|
Lucky Numbers
''Lucky Numbers'' is a 2000 black comedy film directed by Nora Ephron. The screenplay by Adam Resnick was inspired by the 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal. It is the only film Ephron directed without also writing the screenplay. It is considered to be one of the biggest bombs of all time. Plot Russ Richards, the weatherman for a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, television station, is revered as a local celebrity by his viewers, and fame affords him such perks as a reserved parking spot and his own booth at Denny's, where an omelet bears his name. His eternally optimistic demeanor conceals the fact his snowmobile dealership is on the verge of bankruptcy due to an unusually warm winter. His friend Gig, a shady strip club owner, suggests an insurance scam will free Russ of his financial problems, but when the scheme fails to pay off, Russ finds himself even deeper in debt and the target of a hitman named Dale. Gig then proposes Russ rig the Pennsylvania Lottery with the help of his amoral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for her romantic comedy films and was nominated three times for the Writers Guild of America Award and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for ''Silkwood'' (1983), '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989), and ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993). She won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay for ''When Harry Met Sally...'', which the Writers Guild of America ranked as the 40th greatest screenplay of all time. Ephron's first produced play, '' Imaginary Friends'' (2002), was honored as one of the ten best plays of the 2002–03 New York theatre season. She also co-authored the Drama Desk Award–winning theatrical production ''Love, Loss, and What I Wore''. In 2013, Ephron received a posthumous Tony Award nomination for Best Play for '' Lucky Guy''. Ephron also directed films, usually from her own screenplays, including ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction, for example, the term ''black comedy'' can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Popular themes of the genre include death, crime, poverty, suicide, war, violence, terrorism, discrimination, disease, racism, sexism, and human sexuality. Black comedy differs from both blue comedy—which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, and Body fluids—and from straightforward obscenity. Whereas the term ''black comedy'' is a relatively broad term covering humor relating to many serious subjects, ''gallows humor'' tends to be used more specifical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Weston
Michael Weston (born Michael Rubinstein; October 25, 1973) is an American television and film actor. His best-known roles are the private detective Lucas on ''House'', the deranged and sadistic kidnapper Jake in the HBO serial drama '' Six Feet Under'', and Pvt. Dancer on '' Scrubs'', as well as Harry Houdini in ''Houdini & Doyle''. Early life Michael Rubinstein was born in New York City, the son of actors John Rubinstein and Judi West. His paternal grandfather was Polish-Jewish piano virtuoso Arthur Rubinstein. He is also the great-grandson of Polish conductor Emil Młynarski, the founding conductor of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and principal conductor of the Scottish Orchestra. He holds a degree in Theater and Arts from Northwestern University. In 2000 he changed his surname to "Weston" as there was already a "Michael Rubinstein" in the Screen Actors Guild. Acting career Weston is a good friend and former roommate of actor Zach Braff and has appeared in several features ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam McMurray
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictional characters * Sam (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sam (surname), a list of people with the surname ** Cen (surname) (岑), romanized "Sam" in Cantonese ** Shen (surname) (沈), often romanized "Sam" in Cantonese and other languages Religious or legendary figures * Sam (Book of Mormon), elder brother of Nephi * Sām, a Persian mythical folk hero * Sam Ziwa, an uthra (angel or celestial being) in Mandaeism Animals * Sam (army dog) (died 2000) * Sam (horse) (b 1815), British Thoroughbred * Sam (koala) (died 2009), rescued after 2009 bush fires in Victoria, Australia * Sam (orangutan), in the movie ''Dunston Checks In'' * Sam (ugly dog) (1990–2005), voted the world's ugliest dog in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caroline Aaron
Caroline Sidney Aaron (née Abady; born ) is an American actress. She is known for her performances in films like Mike Nichols' ''Heartburn'' (1986) and ''Primary Colors'' (1998), as well as Woody Allen's '' Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989), ''Alice'' (1990), and ''Deconstructing Harry'' (1997), and Nora Ephron's '' Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993). She also appeared in Tim Burton's ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990) and Stanley Tucci's ''Big Night'' (1996). More recently, she appeared in '' 21 Jump Street'' (2012) and its sequel '' 22 Jump Street'' (2014). She is also known for her work on television, including guest roles on '' Wings, Frasier, Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''Desperate Housewives, Transparent'', '' Madam Secretary'', and ''The Good Fight''. Her Broadway roles include Woody Allen's '' Relatively Speaking'', '' I Hate Hamlet'', ''Social Security'' and ''The Iceman Cometh'' starring Jason Robards. She is currently a regular on the critically acclaimed and Primetime Emmy A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Schiff
Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on ''The West Wing'', a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his directorial debut with ''The West Wing'', directing an episode titled "Talking Points". He is on the National Advisory Board of the Council for a Livable World. He had a recurring role on the HBO series ''Ballers''. Since September 2017 he has had a leading role in ABC's medical drama '' The Good Doctor'', as Dr. Aaron Glassman, president of a fictional teaching hospital in San Jose, California. Early life Schiff was born on May 27, 1955, in Bethesda, Maryland, and was raised in New York City. He is the second of three sons of Charlotte, a television and publishing executive, and Edward Schiff, a real estate lawyer. His parents divorced, and Charlotte later married Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.'s lawyer. His early jobs before acting included driving a taxi in New York City and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daryl Mitchell (actor)
Daryl "Chill" Mitchell (born July 16, 1965) is an American actor and rapper. He is known for such roles as Dexter Walker on ''The John Larroquette Show'', Tommy Webber in ''Galaxy Quest'', Leo Michaels on ''Veronica's Closet'', Eli Goggins III on '' Ed'', and Patton Plame on '' NCIS: New Orleans''. Early life Mitchell was born in The Bronx, to a secretary mother and a bus driver father. He grew up in Wyandanch. Career During the 1980s, Mitchell was a member of hip hop group ''Groove B. Chill''. Mitchell made his film debut in ''House Party'' (1990). He had taken the role for both financial reasons and in hopes of popularizing his music. After acting in the sequel, Mitchell decided to leave music to focus strictly on acting. His first regular role on television was on the sitcom '' Here and Now'' as T. Mitchell landed the role of Dexter, a lunch attendant that often argued with the protagonist, on sitcom ''The John Larroquette Show'' (1993−96). For his work on ''John Larroque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ''Bowling for Columbine'', which examined the causes of the Columbine High School massacre and the overall gun culture of the United States. He also directed and produced '' Fahrenheit 9/11'', a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush and the War on Terror, which earned $119,194,771 to become the highest-grossing documentary at the American box office of all time. The film also won the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes film festival, and was subject to intense controversy. His documentary ''Sicko'', which examines health care in the United States, is one of the top ten highest-grossing documentaries . In September 2008, he released his first free movie on the internet, '' Slacker Uprising'', which documented his personal quest to e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pennsylvania Lottery
The Pennsylvania Lottery is operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Lottery was created by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on August 26, 1971; two months later, Henry Kaplan was appointed as its first executive director. The Pennsylvania Lottery sold its first tickets on March 7, 1972 and drew its first numbers on March 15, 1972. Lottery proceeds By Pennsylvania law, at least 40 percent of Lottery proceeds are required to be paid as prizes, with another 27 percent towards funding programs. Currently, the Pennsylvania Lottery exceeds these requirements, as 60.9 percent is paid as prizes, 29.9 percent to programs, 6.7 percent is paid as retailer and vendor commissions and 2.5 percent is consumed as operating expenses. For the 2009–2010 fiscal year, approximately $3.065 billion in gross revenue was acquired through proceeds and interest. Approximately $1.87 billion was paid as prizes, $915.7 million to programs, $207 million was paid as retailer and vendor commissions ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hitman
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, government conspiracies, dictatorships, and vendettas. For example, in the United States, the Jewish-American organized crime gang Murder, Inc. committed hundreds of murders on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and '40s. Contract killing provides the hiring party with the advantage of not having to carry out the actual killing, making it more difficult for law enforcement to connect the hirer with the murder. The likelihood that authorities will establish that party's guilt for the committed crime, especially due to lack of forensic evidence linked to the contracting party, makes the case more difficult to attribute to the hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strip Club
A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style. American-style strip clubs began to appear outside North America after World War II, arriving in Asia in the late 1980s and Europe in 1978, where they competed against the local English and French styles of striptease and erotic performances. As of 2005, the size of the global strip club Industry (economics), industry was estimated to be US$75 billion. In 2019, the size of the U.S. strip club industry was estimated to be US$8 billion, generating 19% of the total gross revenue in legal adult entertainment. SEC filings and state liquor control records available at that time indicated that there were at least 3,862 strip clubs in the United States, and since that time, the number of clubs in the U.S. has gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denny's
Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some of the locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries. Description Originally opened as a Diner, coffee shop under the name Danny's Donuts, Denny's was known for always being open and serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner 24 hours a day. Denny's did not close on holidays and nights, except where Blue laws in the United States, required by law. Many restaurants are located in proximity to freeway exits, bars, and in-service areas. Denny's started franchising in 1963, and most Denny's restaurants are now franchisee-owned. Franchise agreements require 24/7 service in most locations. Because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the restaurant industry in the United States, many Denny's had to close for the first time, and may now have limited hours of operation. History Denny's was founded by Harold Butler (businessman), Harold Butler and Richard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_color.jpg "Click for more on -> Michael Moore")
