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Richard LaGravenese
Richard LaGravenese (; born October 30, 1959) is an American screenwriter and film director, known for ''The Fisher King'', ''The Bridges of Madison County'', and ''Behind the Candelabra''. Personal life LaGravenese was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a taxi driver. He is of Italian descent. He graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1980 with a bachelor of fine arts degree in acting. Career LaGravenese wrote ''The Fisher King'' on spec in the late 1980s. It was acquired by Stacey Sher, Lynda Obst, Debra Hill's production company and subsequently directed by Terry Gilliam. In New York City during the early 1980s, billed as "The Double R" comedy duo, in collaboration with playwright Richard O'Donnell, LaGravenese co-penned and consecutively performed in several Off-Off-Broadway productions including ''Spare Parts'', ''Blood-Brothers'' at The 78th Street Theatre Lab, The Lion Theatre, and West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغرب� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global cultural, financial, entertainment, and media center with a significant influence on commerce, health care and life sciences, research, technology, educa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rude Awakening (film)
''Rude Awakening'' is a 1989 comedy film directed by David Greenwalt and Aaron Russo. Plot In 1969 New York City, two hippies, Fred Wook (Eric Roberts) and Jesus Monteya (Cheech Marin), flee the US to avoid arrest by the FBI and hide out in the jungles of Central America. Fred is an idealist, working on an underground newspaper with his friend Sammy (Robert Carradine), while Jesus is a stoner whose brain has been fried after being given huge amounts of LSD by researchers (the theory being that acid and appropriate visual stimulation can turn pacifist hippies into committed soldiers; Jesus proves their failure by wishing them 'peace' as he leaves the lab.) The two flee the inner-city commune they are living in, leaving behind Sammy who feels it is important that he keep writing and publishing their message, and Fred's girlfriend, artist Petra (Julie Hagerty). Twenty years later, Fred and Jesus are still living in the jungle, when they find a dying man who has been shot by soldie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beautiful Creatures (2013 Film)
''Beautiful Creatures'' is a 2013 American romantic gothic fantasy film written for the screen and directed by Richard LaGravenese based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. It stars Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, Thomas Mann, and Emma Thompson. It was released in the United States on February 14, 2013, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $60.1 million worldwide against its $60 million budget, making it a box office bomb. Plot In Gatlin, South Carolina, teenager Ethan Wate awakens from a recurring dream of a girl he has not met. He despairs of his small-town existence and dreams of leaving for college. His first day of junior year, a newcomer Lena Duchannes resembles the girl Ethan has been dreaming about. Other students gossip about Lena's reclusive uncle, Macon Ravenwood, suggesting her family are devil worshippers. On the way home, Ethan nearly runs her over. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water For Elephants (film)
''Water for Elephants'' is a 2011 American romantic drama film directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Richard LaGravenese, based on Sara Gruen's 2006 novel of the same name. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz. The film was released in the United States on April 22, 2011. It received mixed reviews from film critics and grossed $117 million worldwide for a budget of $38 million. Plot Charlie O'Brien, a circus owner, encounters an elderly man named Jacob Jankowski, who is separated from his nursing home group. Jacob reveals he had a career in the circus business and was present during one of the most infamous circus disasters of all time. In 1931, when Jacob was a 23-year-old veterinary medicine student taking his final exam at Cornell University, he learns that his parents were killed in a car accident. After the bank forecloses on the family home and in the midst of the Great Depression, he jumps onto a passing circus train. Jacob meets Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conviction (2010 Film)
''Conviction'' is a 2010 biographical legal drama film directed by Tony Goldwyn, written by Pamela Gray, and starring Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell. The film premiered on September 11, 2010, at the Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the US on October 15, 2010. Plot Betty Anne Waters' life revolves around her brother Kenneth, who is now in prison for murder. Despite Kenny's knack for getting in trouble, they have always been close. After the murder of Katherina Reitz Brow on May 21, 1980, in Ayer, Massachusetts, Kenny is initially taken in for questioning by Sergeant Nancy Taylor, but released. Two years later, based on new testimony from two witnesses, Kenny is arrested and tried. The evidence presented at Kenny's trial is entirely circumstantial, but he is convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The three main witnesses against him are Sergeant Taylor, his ex-wife Brenda, and ex-girlfriend Roseanna. Three years later, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Writers
''Freedom Writers'' is a 2007 American drama film written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and starring Hilary Swank, Scott Glenn, Imelda Staunton, Patrick Dempsey and Mario. It is based on the 1999 book ''The Freedom Writers Diary'' by teacher Erin Gruwell and students who compiled the book out of real diary entries about their lives that they wrote in their English class at Woodrow Wilson Classical High School in Long Beach, California. The movie is also based on the DC program called City at Peace. The title of the movie and book is a play on the term "Freedom Riders", referring to the multiracial civil rights activists who tested the U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering the desegregation of interstate buses in 1961. The idea for the film came from journalist Tracey Durning, who made a documentary about Erin Gruwell for the ABC News program '' Primetime Live''. Durning served as co-executive producer of the film. The film was dedicated to the memory of Armand Jones, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris, Je T'aime
