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Gremlins
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main ''mogwai'' character. It draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions—"gremlins"—in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II. The story follows a young man who receives a strange creature as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, mischievous monsters that all wreak havoc on a whole town on Christmas Eve. The film was the center of large merchandising campaigns and opts for black comedy, balanced against a Christmastime setting. Steven Spielberg was the film's executive producer, with the film being produced by Michael Finnell. ''Gremlins'' was theatrically released on June 8, 1984 by Warner Bros. to critical and commercial success ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gremlin
A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft and later in other machinery and processes and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. Stories about them and references to them as the causes of especially inexplicable technical and mental problems of pilots were especially popular during and after World War II.gremlin on gremlin in the American Heritage Dictionary Use of the term in the sense of a mischievous creature that sabotages aircraft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zach Galligan
Zachary Wolfe Galligan (born February 14, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Billy Peltzer in the comedy-horror films ''Gremlins'' (1984) and '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990). Early life and education Galligan was born on February 14, 1964, in New York City, the son of Carol Jean (née Wolfe), a psychologist, and Arthur John Galligan, a lawyer who was a founding partner of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro. He has a sister, Jessica, and graduated from Columbia University. Career Galligan's first major and most widely seen role was as Billy Peltzer in the 1984 film ''Gremlins''. Prior to being cast in ''Gremlins'', he filmed '' Nothing Lasts Forever'', which had its theatrical release cancelled and went unreleased in any form for years. In 1988, he starred as Mark Loftmore in the horror comedy '' Waxwork''. He reprised his role as Billy in the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', and returned to the role of Mark for '' Waxwork II: Lost in Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Dante
Joseph James Dante Jr. (; born November 28, 1946) is an American film director, producer, editor and actor. His films—notably ''Gremlins'' (1984) alongside its sequel, '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990)—often mix 1950s-style B movies with cartoon comedy. Dante's films also include ''Piranha'' (1978), ''The Howling'' (1981), ''Explorers'' (1985), ''Innerspace'' (1987), ''The 'Burbs'' (1989), '' Matinee'' (1993), ''Small Soldiers'' (1998), and '' Looney Tunes: Back in Action'' (2003). His work for television and cable includes immigration satire ''The Second Civil War'' (1997) and episodes of anthology series ''Masters of Horror'' ("Homecoming" and " The Screwfly Solution") and ''Amazing Stories'', as well as ''Police Squad!'' and ''Hawaii Five-0''. Early life Dante was born in Morristown, New Jersey, and grew up in nearby Livingston. His father, Joseph James Dante, was a professional golfer, though Dante was more interested in becoming a cartoonist. Career 1960s Dante ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoebe Cates
Phoebe Belle Cates Kline (born July 16, 1963) is an American former actress, known primarily for her roles in films such as ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982), ''Gremlins'' (1984) and ''Drop Dead Fred'' (1991). Early life Cates was born on July 16, 1963, in New York City, to a family of television and Broadway production insiders. She is the daughter of Lily and Joseph Cates (originally Joseph Katz), who was a major Broadway producer and a pioneering figure in television, and who helped create ''The $64,000 Question''. Her uncle, Gilbert Cates, produced numerous television specials, often in partnership with Cates's father, as well as several annual Academy Awards shows. Cates is Eurasian; both her father and maternal grandmother were of Russian Jewish descent, whereas her maternal grandfather was Chinese-Filipino. Cates's mother was born in Shanghai, China. Cates attended the Professional Children's School, and the Juilliard School. At the age of ten, Cates started mode ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael Mandel (born November 29, 1955) is a Canadian-American comedian, television personality, actor, and producer. Mandel voiced the character Gizmo in the 1984 film ''Gremlins'' and the 1990 sequel '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch''. In 1987, Mandel starred alongside Amy Steel in the comedy film '' Walk Like a Man''. From 1982 to 1988, Mandel played the rowdy ER intern Dr. Wayne Fiscus on the NBC medical drama '' St. Elsewhere''. He also created, voiced and starred in the FOX children's cartoon '' Bobby's World''. Additionally, he has been a judge on NBC's ''America's Got Talent'' since 2010, and Citytv's ''Canada's Got Talent'' since 2022. He hosted the American NBC and later CNBC game show ''Deal or No Deal'', as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. In 2022, he began hosting the first season of Netflix's ''Bullsh*t the Game Show''. Early life and education Mandel was born and raised in the Willowdale area of North York, Ontario. He is Jewish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise), ''Rambo'' franchise, as well as for ''Logan's Run (film), Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes (1968 film), Planet of the Apes'', ''Tora! Tora! Tora!'', ''Patton (film), Patton'', ''Chinatown (1974 film), Chinatown'', ''Alien (1979 film), Alien'', ''Poltergeist (1982 film), Poltergeist'', ''Gremlins'', ''Hoosiers (film), Hoosiers'', ''Total Recall (1990 film), Total Recall'', ''Air Force One (film), Air Force One'', ''L.A. Confidential (film), L.A. Confidential'', ''Mulan (1998 film), Mulan'', and ''The Mummy (1999 film), The Mummy''. He also composed the #Studio fanfares, fanfares accompanying the production logos used by multiple major film studios, and music for the Disney attraction Soarin'. He collaborated with directors including Ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Finnell
Michael Finnell is a film producer active from the 1970s to the present. He has produced several horror-comedy films, particularly with the director Joe Dante. Finnell worked for the American producer Roger Corman before emerging as a producer in his own right. His first films were ''Avalanche'' (1978) and ''Rock 'n' Roll High School'' (1979), with Corman. One of the first without Corman was the movie ''Airplane!'', in which he was listed in the end credits as "generally in charge of a lot of things". Working with Dante, Finnell then produced the modest hit ''The Howling'' in 1981 and the blockbuster ''Gremlins'' in 1984. Dante and the special effects designer Chris Walas have said that Finnell's producing style was influenced by Corman, in that Finnell was very concerned about budgeting and wanted to make sure even cheap purchases contributed to the final film. The anecdote Walas told was of Finnell engaging in long phone calls over the purchase of a kitchen knife to be used in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Columbus (filmmaker)
Chris Joseph Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, ''Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy ''Home Alone'' (1990) and its sequel '' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (1992). The comedy ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993), starring Robin Williams, was another box office success for Columbus. He went on to direct several other films throughout the 1990s, which were mostly met with lukewarm reception. However, he found commercial success again for directing the film adaptations of J. K. Rowling's novels, ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' (2001) and its sequel, ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' (2002), which are his highest-gros ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amblin Entertainment
Amblin Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions and Steven Spielberg Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are located in Bungalow 477 of the Universal Studios backlot in Universal City, California. It distributes all of the films from Amblin Partners under the Amblin Entertainment banner. Overview Amblin is named after Spielberg's first commercially released film, ''Amblin''' (1968), a short independent film about a man and woman hitchhiking through the desert. Costing $15,000 to produce, it was shown for Universal Studios and won Spielberg more directing roles. Although Amblin is an independent production company, Universal distributes many Amblin productions, and Amblin operates out of a building on the Universal lot. Its logo features the silhouette of E.T. riding in Elliott's bicycle basket flying in front of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoyt Axton
Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. Among his best-known songs are "Joy to the World", "The Pusher", "No No Song", "Greenback Dollar", "Della and the Dealer", and "Never Been to Spain". He was a prolific character actor, appearing in dozens of film and television roles over several decades, memorably as a father figure in a number of films, including ''The Black Stallion'' (1979) and ''Gremlins'' (1984). Early life Born in Duncan, Oklahoma, Axton spent his preteen years in Comanche, Oklahoma, with his brother, John. His mother, Mae Boren Axton, a songwriter, co-wrote the classic rock 'n' roll song "Heartbreak Hotel", which became a major hit for Elvis Presley. Some of Hoyt's own songs were later recorded by Presley. Axton's father, John Thomas Axton, was a naval officer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom
''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', featuring Harrison Ford who reprises his role as the title character. Kate Capshaw, Amrish Puri, Roshan Seth, Philip Stone, and Ke Huy Quan star in supporting roles. In the film, after arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by desperate villagers to find a mystical stone and rescue their children from a Thuggee cult practicing child slavery, black magic, and ritual human sacrifice in honor of the goddess Kali. Not wishing to feature the Nazis as the villains again, executive producer and story writer George Lucas decided to regard this film as a prequel. Three plot devices were rejected before Lucas wrote a film treatment that resembled the final storyline. As Lawrence Kasdan, Lucas's collaborator on ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', turned do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hora
John Charles Hora (February 16, 1940 – February 9, 2021) was an American cinematographer and actor who was active from the 1970s to the 2000s. Career Hora worked with director Joe Dante in numerous films, including ''The Howling'' in 1981, '' Twilight Zone: The Movie'' in 1983, ''Gremlins'' in 1984 and its 1990 sequel, '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'', ''Explorers'' in 1985, and '' Matinee'' in 1993. He also served as a cinematographer for Michael Jackson's 1988 film ''Moonwalker'' and for the pilot for the television series ''Eerie, Indiana''. As an actor, Hora performed in Dante's film ''Innerspace'' (1987). He later appeared in ''Honey, I Blew Up the Kid'' (1992), the sequel to ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids''. Hora also worked as the director of photography for ''Honey, I Blew Up the Kid''. Later, Hora worked for The Los Angeles Film School and as secretary for the American Society of Cinematographers. In May 2005 he was honored by the magazine ''American Cinematographer ''Ame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
