Most viewed Wikipedia articles in March, 2018
Stephen William Hawking was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge at the time of his death. He was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge between 1979 and 2009.
xHamster is a Cypriot pornographic media and social networking site headquartered in Limassol. xHamster serves user-submitted pornographic videos, webcam models, pornographic photographs, and erotic literature, and incorporates social networking features. xHamster was founded in 2007. With more than 10 million members, it is the fourth most popular pornography website on the Internet after XVideos, XNXX and Pornhub. As of July 2020, xHamster was the 20th most trafficked website in the world.
Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa / Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. In Black Panther, T'Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father's death, but he is challenged by Killmonger who plans to abandon the country's isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
This is a list of notable deaths, organized by year. New deaths articles are added to their respective month, and then linked here.
XXX is an American action film series created by Rich Wilkes. It consists of three full-length feature films: XXX (2002), XXX: State of the Union (2005) and XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), and a short film: The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage. The series has grossed $694 million worldwide.
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. The character is a primary antagonist in the original trilogy and a primary protagonist in the prequel trilogy. Star Wars creator George Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader".
Exo is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul, consisting of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai and Sehun. The band was formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. Their music—released and performed in Korean, Mandarin, and Japanese—primarily incorporates pop, hip-hop, and R&B, including elements of electronic dance music genres such as house and trap. The band ranked as one of the top five most influential celebrities on the Forbes Korea Power Celebrity list from 2014 to 2018 and have been labeled "Kings of K-pop" and the "Biggest boyband in the world" by various media outlets.
The Kakar is a Gharghashti Pashtun tribe, based mostly in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan, and Loy Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Annihilation is a 2018 science fiction horror film written and directed by Alex Garland, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. It stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac. The story follows a group of explorers who enter "The Shimmer", a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.
The Shape of Water is a 2017 American romantic fantasy drama film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962, the story follows a mute cleaner at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature. Filming took place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, between August and November 2016.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films are a series of American superhero films produced by Marvel Studios based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The MCU is the shared universe in which all of the films are set. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced and released 23 films, with at least 14 more in various stages of development. It is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over $22.5 billion at the global box office. This includes Avengers: Endgame, which is the highest-grossing film of all time.
The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, 2018, rather than its usual late-February date to avoid conflicting with the 2018 Winter Olympics. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards in 24 categories. The ceremony, which was televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd and directed by Glenn Weiss. Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosted for the second consecutive year.
Stephanie Clifford, known professionally as Stormy Daniels, is an American pornographic actress, film director, and former stripper. She has won numerous industry awards, and is a member of the NightMoves, AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame. In 2009, a recruitment effort led her to consider challenging incumbent David Vitter for the 2010 Senate election in her native Louisiana.
WrestleMania 34 was the 34th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It took place on April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This is a list of stand-up comedians from the United States.
The following is a list of notable stand-up comedians by nationality.
This is a list of notable stand-up comedians from Australia.
This is a list of notable stand-up comedians from Canada.
This is an inexhaustive list of stand-up comedians from the United Kingdom.
BTS, also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a seven-member South Korean boy band that began formation in 2010 and debuted in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—composed of RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produces much of their own output. Originally a hip hop group, their musical style has evolved to include a wide range of genres. Their lyrics, often focused on personal and social commentary, touch on the themes of mental health, troubles of school-age youth, loss, the journey towards loving oneself, and individualism. Their work features references to literature and psychological concepts and includes an alternative universe storyline. The group has released several albums and performed on several world tours.
Sridevi was an Indian actress and producer, who worked in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada language films. Regarded as the "First Female Superstar" of Bollywood, she was the recipient of various accolades, including a National Film Award, a Nandi Award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award, the Kerala State Film Award, three Filmfare Awards and three Filmfare Awards South. In a career that spanned five decades, she was known for her portrayals of women in challenging situations, and appeared in a range of genres, from slapstick comedy to epic dramas. Sridevi ranked as the highest paid woman in the Indian entertainment industry during the 1980s and 1990s and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actresses in the history of Indian cinema.
