title: Vetrimaaran

text: Producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu signed Vetrimaaran and Dhanush to a new film, "Asuran" which saw the duo reunite with music director G. V. Prakash Kumar, Velraj along with Naren, Pawan and Munnar Ramesh, the latter of whom has featured in all of Vetrimaaran's feature films from "Polladhavan" onwards. The film's plot is based on Poomani's novel "Vekkai" () and is influenced by the real-life Kilvenmani massacre that occurred in 1968. Dhanush plays a lower class farmer who has to protect his family when his youngest son murders a rich upper class landlord and would be seen in two looks: one as a young man in a flashback and the second as a middle-aged man in the present. Manju Warrier made her Tamil debut with this film alongside young actors Ken Karunas, Teejay Arunasalam and Ammu Abhirami and veteran actors Prakash Raj and Pasupathy making their maiden collaborations with Vetrimaaran. The film was shot at a brisk pace, starting from January 2019 at Tirunelveli and ended in June.


title: Vetrimaaran

text: Upon release on October 4, 2019, the film received mixed to positive critical reviews. "The Times of India", rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "Vetri Maaran delivers yet another solid action drama that keeps us engrossed from start to finish." S. Subhakeerthana from The Indian Express rated the film 4 out of 5 and reviewed it as "With this Dhanush starrer, Vetrimaaran proves he's one of the finest directors in Indian cinema, yet again. Only a few filmmakers like him can pull off a mainstream cinema, balancing ‘realism’ and commercial elements." Sify rated the film 4.5 out of 5, summarising that "Asuran is a must-watch. Dhanush-Vetrimaaran combo who has once again delivered a raw, rustic, and riveting revenge drama. Don't miss this one!" Sreedhar Pillai from Firstpost rated the film 4 out of 5 and posted a verdict "" Asuran" is one of the best films of the year and a must-watch. Vetrimaran keeps the flag of good cinema flying high.". In contrast, Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote, "None of the characters feel fully formed because the timelines feel rushed. We don’t feel time and lives weigh down on us the way it did in Vada Chennai or Visaranai. Maybe it’s the on/off voiceovers, which feel like hastily applied band-aids over sore spots in the storytelling. But the bigger absence is the lack of set pieces. Vetri Maaran seems to be holding back almost deliberately, as though mirroring his leading man". Gauthaman Baskaran from News18, gave a rating of 2 out of 5, stating that "Coming at a time when graphic and lurid on-screen violence is being questioned and even condemned, Asuran would appear needlessly falling back to the old formula.".


title: Vetrimaaran

text: Commercially, the film became a blockbuster at the box office, entering the club and is currently the highest-grossing film of Vetrimaaran's career. It won numerous awards including 2 National Awards: Best Feature Film in Tamil and Best Actor for Dhanush. In the same year, Vetrimaaran collaborated with Suresh Kamatchi for their production, "Miga Miga Avasaram" (2019).


title: Vetrimaaran

text: On 27 September 2020, Vetrimaaran was honored by a Special Award "Thirai Asuran" in a virtual conference appreciating his effort talking about long time issue Panchami Land in his last movie "Asuran" by Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam. He made a short film "Oor Iravu" starring Sai Pallavi and Prakash Raj for the anthology "Paava Kadhaigal" (2020). Each of the short films touches upon the issue of honour killing. "Oor Iravu" received positive acclaim with Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South writing, "Vetri Maaran’s is the most powerful, most gut-churning installment. There’s a prolonged stretch of agony that seems endless: for the father, for the daughter, and for the audience. The house becomes a character of its own, with its clearly established geography...It may seem strange to say this, given Vetri Maaran’s terrific run of films, but Oor Iravu is his best-directed work." Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap in a conversation with Vetrimaaran told "Congratulations!, Vetri, I think, this is your most poignant work. I have not been so impacted and moved in such a long time. Also I think its one of your best work. This (film) is so assured and so confident in the sense that it looks like, its been put together and I'm seeing it the way it was shot"


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The Lego Batman Movie is a 2017 computer-animated superhero comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, DC Entertainment, RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Dan Lin's Lin Pictures, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's Lord Miller Productions, Roy Lee's Vertigo Entertainment and Animal Logic, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Chris McKay in his directorial debut, from a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern, and John Whittington, and produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Based on the characters from the DC Universe created by DC Comics and the Lego DC Super Heroes' Batman toy line, the film is a collaboration between production houses from the United States, Australia, and Denmark, the first spin-off in "The Lego Movie" film series and the second installment overall. The story follows the title character as he attempts to overcome his greatest fear to stop the Joker's latest plan. The film features Will Arnett reprising his role as Batman from "The Lego Movie" alongside Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Development of "The Lego Batman Movie" started in October 2014, after Warner Bros. announced several Lego films, following the critical and commercial success of "The Lego Movie", while Chris McKay was hired to direct the film after being replaced by Rob Schrab to direct the sequel to "The Lego Movie". The film pays homage for numerous references to previous "Batman" films, cartoons and comics. Like "The Lego Movie", the animation was provided by Animal Logic. Lorne Balfe composed the film's musical score.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: "The Lego Batman Movie" had its world premiere in Dublin, Ireland on January 29, 2017, and was released in the United States on February 10, 2017 in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX, IMAX 3D and 4DX formats. The film received generally positive reviews from critics for its animation, voice acting, soundtrack, visual style, and humor, and was also commercially successful, having grossed $310 million worldwide against a budget of around $80 million. A sequel, "Lego Superfriends", was announced in 2018, but was cancelled after Universal Pictures acquired the Lego franchise rights.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Within the DC superhero dimension of the Lego multiverse, Batman protects Gotham City and fights crime. During his latest mission to stop the Joker and other Gotham supervillains from destroying the city, Batman succeeds, but also hurts Joker's feelings by telling him he is not as important in his life as he thinks he is, leading Joker to seek the ultimate revenge on him.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The following day, Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne attends the city's winter gala, which is celebrating both the retirement of Police Commissioner Gordon and the ascension of his daughter Barbara to replace him. Wayne is smitten by Barbara, and this distraction results in him unwittingly agreeing to adopt the enthusiastic orphan Dick Grayson. Wayne is then infuriated by Barbara's plans to restructure the police to function without the need of Batman. Joker crashes the party with other Gotham supervillains. Joker surrenders himself to police, while capturing almost all the other Gotham supervillains for police, except Harley Quinn. With so many supervillains incarcerated, Batman becomes desolate as Gotham no longer requires his crime-fighting skills.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Suspecting that Joker is up to no good, Batman plans to steal Superman's Phantom Zone projector, a device that can banish anyone to the Phantom Zone, which houses some of the most dangerous villains in the Lego multiverse, only for Alfred to intervene and advise him to take care of Dick. Batman initially refuses, so Alfred allows Dick to enter the Batcave. Appearing as Batman before Dick, Batman states that he is also adopting Dick, and fosters Dick as Robin to help in his scheme. Batman and Robin recover the projector from the Fortress of Solitude, break into Arkham Asylum and successfully send the Joker to the Phantom Zone. Suspecting that Joker "wanted" to be sent there, Barbara locks up Batman and Robin.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: While the projector is being seized as evidence, Harley steals it back as part of Joker's plan, and frees him, allowing him to return to Gotham with all the multiverse's villains he had recruited in the Phantom Zone, including Sauron, who informs the Joker that Batman is Bruce Wayne. The multiverse's villains attack Gotham and take over Wayne Island. Realizing that Gotham does need Batman after all, Barbara releases Batman and Robin and teams up with them and Alfred to stop the new threat. Although his teammates achieve some success in fighting the multiverse's villains, Batman forcibly sends them away despite their protests, fearing that he might lose them just like his parents.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Batman confronts Joker alone. Believing how Batman is incapable of changing his ways, Joker sends him to the Phantom Zone before stealing the Batcave's stash of confiscated bombs to destroy Gotham. Meanwhile, Phyllis, the Phantom Zone's gatekeeper, shows Batman how he has mistreated Dick, Alfred, Barbara and Joker. Batman accepts his greatest fear, being part of a family, and decides to change. Batman's teammates return to the fight to help him, but are endangered themselves. Batman makes a deal with Phyllis to temporarily return to Gotham to retrieve the Zone's escaped prisoners, and arrives in time to save his teammates, apologizing to them for leaving them and requesting their help to stop Joker. They agree, with Barbara taking on the Batgirl persona.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: With help from Gotham's other supervillains, who felt neglected by the Joker when he refused to break them out of Arkham, Batman and his team defeat the escaped multiverse's villains and send them back to the Phantom Zone. However, the Joker's bombs explode, tearing Gotham apart at the plates below the city. Batman convinces Joker to help him by telling him he gives him purpose to be the hero he is, and with the help of every civilian and villain, they manage to save Gotham, chain-linking themselves together to reassemble the plates.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In the aftermath, Batman reveals to Dick that he is Bruce Wayne, then goes to return to the Phantom Zone to face the consequences of his earlier behavior. Phyllis prevents Batman from entering the Phantom Zone, after realizing he is a hero and seeing how he changed to save everyone. Afterward, Batman gives Joker and Gotham's other supervillains a headstart to avoid capture, knowing they will be no match for the new Bat-family.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Several actors voice the various villains from Batman's rogues gallery, including Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face (as a nod to his role as Harvey Dent, Two-Face's former identity, in the 1989 "Batman" film), Riki Lindhome as Poison Ivy, Conan O'Brien as Riddler, Jason Mantzoukas as the Scarecrow, Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman, Matt Villa as Killer Croc, Kate Micucci as Clayface, Doug Benson as Bane (the character's appearance and Benson's performance are meant to satirize Tom Hardy's portrayal of Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises"), John Venzon as Penguin, David Burrows as Mr. Freeze (Burrows also voices an anchorman), and Laura Kightlinger as Orca (Kightlinger also voices a reporter). The film also features villains from other franchises, including Sauron's Eye of Sauron from "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" (voiced by Jemaine Clement), the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz" (also voiced by Riki Lindhome), Lord Voldemort from "Harry Potter" (voiced by Eddie Izzard), King Kong from "King Kong", the Swamp Creature from various monster films (both voiced by Seth Green), Medusa from Greek mythology (also voiced by Lauren White), and the Daleks from "Doctor Who" (voiced by Nicholas Briggs, reprising his role from the television series).


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The voice of the Batcomputer (credited as 'Puter), depicted here as an artificial intelligence controlling all of Batman's gadgets and vehicles, is done by Siri.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In October 2014, following the success of "The Lego Movie", Warner Bros. greenlit several multiple Lego films produced, including "The Lego Batman Movie", a spin-off starring Batman. Warner Bros. scheduled the release of "The Lego Batman Movie" for 2017, moving the release date for "" (later titled as "") to 2018. Chris McKay, who co-directed "The Lego Movie", was brought on board to direct the film, making it his solo directorial debut. Will Arnett returned to voice Batman, with the story written by Seth Grahame-Smith, and the film produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. On April 20, 2015, Warner Bros. scheduled "The Lego Batman Movie" for a February 10, 2017 release. The film itself also serves as the first theatrically released animated feature to be based on a licensed property, which explains the lack of yellow Lego figures, despite Emmet Brickowski, the main character of "the Lego Movie", making a small cameo.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In an interview about his work on the film, McKay stated that working on the film was "a very mixed blessing" owing partly to the film's hectic time schedule for its production, remarking that the two-and-a-half years allocated to the film made it difficult to fit in everything that he wanted for the movie, considering his earlier work on "The Lego Movie". His work on "The Lego Batman Movie" was influenced by the comedy portrayed in both "The Naked Gun" and "Airplane!" film series, with his pitch for the film to the studios being described as like ""Jerry Maguire" as directed by Michael Mann". His proposal to combine all the Batman eras featured in the comic book series and various media formats, including movies and comic series, despite a couple of issues—the total inconsistency inherent to such a task, and Lego rejecting some of the characters he proposed to include in the film—was based on his desire of how to portray Robin within the film's setting. In an interview regarding his version of the superhero duo, McKay stated:


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In 2019, prior to the release of "", Chris Miller stated that all of the "Lego" movies are based on the imagination of a child character, with "The Lego Movie" events happening in young Finn's mind. Miller affirmed that "The Lego Batman Movie" was also from the imagination of Finn and Bianca, though the characters did not appear within the film, although Bianca was alluded to as Phyllis' boss.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In July 2015, Arnett's "Arrested Development" co-star Michael Cera was cast to voice Robin. In August 2015, Zach Galifianakis entered final negotiations to voice the Joker. In October 2015, Rosario Dawson was cast to voice Barbara Gordon, the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon who later becomes the crime-fighting heroine Batgirl. The following month, Ralph Fiennes was cast as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's butler. Initial reports indicated that Mariah Carey was playing Commissioner Gordon. However, she was actually cast as Mayor McCaskill.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: As part of its production, the film was designed to make numerous references to previous "Batman" films, cartoons and comics. In two distinct scenes where Barbara Gordon depicts Batman's long history of services for the police and Alfred quotes Batman's previous films (as previous moments of emotional crisis), they mention: the 1940s "Batman" serials (erroneously placed earlier than his comic books appearances); the films "Batman" (1966), "Batman" (1989), "Batman Returns" (1992), "Batman Forever" (1995), "Batman & Robin" (1997), "Batman Begins" (2005), "The Dark Knight" (2008), "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012), "" (2016) and "Suicide Squad" (2016); the television shows "Batman" (1960s), "" (1990s), "Batman Beyond" (2000s) and "The Batman" (2000s); and the comics "Detective Comics" #27 (Batman's introductory story), "The Dark Knight Returns" (1986) and "Gotham by Gaslight" (1989). Other references include previous costumes worn by Batman and Robin and the various Batmobiles used. In most cases, their appearances in the film are done in a Lego style, with the exception being footage from a live-action shot of Adam West's depiction of Batman in the 1960s "Batman" series and a picture of Batman's suit from "Batman and Robin". Climactic events from past Batman films involving the Joker have been mentioned, including "that time with the parade and the Prince music" (1989's "Batman") and "the two boats" ("The Dark Knight").


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Alongside Joker, the main antagonist of the film's story, and Superman, who features heavily and has notable links to the Christopher Reeve films "Superman" (1978) and its sequel "Superman II" (1980), many other DC characters, both villains associated with Batman and other DC superheroes, feature in the film. The film's villains who have been featured in Batman comics, films and cartoons include: Man-Bat; Captain Boomerang; Egghead; Crazy Quilt; Eraser; Polka-Dot Man; Mime; Tarantula; King Tut from the 1960s series; Killer Moth; March Harriet; Zodiac Master; the Mutant Leader from "The Dark Knight Returns"; Doctor Phosphorus; Magpie; Calculator; Hugo Strange; an unidentified version of Red Hood; the Kabuki Twins from "The Batman"; Orca; Gentleman Ghost; Clock King; Calendar Man; Kite Man; Catman; Zebra-Man; and a variation of Condiment King from "Batman: The Animated Series". The other DC heroes who feature, both from the Justice League and "Super Friends", include: Wonder Woman; Aquaman; The Flash; Cyborg; Green Arrow; Black Canary; Hawkman; Hawkgirl; Martian Manhunter; Apache Chief; Black Vulcan; El Dorado; Samurai; Wonder Dog; the Wonder Twins and Gleek. Although not part of the DC franchise, Iron Man from Marvel Comics is referenced in the film as part of a small joke about Batman's password for entering the Batcave, referencing the famous rivalry between DC and Marvel.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The film also features characters from other notable franchises and film series with them following the same narrative of "The Lego Movie" in that they came from worlds that co-exist alongside others of the Lego Universe, which are made up of Lego playsets of the various media franchises. These additional characters include: Medusa from Lego Minifigures; the Swamp Creature, Evil Mummy, and Lord Vampyre from "Lego Monster Fighters"; King Kong; the Daleks from "Doctor Who"; the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys from "The Wizard of Oz"; the Kraken from "Clash of the Titans"; Agent Smith and his clones from "The Matrix"; the great white shark from "Jaws"; Voldemort from "Harry Potter"; Sauron from "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"; the Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptors from "Jurassic Park"; The Skeleton Warriors from "Jason and the Argonauts" and the Gremlins. The way in which the Gremlins attack a plane references "The Twilight Zone" episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The film also includes Batman watching the scene from "Jerry Maguire" where Tom Cruise says "You complete me" (which makes Batman laugh out loud); this line had previously been quoted by The Joker in "The Dark Knight". In the scene where Batman discusses possible team names he mentions "Fox Force Five", which is the name of Mia Wallace's failed television pilot mentioned in "Pulp Fiction". The film's use of Cutting Crew's "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" is a nod to the romantic comedy "Never Been Kissed". The film's other references include "Gleaming the Cube" and "Gymkata".


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The casting of Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face references the 1989 Batman film, in which Williams played District Attorney Harvey Dent, before his transition to Two-Face. Director Chris McKay said the film's depiction of Gotham City was inspired by Chicago partly due to Christopher Nolan having filmed "The Dark Knight Trilogy" in Chicago.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: A scene from "The Lego Movie" is reused in the film, depicting Emmet falling down from Lord Business's tower into the real world, as television journalists explain what would happen if Joker detonates his bomb.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: "The Lego Batman Movie" is the first in the franchise not to be composed by Mark Mothersbaugh; the film score is composed by Lorne Balfe. The soundtrack album was released by WaterTower Music on February 3, 2017, through two-disc CD and for digital download, while the vinyl version was released on May 19, 2017.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The first teaser trailer for "The Lego Batman Movie" was released on March 24, 2016, and features the song "Black and Yellow" by Wiz Khalifa. It was attached to showings of "" in theatres. A second teaser trailer was released on March 28, 2016, and features references to all live-action iterations of Batman, from the 1960s "Batman" TV series to "Batman v Superman". A third trailer was released on July 23, 2016. A fourth trailer was released on November 4, 2016. Over twenty Lego sets inspired by scenes from the film were released for the film including two sets of Collectible Minifigures. A Story Pack for the toys-to-life video game "Lego Dimensions" based on "The Lego Batman Movie" was released on February 10, 2017, alongside the film. The pack adds a six-level story campaign adapting the events of the film, and includes playable figures of Robin and Batgirl, a driveable Batwing, and a constructible gateway model based on the Batcomputer. A Fun Pack including Excalibur Batman and his Bionic Steed was also released the same day.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: On January 14, 2017, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Chevrolet unveiled a life-sized Lego Batmobile inspired by the design featured in the film, constructed from around 350,000 Lego pieces. As a related promotion, a Bat-Signal (alternating between Batman's emblem and the Chevrolet logo) was projected on the Renaissance Center over the weekend, and Chevrolet released a new television commercial tying into the film, featuring the Batmobile as a crossover with its ongoing "Real People, Not Actors" campaign.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Warner Bros. released several promotional tie-ins on the week of the movie's release. LEGO billboard versions of several TV shows were shown outside of the studio lot, that took 300 hours to make out of 10,000 bricks. "The Big Bang Theory" included a LEGO version of the opening sequence in the episode "The Locomotion Reverberation" that first aired on CBS. In addition, the network aired two LEGO commercials featuring Batman and the cast.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The CW featured LEGO end cards for "Supergirl", "The Flash", "Legends of Tomorrow", and "Arrow", respectively, on the week of the movie's release. All four DC shows also include a special variant of the Berlanti Productions logo that featured Batman's cameo and a new recording from Greg Berlanti's real-life father who says "Batman, move your head." instead of the usual "Greg, move your head." In addition, the network aired two commercials where Batman interacts with the characters from each show.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: The film's world premiere was conducted in Dublin, Ireland on January 29, 2017, where upon it went into general release from February 8; it was released in Denmark on February 9, and in the United States and the United Kingdom on February 10. Its overall release saw movie theatres displaying the film in 3D, RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema, IMAX 3D and 4DX. though the latter format was restricted to 3D for North America, while international countries were able to view it in IMAX.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: "The Lego Batman Movie" is notably the first animated movie based on Batman to receive a full theatrical release since "" (1993).


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: "The LEGO Batman Movie" was released on Digital HD on May 19, 2017. The release included the theatrical short film "The Master: A LEGO Ninjago Short", as well as four new short films: "Dark Hoser", "Batman is Just Not That Into You", "Cooking with Alfred" and "Movie Sound Effects: How Do They Do That?." "The LEGO Batman Movie" was released on DVD, Blu-ray (2D and 3D), and Ultra HD Blu-ray by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on June 13, 2017. The film debuted at No. 3 on the NPD VideoScan overall disc sales chart.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: "The Lego Batman Movie" grossed $175.8 million in the United States and Canada and $136.2 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $312 million, against a production budget of $80 million.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In the United States and Canada, "The Lego Batman Movie" opened alongside two other sequels, "Fifty Shades Darker" and "", and was projected to gross around $60 million from 4,088 theaters in its opening weekend. It earned $2.2 million from Thursday-night previews and $14.5 million on Friday. It went on to open with $53 million, finishing first at the box office. In its second weekend, the film grossed $32.7 million (a small drop of 38.4%), again topping the box office; with the additional President's Day holiday on Monday, it made a total of $42.7 million for the weekend. In its third weekend of release, the film dropped to second at the box office, behind newcomer "Get Out", grossing $19.2 million (a drop of 41.2%).


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Outside North America the film was simultaneously released in 61 countries, and was expected to gross around $40 million over its first three days. It ended up grossing $37 million in its opening weekend, including $9.3 million in the United Kingdom, $2.6 million in Mexico, $2.3 million in Germany and $2.2 million in Russia.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""The Lego Batman Movie" continues its block-buster franchise's winning streak with another round of dizzyingly funny—and beautifully animated—family-friendly mayhem." It was ranked the 23rd best superhero movie of all time on the site. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Mike Ryan of "Uproxx" gave the film a positive review, praising its comedy, and saying: ""The LEGO Batman Movie" isn't the same experience as watching "The LEGO Movie", but I also don't think it's trying to be. It's trying to be a fun superhero movie with clever callbacks to previous Batman films (every single Batman movie all the way back to the 1940s serials are referenced) that can, at least, provide DC superhero fans with a taste of fun amidst all the doom and gloom. (That can either be a reference to 'the real world' or the current DC Cinematic Universe films, you can choose either one you want or both.) And at that, "The LEGO Batman Movie" succeeds." Chris Nashawaty of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a "B+" and wrote, ""LEGO Batman" revs so fast and moves so frenetically that it becomes a little exhausting by the end. It flirts with being too much of a good thing. But rarely has corporate brainwashing been so much fun and gone down with such a delightful aftertaste." Justin Chang of the "Los Angeles Times" was positive in his review, saying, "In its best moments, this gag-a-minute Bat-roast serves as a reminder that, in the right hands, a sharp comic scalpel can be an instrument of revelation as well as ridicule." Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" praised the film for its heart, humor, and action which "snap together, with a satisfying click."


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: "Lego Dimensions" includes characters from various franchises, including "The Lego Movie" and "The Lego Batman Movie". The game's Starter Pack includes Wyldstyle, while Emmet, Benny, Bad Cop, and Unikitty are included in Fun Packs. From "The Lego Batman Movie", Robin and Batgirl are included in a Story Pack while Excalibur Batman is included in a Fun Pack. However, Robin gets his voice actor changed in the game to Robbie Daymond and can also use his appearance from Teen Titans Go! if he is used in the Teen Titans Go! World.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: Based on "The Lego Batman Movie", Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released the endless-runner game coinciding with the release of the film. It was released for Android and iOS.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: On December 5, 2018, McKay announced a sequel to the film was in the works, with him returning to direct. The film was set for release in 2022. However, while the rights of DC Comics are owned by Warner Bros, Universal Pictures acquired the film rights to "The Lego Movie" franchise in 2020, effectively cancelling the sequel.


title: The Lego Batman Movie

text: In June 2021, McKay revealed that the script was being written by Michael Waldron and Dan Harmon. It would have focused on Batman's relationship with the Justice League, particularly Superman, and the main villains would have been Lex Luthor and OMAC. Waldron revealed that the film was tentatively titled "Lego Superfriends".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Queen, released on 21 November 1975 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and by Elektra Records in the United States. Produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, it was reportedly the most expensive album ever recorded at the time of its release.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Named after the Marx Brothers' film of the same name, "A Night at the Opera" was recorded at various studios across a four-month period in 1975. Due to management issues, Queen had received almost none of the money they earned for their previous albums. Subsequently, they ended their contract with Trident Studios and did not use their studios for the album (the sole exception being "God Save the Queen", which had been recorded the previous year). They employed a complex production that extensively used multitrack recording, and the songs incorporated a wide range of styles, such as ballads, music hall, dixieland, hard rock and progressive rock influences. Aside from their usual equipment, Queen also utilised a diverse range of instruments such as a double bass, harp, ukulele and more.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Upon release, "A Night at the Opera" topped the UK Albums Chart for four non-consecutive weeks. It peaked at number four on the US "Billboard" Top LPs & Tape chart and became the band's first platinum-certified album in the US. It also produced the band's most successful single in the UK, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which became their first UK number one. Despite being twice as long as the average length of singles during the 1970s, the song became immensely popular worldwide.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Contemporary reviews for "A Night at the Opera" were mixed, with praise for its production and the diverse musical themes, and recognition as the album that established Queen as worldwide superstars. At the 19th Grammy Awards, its first single "Bohemian Rhapsody" received Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices. It has been hailed as Queen's best album, and one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked it at number 128 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2018, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Queen's previous album, "Sheer Heart Attack" (1974), had obtained commercial success and brought the band mainstream attention, with the single "Killer Queen" reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart. The album was a minor hit in the US, reaching number twelve, while "Killer Queen" hit the top 20. Despite this success, the band was broke at the time, largely due to a contract they had signed which meant that they would produce albums for a production company, who would then sell the album to a record label. This meant that Queen saw almost none of the money they earned, as Trident Studios paid them £60 weekly. Guitarist Brian May was living in a bedsit in Earls Court, West London while frontman Freddie Mercury lived in a flat in Kensington that suffered from rising damp. The matter eventually reached a turning point when bassist John Deacon, who had recently married, was denied a cash advance of £4,000 by manager Norman Sheffield to put a deposit on a house. This increasing frustration led to Mercury writing the song "Death on Two Legs", which would serve as the opening track to "A Night at the Opera".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In December 1974, the band hired Jim Beach as their lawyer and began negotiating their way out of Trident. While Beach studied the group's contracts, the group continued touring. They began their first tour of Japan in April 1975, where thousands of fans met them at Haneda Airport and they played two sold out shows at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo. After a nine-month dispute, Queen were finally free of Trident and signed directly with EMI Records in the UK and Elektra Records in North America. They regained control of their back catalogue, while their former publishing company, Feldman, was taken over by EMI. Because Trident had invested over £200,000 in promoting Queen, the group were required to pay half that to buy out their contracts, and they had to give Trident 1% royalties from their next six albums. Additionally, a tour of America scheduled for September 1975 had to be cancelled as it had been organised by Jack Nelson, who was associated with Trident, despite the already booked venues and sold tickets. This tour was necessary for regaining funds, and its cancellation was a major setback.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: With funds running low, Queen immediately began searching for new management. Three names were shortlisted: Peter Rudge, Peter Grant, who was then Led Zeppelin's manager, and John Reid, who was Elton John's manager at the time. Rudge was on tour with the Rolling Stones and could not be reached, so they contacted Grant. Grant, who was eager to manage Queen, had intended the band would sign with Swan Song, Led Zeppelin's label, and suggested Queen go on tour while he sorted out their finances. The group feared Grant would prioritise Led Zeppelin over them, and were reluctant to sign with Swan Song, so they contacted Reid. Reid was initially doubtful about managing another band; however, he accepted after learning it was Queen, and advised the group to "go into the studio and make the best record you can".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Queen worked with producer Roy Thomas Baker, who had also split from Trident, and engineer Mike Stone. It was the last time they would work with Baker until 1978's "Jazz". Gary Langan, then 19 years old and who had been a tape operator on two of "Sheer Heart Attack"s songs, was promoted to an assistant engineer on the album. It was reportedly the most expensive album ever made at the time, with the estimated cost being £40,000 (equivalent to £ in 2022).


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The album was recorded at seven different studios over a period of four months. Queen spent a month during the summer of 1975 rehearsing in a barn at what would become Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey. The group then had a three-week writing and rehearsing session in a rented house near Kington, Herefordshire before recording began. From August to September 1975, the group worked at Rockfield in Monmouthshire. For the remainder of recording sessions, which lasted until November, the group recorded at Lansdowne, Sarm Studios, Roundhouse, Scorpio Sound and Olympic Sound Studios. As their deal with Trident had ended, Trident Studios was not used during recording. The only song on the album recorded at Trident was "God Save the Queen", which had been recorded on 27 October the previous year, shortly before the band embarked on their Sheer Heart Attack Tour.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The group required multi-tracking for their complex vocal harmonies which typically consisted of May singing lower registers, Mercury singing middle registers and Taylor performing the higher parts (Deacon did not sing). Unlike their first three albums, which had used 16-track tape, "A Night at the Opera" was recorded using 24-track tape. Their vocal harmonies are particularly notable on the song "Bohemian Rhapsody", which features an elaborate opera sequence dominated by multitracked vocals. Similarly, "The Prophet's Song" has an a capella middle section that utilises delay on Mercury's vocals. For their self-titled "guitar orchestrations", May overdubbed his homemade Red Special guitar through an amplifier built by Deacon, known as the Deacy Amp, later released commercially as the "Brian May" amplifier by Vox. Guitar layering is one of May's distinctive techniques as a rock guitarist. He has said that the technique was developed whilst looking for a violin sound.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Aside from their usual equipment, the group used various instruments on the album. Mercury used a grand piano for most of the songs, contributing a jangle piano on "Seaside Rendezvous", while Taylor used a timpani and gong on "Bohemian Rhapsody". Deacon played double bass on "'39" and Wurlitzer Electric Piano on "You're My Best Friend". In the album liner notes, May was credited to "orchestral backdrops" – a reference to the fact that he played a number of instruments not typically found in Queen songs. He played an acoustic guitar on "Love of My Life" and "'39", as well a harp on "Love of My Life", and a toy koto on "The Prophet's Song". The song "Good Company" also features May recreating a Dixieland jazz band, which was done on his Red Special.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The album has been affiliated with progressive rock, pop, heavy metal, hard rock and avant-pop. It contains a diverse range of influences including folk, skiffle, British camp and music hall, jazz and opera. Each member wrote at least one song: Mercury wrote five of the songs, May wrote four, and Taylor and Deacon wrote one song each. The closing track was an instrumental cover of "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem, for which May was credited as the arranger.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: For their first two albums, much of Queen's songwriting combined contemporary progressive rock and heavy metal, which led to a "Led Zeppelin meets Yes" description of the band. However, starting with "Sheer Heart Attack", Queen began drawing inspiration from their everyday lives, and embraced more mainstream musical styles, a trend which "A Night at the Opera" would continue. Lyrical themes ranged from science fiction and fantasy to heartbreak and romance, often with a tongue in cheek sense of humour. The "Winnipeg Free Press" noted that the group blended "clever, often poignant lyrics with attractively-arranged melodies".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Death on Two Legs" is considered to be Mercury's hate letter to Queen's first manager, Norman Sheffield, who for some years was reputed to have mistreated the band and abused his role as their manager from 1972 to 1975. The lyrics refer to "blood-sucking leeches" and "decaying sewer rats". Though the song never makes direct reference to him, after listening to a playback of the song at Trident Studios around the time of the album's release, Sheffield sued the band and the record label for defamation, which resulted in an out-of-court settlement, but also confirmed his connection to the song. Executives at EMI were unsure that the song was a good idea, May was unsure about the lyrics and felt bad that Mercury was singing it, but ultimately realised it was the songwriter's final choice as to what should be sung. As with "Bohemian Rhapsody", most of the guitar parts on this song were initially played on piano by Mercury, to demonstrate to May how they needed to be played on guitar. During live performances, Mercury would usually rededicate the song to "a real motherfucker of a gentleman", although this line was censored on the version that appeared on their "Live Killers" album in 1979. Other than on the live album, he said it was dedicated to a "motherfucker I used to know". "Death on Two Legs" remained on the setlist until, and well into, The Game Tour in 1981, and was then dropped. However, the piano introduction was played occasionally during the "Hot Space" and "Works" tours.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon" is another song by Mercury. He played piano and performed all of the vocals. The lead vocal was sung in the studio and reproduced through headphones in a tin bucket elsewhere in the studio. A microphone picked up the sound from the bucket, which gives it a hollow "megaphone" sound. The guitar solo is also reported to have been recorded on the vocal track, as there were no more tracks to record on, as explained by producer Roy Thomas Baker during the "Classic Albums" documentary.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "I'm in Love with My Car" was written and sung by Taylor. The song was initially taken as a joke by May, who thought that Taylor was not serious when he heard a demo recording. Taylor played the guitars in the original demo, but they were later re-recorded by May on his Red Special. The lead vocals were performed by Taylor on the studio version, and all released live versions. The revving sounds at the conclusion of the song were recorded by Taylor's then current car, an Alfa Romeo. The lyrics were inspired by one of the band's roadies, Johnathan Harris, whose Triumph TR4 was evidently the "love of his life". The song is dedicated to him, with the album saying: "Dedicated to Johnathan Harris, boy racer to the end". When it came down to releasing the album's first single, Taylor was so fond of his song that he urged Mercury, the writer of the first single, "Bohemian Rhapsody", to allow it to be the B-side. This decision would later become the cause of much internal friction in the band, in that while it was only the B-side, it generated an equal amount of publishing royalties for Taylor as the A-side did for Mercury. The song was often played live during the 1977–1981 period. Taylor sang it from the drums while Mercury played piano and provided backing vocals. It was played in the Queen + Paul Rodgers Tour in 2005 and the Rock the Cosmos Tour in 2008. Taylor would again play the song for his concerts with The Cross and solo tours, where instead of drums he played rhythm guitar.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "You're My Best Friend" was the second song and first Queen single to be written by John Deacon. He composed it while he was learning to play piano, and played the Wurlitzer electric piano (which Mercury disliked) on the recording and overdubbed the bass guitar afterwards. The song was written for his wife, Veronica. It was released as the album's second single after "Bohemian Rhapsody" and was also a top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number 7.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "'39" was May's attempt to do "sci-fi skiffle", inspired by the poet and novelist Hermann Hesse. It relates the tale of a group of space explorers who embark on what is, from their perspective, a year-long voyage. Upon their return, however, they realise that a hundred years have passed, because of the time dilation effect in Einstein's theory of relativity, and the loved ones they left behind are now all dead or aged. May sings the song on the album, with backing vocals by Mercury and Taylor. During live performances, Mercury sang the lead vocal. May had asked Deacon to play double bass as a joke but a couple of days later he found Deacon in the studio with the instrument, and he had already learned to play it. George Michael performed "'39" at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on 20 April 1992. Michael cited this song as his favourite Queen song, claiming he used to busk it on the London Underground. Recently, Queen have included the song on the setlists of their recent tours with Adam Lambert and before Lambert with Paul Rodgers; for all these tours since 2005 it is sung, as it is on the album, by May.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Sweet Lady" is a fast rocker written by May. The song is an unusual rock style in meter (which gives way to at the bridge).


