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Freaked
''Freaked'' is a 1993 American comedy film directed by Tom Stern and Alex Winter, both of whom wrote the screenplay with Tim Burns. Winter also starred in the lead role. Both were involved in the short-lived MTV sketch comedy show '' The Idiot Box'', and ''Freaked'' retains the same brand of surrealistic and absurdist humor as seen in the show. ''Freaked'' was Alex Winter's last feature film before he shifted to cameo and television films for many years until 2013's ''Grand Piano''. Originally conceived as a low-budget horror film featuring the band Butthole Surfers, ''Freaked'' went through a number of rewrites, eventually developing into a black comedy set within a sideshow, which was picked up by 20th Century Fox for a feature film. After several poor test screenings and a change in studio executives who then found the film too "weird", the film was pulled from a wide distribution (except for Australia and Japan) and only played on two screens in the United States. Plot Sky ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Winter
Alexander Ross Winter (born July 17, 1965) is a British-American actor and filmmaker. He played the slacker Bill in the 1989 film ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' and its sequels ''Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'' (1991) and ''Bill & Ted Face the Music'' (2020). He is also known for his role as Marko in the 1987 vampire film ''The Lost Boys''; for co-writing, co-directing, and starring in the 1993 film ''Freaked''; and for directing documentaries in the 2010s. Early life Winter was born in London, England. His mother, Margaret "Gregg" Mayer, is a New York-born American and former Martha Graham dancer, who founded a modern-dance company in London in the mid-1960s. His father, Ross Albert Winter, is an Australian who danced with Winter's mother's troupe. Winter received training in dance as a child. He has an older brother named Stephen. His father has English ancestry and his mother is Jewish, of Ukrainian Jewish descent. When Winter was five, his family moved to Missouri, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Stern (director)
Tom Stern is an American actor, director, writer, and producer. Education Stern grew up in Pleasantville, New York and attended Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York, and then went to film school at Tisch School of the Arts New York University (NYU) from 1983–87, where he met Alex Winter. The two collaborated on a number of short films including ''Squeal of Death'', which was noticed by an executive at Columbia Pictures in 1986. After graduating the pair went to Hollywood and directed IMPACT video magazine, which feature artists and performers such as Bill Hicks, Survival Research Labs, Public Enemy, Robert Williams, Jane's Addiction, and another short film with Butthole Surfers. Hollywood In 1987 Stern and Winter drove to Hollywood and sent a copy of ''Squeal of Death'' to Sam Raimi, whose film Evil Dead 2 was an inspiration to them. Raimi responded enthusiastically. He and his partner Rob Tapert optioned an anthology comedy feature film script from Stern and Winter. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Idiot Box (TV Series)
''The Idiot Box'' was an American sketch comedy television series created by Alex Winter, Tom Stern and Tim Burns, which ran on MTV in 1991. After the success of ''Bill & Ted'', MTV hired Winter, Stern, and Burns to develop a half-hour sketch comedy show for the network. As the channel was still strictly music-oriented at the time, ''The Idiot Box'' was mainly a showcase for popular music videos, but with a series of sketches, fake commercials, and parodies shown in between. Therefore, although an episode ran 30 minutes, there were only 7 to 11 minutes' worth of sketches. Inspired heavily by the likes of '' Mad'' magazine and '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', the humor in ''The Idiot Box'' was rooted in absurdity and violent slapstick, often in the form of television and movie parodies and commercials for fake television shows (such as ''"Mumford the Yodeling Mutt"'' and ''"Who's A Total Idiot? with Tony Danza"''). Each episode would end with a recap by the Max Headroom-esq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blind Idiot God
Blind Idiot God is an American instrumental rock trio formed in 1982 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, by guitarist Andy Hawkins, bassist Gabriel Katz and drummer Ted Epstein. The phrase "blind idiot god" comes from horror writer H. P. Lovecraft's description of the god Azathoth. Their often improvisational musical style combines influences from punk rock, noise music, 20th-century classical music, heavy metal, dub, free jazz, and funk. They are currently based in New York City and have often collaborated with musicians Bill Laswell and John Zorn. Their self-titled debut album, ''Blind Idiot God'', was issued by SST Records in 1987 and was well received critically. Brian Olewnick described it as "an extraordinary debut ..the three musicians exhibited startling originality and impressive technique both on their instruments and in the depth and style of their compositions". With bassist Bill Laswell handling production duties, '' Undertow'' was released in 1988 and was f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megan Ward
Megan Marie Ward (born September 24, 1969) is an American actress. She is best known for her numerous credits in science fiction and horror movies and television series. In 2007, she joined the cast of the American daytime drama ''General Hospital'' as Kate Howard. She also appeared in the 1990s comedies ''Encino Man'', ''Freaked'', '' PCU'', ''The Brady Bunch Movie'', and ''Joe's Apartment''. Early life Ward, born on September 24, 1969, in Los Angeles, California, is the youngest of four siblings, and her parents were both professional actors and acting coaches. When Ward was four years old, her family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. At the age of nine, she began doing commercials for local department stores. In her early teens, she went to Japan for modeling jobs and stayed for several years. Having previously learned to speak the language from her schooling in Hawaii, she landed a job hosting a Japanese television show, ''Science Q'', a science TV program broadcast in NHK from 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Burns (writer)
