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A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 Film)
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a 1999 romantic comedy fantasy film based on the play of the same name by William Shakespeare. It was written, directed and co-produced by Michael Hoffman. The ensemble cast features Kevin Kline as Bottom, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Everett as Titania and Oberon, Stanley Tucci as Puck, and Calista Flockhart, Anna Friel, Christian Bale, and Dominic West as the four lovers. Plot In 1890s Monte Athena, in the Kingdom of Italy, young lovers Lysander and Hermia are forbidden to marry by her father Egeus, who has promised Hermia to Demetrius. Lysander and Hermia make plans to flee to the forest to escape the arrangement. Demetrius follows them, having been made aware of the plan by Helena, a young woman who is desperately in love with him. Once in the forest, they wander into the fairy world, ruled by Oberon and Titania, King and Queen of the fairies. Oberon and his servant sprite Puck cause mayhem among the lovers with a magic potion that causes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Hoffman (American Director)
Michael Lynn Hoffman (born November 30, 1956) is an American film director. Early life and education Hoffman was born in Hawaii: the son of Dorothy (Harper) and Glenn R. Hoffman, who was stationed in the navy in Hawaii at the time. He grew up in Payette, Idaho, played basketball, and attended college at Boise State University. There he was elected as student body president of BSU. He was a cofounder of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival (along with Doug Copsey and Victoria Holloway) which is celebrating its 30-year anniversary this year. While at BSU, he served as president of the student body and earned the high honor of Rhodes Scholar in 1979, the first BSU alumnus to achieve this honor. While studying Renaissance literature at Oriel College, Oxford, he extended his interest in drama by founding the Oxford University Film Foundation and by making a student film '' Privileged'', which starred a young Hugh Grant. Career Befriended by John Schlesinger, who provided the funding, Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Friel
Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera ''Brookside'' (1993–1995), and came to international prominence when she played Charlotte "Chuck" Charles on ABC's ''Pushing Daisies'' (2007–2009). She is the recipient of several accolades, including an International Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award, a National Television Award, an RTS Award, and an honorary degree, as well as nominations for BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Satellite Award, Saturn Award, Genie Award and Czech Lion Award. Friel made her film debut in ''The Land Girls'' (1998). She has since appeared in various features, such as ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', ''Rogue Trader'' (both 1999), ''Sunset Strip'' (2000), '' Me Without You'' (2001), ''Timeline'' (2003), '' Goal!'' (2005) and its sequel (2007), '' Bathory'' (2008), ''Land of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Jbara
Gregory Jbara (; born September 28, 1961) is an American film, television, and stage actor, and a singer. Early life and education Jbara was born in Nankin Township (now Westland), Michigan, the son of an advertising office manager and an insurance claims adjuster. He is of Lebanese and Irish descent. After graduating from Wayne Memorial High School in Wayne, Michigan, Jbara attended the University of Michigan from 1979 to 1981. He majored in Communication Studies and took classes in Theatre and Musical Theatre. He left Michigan to attend the Juilliard School's drama division (1982–1986, ''Group 15''), where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Both of Jbara's brothers also have careers in the entertainment industry. Mike, formerly President and CEO, WEA Corp., was named President of Alternative Distribution Alliance worldwide in June 2013. Brother Dan has made his career primarily as a reality show producer. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Snout
Tom Snout is a character in William Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He is a tinker, and one of the " mechanicals" of Athens, amateur players in ''Pyramus and Thisbe'', a play within the play. In the play-within-a-play, Tom Snout plays the wall which separates Pyramus' and Thisbe's gardens. In ''Pyramus and Thisbe'', the two lovers whisper to each other through Snout's fingers (representing a gap in the wall). Snout has eight lines under the name of Tom Snout, and two lines as ''The Wall''. He is the Wall for Act V-Scene 1. Tom Snout was originally set to play Pyramus's father, but the need for a wall was greater, so he discharged ''The Wall''. Snout is often portrayed as a reluctant actor and very frightened, but the other mechanicals (except Nick Bottom and Peter Quince) are usually much more frightened than Tom Snout). Snout's name, like that of the other mechanicals, is a metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Irwin
William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. He has made a number of appearances on film and television, and he won a Tony Award for his role in ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' on Broadway. He is also known as Mr. Noodle on the ''Sesame Street'' segment '' Elmo's World'', has appeared in the ''Sesame Street'' film short ''Does Air Move Things?'', regularly appeared as a therapist on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and had a recurring role as "The Dick & Jane Killer" on ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''. From 2017 to 2019, he appeared as Cary Loudermilk on the FX television series ''Legion''. Early life Irwin was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Elizabeth (née Mills), a teacher, and Horace G. Irwin, an aerospace engineer. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1974 and atte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robin Starveling
Robin Starveling is a character in William Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1596), one of the Rude Mechanicals of Athens who plays the part of Moonshine in their performance of ''Pyramus and Thisbe''. His part is often considered one of the more humorous in the play, as he uses a lantern in a failed attempt to portray Moonshine and is wittily derided by his audience. Role in the play In ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is preparing to marry Hippolyta. Peter Quince decides to entertain her and hires a group of actors nicknamed the Rude Mechanicals to perform ''Pyramus and Thisbe'', a love story. Robin is one of the Rude Mechanicals, the tailor, who gathers with his colleagues to prepare their production. Robin at first is told to play the part of Thisbe's mother, but Peter Quince points out that a love story needs moonlight shining on the lovers to have any real effect on the audience. After Nick Bottom suggests looking in the almanac for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Wright
George Edward Maxwell Wright (August 2, 1943 – June 26, 2019) was an American actor, known for his role as Willie Tanner on the sitcom '' ALF'' (1986–1990). Early life Wright was born August 2, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan. He moved to the suburb of Southfield as a child, graduating from Southfield Senior High School in 1961. While a student at Southfield, he was very active in the theatre program and had leads in two different musical productions. Career Film and television Wright made supporting appearances on television shows such as ''WKRP in Cincinnati,'' and was a regular cast member on ''Misfits of Science'', ''AfterMASH'', '' Buffalo Bill'', and ''The Norm Show'', and the made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King's ''The Stand''. He appeared in the first and second seasons of the sitcom '' Friends'' as Terry, the manager of Central Perk. He played Günter Wendt in the 1998 HBO miniseries ''From the Earth to the Moon'' and Dr. Josef Mengele in '' Playing for Tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Francis Flute
Francis Flute is a character in William Shakespeare's '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. His occupation is a bellows-mender. He is forced to play the female role of Thisbe in "Pyramus and Thisbe", a play-within-the-play which is performed for Theseus' marriage celebration. In the play Flute (Thisbe) speaks through the wall (played by Tom Snout) to Pyramus (Nick Bottom). Flute is a young, excited actor who is disappointed when he finds he is meant to play a woman (Thisbe) in their interlude before the duke and the duchess. He generally is portrayed using a falsetto voice. He is an unsure actor who asks many questions. Flute is often portrayed as the lowest in status of the Mechanicals, but his performance at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta arguably wins them favour at the court of the duke and duchess. Flute's name, like that of the other mechanicals, is metonymical and derives from his craft: "Flute" references a church organ, an instrument prominently featuring the bellows ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Rockwell
Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (1997), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), ''Galaxy Quest'' (1999), '' Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'' (2002), ''Matchstick Men'' (2003), ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (2005), ''Moon'' (2009), '' Frost/Nixon'' (2008), ''Iron Man 2'' (2010), ''Conviction'' (2010), ''Cowboys & Aliens'' (2011), ''Seven Psychopaths'' (2012), ''The Way, Way Back'' (2013), '' Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017), ''Vice'' (2018), ''Jojo Rabbit'' (2019), ''Richard Jewell'' (2019), and '' The Best of Enemies'' (2019). Rockwell won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Martin McDonagh's ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). and was nominated the following year for portraying George W. Bush in Adam McKay's ''Vice'' (2018). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Quince
Peter Quince is a character in William Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He is one of the six mechanicals of Athens who perform the play which Quince himself authored, "The Most Lamentable Comedy and Most Cruel Death of Pyramus and Thisbe" for the Duke Theseus and his wife Hippolyta at their wedding. Titania's Fairies also watch from a distance: Moth, Peaseblossom, Cobweb and Mustardseed. His name is derived from "quines" or "quoins", which are interlocked oversized corner blocks used by masons to add extra strength at corners and edges of stone walls. Characterization Quince's amateurish playwriting is usually taken to be a parody of the popular mystery plays of the pre-Elizabethan era, which were also produced by craftspeople. His metrical preferences refer to vernacular ballads. Despite Quince's obvious shortcomings as a writer, Stanley Wells argues that he partly resembles Shakespeare himself. Both are from a craftsmanly background, both work quickly and both take se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Rees
Roger Rees (5 May 1944 – 10 July 2015) was a Welsh actor and director, widely known for his stage work. He won an Olivier Award and a Tony Award for his performance as the lead in ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby''. He also received Obie Awards for his role in ''The End of the Day'' and as co-director of ''Peter and the Starcatcher''. Rees was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in November 2015. He was widely known to American television audiences for playing the characters Robin Colcord in ''Cheers'' and Lord John Marbury in ''The West Wing''. Americans also know him as the Sheriff of Rottingham in Mel Brooks' '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights''. Early life Rees was born in Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, Wales, the son of Doris Louise (née Smith), a shop clerk, and William John Rees, a police officer. He and his parents moved to Balham, London, where he grew up. He studied art at the Camberwell College of Arts and the Slade School of Fine Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Bottom
Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' who provides comic relief throughout the play. A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck. Bottom and Puck are the only two characters who converse with and progress the three central stories in the whole play. Puck is first introduced in the fairies' story and creates the drama of the lovers' story by messing up who loves whom, and places the donkey head on Bottom's in his story. Similarly, Bottom is performing in a play in his story intending it to be presented in the lovers' story, as well as interacting with Titania in the fairie's story. Overview While they are in the woods rehearsing a play for the Duke, the fairy Puck, a mischievous sprite and minion of Oberon, king of the fairies, happens upon their rehearsal. He decides to have some fun with them, carrying out part of Oberon's orders in the process, and when Bottom exi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
