Birdman (film)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), commonly known simply as Birdman, is a 2014 American satirical black comedy-drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. It was written by Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo. The film stars Michael Keaton with a supporting cast of Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts. The story follows Riggan Thomson (Keaton), a faded Hollywood actor best known for playing the superhero "Birdman", as he struggles to mount a Broadway adaptation of a short story by Raymond Carver.

The film covers the period of previews leading to the play's opening, and with a brief exception appears as if filmed in a single shot, an idea Iñárritu had from the film's conception. Emmanuel Lubezki, who won the Academy Award for his cinematography in Birdman, believed that the recording time necessary for the unique long take approach taken in Birdman could not have been made with older technology. The film was shot in New York City during the spring of 2013 with a budget of $16.5 million jointly financed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, New Regency Pictures and Worldview Entertainment. It premiered the following year in August where it opened the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Birdman (film score)

Birdman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack for the 2014 film Birdman includes solo jazz percussion throughout the film and extended segments of classical music taken from various composers including Mahler, Ravel, Rachmaninov, and John Adams, the 21st century classical music composer. Several jazz compositions by Victor Stumpfhauser and Joan Valent also offset the original music composition by Antonio Sánchez. The soundtrack was released as a CD (77 min) on October 14, 2014, and as an LP (69 min) on April 7, 2015.

Development

Carnival of Light (album)

Carnival of Light is the third studio album by British rock band Ride, released in June 1994 via Creation Records. The album showcased the band's shift from shoegazing to a more traditional, psychedelic rock sound. It was not well received by critics, and by the end of 1994 even the band members had become disillusioned, referring to it amongst themselves as "Carnival of Shite".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Andy Bell except where noted. 

Personnel

Ride

Additional musicians

Believe (Dima Bilan song)

"Believe" is the winning Russian entry for the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest sung by Dima Bilan. The song was composed and written by Jim Beanz (aka. James Washington) & Dima Bilan. On 20 May 2008 Bilan sang in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, and the song was voted into the final by public vote. It was performed 24th out of 25 songs in the final on 24 May 2008.

History

The Russian figure skater, Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champion Evgeni Plushenko, skated on artificial ice on stage as part of the song performance, while the Hungarian composer and violinist Edvin Marton played his Stradivarius. This song won the Eurovision Song Contest 2008, finishing with a total of 272 points, becoming the fourth ex-Soviet Union country to win the annual contest. Dmitriy Medvedev, the president of Russia, admitted that he himself watched the contest and called right away to congratulate Dima.

In March 2008 a video was produced for the song Believe. The whole team took part in the production – Dima Bilan, Evgeni Plushenko, Edvin Marton and Yana Rudkovskaya, producer of Dima Bilan. The action of the video starts in a hospital where a mother finds out that her son has leukaemia and needs an expensive surgery. Then the action proceeds to a bar where Dima Bilan is watching TV and finds out that a child needs help. He immediately calls his producer, Yana Rudkovskaya, and tells her that they have to do something to raise money to help a child survive. They decide to give a charity concert with all the three participants performing. At the end of the video you can see the boy after the surgery. He smiles, gets up from the wheelchair and runs to greet the people who saved his life. Dima, Evgeni and Edvin meet the boy with presents happy that the money raised at the concert saved a child’s life. The video is strongly connected to the song delivering the message that everything is possible in this world if you only believe.

Believe (Emerson Drive album)

Believe is the sixth studio album by Canadian country music group Emerson Drive. The album was released in Canada on May 5, 2009 via Midas/Valory/Open Road. The album's first single, "Belongs to You," reached the top forty on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in the United States.

Critical reception

The album received mixed reviews from music critics. It received a three-and-a-half star rating from Todd Sterling of AllMusic, who said that the album was "slickly produced" and that it "sticks to the well-worn formula of the group's previous releases," but said that it had "every color of the musical rainbow." Sterling cited "Your Last" as a standout, calling it a "lump-in-the-throat masterpiece." Jim Malec of The 9513 gave it one star out of five, referring to the song's lyrics as largely cliché in nature and saying, "There is not a single song on Believe worth hearing. It is an entirely disposable album that is unoriginal, uninteresting and unnecessary." Malec also criticized the album's sound, saying that the mixing of instruments and Brad Mates' vocals did not seem cohesive.

Ocean Avenue (album)

Ocean Avenue is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Yellowcard. The album was the band's major-label debut and brought them to prominence. It was a commercial success in the United States, led by titular hit single "Ocean Avenue". The album received generally positive reviews from music critics and has been certified platinum in sales by the RIAA and gold by the CRIA. It was produced by Neal Avron, and released on July 22, 2003 through Capitol Records.

In 2013, the band released an acoustic version of the album, Ocean Avenue Acoustic, in honor of the album's tenth anniversary.

Commercial performance and promotion

Ocean Avenue sold 11,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., debuting at #23. It is Yellowcard's most successful album and has been certified Platinum for sales in excess of 1,000,000. It was released as an enhanced CD in some countries. The enhanced CD includes a video entitled "The Making of Ocean Avenue" and a previously unreleased video of the song "Powder" (from The Underdog EP). In 2005, the album was released as a Special Edition in Malaysia, with live videos and music videos. The album was re-released on limited edition vinyl in 2011.