Tim Burns is a Canadian writer and producer for Canadian and American television; more popularly known as the show runner/executive producer of the Teletoon-Disney Channel shared, supernatural comedy-drama series, ''My Babysitter's a Vampire'' and for writing its TV pilot film. He was also supervising writer of the third season of ''Crank Yankers'' and was a composer on ''The Sunny Side Up Show''. Career Tim Burns began his writing career in 1985 with the CBC radio comedy series ''The Norm Show'', and in 1989 was hired as a staff writer on ''The Jim Henson Hour''. He also wrote the 1 hour special ''Dog City'' which was later developed into an animated series. During pre-production of the Henson Hour, he met Tom Stern and a few years later they and Stern's writing partner Alex Winter created the sketch comedy series '' The Idiot Box''. Burns also dabbled in CGI and created the animated character 'Votar - The Voice Over Announcer of the Future" on his Amiga computer. The trio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derek McGrath
Derek McGrath (born June 4, 1951) is a Canadian actor and writer. Life and career McGrath was born in Timmins, Ontario. His career began as Linus in ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. He is known for his roles in '' Cheers'' as Andy Schroeder (the would-be strangler of Diane Chambers), Oswald Valentine in ''Dallas'', Dr. Benjamin Jeffcoate in ''My Secret Identity'', Crewman Chell in '' Star Trek: Voyager'', and as Dr. Derek Hebert in ''Doc''. McGrath also played Buck the dog in a fantasy sequence in a second-season episode of '' Married... with Children'', a game show host in a third-season episode of ''Family Matters'', and a mutant in the 1993 comedy film ''Freaked''. He appeared in a recurring role as the character of Anglican priest Duncan Magee in the CBC Television sitcom ''Little Mosque on the Prairie''. He voices Spiff in the animated children's series ''Iggy Arbuckle''. He also voices Melvin, the mayor of Maple Lake in the animated series '' Bob & Doug''. He also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hawkes (actor)
John Marvin Perkins (born September 11, 1959), known professionally as John Hawkes, is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including two Independent Spirit Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award. Hawkes is known for his roles in the films ''Winter's Bone'' (2010) and '' The Sessions'' (2012), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, respectively. Some of his other film credits include ''From Dusk till Dawn'' (1996), '' The Perfect Storm'' (2000), ''Me and You and Everyone We Know'' (2005), '' American Gangster'' (2007), ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' (2011), ''Lincoln'' (2012) and ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He has also appeared in many television series, notably '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and '' Eastbound & Down'' (2009–2013). Early life Hawkes was born John Marvin Perkins in Alexandria, Minn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaime Cardriche
Jaime Xenos Cardriche (March 20, 1968July 28, 2000) was an American actor best known for his role as the character "Tim" on ''Malcolm & Eddie''. Early life Cardriche grew up in Cerritos, California and attended Oklahoma State University where he played both football and basketball. Acting career Cardriche appeared primarily in sitcoms such as ''Family Matters'', ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'', ''A Different World'', ''Malcolm & Eddie'', '' Who's the Boss?'', ''The Wayans Bros.'', and '' Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.'' He was also a professional wrestler, the Harlem Warlord in the Pacific Wrestling AlliancHis last acting appearance was in the episode "A Simple Plan" on the sitcom ''The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004. A spin-off of UPN's ''Moesha'', ''The Parkers'' features the mother-daughter team of Nikki (played by Mo'Nique) and Kim Parker (played by Counte ...''. He also was a professional wrestler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Randy Quaid
Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor known for his roles in both serious drama and light comedy. He was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award for his role in ''The Last Detail'' in 1973. In 1978 he co-starred as a prisoner in '' Midnight Express''. Quaid also won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson in '' LBJ: The Early Years'' (1987). He also received Emmy nominations for his roles in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1984) and ''Elvis'' (2005). Quaid is also known for his roles of Cousin Eddie in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' movies and Russell Casse in '' Independence Day'' (1996). He voiced Alameda Slim in the animated feature ''Home on the Range'' (2004). Early years and education Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, to Juanita Bonniedale "Nita" ( née Jordan), a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid (November 21, 1923 – February 8, 1987 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Piano (film)
''Grand Piano'' is a 2013 Spanish thriller film directed by Eugenio Mira and starring Elijah Wood and John Cusack. The film is about a once-promising pianist returning for a comeback performance, only to be the target of a sniper who will kill him if he plays one wrong note. The film premiered at Fantastic Fest on 20 September 2013 and was given a VOD release on 30 January 2014. It was given a limited release in U.S. theatres on 7 March. ''Grand Piano'' was Alex Winter's first non-cameo film role since 1993's ''Freaked''. Plot Tom Selznick was an up-and-coming concert pianist until he developed stage fright while attempting to play a complex piece, "La Cinquette". Five years later, he is slated to appear in Chicago for a comeback performance, dedicated to the memory of his late mentor, pianist and composer Patrick Godureaux (who composed "La Cinquette"). Godureaux posthumously acquired massive media coverage due to the mysterious disappearance of his vast fortune. Tom's return to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobcat Goldthwait
Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait (born May 26, 1962) is an American actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, known for his black comedy stand-up act, delivered through an energetic stage persona with an unusual raspy and high-pitched voice. He came to prominence with his stand-up specials ''An Evening with Bobcat Goldthwait—Share the Warmth'' and ''Bob Goldthwait—Is He Like That All the Time?'' and his acting roles, including Zed in the ''Police Academy'' franchise and Eliot Loudermilk in ''Scrooged''. Since 2012, he has been a regular panelist on the radio-quiz show, '' Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!''. Goldthwait has written and directed a number of films and television series, most notably the black comedies ''Shakes the Clown'' (1991), in which he also starred, '' Sleeping Dogs Lie'' (2006), ''World's Greatest Dad'' (2009), ''God Bless America'' (2011), and the horror film '' Willow Creek'' (2013); episodes of ''Chappelle's Show'', ''The Larry Sanders Show'', ''Jimmy Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
