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Gramercy Pictures
Gramercy Pictures was an American film production label. It was founded on May 20, 1992 as a joint venture between PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy was the distributor of PolyGram films in the United States and Canada and also served as Universal's art-house division. After Seagram's buyout of PolyGram, Gramercy along with October Films and Interscope Communications were merged by Barry Diller to form USA Films in 1999. On May 20, 2015, Focus Features (the current art-house division for Universal) revived the name as a label for action, horror and sci-fi genre films; the label was phased out again after the release of the film adaptation of the video game series '' Ratchet & Clank'' on April 29, 2016. History Gramercy Pictures was formed on May 20, 1992 as a joint venture between PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures. Gramercy Pictures released its first film, the Mario Van Peebles western ''Posse'', on May 14, 1993. On January ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interscope Communications
Interscope Communications, Inc. (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1979 by Ted Field. It soon became a division of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. In 1999, after Seagram merged PolyGram into Universal Pictures, Interscope Communications was sold to USA Networks and merged into the recently formed USA Films. In 2000, the company was morphed into Radar Pictures. History Interscope Communications (the studio shared its name for a former racing team, "Interscope Racing") was founded in 1979 by media mogul Ted Field, who aimed to create films with mass appeal. Field then hired Peter Samuelson, who was partner with Field for four years as head of film production. Field acted as a producer or executive producer on a number of films in Interscope's filmography. The company's first film, '' Revenge of the Nerds'', was released in 1984 and was a box office success. That same year, Robert W. Cort, a former executive of 20th Century ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Van Peebles
Mario Van Peebles (born January 15, 1957) is a Mexican-born American director and actor. He is best known for appearing in ''Heartbreak Ridge'' in 1986, and known for directing and starring in ''New Jack City'' in 1991, and ''USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage'' in 2016. He is the son of actor and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, whom he portrayed in the 2003 biopic ''Baadasssss!'', which he also co-wrote and directed. Early life and education Van Peebles was born on January 15, 1957, in Mexico City, Mexico, the son of writer, director, actor and musician Melvin Van Peebles and Maria Marx. He traveled often with his parents between Europe and the United States. He majored in economics at Columbia College (New York), Columbia College, the undergraduate division of Columbia University. He was invited to speak as the Class Day Speaker as part of the annual commencement exercises in 2021. Career 1968 to 1971: First roles Van Peebles' first screen appearance was in 1968, in the soap op ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Best Original Screenplay
The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the Oscars for 1957, the two categories were combined to honor only the screenplay. See also the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a similar award for screenplays that are adaptations of pre-existing material. Eligibility Screenplays are eligible if they are not based on "previously published material". The Writer's Branch of the academy determines if a screenplay is adapted or original, based on possible sources in question, interviews given about the film and the film's publicity materials, and sometimes places screenplays in a different category than the Writers Guild of America. For the 75th Academy Awards, ''Gangs of New York'' was nominated as an original screenplay despite being based on the book Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Usual Suspects
''The Usual Suspects'' is a 1995 crime thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and written by Christopher McQuarrie. It stars Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Chazz Palminteri, Pete Postlethwaite and Kevin Spacey. The plot follows the interrogation of Roger "Verbal" Kint, a small-time con man, who is one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. Through flashback and narration, Kint tells an interrogator a convoluted story of events that led him and his criminal companions to the boat, and of a mysterious crime lord—known as Keyser Söze—who controlled them. The film was shot on a $6 million budget and began as a title taken from a column in '' Spy'' magazine called "The Usual Suspects", after one of Claude Rains' most memorable lines in the classic film ''Casablanca'', and Singer thought that it would make a good title for a film. The film was shown out of competition at the 1995 Canne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mallrats
''Mallrats'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Priscilla Barnes and Michael Rooker. It is the second film in the View Askewniverse following 1994's ''Clerks''. As in the other Askewniverse films, the characters Jay and Silent Bob feature prominently, and characters and events from other films are discussed. Several cast members, including Lee, Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams, have gone on to work in several other Smith films. Comic-book icon Stan Lee appeared, as did Brian O'Halloran, the star of Smith's breakout feature ''Clerks''. Plans for a sequel film titled ''MallBrats'' were announced in March 2015. By the following year, the project was proposed to be a television miniseries. However, by February 2017, Smith announced that he had not been able to sell the series to any network. In January 2020, Smith revealed that development on a sequel film had sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clay Pigeons
