title: Russell T Davies

text: After its release, the pair embarked on a five-stop signing tour to promote the book in October 2008 at Waterstone's branches in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, and Cardiff. The book received positive reviews: Veronica Horwell of "The Guardian" wrote Davies was the "Scheherazade of Cardiff Bay" and opined the book should have been twice the published length; Ian Berriman of science fiction magazine "SFX" gave the book five stars and commented it was the only book about "new Who" a reader needed; television critic Charlie Brooker was inspired by the book to devote an entire episode of his BBC Four show "Screenwipe" to interviewing television writers; and chat show couple Richard and Judy selected the book as a recommended Christmas present in the "Serious Non-Fiction" category of their book club. A second edition of the book, "The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter", was released in January 2010 by BBC Books. The second edition added 350 pages of correspondence—before excising draft scripts included in the first edition—and covered Davies' final months as executive producer of "Doctor Who" as he co-wrote the five-part BBC One "Torchwood" miniseries "", planned David Tennant's departure and Matt Smith's arrival as the Doctor, and moved to the United States.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies stepped down from the show's production in 2009 along with Gardner and Collinson, and finished his tenure with four special length episodes. His departure from the show was announced in May 2008, alongside a press release which named Steven Moffat as his successor. His role in late 2008 was split between writing the 2009 specials and preparing for the transition between his and Moffat's production team; one chapter of "The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter" discusses plans between him, Gardner, and Tennant to announce Tennant's departure live during ITV's National Television Awards in October 2008. His final full script for "Doctor Who" was finished in the early morning of 4 March 2009, and filming of the episode closed on 20 May 2009.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies moved with Gardner and Jane Tranter to the United States in June 2009 and resided in Los Angeles, California. He continued to oversee production of "Torchwood" and "The Sarah Jane Adventures"; he wrote one story for the 2010 series of "The Sarah Jane Adventures", "Death of the Doctor", which included Matt Smith as the Doctor and Katy Manning as the Doctor's former companion Jo Grant, and was the executive producer and author of the premiere ("The New World") and finale ("The Blood Line") of "", the fourth series of "Torchwood". He additionally gave informal assistance to and later served as creative consultant of ex-"Doctor Who" script editor Helen Raynor's and playwright Gary Owen's BBC Cymru Wales drama, "Baker Boys". Davies had planned to return to art by writing a graphic novel, and was approached by Lucasfilm to write for the proposed "Star Wars" live-action television series but refused the commission.


title: Russell T Davies

text: In August 2011, Davies' boyfriend Andrew Smith was diagnosed with a brain tumour, which prompted Davies to postpone current projects and move back to the UK so his partner could undergo treatment closer to their respective families. Davies' return enabled him to develop a replacement series for "The Sarah Jane Adventures" with prolific series writer Phil Ford after the former series ended due to Elisabeth Sladen's death. "Wizards vs Aliens", a CBBC drama about a teenage wizard and his scientist friend and their conflict with the alien Nekross who wish to destroy Earth, was formed to create a "genre clash" between science fiction and supernatural fantasy, as opposed to "culture clashes" such as "Cowboys vs. Aliens". Davies additionally made his first contribution to CBeebies, with two scripts for "Old Jack's Boat", which stars "Doctor Who" alumni Bernard Cribbins and Freema Agyeman as retired fisherman Jack and his neighbour Shelley.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies' next project after "Doctor Who", codenamed "More Gay Men", was a spiritual successor to "Queer as Folk" and would have focused on middle-aged gay men in the Manchester gay scene. The show's genesis dates back from 2001, when his friend Carl Austin asked him "why are gay men so glad when we split up?". The show was due to enter into production in 2006, but was indefinitely postponed due to the success of "Doctor Who". Davies continued to develop ideas for the show, and explained a pivotal scene in the premiere to Cook in 2007:


title: Russell T Davies

text: In 2011, the series had entered into pre-production, with American cable network Showtime contracted for transmission and BBC Worldwide for distribution. Showtime had reached the point of casting before Davies moved back to Manchester, at which point the series was picked up by Channel 4 to be produced with Nicola Shindler and the Red Production Company. The commission by Channel 4 marked Davies' first collaboration with the channel since "Queer as Folk" and Shindler and Red since "Casanova". Davies was convinced to return to the channel by Head of Drama and former "Doctor Who" executive producer Piers Wenger, who described the show as a "political piece of writing" which creates a "radical approach" to sexuality.


title: Russell T Davies

text: "Cucumber" focuses on the life of the middle-aged Henry Best (Vincent Franklin) and the fallout from a disastrous date with his boyfriend of nine years, and is accompanied with "Banana", an E4 anthology series about younger characters across the LGBT spectrum on the periphery of the "Cucumber" narrative, and "Tofu", an online documentary series available on All 4 which discusses modern sex, sexuality and issues arisen during the show with the cast and public. The three names reference a urological scale which categorises the male erection by hardness from tofu to cucumber, and are used to symbolise differences in sexual attitudes and behaviour between the two generations. Although "Cucumber" was designed as a self-contained serial about the life of one man, Davies envisioned "Banana" as open-ended with the potential to continue after its sister series finished.


title: Russell T Davies

text: After "Cucumber", Davies returned to the BBC in 2016 to produce "A Midsummer Night's Dream", an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play of the same name. Davies credits the play as "opening his eyes to drama" after he starred in a school version of the play as Bottom.


title: Russell T Davies

text: In 2018, Davies produced and wrote the screenplay for "A Very English Scandal", an adaptation of the book of the same name about the Thorpe affair—a sex scandal which involved former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe—which starred Hugh Grant as Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as Thorpe's former lover Norman Scott. Davies' screenplay is more compassionate to Thorpe and Scott than previous narratives of the scandal, which he described as "history written by straight men". For his writing on the series, Davies received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special in 2019.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies followed that with the miniseries "Years and Years", a Red Production Company series for BBC One which starred Emma Thompson, Rory Kinnear and Russell Tovey. It focuses on an ordinary family in Manchester who experience massive political, economic, and technological changes over fifteen years as a fascist dictator, played by Thompson, takes over Britain.


title: Russell T Davies

text: "It's a Sin", began filming on 7 October 2019—under the working title of "Boys"—and completed filming on 31 January 2020. The series, produced by Red Productions for Channel 4, is a dramatised retrospective of the HIV/AIDS crisis during the 1980s, focusing on the men "living in the bedsits", as opposed to films such as "Pride," which focused on gay activists. Davies notes the stories about the politics of the crisis and the virus itself has been told, but not those about the early victims of the virus itself.


title: Russell T Davies

text: In 2015, Davies described "Boys" as a way of "coming to terms" with his own actions during the 1980s, when the shock of the crisis prevented him from properly mourning the deaths of his close friends. Elements of "It's a Sin" mirror Davies' own experiences during the 1980s: a scene in the second episode where protagonist Richie Tozer—played by Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander—mocks AIDS reflects denialist attitudes in the gay community during the early years of the crisis; the show's characters live in a fictionalised version of the "Pink Palace" flatshare-cum-party house owned by Davies' friends; and Lydia West plays a fictionalised version of Davies' childhood friend—and later actress—Jill Nalder, who appears in the show as the fictional Jill's mother.


title: Russell T Davies

text: "It's a Sin" is Davies' first script to primarily focus on AIDS since "Children's Ward", although the pandemic's legacy is present in his other shows: "Queer as Folk" relegates AIDS to fleeting mentions as Davies "refused to let [gay peoples'] lives be defined by the disease"; and in "Cucumber", middle-aged protagonist Henry blames "" for his fear of intimacy. Although the series was filmed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show's transmission in early 2021 invited comparisons between the two pandemics; Davies himself cited the "overreaction and lack of reaction" to the pandemics, as well as the focus on social distancing and personal protective equipment, as "history [repeating] itself", and Alexander likened his character's AIDS denialism in the opening episode to COVID-19 conspiracy theorists.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies' next project is "Nolly", a biopic starring Helena Bonham Carter as British soap opera star Noele Gordon. Filming took place in mid-2022, and is set to air on ITV in 2023. Davies has also plans to write a series about sextortion, drawing inspiration from real-life incidents of blackmail which resulted in suicide, and to adapt Charles Dickens' "The Old Curiosity Shop" for television. He is also attached to an ITV project, "Three Little Birds", a fictionalisation of Lenny Henry's mother's experiences arriving in Britain as part of the Windrush generation, as a script consultant and executive producer.


title: Russell T Davies

text: After his departure from "Doctor Who", Davies kept in contact with the show's crew and made several contributions to its expanded universe: in 2013, Davies made a cameo appearance in Peter Davison's spoof special "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot"; in 2015, his "Virgin New Adventures" novel "Damaged Goods" was adapted into an audio play by Big Finish; in 2017 he illustrated a book of "Doctor Who" poetry titled "Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse;" and in 2018, he wrote a novelisation of "Rose" for Target Books.


title: Russell T Davies

text: During the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, Davies engaged with "Doctor Who" fans on social media by writing short stories and drawing sketches. For the "Rose" watch party, Davies released a short story originally written in 2013 for the show's fiftieth anniversary—the story was written for "Doctor Who Magazine" and stylised as the final pages of a Target novelisation, but was not included in the magazine due to continuity conflicts with the anniversary special "The Day of the Doctor"; for the "New Earth" and "Gridlock" watch party, he wrote the script for an animated sequel, "The Secret of Novice Hame", with Tennant and Anna Hope reprising their roles as the Doctor and Hame respectively; and for "The Runaway Bride" watch party, Davies shared excerpts of his 1986 spec script, "Mind of the Hodiac," which was later optioned by Big Finish for its "" audio play range, which was released on 30 March 2022.


title: Russell T Davies

text: On 24 September 2021, the BBC announced Davies would return as "Doctor Who" showrunner, succeeding Chris Chibnall for the show's 60th anniversary in 2023 and beyond. Davies is joined by the Bad Wolf production company, which was founded by Gardner and Tranter. In May 2022, the BBC announced that Davies had cast Rwandan–Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa in the role of the Doctor; Gatwa will be the first black actor to portray the series' lead role. A week later, the BBC further announced that David Tennant and Catherine Tate would reprise their roles of the Doctor and Donna Noble in the show's 2023 specials, and that transgender actress Yasmin Finney would appear as a character named Rose. In November 2022, it was announced that Millie Gibson will join the cast as Ruby Sunday, the companion of Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies is a self-admitted procrastinator and often waits hours or days for concepts to form before he commits them to the script. In "The Writer's Tale", he describes his procrastination by discussing his early career: at the time, his method of dealing with the pressures of delivering a script was to "go out drinking" instead. On one occasion in the mid-1990s, he was at the Manchester gay club Cruz 101 when he thought of the climax to the first series of "The Grand". As his career progressed, he instead spent entire nights "just thinking of plot, character, pace, etc" and waited until 2:00 am, "when the clubs used to shut", to overcome the urge of procrastination. Davies described the sense of anxiety he experiences in an email to Cook in April 2007, in response to Cook's question of "how do you know when to start writing?":


title: Russell T Davies

text: He expanded on his email two weeks later in response to Cook's query about the supposed link between major depressive disorder and creativity. He explained his anxiety and melancholy during the scriptwriting period still allowed him to keep on top of his work; on the other hand, he thought "Depression with a capital D [didn't provide] any such luxury".


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies explained in length his writing process to Cook in "The Writer's Tale". When he creates characters, he initially assigns a character a name and fits attributes around it. In the case of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) in his inaugural series of "Doctor Who", he chose the name because he considered it a "good luck charm" after he used it for Lesley Sharp's character in "Bob & Rose". He presented his desire to make the show "essentially British" as another justification: he considered Rose to be "the most British name in the world" and feminine enough to subvert the then-current trend of female companions and their "boyish" names, such as Benny, Charley, and Ace. While he was writing for "The Grand", the executive producer requested that he change the female lead character's name, a decision that led to the "character never [feeling] right from that moment on". The surname "Harkness", most notably given to "Torchwood" lead Captain Jack Harkness, is a similar charm, first used in 1993 for the Harkness family in "Century Falls", and ultimately derived from the Marvel Universe supporting character Agatha Harkness, and the surname "Tyler" is similarly used because of his affection for how the surname is spelled and pronounced.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies also attempts to channel his writing by using music that fits the theme of the series as a source of inspiration: "Doctor Who" was typically written while he listened to action-adventure film scores; "Queer as Folk" was written to Hi-NRG music "to catch [the] sheer clubland drive"; "Bob & Rose" was written to the Moby album "Play", because the two works shared an "urban, sexy, full of lonely hearts at night" image; and "The Second Coming" shared the concepts of "experimental[ity], anguish, dark[ness], [and] pain" of Radiohead albums. More specifically, he wrote the early drafts of the fourth series "Doctor Who" episode "Partners in Crime" while he was listening to Mika's "Life in Cartoon Motion", and singled out the song "Any Other World" as a ""Doctor Who" companion song" with lyrics that matched Penny, the planned companion for the fourth series.


title: Russell T Davies

text: When he creates new scripts, Davies considers the "dénouement" of a story to be representative of the work. He often formulates both the scene and its emotional impact early in the process, but writes the scenes last due to his belief that "[later scenes] can't exist if they aren't informed by where they've come from". Davies is a strong advocate for the continued use of the cliffhanger ending and opposes advertising that sacrifices the impact of storytelling. In pursuit of his quest, he instructs editors to remove scenes from press copies of episodes he writes; cliffhangers were removed from the review copies of the "Doctor Who" episodes "Army of Ghosts", "The Stolen Earth", and the first part of "The End of Time", and Rose Tyler's unadvertised appearance in "Partners in Crime" was excised. In an interview with BBC News shortly after the transmission of episode "The Stolen Earth", he argued that the success of a popular television series is linked to how well producers can keep secrets and create a "live experience":


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies attempts to both create imagery and to provide a social commentary in his scripts; for example, he uses camera directions in his scripts more frequently than newer screenwriters to ensure that anyone who reads the script, especially the director, is able to "feel... the pace, the speed, the atmosphere, the mood, the gags, [and] the dread". His stage directions also create an atmosphere by their formatting and avoidance of the first person. Although the basis of several of his scripts derive from previous concepts, he claims most concepts for storytelling have been already used, and instead tries to tell a relatively new and entertaining plot; for example, the "Doctor Who" episode "Turn Left" shares its concept most notably with the 1998 film "Sliding Doors". Like how "Sliding Doors" examines two timelines based on whether Helen Quilley (Gwyneth Paltrow) catches a London Underground train, Davies uses the choice of the Doctor's companion to turn left or right at a road intersection to depict either a world with the Doctor, as seen throughout the rest of the fourth series, or an alternate world without the Doctor, examined in its entirety within the episode. The world without the Doctor creates a dystopia which he uses to provide a commentary on Nazi-esque fascism. Davies generally tries to make his scripts "quite detailed, but very succinct", and eschews the long character and set descriptions; instead, he limits himself to only three adjectives to describe a character and two lines to describe a set to allow the dialogue to describe the story instead.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies also uses his scripts to examine and debate on large issues such as sexuality and religion, especially from a homosexual or atheist perspective. He refrains from a dependence on "cheap, easy lines" which provide little deeper insight; his mantra during his early adult drama career was "no boring issues". "Queer as Folk" is the primary vehicle for his social commentary of homosexuality and advocation of greater acceptance. He used the series to challenge the "primal ... gut instinct" of homophobia by introducing homosexual imagery in contrast to the heterosexual "fundamental image of life, of family, of childhood, [and] of survival". His next series, "Bob & Rose", examined the issue of a gay man who falls in love with a woman, and the reaction of the couple's respective social circles. "Torchwood", in Davies' own words, is "a very bisexual programme", and demonstrates a fluid approach to both gender and sexuality "almost from its opening moments": for example, the lead character Captain Jack Harkness nonchalantly mentions he was once pregnant; and later, the other lead characters discuss Jack's sexuality. The culture website AfterElton opined that "Torchwood"s biggest breakthrough could be "queer representation" by showing Captain Jack as a character whose bisexuality is explored but not his only character trait.


title: Russell T Davies

text: His most notable commentaries of religion and atheism are "The Second Coming" and his 2007 "Doctor Who" episode "Gridlock". "The Second Coming"s depiction of a contemporary and realistic Second Coming of Jesus Christ eschews the use of religious iconography in favour of a love story underlined by the male lead's "awakening as the Son of God". In contrast, "Gridlock" takes a more pro-active role in debating religion: the episode depicts the unity of the supporting cast in singing the Christian hymns "Abide with Me" and "The Old Rugged Cross" as a positive aspect of faith, but depicts the Doctor as an atheistic hero which shows the faith as misguided because "there is no higher authority". He also includes his commentary as an undertone in other stories; he described the sub-plot of the differing belief systems of the Doctor and Queen Victoria in "Tooth and Claw" as a conflict between "Rational Man versus Head of the Church".


title: Russell T Davies

text: Like other script writers during "Doctor Who"s original tenure, several of Davies' scripts are influenced by his personal politics. Marc Edward DiPaolo of Oklahoma City University observes that Davies usually espouses a "left-leaning" view through his scripts. Beyond religion and sexuality, Davies most notably satirises the United States under George W. Bush on "Doctor Who": the Slitheen in "Aliens of London" and "World War Three" and Henry van Statten in "Dalek" were portrayed as sociopathic capitalists; the Daleks under his tenure echoed contemporary American conservatives in their appearances, from religious fundamentalists in "The Parting of the Ways" to imperialists in "Daleks in Manhattan" and "Evolution of the Daleks"; and in "The Sound of Drums", a parody of Bush is murdered by the Master (John Simm), who was presented in the story as a Prime Minister reminiscent of Tony Blair. Other targets of satire in his "Doctor Who" scripts include Fox News, News Corporation, and the 24-hour news cycle in "The Long Game", plastic surgery and consumer culture in "The End of the World", obesity and alternative medicine in "Partners in Crime", and racism and paranoia in "Midnight".


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies has received recognition for his work since his career as a children's television writer. Davies' first BAFTA award nominations came in 1993 when he was nominated for the "Best Children's Programme (Fiction)" Television Award for his work on "Children's Ward". "Children's Ward" was nominated for the Children's Drama award in 1996 and won the same award in 1997. His next critically successful series was "Bob & Rose"; it was nominated for a Television Award for Best Drama Serial and won two British Comedy Awards for Best Comedy Drama and Writer of the Year. "The Second Coming" was nominated for the same Television Award in 2004. His work on "The Second Coming" earned him a nomination for a Royal Television Society award.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Most of Davies' recognition came as a result of his work on "Doctor Who". In 2005, "Doctor Who" won two Television Awards—Best Drama Series and the Pioneer Audience Award—and he was awarded the honorary Dennis Potter Award for writing. He also received that year's BAFTA Cymru Siân Phillips Award for Outstanding Contribution to Network Television. At the Edinburgh International Television Festival, he was awarded the accolade of "Industry Player of the Year" in 2006, and he was announced as recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award in 2017. In 2007, Davies was nominated for the "Best Soap/Series" Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award—along with Chris Chibnall, Paul Cornell, Stephen Greenhorn, Steven Moffat, Helen Raynor, and Gareth Roberts—for their work on the third series of "Doctor Who". He was again nominated for two BAFTA Awards in 2009: a Television Award for his work on "Doctor Who", and the Television Craft Award for Best Writer, for the episode "Midnight". Davies was nominated three times for competitive BAFTA Cymru awards due to his work on "Doctor Who": in 2006, he was nominated for Best Screenwriter for the whole series; in 2007, he won the same award for "Doomsday"; and in 2009, he won the award again for "Midnight".


