Harold Crick
''Stranger than Fiction'' is a 2006 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Marc Forster, produced by Lindsay Doran, and written by Zach Helm. The film stars Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Emma Thompson. The main plot follows Harold Crick (Ferrell), an IRS agent who begins hearing a disembodied voice narrating his life as it happens – seemingly the text of a novel in which it is stated that he, the main character, will soon die – and he frantically seeks to somehow prevent that ending. The film was shot on location in Chicago, and has been praised for its innovative, intelligent story and fine performances. Ferrell, who came to prominence playing brash comedic parts, garnered particular attention for offering a restrained performance in his first starring dramatic role. ''Stranger than Fiction'' was released by Columbia Pictures on November 10, 2006. Upon release, the film received positive reviews mainly for its themes, humor, and pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Marc Forster
Marc Forster (born 30 November 1969) is a Swiss filmmaker. He is best known for directing the feature films '' Monster's Ball'', '' Finding Neverland'', '' Stranger than Fiction'', ''The Kite Runner'', ''Quantum of Solace'', ''World War Z'', and ''Christopher Robin'' & an upcoming live-action/animated film for Mattel Films called ''Thomas and Friends: The Movie'', as well as numerous television commercials. He is a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Award nominee. Life and career Forster was born on 30 November 1969 in Au (today Illertissen), in the Neu-Ulm district of Bavaria, Germany. His parents, a German doctor and a Swiss architect moved to Switzerland when Forster was 9 years old. He spent his adolescence in Davos, a winter resort in eastern Switzerland, and as well as at the international boarding school Institut Montana Zugerberg in central Switzerland. In 1990, when he was 20 years old, Forster moved to New York, in the United States. For the next three y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Comedy Drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical hour-long legal or medical drama, but exhibit far fewer jokes-per-minute as in a typical half-hour sitcom. In the United States Examples from United States television include: ''M*A*S*H (TV series), M*A*S*H'', ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'', ''The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'', ''Northern Exposure'', ''Ally McBeal'', ''Sex and the City'', ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs''. The term "dramedy" was coined to describe the late 1980s wave of shows, including ''The Wonder Years'', ''Hooperman'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'' and ''Frank's Place''. See also *List of comedy drama television series *Black comedy *Dramatic structure *Melodrama *Seriousness *Tragicomedy *Psychological ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Montage (filmmaking)
Montage (, ''mon-TAHJ'') is a film editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense space, time, and information. The term has been used in various contexts. In French, the word "montage" applied to cinema simply denotes editing. In Soviet montage theory, as originally introduced outside the USSR by Sergei Eisenstein, it was used to create symbolism. Later, the term "montage sequence", used primarily by British and American studios, became the common technique to suggest the passage of time. A montage is a French term meaning “assembling shots” or “putting together.” It’s a film technique for putting together a series of short shots that create a composite picture. In simple terms we can say that montage is a series of separate images, moving or still, that are edited together to create a continuous sequence. Montages enable filmmakers to communicate a large amount of information to an audience over a shorter span of time by juxtaposing diff ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ulnar Artery
The ulnar artery is the main blood vessel, with oxygenated blood, of the medial aspects of the forearm. It arises from the brachial artery and terminates in the superficial palmar arch, which joins with the superficial branch of the radial artery. It is palpable on the anterior and medial aspect of the wrist. Along its course, it is accompanied by a similarly named vein or veins, the ulnar vein or ulnar veins. The ulnar artery, the larger of the two terminal branches of the brachial, begins a little below the bend of the elbow in the cubital fossa, and, passing obliquely downward, reaches the ulnar side of the forearm at a point about midway between the elbow and the wrist. It then runs along the ulnar border to the wrist, crosses the transverse carpal ligament on the radial side of the pisiform bone, and immediately beyond this bone divides into two branches, which enter into the formation of the superficial and deep volar arches. Branches Forearm: Anterior ulnar recurrent ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Writer's Block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or the lack of writing skills. The condition ranges from difficulty in coming up with original ideas to being unable to produce a work for years. Writer's block is not solely measured by time passing without writing. It is measured by time passing without productivity in the task at hand. History Throughout history, writer's block has been a documented problem.Clark, Irene. "Invention." ''Concepts in Composition: Theory and Practice in the Teaching of Writing''. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2012. Professionals who have struggled with the affliction include authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Joseph Mitchell, comic strip cartoonist Charles M. Schulz,Downey, Bill. ''Right Brain – Write ON!''. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1984. c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often used interchangeably, the words ''fate'' and ''destiny'' have distinct connotations. *Traditional usage defines fate as a power or agency that predetermines and orders the course of events. Fate defines events as ordered or "inevitable" and unavoidable. This is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe, and in some conceptions, the cosmos. Classical and European mythology feature personified "fate spinners," known as the Moirai in Greek mythology, the Parcae in Roman mythology, and the Norns in Norse mythology. They determine the events of the world through the mystic spinning of threads that represent individual human fates. Fate is often conceived as being divinely inspired. *Fate is about the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tragedy
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain hatawakens pleasure", for the audience. While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, the term ''tragedy'' often refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western civilization. That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous, yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity—"the Greeks and the Elizabethans, in one cultural form; Hellenes and Christians, in a common activity," as Raymond Williams puts it. From its origins in the theatre of ancient Greece 2500 years ago, from which there survives only a fra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Omniscience
Omniscience () is the capacity to know everything. In Hinduism, Sikhism and the Abrahamic religions, this is an God#General conceptions, attribute of God. In Jainism, omniscience is an attribute that any individual can eventually attain. In Buddhism, there are differing beliefs about omniscience among different schools. Etymology The word ''omniscience'' derives from the Latin word ''wikt:sciens, sciens'' ("to know" or "conscious") and the prefix ''wikt:omni, omni'' ("all" or "every"), but also means "Eye of Providence, all-seeing". In religion Buddhism The topic of omniscience has been much debated in various Indian traditions, but no more so than by the Buddhists. After Dharmakirti's excursions into the subject of pramana, what constitutes a valid cognition, Śāntarakṣita and his student Kamalaśīla thoroughly investigated the subject in the Tattvasamgraha and its commentary the Panjika. The arguments in the text can be broadly grouped into four sections: * The refut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly mental issues. Sometimes a psychiatrist works within a multi-disciplinary team, which may comprise Clinical psychology, clinical psychologists, Social work, social workers, Occupational therapist, occupational therapists, and Nursing, nursing staff. Psychiatrists have broad training in a Biopsychosocial model, biopsychosocial approach to the assessment and management of mental illness. As part of the clinical assessment process, psychiatrists may employ a mental status examination; a physical examination; brain imaging such as a computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or positron emission tomography scan; and blood testing. P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Narration
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the audience, particularly about the Plot (narrative), plot (the series of events). Narration is a required element of all written stories (novels, short story, short stories, poems, memoirs, etc.), with the function of conveying the story in its entirety. However, narration is merely optional in most other storytelling formats, such as films, plays, television shows, and video games, in which the story can be conveyed through other means, like dialogue between characters or visual action. The narrative mode encompasses the set of choices through which the creator of the story develops their narrator and narration: * ''Narrative point of view, perspective,'' or ''voice'': the choice of grammatical person used by the narr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Tax Resistance
Tax resistance is the refusal to pay tax because of opposition to the government that is imposing the tax, or to government policy, or as opposition to taxation in itself. Tax resistance is a form of direct action and, if in violation of the tax regulations, also a form of civil disobedience. Examples of tax resistance campaigns include those advocating home rule, such as the Salt March led by Mahatma Gandhi, and those promoting women's suffrage, such as the Women's Tax Resistance League. War tax resistance is the refusal to pay some or all taxes that pay for war, and may be practiced by conscientious objectors, pacifists, or those protesting against a particular war. Tax resisters are distinct from "tax protesters", who deny that the legal obligation to pay taxes exists or applies to them. Tax resisters may accept that some law commands them to pay taxes but they still choose to resist taxation. History The earliest and most widespread forms of taxation were the corvée and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |