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John Irvin
John Irvin (born 7 May 1940) is an English film director. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, he began his career by directing a number of documentaries and television works, including the BBC Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (miniseries), adaptation of John le Carré's ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy''. He made several Hollywood films in the 1980s, including ''The Dogs of War (film), The Dogs of War'' (1980), ''Ghost Story (1981 film), Ghost Story'' (1981) and ''Hamburger Hill'' (1987). Irvin is a graduate of London Film School. Career Irvin directed his first films in the 1960s, such as the short subjects ''Gala Day'' (1963), ''Carousella'' (1965), the made-for-TV film ''East of Howard'' (1966), ''Bedtime'' (1967) and ''Mafia No!'' (1967). In the 1970s, Irvin directed exclusively for television, including drama episodes and made-for-TV films. In the mid-1970s, he made ''Possessions'' (1974) and ''Haunted: The Ferryman'' (1974) and the pilot for ''The Nearly Man'' (1974) and se ...
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Newcastle Upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located on the River Tyne's northern bank opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England. Newcastle developed around a Roman Empire, Roman settlement called Pons Aelius. The settlement became known as ''Monkchester'' before taking on the name of The Castle, Newcastle, a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle was historically part of the county of Northumberland, but governed as a county corporate after 1400. In 1974, Newcastle became part of the newly-created metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. The local authority is Newcastle Ci ...
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Hard Times (novel)
''Hard Times: For These Times'' (commonly known as ''Hard Times'') is the tenth novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era. ''Hard Times'' is unusual in several ways. It is by far the shortest of Dickens's novels, barely a quarter of the length of those written immediately before and after it. Also, unlike all but one of his other novels, ''Hard Times'' has neither a preface nor illustrations. Moreover, it is his only novel not to have scenes set in London. Instead the story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern English mill-town, in some ways similar to Manchester, though smaller. Coketown may be partially based on 19th-century Preston. One of Dickens's reasons for writing ''Hard Times'' was that sales of his weekly periodical '' Household Words'' were low, and it was hoped the novel's publication in instalments would boost ...
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American Mafia
The American Mafia, commonly referred to in North America as the Italian-American Mafia, the Mafia, or the Mob, is a highly organized Italian-American criminal society and organized crime group. The terms Italian Mafia and Italian Mob apply to these US-based organizations, as well as the separate yet related Sicilian Mafia or other organized crime groups in Italy, or ethnic Italian crime groups in other countries. These organizations are often referred to by its members as Cosa Nostra (, "Our Thing" or "This Thing of Ours") and by the American government as La Cosa Nostra (LCN). The organization's name is derived from the original ''Mafia'' or ''Cosa Nostra'', the Sicilian Mafia, with "American Mafia" originally referring simply to Mafia groups from Sicily operating in the United States. The Mafia in the United States emerged in impoverished List of Italian-American neighborhoods, Italian immigrant neighborhoods in New York's East Harlem (or "Italian Harlem"), the Lower East Si ...
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, He served as the List of governors of California, 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011. Schwarzenegger began Strength training, lifting weights at age 15 and won the Universe Championships, Mr. Universe title aged 20, and subsequently the Mr. Olympia title seven times. He is tied with Phil Heath for the joint-second number of all-time Mr. Olympia wins, behind Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney, who are joint-first with eight wins each. Nicknamed the "Austrian Oak" in his bodybuilding days, he is regarded as one of the greatest Bodybuilding, bodybuilders of all time. He has written books and articles about bodybuilding, including the autobiographical ''Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder'' (1977) and ''The New Encyclopedia of Modern ...
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Film
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since the 1930s, synchronized with sound and (less commonly) other sensory stimulations. Etymology and alternative terms The name "film" originally referred to the thin layer of photochemical emulsion on the celluloid strip that used to be the actual medium for recording and displaying motion pictures. Many other terms exist for an individual motion-picture, including "picture", "picture show", "moving picture", "photoplay", and "flick". The most common term in the United States is "movie", while in Europe, "film" is preferred. Archaic terms include "animated pictures" and "animated photography". "Flick" is, in general a slang term, first recorded in 1926. It originates in the verb flicker, owing to the flickering appearance of early films ...
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Action Movie
The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as David Bordwell suggested they were films that favor spectacle to storytelling, others such as Geoff King stated they allow the scenes of spectacle to be attuned to storytelling. Action films are often hybrid with other genres, mixing into various forms such as comedies, science fiction films, and horror films. While the term "action film" or "action adventure film" has been used as early as the 1910s, the contemporary definition usually refers to a film that came with the arrival of New Hollywood and the rise of anti-heroes appearing in American films of the late 1960s and 1970s drawing from war films, crime films and Westerns. These genres were followed by what is referred to as the "classical period" in the 1980s. This was followe ...
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Raw Deal (1986 Film)
''Raw Deal'' is a 1986 American action film directed by John Irvin and written by Gary DeVore & Norman Wexler, from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni & Sergio Donati. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Darren McGavin and Sam Wanamaker. In the film, Harry Shannon, an elderly FBI agent, recruits Mark Kaminski, an ex-FBI agent, to destroy a mafia organization. ''Raw Deal'' was released in North America on June 6, 1986 and grossed $16.2 million in the US against its $8–10 million budget. Plot A mob informant is under protection by the FBI in a remote wooded cabin, but is soon ambushed by a hit squad, who brutally slaughter the bodyguards and the informant. One of the agents killed is Blair Shannon, the son of FBI agent Harry Shannon, who vows to exact revenge. Mark Kaminski, a small-town sheriff, lives with his alcoholic wife, Amy, who resents their way of living. Kaminski was also an FBI agent, who had brutally thrashed a suspect for sexually assaulting, ...
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Ben Kingsley
Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Ben Kingsley, various accolades throughout Ben Kingsley on screen and stage, his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFTA Award, a Grammy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Kingsley was appointed Knight Bachelor in 2002 for services to the Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film industry. He was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 and received the Britannia Awards, Britannia Award in 2013. Born to an English mother and an Indian Gujarati people, Gujarati father with roots in Jamnagar, Kingsley began his career in theatre, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967 and spending the next 15 years appearing mainly on stage. His starring roles included productions of ''As You Like ...
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Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. Over the course of her distinguished career she received List of awards and nominations received by Glenda Jackson, numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, three Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting." Her other accolades include two BAFTA Awards and a Golden Globe Award. A member of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, she served continuously as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for 23 years, first for Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, and then, following boundary changes, for Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010 to 2015. Jackson won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice, for the romance films ''Women in Love (film), Women in Love'' (1969) and ''A Touch of Class (film), A Touch of Class'' (1973), but she did not appear in person to collect either due to work commitments. She al ...
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Turtle Diary
''Turtle Diary'' is a 1985 British film directed by John Irvin and starring Glenda Jackson, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Gambon. Based on a screenplay adapted by Harold Pinter from Russell Hoban's novel '' Turtle Diary'', the film is about "people rediscovering the joys of life and love". The film contains elements of romance, comedy, and drama and has been described as a romantic comedy. Synopsis Two lonely Londoners - Neaera Duncan, a children's author (Glenda Jackson), and William Snow, a bookstore assistant (Ben Kingsley) - find common ground when visiting the sea turtles at London Zoo. Independently, each perceives that the turtles are unnaturally confined, and they hatch a plan with the assistance of zookeeper George Fairbairn (Michael Gambon) to smuggle them out and release them into the sea. Their release of the turtles is a metaphor for their escape from their inhibitions. Main cast *Glenda Jackson as Neaera Duncan, a "Popular children's author … fearing her creati ...
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John Hurt
Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 28 January 2017) was an English actor. Regarded as one of the finest actors of his time and known for the "most distinctive voice in Cinema of the United Kingdom, Britain", he was described by David Lynch as "simply the greatest actor in the world". In a List of John Hurt performances, career spanning over five decades, he received numerous accolades including four British Academy Film Awards, BAFTAs and a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. He was Knight Bachelor, knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015 for his services to drama. A graduate of RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), he Breakthrough role, came to prominence playing Richard Rich, 1st Baron Rich, Richard Rich in the film ''A Man for All Seasons (1966 film), A Man for All Seasons'' (1966) and won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for ''The Naked Civil Servant (film), The Naked Civil Servant'' (1975). He played ...
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Champions (1984 Film)
''Champions'' is a 1984 British drama sports film based on the true story of jockey Bob Champion. It is directed by John Irvin, produced by Peter Shaw, written by Evan Jones, and stars John Hurt, Edward Woodward and Jan Francis. Plot The film is based on the true story of Bob Champion (portrayed by John Hurt), who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979. After treatment with an operation to remove the diseased testicle and chemotherapy, Champion recovered and went on to win the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. Cast * John Hurt as Bob Champion * Edward Woodward as Josh Gifford * Jan Francis as Jo Beswick * Ben Johnson as Burly Cocks * Alison Steadman as Mary Hussey * Kirstie Alley as Barbara * Ann Bell as Valda Embiricos * Peter Barkworth as Nick Embiricos * Judy Parfitt as Dr Merrow * Michael Byrne as Richard Hussey * Aldaniti as himself Awards In 1984, John Irvin was nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1985, Joh ...
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