title: Russell T Davies

text: Under his tenure, "Doctor Who" won five consecutive National Television Awards between 2005 and 2010. He has also been nominated for three Hugo Awards, all in the category of "Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form": in 2007, the story comprising "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" was defeated by Steven Moffat's "The Girl in the Fireplace"; in 2009, the episode "Turn Left" was defeated by Joss Whedon's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"; and in 2010, all three of his scripts which were eligible for the award, "The Next Doctor", the Davies–Roberts collaboration "Planet of the Dead", and the Davies–Ford collaboration "The Waters of Mars", were nominated: the award was won by "The Waters of Mars" and the other episodes took second and third place. His last nominations for working on the "Doctor Who" franchise came in 2010, when the first episode of "" was nominated for a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Screenwriter, and in 2011 when "The Sarah Jane Adventures" was nominated by BAFTA for the Best Children's Drama award.


title: Russell T Davies

text: During Davies' tenure as executive producer, only Steven Moffat's "Silence in the Library", which was scheduled against the final of the second series of "Britain's Got Talent", failed to win in its time slot. The show's viewing figures were consistently high enough that the only broadcasts to have consistently rivalled "Doctor Who" for viewers in the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board's weekly charts were "EastEnders", "Coronation Street", "Britain's Got Talent", and international football matches. Two of his scripts, "Voyage of the Damned" and "The Stolen Earth", broke audience records for the show by being declared the second most viewed broadcasts of their respective weeks, and "Journey's End" became the first episode to be the most viewed broadcast of the week. The show enjoyed consistently high Appreciation Index ratings: "Love & Monsters", regarded by "Doctor Who" fans as his worst script, gained a rating of 76, just short of the 2006 average rating of 77; and the episodes "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" share the highest rating "Doctor Who" has received, at 91.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Among "Doctor Who" fans, his contribution to the show ranks as high as the show's co-creator Verity Lambert: in a 2009 poll of 6,700 "Doctor Who Magazine" readers, he won the "Greatest Contribution" award with 22.62% of the votes against Lambert's 22.49% share, in addition to winning the magazine's 2005, 2006, and 2008 awards for the best writer of each series. Ian Farrington, who commented on the 2009 "Greatest Contribution" poll, attributed Davies' popularity to his range of writing styles, from the epic "Doomsday" to the minimalistic "Midnight", and his ability to market the show to appeal to a wide audience.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies' work on "Doctor Who" has led to accolades out of the television industry. He features in the Pinc List of leading Welsh LGBT figures.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Between 2005 and 2008, he was included in "The Guardian" "Media 100": in 2005, he was ranked the 14th most influential man in the media; in 2006, the 28th; in 2007, the 15th; and in 2008, the 31st. In 2008 he was ranked the 42nd most influential person in British culture by "The Telegraph". "The Independent on Sunday" recognised his contributions to the public by including him on seven consecutive Pink Lists, which chronicle the achievements of gay and lesbian personalities: in 2005, he was ranked the 73rd most influential gay person; in 2006, the 18th; in 2007, the most influential gay person; in 2008, the 2nd; in 2009, the 14th; in 2010, the 64th; in 2011, the 47th; in 2012, the 56th; and in 2013, was listed as a permanent member of the List's "national treasures". Davies was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to drama, and an honorary fellowship by Cardiff University in July 2008.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Since his departure from "Doctor Who," Davies has continued to receive recognition for his work: in 2016, Davies won a British Academy Craft Award in the category of "Best Writer: Drama" for "Cucumber"; in 2017, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was nominated for BAFTA Cymru's "Best Feature/Television Film Award"; in 2019, "A Very English Scandal" was nominated for four awards—a British Academy Television Award for "Best Mini-Series", a British Academy Craft Award for "Best Writer: Drama", a British Academy Cymru Award for "Best Writer", and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special—and won the Cymru Award; and in 2020, "Years and Years" was nominated for the British Academy Cymru Award for "Best Writer". In July 2022, Davies was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature for his contributions to television.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Davies was in a relationship with Andrew Smith, a customs officer, between 1999 and Smith's death in 2018. They entered into a civil partnership on 1 December 2012, after Smith was diagnosed with a brain tumour from which he was given only a 3% chance of recovering. Smith died on 29 September 2018. "Years and Years" ends with a title card which dedicates the series to Smith.


title: Russell T Davies

text: Whilst being interviewed about "It's a Sin" on ITV Wales, Davies was asked if he was "indy-curious" about Welsh independence. He replied:


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Weezer (commonly known as the Blue Album) is the debut studio album by American rock band Weezer, released on May 10, 1994, by DGC Records. It was produced by Ric Ocasek.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Weezer formed in Los Angeles in 1992, and initially struggled to engage audiences, who were more interested in grunge. In November, they recorded a demo, "The Kitchen Tape", which brought them to the attention of DGC owner Geffen Records. Urged to choose a producer instead of self-producing, Weezer selected Ocasek for his work with the Cars. Most of the album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City between August and September 1993. The group treated the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Guitarist Jason Cropper was fired during recording, as the band felt he was threatening their chemistry; he was replaced by Brian Bell.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: "Weezer" was supported by the singles "Undone – The Sweater Song", "Buddy Holly", and "Say It Ain't So", whose music videos became MTV hits. It reached number sixteen on the US "Billboard" 200, and was certified triple platinum in 1995. It remains Weezer's best-selling album, having sold at least 3.3 million copies in the U.S. and over 15 million copies worldwide by 2009. It received critical acclaim, and in 2020 "Rolling Stone" ranked it number 294 on its updated list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Weezer was formed on February 14, 1992, in Los Angeles by singer and guitarist Rivers Cuomo, drummer Patrick Wilson, bassist Matt Sharp, and guitarist Jason Cropper. Although they performed future hits including "Undone – The Sweater Song" and "Say It Ain't So", Cuomo said they struggled to engage audiences, who wanted to see grunge bands instead.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: In an effort to create buzz around Los Angeles, Weezer recorded a demo, "The Kitchen Tape". This attracted attention from major-label A&R reps looking for alternative rock bands to perform on the same bill as That Dog. Weezer were signed to DGC Records on June 26, 1993, by Todd Sullivan, an A&R rep from Geffen Records.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: While preparing for the studio sessions, Weezer focused on their vocal interplay by practicing barbershop quartet-style songs, which helped Cuomo and Sharp feel more comfortable collaborating during rehearsals. Sharp, who had never sung before joining Weezer, developed his falsetto: "I had to sing an octave higher than Rivers. After a lot of practice, I started to get it down."


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Weezer rehearsed 15 songs in New York in preparation for the Electric Lady Studios recording sessions. Four songs from this rehearsal would not be attempted for the album: "I Swear It's True", "Getting Up and Leaving" (which would both later appear on the deluxe edition of the band's second album "Pinkerton"), and a reprise version of "In the Garage". Another song, "Mykel and Carli", an ode to two women who ran the Weezer fanclub, was recorded. Weezer later recorded another version of "Mykel and Carli" as a B-side for the single "Undone – The Sweater Song", with close friend of Cuomo, actor and songwriter Karl Koch, which is also included on the album's deluxe edition.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Weezer considered self-producing the album, but were pressured by Geffen to choose a producer. They decided on Ric Ocasek, who had played with the Cars. Ocasek convinced the band to switch their guitar pickups from the neck to the bridge, resulting in a brighter sound. Sharp and Cuomo imposed several rules on recording, banning reverb and insisting on all downstrokes on guitar. According to engineer Chris Shaw, the "overriding concept" was to treat the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Weezer insisted that the guitars were mixed as loudly as those in Radiohead's 1992 song "Creep", burying some vocals.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: During the recording, Cropper learned that his girlfriend was pregnant and began acting erratically. Weezer collaborator Karl Koch said: "He wasn't handling it well ... he always said he was fine, and then 20 minutes later he'd be up on the roof of Electric Lady screaming or something." According to Cropper, Cuomo told him he could not allow him to jeopardize the work and asked him to leave. In 2014, Cropper said Cuomo had made the right decision. He was replaced by Brian Bell. While Bell's vocals appear on some tracks, Cuomo re-recorded all of Cropper's guitar parts. Ocasek recalled: "After [the album] was completely recorded, Rivers came in and said, 'I’m firing the guitar player, and I’m going to do all his guitar parts over.' I said, 'You can’t do that!' But he did. In one take." Bell is still credited for playing guitar in the liner notes. Cropper received a credit on "My Name Is Jonas" for writing the intro.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: The album artwork, photographed by American glamour photographer Peter Gowland, features Wilson, Cuomo, Sharp, and Bell standing in front of a plain, blue background. Adobe Photoshop was used to digitally alter the cover. Cuomo stated that, while the band liked the photo, Sharp was not happy with the way his head looked. The Geffen Art Director used Photoshop to swap out the head with one from another shot. The image was used prominently in the advertising of the album. The cover received many comparisons to that of the Feelies' album "Crazy Rhythms".


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: On some vinyl pressings of the album, the cover does not crop off their feet. On the "Deluxe Edition" case the feet are presented on the back cover, and the band sold an official T-shirt with a shot of the band's feet after the deluxe edition release.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Inside the album booklet, Cuomo pays tribute to his past metal influences with a photo taken in the group's garage on Amherst (this same garage would be featured in the "Say It Ain't So" music video). A poster of Judas Priest's album "British Steel" is featured on the left side of the photo, while on the right a Quiet Riot concert poster is displayed. The "Deluxe Edition" features additional photographs of the band and hand-written lyrics for each song.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: The first single "Undone – The Sweater Song" was described by Cuomo as "the feeling you get when the train stops and the little guy comes knockin' on your door. It was supposed to be a sad song, but everyone thinks it's hilarious." The video marks one of the early directorial efforts of Spike Jonze, whose pitch was simply "A blue stage, a steadicam, a pack of wild dogs." The video became an instant hit on MTV. The final single, "Say It Ain't So", was inspired by Cuomo believing his parents split up when he was four because he thought his father was an alcoholic. The music video, which was directed by Sophie Muller, was less successful than the previous Spike Jonze-directed video. It featured the band performing in the garage of their former house, and the bandmates playing hacky sack in the backyard.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: The Blue Album was released on May 10, 1994. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) just under seven months later on December 1, 1994, and was certified platinum by the RIAA on January 13, 1995. The Blue Album was certified 2× platinum by the RIAA on August 8, 1995. The album was certified 3× platinum by the RIAA on November 13, 1998. The album peaked at No. 16 on the "Billboard" 200. As a single, "Undone – The Sweater Song" peaked at No. 35 on the UK Top 40, and "Buddy Holly" and "Say It Ain't So" peaked at No. 12 and No. 37 on the UK Top 40 respectively. In the U.S., "Buddy Holly" peaked at No. 17 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Airplay chart.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: A "deluxe edition" of the album was released on March 23, 2004, including the original album and a second disc, "Dusty Gems and Raw Nuggets", containing B-sides and rarities. As of December 2007, the "deluxe edition" had sold 86,000 copies. The second disc is also available separately.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: The Blue Album received critical acclaim. "Rolling Stone" praised the album in their year-end review, saying "Weezer's Rivers Cuomo is great at sketching vignettes (the "Dungeons and Dragons" games and Kiss posters that inspire the hapless daydreamer of 'In the Garage'), and with sweet inspiration like the waltz tempo of 'My Name Is Jonas' and the self-deprecating humor of lines like "I look just like Buddy Holly / And you're Mary Tyler Moore", his songs easily ingratiate." Robert Christgau of "The Village Voice" was less complimentary and awarded the album a "neither" rating. The "Buddy Holly" video won four awards at the 1995 "MTV Video Music Awards", including prizes for Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video. In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked it number 294 on its updated list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: The Blue Album has become one of the most highly regarded albums of the 1990s, as well as of all time, appearing on many "Best-of" lists. In 2020, "Rolling Stone" ranked the album number 294 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was previously ranked at 297 in 2003, and 299 in 2012. In 2002, the readers of "Rolling Stone" ranked the album the 21st greatest of all time. "Blender" named the Blue Album among the "500 CDs You Must Own", calling the album "Absolute geek-rock, out and proud." Non-U.S. publications have acclaimed the album as well: New Zealand's "The Movement" placed it at number 39 on a list of "The 101 Best Albums of the 90s", and Visions of Germany ranked it number 32 on a list of "The Most Important Albums of the 90s." In November 2011, the Blue Album was ranked number three on "Guitar World" magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, with Bad Religion's "Stranger than Fiction" and The Offspring's "Smash" in first and second place respectively. The album also peaked at number 25 on "Guitar World"'s "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Reviews of the album when its deluxe edition was released have reflected its rise in stature continuing to be positive. In 2004, "PopMatters" gave the album a very positive review, saying "I'd go so far to declare the 'Blue Album' one of the greatest records of the last 20 years." And "Rolling Stone" reiterated their original positive review by further describing it as "big, vibrant pop-rock that would inspire thousands of emo kids". Blogcritics gave the album 10/10 and described it as "one of the most important debut albums of the last ten years".


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: In naming "Weezer" the 26th best album of the 1990s, "Pitchfork" summed up the album's critical recognition:


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: "NME" credited the album as a formative influence on melodic emo. AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 5/5, writing: "Although the group wears its influences on its sleeve, Weezer pulls it together in a strikingly original fashion, thanks to Cuomo's urgent melodicism, a fondness for heavy, heavy guitars, a sly sense of humor, and damaged vulnerability, all driven home at a maximum volume."


title: Weezer (Blue Album)

text: Since its release, the Blue Album has featured heavily in various "must have" lists compiled by the music media. Some of the more prominent of these lists to feature the Blue Album are shown below; this information is adapted from Acclaimed Music.


title: Gummo

text: Gummo is a 1997 American experimental drama film written and directed by Harmony Korine, starring Jacob Reynolds, Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, and Chloë Sevigny. The film is set (but was not filmed) in Xenia, Ohio, a Midwestern American town that had been previously struck by a devastating tornado. The loose narrative follows several main characters who find odd and destructive ways to pass time, interrupted by vignettes depicting other inhabitants of the town.


title: Gummo

text: Korine's directorial debut, the film was shot in Nashville, Tennessee, on a budget of $1.3 million. "Gummo" was not given a large theatrical release and failed to generate large box office revenues. The film generated substantial press for its graphic content and stylized, loosely woven narrative.


title: Gummo

text: A young boy named Solomon narrates the events of the tornado that devastated the small town of Xenia, Ohio. A mute adolescent boy, known as Bunny Boy, wears only pink bunny ears, shorts, and tennis shoes on an overpass in the rain.


title: Gummo

text: Bunny Boy carries a cat by the scruff of its neck and drowns it in a barrel of water. The film then cuts to a different scene with Tummler - a friend of Solomon, in a wrecked car with a girl. They fondle each other, and Tummler realizes there is a lump in one of the girl's breasts. Tummler and Solomon then ride down a hill on bikes. In narration, Solomon describes Tummler as a boy with "a marvelous persona,” whom some people call "downright evil.”


title: Gummo

text: Later, Tummler aims an air rifle at a cat. Solomon stops him from killing the cat, protesting that it is a housecat. They leave and the camera follows the cat to its owners' house. The cat is owned by three sisters, two of whom are teenagers and one who is pre-pubescent. The film cuts back to Tummler and Solomon hunting feral cats, which they deliver to a local grocer who intends to butcher and sell them to a local restaurant. The grocer tells them that they have a rival in the cat killing business. Tummler and Solomon buy glue from the grocer, which they use to get high via huffing.


title: Gummo

text: The film then cuts to a scene in which two foul-mouthed young boys dressed as cowboys destroy things in a junkyard. Bunny Boy arrives and the other boys shoot him "dead" with cap guns. Bunny Boy plays dead and the boys curse at him, rifle through his pockets, then remove and throw one of his shoes. They grow bored with this and leave Bunny Boy sprawled on the ground.


title: Gummo

text: Tummler and Solomon track down a local boy who is poaching "their" cats. The poacher, named Jarrod Wiggley, is poisoning the cats rather than shooting them. When Tummler and Solomon break into Jarrod's house with masks and weapons with intent to hurt him, they find photos of the young teen in drag and his elderly grandmother, who is catatonic and attached to life support machinery. Jarrod is forced to care for her, which he had earlier opined was "disgusting.” Seeing that Jarrod isn't home, Tummler and Solomon decide to leave. Tummler then discovers the grandmother lying in her bed, states that it is "no way to live," and turns off the life support machine.


title: Gummo

text: A number of other scenes are interspersed throughout the film, including: an intoxicated man flirting with a gay dwarf; a man pimping his disabled sister to Solomon and Tummler; the sisters encountering an elderly child molester; a pair of twin boys selling candy door-to-door; a brief conversation with a tennis player who is treating his ADHD; a long scene of Solomon eating dinner while taking a bath in dirty water; a drunken party with arm- and chair-wrestling; and two skinhead brothers boxing each other in their kitchen. There are also a number of even smaller scenes depicting Satanic rituals, footage seemingly from home movies, and conversations containing racial bigotry.


title: Gummo

text: The next scene in the movie is set to the song "Crying" by Roy Orbison, which had been previously mentioned by Tummler as the song his older sibling, who was a transsexual, would sing (the sibling eventually went to the "Big City" and abandoned him). The final scene involves Solomon and Tummler shooting the sisters' cat repeatedly with their air rifles in the rain with jump cuts to Bunny Boy kissing the teenage girls in a swimming pool. Bunny Boy runs towards the camera through a field holding the body of the dead cat, which he shows to the audience, breaking the fourth wall.


title: Gummo

text: The final scene shows a girl, who shaved her eyebrows earlier in the movie, singing "Jesus Loves Me" in bed next to her mom (or sister). The film finally cuts to black as the girl singing is told to "dial it down" and go to bed.


title: Gummo

text: In writing "Gummo", Harmony Korine abandoned traditional three-act plot structure and worked to avoid creating characters of a clear-cut moral dimension. In favor of a collage-like assembly, Korine focused on forming interesting moments and scenes, that when put in succession would become its own unique narrative. To justify such a chaotic assembly, Korine set his film in Xenia, Ohio which had been hit by a tornado in 1974.


title: Gummo

text: To help him achieve his vision, Korine sought out French cinematographer Jean-Yves Escoffier. His work on Leos Carax's "Les Amants du Pont-Neuf" made a tremendous impression on Korine. Escoffier, who liked the script, worked on "Gummo" for a fraction of his usual rate.


title: Gummo

text: During the months of pre-production, Korine scouted for locations in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, finding unusual and distinctive homes to shoot in. Korine often approached people on the street, in bowling alleys and in fast food restaurants and asked them to play a part in his movie. Korine notes, "This is where I grew up. These people are interesting to me, and I'd never seen them represented on screen in a true way."


title: Gummo

text: Chloë Sevigny designed the costumes for the film, mixing pieces that people already owned with items bought at local thrift stores.


title: Gummo

text: Korine cast the film almost entirely with local non-actors. Old friends were eager to help Korine, such as the two skinhead brothers, skateboarder Mark Gonzales, and dwarf Bryant Krenshaw. Some exceptions include Korine's then-girlfriend Chloë Sevigny, Linda Manz, and Max Perlich.


title: Gummo

text: On Linda Manz, Korine stated, "I had always admired her. There was this sense about her that I liked – it wasn't even acting. It was like the way I felt about Buster Keaton when I first saw him. There was a kind of poetry about her, a glow. They both burnt off the screen." "Gummo" was her first screen appearance in 16 years.


title: Gummo

text: Korine spotted his two main characters while watching cable television. Korine noticed Jacob Reynolds in a short role in "The Road to Wellville". "He was so visual... I never get tired of looking at his face." The character of Solomon, played by Reynolds, is described in Korine's script as looking "like no other kid in the world."


title: Gummo

text: Nick Sutton (Tummler) was spotted on a drug prevention episode of "The Sally Jesse Raphael Show" called "My Child Died From Sniffing Paint". In the show they ask Sutton where he thinks he will be in a few years, to which he responds, "I'll probably be dead." Recalls Korine, "I saw his face and I thought that was the boy I dreamed of, that was my Tummler. There was a beauty about him." Producer Scott Macaulay on Sutton stated, "He's this person that Harmony sort of found and put in the middle of this movie, which is at times realistic and at times magical. I think of Nick as being Harmony's equivalent of Herzog's Bruno S." (See "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser" and "Stroszek").


title: Gummo

text: The film was shot in some of Nashville's poorest neighborhoods. Producer Cary Woods comments, "we're essentially seeing the kind of poverty that we're used to seeing in Third World countries when news crews are covering famines, [but] seeing that in the heart of America." One small home housed fifteen people and several thousand cockroaches. Bugs literally crawled up and down the walls. Korine comments, "we had to take out stuff to be able to put the camera in the room." At times, the crew rebelled against filming in such conditions and Korine was forced to purchase hazmat suits for them to wear. Korine and Escoffier, who thought this was offensive, "wore Speedos and flip-flops just to piss them off."


title: Gummo

text: Korine encouraged improvisation and spontaneity. To achieve this, Korine had to establish a mode of trust. "If an actor is a crack smoker, let him go out between takes, smoke crack, and then come back and throw his refrigerator out the window! Let people feel they can do whatever they want with no consequence." Producer Scott Macaulay commented the improvisational methods yielded deep results for everyone involved. "For a lot of the non-actors, you sensed that it was a very emotional experience for them, and that they were tapping into something important." Korine adds, "I wanted to show what it was like to sniff glue. I didn't want to judge anybody. This is why I have very little interest in working with actors. [Non-actors] can give you what an actor can never give you: pieces of themselves."


title: Gummo

text: On the last day of shooting, Escoffier shot the chair-wrestling kitchen scene alone with a rigged boom on his camera. Some people had just gotten out of prison and Korine felt the performance would be greater if he wasn't in the room. The crew shut all the doors and turned off all the monitors, so no one knew what was going on. In between takes, Korine would run in and get everyone hyped up. At the end of the scene there is a moment of silence where no one knows what to do next. Korine comments, "When I saw that in the dailies, it amazed me, because Jean Yves really captured that awkwardness, that sad silence; it was beautiful."


title: Gummo

text: Korine shot "Gummo" in just four weeks during the summer of 1996, most of the film being shot on the final week of production. This was due to the crew waiting for rain. The last scene shot is the one with Korine starring as a heavily intoxicated boy on a couch with a dwarf.


title: Gummo

text: Any scenes appearing to show violence against animals were simulated, sometimes using prosthetic animals.


title: Gummo

text: Korine worked with editor Chris Tellefsen to synthesize the pre-planned footage with the "mistake-ist" footage:


title: Gummo

text: "When we switched forms, when the film went to video, Hi-8, or Polaroids – I wanted everything to feel like it was done for a reason. Like they shot it on video because they couldn’t get it onto 35mm, or they shot it on Polaroids because that was the only camera that was there...There was a script, but as a screenwriter, I’m so bored with the idea of following a script. I felt like I had the movie in the script, so we shot the script but then shot everything else and made sense of it all in the editing process."


title: Gummo

text: Korine said that he used footage from any source he could find that fit the aesthetic: "That cat tape was a tape that a friend of mine had given me, of him doing acid with his sister. They were in a garage band and there was a shot of their kitten. That [phasing] was an in-camera mistake."


title: Gummo

text: "Gummo"s soundtrack paints a wide canvas of American pop-culture, ranging from Almeda Riddle's field recording of the traditional children's song "My Little Rooster", to the stoner metal of the California band Sleep. Other popular songs include Buddy Holly's "Everyday" and Roy Orbison's "Crying", which closes the film and is directly referenced in the dialogue.


title: Gummo

text: Metal and powerviolence bands such as Bethlehem, Mystifier, Absu, Burzum, Bathory, Brujeria, Eyehategod and Spazz are also featured. Korine later showed interest in black metal subculture in his 2000 visual series "The Sigil of the Cloven Hoof Marks Thy Path".


title: Gummo

text: The film explores a broad range of issues including drug abuse, violence, homicide, vandalism, mental illness, poverty, profanity, homophobia, sexual abuse, sexism, racism, suicide, grief, prostitution, and animal cruelty. Korine avoided any romantic notions regarding America, including its poor and mentally disabled.


title: Gummo

text: Korine comments on the film's pop-aesthetic, saying: "America is all about this recycling, this interpretation of pop. I want you to see these kids wearing Bone Thugs & Harmony t-shirts and Metallica hats – this almost schizophrenic identification with popular imagery. If you think about, that's how people relate to each other these days, through these images." Dot and Helen are modeled after Cherie Currie. "I wanted them to seem like homeschool kids... sort of guessing and coming up with these hipster things. They almost make a homeschool hip language. I wanted this inbred vernacular."


title: Gummo

text: The film has a strong vaudevillian influence. The name of the character Tummler is taken directly from the vaudevillian term given to lower-level comics of the day. "The guys that would check you into a hotel room, take your coat, and at the same time throw a few one-liners out. They're like the warm-up, the lowest level comedian. The tummler." (See Borscht Belt)


title: Gummo

text: Robin O'Hara argues that while people naturally look for points of reference to describe "Gummo" (such as Herzog, Cassavetes, Arbus, Fellini, Godard, Maysles and Jarman) that Korine's art really is his own. "He is an original, in every sense of the word." Korine comments on the film's aesthetic: "We tried very hard not to reference other films. We wanted "Gummo" to set its own standard."


title: Gummo

text: "Gummo" premiered at the 24th Telluride Film Festival on August 29, 1997. During the screening, several people walked out the theater during the opening sequence, where the cat was drowned and eaten by one of the protagonists. Several festival appearances followed including International Film Festival Rotterdam where it won the KNF Award for "best feature film in the official section that does not yet have distribution within the Netherlands," and Venice Film Festival where it received a special mention from the FIPRESCI jury. It was picked up for distribution by Fine Line Features, and saw a limited release with an R rating (edited from the original NC-17 version) in the United States on October 17, 1997 for pervasive depiction of anti-social behavior of juveniles, including violence, substance abuse, sexuality and language.


title: Gummo

text: Werner Herzog praised the film and talked about being impressed by the bacon taped to the wall during the bathtub scene.


title: Gummo

text: Director Lukas Moodysson listed it as one of his top ten films for the 2002 "Sight and Sound" Poll and Australian director Megan Spencer also praised the film. David Stratton of SBS's "The Movie Show" stated in his review that "cat lovers should be warned", but ultimately praised the film, calling it "original".


title: Gummo

text: Filmmaker Gus Van Sant on "Gummo" writes, "Venomous in story; genius in character; victorious in structure; teasingly gentle in epilogue; slapstick in theme; rebellious in nature; honest at heart; inspirational in its creation and with contempt at the tip of its tongue, [Gummo] is a portrait of small-town Middle American life that is both bracingly realistic and hauntingly dreamlike."


title: Gummo

text: As of 2022, "Gummo" holds a 38% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The site's critical consensus states ""Gummo"'s bold provocations may impress more iconoclastically inclined viewers, but others will find it hard to see past writer-director Harmony Korine's overwhelmingly sour storytelling perspective." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score, the movie holds a 19/100 rating based on 15 reviews, which indicates "overwhelming dislike."


title: Gummo

text: A short excerpt from "Gummo" was shown after the opening sequence in the 1998 Hype Williams film "Belly".


title: Gummo

text: Film websites "Mubi" and "They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?" have listed "Gummo" among their 1000 greatest films of all time.


title: Gummo

text: "The Diary of Anne Frank Pt. II" is a 40-minute three-screen collage featuring the same actors and themes as "Gummo", and can be considered a companion piece.


title: Gummo

text: Korine comments, "I could probably make another two movies with the excess footage [from "Gummo"]. Some of this material I'm going to use in this art work... the problem you run into doing multimedia projection is that a lot of the time, the style takes over. It threatens and reduces the content. It becomes almost like a music video – mixing all these forms for no reason."


title: Ford Pinto

text: The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from 1971 until 1980 model years. The Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The Pinto was marketed in three body styles throughout its production: a two-door fastback sedan with a trunk, a three-door hatchback, and a two-door station wagon. Mercury offered rebadged versions of the Pinto as the Mercury Bobcat from 1975 until 1980 (1974–1980 in Canada). Over three million Pintos were produced over its ten-year production run, outproducing the combined totals of its domestic rivals, the Chevrolet Vega and the AMC Gremlin. The Pinto and Mercury Bobcat were produced at Edison Assembly in Edison, New Jersey, St. Thomas Assembly in Southwold, Ontario, and San Jose Assembly in Milpitas, California.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Since the 1970s, the safety reputation of the Pinto has generated controversy. Its fuel-tank design attracted both media and government scrutiny after several deadly fires related to the tanks rupturing occurred in rear-end collisions. A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars. The safety issues surrounding the Pinto and the subsequent response by Ford have been cited widely as a business ethics as well as tort reform case study.


title: Ford Pinto

text: American automakers had first countered imports such as the Volkswagen Beetle with compact cars including the Ford Falcon, Ford Maverick, Chevrolet Corvair and Plymouth Valiant, although these cars featured six-cylinder engines and comprised a larger vehicle class. As the popularity of smaller Japanese imports Toyota Corolla and Datsun 510 increased throughout the 1960s, Ford North America responded by introducing the Cortina from Ford of Europe as a captive import. American automakers introduced their own subcompacts, led by the AMC Gremlin that arrived six months before the Pinto, and the Chevrolet Vega, introduced the day before the Pinto.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Named for the pony, the Pinto was introduced on September 11, 1970. It was a completely new platform, but utilized a powertrain from the European-specification Escort. Ford Chairman Henry Ford II himself purchased a 1971 Runabout (hatchback) to use as one of his personal cars.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Initial planning for the Pinto began in the summer of 1967, was recommended by Ford's Product Planning Committee in December 1968, and was approved by Ford's board of directors in January 1969. Ford President Lee Iacocca wanted a 1971 model that weighed under and that would be priced at less than US$2,000 ($ in dollars ). The Pinto product development, from conception through delivery, was completed in 25 months when the automotive industry average was 43 months, the shortest production planning schedule in automotive history at the time. Some development processes usually conducted sequentially were conducted in parallel. Machine tooling overlapped with product development, which froze the basic design. Decisions that threatened the schedule were discouraged; the attitude of Ford management was to develop the Pinto as quickly as possible. Iacocca ordered a rush project to build the car, and the Pinto became known internally as "Lee's car". The Pinto's bodywork was styled by Robert Eidschun.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Offered with an inline-four engine and bucket seats the Pinto's mechanical design was conventional, with unibody construction, a longitudinally mounted engine in front driving the rear wheels through either a manual or automatic transmission and live axle rear end. The suspension was by unequal-length control arms with front coil springs while the live rear axle was mounted on leaf springs. The rack and pinion steering optionally had power assist, as did the brakes.</ref>


title: Ford Pinto

text: After structural design on alternate body styles encountered obstacles, Ford offered the Pinto solely as a two-door sedan, with entry level models priced at $1,850, undercutting GM's Chevrolet Vega and directly targeting imported models – which included such new competitors as the Mazda 1200 in 1971, the Subaru DL in 1972, and the Honda Civic in 1973.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The Pinto had sold over 100,000 units by January 1971, and 352,402 for the entire 1971 production run; 1974 saw the most Pintos produced in a single model year, with 544,209 units.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The Ford Pinto went on sale on September 11, 1970, in one body style, a fastback sedan with an enclosed trunk. A hatchback became available on February 20, 1971, debuting at the Chicago Auto Show. In 1971, the Pinto brochure came with a paper cutout Pinto that one could fold to make a 3D model. Marketed as the "Runabout," the hatchback went on sale five days later, priced at $2,062 ($ in dollars ). The hatch itself featured exposed chrome hinges for the liftgate and five decorative chrome strips, sprung scissor struts to assist in opening the hatch, a rear window approximately as large as the sedan's, and a fold-down seat – a feature which became simultaneously an option on the sedan. The hatchback model matched the sedan in all other dimensions and offered of cargo space with its seat folded. By 1972, Ford redesigned the hatch itself, with the glass portion of the hatch enlarged to almost the entire size of the hatch itself, ultimately to be supplemented for 1977–1980 with an optional rear hatch that was entirely glass.


title: Ford Pinto

text: On October 30, 1970, less than two months after introduction, 26,000 Pintos were recalled to address a possible problem with the accelerator sticking on once engaged at more than halfway. On March 29, 1971, Ford recalled all 220,000 Pintos manufactured before March 19, 1971, to address a problem with fuel vapors in the engine air filter possibly igniting by a backfire through the carburetor.


title: Ford Pinto

text: On February 24, 1972, the Pinto station wagon debuted with an overall length of and of cargo volume. The first 2-door Ford station wagon since the 1965 Falcon, the Pinto wagon was equipped with flip-open rear quarter windows. Along with front disc brakes, the 2.0L engine was standard equipment. A "Pinto Squire" wagon featured faux wood side paneling similar to the full-size Country Squire.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Also in February 1972, the Sprint Decor Group was made available for the Pinto for one model year only. The Sprint Decor Group included white exterior paint with blue accent paint and red pin-striping, a blacked-out grille, color-keyed wheels with bright trim rings and hubcaps, white sidewall tires, and color-keyed dual sport mirrors. The interior included red, white, and blue cloth and vinyl bucket seats, full carpeting as well as a deluxe steering wheel. The Sprint Decor Group was offered simultaneously on the Maverick and Mustang.


title: Ford Pinto

text: For the 1973 model year, more appearance options were offered. There was a new Sport Accent Group offered in white exterior paint with a choice of two-tone orange or avocado accent paint, matching vinyl roof, and a deluxe interior with wood-tone trim. There was also a new Luxury Decor Group with bright exterior dress-up mouldings, black bumper rub strips, and a deluxe interior with wood-tone trim. New slotted forged aluminum wheels were offered.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In 1974, to meet federal regulations, 5 mph bumpers were added to both the front and rear. Unlike most 1970s cars, the addition of larger bumpers to the Pinto did not necessitate major changes to the bodywork. While the underpowered Kent engine was dropped, the optional OHC engine was expanded to 2.3 L; in various forms, this engine powered a variety of Ford vehicles for 23 years. In 1974, Mercury began selling a rebadged version of the Pinto called Bobcat as a Canada-only model. 544,209 units sold; 1974 became the most popular model year for the Pinto. Steel-belted tires, an anti-theft alarm system, and metallic glow paint were optional.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In 1975, in a move to better compete with the AMC Gremlin, Ford introduced the 2.8 L V6; while far less powerful than the Gremlin's standard I6, the V6 gave the Pinto a feature unavailable in the Chevrolet Vega. Sales of the Mercury Bobcat were expanded to Lincoln-Mercury dealers in the United States; it was sold as a hatchback and station wagon.


title: Ford Pinto

text: As a minor styling update for 1976, the Pinto received the egg-crate grille and chrome headlamp bezels recycled from the Canada-only 1974 Mercury Bobcat. For one model year only, two new option packages were offered. One was the sporty new Stallion appearance package with blackout trim and black two-tone accent paint offered in red, yellow, silver, and white body colors. This option package was shared with the Mustang II and Maverick. The other new option package was the Runabout Squire which featured wood-grain vinyl bodysides like the Squire wagon. The interior received the optional Luxury Decor Group which featured new low-back vinyl or plaid cloth bucket seats with matching door trim.


title: Ford Pinto

text: For the 1977 model year, the Pinto received its first significant styling updates with slanted back urethane headlamp buckets, parking lamps, and grille. The tail lamps were revised except for the wagons. Runabouts offered an optional all-glass rear hatch for the first time. Pinto wagons were given a new option package. Dubbed the "Pinto Cruising Wagon", it was the sedan delivery version of the Pinto styled to resemble a small conversion van, complete with round side panel "bubble windows" and a choice of optional vinyl graphics.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Ford offered new sporty appearance packages similar to those found on the Chevrolet Vega and AMC Gremlin but were strictly cosmetic upgrades that added nothing to vehicle performance.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In 1978, the Pinto was no longer the smallest Ford sold in the U.S., as the company introduced the Fiesta. Nearly two feet shorter than the Pinto, the German-designed Fiesta was the first front-wheel-drive car sold by Ford in the United States.


title: Ford Pinto

text: For the 1979 model year, the Pinto saw its last significant styling update. Shedding its original Maverick-like styling, the Pinto took on the look of the modern Fairmont with rectangular headlamps, inboard vertical parking lamps, and a taller slanted back grille. Except for the wagons, the tail lamps were revised. The interior was updated with a new rectangular instrument cluster and a modified dash-pad for vehicles without the optional sports instrumentation. The variety of sports appearance packages was revised, some with new graphics.


title: Ford Pinto

text: 1980 marked the end of the Pinto's production run to make way for its replacement, the front wheel drive Ford Escort. For 1980, the V6 engine was discontinued, leaving the 2.3 L as the sole engine.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Except for 1980, the Pinto was available with a choice of two engines. For the first five years of production, only four-cylinder inline engines were offered. Ford changed the power ratings almost every year.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In 1974, the "OHC" I4 engine was introduced. This engine was updated and modified several times, allowing it to remain in production into 1997. Among other Ford vehicles, a turbocharged version of this engine later powered the performance-based Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, Mustang SVO, and the European-built Merkur XR4Ti.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Initial Pinto deliveries in the early years used the English and German engines tuned for performance (see below). The engine used a two-barrel carburetor where just one bore was bigger than that used on the Maverick. With the low weight (not much above ) and the SOHC engine it accelerated from in 10.8 seconds. With the advent of emission control requirements, Ford moved from European-sourced to domestically sourced engines, using new or modified designs. New safety legislation affected bumpers and other parts, adding to the weight of the car and reducing performance. Revised SAE standards in 1972 dropped the Pinto's engine to  – and the engine to .


title: Ford Pinto

text: Lincoln-Mercury dealers marketed a rebadged variant of the Pinto, as the Mercury Bobcat, beginning with model year 1974 in Canada produced in all of the same body styles. It was styled with a unique egg-crate grille and chrome headlamp bezels. The rear featured modified double-width tail lamps for sedan and Runabout models.


title: Ford Pinto

text: For 1975, the Bobcat was added to the U.S. market and sold initially in upgraded levels of trim as the Runabout hatchback and Villager wagon. Lesser-trimmed versions were offered in subsequent model years. The Bobcat was never offered as a two-door sedan with an enclosed trunk for the U.S. market. All Bobcats were restyled with a domed hood and a taller vertical bar grille styled to look like senior Mercury models. Throughout all the model years, Bobcats offered various appearance options that were similar to the Pinto's.


