Early life.

Upham was born at 32 Gloucester Street in central Christchurch on 21 September 1908, the son of John Hazlitt Upham, a lawyer, and his wife, Agatha Mary Coates. Agatha was a granddaughter of pioneer colonist Guise Brittan. He boarded at Waihi School, near Winchester, South Canterbury, between 1917 and 1922 and at Christ's College, Christchurch, from 1923–27. He attended Canterbury Agricultural College (now known as Lincoln University) where he earned a diploma in agriculture in 1930.  He worked first as a sheep farmer, later as manager, and then valuing farms for the New Zealand government. In 1937, he joined the Valuation Department as assistant district valuer in Timaru. The following year, he became engaged to Mary (Molly) Eileen McTamney (a distant relative of Noel Chavasse, VC and Bar). In 1939, he returned to Lincoln to complete a diploma in valuation and farm management. From an early age he was a quiet and unusually determined boy, and on more than one occasion he intervened to defend schoolmates who were being bullied.

Second World War.

In September 1939, Upham enlisted in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) at the age of 30, and was posted to the 20th Canterbury-Otago Battalion, part of the New Zealand 2nd Division. Although he already had five years experience in the New Zealand Army Territorial Force, in which he held the rank of sergeant, he signed on as a private. He was soon promoted to temporary lance corporal, but initially declined a place in an Officer Cadet Training Unit (OCTU). In December, he was promoted to sergeant and a week later sailed for Egypt. In July 1940, he was finally persuaded to join an OCTU.

First VC.

In March 1941, Upham's battalion left for Greece and then withdrew to Crete, and it was here that he was wounded in the action, from 22 to 30 May 1941, that gained him his first VC. When informed of the award, his first response was "It's meant for the men."  Citation

Bar to VC.

Upham was evacuated to Egypt, now promoted to captain. He received a Bar to his VC for his actions on 14–15 July 1942, during the First Battle of El Alamein.  Citation  King George VI had invested Upham with his first Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 11 May 1945. When the recommendation was made for a second VC, the King remarked to Major-General Howard Kippenberger that a bar to the cross would be "very unusual indeed" and enquired firmly, "Does he deserve it?" Kippenberger replied, "In my respectful opinion, sir, Upham won the VC several times over."  Colonel Burrows approached Kippenberger after the Minqar Qaim action and was already mooting the nomination for a second VC even before the battle at Ruweisat Ridge and Upham's capture. General Inglis received citations for both Minqar Qaim and Ruweisat that each individually suggested Upham merited the VC for either occasion independently, but because of the excessive rarity of multiple VC awards opted to combine the citations into the single one forwarded to the King.  With this award, Upham became the third man to be awarded a Bar to the VC. The previous recipients were Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Martin-Leake and Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, both doctors serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Martin-Leake received his VC for rescuing wounded under fire in the Second Boer War, and the Bar for similar actions in the First World War. Chavasse was similarly decorated for two such actions in the First World War, subsequently dying of wounds received during his second action. Neither of these men were combatants, so Upham remains the only fighting soldier to have been decorated with the VC and Bar.

Prisoner of war.

After being taken prisoner of war (POW), he was sent to an Italian hospital where an Italian doctor recommended his wounded arm be amputated in view of their extremely scarce supplies and inability to prevent or treat gangrene. Upham refused. He knew that the operation would have to be carried out without anaesthetic and he had seen other patients dying in agony under surgery. He later had the wound dressed by an Allied POW doctor.  Upham refused on principle to escape from the hospital, but was branded "dangerous" after several later escape attempts.  One attempt occurred when POWs were being transported in open trucks through Italy. Upham jumped from the truck at a bend and managed to get away before being recaptured. He had broken an ankle in jumping from the moving truck.  By the summer of 1943 Upham was a POW at Campo PG47, near Modena, in the River Po Valley  On another occasion, he tried to escape a camp by climbing its fences in broad daylight. He became entangled in barbed wire when he fell down between the two fences. When a guard pointed a pistol at his head and threatened to shoot, Upham calmly ignored him and lit a cigarette. This scene was photographed by the Germans as "evidence" and later reprinted in a biography, Kenneth Sandford's "Mark of the Lion".  After this incident, Upham was considered dangerous and was placed in solitary confinement. He was only allowed to exercise alone, while accompanied by two armed guards and while covered by a machine gun in a tower. Despite these precautions, Upham bolted from his little courtyard, straight through the German barracks and out through the front gate of the camp. The guard in the machine-gun tower later told other prisoners that he refrained from shooting Upham out of respect, and as he could see German soldiers coming up the road whom he expected to capture Upham. Upham was soon recaptured and sent to the infamous Oflag IV-C (Colditz) on 14 October 1944.  During his transfer on a civilian train while guarded by two Germans, Upham made his final escape attempt. Upham was only allowed to visit the toilet when the train was travelling at high speed to prevent him from jumping through a window. Nevertheless, Upham pried open the toilet window and jumped onto the tracks, knocking himself unconscious. Recovering, he escaped into a nearby orchard, but the even rows of trees and lack of undergrowth provided poor cover and he was recaptured after 12 hours.  At Colditz, there were few opportunities to escape. Upham and most of his fellow prisoners waited until Colditz was liberated.

Aftermath.

When Colditz Castle was captured by American forces, most of the inmates made their own way home immediately. Upham joined an American unit, was armed and equipped, and wanted to fight the Germans.  Upham was keen to see action again, but was instead sent to Britain where he was reunited with Molly McTamney, who was then serving as a nurse. They were married at New Milton, Hampshire, on 20 June 1945. He returned to New Zealand in early September, and she followed him in December.  Upham was also mentioned in despatches on 14 November 1946.

Post-war.

After the war, Upham returned to New Zealand, and the community raised £10,000 to buy him a farm. However, he declined and the money went into the C. H. Upham Scholarship for children of ex-servicemen to study at Lincoln University or the college of Canterbury.  He obtained a war rehabilitation loan and bought a farm on Conway Flat, Hundalee, North Canterbury. It is said that for the remainder of his life, Upham would allow no German manufactured machinery or car onto his property.  Although somewhat hampered by his injuries, he became a successful farmer and served on the board of governors of Christ's College for nearly 20 years. He and Molly had three daughters, and lived on their farm until January 1994, when Upham's poor health forced them to retire to Christchurch.  He died in Canterbury on 22 November 1994, surrounded by his wife and daughters. His funeral in the Christchurch Cathedral was conducted with full military honours. The streets of Christchurch were lined by over 5,000 people. Upham is buried in the graveyard of St Paul's Church Papanui. His death was also marked by a memorial service on 5 May 1995 in London's St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, attended by representatives for the Royal Family; senior New Zealand government and political figures; senior members of the British and New Zealand armed forces; Valerian Freyberg, 3rd Baron Freyberg, grandson of VC holder Lord Freyberg, the commander of Allied forces in Crete and 7th Governor-General of New Zealand; representatives of veterans' organisations; and other VC and George Cross holders.

Victoria Cross and Bar.

In November 2006, Upham's VC and Bar were sold by his daughters to the Imperial War Museum for an undisclosed sum. However, as New Zealand legislation prohibits the export of such historic items, the Imperial War Museum agreed to a permanent loan of the medals to the National Army Museum at Waiouru. On 2 December 2007, Upham's VC was among nine stolen from locked, reinforced glass cabinets at the museum. On 16 February 2008, the New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$300,000 reward offered by Michael Ashcroft and Tom Sturgess.

Other honours.

In 1992, he was presented with the Order of Honour by the Government of Greece, in recognition of his service in the Battles of Greece and Crete.  HMNZS "Charles Upham", a Royal New Zealand Navy ship, was commissioned in 1995, and decommissioned in 2001.  A bronze statue stands outside the Hurunui District Council buildings in Amberley, North Canterbury, depicting Charles Upham "the observer".  A street in suburban Christchurch is named Charles Upham Avenue, and there is an Upham Terrace in Palmerston North, and an Upham Crescent in Taradale, Napier. There is also an Upham Street in Havelock North, Hawke's Bay, near streets named after fellow VC recipients Elliott, Grant and Crichton.  A Jetconnect Boeing 737-800 was named "Charles Upham" in August 2011.

Charles Hazlitt Upham, (21 September 1908 – 22 November 1994) was a New Zealand soldier who was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) twice during the Second World War; in Crete in May 1941, and at Ruweisat Ridge, Egypt, in July 1942. He was the most recent of only three people to receive the VC twice, the only one to receive two VCs during the Second World War and the only combat soldier to receive the award twice. As a result, Upham is often described as the most highly decorated Commonwealth soldier of that war, as the VC is the Commonwealth's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy.

Hauptmann Charles Hazlitt Upham, VC (* 21. September 1908 in Christchurch, Neuseeland; † 22. November 1994 ebenda) war ein neuseeländischer Soldat im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Er war der dritte und bisher letzte Soldat, der das Victoria-Kreuz zweimal erhielt und der einzige an den es zweimal im Zweiten Weltkrieg verliehen wurde. Upham ist darüber hinaus auch der einzige kämpfende Soldat, der das Victoria-Kreuz zweimal erhielt. Hauptmann Upham wird oft als der bekannteste Commonwealth-Soldat des Krieges beschrieben. Das Victoria-Kreuz ist die höchste militärische Auszeichnung des Commonwealths für Tapferkeit im Angesicht des Feindes.


Estate history.

White family.

In 1859, James White, a retired lawyer and a co-owner of the J & J White Chemical Works in Rutherglen, bought Overtoun Farm with the purpose of building a mansion there. He intended for it to be a country retreat, and initially acquired ; he soon increased this to. White hired the Glasgow-based architect James Smith (1808–1863) (father of the murder suspect Madeleine Smith) to design and construct the house. A farmhouse on the site was demolished to make way for the mansion. Overtoun House was built between 1860 and 1863, though Smith died before work was completed, and the house was completed by one of his partners. White's family began living in the mansion in 1862. It is recorded that the grounds were laid out by Mr C Kemp of Birkenhead, which is thought to refer to the landscape gardener Edward Kemp (1817–1891), who was superintendent of Birkenhead Park for Joseph Paxton. In 1884 James White died, and his son John moved to the estate in 1891 after the death of his mother. John White wanted the house to be expanded further, so he came to an agreement in 1892 with a local pastor, Reverend Dixon Swan, the heir to the adjacent Garshake Farm lands. Under the deal, John White was able to lay out the West Drive and its lodge. The eastern and western sides of the estate were split by a waterfall on the Overtoun Burn. To connect the two sides, a road was built and the Overtoun Bridge erected to designs by Henry Milner, son of Edward Milner.  John White took the additional surname of Campbell, and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Overtoun in 1893. However, he died childless in 1908, and was succeeded by his nephew Dr Douglas White, a London-based general practitioner. Lady Overtoun continued to live in the house until 1931, after which Dr White, who seldom visited Scotland, gave the house to the people of Dumbarton in 1938.

Later reuse.

During the Second World War Overtoun was turned into a convalescent home for injured soldiers and locals. The house remained mainly isolated, and it was not damaged by the bombings of the nearby Clydeside shipyards.  In 1947 Overtoun was turned into a maternity hospital. A fire destroyed part of the house in 1948, although there were no deaths, and the hospital remained in operation until 1 September 1970. By this time many of the garden structures, including a folly castle and the walled garden, had been demolished. In 1975 the British government decided to use the house as a base for its Quality of Life Experiment. From 1978 to 1980, a religious group, the Spire Fellowship, utilised the home, and from 1981 to 1994, the estate was used by a group named Youth with a Mission.  The house fell into abandonment soon after Youth with a Mission left the area, but in 2001 Pastor Bob Hill from Fort Worth, Texas, leased the property from West Dunbartonshire Council to use as a Christian centre for Scottish youth. The house was used in the 2012 film Cloud Atlas, where it doubled for the house of Vyvyan Ayrs in the 1936 segment, and Aurora House in the 2012 segment. "Regeneration", which was partially filmed in Overtoun House, is a 1997 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pat Barker. The house was used in Caro Emerald's 2013 video for I belong to You.  In October 1994 a man killed his baby son by throwing him from Overtoun Bridge. Since 2005 there have been a number of media reports of dogs making what appeared to be a suicidal leap from it. This was attributed to supernatural influence, or explained by the dogs being attracted by scents then losing balance on the sloping parapet of the bridge.

Overtoun House is a 19th-century country house and estate in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on a hill overlooking the River Clyde, it is north of the village of Milton and east of the town of Dumbarton. The house, an example of Scottish Baronial architecture, was built in the 1860s, and was donated to the people of Dumbarton in 1938. It was subsequently a maternity hospital, and now houses a Christian centre. The house is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland. Landscape features include the Overtoun Bridge on the approach road, designed by H. E. Milner.

Overtoun House ist ein Herrenhaus nahe der schottischen Stadt Milton in der Council Area West Dunbartonshire. 1971 wurde das Bauwerk in die schottischen Denkmallisten in der höchsten Kategorie A aufgenommen.


Description.

The plant has leaves shaped round or elliptical in cross-section, with darker horizontal lines visible against the light at intervals, like in the jointed rush. During pollination, new branches emerge from the old ones and multiply to resemble a small bush. The flowers have various shades of warm brown and maroon. Fruits look like a small pointed capsule. It grows straight and measures about 3 feet tall. The leaves are straight, smooth and circular in section, hollow, with transverse septa making the leaf feel jointed while touching and holding.

Ecology and habitat.

The plant commonly grows on acid soils in swampy wetlands and wet heathland and woodlands. The species is widespread in the areas of and nearby northern Ireland. This plant is sensitive to nitrate levels in the environment. In a Dutch rich-fen, chlorosis has been noted in stands of "Juncus acutiflorus" at locations where groundwater containing high levels of nitrate reached the surface. Experiments revealed that the chlorosis could be attributed to iron deficiency although iron levels in the shoots were well above the known physiological threshold values for iron deficiency. Nowadays, nitrate concentrations in ground water as high 1000 μM are no longer an exception in the Netherlands.

Similar species.

The species resembles "Juncus articulatus" (the jointed rush) known by the common names 'jointed rush' and 'jointleaf rush'. It is native to Eurasia and much of Canada and the United States. It grows in moist areas, such as wet sand, and thrives in calcareous soils. This is a perennial herb producing a mainly erect stem from a short rhizome. The stem may root at nodes, and it generally has one or more cylindrical leaves up to 10 centimeters long. It resembles this species as the leaves appear same, but the tepals are completely different. They are almost blackish-brown, and the main branches are often almost horizontal in the jointed rush.

Hybrids.

Two hybrids or subspecies of sharp-flowered rush are known – "Juncus acutiflorus" subsp. "acutiflorus" (also called "Juncus acutiflorus" t.infr. "effusus" and "Juncus acutiflorus" var. "exoletus") and "Juncus acutiflorus" ssp. "rugosus". They are formed by the hybridization of sharp-flowered rush and the smaller-sized jointed rush.

Juncus acutiflorus, also called sharp-flowered rush, is a rush or a grassy plant of the genus "Juncus". As the name suggests, the plant has notable sharp-looking flowers, flowering between July and September.

Die Spitzblütige Binse ("Juncus acutiflorus") ist eine Pflanzenart aus der Gattung Binsen ("Juncus") innerhalb der Familie der Binsengewächse (Juncaceae). Sie kommt hauptsächlich in Europa vor.


Plot.

Quiet teenager Marc Hall arrives as a new student at Indian Hills High School in Agoura Hills, California. Soon after arriving, he is befriended by fame-obsessed Rebecca Ahn. While at a party at Rebecca's house, Rebeca persuades Marc to sneak away with her and the pair check unlocked vehicles on the street, taking valuables such as cash and credit cards. The two begin hanging out after school, and Marc begins to see Rebecca as a sister figure. When he briefly mentions that one of his wealthy acquaintances is out of town, she encourages him to join her in breaking into his house. Rebecca steals a handbag, mentioning that her idol, Lindsay Lohan, has the same one. She also steals cash and the keys to a Porsche, which the pair use to flee the scene. With the cash, the two go on a shopping spree, affording themselves the luxury lifestyle they admire in magazines.  Marc visits a nightclub with Rebecca and her friends, who include Nicki Moore, Nicki's adoptive sister Sam, and Chloe Tainer, where they rub shoulders with celebrities such as Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton. Later, while researching Hilton on the Internet, Marc and Rebecca realize that she is out of town. The pair find her address, go to her house, and, upon finding the key under the doormat, they break in. They go through Hilton's belongings, taking some jewelry with them, including a bracelet that Rebecca later flaunts to Nicki, Sam, and Chloe at a party.  At Nicki's request, Rebecca and Marc take her, Sam and Chloe back to Hilton's house. The group marvels at the excess of Hilton's lifestyle, and steals shoes, bags, dresses, cash, and jewelry. Marc and Rebecca return to rob Hilton's house on a third occasion. The pair also decides to rob the home of Audrina Patridge, once again using the Internet to determine when she will not be home. The entire group uses the same method to burgle the home of Megan Fox, with Nicki's younger sister Emily squeezing through a pet door to gain access to the home.  The group enters the home of Orlando Bloom and his girlfriend, Miranda Kerr. The girls proceed to steal similar items, while Marc finds a case filled with seven of Bloom's Rolex watches along with a roll of cash. Chloe then helps Marc sell the watches to her friend, a night club manager named Ricky. The group returns once again to Hilton's house, with Sam's boyfriend Rob, who also steals from the home.  A news report releases captured CCTV footage from the robbery at Patridge's home. This concerns Marc, but Rebecca is undeterred and instigates a burglary at the home of Rachel Bilson. Word spreads amongst the group's social circles, and the girls boast of their accomplishments at parties, also posting photographs of the stolen items on social media sites. The group ultimately breaks into Lohan's house and robs it. Shortly after, Rebecca moves to Las Vegas with her father due to troubles at home, leaving some of her stolen items with Marc, who inadvertently helps Rebecca transfer stolen items across state lines.  News reports of the Hollywood Hills burglaries intensify, with the media labeling the group "The Bling Ring". CCTV from several robberies in addition to the evidence on social media allows authorities to identify the group. Police arrest Marc, Nicki, Chloe, Rebecca, Rob, and Ricky, but Sam is not identified in the footage and avoids arrest. Marc cooperates with the police, informing them on the details of the burglaries, much to the chagrin of Rebecca, who has been identified as the ringleader. A "Vanity Fair" journalist interviews Marc, who is remorseful, and Nicki, who vehemently suggests the others were at fault, and that she was simply involved with the wrong people. Rebecca also denies being at fault and tries to pass the blame for all of this to Marc and her other friends. The group is ultimately prosecuted, receiving varying amounts of jail time and is ordered to collectively pay millions of dollars in restitution for the stolen items.  The group serves their jail time, and Marc and Rebecca each go into seclusion and never see or speak to each other again, both of them steadfastly blaming each other for the robberies. In the final scene, set a few months later, Nicki is on a talk show talking about her time in jail, and reveals that her cell was next to Lohan's. After digressing, she turns to the audience (and the viewers) as she finds a way to enhance her newfound notoriety, telling them to visit her now-popular website detailing her life after "The Bling Ring".

Production.

Development.

In December 2011, it was reported that Sofia Coppola was developing a screenplay for a film based on "The Bling Ring" burglaries, to be directed and produced by herself. Her father, Francis Ford Coppola, executive produced the project through his American Zoetrope production company. In April 2012, it was announced that financing had been set up with NALA Films, and Roman Coppola would also serve as a producer.

Casting.

Emma Watson joined the cast of the film on February 29, 2012, and on March 1, Taissa Farmiga was reported to have joined the main cast. Also in early March, "The Hollywood Reporter" confirmed the casting of Leslie Mann and Israel Broussard. On March 16, Claire Julien joined the cast, and Katie Chang and Georgia Rock were also confirmed for roles. That same month, Carlos Miranda was cast in a supporting role. In late March, Kirsten Dunst and Paris Hilton were both confirmed to make cameos in the film, as themselves. Gavin Rossdale was spotted on the set of the film on March 27, 2012.

Filming.

Production primarily took place in and around Los Angeles, California in March and April 2012; notably in West Hollywood, Lynwood, and Venice. Paris Hilton, who was a victim during the actual Bling Ring robberies, and Kirsten Dunst, both made cameo appearances in the film. Some scenes were shot in the celebrity victims' homes and at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, California.

Soundtrack.

The Bling Ring: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was supervised by frequent Coppola collaborator Brian Reitzell. The film's soundtrack album was released on June 11, 2013 by Def Jam Recordings. It contains a mix of music ranging between such genres as hip-hop/rap, krautrock, and electronic.  The musical score for the film was written by Reitzell in collaboration with Daniel Lopatin, known mostly under the recording name of Oneohtrix Point Never. Coppola's husband's band, Phoenix, also contributed the title track from their album "Bankrupt!".  In addition, Reitzell worked closely with Coppola to find contemporary music that would fit within the film's setting. After being contacted for song contributions, rapper Kanye West recommended Reitzell use Frank Ocean's then-unreleased "Super Rich Kids".

Distribution.

Release.

In January 2013, A24 acquired domestic distribution rights to the film. The film opened the Un Certain Regard section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival on May 16. The film is Coppola's third in a row that deals heavily with the famous, following "Marie Antoinette" and "Somewhere", a drama about a renowned actor and his 11-year-old daughter. About the premiere in Cannes, she said, "It seems like the perfect setting for "The Bling Ring" when you see people walking around in their heels. It's a glamorous place, so it feels appropriate." The film closed the 39th Seattle International Film Festival on June 9, 2013.

Home media.

"The Bling Ring" was released via digital download on September 6, 2013, and on DVD and Blu-ray on September 17, 2013, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The extras include a behind the scenes making of the film, an interview with Coppola, and a tour of a crime scene by Bling Ring target Paris Hilton.

Reception.

Box office.

In its debut weekend in the United States, the film opened in five theaters with $214,395, for a per-theater average of $42,879. It was Coppola's best opening per-theater average, beating out "Lost in Translation" intake of $40,221 for each of 23 locations in 2003. The following weekend, "The Bling Ring" expanded to 650 theaters, making $2 million for a per-theater average of $3,080. The film went on to gross $5.8 million domestically and $19.1 million worldwide.

Critical response.

"The Bling Ring" received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 59% approval rating, based on reviews from 204 critics, with a weighted average of 6.23/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "While it's certainly timely and beautifully filmed, "The Bling Ring" suffers from director Sofia Coppola's failure to delve beneath the surface of its shallow protagonists' real-life crimes." Metacritic has assigned the film an average score of 66 out of 100, based on 40 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "generally positive reviews". The film has drawn comparisons to the Day-Glo cinematography of Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers", which was also released under A24 Films.  Owen Gleiberman from "Entertainment Weekly" had a positive opinion, writing, "Watching "The Bling Ring", the audience is invited to understand the impulses of these child-woman thieves, even as Coppola stands firmly apart from their craziness and sees them for who they are." Robbie Collin from "The Daily Telegraph" said, "Everything comes together for the good here: visuals, performances, raucous soundtrack, Coppola's teasing flirtation with, yet ultimate lack of commitment to, some kind of concrete morality." Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" said, "Coppola's attitude toward her subject seems equivocal, uncertain; there is perhaps a smidgen of social commentary, but she seems far too at home in the world she depicts to offer a rewarding critique of it."  Emma Watson's performance as Nicki received critical acclaim. Richard Roeper called her "comedic gold", while Gleiberman wrote that Watson "proves that her willingness to take chances is only growing, and that she's an actress serious enough to turn a line like 'Your butt looks awesome!' into something that reveals character." Cath Clarke of "Time Out" commented positively on Watson, saying, "The real story here isn't the good-girl-goes-bad stunt casting; it's that Watson can act. Against the odds, the "Harry Potter" star gives a sharp, knowing smart performance as Nicki." Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" wrote, "Emma Watson is sensational as Nicki, an underage club girl and actress wanna-be, who lives in a universe of Valley Girl narcissism eons away from Hogwarts." Even critics who gave the film overall negative reviews singled Watson out for praise, with Peter Howell from the "Toronto Star" saying, "The undistinguished young cast of "The Bling Ring" has just one standout, and that's Emma Watson, who plays one of the most vacuous of the juvenile thieves. We know her best as the brainy Hermione Granger from the "Harry Potter" movies, and she can obviously do brainless equally well." Joe Neumaier of "New York Daily News" wrote, "Watson, though, does a great imitation of hollow-eyed gaze; her character is the one who tries to parlay notoriety into success (everyone else can, she figures). The one-time "Harry Potter" star captures the slack-jawed fan only too well."

The Bling Ring is a 2013 satirical crime film written and directed by Sofia Coppola. It features an ensemble cast, led by Katie Chang, Israel Broussard, Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, and Claire Julien. It is based on the 2010 "Vanity Fair" article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins" by Nancy Jo Sales, which dealt with a real-life gang known as the Bling Ring. The story follows a group of fame-obsessed teenagers who use the internet to track celebrities' whereabouts in order to burglarize their homes.

The Bling Ring ist ein US-amerikanisches satirisches Drama aus dem Jahr 2013. Sofia Coppola schrieb das Drehbuch und produzierte den Film. Die Verfilmung der wahren Geschichte von fünf Upper-Class-Jugendlichen, die von Oktober 2008 bis August 2009 in Villen von Hollywood-Prominenten einbrachen, zeigt in den Hauptrollen neben Emma Watson und Taissa Farmiga einige Newcomer.


Background.

Conception.

Shortly after finishing their Alive 2006/2007 tour, Daft Punk began working on new material in 2008, recording demos for approximately six months. They were pleased with the compositions, but dissatisfied with using samples and loops: As Thomas Bangalter stated, "We could play some riffs and stuff but not keep it [up] for four minutes straight." Daft Punk put these demos aside and started work on the "" film soundtrack, which Bangalter described as "very humbling".  For their next album, Daft Punk decided to work extensively with live musicians: "We wanted to do what we used to do with machines and samplers, but with people." They avoided the use of samples, with the exception of closing track "Contact". The album features Chic frontman Nile Rodgers. According to Rodgers, the collaboration was "something we've talked about for a long time. We've respected each other endlessly." Daft Punk visited Rodgers' home for an informal jam session. Musician Paul Williams announced in a 2010 interview that he had worked with the group, after Daft Punk had been introduced to

Recording.

Recording took place at Henson Recording Studios, Conway Recording Studios and Capitol Studios in California, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Gang Recording Studio in Paris, France. Having worked with keyboardist and arranger Chris Caswell on "Tron: Legacy", the duo enlisted him and connected with engineers and other session players for their next album. Daft Punk recalled that they wished to avoid the more compressed sounds of drum machines in favor of "airy open" drum sets of the 1970s and 80s, which the duo consider the most appealing era. Bangalter clarified that "it's not that we can't make crazy futuristic sounding stuff, but we wanted to play with the past". The duo noted that the session players were enthusiastic to reunite in

Composition.

Theme and influences.

Bangalter described the album's title as encapsulating Daft Punk's interest in the past, referencing both random-access memory technology and the human experience: "We were drawing a parallel between the brain and the hard drive – the random way that memories are stored." Daft Punk felt that while current technology allows for an unlimited capacity to store recorded material, the content produced by contemporary artists had diminished in quality. Their goal was therefore to maximize the potential of infinite storage by recording a sprawling amount of elements. The duo pointed to the process as being further inspiration for the album's title,

Structure.

The initial demos of "Random Access Memories" were created without a clear plan for an album. Over the course of the sessions, numerous tracks were created and discarded. At one point Daft Punk had considered sorting the entire album into one continuous track, similar to the Prince record "Lovesexy". They had also considered releasing it as a four-disc box set to accommodate the large volume of content produced. Thus the album lacked structure until the final months of production.  The opening track, "Give Life Back to Music", features guitar work by Rodgers and Paul Jackson, Jr., drums by John "J.R." Robinson, and lyrics performed by Daft Punk using vocoders. The song reflects the duo's goal to create a light yet polished and elegant record. As stated by "NME", the album begins with "a stupendously vast rock intro that obliterates any trace of "Human After All"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s brittle techno". The following track, "The Game of Love", also

Promotion and release.

In January 2013, de Homem-Christo first revealed that Daft Punk was in the process of signing with Sony Music Entertainment through the Columbia Records label, and that the album would have a spring release. A report from "The Guardian" followed specifying a release date of May 2013. On 26 February 2013, Daft Punk's official website and Facebook page announced the signing to Columbia with a picture of the duo's helmets, and a "Columbia" logo in the corner. Billboards and posters featuring the helmets and logo then appeared in several major cities.  On 2 March, a 15-second television ad aired during "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL") depicting an animated, stylized version of the band's logo and the aforementioned image of the helmets. The music featured in the ad was a result of the collaboration with Rodgers, who noted that various fan remixes of the clip appeared online after the airing. A second TV ad also premiered that was similar to the first on "Saturday Night Live", but with a different music clip and the title "Random Access Memories" in place of the stylized Daft Punk logo. During the first night of Coachella Festival 2013, a third trailer debuted that featured Daft Punk, Pharrell Williams and Rodgers performing, as well as a list of collaborators on the album. The trailer also aired during "Saturday Night Live" the following evening, but without a list of collaborators.  The gradual rollout of promotion was inspired by advertising of the past, reflecting the theme of the album. Daft Punk approached Columbia with a specific agenda for the campaign; Rob Stringer of the label recalled that the duo had showed him the book "Rock 'n' Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip" as an example of what they wanted. Bangalter felt that physical billboards are more affecting than banner ads and that ""SNL" is this part of American culture with a certain timelessness to it." The campaign was handled by a small group led by Daft Punk and manager Paul Hahn, with assistance from Kathryn Frazier of the public-relations firm Biz 3. The duo had pursued Columbia in particular because of its long-standing history, as expressed by Bangalter: "It felt interesting conceptually to write this story with a record company like Columbia, with a 125-year legacy." Furthermore, the vinyl labels of the album feature the classic yellow on red Columbia label used on records during said time period.  Central to the promotion was the limiting of exposure to the album's content, as well as a focus on face-to-face contact for press previews. As Hahn stated, "There is a minimalism in our approach that creates an absence of information, and we notice our fans tend to throw themselves into the breach, or try to fill the empty spaces." The album's track titles were initially withheld from online retailers and later revealed through Columbia's Vine account on 16 April 2013 as a video relaying a series of images. Following a reported leak of the song days earlier, "Get Lucky" was released as a digital download single on 19 April 2013. On 13 May, Daft Punk's official Vevo channel posted a video revealing the artwork packaging of the vinyl version of the album, as well as the first few seconds of the opening track. Later that day, a limited-time preview stream of the full album was launched via the iTunes Store.  Daft Punk were scheduled to appear on 6 August episode of "The Colbert Report" to promote "Random Access Memories", but were unable to do so because of conflicting obligations regarding the duo's future appearance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. According to Stephen Colbert, Daft Punk were unaware of any exclusivity agreement and were halted by MTV executives the morning prior to the taping. Colbert nevertheless broadcast an elaborate sketch of himself dancing to "Get Lucky" with various celebrities, including Hugh Laurie, Jeff Bridges, Jimmy Fallon, Bryan Cranston, Jon Stewart, Henry Kissinger, Matt Damon, and the Rockettes.  Columbia released a deluxe box set of "Random Access Memories" containing a 56-page hardcover book, the vinyl edition of the album, a partial 70 mm film strip of the "Lose Yourself to Dance" video, and USB drives containing bonus audio as well as video content.

Critical reception.

"Random Access Memories" received widespread acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album gained an average score of 87, based on 47 reviews. The album scored higher than any other album by the duo.  "Q" referred to it as "by some margin Daft Punk's best album in a career that's already redefined dance music at least twice. It is, in short, a mind blower." "The Independent" stated, ""Random Access Memories" breathes life into the safe music that dominates today's charts, with its sheer ambition...It's an exciting journey, and one that, for all its musical twists and turns, has its feet planted on the dancefloor." Melissa Maerz of "Entertainment Weekly" called it "a headphones album in an age of radio singles; a bravura live performance that stands out against pro forma knob-twiddling; a jazzy disco attack on the basic house beat; a full collaboration at a time when the superstar DJ stands alone." She concluded her review by saying that "if EDM is turning humans into robots, Daft Punk are working hard to make robot pop feel human again."  Several critics commented on the variety of content on the album. "NME" said, "There's a creeping notion that every musical idea that's ever been so much as thought up is on this album." In addition, "Random Access Memories" is ranked No. 497 on "NME"'s list, "The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time". Mark Richardson of "Pitchfork" echoed this sentiment, calling the record "a mix of disco, soft rock, and prog-pop, along with some Broadway-style pop bombast and even a few pinches of their squelching stadium-dance aesthetic". Richardson praised the engineering and recording on the album, but did say that "though everything about "RAM", from the session musicians to the guests to the means of production, is meant to sound more 'human,' the album at points sounds more sterile, almost too perfect." "Pitchfork" deemed the album the seventh best of 2013. "DJ Magazine" commented on the shift in Daft Punk's musical style: "While Daft Punk clearly want to move on and evolve, ditching the electronic beats, house and techno that first elevated them to fame, it's that music that forms the bedrock of their best tunes, and still, that's what they're best at making." "Resident Advisor" stated that "it's an album rooted in a now-ancient aesthetic: '70s staples, like crisply recorded California studio music, or the kind of deceptively sophisticated New York disco that, one of the album's key guest artists, popularized with Chic." In a five-star review, Heather Phares of AllMusic said that the record "taps into the wonder and excitement" of music from the 1970s and early 1980s. Phares concluded her review by saying, ""Random Access Memories" is also Daft Punk's most personal work, and richly rewarding for listeners willing to spend time with it."  Aaron Payne of musicOMH wrote, "Daft Punk somehow misplace the wit and the light touch that's pretty much their trademark. Instead, these long epics become somewhat tedious and there is a strong whiff of egoism and self-indulgence...At over 70 minutes, the album feels rather bloated. Quite a few of the songs are too long, or too empty of ideas, or too willing to repeat themselves, or too willing to play to type". Dan Weiss of "Paste" noted that "none of the admittedly eclectic pilferings of "Random Access Memories" challenge or defy anything. They all evoke specific eras of film soundtrack or disco trend. The beats have grown less, not more, complex over time."

Commercial performance.

