of the Firm, he recorded "The Firm" (1985) and "Mean Business" (1986). Collaborations followed, including "Whatever Happened to Jugula?" (1985) with Roy Harper, "Coverdale•Page" (1993), "Walking into Clarksdale" (1998) with Robert Plant, and "Live at the Greek" (2000) with the Black Crowes. His only solo album, "Outrider", was released in 1988. As a guest performer, he has contributed to several albums and singles.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Darwin Gabriel Núñez Ribeiro (; born 24 June 1999) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Liverpool and the Uruguay national team.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez came through Peñarol's youth academy, being promoted to the first team in 2017. In August 2019, he joined Spanish Segunda División club Almería for a club record fee. Benfica signed him in 2020 for a club-record transfer worth €24 million, the most expensive signing in Portuguese football history. In his second season, he won the Bola de Prata for top scorer in the Primeira Liga with 26 goals in 28 games, being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year and Primeira Liga Player of the Year. Liverpool then signed him in June 2022 for a transfer worth €75 million (£64 million).


title: Darwin Núñez

text: After representing Uruguay at various youth levels, Núñez was called up to the full international team for the first time in October 2019. He scored on his international debut against Peru.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez was born in Artigas into an impoverished family in which his father Bibiano Núñez was a builder and his mother Silvia Ribeiro was a hawker of milk bottles. He played for local clubs La Luz and San Miguel before being scouted at the age of 14 by former Uruguay international José Perdomo, and then moving by himself to the capital city Montevideo to join the ranks of Peñarol.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Struggling with homesickness, Núñez returned to his hometown to spend time with his family and went back to Peñarol a year later. At the age of 17, he suffered a cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out for over a year and required two operations. While he was injured, his older brother Junior quit the club and gave up football in order to provide for the family, telling him "you're better suited than me".


title: Darwin Núñez

text: He made his first-team debut in the Primera División on 22 November 2017, when he came on for Peñarol as a second-half substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in a 2–1 away loss against River Plate Montevideo. The following month, he had knee surgery for a second time.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez scored his first professional goal on 13 October 2018, netting the opener in a 2–0 home defeat of Fénix. On 14 July 2019, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 routing of Boston River.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 29 August 2019, Spanish Segunda División club Almería announced the signing of Núñez on a five-year contract, for a rumoured club record fee of US$4.5 million plus $1.5 million in variables. He made his debut on 3 October as a half-time substitute in 4–2 league defeat against Sporting de Gijón.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 27 October 2019, starting for the first time, Núñez scored first goal for his new club in a 3–2 home win against Extremadura with a penalty. He finished his only season at the Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos as the league's joint fourth top scorer with 16 goals, led by compatriot Cristhian Stuani.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 4 September 2020, Núñez signed a five-year contract with Portuguese club Benfica, who paid a club record fee of €24 million for the player. This was also Almeria's and the Segunda División's biggest transfer, with the club also receiving 20% of a future transfer. Eleven days later, he made his debut for the club in a 2–1 loss against PAOK for the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round replacing Pedrinho in the 65th minute of the game.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: With his assist in a 3–0 win over Rio Ave on 18 October, he reached five assists in his first four league games, best in the league. On 22 October, he scored his first goals for the club with a hat-trick against Lech Poznań in a 4–2 away victory in a 2020–21 UEFA Europa League group stage match. Four days later, he scored his first Primeira Liga goal in a 2–0 home victory over B SAD.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 3 December, after three weeks off from COVID-19, he returned to action against Lech Poznań in the Europa League group stage, scoring Benfica's second goal in a 4–0 home victory. He struggled over the course of the season with the effects of the virus and various injuries, and did not score for four months. He scored six league goals and provided ten assists – second-best in the league – helping Benfica to a third-place finish and qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: In May 2021, Núñez underwent surgery due to an injury on his right knee, forcing him to miss Benfica's first months of the new season. He made his return from injury on 21 August, replacing Everton in the 72nd minute, in a 2–0 away victory over Gil Vicente, being booked in the process. Following back-to-back braces against Santa Clara and Boavista in the Primeira Liga, he was named the league's Player of the Month and Forward of the Month for September. On 29 September, he scored his first two UEFA Champions League goals in a 3–0 home victory over Barcelona, and was named man of the match.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 27 November, he scored his first hat-trick in the league as his team finished the first half at B-SAD 7–0 up, though the game was abandoned early in the second half due to insufficient players on the COVID-affected host team; on 12 December he added another treble against Famalicão in a 4–1 away win, becoming the seventh player in the league to score back-to-back hat-tricks. Three days later, he scored two goals in a 3–0 home win over Sporting da Covilhã to send his team into the semi-finals of the 2021–22 Taça da Liga, though, while he was away on international duty for Uruguay, Benfica were defeated 2–1 by crosstown rivals Sporting CP in the final.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 27 February, Núñez scored his 20th league goal for Benfica in as many matches, in a 3–0 home victory against Vitória de Guimarães. On 15 March, in the second leg of Champions League round-of-16, he scored the only goal of an away win over Ajax, securing a 3–2 aggregate win in the process. On 9 April, he scored his third hat-trick of the season in a 3–1 victory against B-SAD, bringing his total goal count for the season to 31 goals. He scored two goals against Liverpool in the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals: one in the first leg and the other in the second leg, while his team were eliminated 6–4 on aggregate. His sixth goal of the campaign made him Benfica's all-time top scorer in modern Champions League history, surpassing Nuno Gomes' record of five goals set in the 1998–99 season.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 17 April, he scored a goal and provided an assist to help defeat the hosts Sporting 2–0 in the Derby de Lisboa, being named man of the match. In his last match for the club, on 7 May, Núñez scored a goal that was ruled out by VAR in a 1–0 home loss of "O Clássico" against rivals Porto, as they sealed the league title. He finished the season with 26 goals in 28 league games, being awarded the Bola de Prata award as top scorer of the Primeira Liga, being named in the Team of the Year and Player of the Year.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: On 13 June 2022, Benfica reached an agreement with Premier League club Liverpool for the transfer of Núñez for a €75 million fee plus €25 million in add-ons. The following day, the club confirmed the deal, for £64 million, with add-ons potentially taking overall fee to £85 million at a later date, making him Liverpool's record transfer. On 30 July, Núñez made his debut for Liverpool in the club's 3–1 win over Manchester City in the FA Community Shield at the King Power Stadium. He won a penalty, which was converted by Mohamed Salah, and scored his first goal for the club with a close-range header in the fourth minute of stoppage time. On 6 August, he scored his first league goal for Liverpool in his debut Premier League match against Fulham, that ended as a draw. The following match, he was sent off for violent conduct in a 1–1 home draw against Crystal Palace, having headbutted opponent Joachim Andersen. On 12 October, Núñez scored his first Champions League goal for Liverpool in a 7–1 away win against Rangers. Having already scored 5 Premier League goals, Núñez scored two goals in a friendly game against AC Milan after Uruguay had been knocked out of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez is a former Uruguay youth international, and was part of under-20 team squad which finished third in 2019 South American U-20 Championship.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez also took part in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring in the opening match, a 3–1 over Norway. He scored the opening goal in a 2–0 over New Zealand in the final group match, to help Uruguay finish top of Group C. His country was eliminated from the tournament following a 3–1 loss to Ecuador in the round of 16.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez was also in the under-22 team that finished in fourth place at 2019 Pan American Games in Peru, scoring in a 2–0 opening win over the hosts.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez was called up to the senior team for friendlies against Costa Rica and the United States in September 2019. He made his international debut that 16 October in a 1–1 draw away to Peru in another exhibition, replacing Brian Lozano in the 75th minute of the game and scoring five minutes later.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: In June 2021, Núñez was included in the final 26-man Uruguay squad for the 2021 Copa América in Brazil. Due to a right knee injury that would rule him out for two months, he missed the tournament.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: In 2022, Núñez was included in the 2022 FIFA World Cup squad for Uruguay which also boasted the likes of Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani and Federico Valverde. Despite an impressive performance, Uruguay were eliminated in the group stages of the tournament.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez is a right-footed player, he possesses an athletic frame, excellent acceleration and sprinting speed is the defining facet of his athletic skillset, with his explosive change of pace being capable of creating immediate separation. He also has good awareness, he scans space and makes decisions when moving relative to the ball, space, team-mates and opponents. Núñez is a disruptive striker with a dynamic range of mobility that can carry counter-attacks, makes incisive movements around the box, and strike the ball explosively. He is adept at attacking open spaces and is good at generating shots from varied situations. He is also a promising creator around the box and is also capable of playing as a left-winger. Núñez usually opts to rely on intelligent positioning and timing of runs in between defenders, specially in attacking the space between a fullback and centre-back at the backpost, often initially curving his run away from the centre back before moving back infield. He often makes adjustments to his footwork to find space in the box and he also uses his body either to avoid a foul, but forcefully enough to arrive at a cross ahead of his marker.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: During his spell at Benfica, under Jorge Jesus and Nélson Veríssimo, Núñez played in a variety of positions and systems. He played as a striker and a left inside-forward in a 4–4–2 and 3–4–3 formations, with the responsibilities in these roles, shifting on Benfica's ball possession or counter-attacking approaches for games. His ability to drift into the box and create space was a major part of his game, while also being aided by the presence of another striker (either Haris Seferovic or Gonçalo Ramos), which enabled Núñez to vacate his wide position to take up more positions in the penalty area. His playing style has led him to be compared to fellow Uruguyan forwards Edinson Cavani and Luis Suárez.