title: Ford Pinto

text: For 1979, the Bobcat received a major restyling shared with the Pinto featuring a slanted back front end with rectangular headlamps and inboard vertical parking lamps but distinguished with a large vertical bar grille. Except for the wagons, the tail lamps were revised. The base instrument cluster received a new rectangular design with a modified dash pad.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Production of the Bobcat ended in 1980 to make way for its replacement, the Mercury Lynx. In total, 224,026 Bobcats were produced from 1975 until 1980.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Upon release, the Pinto was received with both positive and negative reviews. "Road & Track" faulted the suspension and standard drum brakes, calling the latter a "serious deficiency", but praised the proven 1.6 L "Kent" engine, adapted from European Fords. "Super Stock Magazine" found the fit and finish to be "superior" and were impressed with the car overall. "Car and Driver" found the Pinto, when equipped with the larger 2.0L engine and front disc brakes, to be a nimble and powerful commuter car with good visibility and sports-car feel. A review of the 1974 Pinto with an automatic transmission by "Car and Driver" was not as favorable noting significant decreases in mileage and acceleration.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The later controversy surrounding the Pinto resulted in a negative legacy associated with the car and Ford's handling of the controversies. In 2004, "Forbes" included the Pinto among its fourteen "Worst Cars of All Time," noting that its problems helped create an opening in the US market for small cars from Japan. "Time" magazine included the Pinto on lists of "The Fifty Worst Cars of All Time". "Time", "Popular Mechanics", and NBC News have included the car in lists of most significant recalls.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The safety of the design of the Pinto's fuel system led to critical incidents and subsequently resulted in a recall, lawsuits, criminal prosecution, and public controversy. The events surrounding the controversy have been described as a "landmark narrative". The Ford Pinto has been cited and debated in numerous business ethics as well as tort reform case studies.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The placement of the car's fuel tank was the result of both conservative industry practice of the time as well as the uncertain regulatory environment during the development and early sales periods of the car. Ford was accused of knowing the car had an unsafe tank placement and then forgoing design changes based on an internal cost-benefit analysis. Two landmark legal cases, "Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co." and "Indiana v. Ford Motor Co.", resulted from fatal accidents involving Pintos.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Scholarly work published in the decades after the Pinto's release has examined the cases and offered summations of the general understanding of the Pinto and the controversy regarding the car's safety performance and risk of fire. These works reviewed misunderstandings related to the actual number of fire-related deaths related to the fuel system design, "wild and unsupported claims asserted in "Pinto Madness" and elsewhere", the facts of the related legal cases, "Grimshaw vs Ford Motor Company" and "State of Indiana vs Ford Motor Company", the applicable safety standards at the time of design, and the nature of the NHTSA investigations and subsequent vehicle recalls. One described the Grimshaw case as "mythical" due to several significant factual misconceptions and their effect on the public's understanding.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The design of the Pinto fuel system was complicated by the uncertain regulatory environment during the development period. The first federal standard for automotive fuel system safety, passed in 1967, known as Section 301 in the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, initially only considered front impacts. In January 1969, 18 months into the Pinto's development cycle, the NHTSA proposed expanding the standard to cover rear-end collisions. The proposed standard was based on a 20 mph moving-barrier rear impact test. Ford publicly announced it supported the standard. In August 1970, the month the Pinto went into production, the NHTSA changed the proposal to a more stringent 20 mph fixed-barrier standard which car companies were to meet in 18 months. The fixed-barrier standard was seen by the auto industry as a significant increase in test severity. At the same time, the NHTSA announced a long-term goal of setting a 30-mph fixed-barrier standard. Due to the confusion related to the various proposed standards and an expectation that the NHTSA would not select the more stringent 30 mph fixed-barrier standard, Ford elected to voluntarily meet the 20 mph moving-barrier standard for all cars by 1973. Ford and other automobile manufacturers objected to the more stringent fuel system safety standard and filed objections during the required comment periods of the proposed regulations.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The Pinto's design positioned its fuel tank between the solid live rear axle and the rear bumper, a standard practice in US subcompact cars at the time. The Pinto's vulnerability to fuel leakage and fire in a rear-end collision was exacerbated by reduced rear "crush space", a lack of structural reinforcement in the rear, and an "essentially ornamental" rear bumper (though similar to other manufacturers).


title: Ford Pinto

text: As part of a response to the NHTSA's proposed regulations, crash testing conducted In 1970 with modified Ford Mavericks demonstrated vulnerability at fairly low crash speeds. Design changes were made, but post-launch tests showed similar results. These tests were conducted to develop crash testing standards rather than specifically investigating fuel system integrity. Though Ford engineers were not pleased with the car's performance, no reports of the time indicate particular concern. The Pinto was tested by rival American Motors (AMC) where in addition to crash-testing, engineers specialized in fuel-system performance because of the potential deadly fires in severe collisions.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Ford also tested several different vehicle modifications that could improve rear impact performance. However, the engineer's occupational caution and aversion to "unproven" solutions, as well as a view that the crash test results were inconclusive, resulted in the use of a conventional fuel tank design and placement. The use of an above-the-axle tank location was considered safer by some, but not all, at Ford. This placement was not a viable option for the hatchback and station wagon body styles.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Beginning in 1973, field reports of Ford Pintos consumed by fire after low-speed rear-end collisions were received by Ford's recall coordinator office. Based on standard procedures used to evaluate field reports, Ford's internal recall evaluation group twice reviewed the field data and found no actionable issue.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In 1973, Ford's Environmental and Safety Engineering division developed a cost–benefit analysis entitled "Fatalities Associated with Crash Induced Fuel Leakage and Fires" for submission to the NHTSA in support of Ford's objection to proposed stronger fuel system regulation. The document has become known as the "Grush/Saunby Report", named for its authors, and as the "Pinto Memo". Cost-benefit analysis was one tool used in the evaluation of safety design decisions accepted by the industry and the NHTSA. The analysis compared the cost of repairs to the societal costs for injuries and deaths related to fires in cases of vehicle rollovers for all cars sold in the US by all manufacturers. The values assigned to serious burn injuries and loss of life were based on values calculated by NHTSA in 1972. In the memo Ford estimated the cost of fuel system modifications to reduce fire risks in rollover events to be $11 per car across 12.5 million cars and light trucks (all manufacturers), for a total of $137 million. The design changes were estimated to save 180 burn deaths and 180 serious injuries per year, a benefit to society of $49.5 million.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In August 1977, having been provided with a copy of the memo by "Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co." plaintiffs before trial, Mark Dowie's investigative article "Pinto Madness", published in "Mother Jones" magazine, emphasized the emotional aspects of the Grush/Saunby Report and implied Ford was callously trading lives for profits. The "Mother Jones" article also erroneously claimed that somewhere between 500 and 900 persons had been killed in fires attributed to the Pinto's unique design features.


title: Ford Pinto

text: The public understanding of the cost-benefit analysis has contributed to the mythology of the Ford Pinto case. "Time" magazine said the memo was one of the automotive industry's "most notorious paper trails". A common misconception is that the document considered Ford's tort liability costs rather than the generalized cost to society and applied to the annual sales of all passenger cars, not just Ford vehicles. The general misunderstanding of the document, as presented by "Mother Jones," gave it an operational significance it never had.


title: Ford Pinto

text: In April 1974, the Center for Auto Safety petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall Ford Pintos to address fuel system design defects after reports from attorneys of three deaths and four serious injuries in rear-end collisions at moderate speeds. The NHTSA found there was not enough evidence to warrant a defect investigation. In August 1977, Dowie's "Pinto Madness" article was published, leveling a series of accusations against Ford, the Pinto and the NHTSA. These included that Ford knew the Pinto was a "firetrap" and said that Ford did not implement design changes because the company's cost-benefit analysis document showed that paying out millions in damages in lawsuits was less expensive than the design changes. The day after the article's release consumer advocate Ralph Nader and the author of the "Mother Jones" article held a news conference in Washington DC on the alleged dangers of the Pinto's design. On the same day, Nader and the Center for Auto Safety re-submitted their petition to the NHTSA.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Former UCLA law professor Gary T. Schwartz in a "Rutgers Law Review" article said the NHTSA investigation of the Pinto was in response to consumer complaints and noted the "Mother Jones" article included a clip out "coupon" that readers could mail to the NHTSA. Lee and Ermann note that the "Mother Jones" labeling of the Pinto as a "firetrap" and accusations that the NHTSA was buckling to industry pressure as well as the public interest created by sensationalized news stories "forced a second Pinto investigation and guaranteed that the NHTSA would be under the microscope for its duration."


title: Ford Pinto

text: On August 11, 1977, the day after the Nader and "Mother Jones" press conference, the NHTSA initiated an investigation. On May 8, 1978, the NHTSA informed Ford of their determination that the Pinto fuel system was defective. The NHTSA concluded:


title: Ford Pinto

text: 1971–1976 Ford Pintos have experienced moderate speed, rear-end collisions that have resulted in fuel tank damage, fuel leakage, and fire occurrences that have resulted in fatalities and non-fatal burn injuries ... The fuel tank design and structural characteristics of the 1975–1976 Mercury Bobcat which render it identical to contemporary Pinto vehicles, also render it subject to like consequences in rear-impact collisions.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Lee and Ermann noted that NHTSA used a worst-case test to justify the recall of the Pinto, rather than the regular 1977 rear-impact crash test. A large "bullet car" was used instead of a standard moving barrier. Weights were placed in the nose of the car to help it slide under the Pinto and maximize gas tank contact. The vehicle headlights were turned on to provide a possible ignition source. The fuel tank was completely filled with gasoline rather than partially filled with non-flammable Stoddard fluid as was the normal test procedure. In a later interview, the NHTSA engineer was asked why the NHTSA forced a Pinto recall for failing a 35 mph test given that most small cars of the time would not have passed. "Just because your friends get away with shoplifting, doesn't mean you should get away with it too."


title: Ford Pinto

text: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ultimately directed Ford to recall the Pinto. Initially, the NHTSA did not feel there was sufficient evidence to demand a recall due to incidents of fire. The NHTSA investigation found that 27 deaths were found to have occurred between 1970 and mid-1977 in rear-impact crashes that resulted in a fire. The NHTSA did not indicate if these impacts would have been survivable absent fire or if the impacts were more severe than even a state-of-the-art (for 1977) fuel system could have withstood. In their analysis of the social factors affecting the NHTSA's actions, Lee and Ermann note that 27 is the same number of deaths attributed to a Pinto transmission problem which contributed to collisions after the affected cars stalled. They also note that the NHTSA had two primary incentives in proving a defect existed in the Pinto's fuel system design. The administration was pressured by safety advocates (Center for Auto Safety) as well as the public response. It was also being forced into action due to the ways in which both the courts and executive branch were limiting the ability of the NHTSA to address systematic auto safety issues.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Though Ford could have proceeded with the formal recall hearing, fearing additional damage to the company's public reputation the company agreed to a "voluntary recall" program. On June 9, 1978, days before the NHTSA was to issue Ford a formal recall order, Ford recalled 1.5 million Ford Pintos and Mercury Bobcats, the largest recall in automotive history at the time. The recall included sedans and hatchbacks, but not the station wagon. Ford disagreed with the NHTSA finding of a defect, and said the recall was to "end public concern that has resulted from criticism of the fuel systems in these vehicles." The Ford recall placed a polyethylene shield between the tank and likely causes of puncture, lengthened the filler tube, and improved the tank filler seal in the event of a collision.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Approximately 117 lawsuits were brought against Ford in connection with rear-end accidents in the Pinto. The two most significant cases were "Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company" and "State of Indiana v. Ford Motor Company".


