title: Basket Case (film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, "Basket Case" holds a 77% approval rating based on 26 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The consensus reads: "While "Basket Case" definitely delivers all the gonzo gore promised by its cracked premise, it's really set apart by its rich vein of genuine pathos."


title: Basket Case (film)

text: In 2001, G. Noel Gross of DVD Talk gave "Basket Case" a rating of five out of five stars, calling it "an undeniable, unavoidable and unforgettable clasSICK". In 2003, author Scott Aaron Stine wrote of the film: "The innovation and verve this movie displays surpasses its innumerable shortcomings, all products of a film that qualified as destitute before the cameras even started rolling. The fact that most of the 'actors' had probably never stepped foot in front of a camera prior to this only adds to the movie's squalid charm; their talents may be slim, but their presence is priceless."


title: Basket Case (film)

text: In 2007, Muir called the film "a fine, competent low-budget effort that generates thrills and discomfort not only from its tale of symbiotic (and separated) Siamese twins, but from its authentic sense of place. New York City has never felt more delightfully and dangerously squalid." Muir goes on to call it "oddly compelling, deeply disturbing and inexplicably touching".


title: Basket Case (film)

text: In 2011, David Harley of "Bloody Disgusting" wrote that the film's "warped sense of humor and brazen attitude make it a blast to watch and, ultimately, one of the best horror comedies of the 1980s." That same year, Heather Wixson of "Dread Central" gave the film three-and-a-half out of five stars, referring to it as an "insane masterpiece that lovingly celebrates the sometimes schlocky and sleazy side of cinema". Patrick Naugle of DVD Verdict wrote, "The movie is just pure shock value" but "a heck of a lot of fun."


title: Basket Case (film)

text: In March 2017, "Basket Case" was selected for preservation and restoration by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Henenlotter provided MoMA with the film elements required for the restoration, including the original 16 mm camera negative from which the restoration would be sourced. In addition to the film's footage being restored in 4K resolution, its audio also underwent a restoration, using the original magnetic tracks of the sound mix as the source.


title: Basket Case (film)

text: "Basket Case" was released on Betamax and VHS by Media Home Entertainment. It was released on DVD in the United States by Image Entertainment in 1998. In 2001, a special edition DVD release of the film was issued by Something Weird Video.


title: Basket Case (film)

text: On September 27, 2011, Something Weird Video released the film on Blu-ray. Henenlotter supervised the Blu-ray release himself, which features a restoration of the film taken from a 35 mm interpositive, with the original 16 mm negative (which had initially been thought lost) used as a reference.


title: Basket Case (film)

text: In November 2017, it was announced that Arrow Video would be releasing "Basket Case" on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring the 4K restoration of the film overseen by MoMA. The release includes such bonus features as an audio commentary by Henenlotter and Van Hentenryck, interviews with members of the cast, a making-of featurette, and the 1972 Henenlotter-directed short film "Slash of the Knife". The Arrow Video release was issued on February 27, 2018.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Something Wicked This Way Comes is a 1983 American dark fantasy film directed by Jack Clayton and produced by Walt Disney Productions, from a screenplay written by Ray Bradbury, based on his 1962 novel of the same name. It stars Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd, and Pam Grier.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: The title was taken from a line in Act IV of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth": "By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: The film was shot in Vermont and at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It had a troubled production – Clayton fell out with Bradbury over an uncredited script rewrite, and after test screenings of the director's cut failed to meet the studio's expectations, Disney sidelined Clayton, fired the original editor, and scrapped the original score, spending some $5 million and many months re-shooting, re-editing and re-scoring the film before its eventual release.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: In Green Town, Illinois, two young boys, a reserved Will Halloway, and somewhat rebellious Jim Nightshade, leave from an after-school detention for "whispering in class" and hurry off for home. The boys live next door to each other and were born a minute apart on Halloween. Will lives with his grey-haired father Charles and mother while Jim lives with his single mother; it is heavily implied that his father walked out on them. A lightning rod salesman named Tom Fury arrives and sells one to Jim, claiming that it will protect him from an upcoming storm. The boys soon hear of a carnival coming to town led by the ominous Mr. Dark.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: The carnival arrives and is set up overnight. Will and Jim notice that many of the residents seem oddly entranced by some of the attractions such as the amputee bartender Ed who sees his missing arm and leg return in a mirror and the boys' teacher Miss Foley who wishes to regain her youth. Will and Jim see a carousel that is closed off and are confronted by Mr. Dark who quickly becomes suspicious of them. Later, they witness Mr. Dark using the carousel on his assistant Mr. Cooger who reverts to a little boy. Will and Jim head off to see Foley, but she is with her "nephew" who is actually Cooger and are forced to leave.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Foley suddenly becomes younger, but loses her vision and is taken by Cooger to Dark. Will gets into an argument with Jim when the latter reveals that he has always been envious of the former being older and wants to use the carousel. However, they witness Fury being tortured by Mr. Dark who wants the secret of the upcoming storm and uses his other assistant the Dust Witch to seduce him, but to no avail. The boys run when they are found out and try to go to bed. In the middle of the night, the two are attacked by spiders, but the lightning rod that Fury gave Jim earlier saves them.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: In the morning, Mr. Dark leads his carnival, now consisting of some of the townspeople, in a parade though Will and Jim deduce that it is a search party for them. Charles eventually figures out that the boys are in trouble and when confronted by Mr. Dark manages to deter him. Charles, Will and Jim head to the library where the former reveals that the carnival had come to town before and that his own father had fought them. Mr. Dark arrives searching for Will and Jim and offers Charles his youth back, but he resists. He knocks out Charles and makes off with the boys back to the carnival. Charles regains himself and heads to the carnival just as the storm arrives. He runs into Jim's mother and deters her before she too succumbs to Mr. Dark's powers.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Charles heads into the hall of mirrors where Mr. Dark continues to taunt him about his age. However, Will declares his love for his father and repels the Dust Witch, allowing Fury to escape his imprisonment and impale her with a lightning rod. Will and Charles find Mr. Dark attempting to use the carousel with Jim in tow, but they rescue him just as lightning strikes the ride. As Mr. Dark begins to age and decay, Will and Charles express happiness to awaken Jim and the three flee just as the carnival begins to get sucked away into a giant twister. Will, Jim and Charles head back into town and begin to happily dance back home, with the danger now over.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Ray Bradbury first wrote the original novel as a screenplay adapted from his 1948 short story "Black Ferris" in 1958, intended as a directorial vehicle for Gene Kelly. Financing for the project never came, and Bradbury converted the screenplay into a novel, published in 1962.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: In 1971, Bradbury agreed to write a new screenplay based on the novel for Jack Clayton, who Bradbury previously worked with on "Moby Dick". In January 1973, Sam Peckinpah was announced as director for the film, with a script written by Bradbury.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: By June 1976, Clayton had returned as director and the property was being developed by The Bryna Company, a film production company formed by Kirk Douglas. Douglas became interested in the property after meeting Bradbury at a bookstore in Los Angeles, and initially intended to star in the film. Douglas' son Peter Douglas was the producer of the film alongside Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler. They secured a deal with Paramount Pictures to finance the $6,000,000 production, which was to be filmed on location in Texas. However, production never began and the film was eventually put into turnaround by Paramount CEO Barry Diller over the objections of feature division president David V. Picker. At various times, Mark Rydell and Steven Spielberg expressed interest in making the film.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: At this time Walt Disney Pictures was concentrating on films with more mature themes in an attempt to break free from their stereotype as an animation and family film studio. In 1981, Disney acquired the film rights to "Something Wicked This Way Comes" and announced that it would go into production with a $16 million budget. The studio sought Bradbury's input on selecting a cast and director, and he suggested Clayton feeling they had worked well together at Paramount. Peter Douglas returned as the film's producer, but Kirk Douglas was unable to appear in the film despite playing a major role in its pre-production. In a 1981 issue of "Cinefantastique", Bradbury stated that his top choices to play Mr. Dark were Peter O'Toole and Christopher Lee. However, Disney decided to go with a relatively unknown actor instead in order to keep the budget down, and Jonathan Pryce was eventually cast.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Principal photography on the film began on September 28, 1981, and progressed for 77 days. The production was mostly filmed on Disney's Golden Oak Ranch in Newhall, California, as shooting it on location would have been too costly. Some exterior scenes were shot in Vermont. As the film progressed, two differing visions emerged for the film, with Bradbury and Clayton wishing to stay as faithful to the novel as possible, while Disney wanted to make a more accessible and family friendly film. Bradbury and Clayton fell out during production after Bradbury discovered that Clayton had hired writer John Mortimer to do an uncredited revision of Bradbury's screenplay at the studio's insistence.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: At a Q&A session following a 2012 screening of the film, actor Shawn Carson explained that he originally read some 10 times for the part of Will, but after a request from Bradbury, he read for and was cast in the part of Jim Nightshade instead. Although he had blond hair at the time, and co-star Vidal Petersen had dark hair, Carson's hair was dyed jet black and Petersen's was bleached blond to fit the new casting.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: For the original score, Clayton picked Georges Delerue who had scored his films "The Pumpkin Eater" and "Our Mother's House", but his score (considered "too dark" by Disney) was later removed and replaced at short notice with a score by James Horner. A soundtrack album of Delerue's unused score was released by Intrada Records in 2015. Horner's replacement score was previously released by the same label in 1998.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Editor Barry Gordon was hired as assistant to the film's original editor, Argyle Nelson Jr. He recalled in 2012 that after Clayton submitted his original cut, Disney expressed concerns about the film's length, pacing and commercial appeal; the studio then took the project out of Clayton's hands and undertook an expensive six-month reshoot and re-edit. Nelson was let go for budgetary reasons, and although Gordon was originally prepared to follow Nelson and leave the production, Nelson encouraged him to stay, and Gordon edited the final cut (resulting in the film's dual editor credits).


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Disney spent an additional $5 million on re-filming, re-editing, and re-scoring the picture, and Gordon was required to make a number of changes to Clayton and Nelson's original cut, removing several major special-effects scenes, and incorporating the new material directed by visual effects artist Lee Dyer, including a new spoken prologue narrated by Arthur Hill. Among the casualties was a groundbreaking animation scene, which would have been one of the first major uses of computer-generated imaging in a Hollywood film; combining the then new technology of CGI with traditional animation, it depicted Dark's circus train rolling into town, and the carnival magically materialising – the smoke from the locomotive becomes the ropes and tents, tree limbs grow together to form a ferris wheel, and a spider web morphs into a wheel of fortune. The deleted scene was previewed in detail in the May–June 1983 issue of "Twilight Zone Magazine", but in the event, the re-edit retained only a few seconds of the sequence. Another cut sequence depicted Mr. Dark using his sinister powers to send a huge disembodied hand to reach into the house to grab the boys – this mechanical effect was deemed not realistic enough by Disney executives, and was replaced by a new scene in which the room is invaded by hundreds of spiders. This was shot using real spiders, and years later Shawn Carson recalled the considerable discomfort he and Vidal Petersen experienced as a result being exposed to the irritating urticating hairs of the 200 tarantulas used in the sequence.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: The original themes of Bradbury's novel, the suggestion of menace, the autumn atmosphere of an American Midwest township and the human relationships between characters that attracted Clayton escaped preview audiences completely, with Clayton heavily criticized. New special effects sequences were shot and a hastily composed new score by composer James Horner replaced Delerue's original music. Initial test screenings did not fare well with audiences, and Disney re-commissioned Bradbury to write an opening narration sequence and new ending.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies in Indianapolis have a copy of the original cut on VHS which may be the only surviving copy of Jack Clayton's original cut.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun Times" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, and wrote: "It's one of the few literary adaptations I've seen in which the film not only captures the mood and tone of the novel, but also the novel's style. Bradbury's prose is a strange hybrid of craftsmanship and lyricism. He builds his stories and novels in a straightforward way, with strong plotting, but his sentences owe more to Thomas Wolfe than to the pulp tradition, and the lyricism isn't missed in this movie. In its descriptions of autumn days, in its heartfelt conversations between a father and a son, in the unabashed romanticism of its evil carnival and even in the perfect rhythm of its title, this is a horror movie with elegance."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" wrote the film "begins on such an overworked Norman Rockwell note that there seems little chance that anything exciting or unexpected will happen. So it's a happy surprise when the film...turns into a lively, entertaining tale combining boyishness and grown-up horror in equal measure;" according to Maslin, "The gee-whiz quality to this adventure is far more excessive in Mr. Bradbury's novel than it is here, as directed by Jack Clayton. Mr. Clayton, who directed a widely admired version of "The Turn of the Screw" some years ago, gives the film a tension that transcends even its purplest prose."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" praised the film as "one of Walt Disney's best efforts in recent years—a film that actually has something to offer adults and adolescents alike."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: "Variety" wrote that the film "must be chalked up as something of a disappointment. Possibilities for a dark, child's view fantasy set in rural America of yore are visible throughout, but various elements have not entirely congealed into a unified achievement...Clayton has done a fine job visualizing the screenplay by Bradbury himself, but has missed really connecting with the heart of the material and bringing it satisfyingly alive."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and wrote that it "opens promisingly" but has a script which "tries to cram too much material into one story" and a climax that "couldn't be more disappointing," with "neon special effects that overwhelm the last half hour of the movie. The result is an oddball combination of a "Twilight Zone" episode with the climactic, zapping-the-Nazis scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark.""


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Richard Harrington of "The Washington Post" criticized the "lethargic" pace, "stolid acting," and special effects that "are shockingly poor for 1983 (a time-machine carousel is the only effective sequence on that front)."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Tom Milne of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" lamented that "the novel's texture has been thinned out so ruthlessly that little is left, but the bare bones; and all they add up to, shorn of the slightly self-conscious Faulknerian poetics of Bradbury's style, is a dismayingly schoolmarmish moral tale about fathers and sons, the vanity of illusions, and homespun recipes for dealing with demons ('Happiness makes them run')."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Christopher John reviewed "Something Wicked This Way Comes" in "Ares Magazine" #15 and commented that "If the chance ever comes your way to take this one in, grab it. Rarely does such a quiet, yet strong picture get made in this country."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: Colin Greenland reviewed "Something Wicked This Way Comes" for "Imagine" magazine, and stated that "This is one for the SFX connoisseur, a visual feast."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: As of August 2022, the film holds a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews. The consensus reads, "True terror and typical Disney wholesomeness clash uncomfortably in Something Wicked This Way Comes."


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: It won the 1984 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and Saturn Award for Best Writing; it was nominated for five others, including best music for James Horner and best supporting actor for Jonathan Pryce. The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and Grand Jury Prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival.


title: Something Wicked This Way Comes (film)

text: In 2014, Disney announced a remake of "Something Wicked This Way Comes" with Seth Grahame-Smith writing the script, making his directorial debut, and producing with David Katzenberg from their producing banner KatzSmith Productions. Reportedly, Grahame-Smith wants to focus mostly on Ray Bradbury's source material from the book.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: The Killer () is a 1989 Hong Kong action thriller film written and directed by John Woo. The film stars Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh. Chow plays the assassin Ah Jong, who accidentally damages the eyes of the singer Jennie (Sally Yeh) during a shootout. He later discovers that if Jennie does not undergo an expensive operation, she will go blind. To get the money for Jennie, Ah Jong decides to perform one last hit.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: After the financial backing from Tsui Hark became problematic following the release of Woo's film "A Better Tomorrow 2", Woo had to find backing through Chow Yun-fat's and Danny Lee's financing companies. Woo went into filming "The Killer" with a rough draft whose plot was influenced by the films "Le Samouraï", "Mean Streets", and "Narazumono". Woo wanted to make a film about honour, friendship and the relationship of two seemingly opposite people. After finishing filming, Woo referred to "The Killer" as a tribute to directors Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was not an immediate success in Hong Kong, but received critical acclaim in the Western world with reviewers praising the action scenes and its over-the-top style. The film became Woo's steppingstone to making Hollywood films and has been a strong influence on many directors, including Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Johnnie To.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Ah Jong, a hitman, decides to retire after one final job. During a shootout with gangsters, he accidentally blinds a young nightclub singer named Jennie when his gun fires too close to her eyes. Over the next six months, he quietly watches over her, attending all of her performances. One night, he intervenes to save her from being mugged and raped; Jennie then invites him into her apartment. They grow close and start a romantic relationship. However, Jennie then learns from her doctor that if she does not undergo a corneal transplant, she will lose what remains of her sight.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Ah Jong agrees to kill a high-ranking triad boss to pay for the operation. Meanwhile, police detective Li Ying performs a botched undercover sting and is scolded by his superior for unintentionally causing the fatal heart attack of a hostage. Li later spots Ah Jong in the middle of the hit on the Triad boss, but eventually loses him. Ah Jong's client, Hay Wong Hoi, betrays him by sending hitmen to kill Ah Jong at the location of his getaway car. Ah Jong guns down the hitmen, but a child is badly injured in the crossfire. Ah Jong rushes the child to a nearby hospital while being followed by Li and his partner, Sgt. Tsang Yeh. Ah Jong holds Yeh at gunpoint until the girl regains consciousness, then escapes from the police.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Li becomes obsessed with Ah Jong's act of good will. He and Tsang learn about Jennie; when Ah Jong visits her, he manages to outwit and elude the two cops once again. Li and Tsang explain to Jennie that Ah Jong was the assassin that blinded her at the nightclub. Ah Jong meets with his manager, Fung Sei, and demands the money he was promised for his last job. Sei betrays him by giving him a briefcase of blank notes and send hitmen on Ah Jong in his own home. Ah Jong kills his attackers, but spares Sei out of loyalty. The next day, Ah Jong attempts to kill Wong Hoi in a drive-by shooting but fails. Wong Hoi hires hitman Frank Chen, to kill Ah Jong. Jennie is persuaded to help the police set a trap for Ah Jong at the airport, but Sei distracts them while Ah Jong flees with Jennie.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Tsang follows Sei to his house, where Ah Jong and Jennie are hiding, but gets fatally wounded by Chen's gang and dies in the hospital moments after sharing his discovery with Li. Li goes to arrest Ah Jong, but winds up helping him, and Jennie fight their way out of an ambush. Ah Jong and Li flee, and while Ah Jong's wounds are mended, they find themselves bonding and becoming friends. Ah Jong makes Li promise that should anything happen to him, he will make sure that Jennie has her operation. Li, Ah Jong, and Jennie take refuge in a church while Sei goes to get Ah Jong's money from Hoi. He is badly beaten after trying to shoot Hoi and sustains several mortal gunshot wounds, but manages to get the money to the church.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Ah Jong shoots Sei to end his suffering, and he and Li arm themselves before engaging in a bloody shootout with dozens of gangsters. Both Li and Ah Jong are wounded, and eventually find themselves in a Mexican standoff between Ah Jong, Li, and Hoi. Hoi holds a gun to Jennie's head and shoots Chen dead when Li takes him hostage. Ah Jong has his eyes shot out, and bleeds to death as Jennie, now completely blind, crawls around helplessly trying to find him. As the police arrive, Hoi immediately surrenders, but an enraged Li kills him. Li is immediately subdued by the police, and collapses to the ground in tears at the loss of his friend.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Director John Woo has described "The Killer" as being about "honour and friendship", "trying to find out if there is something common between two people" and as a "romantic poem". The structure of the film follows two men on opposite sides of the law who find a relation to each other in their opposition to a greater evil, Wong Hoi, a Triad boss. Li and Ah Jong's relationship was influenced by the "Spy vs. Spy" comics from "Mad Magazine". Woo recalled "When I was young I was fascinated with the cartoon–I love it very much ... the white bird and the black bird are always against each other, but deep in their heart, they are still friendly, and the idea came from that." Woo uses Ah Jong and Li as a central motif to illustrate moral points. Scenes with this reflective doubling include the hospital sequence with Li and Ah Jong on opposite sides of a hospital hall and in the final battle scene where Li and Ah Jong are in a standoff with Wong. The focus on male friendships in Woo's film have been interpreted as homoerotic. Woo has responded to these statements stating "People will bring their own preconceptions to a movie ... If they see something in "The Killer" that they consider to be homoerotic then that is their privilege. It's certainly not intentional."


