Once A Thief (TV Series)
''Once a Thief'' (also billed as ''John Woo's Once a Thief'') is a Canadian Action/Comedy television series inspired by the Hong Kong 1991 film of the same name. The series is a continuation from the 1996 television film of the same name and it also includes two direct-to-video sequels: ''Once a Thief: Brother Against Brother'' and ''Once a Thief: Family Business''. Premise Li Ann Tsei, an orphan who grew up amongst the Chinese Tang family - a ruthless criminal operation - falls in love with Mac Ramsey, a thief who works for the family. However, when she is betrothed to Tang heir Michael, the two fake their deaths in an attempt to flee the country. Li Ann escapes, but Mac is arrested and left to rot in a Chinese prison. Two years later, he is released and taken to Canada where a mysterious woman known as the Director employs him to work for her crime-fighting institution. He soon learns that he will be working as part of a team with Li Ann, and the man she was engaged to, Vict ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Action (genre)
Action fiction is a literary genre that focuses on stories that involve high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of sub-genres, such as Spy fiction, spy novels, Adventure fiction, adventure stories, tales of terror and intrigue ("cloak and dagger") and Mystery fiction, mysteries. This kind of story utilizes Thriller (genre), suspense, the tension that is built up when the reader wishes to know how the Conflict (narrative), conflict between the protagonist and antagonist is going to be resolved or what the solution to the puzzle of a Thriller (genre), thriller is. Genre fiction Action fiction is a form of genre fiction whose subject matter is characterized by emphasis on exciting Action (narrative), action sequences. This does not always mean they exclude character development or story-telling. Action fiction is related to other forms of fiction, including action films, action games and analogous media in other formats such as manga and an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching , is the world's longest binational land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A Clockwork Orange (film)
''A Clockwork Orange'' is a 1971 dystopian crime film adapted, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It employs disturbing, violent images to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian near-future Britain. Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the central character, is a charismatic, antisocial delinquent whose interests include classical music (especially Beethoven), committing rape, theft, and ultra-violence. He leads a small gang of thugs, Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie ( James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke), whom he calls his ''droogs'' (from the Russian word друг, which is "friend", "buddy"). The film chronicles the horrific crime spree of his gang, his capture, and attempted rehabilitation via an experimental psychological conditioning technique (the "Ludovico Technique") promoted by the Minister of the Interior ( Anthony Sharp). Alex ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Men In Black (franchise)
''Men in Black'' is a semi- comic science fiction media franchise that originated with the Malibu/ Marvel comic book of the same name created by American author Lowell Cunningham. The franchise focuses on the fictional and namesake non-governmental organization which monitors and regulates paranormal and alien activity on Earth while preventing civilians from finding out about it. The most notable agents within the organization are Jay, Kay, and Zed. The franchise has been adapted into other media including a series of four films, an animated television series, video games, and a theme park attraction. Premise The Men in Black organization The Men in Black as shown in the movies is a secret organization devoted to policing and monitoring extraterrestrial activity on Earth. The Men in Black, founded in the U.S. in the mid-1950s, began as a small and poorly funded government organization devoted to making contact with extraterrestrial life known as the Baltians. They were init ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can also be about a real-life person (e.g. a politician), event, or movement (e.g. the French Revolution or 1960s counterculture). Literary scholar Professor Simon Dentith defines parody as "any cultural practice which provides a relatively polemical allusive imitation of another cultural production or practice". The literary theorist Linda Hutcheon said "parody ... is imitation, not always at the expense of the parodied text." Parody may be found in art or culture, including literature, music, theater, television and film, animation, and gaming. Some parody is practiced in theater. The writer and critic John Gross observes in his ''Oxford Boo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen ratings, an audience measurement system of television viewership that for years has been the deciding factor in canceling or renewing television shows by television networks. As of May 2012, it is part of Nielsen Holdings. NMR began as a division of ACNielsen, a 1923-founded marketing research firm. In 1996, NMR was split off into an independent company, and in 1999, was purchased by the Dutch conglomerate VNU. In 2001, VNU also purchased ACNielsen, thereby bringing both companies under the same corporate umbrella. NMR is also a sister company to Nielsen//NetRatings, which measures Internet and digital media audiences. VNU was reorganized and renamed the Nielsen Company in 2007. History The Nielsen TV Ratings have been produced in the U ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alliance Films
Alliance Films (formerly Alliance Entertainment, Alliance Communications, Alliance Atlantis Releasing Ltd, Motion Picture Distribution LP and also known as Alliance Vivafilm in Quebec and also known simply as Alliance) was a Canadian motion picture distribution and production company, which had served Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain. Because Entertainment One acquired Alliance Films on January 9, 2013, it was dissolved into that company and Alliance Vivafilm was folded into Les Films Seville in 2014. It was one of the major motion picture companies to distribute independent films outside the United States and other countries. History Prior to the company (1984–1998) The company was formed in 1984 by Stephen Roth, Denis Héroux, John Kemeny, Robert Lantos, Andras Hamori and Susan Cavan as Alliance Entertainment, from a merger of RSL Entertainment Corporation and International Cinema Corporation, with financing from New Century Entertainment's SLM Productions and gave ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Victoria Pratt
Victoria Ainslie Pratt (born December 18, 1970) is a Canadian actress, author, and fitness model. Early life Pratt grew up in Chesley, Ontario, a self described "tomboy at heart." She attended the kinesiology program at York University in Toronto and graduated summa cum laude. Before starting her acting career, Pratt made a notable mark in the fitness world as a performance tester, working at the York University campus with various athletes including players from the Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks, among others. Career After graduating from York, Pratt met Robert Kennedy, publisher of ''MuscleMag'', who convinced Pratt to try her hand at modelling and acting. Pratt quickly found success as a fitness model, gracing several magazine covers (including ''MuscleMag'' and ''Oxygen'') and working alongside future WWE stars Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson. Pratt eventually began to land starring acting roles on television throughout the late 1990s, including '' Xena: Warri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Julian Richings
Julian Richings (born 30 August 1956)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at Ancestry.com is a British-Canadian character actor. He has appeared in over 225 films and television series. Career After touring the United States with a British stage production, Richings moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1984. Within five years, he had become a regular on the second season of the ''War of the Worlds'' TV series. In the 1996 film '' Hard Core Logo'', he played the bitter, aging, punk rock legend Bucky Haight. He appeared in the iconic opening of the 1997 film ''Cube''. In 1999, he appeared in the science fiction film ''Thrill Seekers''. In 2000, he appeared as Bellanger in '' The Claim'', and earned a Genie Award nomination for best supporting actor. He was a member of the repertory cast of the A&E TV original series ''A Nero Wolfe Mystery'' (2001–02). He played the role of Death in The CW's show ''Supernatural,'' beginning in its fifth season ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Greg Kramer
Greg Kramer (11 March 1961 – 8 April 2013)Richard Burnett"Remembering Greg Kramer". ''Xtra!'', 10 April 2013. was a British-Canadian author, actor, director, and magician. Born and raised in Hertfordshire, England, he emigrated to Canada in 1981 and spent the remainder of his life living in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Early life Kramer was born in Hertfordshire, England on 11 March 1961. Career His first novel, ''The Pursemonger of fugu'', published by Riverbank Press in 1995, was shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award. His other novels included ''Couchwarmer'' (1997) and ''Wally'' (2004). His short story collection ''Hogtown Bonbons'' (1999) was originally published by ''Xtra!'' in Toronto as a regular column. He also wrote several theatrical plays. As an actor, he appeared regularly on the television series ''Forever Knight'', '' John Woo's Once a Thief'' and ''Tales from the Neverending Story'', and as a voice actor in ''Tripping the Rift'', ''George and Marth ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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]   |
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James Allodi
James Allodi (born February 26, 1967) is a Canadian actor, writer and director. Career James Allodi earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a Major in Film, from New York University. Since then, the writer, director, and actor has amassed an impressive resume of stage, television and film credits. His first feature film was the critically acclaimed, off-beat comedy ''The Uncles''. Television directing credits include ''Naked Josh'' (which won him a Gemini Award for best direction), '' Rent-A-Goalie'', ''Paradise Falls'', ''Degrassi'', and '' The Associates''. As an actor, he starred in Daniel MacIvor's ''Wilby Wonderful'', Paul Gross' ''Men With Brooms'' and Peter Lynch's Genie Award nominated feature-length documentary '' The Herd''. Allodi had a recurring role in the television series '' Once A Thief'', and has appeared in numerous other series including '' The Associates'', '' The Newsroom'', and ''Due South''. Filmography * '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'' (1995) * ''Due So ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |