Stupidity (film)
''Stupidity'' is a 2003 Canadian satirical documentary film directed by Albert Nerenberg and produced by Shannon Brown, as the first film commissioned by the Documentary Channel. Nerenberg was also the film's executive producer. The film proposes that willful ignorance (as opposed to what is commonly meant by stupidity, low mental capacity) has increasingly become a strategy for success in the realms of politics and entertainment, that is, the "stupid" things that seemingly smart people do every day. The film questions "why stupidity is such a slippery concept to grasp and why so few people are talking about it." The film features songs by The Arrogant Worms and original music by The Morons. Synopsis The film traces the public fascination with perceived stupidity, from I.Q. tests in the early 1900s, to present-day silliness in the form of '' Jackass'' and boy bands. Nerenberg compares George W. Bush to Adam Sandler, arguing that the perception that Bush is unintelligent is as m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Albert Nerenberg
Albert Nerenberg (born October 13, 1962) is a Canadian independent filmmaker, actor, journalist, hypnotist, and laughologist. His films include ''Stupidity'' (2003), '' Escape to Canada'' (2005), ''Let's All Hate Toronto'' (2007), '' Laughology'' (2009), ''Boredom'' (2012) and '' You Are What You Act'' (2018). Both ''Stupidity'' and ''Laughology'' are the first feature-length documentaries to discuss the topics of stupidity and laughter. Early life and education Born in London, Ontario, in 1962, Nerenberg studied English Drama at McGill University in Montreal during the 1980s, where he formed Theatre Shmeatre, an improvisational theatrical company, and served as editor in chief of the ''McGill Daily''. Journalist Nerenberg was a newspaper reporter with the ''Montreal Gazette'' and talk radio host at CKGM. Nerenberg still occasionally publishes articles. Film career Nerenberg told the Montreal newspaper, ''La Presse'', that he became a filmmaker after he smuggled a video camer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The paper is owned by the Hearst Corporation, which bought it from the de Young family in 2000. It is the only major daily paper covering the city and county of San Francisco. The paper benefited from the growth of San Francisco and had the largest newspaper circulation on the West Coast of the United States by 1880. Like other newspapers, it experienced a rapid fall in circulation in the early 21st century and was ranked 18th nationally by circulation in the first quarter of 2021. In 1994, the newspaper launched the SFGATE website, with a soft launch in March and official launch November 3, 1994, including both content from the newspaper and other sources. "The Gate" as it was known at launch was the first large market newspaper website in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Joel Schumacher
Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. He first entered filmmaking as a production and costume designer before gaining writing credits on '' Car Wash'', '' Sparkle'', and '' The Wiz''. Schumacher received little attention for his first theatrically released films, '' The Incredible Shrinking Woman'' and '' D.C. Cab'', but rose to prominence after directing '' St. Elmo's Fire'', '' The Lost Boys'', and '' The Client''. Schumacher was selected to replace Tim Burton as director of the Batman franchise and oversaw '' Batman Forever'' and '' Batman & Robin''. Later, Schumacher directed smaller-budgeted films, including '' Tigerland'' and '' Phone Booth''. In 2004, he directed '' The Phantom of the Opera'', which was released to mixed reviews. His final directorial work were two epis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Geoff Pevere
Geoff Pevere (born October 1957) is a Canadian lecturer, author, broadcaster, teacher, arts and media critic, currently the program director of the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival in Toronto.John Semley, "Can we play with madness?: Toronto's Rendezvous with Madness festival chips away at the lingering stigmas surrounding mental health". '' The Globe and Mail'', November 3, 2016. He is a former film critic, book columnist and cultural journalist for the ''Toronto Star'', where he worked from 1998 to 2011. His writing has appeared in several newspapers, magazines and arts journals, and he has worked as a broadcaster for both radio and television. He has lectured widely on cultural and media topics, and taught courses at several Canadian universities and colleges. In 2012, he contributed weekly pop culture columns to CBC Radio Syndication, which were heard in nearly twenty markets across Canada. He has also been a movie columnist and regular freelance contributor with '' The Glo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for '' Bowling for Columbine'', which examined the causes of the Columbine High School massacre and the overall gun culture of the United States. He also directed and produced '' Fahrenheit 9/11'', a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush and the War on Terror, which earned $119,194,771 to become the highest-grossing documentary at the American box office of all time. The film also won the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes film festival, and was subject to intense controversy. His documentary '' Sicko'', which examines health care in the United States, is one of the top ten highest-grossing documentaries . In September 2008, he released his first free movie on the internet, ''Slacker Uprising'', which documented his personal quest ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
David Lawrence (actor)
