title: Research

text: Generally, research is understood to follow a certain structural process. Though step order may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following steps are usually part of most formal research, both basic and applied:


title: Research

text: A common misconception is that a hypothesis will be proven (see, rather, null hypothesis). Generally, a hypothesis is used to make predictions that can be tested by observing the outcome of an experiment. If the outcome is inconsistent with the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is rejected (see falsifiability). However, if the outcome is consistent with the hypothesis, the experiment is said to support the hypothesis. This careful language is used because researchers recognize that alternative hypotheses may also be consistent with the observations. In this sense, a hypothesis can never be proven, but rather only supported by surviving rounds of scientific testing and, eventually, becoming widely thought of as true.


title: Research

text: A useful hypothesis allows prediction and within the accuracy of observation of the time, the prediction will be verified. As the accuracy of observation improves with time, the hypothesis may no longer provide an accurate prediction. In this case, a new hypothesis will arise to challenge the old, and to the extent that the new hypothesis makes more accurate predictions than the old, the new will supplant it. Researchers can also use a null hypothesis, which states no relationship or difference between the independent or dependent variables.


title: Research

text: Research in the humanities involves different methods such as for example hermeneutics and semiotics. Humanities scholars usually do not search for the ultimate correct answer to a question, but instead, explore the issues and details that surround it. Context is always important, and context can be social, historical, political, cultural, or ethnic. An example of research in the humanities is historical research, which is embodied in historical method. Historians use primary sources and other evidence to systematically investigate a topic, and then to write histories in the form of accounts of the past. Other studies aim to merely examine the occurrence of behaviours in societies and communities, without particularly looking for reasons or motivations to explain these. These studies may be qualitative or quantitative, and can use a variety of approaches, such as queer theory or feminist theory.


title: Research

text: Artistic research, also seen as 'practice-based research', can take form when creative works are considered both the research and the object of research itself. It is the debatable body of thought which offers an alternative to purely scientific methods in research in its search for knowledge and truth.


title: Research

text: The controversial trend of artistic teaching becoming more academics-oriented is leading to artistic research being accepted as the primary mode of enquiry in art as in the case of other disciplines. One of the characteristics of artistic research is that it must accept subjectivity as opposed to the classical scientific methods. As such, it is similar to the social sciences in using qualitative research and intersubjectivity as tools to apply measurement and critical analysis.


title: Research

text: Artistic research has been defined by the School of Dance and Circus (Dans och Cirkushögskolan, DOCH), Stockholm in the following manner – "Artistic research is to investigate and test with the purpose of gaining knowledge within and for our artistic disciplines. It is based on artistic practices, methods, and criticality. Through presented documentation, the insights gained shall be placed in a context." Artistic research aims to enhance knowledge and understanding with presentation of the arts. A simpler understanding by Julian Klein defines artistic research as any kind of research employing the artistic mode of perception. For a survey of the central problematics of today's artistic research, see Giaco Schiesser.


title: Research

text: According to artist Hakan Topal, in artistic research, "perhaps more so than other disciplines, intuition is utilized as a method to identify a wide range of new and unexpected productive modalities". Most writers, whether of fiction or non-fiction books, also have to do research to support their creative work. This may be factual, historical, or background research. Background research could include, for example, geographical or procedural research.


title: Research

text: The Society for Artistic Research (SAR) publishes the triannual "Journal for Artistic Research" ("JAR"), an international, online, open access, and peer-reviewed journal for the identification, publication, and dissemination of artistic research and its methodologies, from all arts disciplines and it runs the "Research Catalogue" (RC), a searchable, documentary database of artistic research, to which anyone can contribute.


title: Research

text: Patricia Leavy addresses eight arts-based research (ABR) genres: narrative inquiry, fiction-based research, poetry, music, dance, theatre, film, and visual art.


title: Research

text: In 2016, the European League of Institutes of the Arts launched "The Florence Principles' on the Doctorate in the Arts". The Florence Principles relating to the Salzburg Principles and the Salzburg Recommendations of the European University Association name seven points of attention to specify the Doctorate / PhD in the Arts compared to a scientific doctorate / PhD. The Florence Principles have been endorsed and are supported also by AEC, CILECT, CUMULUS and SAR.


title: Research

text: The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use historical sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. There are various history guidelines that are commonly used by historians in their work, under the headings of external criticism, internal criticism, and synthesis. This includes lower criticism and sensual criticism. Though items may vary depending on the subject matter and researcher, the following concepts are part of most formal historical research:


title: Research

text: Research is often conducted using the hourglass model structure of research. The hourglass model starts with a broad spectrum for research, focusing in on the required information through the method of the project (like the neck of the hourglass), then expands the research in the form of discussion and results. The major steps in conducting research are:


title: Research

text: The steps generally represent the overall process; however, they should be viewed as an ever-changing iterative process rather than a fixed set of steps. Most research begins with a general statement of the problem, or rather, the purpose for engaging in the study. The literature review identifies flaws or holes in previous research which provides justification for the study. Often, a literature review is conducted in a given subject area before a research question is identified. A gap in the current literature, as identified by a researcher, then engenders a research question. The research question may be parallel to the hypothesis. The hypothesis is the supposition to be tested. The researcher(s) collects data to test the hypothesis. The researcher(s) then analyzes and interprets the data via a variety of statistical methods, engaging in what is known as empirical research. The results of the data analysis in rejecting or failing to reject the null hypothesis are then reported and evaluated. At the end, the researcher may discuss avenues for further research. However, some researchers advocate for the reverse approach: starting with articulating findings and discussion of them, moving "up" to identification of a research problem that emerges in the findings and literature review. The reverse approach is justified by the transactional nature of the research endeavor where research inquiry, research questions, research method, relevant research literature, and so on are not fully known until the findings have fully emerged and been interpreted.


title: Research

text: Rudolph Rummel says, "... no researcher should accept any one or two tests as definitive. It is only when a range of tests are consistent over many kinds of data, researchers, and methods can one have confidence in the results."


title: Research

text: Plato in Meno talks about an inherent difficulty, if not a paradox, of doing research that can be paraphrased in the following way, "If you know what you're searching for, why do you search for it?! [i.e., you have already found it] If you don't know what you're searching for, what are you searching for?!"


title: Research

text: The goal of the research process is to produce new knowledge or deepen understanding of a topic or issue. This process takes three main forms (although, as previously discussed, the boundaries between them may be obscure):


title: Research

text: There are two major types of empirical research design: qualitative research and quantitative research. Researchers choose qualitative or quantitative methods according to the nature of the research topic they want to investigate and the research questions they aim to answer:


title: Research

text: Qualitative research refers to much more subjective non- quantitative, use different methods of collecting data, analyzing data, interpreting data for meanings, definitions, characteristics, symbols metaphors of things.Qualitative research further classified into following types: Ethnography: This research mainly focus on culture of group of people which includes share attributes, language, practices, structure, value, norms and material things, evaluate human lifestyle. Ethno: people, Grapho: to write, this disciple may include ethnic groups, ethno genesis, composition, resettlement and social welfare characteristics. Phenomenology: It is very powerful strategy for demonstrating methodology to health professions education as well as best suited for exploring challenging problems in health professions educations.


title: Research

text: The quantitative data collection methods rely on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse experiences into predetermined response categories. These methods produce results that can be summarized, compared, and generalized to larger populations if the data are collected using proper sampling and data collection strategies. Quantitative research is concerned with testing hypotheses derived from theory or being able to estimate the size of a phenomenon of interest.


title: Research

text: If the research question is about people, participants may be randomly assigned to different treatments (this is the only way that a quantitative study can be considered a true experiment). If this is not feasible, the researcher may collect data on participant and situational characteristics to statistically control for their influence on the dependent, or outcome, variable. If the intent is to generalize from the research participants to a larger population, the researcher will employ probability sampling to select participants.


title: Research

text: In either qualitative or quantitative research, the researcher(s) may collect primary or secondary data. Primary data is data collected specifically for the research, such as through interviews or questionnaires. Secondary data is data that already exists, such as census data, which can be re-used for the research. It is good ethical research practice to use secondary data wherever possible.


title: Research

text: Mixed-method research, i.e. research that includes qualitative and quantitative elements, using both primary and secondary data, is becoming more common. This method has benefits that using one method alone cannot offer. For example, a researcher may choose to conduct a qualitative study and follow it up with a quantitative study to gain additional insights.


title: Research

text: Big data has brought big impacts on research methods so that now many researchers do not put much effort into data collection; furthermore, methods to analyze easily available huge amounts of data have also been developed.


title: Research

text: Non-empirical (theoretical) research is an approach that involves the development of theory as opposed to using observation and experimentation. As such, non-empirical research seeks solutions to problems using existing knowledge as its source. This, however, does not mean that new ideas and innovations cannot be found within the pool of existing and established knowledge. Non-empirical research is not an absolute alternative to empirical research because they may be used together to strengthen a research approach. Neither one is less effective than the other since they have their particular purpose in science. Typically empirical research produces observations that need to be explained; then theoretical research tries to explain them, and in so doing generates empirically testable hypotheses; these hypotheses are then tested empirically, giving more observations that may need further explanation; and so on. See Scientific method.


title: Research

text: A simple example of a non-empirical task is the prototyping of a new drug using a differentiated application of existing knowledge; another is the development of a business process in the form of a flow chart and texts where all the ingredients are from established knowledge. Much of cosmological research is theoretical in nature. Mathematics research does not rely on externally available data; rather, it seeks to prove theorems about mathematical objects.


title: Research

text: Research ethics is concerned with the moral issues that arise during or as a result of research activities, as well as the conduct of individual researchers, and the implications for research communities. Historically, scandals such as Nazi human experimentation and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment led to the realisation that clear measures are needed for the ethical governance of research to ensure that people, animals and environments are not unduly harmed by scientific inquiry. The management of research ethics is inconsistent across countries and there is no universally accepted approach to how it should be addressed. Research ethics committees (Institutional review board in the US) have emerged as one governance mechanism to ensure research is conducted responsibly.


title: Research

text: When making moral judgments, we may be guided by different values. Philosophers commonly distinguish between approaches like deontology, consequentialism, Confucianism, virtue ethics, and Ubuntu ethics, to list a few. Regardless of approach, the application of ethical theory to specific contexts is known as applied ethics, and research ethics can be viewed as a subfield of applied ethics because ethical theory is applied in real-world research scenarios.


title: Research

text: Ethical issues may arise in the design and implementation of research involving human experimentation or animal experimentation. There may also be consequences for the environment, for society or for future generations that need to be considered. Research ethics is most developed as a concept in medical research, with typically cited codes being the 1947 Nuremberg Code, the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki, and the 1978 Belmont Report. Informed consent is a key concept in research ethics thanks to these codes. Research in other fields such as social sciences, information technology, biotechnology, or engineering may generate different types of ethical concerns to those in medical research.


title: Research

text: In countries such as Canada, mandatory research ethics training is required for students, professors and others who work in research, whilst the US has legislated on how institutional review boards operate since the 1974 National Research Act.


title: Research

text: Research ethics is commonly distinguished from the promotion of academic or research integrity and includes issues such as scientific misconduct (e.g. fraud, fabrication of data or plagiarism). Note that because of the close interaction with integrity, increasingly research ethics is included as part of the broader field of responsible conduct of research (RCR in North America) or Responsible Research and Innovation in Europe, and with government agencies such as the United States Office of Research Integrity or the Canadian Interagency Advisory Panel on Responsible Conduct of Research promoting or requiring interdisciplinary training for researchers.


title: Research

text: Meta-research is the study of research through the use of research methods. Also known as "research on research", it aims to reduce waste and increase the quality of research in all fields. Meta-research concerns itself with the detection of bias, methodological flaws, and other errors and inefficiencies. Among the finding of meta-research is a low rates of reproducibility across a large number of fields. This widespread difficulty in reproducing research has been termed the "replication crisis."


title: Research

text: In many disciplines, Western methods of conducting research are predominant. Researchers are overwhelmingly taught Western methods of data collection and study. The increasing participation of indigenous peoples as researchers has brought increased attention to the scientific lacuna in culturally-sensitive methods of data collection. Western methods of data collection may not be the most accurate or relevant for research on non-Western societies. For example, "Hua Oranga" was created as a criterion for psychological evaluation in Māori populations, and is based on dimensions of mental health important to the Māori people – "taha wairua (the spiritual dimension), taha hinengaro (the mental dimension), taha tinana (the physical dimension), and taha whanau (the family dimension)".


title: Research

text: Research is often biased in the languages that are preferred (linguicism) and the geographic locations where research occurs.


title: Research

text: Periphery scholars face the challenges of exclusion and linguicism in research and academic publication. As the great majority of mainstream academic journals are written in English, multilingual periphery scholars often must translate their work to be accepted to elite Western-dominated journals. Multilingual scholars' influences from their native communicative styles can be assumed to be incompetence instead of difference.


title: Research

text: For comparative politics, Western countries are over-represented in single-country studies, with heavy emphasis on Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Since 2000, Latin American countries have become more popular in single-country studies. In contrast, countries in Oceania and the Caribbean are the focus of very few studies. Patterns of geographic bias also show a relationship with linguicism: countries whose official languages are French or Arabic are far less likely to be the focus of single-country studies than countries with different official languages. Within Africa, English-speaking countries are more represented than other countries.


title: Research

text: Generalization is the process of more broadly applying the valid results of one study. Studies with a narrow scope can result in a lack of generalizability, meaning that the results may not be applicable to other populations or regions. In comparative politics, this can result from using a single-country study, rather than a study design that uses data from multiple countries. Despite the issue of generalizability, single-country studies have risen in prevalence since the late 2000s.


title: Research

text: Peer review is a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards of quality, improve performance, and provide credibility. In academia, scholarly peer review is often used to determine an academic paper's suitability for publication. Usually, the peer review process involves experts in the same field who are consulted by editors to give a review of the scholarly works produced by a colleague of theirs from an unbiased and impartial point of view, and this is usually done free of charge. The tradition of peer reviews being done for free has however brought many pitfalls which are also indicative of why most peer reviewers decline many invitations to review. It was observed that publications from periphery countries rarely rise to the same elite status as those of North America and Europe, because limitations on the availability of resources including high-quality paper and sophisticated image-rendering software and printing tools render these publications less able to satisfy standards currently carrying formal or informal authority in the publishing industry. These limitations in turn result in the under-representation of scholars from periphery nations among the set of publications holding prestige status relative to the quantity and quality of those scholars' research efforts, and this under-representation in turn results in disproportionately reduced acceptance of the results of their efforts as contributions to the body of knowledge available worldwide.


title: Research

text: The open access movement assumes that all information generally deemed useful should be free and belongs to a "public domain", that of "humanity". This idea gained prevalence as a result of Western colonial history and ignores alternative conceptions of knowledge circulation. For instance, most indigenous communities consider that access to certain information proper to the group should be determined by relationships.


title: Research

text: There is alleged to be a double standard in the Western knowledge system. On the one hand, "digital right management" used to restrict access to personal information on social networking platforms is celebrated as a protection of privacy, while simultaneously when similar functions are used by cultural groups (i.e. indigenous communities) this is denounced as "access control" and reprehended as censorship.


title: Research

text: Even though Western dominance seems to be prominent in research, some scholars, such as Simon Marginson, argue for "the need [for] a plural university world". Marginson argues that the East Asian Confucian model could take over the Western model.


title: Research

text: This could be due to changes in funding for research both in the East and the West. Focused on emphasizing educational achievement, East Asian cultures, mainly in China and South Korea, have encouraged the increase of funding for research expansion. In contrast, in the Western academic world, notably in the United Kingdom as well as in some state governments in the United States, funding cuts for university research have occurred, which some say may lead to the future decline of Western dominance in research.


title: Research

text: In several national and private academic systems, the professionalisation of research has resulted in formal job titles.


title: Research

text: In present-day Russia, and some other countries of the former Soviet Union, the term "researcher" (, "nauchny sotrudnik") has been used both as a generic term for a person who has been carrying out scientific research, and as a job position within the frameworks of the Academy of Sciences, universities, and in other research-oriented establishments.


title: Research

text: Academic publishing is a system that is necessary for academic scholars to peer review the work and make it available for a wider audience. The system varies widely by field and is also always changing, if often slowly. Most academic work is published in journal article or book form. There is also a large body of research that exists in either a thesis or dissertation form. These forms of research can be found in databases explicitly for theses and dissertations. In publishing, STM publishing is an abbreviation for academic publications in science, technology, and medicine.


title: Research

text: Most established academic fields have their own scientific journals and other outlets for publication, though many academic journals are somewhat interdisciplinary, and publish work from several distinct fields or subfields. The kinds of publications that are accepted as contributions of knowledge or research vary greatly between fields, from the print to the electronic format. A study suggests that researchers should not give great consideration to findings that are not replicated frequently. It has also been suggested that all published studies should be subjected to some measure for assessing the validity or reliability of its procedures to prevent the publication of unproven findings. Business models are different in the electronic environment. Since about the early 1990s, licensing of electronic resources, particularly journals, has been very common. Presently, a major trend, particularly with respect to scholarly journals, is open access. There are two main forms of open access: open access publishing, in which the articles or the whole journal is freely available from the time of publication, and self-archiving, where the author makes a copy of their own work freely available on the web.


title: Research

text: Most funding for scientific research comes from three major sources: corporate research and development departments; private foundations; and government research councils such as the National Institutes of Health in the USA and the Medical Research Council in the UK. These are managed primarily through universities and in some cases through military contractors. Many senior researchers (such as group leaders) spend a significant amount of their time applying for grants for research funds. These grants are necessary not only for researchers to carry out their research but also as a source of merit. The Social Psychology Network provides a comprehensive list of U.S. Government and private foundation funding sources.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: X-Men: The Last Stand (also marketed as X3: The Last Stand, or X-Men 3) is a 2006 superhero film based on the X-Men superhero team introduced in comic books published by Marvel Entertainment Group. It is the sequel to "X2" (2003), as well as the third installment in the "X-Men" film series, and was directed by Brett Ratner. It features an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones and Patrick Stewart. Written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn, the film is loosely based on two "X-Men" comic book story arcs, "Gifted" and "The Dark Phoenix Saga", with a plot that revolves around a "mutant cure" that causes serious repercussions among mutants and humans, and on the resurrection of Jean Grey who unleashes a dark force.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Bryan Singer, who had directed the two previous films, "X-Men" (2000) and "X2", decided to leave the sequel to work on "Superman Returns" (2006). "X2" composer John Ottman and "X2" writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty also left to work on "Superman Returns", as did James Marsden, who had very limited screen time in "The Last Stand" before his character was killed off due to his departure from the film. Singer had not even defined the storyline for a third film. Matthew Vaughn, who was initially hired as the new director, left due to personal and professional issues, and was replaced with Ratner. Filming took place from August 2005 to January 2006 with a budget of $210million, and was consequently the most expensive film made at the time of its release. It had extensive visual effects created by 11 different companies.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" premiered in the Out of Competition section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, and was released theatrically in the United States on May 26 by 20th Century Fox. It grossed approximately $459million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2006; it was at the time the highest-grossing film in the series and currently the fourth-highest-grossing film of the franchise. Critical reception was mixed, with praise for its spectacle but criticism for its lack of depth.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: In 1986, Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr meet young Jean Grey at her parents' house to invite her to join their school, the X-Mansion. Ten years later, the industrialist Warren Worthington II discovers his son is a mutant as he tries to cut off his wings.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: In the present, Worthington Labs announces it has developed an inoculation to suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their abilities and offer the "cure" to any mutant who wants it. The cure is created from the genome of a young mutant named Jimmy, who lives at the Worthington facility on Alcatraz Island. While some mutants are interested in the cure, including Rogue, many others are horrified by the announcement. Magneto re-establishes his Brotherhood of Mutants with those who oppose the cure, warning his followers that the cure will be forcefully used to exterminate the mutant race. With help from Pyro, Magneto recruits Callisto and several other mutants. They attack the mobile prison holding Mystique to free her, also freeing Multiple Man and Juggernaut. Mystique, shielding Magneto from a cure dart, is hit by it and loses her mutant abilities. Magneto abandons her as a result. Meanwhile, Scott Summers, still distraught over the loss of his fiancée Jean Grey, drives to her resting location at Alkali Lake. Jean appears to Summers but, as the two kiss, Jean kills him. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends Logan and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, they find only telekinetically floating rocks, Summers' glasses, and an unconscious Jean.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: When Logan and Storm return to the X-Mansion, Xavier explains to Logan that when Jean sacrificed herself to save them, she also freed the "Phoenix", a dark and extremely powerful alternate personality which Xavier had telepathically repressed, aware of the Phoenix's godlike destructive potential. Logan is disgusted to learn of this psychic tampering with Jean's mind but, once she awakens, he discovers that she killed Summers and is not the Jean Grey he once knew. The Phoenix emerges, knocks out Logan, and escapes to her childhood home. Magneto learns of Jean's resurrection through Callisto, and the X-Men arrive at the Grey home at the same time as the Brotherhood. Magneto and Xavier go in, and both vie for Jean's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces. She destroys the house and kills Xavier by disintegrating him, before leaving with Magneto. After interrogating a depowered Mystique, the FBI discover Magneto's base in the woods. However, the life forms in the camp are all decoy copies of Multiple Man. Magneto and the Brotherhood have gone to storm Alcatraz by using his magnetic manipulation powers to reroute the Golden Gate Bridge. The remaining X-Men confront the Brotherhood, despite being significantly outnumbered, and arrive just as the military troops who thus far have been neutralizing the attacking mutants are overwhelmed by the Brotherhood.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: During the fight, Kitty Pryde saves Jimmy from Juggernaut, who had been sent to kill him by Magneto. Logan has Colossus throw him at Magneto and distract him long enough for Hank McCoy to inject Magneto with the "cure" and thus nullify his powers. The Phoenix is awakened and begins to destroy Alcatraz and anyone within range of her powers. Logan realizes that only he can stop the Phoenix due to his healing factor and adamantium skeleton. When Logan approaches her, Jean momentarily gains control and begs him to save her, and everyone else, by killing her. Logan fatally stabs Jean, killing the Phoenix, but mourns her death. Sometime later, mutant rights are finally obtained and Xavier's school is still operating with Storm as headmistress. The President of the United States appoints McCoy as ambassador to the United Nations. Rogue reveals to Bobby Drake that she has taken the cure, much to his disappointment, but they hold hands. Meanwhile, Magneto sits at a chessboard in San Francisco, seemingly human and weak. As Magneto gestures toward a metal chess piece, it wobbles slightly.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Elsewhere, Moira MacTaggert checks on a comatose patient who greets her with Xavier's voice, leaving her startled.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Additionally, Elliot Page appears as Kitty Pryde / Shadowcat: A mutant with the ability to phase through matter and walk through solid objects, her clear affection for Iceman further adds to the tension already present between Iceman and Rogue. Maggie Grace was considered for the role, before Ratner invited Page, who impressed the director with their performance in "Hard Candy". The actor initially declined, not wanting to yet jump to Hollywood filmmaking, but accepted after reading the script. Page said part of their motivation was having a new experience: "I thought, well, when else am I going to have a chance to wear a leather suit and run through exploding things? Why not be a superhero for a change?" Daniel Cudmore appears as Peter Rasputin / Colossus: A mutant with the ability to transform his body into an organic steel, while also granting him superhuman strength and a resistance to physical damage while in that form. Cudmore wore a foam latex muscle suit covered with a chrome-plated plastic plus a hard plastic head to have the metal skin on the set, with some digital augmentation being used to enhance the facial expressions. A digital double was used only for stunts that could not be achieved practically, such as the Fastball Special where Colossus throws Wolverine at Magneto., Ben Foster appears as Warren Worthington III / Angel: The mutant son of an industrialist, who has feathered wings which allow him to fly. The static wings were models with a wingspan and height glued to Foster's back, replaced with computer-generated ones when movement was required.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Cayden Boyd appears as young Angel, Michael Murphy appears as Warren Worthington II: The head of Worthington Labs, the corporation developing the "cure", Worthington expects to rid his son of his mutant abilities. The addition of the character allowed to integrate Angel into the cure plot, which also added a parallel between Warren's discovery of his son's mutation with a father finding out about his son's homosexuality., Dania Ramirez appears as Callisto: The leader of the Omegas, Callisto is a mutant with enhanced superhumanly acute senses, who senses mutants and their powers, and possesses superhuman speed and an expert hand-to-hand combatant. The character combined the powers of the comics' Callisto with another of the Morlocks, Caliban, and was written as someone who could be "beautiful, but with a tough persona". Ramirez had originally auditioned to play the mutant prostitute Stacy X, and impressed Brett Ratner so much that he decided to bring her in to play Callisto., Shohreh Aghdashloo appears as Dr. Kavita Rao: A scientist who works at Worthington Labs on the mutant cure, she is killed by Kid Omega. Aghdashloo signed without a completed script, and erroneously said her character would be mutant doctor Cecilia Reyes., Josef Sommer appears as the President: The President of the United States is tolerant of mutants, but fearful of the Brotherhood's threats. While creating the role, the producers felt that a "different" president, like an African American or a woman, had become a cliché in itself and went for a traditional route with an elder caucasian man. Sommer was invited by Ratner following their collaboration in "The Family Man"., Bill Duke appears as Trask: The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Trask aids the president of the United States during the war against the mutants. The character is probably related to the comic books' Bolivar Trask; however, his first name was never mentioned in the film and he is portrayed as African American. In the comics, Bolivar Trask is the head of Trask Industries and creator of the mutant-hunting Sentinels, and Eric Dane appears as James Madrox / Multipleman: A mutant and thief recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Madrox has the ability to create a very large number of copies of himself. The writers considered Dane's performance memorable despite being featured in only two scenes. Madrox's wardrobe invoked the symbols worn in his comics costume.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Other actors who portrayed mutants were: Meiling Melançon as Psylocke, a mutant with the ability to teleport herself through areas of shadow, although that depiction differs significantly from the comics; Omahyra Mota as Arclight, a mutant who has the ability to generate shock waves of concussive force; Ken Leung as Kid Omega, a mutant with the ability to eject spikes from his body, most notably his face (though the character resembles the comic books' character Quill and was later confirmed as such however, the official cast credits erroneously read "Kid Omega"); and Cameron Bright as Jimmy / Leech, a mutant who has the ability to neutralize the powers of nearby mutants. Various characters were included at the suggestion of editor Mark Helfrich, who brought Marvel's "X-Men Encyclopedia" to director Brett Ratner, searching for mutants who could make appearance. These include Phat, a mutant that is a very large man who can slim down to fit in a smaller space (played by two actors, Via Saleaumua – "large mode" – and Richard Yee – "small mode"); Spike (played by Lance Gibson), a mutant who battles Wolverine in the forest by extruding bony spikes from his flesh – the character was added because the editing team felt that the original cut of the scene portrayed Logan as a cold-blooded killer, which could be changed if another mutant attacked Wolverine before he struck the Brotherhood and Glob Herman (played by Clayton Dean Watmough), a mutant with transparent skin. Mark Helfrich portrays an unnamed mutant with ash-gray skin. Various other mutants make cameos at the X-Mansion; Shauna Kain and Kea Wong reprised their cameo roles as Siryn and Jubilee respectively, and three identical girls in the background in one scene are a reference to the Stepford Cuckoos. Olivia Williams portrays Moira MacTaggert. Adrian Hough, who previously voiced Nightcrawler in "" appears as John Grey, Jean's father. "X-Men" co-creator Stan Lee and writer Chris Claremont have cameos in the film's opening scene as the neighbors of young Jean Grey. The sergeant directing defensive preparations before the Brotherhood assaults Alcatraz Island is played by R. Lee Ermey. Lloyd Adams portrays the green-skinned mutant that climbs the guard tower on Alcatraz. Many fans believed this was Toad; however, the credits list him as lizard man and Brett Ratner confirmed it was Anole. Avalanche and Vanisher also appear; however, it is not known who portrayed them.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Bryan Singer, the director of the first two 20th Century Fox "X-Men" films, left the project in July 2004 in favor of developing "Superman Returns" (2006) for Warner Bros. Pictures. Singer stated that he "didn't fully have "X-Men 3" in my mind" in contrast to a fully formed idea for a Superman film and interest in joining that franchise. By the time of his departure, Singer had only produced a partial story treatment with "X2" (2003) screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, who accompanied him to "Superman Returns". The treatment focused on Jean Grey's resurrection, which would also introduce the villainess Emma Frost, a role intended for Sigourney Weaver. Frost was an empath manipulating Jean's emotions in the treatment and, like the finished film, Magneto desires to control her. Overwhelmed by her powers, Jean kills herself, but Jean's spirit survives and becomes a god-like creature, which Dougherty compared to the star child in "" (1968).


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: New contracts for returning cast members were made, as the actors and actresses had signed for only two films. Hugh Jackman's contract included the approval of director, initially offering the position to Darren Aronofsky, with whom he had just finished filming on "The Fountain" (2006). Joss Whedon, whose comic book storyline "Gifted" which he wrote was integrated into the script's plot, turned down the offer because he was working on a "Wonder Woman" film. Rob Bowman and Alex Proyas were also rumored to be up for consideration, though Proyas personally turned it down, citing feuds with 20th Century Fox president Thomas Rothman while producing "I, Robot" (2004). Zack Snyder was also approached, but he was already committed to "300" (2006). Peter Berg was also considered to direct the film but he too turned down the job. Guillermo del Toro was also offered to direct the film but turned down as he was already committed to "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006). In February 2005, with still no director hired, Fox announced a May 5, 2006, release date, with filming to start in July 2005 in Vancouver. One month later, the studio signed Matthew Vaughn to direct, and pushed the release date three weeks to May 26, Memorial Day weekend. Vaughn cast Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Dania Ramirez as Callisto, and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, but family issues led him to withdraw before filming began. Vaughn was also cautious of the tight deadlines imposed by Fox, stating that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make".


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Brett Ratner, who was previously considered to direct "X-Men" (2000) in 1996, and John Moore were both in the running to replace Vaughn during pre-production. On June 5, 2005, Ratner was confirmed as Vaughn's replacement. Ratner said he was surprised to get an invitation, as he thought he would have no chance to do a comic-book film after the cancelled "" for Warner Bros. With a limited knowledge of the "X-Men" mythos, Ratner trusted his writers on doing something faithful to the comics, having the script drawing all of its scenes from the original Marvel publications.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Simon Kinberg, who had worked on two other 20th Century Fox adaptations, "Fantastic Four" (2005) and "Elektra" (2005), was hired as writer for "X-Men 3" in August 2004. "X2" co-writer Zak Penn was separately working on his own draft, and the two joined forces for a combined screenplay in January 2005. Kinberg wanted the comic book arc "The Dark Phoenix Saga" by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne to be the emotional plot of the film, while "Gifted" by Whedon and artist John Cassaday" would serve as the political focus. The duo had seven months to complete "The Last Stand"s script, and during the first week of work completed the first eighty pages, consisting of the first two-thirds of the plot. This incomplete draft was leaked to Ain't It Cool News, who proceeded to write a negative review. Matthew Vaughn later helped co-wrote the script, storyboarded the entire film, and prevised all the major sequences. Though he did not get a writer's credit.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: The writers had to fight Fox's executives to retain the Phoenix plot, as the studio only wanted the cure story as it provided a reason for Magneto's conflict with the X-Men. Still the disputes made them not add much for Jean Grey to do in most of the film's second half, as the executives considered the tone of the Phoenix story too dark for a mainstream summer movie, and that its appeal would be limited to hardcore fans rather than a general audience. Penn defended the divergences from the original Dark Phoenix stories, stating that the Phoenix was not a firebird-shaped cosmic force "because it doesn't fit into the world," and that Cyclops did not have as much screentime as Wolverine because the latter was more popular and "with Cyclops, you can't see his eyes. It's a harder character to relate to for the audience." Killing Cyclops was Fox's decision, based on the availability of actor James Marsden, who was cast in Singer's "Superman Returns". The studio considered killing him off-screen with a dialogue reference, but Kinberg and Penn insisted that Jean kill him, emphasizing their relationship. Xavier's death was intended to match the impact of Spock's demise in "", as Fox felt the script called for a dramatic turning point. Kinberg and Penn were originally cautious, but grew to like the idea of killing off Xavier. They decided to write a post-credits scene suggesting the character's return for a sequel.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: As the studio was simultaneously developing "", limitations were set on which mutants could be used for cameo appearances in "X-Men 3" in an attempt to avoid risking character development for "Wolverine". Gambit was considered for both the convoy scene being freed by Magneto and the Battle of Alcatraz along with the X-Men, but the writers did not want to introduce a fan favorite character and "not be able to do him justice." Kinberg reasoned, "there just wasn't enough space", and considered Gambit would only work with as much screentime as Beast. Alan Cumming had been uncomfortable with the long hours he had to take with the prosthetic makeup as Nightcrawler in "X2", but still planned to return for the sequel. The part of Nightcrawler was so minimal, however, that the studio felt it was not worthwhile to go through the long and costly makeup process, and the character was cut. Kinberg felt that "there wasn't much left to do with the character. It also felt like he might tread a little bit on the terrain of Beast, in terms of similarities in the characters and their political standpoints in terms of dealing with their mutancy." Nightcrawler's absence was later explained in . The introductory scenes tried to emulate the Auschwitz opener for the first film, going with different scenes that resonated later in the plot instead of an action scene like in most blockbusters. Afterwards came a scene in the Danger Room, which was considered for the previous "X-Men" films but never included for budget and writing concerns. The writers tried to make the simulation not feel extraneous by showcasing some of the character conflicts and abilities in a "Days of Future Past"-inspired battle with a Sentinel. Another repurposed scene was Magneto attacking the convoy to free Mystique, Madrox and Juggernaut, which Penn had previously envisioned for "X2".


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Ratner collaborated with Penn and Kinberg in rearranging the plot structure of the film. Originally, the Golden Gate Bridge sequence was in the middle of the film, where the moved bridge was used by Magneto to free mutants being held prisoners on Alcatraz, and the climax was set in Washington, D.C. Ratner felt too many recent action films, such as "Planet of the Apes" (2001) and "X2" itself, had their ending in Washington, and the Golden Gate sequence "would be the biggest sequence in my entire career", and suggested to instead put the Worthington laboratory in Alcatraz, along with "creating a face for the cure", which became the character of Jimmy/Leech. Kinberg agreed, as he previously argued with Penn about "blowing so many things early in the movie".


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" began shooting in August 2005 and wrapped in January 2006. Much of the film was shot at Vancouver Film Studios, the same location of "X2". Locations included the Hatley Park National Historic Site and Royal Roads University, which doubled for the X-Mansion. An old lumber mill next to the Fraser River doubled as Alcatraz Island. The tight schedule made Ratner "begin post-production the day I started shooting," sending the scenes he had just filmed to his editors. The editing team was led by Mark Helfrich, who had edited all of Ratner's films, assisted by Mark Goldblatt in the action scenes and Julia Wong with effects-heavy footage.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: According to associate producer Dave Gordon, "This is the biggest production ever filmed in Canada. It used to be "X2", now it's "X3"." The $210million budget also made "The Last Stand" the most expensive film to be made at the time. The film's record would be first broken by ""'s $225million budget. The original cinematographer was Philippe Rousselot, who eventually opted to depart production. Dante Spinotti, a frequent collaborator of Ratner, replaced him, with assistance of J. Michael Muro. Fox Filmed Entertainment co-chairmen Thomas Rothman and Jim Gianopulos debated whether Rogue should give Iceman a passionate kiss at the film's end or simply hold his hand. The two executives screened "The Last Stand" for their daughters, as well as the studio's female marketing executives, and the hand holding prevailed. Gianopulos stated that the kissing "was all about sex, and we didn't want that." A strong campaign of secrecy about the script was enforced by Ratner and the writers. Even the actors had problems with getting full screenplays, the call sheets did not reveal all the characters, and many scenes were shot in varied ways. Both of the ending scenes were not included on the shooting script, with Ratner taking a small crew during one day's lunch time to film the post-credits scene with Xavier, and later going to London to film Magneto in the park.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: In 2014, Kinberg said of the wobbling chess piece at the end of the film, "There is a scene before the credits where Magneto's playing chess, and you see that he can just make the chess piece move, so there's a hint that he's starting to regain his powers. The leap from there was that cure from "The Last Stand" didn't work exactly the way they thought it would, and so we just leaped forward however many years, and he's got his powers back."


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: To make sure the visual effects were made in just one year and without exceeding the budget, special effects supervisor John Bruno shipped the 900 effects shots to eleven companies in four countries – United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Canada – and did extensive previsualization. Their work begun in April 2005, before the director Brett Ratner had even been announced, and Bruno made sure to emphasize practical effects, "shoot as many practical elements as possible, and only use CG when we had to." For instance, complex wirework rigs were employed which enabled the actors to do some stunts without resorting to digital doubles, including a computer controlled flying rig from Cirque Du Soleil for Angel's flight, and one for Halle Berry's flying spins.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Bruno estimates one-sixth of the effects budget was spent on the Golden Gate Bridge scene, which employed both a miniature of the bridge and computer graphics. The miniature was filmed over a period of two months in Santa Clarita, California, just outside of Los Angeles. The effects team would shoot one minute of footage outdoors each day at "golden hour," complete with explosives in order to have enough plates to composite the scene.The effects team had to work without reference footage due to the city of San Francisco vetting any filming in the actual bridge, including aerial shooting as the area has restrictions on flying helicopters. Framestore had further challenges in matching the varied weather conditions across the film's plates. As compositing supervisor Matt Twyford detailed, "the elements consisted of cold, rainy night live-action footage from Vancouver, sunny day miniature elements, traditional misty day background plates of San Francisco, and of course the CG bridge and fx elements." Another miniature was for the Grey home, which had a destructable equivalent matched the Canadian location and also had a digital equivalent. A notable effect was the "digital skin-grafting", which rejuvenated the faces of senior actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, made by the Brothers Strause's Lola Visual Effects. Bruno made sure to ask the atomization made by Phoenix was not too vivid and gruesome, instead resembling oatmeal.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Ratner, a fan of John Powell's work in "The Bourne Identity", invited Powell to write the music for "The Last Stand". Powell was unsure if the "Bourne" work was "the kind of score that would fit the film" and Fox became reluctant on the composer's availability, given he was already scoring "" at the time of Ratner's contact. However, Powell finished the "Ice Age" score early to accept the job even if it resulted in a tighter schedule. Powell included references to the score from the previous two films as "it all had to be in the same family, and the same language". The Phoenix theme used lyrics from Benjamin Britten's "Requiem Mass" for the choir parts. A soundtrack album was released on May 23, 2006.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: The marketing for "The Last Stand" was darker and more ambiguous compared to the two predecessors. 20th Century Fox president Tom Rothman declared that the decision was made so the film would "be different from all of the other movies in the summer," with a campaign that "wanted people to stop and not have it be so immediately apparent that we're selling a movie. We're interested in selling an emotion and an idea." The film's official website was launched in October 2005. The teaser trailer release with "King Kong" the following December was done in conjunction with the studio releasing the film's first official screen shots of the film to "USA Today". Diamond Select Toys created a toy line, scanning the actors from the film with likenesses for the first time in the trilogy. Additional product tie-ins came with Harley-Davidson and 7-Eleven. A seven-minute sneak peek aired on Fox Broadcasting two weeks before the film's theatrical release.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Del Rey Books published a novelization of the film, written by comic book writer Chris Claremont, while Newmarket Press published "The Art of X-Men: The Last Stand: From Concept to Feature Film". Claremont also worked on Activision's tie-in video game, "", doing the script along with screenwriter Zak Penn. The game's story bridges the events between "X2" and "The Last Stand", featuring Wolverine, Iceman and Nightcrawler as playable characters, voiced by their film portrayers Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore, and Alan Cumming. Patrick Stewart also appears as Professor X. The game was released to negative reviews and eventually underperformed commercially.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" premiered at an out-of-competition event of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2006. Two days later, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry and Kelsey Grammer attended an advance screening at USS "Kearsarge" (LHD-3), as the ship was en route to New York City for Fleet Week. The film was released in the United States on May 26, 2006, in 3,690 theaters, while also opening in 95 international markets that same weekend.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" was released on October 3, 2006, on DVD. It was available in three editions: single-disc, two-disc, and a trilogy box set with the previous two films. Extras included three alternative endings, each with optional commentary by director Ratner; 10 deleted scenes; audio commentaries from Ratner, the writers and the producers; and two hidden Easter eggs. The two-disc edition came with a 100-page commemorative comic book with a new story written by "X-Men" co-creator Stan Lee, his first original Marvel comic book in five years. The DVD sold 2.6million units in its first day, exceeding Fox's expectations, and sold a total 5million in its first week. A Blu-ray edition was issued in November 2006.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" is included in the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray set "X-Men: 3-Film Collection", which was released on September 25, 2018.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" earned $45.1million on its opening day and went on to generate $102.7million during its three-day opening weekend, making it the fourth-highest opening weekend of all time, behind "Shrek 2", "" and "Spider-Man". The film then grossed $122.8million during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, which was the highest at that time, surpassing "" and "Shrek 2". It would hold this record until it was surpassed by "" the next year. The film's release was also a new single-day record for Friday openings. The opening weekend gross was surpassed six weeks later by "", making "The Last Stand"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s opening the second-highest of 2006. Internationally, "The Last Stand" topped the box office in 26 countries with a total gross of $76.1million overall, but suffered competition from "The Da Vinci Code", which retained the top spot in most markets, and beat "The Last Stand" in international gross that weekend with $91million. The film's second weekend dropped 67 percent to $34million, which was the steepest post-Memorial Day opening drop on record. "X-Men: The Last Stand" eventually grossed $234.4million in the domestic box office and $225million internationally, for a worldwide total of $459.4million, the fourth-highest in domestic grosses and seventh-highest worldwide for 2006. "X-Men: The Last Stand" was also the highest-grossing film in the franchise, until it was surpassed by "" eight years later.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "X-Men: The Last Stand" has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of , . The site's critical consensus reads, ""X-Men: The Last Stand" provides plenty of mutant action for fans of the franchise, even if it does so at the expense of its predecessors' deeper moments." At Metacritic, the film has a score of 58 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "Ebert and Roeper" gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating, with Roger Ebert saying, "I liked the action, I liked the absurdity, I liked the incongruous use and misuse of mutant powers, and I especially liked the way it introduces all of those political issues and lets them fight it out with the special effects." Stephanie Zacharek of "Salon.com" gave it a mixed review, noting that it was "only half a mess", and that Ratner "could have stuck a bit more closely to the 'Dark Phoenix' narrative than he did." However, Zacharek did note that that third act captured some of the original story's "majesty", praising the performances of Jackman, McKellen, Romijn and Janssen. Famke Janssen's performance was praised by critics. Matt Mueller of "Total Film" was impressed with Janssen's performance and said, "Playing the super-freaky mind-control goddess like "GoldenEye"s Xenia Onatopp's all-powerful psycho sister, her scenes – particularly that one with the house – crackle with energy and tragedy. If only the rest of "X3" had followed suit."


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: Justin Chang of "Variety" said the film was "a wham-bam sequel noticeably lacking in the pop gravitas, moody atmospherics, and emotional weight that made the first two Marvel comicbook adaptations so rousingly successful." Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" called it a ""diminished sequel, a brute-force enterprise" and said it was an example of "what happens when movies are confused with sandwich shops as franchise opportunities". The Minneapolis "Star Tribune" characterized Ratner's approach as "Forget subtlety! Let's blow things up!" David Edelstein of "New York" magazine called it "just another big-budget B-movie. It's a fast and enjoyable B-movie, though." Foreshadowing "", Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" said, "Last stand? My ass. Billed as the climax of a trilogy, the third and weakest chapter in the X-Men series is a blatant attempt to prove there is still life in the franchise. And there is: just enough to pull a "Star Trek" and spawn a "Next Generation" saga."


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "X-Men: The Last Stand" has been criticized by fans for killing off major characters such as Charles Xavier, Cyclops, and Jean Grey. The 2014 film "" has subsequently been viewed by some critics as a revision of those controversial plot elements in "X-Men: The Last Stand". Writer Kinberg would later state that "there are a lot of things about 'X3' that I love and there are a lot of things that I regret", detailing that he would have preferred the Dark Phoenix as the main plotline and "I would have fought harder" for that, considering that at the period "the darkness of her story was a little bit daunting on a huge $200million studio movie" leading Fox to ask for rewrites. Previous "X-Men" director Bryan Singer declared that "The Last Stand" "isn't what I would have done" and he was dissatisfied with the busy plot and excessive character deaths, but Singer still liked some parts of the movie, such as Elliot Page's casting – leading Singer to bring Page back as Kitty Pryde in "" – and the scenes with Leech, which he described as "really sweet moments". Matthew Vaughn, who was attached as director before dropping out, said that given the limited time they had to make it, the film was "pretty good" but criticized Ratner's direction: "I could have done something with far more emotion and heart. I'm probably going to be told off for saying that, but I genuinely believe it." While promoting his own installment of the franchise, 2011's "", Vaughn would say regarding "The Last Stand" that "I storyboarded the whole bloody film, did the script. My "X3" would have been 40 minutes longer. They didn't let the emotions and the drama play in that film. It became wall-to-wall noise and drama. I would have let it breathe and given far more dramatic elements to it." Having admitted being unhappy with the way some elements of the film turned out, Kinberg then went on to direct and write the reboot film "Dark Phoenix", which retold the events of "X-Men: The Last Stand".


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: In February 2006, Ratner said that "The Last Stand" could be the final "X-Men" film: "We wanted to make sure the audiences knew that this was a trilogy. Even though they weren't made together like "Lord of the Rings", this is really closure for the "X-Men" series. ... This is the last stand for sure."


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: The next two "X-Men" films, "" (2009) and "" (2011) were prequels that took place before the events of the first "X-Men" movie. The first film set chronologically after "The Last Stand" was "The Wolverine", released in 2013. A stand-alone sequel, "The Wolverine" shows Logan heading for Japan to escape the memories of what occurred during "The Last Stand". Hugh Jackman and Famke Janssen reprised their roles, while Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart appear in a mid-credits scene.


title: X-Men: The Last Stand

text: "", the direct sequel to "The Last Stand", was released on May 23, 2014, with Jackman, Berry, Stewart, McKellen, Paquin, Page, Ashmore, Cudmore, Grammer, Janssen, and Marsden reprising their respective roles. The plot, inspired by the comic book "Days of Future Past" story arc, begins with a dystopian future set years after "The Last Stand". Wolverine's consciousness is sent back in time, to his 1973 body in order to guide the younger Xavier and Magneto into preventing the events that lead to the desolate future. The events of the film end up retroactively changing the continuity of the series, changing some events in films set after "First Class", resulting in an altered timeline where Jean and Cyclops are still alive.


title: PK (film)

text: PK () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani and written by Hirani and Abhijat Joshi, and jointly produced by Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banners Rajkumar Hirani Films and Vinod Chopra Films respectively. The plot follows an innocent alien (Aamir Khan) who lands on Earth but loses his communication device. He meets Jaggu (Anushka Sharma), a heartbroken reporter, and tries to find his device. With time, he raises many thought-provoking questions.


title: PK (film)

text: After the success of "3 Idiots" (2009), Hirani and Joshi began scripting their next project; finding similarities with the plot of "Inception" (2010), they scrapped the film. It was later rewritten with a different angle and tone. During production, the film was initially titled "Talli" and later "Ek Tha Talli" before being changed to "PK" as the latter title was found to be too similar to "Ek Tha Tiger" (2012). The film's soundtrack was composed by Shantanu Moitra, Ajay–Atul and Ankit Tiwari with lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire, Amitabh Varma and Manoj Muntashir. UTV Motion Pictures acquired the distribution rights of the film. "PK" was the first Bollywood film to be shot in Belgium.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" was released on 19 December 2014. Upon release, it received positive reviews, with praise directed towards Khan's performance and the film's humour. The film received 8 nominations at the 60th Filmfare Awards, winning two. Additionally, it won five Producers Guild Film Awards, and two Screen Awards. "PK" garnered the Telstra People's Choice Award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. Produced on a budget of 850 million (approx. $12 million), "PK" was the first Indian film to gross more than 7 billion and US$100 million worldwide. At the time of its release, it emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of all time. The film's final worldwide gross was 854crore (US$140million). It currently stands as the 7th highest grossing Indian film of all time. and 7th highest-grossing film in India.


title: PK (film)

text: An android alien lands on Earth naked on a research mission in Rajasthan but is stranded when the remote control for his spaceship is stolen. He manages to get the thief's cassette recorder. On the same day in Belgium, an Indian woman, Jagat Janani Sahni alias Jaggu, meets a Pakistani, Sarfaraz Yousuf, and falls in love with him. Jaggu's father objects to their relationship, citing difference in their religions. He consults godman Tapasvi Maharaj who predicts that Sarfaraz will betray Jaggu. Determined to prove them wrong, Jaggu asks Sarfaraz to marry her. At the wedding, she is heartbroken when she receives an unsigned letter, believing it is from Sarfaraz, calling off the wedding due to cultural differences.


title: PK (film)

text: Jaggu returns to India and becomes a news reporter. She meets the alien and is intrigued to see him distribute leaflets about the "missing" God. She earns his trust by rescuing him when he attempts to take money from a temple's collection box as a refund on God's broken promises. The alien tells her that he is an 'astronaut' from another planet. His people know nothing about dressing, religion, or verbal communication; they transfer ideas by holding hands.


title: PK (film)

text: A flashback shows how, after being accidentally hit by a truck, the alien is befriended by bandmaster Bhairon Singh, who takes him along with his troop. Bhairon takes him to a brothel, where the alien holds a prostitute Phuljhadiya's hand for six hours and thus learns the Bhojpuri language. The alien begins speaking, and after learning of the whole scenario, Bhairon tells him that his thief may be in Delhi. The alien leaves for Delhi. Due to his strange behaviour, people assume he is drunk and call him "peekay" or "PK" (Hindi for drunk); the alien adopts PK as a name (his people have no language and thus no names). People tell PK that only "God" can help him find his remote. He sincerely practices Indian religions, including Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity and Islam, attempting to find "God", to no avail. He later discovers that Tapasvi has his remote, who claims it was a gift from God and refuses to return it. Jaggu promises PK that she will recover his remote and he can go back home.


title: PK (film)

text: PK conjectures, as Jaggu plays a prank on an unknown caller, that Tapasvi and other godmen must be dialling a "wrong number" to communicate with God and are advising the public to engage in meaningless rituals. Jaggu encourages the public to expose fraudulent godmen by sending their videos to her news channel. This "wrong number" campaign turns into a popular mass movement, to the dismay of Tapasvi. Meanwhile, Bhairon finds the thief and contacts PK, telling him that he sold his remote to Tapasvi. PK realises that Tapasvi was a fraud all along and that it was not a "wrong number". Bhairon brings the thief to Delhi, but both die in a terrorist attack.


title: PK (film)

text: Tapasvi decides to confront PK on-air. Tapasvi asks PK what the "right number" is. PK says that "God created us all" is the only concept people should believe in and that the other "duplicate Gods" are artificial. Tapasvi argues, saying that PK is trying to take people away from their Gods and that they will not stand for their Gods being taken away. He claims he has a direct connection to God and refers to his prediction of Sarfaraz's betrayal to try to prove that Muslims are liars. PK, having absorbed Jaggu's memories earlier, realises that Sarfaraz did not write the letter to Jaggu.


title: PK (film)

text: Jaggu contacts the Pakistani Embassy in Belgium where Sarfaraz worked part-time. The embassy receptionist tells her that Sarfaraz has been annoying the embassy officials by repeatedly asking if they received a call from Delhi, implying that he still loves Jaggu. That day, Sarfaraz found the same letter and thought it was from Jaggu, and did not call her as he understood she was under familial pressure. Jaggu and Sarfaraz reconnect, and Tapasvi is forced by Jaggu's father to return PK's remote.


title: PK (film)

text: Meanwhile, PK has fallen in love with Jaggu but refrains from telling her because she loves Sarfaraz. Having filled multiple audio tapes with her voice alone, he takes two suitcases full of tapes and extra batteries when leaving for home. He lies to Jaggu that the tapes contain a variety of Earthly noises which he will miss, such as crows and car horns. Jaggu realises his love for her by seeing the note he wrote for her earlier but does not directly confront him about it. PK does not even look back while going as he doesn't want her to see him in tears which will give away his love for her. After his departure, Jaggu publishes a book about him, with Sarfaraz and her family assisting.


title: PK (film)

text: One year later, PK returns to Earth on a new research mission on human nature with more members of his species.


title: PK (film)

text: After the success of "3 Idiots", director Rajkumar Hirani and writer Abhijat Joshi started work for the next project. They had written a story about a character who had the ability to get into another person's mind to make that person a better human being. They spent one year to write a story, but it turned out to be similar to "Inception" (2010). After watching "Inception", Hirani and Joshi were shocked by the similarities. Eventually, they decided to scrap the film, then Hirani and Joshi reworked on the script, changing the entire tone and angle. It took five years to make the film and three years to write it.


title: PK (film)

text: In "PK", Khan played nine avatars and, during the course of the film, the actor had to chew over 10,000 betelnut preparations called "paan". Betelnut is a psychoactive stimulant used throughout Asia and characterized by its ability to stain users' mouths red. "In real life "paan" is not a habit, I have it once in a while but for this film I chew "paan" for every scene. I would at times eat about 100 "paans" in a day. We had a "paanwala" [a "paan" maker] on the sets," said Khan in the report. For every take, Khan had to eat a fresh "paan" to fill his mouth. Before beginning the shoot, he would eat at least 10–15 "paans" to get the right color inside his mouth and on his lips.


title: PK (film)

text: Viral Thakkar was the visual effects supervisor. The visual effects company was Riva Digital at a point employing 100 artists working on the film.


title: PK (film)

text: In 2011, Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma signed on for the film. Khan's nephew Imran Khan and Ranbir Kapoor were considered for a role which eventually went to Sushant Singh Rajput before the release of his debut movie "Kai Po Che" (2013). Earlier reports said that Rajkumar Hirani had signed Arshad Warsi for the film when it was reported that Arshad will be playing an important role. In 2013, Warsi said in an interview "I couldn't have worked out on dates. I wouldn't refuse Raju for anything. In fact, when he offered me the film, I did not even ask for the script, I was like I am ready to come on whenever you want. So that is the connection I share with Raju." Before Rajput and Warsi were signed on, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi were said to be cast in the film. Junaid Khan, son of Aamir Khan worked as an assistant director in this film.


title: PK (film)

text: In 2011, in its initial scripting stage, Hirani named the film "Talli", then changed it to "Ek Tha Talli" which he loved, but later on came to know that "Ek Tha Tiger" was already in production (released in 2012). He dropped the idea and, after many titles, he came up with a title that only had initials, "PK". After starting the film, Hirani felt "PK" was not a good enough title. He decided to change the title to "Talli". But after a few weeks of shooting, Hirani decided to go back to the original title.


title: PK (film)

text: Firstpost compared "PK" to Hirani and Khan's previous collaboration "3 Idiots", as they both involve "A socially awkward and 'different' young man—who walks and talks in a strange, enthusiastic childlike manner—observes the system, questions it, asks you to look at the many ludicrous things that inform it, and eventually brings about a minor revolution."


title: PK (film)

text: According to Hirani, "PK" is a "satire on Hindu gods and their godmen". The co-director Khan began looking for shooting locations in July 2012. Second unit filming was set to begin in late 2012, which was stalled after the rumoured departure of three department heads for the film and bad weather stalling initial shoots. Hirani denied rumours that the film would be delayed, stating that principal filming had always been intended to begin in mid-January 2013 in Delhi and Rajasthan to "capture the winter of Delhi".


title: PK (film)

text: Shooting officially began on 1 February 2013, with the filming scheduled to occur over a 45-day period. A one-week schedule of shooting of "PK" was in June 2013 in Bruges, Belgium. A 26-day schedule of shooting of "PK" started in Delhi from 27 September 2013.


