12 Step foot controller, Elements
The user can program the 12 Step to do a "program change" when a certain preset is selected. Using this feature, a user could program the 12 Step to send a program change message to their synthesizer module, selecting a certain synth patch or sound when a certain 12 Step preset is chosen. For example, a user could program the 12 Step to change their synth module to an electric bass sound when the "BASS" 12 Step preset is selected.


12 Step foot controller, Elements
The user needs to download the free 12 Step Editor program to do programming of new presets or make changes to the unit's settings (such as the touch sensitivity of the keys), using a laptop, desktop or tablet computer.


12 Step foot controller, Elements
The 12 Step gets its power from the USB bus from the computer it is plugged into or from the Expander unit's port (the Expander is powered by a wall adapter).


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets
The factory presets include scales, dyads (two notes played simultaneously), chords, and articulation changes and other functions. The names that are provided are the preset names that appear in the four-character LED display on the 12 Step. Users can change the display names using the 12 Step editing software (which must be used on a computer).


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Scales
These include CHrO ("Chromatic Scale"), which automatically loads when 12 Step powers up; LEAd ("Blues Lead"); bLUE ("Blues Bass"); PEnt ("Major Pentatonic"); and -Pnt ("Minor Pentatonic").


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Dyads
The presets include wide range of dyads, which are two notes that are sounded simultaneously.


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Dyads
OCt ("Octave"); 5OCt ("5 Octaves"); -3rd ("Minor 3rds"); 3rd ("Major 3rds"); dIA3 ("Diatonic 3rds"); 4tHS ("4ths"); dIA4 ("Diatonic 4ths"); StC4 ("Stacked 4ths"); 5tHS ("5ths"); dIA5 ("Diatonic 5ths"); StC5 ("Stacked 5ths"); -6tH ("Minor 6ths"); 6tHS ("Major 6ths"); dIA6 ("Diatonic 6ths"); -7tH ("Minor 7ths"); 7tHS ("Major 7ths"); -9tH ("Minor 9ths"); 9tHS ("Major 9ths"); 10S ("Minor 10ths"); 10tH ("Major 10ths"); trtn ("Tritone").


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Chords
Some of the chord presets also have an articulation or playing style feature which is turned on simultaneously, such as POtG, "Power Chords Toggle", which sets up power chords for each key of the 12 Step, while also activating the "toggle" playing feature. Some of the chord presets are designed for musicians and bands that use Drop D tuning.


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Chords
EPO ("Power Chords Legato"); SUS9 ("Sus9 Chords")-trd ("Minor Triads"); trAd ("Major Triads"); dtrd ("Diatonic Triads"; -145 ("1-4-5-7 Minor Chords"); 1457 ("1-4-5-7 Major Chords"); dI ("Diminished Chords"); AUG ("Augmented Triads"); PO ("Power Chords Normal"); POtG ("Power Chords Toggle"); InPO ("Inverted Power Chords"); d_LO ("Drop D −12"); drOP ("Drop D Legato"); -6CH ("Minor 6th Chords"); 6CHd ("Major 6th Chords"); -FL7 ("Minor 7 Chords"); FLt7 ("Dominant 7 Chords"); dI7C ("Diatonic 7th Chords (Major)"); SUS4 ("Sus 4 Chords").


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Articulation or other functions
Notable presets in this group are CLIP ("Live Clip Launching), which is set up to launch sound clips in Ableton Live; and A__b ("2 Voices"), which enables one 12 Step to control two different synth voices (or two different synth modules) on two different MIDI channels.


12 Step foot controller, List of factory presets, Articulation or other functions
bEnD ("Tilt Pitch Bend"); LGtO ("Legato"); tOGL ("Toggle"); PrES ("Pressure Volume"); CLIP ("Live Clip Launching); POLY ("Polyphonic") AFtr ("Poly Aftertouch"); A__b ("2 Voices"); CrOS ("Voice XFade"); PAn ("Key Number Panning"); dSEt ("Drum Set").


12 Step foot controller, Reception
Kev Choice and Albert Mathias, the reviewers from Keyboard Mag, call the 12 Step a "...welcome alternative to heavy, cumbersome foot controllers" that are hard to program. The reviewers state that the manual and software editor program are "...well written and clear". They state that playing some basslines on the small keys, such as "...walking bass lines, for example, might make one wish for shoes with bigger heels or pointier tips", and they suggest sitting down to play the instrument. The reviewers state that the 12 Step is easy to use with Propellerhead, Reason and Ableton Live. They say that in addition to its usefulness for pianists and other instrumentalists, it has potential for use by "...deejays, emcees, or anyone on stage responsible for triggering samples or generating tones".


12 Step foot controller, Reception
Alex Maiolo from Tape Op had a positive review of the 12 Step, which noted that "most [foot controllers] are expensive and bulky", making them infeasible for the typical musician who only needs occasional foot-triggered notes. He calls it a "...quick, cheap, easy, reliable, portable bass pedal solution" . He noted that given that bands in the mid-2010s are touring with smaller numbers of personnel, yet still trying to recreate their studio recording sounds in live shows, the 12 Step could solve this problem, as it can be used as a "clip launcher for hardware and software samplers".


12 Step foot controller, Reception
Juan Alderete and Nick Reinhart from Pedals and Effects were pleased that Keith McMillen is making a variety of lightweight music gear for travelling musicians and they positively note the 12 Step's "bullet proof" and durable construction. They note that since "...most bands these days seem to be either two or three musicians, the 12 Step is a great way to step up your band's sound" by adding "Moog bass, or control samples via my feet", so a band can "sound like [they] do on the record" in live shows.


12 Step foot controller, Reception
Reviewer Nick Batt demonstrated and commented on the 12 Step in a 2012 video review for SonicState. Batt praised the 12 Step, saying "a lot of thought has gone into it", and he stated that as of 2012, no other MIDI foot controller offered the same level of sophisticated control options (apart from the McMillen SoftStep). Batt states that he found pressing the small keys hard while wearing shoes, but he acknowledged that there are Hammond organists who have made videos of themselves playing rapid organ basslines on the 12 Step. He said the strong point of the unit is its "potential for customizable control" of computer music applications such as Ableton, such as triggering clips or "scenes", particularly for solo performers or one man bands.


12 Step foot controller, Reception
In Sam Mallery's review for B&H Photo, he calls Keith McMillen Instruments "...among the most innovative and forward-thinking manufacturers in the pro audio industry today" and says that it is "no surprise that the 12 Step is so intelligently designed and easy to use". He praises the "...illuminated and expressive keys" and states that musicians and DJs will find the 12 Step useful for shows.


12 Stones
12 Stones is an American hard rock band, formed in 2000 in Mandeville, Louisiana, and currently consisting of Paul McCoy, Eric Weaver and Sean Dunaway.


12 Stones, History
The band members met in Mandeville, Louisiana, a small city north of New Orleans, and within 15 months were signed to a record deal with Wind-up Records. Lead vocalist Paul McCoy was featured in the Evanescence single "Bring Me to Life", released in 2003, which later went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2004.


12 Stones, History
Songs from the band have appeared in various films and TV shows. "My Life", from their self-titled album, was featured on the soundtrack of the 2002 film The Scorpion King. "Broken" (also from the self-titled album) served as the official theme song for WWE's WWE Judgment Day pay-per-view in May 2002. "Home" (also from the self-titled album) was the song used for the WWE Desire video for Kurt Angle. "Shadows", from Potter's Field, was used in a trailer for the film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. "Photograph" (also from Potter's Field) appeared on the soundtrack of the 2005 film Elektra. The band also recorded the song "Let Go" exclusively for the Daredevil movie soundtrack. Songs "Running out of Pain" and "Back Up" were used on Cheating Death, Stealing Life – The Eddie Guerrero Story.


12 Stones, History
In November 2009, the band recorded their fourth studio album, with producer David Bendeth. "We Are One", the first single from the new album, was released on April 6. The song Premiered on noisecreep on March 29, 2010.


12 Stones, History
"We Are One" was used by WWE as the theme song for the renegade faction formed by the NXT first season graduates known as The Nexus. The song also was used as the opening to each ACC Network telecast of the 2011 ACC men's basketball tournament. The Washington Capitals hockey team also used the song in the 2010–11 NHL season video played at the start of their home games in the Verizon Center.


12 Stones, History
On August 24, 2010, the band announced that they were leaving Wind-Up after nine years, stating "We felt it was time for a change. We have a vision for this band that we feel is best pursued elsewhere."


12 Stones, History
12 Stones then signed a record deal with Executive Music Group. The band released their new album Beneath the Scars on May 22, 2012 to digital retailers, however it wasn't released to stores until May 29, 2012.


12 Stones, History
Their fifth studio album, Picture Perfect, was released on July 14, 2017. The title track was premiered on Loudwire on June 14, 2017.


12 Stones, History
Smoke and Mirrors, Volume 1, a five-song EP, was released on November 13, 2020.


12 Stones (album)
12 Stones is the eponymous debut album from the American rock band 12 Stones. It was released on April 23, 2002 by Wind-up Records. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 147.


12 Stones (album), Track listing
All lyrics are written by Paul McCoy; all music is composed by 12 Stones.


12 Stones discography
American Christian post-grunge band 12 Stones has released five studio albums, one extended play and fourteen singles.


12 Storeys
12 Storeys (十二樓 or Shí'èr lóu in Mandarin) is a 1997 Singaporean drama film written and directed by Eric Khoo. It features an ensemble cast of Jack Neo, Koh Boon Pin and Quan Yi Fong. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.


12 Storeys, Premise
The film follows a day in the lives of several households living within the same HDB block.


12 Storeys, Premise
A soup vendor called Ah Gu is having a hard time dealing with his Mainland Chinese wife, Lily. San San, an overweight loner, is haunted by her feelings of isolation and the memory of her deceased mother. Meng, Trixie and Tee are siblings left to their own devices when their parents go on holiday.


12 Storeys, Reception
Derek Elley of Variety wrote that the film's has "genuinely funny" moments, but its slow pacing "blunts the humor". Time Out called it "witty and sophisticated stuff".


