Paul Haggis Paul Haggis
Born on March 10, 1953 in Ontario, Canada, Paul Haggis, who is a writer and director, grew up with the films of Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard as an early impetus for his fascination with art and storytelling. Then, influenced by Antonioni's Zoom (1966), he relocated to England with aspirations of becoming a fashion photographer, but fell short and returned to Canada to study film at Fanshawe College. At the time, Haggis tried his hand at writing screenplays while helping out his father, who was involved in highway construction, and at the age of 19, he completed his debut play and brought it to the stage of a local theater. The play was poorly received, but it solidified Haggis' vision for his life. A few years later, with the support of his father, the 22-year-old left his hometown and took his dream of becoming a playwright to Hollywood.
The first days in Hollywood were grueling, with Haggis working as a furniture mover, an interior photographer in a department store, and taking classes at night. He was eventually picked up by CBC's Jack Humphrey to write a script for the series "Hangin' In". Later, while taking a writing course, Haggis ran into a friend who had just broken up with his partner to write for Diff'rent Strokes. Haggis wrote a free script for a show that was coming out the next day, and the scriptwriter liked it. The writer wanted Haggis to work for him in exchange for an upholstered couch. To this day, the couch still lies in Haggis' office, symbolizing a turning point in his career.
Haggis soon became a writer for "Diff'rent Strokes" and took over writing for another series, "One Day at a Time" (CBS, 1975- 1984). The series was at one time criticized for its lack of popularity. At one point, he was so depressed by the series' demise that he became a writer and executive producer of his hated teen drama "The Facts of Life" (NBC, 1979-1988). A year later, Haggis was fired for suggesting that the company make the show more interesting. It was here that Haggis learned all the necessary elements of making a show from producing and editing to getting along with the writing staff, which played a major role in his subsequent career. At the same time, he penned such programs as "Who's the Boss?" (ABC, 1984-1992) and "L.A. Law" (NBC, 1986-1994). Haggis was then discovered by producers Ed Zwick and Mark Herskovitz, and was asked to write and produce the one-hour drama "thirtysomething" (ABC, 1987-1991). Despite the criticism, "something" went on to win several awards after its first season, including an Emmy for Haggis and the Humantis Prize.
"something" was a success for Haggis. "The show's success gave Haggis the opportunity to develop his own style (dark, complex and ambiguous) of work. He created the political satire "City" (CBS, 1989-1990), which depicted a single mother playing a trick on her. Despite some critical acclaim, the show was eventually taken off the air because of its dark tone. He followed this up with another series, "Due South" (1994-1996), about an RCMP officer who travels to Chicago alone to find his father's killer, and ends up staying there to help the local police fight crime. Once again, the show proved to be ratings poison. Although other companies, including TNT Canada and CTV, subsequently televised the series, it ultimately failed to attract much of an audience.
Haggis subsequently gained notoriety as the producer of the action drama "Walker, Texas Ranger" (CBS, 1992-2001). Perhaps in an effort to take full control of a show, Haggis created "EZ Streets" (CBS, 1996-1997), a drama about cops and ex-convicts living on opposite sides of the law. Haggis argued for artistic control, but his quest for hyper-moral characterization, stereotypical cinematography, and Celtic music was doomed to failure. Haggis didn't give up. He tried another TV series, "Family Law" (CBS, 1999-2002), which miraculously screened its first season but was eventually taken off the air due to ratings problems.
In 1996, Haggis produced his feature film debut and served as both writer and director. Set in 1959, four Russian teenagers attempt to form the Soviet Union's first rock band. It was eight years before Haggis made his second film, adapting F.X. Toole's novel "Rope Burns" into "Million Dollar Baby," which was eventually recognized by the Academy. Although Haggis missed out on the Best Adapted Screenplay award, he proved himself a success in another field. His close friendship with director Clint Eastwood earned him the opportunity to work on the World War II film Flags of Our Fathers. Meanwhile, Haggis directed Crash, a complex, racially charged film that ultimately propelled Haggis to the Oscars, where his career reached an all-time high when Crash was nominated for six Oscars at the 78th Academy Awards, including Best Director.
Representative works:
Letter from Iwo Jima Red Sun, Black Sand (2006)
James Bond: Casino Royale (2006)
Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
The Last Kiss (2006)
The Last Kiss (2006)
The Last Kiss (2006)
The Last Kiss (2006)
The Last Kiss (2006)
The Last Kiss (2006)The 78th Annual Academy Awards (2006)
Honeymoon with Harry (2006)
2006 Independent Spirit Awards (2006)<
Crash (2004)
Million Dollar Baby (2004)
"Mister Sterling" (2003)
"Family Law" (1999)
EZ. Streets (1996)
Due South (1994)
Red Hot (1993)
Abraham Polanski
Born in New York City on December 5, 1910, Polanski is of Russian and Jewish descent, and began his film career in 1945. His first film, G oldenEarrings, starring Marlene Dietrich, was nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay in 1947 for Body and Soul, a film about the life of a boxer, and in 1948 he wrote and directed Force of Evil, a gangster film that sold poorly because of its darkness, but which has since been recognized by critics and historians as one of the best films of all time. In the early 1950s, Polanski was blacklisted by Hollywood for his refusal to associate with the extremist organization HUAC, and has since been rejected by all major studios (an experience that also led to a feud with director Elia Kazan). During his time in the blackout, his only brush with cinema was Odds Against Tomorrow, which he co-wrote anonymously in 1959. It wasn't until 1968 that Polanski was allowed to return to film, but only for a handful of films, including Madigan and Tell Them Willie's Here (starring Robert Redford). In his later years he devoted himself to teaching film, and before his death he taught screenwriting at the University of Southern California.
On October 26, 1999, Abraham Polanski, the famous American screenwriter and director, died of heart failure at the age of 88 at his home in Beverly Hills.
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Top Ten Films Listed by Fans
Top Ten Science Fiction Films
1) Star Wars Series: Started a movie myth.
2) Interdimensional Hackers (The Thirteenth Tier): It should be said that it was more brilliantly conceived than The Matrix.
3) Superman: The epitome of all comic book-based sci-fi movies.
4) Terminator (1 & 2): the classic of all sci-fi movie classics.
5) 12 Monkeys: It's not often that a sci-fi movie is so thought-provoking.
6) The Matrix series: triggered thinking about the reality and future development of the network, forming a hacker culture.
7) Transmigration (Dark City): an alternative sci-fi movie with a surprising ending.
8) Time Out Contact: a masterpiece that explores the issue of extraterrestrial civilization in a more serious way.
9) A Close Call: A thrilling movie about the genetics of people in a future society, with good content and themes.
10) 2001 Into Space: a classic, known for its serious science and prescience.
Top 10 Dramas:
1) The Shawshank Redemption (Thrill 1995): a must-see inspirational movie for men.
2) The Godfather (1,2): classic gangster movie, with this work, other similar all bow down.
3) Once Upon a Time in America: a whole life in it.
4)Paradise Cinema: every man's childhood memories, so classic.
5)City of Nowhere: how can people make such an awesome movie!
6)Alive: maybe the greatest movie in China right now.
7) Forrest Gump: teaches all people to be tolerant of others, and that stupidity is bliss.
8) Braveheart: a good teaching material for national self-esteem, hope everyone will love China.
9) Truman's World: a whimsical work that explores human values and the fundamentals of human nature.
10) The Sound of Music: the power of music, the joy of music!
11) Schindler's List: shocking history, infectious cinematography and a brilliant cast.
Top Ten War Movies:
1) Saving Private Ryan: a superb masterpiece that most truly reflects war and humanity.
2) The Hunt for Red October: a masterpiece of submarine cinema with accurate pacing and characterization.
3) Under Siege: A superb film that depicts WWII from a unique perspective, with spot-on performances from the cast.
4) Battle Royale: a war movie only because it's so shocking and brutal.
5) General Patton: A masterpiece of panoramic war, with great performances.
6) u-571: a new type of naval war movie with outstanding effects, shot with a lot of character.
7) FULL METAL SHELL: Kubrick's profound reflection on the war, after seeing it makes people fear of war.
8) Starship Troopers: a sci-fi war movie with provocative and controversial depictions of soldier training and combat.
9) WALTER DEFENDS SARAJEVO: Great movie that looks heart pounding at all times!
10) Field Platoon: a classic movie reflecting on the Vietnam War.
Top 10 Action Movies
1) Heroic (1): John Woo's masterpiece.
2) True Lies: Arnold in the most warm and humorous film.
3) Life and death (1): full of dynamic and refreshing!
4) TIGER series: Oh how he is always all wounded but not dead!
5) The Island of the Dead (Stone Cold): the peak of the action movie! The actors are excellent.
6) Blade Runner (1 & 2): New vampire action movie, very different and gorgeous.
7) The Mysterious Yellow Rose series: Oh because I was young when I watched it, I thought it was more classic than westerns.
8) Revenge: also an old Romanian movie, this movie's gunfights make people never get tired of watching.
9) The Three Steps to Murder series: a clean, Mexican-style gunfight movie.
10) First Blood (1): a movie with substance and intensity and story, one of Stallone's few good movies.
Top Ten Horror Films
1) The Scream of the Dead series: a masterpiece of school horror, to the appetite of young people.
2) Kill the Dawn: Alternative and exaggerated horror movie, not scary, but funny and alternative.
3) Dawn of the Living Dead: A masterpiece of the Living Dead series, famous for its disgusting zombies.
4) The Exorcist: A gloomy picture and harsh sound effects, it's a great movie to watch at night!
5) The Hell: Hong Kong style horror movie representative, there are horror, but also emotional.
6) Anatomy (1, 2): A representative of European horror, with strange and avant-garde content.
7) Bad Taste: Early work of Lord of the Rings director, scary and funny.
8) Alien series: sci-fi horror classics, 1, 2, 4 are wonderful
9) Curse: representative of Japanese horror, extremely evil!
10) The Living Corpse: rare and bloody black humor!
Top 10 Comedies
1) Two Smoking Guns: Fun with British humor and a mess of answers
2) I'm Mad About Mary: A representation of American toilet culture, cheesy but fun.
3) The Fighting Eagles series: American-style nonsensical action comedy.
4) Big Little Lies (1 & 2): classics!
5) The Flower Field: A representative of the old Hong Kong style comedies with a star-studded cast.
6) The Scream series: a new type of comedy movie that parodies other movies for fun.
7) The Tiger and the Tiger: A classic of European comedy that you can't get enough of.
8) The Golden Cockerel: A rare Hong Kong movie with a deeper meaning in recent years.
9) The Mask: The famous movie of Kim Carrey.
10) King of Comedy: Chow Sing-chi's most visceral movie.
Top 10 Wuxia Films
1) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The first of the "American" Wuxia films!
2) The New Dragon Inn: This is now the model for all martial arts movies.
3) Huang Feihong series: Jet Li ah!
4) Drunken Fist: Jackie Chan's masterpiece, the golden age of kung fu movies.
5) Shaolin Temple 36 rooms: Liu Jiahui's masterpiece, now look at the fun.
6) Shaolin Temple: Needless to say, it is the representative of real kung fu.
7) Zorro: The representative of French swordsman movie, fascinated a lot of mm.
8) Laughing Pride of the Wanderer: The deepest impression on Lin Qingxia's role as Dongfang Bu Bu Defeat.
9) Zatoichi: Innovative Japanese swordsman movie with a lot of character.
10) Kill Bill: Oh, the new school of East-West combination of kung fu movies to come ！！！！
Top Ten Animated Films
1) Monsters, Inc: Rare digital stunts! Moving and funny ideas!
2) Frozen Planet: It didn't sell very well, but it had some really beautiful scenes!
3) Sinbad's Voyage: A brilliant combination of hand-drawn and 3d technology.
4) Monster Shrek: Healthy love story and humor!
5) Finding Nemo (Finding Nemo): an animated classic that combines warm emotions and cutting-edge technology.
6) Sen no Chihiro: Miyagi Jun's greatest hits!
7) Final Fantasy: A pioneer in digitizing 3d characters with outstanding technology.
8) Vampire Hunter: A gorgeous vampire masterpiece in Japanese style.
9) Gena: a European animation masterpiece with a weird style!
10) Dinosaurs: needless to say, good looking!
Top 10 Erotic Movies
1) Showgirls: rare depiction of topless nightclub performers, with exquisite scenes!
2) Caligula: the most "serious" and grandiose erotic film ever made!
3) Romance: an erotic masterpiece that explores the conflict of love and hatred.
4) Intimacy: Winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin and the first oral sex scene in a major European film festival!
5) Wild Rose of Paris: a horrific depiction of love to the core!
6) Deep Throat: the granddaddy of modern pornography!
7) City of Sorrows: an independent movie starring French porn actors reflecting an ugly society.
8) World of the Senses: the amazing work of Isao Oshima, famous for the real sex scenes of the actors!
9) Last Tango in Paris: if you miss Marlon Brando, see this movie!
10) Scandal: the latest in Korean erotica.
Top Ten War Movies:
1) Saving Private Ryan: A superb masterpiece that most truly reflects war and humanity.
2) The Hunt for Red October: a masterpiece of submarine cinema with accurate pacing and characterization.
3) Under Siege: A superb film that depicts WWII from a unique perspective, with spot-on performances from the cast.
4) Battle Royale: a war movie only because it's so shocking and brutal.
5) General Patton: A masterpiece of panoramic war, with great performances.
6) u-571: a new type of naval war movie with outstanding effects, shot with a lot of character.
7) FULL METAL SHELL: Kubrick's profound reflection on the war, after seeing it makes people fear of war.
8) Starship Troopers: a sci-fi war movie with provocative and controversial depictions of soldier training and combat.
9) WALTER DEFENDS SARAJEVO: Great movie that looks heart pounding at all times!
10) Field Platoon: a classic movie reflecting on the Vietnam War.