"Random Access Memories" debuted at number one on the French Albums Chart with first-week sales of 195,013 copies (127,361 physical sales and 67,652 digital sales), earning Daft Punk their first number-one album in France. The next week, it sold 49,600 copies to remain at the top spot with a 75% sales decrease. The album secured a third consecutive week atop the French chart, withstanding a 29% sales drop to 35,500 copies.  "Random Access Memories" debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 165,091 copies sold in its first week, becoming the duo's first UK number-one album, as well as the second fastest-selling artist album of 2013 after One Direction's "Midnight Memories". The album remained at number one on the UK chart the following week, selling 52,801 copies. In its third week, it fell to number three on sales of 28,182 copies.  In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 with first-week sales of 339,000 copies, the duo's first number one album on the chart. The album

Personnel.

Adapted from

Release history.

On 23 March, the album became available for pre-order on the iTunes Store via digital download, revealing a release date of 17 May in Australia, 20 May in the United Kingdom, and 21 May in the United States. It later appeared as an Amazon.com pre-order on CD, vinyl and directly from the "Random Access Memories" official website. The album became available for preview streaming via the iTunes Store on 13 May 2013. It was also released for streaming on Spotify, with the lead single, "Get Lucky", topping Spotify's first digital streaming chart in the process.

Random Access Memories is the fourth studio album by French electronic duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 by Daft Life and Columbia Records. The album pays tribute to late 1970s and early 1980s American music, particularly from Los Angeles. This theme is reflected in the album's packaging, as well as its promotional campaign, which included billboards, television advertisements, and a web series. Recording took place at Henson Recording Studios, Conway Recording Studios and Capitol Studios in California, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Gang Recording Studio in Paris, France.

Random Access Memories ist das vierte Studioalbum des französischen Electronic-Duos Daft Punk. Es wurde am 17. Mai 2013 veröffentlicht und erreichte in den USA und den meisten Ländern Europas die Spitze der Charts. An der Produktion waren viele internationale Starmusiker beteiligt, darunter Panda Bear, Julian Casablancas, DJ Falcon, Chilly Gonzales, Giorgio Moroder, Nile Rodgers, Paul Williams und Pharrell Williams.


History.

A Colombian delegation attended the Olympic Games for the first time in the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles, with only one athlete: Jorge Perry. Perry sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee in January 1932 in which he introduces himself; described Colombia as "a little South American country aiming to grow its sporting structure and willing to be part of the olympic movement", and expressing his desire to take part in the then upcoming competition. The following month, Perry received an answer from the IOC. Fearful of being rejected, he slowly opened the letter. But surprisingly for him his request not only was accepted, but also help was offered for him before and during competition. On July 30, 1932, he paraded in the opening ceremony representing a country not affiliated to the IOC back then. He competed in the marathon, but after ten kilometers was unable to finish and the race was won by Argentina's Juan Carlos Zabala. Fourteen years later in 1946, Colombia's first olympian dies in Bogotá, 4 days after suffering a motorcycle accident near his native Samacá. For the 1936 edition of the Games, the Comité Olímpico Colombiano was already created and sent five athletes to compete in Berlin. After the controversial decision to replay a football match between Peru and Austria (after an adverse result for the Austrians), the Colombian delegation left the olympic village as a sign of support to the Peruvian team. After the conclusion of World War II, the 1948 London Olympics were held and the Colombian contingent for the first time included athletes from sports other than track and field, taking part in fencing and swimming. Due to financing problems and a then ongoing violent period, Colombia did not take part in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. For the Melbourne Games in 1956, the Colombian team expanded from a few competitors to 26 athletes, sending cyclists and weightlifters for the first time. Colombian athletes continued participating at the Olympics since then without missing a Summer edition of the Games, sending females athletes to compete for the first time at the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City.  Colombia won their first olympic medals at the Munich Olympics in 1972, forty years after making its debut in the games. The first one was a silver medal won by shooter Helmut Bellingrodt in the 50 metre running target event, both Clemente Rojas and Alfonso Pérez won each one a bronze medal in boxing at those games too, bringing the medal tally for the Colombian delegation to a total of three medals.  23 Colombian athletes competed in the 1980 Moscow Olympics but did not win any medals. Despite being a US historical ally, Colombia did not support the US-Led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Initially the then President of Colombia Julio Turbay supported the boycott, but the then president of Comité Olímpico Colombiano Fidel Mendoza did not abide the president's order and gave green light to 23 Colombian athletes to compete. Competing in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, shooter Helmut Bellingrodt won his second silver medal in the same event he won his first medal back in 1972, making him the first Colombian athlete to won two olympic medals; his medal was the only one the Colombian contingent won at those Games. At the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, another Colombian boxer won a bronze medal: Jorge Eliécer Julio made it to the Bantamweight category semifinals and faced Bulgaria's Aleksandar Khristov; the Colombian was seen as dominating his opponent, but in the end three out of five judges declared the Bulgarian as winner of the bout, prompting protests from fans who were attending the boxing competitions at that moment. Ximena Restrepo became the first Colombian woman to win an Olympic medal, by winning a bronze medal in the women's 400 m. at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. She found out she won a medal minutes later after crossing the line. Her 49.64 seconds mark still stands as the South American record for that event. The country failed to win a medal at the 1996 Centennial Olympics in Atlanta, although marathon runner Carlos Grisales ranked eleventh in the men's event, the highest position a Colombian athlete has ever achieved in an olympic marathon race so far. The story was different four years later in Sydney 2000, as Weightlifter María Isabel Urrutia won the nation's first olympic gold medal at the 75 kg. category. Urrutia lifted the same weight than silver and bronze medal winners Nigeria's Ruth Ogbeifo and Taiwan's Kuo Yi-hang respectively, but she won gold due her body weight being less than that of her rivals. Señal Colombia broadcast her victory and when the event ended, the narrators mistakenly believed she won bronze as they saw on screen the results of the clean and jerk phase. Seconds after, the final results were screened and they realized their error and Urrutia's accomplishment.  When the Olympic Games returned to Greece in Athens 2004, the Colombian delegation collected two bronze medals through weightlifter Mabel Mosquera and cyclist María Luisa Calle, who won Colombia's first olympic medal in Cycling. Calle was originally stripped of her medal after failing an antidoping test for heptaminol. She assured that hours before the race, she took an anti-migraine pill which contained isometheptene, a substance which transforms into heptaminol during laboratory analyses. The bronze medal she won in the women's points race was later returned, being one of a few cases in which IOC returned a medal stripped for doping. For the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the Colombian roster won two medals: weightlifter Diego Salazar won silver in the men's 62kg, and Jackeline Rentería won Colombia's first olympic medal in Wrestling, earning bronze in women's freestyle 55kg category. During a wave of retests in 2016, it was disclosed that original gold and bronze medalists in the women's weightlifting 69kg event failed an antidoping test; weightlifter Leidy Solís finished fourth in that event back in 2008. Later in January 2017 the disgraced aforementioned medalists were officially disqualified, meaning that Solís was upgraded to second place. She received her silver medal in December 2017. Colombia made its Winter Olympics debut in 2010 in Vancouver. US-born Swiss Skier Cynthia Denzler represented the country in the women's slalom and giant slalom. She ranked 51st in the slalom event. To participate at the 2012 Olympics, Colombia sent a delegation composed of 104 athletes; this was the first time a delegation exceeded one hundred participants. The performance of national athletes improved remarkably as well. The maximum number of medals won in one edition of the games was three, number reached at Munich 1972 and Beijing 2008. In London the Colombian contingent won eight medals in six different sports. BMX rider Mariana Pajón won Colombia's first golden medal since Sydney 2000. Cyclist Rigoberto Urán won silver in the men's road race, the first olympic medal in road cycling competitions for the country. Track and field athlete Caterine Ibargüen won silver in the women's triple jump, the first medal in Athletics since Barcelona 1992. Weightlifter Óscar Figueroa won also silver in the men's 62kg, setting an olympic record of 177 kg in the clean and jerk phase. Jackeline Rentería matched her performance in Beijing and won again a bronze medal, joining Helmut Bellingrodt as the only Colombian athletes to win two olympic medals. Carlos Oquendo also won bronze in the cycling men's bmx race, on the same day Pajón won gold in the women's race. The bronze medals won by Yuri Alvear in Judo and Óscar Muñoz Oviedo in Taekwondo, were the first olympic medals for Colombia in those sports. The Good Performance achieved in London 2012 continued and improved in Rio de Janeiro 2016. Competing at the first Olympic Games held in South America, Colombian athletes won three gold, two silver and three bronze medals, winning again a total of eight medals. Triple jump World champion Caterine Ibargüen won a gold medal in the women's event, the first olympic golden medal in Athletics for Colombia. Óscar Figueroa upgraded his silver medal to gold in the men's weightlifting 62kg category, keeping Colombia's good streak in Olympic Weightlifting since 2000 and becoming the first male Olympic champion for the country. Mariana Pajón became the first Colombian athlete to be Olympic gold medalist twice, as she won again the women's cycling bmx race. Judoka Yuri Alvear won silver in the women's 70kg event, improving her 2012 bronze medal. Ibargüen, Figueroa, Pajón and Alvear joined shooter Bellingrodt and wrestler Rentería as the only Colombian athletes to have won two Olympic Medals. Boxers Yuberjén Martínez and Ingrit Valencia won Colombia's first olympic medals in Boxing since Seoul 1988; Martínez won silver and Valencia earned bronze, making her the first Colombian female boxer to win an olympic medal. BMX rider Carlos Ramírez won bronze in the men's race. Weightlifter Luis Javier Mosquera originally finished fourth in the men's 69kg event, but was later awarded the bronze medal as original winner Kyrgyzstan's Izzat Artykov was disqualified after testing positive for the stimulant strychnine. After an absence of eight years, Colombia competed again at the Winter Olympics in 2018 in PyeongChang. The Colombian delegation was made up of athletes competing in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and ice speed skating, becoming in the first Latin American country to compete in the latter.  Colombia's most successful Olympic performances have been in weightlifting and cycling, with 6 medals, 2 gold in each.

Colombia first participated at the Olympic Games in 1932, and has sent athletes to compete in all but one edition of the Summer Olympic Games since then, missing only the 1952 Games. Colombian athletes have won a total of 28 Olympic medals (five gold, nine silver and fourteen bronze) in eight different sports, with weightlifting and cycling as the most successful ones. Colombia is the third most successful South American country at the Olympic Games, after Brazil and Argentina respectively. The Colombian Olympic Committee was created in 1936 and recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1948.

Kolumbien, dessen NOK, das Comité Olímpico Colombiano, 1936 gegründet wurde, schickte erstmals 1932 Sportler zu den Olympischen Sommerspielen. Bis auf 1952 nahm Kolumbien an allen folgenden Sommerspielen teil. 2010 wurde erstmals eine Delegation zu Winterspielen geschickt. Jugendliche Sportler nahmen an den beiden bislang ausgetragenen Jugend-Sommerspielen und an den Jugend-Winterspielen 2016 teil.


Plot and gameplay.

The player's character is a postal clerk in the small fishing village of Festeron. The cranky postmaster, Mr. Crisp, orders the player to deliver an important envelope to the proprietor of Ye Olde Magick Shoppe. The proprietor in question, a kindly old lady, then asks the player to rescue her cat from a mysterious sorceress known only as The Evil One. Stepping out of the store, the player finds that quaint Festeron has mysteriously been transformed into a more sinister town called Witchville. There are but a few hours to defeat The Evil One. The player soon finds the Wishbringer, a magical stone that can grant seven wishes if a suitable object is used in conjunction. To see the future, for example, the player must be wearing glasses and holding the stone. The seven wishes that can be granted by the stone are for advice, darkness, flight, foresight, freedom, luck, and rain. Each wish can only be used once per game, and requires that the player possess some related object.  A player can solve "Wishbringer" by using the wishing stone, then play it again without using it to get a higher score. A few Infocom games have puzzles with multiple solutions (for example, the "Loud Room" from "Zork"). However, "Wishbringer" has several such puzzles, many of which can be solved either in a straightforward (that is, non-magical) manner or by using one of the stone's wishes. The game can be successfully completed without using any wishes: At the Congratulations screen, the game informs the player of this fact, if the player had used any wishes. Conversely, it is impossible to finish the game using all of the stone's wishes (wishing for flight invariably causes the game to be lost.)

Development and release.

The work on "Wishbringer" began in 1984 when Infocom marketing requested an easy game to introduce customers to text adventures. Moriarty suggested adding a magic ring, then a magic rock, to the package, then began writing the game based on the rock. Because it sold well, Moriarty mentioned in July 1986 that a sequel was forthcoming, but none appeared.  The relations of the Wishbringer objects to the wishes are described in the feelies, as a form of copy protection. When Infocom games were later repackaged by Activision, the information in the feelies had to be reproduced in printed form. Included in the "Wishbringer" package are several items, which Infocom called feelies: a book, "The Legend of Wishbringer", that explains how the magic stone came to be (in the Solid Gold release, an in-game object included in the player's starting inventory instead of the packaging); the envelope and letter to be delivered to Ye Olde Magick Shoppe; a "postal zone map" of Festeron; and a plastic glow-in-the-dark replica of the stone.  "Wishbringer" was one of five top-selling titles to be re-released in Solid Gold versions including in-game hints. Craig Shaw Gardner novelized "Wishbringer" in the Infocom Book line.

Reception.

"Wishbringer" was very well received. Infocom sold about 75,000 copies in the first six months; it was the company's fifth best-selling game, selling about 150,000 copies in total.  According to "Your Computer", it is "all great stuff. Like all Infocom adventures, the prose is of the highest quality." "Commodore Power Play" reviewer called it "without a doubt, one of the top three beginner's interactive fiction games." "The Rainbow Magazine" wrote that it rated it 9.95 out of 10, while "Computer & Video Games" awarded it a perfect 10/10. Other review scores included a 92% from "Amstrad Action", an 88% from "CU Amiga", and an overall 85% from "Zzap!64".

Wishbringer: The Magick Stone of Dreams is an interactive fiction computer game written by Brian Moriarty and published by Infocom in 1985. It was intended to be an easier game to solve than the typical Infocom release and provide a good introduction to interactive fiction for inexperienced players, and was very well received.

Wishbringer (englisch für „Wunschbringer“) ist ein Fantasy-Textadventure von Infocom aus dem Jahre 1985. Es spielt im Zork-Universum und richtet sich im Gegensatz zu anderen Infocom-Spielen eher an Anfänger des Genres.


Career.

Professional.

Bentil began his playing career with Okwawu United, making his debut for the team aged 16, before scouts spotted him as he captained Ghana U-17 to victory at the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, scoring the decisive goal against Brazil in the final. He subsequently signed for famed German side Bayern Munich, but never made a first team appearance for the side in his three years there, playing instead for the reserve team, before being released in 2000.  Bentil spent the next few years bouncing around in Europe, playing for Kalamata in Greece, Alania Vladikavkaz in Russia, and Cherno More in Bulgaria, before heading to North America in 2006. He played with Los Angeles Galaxy's reserve team, before signing for Isidro Metapán in the Primera División de Fútbol de El Salvador, playing 33 matches before leaving at the end of the 2007 season.  Bentil tackled his fourth continent in 2007 when he signed for Vietnamese side Khatoco Khánh Hoà. He moved again in 2008 to play for Hapoel Nazareth Illit in Israel, and played the entire 2008–09 season for the team, before again leaving at the end of the year.  He returned to North America in 2010 and having been unable to secure a professional contract elsewhere, signed with the Hollywood United Hitmen of the USL Premier Development League for the 2010 PDL season. He scored a goal on his Hitmen debut on May 22, 2010, in a 3–3 tie with Fresno Fuego.

International.

Bentil was a member of various Ghanaian youth teams as a teenager. Playing alongside current senior international Stephen Appiah he captained the Ghana team that won the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Championship, scoring what turned out to be the winning goal in the 3–2 victory over Brazil in the final.

Mona von Bismarck ("née" Strader; February 5, 1897 – July 10, 1983), also known as Mona Bismarck, was an American socialite, fashion icon and philanthropist. Her five husbands included Harrison Williams, among the richest men in America, and Count Albrecht Eduard "Eddie" von Bismarck-Schönhausen, a grandson of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. She was the first American to be named "The Best Dressed Woman in the World" by a panel of top couturiers, including Coco Chanel, and she was also named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame.

Mona von Bismarck, "Mona Travis Strader" (* 5. Februar 1897 in Louisville, Kentucky; † 10. Juli 1983 in Paris) war eine US-amerikanische Philanthropin.


Plot.

Former UN employee Gerry Lane, his wife Karin and their two daughters are in heavy Philadelphia traffic when the city is overrun by zombies that are attracted to sound. As chaos spreads, the Lanes escape to Newark, New Jersey and take refuge in an apartment, home to a couple with a young son, Tommy. UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry Umutoni, an old friend of Gerry, sends a helicopter that extracts the Lanes and Tommy to a U.S. Navy vessel in the Atlantic Ocean where scientists and military personnel are analyzing the worldwide outbreaks. Andrew Fassbach, a young virologist, posits that the plague is a virus and that development of a vaccine depends on finding the origin. Gerry agrees to help Fassbach find the outbreak's source after it is made clear that the Lanes will be removed from the cramped ship if he is not of use.  Gerry, Fassbach, and a small military troop fly to Camp Humphreys, a military base in South Korea, whereby they're attacked on arrival by zombies. Turning to re-enter the aircraft, Fassbach slips, falls and accidentally shoots himself dead. After being rescued by the base's surviving personnel, led by Captain Speke, Gerry learns that the infection was introduced to the base by its doctor, who was ultimately incinerated by a soldier with a lame leg whom the infected ignored. A former CIA operative imprisoned at the base, for selling weapons to North Korea (later found out that to help them fight the infection), tells Gerry to go to Jerusalem, where he says a safe zone has been maintained by the Israeli Mossad since before the outbreak's official acknowledgement. As Gerry and his team return to their aircraft on bicycles, Karin—worried about her husband after he misses their pre-arranged call time—rings his satellite phone, alerting nearby zombies who kill several soldiers, with only Gerry and his pilot escaping.  In Jerusalem, Gerry meets Mossad chief Jurgen Warmbrunn, who explains that months earlier, the Mossad had intercepted an Indian military 'email' claiming that Indian troops were fighting the "rakshasa", or "zombies." Israel had thereupon quarantined Jerusalem, erecting huge walls around it. Just as Jurgen shows Gerry that Israel is allowing survivors to take refuge in the city, loud celebratory singing from refugees prompts zombies to scale the walls and attack. Jurgen orders some Israeli soldiers to escort Gerry back to his plane. On the way, Gerry notices zombies ignoring an old man and an emaciated boy. Soon after, one of Gerry's escorts, a soldier who identifies herself only as "Segen" (Lieutenant), is bitten in the hand, which Gerry quickly amputates to stop her from turning. Gerry and Segen escape on a commercial airliner as Jerusalem is overrun.  Gerry contacts Thierry, and the airliner is diverted to a World Health Organization (WHO) facility outside Cardiff, Wales. When a stowaway zombie attacks on approach to Cardiff airport, Gerry uses a grenade to blow the infected out of the aircraft, which also causes the plane to crash. Gerry is injured, but both he and Segen survive. They proceed to the WHO facility, where Gerry loses consciousness. He awakens 3 days later and explains to the remaining staff his theory, based on the people he's seen the zombies ignore: the infected don't bite the seriously injured or terminally ill since they would be unsuitable hosts for viral reproduction. He suggests that they test this by deliberately infecting somebody with a pathogen from the facility, but the pathogens are stored in a wing already overrun by zombies. Gerry, Segen and the lead WHO doctor go to get a pathogen. As they fight their way through, they get separated; Gerry continues to the pathogen vault while Segen and the doctor return to the main building. While inside the vault, after grabbing various diseases, a zombie is blocking the door, prompting Gerry to inject himself with an unknown pathogen and open the vault, thereby testing his own theory. The zombie ignores him, as do those he encounters while returning to the main building.  After being treated again by the WHO doctors Gerry, along with Segen, are reunited with his family in a Safe Zone at Freeport, Nova Scotia. Now a new "vaccine," derived from deadly pathogens, is developed and widely issued to survivors around the world battling or taking shelter from the infected, acting as a kind of camouflage. The vaccine also helps survivors to reach quarantine zones. Many people take up offensives against the zombies, and hope is soon restored.

Production.

Development.

After a bidding war with Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment secured the screen rights to the novel in 2007. The first screenplay was written by "Babylon 5" and "Rising Stars" creator J. Michael Straczynski, who identified the challenge in adapting the work as "creating a main character out of a book that reads as a UN report on the zombie wars." Marc Forster signed on to direct, and described the film as reminiscent of 1970s conspiracy thrillers like "All the President's Men". Straczynski identified 2002 spy film "The Bourne Identity" as an appropriate comparison, and noted that the film would have a large international scope which maintained the political emphasis. When asked about his involvement with the film, author Max Brooks stated that he had "zero control", but favored a role for Brad Pitt, and expressed approval for Straczynski as screenwriter. Brooks said: "I can't give it away, but Straczynski found a way to tie it all together. The last draft I read was amazing."  An early script was leaked onto the internet in March 2008, leading to a review by "Ain't It Cool News" which called it "[not] just a good adaptation of a difficult book [but] a genre-defining piece of work that could well see us all arguing about whether or not a zombie movie qualifies as 'Best Picture' material". The script was well-enough respected to find a place on the 2007 Black List of "most liked" screenplays not yet produced. The "Ain't It Cool News" review also noted the film appears stylistically similar to "Children of Men", following Gerry Lane as he travels the post-war world and interviews survivors of the zombie war who are "starting to wonder if survival is a victory of any kind." Straczynski had hoped that the film would begin production by the start of 2009. In March 2009, Forster said that the script was still in development and he was not sure if "World War Z" would be his next film. Later in March, rumors surfaced that production offices were set up and the film was in early pre-production. In June 2009, Marc Forster told an interviewer that the film would be delayed, stating that the film's script still needs a lot of development and is "still far from realization".  In July 2009, Brooks revealed that the script was being re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan. Brooks believed that this "show[ed] [the producer's] confidence in this project" because of the amount of money that was being invested in it. Paramount Pictures and UTV Motion Pictures announced at the 2010 Comic-Con that Forster was set as director, and Brad Pitt was confirmed to play the lead role. In March 2011, it was reported that Paramount was searching for co-financier, and would likely pull the plug on the adaptation without one. The article also stated that "an eleventh-hour effort is being made to court frequent Paramount co-financier David Ellison." A week later, it was reported that "hot and heavy talks are going on with David Ellison's Skydance and as many as two other financiers."

Pre-production.

Pre-production began in April 2011 with Robert Richardson announced as the cinematographer and Nigel Phelps as production designer. In the same month it was reported that filming locations would include Pinewood Studios and London, England. Also in April, Mireille Enos was cast as Gerry Lane's wife and mother of their two children. In June 2011, James Badge Dale entered negotiations to join the film as an American soldier who tries to alert authorities that the zombie threat is real. It was also reported that filming would begin in Malta in July 2011 and would encompass Valletta and The Three Cities. A few days later Matthew Fox and Ed Harris entered talks while Julia Levy-Boeken was set to join the film. It was also reported that filming would also take place in Glasgow, Scotland in August 2011. Glasgow would double as Philadelphia, "with false shop fronts being constructed and American cars on the roads." The city was reportedly chosen after "many months looking for the perfect city centre location to play an important part in the film." Philadelphia was passed on due to "uncertainties about state tax credits for filmmakers." Filming was originally planned to take place in Royal Tunbridge Wells, England before moving to Glasgow. Later in June, visual effects house Cinesite announced that it would work on "a significant amount of shots". At the end of the month it was reported that neither Matthew Fox nor Ed Harris would be starring in the film despite previous reports: Fox had a scheduling conflict stemming from his prior commitment to star in "Alex Cross" with Tyler Perry at Summit Entertainment. Fox was later spotted, filming scenes in Falmouth, Cornwall. Cinematographer Richardson reportedly had asked to leave the production.

Filming.

On a budget of $125 million, "World War Z" began principal photography in July 2011 in Malta, with the first images of production being released a few days later. Filming was scheduled to move to Glasgow, Scotland in August with the production company looking to recruit 2,000 local extras for the shoot. At least 3,000 people showed up at a casting call in Glasgow on July 9, hoping for the opportunity to appear in a scene set in a financial district in Philadelphia. Scenes were also shot in Falmouth, Cornwall. Also in July 2011, "Game of Thrones" actor Elyes Gabel was cast as a character named Fassbach.  In August 2011, Bryan Cranston entered negotiations to join the film in a "small but flashy" role but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. Also in August, filming was set to take place along a road on the perimeter of the Grangemouth Refinery in Grangemouth, Scotland. The location was chosen for the length of the road which is crucial to the shot. A few days later Paramount announced the film would be released on December 21, 2012. Later in the same month, filming began in Glasgow. The location manager for the film said Glasgow had been chosen because of its architecture, wide roads, and grid layout. Scenes were also filmed aboard the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship RFA "Argus", before the Glasgow shoot. The ship was turned into the "USS "Madison"", which involved stenciling a new pennant number on to the funnel, as well as adding some "Americanism" to the superstructure. Steven McMenemy, the "Argus"s navigator said, "The ship sailed and we were joined by four small catamarans which were being used as markers for the cameras, so that warships could be added in with CGI later." In October 2011, David Morse was cast as a "prisoner living in an abandoned jail."  The filmmakers initially intended to film a climactic battle scene set in Russia, and the crew moved to Budapest to film it there. Filming in Budapest commenced on the evening of October 10, 2011. That morning, the Hungarian Counter Terrorism Centre raided the warehouse where guns had been delivered for use as filming props. The 85 assault rifles, sniper rifles, and handguns had been flown into Budapest overnight on a private aircraft, but the film's producers had failed to clear the delivery with Hungarian authorities, and while the import documentation indicated that the weapons had been disabled, all were found to be fully functional. On February 10, 2012, the charges were dropped after investigators were unable to identify exactly which "organization or person" had "ownership rights"; therefore they could not "establish which party was criminally liable". Principal photography wrapped on November 4, 2011.