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Woo is a Christian and instills his films with religious imagery while stating that "The Killer" is "not a religious film". In the opening of "The Killer", Ah Jong is found in a church stating he enjoys the "tranquility". Ah Jong is later found in the church again getting several slugs pulled out of his back showing his intense pain while the altar and cross are shown prominently behind him. The idea was influenced by Martin Scorsese's film "Mean Streets", Woo stated the imagery was used to show that "God is welcoming, no matter if it's a good or a bad man, everyone is welcome".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Woo draws on animal symbolism throughout the film. He filled the church with doves and pigeons, employing doves to represent the spirits of the people. This was the first film where Woo used the dove symbolism and he has used it to similar effect in "Hard Target" and "Face/Off". A cat appears when Ah Jong first meets Jennie on her visit home, and secondarily when Li's partner Tsang tries to catch Ah Jong in Jennie's apartment. In Chinese culture, a cat coming into a home is an omen of ruin and poverty for its inhabitants. Both Tsang and Jennie meet negative outcomes in the film.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was director Woo's follow-up to "A Better Tomorrow 2" which was released in 1987. The first cut of "A Better Tomorrow 2" was too long for the studio so the film was edited within a week separately by both producer Tsui Hark and Woo. According to producer Terence Chang, Tsui Hark felt that John Woo ruined "A Better Tomorrow 2" and asked Chang to fire Woo from the studio. When Chang refused, Hark began rejecting Woo's new film ideas, including ideas for films that would later be made, such as "Bullet in the Head" and "Once a Thief".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: When Woo proposed the story of "The Killer" to Tsui Hark, it was denied; Hark's reaction was that "[n]obody wants to see a film about a killer".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was not able to be filmed until actor Chow Yun-fat stepped in and enlisted the company he was contracted with, Golden Princess Film, to fund part of the project. Chow had worked previously with Woo on the two "A Better Tomorrow" films. Woo wanted Danny Lee to play Li Ying, but Lee was under an exclusive contract with Cinema City and was only able to work on "The Killer" if his production company, Magnum, was involved. John Woo approached his friend, Sally Yeh, asking her to be in a film to play an important female character. Yeh was currently contracted with Tsui Hark and accepted the role but later felt she did not give her best performance. The supporting roles were filled out by friends of the actors and director. Chu Kong was a friend of Chow Yun-fat who had entered retirement and returned to acting in "The Killer" as a favor. Two of Woo's close friends joined the cast: actor Kenneth Tsang and screenwriter Barry Wong. Wong Wing-Hang was hired to be the director of photography for "The Killer" but had to leave the set for an extended period of time, so Peter Pau was added to shoot the rest of the film.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Woo had over 90 days to shoot "The Killer" which was nearly double the amount of time that the average Hong Kong film was shot in the late 1980s. Woo went into filming with only a short treatment for the film and wrote the details of the script while filming. During promotion periods for the film, Woo described the film as a tribute to Martin Scorsese and French director Jean-Pierre Melville. Woo cites Melville's "Le Samouraï" as an influence on the story. Woo borrows plot elements for the film, including the set-up where Jef enters a nightclub and looks at the female singer. Woo also described the influence of a Japanese film, "", about a killer (Ken Takakura) who only kills delinquents. When a mob tricks him into killing an innocent person, he swears revenge but then meets a woman who has tuberculosis and wants to go home. The killer promises the woman that he will take her home after getting his revenge.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: The scene where Danny Lee chases a gunman onto a tram was filmed in Causeway Bay and the crew only had three hours to film. Residents thought it was a real gunfight and phoned the police. However, when the police arrived, Danny Lee talked to the superintendent so they could continue filming. Scenes from the Dragon Boat festival were shot months apart, some footage was of the boat races and rest of the footage involving the actors was shot months later. It was planned for the boats to flip over during the chase but the owners refused because they felt it would bring bad luck. The scene at the airport were filmed at the Kai Tak Airport. The scenes at Paul Chu Kong's character's house were filmed in Stanley, Hong Kong. John Woo wanted this house to be by a beach but a suitable location could not be found. The action scene inside the house took 28 days to shoot. The final action scene took 36 days to shoot and was shot at a remote building made to look like a church while the exterior seen from Ah Jong's apartment is a real church. The original ending of the film involved Jennie waiting at an airport for Li to give her the money and for them to travel to the United States. Due to Sally Yeh's tight filming schedule, the scene was not filmed and replaced with Ah Jong playing the harmonica.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Tsui and Woo disagreed on the musical aspects of the film. For the opening scene, Woo wanted the singer to perform a jazz song and have the killer playing a saxophone. Tsui rejected this idea as he felt that the Hong Kong audiences did not understand or like jazz. Woo stated that he "had to change it to a Chinese song, the kind of song they always use in Hong Kong movies." Actress Sally Yeh who performed the Cantopop songs did not feel they were appropriate for the film. The songs were requested by the studio and written specifically for "The Killer".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: The film's music was composed by Lowell Lo and edited by David Wu. A reoccurring musical theme is a haunting vibraphone theme which is first heard over the opening credits. The harmonica motif in the film was influenced by the soundtracks of Ennio Morricone, specifically the soundtrack to "Once Upon a Time in America" and used a bottle blower to give the music a haunting effect. David Wu said the influence of the Harmonica music in Sergio Leone's western films was a strong influence on his work. During the final action scene when the statue of the Virgin Mary is destroyed, the action music transitions to "Overture" from "Messiah" by George Frideric Handel. This was the idea of editor David Wu who felt that it would break up the numbing effect of the kinetic violence.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was first released in Taiwan in March 1989 with a running time of 124 minutes. It was then cut to its current running time of 110 minutes and released in Hong Kong on 6 July 1989, Woo felt this cut was "much better". The film was not an immediate success in Hong Kong due to the Tiananmen Square massacre but eventually gained fame, grossing $18,255,083 and reached ninth at the 1989 Hong Kong box office. At the 9th Hong Kong Film Awards, the film won for Best Director (John Woo) and Best Editing (Fan Kung Ming) and was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Paul Chu Kong), Best Screenplay (Woo) and Best Cinematography (Wong Wing Hang and Peter Pau). "The Killer" was popular in Korea taking seventh highest place in the year end box office receipts.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was shown at several film festivals outside Asia including the 1989 Toronto Festival of Festivals and, during the film's United States premiere, at the Palm Springs International Film Festival in January 1990. It was also shown at the Sundance Film Festival in the United States and the Cannes Film Festival in France in 1990. Film producer Terence Chang suggested that "The Killer"'s success around the world made several Hong Kong filmmakers jealous: "It created a certain kind of resentment in the Hong Kong film industry. One thing I can say for sure is, the American, European, Japanese, Korean and even the Taiwanese audiences and critics appreciated "The Killer" a lot more than it was in Hong Kong." "The Killer" received a wide release in the United Kingdom on 8 October 1993.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was released in the United States on VHS by Fox Lorber in November 1992, in a dubbed and subtitled version. On 25 June 1996 Fox Lorber released "The Killer" along with "Hard Boiled" as a double feature on home video. "The Killer" was released on DVD by The Criterion Collection on 1 April 1998 in the original Cantonese language track with English subtitles. Bonus features on DVD included the trailer, production notes, and a commentary track. Woo was very happy with the film being included in the Criterion Collection stating, "it was great because it would let people know what ["The Killer" and "Hard Boiled"] are about...when I saw that Criterion Collection selected "The Killer", I was very happy as "The Killer" and "Bullet in the Head" are my two favourites".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: On 3 Oct 2000 Fox Lorber released a DVD of "The Killer" with English and Cantonese audio, including a commentary track with John Woo and film trailers. This Fox Lorber disc was also included in a two disc DVD collection with "Hard Boiled" but both the Fox Lorber and Criterion DVDs went out of print.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: On 30 March 2010 "The Killer" was released by the Dragon Dynasty label on two-disc DVD and Blu-ray. Bonus features included were interviews with John Woo, a location guide, and a trailer gallery.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: In the United Kingdom, "The Killer" was released on DVD by Hong Kong Legends on 21 October 2002 which included an audio commentary with Bey Logan and interviews with Kenneth Tsang, Sally Yeh and cinematographer Peter Pau.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 98% based on 41 reviews by critics, with and average rating of 8.7/10. Its critical consensus reads, ""The Killer" is another hard-boiled action flick from John Woo featuring eye-popping balletic violence and philosophical underpinnings."


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" referred to the film as "Alternately gripping and laughable" and that "The scenes of gore and destruction are even more spectacular than Hong Kong's fog-shrouded skyline". "Variety" gave a positive review, describing the film as an "extremely violent and superbly made actioner demonstrates the tight grasp that director John Woo has on the crime meller genre". Kathleen Maher of "The Austin Chronicle" praised the film stating that it "defies all categorization but demands comparisons, if only to prove that there's never been anything like this before." Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" wrote a positive review, describing the film as "like eating popcorn, but it's not just any old brand; it's escape-velocity popcorn, popcorn with a slurp of rocket fuel...[Woo's] ideas overreach themselves with such a virile swagger that they border on comedy. With excess like this you can't help but laugh. This is a rush of a movie".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Later critiques of the film remained positive. "The Washington Post" stated that "the plot doesn't exactly break new crime-story ground. It's all the Woo flourishes...that elevates "The Killer" to another level". Lucia Bozzola of the online film database Allmovie gave the film a five star rating, and stated it as "One of the high points of 1980s Hong Kong action cinema". "Empire" gave the film five stars and proclaimed that "John Woo's trademark style reached its zenith in The Killer". In 2010, "Time Out New York" ranked "The Killer" at number 50 on their list of the top 50 foreign films of all time. In 2014, "Time Out" polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films. "The Killer" was listed at 24th place on this list.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" has been recognized as an important and influential film for both Western and Asian filmmakers. Film scholars have noted the similarities between Woo's style and "The Killer" with the films "Nikita" (1990) and "Léon" (1994) directed by French director Luc Besson. Kenneth E. Hall described "Léon" as having the similar character configuration of a hitman and the person he protects. In "Nikita", the main character's crisis of conscience after performing a number of hits is also seen in "The Killer". Lucy Mazdon described the style of "Nikita" as recalling "the work of directors like John Woo. Like "Nikita", Woo's films show alienated and often brutal characters and graphic violence". Brandon Lee used "The Killer" as an influence when choreographing his fight scenes in the film "Rapid Fire". In the United States, directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino developed films that were influenced by "The Killer". Rodriguez's films "El Mariachi" (1992), "Desperado" (1995), & "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" (2003) contain stylistic homages to "The Killer". In the film "Jackie Brown", Tarantino wrote dialog referencing "The Killer". No references to the film are made in the original novel. Asian-based directors were also influenced by the film. Hong Kong director Johnnie To borrows from "The Killer"'s gunfighting style, oppositional character pairing, and parody in his films "A Hero Never Dies", "Running Out of Time", and "Fulltime Killer".


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: "The Killer" was also influential on hip hop music. American hip hop artist, and Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon released his critically praised debut album "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." (1995) that sampled numerous portions of dialog from the film. RZA, the producer of the album described the album's themes by stating that "Rae and Ghost was two opposite guys as far as neighborhoods was concerned, I used John Woo's "The Killer". [In that movie] you got Chow Yun Fat [playing the role of Ah Jong] and Danny Lee [Inspector Li]. They have to become partners to work shit out." Woo felt honored that the group sampled "The Killer" and asked for no monetary return from them. In 2005, "Vibe" magazine placed "The Killer" at number 21 on their list of top fifty films that shaped hip hop. In October 2018, Supreme paid homage to the movie by releasing a collection of hoodies, jackets, shirts, and skateboards featuring graphics and quotes from the movie.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: In 1992, American filmmaker Walter Hill and David Giler wrote a screenplay for Tri-Star Pictures titled "The Killer" that was dated 6 April 1992. The press release of this remake stated the script was written for actors Richard Gere and Denzel Washington. In June 1992, it was announced Walter Hill and Giler were writing a script titled "Hong Kong" based on "The Killer" with Hill directing. The producers had difficulty with the relationship between two main characters in the script as they felt that American audiences would interpret it as a homoerotic one. Producer Terence Chang, who worked with Woo on several productions, suggested to the American producers to have Hong Kong actress Michelle Yeoh play the role of the police officer to resolve any homoerotic reading of the film. A year later, screenwriters Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. were hired by producers Charles Roven and Robert Cavallo to write a screenplay based on "The Killer" for Tristar, in which they wrote a third draft of the script was that was dated on 23 August 1993 which featured a story of a Caucasian hitman living in Hong Kong. This screenplay moved the focus from the pairing the hit man and the police detective characters to the characters of blinded night club singer and the hit man.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: In October 2007, "The Hollywood Reporter" announced that a remake of "The Killer" was announced with Korean-American director John H. Lee directing. The remake would take place in Los Angeles's Koreatown, Chinatown, and South Central. Lee named "The Killer" as one of his favorite films and that he was excited to make his own version of the film. Lee's version was set to be produced by Woo, and star Jung Woo-sung and shot in 3D. Seven Stars Film Studios was slated to finance the production with a screenplay by Josh Campbell. Sarah Li was initially cast to play the role of the blind singer. Woo spoke about the remake in October 2015, stating that Lee's film was in development for some time and Lee eventually took on other projects.


title: The Killer (1989 film)

text: Woo commented that after completing his film "Manhunt" he "probably will go back to Hollywood to make another action thriller. I'm going to make "The Killer" in an American version." Universal Studios is set to developing the film with a script written by Eran Creevy based on drafts by Josh Campbell and Matt Stuecken. Brian Helgeland has been hired for additional writing. actress Lupita Nyong'o has been cast for the lead role. Woo said that filming would begin in January 2019. About the decision of flip both the gender and race of the lead, Nyong'o said: “Listen, I did not see it coming, either. I mean, I knew of John Woo, but I hadn’t seen ‘The Killer.’ So I received the script and read it without really looking at his work in great depth, which is typically how I approach these things. And I really liked the story, and his revised take on it." In November 2019, Woo told Deadline that Nyong’o has left the film due to another project and they have rewrote the script and it took so much time. In May 2022, it was announced that the film will be directed by Woo, produced by Universal Pictures and released exclusively on Peacock. In August 2022, Universal announced that Omar Sy will lead the film as the cop character.


title: Christopher Pike (author)

text: Kevin Christopher McFadden (born November 12, 1955), known by his pen name Christopher Pike, is an American author. He is a bestselling author of young adult and children's fiction. Known for mystery-thrillers and supernatural horror aimed at young adults, he has also written adult fiction.


title: Christopher Pike (author)

text: McFadden was born in New York City in 1955, but grew up in California. He attended college briefly before dropping out and working various jobs such as house painting and computer programming. He initially tried his hand at writing science fiction and adult mystery, but later began writing teen thrillers due to an editor's suggestion.


title: Christopher Pike (author)

text: His first novel, "Slumber Party" by Christopher Pike, was initially written as a supernatural thriller containing a character with pyrokinesis, which he later removed upon the request of his editor. The book was then re-written as a mystery thriller about a group of teenagers who run into bizarre and violent events during a ski weekend. His editor sold the book to Scholastic Press, which released it in 1985. Pike's next novel, "Weekend", was also published through Scholastic. He would go on to publish one more novel through Scholastic, the 1986 "Chain Letter", before moving to Simon and Schuster.


title: Christopher Pike (author)

text: Pike continued to write several young adult novels and later branched into juvenile novels under the "Spooksville" series title, as well as several adult novels such as his 1990 book, "Sati". Spooksville was adapted into a television series in 2013 on the Hub network (now known as Discovery Family).


title: Christopher Pike (author)

text: On November 25, 1996, Pike's novel "Fall into Darkness" was adapted into a television film of the same name, produced by his company Christopher Pike Productions. His novels "The Midnight Club" and "The Season of Passage" have both been optioned, for a television series and film, by filmmaker Mike Flanagan for Netflix. "The Midnight Club" was released on Netflix on October 7, 2022. Two days after the series' release, on October 9, Flanagan confirmed that Netflix had in fact optioned "28 books" of Pike's, and that he had pitched "The Midnight Club" television series as ""The Midnight Club" — but the stories the kids tell [each other] will be other Christopher Pike books", with a plan for the series to last multiple seasons.


title: Christopher Pike (author)

text: (Christopher Pike only wrote one book in this forty-seven book series. Other writers of this series include Caroline B. Cooney and Diane Hoh.)


title: Kiel Canal

text: The Kiel Canal (, literally "North-[to]-East [Baltic] Sea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula. This not only saves time but also avoids storm-prone seas and having to pass through the Danish straits.


title: Kiel Canal

text: The Kiel Canal is the world's most frequented artificial waterway with an annual average of 32,000 ships (90 daily), transporting approximately 100 million tonnes of goods.


title: Kiel Canal

text: Besides its two sea entrances, the Kiel Canal is linked, at Oldenbüttel, to the navigable River Eider by the short Gieselau Canal.


title: Kiel Canal

text: The first connection between the North and Baltic Seas was constructed while the area was ruled by Denmark–Norway. It was called the Eider Canal and used stretches of the Eider River for the link between the two seas. Completed during the reign of Christian VII of Denmark in 1784, the was a part of a waterway from Kiel to the Eider River's mouth at Tönning on the west coast. It was only wide with a depth of , which limited the vessels that could use the canal to 300 tonnes.


title: Kiel Canal

text: After 1864, the Second Schleswig War put Schleswig-Holstein under the government of Prussia (from 1871 the German Empire). A new canal was sought by merchants and by the German navy, which wanted to link its bases in the Baltic and the North Sea without the need to sail around Denmark.


title: Kiel Canal

text: In June 1887, construction started at Holtenau, near Kiel. The canal took over 9,000 workers eight years to build. On 20 June 1895 Kaiser Wilhelm II officially opened the canal for transiting from Brunsbüttel to Holtenau. The next day a ceremony took place in Holtenau, where Wilhelm II named the waterway the (after his grandfather, Kaiser Wilhelm I), and laid the final stone. British director Birt Acres filmed the opening of the canal; the Science Museum in London preserves surviving footage of this early film. The first vessel to pass through the canal was the aviso , sent through in late April (before the canal officially opened) to determine if it was ready for use.


