Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress and model. Signed by an agent at the age of 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television, and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón Jamón (1992). Her subsequent roles in the 1990s and 2000s included Belle Époque (1992), Open Your Eyes (1997), The Hi-Lo Country (1999), The Girl of Your Dreams (2000), and Woman on Top (2000). Cruz is also known for her frequent collaborations with director Pedro Almodóvar in Live Flesh (1997), All About My Mother (1999), Volver (2006), Broken Embraces (2009), I'm So Excited! (2013), Julieta (2016), Pain and Glory (2019), and Parallel Mothers (2021), as well as with director Woody Allen in Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and To Rome with Love (2012). She is the recipient of various accolades, including a BAFTA Film Award and an Academy Award from three nominations.
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in The Matrix film series. Starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano, it depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, the Matrix, which intelligent machines have created to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. When computer programmer Thomas Anderson, under the hacker alias "Neo", uncovers the truth, he "is drawn into a rebellion against the machines" along with other people who have been freed from the Matrix.
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act, sharing concurrent jurisdiction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The DEA has sole responsibility for coordinating and pursuing U.S. drug investigations both domestically and abroad.
Second City Television, commonly shortened to SCTV and later known as SCTV Network and SCTV Channel, is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984. It was created as an offshoot from Toronto's Second City troupe. It is an example of a Canadian show that moved successfully to American TV, where it aired for three years on two different networks.
Enter the Matrix is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Infogrames, released under the Atari brand name. It was the first game based on The Matrix film series. Its story is concurrent with that of the film The Matrix Reloaded and features over an hour of original footage, written and directed by the Wachowskis and starring the cast of the films, produced for the game.
Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca Heineman, as well as investor Chris Wells. As a developer, Interplay is best known as the creator of the Fallout series and as a publisher for the Baldur's Gate and Descent series.
Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a humorous henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, and debuted in the 22nd episode of the series on September 11, 1992. While originally intended to appear in one episode, she became a recurring character within the DC Animated Universe as the Joker's sidekick and love interest, and was adapted into DC Comics' Batman comic book canon, beginning with the one-shot Batman: Harley Quinn #1. The character's alias is a play on the stock character Harlequin from the sixteenth-century theater commedia dell'arte.
The Scarecrow is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, he made his debut in World's Finest Comics #3. He is one of the most enduring enemies of the hero Batman and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up the Dark Knight's rogues gallery.
Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman in supporting roles. The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of Bruce Wayne from the death of his parents to his journey to become Batman and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul and the Scarecrow from plunging Gotham City into chaos.
Professor Hugo Strange is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character is one of Batman's first recurring villains and is also one of the first Batman villains to discover the hero's secret identity. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #36.
The Venture Bros. is an American adult animated action comedy series created by Christopher McCulloch for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 16, 2003, the series premiered on August 7, 2004.
Renee Maria Montoya is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian for Batman: The Animated Series and was preemptively introduced into mainstream comics before the airing of her animated debut in 1992. The character has developed significantly.
Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" has been frequently referenced and parodied in contemporary culture. Immediately popular after the poem's publication in 1845, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Some consider it the best poem ever written. As such, modern references to the poem continue to appear in popular culture.
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second installment of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale and supported by Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Morgan Freeman. In the film, Bruce Wayne / Batman (Bale), Police Lieutenant James Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by an anarchistic mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger), who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and throw the city into anarchy.
The Joker is a fictional character who appears in Christopher Nolan's 2008 superhero film The Dark Knight, based upon the DC Comics character and supervillain of the same name. He was portrayed by Australian actor Heath Ledger. A psychopathic criminal mastermind and mass murderer with a warped, sadistic sense of humor, the Joker is hired by Gotham City's mob bosses to kill the vigilante Batman, and also comes into conflict with Batman's allies, Gotham police officer James Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent. The Joker embodies themes of chaos, anarchy and obsession: throughout the film, he expresses a desire to upset the social order in Gotham through crime, and defines himself by his conflict with Batman.
Bane was originally a comic book character and Batman's adversary, but has appeared in several other forms of media. He has been portrayed by Robert Swenson in Batman & Robin, Tom Hardy in The Dark Knight Rises, and Shane West in Gotham.
The Scarecrow was originally a comic book character and an adversary to Batman, but he has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including feature films, television series, and video games. He has been voiced by Henry Polic II and Jeffrey Combs in the DC animated universe, by Dino Andrade and John Noble in the Batman: Arkham video game series, and by Robert Englund in Injustice 2. He has also been portrayed in live-action by Cillian Murphy in The Dark Knight Trilogy, by Charlie Tahan and David W. Thompson in the FOX television series Gotham, and by Vincent Kartheiser in the DC Universe and HBO Max series Titans.
The fictional character Two-Face was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and first appeared in Detective Comics #66, but has since been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, such as feature films, television series and video games. Two-Face has been voiced by Richard Moll in the DC animated universe, Troy Baker in the Batman: Arkham series, Billy Dee Williams in The Lego Batman Movie, and William Shatner in Batman vs. Two-Face. His live-action portrayals include Billy Dee Williams in Batman, Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever, Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight, and Nicholas D'Agosto in the television series Gotham. In 2009, Two-Face was ranked #12 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.