12 Storeys, Reception
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it "is widely regarded to have contributed to the revitalisation of local cinema".


12 Stories
12 Stories is the debut studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Brandy Clark, released on October 22, 2013, through Slate Creek Records. Clark wrote or co-wrote all 12 of the songs and it features Vince Gill on background vocals. The songs on the album are mostly ones which were admired by, but not recorded by, other artists, possibly due to the provocative storytelling and their content, which is a Clark trademark.


12 Stories
Two of the album's tracks were previously recorded by other artists: "Crazy Women" was a Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for LeAnn Rimes as the second single from her 2011 album, Lady & Gentlemen, and "The Day She Got Divorced" was previously recorded by Reba McEntire for her 2010 album, All the Women I Am.


12 Stories, Background
When Clark first moved to Nashville around 1997 she wanted to be a recording artist, but instead concentrated on her song writing which is her true passion. It took her many years to hone a voice as an individual artist with a view to creating songs which would be commercially viable and which people wanted to listen to. She played occasional gigs and made demo tapes enough to finance an EP to sell at songwriters’ night shows.


12 Stories, Background
In 2010 her two co-managers heard that EP and told her they would help finance a full studio record along with a management company. As a respected Music Row songwriter she was also encouraged by friends in the business to release a batch of her own material. 12 Stories was finished nearly two years before its release, as Clark waited for record label interest and distribution. Previous to this and during that time span she had become a part of a tight circle of friends and regular song collaborators that included singing songwriters Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe, Kacey Musgraves, Shane McAnally, Josh Osborne and Trevor Rosen, some of whom contribute to the album.


12 Stories, Music and lyrics
Teaming up with producer Dave Brainard, 12 Stories draws on styles such as country folk and catchy country pop performed in midtempo in both classic and contemporary styles with arrangements which are sparse and clean. They first toyed with making the album a concept record, chronicling a couple's relationship but ended up rejecting the idea but that instinct is evident in the track listing order. The album is full of diverse characters in which Clark tells stories which manage to be dramatic, humorous, heartfelt and down right honest in which she examines and celebrates her characters.


12 Stories, Music and lyrics
Describing her songs, Randy Lewis from the Los Angeles Times wrote: "find this record and listen to a dozen dazzlingly witty and insightful takes on the struggles of the working class ("Pray to Jesus"), neglected and/or mistreated women ("Crazy Women," "The Day She Got Divorced"), the battle between right and wrong ("What'll Keep Me Out of Heaven") and the pros and cons of chemical mood enhancers" ("Hungover," "Get High").


12 Stories, Music and lyrics
"I think my music is a dark comedy, just as I think life is a dark comedy," said Brandy. "The truth is funny sometimes. I don't ever want to come across as corny or novelty, but you have to laugh at things. I feel like this record is about what's really going on in life." "I get my inspiration from real people who are just surviving their lives and getting through their days. That's who I write songs for," she explained.


12 Stories, Music and lyrics
The song "Stripes" was co-written with Shane McAnally at a songwriters retreat at Center Hill Lake. It was released in America as a single which premiered on Sirius XM Holdings. The official video made its CMT debut on July 4, 2013. The release of the album coincides with a breakthrough year for Clark after being named as one of CMT's Next Women of Country and gaining well-deserved attention after scoring a CMA Song of the Year nomination for her contribution to "Mama’s Broken Heart" and enjoying chart-topping success as a writer of The Band Perry's No.1 song "Better Dig Two."


12 Stories, Critical reception
12 Stories received highly positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 89 out of 100, which indicates "universal acclaim" based on 6 reviews.


12 Stories, Critical reception
Regarding Clark's writing, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic commented, "She's on the outside but she's an observer, not an outcast, noticing the quirks and eccentricities of her brethren instead of diving head-on into their madness" and describing her singing said, "she avoids full-throated showstoppers for something better: she's sly and strong, mining heartbreak and sneaking in punch lines at unexpected times" and that the "strength and clarity" of Clark's voice becomes undeniable. He concludes "the superb 12 Stories showcases a unique artist who stands firmly, proudly on her own merits"


12 Stories, Critical reception
At American Songwriter, Jonathan Bernstein noted the simplicity of the album title "gives a good sense of Clark's direct, plain-spoken, songwriting" and that her debut was "a welcome, engrossing respite from the party-fueled escapism that's dominated Music City throughout the summer of 2013"Jon Freeman of Country Weekly described the set as "a staggeringly great collection of original tunes that paint vivid, honest portraits of real life, from a uniquely feminine perspective"


12 Stories, Critical reception
Grady Smith of Entertainment Weekly noted that Clark "keeps things edgy, singing about divorce, drugs, jail, and Jesus—a.k.a. country music’s Golden Quadrangle, with matter-of-fact sass and ample twang"


12 Stories, Critical reception
Will Hermes, writing for Rolling Stone, concludes that Brandy's ear "is unerring and her characters true" describing her as " the kind of talent who makes the term "alt-country" unnecessary"


12 Stories, Critical reception
At Roughstock, Matt Bjorke said Clark possesses a voice "that recalls Mary Chapin Carpenter, Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea and Trisha Yearwood" and described her as "a unique talent in that she writes songs that are classic and contemporary all at the same time" and that 12 Stories is "one of the strongest albums of 2013 and of any album released in this new century".


12 Stories, Critical reception
Billboard writer Chuck Dauphin began his review with one word, "Wow", and clarified, "I don’t think I have ever started a review so simply in my decade-plus of writing them. But, sometimes, you can say a lot more with less than you can otherwise". He said that Clark has assembled an album that potentially will "stand beside such landmark female collections" as Lee Ann Womack's 2005 released There's More Where That Came From and Reba McEntire's 1996 album Whoever's in New England. He described the single, "Stripes", as having "a modern day Loretta Lynn twist" and that perhaps the coolest line of any song during 2013 is "There’s no crime of passion worth a crime of fashion"


12 Stories, Critical reception
Jody Rosen from New York Magazine declared "12 Stories Is My Favorite Album of 2013."


12 Stories, Critical reception
In the January 2014 issue of leading UK country music publication Country Music People, editor Duncan Warwick made it his "5 Star CD of the Month", summing up with "Every song tells a story and Brandy Clark makes them all riveting. Now I have to remove an album from my best of the year to make room for this."


12 Stories, Commercial performance
12 Stories debuted at No. 197 on the Billboard 200 and at No. 28 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with 2,000 copies sold in its first week of release. It re-entered the Billboard 200 at a new peak of 163 for the chart dated December 7, 2013, and also peaked at the Top Country Album chart at No. 23. The album has sold 46,000 copies in the U.S. as of February 2015.


12 Stories, Personnel, Technical
Tracked by Brian Kolb at Ben Fold's Studio Nashville TN (assisted by Leslie Richter)


12 String Guitar!
12 String Guitar! is an instrumental folk album released by The Folkswingers in 1963. The Folkswingers were a studio band with constantly changing personnel but on this album, they are Glen Campbell on 12-string guitar and The Dillards.


12 String Guitar! Vol. 2
12 String Guitar! Vol. 2 is the second album by The Folkswingers, released in 1963 on the World Pacific record label. The album contains instrumental versions of popular folk songs, featuring Glen Campbell playing a 12-string guitar.


12 Strong
12 Strong (also known as 12 Strong: The Declassified True Story of the Horse Soldiers) is a 2018 American action-war film directed by Nicolai Fuglsig and written by Ted Tally and Peter Craig. The film is based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book Horse Soldiers, which tells the story of U.S. Army Special Forces sent to Afghanistan immediately after the September 11 attacks. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Navid Negahban, Trevante Rhodes, Geoff Stults, Thad Luckinbill, William Fichtner, and Rob Riggle.


12 Strong
Principal photography began in January 2017 in New Mexico. The film was released in the United States on January 19, 2018 by Warner Bros. Pictures, in standard and IMAX theaters. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast and action but criticized the by-the-numbers execution and lack of hindsight of the War in Afghanistan.


12 Strong, Plot
Mitch Nelson, a U.S. Army captain with Green Berets Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595, is moving into a new home with his wife and daughter on September 11, 2001, after receiving an assignment to staff duty under Lieutenant Colonel Bowers. As news of the devastating terrorist attacks that day break, Nelson volunteers to lead 595 into Afghanistan. Bowers initially refuses, but veteran soldier CW5 Hal Spencer, previously scheduled to retire, persuades Bowers to give Nelson command of 595 again, as well as volunteering himself for the deployment. After leaving their families, 595 travels to Uzbekistan on October 7, 2001. After being briefed and evaluated by COL Mulholland, Commander of 5th Special Forces Group, Nelson and 595 are picked to fight alongside Northern Alliance leader Abdul Rashid Dostum.


12 Strong, Plot
ODA 595 is inserted covertly in Afghanistan aboard an MH-47 Chinook flown by 160th SOAR on 19 October 2001. They land 40 miles south of Mazar-i Sharif, the country's fourth-largest city and a longtime stronghold of the Taliban, where they meet Dostum. Six of the 12 members, led by Nelson, leave with Dostum to the mountains, while the other six remain in a fortified camp nicknamed "The Alamo" under Spencer's command.


12 Strong, Plot
Dostum is attempting to capture the northern Afghanistan city, while battling Taliban leader Mullah Razzan, who rules local communities brutally under strict Sharia law, and has murdered several people, including Dostum's family. Although the warlord is initially skeptical of Nelson's abilities, Nelson gradually earns Dostum's respect. In one battle, however, Dostum makes a tactical error, costing several casualties.


12 Strong, Plot
Nelson accuses Dostum of acting carelessly with the lives of his men and of withholding valuable information, while Dostum retorts that he still feels that Nelson, and the U.S. are not willing to pay the potential price of the conflict, and tells Nelson that he needs to use his heart and mind to "be a warrior" instead of a soldier. The two eventually reconcile, and, after splitting off a three-man element under SFC Sam Diller to strike a Taliban supply route, and being joined by Spencer's half of ODA 595, continue to work together.


12 Strong, Plot
They win several victories with Dostum's leadership and manpower and American airpower, making significant progress towards Mazar-i Sharif. When Nelson informs Dostum that another ODA, 555, has been dispatched to support Atta Muhammad, another Northern Alliance leader, who is Dostum's political rival, Dostum is furious, and his men promptly abandon 595.


12 Strong, Plot
Following Dostum's departure, Nelson plans to continue operating against the Taliban with his Americans and the few Afghan fighters remaining with them. Encountering a large force of Al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters and armored vehicles, ODA 595, rejoined by Diller and his element, uses air support to eliminate many of the fighters and most of the armor, but are discovered and attacked. Spencer is critically injured by a suicide bomber, and the team is about to be overrun under heavy Taliban and Al-Qaeda pressure when Dostum returns with his forces.


12 Strong, Plot
Carrying out the U.S. Army's first cavalry charge of the 21st century, the American and Northern Alliance forces disperse the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and Dostum tracks down and kills Razzan. After Spencer is medevaced, Nelson and Dostum continue to Mazar-i-Sharif but find Atta Muhammad has beaten them there. Against expectations, Dostum and Muhammad meet peacefully and put aside their differences.


12 Strong, Plot
Impressed by Nelson and the Americans' efforts, Dostum gives Nelson his prized riding crop and tells him that he will always consider Nelson a brother and fellow fighter, at the same time bidding him remember that Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires. Spencer ultimately survives, and all 12 soldiers of ODA 595 return home after 23 days of almost continuous fighting in Afghanistan.


12 Strong, Plot
The film's penultimate moment shows a photo of the Horse Soldier Statue at the World Trade Center in New York City, based on the soldiers of ODA 595 and their victory in the early stages of the response to the September 11th attacks, dedicated to all United States Special Forces. The film then ends with a photo of the actual members of ODA 595, in combat fatigues, upon whom 12 Strong was based.


12 Strong, Production, Development
On December 2, 2011, it was announced that producer Jerry Bruckheimer had taken out the script by Ted Tally and rewritten by Peter Craig with Nicolai Fuglsig attached to direct, which was bought by Walt Disney Pictures in 2009 for Bruckheimer, based on Doug Stanton's non-fiction book Horse Soldiers. On March 29, 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Bruckheimer had officially hired Fuglsig to make his feature film directorial debut, which would be co-financed and produced by Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill through Black Label Media, along with Bruckheimer's Jerry Bruckheimer Films.


12 Strong, Production, Casting
On September 30, 2016, Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon were cast in the film, and later on November 1, Michael Peña also joined the film. On November 3, 2016, Trevante Rhodes was cast in the film. On November 14, 2016, Austin Stowell was cast in the film to play Staff Sergeant Fred Falls, an American soldier on the elite U.S. Special Forces team. Lionsgate would handle the film's distribution.


12 Strong, Production, Casting
On November 15, 2016, Austin Hébert was cast to play SFC Pat Essex, the intellectual and engineer of the team, and the same day it was reported that Ben O'Toole had also been cast for an unspecified role. On November 17, 2016, Variety reported that Navid Negahban was cast to play General Abdul Rashid Dostum in the film. Elsa Pataky was revealed to be appearing in the film in December 2016, while on February 3, 2017, Deadline Hollywood reported that Rob Riggle joined the film to play Army Lieutenant Colonel Max Bowers, under whom Riggle actually served while he was a U.S. Marine Captain.


12 Strong, Production, Filming
Principal photography began in early January 2017 in New Mexico. Mines near Orogrande, New Mexico, were used. Later the shooting took place in Socorro, where it ended on January 26 after eight days of filming. The film was also shot in Alamogordo, using White Sands National Monument as the shooting location. The scenes involving military encampments were filmed using 20 structures leased from AKS Military, a private manufacturer of military shelters.


12 Strong, Production, Home media
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released 12 Strong digitally April 10, and on Blu-ray Disc and DVD May 1. Blu -ray extras include the featurettes "12 Strong: The Making of an Impossible Mission" and "Monumental Effort: Building America's Response Monument."


12 Strong, Production, Postscript
The films postscript reads as follows: "Against overwhelming odds, all twelve members of the U.S. Army Special Forces ODA 595 survived their mission. The capture of Mazar-i-Sharif by the Horse Soldiers and their counterparts is one of the US military's most stunning achievements. Military planners predicted it would take two years. Task Force Dagger did it in three weeks. Al Qaeda considers this to be their worst defeat. Because their mission was classified, the men of Special Forces ODA 595 returned home to their everyday lives with no fanfare or public acknowledgment of the near impossible mission they completed. In 2014, General Dostum became Vice President of Afghanistan. Dostum and Mitch Nelson remain close friends to this day. In 2012, to honor their extraordinary heroism, a statue of a Horse Soldier was dedicated at the World Trade Center site."


12 Strong, Reception, Box office
12 Strong grossed $46.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $70.8 million, against a production budget of $35 million.


12 Strong, Reception, Box office
In the United States and Canada, 12 Strong was released on January 19, 2018 alongside Den of Thieves and Forever My Girl, as well as the wide expansions of Phantom Thread, I, Tonya and Call Me by Your Name, and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,002 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $15.8 million, similar to the $16.1 million that another war film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opened to in January 2016, and finished second at the box office behind Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. According to ComScore, 55% of the opening weekend audience was male, with 79% being over the age of 25. The following week dropped 45% to $8.6 million, finishing 6th at the box office.


12 Strong, Reception, Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 169 reviews, and an average rating of 5.52/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "12 Strong has a solid cast, honorable intentions, and a thrilling, fact-based story — all of which are occasionally enough to balance a disappointing lack of depth or nuance." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on reviews from 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave an 81% overall positive score and a 63% "definite recommend".


12 Strong, Reception, Critical response
Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 2.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "...with a running time of two hours and 10 minutes, 12 Strong has at least 20 minutes of scenes that are either unnecessary or repetitive...[it] winds up being an almost-good film about some great American soldiers." Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "On its own terms, the film is watchable enough, but it’s blunt and stolid and under-characterized, and at 130 minutes it plods." Gleiberman notes that the soldiers riding on horseback do not amount to much, but praises the director and cinematographer for using the New Mexico locations to conjure the landscape of Afghanistan, calling it the most impressive aspect of the film.


12 Super Éxitos
12 Super Exitos is a compilation of Selena's greatest hits released in 1994 by EMI Latin. It was the last album released before her murder on March 31, 1995. After its release, Selena began working on her crossover album which was set to be released in the summer of 1995.


12 Tangos
12 Tangos: Adios Buenos Aires is a German documentary film from the director and producer Arne Birkenstock, filmed in 2004 in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires. The film music was arranged and composed by the guitarist and composer Luis Borda who gathered the most important Argentinean Tango musicians for the produccion of this movie. The movie was produced by the Cologne production companies Fruitmarket Kultur und Medien and Tradewind Picturesin colobaration with ZDF and ARTE. The development of the script was aided by the European Media-Programm. The movie was released by the Kinostar GmbH and sold worldwide by Medialuna Entertainment. As co-producers Dr. Peter Bach und Hans Georg Haakshorst supported its production.


12 Tangos, Plot
The documentary tells the story of several tangodancers in the crisis-ridden Buenos Aires. In the "Catedral", a 200 years old granary in Buenos Aires, an orchestra plays 12 well known tangos, while the weekly guests of the ball move in circles. At the core of it stands 71 years old professional dancer Roberto Tonet and the 20-year-old dancer Marcela. Tonet lost his pension during the banking crisis and Marcela is preparing her emigration towards Europe. Around them dance more people who we will follow from the "Catedral" into the real life during the course of the movie.


12 Tangos, Plot
We see Rodrigo and Fabiana, two school children who live in the poor neighborhood Nueva Pompeya. Rodrigo is the son of Bolivian immigrants, Fabiana lives alone with her three siblings since her mother left to work as a cleaning lady in Spain, in order to gain enough money to pay rent. The movie shows the goodbye of the mother and the four children she had to leave behind.


12 Tangos, Plot
In the hippest Tango club of the city we meet five freaks of the trashrock band "Las Muñecas" who live in the "Catedral", organize tango-balls  and interpret Carlos Gardel 's songs on their e-guitars. Tango is the expression of crisis and lost hope and their connection will be shown by the history of these dancers who lost their wealth, jobs and salaries due to the current situation. In 12 Tangos the story of these dancers and their ancestors is told. Tango, crisis, immigration and emigration join to a cohesive story about the past, present and future of these people and Buenos Aires.


12 Tangos, Music
For the movie 12 Tangos the composer and guitarist Luis Borda joined some of the best Argentinean musicians into an orchestra in which several generations were represented: The 92-year-old Maria de la Fuente sings with Lidia Borda, according to Rolling Stone the "best tango singer of the moment". Also singing are Gabriel Menendez, Jorge Sobral and Eduardo Borda. The movie shows the last recordings with the bandoneon legend José Libertella, who died surprisingly after the movie was completed. The bandoneon is also played by Julio Pane and the young Grammy nominee Pablo Mainetti.


12 Tangos, Music
The violin is played by the concertmaster of theTeatro Colon Mauricio Marcelli supported by Huberto Ridolfi and Elisabet Ridolfi. The orchestra is completed by pianist Diego Shissi, bassist Oscar Giunta, trompetist Juan Cruz de Urquiza, Pablo La Porta(percussion), Marcos Cabezas (vibraphone), Diego Pojomowsky (e-bass) and the saxophone-quartet De Coté. The orchestra's repertoire includes classics such as "Adiós Nonino", "Sur", "La Cachila", "La Puñalada" and "Milonga de mis amores" and unknown treasures like "Pampero", "En carne propia" or the waltz "El Paisaje, and new compositions like "Ironía del Salón" and "Corralito".


12 Tiny Christmas Tales
12 Tiny Christmas Tales (stylized onscreen as 12 tiny Christmas tales) is an American Christmas animated short film, that which was broadcast on Cartoon Network on December 7, 2001. It was created, animated and directed by Bill Plympton.


