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Used Cars
''Used Cars'' is a 1980 American satirical black comedy film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story follows Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell), a devious salesman, working for affable, but monumentally unsuccessful used-car dealer Luke Fuchs ( Jack Warden). Luke's principal rival, located directly across the street, is his more prosperous brother, Roy L. Fuchs (also played by Warden), who is scheming to take over Luke's lot. The film also stars Deborah Harmon and Gerrit Graham, and the supporting cast includes Frank McRae, David L. Lander, Michael McKean, Joe Flaherty, Al Lewis, Dub Taylor, Harry Northup, Dick Miller, and Betty Thomas. Steven Spielberg and John Milius acted as executive producers on the project, while the original musical score was composed by Patrick Williams. Filmed primarily in Mesa, Arizona, the film was released on July 11, 1980. Although a modest box-office success at the time, it has since developed cult film status due to its dark, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker known for directing and producing a range of successful and influential movies, often blending cutting-edge visual effects with storytelling. He has received several accolades including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for five British Academy Film Awards and a Daytime Emmy Award. Zemeckis started his career directing the comedy films ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand (film), I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' (1978), ''Used Cars'' (1980), and ''Romancing the Stone'' (1984). He gained prominence directing the science-fiction comedy ''Back to the Future (franchise), Back to the Future'' trilogy (1985–1990), the fantasy comedy ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988), and the comedy-drama ''Forrest Gump'' (1994), the latter of which won Academy Awards for Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Picture and Academy Award for Best Director, Best Director. He has also directed the satirical black comedy ''Death B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
IMDb
IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biographies, plot summaries, trivia, ratings, and fan and critical reviews. IMDb began as a fan-operated movie database on the Usenet group "rec.arts.movies" in 1990, and moved to the Web in 1993. Since 1998, it has been owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon. The site's message boards were disabled in February 2017. , IMDb was the 51st most visited website on the Internet, as ranked by Semrush. the database contained some million titles (including television episodes), million person records, and 83 million registered users. Features User profile pages show a user's registration date and, optionally, their personal ratings of titles. Since 2015, "badges" can be added showing a count of contributions. These badges rang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chevrolet Bel Air
The Chevrolet Bel Air is a full-size car produced by Chevrolet for the 1950–1981 model years. Initially, only the two-door hardtops in the Chevrolet model range were designated with the Bel Air name from 1950 to 1952. With the 1953 model year, the Bel Air name was changed from a designation for a unique body shape to a premium level of trim applied across a number of body styles. The Bel Air continued with various other trim level designations, and it had gone from a mid-level trim car to a budget fleet sedan when U.S. production ceased in 1975. Production continued in Canada, for its home market only, through the 1981 model year. First generation (1950–1954) From 1950 to 1952, the Bel Air Sport Coupe name was used only for the two-door hardtops in the Chevrolet model range, to distinguish the car from the Chevrolet Deluxe, Styleline and Chevrolet Fleetline, Fleetline models. It is named after the wealthy Bel Air, Los Angeles, Bel Air neighborhood on the Westside of Los Ang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Demolition Derby
Demolition derby is a type of motorsport, usually presented at county fairs and national events. While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of five or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another. The last driver whose vehicle is still operational is awarded the victory. Demolition derbies originated in the United States and quickly spread to other Western nations. For example, Australia's first demolition derby took place in January 1963. In the UK and parts of Europe, demolition derbies (sometimes called "destruction derbies") are often held at the end of a full day of banger racing. In demolition derbies, serious injuries such as whiplash are rare, but they do happen. Drivers are typically required to sign a waiver to release the promoter of an event from liability. At almost all derbies, attempts are made to make the event safer; all glass is removed from the vehicles, and deliberately ramming a drive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eminent Domain
Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and transfer ownership of private property from one property owner to another private property owner without a valid public purpose. This power can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities, government subdivisions, or even to private persons or corporations, when they are authorized to exercise the functions of public character. The most common uses of property taken by eminent domain have been for roads, government buildings and public utility, public utilities. Many railroads were given the right of eminent domain to obtain land or easements in order to build and connect rail networks. In the mid-20th century, a new application of eminent domain was pioneered, in which the government could take the property and transfer it to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cult Film
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 acq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesa, Arizona
Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Tucson, the List of United States cities by population, 37th-most populous city in the U.S., and the most populous city that is not a county seat (except for independent cities Washington, D.C. and Baltimore which are not part of any county). It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area. It borders Tempe, Arizona, Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community on the north, Chandler, Arizona, Chandler and Gilbert, Arizona, Gilbert on the south along with Queen Creek, Arizona, Queen Creek, and Apache Junction on the east. At least ten colleges and universities are located in Mesa, as is the Mesa Arizona Temple, one of the first LDS temples constr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Milius
John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is considered a member of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s for writing the scripts for ''The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean'' (1972), ''Jeremiah Johnson'' (also 1972), and the first two '' Dirty Harry'' films. He made his directorial debut with the film ''Dillinger'' (1973), followed by '' The Wind and the Lion'' (1975) and ''Big Wednesday'' (1978). In 1980, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Apocalypse Now'', which he co-wrote with Francis Ford Coppola. During the 1980s, Milius established himself as a director of action and adventure films, with ''Conan the Barbarian'' (1982) and '' Red Dawn'' (1984). He was also a prolific script doctor. He later served as the co-creator of the Primetime Emmy Award-winning television series ''Rome'' (2005–2007). Off-screen, Milius is known for hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is the highest-grossing film director of all time. Several of Spielberg's works are considered among the greatest films in history, and some are among the highest-grossing films ever. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to California and studied film in college. After directing several episodes for television, including '' Night Gallery'' and '' Columbo'', he directed the television film ''Duel'' (1971), which was approved by Barry Diller. He made his theatrical debut with '' The Sugarland Express'' (1974) and became a household name with the summer blockbuster ''Jaws'' (1975). He directed more escapist box office successes with '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (1977), '' E.T. the Ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Betty Thomas
Betty Thomas (born Betty Lucille Nienhauser; July 27, 1947) is an American director and actress. She is known for her role as Sergeant Lucy Bates on the television series ''Hill Street Blues''. Early life Thomas was born Betty Lucille Nienhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1947 to Nancy (née Brown) and William H. Nienhauser Sr. She graduated from Willoughby South High School, Willoughby, Ohio, in 1965. After high school Thomas attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Upon graduating Thomas worked as an artist and taught high school before becoming a part of The Second City, the premiere venue for improvisational theater in Chicago. Second City Thomas came to her entertainment career by a circuitous route. While working as an artist and school teacher, she became a waitress at The Second City to earn extra cash for a trip abroad. While waiting on tables, Thomas was encouraged to try out for the troupe, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Miller
Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corman, including Joe Dante, James Cameron, and Martin Scorsese, with the distinction of appearing in every film directed by Dante. He was known for playing the beleaguered everyman, often in one-scene appearances. Miller's main roles in films included '' Not of This Earth'' (1957), '' A Bucket of Blood'' (1959), ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' (1960), ''Piranha'' (1978), '' The Howling'' (1981), ''Gremlins'', ''The Terminator'' (both 1984), '' Explorers'' (1985), '' Chopping Mall'', '' Night of the Creeps'' (both 1986), ''The 'Burbs'' (1989), '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990), '' Quake'' (1992), and '' Small Soldiers'' (1998). Early life Miller was born on Christmas Day, 1928, in The Bronx, New York, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dub Taylor
Walter Clarence "Dub" Taylor Jr. (February 26, 1907 – October 3, 1994)Dub Taylor, 87, Actor in Westerns, The New York Times, October 5, 1994, Section B, Page 12 was an American character actor who from the 1940s into the 1990s worked extensively in films and on television, often in Westerns but also in comedies. He is the father of actor and painter Buck Taylor. Early life Taylor was born February 26, 1907, in Richmond, Virginia, the middle child of five children of Minnie and Walter C. Taylor Sr."The Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920" enumeration date January 15, 1920, Augusta City, Richmond County, Georgia. Digital copy of original census page, FamilySearch. Retrieved A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