title: PK (film)

text: The makers released a teaser trailer on 23 October 2014. It achieved 3.4 million views on YouTube within five days, subsequently receiving 12 million views. It was regarded as the most viewed movie trailers on YouTube. The teaser was attached with the film "Happy New Year" (2014).


title: PK (film)

text: In August, the makers found a new promotional strategy to interact with the audiences by introducing talking standees. This was the first time a Bollywood film used a talking standee at varied locations as a part of its promotions. The standee had Khan talking to people in a prominent places in popular theatres and multiplexes.


title: PK (film)

text: On 7 December 2014, Khan began the city tour for promotions with Patna. The character he plays speaks in Bhojpuri which is the main language used for communication in Bihar. Aamir said at the event "I have decided to launch the promotional campaign of my film "PK" from Bihar to connect with the language. My character speaks Bhojpuri in the film." Hence, the actor decided to start his promotional schedule from Bihar. Although he wanted to visit Bhojpur, which is 60 kilometers from Bihar, he could not because of security issues. In Bihar he visited a litti chokha stall. The visit resulted in a surge of customers to the shop, and the shop owner put up pictures of Khan eating the local delicacy. Then the crew proceeded to Varanasi where they had a screening of their film "3 Idiots" and interacted with the people. Khan made an impromptu visit to Krishana Paan shop to savor a Banarasi pan. The actor specially removed time from his schedule to visit this place. He enjoyed a "mitha banarasi paan" there. After the crew visited Delhi, Ahemdabad, Raipur, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Indore, Bangalore and other locations in India. Aamir and makers also promoted the film in Dubai.


title: PK (film)

text: Indiagames, a part of Disney India's Interactive business, announced the launch of the official mobile game 'PK' based on the film. On 14 December 2014, Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Siddharth Roy Kapur, managing director of Disney India and Sameer Ganapathy, VP and head, Interactive of Disney India launched the game at the Reliance Digital Store in Juhu amidst much fanfare.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" was earlier scheduled to release on 11 January 2015. The director (who is also editor of the film), Rajkumar Hirani, wanted to spend more time editing. Besides, some portions with Sanjay Dutt were yet to be shot. Also, the second season of "Satyamev Jayate" was to kick off from March. So Aamir Khan was not sure if he would be able to promote "PK" in June. Hence the makers settled for a December release.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" was released on 19 December 2014, as the 200th Bollywood release in 2014. The release was later expanded to 6000 screens worldwide, which included 5200 screens in India and 844 screens overseas.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" was initially released in 4844 screens worldwide. "PK" has been made tax-free in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. "PK" is the widest Indian movie released in the U.K. (198 screens), Pakistan (over 70 screens), Australia (35 screens) and outside of India (844 screens in over 40 overseas markets). "PK" was released theatrically in China on 22 May 2015 across 4,600 screens. It had a dubbed Mandarin Chinese version, with Wang Baoqiang voicing Khan's role. The film was released in South Korea and Hong Kong on 3 September 2015, and in Japan on 29 October 2016.


title: PK (film)

text: "Koimoi" reported rumors of a deal in which the satellite rights were sold for to Sony Entertainment Television if the domestic business reached 3 billion net. The music rights were sold for . "DNA" reported, "Being the first film to use Rentrak, Khan has taken the first initiative to bring in a paradigm shift from the usual norms followed in Bollywood. He had clearly enforced the idea of Rentrak to be brought in to bring more accuracy when it comes to box office figures."


title: PK (film)

text: The soundtrack is composed by Shantanu Moitra, Ajay–Atul and Ankit Tiwari with lyrics written by Swanand Kirkire, Amitabh Varma and Manoj Muntashir. The song "Tharki Chokro" is the first single, released on 24 October 2014. The video focuses on Aamir Khan and Sanjay Dutt, with the song sung by Swaroop Khan and composed by Ajay–Atul with lyrics penned by Swanand Kirkire. The second single, "Love Is a Waste of Time", which pictured Aamir Khan and Anushka Sharma, was released on 31 October 2014 on YouTube. The song is sung by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal, composed by Shantanu Moitra with the lyrics of Amitabh Varma. "Chaar Kadam" was released on 2 November 2014 on the T-Series YouTube. The song is sung by Shaan and Shreya Ghoshal, composed by Shantanu Moitra with lyrics by Swanand Kirkire. The full soundtrack was released on 5 November 2014.


title: PK (film)

text: Srijana Mitra Das of "The Times of India" gave the movie 4 stars out of 5. Rajeev Masand of "CNN-IBN" gave 3.5 stars quoting "It's a courageous film that sticks to Hirani's well-oiled formula". "NDTV" gave 5 stars calling it ""PK" is a winner all the way, a film that Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt would have been proud of had they been alive. Hirani is without a doubt their most worthy standard-bearer." "Bollywood Hungama" described it as "a solid entertainer that will surely entertain the masses and classes alike" and gave 4.5 out of 5 stars. Raja Sen of "Rediff.com" gave "PK" 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a triumph" and argued that Khan "soars high". However, Sukanya Verma of the same publication called the film "a mixed bag of spunk and sentimentality", while still giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars. Rohit Vats of "Hindustan Times" gave 4 out of 5 stars and said "Khan steals the show with his performance". Rohit Khilnani of "India Today" gave 4.5 stars, and said "Go watch the film & watch it ASAP!" Edmund Lee of "South China Morning Post" gave "PK" 3.5 stars. In Japan, Yuri Wakabayashi of gave the film a positive review in 2016.


title: PK (film)

text: In 2019, "Film Companion" ranked Khan's performance among the 100 best in Indian film for the past decade.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" had its box office figures tracked by Rentrak a United States-based company that specializes in audience measurements. "PK" became the first Bollywood film to earn net from online bookings. "PK" grossed 175crore (US$28million) worldwide in its first week. It became the highest-grossing Indian film, in both domestic as well as international markets. The film's final worldwide gross was 832crore (US$million). It was the 71st highest-grossing film of 2014. "PK" was the first Indian film to gross more than 7 billion and US$100 million worldwide.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" earned net on its opening day. It showed growth on its second day, earning around net. On its third day, the film brought in net, bringing its weekend take to net.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" had the highest collections for a Hindi film on its first Monday, earning around net. Over the next two days it grossed and net respectively, taking its total to . On Christmas Day the film earned approximately net, taking its first week total to net.


title: PK (film)

text: On its second Friday, "PK" brought in around net. The film kept growing in its second weekend, earning on Saturday and on Sunday, taking the weekend total to net. It earned on its second Monday, on Tuesday and on Wednesday. With this, the film took its total to around net and became the highest-grossing film in India in just 13 days. The film set a record second week figure of , taking its total to net. "PK" made an all-time record in the Mumbai circuit by grossing there more than net.


title: PK (film)

text: The film netted around in its third weekend, reaching net in seventeen days. "PK" went on to net in India and grossed overseas for a worldwide gross of in three weeks. The film earned a final domestic gross of , including a domestic net of .


title: PK (film)

text: The film opened in 22 international markets during its opening weekend (19–21 December) and grossed $28.7 million, placing it at No. 3 at the worldwide box office behind "" and "Gone with the Bullets". In North America, it set an opening weekend record for an Indian film collecting $3.75 million and placing at No. 10 at the box office. "PK" is the first Indian film to gross US$10 million in North America (US and Canada). The international gross was US$46.52 million (2.94 billion)—at the time, the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in international markets. In Pakistan, "PK" grossed as of 10 January 2015.


title: PK (film)

text: "PK" had a second phase of overseas release in East Asia, most prominently in China. It became an instant hit, grossing US$5.14–5.3 million in first three days of release due to good word-of-mouth—a record for an Indian film (previously held by "Dhoom 3"), debuting at second place at the Chinese box office behind "". "PK" became the highest-grossing Indian film in China in just 72 hours and grossed US$19.5 million (Rs 1.22 billion) in China. It became the first Indian film to pass the 100 million yuan ($16.11 million) threshold, which is considered rare for a non-Hollywood foreign film.


title: PK (film)

text: The film grossed ¥119million (US$20million) in China. In addition, it grossed US$5.88million in South Korea, US$870,000 in Hong Kong, and US$289,000 in Taiwan. "PK" was also a hit in Japan when it was released there in 2016, particularly in Tokyo; in Shinjuku, for example, it was the year's second highest-earning film at .


title: PK (film)

text: Director Hirani has confirmed that a sequel will be made starring Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. He said, "We will make the sequel. We had shown Ranbir [Kapoor's character landing on the planet] towards the end of the film, so there is a story to tell. But Abhijat (Joshi, writer) has not written it yet. The day he writes it, we will make it."


title: PK (film)

text: When the shoot was going on in Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, an FIR was lodged against the makers of the film for allegedly hurting religious sentiments in October 2013. The objection was regarding a scene where a man dressed as the Hindu deity Shiva, pulls the rickshaw with two burqa clad women as passengers.


title: PK (film)

text: In July 2014, the film's poster sparked a controversy as it featured Aamir Khan posing almost nude with only a radio cassette recorder covering his genitals. Although the Central Board of Film Certification had cleared the film, a PIL was filed in the court by the All India Human Rights and Social Justice Front to ban its release saying it promoted nudity and vulgarity. The Supreme Court of India dismissed the plea and gave the film a green signal. A case was lodged against Aamir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani under section 295A in Rajasthan.


title: PK (film)

text: Activists of pro-Hindu organizations Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal protested against certain scenes in the film, which they considered to be hurtful to the religious sentiments of the Hindu community as it showed Aamir Khan running behind Shiva. Subsequently, some theatres were vandalised by those activists, who demanded a ban on the movie and a Public Interest Litigation was filed against "PK" for the same. Amish Tripathi of "Hindustan Times" and Madhu Kishwar of "Firstpost" took issue with the film for mocking idolatry.


title: PK (film)

text: Swaroopanand Saraswati in January 2015 raised questions with the Censor Board about the film, demanding that the CBI investigate how the film received its certification from the Censor Board despite several members of the Board requesting that the film be reviewed again, but with no action taken.


title: PK (film)

text: The Sunni clerics of All India Muslim Personal Law Board demanded the removal of some scenes of the movie which they believed was hurting religious sentiments.


title: PK (film)

text: Government officials, such as the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and the then chief minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi exempted the film from entertainment tax to encourage wider viewership.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Marie Louise Hartman (born March 11, 1959), known professionally as Nina Hartley, is an American pornographic film actress described by CNBC as "a legend in the adult world".


