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When Nature Calls
''When Nature Calls'' is a 1985 spoof comedy written and directed by Charles Kaufman and starring Academy Award nominee David Strathairn in an early performance. The film was distributed by Charles Kaufman's brother, Lloyd Kaufman, of Troma Entertainment (sister Susan Kaufman worked as an art director and their father Stanley appeared as an actor in the film). Content The film is packed with visual gags, non sequiturs, fake previews for non-existent movies, and, one of the film's more notable sequences, an obscene stop-motion montage involving food products. The (loose) plot of the film follows a man (David Orange) who, fed up with the hassles of city living, decides to move his reluctant family into the woods, only to find out that they're in way over their heads with outdoor living. The video box proudly claims that the film includes the most romantic scene between a woman and a bear shot on celluloid. Cast The film features cameos from such notable people as baseball leg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Strathairn
David Russell Strathairn (; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such as Edward R. Murrow, J. Robert Oppenheimer, William H. Seward, and John Dos Passos. He has received various accolades including an Independent Spirit Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Volpi Cup, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. Strathairn made his acting debut in his fellow Williams College graduate John Sayles' film ''Return of the Secaucus 7'' (1980). He continued acting in films such as ''Matewan'' (1987), ''Eight Men Out'' (1988), '' City of Hope'' (1991), ''A League of Their Own'' (1992), '' Sneakers'' (1992), ''Passion Fish'' (1992), '' The Firm'' (1993), ''The River Wild'' (1995), ''L.A. Confidential'' (1997), and ''Limbo'' (1999). Strathairn gained prominence for his portrayal as journalist Edward R. Murrow in G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Smith (actor)
William Emmett Smith (March 24, 1933 – July 5, 2021) was an American actor. In a Hollywood career spanning more than 79 years, he appeared in almost three hundred feature films and television productions in a wide variety of character roles, accumulating over 980 total credits, with his best known role being the menacing Anthony Falconetti in the 1970s television mini-series '' Rich Man, Poor Man''. Smith is also known for films like '' Any Which Way You Can'' (1980), ''Conan The Barbarian'' (1982), '' Rumble Fish'' (1983), and '' Red Dawn'' (1984), as well as lead roles in several exploitation films during the 1990s. Early life and career Smith was born on March 24, 1933, in Columbia, Missouri, to William Emmett Smith and Emily Richards Smith, and grew up on the cattle ranch owned by his parents. His family later moved to Southern California, where he began his acting career at the age of eight in 1942; entering films as a child actor in such films as ''The Ghost of Frank ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Comedy Films
American comedy films are comedy films produced in the United States. The genre is one of the oldest in American cinema; some of the first silent movies were comedies, as slapstick comedy often relies on visual depictions, without requiring sound. With the advent of sound in the late 1920s and 1930s, comedic dialogue rose in prominence in the work of film comedians such as W. C. Fields and the Marx Brothers. By the 1950s, the television industry had become serious competition for the movie industry. The 1960s saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies. In the 1970s, black comedies were popular. Leading figures in the 1970s were Woody Allen and Mel Brooks. One of the major developments of the 1990s was the re-emergence of the romantic comedy film. Another development was the increasing use of " gross-out humour". History 1895–1930 Comic films began to appear in significant numbers during the era of silent films, roughly 1895 to 1930. The visual humour of many of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Troma Entertainment Films
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore and splatter. In 2012, the company officially released many of its films on YouTube. However, their YouTube channel was eventually terminated for not meeting community standards. Troma has produced, acquired and distributed over 1,000 independent films since its creation. Its slogan in 2014 was "40 years of Disrupting Media". Another slogan the company has used is "Movies of the Future." The company also has its own streaming service called Troma Now. Company information Troma films are B-movies known for their surrealistic or automatistic nature, along with their use of shocking imagery; some would categorize them as "shock exploitation films". They typically contain overt sexuali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Independent Films
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 Comedy Films
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a new agreement on fishing rights. * January 7 – Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launches ''Sakigake'', Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the United States or the Soviet Union. * January 15 – Tancredo Neves is elected president of Brazil by the Congress, ending the 21-year military rule. * January 20 – Ronald Reagan is privately sworn in for a second term as President of the United States. * January 27 – The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is formed, in Tehran. * January 28 – The charity single record "We Are the World" is recorded by USA for Africa. February * February 4 – The border between Gibraltar and Spain re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1985 Films
The following is an overview of events in 1985 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable births and deaths. Highest-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1985 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Context The year was considered an unsuccessful one for film. Despite a record number of film releases, many films failed at the box office, and ticket sales were down 17% compared with 1984. Industry executives believed the problem, in part, was a lack of original concepts. Films about fantasy and magic failed, as audiences leaned towards science-fiction. Janet Maslin said the fault for this lay partly with Steven Spielberg, who had created such a successful template with films like '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' and ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' that many fantasy films had imitated them. There was also a saturation of youth-oriented films targeted at those under 18. Executi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Squeeze Play!
''Squeeze Play!'' is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Kaufman. Plot A group of New Jersey women, upset over their boyfriends' tendency to pay more attention to softball than their love lives, decide to beat them at their own game...literally. The girls form their own softball team and challenge the men to a match out on the field. The men initially scoff at the idea, but soon grow nervous when they worry that they'll lose face if they refuse to play. Production The idea of ''Squeeze Play!'' came from a suggestion that Kaufman and Herz should make a movie about a women's softball team and their amorous adventures. Kaufman added the comedy element, and along with his brother Charles and screenwriter Haim Pekelis, a 75-page screenplay was finally worked out; the Kaufmans provided the ideas for sight gags and jokes, and Pekelis worked out the plot. Reception Once ''Squeeze Play!'' was completed, the reactions were almost unanimously negative. Major studios refused to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The First Turn-On!
''The First Turn-On!'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz of Troma Entertainment. It was the last in a series of four "sexy comedies" that helped establish Troma as a film studio, starting with 1979's ''Squeeze Play!'', 1981's ''Waitress!'' and 1982's ''Stuck on You!''. ''The First Turn-On!'' is usually considered by Troma fans to be the best of the company's "sexy comedies". This was Vincent D'Onofrio's film debut. Plot On the last day of summer at Camp Big-Tee-Pee, all the teenage campers are crazy with hormones and eager to go home. While on a nature walk with ditzy hippie camp counselor Michelle Farmer, four students - self-proclaimed stud Mitch, his girlfriend Annie, overweight Henry, and nerd Danny - break off from the rest of the group to indulge in some cannabis. They take refuge in a nearby cave, only to be caught in the act by Michelle some time later. While being shooed out, Henry's flatulence causes a landslide, trapping the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerome Preston Bates
Jerome Preston Bates is an American theater, film and television actor, director and playwright. Bates was born in Augusta, Georgia. The family moved to the New York/New Jersey area when he was six but returned to Georgia when Bates began high school. Theater credits Broadway August Wilson's ''Jitney,'' Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Manhattan Theater Club, Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play), ''Stick Fly'', Directed by Kenny Leon (Lyceum Theatre); August Wilson's ''Seven Guitars'', Directed by Lloyd Richards (Walter Kerr Theatre). Off-Broadway Beckett Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, The Public Theater, Circle Repertory Company, The Negro Ensemble Company, New Federal Theatre. Regional: Floyd Barton in Seven Guitars opposite Viola Davis (world premiere, Goodman Theatre); Fences (Denver Center Theatre Company); King Lear (Folger Theatre); Yale Repertory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Wilma Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Centerstage, Hartford Stage, Peoples’ Light & Theatr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Pratt
Susan Pratt (born April 29, 1956) is an American actress. Pratt is best known for her roles in daytime television as Anne Logan on ''General Hospital'' (1978–1982), Claire Ramsey on ''Guiding Light'' (1983–1986, 2000–2002), and Barbara Montgomery on ''All My Children'' (1987–1991, 1995, 1997, 1998, February 9-July 12, 2007). She was also credited as ''Susan O'Hanlon'' in the role of Captain Nicole Davidoff (16 episodes, 1978–1980) in the Saturday morning series, ''Jason of Star Command''. Career Pratt started her career in 1976, and many of her roles were on daytime television. Those roles include sweet nurse Anne Logan (Audrey Hardy's niece) on ''General Hospital'' (1978–1982), tough doctor Claire Ramsey (who had an affair with Ed Bauer, giving birth to his daughter, Michelle) on ''Guiding Light'' (1983–1986, 2000–2002), and ambitious businesswoman Barbara Montgomery (Travis's ex-wife who married Tom Cudahy but continued to sleep with Travis) on ''All My Chil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Beck
Billy Beck (born Frank Billerbeck; May 26, 1920 – June 29, 2011) was an American clown and character actor. Career Beck began his career as a clown at the legendary Cirque Medrano in Paris, France, in the late 1950s, and appeared in small roles beginning in the 1950s, Beck appeared in the 1954 made for television series Sherlock Holmes, starring Ronald Howard. On TV he portrayed Coco the Clown in episode #24, "The Night Train Mystery", as well as appearing as Rafe in the third season of ''Combat!'' in the episode "The Town That Went Away " (1964) as Rafe and in S11E22's “The Wishbone” as Mr. Tonkins in the TV Western '' Gunsmoke'' (1966). He also appeared in such films as ''Irma la Douce'' (1963), '' The Patsy'' (1964), ''The Fortune Cookie'' (1966), ''Nickelodeon'' (1976), '' House'' (1986), and the 1988 remake ''The Blob ''The Blob'' is a 1958 American science fiction horror film directed by Irvin Yeaworth, and written by Kay Linaker and Theodore Simonson. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