''Paris, je t'aime'' (; ''Paris, I love you'') is a 2006 anthology film starring an ensemble cast of actors of various nationalities. The two-hour film consists of eighteen short films set in different arrondissements (districts). The 22 directors include Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Joel and Ethan Coen, Isabel Coixet, Gérard Depardieu, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Nobuhiro Suwa, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, Walter Salles, Yolande Moreau, and Gus Van Sant. Production Julio Medem was attached to the project for a long time. He was supposed to direct one of the segments starring Javier Bardem et Maria Valverde, but this finally fell through because of scheduling conflicts with the filming of ''Caótica Ana'' (2007). ''Paris, je t'aime'' is the first feature film to be fully scanned in 6K and mastered in 4K in Europe (as opposed to the normal 2K). Encoding the image took about 24 hours per reel (at Laboratoires Éclair). Both Emmanuel Benbihy and Gilles Caussade serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quartier Pigalle
Pigalle () is an area in Paris around the Place Pigalle, on the border between the 9th and the 18th arrondissements. It is named after the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle (1714–1785). Pigalle is famous for being a tourist district, with many sex shops, theatres and adult shows on Place Pigalle and the main boulevards. The neighbourhood's raunchy reputation led to its Second World War nickname of "Pig Alley" by Allied soldiers. Le Divan du Monde and the Moulin Rouge, a world-famous cabaret, are both located in Pigalle. The area to the south of Place Pigalle is devoted to the retail of musical instruments and equipment, especially for popular music. A section of the rue de Douai consists solely of stores selling guitars, drums and musical accessories. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec's studio was here. Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh and Maurice Neumont also lived here as did Andre Breton, and in 1928 Josephine Baker opened her first night club next door to Breton's apartment. It was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beloved (1998 Film)
''Beloved'' is a 1998 American psychological horror drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandiwe Newton. Based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name, the plot centers on a former enslaved person after the American Civil War, her haunting by a poltergeist, and the visitation of her reincarnated daughter. This was first film produced by Harpo Films. Despite being a box office bomb, ''Beloved'' received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design for Colleen Atwood, the film received mostly positive reviews, and both Danny Glover and Kimberly Elise received praise for their performances. Plot Sethe is a former slave living on the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio shortly after the Civil War. An angry poltergeist residing in the family home terrorizes Sethe and her three children, an act which causes two of them to run away forever. Eight years later, Sethe lives alone with her daughter, Denver. Paul D., an old friend f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Living Out Loud
''Living Out Loud'' is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and set in New York City, starring Holly Hunter, Danny DeVito, Queen Latifah, Martin Donovan, and Elias Koteas. Plot Judith Moore had what she thought was a perfect marriage, with both her and her husband studying to be doctors. But after she puts her studies on hold to find a job and support them, many years pass until suddenly he leaves Judith to be with another doctor. Depressed, she holes up in her apartment, where the middle-aged Pat Francato serves as a building superintendent and elevator operator. He is as lonely as she is, beset with gambling problems, and Judith and Pat make a connection. Yet what he wishes to pursue as a romantic relationship, Judith sees only as a friendship. Her friend Liz Bailey, who sings at a nightclub, makes attempts to improve Judith's love life as well as her own. Cast * Holly Hunter as Judith Moore * Danny DeVito as Pat Francato * Queen Lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Horse Whisperer (film)
''The Horse Whisperer'' is a 1998 American Western drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel '' The Horse Whisperer'' by Nicholas Evans. Redford plays the title role, a talented trainer with a remarkable gift for understanding horses, who is hired to help an injured teenager (played by Scarlett Johansson) and her horse back to health following a tragic accident. The film was released on May 15, 1998. It received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed close to $187 million worldwide. Plot In Lake Luzerne, New York, teenager Grace MacLean and her best friend Judith go out early one winter's morning to ride their horses, Pilgrim and Gulliver. As they ride up an icy slope, Gulliver slips and hits Pilgrim. Both horses fall, dragging the girls onto a road and get hit by a tractor-trailer. Judith and Gulliver are killed, while Grace and Pilgrim are both severely injured. Grace, left with a partially amputated right leg, is bitter and wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mirror Has Two Faces
''The Mirror Has Two Faces'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Barbra Streisand, who also stars. The screenplay by Richard LaGravenese is loosely based on the 1958 French film ''Le Miroir à deux faces'' written by André Cayatte and Gérard Oury. Also starring are Jeff Bridges, Pierce Brosnan, George Segal, Mimi Rogers, Brenda Vaccaro, and Lauren Bacall. The story focuses on a shy, middle-aged professor who enters into a platonic relationship with an unlucky colleague. The film was released on November 15, 1996 and grossed $82 million worldwide. Streisand, Marvin Hamlisch, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, and Bryan Adams composed the film's theme song, " I Finally Found Someone". Streisand sang it on the soundtrack with Adams. Plot Rose Morgan, a middle-aged English literature professor at Columbia University, lives with her vain, overbearing mother, Hannah. While attending her sister Claire's third wedding (to Rose's former boyfriend Alex), Rose tel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
