The following is an overview of events in 1988 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.
Bigger Than the Sky is a 2005 American drama film directed by Al Corley, written by Rodney Patrick Vaccaro, and starring Marcus Thomas, John Corbett, Amy Smart, Sean Astin, Clare Higgins, and Patty Duke. Its plot follows a man, who after breaking up with his girlfriend, auditions for a local community theatre production of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Sean Gunn is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Kirk Gleason on The WB series Gilmore Girls (2000–2007), and Kraglin Obfonteri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In this role, he has been in the films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), as well as the animated series What If...? and television film The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). He also played Weasel and Calendar Man in the Warner Bros./DCEU film The Suicide Squad (2021). He is the younger brother of director James Gunn and often appears in his films.
James Francis Gunn Jr. is an American filmmaker and studio executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with Tromeo and Juliet (1997). He then began working as a director, starting with the horror-comedy film Slither (2006), and moving to the superhero genre with Super (2010), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), The Suicide Squad (2021), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). In 2022, Warner Bros. Discovery hired Gunn and Peter Safran to become co-chairmen and co-CEOs of DC Studios. Under DC Studios, Gunn will co-produce and executive produce every film and television series under the upcoming DC Universe (DCU) media franchise alongside Safran, which will act as a soft-reboot of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). He will also continue to write and direct various projects set in the DCU, including the upcoming film Superman: Legacy (2025).
Matthew Gunn is an American writer and actor from St. Louis, Missouri.
Home of the Giants is a 2007 American sports crime drama film written and directed by Rusty Gorman and starring Haley Joel Osment, Ryan Merriman and Danielle Panabaker. The film has been described as a coming of age tale and sports drama.
The Summer Play Festival (SPF) was a theatre festival held in New York, USA.
John Cabrera is an American actor, screenwriter and director best known for his role as Brian Fuller on the television show Gilmore Girls on The WB. He has also appeared on Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, NCIS, American Dreams, Miracles, and CSI.
Filmmaker is a quarterly publication magazine covering issues relating to independent film. The magazine was founded in 1992 by Karol Martesko-Fenster, Scott Macaulay and Holly Willis. The magazine is now published by the IFP, which acts in the independent film community.
Xavier Dolan-Tadros is a Canadian filmmaker and actor. He began his career as a child actor in commercials before directing several arthouse feature films. He first received international acclaim in 2009 for his feature film directorial debut, I Killed My Mother, which he also starred in, wrote, and produced, and which premiered at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section and won three awards from the program.
The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography Creation. The Young Victoria, based on the early years of Queen Victoria, closed the festival on September 19.
Poor Little Rich Girl, advertised as The Poor Little Rich Girl, is a 1936 American musical film directed by Irving Cummings and starring Shirley Temple, Alice Faye and Jack Haley. The screenplay by Sam Hellman, Gladys Lehman, and Harry Tugend was based on stories by Eleanor Gates and Ralph Spence, and the 1917 Mary Pickford vehicle of the same name. The film focuses on a child (Temple) neglected by her rich and busy father. She meets two vaudeville performers and becomes a radio singing star. The film received a lukewarm critical reception from The New York Times.
Passenger Side is a 2009 drama film written and directed by Matt Bissonnette and produced by Corey Marr. It stars Adam Scott, Joel Bissonnette and Robin Tunney. It premiered at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival before screening at numerous film festivals worldwide, including the Toronto International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival and Whistler Film Festival.
The Death & Life of John F. Donovan is a 2018 Canadian drama film co-written, co-produced, and directed by Xavier Dolan, in his English-language debut. The film stars Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandiwe Newton, Ben Schnetzer, and Jared Keeso. It deals with themes of celebrity, tabloid media in Hollywood, mother-son relationships, and homosexuality.
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American horror film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, who also produced the film with Peter Safran. It stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Melonie Diaz, Josh Brener, and Michael Rooker. The film follows eighty Americans working abroad for a company named Belko Industries in Bogotá, Colombia. One day, after they arrive at work, they are locked inside the building, and a mysterious voice announces that if the employees do not start killing each other, they will be killed themselves.
DC Studios is an American film, television, and animation studio that is a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). It is dedicated to the production of films, series, and animations based on characters from DC Comics, among them is their flagship franchise, the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). James Gunn and Peter Safran assumed control of the company, on November 1, 2022. Previously, Walter Hamada was the president of DC Films from 2018 until his departure in October 2022.
Operation Avalanche is a 2016 American-Canadian found footage conspiracy thriller film directed by Matt Johnson, who co-wrote the film with Josh Boles. Johnson and Owen Williams star as CIA agents who infiltrate NASA to expose a potential mole, only to become embroiled in a conspiracy to fake the Moon landing portion of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.
Matt Johnson is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He first attracted accolades for his low-budget independent feature films, including The Dirties (2013), which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival, and Operation Avalanche (2016), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American historical drama film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese. Eric Roth and Scorsese based their screenplay on the 2017 non-fiction book by David Grann. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, it focuses on a series of murders of Osage members and relations in the Osage Nation after oil was discovered on tribal land. The tribal members had retained mineral rights on their reservation, but a corrupt local political boss sought to steal the tribal members' wealth.
Maximalist film or maximalist cinema is related to the art and philosophy of maximalism.