12 Tiny Christmas Tales, Plot
A grandmother tells her three grandchildren increasing bizarre stories of Christmas.


12 Tiny Christmas Tales, Plot, Segments
The stories are based on eight-panel sequences from Christmas cards Plympton began drawing for his parents in 1964.


12 Tiny Christmas Tales, Songs
In this film there are nine original songs, which were written and executive-produced by Maureen McElheron. Hank Bones instead served as a producer. Finally, "Kalinka" was the only famous song inserted into it.


12 Tonadillas en estilo antiguo
12 Tonadillas en estilo antiguo, H. 136, is a collection of 12 songs by Spanish composer Enrique Granados with texts by Fernando Periquet. Together with Canciones amatorias they are considered to be the most importand vocal works by Granados.


12 Tonadillas en estilo antiguo, Composition and publication history
The original title of the composition is Collección de tonadillas escritas en estilo antiguo. The songs were first published in 1912-1913 and 1915 by Casa Dotesio (its name being changed in 1913 to Unión musical Española). When the collection was finished, the order of the songs was rearranged. Hence, there are two numbering systems.


12 Treasures of Spain
The 12 Treasures of Spain (Spanish: 12 Tesoros de España) was a project that selected the purported "Twelve Treasures of the Kingdom of Spain". The contest was conducted by broadcasters Antena 3 and COPE. The final results were announced on 31 December 2007. Nine architectural monuments, two natural monuments and a monument pictorial were chosen.


12 Treasures of Spain, Contest
Four months after the international competition to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World, in late September 2007, Antena 3 and Onda Cero launched a campaign to elect the 12 so-called Treasures of Spain, an initiative based on the votes of the people, through internet and mobile phone. Finally, they received over 9,000 applications, and the candidates were whittled down to 20. At first they were to choose 7 Treasures of Spain, but later that figure was changed to 12.


12 Tónar
12 Tónar (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈtʰoulv ˈtʰouːnar̥], 'twelve tones') is a record shop in Reykjavík, Iceland, and also a record label for Icelandic artists. It is located on Skólavörðustígur 15, in downtown Reykjavík.


12 Tónar
Founded in 1998 in Reykjavík, 12 Tónar has been well received by music lovers from the start. The store quickly became a meeting point for musicians such as Björk, Sigur Rós, múm, and the core of classical composers and performers.


12 Tónar
12 Tónar is also an independent record label with nearly 80 releases in its catalogue. Many of the best musicians in Iceland have released their albums on the label, for example artists and bands such as Mugison, Trabant and Singapore Sling, Apparat Organ Quartet, Pétur Ben, Eivør Pálsdóttir, Ragnheiður Gröndal, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Skúli Sverrisson, Ólöf Arnalds, Pink Street Boys, Samaris and Jakobínarína, to name a few.


12 Tónar
In May 2006 12 Tónar opened a record store in Copenhagen, Denmark selling music from their own catalogue of artists as well as other Icelandic music. The store was situated on Fiolstraede 26. The store followed the good example from Iceland, with its friendly atmosphere and freshly brewed espresso for the customers while the music was spinning. It became a tradition with live in-store concerts taking place on Friday afternoons. On 26 January 2008 the Copenhagen store celebrated its closing with a live performance by the Danish band Tremolo Beer Gut.


12 Tónar
Immediately succeeding the closing of the 12 Tónar record store in Copenhagen a brand new web-shop was introduced, allowing continued access to their family of artists.


12 Tónar
On 21 June 2013 Gramophone magazine wrote about 12 Tónar, with the title "The best record store in the world?"


12 Victoria
Victoria (minor planet designation: 12 Victoria) is a large main-belt asteroid, orbiting the Sun with a period of 3.56 years and an eccentricity of 0.221. It is a stony (S-type) asteroid, about 112–124 km across with an albedo of 0.18 and a rotation period of 8.66 hours. Victoria has been observed to occult a star three times since its discovery. Radar and speckle interferometry observations show that the shape of Victoria is elongated, and it is suspected to be a binary asteroid, with a moon of irregular shape.


12 Victoria
This minor planet was discovered by English astronomer J. R. Hind on September 13, 1850. Victoria is officially named after the Roman goddess of victory, but the name also honours Queen Victoria. The goddess Victoria (Nike for the Greeks) was the daughter of Styx by the Titan Pallas. The coincidence with the name of the then-reigning queen caused quite a controversy at the time, and B. A. Gould, editor of the prestigious Astronomical Journal, adopted the alternate name Clio (now used by 84 Klio), proposed by the discoverer. However, W. C. Bond, of the Harvard College Observatory, then the highest authority on astronomy in America, held that the mythological condition was fulfilled and the name therefore acceptable, and his opinion eventually prevailed.


12 Views of Beatenberg
12 Views of Beatenberg is the third album by South African indie pop band Beatenberg. It was released on 14 December 2018 by Island Records. The album includes singles "Camera" and "Ode To The Berg Wind," as well as "Aphrodite" a collaboration with African pop artist TRESOR. Upon release the album jumped to number four on the South African iTunes chart.


12 Vulpeculae
12 Vulpeculae is a star in the northern constellation of Vulpecula, located approximately 630 light years away based on parallax. It has the variable star designation V395 Vul; 12 Vulpeculae is the Flamsteed designation. This object is visible to the naked eye as a faint, blue-white hued star with a baseline apparent visual magnitude of 4.928. It is moving closer to the Earth with a heliocentric radial velocity of -25 km/s.


12 Vulpeculae
This is a variable Be star with a stellar classification of B2.5V; its brightness ranges from magnitude 4.78 down to 4.97. As is true with other Be stars, it has a high rate of rotation with a projected rotational velocity of 195 km/s. The star has 6.8 times the mass of the Sun and is radiating 963 times the Sun's luminosity from its photosphere at an effective temperature of 18,859 K.


12 Wasted Years
12 Wasted Years is a video documentary of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, focusing on the history of the band from 1975 to 1987. It includes several rare videos and interviews from the band's career, some of which were later included on the 2004 documentary The Early Days.


12 Wasted Years
In March 2013, Iron Maiden included the full documentary in a reissue of their 1989 concert film, Maiden England.


12 West 56th Street
12 West 56th Street (originally the Harry B. Hollins Residence) is a consular building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, housing the Consulate General of Argentina in New York City. It is along 56th Street's southern sidewalk between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. The four-and-a-half story building was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Georgian Revival style. It was constructed between 1899 and 1901 as a private residence, one of several on 56th Street's "Bankers' Row".


12 West 56th Street
The first floor is clad with blocks of limestone, while the other floors contain red brick trimmed with limestone. The entrance is through a central porch on the east side of the building, designed by James Edwin Ruthven Carpenter Jr. as part of an annex completed in 1924. The second floor contains French windows and the third and fourth floors contain sash windows.


12 West 56th Street
The house was commissioned for stockbroker H. B. Hollins and his wife Evalina Hollins. The couple had initially planned to design their house alongside their neighbor Frederick C. Edey, at 10 West 56th Street, but the Hollinses built their house alone because a covenant temporarily prevented the Edey house from being built. The house was sold to the Calumet Club in 1914 and was used by the club until 1935. It was then used by several tenants for short terms, including Charles Joel Duveen, the International Silk Guild, and The Salvation Army. The government of Argentina has owned the building since 1947; it initially used the house as the offices of an Argentine Navy commission before opening a consulate there. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the house as an official landmark in 1984.


12 West 56th Street, Site
12 West 56th Street is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is along the southern sidewalk of 56th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, with an alternate address of 14 West 56th Street. The land lot is rectangular and covers 5,000 square feet (460 m2), with a frontage of 50 feet (15 m) on 56th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (30.61 m).


12 West 56th Street, Site
The building is on the same block as the 10 West 56th Street townhouse and the 712 Fifth Avenue skyscraper to the east; the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church to the southeast; and the townhouses at 26 and 30 West 56th Street to the west. Other nearby buildings include The Peninsula New York hotel, the University Club of New York, and the Rockefeller Apartments to the south; the Corning Glass Building to the east; Trump Tower to the northeast; and 17 West 56th Street and the Crown Building to the north.


12 West 56th Street, Site
Fifth Avenue between 42nd Street and Central Park South (59th Street) was relatively undeveloped through the late 19th century. The surrounding area was once part of the common lands of the city of New York. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 established Manhattan's street grid with lots measuring 100 feet (30 m) deep and 25 feet (7.6 m) wide. Upscale residences were constructed around Fifth Avenue following the American Civil War. The block of 56th Street from Fifth to Sixth Avenue contained rowhouses by 1871, many of which were recessed from the lot line and had entrance stoops.


12 West 56th Street, Site
By the end of the 19th century, the area had many wealthy residents, and the houses in the area were either modified or rebuilt altogether. The adjacent block of West 56th Street was developing into a "bankers' row" with the residences of Frederick C. and Birdsall Otis Edey at number 10, Henry Seligman at number 30, Edward Wasserman at number 33, and Arthur Lehman at number 31. Many of these houses persisted through the mid-20th century as part of a restaurant and retail strip.


12 West 56th Street, Design
The Hollins House at 12 West 56th Street, later the Argentinian Consulate General to New York City, was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Federal Georgian Revival style. Of the firm's principals, Stanford White had been the most involved in the house's design. The current consular building is composed of the original residence and a 1924 annex designed by J.E.R. Carpenter on the eastern side of the house.


12 West 56th Street, Design
12 West 56th Street was planned and constructed nearly simultaneously with the house of Frederick C. Edey at 10 West 56th Street. However, because of a covenant that temporarily halted construction at number 10, they were designed in different styles by different firms. Of the houses' contrasting designs, Christopher Gray wrote for The New York Times in 2007: "The two houses are paired in an uneasy dance, one doing the cancan, the other a minuet."