Post-production.

In June 2012, screenwriter Damon Lindelof was hired to rewrite the film's third act with reshoots scheduled to begin in September or October 2012. However, Lindelof, who also reworked "Prometheus" and co-wrote "Star Trek Into Darkness", did not have time to script the new ending and in July 2012, Paramount hired Lindelof's "Lost" partner, Drew Goddard. Lindelof explained there were inefficiencies in the script in relation to the shooting, which started before the script was finalized thus making the ending "abrupt and incoherent" and was missing a large chunk of footage. Lindelof presented two options to executives, who ultimately chose to shoot 30 to 40 minutes of additional footage to make a coherent ending. Goddard later told "Creative Screenwriting", "To me the big lesson of "World War Z" was that Paramount, Plan B and Brad Pitt simply said, 'Let's take the time to make this movie the best version of the movie before we put it on the screen for audience.' That doesn't happen a lot. A lot of times they just throw the movie out there and say, 'We'll make all our money opening weekend and then the movie will go away.' I came away from it thinking, 'Why don't we do this on more movies?'"  The re-shoots coupled with other overages caused the budget to balloon to around $190 million, which shocked Paramount president Marc Evans. Several of the scenes shot in Budapest, including a large-scale battle with the zombies in Moscow's Red Square, were dropped from the final cut in order to water down the film's political undertones, and steer it towards a more generally friendly summer blockbuster. The climactic battle scene in Russia, for which there was 12 minutes of footage, had Pitt's character fighting through zombies more like "a warrior hero" than "the sympathetic family man" of the earlier acts. The second-unit director, Simon Crane, said, "It wasn't character-driven anymore... [The filmmakers] really needed to think about what they wanted to do with the third act." Additional scenes were also filmed at the Pfizer building at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent for scenes where Gerry tries to find a cure for the zombie pandemic.  In March 2013, it was reported that Paramount changed a scene in the film in which the characters speculate that the zombie outbreak originated in mainland China in hopes of landing a distribution deal in the country. An executive familiar with upcoming releases in China later told "TheWrap" in June 2013 that a cut of the film was rejected by Chinese censors. A Paramount executive contended that he was "unaware of any rejection", explaining, "We have submitted one version and have yet to receive a response."

Music.

In December 2011, it was reported that Marco Beltrami had signed on to score "World War Z". In May 2013, the British rock band Muse posted a video on their YouTube channel, hinting that they would be contributing to the soundtrack of "World War Z"; the instrumental dubstep versions of the songs "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" and "Follow Me" (produced by the electronic band Nero) were used. In June, Warner Bros. Records released the soundtrack album for the film, which featured the original score composed by Beltrami.

Release.

"World War Z" was initially scheduled for release by Paramount and Skydance on December 21, 2012, but in March 2012 it was pushed back to June 21, 2013. Paramount elected to release "Jack Reacher" on the December 2012 date. The world premiere of "World War Z" was held at the Empire Cinema in Leicester Square, London on June 2, 2013. On June 6, Pitt attended screenings of the film in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and Austin all in one day. The film was chosen to open the 35th Moscow International Film Festival. "World War Z" was released exclusively to Glasgow's Grosvenor Cinema in Ashton Lane on June 19, two days before it was launched worldwide. Paramount spent $160 million marketing the film worldwide.

Reception.

Box office.

"World War Z" grossed $202.4 million in North America, and $337.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $540 million. "Variety" called it a "bona-fide box office hit", although "Deadline Hollywood" said that the film "barely broke even".  In North America, "World War Z" earned $25.2 million on its opening day, including $3.6 million from Thursday night and midnight shows. It went on to finish in second place behind "Monsters University" during its opening weekend with $66.4 million. It was the second-largest opening weekend for a film that did not debut in first place (behind "The Day After Tomorrow"), the largest opening weekend for a film starring Brad Pitt and the sixth-largest opening among films released in June.  In other territories, the film earned $5.7 million on its opening day (Thursday, June 20, 2013) and $45.8 million on its opening weekend, ranking in third place.

Critical response.

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, "World War Z" has a 66% approval rating, based on 273 reviews, with an average rating of 6.22/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It's uneven and diverges from the source book, but "World War Z" still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre." Metacritic, which uses a weighted mean, assigned a score of 63 out of 100, based on reviews from 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".  Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film a 3.5 out of 4, saying "It's entertaining as hell" and it provides "nearly non-stop action". Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film a 3 out of 4, saying that "the suspense is killer". Henry Barnes of "The Guardian" considered "World War Z" an "attempt at large-scale seriousness" in the zombie genre, which resulted in a "punchy, if conventional action thriller." Writing for "Variety", Scott Foundas thought the film to be a "surprisingly smart, gripping and imaginative addition to the zombie-movie canon", which shows "few visible signs of the massive rewrites, reshoots and other post-production patchwork." Todd McCarthy of "The Hollywood Reporter" opined that "Brad Pitt delivers a capable performance in an immersive apocalyptic spectacle about a global zombie uprising." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" said, "[It] does not try to extend the boundaries of commercial entertainment but does what it can to find interesting ways to pass the time within them." Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" remarked, ""World War Z" plays a bit like a series of separate films and the juncture where the new final act was grafted onto the proceedings is unmistakable, but unless you knew about the film's troubled past, you'd never guess it existed."  On the other hand, Joe Neumaier of the "New York Daily News" said that "World War Z" "is no summer thriller. It's an anemic actioner that fosters excitement like dead limbs as it lumbers toward a conclusion." Robbie Collin of "The Daily Telegraph" thought that the film had been affected by its troubled development, observing that "the final product has an elaborate uselessness about it", in a film that has "no heart to be found amid the guts." Alonso Duralde of "TheWrap" said, "For all its effectiveness at portraying the horror of possible human extinction, the film's actual humans are so soulless that this could just as well be the movie version of the video game "Plants vs. Zombies"."

Home media.

The film was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on September 17, 2013. The Blu-ray Disc contains an unrated cut. It adds seven minutes of additional footage featuring moderate amounts of blood, gore and violence. Some scenes already present in the theatrical cut are also extended.

Video games.

A video game tie-in survival horror game, "World War Z", was developed by Phosphor Games Studio and released for the iOS mobile platforms in May 2013. The game is a spin-off of the film, being set in Denver, Kyoto, and Paris, and featuring an entirely different set of characters.  In April 2019, Saber Interactive released a four-player video game, also named "World War Z", for PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One, which includes missions set around the world.

Cancelled sequel.

In January 2012, director Forster and Paramount said that "They each view "World War Z" as a trilogy that would have the grounded, gun-metal realism of Matt Damon's "Jason Bourne" series tethered to the unsettling end-times vibe of AMC's "The Walking Dead". Plans for future installments were shelved due to the film's production troubles.  In June 2013, after the successful opening of "World War Z", Paramount announced that it was moving ahead with a sequel. In December 2013, it was reported that Juan Antonio Bayona had been chosen to direct the film. In May 2014, Steven Knight was set to write the script. In May 2015, it was announced that the film would be released on June 9, 2017, but in January 2016, Paramount announced that director Bayona left the project due to other commitments. In August 2016, "Variety" reported that the film was not yet in production and that David Fincher had entered negotiations to be the director, and in April 2017 it was reported Fincher was close to a deal to sign on. On February 8, 2017, Paramount announced that the sequel has still not started filming and would not be released until 2018 or possibly even 2019.  In June 2017, Fincher was confirmed by Paramount as the director of the sequel, with Brad Pitt returning to his role. Filming was slated to start in fall of 2018, though this changed as Fincher was working on his television series, "Mindhunter". In October 2018, producer Dede Gardner confirmed that the sequel would begin filming in June 2019. However, in February 2019, the film was cancelled after several months of pre-production and staffing for principal photography in five countries. According to a source quoted by "The Hollywood Reporter", the Chinese government's ban on films featuring zombies or ghosts is the single biggest reason that Paramount canceled the sequel.

World War Z is a 2013 American apocalyptic action horror film directed by Marc Forster, with a screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Drew Goddard, and Damon Lindelof, from a screen story by Carnahan and J. Michael Straczynski, based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Max Brooks. The film stars Brad Pitt as Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop a zombie pandemic. The ensemble supporting cast includes Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, Ludi Boeken, Fana Mokoena, David Morse, Peter Capaldi, Pierfrancesco Favino, Ruth Negga, and David Andrews.

World War Z ist ein US-amerikanischer Actionfilm des deutsch-schweizerischen Regisseurs Marc Forster aus dem Jahr 2013. Der Film mit Brad Pitt und Mireille Enos in den Hauptrollen wurde von Plan B Entertainment produziert und basiert auf dem Buch "" (2006) von Max Brooks. Er feierte seine Premiere am 2. Juni 2013 in London. In Deutschland lief er am 27. Juni 2013 an.