Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

American Beauty

2011-01-06T23:04:54Z

Evarley: 'to have a breast augmentation' >> 'to undergo breast augmentation surgery'

{{Infobox Film
| name=American Beauty
| image=
| caption=
| director=Sam Mendes
| producer=Bruce Cohen Dan Jinks
| writer=Alan Ball
| narrator=Kevin Spacey
| starring=Kevin Spacey Annette Bening Thora Birch Wes Bentley
| music=Thomas Newman
| cinematography=Conrad L. Hall
| editing=Tariq Anwar Christopher Greenbury
| distributor=Dreamworks
| released=September 15, 1999
| runtime=122 minutes
| country=USA
| language=English
| budget=$15 million
| gross=$356,296,601
| preceded_by=
| followed_by=
| website=http://www.dreamworks.com/ab/
| amg_id=
| imdb_id=
}}
'''American Beauty''' is an American drama film directed by Sam Mendes and starring Kevin Spacey. It was written by Alan Ball, who also created and produced the television shows ''Six Feet Under'' and ''True Blood''. Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a 42-year-old office worker who undergoes a mid-life crisis and develops an obsession with his 16-year-old daughter Jane's best friend.

==Plot==
The film begins by introducing the audience to the Burnham family. Lester (Spacey) is a middle-aged advertising executive who despises his job and his boss. Carolyn (Bening) is an unsuccessful real-estate broker with high ambitions. Their daughter Jane (Birch) loathes her parents and has poor self-esteem; because of this, she is saving up her money from babysitting to undergo breast augmentation surgery. Their new neighbors are the Fitts, which consists of the retired USMC Colonel Frank (Chris Cooper), his dissociative wife Barbara (Allison Janney), and their son Ricky (Bentley).

Lester considers himself to be boring and a loser, at one point saying he feels "sedated." This changes when he and Carolyn attend a basketball game at Jane's school where she is performing in the half-time show. He meets Jane's best friend Angela (Mena Suvari) and becomes obsessed with her, experiencing strong sexual fantasies involving her and rose petals. After this, Lester becomes revitalized and quits his job after blackmailing his boss for $60,000. He becomes employed as a fry cook at a fast food restaurant, begins working out with hopes of impressing Angela, and smokes marijuana with Ricky.

At the same time, Carolyn and Jane both undergo life-changing events. Carolyn begins an affair with rival real estate agent Buddy Kane (Peter Gallagher), while Jane develops a romantic relationship with Ricky. However, the events soon take a turn for the worse. Lester discovers Carolyn's infidelity and reacts apathetically to it, which leads Buddy to suggesting that they break off the affair. Col. Fitts, suspicious of his son and Lester's relationship, discovers a video his son made of Lester working out in his garage naked. While observing the two smoking marijuana, he mistakenly assumes that they are having sex. When Ricky returns home, his father accuses him of being gay and kicks him out.

Ricky returns to the Burnham household and asks Jane to run away with him to New York City. She agrees, much to the discontent of Angela. Ricky and Jane argue with Angela, labeling her as "ordinary" and "boring, which causes her to storm out of the room. Lester is approached by a distraught Col. Fitts in his garage, who attempts to kiss him. Lester rejects him, telling him that he has the "wrong idea", leading to an ashamed Fitts returning home. During this time, Carolyn is observed sitting alone in her car angry and loading a gun that she had purchased earlier in the film.

Lester goes inside and finds Angela. After a brief conversation, Lester seduces her, but stops once he learns that she is a virgin. The two bond and share their frustrations with life. Angela leaves to go to the bathroom, and Lester gazes at a family portrait smiling. He is then suddenly shot and killed by an unknown perpetrator, with Ricky and Jane finding his body moments later.

