Near-death experience

A near-death experience (NDE) is a personal experience associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, and the presence of a light.

Explanatory models for the NDE can be divided into several broad categories, including psychological, physiological, and transcendental explanations. Research from neuroscience considers the NDE to be a hallucinatory state caused by various physiological and psychological factors.

Characteristics

The equivalent French term expérience de mort imminente (experience of imminent death) was proposed by the French psychologist and epistemologist Victor Egger as a result of discussions in the 1890s among philosophers and psychologists concerning climbers' stories of the panoramic life review during falls. In 1968 Celia Green published an analysis of 400 first-hand accounts of out-of-body experiences. This represented the first attempt to provide a taxonomy of such experiences, viewed simply as anomalous perceptual experiences, or hallucinations. These experiences were popularized by the work of psychiatrist Raymond Moody in 1975 as the near-death experience (NDE).

Near Death (comics)

Near Death is an ongoing comic book series created by Jay Faerber with artist Simone Guglielmini. Image Comics began publishing it in September 2011. The series went on hiatus following the eleventh issue in September 2012.

The story follows a former hitman who attempts to atone for his misdeeds after a near death experience shows him a vision of Hell.

Publication history

Faerber credits the work of Stephen J. Cannell as his inspiration for the series, along with a personal attraction to redemtion stories. Guglielmini drew inspiration from Criminal and Gotham Central.

After creating the plot himself, Faerber recruited Italian artist Guglielmini by email. During publication, the two never met in person or spoke on the phone.

The series was published monthly beginning in 2011. Most issues were self-contained instead of multi-part stories because Faerber wanted a creative challenge. Each issue contains some form of bonus material, such as an article on crime fiction or a second, shorter comic. The series was put on hiatus following its eleventh issue in 2012. Faerber has expressed an interest in continuing the story as a series of one-shots. There has also been an effort to adapt the comic to television.

Top Five

Top Five is a 2014 American comedy film written and directed by Chris Rock. The film, which stars Rock, Rosario Dawson, and Gabrielle Union, was screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie follows New York City comedian and film star Andre Allen (Rock), who has to confront his past and comedic career while doing an interview with journalist Chelsea Brown (Dawson). The film was released on December 12, 2014, by Paramount Pictures.

Plot

New York Times reporter Chelsea Brown is spending a day interviewing comedian and recovering alcoholic Andre Allen, star of the hit film franchise Hammy The Bear, about a cop in a bear suit. He is attempting a foray into serious films with Uprize, in which he portrays Haitian Revolution figure Dutty Boukman, and sensitive to criticism, particularly by Times critic James Nielson, whose previous reviews of Andre's work have been negative and insulting. As the interview begins in his limousine, Andre recalls his lowest point, when he was in Houston in 2003 and met Jazzy Dee, who supplied him with drugs, alcohol and women. Yet after Jazzy refused to pay the women, they contended they were raped, leading to Andre's arrest.