title: Darwin Núñez

text: Núñez and his partner Lorena Mañas announced the birth of their first child, a son also named Darwin, in January 2022. In addition to his native Spanish, Núñez also speaks Portuguese.


title: Five Families

text: The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.


title: Five Families

text: Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs in New York City into the Maranzano, Profaci, Mangano, Luciano, and Gagliano families, which are now known as the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese families. Each family had a demarcated territory and an organizationally structured hierarchy and reported up to the same overarching governing entity. Initially, Maranzano intended each family's boss to report to him as the "capo di tutti i capi" ("boss of all the bosses"). However, this led to his assassination that September, and that role was abolished for The Commission, a ruling committee established by Lucky Luciano to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and to mediate conflicts between families. It consisted of the bosses of the Five Families as well as the bosses of the Chicago Outfit and the Buffalo crime family. In 1963, Joseph Valachi publicly disclosed the existence of New York City's Five Families at the Valachi hearings. Since then, a few other crime families have been able to become powerful or notable enough to rise to a level comparable to that of the Five Families, holding or sharing the unofficial designation of Sixth Family.


title: Five Families

text: In the 1920s, Mafia operations in the U.S. were controlled by Giuseppe "Joe The Boss" Masseria, whose faction consisted mainly of gangsters from Sicily and the Calabria and Campania regions of Southern Italy. Masseria's faction included Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia, Vito Genovese, Alfred Mineo, Willie Moretti, Joe Adonis, and Frank Costello. However, powerful Sicilian "mafioso" Don Vito Cascio Ferro decided to make a bid for control of Mafia operations. From his base in Castellammare del Golfo, he sent Salvatore Maranzano to seize control. The Castellammarese faction in the U.S. included Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonanno, Stefano "The Undertaker" Magaddino, Joseph Profaci, and Joe Aiello. As it became more and more evident that the two factions would clash for leadership of the Mafia, they each sought to recruit more followers to support them.


title: Five Families

text: Outwardly, the Castellammarese War was between the forces of Masseria and Maranzano. Underneath, however, there was also a generational conflict between the old guard Sicilian leadership known as the "Mustache Petes" for their long mustaches and old-world ways, such as refusing to do business with non-Italians and the "Young Turks", a younger and more diverse Italian group who were more forward-thinking and willing to work more with non-Italians. This approach led his followers to question whether Masseria was even capable of making the Mafia prosper in modern times. Led by Luciano, the aim of this group was to end the war as soon as possible in order to resume their businesses, because they viewed the conflict as unnecessary. Luciano's objective was to modernize the mob and do away with unnecessary orthodox norms. This was a vision that enabled him to attract followers, who had seen the inadequacies of Masseria's traditionalist leadership. Therefore, both factions were fluid, with many mobsters switching sides or killing their own allies during the war. Tensions between the Maranzano and Masseria factions were evident as far back as 1928, with one side frequently hijacking the other's alcohol trucks (alcohol production was then illegal in the United States due to Prohibition).


title: Five Families

text: In early 1931, Luciano made the decision to take out Masseria. The war had been going poorly for Masseria, and Luciano saw an opportunity to switch allegiance. In a secret deal with Maranzano, Luciano agreed to engineer Masseria's death in return for receiving Masseria's rackets and becoming Maranzano's second-in-command. Joe Adonis had joined the Masseria faction and when Masseria heard about Luciano's betrayal, he approached Adonis about killing Luciano. However, Adonis instead warned Luciano about the murder plot. On April 15, 1931, Masseria was killed at Nuova Villa Tammaro, a Coney Island restaurant in Brooklyn. While they played cards, Luciano allegedly excused himself to the bathroom, with the gunmen reportedly being Anastasia, Genovese, Adonis, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel; Ciro "The Artichoke King" Terranova drove the getaway car, but legend has it that he was too shaken up to drive away and had to be shoved out of the driver's seat by Siegel. With Maranzano's blessing, Luciano took over Masseria's gang and became Maranzano's lieutenant, ending the Castellammarese War.


title: Five Families

text: With Masseria gone, Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs in New York City into the Five Families headed by Luciano, Profaci, Gagliano, Mangano, and himself. Maranzano called a meeting of crime bosses in Wappingers Falls, New York, where he declared himself "capo di tutti i capi" ("boss of all bosses"). Maranzano also whittled down the rival families' rackets in favor of his own. Luciano appeared to accept these changes, but was merely biding his time before removing Maranzano. Although Maranzano was slightly more forward-thinking than Masseria, Luciano had come to believe that Maranzano was even more greedy and hidebound than Masseria had been.


title: Five Families

text: By September 1931, Maranzano realized Luciano was a threat, and hired Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, an Irish gangster, to kill him. However, Lucchese alerted Luciano that he was marked for death. On September 10, 1931, Maranzano ordered Luciano, Genovese, and Costello to come to his office at the 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Convinced that Maranzano planned to murder them, Luciano decided to act first. He sent to Maranzano's office four Jewish gangsters whose faces were unknown to Maranzano's people. They had been secured with the aid of Jewish mobsters Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel. Disguised as government agents, two of the gangsters disarmed Maranzano's bodyguards. The other two, aided by Lucchese, who was there to point Maranzano out, stabbed the boss multiple times before shooting him. This assassination was the first of what would later be fabled as the "Night of the Sicilian Vespers".


title: Five Families

text: After Maranzano's murder in 1931, Luciano called a meeting in Chicago. Although there would have been few objections had Luciano declared himself "capo di tutti i capi," he abolished the title, believing the position created trouble among the families and would make himself a target for another ambitious challenger. Luciano's goals with the Commission were to quietly maintain his own power over all the families, and to prevent future gang wars; the bosses approved the idea of the Commission. The Commission would consist of a "board of directors" to oversee all Mafia activities in the United States and serve to mediate conflicts between families.


title: Five Families

text: The Commission consisted of seven family bosses: the leaders of New York's Five Families: Charlie "Lucky" Luciano, Vincent Mangano, Tommy Gagliano, Joseph Bonanno, and Joe Profaci; Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone; and Buffalo family boss Stefano Magaddino. Charlie Luciano was appointed chairman of the Commission. The Commission agreed to hold meetings every five years or when they needed to discuss family problems.


title: Five Families

text: In the grand scheme of things, the mafia’s run (even though they are still currently active) of power did not last long at all. The peak of the mafia in the United States was during the 40s, and the 50s, until the year 1970 when the Rico Act got enacted and the specific reason of this was to stop the mafia and organized crime as a whole. This law made it so that someone does not need to be caught doing a specific crime, but instead charge someone for being apart of an organized crime group and freeze the assets of the defendants. Once arrested, and assets are frozen, they will be hit with charges of organization such as murder, bribery, and robbery. This would then influence those being charged and being given years such as 30-life to become informants to lower their sentences but would also repeat the process over again. This was very effective, and because of this act, a large portion of the members being arrested turned to informant, which led to the arrest of many more members as a whole.


