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List Of American Independent Films
This is a list of notable American independent films (which are also known sometimes as "specialty", "alternative", "indie", and/or "quality") that were made outside of the Hollywood studio system or traditional arthouse/independent filmmaking yet managed to be produced, financed and distributed by the two with varying degrees of success and/or failure. Background The American independent film, prior to the 1980s and first half of the 1990s, was previously associated with Poverty Row b movies (e.g. Republic Pictures) exploitation films, avant-garde underground cinema (when it was known as the New American Cinema), social and political documentaries, experimental animated shorts (since the mid-1930s featuring works by pioneer animators Mary Ellen Bute and Oskar Fischinger) and social realist dramas. Throughout the middle of the 1990s, the word "Indiewood" (a.k.a. "indie boom" or "indie film movement") was invented to describe a component of the spectrum of American films in w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinema Of The United States
The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of American cinema is classical Hollywood cinema, which developed from 1913 to 1969 and is still typical of most films made there to this day. While Frenchmen Auguste and Louis Lumière are generally credited with the birth of modern cinema, American cinema soon came to be a dominant force in the emerging industry. , it produced the third-largest number of films of any national cinema, after India and China, with more than 600 English-language films released on average every year. While the national cinemas of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also produce films in the same language, they are not part of the Hollywood system. That said, Hollywood has also been considered a transnational cinema, and has produced multip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Townsend (actor)
Robert Townsend (born February 6, 1957) is an American actor, director, comedian, and writer. Townsend is best known for directing the films '' Hollywood Shuffle'' (1987), '' Eddie Murphy Raw'' (1987), '' The Meteor Man'' (1993), '' The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and various other films and stand-up specials. He is especially known for his eponymous self-titled character, Robert Peterson as the starring role as on The WB sitcom '' The Parent 'Hood'' (1995–1999), a series which he created and of which directed select episodes. Townsend is also known for his role as Donald "Duck" Matthews in his 1991 film '' The Five Heartbeats.'' He later wrote, directed and produced Making The Five Heartbeats (2018), a documentary film about the production process and behind the scenes insight into creating the film. Townsend is also known for his production company Townsend Entertainment which has produced films '' Playin' for Love'', '' In the Hive'' and more. During the 1980s and early–1990s, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry worldwide. Given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the awards are an international recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements, as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette as a trophy, officially called the "Academy Award of Merit", although more commonly referred to by its nickname, the "Oscar". The statuette, depicting a knight rendered in the Art Deco style, was originally sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley from a design sketch by art director Cedric Gibbons. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Academy Awards ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and directing movies financed partly by income from his acting work. AllMovie called him "an iconoclastic maverick",Ankeny, JasonJohn Cassavetes '' AllMovie''. while ''The New Yorker'' suggested in 2013 that he "may be the most influential American director of the last half century."''The New Yorker'', July 1, 2013, p. 17 "On the Horizon: Movies: Wild Man Blues July 6–31" As an actor, Cassavetes starred in notable Hollywood films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including ''Edge of the City'' (1957), '' The Dirty Dozen'' (1967), and '' Rosemary's Baby'' (1968). He began his directing career with the 1959 independent feature '' Shadows'' and followed with independent productions such as '' Faces'' (1968), '' Husbands'' (1970), '' A Woman Under the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chafed Elbows
''Chafed Elbows'' is a 1966 still image film directed by Robert Downey Sr. A manic comic parody underground film made for $12,000, ''Chafed Elbows'' was a commercial success. The film was premiered at The Gate Theater in New York City and ran for over one month alongside '' Scorpio Rising''. Downey photographed most of the movie with a still 35mm camera and had the film processed at Walgreens drugstore. These pictures were animated alongside a few live-action scenes and almost all the dialogue was dubbed to rather hilarious effect. One scene was shot in Anthology Film Archives’s upstairs theater back in the days when the building was still a defunct downtown courthouse. All 13 of the female roles were played by Elsie Downey, Robert Downey's wife, and the lead male role by George Morgan. Plot Hapless Walter Dinsmore undergoes his annual November breakdown at the 1964 New York World's Fair, has a love affair with his mother, recollects his hysterectomy operation, impersonates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Still Image Film
