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Sweet And Lowdown
''Sweet and Lowdown'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary film written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film ''La Strada'', the film tells the fictional story, set in the 1930s, of self-confident jazz guitarist Emmet Ray (played by Sean Penn) who falls in love with a mute woman (Samantha Morton). The film also stars Uma Thurman and Anthony LaPaglia. Like several of Allen's other films (e.g., ''Zelig''), the film is occasionally interrupted by interviews with critics and biographers like Allen, Nat Hentoff, Daniel Okrent,and Douglas McGrath, who comment on the film's plot as if the characters were real-life people. The film received generally positive reviews upon release, with Penn and Morton receiving Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Plot summary Emmet Ray is a jazz guitarist who achieved some acclaim in the 1930s with a handful of recordings for RCA Victor, but who faded from public view under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing material for television in the 1950s, mainly ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950–1954) working alongside Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Larry Gelbart, and Neil Simon. He also published several books featuring short stories and wrote humor pieces for ''The New Yorker''. In the early 1960s, he performed as a stand-up comedian in Greenwich Village alongside Lenny Bruce, Elaine May, Mike Nichols, and Joan Rivers. There he developed a monologue style (rather than traditional jokes) and the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish. He released three comedy albums during the mid to late 1960s, earning a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album nomination for his 1964 comedy album entitled simply '' Woody Allen''. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muteness
Muteness or mutism () is defined as an absence of speech while conserving or maintaining the ability to hear the speech of others. Mutism is typically understood as a person's inability to speak, and commonly observed by their family members, caregivers, teachers, doctors or speech and language pathologists. It may not be a permanent condition, depending on etiology, the cause, which might be physical, medical, Organ (biology), organic, psychological, developmental, neurological or Major trauma, traumatic. A specific physical disability or communication disorder can be diagnosed. Loss of previously normal speech (aphasia) can be due to accidents, disease, or surgical complication; it is rarely for psychological reasons. Treatment or management also varies by cause, determined after a speech assessment. Treatment can sometimes restore speech. If not, a range of assistive and augmentative communication devices are available. Organic causes Organic causes of mutism may stem from seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denis O'Hare
Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor, singer, and author noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and ''Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on HBO's fantasy series ''True Blood''. He is also known for his supporting roles in such films as '' Charlie Wilson's War'', ''Milk'', ''Changeling'', and ''Dallas Buyers Club''. In 2011, he starred as Larry Harvey in the first season of the FX anthology series ''American Horror Story'', for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie in 2012. He returned to the show in 2013, playing Spalding in '' American Horror Story: Coven'' and once more as Stanley in '' American Horror Story: Freak Show'', the latter for which he earned a second Primetime Emmy Award nomination. For his performance in '' American Horror Story: Hotel'' as Liz Taylor, O'Hare received critical acclaim. Earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Waters
John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and ''Female Trouble'' (1974). He wrote and directed the comedy film ''Hairspray (1988 film), Hairspray'' (1988), which was an international success and was later adapted into a Hairspray (musical), hit Broadway musical. He has written and directed other films, including ''Polyester (film), Polyester'' (1981), ''Cry-Baby'' (1990), ''Serial Mom'' (1994), ''Pecker (film), Pecker'' (1998), and ''Cecil B. Demented'' (2000). His films contain elements of Postmodern art, post-modern comedy and Surrealism and film, surrealism. As an actor, Waters has appeared in ''Sweet and Lowdown'' (1999), ''Seed of Chucky'' (2004), '''Til Death Do Us Part (American TV series), 'Til Death Do Us Part'' (2007), ''Excision (film), Excision'' (2012), a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Urbaniak
James Christian Urbaniak (born September 17, 1963) is an American character actor. He is best known for his roles as Simon Grim in three Hal Hartley films: ''Henry Fool'' (1997), ''Fay Grim'' (2006) and ''Ned Rifle'' (2014), Robert Crumb in ''American Splendor'' (2003), Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture on the animated series ''The Venture Bros.'' (2003–2018), Grant Grunderschmidt on ''Review'' (2014–2017), and Arthur Tack on ''Difficult People'' (2015–2017). Personal life Urbaniak was born in Bayonne, New Jersey and lives in Los Angeles, California. He is of Polish descent. Career Urbaniak's first media appearance occurred in 1983, when at the age of 20, he went onstage from the audience of ''Late Night with David Letterman'', to try his hand at a monologue joke that Letterman had flubbed. One of his first noteworthy roles was in the avant-garde playwright/director Richard Foreman's ''The Universe'', for which Urbaniak won an Obie. He has also been acclaimed for his acting in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stage Fright