title: Ford Pinto

text: "Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Co.", decided in February 1978, is one of two important Pinto cases. A 1972 Pinto driven by Lily Gray stalled in the center lane of a California freeway. The car was struck from behind by a vehicle initially traveling at 50 mph and impacted at an estimated between 30 and 50 mph, resulting in a fuel tank fire. Gray died at the time of the impact. Richard Grimshaw, the thirteen-year-old passenger, was seriously burned. The plaintiff's bar collaborated with "Mother Jones" and The Center for Auto Safety to publicize damning information about Ford prior to trial. The jury awarded $127.8 million in total damages; $125 million in punitive damages and $2,841,000 in compensatory damages to passenger Richard Grimshaw and $665,000 in compensatory damages to the family of the deceased driver, Lily Gray. The jury award was said to be the largest ever in US product liability and personal injury cases. The jury award was the largest against an automaker at the time. The judge reduced the jury's punitive damages award to $3.5 million, which he later said was "still larger than any other punitive damage award in the state by a factor of about five." Ford subsequently decided to settle related cases out of court.


title: Ford Pinto

text: Reaction to the Grimshaw case was mixed. According to the "Los Angeles Times" in 2010, the award "signaled to the auto industry that it would be harshly sanctioned for ignoring known defects." The case has been held up as an example of the disconnection between the use of corporate risk analysis and the tendency of juries to be offended by such analyses. The case is also cited as an example of irrational punitive damage awards. While supporting the finding of liability, Schwartz notes that the punitive damage award is hard to justify.


title: Ford Pinto

text: On August 10, 1978, three teenage girls of the Ulrich family of Osceola, Indiana, were killed when the 1973 Pinto they were in was involved in a rear-end collision. The driver had stopped in the road to retrieve the car's gas cap which had been inadvertently left on the top of the car and subsequently fell onto the road. While stopped the Pinto was struck by a Chevrolet van. Ford sent the Ulrichs a recall notice for the Pinto in 1979. A grand jury indicted Ford on three counts of reckless homicide. "Indiana v. Ford" was a landmark in product liability law as the first time a corporation faced criminal charges for a defective product, and the first time a corporation was charged with homicide. If convicted, Ford faced a maximum fine of $30,000 under Indiana's 1978 reckless homicide statute. Ford's legal defense was vastly more ambitious than the effort mounted in the Grimshaw case. The effort was led by James F. Neal with a staff of 80 and a budget of about $1 million; the Elkhart County Prosecuting Attorney had a budget of about $20,000 and volunteer law professors and law students. A former head of the NHTSA, testifying on Ford's behalf, said the Pinto's design was no more or less safe than that of any other car in its class. In 1980 Ford was found not guilty. In 1980 a civil suit was settled for $7,500 to each plaintiff.


title: Ford Pinto

text: According to "Automotive News" in 2003, the indictment was a low point in Ford's reputation. Some saw the suit as a landmark for taking a corporation to task for their actions while others saw the case as frivolous. In 2002, Malcolm Wheeler, a lawyer working with the Ford defense team, noted that the case was a poor application of criminal law. The case also impacted how Ford handled future product liability cases both legally and in the press.


title: Ford Pinto

text: A "Rutgers Law Review" article by former UCLA law professor Gary T. Schwartz (see "Section 7.3 NHTSA Investigation" above), examined the fatality rates of the Pinto and several other small cars of the time period. He noted that fires, and rear-end fires, in particular, are a very small portion of overall auto fatalities. At the time only 1% of automobile crashes would result in fire and only 4% of fatal accidents involved fire, and only 15% of fatal fire crashes are the result of rear-end collisions. When considering the overall safety of the Pinto, subcompact cars as a class had a generally higher fatality risk. Pintos represented 1.9% of all cars on the road in the 1975–76 period. During that time, the car represented 1.9% of all "fatal accidents accompanied by some fire". This implies the Pinto was average for all cars and slightly above average for its class. When all types of fatalities are considered, the Pinto was approximately even with the AMC Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega, and Datsun 510. It was significantly better than the Datsun 1200/210, Toyota Corolla, and VW Beetle. The safety record of the car in terms of fire was average or slightly below average for compacts, and all cars respectively. This was considered respectable for a subcompact car. Only when considering the narrow subset of a rear impact, fire fatalities for the car were somewhat worse than the average for subcompact cars. While acknowledging this is an important legal point, Schwartz rejected the portrayal of the car as a firetrap.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: The Hangover Part III is a 2013 American action comedy film and the sequel to "The Hangover Part II" (2011), both produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the third and final installment in "The Hangover" trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jeffrey Tambor, Heather Graham, Mike Epps, Melissa McCarthy, Justin Bartha, and John Goodman with Todd Phillips directing a screenplay written by himself and Craig Mazin.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: The film follows the "Wolfpack" (Phil, Stu, Doug, and Alan) as they try to get Alan the help he needs after facing a personal crisis, after the bachelor party in Bangkok. However, things go awry when an incident from the original film comes back to haunt them.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: "The Hangover Part III" was announced days before the release of "The Hangover Part II" and Mazin, who co-wrote "Part II", was brought on board. In January 2012, the principal actors re-signed to star. In March 2012, Warner Bros. announced a U.S. Memorial Weekend release. The supporting roles were cast between June and September 2012. Principal photography began in September 2012 in Los Angeles, California before moving to Nogales, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. The film has its world premiere on May 13, 2013, in Los Angeles, California, and was released by Warner Bros. in the United States on May 23, 2013. It received negative reviews from critics and grossed $362 million worldwide.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: Two years after the events in Bangkok, Leslie Chow escapes confinement during a prison riot. Meanwhile, Alan Garner causes a multi-car freeway pileup after he purchases a giraffe and accidentally decapitates it on a low overpass. Alan's father Sid, upset about the incident and furious that Alan will not take responsibility for his actions, dies of a heart attack. At the funeral, Alan's brother-in-law Doug Billings informs Phil Wenneck and Stu Price that Alan has been off his ADHD medication and is out of control. The group attends an intervention in which Alan agrees to visit a rehabilitation facility in Arizona where he can seek treatment as long as the "Wolfpack" take him there.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: Phil's minivan is rammed off the road by a rental truck and the Wolfpack is taken hostage. They are later confronted by mob boss Marshall, with "Black Doug" as his head enforcer. He tells them that a few weeks after their shenanigans in Las Vegas, Chow hijacked half of a $42 million gold heist, and, seeing how Alan has been the only one to communicate with Chow during his imprisonment, deduced that they could locate him and retrieve the gold. Marshall kidnaps Doug and gives the others three days to find Chow, or else Doug will be killed.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: Alan sets up a meeting with Chow in Tijuana, where Stu and Phil will hide and attempt to drug him. However, Alan accidentally reveals their location and Chow forces them to confess they are working for Marshall. Chow explains his plan to retrieve the stolen gold from the basement of a Mexican villa he previously owned.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: They break into the house and successfully retrieve the gold, but Chow double-crosses them, locking them in the basement, rearming the security system and escaping in Phil's minivan. They are arrested, but mysteriously released from the police station. They are picked up by a limousine and taken back to the villa, where they find Marshall. They learn that Chow had lied to them: the villa was in fact Marshall's the whole time and the gold they stole was the other half Chow did not get from Marshall. He spares the group for the oversight but kills "Black Doug" for his incompetence and reminds them of their now two-day deadline.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: They track Phil's phone, which was left in the minivan, and find it left outside a pawn shop in Las Vegas. The owner, Cassie, tells them that Chow traded a gold brick for only $18,000, far less than its actual $400,000 value and gives them a business card for an escort service Chow is using. Using Stu's former lover Jade as their contact, they learn that Chow is barricaded in the penthouse suite of Caesars Palace. Phil and Alan sneak into his suite from the roof, but Chow escapes, jumping from the balcony and parachuting down to the Strip. Stu catches up to Chow and locks him in the trunk of Marshall's limousine. They take the gold and meet with Marshall, who releases Doug when they reveal they cannot secure the original half as Chow lost it all in Bangkok. Although Marshall had promised not to harm Chow, he shoots up the trunk of the car, presumably killing him.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: However, Alan had given Chow the means to escape from the trunk through a backseat compartment just moments earlier. Chow emerges from the limo and kills Marshall and his bodyguard, but spares Phil and Stu because Alan saved his life. He offers Alan a bar of gold as a gift, but Alan turns him down and ends their friendship because of Chow's unhealthy influence on the group. As Chow sadly watches them leave, they go to retrieve Phil's minivan from the pawnshop and Alan makes a date with Cassie. Six months later, they marry and Alan resigns from the Wolfpack.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: In a mid-credits scene, the Wolfpack plus Cassie appear to have staged another wild party that they can't remember. Stu now has breast implants and Alan remembers that the wedding cake was a gift from Chow. Chow emerges from the bathroom naked, carrying a katana. The chain-smoking Bangkok monkey drops from the ceiling onto Stu, startling him.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: In May 2011, days before the release of "The Hangover Part II", director Todd Phillips said that "there already are plans for a third film but no script or start date". About the possibility of "The Hangover Part III", Phillips stated, "If we were to do a third one, if the audience, if the desire was there, I think we have a very clear idea where that would head. It's certainly not in the same template that you've seen these movies. The third would be very much a finale and an ending. The most I could say about it, what's in my head, and I haven't discussed it with these actors, is that it is not following that template but very much a new idea. As far as where it takes place, I said I'm very open." Also during May, Craig Mazin, who co-wrote "The Hangover Part II", entered early talks to write the script for the third installment.


title: The Hangover Part III

text: In December 2011, Bradley Cooper appeared on "The Graham Norton Show" to promote "The Hangover Part II" DVD and Blu-ray release, where he stated he "hopes" that "The Hangover Part III" will start shooting in September 2012, and also stated that Todd Phillips is working on the script. In January 2012, it was reported that stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, and Ed Helms were nearing deals to reprise their roles in third installment with each receiving $15 million (against the backend) for their participation. In February 2012, Mike Tyson stated that he would return in the third film, although he later told TMZ that "I have no idea what's going on. I'm not in this one."