A still image film, also called a picture movie, is a film that consists primarily or entirely of still images rather than moving images, forgoing the illusion of motion either for aesthetic or practical reasons. These films usually include a standard soundtrack, similar to what is found in typical sound films, complete with music, sound effects, dialogue or narration. They may also use various editing techniques found in traditional films, such as dissolves, zooms, and panning. History This filmmaking technique is more common in historical documentaries, where old photographs may provide the best documentation of certain events. Ken Burns is well known for having used it repeatedly in his films. It is less common in narrative films, but has been done occasionally. Such films are typically considered experimental or art films. Perhaps the best known narrative still image film is Chris Marker's 1962 film ''La Jetée'', which was the inspiration for the 1995 film ''12 Monkeys''. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Downey Sr
Robert John Downey ( Elias Jr.; June 24, 1936 – July 7, 2021) was an American filmmaker and actor. He was known for writing and directing the underground film ''Putney Swope'', a satire on the New York Madison Avenue advertising world. According to film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon, Downey's films during the 1960s were "strictly take-no-prisoners affairs, with minimal budgets and outrageous satire, effectively pushing forward the countercultural agenda of the day." Early life Downey was born Robert John Elias Jr. in the Manhattan borough of New York City, on June 24, 1936. He was the son of Elizabeth ( McLauchlen), a model, and Robert John Elias, who worked in management of motels and restaurants. His paternal grandparents were Lithuanian Jews, while his mother was of half Hungarian Jewish and half Irish ancestry. He grew up in Rockville Centre, New York. He changed his surname to Downey (after his stepfather, James Downey) when he wanted to enlist in the United States Army wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Filmmaking
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casting, pre-production, shooting, sound recording, post-production, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a film release and an exhibition. Filmmaking occurs in a variety of economic, social, and political contexts around the world. It uses a variety of technologies and cinematic techniques. Although filmmaking originally involved the use of film, most film productions are now digital. Today, filmmaking refers to the process of crafting an audio-visual story commercially for distribution or broadcast. Production stages Film production consists of five major stages: * Development: Ideas for the film are created, rights to existing intellectual properties are purchased, etc., and the screenplay is writte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Credit Cards
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the other agreed charges). The card issuer (usually a bank or credit union) creates a revolving account and grants a line of credit to the cardholder, from which the cardholder can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance. There are two credit card groups: consumer credit cards and business credit cards. Most cards are plastic, but some are metal cards (stainless steel, gold, palladium, titanium), and a few gemstone-encrusted metal cards. A regular credit card is different from a charge card, which requires the balance to be repaid in full each month or at the end of each statement cycle. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers to build a continuing balance of debt, subject to interest being charged. A credit c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clerks (film)
''Clerks'' is a 1994 American black-and-white buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith (in his feature directorial debut), produced and edited by Smith and Scott Mosier, and starring Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonhauer, Jason Mewes, Smith, and Mosier. It presents a day in the lives of store clerks Dante Hicks (O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Anderson) as well as their acquaintances. It is the first of Smith's View Askewniverse films, and introduces several recurring characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob (Mewes and Smith respectively). ''Clerks'' was shot for $27,575 in the convenience and video stores where director Smith worked in real life. Upon its theatrical release, it received generally positive reviews and grossed over $4 million in theaters, launching Smith's career. In 2006, a sequel was released. Additionally, a third installment was released in 2022. It is often regarded as a cult classic and a landmark in inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generation X
Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years and the late 1970s to early 1980s as ending birth years, with the generation being generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980. By this definition and U.S. Census data, there are 65.2 million Gen Xers in the United States as of 2019. Most members of Generation X are the children of the Silent Generation and early boomers; Xers are also often the parents of millennials and Generation Z. As children in the 1970s and 1980s, a time of shifting societal values, Gen Xers were sometimes called the "latchkey generation," which stems from their returning as children to an empty home and needing to use the door key, due to reduced adult supervision compared to previous generations. This was a result of increasing divorce rates and increased maternal participation in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob, characters who also appeared in Smith's later films '' Mallrats'' (1995), '' Chasing Amy'' (1997), ''Dogma'' (1999), '' Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'' (2001), '' Clerks II'' (2006), '' Jay and Silent Bob Reboot'' (2019), and '' Clerks III'' (2022) which are set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. While not strictly sequential, the films have crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon known as the " View Askewniverse", named after Smith's production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier. Since 2011, Smith has mostly made horror films, including '' Red State'' (2011) and the "comedy horr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
