Skippy is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film based on the popular comic strip and novel Skippy by Percy Crosby. The screenplay was by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Don Marquis, Norman Z. McLeod, and Sam Mintz.
Prizzi's Honor is a 1985 American black comedy crime film directed by John Huston, starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as two highly skilled mob assassins who, after falling in love, are hired to kill each other. The screenplay co-written by Richard Condon is based on his 1982 novel of the same name. The film's supporting cast includes Anjelica Huston, Robert Loggia, John Randolph, CCH Pounder, Lawrence Tierney, and William Hickey. Stanley Tucci appears in a minor role in his film debut. It was the last of John Huston's films to be released during his lifetime.
Patriot Games is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published in July 1987. Without Remorse, released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character in most of Clancy's novels. The novel focuses on Ryan being the target of Irish terrorist group Ulster Liberation Army for thwarting their kidnapping attempt on the Prince and Princess of Wales in London. It debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. A film adaptation, starring Harrison Ford as Ryan, premiered on June 5, 1992.
One True Thing is a 1998 American drama film directed by Carl Franklin. It tells the story of a woman in her 20s who is forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her mother, who is dying of cancer. The script was adapted by Karen Croner from the novel by Anna Quindlen, with the story being based on Quindlen's own struggle with the death of her mother, Prudence Pantano Quindlen, from ovarian cancer in 1972.
Getting Even with Dad is a 1994 American comedy film starring Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson.
Birdy is a 1984 American drama film based on William Wharton's 1978 novel of the same name. Directed by Alan Parker, it stars Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. Set in 1960s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the film focuses on the friendship between two teenage boys, Birdy (Modine) and Al Columbato (Cage). The story is presented in flashbacks, with a frame narrative depicting their traumatic experiences upon serving in the Vietnam War.
Dad is a 1989 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Gary David Goldberg and starring Jack Lemmon, Ted Danson, Olympia Dukakis, Kathy Baker, Kevin Spacey and Ethan Hawke. It is based on William Wharton's novel of the same name. The original music score was composed by James Horner. The film was produced by Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures.
Albert William Du Aime, more commonly known by his pen name William Wharton, was an American-born author best known for his first novel Birdy, which was also made into a critically acclaimed film of the same name in 1984.
All Night Long is a 1981 American romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Claude Tramont and starring Gene Hackman, Barbra Streisand, Diane Ladd, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Dobson, and William Daniels. It was written by W. D. Richter.
Jack the Bear is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz, written by Steven Zaillian based on the novel of the same name by Dan McCall, and starring Danny DeVito, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., Miko Hughes, and Gary Sinise. The film is about John Leary (DeVito), a single father raising his two sons in the 1970s San Francisco Bay Area after the death of his wife.
Heartbeeps is a 1981 American romantic-comedy and science fiction film about two robots who fall in love and decide to strike out on their own. The film was directed by Allan Arkush, written by John Hill, and stars Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters as the robots alongside Randy Quaid, Kenneth McMillan, Melanie Mayron, Christopher Guest, and the voice of Jerry Garcia in a rare film appearance. It was Kaufman's final performance in a theatrical film. Universal Pictures released the film in the United States on December 18, 1981.
Sophie's Choice is a 1982 psychological drama directed and written by Alan J. Pakula, adapted from William Styron's 1979 novel of the same name. The film stars Meryl Streep as Zofia "Sophie" Zawistowska, a Polish immigrant to America with a dark secret from her past who shares a boarding house in Brooklyn with her tempestuous lover Nathan, and young writer Stingo. It also features Rita Karin, Stephen D. Newman and Josh Mostel in supporting roles.
Dead Man Walking is a 1995 American crime drama film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn, and co-produced and directed by Tim Robbins, who adapted the screenplay from the 1993 non-fiction book of the same name.
Ironweed is a 1987 American drama film directed by Héctor Babenco. Adapted to the screen by William Kennedy from his similarly-named Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Ironweed stars Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, with Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Nathan Lane and Tom Waits in supporting roles. The story concerns the relationship of a homeless couple--Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman--during the years following the Great Depression. Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany, New York. The film received mixed reviews and was a box-office bomb, but Nicholson and Streep received Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, for their performances.
The Informers is a 2009 American drama film written by Bret Easton Ellis and Nicholas Jarecki and directed by Gregor Jordan. The film is based on Ellis's 1994 collection of short stories of the same name. The film, which is set amidst the decadence of the early 1980s, depicts an assortment of socially alienated, mainly well-off characters who numb their sense of emptiness with casual sex, alcohol, and drugs. Filming took place in Los Angeles, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires in 2007.
American Heart is a 1992 drama film directed by Martin Bell and starring Jeff Bridges and Edward Furlong. It was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award in a number of categories and won in the Best Male Lead category.
Postcards from the Edge is a 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Carrie Fisher is based on her 1987 semi-autobiographical novel of the same title. The film stars Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Dennis Quaid.
Endless Love is a 2014 American romantic drama film directed by Shana Feste and co-written by Feste with Joshua Safran. A second adaptation of Scott Spencer's novel, the film stars Alex Pettyfer, Gabriella Wilde, Bruce Greenwood, Joely Richardson and Robert Patrick.
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1984) is a noir thriller and murder mystery novel by American writer Norman Mailer reminiscent of the works of Dashiell Hammett, Mickey Spillane, and Raymond Chandler. The novel was written in only two months in order to fulfill a contractual obligation. The book was adapted into a film, directed by Mailer, in 1987.
A Midnight Clear is the third novel by the American novelist William Wharton. Based on Wharton's own experiences, it was published in 1982 following Birdy (1978) and Dad (1981). The novels deals with six American soldiers who get a mission to have an eye on a German outpost at the heart of the Ardennes Forest, but the mission turns out to be much more difficult than expected. Wharton notes that he wrote this novel "thinking of the massacre of My Lai in Vietnam, to show how easy it was for a massacre to take place. And he did know how easy".
