title: Augmented reality

text: In a video, Uriel Yehezkel demonstrates using the Leap Motion controller and GECO MIDI to control Ableton Live with hand gestures and states that by this method he was able to control more than 10 parameters simultaneously with both hands and take full control over the construction of the song, emotion and energy.


title: Augmented reality

text: A novel musical instrument that allows novices to play electronic musical compositions, interactively remixing and modulating their elements, by manipulating simple physical objects has been proposed.


title: Augmented reality

text: A system using explicit gestures and implicit dance moves to control the visual augmentations of a live music performance that enable more dynamic and spontaneous performances and—in combination with indirect augmented reality—leading to a more intense interaction between artist and audience has been suggested.


title: Augmented reality

text: Research by members of the CRIStAL at the University of Lille makes use of augmented reality to enrich musical performance. The ControllAR project allows musicians to augment their MIDI control surfaces with the remixed graphical user interfaces of music software. The Rouages project proposes to augment digital musical instruments to reveal their mechanisms to the audience and thus improve the perceived liveness. Reflets is a novel augmented reality display dedicated to musical performances where the audience acts as a 3D display by revealing virtual content on stage, which can also be used for 3D musical interaction and collaboration.


title: Augmented reality

text: Snapchat users have access to augmented reality in the company's instant messaging app through use of camera filters. In September 2017, Snapchat updated its app to include a camera filter that allowed users to render an animated, cartoon version of themselves called "Bitmoji". These animated avatars would be projected in the real world through the camera, and can be photographed or video recorded. In the same month, Snapchat also announced a new feature called "Sky Filters" that will be available on its app. This new feature makes use of augmented reality to alter the look of a picture taken of the sky, much like how users can apply the app's filters to other pictures. Users can choose from sky filters such as starry night, stormy clouds, beautiful sunsets, and rainbow.


title: Augmented reality

text: In a paper titled "Death by Pokémon GO", researchers at Purdue University's Krannert School of Management claim the game caused "a disproportionate increase in vehicular crashes and associated vehicular damage, personal injuries, and fatalities in the vicinity of locations, called PokéStops, where users can play the game while driving." Using data from one municipality, the paper extrapolates what that might mean nationwide and concluded "the increase in crashes attributable to the introduction of Pokémon GO is 145,632 with an associated increase in the number of injuries of 29,370 and an associated increase in the number of fatalities of 256 over the period of 6 July 2016, through 30 November 2016." The authors extrapolated the cost of those crashes and fatalities at between $2bn and $7.3 billion for the same period. Furthermore, more than one in three surveyed advanced Internet users would like to edit out disturbing elements around them, such as garbage or graffiti. They would like to even modify their surroundings by erasing street signs, billboard ads, and uninteresting shopping windows. So it seems that AR is as much a threat to companies as it is an opportunity. Although, this could be a nightmare to numerous brands that do not manage to capture consumer imaginations it also creates the risk that the wearers of augmented reality glasses may become unaware of surrounding dangers. Consumers want to use augmented reality glasses to change their surroundings into something that reflects their own personal opinions. Around two in five want to change the way their surroundings look and even how people appear to them.


title: Augmented reality

text: Next, to the possible privacy issues that are described below, overload and over-reliance issues are the biggest danger of AR. For the development of new AR-related products, this implies that the user-interface should follow certain guidelines as not to overload the user with information while also preventing the user from over-relying on the AR system such that important cues from the environment are missed. This is called the virtually-augmented key. Once the key is ignored, people might not desire the real world anymore.


title: Augmented reality

text: The concept of modern augmented reality depends on the ability of the device to record and analyze the environment in real time. Because of this, there are potential legal concerns over privacy. While the First Amendment to the United States Constitution allows for such recording in the name of public interest, the constant recording of an AR device makes it difficult to do so without also recording outside of the public domain. Legal complications would be found in areas where a right to a certain amount of privacy is expected or where copyrighted media are displayed.


title: Augmented reality

text: In terms of individual privacy, there exists the ease of access to information that one should not readily possess about a given person. This is accomplished through facial recognition technology. Assuming that AR automatically passes information about persons that the user sees, there could be anything seen from social media, criminal record, and marital status.


title: Augmented reality

text: The Code of Ethics on Human Augmentation, which was originally introduced by Steve Mann in 2004 and further refined with Ray Kurzweil and Marvin Minsky in 2013, was ultimately ratified at the virtual reality Toronto conference on 25 June 2017.


title: Augmented reality

text: The interaction of location-bound augmented reality with property law is largely undefined. Several models have been analysed for how this interaction may be resolved in a common law context: an extension of real property rights to also cover augmentations on or near the property with a strong notion of trespassing, forbidding augmentations unless allowed by the owner; an 'open range' system, where augmentations are allowed unless forbidden by the owner; and a 'freedom to roam' system, where real property owners have no control over non-disruptive augmentations.


title: Augmented reality

text: One issue experienced during the Pokémon Go craze was the game's players disturbing owners of private property while visiting nearby location-bound augmentations, which may have been on the properties or the properties may have been "en route". The terms of service of Pokémon Go explicitly disclaim responsibility for players' actions, which may limit (but may not totally extinguish) the liability of its producer, Niantic, in the event of a player trespassing while playing the game: by Niantic's argument, the player is the one committing the trespass, while Niantic has merely engaged in permissible free speech. A theory advanced in lawsuits brought against Niantic is that their placement of game elements in places that will lead to trespass or an exceptionally large flux of visitors can constitute nuisance, despite each individual trespass or visit only being tenuously caused by Niantic.


title: Augmented reality

text: Another claim raised against Niantic is that the placement of profitable game elements on land without permission of the land's owners is unjust enrichment. More hypothetically, a property may be augmented with advertising or disagreeable content against its owner's wishes. Under American law, these situations are unlikely to be seen as a violation of real property rights by courts without an expansion of those rights to include augmented reality (similarly to how English common law came to recognise air rights).


title: Augmented reality

text: An article in the "Michigan Telecommunications and Technology Law Review" argues that there are three bases for this extension, starting with various understanding of property. The personality theory of property, outlined by Margaret Radin, is claimed to support extending property rights due to the intimate connection between personhood and ownership of property; however, her viewpoint is not universally shared by legal theorists. Under the utilitarian theory of property, the benefits from avoiding the harms to real property owners caused by augmentations and the tragedy of the commons, and the reduction in transaction costs by making discovery of ownership easy, were assessed as justifying recognising real property rights as covering location-bound augmentations, though there does remain the possibility of a tragedy of the anticommons from having to negotiate with property owners slowing innovation. Finally, following the 'property as the law of things' identification as supported by Thomas Merrill and Henry E Smith, location-based augmentation is naturally identified as a 'thing', and, while the non-rivalrous and ephemeral nature of digital objects presents difficulties to the excludeability prong of the definition, the article argues that this is not insurmountable.


title: Augmented reality

text: Some attempts at legislative regulation have been made in the United States. Milwaukee County, Wisconsin attempted to regulate augmented reality games played in its parks, requiring prior issuance of a permit, but this was criticised on free speech grounds by a federal judge; and Illinois considered mandating a notice and take down procedure for location-bound augmentations.


title: Augmented reality

text: An article for the "Iowa Law Review" observed that dealing with many local permitting processes would be arduous for a large-scale service, and, while the proposed Illinois mechanism could be made workable, it was reactive and required property owners to potentially continually deal with new augmented reality services; instead, a national-level geofencing registry, analogous to a do-not-call list, was proposed as the most desirable form of regulation to efficiently balance the interests of both providers of augmented reality services and real property owners. An article in the "Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law", however, analyses a monolithic do-not-locate registry as an insufficiently flexible tool, either permitting unwanted augmentations or foreclosing useful applications of augmented reality. Instead, it argues that an 'open range' model, where augmentations are permitted by default but property owners may restrict them on a case-by-case basis (and with noncompliance treated as a form of trespass), will produce the socially-best outcome.


title: Ahegao

text: The first part of the term, (katakana: ), is an abbreviation for (), an onomatopoeia for 'pant' or 'moan'. The second part, or (), means 'face'. Thus, can be interpreted as 'moaning or panting face'.


title: Ahegao

text: Many other terms have been coined for the facial expressions made at the moment of orgasm. One of these is () meaning 'coming [i.e., orgasmic] face'. Others are "acmegao" (アクメ顔) from the French loanword "acmé" (orgasm), and "yogarigao" (よがり顔) for "satisfaction face".


title: Ahegao

text: Typical characteristics are rolled or crossed eyes, a hanging tongue, and flushed cheeks. A character's overall face shape may also be distorted in scenes. Depictions of are often intentionally exaggerated to create a surreal effect. An face of various levels of distortion is used to depict different grades of sexual arousal. indicates that the pleasure experienced is so intense that the character loses control of their facial expression.


title: Ahegao

text: While is often used in pornographic manga, anime, and videogames, it is not exclusively a term of . A number of non-adult works feature faces, often in a porn-parodying manner.


title: Ahegao

text: In "The History of Hentai Manga", hentai manga researcher Kimi Rito states that follow three particular traits that set them apart from other "ikigao" (orgasm face) expressions:


title: Ahegao

text: Also known as the O-Face, the term dates at least as far back as the early 1990s. Pornographic magazines used the word to describe the facial expressions of female live-action porn actresses during orgasm. In the same context, was used in some postings at "2Channel" and its sister community for adult content, "BBSPink", as well as in pornographic videos at adult e-commerce platforms in the early 2000s.


title: Ahegao

text: In the midst of the 2000s, use of the term increased, and the drawing style became rather conventionalized and started spreading throughout the culture. In 2008, the first -themed comics anthology, "A-H-E", was released. In the 2010s, major publishers produced more -themed comic anthologies. By that time, the facial expression was featured in regular pornographic videos during the popularization of fetishes in the real-life sex industry. -like exaggerated facial expressions are also sometimes featured in other anime and manga works, in a non-sexual context. In September 2016, an " challenge" meme spread on social media websites, mostly via Instagram, which spread the trend in the United States.


title: Ahegao

text: Kimi claims that reasons for including in a scene include reflecting a character's joyful emotions such as ecstasy or pleasure; to show negative emotions such as fear or reluctance; or to show domination, submission and loyalty.


title: Ahegao

text: According to an article from adult gaming site "Nutaku", in combination with the peace sign became an Internet meme in Japan, known as " double peace" (). Kimi states that this version was usually used after a gang rape scene, either breaking the victim's spirit or as the final part of a humiliation scene. However, as this was limiting, the use of the double peace became more common as a joke. The term itself is credited as first appearing in a 2010 self-published video game called "Futa Letter", in which the main character's girlfriend does a double peace in a video sent to her boyfriend after she is "broken" by his uncle. In 2018, Belle Delphine drew coverage from various media outlets for her Instagram modeling which often featured her "ahegao" expressions.


title: Ahegao

text: In 2015, an image by the hentai artist Hirame depicting various anime characters with the "ahegao" face circled the internet. Later that year, the pictures appeared on clothing. In May 2017, such images started appearing in western fashion, the clothes depicting among other works an image from the hentai "Danke Dankei Revolution" by Asanagi. This version is now sold by English-language hentai publisher FAKKU.


title: Ahegao

text: In January 2020 several anime conventions throughout the United States banned "ahegao" clothing on their grounds and forbade entry to those wearing such clothing. A similar movement was also done in Malaysia in 2022.


title: Ahegao

text: The Chinese company Shenzhen Guangcai Trading filed a trademark registration for the term "Ahegao" in September 2018 and got approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 23 April 2019. On 27 July 2020, Jacob Grady, the CEO of FAKKU, announced intent to contest the trademark registration and accused Shenzhen Guangcai Trading of using stolen artwork.


title: Roxette

text: Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second album "Look Sharp!" Their third album "Joyride," released in 1991, became just as successful as its predecessor. Roxette went on to achieve nineteen UK Top 40 hits, and several US Hot 100 hits, including four US number-ones with "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love", featured on the soundtrack of "Pretty Woman", and "Joyride". Their other hits include "Dressed for Success", "Dangerous", and "Fading Like a Flower".


title: Roxette

text: Before coming together to form the duo, Fredriksson and Gessle were already established artists in Sweden, she having released a number of solo albums and he being the lead singer and songwriter of Gyllene Tider, a band that had three No. 1 albums. On the advice of the managing director of their record label, the two came together to record "Neverending Love", which became a hit single in Sweden.


title: Roxette

text: After the release of "Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!," a greatest hits record, the duo took a hiatus before returning with the albums "Have a Nice Day" (1999) and "Room Service" (2001). They continued to chart in other territories, mainly in Europe, Australia and Latin America, where they earned various Gold and Platinum awards until the beginning of the new millennium. In 2002, the duo took a break from recording and touring when Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Gessle went on to release solo albums and reunited with Gyllene Tider before Roxette took to the stage together again for the first time in eight years, in 2009, during Gessle's European "Party Crasher" tour. In 2011, they released "Charm School", their first studio album in ten years, which was followed by "Travelling" in 2012. Their final studio album, "Good Karma", was released in 2016. Marie Fredriksson died on 9 December 2019, at the age of 61, following a long battle with a brain tumour.


title: Roxette

text: Their songs "It Must Have Been Love" and "Listen to Your Heart" continue to receive wide radio airplay, with both singles receiving awards from BMI in 2014 for achieving five million radio plays. They have sold an estimated 75 million records worldwide, with over 10 million in certified units from Germany, the US and the UK, achieving gold and platinum certifications for "Joyride" and "Look Sharp!" in all three regions. They are Sweden's second-best-selling music act after ABBA.


title: Roxette

text: Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson first met in Halmstad, Sweden, in the late 1970s. Gessle fronted Gyllene Tider, one of Sweden's most popular bands at the time, and Fredriksson was in the less successful Strul and MaMas Barn (Mama's Children) before both embarked on solo careers. In 1981, Fredriksson sang for the first time with Gyllene Tider on stage and was featured as a background vocalist for a Swedish-language album the band released in 1982. Gessle also worked with ex-ABBA singer Frida, for a song that appeared on her 1982 album "Something's Going On", setting music to a Dorothy Parker poem.


title: Roxette

text: While working on her first solo album, "Het vind" ("Hot Wind"), Fredriksson performed more background vocals for Gyllene Tider's only album in English, "The Heartland Café". The 11-track album was released in February 1984 and sold 45,000 copies in Sweden. According to Gessle, the group's first English-language release was in response to interest expressed by EMI's American label Capitol Records. Capitol took six of the tracks and released an extended play (EP) record in the US with an abridged title, "Heartland", but the company insisted on a different name for the band. Gessle and the other members of Gyllene Tider (Swedish for "Golden Times" or "Golden Age") chose the title of a 1975 Dr. Feelgood song, "Roxette".


title: Roxette

text: The newly named Roxette issued one near-invisible release in the US, "Teaser Japanese", whose video reached MTV's studio but received no rotation to speak of. It, and subsequent singles, fared better in Sweden, and Gyllene Tider briefly toured the country to support the album. However, "the album died soon enough and the international career died before it even started", Gessle wrote. "We decided to put Gyllene Tider to rest... until further notice." Gessle then turned to solo work, recording his second Swedish-language solo album, "Scener", released in 1985 and again featuring Fredriksson on background vocals. While Fredriksson recorded her second solo album, "Den sjunde vågen" ("The Seventh Wave").


title: Roxette

text: It was then that the managing director of EMI, Rolf Nygren, suggested that Gessle and Fredriksson should sing together. Gessle translated a song called "Svarta glas" ("Black glasses") into English, which became their first single, "Neverending Love". It was released in the summer of 1986 under the name "Roxette" and reached the Swedish top 10, selling 50,000 copies.


title: Roxette

text: After the success of "Neverending Love" in Sweden, Gessle and Fredriksson quickly recorded a full-length album, translating songs Gessle had written originally for his third solo album. With the release of "Pearls of Passion" in October 1986, Roxette maintained their commercial momentum in Sweden with their next singles "Goodbye to You" and "Soul Deep." Some singles from "Passion" were released in other countries, but these international releases failed to emulate their Swedish success. The album was followed by a compilation of remixes of the same songs, titled "Dance Passion."


title: Roxette

text: In 1987, Fredriksson released her third solo album "Efter stormen" ("After the Storm"). Meanwhile, Roxette released the single "I Want You" in collaboration with Eva Dahlgren and Ratata. Later in the year, they released "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas For the Broken Hearted)" after EMI Germany asked the duo to come up with an intelligent Christmas single. The holiday-themed song received some attention in their native country as Roxette prepared their next album, though EMI Germany decided against releasing the single. "Pearls of Passion" was re-released internationally in 1997, and included "It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken Hearted)" as a bonus track.


title: Roxette

text: In the duo's native Sweden, "Dressed for Success" and "Listen to Your Heart" were chosen as the first two singles from their second album "Look Sharp!", as Gessle and EMI Sweden chose to highlight Fredriksson's singing. Gessle said, "I always thought we should promote the songs Marie sang. Me being a lead singer wasn't part of the plan, not for me anyway." Both singles reached the top 10 of the Swedish singles chart, while the album, which was released in Sweden in October 1988, held the No. 1 position for 14 weeks. Music critic Måns Ivarsson was underwhelmed by the album, writing derisively: "To consist of two such original persons as Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, the album sounds unbelievably conventional. Most striking are the lyrics. Gessle's once so subtle Swedish lyrics have became desolate English nonsense." However, the album won Roxette their first Rockbjörnen awards in Sweden and Gessle his first Grammis award in the category Best Composer.


title: Roxette

text: When the third single from "Look Sharp!", "The Look", became another top 10 single in their home country, Roxette were still unknown internationally. It was while studying in Sweden that an American exchange student from Minneapolis, Dean Cushman, heard "The Look" and brought a copy of "Look Sharp!" home for the 1988 holiday break. He gave the album to a Minneapolis radio station, KDWB 101.3 FM. The station started playing "The Look"; based on positive caller feedback, the song became very popular, and quickly spread to other radio stations. The song became a radio hit before any Roxette product had been commercially released or promoted in the US market. The story was covered by radio, newspapers and TV in the US and in Sweden. Fredriksson dismissed rumours that Cushman was paid to take the record to the radio station.


title: Roxette

text: EMI had previously rejected Roxette as unsuitable for the American market and they did not have a recording contract there, but after the popularity of "The Look" in the US, EMI officials made the decision to release and market the single worldwide. "The Look" and pressed copies of "Look Sharp!" were issued in early 1989 to record stores and radio stations. "The Look" became their first No. 1 in the US on 8 April 1989, where it remained for one week. The breakthrough for Roxette became international when the song also topped the charts in 25 other countries, and at the end of the year, "Billboard" named "The Look" one of the 20 biggest Hot 100 singles of the year.


title: Roxette

text: "Dressed for Success", featuring Fredriksson on lead vocals with Gessle singing short parts, was the second international single. The single peaked at No. 14 on the Hot 100 as well as at No. 3 in Australia. "Listen to Your Heart" was released thereafter; it differed from previous singles and instead resembled the guitar-heavy ballads of Heart. Spending a single week at No. 1 in the US in November 1989, it bore the distinction of being the first US "Billboard" Hot 100 No. 1 not to be commercially available on 7-inch vinyl.


title: Roxette

text: A fourth single, "Dangerous", was released at the end of the year, entering the Hot 100 at the end of December. The single, a duet between Gessle and Fredriksson, spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in February 1990, and again becoming a worldwide success by reaching the top 10 in important music markets such as Germany and Australia. "Dangerous" was released as a double A-side single in the UK with "Listen to Your Heart".


title: Roxette

text: It was around this time that Touchstone Pictures approached EMI and Roxette about contributing a song to the soundtrack of an upcoming film, "Pretty Woman," starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. Gessle maintained that "It Must Have Been Love", by then a two-year-old recording, was chosen because Roxette had no time to compose and record a new song. The film's producers turned it down, asking for another song, but Gessle declined to produce another song. Some weeks later after re-editing the film before release, the producers re-requested "It Must Have Been Love", but Roxette had to remove the Christmas lyrics. Gessle and producer Clarence Öfwerman then took the old recording, had Fredriksson replace a single Christmas-reference line in the song and added some instrumentation and background vocal overlays.


title: Roxette

text: Though it was not the first single released from the soundtrack, "It Must Have Been Love" would prove to be Roxette's most successful single release. The song spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in June 1990, three months after the film's release, and stayed for two additional weeks at No. 2, spending a total of seventeen weeks in the top 40. "Billboard" named the song the No. 2 Hot 100 single of the year, behind Wilson Phillips's "Hold On". The single also topped the charts in more than 20 other countries (including Australia) around the world. In Germany the single spent 9 months in the top 75, and peaked at No. 3 in the UK, the duo's highest singles chart position there. The soundtrack went on to be certified three times platinum by the RIAA.


title: Roxette

text: As 1990 wound down, Roxette completed their tour and returned to Sweden to record their follow-up to "Look Sharp!" The 15-track collection titled "Joyride", which was released in March 1991, became a critical and commercial success. It topped the charts in a number of countries and became Roxette's best selling album. Their record company EMI invested almost 2 million dollars on promotion for the album, which stayed at No. 1 in Germany for 13 weeks, while staying on the US album chart for over a year. J.D. Considine of "Rolling Stone" magazine reviewed "Joyride": "By emphasizing its sense of personality, Roxette delivers more than just well-constructed hooks; this music has heart, something that makes even the catchiest melody more appealing." The album's success brought the duo two Rockbjörnen awards for Best Swedish Album and Best Swedish Group, the second time they had achieved that feat.


title: Roxette

text: The single "Joyride" became Roxette's first No. 1 in their home country. It also topped the charts in more than 25 countries around the world, including Germany, Australia and the US; it was their fourth and last US No. 1. The single also charted well in the UK, and achieved success in Canada, which resulted in the song being nominated in 1992 for a Juno Award in the category, Best Selling Single by a Foreign Artist. Its follow-up, "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)", a power ballad similar to "Listen to Your Heart", with Fredriksson on lead, spent a week at No. 2 in the US in July and achieved success in other big markets as well.


title: Roxette

text: Roxette then embarked on an ambitious worldwide tour. The Join the Joyride! World Tour 1991/92 tour eventually reached more than 1.5 million fans in 107 concerts around the world, including a few dates in the US. On reviewing their Universal Amphitheater performance, Dennis Hunt of the "Los Angeles Times" said, "Fredriksson is squandering her talents in pop's low-rent district. She's clearly superior to Roxette's uncomplicated, hook-crammed material..."


title: Roxette

text: The end of 1991 saw the merger of SBK, Chrysalis and EMI record companies, to form EMI Records Group North America. The resulting merger saw many personnel changes that resulted in a downturn in publicity for Roxette. Though "Joyride" was certified platinum and made impressive worldwide sales, the subsequent singles from the album—the ballad "Spending My Time" and "Church of Your Heart"—failed to reach the heights of previous singles in the US charts.


title: Roxette

text: In late 1991, the band was honoured with its own postage stamp in Sweden, along with Lena Philipsson and Jerry Williams.


title: Roxette

text: Music tastes in the U.S. were changing, with the emergence of new genres such as new jack swing, grunge, harder-core rap and hip-hop. As William Ruhlmann of AllMusic later wrote, "Americans probably lost interest [in Roxette] at about the time that Nirvana came roaring in from the Northwest." In a 2009 interview with BBC News, Gessle highlighted the popularity of Nirvana and grunge music as a contributor to Roxette's downturn in success. Although Roxette's commercial momentum in America was slowing down dramatically, elsewhere, singles from the "Joyride" album continued to become hits when "Spending My Time" and "The Big L." charted in many countries.


title: Roxette

text: Roxette continued the "Join the Joyride" tour into 1992. It was during this tour that most of the material for "Tourism: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places" was recorded. Instead of releasing an album of brand-new material, Gessle and Fredriksson re-mastered older recordings, including several slated for, but not included on, "Look Sharp!" and "Joyride". They also recorded some of their live performances, recorded a country music-inspired version of "It Must Have Been Love" in a Los Angeles studio, and recorded new material in various locations around the world – an empty dance club, a hotel room – and compiled everything on to the album. Released in October 1992, Gessle and Fredriksson said "Tourism" was meant to "capture the energy within the band".


title: Roxette

text: The first single off the album was "How Do You Do!" followed by the ballad "Queen of Rain" and an electrified version of the song "Fingertips", originally recorded acoustically for the album and re-titled "Fingertips '93" for single release. Singles from "Tourism" barely dented the American radio and record charts but in the rest of the world, the first single "How Do You Do!", hit the top 5 in most European and South American countries. The album "Tourism" also charted well outside of the US, reaching No. 1 in Germany and Sweden, No. 2 in the UK as well as peaking at No. 3 in Australia. The duo's success reflected in an ECHO Award nomination for International Group of the Year. At home, Roxette won a Rockbjörnen Award for Best Swedish Group. It remains the last Rockbjörnen the duo received. In October 1992, Fredriksson released her first solo album in Swedish for five years, titled "Den ständiga resan" ("The Eternal Journey").


title: Roxette

text: In early 1993, Roxette became the first non-native-English speaking artists to be featured on MTV's "Unplugged" series, though the songs from the performance were never released on an official "Unplugged" album. In the same year, Roxette recorded and released "Almost Unreal", a song originally slated for the film "Hocus Pocus" starring Bette Midler. However, the song was moved to the soundtrack of the film based on the Nintendo video game "Super Mario Bros." Supported by an expensive video and ultimately receiving respectable airplay, "Almost Unreal" managed to briefly reach the lower end of the "Billboard" Hot 100 but charted highest in the UK reaching the top 10, the group's first time there since "Joyride" two years before. Roxette themselves were dismissive about the song, with Fredriksson saying it was "not one of our most inspired moments." On the other hand, Gessle stated: "I still like the song in a way... but if you wanted to make a parody of Roxette, it would probably sound something like this." To coincide with the UK television premiere of the film "Pretty Woman", "It Must Have Been Love" was re-issued in September 1993 and entered the UK and Irish singles charts for the second time.


title: Roxette

text: Roxette changed their musical style with the 1994 release of "Crash! Boom! Bang!" Bryan Buss of Allmusic wrote, "They rock harder than on their pop-friendly albums prior to this, and the result shows growth but not the fun that made them so popular in the first place... Though the two have an edge on this album, they almost seem to have become a bit bored."


title: Roxette

text: Although "Crash! Boom! Bang!" saw chart success (No. 1 in Sweden, No. 2 in Germany and No. 3 in Australia and the UK), it sold fewer copies than had their previous albums. EMI America were reluctant to release the album, and instead promoted a shortened 10-track "Favorites" CD in association with McDonald's. The "Favorites of Crash! Boom! Bang!" CD reportedly sold about 1 million copies. It was noted by journalists that the McDonald's promotion CD (and other CDs by Tina Turner, Garth Brooks and Elton John) led to US music retailers of the time being unhappy with the promotion for several reasons, including that it bypassed established music stores and that the price of the CD was way below normal wholesale costs. Some stores refused to sell the albums published by EMI, with one major chain protesting by temporarily pulling all products from CEMA (EMI's distribution wing) out of its sales and ad campaigns. The duo's relations with EMI's North American subsidiary, which had never been smooth, collapsed after the release of this album. "Crash! Boom! Bang!" became the last Roxette release EMI issued in the US until "Greatest Hits" was released in 2011 on subsidiary label Capitol Records.


title: Roxette

text: The first single release from "Crash! Boom! Bang!" was "Sleeping in My Car". The distortion guitar-heavy pop song, born out of anger and frustration of the album's grown up nature, reached No. 2 in Canada, as well as the top 10 in 7 European countries (including No. 1 in Sweden) as well as the top 15 in the UK, Australia and Germany. However, in the US, it was less successful, reaching only No. 50 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart. Subsequent releases--the album's title selection, "Fireworks", and "Run to You"—were less successful but managed to reach the charts in some countries.


title: Roxette

text: Roxette then embarked on another, albeit scaled-down, worldwide tour, skipping North America in the process. The "Crash! Boom! Bang! Tour" saw Roxette becoming the first Western band to be allowed to perform in China (Workers' Indoor Arena, Beijing) since Wham! in 1985. The procedure to get permission for this concert took over a year, and included self-censorship of lyrics. In 2008 they were ordered to pay 4.5 million kronor in unpaid taxes to the Swedish Tax Agency, for money earned during the German part of the 1994/95 tour.


title: Roxette

text: In October 1995, Roxette released their first greatest hits compilation, "Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!" This reached the top 5 in many European countries, including the UK, as well as the top 10 in Australia. It featured four new songs, three were released as singles, including the ballad "You Don't Understand Me", co-written by Desmond Child. Also that year, a compilation of demos, B-sides and remixes, alongside some of the 1993 "MTV Unplugged" material, was released in Japan and parts of South America under the title "Rarities".


title: Roxette

text: Gessle briefly reunited with Gyllene Tider in 1996, then Roxette took instrumental masters of many of its ballads and recorded translated Spanish lyrics over them. The resulting album, "Baladas En Español", sold well in Spanish-speaking regions, reaching 2× platinum in Spain and platinum in Argentina. The single "Un día sin ti" ("Spending My Time") accompanied by a video directed by Jonas Åkerlund, became their first Latin Pop Airplay chart entry. The duo then released solo albums, "I en tid som vår" ("In a Time Like Ours") by Fredriksson and "The World According to Gessle" by Gessle, with both charting in Sweden.