''FUBAR'' is a 2002 Canadian film directed by Michael Dowse and written by Dave Lawrence, Michael Dowse and Paul Spence, following the lives of two lifelong friends and head-bangers, Terry Cahill and Dean Murdoch. ''FUBAR'' debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Since its release, it has gained a cult status in North America, particularly in Western Canada. ''FUBAR'' was filmed and set in and around Calgary, Alberta, and was filmed entirely with digital cinematography on a Canon XL1 and a shoestring budget that required Dave Lawrence to max out his credit card and caused his dad to refinance their family home in order to complete the movie. ''FUBAR'' features characters created by Dave Lawrence and Paul Spence that they developed based on the head-banger subculture. Terry Cahill, one of the main characters of the film played by Lawrence was based on a character Lawrence created at Loose Moose Theatre in the mid-90s. Many people featured in the movie (including the fist-fight ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the romantic drama '' El Callejón de los Milagros'' (1995), for which she received an Ariel Award nomination. She soon established herself in Hollywood with appearances in films such as '' Desperado'' (1995), ''From Dusk till Dawn'' (1996), '' Wild Wild West'' (1999), and ''Dogma'' (1999). Hayek's portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biographical film '' Frida'' (2002), which she also produced, made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and additionally earned her Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations. In subsequent years, Hayek focused more on producing while starring in the action-centered pictures '' Once Upon a Time in Mexico'' (2 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Drew Curtis
Drew Curtis (born February 7, 1973) is the founder and an administrator of Fark, an Internet news aggregator. He is also the author of '' It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News'' in May 2007. He is a guest on WOCM's morning show '' The Rude Awakening Show'' every Tuesday. Curtis was the Independent gubernatorial candidate for Governor of Kentucky in 2015 but lost to the Republican nominee Matt Bevin. Fark Fark began in 1993 when Curtis was in England, sending links back to his friends. Curtis registered Fark.com in 1997 but did not begin posting links on the site until 1999. The first story on Fark was a news article about a fighter pilot who crashed while attempting to expose his buttocks to another fighter pilot. Since then, the site has become one of the most popular link dump sites on the internet with nearly 50 million pageviews a month. As of 2006, the site was getting over 2,000 link submissions every day. It was the first indie blog ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Coolio
Artis Leon Ivey Jr. (August 1, 1963 – September 28, 2022), known professionally as Coolio, was an American rapper. First rising to fame as a member of the gangsta rap group WC and the Maad Circle, Coolio achieved mainstream success as a solo artist in the mid-to-late 1990s with his albums '' It Takes a Thief'' (1994), ''Gangsta's Paradise'' (1995), and '' My Soul'' (1997). He is best known for his 1995 Grammy Award–winning hit single "Gangsta's Paradise", as well as other singles " Fantastic Voyage" (1994), " 1, 2, 3, 4 (Sumpin' New)" (1996), and " C U When U Get There" (1997). From 1996 on, Coolio released albums independently, and provided the opening track "Aw, Here It Goes!" for the 1996 Nickelodeon television series '' Kenan & Kel''. He created the web series '' Cookin' with Coolio'' and released a cookbook. Early life Artis Leon Ivey Jr. was born on August 1, 1963, in Los Angeles, California, and was raised mostly in Compton. His mother was a factory worker who di ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on '' The Frost Report''. In the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus.'' Along with his Python co-stars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975), '' Life of Brian'' (1979) and '' The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth co-wrote the sitcom '' Fawlty Towers'', in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. In 2000 the show topped the British Film Institute's list of the 100 G ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic. The newspaper reported a weekly readership of 545,500. It is part of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia and it emulates the typical publications of the 1960s counterculture movement. History The ''Chronicle'' was co-founded in 1981 by Nick Barbaro and Louis Black, with assistance from others who largely met through the graduate film studies program at the University of Texas at Austin. Barbaro and Black are also co-founders of the South by Southwest Festival, although the festival operates as a separate company. The paper initially was published bi-weekly, and later weekly. Its precursor in style and format was the '' Austin Sun'', a bi-weekly that had ceased operations in 1978, after four years of publication. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bill Maher
William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show '' Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar late-night show called ''Politically Incorrect'' (1993–2002), originally on Comedy Central and later on ABC. In 2022, Maher started the podcast ''Club Random''. Maher is known for his political satire and sociopolitical commentary. He targets many topics including religion, political correctness, and the mass media. His critical views of religion were the basis for his 2008 documentary film '' Religulous''. He is a supporter of animal rights, having served on the board of PETA since 1997, and is an advisory board member of Project Reason. Maher supports the legalization of cannabis, serving on the advisory board of NORML. In 2005, Maher ranked at number 38 on Comedy Central's 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time. He receive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |