title: The Lego Movie

text: Warner Home Video released "The Lego Movie" for digital download, and on DVD and Blu-ray on June 17, 2014. At the same time, a special Blu-ray 3D "Everything is Awesome Edition" also includes an exclusive Vitruvius minifigure and a collectible 3D Emmet photo.


title: The Lego Movie

text: "The Lego Movie" grossed $257.8 million in the United States and Canada and $210.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $468.1 million. "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the film's net profit as $229million, accounting for production budgets, marketing, talent participations, and other costs; box office grosses and home media revenues placed it third on their list of 2014's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".


title: The Lego Movie

text: In the United States and Canada, exit polling showed extensive diverse attraction across a variety of audiences; Caucasians making up 64 percent, Hispanic 16 percent, African-American 12 percent, and Asian 8 percent, with a total of 41 percent being under the age of 18. "The Lego Movie" was released with "The Monuments Men" and "Vampire Academy" on February 7, 2014. It earned $17.2 million on its first day, including $425,000 from Thursday night previews. During its opening weekend, the film earned $69.1 million from 3,775 theaters. This made it the second-highest February opening weekend, behind "The Passion of the Christ". Its second weekend earnings dropped by 28 percent to $49.8 million, and followed by another $31.3 million the third weekend. "The Lego Movie" completed its theatrical run in the United States and Canada on September 4, 2014.


title: The Lego Movie

text: Worldwide, "The Lego Movie" earned $69.1 million in its opening weekend in 34 markets. On its opening weekend elsewhere, the top countries were the United Kingdom ($13.4 million), Australia ($5.7 million), Russia ($3.9 million), Mexico ($3.8 million), and France ($3.1 million). The film had the strongest start for a non-sequel animated film in the United Kingdom ahead of "The Simpsons Movie" and "Up". It would remain as the country's highest opening weekend for a 2014 film until it was surpassed by "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" that spring. , its top international markets were the United Kingdom ($57 million), Australia ($20 million), and Germany ($13.1 million).


title: The Lego Movie

text: "The Lego Movie" was met with universal acclaim. The critical consensus reads, "Boasting beautiful animation, a charming voice cast, laugh-a-minute gags, and a surprisingly thoughtful story, "The Lego Movie" is colorful fun for all ages." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Lego Movie

text: Michael Rechtshaffen of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "Arriving at a time when feature animation was looking and feeling mighty anemic..."The LEGO Movie" shows 'em how it's done", with Peter Debruge of "Variety" adding that Lord and Miller "irreverently deconstruct the state of the modern blockbuster and deliver a smarter, more satisfying experience in its place, emerging with a fresh franchise for others to build upon". Susan Wloszczyna of "RogerEbert.com" gave the film four stars out of four, writing, "It still might be a 100-minute commercial, but at least it's a highly entertaining and, most surprisingly, a thoughtful one with in-jokes that snap, crackle and zoom by at warp speed." Tom Huddleston of "Time Out" said, "The script is witty, the satire surprisingly pointed, and the animation tactile and imaginative." Drew Hunt of the "Chicago Reader" said the filmmakers "fill the script with delightfully absurd one-liners and sharp pop culture references", with A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" noting that, "Pop-culture jokes ricochet off the heads of younger viewers to tickle the world-weary adults in the audience, with just enough sentimental goo applied at the end to unite the generations. Parents will dab their eyes while the kids roll theirs."


title: The Lego Movie

text: Claudia Puig of "USA Today" called the film "a spirited romp through a world that looks distinctively familiar, and yet freshly inventive". Liam Lacey of "The Globe and Mail" asked, "Can a feature-length toy commercial also work as a decent kids' movie? The bombast of the "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers" franchises might suggest no, but after an uninspired year for animated movies, "The Lego Movie" is a 3-D animated film that connects." Joel Arnold of NPR acknowledged that the film "may be one giant advertisement, but all the way to its plastic-mat foundation, it's an earnest piece of work—a cash grab with a heart". Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" called the film "sassy enough to shoot well-aimed darts at corporate branding". Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" said that, "While clearly filled with affection for—and marketing tie-ins to—the titular product that's front and center, it's also something of a sharp plastic brick flung in the eye of its corporate sponsor." Moira MacDonald of "The Seattle Times", while generally positive, found "it falls apart a bit near the end". Alonso Duralde of "The Wrap" said the film "will doubtless tickle young fans of the toys. It's just too bad that a movie that encourages you to think for yourself doesn't follow its own advice."


title: The Lego Movie

text: "The Lego Movie" was included on a number of best-of lists. It was listed on many critics' top ten lists in 2014, ranking fifteenth. Several publications have listed the film as one of the best animated films, including: "Insider", "USA Today" (2018), "Rolling Stone" (2019), "Parade", "Time Out New York", and "Empire" (all 2021). The film was also named by filmmaker Edgar Wright and "Time" film critic Richard Corliss as one of their favorite films of 2014 and acclaimed actress Tilda Swinton named it her favorite film of 2014.


title: The Lego Movie

text: Conservative political commentator Glenn Beck praised the film for avoiding "the double meanings and adult humor I just hate". Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris referenced "The Lego Movie" not being nominated for Best Animated Feature, which many critics considered a snub, saying prior to the award's presentation, "If you're at the Oscar party with the guys who directed 'The Lego Movie,' now would be a great time to distract them."


title: The Lego Movie

text: U.S. Senator Ron Johnson criticized the film's anti-corporate message, saying that it taught children that "government is good and business is bad", citing the villain's name of Lord Business. "That's done for a reason", Johnson told WisPolitics.com, "They're starting that propaganda, and it's insidious". The comments were criticized by many, and Russ Feingold brought up the comments on the campaign trail during his 2016 Senate bid against Johnson.


title: The Lego Movie

text: At the 87th Academy Awards, "The Lego Movie" received a nomination for Best Original Song. The film's other nominations include six Annie Awards (winning one), a British Academy Film Award (which it won), two Critics' Choice Movie Awards (winning one), and a Golden Globe Award. "The Lego Movie" was selected by the National Board of Review as one of their top choices for the organization's annual , while winning Best Animated Film.


title: The Lego Movie

text: In 2014, an adventure video game, "The Lego Movie Videogame", was released for multiple platforms. "Lego Dimensions" (2015) features characters from several media franchises, including "The Lego Movie". "" is a 4-D film at Legoland Florida, that has been in operation since 2016. Written and directed by Rob Schrab, the 12-minute attraction stars A. J. Locascio as Emmet, with Banks, Brie, Day, and Offerman reprising their respective roles; while Patton Oswalt plays President Business's brother, Risky Business.


title: The Lego Movie

text: Warner Bros. released two spin-offs in 2017: "The Lego Batman Movie" and "The Lego Ninjago Movie". Both films set in different universes apart from "The Lego Movie" one. "The Lego Batman Movie" was considered a success, while "The Lego Ninjago Movie" was a failure. A television series "Unikitty!" (2017–2020) focuses on the eponymous character (Tara Strong) and her friends. "The Lego Movie" was followed by "" in 2019. Following the financial failures of both "The Lego Ninjago Movie" and "The Lego Movie 2", Universal Pictures set a five-year film deal with The Lego Group.


title: Martin Scorsese filmography

text: Martin Scorsese (born 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and film historian whose career spans more than fifty years. Scorsese has directed twenty-five feature length narrative films and sixteen feature-length documentary films to date.


title: Martin Scorsese filmography

text: His films "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas" are often cited among the greatest films ever made.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda Carlisle on lead vocals, Gina Schock on drums, Kathy Valentine on bass guitar, and Jane Wiedlin on rhythm guitar. They are widely considered the most successful all-female rock band of all time.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The quintet emerged from the L.A. punk rock scene of the late 1970s and in 1981 released their debut album "Beauty and the Beat". The LP topped the "Billboard" album chart – a (still-unequaled) first for an all-female band writing their own material and playing their own instruments. "Beauty and the Beat" is considered one of the "cornerstone albums of US new wave" (AllMusic), having broken barriers and paved the way for a host of other new American acts. It yielded two of the Go-Go's four biggest Hot 100 hits – "Our Lips Are Sealed" (no. 20) and "We Got the Beat" (no. 2) – and, after a long and steady climb, reached number one in the chart dated March 6, 1982. The album stayed at the top for six consecutive weeks, eventually selling more than two million copies. The group, credited as simply Go-Go's on all of their US releases, was nominated for the Best New Artist award at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: The Go-Go's

text: Two more albums followed: "Vacation" (1982) — whose title track reached no. 8 on "Billboard's" Hot 100 — and "Talk Show" (1984), which included the hits "Head over Heels" (no. 11) and "Turn to You" (no. 32). The Go-Go's have sold more than seven million records worldwide.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The Go-Go's broke up in 1985, with each member embarking on a solo career, and Carlisle being the most successful, having several top-5 singles through the late 1980s. They have reconvened several times starting in the 1990s, releasing a new album in 2001, "God Bless the Go-Go's", and touring. They received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. Though the band's 2016 performances were billed as a farewell tour, the band remains active on an ad hoc basis. "Head Over Heels", a musical featuring the songs of the Go-Go's, ran on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre from 2018 to 2019. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021.


title: The Go-Go's

text: Formed in Los Angeles in 1978, the Go-Go's initially consisted of Belinda Carlisle (vocals), Jane Wiedlin (guitar, background vocals), Margot Olavarria (bass), and Elissa Bello (drums).


title: The Go-Go's

text: They were formed as a punk band and had roots in the L.A. punk community. They shared a rehearsal space with the Motels and Carlisle. Under the name "Dottie Danger", Belinda Carlisle had briefly been a member of punk rock band the Germs. After she became temporarily ill, she separated from the Germs before ever playing a gig.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The band began playing gigs at punk venues such as The Masque and the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles and the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco alongside bands such as X, Fear, the Plugz and the Controllers. Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar, keyboards, background vocals) was added later in 1978, and in the summer of 1979, Gina Schock replaced Bello on drums. With these lineup changes, the group began moving towards their more-familiar power pop sound.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The group frequently met at a Denny's on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and it was there they chose the band's name.


title: The Go-Go's

text: During late 1979, the band recorded a five-song demo at Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, and in 1980, they supported the British ska revival groups Madness and The Specials in both Los Angeles and England. The Go-Go's subsequently spent half of 1980 touring England, earning a sizable following and releasing the demo version of "We Got the Beat" on Stiff Records, which became a minor UK hit.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In December 1980, original bassist Olavarria fell ill and was replaced with Kathy Valentine, who had played guitar in bands such as Girlschool and the Textones. Valentine had not previously played bass guitar. Carlisle also related in her autobiography, "Lips Unsealed", that according to the band's view, another reason for Olavarria's dismissal from the Go-Go's was that she frequently missed rehearsals, due largely to her dissatisfaction with the band's move away from punk and toward pop. In late 1982, Olavarria sued the remaining members of the band for wrongful removal. The lawsuit was settled in 1984. Olavarria later joined Martin Atkins' band Brian Brain.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The Go-Go's signed to I.R.S. Records in April 1981. The following year, they toured with The Police on the Ghost in the Machine Tour. Their debut album, "Beauty and the Beat", was a surprise hit: it topped the U.S. charts for six weeks in 1982 and eventually received a double platinum certification. The album was also a success outside the U.S. charting at No. 2 in Canada, where it received a platinum certification, and No. 27 in Australia. In 2003, the album was ranked No. 413 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. "Our Lips Are Sealed" and a new version of "We Got the Beat" were popular singles in North America in early 1982. During this period, the Go-Go's started building a fanbase.


title: The Go-Go's

text: The follow-up album, "Vacation", received mixed reviews and sold less than "Beauty and the Beat". However, the album was certified gold in the U.S. and spawned another Top 10 U.S. hit with the title track. Other singles released from the album were "Get Up and Go" and "This Old Feeling", neither of which made it into the Top 40. In 1983, "Vacation" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Packaging. During the album's promotion, the group went on hiatus when Schock underwent surgery for a congenital heart defect.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 1984, the group returned with the Martin Rushent-produced album "Talk Show". The album tracks "Head over Heels" and "Turn to You" were both Top 40 hits in the US. Despite the favorable reception, the album sold less than the previous two, not reaching the top 10 and not receiving any certification.


title: The Go-Go's

text: Personality conflicts and creative differences within the group were also taking a toll, as were drug addiction problems for some band members. Wiedlin announced her departure from the group in October 1984. The band sought a replacement, selecting Paula Jean Brown (of Giant Sand) as their new bass guitarist, with Valentine moving to rhythm guitar. This lineup debuted at the 1985 Rock in Rio festival, playing two shows, but Carlisle and Caffey soon realized their hearts were no longer in the group and decided to disband the Go-Go's in May 1985.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 1990, the Go-Go's classic lineup (Caffey, Carlisle, Schock, Valentine, and Wiedlin) reunited to play a benefit concert for the California Environmental Protection Act, a 1990 ballot initiative. The band also entered the studio with producer David Z to re-record a cover of "Cool Jerk" for a greatest hits compilation.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 1994, the same lineup got together again to release a two-disc retrospective entitled "Return to the Valley of The Go-Go's", featuring three new recordings. The single "The Whole World Lost Its Head" peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts and "bubbled under" on the US charts at No. 108, and became the band's first and only Top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at No. 29. The band toured again to promote the release; ex-Bangle Vicki Peterson stood in on several dates for Caffey, who was pregnant.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 1997, Schock sued the other members of the group, claiming that she had not been properly paid for her contributions since 1986 and that a songwriting agreement with Caffey had been breached. The suit was resolved by 1999 and the Go-Go's toured regularly from 1999 onward.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 2001, the band (still with the "classic" lineup) released an album of new material, "God Bless the Go-Go's". Green Day's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong co-wrote the only released single, "Unforgiven", which peaked at No. 22 on Billboard's Adult Top 40 chart. The album was well received by critics and peaked at number No. 57 in the "Billboard" 200 chart. The band also released a DVD of their reunion concert in Central Park.


title: The Go-Go's

text: Also in 2001, the Go-Go's, along with artists Elton John, Billy Joel, David Crosby and Paul Simon, performed at the concert "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson" at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by the TNT network.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 2002 the Go-Go's recorded the theme song for the WB comedy series "Do Over." Written by Charlotte Caffey, Kathy Valentine, and Jane Wiedlin, the track was recorded in Los Angeles for the show, which premiered on Sept. 19 on the network.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In February 2010, Carlisle announced that the 2010 tour would be billed as the "Farewell Tour", but this tour was cancelled when Wiedlin injured her knee while hiking near her home in Northern California, requiring surgery and up to a year of recovery time.


title: The Go-Go's

text: After 2010, the idea of a farewell tour seemed to have been abandoned, with the Go-Go's touring frequently. In 2011, the Go-Go's announced the "Ladies Gone Wild" tour to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of "Beauty and the Beat". They toured the US in 2012, with Abby Travis subbing for an injured Valentine during the latter part of the tour.


title: The Go-Go's

text: On March 8, 2013, the group's official website said "irreconcilable differences" had led to the departure of bassist Valentine. On May 24, Valentine sued her former bandmates for "breach of fiduciary duty and abuse of control...in an attempt to deprive [her] of her position and interest in the group". Officially a quartet (Caffey, Carlisle, Schock, and Wiedlin—Travis continued to play bass, but was not an official group member), the Go-Go's continued on, playing a series of tour dates in 2013 and 2014, including several double bills with the B-52's.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 2014, the band was inducted in the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame. That same year, the lawsuit that Valentine brought against her former bandmates was settled out of court.


title: The Go-Go's

text: On March 21, 2016, plans for a Go-Go's farewell tour (minus Valentine) were officially announced. A band statement said: "After a 38-year run, we are gearing up for one last blast of a summer tour".


title: The Go-Go's

text: Valentine rejoined the band to perform their first show together as a quintet in six years at New York's Bowery Ballroom on January 31, 2018, to announce the Broadway dates of their new musical, "Head Over Heels". The new musical—which premiered at New York's Hudson Theatre in the summer of 2018—features the band's hits (including "Get Up and Go" and "Lust to Love") as well as Carlisle's solo hits "Mad About You" and "Heaven Is a Place on Earth". The musical had a preview at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In 2020, a documentary movie about the band premiered at Sundance, directed by Allison Ellwood after the band saw her work on the 2013 "History of the Eagles" documentary. In the US, the movie was seen on television on Showtime. The documentary features the formation and rise of the band through the 1980s breakup, skipping the lawsuits and reunions through the 1990s-2010s, ending with a 2019 reunion. On July 31, 2020, the Go-Go's released their first new song in 19 years, "Club Zero", which is featured in the documentary.


title: The Go-Go's

text: In January 2020 the band, which will include Kathy Valentine, announced an 11-date reunion tour scheduled to begin in June 2020 however in May 2020 the tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: The Go-Go's

text: On October 30, 2021, the band was inducted by longtime fan Drew Barrymore into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


title: The Go-Go's

text: On December 14, 2021, the band performed a special show, with a majority of the audience being contest winners, at the Whisky a Go Go to celebrate their induction. Clem Burke filled in on drums for Gina Schock. On December 27, 2021, the band postponed a short West Coast tour scheduled for the first week of January 2022 due to a COVID-19 case involving someone on the tour.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Ezra Michael Koenig ( ; born April 8, 1984) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and internet radio personality. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additionally, Koenig is the creator of the Netflix animated comedy series "Neo Yokio" and also hosts the Apple Music radio talk show "Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig. Time Crisis" is airing its eighth season, as of 2022.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Over his career Koenig has received many accolades, including five Grammy Award nominations for his work with Vampire Weekend in 2010, 2013 and 2019 (including Album of the Year), with wins in 2013 and 2019 for Best Alternative Music Album. He was also nominated for Album of the Year in 2016 for his production work on Beyoncé's album, "Lemonade".


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Koenig was born in New York City and is the son of Bobby Bass, a psychotherapist, and Robin Koenig, a set dresser on film and TV productions. He is Jewish, and his family emigrated to the U.S. from Romania and Hungary. His parents lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan before moving to Glen Ridge, New Jersey shortly after their son's birth. He graduated from Glen Ridge High School. Koenig has a younger sister, Emma Koenig (born 1988), who is the author of the books "FUCK! i'm in my twenties" and "Moan", and has written for television and magazines. Ezra began writing music around the age of ten, and his first song ever was titled "Bad Birthday Party".


title: Ezra Koenig

text: While attending Columbia University, he ran a blog called "Internet Vibes" about fashion, existentialism, personal identity, and modern culture. After graduating, he taught English through Teach for America at Junior High School 258 in Brooklyn, New York. Students recalled Koenig bringing his guitar with him to class, despite trying to hide it and his music career. He was described as a "laid-back" teacher who successfully made bonds with his students. In fall 2007, a deal with XL Recordings cut short Koenig's teaching career.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: During his schooling and college years, he was involved in numerous musical projects with Wes Miles, a childhood friend and now current frontman of Ra Ra Riot. Koenig and Miles formed an experimental band, The Sophisticuffs, which was described as "wildly inventive musical work". In 2004, Koenig formed the rap band, L'Homme Run, notable for the comedic track, "Pizza Party", with Andrew Kalaidjian and fellow Vampire Weekend band member Chris Tomson, played saxophone for the indie rock band Dirty Projectors and worked as an intern for The Walkmen.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2005, Ezra formed the indie rock band Vampire Weekend. The name of the group was in reference to an unreleased indie film of the same name that Ezra and his friends produced during a vacation. In the film, Ezra portrayed the protagonist, Walcott, a man hell-bent on escaping Cape Cod as he believed vampires were coming. Many songs from the band's eponymous release made reference to the film.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Ezra met his bandmates at Columbia University, prior to 2003. After already having met drummer Chris Tomson, Koenig became acquainted with Rostam Batmanglij. The two immediately bonded over Radiohead at a party during freshman year and vowed to start a band one day. Rounding out the group was Chris Baio, Koenig's suite-mate in his sophomore year, with whom he shared a love of Destiny's Child. The group immediately got to work, playing their first show in 2006 at a battle of the bands in a campus basement. They placed third out of four. Later that year, some of their demos appeared online, earning raves from sites like "Stereogum" and "Pitchfork". Before they knew it, they were selling out shows and appearing on the cover of "Spin" without even having released an album.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Their eponymous debut album arrived on January 29, 2008, and by the end of the year they had performed on "Saturday Night Live", played for 40,000 fans at England's Glastonbury festival, and sold nearly half a million albums. The album was self-produced while they were working full-time jobs. Since then, the band have released another three albums: "Contra" (2010), "Modern Vampires of the City" (2013), and "Father of the Bride" (2019).


title: Ezra Koenig

text: The band has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards. In 2011, "Contra" was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album, but "Brothers" by The Black Keys won the award. In 2014, "Modern Vampires of the City" was nominated in the category and, this time, the band won the award. Following the win, Koenig exclaimed, "I'm the pre-eminent Ezra of my time, and when I die, then we can talk about who comes next." In 2020, "Father of the Bride" earned the band a second win for Best Alternative Music Album and a first nomination for Album of the Year. "Harmony Hall" was nominated for Best Rock Song.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: The show, "Time Crisis", features Koenig with co-host Jake Longstreth, an American painter, musician, and internet radio personality. Each episode lasts two hours during which Koenig and company discuss corporate snack food history, the tasteful palette of 70s rock (with a focus on The Grateful Dead), portmanteaus, and respond to emails from listeners. Often, the show ends with The Top Five where Koenig and Longstreth compare the top five songs on Apple Music this week to that of a week from the past relevant to the discourse of the episode.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Jonah Hill, Rashida Jones, Mark Ronson, Florence Welch, Jamie Foxx, Tim Heidecker, James Corden, and Koenig's sister, Emma Koenig, have appeared as guests on the internet radio show.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: The show debuted on July 12, 2015, and new episodes air fortnightly. The show is in its eighth season.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Following a hiatus from "Vampire Weekend", Koenig wrote and produced an animated comedy-adventure series about a depressive, demon-slaying playboy voiced by Jaden Smith. The series, "Neo Yokio", debuted on Netflix in September 2017. The show was written and produced in 2015, with the final sound mix being completed in January 2016; however, due to issues with Fox, the show was postponed until finally being picked up by Netflix.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: "Neo Yokio" is presented in the style of an anime series. However, in an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, Koenig stated that he believes the show is not a traditional anime: "First of all, out of respect for true anime, I've always called Neo Yokio "anime-inspired" – it's a hybrid. But I've always been a fan of anime, and I always wanted to do something that was kind of an homage to it. Maybe a loving parody. Initially the people I was working with thought I should be the voice of the main character, but I was, like, 'I just spent seven years being the frontman of something, using my voice all the time. What I need right now is to slip into the background of something.'"


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Upon release, the show's first season received mixed reviews from critics, earning a 54% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Shannon Liao of The Verge criticised the show's story and voice-acting, writing that "the initial glamor of the backdrops and talent involved wears off fast. It has awful voice acting, and a pointless, predictable story that’s only surprising because it’s so willing to hit the bottom of the barrel." "The New York Times" gave the show a more optimistic review, stating that "if a defensive reading of the line, “Yes, my girlfriend broke up with me to take a finance job in San Francisco,” makes you chuckle, “Neo Yokio” may be for you."


title: Ezra Koenig

text: On an episode of "Time Crisis" in early 2018, Koenig spoke about the future of "Neo Yokio", hinting that "Neo's not dead." However, Netflix cancelled the show the following month after one season and a Christmas special.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2009, Koenig provided vocals on the song "Carby" on "LP", the debut album from Discovery, a group which features Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij and Ra Ra Riot vocalist Wes Miles. In the same year, he appeared on "Warm Heart of Africa" by the Very Best, "Pyromiltia" by Theophilus London, "I Could Be Wrong" by Chromeo and "Dynamo" by Abd al Malik.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2012, Koenig performed "I Think Ur a Contra" with Angelique Kidjo in her PBS special. He appeared and provided vocals in the music video for Duck Sauce's "Barbra Streisand". His recording of the song "Papa Hobo", by Paul Simon, was included as part of the soundtrack for Max Winkler's film "Ceremony".


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2014, Koenig was featured on "Ezra's Interlude" by Chromeo, as well as "New Dorp, New York" by SBTRKT. He also appeared in the HBO drama series "Girls" and Haim's music video for "My Song 5" featuring A$AP Ferg, and performed the voice of Ryland on the animated series "Major Lazer". At the 86th Academy Awards, Koenig accompanied Karen O on backing vocals and acoustic guitar for her performance of the Oscar-nominated song "The Moon Song" from the film "Her".


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2016, Koenig was credited as a writer and producer on the song "Hold Up" by Beyoncé. Due to these contributions, Koenig was nominated for a Grammy Award for the album "Lemonade". In January and April 2016, Koenig vocally supported political candidate Bernie Sanders by performing at a number of his rallies.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2018, Koenig was credited as a songwriter and producer on the single "I Promise You" by James Corden, from the film "Peter Rabbit", which also prominently featured Vampire Weekend's songs. His demo of the song was also released.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In February 2020, Vampire Weekend performed at a rally for U.S Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: In 2022, Koenig was credited as a co-writer and producer of Liam Gallagher's song "Moscow Rules" from his album "C'mon You Know". He also plays multiple instruments across the album.


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Also in 2022, Koenig was featured as a vocalist for Phoenix's song "Tonight", which is the third single from the band's seventh album, "Alpha Zulu".


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Since the age of 9, Koenig has been an admirer of music. In a 2014 interview with Vulture, he stated, "My dad is a massive music fan, so even just growing up in the house, he was buying new cool music, up through when I was born. So I was very familiar with the Ramones, Run DMC, Blondie—core New York music. My parents would often play the Ramones song, "We’re a Happy Family", so I remember when I was 9 or 10, learning the lyrics and trying to understand." By the time he got to high school, Koenig's taste had slightly changed: "I had some older friends who were really obsessed with hip-hop, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest. There’s something about "Midnight Marauders"; it feels like a late night in the city album."


title: Ezra Koenig

text: Koenig is also a self-professed fan of bands such as the Grateful Dead and Sublime, who he believes largely influenced his musical taste.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Caligula () is a 1979 erotic historical drama film focusing on the rise and fall of the eponymous Roman Emperor Caligula. The film stars Malcolm McDowell in the title role, alongside Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole, John Steiner and John Gielgud. Producer Bob Guccione, the founder of "Penthouse" magazine, intended to produce an erotic feature film narrative with high production values and name actors.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Gore Vidal originated the idea for a film about the controversial Roman emperor and produced a draft screenplay under the working title "Gore Vidal's Caligula". The director, Tinto Brass, extensively altered Vidal's original screenplay, however, leading Vidal to disavow the film. The final screenplay focuses on the idea that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". The producers did not allow Brass to edit the film, and changed its tone and style significantly, adding graphic unsimulated sex scenes featuring Penthouse Pets as extras filmed in post-production by Guccione and Giancarlo Lui. Brass had refused to film those sequences, as both he and Vidal disagreed with their inclusion. The version of the film released in Italian cinemas in 1979 and in American cinemas the following year, disregarded Brass's intentions to present the film as a political satire, prompting him to disavow the film as well.


title: Caligula (film)

text: "Caligula"s release was met with legal issues and controversies over its violent and sexual content; multiple cut versions were released worldwide, while its uncut form remains banned in several countries. However, the film is considered to be a cult classic with significant merit for its political content and historical portrayal. It is also considered to be one of the worst films ever made.


title: Caligula (film)

text: The script was later adapted into a novelisation written by William Johnston under the pseudonym William Howard. In 2018, "Penthouse" announced that a new Director's Cut of the film was being edited by Alexander Tuschinski, with the approval of Brass's family. No release date for that cut has been confirmed. In 2020, another version of the film was announced to be released in the fall of that year, edited by E. Elias Merhige to follow more closely Gore Vidal's original screenplay instead of Tinto Brass's or Bob Guccione's vision.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Caligula is the young heir to the throne of his great uncle, the Emperor Tiberius. One morning, a blackbird flies into his room; Caligula considers this a bad omen. Shortly afterward, one of the heads of the Praetorian Guard, Naevius Sutorius Macro, tells Caligula that Tiberius demands his immediate presence at Capri, where the Emperor lives with his close friend Nerva, dim-witted relative Claudius, and Caligula's adopted son (Tiberius's grandson) Gemellus. Fearing assassination, Caligula is afraid to leave but his sister and lover Drusilla persuades him to go.


title: Caligula (film)

text: At Capri, Caligula finds that Tiberius has become depraved, showing signs of advanced venereal diseases, and embittered with Rome and politics. Tiberius enjoys swimming with naked youths and watching degrading sex shows that include deformed people and animals. Caligula observes with fascination and horror. Tensions rise when Tiberius tries to poison Caligula in front of Gemellus. Nerva commits suicide and Caligula tries to kill Tiberius but loses his nerve. Proving his loyalty to Caligula, Macro kills Tiberius instead with Gemellus as a witness.


title: Caligula (film)

text: After Tiberius' death and burial, Caligula is proclaimed the new Emperor, then proclaims Drusilla as his equal, to the apparent disgust of the Roman Senate. Drusilla, fearful of Macro's influence, persuades Caligula to get rid of him. Caligula sets up a mock trial in which Gemellus is intimidated into testifying that Macro murdered Tiberius, then has Macro's wife Ennia banished from Rome. After Macro is executed in a gruesome public game, Caligula appoints Tiberius' former adviser Longinus as his personal assistant while pronouncing the docile Senator Chaerea as the new head of the Praetorian Guard.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Drusilla tries to find Caligula a wife among the priestesses of the goddess Isis, the cult they secretly practice. Caligula wants to marry Drusilla, but she insists they cannot marry because she is his sister. Instead, Caligula marries Caesonia, a priestess and notorious courtesan, after she bears him an heir. Drusilla reluctantly supports their marriage. Meanwhile, despite Caligula's popularity with the masses, the Senate expresses disapproval for what initially seem to be light eccentricities. Darker aspects of Caligula's personality emerge when he rapes a bride and groom on their wedding day in a minor fit of jealousy and orders Gemellus's execution to provoke a reaction from Drusilla.