The film ends with Lester looking back on his life. The actions of the characters before and after his death are intertwined during this scene. It is also revealed that it was Col. Fitts who murdered Lester. Lester's final words state that although he has died, he is happy because "there is so much beauty in the world."
==Reception==
The film was one of the most positively received movies of 1999. At the 72nd Academy Awards, it was nominated for eight awards, including Best Picture, Lead Actor (Spacey), Lead Actress (Bening), Director, Cinematography, Score, Editing, and Original Screenplay. It won in every category except for Best Score, Editing, and Lead Actress.
==Links==
*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169547/ American Beauty] at IMDB.com

Trainspotting

2011-01-06T23:01:12Z

Evarley: minor alterations and additions to previous work

'''''Trainspotting''''' (1996) is a [[British]] film based on the novel by [[Irvine Welsh]], depicting the lives of a group of young men in seedy, 'wrong side of the tracks' [[Edinburgh]] as they are destroyed by heroin addiction. The film is notorious for its depiction of the Edinburgh drugs scene, and its plot, portraying the ostensible efforts of antihero Renton to escape that milieu. The drug scenes are constructed and filmed in brilliant colour, to emphasise the 'highs' that they supposedly provide, by contrast with the depiction of clean, everyday life as grim and colourless. The film's most cited line emphasizes its cynical promotion of drugs, by depicting 'life' as an endless cycle of suburban boredom: ''Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?''<ref>Metaphilm.com, ''Trainspotting, Addicted to Denial, If a train is heading toward you, ignorance does not lead to bliss.'', by Adam Dobson, retrieved 10/24/08[http://metaphilm.com/philm.php?id=480_0_2_0_M/]</ref>

The film's opening song, ''Lust for Life'', was performed by influential punk rocker [[Iggy Pop]], who has struggled with [[heroin]] addiction himself.<ref>NNDB, ''Iggy Pop'', retrieved 10/24/08[[http://www.nndb.com/people/520/000024448/#FN1]</ref> The lyrics include the lines ''"Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk / No more beating my brains / No more beating my brains / With liquor and drugs / With liquor and drugs."''<ref>LyricsMode.com, ''Lust For Life lyrics by Iggy Pop'', retrieved 10/24/08[http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/i/iggy_pop/lust_for_life.html]</ref> The song was number ten on UGO's list of the Top 11 Uses Of Classic Rock In Cinema.<ref>UGO.com, ''Top 11 Uses Of Classic Rock In Cinema, 10. "Lust For Life" by Iggy Pop in Trainspotting'', retrieved 10/24/08[http://www.ugo.com/filmtv/top11-classicrock/?cur=trainspotting#top]"Despite protestations from the filmmakers and the inclusion of a horrific detox scene, Trainspotting makes being a Scottish junkie look totally awesome. Why? Because when you run from the cops, smash into cars and the movie freeze-frames to show your nickname you have "Lust For Life" thumping underneath."</ref>

Defenders of [[Hollywood values]] cite this movie as an example of Hollywood telling the truth about the harm caused by drugs, but it shows "cool" people engaging in drugs and enjoying it. This movie, like most Hollywood representation of drug use, portrays the users as sympathetic victims rather than as the perpetrators of evil. For example, the single mother Lesley who eventually lets her baby die from cot death and suggested neglect. Presidential candidate Bob Dole said the film "glorified heroin"<ref>The Aisle Seat - "Trainspotting", by Mike McGranaghan [http://www.angelfire.com/pa/aisleseat/transpot.html]</ref> (though he later admitted he had not seen the movie).<ref>Salon.com, ''The fall and fall of Bob Dole, Old soldiers never die, but they can get beaten up really badly'', by Andrew Ross, Sep 19, 1996[http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/1996/09/19/news/]</ref>

In an interesting review, critic Roger Ebert said "The movie has been attacked as pro-drug and defended as anti-drug, but actually it is simply pragmatic. It knows that addiction leads to an unmanageable, exhausting, intensely uncomfortable daily routine, and it knows that only two things make it bearable: a supply of the drug of choice, and the understanding of fellow addicts."<ref>''Trainspotting'', BY ROGER EBERT, July 26, 1996 [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19960726/REVIEWS/607260303/1023]</ref>

Despite the name, ''Trainspotting'' does not have anything directly to do with the hobby of train spotting, in which railfans keep track of the rolling stock they've seen.<ref>eHow.com, ''How to Go Trainspotting'', retrieved 10/24/08[http://www.ehow.com/how_2247294_go-trainspotting.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art]</ref> The name refers to a scene in the original novel that describes the main protagonists encounter with his drunkard father in a train station which highlights the importance of family values in bringing up stable and healthy members of society. This scene was not included in the film.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Cinema]]

"Big Bill" Haywood

2011-01-06T22:41:19Z

Evarley: grammatical error

'''William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood''' (1869-1928) was the founder in 1905 of the [[Industrial Workers of the World]] (IWW), nicknamed the "Wobblies".<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/d_h/haywood.htm William "Big Bill" Haywood] (1869-1928), ''The West'' (PBS)</ref>

Before founding the IWW, Haywood, an avowed atheist<ref>J. Anthony Lukas, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=d07IME-ezzQC Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America]'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998) ISBN 0684846179, p. 236</ref> and Communist,<ref>Jamie H. Cockfield, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LkiUgn3MTmEC Black Lebeda: The Russian Famine Diary of ARA Kazan District Supervisor J. Rives Childs, 1921-1923]'' (Mercer University Press, 2006), ISBN 088146015X, p. 91, fn. 50</ref> was secretary-treasurer of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), to whom he suggested in 1899 that they had a right to steal gold because the nation's wealth belonged to those who produced it.<ref>Douglas Linder, [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haywood/HAY_WFM.HTM Western Federation of Miners, Bill Haywood Trial, Famous Trials</ref>

That year, while the Idaho state militia was in the Philippines, the WFM struck, seizing a Northern Pacific train and 400 pounds of dynamite. The mob, estimated at 1,000 men, many armed and masked, shot and killed two men, and blew up two mines,<ref>James H. Peabody, "Gov. Peabody to the Voters," in ''[http://ia311535.us.archive.org/3/items/criminalrecordof00mineiala/criminalrecordof00mineiala.pdf Criminal Record of the Western Federation of Miners]'' (Colorado Springs: Colorado Mine Operators' Association, 1904), p. 3 (PDF p. 9)</ref> causing $250,000 in damages,<ref>Various authors, ''[http://ia311311.us.archive.org/3/items/illustratedhisto00lewi/illustratedhisto00lewi_bw.pdf Illustrated History The State Of Idaho]'' (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1899), pp. 438-439</ref> equivalent to more than $5 million today.<ref>[http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl Inflation Calculator], Bureau of Labor Statistics</ref> In the absence of the militia, Governor Frank Steunenberg appealed to President William McKinley for Federal assistance. The U.S. Army sent 400 troops of the 24th Infantry and Fourth Cavalry (mostly African-Americans),<ref>Haywood complained of alleged "outrages that were perpetrated there by the Negro soldiers." J. Anthony Lukas, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=d07IME-ezzQC Big Trouble: A Murder in a Small Western Town Sets Off a Struggle for the Soul of America]'' (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998) ISBN 0684846179, p. 699</ref> under Brigadier General H.C. Mirriam,<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E04EFDF1430E132A25757C0A9639C94689ED7CF Wardner Rioters Arrested]," ''The New York Times'', May 4, 1899</ref> who placed Shoshone County under martial law, served warrants on hundreds of rioters, and quelled the violence.<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D0DE7DE1430E132A25756C0A9639C94689ED7CF Search for Wardner Rioters]," ''The New York Times'', May 5, 1899</ref>

Steunenberg retired at the end of his term in 1901, but was assassinated in 1905 by a bomb planted at his home. Within hours and confronted with overwhelming evidence, former miner Albert E. Horsley (alias Thomas Hogan and Harry Orchard) confessed to the murder,<ref>Jan Boles, [http://www.collegeofidaho.edu/aboutaci/archives/GLC/default.asp?ID=about Selections from the George L. Crookham, Jr., Papers], The Robert E. Smylie Archives, The College of Idaho</ref> implicating Haywood as a co-conspirator.<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F04E0D91E30E233A25754C0A9609C946697D6CF Orchard Tells Story of Bomb]", ''The New York Times'', June 7, 1907</ref> Horsley's partner Steve Adams also confessed<ref>"Idaho's Great Trial About to Begin," ''The New York Times'', April 21, 1907</ref> but later recanted and disappeared.<ref>Hon. Ronald J. Wilper, "Trial Judge Fremont Wood: He Declared the Law as He Found It," [http://isb.idaho.gov/pdf/advocate/adv06dec.pdf ''The Advocate'', December 2006], p. 18</ref> Haywood was indicted and tried in 1907 for conspiracy to commit murder.<ref>"[http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B07E4D9133EE033A25750C2A9609C946697D6CF The State's Case Against Haywood]," ''The New York Times'', June 23, 1907</ref> He was represented by perhaps the greatest murder defense lawyer of his time,<ref>"[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0418.html Clarence Darrow Is Dead in Chicago]," ''The New York Times'', March 14, 1938</ref> Clarence Darrow.<ref>Douglas Linder, [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haywood/HAY_SUMD.HTM Excerpts from Darrow's Summation in the Haywood Trial], Bill Haywood Trial, Famous Trials</ref> Haywood was acquitted, after the judge instructed the jury, "under the statutes of this state, a person cannot be convicted of a crime upon testimony of an accomplice, unless such accomplice is corroborated by other evidence."<ref>[http://law.jrank.org/pages/2759/William-Big-Bill-Haywood-Trial-1907-Haywood-Goes-Free.html Haywood Goes Free], William "Big Bill" Haywood Trial: 1907, Notable Trials and Court Cases - 1883 to 1917, Law Library - American Law and Legal Information, jrank.org</ref>

Haywood meanwhile had left the WMF to found the IWW.<ref>Harry Orchard, ''[http://ia311533.us.archive.org/2/items/confessionsautob00horsuoft/confessionsautob00horsuoft.pdf The Confessions and Autobiography of Harry Orchard]'' (New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1907), p. 192 (PDF p. 224)</ref> [[Image:American-cities-125.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Bombing of the Federal building, Chicago, moments after [[#refNARAcities|95 Wobblies]] were convicted there, 1918. ''Source: National Archives and Records Administration'']]During World War I, the IWW tried to sabotage the U.S. war effort. All leading Wobblies were arrested by the [[Woodrow Wilson|Wilson Administration]] under the [[Sedition Act of 1918]] and went to prison. Moments after the sentencing of [[#refNARAcities|95 Wobbies]] (including Haywood) at the Chicago Federal Building in 1918, a bomb ripped through the building, killing four.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9502E2DB1439E13ABC4D53DFBF668383609EDE IWW Bomb Kills Four in Chicago]," ''The New York Times'', September 5, 1918; Charles Howard McCormick, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=Vcvhrdr6drgC Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers]'' (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 2005) ISBN 0761831320, pp. 31-31</ref> Out on appeal in 1921, Haywood fled to [[Moscow]], where he became a trusted adviser to the [[Bolshevik]] government.<ref>Douglas Linder (2003), [http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/haywood/HAY_BHAY.HTM William D. Haywood], Famous Trials (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law)</ref>

In 1921, after the [[Bolsheviks]] [http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mhuey/TOC/KRN.frame.html brutally] [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B05EED8133CE533A25752C1A9659C946095D6CF crushed] a [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=23572 wave of strikes], Haywood betrayed the workers, saying, "every genuine labor union in the United States ought to affiliate with the International Council of Trade and Industrial Unions with its central bureau [http://www.marxists.org/archive/eastman/1921/bill-haywood.htm at Moscow]." Later renamed the World Federation of Labor Unions, this was the phony "union" created and controlled by the [[Kremlin]] to [http://www.cultinfo.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/093/699.htm suppress workers' rights] in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>Israel Getzler, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qK3m05CQhT4C Kronstadt 1917-1921: The Fate of a Soviet Democracy]'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002) ISBN 0521894425, p. 233</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Labor Union Leaders]]
[[Category:Communism]]