title: Kiel Canal

text: To cope with the increasing traffic and the demands of the Imperial German Navy, between 1907 and 1914 the canal was widened by Germany to allow "Dreadnought"-sized battleships to pass through, allowing them to travel between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea without having to go around Denmark. Two larger canal locks in Brunsbüttel and Holtenau were installed to complete the enlargement.


title: Kiel Canal

text: After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles required the canal to be open to vessels of commerce and of war of any nation at peace with Germany, while leaving it under German administration. (The United States opposed this proposal to avoid setting a precedent for similar concessions on the Panama Canal.) The government under Adolf Hitler repudiated its international status in 1936, but the canal was reopened to all traffic after World War II. In 1948, the current name was adopted.


title: Kiel Canal

text: The canal was partially closed for a period in March 2013 after two lock gates failed at the western end near Brunsbüttel. Ships larger than were forced to navigate via Skagerrak, a detour. The failure was blamed on neglect and a lack of funding by the German Federal Government, which has been in financial dispute with the state of Schleswig-Holstein regarding the canal. Germany's Transport Ministry promised rapid repairs.


title: Kiel Canal

text: The canal is governed by detailed traffic rules. Each vessel using the canal is categorized into one of six traffic groups according to its dimensions. Larger ships are obliged to accept pilots and specialized canal helmsmen, in some cases even the assistance of a tugboat. Furthermore, there are regulations regarding the passing of oncoming ships. Larger ships may also be required to moor at the bollards provided at intervals along the canal to allow the passage of oncoming vessels. Special rules apply to pleasure craft.


title: Kiel Canal

text: Maximum length for ships passing the Kiel Canal is , with the maximum width (beam) of ; these ships can have a draught of up to . Ships up to a length of may have a draught up to . The bulker "Ever Leader" (deadweight 74001 t) is considered to be the cargo ship that to date has come closest to the overall limits.


title: Kiel Canal

text: Several railway lines and federal roads (Autobahnen and Bundesstraßen) cross the canal on eleven fixed links. The bridges have a clearance of allowing for ship heights up to . The oldest bridge still in use is the "Levensau High Bridge" from 1893; however, the bridge will be replaced in the course of a canal expansion already underway. In sequence and in the direction of the official kilometre count from west (Brunsbüttel) to east (Holtenau) these crossings are:


title: Kiel Canal

text: Local traffic is also served by 14 ferry lines. Most noteworthy is the “hanging ferry” (, literally: "hovering ferry") that is hanging underneath the "Rendsburg High Bridge". However, this hanging ferry needs to be replaced after a collision with a ship in 2016. All ferries are run by the Canal Authority and their use is free of charge.


title: Les Miles

text: Leslie Edwin Miles (born November 10, 1953) is a former American football coach. He most recently served as the head coach at Kansas. His head coaching career began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, where he coached from 2001 to 2004. Following that, he coached LSU from 2005 to 2016. Miles is nicknamed "The Hat" for his signature white cap, as well as "The Mad Hatter" for his eccentricities and play-calling habits. Prior to being a head coach, he was an assistant coach at Oklahoma State as well as at the University of Michigan, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). Miles led the 2007 LSU Tigers football team to a win in the BCS National Championship Game, defeating Ohio State.


title: Les Miles

text: Miles was born to Bubba, a long-haul trucking broker, and Martha Miles. He earned all-state honors as a lineman in football as well as letters in baseball and wrestling at Elyria High School in Ohio, graduating in 1972. He attended the University of Michigan from 1972 to 1975 playing for the football team under head coach Bo Schembechler, earning letters in 1974 and 1975.


title: Les Miles

text: In 1980, Miles joined Bo Schembechler's staff at Michigan as a graduate assistant. He left Michigan in 1982 to coach offensive line at the University of Colorado, where fellow Michigan assistant Bill McCartney had just been named head coach.


title: Les Miles

text: In 1987, Miles returned to Michigan, which was still being coached by Schembechler, as the offensive line coach. When Schembechler retired in 1990, Miles continued as offensive line coach under new head coach Gary Moeller. While Miles was a coaching assistant at Michigan, the Wolverines had eight consecutive winning seasons and bowl appearances, including four Rose Bowl appearances. In 1995, Moeller was forced to resign for non-football related reasons. At the same time, Miles had a rift with the University of Michigan, forcing him to seek employment elsewhere. Miles then accepted a promotion to offensive coordinator on former Colorado assistant Bob Simmons's staff at Oklahoma State. During the 1998 through 2000 seasons he was the tight ends coach for the NFL's Dallas Cowboys under head coaches Chan Gailey (1998–99) and Dave Campo (2000).


title: Les Miles

text: Miles returned to Oklahoma State in 2001 as the head coach. In the three years prior to Miles's arrival in Stillwater, the Cowboys finished 5–6, 5–6, and 3–8. Oklahoma State posted another losing record (4–7) in Miles's first season at the helm, but subsequently achieved winning records during each of the following three seasons – 8–5, 9–4, and 7–5, respectively. His last three seasons at Oklahoma State ended in invitations to the Houston, Cotton, and Alamo Bowls, respectively.


title: Les Miles

text: During the last game of Miles's first season as head coach, Oklahoma State faced #4 Oklahoma. Despite the fact that Oklahoma State was facing Oklahoma on the road, Miles led his team to a 16–13 upset victory over the Sooners.


title: Les Miles

text: During Miles's second season, Oklahoma State again ended the regular season with a game against #3 Oklahoma. Yet again, Miles led his team to a 38–28 upset victory over the Sooners. As a result of his team's performance during his second year, Miles was named the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 2002.


title: Les Miles

text: On January 2, 2005, Miles was named as the 32nd head football coach of Louisiana State University (LSU). In August 2005, days before Miles was to make his debut as the coach of LSU, Hurricane Katrina struck southern Louisiana. LSU's first game, a home game against North Texas, was postponed until later in the season. The Tigers second game, which was against Arizona State, was moved from Baton Rouge to Tempe because the LSU campus was still serving as an emergency center for Hurricane Katrina relief. The conference opener against the University of Tennessee was also delayed, this time because of Hurricane Rita.


title: Les Miles

text: In his first season as head coach, LSU won the 2005 SEC Western Division title with a 10–1 regular season record – including wins over #15 Arizona State on September 10, #11 Florida on October 15, #16 Auburn on October 22, and #4 Alabama on November 12. LSU's only regular season loss was an upset at home to #10 Tennessee on September 26. In the Tennessee game, after building a 21–0 lead at halftime, the Tigers failed to score another touchdown and lost to Tennessee by a score of 30–27 in overtime. In the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, the #3 LSU Tigers, though favored, lost to #13 Georgia 34–14. LSU recovered to win the 2005 Peach Bowl with a 40–3 rout of the #9 Miami Hurricanes. Miles finished his first season at LSU with an 11–2 record, a #6 ranking in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and a #5 ranking in the AP Poll.


title: Les Miles

text: In 2006, LSU finished the regular season a 10–2 record, and ended the season with six straight victories. The 2006 season marked the first time in LSU history that the Tigers finished with back-to-back 10-win seasons. Miles was able to do this in spite of his team playing its four toughest games on the road. All four games were against teams ranked in the top eight when the game took place, with three of the teams in the top five (Auburn, Florida, Arkansas). LSU split those four games, losing to Auburn and Florida, but defeating Tennessee and Arkansas. LSU did not win the SEC West title, finishing one game behind Arkansas. However, the Tigers were ranked ahead of Arkansas at the end of the regular season, and were rewarded with an invitation to face Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl, where they defeated the Irish by a score of 41–14. LSU finished the 2006 season ranked #3 overall in both the AP and ESPN polls.


title: Les Miles

text: In 2007, Miles gained national attention due to numerous unconventional play calls during nationally televised games. LSU was ranked #1 twice during the regular season, but lost at #17 Kentucky in triple overtime by a score of 43–37 before losing its final regular season game at home to unranked Arkansas 50–48, also in triple overtime. As of the end of the 2007 regular season, which featured victories over six different coaches with national championships, Miles's record as head coach at LSU was 34–6. Coincidentally, the 2007 regular season also ended with a loss to Arkansas in a game marked by several of Miles' hallmark unconventional calls. Despite the loss, LSU would go on to the SEC Championship. On the day of the game, Kirk Herbstreit wrongly reported on ESPN's "College GameDay" that Les Miles had accepted an offer to succeed Lloyd Carr as the head coach at Michigan. Despite the media distractions, LSU won the 2007 SEC title, beating Tennessee 21–14. The night of LSU's SEC title victory, the teams then ranked #1 (Missouri) and #2 (West Virginia) both lost, allowing LSU to be ranked #2 in the AP, Coaches, Harris, and BCS polls. LSU beat Ohio State in the BCS National Championship Game 38–24, giving Miles his first national championship and LSU its third overall.


title: Les Miles

text: Throughout the 2007 season, there was speculation that Miles would be a top candidate for the University of Michigan head coaching position if it became available. On the day of the SEC championship game, Kirk Herbstreit incorrectly reported on ESPN's "College GameDay" that Miles had accepted an offer to succeed Lloyd Carr as the head coach at the University of Michigan. LSU officials quickly responded to Herbstreit's announcement and confirmed that Les Miles would not be taking the Michigan position and would be staying at LSU. Miles cleared up any confusion himself in a last minute press conference to reporters saying,


title: Les Miles

text: "There was some misinformation on ESPN and I think it's imperative that I straighten it out. I am the head coach at LSU. I will be the head coach at LSU. I have no interest in talking to anybody else. I've got a championship game to play, and I am excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play in it. That's really all I'd like to say. It was unfortunate that I had to address my team with this information this morning. With that being done, I think we'd be ready to play. There will be no questions for me. I represent me in this issue. Please ask me after. I'm busy. Thank you very much. Have a great day."


title: Les Miles

text: The speculation resurfaced two weeks later when "The Detroit Free Press" reported that Michigan athletic director Bill Martin and university president Mary Sue Coleman spoke with Miles directly over the phone a few days after he signed a contract extension with LSU. In response to the report, Miles issued a statement acknowledging the conversation, but claimed that he was merely offering advice and assistance to Martin on Michigan's search and that he is not a candidate for the vacancy. Miles reaffirmed his commitment to stay at LSU, declaring "I'm going to be the coach at LSU next season." Any remaining speculation that Miles would still consider the job ended on December 16, 2007, when West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez accepted the head coaching job at Michigan. Miles followed up the National Championship with and 8–5 season in 2008 and a 9–4 season in 2009.


title: Les Miles

text: Miles was again mentioned as a candidate for the head job when Rodriguez was fired after the 2010 season. Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon, who was a teammate of Miles at Michigan, reportedly flew to Baton Rouge to meet with Miles after LSU defeated Texas A&M in the 2011 Cotton Bowl Classic. An LSU spokesman confirmed that Miles was meeting with Michigan officials to discuss the vacancy, though Miles declined to identify whom he had met with or reveal the substance of the discussions. Though some sources indicated that Miles would accept the Michigan job if it were offered to him and Baton Rouge radio station WJBO reported that Miles had already accepted the position, Miles again ultimately decided to stay at LSU. The 2010 season as a whole was successful for Miles and LSU with the team finishing 11–2 and winning the Cotton Bowl.


title: Les Miles

text: The 2011 season marked great opportunity that faded out for Miles and LSU. The Tigers went 13–0, including a hard-fought 9–6 overtime duel with Alabama in a Game of the Century, and won the SEC Championship over Georgia. LSU qualified for the National Championship, where they faced off against Alabama in a rematch. The Crimson Tide defeated the Tigers 21–0 in the National Championship.


title: Les Miles

text: The Tigers responded to the heartbreaking end to the 2011 season with consecutive 10–3 campaigns in 2012 and 2013. The Tigers took a step back in the 2014 season with an 8–5 record.


title: Les Miles

text: Having lost three straight games after a 7–0 start into the 2015 season, rumors were floating that LSU would buy-out Miles' contract after the season. After a season-ending victory over Texas A&M, the athletic department announced they would retain Miles as head coach. On September 25, 2016, LSU fired Miles and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron after an 18–13 loss to Auburn the previous day and a 2–2 start to begin the season. Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron was named interim coach for the rest of the season. Miles left LSU as the second-winningest coach in school history, behind only Charlie McClendon.


title: Les Miles

text: On November 18, 2018, Miles was hired as head coach at the University of Kansas. He signed a five-year, $13.8 million contract. In his first year as coach, the Jayhawks finished 3–9 overall and 1–8 in the Big 12. They defeated Boston College on the road to earn their first win on the road against a Power Five Conference team in 48 games. Miles and athletic director Jeff Long had been friends since the 1980s, dating to their days at Michigan when Miles was an assistant and Long was an assistant athletic director. In the COVID-19 pandemic shortened season of 2020, Miles went 0–9, which marked the third time in school history the Jayhawks went winless.


title: Les Miles

text: Miles was placed on administrative leave on March 5, 2021, due to an investigation of inappropriate conduct with female students while at LSU. On March 8, Miles and Kansas mutually agreed to part ways in the wake of the misconduct allegations. "USA Today"'s Dan Wolken wrote that the decision to place Miles on administrative leave was "merely a placeholder" until lawyers could decide whether his ouster would be deemed a mutual agreement to part ways or a firing. Along similar lines, Yahoo! Sports' Pete Thamel said the manner of his departure was "mere semantics."


title: Les Miles

text: Kansas and Miles settled for a $1.99 million buyout of the $8 million left in his contract at the time he was forced out, plus his monthly salary for March 2021. At a press conference the following day, Long said that Miles had assured him that there was nothing in his past "that could potentially embarrass the university or himself or our program." Long added that in February, he and other school officials had been alerted about "a legal dispute in Louisiana," but Miles had again assured him there was nothing to worry about. He claimed to have only learned about the allegations from the media. While Long was "beyond disappointed" that he had been forced to push Miles out, he believed it was "the right decision" under the circumstances." Long would be forced out himself later that day.


title: Les Miles

text: A July 2021 article in "The Kansas City Star" alleged that when a football player alleged threats and harassment from other teammates in March 2019, the football program paid the player to leave campus and take classes online from his home out-of-state. The article also alleges Miles suggested the players settle their dispute "on the practice field, pitting them against each other—head-on—in full-contact drills."


title: Les Miles

text: In September 2013, "Sports Illustrated" published a series of articles as part of an investigation of his tenure at Oklahoma State from 2001 to 2005. The series alleged Oklahoma State used a bonus system for players, orchestrated by then-assistant coach Joe DeForest, along with direct payments and no-show or sham jobs involving boosters. Miles was accused of dismissing academic standards to the point of players playing who were otherwise academically ineligible, including having their school work done by tutors and other school personnel. Rumors also alleged that the staff tolerated widespread drug abuse among the players by using a sham drug counseling program and selective drug enforcement. No evidence linked Miles to any wrongdoing during his time as head coach at OSU and he denied the allegations. "Sports Illustrated" was later criticized for its lack of substantive evidence outside of interviews with disgruntled former players.


title: Les Miles

text: In 2013, LSU requested that the law firm Taylor Porter conduct an investigation into Miles's relationships with female students after a number of accusations. The investigation determined that his behavior was inappropriate, although it did not find that he had sexual relationships with any of the women. As a result of the investigation, LSU issued a letter of reprimand to Miles, forbade him from hiring student employees to babysit, and prohibited him from being alone with students.


title: Les Miles

text: Miles is married, with four children. ESPN has “positively” cited him for the balance he maintains between his role as a head football coach and his role as husband and father. He is involved in churches with his family and has described himself as a "strong Christian." LSU Lady Tigers gymnast Lloimincia Hall incorporated the famous 'Les Clap' hand gesture into her floor routine choreography. In 2018, Miles was featured in Dos Equis' campaign "Keep It Interesante", showcasing Miles' affinity for playing-field grass. His sons Manny and Ben played for him at Kansas.


title: Russet potato

text: A russet potato is a type of potato that is large, with dark brown skin and few eyes. The flesh is white, dry, soft, and mealy, and it is suitable for baking, mashing, and french fries. Russet potatoes are also known as Idaho potatoes in the United States.


title: Russet potato

text: To improve the disease resistance of Irish potatoes, Luther Burbank selected the potato that became known as the Russet Burbank. It was not patented because plants such as potatoes propagated from tubers were not granted patents in the United States.


title: Russet potato

text: Restaurants such as McDonald's use russet potatoes for their size, which produce long pieces suitable for french fries. As of 2009, "McDonald's top tuber is the Russet Burbank". The russet Burbank is more expensive than other potatoes, as it consumes more water and takes longer to mature, while it also requires large amounts of pesticides.


title: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)

text: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1964–1968 American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the film's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the television series. "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" was the first of Irwin Allen's four science fiction television series (the three others being "Lost in Space", "The Time Tunnel", and "Land of the Giants"), and the longest-running. The show's theme was underwater adventure.


text: "Voyage" was broadcast on ABC from September 14, 1964, to March 31, 1968, and was the decade's longest-running American science fiction television series with continuing characters. The 110 episodes produced included 32 shot in black-and-white (1964–1965), and 78 filmed in color (1965–1968). The first two seasons took place in the then-future of the 1970s. The final two seasons took place in the 1980s. The show starred Richard Basehart and David Hedison.


text: The pilot episode "Eleven Days to Zero" was filmed in color but shown in black-and-white. It introduces the audience to the futuristic nuclear submarine S.S.R.N. "Seaview" and the lead members of her crew, including the designer and builder of the submarine Admiral Harriman Nelson (Richard Basehart), and Commander Lee Crane (David Hedison), who becomes the "Seaview"'s captain after the murder of her original commanding officer. The submarine is based at the Nelson Institute of Marine Research in Santa Barbara, California, and is often moored some 500 feet beneath the facility in a secret underground submarine pen carved out of solid rock. The "Seaview" is officially for undersea marine research and visits many exotic locations in the Seven Seas, but its secret mission is to defend the planet from all world and extraterrestrial threats in the then-future of the 1970s.


text: The first season's 31 episodes included gritty, atmospheric story lines devoted to Cold War themes and excursions into near-future speculative fiction, involving espionage and sci-fi elements. Aliens, sea monsters and dinosaurs were featured, but the primary villains were hostile foreign governments. While fantastic, the scripts had a recognisably contemporary setting.


text: The first episodes began with Admiral Nelson and the crew of the "Seaview" fighting against a foreign government to prevent a world-threatening earthquake, and continuing with a foreign government destroying American submarines with new technologies in "The Fear Makers" and "The Enemies". The season also had several ocean peril stories in which the "Seaview" crew spent the episode dealing with the normal perils of the sea. Two examples are "Submarine Sunk Here" and "The Ghost of Moby Dick". The season introduced a diving bell and a mini-submarine, and the first episodes featuring extraterrestrials (Don Brinkley's "The Sky is Falling") and sea monsters.


text: During the course of the first season, Nelson was promoted from a three-star to a four-star admiral. It was also established that while essentially a marine research vessel, SSRN "Seaview" was also part of the U.S. nuclear armed fleet (most notably defined in William Read Woodfield's episode, "Doomsday"). The season ended with the "Seaview" crew fighting a foreign government to save a defense weapon.


text: The second season began with a trip inside a whale, a trip inside a volcano, and a few Cold War intrigue and nuclear war-themed episodes, and saw several brushes with world disaster. The season ended with a ghost story, one of the show's few sequels.


text: Due to ABC's demands for a somewhat "lighter" tone to the series, the second season saw an increase in monster-of-the-week type plots, yet there were still some episodes that harkened back to the tone of the first season. The second season also saw a change from black-and-white to color. The beginning of the second season saw the permanent replacement of Chief "Curly" Jones with Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey, due to the death of Henry Kulky, who portrayed Chief Jones.


text: The most important change in the series occurred during this season when a notably redesigned "Seaview" interior was introduced, along with the "Flying Sub", a yellow, two-man mini-submarine with passenger capacity. The Flying Sub could leave the ocean and become airborne. The futuristic craft greatly increased the "Seaview" crew's travel options. It was launched from a bay, access to which was via a sealed hatch stairway at the bow section. The "Seaview"s private observation deck from the first season was never seen again. The "Seaview" control room was expanded and a large rectangular panel screen of flickering lights was added. The "Seaview" also now had a powerful laser beam in its bow light. The small mini-sub from the first season was retained and occasionally still used in the color episodes.


text: The ship's enlisted men were also given more colorful uniforms (red or light blue jumpsuits) and white Keds Champion sneakers. The traditional sailor uniforms worn in the first season were only seen in stock footage from the first season and on characters who were newly filmed to match up with that footage.


text: A second-season episode, "The Sky's On Fire", was a remake of the basic storyline of Irwin Allen's original film "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1961) using considerable film color footage, though several film sequences were removed and had been featured in other first-season episodes such as "The Village of Guilt" and "Submarine Sunk Here."


text: A few later season two episodes were filmed without Richard Basehart, who was hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer. He filmed the scenes in the Flying Sub for "The Monster's Web" before hospitalization, requiring a stand in and other characters taking over his lines. He was missing entirely from the next two episodes. These episodes didn't feature his character at all, while in one story "The Menfish" Gary Merrill guested as Admiral Park, a colleague of Nelson's who substituted for him. Basehart returned for "Return of the Phantom," the final episode of the season.


text: The third season of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" ran simultaneously with two other series produced by Irwin Allen, "Lost in Space" (in its second season) and "The Time Tunnel".


text: The third season began with Dick Tufeld (voice of the Robot on "Lost in Space") playing an evil disembodied brain from outer space. The season continued with a werewolf story that is one of the few episodes to inspire a sequel. In one episode, the "Seaview"'s officers and crew encountered Nazis who believed World War II was still ongoing. The third season only had two espionage stories and one ocean peril story that were reminiscent of the first season. One of those three stories was about a hostile foreign government trying to steal a strange new mineral with the aid of a brainwashed Admiral Nelson. This espionage story was the end of the third season.


text: The final two seasons continued the shift towards paranormal storylines that were popular in the late 1960s. Mummies, werewolves, talking puppets, and an evil leprechaun all walked the corridors of the "Seaview". There were also fossil men, flame men, frost men, lobster men, and shadow men.


text: The opening credits were largely identical to the revised season two, but the initial season two yellow lettering credits that were first altered to white, (and then back to yellow on the later revised sequence) were now depicted in a golden/yellowish lettering, and closing credits were set over a green-backed painting of "Seaview" underwater.


text: The fourth and final season of "Voyage" began with Victor Jory playing a five-centuries old alchemist and the "Seaview" is threatened by the hydrodynamic effects of a major volcanic eruption. Starting with the eighth episode of the season, there were revamped opening credits depicting action sequences and the stars' pictures in color set on a sonar board design. The closing credits picture remained unchanged from season three. Near the end of the fourth season, there were three unrelated stories of extraterrestrial invasion. One episode had an unknown master of disguise infiltrating and wreaking havoc aboard the "Seaview". Another episode depicted Nelson, Morton and Sharkey gaslighting Crane. There were two time travel stories featuring the enigmatic but dangerous Mister Pem. The second had the "Seaview" going back in time to the American Revolution. The episode (and series) ended with the "Seaview" returning to the present. The final scene of the show had Nelson and Crane sitting in the seldom-used easy chairs on the port side of the observation nose discussing how fast time goes by.


text: The series' main theme, "The Seaview Theme", was written by Paul Sawtell. A new darker, more serious theme composed by Jerry Goldsmith was introduced at the beginning of the second-season episode "Jonah and the Whale", but this was quickly replaced by the original version. A version of the Goldsmith suite re-orchestrated by Nelson Riddle was heard as incidental music in the episode "Escape From Venice", and the original Goldsmith suite was used as incidental music throughout the rest of the series. The series' main composer, supervisor and conductor was Lionel Newman, who for the second season composed a serious sounding score for when the episode credits (episode title/guests/writer/director) were shown just after the theme song, which would be used by many episodes (starting with "The Left Handed Man") thru the second and into the early third season. Other guest composers included Lennie Hayton, Hugo Friedhofer, "" composer Alexander Courage, Morton Stevens, Leith Stevens (no relation) who wrote the music to nine episodes, and Sawtell, who worked on the show for a while in the first season.


text: GNP Crescendo issued a soundtrack album in 1997 as part of its series tying into the documentary "The Fantasy Worlds Of Irwin Allen", featuring Sawtell's theme from the series and his score for the pilot episode "Eleven Days To Zero" (tracks 2–6) and Goldsmith's work for "Jonah and the Whale."


text: Scott McFadden, Ray Didsbury, Marco Lopez, and Ron Stein provided additional crewmen in non-speaking roles, often requiring stunt work.


text: In Region 2, Revelation Films has released the entire series on DVD in the UK in four complete season sets. On March 26, 2012, they released "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea: The Complete Collection", a 31-disc set featuring all 110 episodes of the series as well as bonus features.


text: In Region 4, Madman Entertainment released the first two seasons on DVD in Australia on August 20, 2014.


text: On November 23, 2020, it was announced that Legendary Entertainment is developing a new version. Chris Lunt and Michael A. Walker are writing the project.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Chinese architecture (Chinese:中國建築) is the embodiment of an architectural style that has developed over millennia in China and it has influenced architecture throughout Eastern Asia. Since its emergence during the early ancient era, the structural principles of its architecture have remained largely unchanged. The main changes involved diverse decorative details. Starting with the Tang dynasty, Chinese architecture has had a major influence on the architectural styles of Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Vietnam, and minor influences on the architecture of Southeast and South Asia including the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, feng shui (e.g. directional hierarchies), a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, mythological or in general symbolic elements. Chinese architecture traditionally classifies structures according to type, ranging from "pagodas" to palaces. Due to the frequent use of wood, a relatively perishable material, as well as few monumental structures built of more durable materials, much historical knowledge of Chinese architecture derives from surviving miniature models in ceramic and published diagrams and specifications.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Some specimens show the influence of styles from beyond China, such as the influences on mosque structures originating in the Middle East. Although unifying aspects exist, Chinese architecture varies widely based on status or affiliation, such as whether the structures were constructed for emperors, commoners, or for religious purposes. Other variations in Chinese architecture are shown in vernacular styles associated with different geographic regions and different ethnic heritages.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Throughout the 20th century, Chinese architects have attempted to bring traditional Chinese designs into modern architecture, usually for government buildings. Moreover, the pressure for urban development throughout China requires high speed construction and a greater floor area ratio: thus, in cities the demand for traditional Chinese buildings (which are normally less than 3 levels) has declined in favor of high-rises. However, the traditional skills of Chinese architecture, including major and minor carpentry, masonry, and stonemasonry, are used in the construction of vernacular architecture in China's rural areas.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Chinese civilizations and cultures developed in the plains along China's numerous rivers that emptied into Bohai and Hongzhow bays. The most prominent of these rivers, the Yellow and the Yangtze, hosted many villages. The climate was warmer and more humid than today, allowing millet to be grown in the north and rice in the south. However, Chinese civilization has no single "origin". Instead, it featured a gradual multinuclear development between 4000 and 2000 BC – from village communities to what anthropologists call cultures to states.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Two of the more important cultures were Hongshan culture (4700–2900 BC) to the north of Bohai Bay in Inner Mongolia and Hebei Province and contemporaneous Yangshao culture (5000–3000 BC) in Henan Province. Between the two, and developing later, was Longshan culture (3000–2000 BC) in the central and lower Yellow River valley. These combined areas gave rise to thousands of small/proto-states by 3000 BC. Some shared a common ritual center that linked them to a single symbolic order, but others developed more independently. The emergence of walled cities during this time is a clear indication that the political landscape was often unstable.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The Hongshan culture of Inner Mongolia (located along the Laoha, Yingjin, and Daling rivers that empty into Bohai Bay) was scattered over a large area but had a single, common ritual center of at least 14 burial mounds and altars over several ridges. It is dated to around 3500 BC, or possibly earlier. Although no evidence suggests village settlements nearby, its size is much larger than one clan or village could support. In other words, though rituals would have been performed there for the elites, the large area implies that audiences for the ritual would have encompassed all the villages of the Hongshan. As a sacred landscape, the center might have attracted supplicants from even further afield.


title: Chinese architecture

text: An important feature in Chinese architecture is its emphasis on articulation and bilateral symmetry, which there signifies balance. These are found everywhere in Chinese architecture, from palace complexes to humble farmhouses. Secondary elements are positioned on either side of the main structures as wings to maintain overall symmetry. Buildings are typically planned to contain an even number of columns to produce an odd number of bays (間). Placing the main door in the center bay maintains symmetry.


title: Chinese architecture

text: In contrast to buildings, Chinese gardens tend to be asymmetrical. Gardens are designed to provide enduring flow. The design of the classic Chinese garden is based on the ideology of "Nature and Man in One," as opposed to the home itself, which shows the human sphere co-existing with, but separate from nature. The intent is that people feel surrounded by, and in harmony with, nature. The two essential garden elements are stones and water. The stones signify the pursuit of immortality, while water represents emptiness and existence. The mountain belongs to "yang" (static beauty), and the water belongs to "yin" (dynamic wonder). They depend on each other and complete each other.


title: Chinese architecture

text: In much Chinese architecture, buildings or building complexes surround open spaces. These enclosed spaces come in two forms:


title: Chinese architecture

text: These enclosures aid in temperature regulation and in ventilation. Northern courtyards are typically open and face south to allow the maximum exposure of the building windows and walls to the sun while keeping out the cold north winds. Southern sky wells are relatively small and collect rainwater from the roof tops. They perform the same duties as the Roman impluvium while restricting the amount of sunlight that enters the building. Sky wells also vent hot air skyward, which draws cool air from the lower areas and the outside.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The projected hierarchy and importance and building uses in Chinese architecture are based on the strict placement of buildings in a property/complex. Buildings with doors facing the front of the property are considered more important than those facing the sides. Buildings facing away from the front are the least important.


title: Chinese architecture

text: South-facing buildings in the rear and more private areas with higher exposure to sunlight are held in higher esteem and reserved for elders or ancestral plaques. Buildings facing east and west are generally for junior members or branches of the family, while buildings near the front are typically for servants and hired help.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Front-facing buildings in the back of properties are used for celebratory rites and for the placement of ancestral halls and plaques. In multi-courtyard complexes, central courtyards and their buildings are considered more important than peripheral ones, the latter typically for storage, servants' rooms, or kitchens.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Classical Chinese buildings, especially those of the wealthy, are built with an emphasis on breadth and less on height, featuring an enclosed heavy platform and a large roof that floats over this base, with the vertical walls deemphasized. Buildings that were too high and large were considered unsightly, and therefore generally avoided. Chinese architecture stresses the visual impact of the width of the buildings, using sheer scale to inspire awe. This preference contrasts with Western architecture, which tends to emphasize height and depth. This often meant that pagodas towered above other buildings.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The halls and palaces in the Forbidden City have rather low ceilings when compared to equivalent stately buildings in the West, but their external appearance suggests the all-embracing nature of imperial China. These ideas have found their way into modern Western architecture, for example through the work of Jørn Utzon.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Chinese architecture used concepts from Chinese cosmology such as "feng shui" (geomancy) and Taoism to organize construction and layout. These include:


title: Chinese architecture

text: The use of certain colors, numbers and the cardinal directions reflected the belief in a type of immanence, where the nature of a thing could be wholly contained in its own form.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Beijing and Chang'an are examples of traditional Chinese town planning that represent these cosmological concepts.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The types of Chinese architecture may relate to the use of the structures, such as whether they were built for royals, commoners, or the religious.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Due to primarily wooden construction and poor maintenance, far fewer examples of commoner's homes survive compared to those of nobles. Korman claimed the average commoner's home did not change much, even centuries after the establishment of the universal style: early-20th-century homes were similar to late and mid-imperial homes.


title: Chinese architecture

text: These homes tended to follow a set pattern: the center of the building was a shrine for deities and ancestors, and was also used during festivities. On its two sides were bedrooms for elders; the two wings (known as "guardian dragons") were for junior members, as well as the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen, although sometimes the living room was close to the center.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Sometimes the extended families became so large that one or two extra pairs of "wings" had to be built. This produced a U-shape, with a courtyard suitable (e,g,m for farm work). Merchants and bureaucrats preferred to close off the front with an imposing gate. All buildings were legally regulated, and the law required that the number of stories, the length of the building and the building colours reflect the owner's class.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Some commoners living in areas plagued by bandits built communal fortresses called Tulou for protection. Often favoured by the Hakka in Fujian and Jiangxi, the design of Tulou shows the ancient philosophy of harmony between people and environment. People used local materials, often building the walls with rammed earth. No window reached the outside on the lower two floors (for defense), but the inside included a common courtyard and let people gather.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Certain architectural features were reserved for buildings built for the Emperor of China. One example is the use of yellow (the Imperial color) roof tiles. Yellow tiles still adorn most of the buildings within the Forbidden City. Only the emperor could use hip roofs, with all four sides sloping. The two types of hip roof were single-eave and double-eave. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is the archetypal example of double eaves. The Temple of Heaven uses blue roof tiles to symbolize the sky. The roofs are almost invariably supported by brackets (""dougong""), a feature shared only with the largest of religious buildings. The building's wooden columns well as the wall surfaces, tend to be red. Black is often used in pagodas. It was believed that the gods were inspired by the black color to visit earth.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The 5-clawed dragon, adopted by the Hongwu emperor (first emperor of Ming dynasty) for his personal use, was used to decoration the beams, pillars, and on the doors on Imperial architecture. Curiously, the dragon was never used on roofs of imperial buildings.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Only buildings used by the imperial family were allowed to have nine "jian" (間, space between two columns); only gates used by the Emperor could have five arches, with the centre one, reserved for the Emperor. The ancient Chinese favored the color red.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Beijing became the capital of China after the Mongol invasion of the 13th century, completing the easterly migration of the Chinese capital begun in the Jin dynasty. The Ming uprising in 1368 reasserted Chinese authority and fixed Beijing as the seat of imperial power for the next five centuries. The Emperor and the Empress lived in palaces on the central axis of the Forbidden City, the Crown Prince at the eastern side, and the concubines at the back (the imperial concubines were often referred to as "The Back Palace Three Thousand"). During the mid-Qing dynasty, the Emperor's residence was moved to the western side of the complex. It is misleading to speak of an axis in the Western sense of a visual perspective ordering facades. The Chinese axis is a line of privilege, usually built upon, regulating access—instead of vistas, a series of gates and pavilions are used.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Numerology influenced Imperial Architecture, hence the use of nine (the greatest single digit number) in much of construction and the reason why the Forbidden City in Beijing is said to have 9,999.9 rooms—just short of heaven's mythical 10,000 rooms. The importance of the East (the direction of the rising sun) in orienting and siting Imperial buildings is a form of solar worship found in many ancient cultures, reflecting the affiliation of Ruler with the Sun.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The tombs and mausoleums of imperial family members, such as the 8th-century Tang dynasty tombs at the Qianling Mausoleum, can be counted as part of the imperial tradition. These above-ground earthen mounds and pyramids had subterranean shaft-and-vault structures that were lined with brick walls since at least the Warring States period (481–221 BC).


title: Chinese architecture

text: Generally speaking, Buddhist architecture follows the imperial style. A large Buddhist monastery normally has a front hall, housing the statues of the Four Heavenly Kings, followed by a great hall, housing statues of the Buddhas. Accommodations are located at the two sides. Some of the greatest examples of this come from the 18th-century Puning Temple and Putuo Zongcheng Temple. Buddhist monasteries sometimes also have pagodas, which may house relics of the Gautama Buddha; older pagodas tend to be four-sided, while later pagodas usually have eight sides.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Daoist architecture usually follows the commoners' style. The main entrance is, however, usually at the side, out of superstition about demons that might try to enter the premise (see feng shui.) In contrast to the Buddhists, in a Daoist temple the main deity is located in the main hall at the front, with lesser deities in the back hall and at the sides. This is because Chinese people believe that even after the body has died, the soul is still alive. From the Han grave design, it shows the forces of cosmic yin/yang, the two forces from the heaven and earth that create eternity.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The tallest pre-modern building in China was built for both religious and martial purposes. The Liaodi Pagoda of 1055 AD stands at a height of , and although it served as the crowning pagoda of the Kaiyuan monastery in old Dingzhou, Hebei, it was also used as a military watchtower for Song dynasty soldiers to observe potential Liao dynasty troop movements.


title: Chinese architecture

text: The architecture of the mosques and "gongbei" tomb shrines of Chinese Muslims often combines traditional Chinese styles with Middle Eastern influences. The royal and nonroyal tombs found in the third through sixth centuries traced back to Han construction. Some tombs were considered two-chamber spaces, where the focal point was the central pagoda pillar. This focal point served as what Buddhist call a pagoda, which is a symbol of the Buddha and his death. The layout of such tombs has the corpse in the back chamber, as the pillar location indicated the Buddha's death. There would sometimes be interior tomb decoration to portray immortal or divine meaning.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Dome ceilings in the 4th and 7th centuries were representations of the heavens. This originates from Roman provincial art and ancient Egypt. As most of these representations are circular, other forms are present: dodecagon, octagonal, and square. Many caves in the 4th-7th centuries were probably carved throughout the Han and Tang period.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Chinese urban planning is based on fengshui geomancy and the well-field system of land division, both used since the Neolithic age. The basic well-field diagram is overlaid with the "luoshu", a magic square divided into 9 sub-squares, and linked with Chinese numerology. In Southern Song dynasty (1131AD), the design of Hongcun city in Anhui was based around "harmony between man and nature", facing south and surrounded by mountains and water. According to fengshui, it is a carefully planned ancient village and shows the Human-Nature Intergraded Ecological Planning concept.


title: Chinese architecture

text: Since wars were frequent in northern China, many people moved to southern China. The building method of a courtyard house was adapted to southern China. The village of Tungyuan in Fujian Province is a good example of a planned settlement that shows the feng shui elements – psychological self-defense and building structure – in the form of material self-defense.