Andrew Phillip Cunanan was an American serial killer known to have murdered five people during a three-month period in mid-1997. His victims included Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace and Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin. Cunanan died of suicide by gunshot on July 23, 1997.
Tonya Maxene Price is an American former figure skater, retired boxer, and reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice skating lessons beginning at four years old. Harding spent much of her early life training, eventually dropping out of high school to devote her time to the sport. After climbing the ranks in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships between 1986 and 1989, Harding won the 1989 Skate America competition. She had been the 1991 and 1994 U.S. champion before being stripped of her 1994 title, and 1991 World silver medalist. In 1991, she earned distinction as being the first American woman to successfully land a triple Axel in competition, and the second woman to do so in history. Harding is a two-time Olympian and a two-time Skate America Champion.
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a 2017 crime drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Frances McDormand as a Missouri woman who rents three billboards to call attention to her daughter's unsolved rape and murder. Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Abbie Cornish, Lucas Hedges, John Hawkes, and Peter Dinklage appear in supporting roles. It was released in the United States in November 2017 and in the United Kingdom in January 2018 by Fox Searchlight Pictures and grossed $160 million worldwide.
XVideos is a pornographic video sharing and viewing website. XVideos was founded in Paris in 2007. The website is now registered to the Czech company WGCZ Holding. As of June 2020, it was the most visited porn website and the 8th most visited website in the world.
Call Me by Your Name is a 2017 coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino. Its screenplay, by James Ivory, who also co-produced, is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by André Aciman. The film is the final installment in Guadagnino's thematic "Desire" trilogy, after I Am Love (2009), and A Bigger Splash (2015). Set in 1983 in northern Italy, Call Me by Your Name chronicles the romantic relationship between a 17-year-old, Elio Perlman, and Oliver, a 24-year-old graduate-student assistant to Elio's father, an archaeology professor. The film also stars the French actresses Amira Casar, Esther Garrel, and Victoire Du Bois.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, was a British statesman, army officer, and writer. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, Churchill was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, as leader from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924.
Frances Louise McDormand is an American actress and producer. McDormand is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting."
Fortnite is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: Fortnite: Save the World, a cooperative hybrid-tower defense-shooter-survival game for up to four players to fight off zombie-like creatures and defend objects with traps and fortifications they can build; Fortnite Battle Royale, a free-to-play battle royale game in which up to 100 players fight to be the last person standing; and Fortnite Creative, in which players are given complete freedom to create worlds and battle arenas. Save the World and Battle Royale were released in 2017 as early access titles, while Creative was released on December 6, 2018. Save the World is available only for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, while Battle Royale and Creative released for all those platforms, and also for Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android devices. The game is expected to also launch with the release of the next-generation PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
The discography of Dutch rock band Golden Earring, which consists of 25 studio albums, 8 live albums, 2 compilation albums, and 74 singles.
Elon Reeve Musk is a business magnate, industrial designer and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI. In 2018, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) and ranked 25th on the Forbes list of The World's Most Powerful People, and was ranked joint-first on the Forbes list of the Most Innovative Leaders of 2019. A centi-billionaire, Musk became the richest person in the world in January 2021, surpassing Jeff Bezos.
Donald John Trump is an American politician who was the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality.
Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom and 15 other Commonwealth realms.
Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights, and merchandising. However, theatrical box office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assessing the success of a film, mostly because of the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights, but also because of historical practice. Included on the list are charts of the top box-office earners, a chart of high-grossing films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest-grossing film record, and a chart of the highest-grossing film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box-office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights, and merchandise.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States, or America, is a country primarily located in North America, consisting of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, it is the world's third- or fourth-largest country by total area. With a population of more than 328 million people, it is the third most populous country in the world. The national capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City.
Alicia Amanda Vikander is a Swedish actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and three British Academy Film Awards.
Get Out is a 2017 American horror film written and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Catherine Keener, and Lakeith Stanfield. Get Out follows Chris Washington (Kaluuya), a young African-American man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he meets the family of his white girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Williams).
This is a list of Bollywood films that have been released in 2018.
The Chipko movement or Chipko Andolan, was a forest conservation movement in India. It began in 1973 in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh and went on to become a rallying point for many future environmental movements all over the world. It created a precedent for starting nonviolent protest in India. However, it was Sunderlal Bahuguna, a Gandhian activist, who gave the movement a proper direction and its success meant that the world immediately took notice of this non-violent movement, which was to inspire in time many similar eco-groups by helping to slow down the rapid deforestation, expose vested interests, increase social awareness and the need to save trees, increase ecological awareness, and demonstrate the viability of people power. He used the slogan, "Ecology is the permanent economy." Above all, it stirred up the existing civil society in India, which began to address the issues of tribal and marginalized people. And it's true that the support for the movement came mainly from the womenfolk. The Chipko Andolan or the Chipko movement is a movement that practiced methods of Satyagraha where both male and female activity cests from Uttarakhand played vital roles, including Gaura Devi, Suraksha Devi, Sudesha Devi, Bachni Devi and Chandi Prasad Bhatt, Virushka Devi and others.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and a former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously being in the office from 1999 until 2008. He was also Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Jane Beryl Wilde Hawking Jones is an English author and teacher. She was married to Stephen Hawking for 30 years.
Catherine Lucy Hawking is an English journalist, novelist, educator, and philanthropist. She is the daughter of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking and writer Jane Wilde Hawking. She lives in London, and is a children's novelist and science educator.
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the greatest actors of his generation, he is known for his versatility and intense acting style. He has received several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and three British Academy Film Awards. His films have grossed over $11 billion worldwide, making him one of the highest-grossing actors of all time.
Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace was an Italian fashion designer and founder of Versace, an international fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up, home furnishings, and clothes. He also designed costumes for theatre and films. As a friend of Eric Clapton; Diana, Princess of Wales; Naomi Campbell; Kate Moss; Madonna; Elton John; Tupac Shakur and many other celebrities, he was one of the first designers to link fashion to the music world.
Holi is a popular ancient Hindu festival, also known as the "festival of spring", the "festival of colours", and the "festival of love". The festival signifies the triumph of good over evil. It originated and is predominantly celebrated in India, but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world through the diaspora from the Indian subcontinent.
Guillermo del Toro Gómez is a Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and former special effects makeup artist. He is best known for the Academy Award-winning fantasy films Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017), winning the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture for the latter.
Pacific Rim: Uprising is a 2018 American science fiction action film directed by Steven S. DeKnight, and written by DeKnight, Emily Carmichael, Kira Snyder and T.S. Nowlin. It is the sequel to the 2013 film Pacific Rim and the second film in the Pacific Rim franchise, with Guillermo del Toro, the director of the original, serving as a producer. The sequel stars John Boyega, as well as Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Jing Tian, Adria Arjona and Zhang Jin, with Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, and Burn Gorman returning from the original film. Set in the year 2035, the plot follows humanity again fighting Kaiju, giant monsters set on destroying the world.
The Greatest Showman is a 2017 American musical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya. Featuring nine original songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the film was inspired by the story of P. T. Barnum's creation of Barnum's American Museum and the lives of its star attractions.
Ready Player One is a 2018 American science fiction action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline. Based on Cline's 2011 novel of the same name, it stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance. Set in 2045, much of humanity uses the virtual world OASIS to escape the real world. Orphaned teenager Wade Watts (Sheridan) finds clues to a hidden game that promises OASIS' ownership to the winner, and he and four allies try to complete it before a corporation run by businessman Nolan Sorrento (Mendelsohn) can do so.
Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years, with 1981 to 1996 being a widely-accepted defining range for the generation. Most millennials are the children of baby boomers and early Gen Xers; millennials are often the parents of Generation Alpha.
XXX is a 2002 American action film directed by Rob Cohen, produced by Neal H. Moritz and written by Rich Wilkes. The first installment in the XXX film series, the film stars Vin Diesel as Xander Cage, a thrill-seeking extreme sports enthusiast, stuntman and rebellious athlete-turned reluctant spy for the National Security Agency. Cage is sent on a dangerous mission to infiltrate a group of potential Russian terrorists in Central Europe. The film also stars Asia Argento, Marton Csokas and Samuel L. Jackson. Cohen, Moritz and Diesel had previously worked on The Fast and the Furious (2001) as director, producer and cast member respectively.
