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Alex Funke
Alex Funke (born October 12, 1944 in Santa Barbara, California) is a special effects photographer. Career He worked with Charles and Ray Eames for eleven years, a period he deemed important to his career success. His first Oscar was a shared one for '' Total Recall''. Funke became noted as an expert on miniatures and was brought to New Zealand for work on ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy. At the 75th and 76th Academy Awards, he won Best Visual Effects for his work on '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'' and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'', respectively. He shared both wins with Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri and Randall William Cook. Selected filmography * 1977 – Powers of Ten * 1978 – Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series) * 1979 – Buck Rogers * 1981 – Heavy Metal * 1988 – The Blob * 1989 – The Abyss * 1990 – Total Recall - Shared an Academy Special Achievement Award for this. * 1991 – Grand Canyon * 1992 – Freejack * 1992 – T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Santa Barbara's climate is often described as Mediterranean climate, Mediterranean, and the city has been dubbed "The American Riviera". According to the 2020 United States census, U.S. Census, the city's population was 88,665. In addition to being a popular tourist and resort destination, the city has a diverse economy that includes a large service sector, education, technology, health care, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, and local government. In 2004, the service sector accounted for 35% of local employment. Education in particular is well represented, with four institutions of higher learning nearby: the University of Calif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Abyss
''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery team works with an oil platform crew, racing against Soviet vessels to recover the boat. Deep in the ocean, they encounter something unexpected. The film was released on August 9, 1989, receiving generally positive reviews and grossed $89.8 million. It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for three more Academy Awards. Plot In January 1994, the U.S. USS ''Montana'' has an encounter with an unidentified submerged object and sinks near the Cayman Trough. With Soviet ships moving in to try to salvage the sub and a tropical cyclone, hurricane moving over the area, the U.S. government sends a United States Navy SEALs, SEAL team to ''Deep Core'', a privately owned experimental underwater drilling platform near the Cayman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fellowship Of The Ring
''The Fellowship of the Ring'' is the first of three volumes of the epic novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by '' The Two Towers'' and '' The Return of the King''. It takes place in the fictional universe of Middle-earth. It was originally published on 29 July 1954 in the United Kingdom. The volume consists of a foreword, in which the author discusses his writing of ''The Lord of the Rings'', a prologue titled "Concerning Hobbits, and other matters", and the main narrative in Book I and Book II. Title and publication Tolkien envisioned ''The Lord of the Rings'' as a single volume work divided into six sections he called "books" along with extensive appendices. The original publisher decided to split the work into three parts. It was also the publisher's decision to place the fifth and sixth books and the appendices into one volume under the title '' The Return of the King'', about Aragorn's assumption of the throne of Gon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Men
''Mystery Men'' is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher (in his feature-length directorial debut) and written by Neil Cuthbert, loosely based on Bob Burden's ''Flaming Carrot Comics'', and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Greg Kinnear, Janeane Garofalo, Paul Reubens, Kel Mitchell, Wes Studi, Geoffrey Rush, Lena Olin, Eddie Izzard, Claire Forlani, and Tom Waits. The film details the story of a team of lesser superheroes with unimpressive powers who are required to save the day. ''Mystery Men'' received generally positive reviews from critics, but was a box-office bomb, only making a little over $33 million worldwide against a $68 million budget. Plot In Champion City, the amateur superhero team of Mr. Furious, the Shoveler and the Blue Raja attempt to make a name for themselves, but their inexperience, infighting, and dubious abilities generally result in defeat and frustration. While trying to stop a robbery in progress, they are upsta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mighty Joe Young (1998 Film)
''Mighty Joe Young'' is a 1998 American epic adventure film based on the 1949 film of the same name about a giant mountain gorilla brought to a wildlife preserve in Los Angeles by a young woman who raised him, and a zoologist, to protect him from the threat of poachers until one seeks Joe out in order to take his revenge. It was directed by Ron Underwood and stars Bill Paxton, Charlize Theron, and creature suit actor John Alexander as the title character. In this version, the ape is much larger than in the original. The film received mixed reviews and grossed $50.6 million in the United States against a production budget of $90 million. Plot As a child, Jill Young witnesses the death of her mother, primatologist Ruth Young, and the mother of Joe, an infant mountain gorilla, at the hands of poachers led by Andrei Strasser, who loses his right thumb and trigger finger to Joe, swearing revenge. Twelve years later, Jill has raised Joe, now grown to a height of tall a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake Eyes (1998 Film)
''Snake Eyes'' is a 1998 American mystery suspense-thriller film directed and produced by Brian De Palma. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a detective investigating a political assassination at a boxing match in Atlantic City, with supporting roles played by Gary Sinise, Carla Gugino, John Heard, Stan Shaw, Kevin Dunn, Joel Fabiani and Luis Guzmán. De Palma also co-wrote the story with David Koepp, who wrote the screenplay. The musical score was composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The film was released and produced by Paramount Pictures, Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures on August 7, 1998. The film garnered mixed reviews from critics, criticizing the film's story, writing and pacing while praising its style and the performances. It grossed $104 million worldwide against a $73 million budget. Plot On a dark and stormy night, corrupt, flamboyant Atlantic City police detective Rick Santoro attends a boxing match at Atlantic City Arena between heavyweight champion Lincoln ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Starship Troopers (film)
''Starship Troopers'' is a 1997 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. The film is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein and was written by Ed Neumeier. Set in the 23rd century, the film follows the story of teenager Johnny Rico and his friends as they serve in the military under the Earth world government, known as the United Citizen Federation. As humanity explores and colonizes outer space, they come into conflict with an alien species known as the Arachnids, leading to an interstellar war. The film stars Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, and Michael Ironside. Development of ''Starship Troopers'' began in 1991 as a separate project called ''Bug Hunt at Outpost 7'', written by Neumeier. Producer Jon Davison noticed many similarities between Neumeier's work and Heinlein's book and asked him to re-work the script to more closely follow the novel and gain more inter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beyond Cyberspace
Beyond may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Beyond'' (1921 film), an American silent film * ''Beyond'' (2000 film), a Danish film directed by Åke Sandgren, OT: ''Dykkerne'' * ''Beyond'' (2010 film), a Swedish film directed by Pernilla August, OT: ''Svinalängorna'' * ''Beyond'' (2012 film), an American thriller directed by Josef Rusnak * ''Beyond'' (2014 film), a British science fiction film * "Beyond" (''The Animatrix''), a segment of the short-film collection ''The Animatrix'' *'' Star Trek Beyond'', a 2016 American science fiction film in the ''Star Trek'' film franchise Games *Beyond Games, a U.S. video game developer founded in 1992 *Beyond Software, a 1980s UK video game developer *'' Beyond: Two Souls'', a video game for the PlayStation 3, developed by Quantic Dream *''Beyond the Supernatural'', a 1980s role-playing game *Stormfront Studios, a U.S. video game developer originally named Beyond Software 1988–1991 Literature * ''Beyond'' (book), a 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Executive Decision
''Executive Decision'' is a 1996 American action film directed by Stuart Baird in his directorial debut. The film stars Kurt Russell, Steven Seagal, Halle Berry, John Leguizamo, Oliver Platt, Joe Morton, David Suchet, and B.D. Wong. It depicts the rescue of an airliner hijacked by terrorists, by a small team placed on the plane in mid-flight. The film was released in the United States on March 15, 1996 and grossed $122 million against a $55 million budget. Plot Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis leads an unsuccessful Special Forces black ops raid on a Chechen mafia safe house in Trieste, Italy, to recover a stolen Soviet nerve agent, DZ-5. Three months later, Oceanic Airlines Flight 343, a Boeing 747-200, leaves Athens bound for Washington, D.C., with over 400 passengers aboard including Nagi Hassan, lieutenant of the imprisoned terrorist leader El Sayed Jaffa. Hassan and his men hijack the flight, demanding Jaffa's release. Meanwhile, just moments before the hijacking, a suic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waterworld
''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charles Gordon and John Davis. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. The setting of the film is in the distant future. The polar ice cap has completely melted, and the sea level has risen over , covering nearly all of the land. The plot of the film centers on an otherwise nameless antihero, "The Mariner", a drifter who sails the Earth in his trimaran. The most expensive film ever made at the time, ''Waterworld'' was released to mixed reviews from critics, who praised the futuristic setting and premise, but criticized the execution including the characterization and acting performances. The film also was unable to recoup its massive budget at the box office despite being one of the highest grossing films of 1995; however, the film did lat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Indian In The Cupboard (film)
''The Indian in the Cupboard'' is a 1995 American family fantasy film directed by Frank Oz and written by Melissa Mathison, based on the 1980 children's book of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. The story revolves around a boy who receives a cupboard as a gift on his ninth birthday. He later discovers that putting toy figures in the cupboard, after locking and unlocking it, brings the toys to life. The film stars Hal Scardino as Omri, Litefoot as Little Bear, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Jenkins, Rishi Bhat as Omri's friend Patrick, Steve Coogan as Tommy Atkins, and David Keith as Boone the Cowboy. Plot On his ninth birthday, Omri receives an old cupboard from his brother and a toy Native American from his best friend Patrick. Omri gets a special key from his mom, which she got from her grandmother, and locks the toy in the cupboard. The next morning, he hears a small tapping noise coming from the cupboard, and finds that the toy has magically come to life. Frightened by Omri's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lawnmower Man (film)
''The Lawnmower Man'' is a 1992 science fiction horror film directed by Brett Leonard, written by Leonard and Gimel Everett, and starring Jeff Fahey as Jobe Smith, an intellectually disabled gardener, and Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Lawrence "Larry" Angelo, a scientist who decides to experiment on him in an effort to give him greater intelligence. The experiments give Jobe superhuman abilities, but also increase his aggression, turning him into a man obsessed with evolving into a digital being. This film is adapted from the merging of a 1975 short story by Stephen King with an original screenplay entitled "CyberGod." While King's story focused on the titular character, a demon-possessed devil-worshipper who strips naked and eats grass like a goat, who can control his lawnmower with mystical powers, the film has the same character controlling the lawnmower by means of the untapped potential of the human brain, which has been stimulated by advanced, but unethical scientific experiementa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
