 |
Barry Strugatz | |
|---|---|
| Born | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
Barry Strugatz is an American film director and screenwriter.
|
Barry Strugatz | |
|---|---|
| Born | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
Barry Strugatz is an American film director and screenwriter.
Strugatz began working on Hair as a production assistant in 1978. He continued writing several projects, including some with his writing partner Mark R. Burns, with whom he wrote Married to the Mob and She-Devil . Strugatz, a lifetime Brooklynite, currently still resides there with his wife and kids.
Strugatz got his start as a production assistant and location scout, working under the auspices of directors Miloš Forman (Hair) and Woody Allen ( The Purple Rose of Cairo ). He wrote the screenplay to 1988’s Married to the Mob , directed by Jonathan Demme, but 1989’s She Devil endured a critical and commercial roasting.[ citation needed ] [1] He finally turned to directing in 2000 with a short film, The Transformation.
Married to the Mob is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Modine.
Pfeiffer gave an acclaimed lead performance as a gangster's widow, and Matthew Modine pplayed an undercover FBI agent assigned the task of investigating her mafia connections.
As a slippery mob boss romantically pursuing Angela, Dean Stockwell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. It currently holds a 91% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes [2]
She-Devil is a 1989 American film starring Meryl Streep and Roseanne Barr. It was directed by Susan Seidelman, and it is the second adaptation of the novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by British writer Fay Weldon. For her role, Streep was nominated for the Best Actress for a Musical or Comedy Golden Globe in 1990.
This short film stars Paul Lazar as a hopeless mailroom employee. He's a shy, misunderstood adult who is taken advantage of by co-workers, bosses, bullies, and even his own father. It's not until he has a life-changing moment watching a Steve McQueen movie that he finds his inner stud. From this moment on, he takes on the tough guy persona and learns how to not only stand up for himself.
From Other Worlds is a sci-fi comedy about a depressed Brooklyn housewife who sleepwalks through her life until she encounters an alien force in her backyard. With the help of a fellow contactee, an African immigrant, she is determined to solve the mystery of her otherworldly experiences. Along the way, she finds romance, saves the planet and finds new meaning in her life.
| Year | Title | Contribution | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Married to the Mob | writer | nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor mominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 1989 | She-Devil | writer | nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
| 2000 | The Transformation (short) | Ddirector/writer | Newport International Film Festival for Audience Award Stony Brook Film Festival for Audience Choice Award |
| 2004 | From Other Worlds | director/writer | |
| 2018 | Furlough | writer |
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. Prolific in film for over four decades, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as one of the era's defining sex symbols. She is known for pursuing a wide range of character roles that span multiple genres. The recipient of various accolades, she has received a Golden Globe Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2007, she was awarded a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress. Known for her versatility and accent adaptability, she has been described as "the best actress of her generation". She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over four decades, including a record 21 Academy Award nominations, winning three, and a record 33 Golden Globe Award nominations, winning eight.
Matthew Avery Modine is an American actor. He rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). Other films include Birdy (1984), Vision Quest (1985), Married to the Mob (1988), Gross Anatomy (1989), Pacific Heights (1990), Short Cuts (1993), Cutthroat Island (1995), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Oppenheimer (2023). On television, he portrayed Dr. Don Francis in the HBO film And the Band Played On (1993), the oversexed Sullivan Groff on Weeds (2007), Ivan Turing in Proof (2015), and Dr. Martin Brenner in Netflix's Stranger Things (2016–2022).
Grand Theft Auto is a 1977 American road action comedy film starring and directed by, in his feature film directorial debut, Ron Howard, who also wrote the screenplay with his real-life father Rance Howard, who also co-starred in the film. As of 2023, this is the only film that Howard has both directed and starred in. The film takes its title from the crime grand theft auto, which is committed a number of times by several different characters.
Sir Stephen Arthur Frears is an English director and producer of film and television often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply drawn characters. He has received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture. In 2009, he received the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He received a knighthood in 2023 for his contributions to the film and television industries.
The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American neo-noir psychological political thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme. The film, based on Richard Condon's 1959 novel of the same name and a reworking of the previous 1962 film, stars Denzel Washington as Bennett Marco, a tenacious, virtuous soldier; Liev Schreiber as Raymond Shaw, a U.S. Representative from New York, manipulated into becoming a vice-presidential candidate; Jon Voight as U.S. Senator Tom Jordan, a challenger for vice president; and Meryl Streep as Eleanor Prentiss Shaw, also a U.S. Senator and Raymond's manipulative, ruthless mother.
Something Wild is a 1986 American action comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, written by E. Max Frye, and starring Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels and Ray Liotta. It was screened out of competition at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. The film has some elements of a road movie combined with screwball comedy.
Melvin and Howard (stylized as Melvin (and Howard)) is a 1980 American comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Demme. The screenplay by Bo Goldman was inspired by real-life Utah service station owner Melvin Dummar, who was listed as the beneficiary of $156 million in a will allegedly handwritten by Howard Hughes that was discovered in the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. A novelization of Goldman's script, which itself won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen, later was written by George Gipe. The film stars Paul Le Mat, Jason Robards, and Mary Steenburgen, who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film was released on September 19, 1980, receiving positive reviews from critics.
Married to the Mob is a 1988 American crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, and Alec Baldwin. Pfeiffer plays Angela de Marco, a gangster's widow from Brooklyn, opposite Modine as the undercover FBI agent assigned the task of investigating her mafia connections.
Monument Ave., originally titled Snitch in the United States and titled Noose in Australia, is a 1998 American neo-noir crime film directed by Ted Demme and starring Denis Leary. The film also stars Famke Janssen, Martin Sheen, Ian Hart, and Lenny Clarke. Cam Neely also makes a brief appearance as a man returning home from work who finds his house has been broken into. The film takes place in Charlestown, Massachusetts and centers on small-time criminal Bobby O'Grady (Leary), who becomes conflicted due to Charlestown's code of silence. His loyalty and drive for self-preservation are tested, after two of his close family members are gunned down by their boss.
Intolerable Cruelty is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, and produced by Brian Grazer and the Coens. The script was written by Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone and Ethan and Joel Coen, with the latter writing the last draft of the screenplay. The film stars George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Edward Herrmann, Paul Adelstein, Richard Jenkins and Billy Bob Thornton. It premiered at the 60th Venice International Film Festival and was released in the United States on October 10, 2003.
One Fine Day is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Michael Hoffman, starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney as two single working parents, with Alex D. Linz and Mae Whitman as their children. The title comes from the 1963 song "One Fine Day" by the Chiffons, which is heard in the film.
The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 American comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel and produced by Wendy Finerman. The screenplay, written by Aline Brosh McKenna, is based on the 2003 novel by Lauren Weisberger. Meryl Streep stars as Miranda Priestly, a powerful fashion magazine editor, with Anne Hathaway as Andrea "Andy" Sachs, a college graduate who goes to New York City and lands a job as Priestly's co-assistant. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci co-star as co-assistant Emily Charlton and art director Nigel Kipling, respectively. Simon Baker and Adrian Grenier play pivotal supporting roles.
She-Devil is a 1989 American black comedy film directed by Susan Seidelman and written by Barry Strugatz and Mark R. Burns. It stars Meryl Streep, Roseanne Barr and Ed Begley Jr. A loose adaptation of the 1983 novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by British writer Fay Weldon, She-Devil tells the story of Ruth Patchett, a dumpy, overweight housewife, who exacts devilish revenge after her philandering husband leaves her and their children for glamorous, best-selling romance novelist Mary Fisher.
Rachel Getting Married is a 2008 American drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, and Debra Winger. The film premiered at the 65th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2008, opened in Canada's Toronto International Film Festival on September 6 and released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3. Hathaway received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her performance in the film.
Funky Monkey is a 2004 family comedy film starring Matthew Modine, Seth Adkins and Roma Downey. It is written by Lance Kinsey and Peter Nelson. It is directed by Harry Basil. The plot centers around boy genius, Michael Dean (Adkins), who teams up with a super-talented chimpanzee and his caretaker (Modine) to take down an animal testing lab.
Step Up Revolution is a 2012 American 3D dance film directed by Scott Speer and written by Amanda Brody. It serves as a sequel to Step Up 3D and the fourth installment in the Step Up film series. The film stars Ryan Guzman, Kathryn McCormick, Misha Gabriel, Cleopatra Coleman, Stephen "tWitch" Boss, Tommy Dewey, and Peter Gallagher.
Hope Springs is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Frankel, written by Vanessa Taylor, and starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carell.
The Family is a 2013 black comedy crime film co-written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, and John D'Leo. It follows a Mafia family in the witness protection program who want to change their lives. It is based on the French novel Malavita by Tonino Benacquista.
Ricki and the Flash is a 2015 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Diablo Cody, about a woman who leaves her family to become a rock star and later gets a chance to make amends. The film stars Meryl Streep, Mamie Gummer, Kevin Kline, Sebastian Stan, Rick Springfield, and Audra McDonald. The film marks Streep and Kline's third collaboration after Sophie's Choice (1982) and A Prairie Home Companion (2006). It was Demme's final narrative film before his death in April 2017.