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley was born in Berkeley, California, to a Lutheran father, Louis Hartman, and a Jewish mother, Blanche Hartman (née Gelders), whose family was from Alabama.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Her maternal grandfather, Joseph Gelders, was a University of Alabama physics professor who was a Communist Party USA (CPUSA) party member in the 1930s.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley's parents were members of the CPUSA who converted to Buddhism when she was young. Her father was blacklisted in 1957 for his communist beliefs.


title: Nina Hartley

text: After graduating from Berkeley High School in 1977, she attended San Francisco State University's undergraduate nursing school and graduated "magna cum laude" in 1985. She was a registered nurse until her license expired in 1986.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley has said she saw the 1976 erotic film "The Autobiography of a Flea" by Sharon McNight, alone at a theater in San Francisco and chose her life's work: making porn.


title: Nina Hartley

text: In 1982, during her sophomore year of nursing school, she started working as a stripper at the Sutter Street Theatre, and later the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Her pornographic film debut was in "Educating Nina", where she was cast and directed by fellow performer Juliet Anderson.


title: Nina Hartley

text: In 1994, she began her line of instructional videos that are marketed under the "Nina Hartley's Guide" brand.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley has been described by news outlets as "one of the best-known actresses in the industry" and "a legend in the adult world".


title: Nina Hartley

text: Explaining how Marie Louise Hartman became Nina Hartley, she stated in an interview that she chose the name "Nina" because it was easy for Japanese tourists to say during the time she was a dancer in San Francisco; "Hartley" was chosen as it was close to her own real last name as possible and because she "wanted a name that sounded like that of a real person."


title: Nina Hartley

text: She stated that when she got into the adult business, she was blessed with two popular fetish items: "big, baby-blue eyes and that round butt with a high, small waist", with her buttocks becoming her trademark.


title: Nina Hartley

text: In the 1980s and early 1990s, she starred in several of the "Debbie Does" film series spin-offs such as "Debbie Duz Dishes" (1986) and "Debbie Does Wall Street" (1991).


title: Nina Hartley

text: For many years, she also toured the United States and Canada as a stripper and made personal appearances at adult shops.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley played the part of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 pornographic parody film "Who's Nailin' Paylin?", with Lisa Ann in the role of Sarah Palin.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley has appeared in several documentary films: she was interviewed in "The Naked Feminist" (2003) was featured in "After Porn Ends" (2012), and appears in "" (2016), in which she discusses masturbation with regards to education, the forced resignation of Joycelyn Elders, and her opinions on the blackballing of comedian Paul Reubens after his arrest for masturbating in a public theater.


title: Nina Hartley

text: She began engaging in feminist activism in the 1980s and has made frequent appearances at academic conferences, workshops, and in the media to promote sex positivity, along with lectures at several universities.


title: Nina Hartley

text: As a feminist working in the pornography industry, she has said, "Pleasure is very, very powerful, very, very potent. You're no longer at the mercy of men when you understand that", and "Sex isn't something men do to you. It isn't something men get out of you. Sex is something you dive into with gusto and like it every bit as much as he does."


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley is a long-time board member of the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, and has been involved in socialist activism.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Politically, Hartley describes herself as a democratic socialist, saying, "There are some things the federal government is essential for and some things best left to local government."


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley has long been affiliated with the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee (APAC), a labor union for pornographic film actors.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Before the rise to stardom of Jenna Jameson, Hartley had often been called on when television news programs and talk shows required an articulate, leading adult film actress to support the adult film industry's right to exist.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley and fellow pornographic actress Ona Zee have also spoken out against illegal drug use in the industry.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley was interviewed by Eric Schlosser for his book "Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market" in which she was critical of anti-pornography legislation.


title: Nina Hartley

text: Hartley acted in the 1996 Canadian film "Bubbles Galore" and has appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show".


title: Nina Hartley

text: In the 1997 film "Boogie Nights", she played William H. Macy's character's serially unfaithful wife, who is murdered by him.


title: Nina Hartley

text: She later remarked, "The only movie I ever died in for having sex was a mainstream movie." She also played Wanda, a salesclerk at a sex toy shop, in the 2017 punk comedy film Scumbag.


title: Nina Hartley

text: In 2006, Hartley co-authored "Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex" with her husband Ira Levine. The book includes sections on sex toys, swinging, threesomes, dominance and submission, and erotic spanking.


title: Nina Hartley

text: "Library Journal" called the book a "well-written guide" that is "strong on both safe sex and a permissive approach", saying Hartley "handles the material frankly, accurately, and with sensitivity".


title: Nina Hartley

text: From 1981 to 2000, she was involved in a relationship with a man (a former Students for a Democratic Society leader) and a woman.


title: Nina Hartley

text: The same year, Hartley married Ira Levine, a director of porn films under the name Ernest Greene. They are openly polyamorous.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: "Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person who has dabbled in many skills, rather than gaining expertise by focusing on only one.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: The original version "a jack of all trades" is often used as a compliment for a person who is good at fixing, and has a good level of broad knowledge. They may be a master of integration: an individual who knows enough from many learned trades and skills to be able to bring the disciplines together in a practical manner. This person is a generalist rather than a specialist.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: Robert Greene used the phrase "absolute Johannes Factotum" (rather than "Jack of all trades") in his 1592 booklet "Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit," to dismissively refer to actor-turned-playwright William Shakespeare; this is the first published mention of Shakespeare.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: Some scholars believe Greene was referring not to Shakespeare, but to "Resolute" Johannes Florio, known as John Florio. They have pointed out how "Johannes" was the Latin version of John (Giovanni), and the name by which Florio was known among his contemporaries. The term "absolute" is thought to be a rhyme for the nickname used by Florio in his signature ("resolute"), and the term "factotum" is thought to be used as a disparaging word for secretary, John Florio's job.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: In 1612, the phrase appeared in the book "Essays and Characters of a Prison" by English writer Geffray Mynshul (Minshull), originally published in 1618, and was probably based on the author's experience while held at Gray's Inn, London, when imprisoned for debt.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: The "master of none" element appears to have been added in the late 18th century; it made the statement less flattering to the person receiving it. Today, "Jack of all trades, master of none" generally describes a person whose knowledge, while covering a number of areas, is superficial in all of them. When abbreviated as simply "jack of all trades", it is an ambiguous statement – the user's intention is then dependent on context. However, when "master of none" is added (sometimes in jest), this is unflattering. In the United States and Canada, the phrase has been in use since 1721.


title: Jack of all trades, master of none

text: In modern times, the phrase with the "master of none" element is sometimes expanded into a less unflattering couplet by adding a second line: "but oftentimes better than master of one" (or variants thereof), with some writers saying that such a couplet is the "original" version with the second line having been dropped, but there are no known instances of this second line dated to before the twenty-first century.


title: Manuel Noriega

text: Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the "de facto" ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritarian ruler who amassed a personal fortune through drug trafficking operations, he had long standing ties to United States intelligence agencies before the U.S. invasion of Panama removed him from power.


title: Manuel Noriega

text: Born in Panama City to a poor pardo family, Noriega studied at the Chorrillos Military School in Lima and at the School of the Americas. He became an officer in the Panamanian army, and rose through the ranks in alliance with Omar Torrijos. In 1968, Torrijos overthrew President Arnulfo Arias in a coup. Noriega became chief of military intelligence in Torrijos's government, and after Torrijos's death in 1981, consolidated power to become Panama's "de facto" ruler in 1983. Beginning in the 1950s, Noriega worked with U.S. intelligence agencies, and became one of the Central Intelligence Agency's most valued intelligence sources. He also served as a conduit for illicit weapons, military equipment, and cash destined for U.S.-backed forces throughout Latin America.


title: Manuel Noriega

text: Noriega's relationship with the U.S. deteriorated in the late 1980s after his relationship with intelligence agencies in other countries came to light, and his involvement in drug trafficking was investigated further. In 1988, Noriega was indicted by federal grand juries in Miami and Tampa on charges of racketeering, drug smuggling, and money laundering. The U.S. launched an invasion of Panama following failed negotiations seeking his resignation, and Noriega's annulment of the 1989 Panamanian general election. Noriega was captured and flown to the U.S., where he was tried on the Miami indictment, convicted on most of the charges, and sentenced to 40 years in prison, ultimately serving 17 years after a reduction in his sentence for good behavior. Noriega was extradited to France in 2010, where he was convicted and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for money laundering. In 2011 France extradited him to Panama, where he was incarcerated for crimes committed during his rule, for which he had been tried and convicted "in absentia" in the 1990s. Diagnosed with a brain tumor in March 2017, Noriega suffered complications during surgery, and died two months later.