Facebook is an American online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California, and a flagship service of the namesake company Facebook, Inc. It was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, along with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.
International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world. It is a focal point in the movement for women's rights.
Michael Bakari Jordan is an American actor, film producer and film director. He is known for his film roles as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the drama Fruitvale Station (2013), boxer Adonis "Donnie" Creed in the Rocky sequel film Creed (2015), and Erik Killmonger in Black Panther (2018), all three of which were directed by Ryan Coogler.
Red Sparrow is a 2018 American spy thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Irons. It tells the story of a Russian intelligence officer, who is sent to make contact with a CIA officer in the hope of discovering the identity of a mole.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus and captains the Portugal national team. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards and four European Golden Shoes, both of which are records for a European player. He has won 31 major trophies in his career, including seven league titles, five UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA European Championship, and one UEFA Nations League title. Ronaldo holds the records for the most goals (134) and assists (41) in the history of the UEFA Champions League. He is one of the few recorded players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances and has scored over 750 senior career goals for club and country. He is also the second male to score 100 international goals, and the first European man to achieve the feat.
Timothée Hal Chalamet is an American actor. He began his acting career in short films, before appearing in the television drama series Homeland in 2012. Two years later, he made his feature film debut in the drama Men, Women & Children and subsequently appeared in Christopher Nolan's science-fiction film Interstellar.
A Wrinkle in Time is a 2018 American science fantasy adventure film directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell, based on Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 novel of the same name. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Whitaker Entertainment, the story follows a young girl who, with the help of three astral travelers, sets off on a quest to find her missing father. The film stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Levi Miller, Storm Reid, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine.
The discography of English singer-songwriter David Bowie (1947–2016) consists of 27 studio albums, 21 live albums, 46 compilation albums, 10 extended plays (EPs), 128 singles, 4 soundtracks and 12 box sets. Bowie also released 28 video albums and 72 music videos.
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics. His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He is best known to the general public for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory.
Fred McFeely Rogers, also known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which ran from 1968 to 2001.
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence is an American actress. The films she has acted in have grossed over $6 billion worldwide, and she was the world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016. Lawrence appeared in Time's 100 most influential people in the world list in 2013 and in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2014 and 2016.
Rajneesh, also known as Acharya Rajneesh, Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh, and later as Osho, was an Indian godman, mystic, and founder of the Rajneesh movement.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films, independently produced by Marvel Studios and based on characters that appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The franchise includes comic books, short films, television series, and digital series. The shared universe, much like the original Marvel Universe in comic books, was established by crossing over common plot elements, settings, cast, and characters.
Davide Astori was an Italian professional footballer who played as a central defender.
Coco is a 2017 American computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on an original idea by Lee Unkrich, it is directed by him and co-directed by Adrian Molina. The film's voice cast stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía and Edward James Olmos. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the Land of the Dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living and to reverse his family's ban on music.
Chadwick Aaron Boseman was an American actor and playwright. After studying directing at Howard University, he became prominent in theater, winning a Drama League Directing Fellowship and an acting AUDELCO, and being nominated for a Jeff Award as a playwright for Deep Azure. Transitioning to the screen, he landed his first major role as a series regular on Persons Unknown in 2010, and his breakthrough performance came in 2013 as baseball player Jackie Robinson in the biographical film 42. He continued to portray historical figures, starring in Get on Up (2014) as singer James Brown and Marshall (2017) as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was an international football tournament contested by men's national teams and took place between 14 June and 15 July 2018 in Russia. It was the 21st FIFA World Cup, a worldwide football tournament held once every four years. It was the eleventh time the championships had been held in Europe, and the first time they were held in Eastern Europe. At an estimated cost of over $14.2 billion, it was the most expensive World Cup to date.
