Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a poor small-time club fighter and loanshark debt collector from Philadelphia, gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship held by Apollo Creed (Weathers).
National Lampoon's Animal House is a 1978 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller. It stars John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Verna Bloom, Thomas Hulce and Donald Sutherland. The film is about a trouble-making fraternity whose members challenge the authority of the dean of the fictional Faber College.
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his role from the original Off-Broadway production.
Eve Jihan Cooper is an American rapper, singer, and actress. Her debut studio album, Let There Be Eve...Ruff Ryders' First Lady (1999) reached number one on the Billboard 200—making her the third female rapper to accomplish this feat—and received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album spawned the hit singles "What Ya Want", "Love Is Blind", and "Gotta Man". That same year, she guest featured on The Roots' Grammy Award-winning single "You Got Me" as well as Missy Elliott's single "Hot Boyz", which peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
Pandemonium is a 1982 American parody slasher film. It was directed by Alfred Sole and features an ensemble cast including Tom Smothers, Eileen Brennan, Phil Hartman, Tab Hunter, Carol Kane, David Lander, Eve Arden, and Paul Reubens.
Esther Elizabeth Rolle was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Florida Evans, on the CBS television sitcom Maude, for two seasons (1972–1974), and its spin-off series Good Times, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Television Series Musical or Comedy in 1976. In 1979, Rolle won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Special for the television film Summer of My German Soldier.
The Sure Thing is a 1985 American romantic comedy Christmas road film directed by Rob Reiner and starring John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Viveca Lindfors, and Nicollette Sheridan. The film chronicles the cross-country journey of college students Walter Gibson (Cusack) and Alison Bradbury (Zuniga) as they make their way from New England to Los Angeles over Christmas break, each in an effort to meet their ideal romantic match.
The Virgin Suicides is a 1999 American psychological romantic drama film written and directed by Sofia Coppola in her feature directorial debut, and co-produced by her father, Francis Ford Coppola. It stars James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, A.J. Cook, and Josh Hartnett, with Scott Glenn, Michael Paré, Jonathan Tucker, and Danny DeVito in supporting roles.
Stefan Avalos is an American filmmaker, musician and journalist, best known for his work in film. Together with Lance Weiler, he made The Last Broadcast (1997), a horror film based on found footage. The two men wrote, directed, starred in, and produced the film together. It was shown at film festivals, winning Best Feature Film Silver Prize at the Chicago Underground Film Festival.
Superbad is a 2007 American coming-of-age teen buddy comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and produced by Judd Apatow. It stars Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as Seth and Evan, two teenagers about to graduate from high school. Before graduating, the boys want to party and lose their virginity, but their plan proves harder than expected.
Andrew Repasky McElhinney is an American film and theater director, writer and producer born in Philadelphia. McElhinney's cinema work is in the permanent collection of MoMA-The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Natural is a 1984 American sports film based on Bernard Malamud's 1952 novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson, and starring Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Wilford Brimley, Barbara Hershey, Robert Prosky and Richard Farnsworth. Like the novel, the film recounts the experiences of Roy Hobbs, an individual with great "natural" baseball talent, spanning the decades of Roy's career. In direct contrast to the novel, the film ends on a positive tone. It was the first film produced by TriStar Pictures.
Esther and the King is a 1960 American-Italian religious epic film produced and directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Joan Collins as Esther, Richard Egan as Ahasuerus, and Denis O'Dea as Mordecai. Walsh and Michael Elkins wrote the screenplay, which was based on the Book of Esther of the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. It recounts the origin of the Jewish celebration of Purim.
Rel J. Dowdell is an American screenwriter, film director, film producer, and film studies/screenwriting/English educator. Born and raised in Philadelphia, after graduating from the prestigious Central High School in Philadelphia, he received his bachelor's degree in English with magna cum laude honors from Fisk University and his advanced degree in film and screenwriting with highest distinction from Boston University. He won the top prize in filmmaking at Boston University's noted Redstone Film Festival in 1995. He is also a full-time university professor, Director of Film Studies, English scholar, and film historian. Additionally, he has done prominent and extensive interviews with veteran award-winning actors such as Ving Rhames, Keith David, Tony Todd, Roger Guenveur Smith, Larenz Tate, and Mykelti Williamson. In spring of 2023, he participated in a major interview on The 700 Club where he spoke about the impact of the casting of an African-American female actress in the remake of The Little Mermaid which was very well received and praised for Dowdell's remarks of inclusion and youth inspiration for African-Americans.
Lydia Dean Pilcher is an American film and television producer and director and founder of Cine Mosaic, a production company based in New York City.
Irv L. Slifkin is an American film writer, critic and editor, known for his work with Movies Unlimited in Philadelphia, described as one of the "world's leading video retailers and publisher of the annual encyclopedic Movies Unlimited Video Catalog". Slifkin has taught film at Temple University and has contributed to the Los Angeles Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Chicago Tribune, Empire, Entertainment Weekly and Delaware Valley Magazine as a film critic. Aside from contributing to Video Hound, Slifkin is also responsible for organizing Mondo Meyer, an event in Philadelphia celebrating the work of Russ Meyer.
Ruff Ryders Entertainment is an American hip hop record label and management company founded by siblings and record executives Joaquin "Waah", Darin "Dee" and Chivon Dean in 1988. It operated as a subsidiary of Universal, and distributed by Interscope Records, with Def Jam Recordings serving as the distributor for DMX albums. The label went on to launch the careers of several successful artists such as DMX, Drag-On and the Deans' nephew, Swizz Beatz, among others. The Ruff Ryders namesake also referred to a loose-knit hip hop collective composed of the core signees of the label. The collective's de facto leader was the label's flagship artist, DMX. Ruff Ryders and its main studio Powerhouse Studios are headquartered at 33 South Broadway in Yonkers, New York.
The West~Bound Limited is a 1923 American silent melodrama film directed by Emory Johnson. FBO released the film in April 1923. The film's "All-Star" cast included Ralph Lewis, Claire McDowell, Johnny Harron, and Ella Hall. Emilie Johnson, Johnson's mother, wrote both the story and screenplay. The West~Bound Limited was the third film in Johnson's eight-picture contract with FBO.
Mario Cerrito is an American filmmaker, writer and producer known in the horror/thriller genre. His film trilogy consisting of Human Hibachi, Human Hibachi 2: Feast in The Forest and Human Hibachi: The Beginning each won a Best Film award at the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival in Atlantic City. They were later released by Troma Entertainment.
