Stand and Deliver is a 1988 American biographical drama film directed by Ramón Menéndez, written by Menéndez and Tom Musca, based on the true story of a high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante. For portraying Escalante, Edward James Olmos was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 61st Academy Awards. The film won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature in 1988. The film's title refers to the 1987 Mr. Mister song of the same name, which is also featured in the film's ending credits.
Being There is a 1979 American satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Hal Ashby, it is based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński, and adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. Jack Warden, Richard Dysart, and Richard Basehart are featured in support.
Edward James Olmos is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in Miami Vice (1984–1989), American Me (1992), William Adama in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (2004–2009), Detective Gaff in Blade Runner (1982) and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and the voice of Mito in the 2005 English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. For his performance as high school math teacher Jaime Escalante in Stand and Deliver (1988), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
La Bamba is a 1987 American biographical drama film written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film follows the life and short-lived musical career of American Chicano rock and roll star Ritchie Valens. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, Elizabeth Peña, Danielle von Zerneck and Joe Pantoliano. The film also covers the effect that Valens' career had on the lives of his half-brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend Donna Ludwig, and the rest of his family. The film is titled after a traditional Mexican folk song of the same name, which Valens transformed into a rock and roll rendition in 1958.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High is a 1982 American coming-of-age comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling from a screenplay by Cameron Crowe, based on his 1981 book Fast Times at Ridgemont High: A True Story, and starring Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold, Phoebe Cates, Brian Backer, Robert Romanus, and Ray Walston. Crowe went undercover at Clairemont High School in San Diego and wrote about his experiences.
Young Mr. Lincoln is a 1939 American biographical drama western film about the early life of President Abraham Lincoln, directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda. Ford and producer Darryl F. Zanuck fought for control of the film, to the point where Ford destroyed unwanted takes for fear the studio would use them in the film. Screenwriter Lamar Trotti was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing/Original Story.
King of the Hill is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Steven Soderbergh. It is the second he directed from his own screenplay following his 1989 Palme d'Or-winning film Sex, Lies, and Videotape. It too was nominated for the Palme d'Or, at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival.
Matewan is a 1987 American independent drama film written and directed by John Sayles, and starring Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell and Will Oldham, with David Strathairn, Kevin Tighe and Gordon Clapp in supporting roles. The film dramatizes the events of the Battle of Matewan, a coal miners' strike in 1920 in Matewan, a small town in the hills of West Virginia.
The corrido is a famous narrative metrical tale and poetry that forms a ballad. The songs are often about oppression, history, daily life for criminals, the vaquero lifestyle, and other socially relevant topics. Corridos were widely popular during the Mexican Revolution and in the Southwestern American frontier as it was also a part of the development of Tejano and New Mexico music, which later influenced Western music.
Losin' It is a 1983 comedy film directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Tom Cruise, Shelley Long, Jackie Earle Haley and John Stockwell. The film follows four teenagers trying to lose their virginity. It was filmed largely in Calexico, California.
Rosanna DeSoto is an American actress who has performed in films and television. She is best known for her roles in Stand and Deliver, for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female, and in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as Azetbur, the daughter of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon.
Gregorio Cortez Lira was born in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico on June 22, 1875 and became a folk hero to the border communities of the United States and Mexico. After an altercation in which he killed Sheriff W. T. (Brack) Morris, Cortez went on the run from the Texas Rangers for thirteen days. He became the target of the largest manhunt in U.S. history from June 14, 1901 to June 22, 1901. He was accused of murdering two sheriffs and finally convicted of horse theft.
American Me is a 1992 American independent crime drama film produced and directed by Edward James Olmos in his directorial debut, and written by Floyd Mutrux and Desmond Nakano. Olmos stars as Montoya Santana, who is loosely based on Mexican Mafia boss Rodolfo Cadena. Executive producers included record producer Lou Adler, screenwriter Mutrux, and Irwin Young. The film is a fictionalized account of the founding and rise to power of the Mexican Mafia in the California prison system from the 1950s into the 1980s.
Robert Milton Young was an American film and television director, cinematographer, screenwriter, and producer. Young was considered a trailblazer in the independent filmmaking sector and for frequently casting Edward James Olmos in his movies, directing him in Alambrista! (1977), The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982), Saving Grace (1986), Triumph of the Spirit (1989), Talent for the Game (1991), Roosters (1993), Slave of Dreams (1995), and Caught (1996). He produced Olmos's directorial debut, American Me (1992).
Mister Johnson is a 1990 American drama film based on the 1939 novel by Irish author Joyce Cary. The film, set in 1929, stars first-time actor Maynard Eziashi as a Nigerian who works as a clerk for the British civil service and adopts the style of the British colonialists in the belief that he is a true Englishman. It was the first American film to be shot on location in Nigeria.
The Front Page is a 1931 American pre-Code screwball black comedy film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Adolphe Menjou and Pat O'Brien. Based on the 1928 Broadway play of the same name by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, the film was produced by Howard Hughes, written by Bartlett Cormack and Charles Lederer, and distributed by United Artists. The supporting cast includes Mary Brian, Edward Everett Horton, Walter Catlett, George E. Stone, Mae Clarke, Slim Summerville, and Matt Moore. At the 4th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Picture, Milestone for Best Director, and Menjou for Best Actor.
Triumph of the Spirit is a 1989 American biographical drama film directed by Robert M. Young and starring Willem Dafoe and Edward James Olmos. The screenplay was inspired by true events, the same as the older Slovak film The Boxer and Death directed by Peter Solan. The majority of the film is set in the German POW camp at Auschwitz during the Holocaust and details how the Jewish Greek boxer Salamo Arouch was forced to fight other internees to the death for the SS guards' entertainment.
The Onion Field is a 1979 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Harold Becker and written by Joseph Wambaugh, based on his 1973 true crime book of the same name. The film stars John Savage, James Woods and Franklyn Seales, as well as Ted Danson in his film debut.
The Pickle is a 1993 American comedy film produced, written, and directed by Paul Mazursky, telling the story of a formerly powerful film director whose recent string of flops has forced him to make a commercial piece that is artistically uninspired. The absurdity of the film within the film satirizes big-budget Hollywood pictures, while the rest of the story serves as a character study of fictitious film director Harry Stone.
I'm Losing You is a 1998 American drama film directed by Bruce Wagner and adapted from his 1996 novel of the same name. The film stars Rosanna Arquette, Frank Langella, Andrew McCarthy, and Elizabeth Perkins. I'm Losing You film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 17, 1998 and received a limited theatrical release in the United States on July 16, 1999. The title of the film refers not only to the loss of life and love, but to a phrase used by most Angelenos while talking on cellular phones.
