Alfonso Arau
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Alfonso Arau
Alfonso Arau Incháustegui (born 11 January 1932) is a Mexican filmmaker, actor, and singer. He worked as an actor and director in both Mexican and Hollywood productions for over 40 years, before his international breakthrough with the 1992 film ''Like Water for Chocolate'', based on his wife Laura Esquivel's novel of the same name. His other films include '' A Walk in the Clouds'' (1995), ''Picking Up the Pieces'' (2000), ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (2002), and '' Zapata: El sueño del héroe'' (2004). He is a five-time Ariel Award winner, including Best Director for ''Like Water for Chocolate'', and a BAFTA nominee. Life and career The son of a physician, Arau was born in Mexico City. He directed the films '' Zapata: The Dream of a Hero'', '' Like Water for Chocolate'' (adapted from the novel written by his ex-wife Laura Esquivel), '' A Walk in the Clouds'' with Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn, and the ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'' production ''A Painted House'' (adapted f ...
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Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Mexico within the high Mexican central plateau, at an altitude of . The city has 16 boroughs or ''demarcaciones territoriales'', which are in turn divided into neighborhoods or ''colonias''. The 2020 population for the city proper was 9,209,944, with a land area of . According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the population of Greater Mexico City is 21,804,515, which makes it the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the world, the second-largest urban agglomeration in the Western Hemisphere (behind São Paulo, Brazil), and the largest Spanish language, Spanish-speaking city (city proper) in the world. Greater Mexico City has a gross domestic product, GDP of $411 billion in 2011, which makes ...
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Keanu Reeves
Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). He had his breakthrough role in the science fiction comedy ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989), and he reprised his role in its sequels. He gained praise for playing a hustler in the independent drama ''My Own Private Idaho'' (1991) and established himself as an action hero with leading roles in ''Point Break'' (1991) and ''Speed'' (1994). Following several box office failures, Reeves's performance in the horror film '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1997) was well received. Greater stardom came for playing Neo in the science fiction series ''The Matrix'', beginning in 1999. He played John Constantine in ''Constantine'' (2005) and starred in the romantic drama '' The Lake House'' (2006), the science fiction thriller ''The Day the Earth ...
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Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AFI Life Achievement Award. The elder son of Kirk Douglas and Diana Dill, Douglas received his Bachelor of Arts in drama from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His early acting roles included film, stage, and television productions. Douglas first achieved prominence for his performance in the ABC police procedural television series ''The Streets of San Francisco'', for which he received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations. In 1975, Douglas produced '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'', having acquired the rights to the Ken Kesey novel from his father. The film received critical and popular acclaim, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, earning Douglas his first Oscar as one of the film's producers. After leaving ''Th ...
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Romancing The Stone
''Romancing the Stone'' is a 1984 action-adventure romantic comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The film follows a romance novelist who must venture beyond her New York City comfort zone to Colombia in order to save her sister from criminals who are holding her for ransom as they search for a priceless treasure. Thomas wrote the screenplay in 1979, as the only one in her lifetime. Zemeckis, who at the time was developing '' Cocoon'', liked Thomas's screenplay and offered to direct but 20th Century Fox initially declined, citing the commercial failure of his first two films ''I Wanna Hold Your Hand'' and ''Used Cars''. Zemeckis was eventually dismissed from ''Cocoon'' after an early screening of ''Romancing the Stone'' failed to further impress studio executives. Alan Silvestri, who would collaborate with Zemeckis on his later films, compos ...
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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 not a box-office success at the time, it has since developed cult film status due to its dark, cynical humor and ...
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Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the show. As both a performer and a writer, he earned three Primetime Emmy Awards out of five nominations and two Golden Globe Award nominations. Chase's early roles include the romantic comedies '' Foul Play'' (1978) and '' Seems Like Old Times'' (1980) opposite Goldie Hawn. He portrayed Clark W. Griswold in five ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' films including ''Vacation'' (1983), ''European Vacation'' (1985), ''Christmas Vacation'' (1989), and ''Vegas Vacation'' (1997). He also played Irwin "Fletch" Fletcher in '' Fletch'' (1985) and its sequel ''Fletch Lives'' (1989). He also starred in ''Caddyshack'' (1980), ''Spies Like Us'' (1985), '' Three Amigos!'' (1986), and ''Hot Tub Time Machine'' (2010). He has hosted the Academy Awards twice ( 19 ...
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Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He has won five Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2013. Additionally, he was nominated for two Tony Awards for his musical '' Bright Star'' in 2016. Among many honors, he has received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center Honors, and an AFI Life Achievement Award. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Martin at sixth place in a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics. ''The Guardian'' named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination. Martin came to public notice in the 1960s as a writer for ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1969, and later as a frequent host on ''Saturday Night Live''. In the 1970s, Martin performed his offbeat, absurdist comedy routines before sold-out theaters on national tours. Since the 1980s, having ret ...
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Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is known for his work on the television programs '' SCTV'' and ''Saturday Night Live''. Short created the characters Jiminy Glick and Ed Grimley. He also acted in the sitcom ''Mulaney'' (2014–2015), the variety series ''Maya & Marty'' (2016), and '' The Morning Show'' (2019). He has also had an active career on stage, starring in Broadway productions including Neil Simon's musicals ''The Goodbye Girl'' (1993) and '' Little Me'' (1998–1999). The latter earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the former a nomination in the same category. He has starred in comedy films such as ''Three Amigos'' (1986), ''Innerspace'' (1987), ''Three Fugitives'' (1989), ''Captain Ron'' (1992), '' Clifford'' (1994), ''Mars Attacks!'' (1996), ...
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Three Amigos
''Three Amigos'' (stylized as ''¡Three Amigos!'') is a 1986 American Western comedy film directed by John Landis, written by Lorne Michaels, Steve Martin, and Randy Newman (who also wrote the film's songs), and starring Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, Martin Short, Alfonso Arau, Tony Plana, and Patrice Martinez. It is the story of three silent film stars who are mistaken for real heroes by the suffering people of a small Mexican village. The actors must find a way to live up to their reputation and stop a malevolent bandit. Plot In 1916, the bandit El Guapo and his gang collect protection money from the Mexican village of Santo Poco. Carmen, daughter of the village leader, searches for someone who can rescue her townspeople. Visiting a village church, she sees a silent film featuring The Three Amigos, a trio of gunfighters who protect the vulnerable from villains. Believing them to be real heroes, Carmen sends a telegram asking them to come and stop El Guapo. Lucky Day, Dusty Botto ...
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The Wild Bunch
''The Wild Bunch'' is a 1969 American epic Revisionist Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Ben Johnson and Warren Oates. The plot concerns an aging outlaw gang on the Mexico–United States border trying to adapt to the changing modern world of 1913. The film was controversial because of its graphic violence and its portrayal of crude men attempting to survive by any available means. The screenplay was co-written by Peckinpah, Walon Green, and Roy N. Sickner. ''The Wild Bunch'' was filmed in Technicolor and Panavision, in Mexico, notably at the Hacienda Ciénaga del Carmen, deep in the desert between Torreón and Saltillo, Coahuila, and on the Rio Nazas. ''The Wild Bunch'' is noted for intricate, multi-angle, quick-cut editing using normal and slow motion images, a revolutionary cinema technique in 1969. The writing of Green, Peckinpah, and Sickner was nominated for a best screenplay Oscar, and the ...
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Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic ''The Wild Bunch'' received an Academy Award nomination and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Institute's top 100 list. His films employed a visually innovative and explicit depiction of action and violence as well as a revisionist approach to the Western genre. Peckinpah's films deal with the conflict between values and ideals, as well as the corruption and violence in human society. His characters are often loners or losers who desire to be honorable but are forced to compromise in order to survive in a world of nihilism and brutality. He was given the nickname "Bloody Sam" owing to the violence in his films. Peckinpah's combative personality, marked by years of alcohol and drug abuse, affected his professional legacy. The production of many of his films included battles with producers and crew members, damaging his reputation and caree ...
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John Grisham
John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 28 consecutive number-one fiction bestsellers, and his books have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Along with Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling, Grisham is one of only three authors to have sold two million copies on a first printing. Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practised criminal law for about a decade and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990. Grisham's first novel, '' A Time to Kill,'' was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. Grisham's first bestseller, '' The Firm'', sold more than seven million copies. The book was adap ...
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