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A Shock To The System (1990 Film)
''A Shock to the System'' is a 1990 American black comedy film directed by Jan Egleson and starring Michael Caine, Swoosie Kurtz, Elizabeth McGovern, and Peter Riegert. It is based on the 1984 novel ''A Shock to the System'' by British author Simon Brett. The film was released on March 23, 1990 and received generally positive reviews from critics. Plot Graham Marshall, a long-time executive in a large advertising company, is unexpectedly passed over for promotion in favor of his obnoxious younger rival Bob Benham. While he sympathizes with his friend George Brewster, whose dismissal in the midst of a corporate takeover created the open position, Marshall is angry and disappointed. His greedy, self-absorbed wife Leslie is devastated and continually reproaches her husband for his apparent lack of ambition and willpower. The night of the missed promotion, Graham is waiting for his train on the subway. An aggressive panhandler harasses him for being so rich and ungenerous. In a fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Klavan
Andrew Klavan (; born July 13, 1954) is an American writer of crime and suspense novels. Klavan has been nominated for the Edgar Award five times and has won twice. Klavan has also worked in film and as an essayist and video satirist. He is also known as a conservative commentator and hosts ''The Andrew Klavan Show'' podcast on the conservative site ''The Daily Wire'', a media company associated with political commentator Ben Shapiro. Biography Early life Klavan was born to a secular Jewish family in New York City and grew up in Great Neck, Long Island, one of four sons born to father Gene Klavan, a New York disc jockey, and mother Phyllis, a homemaker. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in English Literature. He worked as a radio and newspaper reporter and a radio news writer before becoming a full-time writer. Marriage and children In 1980, he married Ellen Flanagan, daughter of Thomas Flanagan and sister of Caitlin Flanagan. They have two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Begging
Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public places such as transport routes, urban parks, and markets. Besides money, they may also ask for food, drinks, cigarettes or other small items. Internet begging is the modern practice of asking people to give money to others via the Internet, rather than in person. Internet begging may encompass requests for help meeting basic needs such as medical care and shelter, as well as requests for people to pay for vacations, school trips, and other things that the beggar wants but cannot comfortably afford. Beggars differ from religious mendicants in that some mendicants do not ask for money. Their subsistence is reciprocated by providing society with various forms of religious service, moral education, and preservation of culture. History Beggars ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times'' called him "the best-known film critic in America." Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing voice and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. While a populist, Ebert frequently endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, which often resulted in such film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc Doyle, and Julie Doyle Roberts in 1999. The site provides an excerpt from each review and hyperlinks to its source. A color of green, yellow or red summarizes the critics' recommendations. It is regarded as the foremost online review aggregation site for the video game industry. Metacritic's scoring converts each review into a percentage, either mathematically from the mark given, or what the site decides subjectively from a qualitative review. Before being averaged, the scores are weighted according to a critic's popularity, stature, and volume of reviews. The website won two Webby Awards for excellence as an aggregation website. Criticism of the site has focused on the assessment system, the ass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang. Although the name "Rotten Tomatoes" connects to the practice of audiences throwing rotten tomatoes in disapproval of a poor stage performance, the original inspiration comes from a scene featuring tomatoes in the Canadian film ''Léolo'' (1992). Since January 2010, Rotten Tomatoes has been owned by Flixster, which was in turn acquired by Warner Bros in 2011. In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes and its parent site Flixster were sold to Comcast's Fandango. Warner Bros. retained a minority stake in the merged entities, including Fandango. History Rotten Tomatoes was launched on August 12, 1998, as a spare-time project by Senh Duong. His objective in creating Rotten Tomatoes was "to create a site where people can get access to reviews from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Montauk
Lake Montauk is a 900-acre (360 ha) artificial embayment in Montauk, New York that is home to the largest commercial and sporting fish fleets in the state of New York. History The lake was originally referred to on maps as Lake Wyandanch and commonly referred to as the "Great Lake". It was the largest body of freshwater on Long Island, more than double the size of Lake Ronkonkoma. In 1927, real estate developer Carl Fisher blasted a gap on the northern shoreline to connect the lake to Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Fisher intended to develop the new port of Montauk into the "Miami Beach of the North." On Star Island, a small island in the lake, he built the Montauk Yacht Club and Star Island Casino. His other projects included the hotel Montauk Manor, Montauk Playhouse, the golf course Montauk Downs, and the six-story Montauk tower. Fisher renamed the lake Lake Montauk. After Fisher opened and dredged the lake, the lake replaced Fort Pond Bay as Montauk's main p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem, Hudson and New Haven Lines, serving the northern parts of the New York metropolitan area. It also contains a connection to the New York City Subway at Grand Central–42nd Street station. The terminal is the second-busiest train station in North America, after New York Penn Station. The distinctive architecture and interior design of Grand Central Terminal's station house have earned it several landmark designations, including as a National Historic Landmark. Its Beaux-Arts design incorporates numerous works of art. Grand Central Terminal is one of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions, with 21.6 million visitors in 2018, excluding train and subway passengers. The terminal's Main Conco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the List of United States cities by population density, most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York (state), New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous Megacity, megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global city, global Culture of New ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel L
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him the third highest-grossing actor of all time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave him an Academy Honorary Award in 2022 as "A cultural icon whose dynamic work has resonated across genres and generations and audiences worldwide". Jackson started his career on stage making his professional theatre debut in ''Mother Courage and her Children'' in 1980 at The Public Theatre. From 1981 to 1983 he originated the role of Private Louis Henderson in '' A Soldier's Story'' Off-Broadway. He also originated the role of Boy Willie in August Wilson's ''The Piano Lesson'' in 1987 at the Yale Repertory Theatre. He returned to the play in the 2022 Broadway revival playing Doaker Charles. Jackson early film roles include ''Coming to Americ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haviland Morris
Haviland Morris (born September 14, 1959) is an American film, television, and Broadway actress, who currently works in real estate. Early life Morris was born in Loch Arbour, New Jersey and spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong and Singapore. Her father worked in the electronics industry. Morris studied acting at Purchase College, where she graduated in 1982. She was also a classmate of Stanley Tucci. Career Haviland Morris is most famous for her role as Caroline Mulford in ''Sixteen Candles''. She was also in Madonna's ''Who's That Girl'' (1987) and '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990). Morris played Karen Pruitt in ''Home Alone 3'' in 1997 and Dr. Claire Baxter on ''One Life to Live'' from 2001–2003. She provided the voice for Michelle Payne in the popular video game ''Max Payne''. She has appeared in three ''Law & Order'' series (''Law & Order'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''), as well as ''Sex and the City'' and other sh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Finn
John Joseph Finn (born September 30, 1952) is an American character actor known as one of the leads of the television programs ''Cold Case'' and ''EZ Streets''. Finn has also had supporting roles in the films '' The Hunted'' (2003), ''Analyze That'' (2002), ''Catch Me If You Can'' (2002), ''True Crime'' (1999), ''Turbulence'' (1997), '' Blown Away'' (1994), ''The Pelican Brief'' (1993), and '' Glory'' (1989). TV series that Finn has had recurring roles on include ''Dawson's Creek'', ''The Practice'', ''The X-Files'', '' Strange World'', ''NYPD Blue'' (he also appeared two other times on ''Blue'' as different characters), ''Chicago Hope'', and eight episodes of ''Brooklyn South''. Early life Born to an Irish-American family in The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Baxley
Barbara Angie Rose Baxley (January 1, 1923 – June 7, 1990) was an American actress and singer. Early life Barbara Baxley was born on January 1, 1923, in Porterville, California, the daughter of Emma (née Tyler) and Bert Baxley and sister to Helen Baxley. She acted for six years in productions of schools and Little Theaters before she had her first professional role. Career A life member of the Actors Studio, Baxley also studied acting under the tutelage of Sanford Meisner at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City. Her first film was '' East of Eden'', where she portrayed Adam Trask's obnoxious nurse at the end of the film. In 1961, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress (Dramatic) for her performance in the Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's comedy ''Period of Adjustment''. She appeared in Chekhov's '' The Three Sisters'' and Neil Simon's ''Plaza Suite'' as well as the 1960s Broadway musical ''She Loves Me'', whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
