Strays | |
---|---|
Directed by | Vin Diesel |
Written by | Vin Diesel |
Produced by | Gordon Bijelonic Vin Diesel T.J. Mancini Jean Claude Nedelic Robert Panaro John Sale Stephen Schmidt Jill Silverthorne George Zakk Robert Bigelow |
Starring | Vin Diesel Suzanne Lanza Joey Dedio F. Valentino Morales Mike Epps T.K. Kirkland Darnell Williams |
Cinematography | Andrew Dunn |
Music by | Julius Robinson |
Distributed by | First Look International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 105 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $47,000 (approx.) [1] |
Strays is a 1997 American drama film written, directed by, and starring Vin Diesel. It follows a drug dealer and hustler who is fed up with the repetitious lifestyle he leads and begins looking for meaning in his life. It marked Diesel's feature film directing debut and takes a hard look at his own adolescence and upbringing in New York City. The film premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. [2]
Frustrated by the repetitious grind of one-night stands and aimless hustling, Rick is looking for meaning in his life. Like his testosterone-tweaked buddies, Rick is a stray looking for a traditional family structure and wrestling unconsciously with his own father's absence. He sells small amounts of marijuana to cover the expenses of his own use but insists that he is not doing it for a living.
When he meets Heather, the girl next door, he suddenly perceives a new avenue and an opportunity for a new, committed relationship. Trying to assimilate into Heather's world, Rick takes heat from his perpetually adolescent cohorts whose ambitions are restricted to riding fast, toking slow, and ditching hard. Though the chemistry between the couple is immediately charged, Rick's street chic and volatile aggression threaten to extinguish their relationship before it has ever begun.
Diesel drew inspiration for the film from his own upbringing in New York City. [3] The film helped Diesel secure a role in Saving Private Ryan after director Steven Spielberg viewed it. [3]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a score of 40% based on five reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. [5] Emanuel Levy of Variety described the film as "amiable and intermittently engaging," but also "a derivative film, a 'hanging-out' yarn that charts the familiar territory of such American movies as Mean Streets , Saturday Night Fever and Diner." [6]
Steven Allan Spielberg is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is the most commercially successful director in film history. He is the recipient of many accolades, including three Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and four Directors Guild of America Awards, as well as the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1995, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2009 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Seven of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set in 1944 in Normandy, France, during World War II, it follows a group of soldiers, led by Captain John Miller, on a mission to locate Private James Francis Ryan and bring him home safely after his three brothers have been killed in action. The cast also includes Edward Burns, Tom Sizemore, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davies.
Schindler's List is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. The film follows Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved more than a thousand mostly Polish–Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by employing them in his factories during World War II. It stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ralph Fiennes as SS officer Amon Göth, and Ben Kingsley as Schindler's Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern.
Mark Sinclair, known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and film producer. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for portraying Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise.
Pitch Black is a 2000 American science fiction horror film directed by David Twohy and co-written by Twohy and brothers Ken and Jim Wheat from a story conceived by the latter. The film stars Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David. Dangerous criminal Riddick (Diesel) is being transported to prison in a spacecraft, and escapes when the spaceship is damaged by comet debris and crash lands on an empty desert planet. When predatory creatures begin attacking the survivors, Riddick joins forces with them to escape the planet.
Boiler Room is a 2000 American crime drama film written and directed by Ben Younger, and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin and Jamie Kennedy. The film was conceived when Younger interviewed for a job at brokerage firm Sterling Foster. "I walked in and immediately realized, 'This is my movie.' I mean, you see these kids and know something is going on."
Angus is a 1995 coming-of-age comedy film directed by Patrick Read Johnson. The cast includes Charlie Talbert and James Van Der Beek in their first film roles, along with Chris Owen, Ariana Richards, George C. Scott, Kathy Bates, and Rita Moreno. Angus is based on the short story "A Brief Moment in the Life of Angus Bethune" by Chris Crutcher, from his collection Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories.
Multi-Facial is a 1995 American short drama film written, directed, produced, and scored by Vin Diesel, who also stars as a multiracial actor facing various professional and emotional issues. The film is notable for essentially launching Diesel's career as it was noticed by Steven Spielberg, who then watched Diesel's film Strays, which prompted him to give Diesel his first big break by writing a small role specifically for him in Saving Private Ryan (1998).
Steven Spielberg is an American director, producer and writer. He is considered one of the founding pioneers of the New Hollywood era, as well as one of the most popular directors and producers in film history. He is also one of the co-founders of Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation.
Bonnie Kathleen Curtis is an American film producer whose credits include Saving Private Ryan, A.I., Minority Report, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg. Her first solo project was the 2005 release The Chumscrubber. She then joined Mockingbird Pictures with partner Julie Lynn in 2011. Curtis and Lynn produced Albert Nobbs, which was nominated for three Academy Awards. Curtis is a co-recipient of the 1999 Producers Guild Award for Motion Picture Producer of the Year, for Saving Private Ryan. On March 12, 2015, Curtis was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame. Spielberg congratulated her via video message during the ceremony.
Traveller is a 1997 American crime comedy-drama film directed by Jack N. Green in his directorial debut. The film stars Bill Paxton, Mark Wahlberg, Julianna Margulies, James Gammon, and Luke Askew. The story follows a man and a group of nomadic con artists in North Carolina. The film premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 8, 1997 and received a limited release on April 18, 1997.
Poltergeist is a 1982 American supernatural horror film directed by Tobe Hooper and written by Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, and Mark Victor from a story by Spielberg. It stars JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, and Beatrice Straight, and was produced by Spielberg and Frank Marshall. The film focuses on a suburban family whose home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct their youngest daughter.
Born to Be Wild is a 1995 American family comedy film released by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label.
The 33rd National Society of Film Critics Awards, given on 3 January 1999, honored the best filmmaking of 1998.
Fast & Furious, also known as The Fast and the Furious, is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a television series, toys, video games, live shows, and theme park attractions. The films are distributed by Universal Pictures.
Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five is a 1998 American film directed by Richard Schenkman and written by Schenkman and Jon Cryer. It premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
The Last Witch Hunter is a 2015 American fantasy action film directed by Breck Eisner and written by Cory Goodman, Matt Sazama, and Burk Sharpless, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons campaigns of Vin Diesel's Melkor the Witch-Hunter. The film stars Vin Diesel as an immortal witch hunter who must stop a plague from ravaging the entire world.
XXX is an American spy fiction action film series created by Rich Wilkes. It consists of three full-length feature films: XXX (2002), XXX: State of the Union (2005) and XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), and a short film: The Final Chapter: The Death of Xander Cage. The series has grossed $694 million worldwide.
Spielberg is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Susan Lacy, and is centered on the career of film director Steven Spielberg. It premiered at the 2017 New York Film Festival and aired on HBO on October 7, 2017.
The Fabelmans is a 2022 American coming-of-age drama film directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg, who co-wrote the screenplay with Tony Kushner. Loosely based on Spielberg's adolescence and first years as a filmmaker, the semi-autobiographical plot is told through an original story of the fictional Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker who explores how the power of films can help him see the truth about his dysfunctional family and those around him. It stars Gabriel LaBelle as Sammy, alongside Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch in supporting roles. The film is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg's parents, Leah Adler and Arnold Spielberg, who died in 2017 and 2020, respectively.