title: Roxette

text: Gessle and Fredriksson reunited in 1998 to record material for a new Roxette album, "Have a Nice Day", which was released in February 1999 and gave Roxette a comeback in continental Europe. It entered at No. 1 in Sweden and No. 2 in Germany. The first single, "Wish I Could Fly", became their highest-charting UK single since 1993 (No. 11). In Sweden it charted at No. 4, their best position since "Sleeping in My Car". Although the second single, "Anyone", did not chart well in Europe, "Stars", the third single, charted well in Scandinavian and German-speaking countries. "NME"s review called "Have a Nice Day" "...another clever-clever bastard of an album which defies Doctor Rock." A review of "I Wish I could Fly" written by Håkan Steen of "Aftonbladet" said, "The come-back single is a disappointment. The lyrics which conveys a sense of distance in a relationship, are not particularly engaging." The album, according to "Billboard" magazine, was under discussion for release in the US, but ultimately, it was not released there.


title: Roxette

text: In 2000, Fredriksson released a "greatest hits" compilation called "Äntligen" ("At Last"), which went on to be a big seller in Sweden, peaking at No. 1 for three weeks. Meanwhile, Roxette signed a US distribution deal with Edel Music, which re-released "Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus!" In doing so, it replaced some non-US hits with songs from "Have a Nice Day". To promote the release the duo did a small tour of The United States, performing at the Boston Mixfest and at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. The single "Wish I Could Fly", included on the album, reached No. 27 on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart and No. 40 on the Adult Top 40 chart.


title: Roxette

text: "Room Service" followed in 2001, to a mixed response from critics. "Probably the best Roxette album since "Joyride"," wrote Leslie Mathew of Allmusic, ""Room Service" is an exciting, immediate, high-gloss pop gem that contains very little filler indeed." Per Bjurman from Swedish tabloid "Aftonbladet" was critical of the album. "It is not very good." he wrote. He did praise the three singles, "Real Sugar", "The Centre of the Heart", and "Milk and Toast and Honey", but he ended the review with the prediction: "Roxette is not finished. But soon, I suspect."


title: Roxette

text: The album topped the Swedish charts and reached No. 3 in Germany, but it received little attention in the UK. A planned US release through Edel America Records did not happen as the label was disbanded due to financial difficulties, though it did peak at No. 2 on CNN's Worldbeat album chart. The first single, "The Centre of the Heart" topped the charts in Sweden, made the top 10 in Spain, and the top 15 in Finland. The other singles, "Real Sugar", the album's opening track and "Milk and Toast and Honey" were less successful. Roxette again went on tour, this time in Europe only, as concerts planned in South Africa were cancelled after the 11 September 2001 attacks. On reviewing their Löfbergs Lila Arena concert, Bjurman from "Aftonbladet" wrote, "Roxette succeed in all cases, to never leave the 80s." His review criticised Roxette's playlist, which consisted of some of their early hits. Johan Lindqvist from "Göteborgs-Posten" was more positive, scoring their Munich concert four stars out of five.


title: Roxette

text: In 2002, at the Grammis ceremony, Roxette received a Music Export Prize from the Swedish Government. After that came a set of compilations, "The Ballad Hits" in late 2002 and "The Pop Hits" in early 2003. Each set contained a separate CD with material previously available and never heard before tracks. "A Thing About You" was released as the lead single from "The Ballad Hits". The album was released in the UK on 14 February 2003 to coincide with Valentine's Day and entered the charts there at No. 23 before climbing to its peak position of No. 11 a week later. It also peaked in the top 10 in Germany and The Netherlands. The single "Opportunity Nox" was released from "The Pop Hits" in 2003. "The Ballad Hits" which sold over a million copies within a year, helped the duo win a World Music Award as the Best selling Scandinavian artist in October 2003. In that year, Roxette were also awarded with achievement medals by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden "for appreciated achievements in Sweden and internationally".


title: Roxette

text: In September 2002, Fredriksson was hospitalised due to suffering from a concussion after a fainting spell at her home. She was then diagnosed with a brain tumor, which was later successfully removed in surgery. Four months later, Swedish newspaper "Expressen" reported Fredriksson had been diagnosed with a second tumor. This turned out to be false; the newspaper issued an apology saying its report had no basis, but dismissed demands from Fredriksson for compensation. During her recovery, she recorded her first-ever English-language solo album, "The Change". The album which was inspired by her brush with mortality, entered the Swedish album chart at No. 1 in October 2004. With Fredriksson's illness and rehabilitation, the duo took a hiatus, allowing Gessle to release "Mazarin" ("Cupcake") in 2003. It was his first Swedish-language solo album in 18 years and became very successful in his home country, topping the charts and winning numerous awards. One of the tracks, "På promenad genom stan" ("Strolling Through the Town"), featured Fredriksson singing back-up. In 2004, Gessle and Gyllene Tider reunited for a 25th-anniversary celebration that included the band's first album in 20 years, "Finn 5 fel!", and another successful tour in Sweden.


title: Roxette

text: In 2005, Belgian dance group D.H.T.'s trance-cover of "Listen to Your Heart" became a worldwide club hit. Originally released in Belgium in 2003, by the mid-2005, the song reached the top 10 of the "Billboard" Hot 100, and was certified gold in October by the RIAA. Also that year, several songs were released as re-mixes and covers. Among them: two prominent versions of "Fading Like a Flower", one a trance cover by German group Mysterio and one a sampling by Dancing DJs that reached the UK chart. In November 2005, while Gessle was in the middle of promoting his "Son of a Plumber" album, he and Fredriksson appeared at the Dorchester Hotel in London for an awards presentation by Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). Gessle received two awards, the first for "It Must Have Been Love", which by that time had been played on US radio more than 4 million times, while he and co-songwriter Mats Persson also received an award for Dance Song of the Year for D.H.T.'s cover of "Listen to Your Heart". The ceremony marked the first time Gessle and Fredriksson had appeared in public together since before the onset of Fredriksson's brain tumour and subsequent surgery in 2002. When asked by an "Aftonbladet" reporter if there would be a Roxette reunion, Gessle replied, "We haven't decided yet. No doors are closed. We're still young". Fredriksson returned in 2006 with an album of Swedish cover songs, titled "Min bäste vän" ("My Best Friend"), while Gessle recorded two more solo albums, "En händig man" ("A Handy Man") (2007) and "Party Crasher" (2008).


title: Roxette

text: In mid-2006, Roxette released to radio "The Rox Medley" to promote a forthcoming "20th Anniversary package". The medley included six Roxette hit singles: "The Look", "Joyride", "Listen to Your Heart", "Dangerous", "It Must Have Been Love" and "Fading Like a Flower (Everytime You Leave)". It was eventually released as b-side to the single "One Wish" and was also available to download. The "20th Anniversary package" better known as "The Rox Box" was released on 18 October 2006 to commemorate Roxette's 20 years in the music industry. Spanning over 4 CDs and single DVD, it included two new singles, "One Wish", which was their first new single in four years, and "Reveal". Both songs were also included on a new greatest hits album, "", which was released at the same time as "The Rox Box". Nunstedt of "Expressen" was disparaging of "A Collection of Roxette Hits", giving the album two stars and ending the review, "...the CD subtitle "Their Twenty greatest songs" is a matter of discussion, I can only count eight hits."


title: Roxette

text: Rumours started of a Roxette reunion when Gessle was interviewed by the BBC in April 2009. "Yeah, we've talked about it. It's really up to Marie." Gessle said. Online news sites also picked up on the possibility of a reunion. On 5 May 2009, an announcement was made that "Roxette would re-unite after 8 years and play for the first time on the Night of the Proms in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany". The tour started on Friday, 23 October in the Sportpaleis Antwerp. Roxette were due to play the Night of the Proms back in 2002, but Fredriksson's illness meant they had to pull out.


title: Roxette

text: Despite the Night of the Proms announcement, the first appearance of Roxette after eight years was on 6 May 2009, during Per Gessle's concert in Amsterdam as part of his "Party Crasher" tour. Almost at the end of the concert, Gessle said: "I'd like you all to welcome an old friend of mine: Marie Fredriksson", then she joined the band to perform "It Must Have Been Love" and "The Look". Later she also appeared on stage with him in Stockholm, at the last concert of his solo tour, 9 May 2009. Later in July 2009, they took part in the New Wave festival in Latvia.


title: Roxette

text: In January 2010, a concert at The Race Legends event in Sweden on 14 August was announced, followed by confirmation of other concerts in Russia, Denmark and Norway which took place during August and September 2010. On 18 June 2010, Roxette performed a one-off set at Stockholm Concert Hall, performing "The Look" in front of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, during the gala concert on the day before her wedding. On 4 August 2010, Roxette played a 2-hour secret gig at Leifs Lounge, Hotel Tylösand, just outside Halmstad. This was seen as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming European tour. On 31 December 2010, Roxette performed in Poland at New Year's Eve concert, transmitted live from Warsaw internationally.


title: Roxette

text: On 23 October 2009, the Swedish newspaper "Expressen" reported that Roxette were recording new songs. Per stated that he had been working on new material for an upcoming album since May 2009. In early November 2010, it was announced that the band would undertake their first world tour since 1995. Their eighth studio album, "Charm School", was released in Europe on 11 February 2011 and peaked within the top 20 of eleven European album charts. The set also became their first since 1992's "Tourism" to reach No. 1 on the German album chart, where it was certified gold for shipments in excess of 100,000 units. The album was preceded by the single "She's Got Nothing On (But the Radio)" on 10 January 2011, which became Roxette's biggest hit in the German market since "How Do You Do!", and for several weeks was the fourth most-played song on radio in the world. "Charm School" also received a full commercial release in South America, debuting at No. 1 on the Argentinian album chart. "The Charm School World Tour", their first in 15 years, started on 28 February 2011 in Kazan, Russia. The tour eventually comprised 140 concerts plus three corporate gigs and ended on 9 September 2012 in Mexico City, with the band performing to over 800,000 people in the 77 concerts and two corporate gigs held in 2011 alone. On 15 November, Roxette played their first UK gig in 17 years at London's Wembley Arena, and in March 2012, they performed two concerts in China, after the Chinese Ministry of Culture gave them permission to play.


title: Roxette

text: In early 2012, Gessle confirmed through his official "Twitter" account that recording for Roxette's ninth studio album, titled "Travelling", had been completed. The fifteen-track album and the first single "It's Possible" was released in March 2012.


title: Roxette

text: In 2013, Gessle reunited with his former band Gyllene Tider, who released a new album and toured Sweden, while Roxette issued their first Blu-ray/DVD concert, "". Fredriksson also released her eighth solo album, "Nu!", which she promoted with a tour of Swedish concert halls. In April 2014, succeeding the announcement of the 25th anniversary of Roxette's first United States #1 hit "The Look" they announced that they would be embarking on new legs of "The Neverending World Tour", starting in Russia in late October 2014. "The Look (2015 Remake)", a new recording of their 1988 single, was released in July 2015. "Roxette Diaries", a documentary directed by Jonas Åkerlund, was released on streaming services in March 2016.


title: Roxette

text: On 18 April 2016, an official statement was released, cancelling the last leg of "The Neverending World Tour", due to concerns about Marie Fredriksson's health. Her doctors had advised her to refrain from playing live. She stated: "Sadly, now my touring days are over and I want to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful fans that (have) followed us on our long and winding journey." Gessle added: "The joyride on the road is over now – but we sure had fun, didn't we?" Roxette's tenth studio album, "Good Karma", was released in June 2016. The record was preceded by its lead single, "It Just Happens", two months earlier. The album contains production from Swedish musicians Addeboy vs Cliff, with Gessle saying they were chosen to "inject new blood into the Roxette sound". Remixes aside, this was the first time that they had allowed anyone outside of the Roxette canon to produce new music. Per Gessle toured Europe in October and November 2018 as "Per Gessle's Roxette". The set leant heavily on the band's back catalogue. In October 2018, Roxette released a 30th-anniversary edition of "Look Sharp!", which contained a bonus disc of previously unreleased demos and outtakes.


title: Roxette

text: Marie Fredriksson died on 9 December 2019, at the age of 61, following a long battle with a brain tumour. The day of her death, the music video for "It Must Have Been Love", posted on Roxette's official YouTube channel, had reached over 430 million views. Paying tribute to Fredriksson after her death, Gessle said she was "an outstanding musician, a master of the voice, an amazing performer."


title: Roxette

text: An album of previously unreleased outtakes, "Bag of Trix", was released in December 2020. An outtake from the "Good Karma" sessions, "Let Your Heart Dance with Me" was released on 2 October. It was one of the final songs Fredriksson recorded before her death.


title: Roxette

text: On 19 December 2020, Roxette's longtime drummer Per "Pelle" Alsing died at the age of 60. In 2021, Gessle convened a one-off reunion of the group called PG Roxette, which contributed a cover of the Metallica song "Nothing Else Matters" to the charity tribute album "The Metallica Blacklist".


title: Roxette

text: In 2021, Roxette released a 30th-anniversary edition of Joyride, which contained a bonus disc of previously unreleased demos and outtakes. Also in 2022, Roxette included new demos in the 30th-anniversary edition of Look Sharp!, but only in digital and streaming edition. In 2022, Roxette released a triple remix compilation album, called ROX RMX, which contained the most famous remixes of Roxette´s hits


title: Roxette

text: In June 2022, Per Gessle, under the name PG Roxette, released a single called "The Loneliest Girl in the World". The single previews an album Gessle has recorded with members of Roxette's live touring band called "Pop-Up Dynamo!". About this new "Roxette project" Per explained: "Since the 80s my whole life has revolved around Roxette and to this day that is what inspires me the most. There are millions of people out there who still love the band, so it's a matter of course for me to keep our music alive. At first I wasn't sure which way to go, but over time it became clear that I wanted to continue this fantastic "pleasure trip". I want to keep the Roxette legacy alive. I have written almost all the songs that Roxette recorded and they mean a lot to me. When I started writing, the ambition was to try and create a sibling to "Look Sharp!" and "Joyride", and that's exactly what it sounds like. I wanted to make a modern production, but based on the well-known Roxette stucco. It is impossible to replace Marie and that has never been my intention either. It was a fantastic time and dream that we were able to share together. But it feels exciting to be able to continue this journey, albeit in a different way. If Marie had been alive, of course we would have done this together. I feel this is the right decision. I am proud of all that Roxette has done and I love working with these people."


title: Roxette

text: In September 2022 PG Roxette released a second single called "Walking on Air", from PG Roxette's debut album, "Pop-Up Dynamo!", which was released on 28 October 2022.


title: Wayans family

text: The Wayans family () is an American show-business family. Family members include Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Damon Wayans Sr., Kim Wayans, Damon Wayans Jr., Damien Dante Wayans, and Chaunté Wayans. Works created by Wayans family members include the "Scary Movie" film series, "The Wayans Bros.", "In Living Color", "White Chicks", "My Wife and Kids", and "Little Man".


title: Wayans family

text: Howell Stouten Wayans (born August 26, 1936), a supermarket manager, and his wife Elvira Alethia ("née" Green, July 23, 1938 – July 22, 2020), a homemaker and social worker, resided in Chelsea, New York City when they had their first child. Howell was a devout Jehovah's Witness.


title: Wayans family

text: Film and television productions with the involvement of more than one member of the Wayans family include:


title: Game+

text: Game+ is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Originally launched on March 4, 2014 as FNTSY Sports Network, Game+ is an off-shoot of GameTV focused on programming relating to fantasy sports, sports betting, Esports, outdoor recreation, poker, professional wrestling, and other competition and sports entertainment-based programming.


title: Game+

text: The channel's origins begin in January 2013, when Anthem Media's subsidiary, Fight Media, was granted approval from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a television channel called "The League – Fantasy Sports TV," described as "a national, English-language specialty Category B service devoted to fantasy sports, allowing viewers to act as owners and assume all the responsibilities associated with operating real sports franchises, and allowing viewers to create, monitor, trade and discuss players on their teams with others also playing fantasy sports."


title: Game+

text: In February 2013, Anthem acquired two fantasy sports analysis websites—RotoExperts and SportsGrid—to bolster content for the network. In March 2013, Anthem CEO Leonard Asper told the "Toronto Star" that the channel was expected to launch that September. He defended the network's concept by noting that "people thought 'How can there be an entire channel devoted to golf?' But now the Golf Channel is in 82 million homes", and that advertisers "leapt out of their chairs" when they learned that the network could appeal to both the traditional "baby boomer" demographic associated with fantasy sports, and the young male demographic that had also increasingly shown interest in fantasy.


title: Game+

text: In December 2013, it was reported that the channel, now named FNTSY Sports Network, was expected to launch in Canada and the United States in March 2014. On January 14, 2014, Anthem Media announced the launch date for the channel as March 4, 2014. However, it was initially expected to launch only in the U.S. on that date with the Canadian launch limited to only an app and streaming online channel; that's until January 29, 2014 when Anthem Media announced it will launch in Canada the same day as the U.S. through a carriage agreement with MTS. The Canadian channel launched as intended on March 14; however, the channel's American counterpart subsequently launched 3 months later in the U.S. on Cablevision's Optimum TV service.


title: Game+

text: In 2016, a 20% interest in the channel was sold to a group of various unnamed investors, which would subsequently be resold back to the Anthem at a later date.


title: Game+

text: In 2018, Anthem sold the FNTSY Sports Network brand and associated fantasy sports properties to a newly created company called SportsGrid Inc. It retained, however, the television distribution network on Canadian and American television service providers, and maintained the FNTSY Sports Network brand through a transitional licensing agreement until April 1, 2019 when they rebranded the channel as Game+. Plans to rebrand the channel were initially revealed through Anthem's licence renewal application for the channel with the CRTC. Anthem had noted in the application that it had difficulties gaining distribution for the channel as a newly-created service and decided to rebrand the network.


title: Game+

text: In May 2019, Anthem partnered with the Vegas Stats & Information Network to syndicate "A Numbers Game" and a weekly highlights program on Game+. In 2020, Game+ added the weekly television series of Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW)—a developmental territory of Anthem's Impact Wrestling, and "The Rod Peterson Show", hosted by former CKRM Saskatchewan Roughriders broadcaster Rod Peterson.


title: Game+

text: In October 2022, Game+ added a television version of "Room 4-4-2", hosted by Canadian soccer reporter James Sharman.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The Master is a 2012 American psychological drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams. It tells the story of Freddie Quell (Phoenix), a World War II Navy veteran struggling to adjust to a post-war society, who meets Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), the leader of a religious movement known as the Cause. Dodd sees something in Quell and accepts him into the movement. Freddie takes a liking to the Cause and begins traveling with Dodd's family to spread his teachings.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The film was produced by Annapurna Pictures and Ghoulardi Film Company and distributed by The Weinstein Company. The film's inspirations were varied: it was partly inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, by early drafts of Anderson's "There Will Be Blood", the novel "V." by Thomas Pynchon, drunken Navy stories that Jason Robards had told to Anderson while filming "Magnolia", and the life story of author John Steinbeck. "The Master" was shot almost entirely on 65mm film stock, making it the first fiction feature to be shot and released in 70mm since Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" in 1996.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Initially, the film was set up with Universal Pictures, but fell through due to script and budget problems. It was first publicly shown on August 3, 2012, at the American Cinematheque in 70 mm and screened variously in the same way, before officially premiering at the Venice Film Festival on September 1, where it won the FIPRESCI Award for Best Film. It was released in theaters in the United States on September 14, 2012, to critical acclaim; its performances (particularly those from the three leads), screenplay, direction, plausibility, and realistic portrayal of post-World War II Americans were praised.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Considered one of Anderson's finest works and one of the best films of the 2010s, it received three Oscar nominations: Best Actor for Phoenix, Best Supporting Actor for Hoffman, and Best Supporting Actress for Adams. In 2016, "The Master" was voted the 24th greatest film of the 21st century by 177 critics from around the world. Anderson has repeatedly stated that "The Master" is his favorite film of those he has made.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Freddie Quell is a traumatized World War II Navy veteran struggling to adjust to post-war society and prone to violent and erratic behavior. He works as a photographer in a department store, but is fired after getting into a fight with a customer. While working on a farm in California, an elderly colleague collapses after drinking Freddie's homemade moonshine. Freddie flees after being accused of poisoning him.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: One night, Freddie finds himself in San Francisco and stows away on the yacht of a follower of Lancaster Dodd, the leader of a nascent philosophical movement known as the Cause. When he is discovered, Dodd describes Freddie as "aberrated" and claims he has met him in the past but cannot remember where. He invites Freddie to stay and attend the marriage of his daughter as long as he will make more moonshine, which Dodd has developed a taste for. Dodd begins an exercise with Freddie called "Processing", in which he asks Freddie a flurry of disturbing psychological questions. Freddie has a flashback to a past relationship with Doris, a young girl from his hometown to whom he promised one day to return.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Freddie travels with Dodd's family as they spread the teachings of the Cause along the East Coast. At a dinner party in New York, a man questions Dodd's methods and statements and accuses the movement of being a cult. Dodd angrily berates him and asks him to leave. Freddie pursues the man to his apartment and assaults him that night, to Dodd's dismay.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Freddie criticizes Dodd's son Val for disregarding his father's teachings, but Val tells Freddie that Dodd is making things up as he goes along. Dodd is arrested for practicing medicine without proper qualifications after one of his former hostesses has a change of heart; Freddie attacks the police officers and is also arrested. In jail, Freddie erupts in an angry tirade, questioning everything that Dodd has taught him and accusing him of being a fake. Dodd calls Freddie lazy and worthless and claims nobody likes him except for Dodd. They reconcile upon their release, but members of the Cause have become suspicious and fearful of Freddie, believing him to be deranged or an undercover agent or simply beyond their help. Dodd insists that Freddie's behavior can be corrected with more rigorous conditioning, which Freddie struggles to internalize.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Freddie accompanies Dodd to Phoenix, Arizona, to celebrate the release of Dodd's latest book. When Dodd's publisher criticizes the book, Freddie assaults him. Helen Sullivan, a previously acquiescent acolyte, causes Dodd to lose his temper after she questions some of the book's details. Dodd takes a small group to a salt flat, inviting them to play a game consisting of picking a point in the distance and driving towards it in a straight line on Dodd's motorcycle; Dodd demonstrates, and upon returning to the group he calls it thrilling. On Freddie's turn, Freddie drives off at high speed and disappears.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Freddie returns home to Lynn, Massachusetts, to visit Doris, but learns from Doris' mother that she has gotten married and started a family. Freddie sleeps in a movie theater and receives a phone call from Dodd, who begs Freddie to visit him in England, where he now resides. Upon arriving, Freddie finds the Cause to have grown ever larger. Dodd states that if Freddie can find a way to live without a master, any master, then he is to "let the rest of us know" because he will be the first person in history to do so. Dodd then recounts that, in a past life, they had worked in Paris to send balloons across a blockade created by Prussian forces. Dodd gives him an ultimatum: devote himself to the Cause for life, or leave and never return. As Freddie suggests that they may meet again in the next life, Dodd claims that if they do, it will be as sworn enemies. Dodd sings "On a Slow Boat to China" as Freddie weeps. Freddie leaves and picks up a woman at a local pub, repeating questions from his first Processing session with Dodd as he is having sex with her.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: On a beach, Freddie curls up to a crude sand sculpture of a woman he and his Navy comrades sculpted during the war.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: It was first reported in December 2009 that Anderson had been working on a script about the founder of a new religious organization (described as being similar to Scientology) played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. An associate of Anderson stated that the idea for the film had been in Anderson's head for about twelve years. The idea for the film came to him after reading a quote that periods after wars are productive times for spiritual movements to start.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Unsure of the direction the script would take, Anderson began writing "The Master" as a collection of disparate scenes, rather than one coherent outline. He combined unused scenes from early drafts of "There Will Be Blood", elements from the life stories of John Steinbeck and L. Ron Hubbard and from the novel "V." by Thomas Pynchon, and stories Jason Robards had told him on the set of "Magnolia" about his drinking days in the U.S. Navy during World War II (including the draining of ethanol from a torpedo). Anderson conducted research about Dianetics and its early followers. While writing, Anderson sought Hoffman's feedback on the script, with Hoffman suggesting the film focus more on Freddie's story than Lancaster's. After the film was dropped by Universal and failed to pick up a distributor, Anderson did several months of rewrites.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Anderson has stated that he wanted Hoffman to play Lancaster Dodd from the film's inception, and that he also had Joaquin Phoenix in mind for the part of Freddie Quell. Jeremy Renner and James Franco were each rumored to play Freddie before Phoenix was officially attached. This was Phoenix's first screen appearance since the 2010 film "I'm Still Here", a multi-year performance art mockumentary project that Phoenix attributed as a factor in limiting the roles he was subsequently offered. Reese Witherspoon was reportedly offered the role of Peggy Dodd, but Amy Adams was later cast. For the role of Dodd's daughter, Amanda Seyfried, Emma Stone, and Deborah Ann Woll were all considered, with the role eventually going to Ambyr Childers.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Filming was to begin in August 2010, with Renner starring opposite Hoffman, but was postponed indefinitely in September 2010. In May 2011, after securing financing, the film was given the green light and filming began in early June 2011 in Vallejo and Sacramento. Shooting took place on Mare Island for a month using the wing of an old hospital and an empty admiral's mansion for some scenes. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidential yacht, the USS "Potomac", was used for shooting shipboard scenes. In late June 2011, filming took place at Hillside Elementary School in Berkeley.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The film was shot on 65 mm film using the Panavision System 65 camera. It was the first fiction film to be shot in 65mm since Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" in 1996. Mihai Mălaimare Jr. served as cinematographer, making "The Master" Anderson's first film without cinematographer Robert Elswit. The film crew used three 65mm Panavision cameras throughout filming, and at times had an assistant from Panavision on set to help with the cameras' technical issues. Originally, Anderson and Mălaimare planned to shoot mainly portraits in 65mm, which constituted 20 percent of the film, but ultimately 85 percent of the film was shot in 65mm. The remainder of the film was shot on 35mm using Panavision Millennium XL2s cameras, often used for scenes that required a "dirtier" look. In order to maintain a consistent aspect ratio, the 65mm footage was cropped from 2.20:1 to 1.85:1 to match the 35mm footage, at the sacrifice of some image area. Most of the film stocks used were Kodak Vision3 50D Color Negative Film 5203 and Kodak Vision3 200T Color Negative Film 5213 with a few scenes also done with Kodak Vision3 250D Color Negative Film 5207 and Kodak Vision3 500T 5219. Because Anderson prefers working with film, he bypassed the use of a digital intermediate, instead color grading with the use of a photochemical timer.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: During filming, Phoenix was allowed to improvise on set. Phoenix lost significant weight for the role and came up with Freddie's awkward gait. Anderson compared Phoenix's commitment to that of Daniel Day-Lewis for his level of concentration, saying that Phoenix got into character and stayed there for three months. Anderson considered the dynamic between Hoffman and Phoenix to be central to the film, likening it to the rivalry and differences in style and temperament between tennis players John McEnroe and Björn Borg or Ivan Lendl, with Hoffman playing the more controlled and driven approach of Borg or Lendl. Adams stated that Anderson would have her appear on set for scenes she was not scheduled to appear in to make her presence felt, and at times she didn't know whether the camera was on her.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead composed the score for the film. This was the second time Greenwood scored an Anderson film, the first being 2007's "There Will Be Blood".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The official soundtrack was released through Nonesuch Records, and comprises eleven compositions by Greenwood along with four recordings from the film's era. Performers include the London Contemporary Orchestra and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. The track "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree (with Anyone Else But Me)" is presented as performed in the film by actress Madisen Beaty. The Weinstein Company also released a more comprehensive score on their website as part of the film's promotion, featuring alternate versions of the tracks.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: "The Master" was initially set up with Universal, but, like The Weinstein Company, they eventually passed on the project because of problems with the script. The main issue that Universal had with the project was that the budget was too big at about $35 million. It was later reported that River Road was in serious talks to fully finance the film. In February 2011, it was reported that Megan Ellison, daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison, would finance "The Master" and Anderson's adaptation of the novel "Inherent Vice" under her new production company Annapurna Pictures. Harvey Weinstein later picked up the worldwide rights to the film in May 2011.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The first teaser poster for the film appeared in May 2011 at the Cannes Film Festival with the title "Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project". A second promo poster for the film appeared in November 2011 at the American Film Market with the same title. On May 21, 2012, a teaser trailer featuring Joaquin Phoenix was released online and several minutes of footage from the film were shown at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. A second teaser trailer was released on June 19, 2012, which featured Phoenix as well as Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. On July 19, 2012, a theatrical trailer was released online by The Weinstein Company. The film was given an R rating in the United States by the Motion Picture Association of America.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The film was the first in 16 years to be predominantly shot in 65mm (using Panavision System 65 cameras), a camera negative format that is subsequently projected in 70mm (the extra 5mm are added to the projection prints to accommodate the audio tracks). On August 3, 2012, more than a month before its first official screening at the Venice Film Festival, "The Master" was shown in a "surprise screening" at the American Cinematheque in 70 mm. It was announced that there would be a special screening just after a screening of a new remastered version of Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining". Following the credits of "The Shining", it was announced that the special screening was "The Master". The film was shown with no opening titles (except for the title of the movie) or closing credits. The Weinstein Company continued advance screenings of the film in 70 mm in New York City, Los Angeles, London, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Austin. Although this was done because there was strong consideration that "The Master" was unlikely to be shown in the format during its commercial run, the film was eventually displayed during its run in 70 mm in most cinemas that carried the film and could still project that format.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 26, 2013, in the US, and March 11 in the UK. The release features "Back Beyond", a twenty-minute montage of deleted footage edited by Paul Thomas Anderson and set to Jonny Greenwood's original score. It also includes the 1946 John Huston documentary "Let There Be Light", a source which Anderson reportedly found very influential in his creation of the film.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: "The Master" grossed $242,127 at five theaters during its opening day on September 14, 2012, setting a single-day record for an art house film. Overall the film made $736,311 from five theaters for a per-theater average of $147,262, setting a record for the highest average for a live-action film. During its first week nationwide, the film grossed $4.4 million in 788 theaters.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 256 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Smart and solidly engrossing, "The Master" extends Paul Thomas Anderson's winning streak of challenging films for serious audiences." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times", in praising Anderson's directing and Phoenix's performance, wrote: "Phoenix, known for immersing himself in Oscar-nominated roles in "Gladiator" and "Walk the Line", makes Quell frighteningly believable." About the film itself, he stated: ""The Master" takes some getting used to. This is a superbly crafted film that's at times intentionally opaque, as if its creator didn't want us to see all the way into its heart of darkness." Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a perfect "A" grade, stating: "It's also one of the great movies of the year - an ambitious, challenging, and creatively hot-blooded, but cool-toned, project that picks seriously at knotty ideas about American personality, success, rootlessness, master-disciple dynamics, and father-son mutually assured destruction."


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Peter Rainer of "The Christian Science Monitor" wrote that "the performances by Phoenix and Hoffman are studies in contrast. Phoenix carries himself with a jagged, lurching, simian-like grace, while Hoffman gives Dodd a calm deliberateness. Both actors have rarely been better in the movies. The real Master class here is about acting – and that includes just about everybody else in the film, especially Adams, whose twinkly girl-next-door quality is used here to fine subversive effect." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" wrote: "It is a movie about the lure and folly of greatness that comes as close as anything I've seen recently to being a great movie. There will be skeptics, but the cult is already forming. Count me in." Scott Tobias of "The A.V. Club", giving the film an "A" grade, wrote: "It's a feisty, contentious, deliberately misshapen film, designed to challenge and frustrate audiences looking for a clean resolution. Just because it's over doesn't mean it's settled." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film four stars out of four, praising Anderson's directing: ""The Master", the sixth film from the 42-year-old writer-director, affirms his position as the foremost filmmaking talent of his generation. Anderson is a rock star, the artist who knows no limits." About the film itself, he wrote: "Written, directed, acted, shot, edited, and scored with a bracing vibrancy that restores your faith in film as an art form, "The Master" is nirvana for movie lovers. Anderson mixes sounds and images into a dark, dazzling music that is all his own." He would later call the film the Best Film of 2012.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" praised the score composed by Jonny Greenwood, stating: "In a film overflowing with qualities, but also brimming with puzzlements, two things stand out: the extraordinary command of cinematic technique, which alone is nearly enough to keep a connoisseur on the edge of his seat the entire time, and the tremendous portrayals by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman of two entirely antithetical men, one an unlettered drifter without a clue, the other an intellectual charlatan who claims to have all the answers. They become greatly important to each other and yet, in the end, have an oddly negligible mutual effect. The magisterial style, eerie mood and forbidding central characters echo Anderson's previous film, "There Will Be Blood", a kinship furthered by another bold and discordant score by Jonny Greenwood." Justin Chang of "Variety" magazine wrote: "The writer-director's typically eccentric sixth feature is a sustained immersion in a series of hypnotic moods and longueurs, an imposing picture that thrillingly and sometimes maddeningly refuses to conform to expectations." James Berardinelli of "ReelViews" gave the film three stars out of four and praised Phoenix's performance, stating: "Gaunt, sick-looking, with stooped shoulders and a shambling gait, Phoenix buries himself in Freddie's persona and there's never a moment when we disbelieve him." He added: "Yet, for all of "The Master"s laudable elements, it falls short of greatness for one simple reason: the storytelling is unspectacular."


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Even less enthusiastic was Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times", who gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of a possible four. He wrote that it was "fabulously well-acted and crafted, but when I reach for it, my hand closes on air. It has rich material and isn't clear what it thinks about it. It has two performances of Oscar caliber, but do they connect?" However, Ebert later included "The Master" as an honorable mention on his list of the best films of 2012, naming it alongside nine other titles he granted his Grand Jury Prize that year. Calum Marsh of "Slant Magazine" gave the film two stars out of four, stating: ""The Master" is Paul Thomas Anderson with the edges sanded off, the best bits shorn down to nubs." Rex Reed of the "New York Observer" gave the film a negative review, writing: "Call "The Master" whatever you want, but lobotomized catatonia from what I call the New Hacks can never take the place of well-made narrative films about real people that tell profound stories for a broader and more sophisticated audience. Fads come and go, but, as Walter Kerr used to say, 'I'll yell tripe whenever tripe is served.'" Reed also made mention of how Phoenix's performance and the supporting characters' lack of development further hurt the film.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: On Phoenix's performance, Kent Jones of "Film Comment" noted, "Freddie is not so much played as nuzzled, and jerked into being by Joaquin Phoenix. "I'm Still Here" aside, Phoenix's Freddie seems like genuinely damaged goods. He and his director feel their way into this man-in-a-bind from the inside out, and they establish his estrangement from others in those opening scenes through awkward smiles and out-of-sync body language alone". "As always with Anderson," Jones continued, "the character opposition borders on the schematic, and the structure threatens to come apart at the seams. But the courting of danger is exactly what makes his films so exciting, this new film most of all. I don't think he has ever done a better job of resolving his story, perhaps because he has come to terms with the irresolution within and between his characters." Scott, of "The New York Times", pointed out that Phoenix used "sly, manic ferocity" to portray Freddie as "an alcoholic wreck".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Emma Dibdin of "Total Film" gave "The Master" 5 stars out of 5, concluding that it "is a breath-taking, singular, technically audacious film, white-hot with emotion, and boasting a few scenes so individually powerful that they'll stay with you like a physical presence for days".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: "The Master" was placed #1 in both the critics poll of the best films of 2012 by "Sight and Sound", and by "The Village Voice" on its annual film poll. The film also ranked second by both and "Indiewire" on their year-end film critics polls, following "Holy Motors".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: "The Master" was later placed #1 on "The A.V. Club"s list of the best films of the 2010s up until April 2015, and was named as one of the top 50 films of the decade so far by "The Guardian".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Anderson considers it his favorite of the films he has made; in an interview with the "Los Angeles Times", he said:


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: For sure. I think that won't change. The amount of emotion I put into it and they put into it—they being Phil [Seymour Hoffman], Joaquin [Phoenix], and Amy [Adams]. I'm not sure it's entirely successful. But that's fine with me. It feels right. It feels unique to me. I really hope it will be something people can revisit and enjoy in a way that equals my pride in it. And pride can be a dangerous thing, and I'm not being very quiet about my pride in saying all this. But I just feel really proud of it. And of course, there's a particular sentimentality attached to it for a number of personal reasons. It's all wrapped up.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The film won the Silver Lion for Best Director (Paul Thomas Anderson) and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor (given to both Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman) at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. However, the festival's jury originally intended to give the film the top Golden Lion prize for Best Film; the prize was removed and awarded to "Pietà" instead, owing to a new rule that prohibited the award of acting and directing honors to the same film that won the Golden Lion prize. A similar incident was rumored to have occurred at the festival in 2008, when Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" was to be awarded both the Golden Lion and the Volpi Cup for Mickey Rourke's performance. The film received the former, with the latter being awarded to Silvio Orlando for his work in "Giovanna's Father". When asked about the last-minute shake-up over the award, Anderson replied: "I'm thrilled with whatever they want to hand over. I heard some of the scuttlebutt recently, but I'm just thrilled with what they hand over. And that's all."


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: There have been several interpretations of what "The Master" is really about. Some have viewed it as an existential tale of post-war America, while others have viewed it as a depiction of the birth of Scientology. Some have argued that the film is also mainly a love story between Lancaster Dodd and Freddie Quell; Dana Stevens of "Slate" commented that "After three viewings, I'm still not sure I know the answer to the "what's it all about" question, but I lean [toward the interpretation that] "The Master" is above all a love story between Joaquin Phoenix's damaged World War II vet, Freddie Quell, and Philip Seymour Hoffmann's charismatic charlatan, Lancaster Dodd. And that relationship is powerful and funny and twisted and strange enough that maybe that's all the movie needs to be about."


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Others have argued that the film is partly about acting; Richard Brody of the "New Yorker" observed that, "Similarly, it's perhaps notable that Phoenix's performance seems to represent the tormented, physical acting styles of the latter half of the twentieth century (the Brandos, the Deans, the Clifts), whereas Hoffman's acting seems to hearken back to the controlled, elusive manner of the previous half (many have described his turn as "Wellesian"). In these acting styles, we see a miniature version of the journey of American society during this period—and, specifically, American maleness." Still other arguments regarding the film's main theme hold that it is about humanity, and man's struggle to cope with his animalistic nature. Glenn Kenny of "MSN Movies" wrote that the film is "Less about [Scientology's] specific set of beliefs than about how humans rely on belief systems in general to try and lift themselves out of an elemental rage, and to assert, yes, that man is not an animal."


