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Paul J. Zaza
Paul Zaza (born 1952) is a Canadian Genie Award-winning film score and songwriter who worked frequently with director Bob Clark and with fellow composer Carl Zittrer. He has composed scores for more than 100 films. Early life and education Originally from Toronto, Zaza trained as a classical pianist, graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Music. Career In 1980 Zaza won the Genie Award for Best Music Score alongside Carl Zittrer for their work on '' Murder by Decree''. That year the pair teamed up again to write the score for the film ''Prom Night''. In 1981 Zaza composed the score for the slasher film ''My Bloody Valentine''; in 1983 he once more collaborated with Zittrer to write the score for the well-known film ''A Christmas Story'', which was released as an album much later in 2009. He was nominated for the same award in 1985 for Isaac Littlefeathers. In 1987 he received a Genie nomination for Best Original Song alongside Peter Simpson for the film ''Bullies''. In contra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genie Award
The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for sculptor Sorel Etrog, who designed the statuette). Genie Award candidates were selected from submissions made by the owners of Canadian films or their representatives, based on the criteria laid out in the ''Genie Rules and Regulations'' booklet which is distributed to Academy members and industry members. Peer-group juries, assembled from volunteer members of the Academy, meet to screen the submissions and select a group of nominees. Academy members then vote on these nominations. In 2012, the Academy announced that the Genies would merge with its sister presentation for English-language television, the Gemini Awards, to form a new award presentation known as the Canadian Screen Awards. Broadcasting The Genie Awards were originally aire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Card Monte (film)
''Three Card Monte'' is a 1978 Canadian crime drama film directed by Les Rose and starring Richard Gabourie as Busher, a small-time con man who meets and becomes a father figure to a runaway kid named Toby (Chris Langevin)."Richard Gabourie: Electric confidence". ''Cinema Canada'', January/February 1979.Jay Scott, "$1.95 Monte is a game bluff". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 19, 1978. The film was written by Gabourie. It premiered at the 1978 Festival of Festivals. At the 29th Canadian Film Awards in 1978, the film garnered 11 nominations, including Best Feature Film, Best Director (Rose), Best Actor (Gabourie) and Best Supporting Actress ( Lynne Cavanagh). Gabourie won the award for Best Actor, as well as the Wendy Michener Award in honour of his all-around achievement as a virtual unknown who successfully wrote, coproduced and starred in his own debut film. The film was dismissed by ''The Globe and Mail'' film critic Jay Scott as being "in the respected tradition of natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Vindicator (film)
''The Vindicator'' (also known as ''Frankenstein '88'' and known in Brazil as ''Roboman'') is a 1986 Canadian science fiction film directed by Jean-Claude Lord.Janis L. Pallister, ''The Cinema of Québec: Masters in Their Own House'', Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1995, p 361 The film is a modern-day retelling of the classic ''Frankenstein'' story set in the 1980s. Its plot involves a man who was killed in an accident in a laboratory, but revived as part of an experiment as a cyborg. The film was released by 20th Century Fox and released on video by Key Video (a division of CBS/FOX Video) and is now out of print. The special effects were by Stan Winston. Plot Carl Lehman (David McIlwraith) is a scientist working on a next-generation space suit for the ARC corporation in a high-tech secret lab, run by the sinister Alex Whyte ( Richard Cox). One of the projects being developed for the space suit, the "rage program" is software that can take over the brain of the user when attacke ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Christmas Story
''A Christmas Story'' is a 1983 Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book '' In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash'', with some elements from his 1971 book ''Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories And Other Disasters''. It stars Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley and is a seasonal classic in North America. It has been shown in a marathon annually on TNT since 1997 and on TBS since 2004 titled "24 Hours of ''A Christmas Story''", consisting of 12 consecutive airings of the film from the evening of Christmas Eve to the evening of Christmas Day annually. It is often ranked as one of the best Christmas films. The film was released on November 18, 1983, and it received positive reviews from critics. Filmed partly in Canada, it earned two Canadian Genie Awards in 1984. In 2012, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Nightmare (film)
''American Nightmare'' is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Don McBrearty and starring Lawrence Day, Lora Staley, Lenore Zann, Michael Ironside, and Alexandra Paul in her feature film debut. It tells the story of a successful pianist investigating the disappearance of his sister in an urban decadence as a serial killer targets prostitutes and sex workers. The screenplay by John Sheppard, based on a story by John Gault and Steven Blake, was influenced by the rising crime rates in American cities throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The film was executive-produced by Paul Lynch, who had previously directed '' Prom Night'' (1980). Filming took place in Toronto, Ontario in 1980 on a budget of CAD $200,000. The film initially received a small theatrical release in March 1983 in Canada before appearing on television in the United States the same year. Plot In the dead of winter in a large unnamed American city, Isabelle smokes a joint on a cheap hotel bed while one of her j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtains (1983 Film)
''Curtains'' is a 1983 Canadian slasher film directed by Richard Ciupka and Peter R. Simpson, written by Robert Guza Jr., and starring John Vernon, Samantha Eggar, Linda Thorson, and Lynne Griffin. Centered on theater and filmmaking, its plot focuses on a group of actresses auditioning for a role in a movie at a prestigious director's mansion, where they are targeted by a masked killer. Conceived by producer Peter R. Simpson after his box office hit ''Prom Night (1980 film), Prom Night'' (1980), the film was intended to be an "adult" slasher aimed at older audiences in contrast to the standard genre films of the time, which featured predominately teenaged characters. Shooting began in late 1980 and was the beginning of a troubled production marked by multiple rewrites and reshoots that spanned nearly three years. The film's protracted production ended in Ciupka detaching his name from the project. The film premiered in the United States on March 4, 1983, and was released theatrica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melanie (film)
''Melanie'' is a 1982 Canadian drama film starring Glynnis O'Connor, Lisa Dalbello, Burton Cummings and Don Johnson. Plot summary Melanie, a rural Arkansas woman, travels to Los Angeles in an effort to regain custody of her son from her ex-husband, Carl. Her illiteracy poses a major obstacle. She meets Rick, a faded musician, with whom she develops a relationship. Rick's attorney teaches her to read and write, and helps her with her custody fight. Cast * Glynnis O'Connor as Melanie * Paul Sorvino as Walter * Burton Cummings as Rick * Trudy Young as Ronda * Don Johnson as Carl * Donann Cavin as Ginny * Jamie Dick as Tyler * Jodie Drake as Eula * Lisa Dalbello as Marcie * Yvonne Murray as Brandy * Martha Gibson as Waitress * Rocco Bellusci as Dana * David Wills as Daryll Adrian * L. Q. Jones as Buford (uncredited) Production Filming began in Toronto on 2 June 1980. Additional filming was conducted in Los Angeles. Reception Roger Ebert noted that ''Melanie'' was "an uneven and so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porky's
''Porky's'' is a 1981 sex comedy film written and directed by Bob Clark about the escapades of teenagers in 1954 at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida. The film influenced many writers in the teen film genre and spawned two sequels: '' Porky's II: The Next Day'' (1983) and ''Porky's Revenge!'' (1985), and an ashcan copy titled '' Porky's Pimpin' Pee Wee'' (2009). ''Porky's'' was the fifth highest-grossing film of 1982. The film received generally positive reviews at the time of its release, but have become more mixed-to-negative over time. Plot In 1954, each boy in a group of Florida high school students plans to lose his virginity. They go to Porky's, a strip club in the Everglades, believing that they can hire a prostitute to satisfy their sexual desires. The club's proprietor, Porky, takes their money but humiliates the boys by dumping them into the swamp. When the group demands their money back, the sheriff, Porky's brother, drives them away but not before he ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gas (1981 Film)
''Gas'' is a 1981 Canadian comedy film released by Paramount Pictures, the plot of which was inspired by the 1979 energy crisis. The film was directed by Les Rose and produced by Claude Héroux. Plot summary A small Midwestern town is thrown into chaos when the local oil tycoon Duke Stuyvesant orchestrates a phony oil shortage in order to increase profits. News reporter Jane Beardsley tries to uncover the plot. Radio DJ Nick the Noz, observing from his station's news helicopter, reports on the craziness caused by the gasoline shortage. Cast * Susan Anspach ... Jane Beardsley * Howie Mandel ... Matt Lloyd * Sterling Hayden ... Duke Stuyvesant * Helen Shaver ... Rhonda * Sandee Currie ... Sarah Marshal * Peter Aykroyd ... Ed Marshal * Keith Knight ... Ira * Alf Humphreys ... Lou Picard * Philip Akin ... Lincoln Jones * Michael Hogan ... Guido Vespucci * Paul Kelman ... Nino Vespucci * Donald Sutherland ... Nick the Noz * Dustin Waln ... Ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
My Bloody Valentine (film)
''My Bloody Valentine'' is a 1981 Canadian slasher film directed by George Mihalka and written by John Beaird. It stars Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, and Neil Affleck. The plot tells about a group of young adults who decide to throw a Valentine's Day party, only to incur the vengeful wrath of a maniac in mining gear who begins a killing spree. Conceived and produced entirely over the course of around a year, the film was shot on location in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, in the fall of 1980. It was theatrically released on February 11, 1981 by Paramount Pictures, coinciding with the Valentine's holiday. Despite a mixed response from critics and grossing $5.7 million at the box office, the film has developed a large cult following over the years since its release. ''My Bloody Valentine'' faced notable censorship, having a total of nine minutes cut by the Motion Picture Association of America due to the amount of violence and gore. Though co-producer Dunning confirmed that the excised ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ghostkeeper
''Ghostkeeper'' is a 1981 Canadian supernatural horror film, supernatural slasher film directed by James Makichuk, and starring Riva Spier, Georgie Collins, and Murray Ord. Its plot centers on a trio of snowmobilers in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, Rockies who become stranded at an abandoned hotel where the elderly female innkeeper is hiding an evil entity within the building. The film is inspired by the Wendigo, Windigo legend of North America. Filmed in Banff, Alberta under a tax shelter in December 1980, the film had an unstable financial situation and the filmmakers nearly halted the production mid-way through due to depletion of its budget. The film was given a minuscule theatrical run in Canada and the United States and is consequently little-known among horror film fans, but has attained a cult following over the years. The independent cult label Code Red DVD, Code Red Releasing later acquired the film, and released on DVD for the first time in April 2012. In August 2017 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Kidnapping Of The President
''The Kidnapping of the President'' is a 1980 Canadian-American political thriller film starring William Shatner, Hal Holbrook, Van Johnson and Ava Gardner. It was produced and directed by George Mendeluk and co-produced by John Ryan from a screenplay by Richard Murphy, based on Charles Templeton's 1974 novel of the same name. The original music is by Nash the Slash and Paul Zaza and the cinematography by Mike Molloy. The film was made by Presidential Films and Sefel Films and distributed by Crown International Pictures. Plot During a state visit to Canada, President Adam Scott is warned by Secret Service agent Jerry O'Connor about a potential threat to his life. Scott ignores O'Connor's warning and is consequently abducted (while walking through Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto) by South American terrorist Roberto Assanti and his female accomplice. They demand $100 million in diamonds along with two airplanes as ransom for the president's safe return. While Scott is being held ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
