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Lucky Numbers
''Lucky Numbers'' is a 2000 black comedy film directed by Nora Ephron. It stars John Travolta, Lisa Kudrow, Tim Roth, Ed O'Neill, Michael Rapaport, Richard Schiff, Daryl Mitchell, Bill Pullman, and Michael Moore in a rare acting role. 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. The film received negative reviews and was a box-office bomb. 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 sche ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nora Ephron
Nora Ephron ( ; May 19, 1941 – June 26, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing romantic comedy films and received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award and three Writers Guild of America Awards. Ephron started her career writing the screenplays for '' Silkwood'' (1983), ''Heartburn'' (1986), and '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989), the last of which earned the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, and was ranked by the Writers Guild of America as the 40th greatest screenplay of all-time. She made her directorial film debut with comedy drama '' This Is My Life'' (1992) followed by the romantic comedies '' Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), ''Michael'' (1996), '' You've Got Mail'' (1998), '' Bewitched'' (2005), and the biographical film '' Julie & Julia'' (2009). Ephron's first produced play, '' Imaginary Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Screen International
''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. The magazine in its current form was founded in 1975, and its website, ''Screendaily.com'', was added in 2001. ''Screen International'' also produces daily publications at film festivals and markets in Berlin, Germany; Cannes, France; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California; and Hong Kong. History ''Screen International'' traces its history back to 1889 with the publication of ''Optical Magic Lantern and Photographic Enlarger''. At the turn of the 20th century, the name changed to ''Cinematographic Journal'' and in 1907 it was renamed '' Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly''. Kinematograph Weekly ''Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly'' contained trade news, advertisemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Sam McMurray
Samuel McMurray (born April 15, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Supervisor Patrick O'Boyle in the CBS sitcom series ''The King of Queens'', Glen in the Coen Brothers comedy film '' Raising Arizona'', Trent Culpepper in the sitcom '' Cristela'' and for voicing Roy in the family sitcom television series ''Dinosaurs''. He also appeared as Doug on the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', and as Ned on the CBS sitcom '' Mom''. Early life Sam McMurray was born in New York City on 15 April 1952, the son of Jane (née Hoffman) and Richard McMurray, both actors. Lesley Woods was his stepmother. McMurray is Jewish on his mother's side of the family and Irish on his father's side of the family. Career Among McMurray's film credits are '' C.H.U.D.'' (1984), '' Raising Arizona'' (1987), '' The Wizard'' (1989) as Jimmy's stepfather Mr. Bateman, '' National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'' (1989), '' L.A. Story'' (1991), '' Addams Family Values'' (1993), and '' Drop Dead Gorgeou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Caroline Aaron
Caroline Sidney Aaron (née Abady; born ) is an American actress. She has appeared in multiple Mike Nichols, Nora Ephron, and Woody Allen films and is also known for her role in the television series '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''. Early life Aaron was born in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother, Nina Abady ( Friedman) was a civil rights activist; Alabama-born, she was of Syrian Jewish descent, and worked full time to support her three kids after the death of Aaron's father, who was of Sephardic Jewish ( Lebanese-Jewish) descent. Aaron's elder sister, Josephine Abady, a theatre director and producer, died from breast cancer on May 25, 2002, aged 52. Aaron attended American University in Washington, D.C., studying performing arts. She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City. Career Aaron 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'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pennsylvania Lottery
The Pennsylvania Lottery is a lottery operated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It 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 commissi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Hitman
Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be a person, group, or organization. Contract killing has been associated with organized crime, Conspiracy theory, government conspiracies, dictatorships and feud, vendettas. 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 client 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 hiring party. Contract killers may exhibit serial killer traits, but are generally not classified as such because of third-party ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Strip Club
A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap 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. the size of the global strip club Industry (economics), industry was Estimation, 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 cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Denny's
Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other international locations. Founded in 1953 as a Doughnut, donut stand in Lakewood, California, under the name Danny's Donuts, the chain has grown to one of the largest full-service family restaurant chains in the United States. Description 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 The restaurant originally opened as Danny's Donuts by Richard Jezak and Harold Butler (businessman), Harold Butler. It opened at the intersection of Bellflower, California, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two principal cities of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, also known as the Susquehanna Valley, which had a population of 591,712 in 2020 and is the fourth-most populous metro area in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is situated on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, southwest of Allentown and northwest of Philadelphia. Harrisburg played a role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. During part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad allowed Harrisburg to develop into one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeastern United States. In the mid- to late 20th century, the city's economic fort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Box-office Bomb
A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has technically "bombed", the term is more frequently used for major studio releases that were highly anticipated, extensively marketed, and expensive to produce, but nevertheless failed commercially. Originally, a "bomb" had the opposite meaning, referring instead to a successful film that "exploded" at the box office. The term continued to be used this way in the United Kingdom into the 1970s. Causes Negative word of mouth With the advent of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter in the 2000s, word of mouth regarding new films is easily spread and has had a marked effect on box office performance. A film's ability or failure to attract positive or negative commentary can strongly impact its performance at the box office, espe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
1980 Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal
The 1980 Pennsylvania Lottery scandal, colloquially known as the Triple Six Fix, was a successful plot to rig '' The Daily Number'', a three-digit game of the Pennsylvania Lottery. All of the balls in the three machines, except those numbered ''4'' and ''6'', were weighted, meaning that the drawing was almost sure to be a combination of those digits. The scheme was successful in that ''666'' (one of the eight combinations of 4s and 6s that the "fixers" were hoping for) was drawn on April 24, 1980; however, the unusual betting patterns alerted authorities to the crime. The chief conspirators were sent to prison, and most of the fraudulently acquired winnings were never paid out. Planning The plan was masterminded by Nick Perry (1916–2003), ''The Daily Number''s announcer. Perry was born Nicholas Pericles Katsafanas in the Morningside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Peabody High School and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. After serving in the U.S. Navy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut documentary ''Roger & Me'', a scathing look at the downfall of the Automotive industry in the United States, automotive industry in 1980s Flint and Detroit. Moore followed up and won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ''Bowling for Columbine'', which examines the causes of the Columbine High School massacre and the overall gun culture in the United States. He directed and produced ''Fahrenheit 9/11'', a critical look at the early 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 won the Palme d'Or at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, and was the subject of Fahrenheit 9/11 controversies, intense controver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