title: Five Families

text: In 1963, Joseph Valachi publicly disclosed the existence of New York City's Five Families at the Valachi hearings. According to Valachi, the original bosses of the Five Families were Charles Luciano, Tommaso Gagliano, Joseph Profaci, Salvatore Maranzano and Vincent Mangano. At the time of his testimony in 1963, Valachi revealed that the current bosses of the Five Families were Tommy Lucchese, Vito Genovese, Joseph Colombo, Carlo Gambino, and Joe Bonanno. These have since been the names most commonly used to refer to the New York Five Families, despite years of overturn and changing bosses in each.


title: Five Families

text: The crime families historically operated throughout the New York Metropolitan area, but mainly within New York City. In the state of New York, the gangs have increased their criminal rackets on Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk) and the counties of Westchester, Rockland, and Albany. They also maintain a strong presence in the state of New Jersey. The Five Families are also active in South Florida, Connecticut, Las Vegas, and Massachusetts.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Casino Royale is a 2006 spy film, the twenty-first in the Eon Productions "James Bond" series, and the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel of the same name. Directed by Martin Campbell from a screenplay by Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis, it stars Daniel Craig in his first appearance as Bond, alongside Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, and Jeffrey Wright. In the film, Bond is on assignment to bankrupt terrorist financier Le Chiffre (Mikkelsen) in a high-stakes poker game at the Casino Royale in Montenegro.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Following "Die Another Day" (2002), Eon decided to reboot the franchise, attempting to counteract perceived unrealistic elements of previous entries and instead explore a less experienced, more vulnerable Bond. Casting involved a widespread search for a new actor to succeed Pierce Brosnan as Bond; the choice of Craig, announced in October 2005, proved controversial. Principal photography took place in the Bahamas, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic, with interior sets built at Pinewood Studios and Barrandov Studios. "Casino Royale" features primarily practical stuntwork as opposed to the computer-generated placements seen in other "Bond" films.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square on 14 November 2006, and was theatrically released first in the United Kingdom on 16 November, and in the United States a day later. The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Craig's reinvention of the character and its departure from the tropes of previous "Bond" films. It grossed over $ worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2006 and the highest-grossing "James Bond" film until the release of "Skyfall" (2012). The sequel, "Quantum of Solace", was released in 2008.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: MI6 operative James Bond gains his licence to kill and promotion to 00 agent status by assassinating the traitorous Dryden and his contact at the British Embassy in Prague. In Uganda, Mr. White introduces Steven Obanno, a high-ranking member of the Lord's Resistance Army, to Le Chiffre, an Albanian private banker to terrorists. Obanno entrusts Le Chiffre with a large sum of money to invest; Le Chiffre shorts the stock of aerospace manufacturer Skyfleet using insider knowledge of a terrorist attack.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In Madagascar, Bond blows up an embassy in the course of killing bomb-maker Mollaka. MI6 chief M admonishes Bond for causing an international incident and ignoring her orders to capture Mollaka alive. Using information captured from Mollaka, Bond is led to corrupt Greek official Alex Dimitrios in the Bahamas, who had hired Mollaka at Le Chiffre's request. After winning his Aston Martin DB5 in a poker game and seducing Dimitrios' wife Solange, Bond pursues Dimitrios to Miami and kills him, then chases down the new attacker Dimitrios has hired. Bond thwarts the destruction of Skyfleet's prototype airliner, costing Le Chiffre his hundred-million dollar investment. Surmising that somebody talked, he tortures Solange to death.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: To recoup his clients' money, Le Chiffre organizes a Texas hold 'em tournament at the Casino Royale in Montenegro. MI6 enters Bond in the tournament, believing a defeat will force Le Chiffre to seek asylum with the British government in exchange for information on his clients. Bond is paired with Vesper Lynd, a British Treasury agent protecting the $10 million buy-in. They meet their contact René Mathis in Montenegro. Obanno, furious that his money is missing, ambushes Le Chiffre but allows him to continue playing to win back the money, though Bond kills both Obanno and his bodyguard. Bond loses his stake as Le Chiffre has been tipped off about his own tell. Vesper refuses to cover the $5 million rebuy, but fellow player Felix Leiter, a CIA agent, stakes Bond the money to continue in exchange for taking Le Chiffre into American custody. Le Chiffre's lover Valenka poisons Bond's martini but Vesper rescues him. He returns to the game and wins. Le Chiffre kidnaps Vesper to trap Bond, and brings them to an abandoned ship where he tortures Bond to reveal the password to the winnings, but Bond resists. Mr. White bursts in and kills Le Chiffre, sparing Bond and Vesper.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Bond awakens in an MI6 hospital and recovers with Vesper at his side. He has Mathis apprehended after revealing that Mathis was the one who tipped off Le Chiffre about his tell. Bond resigns from MI6 and he and Vesper run away to Venice. When M reveals the money was never deposited, Bond realizes Vesper has betrayed him. He follows her to a handoff of the money, where gunmen take her captive upon spotting him. Bond shoots the building's flotation devices, causing it to sink into the Grand Canal. He kills the gunmen, but Vesper is imprisoned in an elevator. She drowns after locking herself inside to prevent Bond from rescuing her, while Mr. White escapes with the money.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: M informs Bond, who has returned to service, the organization behind Le Chiffre threatened to kill Vesper's lover unless she became a double agent. When Bond denounces Vesper as a traitor, M deduces that she likely made a deal with White, trading the money for Bond's life. Realizing Vesper left her phone to help him, Bond checks the contacts and locates Mr. White at an estate in Lake Como. Shooting him in the leg, 007 introduces himself: "The name's Bond, James Bond".


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" includes a cameo by British entrepreneur Richard Branson (seen being TSA-screened at Miami International Airport). The cameo was cut out of the in-flight versions shown on British Airways' in-flight entertainment systems, and the Virgin Atlantic aircraft Branson supplied had its tail fin (bearing the company logo) obscured. Brazilian model Alessandra Ambrosio makes an unspoken cameo as a tennis player.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" had been produced as a 1954 television episode starring Barry Nelson as Bond and Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, as well as a non-canonical 1967 ensemble satirical film starring David Niven, Peter Sellers and Woody Allen. Eon Productions gained the rights to "Casino Royale" in 1999 after Sony Pictures Entertainment exchanged them for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's rights to "Spider-Man". In March 2004, Neal Purvis and Robert Wade began writing a screenplay for Pierce Brosnan as Bond, aiming to bring back the flavour of Ian Fleming's original "Bond" novels. An early draft featured Bond backpacking in Madagascar and playing chess with Lord Lucan. As the drafts got closer to the final storyline, the opening scene in which Bond earns his 00 license was originally going to consist of an adaptation of either the short stories "The Hildebrand Rarity" or "007 in New York." Rather than bombing the Skyfleet jet, there would have been a hijacking of a cruise ship in Cape Town. Paul Haggis' main contribution was to rewrite the climax of the film. He explained, "the draft that was there was very faithful to the book and there was a confession, so in the original draft, the character confessed and killed herself. She then sent Bond to chase after the villains; Bond chased the villains into the house. I don't know why but I thought that Vesper had to be in the sinking house and Bond has to want to kill her and then try and save her." Haggis also said they wanted "to do for Bond what "Batman Begins" did for Batman." Broccoli and Wilson were mindful that ""Die Another Day" had become too fantastical", feeling the next film should be more realistic.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Director Quentin Tarantino expressed interest in directing an adaptation of "Casino Royale", but Eon was not interested. He claims to have worked behind the scenes with the Fleming family, and believed this was the reason why filmmakers finally went ahead with "Casino Royale". Tarantino also said he would have set it in the 1960s and would have only made it with Pierce Brosnan as Bond. In February 2005, Martin Campbell, who previously directed "GoldenEye" (1995), was announced as the film's director. Later in 2005, Sony led a consortium that purchased MGM, allowing Sony to gain distribution rights starting with the film.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Eon believed that it had relied too heavily on computer-generated imagery effects in the more recent films, particularly "Die Another Day", and was keen to accomplish the stunts in "Casino Royale" "the old fashioned way". In keeping with this drive for more realism, screenwriters Purvis, Wade and Haggis wanted the script to follow as closely as possible the original 1953 novel, keeping Fleming's darker storyline and characterization of Bond.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Due to copyright issues related to the ownership of "Thunderball", the organization of which Mr White is a part is not named Spectre.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Pierce Brosnan had signed a deal for four films when he was cast in the role of James Bond. This was fulfilled with the production of "Die Another Day" in 2002 and Brosnan officially announced he was stepping down in February 2004. At one point, producer Michael G. Wilson claimed over 200 names were being considered for his replacement. Croatian actor Goran Višnjić auditioned for the role the same day as Craig, but was reportedly unable to master an English accent. New Zealander Karl Urban was considered, but was unable to make the screen test due to filming commitments. According to Martin Campbell, Henry Cavill was the only other actor in serious contention for the role, but at 22 years old, he was considered too young. Cavill would later say that he was turned down by Campbell as he considered him out of shape for the part. Australian actor Sam Worthington and Scottish actor Dougray Scott were also considered. Scottish actor Sam Heughan also auditioned. Campbell and casting directors Janet Hirshenson and Jane Jenkins said Alex O'Loughlin, Julian McMahon, Ewan McGregor, Rupert Friend, and Antony Starr were screen-tested.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In May 2005, British actor Daniel Craig stated that MGM and producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli had assured him he would get the role of Bond, and Matthew Vaughn told reporters MGM offered him the opportunity to direct the new film, but Eon Productions at that point had not approached either of them. A year beforehand, Craig rejected the idea of starring, as he felt the series had descended into formula; only when he read the script did he become interested. Craig read all of Fleming's novels to prepare for the part, and cited Mossad and British Secret Service agents who served as advisers on the set of "Munich" as inspiring because, "Bond has just come out of the service and he's a killer. [...] You can see it in their eyes, you know immediately: oh, hello, he's a killer. There's a look. These guys walk into a room and very subtly they check the perimeters for an exit. That's the sort of thing I wanted."


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: On 14 October 2005, Eon Productions, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and MGM announced at a press conference in London that Craig would be the sixth actor to portray James Bond. Taking time off from reshoots for "The Invasion", a business-suit clad, rather long-haired Craig boarded a Royal Marines Rigid Raider from before travelling to HMS "President", where he was introduced to the world's press. Controversy followed the decision, with some critics and fans expressing doubt the producers had made the right choice. Throughout the entire production period, Internet campaigns such as "danielcraigisnotbond.com" expressed their dissatisfaction and threatened to boycott the film in protest. Craig, unlike previous actors, was not considered by the protesters to fit the tall, dark, handsome and charismatic image of Bond to which viewers had been accustomed. The "Daily Mirror" ran a front-page news story critical of Craig, with the headline, "The Name's Bland – James Bland".


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The next important casting was that of the lead Bond girl, Vesper Lynd. Casting director Debbie McWilliams acknowledged Hollywood actresses Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron were "strongly considered" for the role and Belgian actress Cécile de France had also auditioned, but her English accent "wasn't up to scratch." French actress Audrey Tautou was also considered, but not chosen because of her role in "The Da Vinci Code", which was another Columbia Pictures film released in May 2006. Olivia Wilde was a finalist for the part. On 16 February 2006, French actress Eva Green was announced to play the part.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Principal photography for "Casino Royale" commenced on 3 January 2006 and concluded on 20 July 2006. The film was primarily shot at Barrandov Studios in Prague, with additional location shooting in the Bahamas, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The shoot concluded at Pinewood Studios. Michael G. Wilson had stated "Casino Royale" would either be filmed or take place in Prague and South Africa. However, Eon Productions encountered problems in securing film locations in South Africa. After no other locations became available, the producers had to reconsider their options. In September 2005, Martin Campbell and director of photography Phil Méheux were scouting Paradise Island in the Bahamas as a possible location for the film. On 6 October 2005, Martin Campbell confirmed "Casino Royale" would film in the Bahamas and "maybe Italy". In addition to the extensive location filming, studio work including choreography and stunt co-ordination practice was performed at the Barrandov Studios in Prague, and at Pinewood Studios, where the film used several stages, the paddock tank, and the 007 Stage. Further shooting in the UK was scheduled for Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, the cricket pavilion at Eton College (although that scene was cut from the completed movie), and the Millbrook Vehicle Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: After Prague, the production moved to the Bahamas. Several locations around New Providence were used for filming during February and March, particularly on Paradise Island. Footage set in Mbale, Uganda, was filmed at Black Park, a country park in Buckinghamshire, on 4 July 2006. Additional scenes took place at Albany House, an estate owned by golfers Ernie Els and Tiger Woods. The crew returned to the Czech Republic in April, and continued there, filming in Prague, Planá, and Loket, before completing in the town of Karlovy Vary in May. Karlovy Vary was used as the exterior of the Casino Royale, with the Grandhotel Pupp serving as "Hotel Splendide".


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The main Italian location was Venice, where the majority of the film's ending is set. The scene with Bond on a sailboat was filmed aboard a yacht named "Spirit". She was constructed by Spirit Yachts in Suffolk, England, and had to be demasted to fit under various Venetian bridges to reach the filming location. For this reason, SV "Spirit" "was the first sailing boat to go up the Grand Canal in Venice for 300 years".


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Other scenes in the latter half of the film were shot in late May and early June at the Villa del Balbianello on the shores of Lake Como. Further exterior shooting for the movie took place at properties such as the Villa La Gaeta, near the lakeside town of Menaggio.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: A recreation of the Body Worlds exhibit provided a setting for one scene in the film. Among the Body Worlds plastinates featured in that scene were the "Poker Playing Trio" (which plays a key role in one scene) and "Rearing Horse and Rider". The exhibition's developer and promoter, German anatomist Gunther von Hagens also has a cameo appearance in the film, although only his trademark hat is actually visible on screen.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In designing the credit sequence for the film, graphic designer Daniel Kleinman was inspired by the cover of the 1953 British first edition of "Casino Royale", which featured Ian Fleming's original design of a playing card bordered by eight red hearts dripping with blood. Kleinman said, "The hearts not only represent cards but the tribulations of Bond's love story. So I took that as inspiration to use playing card graphics in different ways in the titles," like a club representing a puff of gun smoke, and slashed arteries spurting thousands of tiny hearts. In creating the shadow images of the sequence, Kleinman digitized the footage of Craig and the film's stuntmen on the Inferno visual effects system, at Framestore CFC in London; the actors' silhouettes were incorporated into more than 20 digitally animated scenes depicting intricate and innovative card patterns. Kleinman decided not to use the female silhouettes commonly seen throughout the Bond title sequences, considering that the women did not fit with both the film's spirit and the storyline following Bond falling in love.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: For the rest of the film, Chris Corbould, the special effects and miniature effects supervisor, returned to a more realistic style of film making and significantly reduced digital effects. According to Corbould, "CGI is a great tool and can be very useful, but I will fight to the tooth and nail to do something for real. It's the best way to go". Three scenes involving primarily physical effects in the film were the chase at a building site in Madagascar, the Miami Airport chase sequence, and the sinking Venetian house, with sets located on the Grand Canal and in Pinewood Studios.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The first scenes shot were ones involving a Madagascar building site, shot in the Bahamas on the site of a derelict hotel with which Michael G. Wilson had become acquainted in 1977 during the filming of "The Spy Who Loved Me". In the scene, Bond drives a digger towards the building, slamming into the concrete plinth on which Mollaka is running. The stunt team built a model and put forward several ways in which the digger could conceivably take out the concrete, including taking out the pillar underneath. A section of the concrete wall was removed to fit the digger and reinforced with steel.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The sequence at Miami International Airport was partly shot at the Dunsfold Aerodrome, in Surrey, which is known from British car show "Top Gear", with some footage from the Prague and Miami airports. In filming the scene in which the engine thrust of the moving aircraft blows the police car high into the air, second unit directors Ian Lowe, Terry Madden, and Alex Witt used a crane with a strong lead cable attached to the rear bumper of the vehicle to move it up and backwards at the moment of full extension away from the plane.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The Skyfleet S570 aircraft in the film was an ex-British Airways 747-200B G-BDXJ, which had its engines removed and was modified for its appearance in the film. The modified aircraft had the outboard engines replaced by external fuel tanks, while the inboard engines were replaced by a mock-up pair of engines on each inboard pylon. The cockpit profile was altered to make the 747 look like a prototype of an advanced airliner.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The sinking of the Venetian house at the climax of the film featured the largest rig ever built for a Bond film, with tank consisting of a Venetian piazza and the interior of an abandoned house being constructed. The rig, weighing some 90 tons, incorporated electronics with hydraulic valves that were closely controlled by computer because of the dynamic movement within the system on its two axes. The same computer system also controlled the exterior model, which the effects team had built to one-third scale to film the building eventually collapsing into the Venetian canal. The model lift within the rig could be immersed in of water, and used banks of compressors to strictly regulate movement.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: At the time of filming, Aston Martin was still in the final phases of designing the DBS. Aston Martin delivered two working 'hero' cars to the film. In addition to the two 'hero' cars, Aston Martin had to prepare, and reinforce to withstand impact, three former development DB9s for use as DBS look-a-like stunt cars for the scene involving the car crash. Also a white prototype DB9 manual was supplied to the film crew so that the stunt drivers had something to practice with. Owing to the low centre of gravity of the vehicle, an 18-inch (450 mm) ramp had to be implemented on the road tarmac at Millbrook Proving Grounds and Adam Kirley, the stunt driver who performed the stunt, had to use an air cannon located behind the driver's seat to propel the car into a roll at the precise moment of impact. At a speed exceeding 70 mph (113 km/h), the car rotated seven times while being filmed, and was confirmed by the "Guinness Book of Records" on 5 November 2006 as a new world record.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The soundtrack of "Casino Royale", released by Sony Classical Records on 14 November 2006, featured music composed by veteran composer David Arnold, his fourth soundtrack for the "Bond" film series, while Nicholas Dodd orchestrated and conducted the score. Producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli announced on 26 July 2006 Chris Cornell had composed and would perform the title song, "You Know My Name". The song's main notes are played throughout the film as a substitute for the James Bond Theme, to represent Bond's youth and inexperience. The classic theme only plays during the end credits to signal the climax of his character arc.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In a reported £14 million deal between the film's production and car manufacturer Ford, Ford's 2007 model Mondeo would appear in the film and it being driven by the Bond character. Both Sony and Sony Ericsson also made deals, making prominent appearances of tech products in the film including a Blu-ray player, Vaio laptop, Cyber-shot camera, Walkman NW-HD5 digital music player, and a Sony Ericsson K800i handset.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square, the Odeon West End and the Empire simultaneously in London on 14 November 2006. It marked the 60th Royal Film Performance and benefited the Cinema & Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF), whose patron, Queen Elizabeth II, was in attendance with the Duke of Edinburgh. Along with the cast and crew, numerous celebrities and 5,000 paying guests were also in attendance with half the proceeds benefiting the CTBF.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Only two days following the premiere, unlicensed copies appeared for sale in London. "The rapid appearance of this film on the streets shows the sophistication and organisation behind film piracy in the UK," said Kieron Sharp, from the Federation Against Copyright Theft. Infringing copies of the DVD were selling for less than £1.57. Craig himself was offered such a DVD while walking anonymously through the streets of Beijing wearing a hat and glasses to avoid being identified.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In January 2007, "Casino Royale" became the first Bond film ever to be shown in mainland Chinese cinemas. The Chinese version was edited before release, with the reference to the Cold War re-dubbed and new dialogue added during the poker scene explaining the process of Texas hold 'em, as the game is less familiar in China (this addition is reminiscent of dialogue that was added to the 1954 American TV adaptation to explain the rules of baccarat, the game featured in the original book). "Casino Royale" has earned approximately $11.7 million in China since its opening on 30 January on 468 screens, including a record opening weekend collection for a non-Chinese film, with $1.5 million.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: After critics dubbed "Die Another Day" "Buy Another Day" because of around 20 product placement deals, Eon limited their promotions for "Casino Royale". Partners included Ford, Heineken (which Eva Green starred in adverts for), Smirnoff, Omega SA, Virgin Atlantic and Sony Ericsson.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" was simultaneously released on DVD, UMD and Blu-ray on 16 March 2007. In the UK, "Casino Royale" was released on 16 March 2007 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases broke sales records: the Region 1 Blu-ray Disc edition became the highest selling high-definition title to date, selling more than 100,000 copies since its release. The region 2 DVD edition achieved the record of fastest selling title for its first-week release. The UK DVD has continued to sell well, with 1,622,852 copies sold since 19 March. A copy of the Blu-ray Disc edition of "Casino Royale" was given out to the first 500,000 PAL PlayStation 3 owners who signed up to the PlayStation Network. The DVD was released in a separate two-disc widescreen and fullscreen editions, both of which includes the official music video for the film, and three documentaries detailing how Daniel Craig was chosen for the role of Bond, the filming, and an expanded version of the "Bond Girls Are Forever" documentary incorporating new interviews with "Casino Royale" cast members.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: A three-disc edition of "Casino Royale" on DVD was released in the United Kingdom on 31 October 2008, coinciding with the cinema release of the sequel, "Quantum of Solace" (the following week in the United States). As well as features present from the 2007 release, the collector's edition contains an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes and a storyboard-to-film comparison. A two-disc Blu-ray version also followed in late 2008, featuring additional supplementary materials, enhanced interactivity through BD-Live, and the previous version's 5.1 PCM soundtrack was replaced with a similar 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" was released a third time on Blu-ray in 2012 with DTS audio and deleted scenes, but it had fewer special features than the 2008 edition. It was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on 25 February 2020.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In Britain, by omitting some of Le Chiffre's sadism and James Bond's reactions in the torture scene, the film received the desired BBFC 12A rating. In the United States, two fight scenes were censored to achieve a PG-13 rating: the fight between Bond and the traitorous MI6 agent's contact Fisher, and the fight between Bond and Obanno in the stairway at the Casino Royale.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The German edit of the film cuts a sequence where the bomb-planter at the airport breaks a man's neck, instead replacing it with an alternative take. The mainland Chinese cut of the film also trims the torture scene and the stairway fight, as well as a shot of Bond cleaning his wound at the hotel, and a boat scene.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The fully uncensored version can be found on the Australian, Dutch, French, Hong Kong, Japanese, and Scandinavian Blu-ray and DVD releases, on UK Blu-ray releases from 2012 onwards (rated 15), and on the 4K UHD Blu-ray release (branded as an unrated "extended" cut).


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The film has earned $606,099,584 worldwide. "Casino Royale" was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2006, and was the highest-grossing installment of the "James Bond" series until "Skyfall" surpassed it in November 2012.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Upon its release in the United Kingdom, "Casino Royale" broke series records on both opening day—£1.7 million—and opening weekend—£13,370,969. At the end of its box-office run, the film had grossed £55.4 million, making it the most successful film of the year in the UK, and, as of 2011, the tenth-highest-grossing film of all time in the country.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: On its US opening day, "Casino Royale" was on top with $14,741,135, and throughout the weekend grossed a total of $40,833,156, placing it second in the ranking behind "Happy Feet" ($41.5 million). However, "Casino Royale" was playing in 370 fewer cinemas and had a better average ($11,890 per cinema, against $10,918 for "Happy Feet"). It earned $167,445,960 by the end of its run in North America, marking what was at the time the highest-grossing film of the series, before being surpassed by "Quantum of Solace"s $168.4 million.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: On 18 November 2006, "Casino Royale" opened at the first position in 27 countries, with a weekend gross of $43,407,886 in the non-UK, Irish, US and Canada markets. The film retained the top spot at the worldwide box office for four weeks.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 94% based on 263 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Casino Royale" disposes of the silliness and gadgetry that plagued recent James Bond outings, and Daniel Craig delivers what fans and critics have been waiting for: a caustic, haunted, intense reinvention of 007." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100 based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Craig's performance and credibility were particularly praised. During production, Craig had been subject to debate by the media and the public, as he did not appear to fit Ian Fleming's original portrait of the character as tall, dark and suave. "The Daily Telegraph" compared the quality of Craig's characterization of Bond to Sean Connery's and praised the script as smartly written, noting how the film departed from the series' conventions. "The Times" compared Craig's portrayal of the character to that of Timothy Dalton, and praised the action as "edgy", with another reviewer citing in particular the action sequence involving the cranes in Madagascar. Critics Paul Arendt of BBC Films, Kim Newman of "Empire", and Todd McCarthy of "Variety" all described Craig as the first actor to truly embody Ian Fleming's James Bond from the original novel: ironic, brutal and cold. Arendt commented, "Craig is the first actor to really nail 007's defining characteristic: he's an absolute swine".


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The film was similarly well received in North America. MSNBC gave the movie a perfect 5 star rating. The film was described as taking James Bond "back to his roots", similar to "From Russia with Love", where the focus was on character and plot rather than the high-tech gadgets and visual effects that were strongly criticized in "Die Another Day". "Entertainment Weekly" named the film as the fifth best of the series, and chose Vesper Lynd as the fourth best Bond girl in the series. Some newspaper columnists and critics were impressed enough by Craig's performance to consider him a viable candidate for an Academy Award nomination.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Roger Ebert gave the film a four out of four star rating, and wrote that "Craig makes a superb Bond ... who gives the sense of a hard man, wounded by life and his job, who nevertheless cares about people and right and wrong," and that the film "has the answers to all my complaints about the 45-year-old James Bond series," specifically "why nobody in a Bond movie ever seems to have any real emotions." "Time Out New York" Joshua Rothkopf called Craig "the best Bond in the franchise's history," citing the actor's "crisp, hateful, Mamet-worthy snarl ... This is a screwed-up Bond, a rogue Bond, a bounder, a scrapper and, in the movie's astoundingly bleak coda, an openhearted lover."


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Vicky Allan of the "Sunday Herald" noted Bond himself, and not his love interests, was sexually objectified in this film: A moment where he rises from the sea is reminiscent of Ursula Andress in "Dr. No"; he feels "skewered" by Vesper Lynd's criticism of him; "and though it would be almost unthinkable now have a female character in a mainstream film stripped naked and threatened with genital mutilation, that is exactly what happens to Bond in [the film]." So although the film backed off from past criticism of Bond girls being sex objects, "the once invincible James Bond becomes just another joint at the meat market." This sentiment is shared by the University of Leicester's James Chapman, author of "Licence to Thrill", who also notes Craig's Bond is "not yet the polished article"; he felt his incarnation of Bond is close to Fleming's because he is "humourless," but is also different because "Fleming's Bond did not enjoy killing; Craig's Bond seems almost to relish it." Andrew Sarris of "The New York Observer" wrote that this particular Bond film is "the very first that I would seriously consider placing on my own yearly 10-best list. Furthermore, I consider Daniel Craig to be the most effective and appealing of the six actors who have played 007, and that includes even Sean Connery."


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Roger Moore wrote, "Daniel Craig impressed me so greatly in his debut outing, "Casino Royale", by introducing a more gritty, unrefined edge to the character that I thought Sean [Connery] might just have to move over. Craig's interpretation was like nothing we'd seen on screen before; Jimmy Bond was earning his stripes and making mistakes. It was intriguing to see him being castigated by M, just like a naughty schoolboy would be by his headmaster. The script showed him as a vulnerable, troubled, and flawed character. Quite the opposite to my Bond! Craig was, and is, very much the Bond Ian Fleming had described in the books – a ruthless killing machine. It was a Bond that the public wanted." Moore also quipped that his praise was "not heaped lightly," because he had to purchase the DVD himself. Raymond Benson, the author of nine "Bond" novels, called "Casino Royale" "a perfect "Bond" film."


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: The film met with mixed reactions from other critics. John Beifuss of "The Commercial Appeal" said, "Who wants to see Bond learn a lesson about ego, as if he were Greg Brady in his 'Johnny Bravo' phase?" Anthony Lane of "The New Yorker" criticized the more imperfect and self-aware depiction of the character, saying, "Even James Bond, in other words, wants to be 007."


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: Though American radio personality Michael Medved gave the film three stars out of four, describing it as "intriguing, audacious and very original ... more believable and less cartoonish, than previous 007 extravaganzas"; he commented further that the "sometimes sluggish pacing will frustrate some Bond fanatics." Commentators such as Emanuel Levy concurred, feeling the ending was too long, and that the film's terrorist villains lacked depth, although he praised Craig and gave the film a B+ overall. Other reviewers responded negatively, including Tim Adams of "The Observer", who felt the film came off uncomfortably in an attempt to make the series grittier.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: In December 2006, "Casino Royale" was named the best film of the year by viewers of "Film 2006". In 2009, UK ice cream company Del Monte Superfruit Smoothies launched an ice lolly moulded to resemble Craig emerging from the sea. In 2008, "Entertainment Weekly" named "Casino Royale" the 19th-best film of the past 25 years.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: At the 2006 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, "Casino Royale" won the Film Award for Best Sound (Chris Munro, Eddy Joseph, Mike Prestwood Smith, Martin Cantwell, Mark Taylor), and the Orange Rising Star Award, which was won by Eva Green. The film was nominated for eight BAFTA awards, including the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film of the Year; Best Screenplay (Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis); the Anthony Asquith Award for Best Film Music (David Arnold); Best Cinematography (Phil Méheux); Best Editing (Stuart Baird); Best Production Design (Peter Lamont, Simon Wakefield); Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects (Steve Begg, Chris Corbould, John Paul Docherty, Ditch Doy); and Best Actor (Daniel Craig). This made Craig the first actor ever to receive a BAFTA nomination for a performance as James Bond. He also received the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor.


title: Casino Royale (2006 film)