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Seaside Rendezvous", written by Mercury, has a mock-instrumental bridge section which begins at around 0:51 into the song. The section is performed entirely by Mercury and Taylor using their voices alone. Mercury imitates woodwind instruments including a clarinet and Taylor mostly brass instruments, including tubas and trumpets, and even a kazoo; during this section Taylor hits the highest note on the album, C6. The "tap dance" segment is performed by Mercury and Taylor on the mixing desk with thimbles on their fingers. Mercury plays both grand piano and jangle honky-tonk.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "The Prophet's Song" was composed by May. He explained that he wrote the song after a dream he had had about The Great Flood and his fears about the human race and its general lack of empathy. He spent several days assembling the song, and it includes a vocal canon sung by Mercury. The vocal, and later instrumental canon was produced by early tape delay devices. Over eight minutes long, it is also Queen's longest studio song. The speed-up effect that happens in the middle of the guitar solo was achieved by starting a reel-to-reel player with the tape on it, as the original tape player was stopped.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Love of My Life" is one of Queen's most covered songs (there have been versions by many acts like Extreme featuring May, Scorpions and Elaine Paige). Mercury played piano (including a classical solo) and sang all vocals, including multi-tracked harmonies. May played harp (doing it chord by chord and pasting the takes to form the entire part), Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar (which he had bought in Japan) and his Red Special. May eventually arranged the song so it could be played on an acoustic 12 string for live performances. "Love of My Life" was such a concert favourite that Mercury frequently stopped singing and allowed the audience to take over. It was especially well received during concerts in South America, and the band released the song as a single there. When Queen and Paul Rodgers performed the song (specifically Brian solo) he sang almost none of the words and let the audience sing it all, continuing the tradition. When Queen and Adam Lambert performed it, Brian would play along to a projection of Freddie singing. When they performed with Paul Rodgers during 2004–2008, Mercury was also projected during the show, but not in a round display as they use with Adam Lambert.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Good Company" was written and sung by May, who sings all vocals and plays ukulele. The recording features a recreation of a Dixieland-style jazz band using May's Red Special guitar and Deacy Amp. May composed the song on his father's Banjo ukulele, but recorded the song with a regular ukulele. Mercury was not involved with the song's recording, making it one of the few Queen songs not to feature their lead singer.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: May recorded a cover version of "God Save the Queen", the British national anthem, in 1974 before their "Sheer Heart Attack" tour. He played a guide piano which was edited out later and added several layers of guitars. After the song was completed it was played as a coda at virtually every Queen concert. When recording the track May played a rough version on piano for Roy Thomas Baker, producer, and Mike Stone, engineer. He called his own skills on the piano sub-par at the time. He performed the song live on the roof of Buckingham Palace for the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. May has stated that he performed the song on the roof of Buckingham Palace as a homage to Jimi Hendrix's version of "The Star-Spangled Banner".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Bohemian Rhapsody" was written by Mercury with the first guitar solo composed by May. All piano, bass and drum parts, as well as the vocal arrangements, were thought up by Mercury on a daily basis and written down "in blocks" (using note names instead of sheets) on a phonebook. During the recording, the song became affectionately known as "Fred's Thing" to the band, and the title only emerged during the final sessions. The other members recorded their respective instruments with no concept of how their tracks would be utilised in the final mix.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The operatic section was originally intended to be only a short interlude of "Galileos" that connected the ballad and hard rock portions of the song. The interlude is full of "obscure classical characters: Scaramouche, a clown from the "Commedia dell'arte"; astronomer Galileo; Figaro, the principal character in Beaumarchais' "The Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro"; and Beelzebub, identified in the Christian New Testament as Satan, Prince of Demons, but in Arabic as "Lord of the Flies". Also in Arabic the word "Bismillah'," which is a noun from a phrase in the Qur'an; ""Bismi-llahi r-rahmani r-rahiim"," meaning "In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: Despite being twice as long as the average single in 1975 and garnering mixed critical reviews initially, the song became immensely popular, topping charts worldwide (where it remained for a then unprecedented nine weeks in the UK) and is widely regarded as one of the greatest songs in music history. The song was rereleased as a double A-side to "These Are the Days of Our Lives" on 5 September 1991, Mercury's 45th birthday, in the US and on 9 December 1991, after Mercury's death, in the UK.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The album title was inspired by the Marx Brothers film of the same name, which the band had watched during recording sessions. Subsequently, they became good friends with the film's star Groucho Marx, to the point where Marx sent the band a letter praising their 1976 album "A Day at the Races". Marx also invited Queen to visit him at his Los Angeles home in March 1977 (five months before he died). The band thanked him, and performed "'39" a cappella. The cover artwork features the band's logo, which was designed by Mercury, on a white background. The band's next album, "A Day at the Races", featured a similar design but on a black background.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released as the lead single on 31 October 1975, with "I'm in Love with My Car" as its B-side. Their management initially refused to release it; however, Kenny Everett played a copy of the song on his show 14 times, at which point audience demand for the song intensified and the band's label EMI was forced to release it. It subsequently topped the UK charts for nine weeks and peaked at number nine in the US. A second single, "You're My Best Friend" was released on 18 May 1976, with "'39" as its B-side. It reached number sixteen in the US and number seven in the UK.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The album was completed a week before the group were to embark on their A Night at the Opera Tour in support of the album. This resulted in a 36-hour mixing session, as the group wanted to have time to rehearse their setlist before touring. Due to time constraints, the group only had three and a half days to rehearse, at Elstree, with four hours taken off to shoot the music video for "Bohemian Rhapsody". The tour spanned 1975 and 1976, and covered the UK, the US, Japan, and Australia.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: The album was first re-released in the U.S. by Hollywood Records on 3 September 1991 with two bonus remixes, as part of a complete re-release of all Queen albums.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: On 30 April 2002, the album was again re-released on DVD-Audio with a 96 kHz/24bit Linear PCM stereo mix and a 5.1-channel mix in DTS 96/24 surround sound for standard DVD-Video players and 96 kHz/24bit MLP surround sound for DVD-Audio capable machines. It also includes the original 1975 video of Bohemian Rhapsody.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: On 21 November 2005, it was once more re-released by Hollywood Records Catalogue Number 2061-62572-2 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album and its first single, "Bohemian Rhapsody". This release is accompanied by a DVD-Video disc with the same track listing featuring the original videos, old and new concert footage (including "'39" from the Queen + Paul Rodgers tour and Brian May on the roof of Buckingham Palace playing "God Save the Queen") and audio commentary by all four band members.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: On 8 November 2010, record company Universal Music announced a remastered and expanded reissue of the album set for release in May 2011. This as part of a new record deal between Queen and Universal Music, which meant Queen's association with EMI Records came to an end after almost 40 years. According to Universal Music, all Queen albums were to be remastered and reissued in 2011. By September 2012 the reissue program was completed. Along with this came a 5.1 channel release of the album on Blu-ray Audio.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "A Night at the Opera" was not reviewed by the majority of the UK music magazines when it came out because the band were remixing the album until the last moment, and consequently no preview discs were sent out to the media before the album was officially released. In "Record Mirror" & "Disc", Ray Fox-Cumming attempted to review the album based on a single listening at the playback party held for the press, which he admitted "isn't really enough" to form a proper critical opinion. However, he described his first impressions of "an amazing rush of music with one track running helter-skelter into the next ... The orchestral effects, all done by voices, are dazzling but come and go too quickly to appreciate on a solo listening." Fox-Cumming stated that the album had three highlights – "Death on Two Legs", "The Prophet's Song" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" – and only one bad track, "Sweet Lady". He concluded that "as a whole, "A Night at the Opera" is faster, flashier and more complex than "Sheer Heart Attack", but they haven't gone over the top". Phil Sutcliffe of "Sounds" reviewed the album from a cassette copy, and gave it a five-star review: "You can feel the colossal effort that went into every second of this long album – and yet there's a hardly a moment when I would criticise it for being contrived or overproduced." He singled out "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "The Prophet's Song" as the two tracks that "make a good album extraordinary", despite stating that the latter song's lyrics were "not appealing", and overall highlighting the album's "musical range power and consistently incisive lyrics".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: On its release in the US four months later, Kris Nicholson of "Rolling Stone" said that although they share other heavy metal groups' penchant for "manipulating dynamics", Queen are an elite act in the genre and set themselves apart by incorporating "unlikely effects: acoustic piano, harp, a capella vocals, no synthesisers. Coupled with good songs." Robert Christgau, writing in "The Village Voice", felt that the album "doesn't actually botch any of a half-dozen arty-to-heavy 'eclectic' modes ... and achieves a parodic tone often enough to suggest more than meets the ear. Maybe if they come up with a coherent masterwork I'll figure out what that more is." The "Winnipeg Free Press" wrote: "The group's potential is practically limitless, indicating that Queen is destined to finally take its place among the small handful of truly major acts working in rock today."


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: "Grooves" noted that "Sharp operatic interludes, abrupt rhythmic changes, "A Night at the Opera" defies convention and places Queen in that rarefied circle of genuine superstars." Tony Stewart of "NME" opined that "More than anything else, "A Night at the Opera" is a consolidation of the previous album's success, skillfully balancing artistry and effectology. Throughout the album, they display their individual songwriting abilities and musicianship to devastating effect...If it's the most expensive album ever made in a British studio, it's also arguably the best. God save 'em."


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album "a self-consciously ridiculous and overblown hard rock masterpiece" and "prog rock with a sense of humour as well as dynamics". Erlewine felt that Queen "never bettered their approach anywhere else". Progressive rock historian Stephen Lambe has disputed that the album itself is progressive rock in his book "Citizens of Hope and Glory: The Story of Progressive Rock". He wrote: "While far from progressive rock, it was the band's most grandiose and ambitious album yet, full of great songwriting and prog influences." He said the album was "a neat symbol of the furthest reach of the progressive rock movement".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In 1992, "Mojo" called the album "an imperial extravaganza, a cornucopia", and Queen "a band of hungrily competitive individualists on a big roll of friendship and delight". In 2004, Jason Warburg of the "Daily Vault" stated that the album "absolutely blew me away" and that ""A Night at the Opera" was the disc that would catapult Queen from British hitmakers to global superstars. As with many such landmark albums it became part milestone and part millstone, with every album that followed compared in some way or another to the musical and commercial success they achieved here. Be that as it may, the music is what counts – and it is simply amazing."


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In 2003, "Rolling Stone" magazine ranked it at number 230 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, number 231 on its 2012 list, and number 128 on its 2020 list. According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 147th most celebrated album in popular music history.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In a 2006 review, Paul Rees of "Q" observed that although "A Night at the Opera" was "released the same year as both Bowie's arch soul pastiche "Young Americans" and the sleek art rock of Roxy's "Siren", it has rarely been heralded as either. Yet it was, and is, every bit as brash, bold and full of the joys of its own possibilities." Feeling that Queen "never came close to bettering their fourth album", Rees concluded that "later albums would expose the lack of soul at the heart of Queen's music; they were all surface, no feeling. They elected themselves the great entertainers, and this heady rush of experimentation was not to be repeated. But "A Night at the Opera" remains glorious, monumental. It is British rock's greatest extravagance." In 2007, Chris Jones of BBC Music noted the diverse range of musical styles on the album, saying, ""Sheer Heart Attack" had hinted at a working knowledge of 19th century parlour balladry, 20s ragtime and Jimi Hendrix. "A Night at the Opera" was to add opera, trad jazz, heavy metal and more to the mix." He concluded that the album "remains their finest hour".


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In 2011, digitally remastered versions of the earlier Queen albums were released, prompting another batch of reviews. "Uncut" said that the album "proved there was no limit to their capabilities" and concluded, "Containing not one but two monumental epics ('Bohemian Rhapsody', 'The Prophet's Song'), and gorging on grandiose gestures galore, "A Night at the Opera" secured itself instant classic status". "Pitchfork"s Dominique Leone stated, "No punches pulled, no expense spared: "A Night at the Opera" was Queen at the top of the mountain". AJ Ramirez of "PopMatters" wrote, "Kicking off with the downright ominous high-drama of 'Death on Two Legs' (a retort against the group's recently deposed management where Mercury spits out venomous invectives at the targets of his ire), the album gives way to a kaleidoscope of styles, from 1920 jazz to space-folk narratives to top-of-the-line contemporary pop-rock. Amazingly, while the transitions between genres would conceivably throw listeners for a loop, none are jarring. Instead, Queen succeeds because it pulls from all the best tricks in the library of showbiz history to deliver laughs, heartache, grandeur, and spectacle to its audience at precisely the right moments." He observed that "it is the realization of such a unique sonic vision that pushes [the album] into the realm of true excellence ... "A Night at the Opera" stands as a breathtaking, involving creation, and unequivocally Queen's finest album."


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: In 1977, "Bohemian Rhapsody" received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus and Best Arrangement for Voices.


title: A Night at the Opera (Queen album)

text: On the cassette, the positions of "Seaside Rendezvous" and "Good Company" were swapped to maintain a similar duration for each side.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to "Vanity Fair" since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. He is known for his nonfiction work, particularly his coverage of financial crises and behavioral finance.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis was born in New Orleans and attended Princeton University, from which he graduated with a degree in art history. After attending the London School of Economics, he began a career on Wall Street during the 1980s as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers. The experience prompted him to write his first book, "Liar's Poker" (1989). Fourteen years later, Lewis wrote "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" (2003), in which he investigated the success of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics. His 2006 book "" was his first to be adapted into a film, "The Blind Side" (2009). In 2010, he released "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine". The film adaptation of "Moneyball" was released in 2011, followed by "The Big Short" in 2015.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis's books have won two "Los Angeles Times" Book Prizes and been notable selection features on the "New York Times Bestsellers Lists".


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis was born in New Orleans, the son of corporate attorney J. Thomas Lewis and community activist Diana Monroe Lewis. He went to Isidore Newman School. He later attended Princeton University and graduated "cum laude" with a B.A. in art and archaeology in 1982 after completing a 166-page senior thesis titled "Donatello and the Antique." At Princeton, Lewis was a member of the Ivy Club. He briefly worked with New York City art dealer Daniel Wildenstein. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Lewis said that his initial ambition was to become an art historian, but he was quickly dissuaded once he realized that there would be no jobs available for art historians and that even the handful that existed did not pay well.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis subsequently enrolled at the London School of Economics and received an MA in economics in 1985. He was hired by Salomon Brothers, stayed for a while in New York for its training program, and then relocated to London, where he worked at its London office as a bond salesman for a few years. He has said that the journalism from this era found in "The Economist" and "The Wall Street Journal" inspired him to explore becoming a writer.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis described his experiences at Salomon and the evolution of the mortgage-backed bond in "Liar's Poker" (1989). In "The New New Thing" (1999), he investigated the then-booming Silicon Valley and the obsession with innovation. Four years later, Lewis wrote "Moneyball" (2003), in which he investigated the success of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics. In August 2007, he wrote an article about catastrophe bonds, "In Nature's Casino", that ran in "The New York Times Magazine".


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis has worked for "The Spectator", "The New York Times Magazine", as a columnist for Bloomberg, as a senior editor and campaign correspondent to "The New Republic", and a visiting fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He wrote the "Dad Again" column for "Slate". Lewis worked for Conde Nast Portfolio, but in February 2009 left to join "Vanity Fair", where he became a contributing editor.


title: Michael Lewis

text: In September 2011, after the successful release of the film adaptation of "Moneyball", it was reported that Lewis planned to take on "a much more active role in the what could be the next film based on one of his books" and would start writing a script for a "Liar's Poker" film.


title: Michael Lewis

text: During 2013 in "Vanity Fair", Lewis wrote on the injustice of the prosecution of ex-Goldman Sachs programmer Sergey Aleynikov, who is given an entire chapter in "Flash Boys". "Flash Boys", which looked at high-frequency trading of Wall Street and other markets, was released in March 2014.


title: Michael Lewis

text: In 2016, Lewis published "The Undoing Project", chronicling the close academic collaboration and personal relationship between Israeli psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman. The duo found systemic errors in human judgment under uncertainty, with implications for models of decision-making in fields such as economics, medicine, and sports.


title: Michael Lewis

text: In 2017, Lewis wrote a series of articles for "Vanity Fair" in which he described the Trump administration's approach to various federal agencies, including the Department of Energy and the Department of Agriculture. His articles described a sense of incredulity and disillusionment from career civil servants, particularly because of the Trump administration's lack of attention to some of their work, and the lack of care, knowledge, experience, and respect from Trump political appointees.


title: Michael Lewis

text: That material was incorporated into Lewis's book "The Fifth Risk", which was on the "New York Times" nonfiction best-seller list for 14 weeks, and described the disconnect between the Obama administration's well-prepared transition plans and the incoming Trump administration's apparent lack of concern. Along with Energy and Agriculture, this book added Commerce among the main departments described.


title: Michael Lewis

text: In September 2018, "The Guardian" published an excerpt from the book that used a quote by a top adviser to Trump in its title, and the excerpt was republished again among a review of the most popular articles of the year.


title: Michael Lewis

text: In 2018, Lewis wrote and narrated "The Coming Storm" for Audible Studios, which released the short nonfiction story as part of its new Audible Originals series of audiobooks.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis's podcast, "Against the Rules", first aired on April 2, 2019. The first season comprised seven episodes, each taking on a different aspect of society addressing the concept of fairness "in realms ranging from art authentication to consumer finance". The show often refers to the growing social distrust for authority, and refers to different types of public officials as "referees." "Against the Rules" is produced by Pushkin Industries, the media company founded by journalist Malcolm Gladwell and former "Slate" executive Jacob Weisberg.


title: Michael Lewis

text: A best-selling author, Lewis has drawn both supporters and vocal detractors. In a review of "Moneyball", Dan Ackman of "Forbes" said that Lewis had a special talent: "He can walk into an area already mined by hundreds of writers and find gems there all along but somehow missed by his predecessors". A "New York Times" piece said that "no one writes with more narrative panache about money and finance than Mr. Lewis", praising his ability to use his subject's stories to show the problems with the systems around them.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Critics from outside the financial industry have criticized Lewis for what they consider inaccuracies in his writing. In a 2011 column in "The Atlantic", American journalist and sports author Allen Barra took issue with Lewis's characterization of Major League Baseball in "Moneyball", writing, "From a historical standpoint, Lewis is, well, way off base. By the end of the 20th century baseball had achieved a greater level of competitive balance than at any time in the game's history... "Moneyball" doesn't just get the state of present-day baseball wrong; it also misrepresents the history of the sport."


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis's "" ignited a new round of controversy surrounding high-frequency trading. At a House Financial Services Committee hearing in April 2014, Mary Jo White, a former Wall Street insider (as a Debevoise & Plimpton litigations lawyer primarily for Wall Street financial firms) who later served as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, denied the book's premise, saying, "The markets are not rigged". In June 2014, White announced that the SEC would undergo a new round of regulatory review in response to concerns about dark pools and market structure.


title: Michael Lewis

text: Book critics widely praised Lewis's "The Undoing Project", with Glenn C. Altschuler writing in the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" that it "may well be his best book".


title: Michael Lewis

text: Lewis has been married three times. He married his first wife, Diane de Cordova Lewis, in 1985. His second marriage was to former CNBC correspondent Kate Bohner. In October 1997, he married former MTV reporter Tabitha Soren. He and Soren have three children, and reside in Berkeley, California. Lewis is an atheist. On May 25, 2021, his daughter Dixie died at age 19, in a head-on collision with a semi-truck near Truckee, California.


title: Burn Notice

text: Burn Notice is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, Sharon Gless, and (beginning in season four) Coby Bell.


title: Burn Notice

text: The premise of the show focuses on Michael Westen (Donovan), a former spy who was fired and cut off from the legitimate world by the agency he used to work for. Trapped in Miami with few resources, Westen takes jobs as an unlicensed private investigator while unraveling the mystery of who burned him and why.


title: Burn Notice

text: The series received generally positive reviews for the show's pace, humor, dialogue, and combination of espionage and crime drama presented in an irreverent tone. In 2010, the series was the #2 cable scripted series by viewership with 6.7 million viewers, behind "Royal Pains". In addition to the television episodes, the show has a and tie-in novels.


title: Burn Notice

text: The title of the series refers to the burn notices issued by intelligence agencies to discredit or announce the dismissal of agents or sources who are considered to have become unreliable. When spies are burned, their connection to an espionage organization is terminated, leaving them without access to cash or influence. According to the narration during the opening credits, the burned spy has no prior work history, no money, no support network – in essence, no identity. The television series uses second-person narrative and frequent voice-overs providing exposition from the viewpoint of covert operations agent Michael Westen, played by Donovan. The voice-over commentary is in the form of tips for fledgling agents as if for a training or orientation film.


title: Burn Notice

text: After being "burned" in the middle of an operation in southern Nigeria and subsequently beaten and kidnapped, Westen finds himself in his hometown of Miami, Florida. He is tended to by his ex-girlfriend, Fiona Glenanne (Gabrielle Anwar), but he has been abandoned by all his normal intelligence contacts and is under continuous surveillance with his assets frozen. Extraordinary efforts to reach his U.S. government handler eventually yield only a grudging admission that someone powerful wants him "on ice" in Miami. If he leaves there, he will be hunted down and taken into custody. If he stays, he can remain relatively free. Consumed by the desire to find out who burned him and why Westen is reluctantly drawn into working as an unlicensed private investigator and problem solver for ordinary citizens to fund his investigation into his situation as a blacklisted agent.


title: Burn Notice

text: Westen invites his old friend Sam Axe (Campbell) to assist him, while Fiona invites herself to join them. With the occasional assistance and sometimes hindrance of his mother, Madeline (Sharon Gless), Westen battles an array of criminals such as mobsters, gang members, con artists, murderers, rapists, kidnappers, foreign wet-work operatives, drug traffickers, sex traffickers, arms traffickers, and war criminals. At the same time, Michael must follow the trail that leads him to the people responsible for his being burned and later finds out why.


title: Burn Notice

text: The series juggles these two narratives: the overall series dealing with why Michael was burned, and individual episodes focusing on the cases he works for clients.


title: Burn Notice

text: The first season, consisting of 12 episodes, follows Michael Westen's investigation into the identity of the man who burned him. It also introduced the main characters: Fiona Glenanne, Michael's ex-girlfriend; Sam Axe, a former Navy SEAL and Michael's best friend; and Madeline "Maddie" Westen, Michael's hypochondriac mother. The season had many appearances by Agents Harris and Lane (Marc Macaulay and Brandon Morris), two FBI agents sent to keep tabs on Michael, who were eventually replaced by Jason Bly (Alex Carter); all are in turn removed from Michael's case. By the end of the season, Michael has discovered the identity of the man who wrote his burn notice, Phillip Cowan (Richard Schiff), only to see him killed. Michael later is contacted by a mysterious woman, ending the season on a cliffhanger.


title: Burn Notice

text: The second season, consisting of 16 episodes, depicts Michael's struggle to discover more about his new "handler" and use her to get to the people who burned him. The season begins with Michael meeting Carla (Tricia Helfer), the woman on the phone from the previous season. He begins a professional relationship with her, which consists of Michael doing a series of different tasks. Despite Fiona and Sam's protests, Michael completes the task under the duress of Carla going after Michael's family and friends, which she demonstrates by breaking into Madeline's house several times and having his brother arrested. Meanwhile, Maddie begins getting closer to learning about Michael's secret life. While attempting to figure out Carla's plans, Michael is almost killed when his loft is rigged with explosives. Michael eventually learns that Victor Stecker-Epps (Michael Shanks), Carla's wrangler to keep Michael in line, was the one who tried to kill him. Michael captures Victor and discovers Carla had Victor's family killed as part of his recruitment and that Victor had enough evidence against Carla to use as leverage. By the season finale, Carla kills Victor and is ready to detonate his boat with Michael still on it. Fiona kills Carla, and Michael meets "Management" (John Mahoney), the leader of a professional black ops syndicate called "The Organization". After telling Management that he wants out, Michael leaps from a helicopter and into the ocean, effectively ending their relationship, as well as the "protection" that Management had secretly been providing for Michael.


title: Burn Notice

text: The third season, consisting of 16 episodes, shows Michael in his quest to have his burn notice lifted. The season begins where the previous left off: Michael swims back to Miami, where he is met by Michelle Paxson (Moon Bloodgood), a Miami police detective who is intent on bringing Michael down. Paxson's sudden interest in Michael is the direct result of Management lifting Michael's protection. After he finally convinces her to stay away, Michael is approached by Tom Strickler (Ben Shenkman), an agent to the spies. Strickler claims that he can have Michael's burn notice lifted, but at a very high cost. Michael eventually must kill Strickler, instead, to save Fiona's life. In the meantime, Michael begins meeting Diego Garza (Otto Sanchez), a CIA agent who gives Michael information about his burn notice. However, after Strickler's death, Garza is murdered, and Michael is nearly back to square one. Later, Michael is confronted by Mason Gilroy (Chris Vance), a freelance psychopath who once worked for Strickler and confesses to the murder of Garza. Gilroy asks for Michael's help with an operation, and Michael, not wanting to let Gilroy get away with anything, follows. He discovers that Gilroy is attempting to break a high-risk felon out of prison. After Gilroy's murder, Michael learns the identity of the prisoner: Simon Escher (Garret Dillahunt), the man who committed the crimes for which Michael was framed. In the final scenes of the season, Michael is arrested and taken to a mysterious room.


title: Burn Notice

text: The fourth season, consisting of 18 episodes, follows Michael as he begins working once again for the people who burned him. As with most other seasons, the fourth season begins immediately after the events of the previous. Michael, still in prison, is visited by Vaughn (Robert Wisdom), a high-ranking member of The Organization. He serves as Michael's new handler, bringing Michael various jobs and even participating in some. Over the events of the season, Michael inadvertently burns a spy himself, Jesse Porter, a counterintelligence operative. Michael eventually discovers their mutual target - a telecommunications magnate named John Barrett (Robert Patrick). After luring Barrett to Miami, Michael learns from Simon Escher that he made a coded Bible which contains a complete list of the people who burned him. Soon after, Jesse discovers that Michael was the one who burned him, causing a rift between them. Michael later is forced to kill Barrett to save himself, but loses the Bible in the process. Eventually, Sam and Jesse are able to reclaim the encoded Bible, and decide to give the list it contains to Marv (Richard Kind), Jesse's old handler. However, Marv is killed by Tyler Brennen (Jay Karnes), one of Michael's old foes. Brennen, now in possession of the list, hires another of Michael's enemies, "Dead" Larry Sizemore (Tim Matheson), to help track down the people on the list. Instead, Larry kills Brennen, which signals Michael's betrayal to Vaughn. Vaughn returns to Miami to have Michael, Fiona, and Jesse killed. However, Sam and Madeline are able to track down Congressman Bill Cowley (John Doman), whom Michael had previously strong-armed into helping protect a Cold War spy, to call for help. Michael is finally taken to Washington, DC, where he is met by an unidentified man (Dylan Baker) who proclaims, "Welcome back."


title: Burn Notice

text: The fifth season, consisting of 18 episodes, begins six months after Michael successfully rejoins the CIA as a consultant. The man from the final scenes of the fourth season has been identified as Raines, and along with Max (Grant Show), Michael begins hunting down and arresting all the people on Simon's list of "Organization" agents. While pursuing the final man on the list, however, Max and Michael hit a dead end when they discover that the man is dead. This leaves many mysteries unsolved, perhaps forever, and these "inconsistencies" still consume Michael.


title: Burn Notice

text: Michael continues to work under Max until the latter's murder, which was done in such a way as to frame Michael. Skillfully, however, Michael avoids the frame by both leading Agent Dani Pearce (Lauren Stamile), Max's replacement, away from the faked in-store security camera "evidence", and while simultaneously frenetically pursuing the actual killer through layers of "cut-outs". Michael eventually figures out that Romanian agent Tavian Korzha was the man who killed Max. Before he can confront him, however, Agent Pearce arrests Michael after seeing surveillance footage of his car leaving the scene immediately after Max's murder. Sam and Jesse intercept the convoy and convince Pearce to allow Michael to talk to Korzha while concealing a microphone.


title: Burn Notice

text: After at last clearing his name by getting the killer to confess Max's murder to him - which Pearce hears before Tavian commits suicide, Michael finally comes face to face with Anson Fullerton (Jere Burns), the brazen & psychopathic mastermind who co-founded "The Organization" with "Management". Anson blackmails Fiona to get Michael to do what he wants. After Michael and his team are repeatedly forced to commit crimes and complete increasingly dangerous missions on Anson's behalf, Fiona turns herself in, freeing Michael to pursue Anson without concern for Anson's threat of her being arrested & going to prison.


title: Burn Notice

text: The sixth season, consisting of 18 episodes, begins with Fiona's arrest. Michael does contract work for the CIA agent who trained him, Tom Card (John C. McGinley), to gain visitation rights to Fiona and eventually have her released. He is also working with Pearce, trying to track down Anson. The team finally captures Anson with the help of Michael's brother Nate, but shortly after the CIA arrives, a gunshot from an unseen location kills both Anson and Nate. Fiona is released from prison and helps Michael in his search for the sniper who killed his brother. Suspecting it was Rebecca, Michael & Fiona finally find her; when Michael gives chase, she shoots him near the right shoulder. Michael is wearing a kelvar vest & so is not injured; he returns fire & shoots Rebecca in the left shoulder, injuring her, but she escapes on a hot-wired motorcycle. When Michael & Fi return to the loft, they discover a trail of blood & find Rebecca waiting inside; they confront her, & learn that she did not kill Anson or Nate. Michael & Fi eventually find out that the killer's name is Tyler Gray, and Card sanctions an off-the-books operation in Panama to take him down. However, when Michael finally captures him, Gray reveals that the operation is a sham: Card hired Gray to kill Anson and is planning a move that will kill Michael and his team. They escape, and Michael eventually confronts and kills Card, making every member of his team, as well as Maddie, targets in a CIA manhunt headed by Olivia Riley (Sonja Sohn). They consider escaping the country, but while trying to gain leverage on Riley, they discover she has been working with a drug cartel to bring Michael down. Michael gets in contact with Bly to help get evidence for Riley's treason, but their mission fails and Bly is killed. Michael eventually forces a confession from Riley while on a boat under fire from the Coast Guard. Sam, Fiona, Jesse, and Madeline spend about a month locked up, and when released, they find that Michael "made a deal" once more in return for his family and friends being freed from lifetime imprisonment. Fiona, upon learning that Michael has another person to answer to and more missions, feels betrayed. She reminds Michael he promised it would just be the two of them after this was all over. She backs away and tells Michael to leave her alone.


title: Burn Notice

text: The seventh and final season, consisting of 13 episodes, begins with Michael receiving an assignment from Andrew Strong (Jack Coleman), a high-ranking CIA official with whom he made the deal that got his team and Maddie set free. Strong made the deal because he believes Michael is the only person he can entrust with a dangerous mission that involves thwarting an American named Randall Burke (Adrian Pasdar) believed to be running freelance terror operations. Fiona has moved on to a new job with her new bounty hunter boyfriend. Sam and Jesse continue to help Michael despite, or perhaps because of, intrusions on their personal and professional lives. Maddie, meanwhile, is trying to get custody of Nate's son, Charlie, to keep him out of foster care. Burke turns out to be part of a larger organization, and he sacrifices his life to help Michael rescue a woman whom Burke called "the key to everything": Sonya (Alona Tal). Michael and the team, including Fiona, begin working with Sonya to get deeper into her organization. As they do, Michael meets James (John Pyper-Ferguson), the man calling the shots for Sonya and Burke, and after passing some very intense tests, especially psychological, Michael is welcomed into James's "family". Michael soon finds out that James works for peace and justice in the world, but uses extreme methods to achieve his objectives. After Michael kills Sonya to protect Fiona, James sends his men to kill Maddie, Charlie, and Jesse. Maddie sacrifices herself to protect them and Michael shoots James, intent on taking him into custody. James blows up his own building, hoping to kill Michael and Fiona. They escape, but must be presumed dead to protect themselves. Strong releases Sam and Jesse, without imprisonment, and announces that Michael will "posthumously" be given a star on the CIA Memorial Wall. While Sam and Jesse contemplate continuing helping out those in need like they had for the past several years, Michael and Fiona have made their home in a small town in Ireland raising Charlie as their own and being the family Fiona had always dreamed of having, with Michael as her husband. As the show ends, Michael asks Fiona what he should tell Charlie when he is older. Fiona says Michael should tell him the truth, but Michael does not know where to start. Fiona tells him to start from the beginning, by saying, "My name is Michael Westen. I used to be a spy."


title: Burn Notice

text: "Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe" is a prequel movie focusing on Sam Axe and is set before the events of "Burn Notice". It was first broadcast on USA on April 17, 2011. It tells the story of Sam's last days in the Navy SEALs, leading up to his retiring to Miami, and serves as a lead-in to the fifth season of "Burn Notice". Jeffrey Donovan directed the film and has a cameo appearance.


title: Burn Notice

text: Since 2008, Signet Books has published a series of "Burn Notice" tie-in novels under their Obsidian brand:


title: Burn Notice

text: The show was filmed on location in and around Miami. The show had a permanent set built in the former Coconut Grove Convention Center in Miami's Coconut Grove neighborhood, where most of the show is filmed. In August 2012, the Miami City Commission and "Burn Notice" producers reached a tentative agreement to allow "Burn Notice" to film at the Convention Center for one additional year, allowing for a seventh season of production in exchange for significantly higher rent. The set was torn down on August 30, 2013.


title: Burn Notice

text: The series has received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the show's brisk and witty nature, succinct dialogue, and riveting combination of espionage and crime drama presented in a charmingly irreverent tone. Donovan's performance as the lead character also received praise for his likeably lighthearted, smart-mouthed, and vengeful spirit. "Burn Notice" has also been praised for its strong supporting cast members, slick production values, intriguing narrative, and dry comedic humor.


title: Burn Notice

text: The pilot episode written by Matt Nix won a 2008 Edgar Allan Poe Award, honoring the best in mystery, in the category "Best Television Episode Teleplay". Raines, Clements, and Sherry Klein were also nominated for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series for "Burn Notice" at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2008. Composer John Dickson won the 2008 and 2009 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for Top TV Series. Craig S. O'Neill and Jason Tracey were nominated for a 2009 Writers Guild of America, USA award for Episodic Drama (episode "Double Booked"). In 2010, the show received its first Emmy Award nomination for acting, as Sharon Gless was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama. In 2011, David Raines, Scott Clements, and Sherry Klein were nominated for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series for "Last Stand" at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. "Burn Notice" has also been nominated for Favorite TV Obsession at the 37th Peoples Choice Awards.


title: Burn Notice

text: Ion Television acquired the rights for syndication of "Burn Notice" in 2013 along with "White Collar". This was the fourth USA Network television series to be in syndication on Ion Television, along with "Monk" and "Psych".


title: Burn Notice

text: 20th Century Fox has released all seven seasons of "Burn Notice" on DVD in Region 1. Season two was also released on Blu-ray. The TV movie "The Fall of Sam Axe" has also been released on DVD and Blu-ray.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Q'orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher (; born February 11, 1990) is an American actress, singer, and activist. Her best known film roles are Pocahontas in Terrence Malick's 2005 film "The New World", and Kaʻiulani in "Princess Kaiulani" (2009). In 2020 she starred in a recurring role on the Paramount Network show, Yellowstone.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Kilcher was born in Schweigmatt, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany. Her name "Q'orianka" means "Golden Eagle" in Quechua. Her father is of Quechua–Huachipaeri background from Peru, while her mother, Saskia Kilcher, is an American human rights activist of Swiss-German origin. When Kilcher was two, she and her mother moved to Kapaʻa, Hawaii, US, where her brother Kainoa was born.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Her father, from whom she is estranged, was absent for much of her life. Growing up in Hawaii, Kilcher was inspired by the local culture and started hula dancing at the age of five. She also trained in Tahitian dance and West African, as well as ballet, hip hop and modern dance. In 1997, Kilcher won Ballet Hawaii's Young Choreographer Award at age seven.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: She was selected to compete at the international Tahitian Dance Competition in San Jose, California, in 1996 and 1997. She performed in over fifty professional dance performances island wide. As a member of the Waikiki Singers, she was chosen to be the soprano soloist, performing Schubert's "Mass in G" and "Amahl and the Night Visitors" by Gian Carlo Menotti. At the age of six years, Kilcher was the first child to study classical voice at the University of Hawaii with Laurance Paxton. She also studied drama with Bill Ogilvie at the Diamond Head Theater. When she was six, her mother booked her at venues as a featured singer and opening act to some of Hawaii's greats, such as Willie K (Kahaiali'i) among others.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In 1999, her mother moved the family to California. Kilcher started to sing and dance for tourist donations, busking on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: At the age of ten, Kilcher was cast as Choire Who in Ron Howard's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". She was 12 when she received a full scholarship to the Musician's Institute in Hollywood, where she studied vocal performance, music theory and songwriting.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: She also studied martial arts and stunts: she is an accomplished black belt in Wushu kung fu and a stunt performer and has trained at the National Wushu Training Center and Impact Stunts.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: At age 15, Q'orianka portrayed Pocahontas in the Academy Award-nominated motion picture "The New World" (2005), directed by Terrence Malick. Her performance was critically acclaimed and won her the National Board of Review's best breakthrough performance of 2006, the 2006 Alma Award for best Latin American actress in a feature film, and numerous other award nominations. The film was released in December 2005. The film was a critical success, receiving several positive reviews and award nominations, but it was shown in only 811 theatres worldwide. It yielded a relatively low box office gross.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In the summer of 2006, Kilcher began filming the independent film "The Power of Few", which she produced through her own production company, Entertainment On-Q. She played the title role in the 2009 feature film "Princess Kaiulani". The film, about the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, was released in May 2010 to negative reviews. But Kilcher received positive feedback for her role, with Roger Ebert writing that "she evokes great depth and sympathy in her role and seems to have created Kaiulani from the inside out."


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In 2009, Kilcher performed in "The People Speak", a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of common people in the U.S., based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States".


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: A year later, she played Pinti in the family drama "Shouting Secrets". The film won Best Film at the 36th American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, and Kilcher was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She also portrayed Kerrianne Larkin, daughter of Chibs Telford and Fiona Larkin, in the television series "Sons of Anarchy".


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In 2011, Kilcher played Tiger Lily in "Neverland", a version of the Peter Pan story that aired on the Syfy Channel.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In 2012, Kilcher starred in Firelight alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and played the role of Caroline Magabo, a young Latina inmate who finds a new lease on life by becoming a volunteer firefighter along with other female juvenile delinquents. In 2013, she portrayed Rayen in "Running Deer", an award-winning short film produced and directed by Brent Ryan Green through Toy Gun Films.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: In 2018, Kilcher appeared in TNT’s "The Alienist" as Mary Palmer. Kilcher appeared in the 2019 adventure film "Dora and the Lost City of Gold" as the Inca princess. In 2022, Kilcher appeared in Channing Tatum's directorial debut, "Dog," as Niki, the estranged wife of Tatum's character. Kilcher will produce and star in the upcoming film "Yesteryear" alongside Scott Haze, Wes Studi and Nick Cassavetes.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Kilcher has made a commitment to human rights and environmental activism. She speaks on behalf of causes to achieve what she regards as environmental justice and basic human rights. Traveling frequently to speak at youth events, colleges and universities, she has been a featured keynote speaker for organizations such as Amnesty International, the International Forum on Globalization, Amazon Watch IFIP and the United Nations panel discussions titled "Indigenous Peoples: Human Rights, Dignity and Development with Identity", in collaboration with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: She lends her celebrity, voice, and energy as spokeswoman, collaborator, and supporter to several international and national NGOs and organizations, such as youth ambassador for Amnesty International (Global Youth Ambassador for Woman's Rights), AIDESEP (spokesperson and voice), Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest Federations, the Community School for the Arts foundation (volunteer/spokesperson) and Thursdays Child (youth counselor) Turning The Tides (volunteer/spokesperson), Save Americas Forests, IDEM (South Dakota Youth Project) and is a spokesperson for the American Literacy Campaign.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Working with the National Endowment For the Arts on their "The Big Read" campaign, she will record a book review. Kilcher has read Howard Zinn's "The People Speak" in staged readings. She joined the cast for the first "People Speak" film series.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: Kilcher recently launched her own youth-driven human rights and environmental organization "On-q Initiative", to connect young Hollywood with youth activist leaders and projects from around the world in support of environmental sustainability, corporate accountability, and basic human rights. Through her production company, IQ-Films, Kilcher is producing several cause-driven documentaries and youth-programming projects.


title: Q'orianka Kilcher

text: On June 11, 2009, she visited Lima to support indigenous peoples' rights in the Amazon in Bagua, Peru. In 2007, Kilcher won the Brower Youth Award, an environmental award, for her work in persuading Occidental Petroleum to withdraw from the Peruvian Amazon valley. She also received the Young Hollywood Green Award.