12 West 56th Street, Design, Facade
The main portion of the building, the original residence, is at 14 West 56th Street and is four and a half stories tall. It consists of three vertical bays of windows. The first floor is clad with rusticated blocks of limestone and has three recessed windows. The center window at the first floor is wider than the other windows on that floor, as it was originally the main entrance to the house. This center opening originally had five steps leading to a portico with Doric-style columns.


12 West 56th Street, Design, Facade
The other stories on 56th Street are clad with brick. The second story has three French windows with their own iron balconies, as well as carved stone lunettes. A horizontal string course runs under the second-story lunettes and connects them. The third and fourth stories have double hung windows with splayed stone lintels, as well as a string course just below the fourth floor. The center window at the third story formerly had an iron balcony but was subsequently equipped with a flagpole and Argentine flag. Above the fourth floor is a cornice with modillions, as well as a peaked roof above it.


12 West 56th Street, Design, Facade
White had designed the building with a setback wing facing 10 West 56th Street, which had been developed nearly simultaneously. The decorative detail from the main facade was copied to the side facade, which faced a courtyard between 10 and 12 West 56th Street. On the east side of 12 West 56th Street is the two-story wing, designed for the Calumet Club. The portion of the annex facing the street contains the building's main entrance, a single-story aedicule with a metal gate inside an archway. The entrance is made of limestone and flanked by Corinthian-style fluted pilasters. The second story of the wing is slightly set back from the entrance portico.


12 West 56th Street, History
The house was commissioned for Harry Bowly Hollins, a financier, banker, and railroad magnate who founded the firm H.B. Hollins & Co in 1878. His partner at the firm was Frederick Edey, a stockbroker who initially worked for Charles C. Edey & Sons before becoming a partner at H.B. Hollins & Co. from 1886 to 1892. Hollins and Edey commuted from Long Island to Midtown together, and their firm worked with J.P. Morgan & Co.. Harry B. Hollins was married to Evelina Meserole Knapp Hollins, and the couple had five children: McKim, John K., Gerald V., Harry B. Jr., and Marion.


12 West 56th Street, History, Residence
In February 1899, Hollins bought a 75-by-100-foot (23 by 30 m) lot at 10-14 West 56th Street, on its southern sidewalk about 250 feet (76 m) west of Fifth Avenue. Hollins sold the easternmost 25 feet (7.6 m) of the lot later the same month. On the remainder of the site, he planned to build a 38-foot-wide (12 m) residence, with a gap between his house and the lot he had just sold. Edey was recorded as the buyer of the 25-foot-wide lot at 10 West 56th Street.


12 West 56th Street, History, Residence
These were the only two vacant lots on the block at the time. Hollins and Edey agreed to construct their houses jointly and build their respective houses to the lot line. Hollins hired McKim, Mead & White to design his house, but an 1881 covenant prevented Edey from building a structure out to the lot line until 1901. As a result, Hollins was able to start work on his house right away. Edey had to wait two years and ultimately hired Warren and Wetmore instead.


12 West 56th Street, History, Residence
The Hollins family moved into the house when it was completed in 1901. The Hollins property extended south to 55th Street, abutting the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. The 55th Street portion of the property included a collection of horse stables at 13-17 West 55th Street, which had been used by newspaper publisher Robert Bonner. The Hollins family officially lived in Islip, Long Island, at least according to a 1905 census conducted by the New York state government. The Islip house, Meadow Farm, was the Hollins family's country residence, while the 12 West 56th Street house was their city residence.


12 West 56th Street, History, Residence
Leland Roth writes that McKim, Mead & White made renovations to the house in 1903. However, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was unable to find records of any alterations made in 1903. Edey's house was completed around the same time. Over the next decade, the Edey and Hollins families did not host any events together, and neither The Brooklyn Daily Eagle nor The New York Times made any mention of the two houses as a pair.


12 West 56th Street, History, Residence
The 55th Street horse stables were sold in October 1913 to a developer who planned to raze the stables for apartments. The same month, Harry B. Hollins leased the house to Vincent Astor and his mother Mrs. John Astor as a winter residence at a total rental of $25,000. The Hollins family fled to the Gotham Hotel (now the Peninsula) around that time. In their departure, the Hollins family had left the house fully furnished. Shortly afterward came the failure of H.B. Hollins and Company, which had $5 million in debt when it was forced into bankruptcy on November 13. Ultimately, the Hollins family moved to Bay Shore on Long Island. The Astors' lease in the former Hollins house expired at the end of May 1914. By then, the surrounding neighborhood was rapidly becoming a commercial zone, and many neighboring townhouses were converted to commercial use.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
In early 1914, the Calumet Club of Fifth Avenue and 29th Street voted to move further north. The club purchased an option for the Hollins house at the end of May. The next week, the club's leadership decided upon the Hollins residence as their new headquarters. The club officially took title to the building in July, with plans to remodel the house and open it by that September. The next month, the club's directors received permission to extend the duration of a $170,000 mortgage and take out another mortgage of $75,000 for the house.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
Records show that McKim, Mead & White was hired to redesign the house. The club moved into the house later the same year. At that time, it was one of several clubs clustered around Fifth Avenue in Midtown; others included the Knickerbocker Club and Colony Club. In 1924, J.E.R. Carpenter was hired to remodel the Calumet Club again and to add an entrance portico on the eastern side of the original house.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
By the late 1920s, many of the old clubs around Fifth Avenue in midtown were moving elsewhere. The Calumet Club closed in May 1935 due to a lack of money. As part of a foreclosure proceeding against the club, the Hollins house was placed for auction. From that September, the house was occupied by antiques dealer Charles J. Duveen for his firm Charles of London. The next month, Chase National Bank acquired the building at auction for $184,000.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
The antiques store operated for two and a half years, and Duveen announced in May 1938 that he would retire and close his store. In July 1939, the International Silk Guild bought 12 West 56th Street and remodeled it for its new headquarters. At the time, the sale price was indicated at $140,000.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
The building was sold in January 1943 to The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army paid $50,000 for the property. The house was to be opened 24 hours a day as a Red Shield Service Club, a lodge and retreat for members of the military. The Salvation Army retreat opened in June 1943. It had a lounge, game room, writing room, dining canteen, kitchen, library, and eighteen bedrooms with sixty beds. The Salvation Army operated the retreat until the end of World War II and, in that time, served 175,000 members of the military.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
The canteen had an average attendance of 1,600 in 1944. The Salvation Army sold the building in October 1946 to Nettie Rosenstein Accessories Corporation, which planned to move to the building in January 1947. Nettie Rosenstein Associates changed its plans to move to the house, selling it to the government of Argentina in May 1947. The Argentine government planned to renovate the house extensively and house the Argentine Navy's naval commission there.


12 West 56th Street, History, Subsequent use
The Argentine Navy offices opened in July 1947. The Argentine consulate to the United States in New York City opened in the building afterward. The consulate also held events such as auctions; when Argentine president Juan Perón was ousted in 1955, the New York consulate sold the large jewelry and valuable collections that Perón and his wife Eva had owned. In 1982, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held public hearings to consider 12 West 56th Street and several other structures for city landmark status. The LPC voted on the nomination in June 1984, and, on June 19 of that year, designated 12 West 56th Street as a city landmark. As of 2021, the house still serves as the Argentine consulate to the United States in New York City.


12 Who Don't Agree
12 Who Don't Agree (Russian: 12 несогласных) is a 2009 non-fiction book by the Russian writer Valery Panyushkin. The book is based on the life of Russian opposition activists.


12 Who Don't Agree
12 Who Don't Agree was published in 2009 in Zakharov Books (Russia). This book was also published in English translation in 2011 in Europa Editions.


12 Winter
12 Winter (German: Zwölf Winter) is a 2009 German television film directed by Thomas Stiller which stars Jürgen Vogel and Axel Prahl. The film was produced by Martin Zimmermann and Bettina Brokemper while the screenplay was written Holger Karsten Schmidt. The film is based on the true story of two bank robbers who robbed a series of small banks throughout Germany. The two were pursued by police for more than 12 years before they were captured in August 2002.


12 X 5
12 × 5 is the 2nd American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released in 1964 following the success of their American debut The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers), which was released concurrently with their UK debut The Rolling Stones. 12 × 5 is an expanded version of the EP Five by Five, which had followed their debut album in the UK.


12 X 5
The five songs on the British EP were fleshed out with seven additional tracks to bring the work to LP length. Among the additional tracks were the UK single-only release "It's All Over Now", a cover of a Bobby Womack song that was the group's first UK number one hit, an alternative version of "Time Is on My Side", which appears in a more familiar form on other albums, and three Jagger/Richards originals.


12 X 5, Composition
The album, like its predecessor, largely features R&B covers. However, it also contains three compositions by the developing Mick Jagger/Keith Richards songwriting team, as well as two group compositions under the pseudonym "Nanker Phelge". 12 × 5 is notable for featuring the first, and less often heard, of the Stones' two versions of Jerry Ragovoy's "Time Is on My Side", with a prominent electronic organ instead of the better-known version's electric guitar.


12 X 5, Composition
"I loved everything about this album as a kid," recalled Joe Satriani. "It was those second-generation electric blues players that I loved, but I had no idea where they got that music from. It took my teenage years to discover that."


12 X 5, Composition
After sessions in Chicago in June 1964, the Stones' UK label Decca Records released the five-song EP Five by Five. Because EPs were never a lucrative format in the US, London Records – their American distributor at the time – spread its songs across an album, adding seven new recordings to create a release of 12 songs by five musicians, hence the album's title. The rest of the songs were singles "It's All Over Now" and "Time Is on My Side" with their B-sides, plus three that were later included on The Rolling Stones No. 2 . Decca would use the same cover (minus the lettering) for the band's second UK album, The Rolling Stones No. 2, in early 1965.


12 X 5, Critical reception
The album was included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981).


12 X 5, Remastered version
In August 2002, 12 × 5 was reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. This edition includes stereo versions of "Around and Around", "Confessin' the Blues", "Empty Heart", "It's All Over Now", an extended version of "2120 South Michigan Avenue", and "If You Need Me".