''Clay Pigeons'' is a 1998 black comedy film written by Matt Healy and directed by David Dobkin, and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Vince Vaughn and Janeane Garofalo. It is the second on-screen collaboration between Vaughn and Phoenix, the first film being '' Return to Paradise'', released in the same year. Plot In a field in Montana Clay Bidwell's best friend Earl commits suicide by gunshot after confronting Clay over the ongoing affair he had been having with Earl's wife Amanda. Having just found out, he was distraught and wanted to make it look like Clay had murdered him. Rushing back to town, Clay seeks help from Amanda to cover it up but she refuses to help as she doesn't want everyone knowing about the affair. With difficulty, he manages to get the body into his pickup and get it to seem like Earl drove it down the incline, where it crashed and burned. A short time after the funeral, Clay arrives home to find an unapologetic, half-naked Amanda pressing him to continue wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dazed And Confused (film)
''Dazed and Confused'' is a 1993 American Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Richard Linklater. The film follows a variety of teenagers on the last day of school in Austin, Texas, in 1976. The film has no single protagonist or central conflict; rather, it follows interconnected plot threads among different social groups and characters, such as rising ninth graders undergoing hazing rituals, a football star's refusal to sign a clean living pledge for his coach, and various characters hanging out at a pool hall. The film features a large ensemble cast of actors who would later become stars, including Jason London, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Cole Hauser, Parker Posey, Adam Goldberg, Matthew McConaughey, Nicky Katt, Joey Lauren Adams, Rory Cochrane and, Anthony Rapp. Linklater originally planned to make a teen film after his breakout feature ''Slacker (film), Slacker''. ''Slacker'' caught the attention of Universal Pictures producer Jim Jacks, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Big Lebowski
''The Big Lebowski'' () is a 1998 crime comedy film written, directed, produced and co-edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows the life of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity then learns that a millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), was the intended victim. The millionaire Lebowski's trophy wife is supposedly kidnapped and millionaire Lebowski commissions the Dude to deliver the ransom to secure her release. The plan goes awry when the Dude's friend Walter Sobchak ( John Goodman) schemes to keep the ransom money for the Dude and himself. Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jon Polito and Ben Gazzara also appear in supporting roles. The film is loosely inspired by the work of Raymond Chandler. Joel Coen stated, "We wanted to do a Chandl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cult Classics
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated viewings, dialogue-quoting, and audience participation. Inclusive definitions allow for major studio productions, especially box-office bombs, while exclusive definitions focus more on obscure, transgressive films shunned by the mainstream. The difficulty in defining the term and subjectivity of what qualifies as a cult film mirror classificatory disputes about art. The term ''cult film'' itself was first used in the 1970s to describe the culture that surrounded underground films and midnight movies, though ''cult'' was in common use in film analysis for decades prior to that. Cult films trace their origin back to controversial and suppressed films kept alive by dedicated fans. In some cases, reclaimed or rediscovered films have acquire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bean (film)
''Bean'' (also known as ''Bean: The Ultimate Disaster Movie'' and ''Bean: The Movie'') is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Mel Smith and written by Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll. Based on the British sitcom series '' Mr. Bean'' created by Rowan Atkinson and Curtis, the film stars Atkinson in the title role, with Peter MacNicol, Pamela Reed, Harris Yulin and Burt Reynolds in supporting roles. In the film, Bean works as a security guard at the National Gallery in London before being sent to the United States to talk about the unveiling of James Abbott McNeill Whistler's 1871 painting ''Whistler's Mother''. ''Bean'' was first released in Australia on 3 July 1997, before being released in the United Kingdom on 2 August 1997. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, grossing $251.2 million worldwide against an $18 million budget. A standalone sequel, '' Mr. Bean's Holiday'', was released in 2007. Plot Mr. Bean is a well-meaning yet clu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fargo (1996 Film)
''Fargo'' is a 1996 black comedy crime film written, directed, produced and edited by Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, and Peter Stormare. In the film, chief of police, police chief Marge Gunderson (McDormand) investigates a triple homicide that takes place after car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) hires two dim-witted criminals to kidnap his wife to extort a ransom from her wealthy father. Filmed in the United States in late 1995, ''Fargo'' premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. Joel Coen won the festival's ''Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, Prix De La Mise En Scène'' (Best Director Award). The film was a critical and commercial success, earning particular acclaim for the Coens' direction and script and the performances of McDormand, Macy and Buscemi. ''Fargo'' received seven Academy Awards, Oscar nominations at the 69th Academy Awards, inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four Weddings And A Funeral
''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to star Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of friends through a number of social occasions as they each encounter romance. Andie MacDowell co-stars as Charles's love interest Carrie, with Kristin Scott Thomas, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Charlotte Coleman, David Bower, Corin Redgrave and Rowan Atkinson in supporting roles. The film was made in six weeks, cost under £3 million, BBC Radio 4 – The Reunion – Four Weddings and a Funeral, 13 April 2014 and became an unexpected success and the highest-grossing British film in history at the time, with worldwide box office total of $245.7 million, and receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, Grant won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Moti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