2018 in film is an overview of events, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies, critics' lists of the best films of 2018, festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
The Shape of Water is a 2017 American romantic fantasy drama film directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. It stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Set in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962, the story follows a mute cleaner at a high-security government laboratory who falls in love with a captured humanoid amphibian creature. Filming took place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, between August and November 2016.
A Novichok agent is a group of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993. Some Novichok agents at STP are solids while others are liquids. It is thought that dispersal for the solids is possible by ultrafine powder.
A Quiet Place is a 2018 American horror film directed by and starring John Krasinski. Written by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Krasinski, the plot revolves around a father (Krasinski) and a mother who struggle to survive and raise their children in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by blind monsters with an acute sense of hearing.
Katsuko Saruhashi (猿橋 勝子, Saruhashi Katsuko, March 22, 1920 – September 29, 2007) was a Japanese geochemist who created tools that let her take some of the first measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in seawater. She later showed evidence of the dangers of radioactive fallout and how far it can travel. Along with this focus on safety, she also researched peaceful uses of nuclear power.
Love, Simon is a 2018 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Greg Berlanti, written by Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, and based on the novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. The film stars Nick Robinson, Josh Duhamel, and Jennifer Garner. It centers on Simon Spier, a closeted gay high school boy who is forced to balance his friends, his family, and the blackmailer threatening to out him to the entire school, while simultaneously attempting to discover the identity of the anonymous classmate with whom he has fallen in love online.
The X video extension, often abbreviated as XVideo or Xv, is a video output mechanism for the X Window System. The protocol was designed by David Carver; the specification for version 2 of the protocol was written in July 1991. It is mainly used today to resize video content in the video controller hardware in order to enlarge a given video or to watch it in full screen mode. Without XVideo, X would have to do this scaling on the main CPU. That requires a considerable amount of processing power, which could slow down or degrade the video stream; video controllers are specifically designed for this kind of computation, so can do it much more cheaply. Similarly, the X video extension can have the video controller perform color space conversions, and change the contrast, brightness, and hue of a displayed video stream.
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the second-most populous country, the seventh-largest country by land area, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Lionel Andrés Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both the Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered as the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record six Ballon d'Or awards and a record six European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he has won a club-record 33 trophies, including ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals in La Liga (455), a La Liga and European league season (50), most hat-tricks in La Liga (36) and the UEFA Champions League (8), and most assists in La Liga (185), a La Liga and European league season (21) and the Copa América (12). He has scored over 700 senior career goals for club and country.
Daniel Hernandez, known professionally as Tekashi69 or 6ix9ine, is an American rapper, and songwriter. His music has been marked by an aggressive style of rapping, while his controversial public persona is characterized by his distinctive rainbow-colored hair, extensive tattoos, public feuds with fellow celebrities and legal issues.
Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua, is a British professional boxer. He is a two-time unified world heavyweight champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO titles since December 2019, and previously between 2016 and June 2019. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles from 2015 to 2016.
Marvel's Jessica Jones, or simply Jessica Jones, is an American television series created by Melissa Rosenberg for the streaming service Netflix, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise, and is the second in a series of shows that led to The Defenders crossover miniseries. The series is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Rosenberg serving as showrunner. Scott Reynolds was a co-showrunner for the third season.
Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed and co-produced by Luv Ranjan. Starring Kartik Aaryan, Nushrat Bharucha and Sunny Singh Nijjar, it also features Alok Nath and Ishita Raj Sharma in supporting roles and Sonnalli Seygall in cameo. The film marks the fourth collaboration between Ranjan, Aaryan and Bharucha as well as the third time Singh and Sharma collaborate with them. Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety was released in India on 23 February 2018. It went onto become commercially successful.
Lady Bird is a 2017 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig in her solo directorial debut. The cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts, Lucas Hedges, Timothée Chalamet, Beanie Feldstein, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Lois Smith. Set in Sacramento, California, between the fall of 2002 and the summer of 2003, it is a coming-of-age story of a high school senior and her strained relationship with her mother.
