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A Futile And Stupid Gesture (film)
''A Futile and Stupid Gesture'' is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film based on Josh Karp's book of the same title, directed by David Wain, and written by Michael Colton and John Aboud. The film stars Will Forte as comedy writer Douglas Kenney, during the rise and fall of '' National Lampoon''. ''A Futile and Stupid Gesture'' had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2018, and was released on January 26, 2018, by Netflix. Plot The film's timeline stretches from 1964 to 1980. The film opens with Douglas Kenney and his classmate Henry Beard celebrating the release of their book, ''Bored of the Rings'', with the ''Harvard Lampoon'' staff. They graduate from Harvard and Kenney convinces Beard not to go to law school but instead publish a monthly magazine: the ''National Lampoon''. Though Kenney is the magazine's main creative voice, there would be no magazine without the guidance of Beard. Kenney becomes the comedy writer and Beard the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamie Gross
Jamie Gross (born September 2, 1983 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania) is an American film editor. Gross started her career as an assistant editor on the Oscar-nominated documentary '' Murderball''. She worked as an editor on the Comedy Central show ''Michael & Michael Have Issues'' and the IFC sketch comedy show ''The Whitest Kids U' Know''. Gross worked as an assistant editor on the David Wain directed films, ''Role Models'' and ''The Ten''. In 2010, she edited the ''Saturday Night Live'' sketch-based film ''MacGruber (film), MacGruber''. Television * ''Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?'' - 2003 in television, 2003 (editor) * ''True Life'' - 2006 in television, 2006 / 2007 in television, 2007 (assistant editor/editor) * ''Miami Ink'' - 2006 in television, 2006 (assistant editor) * ''Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List'' - 2006 in television, 2006 (additional editor) * ''Wainy Days'' - 2007 in television, 2007 - 2009 in television, 2009 (editor) * ''Childrens Hospital'' - 2008 in televis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-World War II by the British Army Officer Ivan Hirst, it is known for the iconic Volkswagen Beetle, Beetle and serves as the flagship brand of the Volkswagen Group, the largest automotive manufacturer by worldwide sales in 2016 and 2017. The group's biggest market is in Automotive industry in China, China, which delivers 40 percent of its sales and profits. Its name is derived from the German-language terms and , translating to "people's car" when combined. History 1932–1940: People's Car project Volkswagen was established in 1937 by the German Labour Front (''Deutsche Arbeitsfront'') in Berlin. In the early 1930s, cars were a luxury – most Germans could afford nothing more elaborate than a motorcycle and only one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy O. Disney as the Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names the Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986. Early on, the company established itself as a leader in the animation industry, with the creation of the widely popular character Mickey Mouse, who is the company's mascot, and the start of animated films. After becoming a major success by the early 1940s, the company started to diversify into live-action films, television, and theme parks in the 1950s. Following Walt's death in 1966, the company's profits began to decline, especially in the animation division. Once Disney's shareholders voted in Michael Eisner as the he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matty Simmons
Martin Gerald Simmons (October 3, 1926 – April 29, 2020) was an American film and television producer, newspaper reporter for the ''New York World-Telegram and Sun'', and Executive Vice President of Diners Club, the first credit card company. Simmons gained his greatest fame while serving as the chief executive officer of Twenty First Century Communications (renamed National Lampoon Inc., after its best known product). Life and career Simmons was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926, the son of Kate (Shapiro), a homemaker, and Irving Simmons, a sign painter. Founded in 1967 by Simmons and fellow Diner's Club refugee Len Mogel, Twenty First Century Communications Inc. was created to publish a "counterculture" magazine called ''Cheetah''. While ''Cheetah'' failed, the partners had more success in the 1970s with '' Weight Watchers'' and '' National Lampoon'' magazines. Under Simmons' direction, National Lampoon's entire editorial staff was fired and replaced with his children (Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Harvard Lampoon
''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts who were inspired by popular magazines like ''Punch'' (1841) and '' Puck'' (1871). ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is the world's third longest-running continually published humor magazine, after the Swedish '' Blandaren'' (1863) and the Swiss ''Nebelspalter'' (1875). The organization also produces occasional humor books (the best known being the 1969 J. R. R. Tolkien parody ''Bored of the Rings'') and parodies of national magazines such as ''Entertainment Weekly'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. Much of the organization's capital is provided by the licensing of the "Lampoon" name to '' National Lampoon'', begun by ''Harvard Lampoon'' graduates in 1970. The ''Lampoon'' publishes five issues annually. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bored Of The Rings
''Bored of the Rings'' is a 1969 parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. This short novel was written by Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney, who later founded '' National Lampoon''. It was published in 1969 by Signet for the ''Harvard Lampoon'', and, unusually for a parody, has remained in print for over 40 years. It has been translated into at least twelve languages. The parody steps through ''The Lord of the Rings'', in turn mocking the prologue, the map, and the main text. The text combines slapstick humour with deliberately inappropriate use of brand names. Book Approach The parody closely follows the outline of ''The Lord of the Rings'', lampooning the prologue and map of Middle-earth; its main text is a short satirical summary of Tolkien's plot. The witty text combines slapstick humour and deliberately inappropriate use of brand names. For example, the carbonated beverages ''Moxie'' and ''Pepsi'' replace ''Merry'' and ''Pippin''. Tom Bombadil appears a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Beard
Henry Nichols Beard (born June 7, 1945) is an American humorist, one of the founders of the magazine '' National Lampoon'' and the author of several best-selling books. Life and career Beard, a great-grandson of 14th Vice President John C. Breckinridge, was born into a well-to-do family and grew up at the Westbury Hotel on East 69th Street in Manhattan. His relationship with his parents was cool, to judge by his quip "I never saw my mother up close." He attended the Taft School, where he was a leader at the humor magazine, and he decided to become a humor writer after reading ''Catch-22''. He then went to Harvard University (from which he graduated in 1967) and joined its humor magazine, the ''Harvard Lampoon'', which circulated nationally. Much of the credit for the Lampoon's success during the mid-1960s is given to Beard and Douglas Kenney, who was in the class a year after Beard's. In 1968, Beard and Kenney wrote the successful parody ''Bored of the Rings''. Henry and Ke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Lampoon (magazine)
''National Lampoon'' was an American humor magazine that ran from 1970 to 1998. The magazine started out as a Spin-off (media), spinoff from the ''Harvard Lampoon''. ''National Lampoon'' magazine reached its height of popularity and critical acclaim during the 1970s, when it had a far-reaching effect on American humor and comedy. The magazine spawned National Lampoon's Vacation (film series), films, The National Lampoon Radio Hour, radio, live theater, various sound recordings, and print products including books. Many members of the creative staff from the magazine subsequently went on to contribute creatively to successful media of all types. During the magazine's most successful years, parody of every kind was a mainstay; surrealist content was also central to its appeal. Almost all the issues included long text pieces, shorter written pieces, a section of actual news items (dubbed "True Facts"), cartoons and comic strips. Most issues also included "Foto Funnies" or Photonove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Kenney
Douglas Clark Francis Kenney (December 10, 1946 – August 27, 1980) was an American comedy writer of magazine, novels, radio, TV and film who co-founded the magazine National Lampoon (magazine), ''National Lampoon'' in 1970. Kenney edited the magazine and wrote much of its early material. He went on to write, produce and perform in the influential comedies ''Animal House'' and ''Caddyshack'' before his sudden death at the age of 33. Early life Douglas Clark Francis Kenney was born in West Palm Beach, Florida to Estelle "Stephanie" (Karch) and Daniel Harold "Harry" Kenney, both originally from Massachusetts. His paternal grandparents, Daniel J. Kenney and Eleanor Agnes (Noonan), were of Irish origin. His maternal grandparents, Anthony Karczewski and Victoria Lesniak, were Polish. He was named for General Douglas MacArthur. His family moved to Mentor, Ohio, in the early 1950s, before settling in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Kenney lived in Chagrin Falls from 1958 to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical hour-long legal or medical drama, but exhibit far fewer jokes-per-minute as in a typical half-hour sitcom. In the United States Examples from United States television include: ''M*A*S*H'', ''Moonlighting'', ''The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'', '' Northern Exposure'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''Sex and the City'', '' Desperate Housewives'' and '' Scrubs''. The term "dramedy" was coined to describe the late 1980s wave of shows, including ''The Wonder Years'', ''Hooperman'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'' and ''Frank's Place''. See also *List of comedy drama television series *Black comedy *Dramatic structure * Melodrama *Seriousness *Tragicomedy *Psychological drama References Comedy drama Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biographical Film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and historical drama films in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a single person's life story or at least the most historically important years of their lives. Context Biopic scholars include George F. Custen of the College of Staten Island and Dennis P. Bingham of Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. Custen, in ''Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History'' (1992), regards the genre as having died with the Hollywood studio era, and in particular, Darryl F. Zanuck. On the other hand, Bingham's 2010 study ''Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre'' shows how it perpetuates as a codified genre using many of the same tropes used in the studio era that has followed a simila ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
