Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Ebert was known for his intimate, Midwestern writing style and critical views informed by values of populism and humanism. Writing in a prose style intended to be entertaining and direct, he made sophisticated cinematic and analytical ideas more accessible to non-specialist audiences. Ebert frequently endorsed foreign and independent films he believed would be appreciated by mainstream viewers, championing filmmakers like Werner Herzog and Errol Morris. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him "the best-known film critic in America."
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams is a 1974 independent feature film produced by Charles E. Sellier Jr. and Raylan D. Jensen for Sunn Classic Pictures. The film's popularity led to an NBC television series of the same title. The title character, played by Dan Haggerty, was loosely based on California mountain man John "Grizzly" Adams (1812–1860).
The Concorde... Airport '79 is a 1979 American air disaster film and the fourth and final installment of the Airport franchise. Although poorly reviewed by critics and earning poorly in North America, the film was a huge hit internationally, for a total gross of $65 million on a $14 million budget.
Romeo Is Bleeding is a 1993 neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Peter Medak, written and produced by Hilary Henkin, and starring Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis, and Roy Scheider. It follows a psychosexual cat-and-mouse game between a corrupt cop (Oldman), and a ruthless mob assassin (Olin) who begins to unravel his carefully constructed double life. The film's title was taken from a song by Tom Waits.
Allen Garfield was an American film and television actor.
B.A.P.S is a 1997 American female buddy comedy film directed by Robert Townsend and starring Halle Berry, Natalie Desselle, and Martin Landau. The film was written by Troy Byer and was her first screenplay. The film received largely negative reviews from critics, although it has since been considered a cult classic, especially for Black Hollywood. In total it earned $7.3 million at the box office worldwide.
The Lincoln Conspiracy is a 1977 film directed by James L. Conway that dramatizes certain conspiracy theories concerning the 1865 assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Adapted from the 1977 book of the same name by David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr., the production stars Robert Middleton as Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, John Dehner as Colonel Lafayette C. Baker, Bradford Dillman as John Wilkes Booth, Ted Henning as Robert Campbell, and John Anderson as Lincoln.
Living Out Loud is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard LaGravenese and set in New York City, starring Holly Hunter, Danny DeVito, Queen Latifah, Martin Donovan, and Elias Koteas.
Sharky's Machine is a 1981 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Burt Reynolds, who stars in the title role. It is an adaptation of William Diehl's first novel Sharky's Machine (1978) with a screenplay by Gerald Di Pego. It also stars Vittorio Gassman, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Earl Holliman, Bernie Casey, Henry Silva, Darryl Hickman, Richard Libertini, Rachel Ward and Joseph Mascolo.
Cujo is a 1983 American horror film based on Stephen King's 1981 novel of the same name and directed by Lewis Teague. It was written by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner, and starring Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh Kelly and Danny Pintauro.
Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA) is an American film production company specializing in the production, acquisition and distribution of low-budget films.
The 24 Hour Woman is a 1999 film directed and co-written by Nancy Savoca. The film was shot on location in New York City.
Sunn Classic Pictures, also known as Sunn International Pictures, Schick Sunn Classic Pictures, and Taft International Pictures was an independent U.S.-based film distributor, founded in 1971. The company was notable for family films and documentaries, and was purchased by Taft Broadcasting in 1980.
In the film industry, four-wall distribution is a process through which a studio or distributor rents movie theaters for a period of time and receives all of the box office revenue. The four walls of a movie theater give the term its name. Companies engaging in this practice were common in the United States during the late 1960s and 1970s; one of them was the Utah-based Sunn Classic Pictures.
Charles Edward Sellier Jr. was an American television producer, screenwriter, novelist and director, best known for creating the American book and television series The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. He was also known for directing the notorious Christmas themed slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night He also wrote and produced more than thirty films and 230 television shows during his career, which spanned four decades.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a 1980 American made-for-television film produced by Sunn Classic Pictures as a part of their Classics Illustrated series. It was filmed partly in Park City, Utah and shown on NBC. It starred Jeff Goldblum as Ichabod Crane, Meg Foster as Katrina von Tassel, and Dick Butkus as Brom Bones. It was directed by Henning Schellerup and produced by Charles Sellier, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the movie.
Chapter Two is a 1979 American Metrocolor romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Moore, produced by Ray Stark, and based on Neil Simon's 1977 Broadway play of the same name. It has a 124-minute running time. It stars James Caan and Marsha Mason, in an Academy Award-nominated performance.
In Search of Noah's Ark is a 1976 American documentary film based on David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, it explores the alleged final resting place of Noah's Ark.
In Search of Historic Jesus is a 1979 American documentary film based on Lee Roddy and Charles E. Sellier Jr.'s book of the same name. Released by Sunn Classic Pictures, the film speculates on the historical accuracy of the biblical depiction of Jesus.
Joel Silberg was a film, television and stage director and screenwriter in Israel and the United States. He made films in Israel including so-called Bourekas films. He then directed films in the U.S. during the 1980s, including Breakin' and Lambada. Both have been described as exploitation films. In 2008 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Israel Film Academy.
