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Contact (1997 American Film)
''Contact'' is a 1997 American science fiction drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 novel by Carl Sagan. Sagan and his wife Ann Druyan wrote the story outline for the film. It stars Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, a SETI scientist who finds evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact. It also stars Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, Tom Skerritt, William Fichtner, John Hurt, Angela Bassett, Rob Lowe, Jake Busey, and David Morse. It features the Very Large Array in New Mexico, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the ''Mir'' space station, and the Space Coast surrounding Cape Canaveral. Sagan and Druyan began working on ''Contact'' in 1979. They wrote a film treatment over 100 pages long and set up the project at Warner Bros. with Peter Guber and Lynda Obst as producers. When development stalled, Sagan published ''Contact'' as a novel in 1985, and the film reentered development in 1989. Roland Joffé and George ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Zemeckis
Robert Lee Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an American filmmaker. He first came to public attention as the director of the action-adventure romantic comedy ''Romancing the Stone'' (1984), the science-fiction comedy ''Back to the Future'' film trilogy (1985–1990), and the live-action/animated comedy ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' (1988). He subsequently directed the satirical black comedy ''Death Becomes Her'' (1992) and then diversified into more dramatic fare, including ''Forrest Gump'' (1994), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director and the film won Best Picture. He has directed films across a wide variety of genres, for both adults and families. Zemeckis is regarded as an innovator in visual effects. His exploration of state-of-the-art special effects includes the early use of insertion of computer graphics into live-action footage in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) and ''Forrest Gump'', the insertion of hand-drawn animation into live-action footage in ''Who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Founded in 1923 by four brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack Warner, the company established itself as a leader in the American film industry before diversifying into animation, television, and video games and is one of the "Big Five" major American film studios, as well as a member of the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The company is known for its film studio division the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, the Warner Animation Group, Castle Rock Entertainment, and DC Studios. Among its other assets, stands the television production company Warner Bros. Television Studios. Bugs Bunny, a cartoon character created by Tex Avery, Ben Hardaway, Chuck Jones, Bob Givens and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arecibo Observatory
The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and formerly known as the Arecibo Ionosphere Observatory, is an observatory in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The observatory's main instrument was the Arecibo Telescope, a spherical reflector dish built into a natural sinkhole, with a cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals mounted above the dish. Completed in 1963, it was the world's largest single-aperture telescope for 53 years, surpassed in July 2016 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China. Following two breaks in cables supporting the receiver platform in mid-2020, the NSF decommissioned the telescope. A partial collapse of the telescope occurred on December 1, 2020, before controlled demolition could be conducted. In 2022, the NSF announced the telescope will not be rebuilt, with an educational fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Very Large Array
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, ~ west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twenty-eight 25-meter radio telescopes (twenty-seven of which are operational while one is always rotating through maintenance) deployed in a Y-shaped array and all the equipment, instrumentation, and computing power to function as an interferometer. Each of the massive telescopes is mounted on double parallel railroad tracks, so the radius and density of the array can be transformed to adjust the balance between its angular resolution and its surface brightness sensitivity. Astronomers using the VLA have made key observations of black holes and protoplanetary disks around young stars, discovered magnetic filaments and traced complex gas motions at the Milky Way's center, probed the Universe's cosmological parameters, and provided new knowled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Morse (actor)
David Bowditch Morse (born October 11, 1953) is an American actor, singer, television director, and writer. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison in the medical drama series '' St. Elsewhere'' (1982–88). His film career has included roles in ''The Negotiator'', ''Contact'', '' The Green Mile'', ''Dancer in the Dark'', '' Disturbia'', ''The Long Kiss Goodnight'', '' The Rock'' and ''12 Monkeys''. In 2006, Morse had a recurring role as Detective Michael Tritter on the medical drama series ''House'', for which he received an Emmy Award nomination. He portrayed George Washington in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Adams'', which garnered him a second Emmy nomination. He received acclaim for his portrayal of Uncle Peck on the Off-Broadway play ''How I Learned to Drive'', earning a Drama Desk Award and Obie Award. He has had success on Broadway, portraying James "Sharky" Harkin in '' The Seafarer''. From 2010 to 2013, he portrayed Terry Colson, an honest p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake Busey
William Jacob Busey is an American actor. Among his most prominent roles have been serial killer Johnny Bartlett in 1996's ''The Frighteners'', Ace Levy in 1997's ''Starship Troopers'', Kyle Brenner in 2001's '' Tomcats'', Aiden Tanner in the 2014–2016 TV series '' From Dusk till Dawn: The Series'', and Sean H. Keyes in the ''Predator'' franchise. Early life Busey was born in Los Angeles, and raised in Malibu, California, the son of photographer Judy Helkenberg and actor Gary Busey. Busey spent his childhood on film sets and touring with bands in which his father sometimes played, such as Leon Russell, Willie Nelson and Little Feat. Career Busey's motion picture debut was in the 1978 film ''Straight Time'' with his father Gary and Dustin Hoffman. His two most notable appearances are as the murderous religious fanatic opposite Jodie Foster in ''Contact'' and as smart-mouthed soldier Ace Levy in ''Starship Troopers''. He appeared in '' H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds'', one of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rob Lowe
Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and podcast host. He made his acting debut at the age of 15 with ABC's short-lived sitcom ''A New Kind of Family'' (1979–1980). Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with roles in films like '' The Outsiders ''(1983), ''Class'' (1983), ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' (1984), ''Oxford Blues'' (1984), ''St. Elmo's Fire'' (1985), '' About Last Night...'' (1986), and ''Square Dance'' (1987). The success of these films established him as a Hollywood star. By the turn of the millennium, his career saw a resurgence when he ventured back into television, making his breakthrough as Sam Seaborn on the NBC political drama ''The West Wing'' (1999–2003), for which he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. His other television roles include Robert McCallister on the ABC drama '' Brothers & Sisters' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Fichtner
William Edward Fichtner (born November 27, 1956) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Sheriff Tom Underlay on ''Invasion'', Alexander Mahone on ''Prison Break'', Carl Hickman on ''Crossing Lines'', and Adam Janikowski on '' Mom''. His film appearances include ''Heat'', ''Contact'', ''Armageddon'', '' The Perfect Storm'', '' Go'', ''Crash'', '' Black Hawk Down'', and ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''. Early life Fichtner was born on Mitchel Air Force Base on Long Island and raised in Cheektowaga, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. He is the son of Patricia A. (née Steitz) and William Frederick Fichtner. He has German ancestry. He graduated from Maryvale High School in 1974. After graduating from Farmingdale State College in 1976 with an associate degree in criminal justice, he attended the College at Brockport, State University of New York and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice in 1978. He then studied at the American Academy of Dramatic A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Contact (science Fiction)
First contact is a common science fiction Science fiction themes, theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any Sentience, sentient species' first encounter with another one, given they are from different planets or natural satellites. The theme allows writers to explore such topics such as xenophobia, transcendentalism, and basic natural language, linguistics by adapting the anthropology, anthropological topic of first contact (anthropology), first contact to extraterrestrial cultures. Overview Murray Leinster's 1945 Novella, novelette "First Contact (novelette), First Contact" established the term "first contact" in science fiction, although the theme had appeared earlier. Its roots lie in colonial narratives from the Age of Discovery onward. Of many variations of the trope, one may recognize the subclasses of the actual interstellar meeting of two civilizations and the "message from space (science fiction), message from space" one.Sc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extraterrestrial Life
Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might range from simple forms like prokaryotes to intelligent beings, possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humankind. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in the universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology. Speculation about the possibility of inhabited "worlds" outside the planet Earth dates back to antiquity. Multiple early Christian writers discussed the idea of a "plurality of worlds" as proposed by earlier thinkers such as Democritus; Augustine references Epicurus's idea of innumerable worlds "throughout the boundless immensity of space" (originally expressed in his Letter to Herodotus) in ''The City of God''. In his first century p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civilizations on other planets. Scientific investigation began shortly after the advent of radio in the early 1900s, and focused international efforts have been ongoing since the 1980s. In 2015, Stephen Hawking and Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner announced a project called Breakthrough Listen. History Early work There have been many earlier searches for extraterrestrial intelligence within the Solar System. In 1896, Nikola Tesla suggested that an extreme version of his wireless electrical transmission system could be used to contact beings on Mars. In 1899, while conducting experiments at his Colorado Springs experimental station, he thought he had detected a signal from Mars since an odd repetitive static signal seemed to cut off when Mars set in the night ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction Drama Film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-genre, macro-genre, or micro-genre, such as soap opera, police crime drama, political drama, legal drama, historical drama, domestic drama, teen drama, and comedy-drama (dramedy). These terms tend to indicate a particular setting or subject-matter, or else they qualify the otherwise serious tone of a drama with elements that encourage a broader range of moods. To these ends, a primary element in a drama is the occurrence of conflict—emotional, social, or otherwise—and its resolution in the course of the storyline. All forms of cinema or television that involve fictional stories are forms of drama in the broader sense if their storytelling is achieved by means of actors who represent (mimesis) characters. In this broader sense, drama is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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