Stage fright or performance anxiety is the anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience, real or imagined, whether actually or potentially (for example, when performing before a camera). Performing in front of an unknown audience can cause significantly more anxiety than performing in front of familiar faces. In some cases, the person will suffer no such fright from this, while they might suffer from not knowing who they're performing to. In some cases stage fright may be a part of a larger pattern of social phobia (social anxiety disorder), but many people experience stage fright without any wider problems. Quite often, stage fright arises in a mere anticipation of a performance, often a long time ahead. It has numerous manifestations: stuttering, tachycardia, tremor in the hands and legs, sweaty hands, facial nerve tics, dry mouth, and dizziness. People and situations Stage fright can occur in pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Django Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most significant exponents. With violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Reinhardt formed the Paris-based Quintette du Hot Club de France in 1934. The group was among the first to play jazz that featured the guitar as a lead instrument. Reinhardt recorded in France with many visiting American musicians, including Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter, and briefly toured the United States with Duke Ellington's orchestra in 1946. He died suddenly of a stroke in 1953 at the age of 43. Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become standards within gypsy jazz, including " Minor Swing", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and "Nuages". Jazz guitarist Frank Vignola says that nearly every major popular-music guitarist in the world has been influe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pimp
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still extensively been used for female procurers as well) or a brothel keeper, is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The procurer may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing and possibly monopolizing a location where the prostitute may solicit clients. Like prostitution, the legality of certain actions of a madam or a pimp vary from one region to the next. Examples of procuring include: * Trafficking a person into a country for the purpose of soliciting sex * Operating a business where prostitution occurs * Transporting a prostitute to the location of their arrangement * Deriving financial gain from the prostitution of another Etymology ''Procurer'' The term ''p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Arista Records, and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, afrobeat, electronic, R&B, blues, jazz, and country. Its name is derived from the initials of its defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA Records was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1987, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment after the 2004 merger of BMG and Sony; it was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony/BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. RCA Records is the corporate successor of the Victor Talking Machine Company, founded in 1901, making it the second-oldest record label in American history, af ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academy Award For Best Actor
The Academy Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. The award is traditionally presented by the previous year's Best Actress winner. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929 with Emil Jannings receiving the award for his roles in '' The Last Command'' (1928) and ''The Way of All Flesh'' (1927). Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the actors branch of AMPAS; winners are selected by a plurality vote from the entire eligible voting members of the Academy. In the first three years of the awards, actors were nominated as the best in their categories. At that time, all of their work during the qualifying period (as many as three films, in some cases) was listed after the award. During the third ceremony in 1930, only one of those films was cited in each winner' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas McGrath
Douglas Geoffrey McGrath (February 2, 1958 – November 3, 2022) was an American screenwriter, film director, and actor. He received various accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Tony Award, and Primetime Emmy Award. McGrath started his career as a writer for ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1980 to 1981. He co-wrote with Woody Allen the film ''Bullets Over Broadway'' (1994), for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as well as BAFTA and Writers Guild of America Award nominations. He then directed such films as '' Emma'' (1996), ''Company Man'' (2000), ''Nicholas Nickleby'' (2002), and ''Infamous'' (2006). He also appeared in such films as ''Quiz Show'' (1994), ''The Daytrippers'' (1996), ''Happiness'' (1998), '' The Insider'' (1999), and ''Michael Clayton'' (2007). He also made appearances in television including a recurring role as Principal Toby Cook in Lena Dunham's HBO series ''Girls'' from 2015 to 2016. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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