title: Caligula (film)

text: After discovering that Caesonia is pregnant, Caligula develops a severe fever. Drusilla nurses him back to health. Just as he fully recovers, Caesonia bears him a daughter, Julia Drusilla. During the celebration, Drusilla collapses with the same fever he had had. Soon afterward, Caligula receives another ill omen in the form of a blackbird. Despite his praying to Isis out of desperation, Drusilla dies from her fever. Initially unable to accept her death, Caligula has a nervous breakdown and rampages through the palace, destroying a statue of Isis while clutching Drusilla's body.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Now in a deep depression, Caligula walks the Roman streets disguised as a beggar; he causes a disturbance after watching an amateur performance mocking his relationship with Drusilla. After a brief stay in a city gaol, Caligula proclaims himself a god and becomes determined to destroy the senatorial class, which he has come to loathe. The new reign he leads becomes a series of humiliations against the foundations of Romesenators' wives are forced to work in the service of the state as prostitutes, estates are confiscated, the old religion is desecrated and the army is made to embark on a mock invasion of Britain. Unable to further tolerate his actions, Longinus conspires with Chaerea to assassinate Caligula.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Caligula enters his bedroom where a nervous Caesonia awaits him. Another blackbird appears but only Caesonia is frightened of it. The next morning, after rehearsing an Egyptian play, Caligula and his family are attacked in a coup headed by Chaerea. Caesonia and Julia are murdered, and Chaerea stabs Caligula in the stomach. With his final breath, the Emperor defiantly whimpers "I live!" as Caligula and his family's bodies are thrown down the stadium's steps and their blood is washed off the marble floor. Claudius witnesses the entire ordeal and is horrified even after being proclaimed Emperor by the Praetorian Guard.


title: Caligula (film)

text: The men's magazine "Penthouse" had long been involved in film funding, helping invest in films made by other studios, including "Chinatown", "The Longest Yard" and "The Day of the Locust", but it had never produced a film on its own. The magazine's founder Bob Guccione wanted to produce an explicit adult film within a feature film narrative that had high production values; he decided to produce a film about the rise and fall of the Roman emperor Caligula. Development began under producer Franco Rossellini, the nephew of filmmaker Roberto Rossellini. A screenplay was written by Lina Wertmüller, but Guccione rejected Wertmüller's script and paid Gore Vidal to write a new screenplay. Vidal's script had a strong focus on homosexuality, leading Guccione to demand rewrites which toned down the homosexual content for wider audience appeal. Guccione was concerned that Vidal's script contained several homosexual sex scenes and only one scene of heterosexual sex, which was between Caligula and his sister Drusilla. Vidal was paid for his screenplay, which was titled "Gore Vidal's Caligula".


title: Caligula (film)

text: Elaborate sets were built by production designer Danilo Donati, who also designed the film's costumes, jewelry, hairstyles, wigs, and makeup. Several mainstream actors were cast, Guccione intending to make a film that he felt, like "Citizen Kane", would be a landmark in cinematic history. Guccione offered directing duties to John Huston and Lina Wertmüller, both of whom rejected the film. After viewing scenes from the film "Salon Kitty", Guccione agreed to have lunch with that film's director Tinto Brass, believing Brass would be the ideal person to direct "Caligula". Brass had a reputation for being difficult to deal with on film sets but Guccione thought the film's epic scope would "keep [Brass] in line" and that Brass understood the concept of the film enough to direct it. Brass described Vidal's screenplay as "the work of an aging arteriosclerotic" and agreed to direct only if he was allowed to rewrite Vidal's screenplay. Brass's screenplay expanded the sexual content to include orgies, decorative phalluses, and much female nudity. Guccione said Brass's rewrites were done out of necessity to the film's visual narrative and did not alter the dialogue or content.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In an interview for "Time" magazine, Vidal said that in film production, directors were "parasites" and a film's author was its screenwriter; in response, Brass demanded Vidal's removal from the set and Guccione agreed. Guccione considered the film to be a "collective effort, involving the input of a great number of artists and craftsmen", and the director to be the leader of a "team effort". Vidal filed a contractual dispute over the film because of Brass's rewrites; Guccione said Vidal had demanded 10% of the film's profits, which Vidal said was not the case. Vidal distanced himself from the production, calling Brass a "megalomaniac". Brass publicly stated, "If I ever really get mad at Gore Vidal, I'll publish his script". Vidal's name was removed from the film's title; the credits were changed to state that the film was "adapted from a screenplay by Gore Vidal", crediting no official screenwriter. Guccione said, "Gore's work was basically done and Tinto's work was about to begin".


title: Caligula (film)

text: The film's primary theme is "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Vidal's script presented Caligula as a good man driven to madness by absolute power; Brass's screenplay envisioned Caligula as a "born monster". In "The Encyclopedia of Epic Films", author Djoymi Baker describes Brass's screenplay as "an antiepic with an antihero, on a path of self-inflicted, antisocial descent". Guccione said this final draft was more violent than sexual, stating, "I maintain the film is actually anti-erotic ... in every one of its scenes you'll find a mixture of gore or violence or some other rather ugly things".


title: Caligula (film)

text: Orson Welles was initially offered $1 million to star as Tiberius, a figure which would have been his highest ever salary, but he refused on moral grounds when he read the script. Gore Vidal expressed disbelief that this could have ever been the case as he felt that Welles could not have portrayed Tiberius, but then recalled Kenneth Tynan remarking to him at the time that Welles was "upset" by the script. Renowned actors who did accept roles in the film included Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole and Sir John Gielgud, with Maria Schneider cast as Caligula's doomed sister Drusilla. Schneider became uncomfortable with appearing nude and in sexual scenes, and left the production, to be replaced by Teresa Ann Savoy, whom Brass had previously worked with on "Salon Kitty". Schneider had also apparently angered Brass by sewing up the open tunics she was supposed to wear on camera. Gielgud was also offered the role of Tiberius, which he declined, as he felt Vidal's script was "pornographic"; however, he later accepted the shorter role of Nerva. Director Tinto Brass cast his own acquaintances as senators and noblemen, including ex-convicts, thieves and anarchists. Guccione cast Penthouse Pets as female extras in sexual scenes.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Principal photography began in 1976 in Rome. McDowell got along well with Tinto Brass, while Peter O'Toole immediately disliked the director. John Gielgud and Helen Mirren were indifferent to Brass; they ultimately trusted his direction and focused on their own performances. O'Toole had stopped drinking alcohol before filming, but Guccione described O'Toole as being "strung out on something" and said the actor was not sober during the entire filming schedule.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Guccione later complained about McDowell's behavior, calling the actor "shallow" and "stingy". According to Guccione, during the film's production, McDowell took members of the production to dinner at an expensive restaurant to celebrate England's win in a football match against the Italian team, and left the choreographer to pay for the meal, saying he had forgotten to bring enough money. Also according to Guccione, at the end of the production, McDowell gave his dresser a pendant bearing her name, but it was misspelled and she gave it back to him. McDowell offered her a signet ring, a prop from the film. She refused because it belonged to the production company.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Brass decided not to focus much on Danilo Donati's elaborate sets, and intentionally kept the Penthouse Pets in the background during sex scenes, sometimes not filming them at all. Guccione later said that Brass, apparently as a joke, would focus on "fat, ugly and wrinkled old women" and have them play the "sensual parts" intended for the Penthouse Pets. Brass and Guccione disagreed about the film's approach to sexual content; Guccione preferred unsimulated sexual content that Brass did not want to film.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Filming concluded on 24 December 1976. Guccione said Brass shot enough film to "make the original version of "Ben-Hur" about 50 times over". Brass started editing the film but was not allowed to continue after he had edited approximately the first hour of it. His rough cut was disassembled, and the film was edited by several editors, changing its tone and structure significantly by removing and re-arranging many scenes, using different takes, a slower editing style, and music other than Brass intended.


title: Caligula (film)

text: A few weeks after filming had concluded, Guccione and Giancarlo Lui returned to Rome along with several Penthouse Pets. Guccione and Lui "hired a skeleton crew, snuck back into the studios at night, raided the prop room" and shot a number of hardcore sex scenes to be edited into the film. The new unsimulated sex scenes included Penthouse pets Anneka Di Lorenzo and Lori Wagner, who appeared as supporting characters in Brass' original footage. Both performed a lesbian scene together. Brass ultimately disowned the film as a result, and the credits only list "principal photography by Tinto Brass".


title: Caligula (film)

text: Although there were a number of editors on the film, their names were not credited. Instead, the credit "Editing by the Production" is given during the opening credits.


title: Caligula (film)

text: As it was intended for an international release, the film was shot entirely in English. It was shot without sound, like the majority of Italian films, with the main English-speaking actors re-recording their lines later. However, as many of the supporting actors/actresses were Italian, their lines needed to be dubbed in English by other performers.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Peter O'Toole was reluctant to re-record his English dialogue; he avoided the film's producers, though they eventually tracked him down to Canada where they "dragged him in front of a mike" to record his dialogue. After production ended, O'Toole expressed his dislike of the film (although according to Guccione he hadn't even seen the rushes) and doubted that it would ever be released.


title: Caligula (film)

text: "Caligula" spent so much time in post-production that the film's co-producer Franco Rossellini feared that it would never be released. Rossellini then decided to make "Caligula" expensive sets and costumes profitable by using them in "Messalina, Messalina!", a sex comedy directed by Bruno Corbucci. That film was released in Italy in 1977, two years before "Caligula" could be shown to the public. In some territories, it was released after "Caligula" and falsely marketed as its sequel. Anneka Di Lorenzo (as the title character) and Lori Wagner both reprised their roles from "Caligula" in Corbucci's film. Danilo Donati's sets and costumes were reused without his permission.


title: Caligula (film)

text: The film was scored by Bruno Nicolai under the name Paul Clemente. According to Kristopher Spencer, the score "is gloriously dramatic, capturing both the decadent atmosphere of ancient Rome and the twisted tragedy of its true story". The score also featured music by Aram Khachaturian (from "Spartacus") and Sergei Prokofiev (from "Romeo and Juliet"). In November 1980, Guccione formed Penthouse Records to release a double album soundtrack to "Caligula". The album featured Nicolai's score and two versions—one in a disco style—of a love theme titled "We Are One", which did not appear in the film.


title: Caligula (film)

text: An edited version of the film had a limited run in a small town near Forlì, Italy before opening in Rome on Sunday, November 11, 1979. In Rome, it was the highest-grossing film of the weekend, with a gross of $59,950 from 6 theaters. The film was confiscated by Italian police on November 15 with the Pubblico Ministero calling many scenes in the film "flagrantly obscene".


title: Caligula (film)

text: In the United States, Guccione refused to submit "Caligula" to the MPAA because he did not want the film to receive a ratingeven Xwhich he considered to be "demeaning". Instead, Guccione applied his own "Mature Audiences" rating to the film, instructing theater owners not to admit anyone under the age of 18. The film premiered in the United States on 1 February 1980, at the Trans Lux East Theatre, which Guccione had rented exclusively to screen the film; he changed the theater's name to Penthouse East.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Rather than leasing prints to exhibitors, the distributor rented theaters that specialized in foreign and art films for the purpose of screening "Caligula" exclusively in order to keep the film out of theaters that showed pornographic films. In 1981, the Brazilian Board of Censors approved the establishment of special theaters to screen "In the Realm of the Senses" and "Caligula" because they were international box office hits.


title: Caligula (film)

text: "Caligula" grossed at the box office. The film was a financial success in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Japan. A 105-minute R-rated version without the explicit sexual material was released in 1981.


title: Caligula (film)

text: The script was adapted into a novelization written by William Johnston under the pseudonym William Howard.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In 1979, when Guccione tried to import the film's footage into the U.S., customs officials seized it. Federal officials did not declare the film to be obscene. When the film was released in New York City, the anti-pornography organization Morality in Media unsuccessfully filed a lawsuit against these federal officials.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In Boston, authorities seized the film. "Penthouse" took legal action, partly because Guccione thought the legal challenges and moral controversies would provide "the kind of [marketing] coverage money can never buy". "Penthouse" won the case when a Boston Municipal Court ruled that "Caligula" had passed the Miller test and was not obscene. While the Boston judge said the film "lacked artistic and scientific value" because of its depiction of sex and considered it to "[appeal] to prurient interests", he said the film's depiction of ancient Rome contained political values which enabled it to pass the Miller test in its depiction of corruption in ancient Rome, which dramatized the political theme that "absolute power corrupts absolutely". A Madison, Wisconsin, district attorney declined an anti-pornography crusader's request to prevent the release of "Caligula" on the basis that "the most offensive portions of the film are those explicitly depicting violent, and not sexual conduct, which is not in any way prohibited by the criminal law".


title: Caligula (film)

text: Atlanta prosecutors threatened legal action if the film was to be screened in the city, but experts testified in court on behalf of the film, and Atlanta, too, declared that the film was not obscene. Citizens for Decency through Law, a private watchdog group that protested against films that it deemed immoral, sought to prevent the film's exhibition in Fairlawn, Ohio, on the grounds that it would be a "public nuisance", leading "Penthouse" to withdraw the film from exhibition there to avoid another trial. CDL's lawyer advised against attempting to prosecute "Penthouse" for obscenity and instead recommended a civil proceeding, because the film would not be placed against the Miller test. The "Penthouse" attorney described the Fairlawn events as being driven by conservative morality reinforced by Ronald Reagan's presidential victory, stating: "Apparently, these extremists have interpreted a change by the administration to mean a clarion call for a mandate to shackle the public's mind again." The uncut film was granted a certificate by the British Board of Film Classification in 2008. The film was banned in Australia, where it continues to be banned in its uncut form .


title: Caligula (film)

text: In 1981, Anneka Di Lorenzo, who played Messalina, sued Guccione, claiming sexual harassment. In 1990, after protracted litigation, a New York state court awarded her $60,000 in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages. On appeal, the court vacated the award, ruling that punitive damages were not allowed by the law governing the case.


title: Caligula (film)

text: "Caligula" received generally negative reviews. Roger Ebert gave it zero stars, calling it "sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash". Ebert wrote: "In the two hours of this film that I saw, there were no scenes of joy, natural pleasure, or good sensual cheer. There was, instead, a nauseating excursion into base and sad fantasies." It is also notable for being one of the few films Ebert ever walked out of—he walked out 2 hours into its 170-minute length after feeling "disgusted and unspeakably depressed". He and Gene Siskel selected the film as one of their "dogs of the year" in a 1980 episode of "Sneak Previews". Hank Werba of "Variety" described the film as a "moral holocaust" in his review. Rex Reed called "Caligula" "a trough of rotten swill". Jay Scott, reviewing "Caligula" for "The Globe and Mail", said, ""Caligula" doesn't really work on any level". Scott unfavourably compared "Caligula" with "In the Realm of the Senses", describing the latter film as a better treatment of extreme sexuality. Scott's review went on to say "Rome would seem to be at least as fecund a territory for the cinematic exploration of sex, death and money, as pre-war Japan ... but what's missing from "Caligula", which is rife with all three, is any connective tissue (also any point of view, any thought, any meaning)". Scott concluded his review by claiming the whole film's production was "a boondoggle of landmark proportions". "New York" critic David Denby described the film as "an infinitely degraded version of "Fellini Satyricon"". Tom Milne ("Monthly Film Bulletin") stated that the film was "by no means so awesomely bad as most critics have been pleased to report—but pretty bad all the same" and found the film to be "notable chiefly for the accuracy with which it reflects [Caligula's] anonymity".


title: Caligula (film)

text: "Caligula" continued to garner negative reception long after its release, though it has been reappraised by some critics, and attempts have been made to reconstruct a version of the film that more closely resembles the visions of either Tinto Brass or Gore Vidal. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 22% based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Endlessly perverse and indulgent, "Caligula" throws in hardcore sex every time the plot threatens to get interesting." Leslie Halliwell said "Caligula" was "a vile curiosity of interest chiefly to sado-masochists". "Time Out London" called it "a dreary shambles". Positive criticism of the film came from Moviehole reviewer Clint Morris, who awarded it 3 stars out of 5, calling it "[a] classic in the coolest sense of the word". "New Times" critic Gregory Weinkauf gave the film 3 out of 5, calling it "Kinda dumb and tacky, but at least it's a real movie". "Arkansas Democrat-Gazette" reviewer Philip Martin also gave the film 3 out of 5.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Writers for "The Hamilton Spectator" and "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" said "Caligula" was one of the worst films they'd seen. Writing for The A.V. Club, Keith Phipps said, "As a one-of-a-kind marriage of the historical epic and the porn film ... "Caligula" deserves a look. But it might be better to let Guccione's savagely unpleasant folly fade into the century that spawned it".


title: Caligula (film)

text: Several films were released in the following years as attempts to cash in on "Caligula" reputation, including "Caligula and Messalina" (1981), directed by Bruno Mattei and "Caligula... The Untold Story" (1982), directed by Joe D'Amato. Like "Caligula", D'Amato's film exists in several softcore and hardcore versions.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In 1985, the hardcore version of "Caligula" was broadcast in France on Canal+, making it the first film with unsimulated sex scenes ever shown on French television. The film, which had been broadcast as a test, became the starting point of Canal+'s tradition of showing one pornographic film at midnight every month.


title: Caligula (film)

text: "Caligula" has been described as a "cult classic" by William Hawes in a book about the film. Helen Mirren has defended her involvement in the making of "Caligula" and even described the final product of the film as "an irresistible mix of art and genitals". In 2005, artist Francesco Vezzoli produced a fake trailer for an alleged remake called "Gore Vidal's Caligula" as a promotion for Versace's new line of accessories; the remake was to star Helen Mirren as "the Empress Tiberius", Gerard Butler as Chaerea, Milla Jovovich as Drusilla, Courtney Love as Caligula, and Karen Black as Agrippina the Elder and featuring an introduction by Gore Vidal. The fake trailer was screened worldwide, including New York City's Whitney Museum of American Art's 2006 Whitney Biennial.


title: Caligula (film)

text: Leonardo DiCaprio has cited "Caligula" as an influence on his performance as Jordan Belfort in "The Wolf of Wall Street".


title: Caligula (film)

text: In 2007, "Caligula" was released on DVD and Blu-ray in an "Imperial Edition", which featured the unrated theatrical release version and a new version featuring alternative sequencing from the original theatrical release and without the explicit sexual content shot by Guccione, marking the first attempt to reconstruct the film into a version closer to Brass's intentions. This edition also includes audio commentaries featuring Malcolm McDowell and Helen Mirren, and interviews with the cast and crew.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In February 2018, Penthouse announced that a new cut of the film was being edited by Alexander Tuschinski. Tuschinski will use 85 minutes of Brass's original workprint and edit the remainder of the film himself. Brass's family supports Tuschinski's effort, but it remains unconfirmed if Brass will be directly involved with the edit. However, the edit is an attempt to realize Brass's original vision for the film.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In July 2018, Alexander Tuschinski released his documentary "Mission: Caligula" on Vimeo. The film explores his relationship with "Caligula", the process of reconstructing Brass's vision, and Penthouse CEO Kelly Holland's backing of the project.


title: Caligula (film)

text: In 2020, another version of the film was announced to be released in the fall of that year, edited by E. Elias Merhige to follow more closely Gore Vidal's original screenplay instead of Tinto Brass's or Bob Guccione's vision.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generation jet fighter, alongside similar Soviet aircraft such as the Su-17 "Fitter". It was the first Soviet fighter to field a look-down/shoot-down radar, the RP-23 Sapfir, and one of the first to be armed with beyond-visual-range missiles. Production started in 1969 and reached large numbers with over 5,000 aircraft built, making it the most produced variable-sweep wing aircraft in history. Today the MiG-23 remains in limited service with some export customers.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The basic design was also used as the basis for the Mikoyan MiG-27, a dedicated ground-attack variant. Among many minor changes, the MiG-27 replaced the MiG-23's nose-mounted radar system with an optical panel holding a laser designator and a TV camera.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23's predecessor, the MiG-21, was fast and agile, but limited in its operational capabilities by its primitive radar, short range, and limited weapons load (restricted in some aircraft to a pair of short-range R-3/K-13 (AA-2 "Atoll") air-to-air missiles). Work began on a replacement for the MiG-21 in the early 1960s. The new aircraft was required to have better performance and range than the MiG-21, while carrying more capable avionics and weapons including beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles. A major design consideration was take-off and landing performance. The VVS demanded the new aircraft have a much shorter take-off run. Low-level speed and handling was also to be improved over the MiG-21. Manoeuvrability was not an urgent requirement. This led Mikoyan to consider two options: lift jets, to provide an additional lift component, and variable-geometry wings, which had been developed by TsAGI for both "clean-sheet" aircraft designs and adaptations of existing designs.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The first option, for an aircraft fitted with lift jets, resulted in the "23-01", also known as the MiG-23PD (' – lift jet), was a tailed delta of similar layout to the smaller MiG-21 but with two lift jets in the fuselage. This first flew on 3 April 1967, but it soon became apparent that this configuration was unsatisfactory, as the lift jets became useless dead weight once airborne. Work on the second strand of development was carried out in parallel by a team led by A.A Andreyev, with MiG directed to build a variable-geometry prototype, the "23-11" in 1965.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The 23-11 featured variable-geometry wings which could be set to angles of 16, 45 and 72 degrees, and it was clearly more promising. The maiden flight of 23–11 took place on 10 June 1967, flown by the famous MiG test pilot Aleksandr Vasilyevich Fedotov (who set the absolute altitude record in 1977 in a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25). Six more flight prototypes and two static-test prototypes were prepared for further flight and system testing. All featured the Tumansky R-27-300 turbojet engine with a thrust of 77 kN (17,300 lbf). The order to start series production of the MiG-23 was given in December 1967. The first production ""MiG-23S"" (NATO reporting name 'Flogger-A') took to the air on 21 May 1969, with Fedotov at the controls.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The General Dynamics F-111 and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II were the main Western influences on the MiG-23. The Soviets, however, wanted a much lighter, single-engined fighter to maximize agility. Both the F-111 and the MiG-23 were designed as fighters, but the heavy weight and inherent stability of the F-111 turned it into a long-range interdictor and kept it out of the fighter role. The MiG-23's designers kept the MiG-23 light and agile enough to dogfight with enemy fighters.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The armament carried by the MiG-23 changed as new models underwent development. The initial production variant, the MiG-23S, was fitted with the S-21 fire control system borrowed from the MiG-21S/SM. Based on the RP-22SM Sapfir-21 radar with an ASP-PFD-21 lead computing gunsight, it could carry only four R-3/K-13 (AA-2 "Atoll") air-to-air missiles (typically two SARH R-3Rs and two IR R-3Ss) in addition to a Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23L autocannon. In the ground-attack role, the MiG-23S could carry two Kh-23 (AS-7 "Kerry") radio guidance air-to-surface missiles, two to four UB-16 rocket pods with S-5 rockets, S-24 rockets or up to of various bomb types. The MiG-23 Edition 1971, equipped with the Sapfir-23L radar and TP-23 infrared search and track (IRST), could fire the new BVR R-23 (AA-7 "Apex") missile, although only the R-23R SARH variant. However, the Sapfir-23L was considered unreliable and lacked look-down/shoot-down capability.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23M, the definitive first-generation variant of the fighter, was equipped with the improved Sapfir-23D look-down/shoot-down radar and could carry a pair of R-23 missiles (either the R-23R SARH or R-23T IR variants) and a pair of R-60 (AA-8 "Aphid") missiles. Starting with aircraft number 3201, the APU-60-2 double-rail launcher was introduced, allowing the MiG-23M to carry four R-60 missiles. The MiG-23 could carry up to in bombs and rockets, and from aircraft number 3701 onward it could fire the Kh-23 and Kh-23M air-to-surface missiles. Lastly, all VVS MiG-23Ms had the ability to mount a single nuclear bomb via a special adapter under the fuselage, either the 10-kiloton RN-24 or the 30-kiloton RN-40.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: In the second-generation MiG-23ML, a new SUV-2ML weapons system allowed the aircraft to carry both types of R-23 missiles simultaneously. The typical loadout was an R-23R on the starboard wing pylon and an R-23T on the port wing pylon. Besides other ordnance (including a single nuclear bomb), the MiG-23ML could also carry two UPK-23-250 23mm gun pods on the underwing pylons. Starting in 1981, the MiG-23MLA could carry the improved Vympel R-24R/T missiles. The final fighter variant, the MiG-23MLD, could also carry the improved R-24R/T missiles in addition to a pair of B8M1 20-round rocket pods firing S-8 rockets, the Kh-23/Kh-23M air-to-surface missile, or a single RN-24 or RN-40 nuclear bomb. The MiG-23MLD's maximum bomb load was , with a standard loadout comprising four FAB-500 500 kg general-purpose bombs (GP) or ZAB-500 napalm bombs. Other configurations included sixteen FAB-100 100 kg GP bombs carried on four ejector racks, four FAB-250 250 kg GP bombs, or two RBK-500 cluster bombs.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23 cockpit was considered an improvement over previous Soviet fighters as it was more ergonomic in its layout. However the pilot still had a high workload, having to manipulate switches and monitor gauges, compared to more modern aircraft with HOTAS controls. The instrument panel did feature a white stripe to serve as a visual aid for centering the control column during an out-of-control situation. To prevent the pilot from exceeding a 17° angle of attack, the control column incorporated a "knuckle rapper" which would strike the pilot's knuckles as the limit was approached.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Cockpit visibility was also somewhat poor in the MiG-23, although the view straight ahead was superior compared to the MiG-21. In particular, visibility was poor looking to the rear, partially due to the ejection seat which wrapped around the pilot's head, requiring the pilot to lean forward to look to the side or behind. To assist with looking directly behind the pilot, the cockpit was fitted with a mirror or 'periscope' embedded in the middle rail of the canopy, similar to the one on the MiG-17. With an infinity focus, the periscope provided a clear view of behind the plane, but did not have a wide field of view.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23's ejection seat, the KM-1, was built with extreme altitude and speed in mind: leg stirrups, shoulder harness, pelvic D-ring, and a 3-parachute system. Engaging the ejection seat could take a long time, as the pilots had to place their feet in the stirrups, let go of the control column, grab the two trigger handles, squeeze and lift them. The first parachute, the size of a large handkerchief, was deployed out of a telescoping rod which would pop out of the top back of the seat as it started to clear the windscreen windbreak area. It was supposed to help rotate the seat into the windblast and stabilize into a flight path that would take it above and behind the vertical stabilizer. As the first chute and rod separated from the seat, a larger drogue parachute deployed to slow down the seat, allowing the deployment of the main parachute. If engaged at low altitudes, the seat included a barometric element that allowed the drogue chute to separate more quickly. One problem with the KM-1 was that it was not a zero-zero ejection seat, and would only work at a minimum speed of 90 knots.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Starting with the MiG-23 Edition 1971, the MiG-23 replaced the head-down radar scope with a ASP-23D gunsight/head-up display onto which data from the radar was displayed. This was updated in the MiG-23MLA with the ASP-17ML gunsight/HUD. Because information from the radar had to fit on the combining glass of the HUD, the amount of space that could be scanned was limited to a relatively thin slice. This required that the fighter be flown very close to the target's altitude and well ahead of it to be picked up, necessitating good ground-controlled interception (GCI) instructions. Israeli pilots who flew captured versions of the MiG-23 found it relatively easy to use.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23 was among the first Soviet aircraft to feature variable-geometry wings. These were hydraulically controlled by means of a small lever set beneath the throttle in the cockpit. There were three main sweep angles that were set by the pilot for different levels of flying. The first, with the wings fully spread at 16°, was used when cruising at below Mach .7 or when taking off and landing. Putting the wings at mid-spread of 45° was used for basic fighter maneuvering, as well as cruising at high speeds or making low-altitude intercepts. Moving the wings to fully swept at 72° was reserved for making high-altitude intercepts or high-speed dashes at low altitudes.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The wings were not fitted with ailerons but used spoilers to control rolling when the wings were at 16° and 45° angles. In addition to the spoilers, the wings were fitted with trailing edge flaps and leading edge slats to try to give the fighter a short take-off and landing performance. Although there was a gauge in the cockpit showing the position of the wings, when they were in motion, and the Mach limit for each position, there was none to indicate what was the optimum wing position for the prevailing flight condition.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Two tailerons controlled pitch and roll, in the latter case working in conjunction with wing control surfaces when the wings were not fully swept back. In addition to a large vertical stabilizer (which also stored the brake parachute for landings), the MiG-23 had a ventral fin to improve directional stability at high speeds. During take-off and landing, the fin hinged sideways when the landing gear was extended to prevent it striking the ground.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Starting with the Edition 1971 model, the MiG-23's wings (known as Edition 2) had their surface area increased by 20%, necessitating the positions be changed to 18°, 47° 40', and 74° 40' (though for convenience the cockpit indicators and manuals retained the original labeling). A dogtooth extension was added but the leading-edge slats were removed to simplify manufacturing. However this proved to exacerbate the MiG-23's stability issues at high AoA and made take-off and landings more difficult. The definitive Edition 3 wing design, introduced with the MiG-23M, retained the dimensions of the Edition 2 but added back in the leading-edge slats.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: A strengthening of the wing pivot in the MiG-23MLD allowed the addition of a fourth wing sweep position of 33°, which was intended to reduce turn radius and allow for rapid deceleration during dogfights. However, with the wings at the 33° position, the MiG-23MLD was much more difficult to handle and suffered from poor acceleration. Moving the wings to this position was primarily reserved for experienced MiG-23 pilots, while combat manuals continued to emphasize the 45° position.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23 original engine was a thrust Tumansky R-29-300 with thrust to spare at the aircraft top speed of Mach 2.4. It also had a fast acceleration time, taking 3–4 seconds to go from idle to full power, and took less than a second to ignite the afterburner. The aircraft's placarded top speed was set by cockpit canopy structural strength. The engine intake had louvers which supplied the environmental control system with air to keep the avionics and pilot cool.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Similar to early examples of the F-4 Phantom's J-79 engine, the R-29 would generate smoke when operating without the afterburner. The engine outer cases ran very hot, which sometimes triggered false fire alarms. Moreover, the engine was only good for a couple of hundred sorties at most before requiring replacement. This was partly because Russian engines were designed to last about 150 hours before being replaced. It was also a way to generate income from export customers by selling them new engines in exchange for hard currency. Changing an engine was difficult because the aircraft had to be separated in the middle.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The engine was also a weak point on early models of the MiG-23 as it was not stressed for high yaw manoeuvre loads. If the fighter entered a spin, the engine shaft could bend. Compressor blades would rub sending debris into the turbine causing turbine blades to break off, destroying the engine. Introduction of the R-29B-300 addressed this design deficiency.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The prototype version of the MiG-23 carried three fuel tanks in the fuselage, with capacities of 1,920, 820 and 710 liters respectively. Additionally, each wing carried three integral fuel tanks of 62.5, 137.5 and 200 liters. The No. 2 fuel tank in the fuselage also functioned as the aircraft's carry-through wingbox and was welded together with thick plates of VNS-2 steel alloy. The MiG-23 "Edition 1971" redesign allowed for a fourth tank carrying 470 liters to be fitted in the rear of the fuselage. This fuel capacity gave the MiG-23 better endurance than a "clean" F-4 (carrying no drop tanks); if traveling at the MiG-23's endurance speed of 230 knots an individual sortie could be stretched out to an hour, though if the afterburner was used that could fall down to around 45 minutes or less. Introduced with the MiG-23M were plumbed pylons under the movable wing panels which could be fitted with 800-liter drop tanks, though these could only be carried with the wings at full spread and had to be jettisoned otherwise, and a third 800-liter drop tank could be carried under the fuselage on the MiG-23ML.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Early models of the MiG-23 ran into problems with the plane's No. 2 fuel tank suffering structural failures, which were especially problematic as the tanks were integral to the structure rather than contained within a fuel bladder. This meant that as the structure developed hairline fractures fuel would seep out. This eventually forced severe g-force limits until a solution could be found. Prior to quality being improved in later models, one fix was to weld a plate on the inside surface and a stiffener on the outer skin.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Most potential enemies of the USSR and its client states have had opportunities to evaluate the MiG-23's performance. In the summer of 1977, after a political realignment by its government, Egypt provided a number of MiG-23MSs and MiG-23BNs to the United States; these were evaluated under a pair of exploitation programs codenamed HAVE PAD and HAVE BOXER respectively. These and other MiGs, including additional MiG-23s acquired from other sources, were used as part of a secret training program known as project Constant Peg to familiarize American pilots with Soviet aircraft. Additionally, a Cuban pilot flew a MiG-23BN to the U.S. in 1991, and a Libyan MiG-23 pilot also defected to Greece in 1981. In both cases, the aircraft were later repatriated.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Initially, American intelligence on the MiG-23 assumed that the fighter could turn well and had reasonable acceleration capability, but testing during HAVE PAD proved this assumption to be incorrect. While its turning capability was comparable to an original F-4E Phantom, newer American fighters like the F-15 Eagle or F-4E upgraded with slats could easily out-turn the MiG-23 in a dogfight. In fact, whenever the MiG-23 approached high angle of attack it became very unstable and liable to depart controlled flight. Conversely, the MiG-23's acceleration capability was tremendous, particularly at low altitudes (below ) and crossing the sound barrier, where it could out-accelerate any American fighter. The fighter's small profile gave it the advantage of being hard to spot visually as well. Overall, HAVE PAD testing determined that the MiG-23 - while a poor dogfighter - made for a good interceptor capable of performing hit-and-run attacks. Despite its limitations, in the hands of a very capable pilot the MiG-23 represented a serious threat in air combat.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Test pilots who flew the MiG-23 as part of Constant Peg came to similar conclusions about the MiG-23 being an effective interceptor rather than a dogfighter, but were more critical of the planes they flew. Among their complaints was that the MiG-23's airframe was too easily overstressed; that it was unstable in yaw as it passed the sound barrier and again when approaching Mach 2; that its narrow landing gear, although designed to be used on unprepared surfaces, tended to slip and slide in adverse weather conditions; and because it sat low to the ground, it could more easily suck debris into its engine intakes. In general the MiG-23 was unpopular with the American pilots because it was so dangerous to fly.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Among the nicknames the Constant Peg pilots had for the MiG-23 was the "Looping Hog" because it flew like a pig and one of the few basic fighter maneuvers (BFM) it could pull off in a dogfight was a massive loop. If going fast enough, a MiG-23 could easily perform a loop high that other planes would struggle to follow, at the bottom of which it would cut back inside them and proceed to fly off until outside their visual range so it could come back in again. The only other BFM the MiG-23 could perform, according to Col (ret.) John "Sax" Saxman, was the "no circle fight": as the two aircraft approached and passed close by each other the MiG-23, instead of trying to turn one way or the other with the enemy aircraft (as in a one-circle or two-circle fight), would speed on ahead until it could come back into the fight from a different angle.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23's deficits and qualities were also recognized by allied air forces who received the fighter from the Soviet Union, including the East German Air Force:


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The pilots of Constant Peg sought to teach these and other aspects of the MiG-23 to the frontline Tactical Air Command squadrons (nicknamed Blue Air) against whom they trained:


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23's speed in particular was used as a teaching aid for a couple of situations during a potential war with the Soviet Union. The first was at low altitudes to demonstrate its ability to run down any NATO or American strike aircraft (barring the late-model F-111F Aardvark), which would be attempting to go low and fast to penetrate Soviet territory. The second was to simulate the MiG-25 Foxbat, a high, fast flyer (HHF) which would be going after high-value targets such as aerial refueling or airborne early warning and control aircraft like the E-3 Sentry.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The early MiG-23M series was also used to test the American Northrop F-5s captured by the North Vietnamese and sent to the former USSR for evaluation. The Soviets acknowledged the F-5 was a very agile aircraft, and at some speeds and altitudes better than the MiG-23M, one of the main reasons the MiG-23MLD and MiG-29 developments were started. These tests allowed the Russians to make modifications to several of their fourth-generation aircraft. The MiG-23, however, was not designed to combat F-5s, a weakness reflected by early MiG-23 variants.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Dutch pilot Leon van Maurer, who had more than 1,200 hours flying F-16s, flew against MiG-23MLs from air bases in Germany and the U.S. as part of NATO's aerial mock combat training with Soviet equipment. He concluded the MiG-23ML was superior in the vertical to early F-16 variants, just slightly inferior to the F-16A in the horizontal, and had superior BVR capability. The Soviet combat manual for MiG-23M pilots claims the MiG-23M to have a slight superiority over the F-4 and Kfir, and describes combat history involving Syrian MiG-23MFs versus Israeli F-15 and F-16s, which it labels "successful". This manual also recommends tactics to be used against these fighters.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Western and Russian aviation historians usually differ in respect to combat record for their military vehicles and doctrines part due to the bias in favor of their respective national industries and academies. They also usually accept claims going along with their respective political views since usually many conflicting and contradictory reports are written and accepted by their respective historians. Before recent years, with widespread use of hand-portable cameras, little pictorial evidence could be published about specific losses and victories of the different combat systems, with a limited number of losses and victories confirmed by both parties.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23 was first officially commissioned into the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) on 4 January 1974, but even before its mass introduction there had been many teething problems with the brand-new fighter. Stability issues and limited maneuverability resulted in numerous flight restrictions placed on the fighter as efforts to rectify these concerns began in the mid-1970s. Despite numerous updates, these restrictions would only be partially lifted with the introduction of the MiG-23MLD. Still, the large number of MiG-23s deployed in Central Europe represented a sufficiently potent threat in a possible war with the West.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Although many MiG-23 pilots were disappointed to discover their fighter would lose in a turning engagement with the MiG-21, the MiG-23 gave the VVS capabilities which the MiG-21 simply lacked, particularly as a high-energy fighter with BVR missiles. However, throughout the 1970s and early 1980s Soviet pilots continued to train and operate the MiG-23 in the same inflexible manner as the MiG-21: a high-speed point defense interceptor closely guided by GCI. It was not until the widespread introduction of the MiG-23MLD that Soviet pilots began to utilize the MiG-23 as a true air-superiority fighter.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: By the 1980s, the MiG-23's accident rate in the VVS averaged 12.5 losses per 100,000 flying hours. This was often worse in the air forces of the Warsaw Pact allies: 24.3 major mishaps per 100,000 flying hours in the Hungarian Air Force; 20.4 losses per 100,000 flying hours in the East German Air Force; 18 losses per 100,000 flying hours in the Bulgarian Air Force; and 11.3 losses per 100,000 flying hours in the Polish Air Force.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: By 1990, over 1,500 MiG-23s of different models were in service with the VVS and the V-PVO. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the new Russian Air Force began to cut back its fighter force, and it was decided that the single-engine MiG-23s and MiG-27s were to be retired to operational storage. The last model to serve was the MiG-23P air-defense variant: it was retired on 1 May 1998.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: When East and West Germany unified, no MiG-23s were transferred to the German Air Force, but twelve former East German MiG-23s were supplied to the United States. When Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Czechs received all the MiG-23s, which were retired in 1998. Hungary retired its MiG-23s in 1996, Poland in 1999, Romania in 2000, and Bulgaria in 2004.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23 was the Soviet Air Force's "Top Gun"-equivalent aggressor aircraft from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. It proved a difficult opponent for early MiG-29 variants flown by inexperienced pilots. Exercises showed when well-flown, a MiG-23MLD could achieve favorable kill ratios against the MiG-29 in mock combat by using hit-and-run tactics and not engaging the MiG-29s in dogfights. Usually the aggressor MiG-23MLDs had a shark mouth painted on the nose just aft of the radome, and many were piloted by Soviet–Afghan War veterans. In the late 1980s, these aggressor MiG-23s were replaced by MiG-29s, also featuring shark mouths.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Soviet MiG-23s were used over Afghanistan, often being used to escort missions close to the borders of Pakistan and Iran, as the MiG-21 lacked the necessary range to do so. Some of them were claimed to have been shot down.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The earliest use of the MiG-23 in Afghanistan occurred in April 1982, when aircraft of the 152nd IAP escorted a large air raid against Rabat-e-Jali in Nimruz province. This developed into a disaster when the MiG-23s failed to provide adequate air cover and the strike force accidentally crossed into Iran, losing several helicopters to Iranian F-4 Phantoms.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Soviet and Afghan MiG-23s and Pakistani F-16s clashed a few times during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1987. Two MiG-23 were claimed shot down by Pakistani F-16s when crossing the border (they both were not confirmed) while one F-16 was shot down on 29 April 1987. Western sources consider it a friendly fire incident but the Soviet-backed Afghan government of the time and Pakistan claimed that Soviet aircraft downed the Pakistani F-16 – a claim that "The New York Times" and the "Washington Post" also reported. According to a Russian version of the event, the F-16 was shot down when Pakistani F-16s encountered Soviet MiG-23MLDs. Soviet MiG-23MLD pilots, while on a bombing raid along the Pakistani-Afghan border, reported being attacked by F-16s and then seeing one F-16 explode. It could have been downed by gunfire from a MiG whose pilot did not report the kill, because Soviet pilots were not allowed to attack Pakistani aircraft without permission.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: In 1988, Soviet MiG-23MLDs using R-23s (NATO: AA-7 "Apex") downed two Iranian AH-1J Cobras that had intruded into Afghan airspace. In a similar incident a decade earlier, on 21 June 1978, a PVO MiG-23M flown by Pilot Captain V. Shkinder shot down two Iranian Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters that had trespassed into Soviet airspace, one helicopter being dispatched by two R-60 missiles and the other by cannon fire.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Air-to-air encounters, however, were not particularly frequent, with close air support accounting for most missions flown in Afghanistan while combat air patrol and air-to-air escort missions comprised 15% of the total. Sorties with dumb bombs and cluster munitions were flown against a wide range of targets, while more sophisticated weaponry was not often employed because of the difficult terrain and threat of MANPADs and AA. Attacks were made in pairs, with both MiGs diving at a 45 degree angle before releasing their bombs. After heavy losses in 1984–5, tactics were re-evaluated and a minimum altitude of 3,500 m (11,480 ft) was introduced. This was later increased to 4,500 m (14,760 ft). The accuracy of attacks was lowered and it became impossible to use unguided rockets at all. However, this was effective at reducing losses; there were none during 1986.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The two-seater MiG-23UB also saw service in Afghanistan, used for strike, reconnaissance and target designation. It was also used to familiarise MiG-27 pilots with flying in the hot and high conditions of Afghanistan when they were deployed there in 1988. Additionally, MiG-23UBs sometimes acted as a makeshift 'AWACS' aircraft, with an officer in the back seat observing and issuing commands to a strike group below him. The concept was dubbed "I am my own AWACS" by the Soviet pilots involved.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: MiG-23s of the Soviet Air Force were transferred to the Soviet Navy on two occasions. In 1984 a full regiment of MiG-23s was deployed to Vietnam to escort naval patrols by Tupolev Tu-95 aircraft. This later became the 169th Guards Composite Air Regiment. They flew over 400 sorties from Cam Ranh airbase, staying there until 1989, when the aircraft were withdrawn and returned to the air force.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The second instance of MiG-23s serving with the Soviet Navy occurred from 1990 to 1994, when nine MiG-23UB trainers were attached to the 88th Separate Fighter Bomber Regiment of the Northern Fleet's aviation component to train pilots for their MiG-27s.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The first MiG-23s were supplied to Syria in April 1974. The process of making the MiG-23 operational was complex and difficult, because of the poor manufacturing quality and unreliability of the aircraft, and the lack of technical documentation. By the end of the year, up to 13 Syrian MiG-23s had already been written off. The first MiG-23s to see combat were export variants with many limitations. Compared to the MiG-21, the aircraft was mechanically complex and expensive and also less agile. The first interceptor variant to be exported, the MiG-23MS, was equipped with the same weapons system as the older MiG-21S, and its radar was particularly vulnerable to electronic countermeasures (ECM), at which the Israelis were especially proficient.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: A former Syrian Air Force MiG-23MS became iconic of the Siege of Abu al-Duhur Airbase: on 7 March 2012, Syrian rebels used a 9K115-2 Metis-M anti-tank guided missile to hit the derelict MiG. Later, in March 2013 they entered in the base, showing the worn out and damaged MiG. Finally, in May 2013, the Syrian Air Force bombed it to completely destroy the wreck.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Syrian MiG-23BNs bombed the city of Aleppo on 24 July 2012, becoming the first use of fixed-wing aircraft for bombing in the Syrian civil war.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: On 13 August 2012, a Syrian MiG-23BN was reportedly shot down by the rebels of the Free Syrian Army near Deir ez-Zor, although the government claimed that it went down due to technical difficulties.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Since then, Syrian Air Force MiG-23s together with different Syrian Air Force fighter jets have regularly been spotted performing attack runs on Syrian insurgents, who have claimed different MiGs being shot down or destroyed on the ground on different occasions.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: On 23 March 2014, one Syrian MiG-23 was shot down after being hit by an AIM-9 Sidewinder fired by a Turkish F-16 in the vicinity of the Syrian town of Kessab. The pilot ejected safely and was recovered by friendly forces. Turkish sources said the fighter violated Turkish airspace and it was downed after several radio warnings while approaching the border. Another Syrian MiG-23 returned to Syria after trespassing into Turkish airspace.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: On 15 June 2017, one Jordanian Selex ES Falco UAV was shot down by a Syrian MiG-23MLD in the vicinity of the Syrian town of Derra. On 16 June, another Selex ES Falco was shot down by MiG-23ML both using R-24R missiles.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: On 9 September 2020, a Syrian MiG-23 crashed in Deir ez-Zor Governorate without information on the fate of its pilot.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Iraq bought its first MiG-23s in 1973, in order to replace its Hawker Hunters and MiG-17Fs. Deliveries lasted from 1974 to 1978, and consisted of 18 MiG-23MS interceptors, between 36 and 40 MiG-23BN strike aircraft, and several MiG-23UB trainers. The introduction of these new aircraft proved particularly difficult for the Iraqi Air Force. Training in the Soviet Union included little flight time, and since the Soviets didn't provide any technical documentation or flight manuals, the Iraqis had to run flight testing on their own. Moreover, the handling qualities and the avionics outfit of the MiG-23 were heavily criticised, and the airframes' manufacturing quality was poor. Unsurprisingly, by 1978 at least 12 MiG-23s had been written off in accidents. An additional batch of MiG-23MS was bought in the late 1970s to compensate for the losses.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: The MiG-23 took part in the Iran–Iraq War and was used in both air-to-air and air-to-ground roles. On the first day of the war (22 September), both the MiG-23MS and the MiG-23BNs participated in attacks against Iranian airbases. The next day, an Iraqi MiG-23MS shot down an Iranian Northrop F-5E. However, this day also marked the first MiG-23 losses of the war: three MiG-23BNs were shot down by Iranian interceptors and air defences. Several more MiG-23s were shot down in the following months, mostly MiG-23BNs. The high losses were compounded by the embargo placed on Iraq by the Soviet Union in reaction to the war. By the end of 1980, Iraqi MiG-23MS pilots had claimed a total of three F-5Es shot down, all of them over the Iraqi airspace.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: Despite the embargo, five MiG-23MFs that had been delivered prior to the outbreak of the war were rushed into service in the latter half of 1981. Attempting to replicate the success of the Mirage F1s that shot down two F-14 Tomcats on 15 November 1981, the pilots of Iraqi MiG-23 interceptor units started trying to sneak upon the Iranian Tomcats in a similar way a few days later. However, following these two losses, the Iranian pilots had adapted their tactics. While the F-14s flew combat air patrols at high altitude, pairs of F-5Es or F-4 Phantoms were positioned at low altitude in order to prevent Iraqi fighters from approaching the Tomcats unobserved. These new tactics worked out when two MiG-23MFs were shot down by the F-14s after having been visually detected by the F-5s, on 25 November. Several more Iraqi fighters were lost in similar circumstances during this period. MiG-23BN units continued suffering losses too, especially to F-14s and MIM-23B I-HAWK surface-to-air missiles. The Iraqi MiG-23BNs delivered in the 1970s only had a subpar radar warning receiver and no electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment, despite the Iraqi Air Force having paid for it. In 1982, the Soviets lifted their embargo, and aircraft deliveries restarted: 18 additional MiG-23MFs were delivered, together with 18 MiG-23BNs equipped with the ECM system requested since the 1970s.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: In 1983-1984, the MiG-23MFs were used to intercept Iranian RF-4E reconnaissance aircraft flying over Iraq. Even though these aircraft were unarmed, they proved very hard to catch, and each of their flights was protected by a pair of F-14s; on 1 January 1984, Tomcats shot down a MiG-23MF while escorting an RF-4E. Later that month, an RF-4E was claimed shot down by a MiG-23MF, and another followed in June. Actually, both were only heavily damaged: after successful emergency landings, they were eventually repaired. That year also marked the arrival of the first MiG-23MLs; in total, at least 64 were ordered by Iraq. On 11 August, one of the new MiG-23MLs shot down the F-14 flown by IRIAF Colonel Hashem All-e-Agha with an R-60MK missile over the Persian Gulf. Iraqi MiG-23MLs downed another Tomcat on 2 September 1986, when Iranian Air Force Captain Ahmad Moradi Talebi was shot down while attempting to defect with his F-14A.


title: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23

text: From 1984 onwards, due to the exhaustion of both its personnel and its aircraft, the Iranian air force stopped operating its fighters over the frontlines. Hence, the Iraqis started using their aircraft to attack targets further into Iran. MiG-23BNs participated in these attacks, as part of bigger strike packages including other bombers, a fighter escort (often including MiG-23MF/MLs), and SEAD aircraft. They also flew close air support missions. Thanks to the decreased presence of IRIAF interceptors and to the much-improved protection offered by escort, SEAD and electronic countermeasures aircraft, losses were much lower than during the first months of the war.