Riverdale is an American teen drama television series based on the characters of Archie Comics. The series was adapted for The CW by Archie Comics' chief creative officer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and is produced by Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions and Archie Comics. Originally conceived as a feature film adaptation for Warner Bros. Pictures, the idea was re-imagined as a television series for Fox. In 2015, development on the project moved to The CW, where the series was ordered for a pilot. Filming takes place in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Roseanne is an American comedy-drama sitcom television series created by Matt Williams and Roseanne Barr, which aired on ABC from October 18, 1988 to May 20, 1997, and briefly revived with a spin-off series of the same name from March 27 to May 22, 2018. It stars Barr as Roseanne Conner and revolves around her fictional family. Lauded for its realistic portrayal of a working-class American family, the series reached No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings from 1989 to 1990 in its second season.
Raid is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language action crime film written by Ritesh Shah and directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. The film is produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar Dua, Abhishek Pathak and Kumar Mangat Pathak. It stars Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'Cruz and Saurabh Shukla as leading characters.
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and leader of the Nazi Party. He rose to power as the chancellor of Germany in 1933 and then as Führer in 1934. During his dictatorship from 1933 to 1945, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust, the genocide of about 6 million Jews and millions of other victims.
Dragon Ball Super is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation that began airing on July 5, 2015 on Fuji TV. It is the first television series in the Dragon Ball franchise to feature a new story in 18 years. The series begins with a retelling of the events of the last two Dragon Ball Z films, Battle of Gods and Resurrection 'F', which themselves take place during the ten-year timeskip after the events of the "Majin Buu" Saga. The series was followed by the film Dragon Ball Super: Broly in 2018, with at least one further Dragon Ball Super film currently in development.
Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper, songwriter, and actress. Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, New York City, she became an Internet celebrity by achieving popularity on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to 2017, she appeared as a regular cast member on the VH1 reality television series Love & Hip Hop: New York, which depicted her pursuit of her music aspirations. She released two mixtapes—Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, before signing with label Atlantic Records in early 2017.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. In a state of total war, directly involving more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries, the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, resulting in 70 to 85 million fatalities, with more civilians than military personnel killed. Tens of millions of people died due to genocides, premeditated death from starvation, massacres, and disease. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, including in strategic bombing of population centres, the development of nuclear weapons, and the only two uses of such in war.
Dwayne Douglas Johnson, also known by his ring name the Rock, is an American-Canadian actor, producer, businessman, retired professional wrestler, and former American football and Canadian football player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation for eight years prior to pursuing an acting career. His films have grossed over $3.5 billion in North America and over $10.5 billion worldwide, making him one of the world's highest-grossing actors.
Sir William Henry Perkin, was a British chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline. Though he failed in trying to synthesise quinine for the treatment of malaria, he became successful in the field of dyes after his first discovery at the age of 18.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is an American member of the British royal family and a former actress.
Pari is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language supernatural horror film directed by Prosit Roy in his debut. It stars Anushka Sharma and marks her 3rd production venture for her company Clean Slate Filmz. Parambrata Chatterjee, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Rajat Kapoor and Mansi Multani feature in supporting roles. Production on the film began in June 2017 and it released theatrically on 2 March 2018.
Phineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, politician, and businessman, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017). He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, though he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me". According to his critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers." He is widely credited with coining the adage "There's a sucker born every minute", although no proof can be found of him saying this.
YouTube is an American online video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. The service, created in February 2005 by three former PayPal employees—Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim—was bought by Google in November 2006 for US$1.65 billion and now operates as one of the company's subsidiaries. YouTube is the second most-visited website in the world after Google Search, according to Alexa Internet rankings.
Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades including a Golden Globe Award and the Silver Bear for Best Actress, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards.
The second season of the American streaming television series Jessica Jones, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows Jones as she takes on a new case after the events surrounding her encounter with Kilgrave. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios and Tall Girls Productions, with Melissa Rosenberg serving as showrunner.
Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, is an American domestic terrorist, anarchist and former mathematics professor. He was a mathematics prodigy, but abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a more primitive life. Between 1978 and 1995, he killed three people and injured 23 others in a nationwide bombing campaign against people involved with modern technology. He issued a social critique opposing industrialization and advocating a nature-centered form of anarchism.