text: "Casino Royale" won the Excellence in Production Design Award from the Art Directors Guild, and singer Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" won the International Press Academy Satellite Award for Best Original Song. The film was nominated for five Saturn Awards— Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film, Best Actor (Daniel Craig), Best Supporting Actress (Eva Green), Best Writing (Purvis, Wade and Haggis) and Best Music (David Arnold). The 2006 Golden Tomato Awards named "Casino Royale" the Wide Release Film of the Year. "Casino Royale" was also nominated for, and has won, many other international awards for its screenplay, film editing, visual effects, and production design. At the 2007 Saturn Awards, the film was declared to be the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller film of 2006. Several members of the crew were also recipients of 2007 Taurus World Stunt Awards, including Gary Powell for Best Stunt Coordination and Ben Cooke, Kai Martin, Marvin Stewart-Campbell and Adam Kirley for Best High Work.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Hubert Selby Jr., with whom Aronofsky wrote the screenplay. The film depicts four characters affected by drug addiction and how it alters their physical and emotional states. Their addictions cause them to become imprisoned in a world of delusion and desperation. As the film progresses, each character deteriorates, and their reality is overtaken by delusion, resulting in a catastrophe.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Selby's novel was optioned by Aronofsky and producer Eric Watson. Selby had always intended to adapt the novel into a film, as he had written a script years prior to Aronofsky approaching him. Aronofsky was enthusiastic about the story and developed the script with Selby, despite initial struggles to obtain funding for the film's production. He and the cast speak of the film being about addictions in general, and not just drugs, with a theme of loneliness and avoidance of reality in different ways.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, selected as an out-of-competition entry, followed by the United States theatrical release on October 6, 2000, by Artisan Entertainment. It received a positive response from critics despite moderate success at the box office. The film's visual style, direction, screenplay, editing, musical score, cast, and themes were all praised, with Burstyn receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The soundtrack was composed by Clint Mansell.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Sara Goldfarb, a widow who lives alone in a Brighton Beach apartment, spends her time watching television. Her son Harry is a heroin addict, along with his friend Tyrone and girlfriend Marion. The three deal heroin in a bid to realize their dreams; Harry and Marion plan to open a clothing store for Marion's designs, while Tyrone seeks an escape from the ghetto and the approval of his mother. When Sara receives a call that she has been invited to her favorite game show, she begins a restrictive crash diet in an attempt to fit into a red dress that she wore at Harry's graduation.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: At the advice of her friend Rae, Sara visits a physician who prescribes her amphetamines to control her appetite. She begins losing weight rapidly and is excited by how much energy she has. When Harry recognizes the signs of her drug abuse and implores her to stop taking the amphetamines, Sara insists that the chance to appear on television and the increased admiration from her friends Ada and Rae are her remaining reasons to live. As time passes Sara becomes frantic waiting for the invitation and increases her dosage, which causes her to develop amphetamine psychosis.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Tyrone is caught in a shootout between drug traffickers and the Sicilian Mafia and is arrested despite his innocence. Harry has to use most of their saved money to post bail. As a result of the gang warfare, the local supply of heroin becomes restricted, and they are unable to find any to buy. Eventually, Tyrone hears of a large shipment coming to New York from Florida, but the price has doubled and the minimum purchase risk is high. Harry encourages Marion to engage in sex work, particularly with her psychiatrist, Arnold, as a client. This request, along with their mounting withdrawal symptoms, strains their relationship.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Sara's increased dosage of amphetamines distorts her sense of reality, and she begins to hallucinate that she is mocked by the host and crowd from the television show, and attacked by her refrigerator. Sara flees her apartment and goes to the casting agency office in Manhattan to confirm when she will be on television. Sara's disturbed state causes her to be admitted to a psychiatric ward, where she fails to respond to various medications. She undergoes electroconvulsive therapy instead. After the heroin shipment descends into a melee, Harry and Tyrone travel to Miami to buy heroin directly from the wholesaler. However, Harry's arm has become gangrenous from heroin use, so the two stop at a hospital. The doctor realizes that Harry is a drug addict and calls the police, resulting in Harry and Tyrone being arrested.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Back in New York City, a desperate Marion begins to work for a pimp, Big Tim, and is sexually assaulted by a large group. Sara's treatment leaves her in a dissociated catatonic near-vegetative state, to the horror of her friends Ada and Rae, who weep and try to comfort each other on a park bench outside the hospital. Harry's arm is amputated above the elbow, and he breaks down in tears after he realizes Marion will not visit him. Tyrone is subjected to grueling labor and psychological abuse from the racist prison guards, all while experiencing a painful heroin withdrawal. Marion returns home and lies on her sofa, clutching her score of heroin and surrounded by her crumpled and discarded clothing designs. Each of the four characters curls into a fetal position. Sara imagines herself as the beautiful game show winner, with Harry—married and successful—arriving as a guest. Sara and Harry lovingly embrace.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: The novel "Requiem for a Dream" by Hubert Selby Jr. was published in 1978. Aronofsky had been a fan of Selby's work during his school years. In a 2001 interview with the BBC, Aronofsky described Selby's work, saying "Anyone that reads Selby's work can see how intense his world is. He writes the most discordant, angry words that tickle the air with some sweet music around it. It's an unbelievable experience to read his books. I knew that once I made a larger film it would be very difficult to do a project like this. I live my life not wanting to have any regrets, and I knew that Selby was cool, that he's a badass".


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Eric Watson, producer and co-writer of "Pi" (1998), convinced Aronofsky to adapt the novel into a film. Selby was open to the idea and granted permission. Aronofsky and Watson optioned the film rights for $1,000, which was considered a large sum for them at the time. Aronofsky was still struggling financially after "Pi", and financiers were also unconvinced on his idea of "Requiem for a Dream". A screenplay had been written by Selby years prior, which was 80% similar to Aronofsky's. The pair compared their works, but Aronofsky wanted to cast younger characters to enhance the impact of drugs. However, the producers were against hiring a younger cast as they felt the film would be too unsettling for audiences; the director reluctantly agreed.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: A number of actresses were considered for the role of Sara Goldfarb, but many of them rejected the part. Faye Dunaway turned it down. Ellen Burstyn also initially rejected the part due to the depressing content, but her manager convinced her to see Aronofsky's previous work; she was impressed and agreed to be cast in the lead role. Giovanni Ribisi, Neve Campbell and Dave Chappelle were considered for the roles of Harry Goldfarb, Marion Silver and Tyrone C. Love, respectively. All three declined. The producers settled with Jared Leto, who was keen on the challenge, followed by Jennifer Connelly. "When I read the script, it was really something I wanted to do. I thought the script was brilliant. It was so creative. I thought it was really brave. It was talking about really important issues", she said. Marlon Wayans read the novel three times and auditioned five times for the role of Tyrone before he was offered the part, eager to work with the director.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: In preparation for filming, Leto spent time living on the streets of New York, surrounded by people who were in the same situation as his character. He also starved himself for months, losing to play his heroin-addicted character realistically. Aronofsky requested that Leto and Wayans refrain from having sex and consuming sugar so that their cravings would appear genuine on-screen. Burstyn also spent time in Brooklyn, learning about the lives of particular women, and how narrow they were. "Their life is about getting enough money to put food on the table to feed their children, and that's it", she said. Connelly prepared for the role by renting an apartment in the building where the character lived. Connelly isolated herself, painted, listened to music that she thought Marion would, designed clothes, and used the time to reflect about addictions and their origin. She also talked to addicts and attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings with a recovering friend.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Filming lasted 40 days, on location in and around Coney Island, including the boardwalk, amusement parks and Brighton Beach. To capture Sara Goldfarb's weight loss throughout the film, Burstyn wore two fat suits; one simulated an additional in weight and one . Burstyn also dieted during a two-week break in the filming schedule, allowing her to lose . Makeup artists designed nine wigs and four necks for her, with some of the prosthetic pieces taking up to four hours to apply. Connelly's wardrobe consisted of pieces that she had made during her time preparing for the role.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: During a grocery store scene, real drug addicts were brought in as extras. Aronofsky has recalled that some were injecting themselves during filming. One bathtub scene was inspired by Satoshi Kon's 1997 anime film "Perfect Blue". Post-production also included approximately 150 special effects, created by Amoeba Proteus, a digital effects company formed by Aronofksky and his friends. After filming was completed, Burstyn said, "I don't think I've ever been this challenged in a role—it was harder than "The Exorcist"""." Connelly also spoke of how "it was hard, really hard to go through, emotionally. It was draining, sad, and uncomfortable".


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: As with Aronofsky's previous film, "Pi", montages of extremely short shots were used throughout the film; such techniques are sometimes referred to as hip hop montage but are also employed in traditional cinema, such as "Man with a Movie Camera". While an average 100-minute film has 600 to 700 cuts, "Requiem for a Dream" features more than 2,000. Split-screen is used extensively, along with extremely tight close-ups. Long tracking shots, including shots where the camera is strapped to an actor and facing them, known as Snorricam, and time-lapse photography are also prominent stylistic devices.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Aronofsky alternates between extreme close-ups and extreme distance from the action, with sharp cuts between reality and characters' fantasies. The camerawork forces the viewer to explore the characters' states of mind, hallucinations, visual distortions, and inaccurate sense of time. The average length of scenes also shortens as the film progresses, from around 90 seconds to 2 minutes in the beginning, until the climactic scenes, which are cut very rapidly accompanied by incidental music. After the climax, there is a short period of silence and serenity. Pixelation and a fish-eye lens are also techniques used to help reinforce the effect of drugs and the viewer's distance from the character.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: "Requiem for a Dream" premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2000, and the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13 before a wide release a month later. In the United States, the film opened on October 6, 2000, and grossed a total of $3,635,482, averaging $64,770 per theater. In other territories, the film earned $3,754,626, bringing a worldwide total of $7,390,108.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: In the United States, the film was originally rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America, but Aronofsky appealed the rating, claiming that cutting any portion of the film would dilute its message. The appeal was denied, and Artisan Entertainment decided to release the film unrated. An R-rated version was released on video, with the sex scene edited, but the rest of the film identical to the unrated version.


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: On Rotten Tomatoes "Requiem for a Dream" has an approval rating of 79% based on 138 reviews, with an average score of 7.40/10. The critical consensus states, "Though the movie may be too intense for some to stomach, the wonderful performances and the bleak imagery are hard to forget." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Film critic James Berardinelli considered "Requiem for a Dream" the second-best film of the decade, behind "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of four stars, stating, "What is fascinating about "Requiem for a Dream" ... is how well [Aronofsky] portrays the mental states of his addicts. When they use, a window opens briefly into a world where everything is right. Then it slides shut, and life reduces itself to a search for the money and drugs to open it again". Elvis Mitchell, writing for "The New York Times", gave the film a positive review, stating, "After the young director's phenomenal debut with the barely budgeted "Pi," which was like watching a middleweight boxer win a fight purely on reflexes, he comes back with a picture that shows maturation".