12 X 5, Chart positions
12 × 5 proved to be a faster seller than England's Newest Hit Makers, reaching No. 3 and going gold quickly.


12 Yard
12 Yard Productions is a British television production company. It was founded in 2001 as a joint-venture between David Young and the creative team behind the worldwide hit Weakest Link and Hat Trick Productions.


12 Yard
12 Yard has gone on to become one of the world's most successful entertainment format creators, producing hit formats including the BBC's long-running early evening quiz Eggheads, Saturday night BBC1 lottery formats The National Lottery: In it to Win it and Who Dares Wins!, primetime feel-good format Holding out for a Hero, Take on the Twisters and Big Star's Little Star for ITV, and Coach Trip, Celebrity Coach Trip  and Christmas Coach Trip for Channel 4.


12 Yard
On 5 December 2007, it was confirmed that ITV plc had acquired 12 Yard for £35 million.


12 Years Promise
12 Years Promise (Korean: 달래 된, 장국: 12년만의 재회; RR: Dallae Doen, Jangguk: 12nyeonmanui Jaehoe; lit. Wild Chives and Soy Bean Soup: 12 Years Reunion) is a 2014 South Korean television series starring Lee So-yeon, Namkoong Min, Lee Tae-im, Yoon So-hee, Lee Won-keun and Ryu Hyoyoung. It aired on JTBC from March 22 to June 29, 2014, on Saturdays and Sundays at 20:45 (KST) for 26 episodes.


12 Years Promise
The native title is a pun, and can also mean Jang Guk Becomes Dal-rae: Reunion in 12 Years. The female protagonist's name, Jang Guk, means "clear soup with doenjang", and she later changes it to Dal-rae, meaning "azalea".


12 Years Promise, Synopsis
In 2002, on the night of Korea's momentous World Cup win, high school sweethearts Jang Guk (Lee So-yeon) and Yu Jun-su (Namkoong Min) sleep together and Jang Guk ends up pregnant. They are given permission to marry by Jun-su's father, but after a horrible accident, Jang Guk loses the baby. Their mothers who were against the relationship from the beginning, take advantage of the situation and split them up. Jang Guk then leaves Korea to live in the U.S. and changes her name to Jang Dal-rae. Twelve years later, they reunite and get entangled in each other's lives again. The only problem is that Yu Jun-su doesn't know it's her and Jang Guk doesn't want him to know.


12 Years a Slave (film)
12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical period-drama film directed by Steve McQueen and an adaptation of the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free African-American man who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery. Northup was put to work on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before being released. The first scholarly edition of Northup's memoir, co-edited in 1968 by Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon, carefully retraced and validated the account and concluded it to be accurate. Other characters in the film were also real people, including Edwin and Mary Epps, and Patsey.


12 Years a Slave (film)
The film was directed by Steve McQueen, and the screenplay was written by John Ridley. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup. Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, and Alfre Woodard feature in supporting roles. Principal photography took place in New Orleans, Louisiana, from June 27 to August 13, 2012. The locations used were four historic antebellum plantations: Felicity, Bocage, Destrehan, and Magnolia. Of the four, Magnolia is nearest to the actual plantation where Northup was held.


12 Years a Slave (film)
12 Years a Slave received widespread critical acclaim and was named the best film of 2013 by several media outlets and critics, and it earned over $187 million on a production budget of $22 million. The film received nine Academy Award nominations, winning three: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Nyong'o. The Best Picture win made McQueen the first black British producer to ever receive the award and the first black British director of a Best Picture winner.


12 Years a Slave (film)
The film was awarded the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts recognized it with the Best Film and the Best Actor award for Ejiofor. 12 Years a Slave was later named the 44th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Solomon Northup is a free African-American man in 1841, working as a violinist and living with his wife and two children in Saratoga Springs, New York. Two white men, Brown and Hamilton, offer him short-term employment as a musician if he would travel with them to Washington, D.C.; however, once they have arrived, they drug Northup and deliver him to a slave pen run by a man named Burch. Northup proclaims that he is a free man, only to be savagely beaten with a wooden paddle and then a leather strap.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Northup is shipped to New Orleans along with other captive African-Americans. He is told by the others that if he wants to survive in the South, he must adapt to being a slave and not tell anyone he is a free man. A slave trader named Theophilus Freeman gives Northup the identity of "Platt", a runaway slave from Georgia, and sells him to plantation owner William Ford. Ford takes a liking to Northup and gives him a violin. A growing tension between Northup and plantation carpenter John Tibeats finally breaks as Tibeats tries to beat Northup.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Northup snaps and beats Tibeats with his hands before beating him with his own whip. Tibeats and his group try to lynch Northup, but they are stopped by the plantation overseer. Northup is left on tiptoes with the noose around his neck for hours before Ford arrives and cuts Northup down. To save Northup's life, Ford sells him to another slave owner named Edwin Epps. In the process, Northup attempts to explain that he is actually a free man, but Ford tells him he is too afraid and owes a debt for Northup's purchase, so he will not help him.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Epps, unlike Ford, is ruthless and sadistic. Northup meets Patsey, a favored slave who can pick over 500 pounds of cotton a day, twice the usual quota. Epps regularly rapes Patsey while his wife abuses and humiliates her out of jealousy. Some time later, cotton worms destroy Epps's crops. Unable to work his fields, Epps leases his slaves to a neighboring plantation for the season. While there, Northup gains the favor of the plantation's owner, Judge Turner, who allows him to play the fiddle at a neighbor's wedding anniversary celebration and to keep his earnings.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
When Northup returns to Epps, he uses the money to pay a white field hand and former overseer, Armsby, to mail a letter to his friends in New York. Armsby agrees and accepts Northup's saved money, but immediately betrays him to Epps. In the middle of the night, a drunken Epps wakes Northup and questions him menacingly about the letter while holding a knife to Northup's stomach. Northup is narrowly able to convince Epps that Armsby is lying and Epps relents. Afterwards, Northup mournfully burns the letter to prevent Epps from finding it.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Some time later, Patsey is caught by Epps going to a neighboring plantation in order to acquire soap, as Mrs. Epps will not let her have any. In retaliation, Epps orders Northup to whip Patsey. Rather than risk harm to himself, Northup accepts the whip from Epps and strikes Patsey over a dozen times, drawing blood, tears, and shrieks. Epps then takes the whip back from Northup, and whips Patsey brutally, to the point of near death. After the incident, Northup destroys his violin in a rage.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Northup begins working on the construction of a gazebo with a Canadian laborer named Samuel Bass. Disturbed by Epps' open cruelty towards his slaves, Bass, citing his Christian faith, expresses his opposition to slavery and castigates Epps, earning Epps' enmity. Northup overhears the conversation and decides to reveal his kidnapping to Bass. Once again, Northup asks for help in getting a letter to New York. Although Bass is hesitant at first because of the risks, he agrees to send it. One day, the local sheriff arrives in a carriage with two men.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
The sheriff asks Northup a series of questions to confirm that his answers match the facts of his life in New York. Northup recognizes the sheriff's companion as Mr. Parker, a shopkeeper he knew in Saratoga Springs. Parker has come to free him, and the two embrace, though an enraged Epps furiously protests the circumstances and tries to prevent Northup from leaving only to be rebuffed and left wailing in rage over his defeat. Northup gives an emotional farewell to Patsey and rides off to his freedom.


12 Years a Slave (film), Plot
Northup is returned to his home and family, crying as he walks up the steps. As he walks in, he sees his wife with their fully grown son, daughter, and his daughter’s husband. His daughter and son in law present him with his grandson and namesake, Solomon Northup Staunton. Northup tearfully apologizes for his long absence while his family comforts him. The film's epilogue titles recount: Northup's unsuccessful suits against Brown, Hamilton, and Burch; the 1853 publication of Northup's slave narrative memoir, Twelve Years a Slave; describes his role in the abolitionist movement; and the absence of any information surrounding the details of his death and burial.


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
African-American history and culture scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. was a consultant on the film. Researcher David Fiske, is a co-author of Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave. Fiske provided some material used to market the film.


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
Emily West, an associate professor of history at the University of Reading who specializes in the history of slavery in the U.S., said she had "never seen a film represent slavery so accurately". Reviewing the film for History Extra, the website of BBC History Magazine, she said: "The film starkly and powerfully unveiled the sights and sounds of enslavement – from slaves picking cotton as they sang in the fields, to the crack of the lash down people's backs. We also heard a lot about the ideology behind enslavement. Masters such as William Ford and Edwin Epps, although very different characters, both used an interpretation of Christianity to justify their ownership of slaves. They believed the Bible sanctioned slavery, and that it was their 'Christian duty' to preach the scriptures to their slaves."


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
Scott Feinberg wrote in The Hollywood Reporter about a September 22 article in The New York Times that "dredged up and highlighted a 1985 essay by another scholar, James Olney, that questioned the 'literal truth' of specific incidents in Northup's account and suggested that David Wilson, the white amanuensis to whom Northup had dictated his story, had taken the liberty of sprucing it up to make it even more effective at rallying public opinion against slavery." Olney had observed that "slave autobiographies, when read one next to another, display an "overwhelming sameness."


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
That is, though the autobiography by definition suggests a unique and personal story, that slave narratives present a genre of autobiographies that tell essentially the same story. When read in conjunction, as in this anthology, there is a distinct repetitiveness. While this repetitiveness disallows the creativity and shaping of one's personal story, as Olney argues, it was equally important for slave narratives to follow a form that corroborated with the stories of others to create a collective picture of slavery as it then existed. In fact, the "same" form presented in all of these unique and individual stories created a powerful and resounding message of the consistent evils of slavery and the necessity of its demise."


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
A journal article published by The Johns Hopkins University Press and written by Sam Worley states that "Northup’s narrative, though well known, has often been treated as a narrative of the second rank, albeit one with an unusually exciting and involving story as well as, thanks to the research of its modern editors, Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon, one with considerable historical value."


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
Noah Berlatsky wrote in The Atlantic about a scene in McQueen's adaptation. Shortly after Northup's kidnapping, he is sent on a slave ship. One of the sailors attempts to rape a female slave, but is stopped by a male slave. "The sailor unhesitatingly stabs and kills [the male slave]," he wrote, stating that "this seems unlikely on its face – slaves are valuable, and the sailor is not the owner. And, sure enough, the scene is not in the book." Berlatsky also states, "the sequence is an effort to present nuance and psychological depth – to make the film's depiction of slavery seem more real. But it creates that psychological truth by interpolating an incident that isn't factually true."


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
The visual blog Information is Beautiful deduced that, while taking creative license into account, the film was 88.1% accurate when compared to real-life events, summarizing: "While there are a touch of dramatic license here and there, the most gut-wrenching scenes really happened".


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
Forrest Wickman of Slate wrote of Northup's book giving a more favorable account of the author's onetime master, William Ford, than the McQueen film. In Northup's own words, "There never was a more kind, noble, candid, Christian man than William Ford," adding that Ford's circumstances "blinded [Ford] to the inherent wrong at the bottom of the system of Slavery." The movie, however, according to Wickham, "frequently undermines Ford."


12 Years a Slave (film), Historical accuracy
McQueen undercuts Christianity itself as well, in an effort to update the ethical lessons from Northup's story for the 21st century, by holding the institutions of Christianity up to the light for their ability to justify slavery at the time. Northup was a Christian of his time, writing of his former master being "blinded" by "circumstances" that in retrospect meant a racist acceptance of slavery despite being a Christian, a position untenable to Christians now and to Christian abolitionists of the 19th century but not contradictory to Northup himself. Valerie Elverton Dixon in The Washington Post characterized the Christianity depicted in the movie as "broken".


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Development
After meeting screenwriter John Ridley at a Creative Artists Agency screening of Hunger in 2008, director Steve McQueen got in touch with Ridley about his interest in making a film about "the slave era in America" with "a character that was not obvious in terms of their trade in slavery." Developing the idea back and forth, the two did not strike a chord until McQueen's partner, Bianca Stigter, found Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir Twelve Years a Slave. McQueen later told an interviewer:


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Development
I read this book, and I was totally stunned. At the same time, I was pretty upset with myself that I didn't know this book. I live in Amsterdam where Anne Frank is a national hero, and for me, this book read like Anne Frank's diary but written 97 years before – a firsthand account of slavery. I basically made it my passion to make this book into a film.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Development
After a lengthy development process, during which Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment backed the project, which eventually helped get financing from various other film studios. The film was officially announced in August 2011 with McQueen to direct and Chiwetel Ejiofor to star as Solomon Northup, a free African-American who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in the Deep South. McQueen compared Ejiofor's conduct "of class and dignity" to that of Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte. In October 2011, Michael Fassbender (who starred in McQueen's previous films Hunger and Shame) joined the cast. In early 2012, the rest of the roles were cast, and filming was scheduled to begin at the end of June 2012.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Development
To capture the language and dialects of the era and regions in which the film takes place, dialect coach Michael Buster assisted the cast in altering their speech. The language has a literary quality related to the style of writing of the day and the strong influence of the King James Bible. Buster explained:


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Development
We don't know what slaves sounded like in the 1840s, so I just used rural samples from Mississippi and Louisiana [for actors Ejiofor and Fassbender]. Then for Benedict [Cumberbatch], I found some real upper-class New Orleanians from the '30s. And then I also worked with Lupita Nyong'o, who is Kenyan but she did her training at Yale. So she really shifted her speech so she could do American speech.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Development
After both won Oscars at the 86th Academy Awards, it was reported that McQueen and Ridley had been in an ongoing feud over screenplay credit. McQueen reportedly had asked Ridley for shared credit, which he declined. McQueen appealed to Fox Searchlight, which sided with Ridley. Neither thanked the other during their respective acceptance speeches at the event. Since the event, Ridley has noted his regret for not mentioning McQueen and denied the feud. He spoke favorably of working with McQueen, and explained that his sole screenplay credit was due to the rules of the Writers Guild of America. McQueen has not commented on the alleged feud.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Filming
With a production budget of $22 million, principal photography began in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 27, 2012. After seven weeks, filming concluded on August 13, 2012. As a way to keep down production costs, a bulk of the filming took place around the greater New Orleans area – mostly south of the Red River country in the north of the state, where the historic Northup was enslaved. Among locations used were four historic antebellum plantations: Felicity, Bocage, Destrehan, and Magnolia.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Filming
Magnolia, a plantation in Schriever, Louisiana, is just a few miles from one of the historic sites where Northup was held. "To know that we were right there in the place where these things occurred was so powerful and emotional," said actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. "That feeling of dancing with ghosts – it's palpable." Filming also took place at the Columns Hotel and Madame John's Legacy in the French Quarter of New Orleans for the scenes set in Washington D.C.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Filming
Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, the film's primary camera operator, shot 12 Years a Slave on 35 mm film with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio using both an Arricam LT and ST. "Particularly for a period piece, film gives the audience a definite sense of period and quality," said Bobbitt. "And because of the story's epic nature, widescreen clearly made the most sense. Widescreen means a big film, an epic tale – in this case an epic tale of human endurance."


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Filming
The filmmakers avoided the desaturated visual style that is typical of a more gritty documentary aesthetic. Deliberately drawing visual comparisons in the filming to the works of Spanish painter Francisco Goya, McQueen explained:


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Filming
When you think about Goya, who painted the most horrendous pictures of violence and torture and so forth, and they're amazing, exquisite paintings, one of the reasons they're such wonderful paintings is because what he's saying is, 'Look – look at this.' So if you paint it badly or put it in the sort of wrong perspective, you draw more attention to what's wrong with the image rather than looking at the image.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Design
To accurately depict the time period of the film, the filmmakers conducted extensive research that included studying artwork from the era. With eight weeks to create the wardrobe, costume designer Patricia Norris collaborated with Western Costume to compile costumes that would illustrate the passage of time while also being historically accurate. Using an earth tone color palette, Norris created nearly 1,000 costumes for the film.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Design
"She [Norris] took earth samples from all three of the plantations to match the clothes," McQueen said, "and she had the conversation with Sean [Bobbitt] to deal with the character temperature on each plantation, there was a lot of that minute detail." The filmmakers also used some pieces of clothing discovered on set that were worn by slaves.


12 Years a Slave (film), Production, Music
The musical score to 12 Years a Slave was composed by Hans Zimmer, with original on-screen violin music written and arranged by Nicholas Britell and performed by Tim Fain. The film also features a few pieces of western classical and American folk music such as Franz Schubert's "Trio in B-flat, D471" and John and Alan Lomax's arrangement of "Run, Nigger, Run". A soundtrack album, Music from and Inspired by 12 Years a Slave, was released digitally on November 5 and received a physical format release on November 11, 2013, by Columbia Records. In addition to Zimmer's score, the album features music inspired by the film by artists such as John Legend, Laura Mvula, Alicia Keys, Chris Cornell, and Alabama Shakes. Legend's cover of "Roll, Jordan, Roll" debuted online three weeks prior to the soundtrack's release.


12 Years a Slave (film), Release, Initial screenings
12 Years a Slave premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2013; it was later screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, the New York Film Festival on October 8, the New Orleans Film Festival on October 10, and the Philadelphia Film Festival on October 19. On November 15, 2011, Summit Entertainment announced it had secured a deal to distribute 12 Years a Slave to international markets. In April 2012, a few weeks before principal photography, New Regency Productions agreed to co-finance the film.


12 Years a Slave (film), Release, Initial screenings
Because of a distribution pact between 20th Century Fox and New Regency, Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the film's United States distribution rights. However, instead of paying for the distribution rights, Fox Searchlight made a deal in which it would share box-office proceeds with the financiers of the independently financed film. 12 Years a Slave was commercially released on October 18, 2013 in the United States for a limited release of 19 theaters, with a wide release in subsequent weeks. The film was initially scheduled to be released in late December 2013, but "some exuberant test screenings" led to the decision to move up the release date. The film was distributed by Entertainment One in the United Kingdom.


12 Years a Slave (film), Release, Marketing
Due to both the film's explicit nature and award contender status, 12 Years a Slave's financial success was being watched closely. Many analysts compared the film's content to other drama films of a similar vein such as Schindler's List (1993) and The Passion of the Christ (2004), which became box office successes despite their respective subject matters. "It may be a tough subject matter, but when handled well ... films that are tough to sit through can still be commercially successful," said Phil Contrino of Boxoffice Magazine.


12 Years a Slave (film), Release, Marketing
Despite its content, the film's critical success has assisted its domestic distribution by Fox Searchlight that began with a limited release aimed primarily towards art house and African-American patrons. The film's release was gradually widened in subsequent weeks, similarly to how the studio had successfully done in years prior with films such as Black Swan and The Descendants. International release dates for 12 Years a Slave were largely delayed to early 2014 in order to take advantage of the attention created by awards seasons.


12 Years a Slave (film), Release, Marketing
During its marketing campaign, 12 Years a Slave received unpaid endorsements by celebrities such as Kanye West and P. Diddy. In a video posted by Revolt, Combs urged viewers to see 12 Years a Slave by stating: "This movie is very painful but very honest, and is a part of the healing process. I beg all of you to take your kids, everybody to see it. ... You have to see this so you can understand, so you can just start to understand."


12 Years a Slave (film), Release, Home media
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the Region 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the United States on March 4, 2014. Special features for the DVD include; a Closed Caption option, The Team – Meet the Creative Minds Assembled by Director Steve McQueen and Bring Solomon Northup's Journey to Life bonus selection, and The Score – Follow Film Composer Hans Zimmer Creating His Dramatic Score feature. In supplemental fashion, a widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray Disc version of the film was also released on the same day. Special features include; a historical portrait from Director Steve McQueen's documentary feature, cast and crew interviews, The Team special feature, and The Score selection. An additional viewing option for the film in the media format of Video on demand has been made available as well.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Box office
12 Years a Slave earned $187.7 million, including $56.7 million in the United States. During its opening limited release in the United States, 12 Years a Slave debuted with a weekend total of $923,715 on 19 screens for a $48,617 per-screen average. The following weekend, the film entered the top ten after expanding to 123 theatres and grossing an additional $2.1 million. It continued to improve into its third weekend, grossing $4.6 million at 410 locations. The film release was expanded to over 1,100 locations on November 8, 2013. In 2014, 12 Years a Slave was the 10th most-illegally downloaded movie, with 23.653 million such downloads, according to Variety.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 95% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 373 reviews, with an average score of 8.90/10. The site's consensus states, "It's far from comfortable viewing, but 12 Years a Slave's unflinchingly brutal look at American slavery is also brilliant – and quite possibly essential – cinema." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 96 out of 100 based on 57 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "universal acclaim". It is currently one of the site's highest-rated films, as well as the best-reviewed film of 2013. CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an "A" grade.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Richard Corliss of TIME wrote: "McQueen's film is closer in its storytelling particulars to such 1970s exploitation-exposés of slavery as Mandingo and Goodbye, Uncle Tom. Except that McQueen is not a schlockmeister sensationalist but a remorseless artist". Corliss draws parallels with Nazi Germany, saying, "McQueen shows that racism, aside from its barbarous inhumanity, is insanely inefficient. It can be argued that Nazi Germany lost the war both because it diverted so much manpower to the killing of Jews and because it did not exploit the brilliance of Jewish scientists in building smarter weapons.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
So the slave owners dilute the energy of their slaves by whipping them for sadistic sport and, as Epps does, waking them at night to dance for his wife's cruel pleasure." Gregory Ellwood of HitFix gave the film an "A-" rating, stating, "12 Years is a powerful drama driven by McQueen's bold direction and the finest performance of Chiwetel Ejiofor's career." He continued by praising the performances of Fassbender and Nyong'o, citing Nyong'o as "the film's breakthrough performance [that] may find Nyong'o making her way to the Dolby Theater next March".


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
He also admired the film's "gorgeous" cinematography and the musical score, as "one of Hans Zimmer's more moving scores in some time". Paul MacInnes of The Guardian scored the film five out of five stars, writing, "Stark, visceral and unrelenting, 12 Years a Slave is not just a great film but a necessary one." The Guardian's Andrew Pulver said, in 2017, that 12 Years a Slave is "one of the most important films about the African-American experience ever".


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised it as "a new movie landmark of cruelty and transcendence" and as "a movie about a life that gets taken away, and that's why it lets us touch what life is". He also commented very positively about Ejiofor's performance, while further stating, "12 Years a Slave lets us stare at the primal sin of America with open eyes, and at moments it is hard to watch, yet it's a movie of such humanity and grace that at every moment, you feel you're seeing something essential.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
It is Chiwetel Ejiofor's extraordinary performance that holds the movie together, and that allows us to watch it without blinking. He plays Solomon with a powerful inner strength, yet he never soft-pedals the silent nightmare that is Solomon's daily existence." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, gave the film a four-star rating and said: "you won't be able to tuck this powder keg in the corner of your mind and forget it. What we have here is a blistering, brilliant, straight-up classic." He later named the film the best movie of 2013.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Manohla Dargis wrote, in her review for The New York Times, "the genius of 12 Years a Slave is its insistence on banal evil, and on terror, that seeped into souls, bound bodies and reaped an enduring, terrible price". The Daily Telegraph's Tim Robey granted the film a maximum score of five stars, stating that "it's the nobility of this remarkable film that pierces the soul", while praising Ejiofor and Nyong'o's performances.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Tina Hassannia of Slant Magazine said that "using his signature visual composition and deafening sound design, Steve McQueen portrays the harrowing realism of Northup's experience and the complicated relationships between master and slave, master and master, slave and slave, and so on". David Simon, the creator of the TV series The Wire, highly praised the movie, commenting that "it marks the first time in history that our entertainment industry, albeit with international creative input, has managed to stare directly at slavery and maintain that gaze".


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
The film, however, was not without its criticisms. Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice was more critical of the film. While praising Ejiofor's work, she stated: "It's a picture that stays more than a few safe steps away from anything so dangerous as raw feeling. Even when it depicts inhuman cruelty, as it often does, it never compromises its aesthetic purity." Peter Malamud Smith of Slate criticized the story, saying, "12 Years a Slave is constructed as a story of a man trying to return to his family, offering every viewer a way into empathizing with its protagonist.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Maybe we need a story framed on that individual scale in order to understand it. But it has a distorting effect all the same. We're more invested in one hero than in millions of victims; if we're forced to imagine ourselves enslaved, we want to imagine ourselves as Northup, a special person who miraculously escaped the system that attempted to crush him." Describing this as "the hero problem", Malamud Smith concluded his review explaining, "We can handle 12 Years a Slave. But don't expect 60 Years a Slave any time soon. And 200 Years, Millions of Slaves? Forget about it."


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club opined that McQueen is "essentially tone-deaf when it comes to performance, and skirts by on casting". The film "lacks a necessary emotional continuity. I don't think it's something the movie is denying in the way it intentionally denies so many other conventions; it's still structured around an ending that's supposed to function as a release, but because it can't organize that sense of catharsis it so badly needs, it just feels as though McQueen is scurrying for an exit. Also: The cast is wildly uneven."


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
Some critics identified 12 Years a Slave as an example of the white savior narrative in film. Timothy Sneed said in U.S. News & World Report the year after the film was released, "Doubts still lingered about its ability to truly bring about a newfound racial consciousness among a national, mainstream audience ... The film also was a period piece that featured a happy ending ushered in by a 'white savior' in the form of Brad Pitt's character."


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Critical response
At The Guardian, black Canadian author Orville Lloyd Douglas said he would not be seeing 12 Years a Slave, explaining: "I'm convinced these black race films are created for a white, liberal film audience to engender white guilt and make them feel bad about themselves. Regardless of your race, these films are unlikely to teach you anything you don't already know." A Black writer Michael Arceneaux wrote a rebuttal essay "We Don't Need To Get Over Slavery... Or Movies About Slavery". Arceneaux criticized Douglas for being ignorant and having an apathetic attitude towards black Americans and slavery.


12 Years a Slave (film), Reception, Accolades
12 Years a Slave has received numerous awards and nominations. It earned three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress. It won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. The film also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, while Ejiofor received the Best Actor award. In addition, the motion picture has been named as one of the best films of 2013 by various ongoing critics, appearing on 100 critics' top-ten lists in which 25 had the film in their number-one spot. This is both the most of any film released in its production year.


12 Years a Slave (score)
12 Years a Slave is the original soundtrack album to the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, and Lupita Nyong'o. The record contains twenty-one tracks from the original film score written and composed by Hans Zimmer. Despite its limited release, critical acclaim has been given to the score from the film industry. The score was nominated for the 2013 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, and won the 2013 Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association award for Best Score.


12 Years a Slave (score), Composition
Having been interested in each other's work for some time, director Steve McQueen approached composer Hans Zimmer to write the score to 12 Years a Slave after filming had completed, explaining, "We had a mysterious conversation a couple of years back where [McQueen] told me he was working on something and asked me if I was even remotely interested in working with him," says Zimmer. Zimmer, however, expressed reluctance to accept the offer feeling he wasn't the right person for the job. Zimmer explained, "I felt I wasn't the guy, in a way. It was such an important, heavy, incredible subject. [ ...] It took a bit of persuading from [McQueen] to give me the confidence to do it". On April 30, 2013, it was officially announced that Zimmer was scoring the film.


12 Years a Slave (score), Development
Director Steve McQueen liked the mood of Zimmer's music from The Thin Red Line, which itself became a starting point for discussion and development regarding the mood for 12 Years a Slave. McQueen explained, "He was my refuge when I was in L.A. The first two meetings were about five hours each. Then I think we had three two-hour conversations on the phone. And not a musical note was played. After that, [Zimmer] said, 'I think I've got something.' Somehow, through the talking, he captured the atmosphere of the film."


12 Years a Slave (score), Development
Much of the movie is scored with the same four-note theme, which Zimmer adapted according to the scene's mood and emotion. For the score of 12 Years a Slave, Zimmer conceded, "It's basically a cello and violin score. I wanted to be the secret little bridge that would take the story from the past and move it into the present."


12 Years a Slave (score), Development
Cellist Tristan Schulze and violinist Ann Marie Calhoun performed on the score in addition to more strings and occasional percussion involved throughout the process. "It was not just getting inside the characters," Zimmer said, "it was getting outside the characters and finding a bridge to the audience." Much of the 38-minute score "creates a stillness, or a tension through the stillness, using very minimal means," he added, although the riverboat ride offers a briefly avant-garde musical contrast, including woodwinds and an unusual use of piano.


12 Years a Slave (score), Development
The original score was released by Fox Searchlight as part of the For Your Consideration campaign aimed towards members of awards voting groups such as that of the Academy Awards, and the Hollywood Foreign Press of the Golden Globes.


12 Years a Slave (score), Reception, Immediate reception
The score was widely admired and thought of as a contender for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards. Yet, the score failed to receive a nomination for the 86th Academy Awards. However, the film did receive a nomination for the 2013 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, as well as a win for the 2013 Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Best Score.


12 Years a Slave (score), Reception, Critical reception
Christopher Orr of The Atlantic praised the score most highly stating, "the score by Hans Zimmer represents his best work in years, an eerie, discomfiting soundscape that buzzes like angry locusts and drums like approaching thunder."


12 Years a Slave (score), Reception, Critical reception
Mark Kermode of The Observer highlights the significance of music in the piece writing, "More significant still is the role of music (composer Hans Zimmer earned one of the film's 10 Bafta nominations this week), with McQueen building upon the experiments of Shame to explore further the dramatic depths of song"  Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine praised the score and said "The film's immaculate score, by Hans Zimmer, and sound design, so thick with thunder, wind, the chirping of crickets, hammers beating nails into wood, whips tearing black bodies to shreds, work in tandem to strongly convey the bucolic, sinister atmosphere of the antebellum South."