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Numerous reviewers commented on the homoerotic subtext of the film. "Film Comment" noted the bonding and repelling between the two men, "two edges of the split saber, play out in public and in private, in "audits" and intimate exchanges over Freddie's alcoholic concoctions". "The Guardian" saw "Quell's chaos and Dodd's charlatanism" locked "in a dance of death – erotic and homoerotic". Reviewers from "The Daily Beast" were struck by the way the film "deals with the not-so-latent homosexuality in Dodd", adding that, "Dodd seems to be sexually attracted to Quell's animalistic nature, e. g., that scene where they're wrestling with each other on the front lawn after Quell is released from prison, or the scene where Dodd's wife, played by Amy Adams, gives him a handjob, along with a spiel about 'cumming for her' and eradicating himself of negative (read: homosexual) thoughts." "Salon" commented that the film contains a "not-too-veiled suggestion that Dodd's paternal yearnings for Freddie are complicated by other desires".


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Upon the release of the script, comparisons between the Cause and Scientology were quickly made. The press noted Hoffman's physical resemblance to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), who served in the U.S. Navy in World War II, and, after his release from the hospital, founded the belief system in 1950, the same year as the religion in the script. The film ends in England, at roughly the same time Saint Hill Manor became Hubbard's residence and the first Scientology "org". Also, the film's references to the need of an "able-bodied seaman" and the reference to Fred being aberrant are both terms used by Scientologists in the administrative dictionary.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: The production company officially denied that the film was loosely based on Hubbard, with producer JoAnne Sellar also denying any connection to Hubbard, stating: "It's a World War II drama. It's about a drifter after World War II." Harvey Weinstein also denied that the film was about Scientology: "Paul says to me the movie is about a journey for soldiers after World War II ... one of the things that happens to this soldier is he goes to a cult." Anderson has stated that he has "always thought Hubbard was a great character, so interesting and larger than life, and kind of impossible to ignore", and he acknowledges that Lancaster Dodd was inspired by Hubbard, and that he should have known that is what people would latch onto, stating: "I didn't want it to be a biography. It's not the L. Ron Hubbard story."


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: Several websites suggested that "important Hollywood Scientologists" objected to the project because they feared it might reveal too much about the faith, and others even speculated that the Church of Scientology had enough power to stop Universal from green-lighting the film. However, none of the production crew had been contacted by representatives of Scientology. When Karin Pouw, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology, was asked if the church had any concerns about the film, she stated, "We have not seen the film, so can't say one way or another" and that the church knew about the film only from what it read in the press. According to Anderson, at no point did the church make any direct or indirect inquiries about the project or otherwise try to inhibit its progress, and that while they were making the film, Scientology was the least of their problems.


title: The Master (2012 film)

text: In May 2012, Anderson screened the film for his friend, actor Tom Cruise, an outspoken Scientologist, who had some issues with parts of the film. Cruise had previously starred in Anderson's third film "Magnolia". Officials of the Church of Scientology, who reportedly heard from Cruise, "hit the roof" when they learned of a scene which suggested that the belief system was a product of the leader's imagination. The scene with which Cruise had issues involves Dodd's son telling Quell that Dodd is just making it up as he goes along. They took issue not only with this statement, but with the way it supposedly paralleled L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.'s conflict with his own father. While church members objected to other scenes, Anderson did not excise any of them from the film. He stated that Cruise "did see the film. It's something between us. Everything is fine, though."


title: Maura Tierney

text: Maura Therese Tierney (born February 3, 1965) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her roles as Lisa Miller on the sitcom "NewsRadio" (1995–1999), Abby Lockhart on the medical drama "ER" (1999–2009), and Helen Solloway on the mystery drama "The Affair" (2014–2019), the last of which won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney appeared in numerous films, including "Primal Fear" (1996), "Liar Liar" (1997), "Primary Colors" (1998), "Forces of Nature" (1999), "Insomnia" (2002), "Semi-Pro" (2008), "Baby Mama" (2008), "Beautiful Boy" (2018), and "The Report" (2019).


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney was born and raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, the eldest of three children in an Irish American Catholic family. Her mother Pat (née James) is a real estate broker, while her father, the late Joseph M. Tierney, was a prominent Boston politician who served on the Boston City Council for 15 years.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney attended Mount Alvernia Academy Elementary School and Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, Massachusetts, where she studied drama, which led to her appearance at the Boston Globe Drama Festival. After graduation, she attended New York University, where she majored first in dance and then in drama.


title: Maura Tierney

text: After appearing in several plays, Tierney moved to Los Angeles in 1987, earning her big break with a role in Disney's made-for-TV film "Student Exchange". Tierney's first starring role in a film was in a low-budget independent film called "Dead Women in Lingerie", which was shot in 24 days.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney had a number of small roles in film and television and a co-starring role in "704 Hauser", a short-lived 1994 spin-off of "All in the Family". She first received regular national exposure with her leading role in the sitcom "NewsRadio" from 1995 to 1999. While part of the "NewsRadio" cast, she also starred in several successful films of the late 1990s and early 2000s such as "Primal Fear", "Liar Liar", "Primary Colors", "Forces of Nature" and "Welcome to Mooseport".


title: Maura Tierney

text: From 1999 to 2008, Tierney played Nurse Abigail "Abby" Lockhart on "ER", a character that began as a guest appearance in November 1999 and then expanded in February 2000 to a full-time regular role as an ER nurse and later after completion of medical school, a doctor. She was reunited with her "NewsRadio" co-star Khandi Alexander, who at that time also had a recurring role on "ER". Within a year, Tierney's work on "ER" earned her an Emmy Award nomination, a recognition she credits to a "juicy" story arc featuring Sally Field as Lockhart's mother Maggie Wyczenski, who has bipolar disorder.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney confirmed in April 2008 that she would be leaving "ER" shortly after the beginning of the show's fifteenth season. In October 2008, she made her final regular appearance on the series after nearly 10 seasons on the show. She returned to make a cameo appearance in one additional episode later in 2009 toward the end of the final season.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney's highest-profile film while being part of the "ER" cast was the 2002 film "Insomnia", which was directed by Christopher Nolan. That same year, she also starred in "Scotland, Pa." where she portrayed a Lady Macbeth-like character written specifically for her by Billy Morrissette, her husband at the time. She was praised by critics for her performance. She also collaborated with "NewsRadio" writer Joe Furey for a special "Working with Joe Furey" featurette for Furey's film "Love and Support".


title: Maura Tierney

text: In 2004, Tierney won the second-season tournament of Bravo's "Celebrity Poker Showdown" against Lauren Graham, who had a guest role in the fourth season of "NewsRadio". Tierney returned to the stage in May 2006 in an appearance opposite Eric McCormack in the Off Broadway premiere of "Some Girl(s)". She also appeared in the 2008 films "Semi-Pro", "Baby Mama", "The Go-Getter" and "Finding Amanda". Tierney also played the role of Laurel in the Off Broadway play "Three Changes" with Dylan McDermott from September 16 to October 4, 2008.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney returned to television, playing the recurring character Kelly McPhee on the FX series "Rescue Me" in 2009 and 2011 during its final season. She replaced Joely Richardson as the female lead of the 2010 ABC television series "The Whole Truth" after Richardson left to spend more time with her family. Tierney's role in the show, a legal drama produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, marked her return to television after recovering from breast surgery and cancer treatments. ABC canceled "The Whole Truth" after four episodes owing to low ratings.


title: Maura Tierney

text: In 2010, Tierney became a member of the New York City-based experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. She performed along with Frances McDormand in the Wooster Group's 2010 remounting of "North Atlantic", directed by Elizabeth LeCompte. From 2016 to 2019, she played the feminist Germaine Greer in " The Town Hall Affair", also directed by LeCompte. Tierney herself conceived the idea for this play, which recreates a raucous debate on Women's Liberation that Norman Mailer organized with prominent feminists in 1971.


title: Maura Tierney

text: In February 2011, Tierney made her debut at the Gate Theatre in the Dublin premiere of Yasmina Reza's "God of Carnage" (translation by Christopher Hampton) alongside Ardal O'Hanlon. Also in 2011, Tierney appeared in one episode of "The Office" (S8E9: "Mrs. California") as Robert California's wife.


title: Maura Tierney

text: In September 2012, Tierney began a recurring role on the CBS legal drama "The Good Wife", playing Maddie Hayward. The role included scenes with the show's lead character Alicia Florrick, as played by Julianna Margulies; the two actors had previously worked together on "ER", Margulies like Tierney having previously played a lead character on that show. In 2013, Tierney joined the cast of Showtime's "The Affair", playing Helen Solloway, for which she won the Golden Globe Award in 2016.


title: Maura Tierney

text: In 2018, Tierney co-starred with Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet in the dark family drama film "Beautiful Boy", based on by David Sheff. In 2019, Tierney appeared in "The Report" as "an intense, driven, somewhat vengeful Counterterrorism expert determined to get behind any program that promises to get the intel that will stop another attack from happening."


title: Maura Tierney

text: In 2019, Tierney originated the lead role of Elizabeth in the West Coast premiere of Jen Silverman's play "Witch" at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Marti Lyons.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney married actor-director Billy Morrissette on February 1, 1993, two days before her 28th birthday after the two met on the set of an unaired television series. She filed for divorce in 2006 due to irreconcilable differences.


title: Maura Tierney

text: On February 1, 2009, Tierney officiated at the wedding of her friend and former "ER" co-star Parminder Nagra to photographer James Stenson.


title: Maura Tierney

text: Tierney had surgery to remove a tumor from her breast in 2009. She had been cast in "Parenthood" but schedule conflicts with her cancer treatments led her to leave and she was replaced by Lauren Graham. Tierney finished treatment and returned to work in a stage play in 2010.


title: Maura Tierney

text: In 2018, while riding her bike, Tierney was struck by a car and thrown to the ground. Although she was taken away in the ambulance wearing a neck brace, she was later released from the hospital with "no major injuries".