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian", lauded the film as an "agonising and unflinchingly grim portrait of drug abuse" and "a formally pleasing piece of work—if pleasing can possibly be the right word". Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" wrote that "no one interested in the power and magic of movies should miss it". Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly", who gave the work an "A" grade, argued that it "may be the first movie to fully capture the way drugs dislocate us from ourselves" and said, "The movie, a full-throttle mind-bender, is hypnotically harrowing and intense, a visual and spiritual plunge into the seduction and terror of drug addiction". Scott Brake of IGN gave the film a 9.0 out of 10 and argued, "The reason it works so well as a film about addiction is that, in every frame, the film itself is addictive. It's absolutely relentless, from Aronofsky's bravura cinematic techniques (split screens, complex cross-cutting schemes, hallucinatory visuals) to Clint Mansell's driving, hypnotic score (performed by the Kronos Quartet), the movie compels you to watch it".


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: However, some critics had a less positive response. Dessen Howe of "The Washington Post" opined that the characters are "mostly relegated to human mannequins in Aronofsky's visual schemes", but praised Burstyn's performance. David Sterritt of the "Christian Science Monitor" wrote, "the filmmaking gets addicted to its own flashy cynicism ... the picture sometimes seems as dazed and confused as the situations it wants to criticize". William Arnold, writing for "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", stated, "Aronofsky hurls the full grammar of the cinema at us like a film student on an adrenaline rush: slow-motion, fast-forward, jump cuts, surreal fantasy sequences, endless glaring close-ups of dilating pupils, bizarre hand-held tracking shots through the mean streets". Arnold compliments the filmmaker's style but thought the editing was "brutalizing and counterproductive".


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: Some critics characterize "Requiem for a Dream" in the genre of "drug movies", along with films such as "The Basketball Diaries", "Trainspotting", "Spun", and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas".


title: Requiem for a Dream

text: The soundtrack was composed by Clint Mansell. The string quartet arrangements were written by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, and was performed by the Kronos Quartet. The soundtrack was re-released with the album "Requiem for a Dream: Remixed", which contains remixes of the music by various artists including Paul Oakenfold, Josh Wink, Jagz Kooner, and Delerium. The track "Lux Aeterna" is an orchestral composition by Mansell, the leitmotif of "Requiem for a Dream", and the penultimate piece in the film's soundtrack. The popularity of this piece led to its use in popular culture outside the film, in film and teaser trailers, and with multiple remixes and remakes by other producers.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, [uncertain year from 1904 to 1908] was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally-known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison".


title: Joan Crawford

text: After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in "Mildred Pierce" (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors but was forcibly retired in 1973. She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s, when her performances became fewer; after the release of the horror film "Trog" in 1970, Crawford retired from the screen. Following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life. She became more and more reclusive until her death in 1977.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Crawford married four times. Her first three marriages ended in divorce; the last ended with the death of husband Al Steele. She adopted five children, one of whom was reclaimed by his birth mother. Crawford's relationships with her two older children, Christina and Christopher, were acrimonious. Crawford disinherited the two and, after Crawford's death, Christina wrote a "tell-all" memoir called "Mommie Dearest".


title: Joan Crawford

text: Born Lucille Fay LeSueur, of French-Huguenot, English, Dutch, and Irish ancestry in San Antonio, Texas, she was the second of the two children of Thomas E. LeSueur (born January 2, 1867, in Tennessee; died January 1, 1938), a construction worker, and Anna Bell Johnson (died August 15, 1958), later known as Anna Cassin. Crawford's mother was likely under 20 when her first two children were born. Crawford had one sister, Daisy, and one brother, Hal LeSueur.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Thomas LeSueur abandoned the family when Lucille was ten months old, eventually resettling in Abilene, Texas, reportedly working in construction. In 1909, while working as a sales associate at Simpson's, Crawford's mother married Henry J. Cassin (1868-1922) in Fort Worth, who is incorrectly listed in the 1910 census as her second husband rather than her third. They lived in Lawton, Oklahoma, where Cassin ran the Ramsey Opera House, booking such diverse and noted performers as Anna Pavlova and Eva Tanguay. As a child, Crawford, who preferred the nickname "Billie", enjoyed watching vaudeville acts perform on the stage of her stepfather's theater. At that time, Crawford was reportedly unaware that Cassin, whom she called "Daddy", was not her biological father; her brother later told her the truth. Cassin allegedly began sexually abusing her when she was 11, and continued until she was sent to St. Agnes Academy, a Catholic girls' school.


title: Joan Crawford

text: From childhood, Crawford's ambition was to be a dancer. One day, in an attempt to escape piano lessons, she leapt from the front porch of her home and cut her foot severely on a broken milk bottle. She had three surgeries to repair the damage, and for 18 months was unable to attend elementary school or continue dancing lessons.


title: Joan Crawford

text: In June 1917, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, after Cassin was accused of embezzlement; although acquitted, he was blacklisted in Lawton. After the move, Cassin, a Catholic, placed Crawford at St. Agnes Academy in Kansas City. When her mother and stepfather separated, she remained at school as a work student, where she spent far more time working, primarily cooking and cleaning, than studying. She later attended Rockingham Academy, also as a working student. While there, she began dating, and had her first serious relationship: a trumpet player, Ray Sterling, who reportedly inspired her to challenge herself academically.


title: Joan Crawford

text: In 1922, she registered at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, giving her year of birth as 1906. She attended Stephens for a few months and then withdrew after she realized that she was not ready for college. Due to her family's instability, Crawford's schooling never surpassed the primary level.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Under the name Lucille LeSueur, Crawford began dancing in the choruses of traveling revues, and was spotted dancing in Detroit by producer Jacob J. Shubert. Shubert put her in the chorus line for his 1924 show, "Innocent Eyes", at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway in New York City. While appearing in "Innocent Eyes", Crawford met a saxophone player named James Welton. The two were allegedly married in 1924, and lived together for several months, although this supposed marriage was never mentioned in later life by Crawford.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Crawford wanted additional work, and approached Loews Theaters publicist Nils Granlund. Granlund secured a position for her with singer Harry Richman's act and arranged for her to do a screen test, which he sent to producer Harry Rapf in Hollywood. Rapf notified Granlund on December 24, 1924, that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had offered Crawford a contract at $75 a week. Granlund immediately wired LeSueur, who had returned to her mother's home in Kansas City, with the news; she borrowed $400 for travel expenses.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Credited as Lucille LeSueur, her first film was "Lady of the Night" in 1925, as the body double for Norma Shearer, MGM's most popular female star. She also appeared in "The Circle" and "Pretty Ladies" (both 1925), starring comedian ZaSu Pitts. This was soon followed by equally small and unbilled roles in two other 1925 silent films: "The Only Thing", and "The Merry Widow".


title: Joan Crawford

text: MGM publicity head Pete Smith recognized her ability to become a major star, but felt her name sounded fake; he told studio head Louis B. Mayer that her last name, LeSueur, reminded him of a sewer. Smith organized a contest called "Name the Star" in "Movie Weekly" to allow readers to select her new stage name. The initial choice was "Joan Arden", but after another actress was found to have prior claim to that name, the alternative surname "Crawford" became the choice. She later said that she wanted her first name to be pronounced Jo-Anne, and that she hated the name Crawford because it sounded like "crawfish", but also admitted she "liked the security" that went with the name.


title: Joan Crawford

text: Growing increasingly frustrated over the size and quality of the parts she was given, Crawford embarked on a campaign of self-promotion. As MGM screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas recalled, "No one decided to make Joan Crawford a star. Joan Crawford became a star because Joan Crawford decided to become a star." She began attending dances in the afternoons and evenings at hotels around Hollywood and at dance venues on the beach piers, where she often won dance competitions with her performances of the Charleston and the Black Bottom.