Natalie Portman is an Israeli-born American actress. She has had an extensive career in film since her teenage years and starred in various blockbusters and independent films, receiving multiple accolades such as an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Anywhere But Here is a 1999 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film based on the novel of the same name by Mona Simpson. It was directed by Wayne Wang from a screenplay by Alvin Sargent, and stars Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, and Shawn Hatosy.
Mona Simpson is an American novelist. She has written six novels and studied English at the University of California, Berkeley and Languages and Literature at Columbia University. She won a Whiting Award for her first novel, Anywhere but Here (1986). It was a popular success and adapted as a film by the same name, released in 1999. She wrote a sequel, The Lost Father (1992). Critical recognition has included the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize and making the shortlist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for her novel Off Keck Road (2000). Simpson is the younger sister of the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Simpson was born after her parents had married and did not meet Jobs, who was placed for adoption after he was born, until she was 25 years old.
Natalie Schafer was an American actress of film, stage and television, known for her role as Lovey Howell on the sitcom Gilligan's Island (1964–1967).
The Joy Luck Club is a 1989 novel written by Amy Tan. It focuses on four Chinese immigrant families in San Francisco who start a club known as The Joy Luck Club, playing the Chinese game of mahjong for money while feasting on a variety of foods. The book is structured similarly to a mahjong game, with four parts divided into four sections to create sixteen chapters. The three mothers and four daughters share stories about their lives in the form of short vignettes. Each part is preceded by a parable relating to the themes within that section.
White Palace is a 1990 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki. It stars Susan Sarandon, James Spader, Jason Alexander, Kathy Bates, Steven Hill, Jeremy Piven, and Renee Taylor. It was written by Ted Tally and Alvin Sargent, based on the novel of the same name by Glenn Savan.
Evey Hammond is a fictional character and the protagonist of the comic book series V for Vendetta, created by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. She becomes involved in V's life when he rescues her from a gang of London's secret police.
The Joy Luck Club is a 1993 American drama film about the relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese immigrant mothers. It was directed by Wayne Wang and stars Tsai Chin, Kieu Chinh, Lisa Lu, France Nuyen, Rosalind Chao, Lauren Tom, Tamlyn Tomita, and Ming-Na Wen. The film is based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ronald Bass. The film was produced by Bass, Tan, Wang and Patrick Markey while Oliver Stone served as an executive producer. Four older women, all Chinese immigrants living in San Francisco, meet regularly to play mahjong, eat, and tell stories. Each of these women has an adult Chinese-American daughter. The film reveals the hidden pasts of the older women and their daughters and how their lives are shaped by the clash of Chinese and American cultures as they strive to understand their family bonds and one another.
Belle Teal is a novel written by Ann M. Martin in 2001.
Because of Winn-Dixie is a 2005 family film based on Kate DiCamillo's 2000 novel of the same name, with the screenplay written by Joan Singleton, produced by Trevor Albert and directed by Wayne Wang. It was produced by Walden Media and released by 20th Century Fox. It stars AnnaSophia Robb, Jeff Daniels, Cicely Tyson, Luke Benward, Dave Matthews, Eva Marie Saint, Courtney Jines, B.J. Hopper, Nick Price, Elle Fanning, Harland Williams, and John McConnell. It premiered at the USA Film Festival on January 26, 2005 and was theatrically released on February 18, 2005. It received mixed reviews from critics and earned $33.5 million against a production budget of $14 million. It was released on DVD and VHS on August 9, 2005, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Scruples is a 1978 bonkbuster novel by Judith Krantz. A direct sequel, Scruples Two, was published in 1992.
The Other Woman is a 2009 American drama film written and directed by Don Roos. It is based on the Ayelet Waldman novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits and stars Natalie Portman, Lisa Kudrow, Scott Cohen and Charlie Tahan. It was released in the United Kingdom as Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. It was distributed by IFC Films in the US.
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky from a screenplay by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin, and Andres Heinz, based on a story by Heinz. The film stars Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder, and revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by the New York City Ballet company. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina Sayers (Portman) is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new rival Lily (Kunis). Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the role, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into madness.
No Strings Attached is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Elizabeth Meriwether. Starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, the film is about two friends who decide to make a pact to have a "no strings attached" relationship, without falling in love with each other. The film was released in the United States on January 21, 2011.
Natalie Portman is an actress and filmmaker with dual Israeli and American citizenship. She made her film debut in Luc Besson's action thriller Léon: The Professional, which starred her as the young protégée of a hitman. She followed this by appearing in Michael Mann's crime thriller Heat (1995), Ted Demme's romantic comedy Beautiful Girls (1996), and Tim Burton's science fiction comedy Mars Attacks! (1996). Three years later, her supporting role as the precocious, responsible daughter of a narcissistic mother played by Susan Sarandon in the drama Anywhere but Here earned Portman her first Golden Globe Award nomination. In the same year, she played Padmé Amidala in the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogyStar Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which brought her international recognition. She reprised the role in its sequels Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005).
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. It stars Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandiwe Newton, Ben Schnetzer, and Jared Keeso. The film deals with themes of celebrity, tabloid media in Hollywood, mother-son relationships, and homosexuality.
The Days of Abandonment is a 2002 Italian novel by Elena Ferrante first published in English in 2005, translated by Ann Goldstein and published by Europa Editions. The novel tells the story of an Italian woman living in Turin whose husband abruptly leaves her after fifteen years together.
Lucy in the Sky is a 2019 American drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Noah Hawley, loosely inspired by the life of NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak. The film stars Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, Colman Domingo, and Ellen Burstyn.
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Like other members of the Ivy League, it is known for prestige, academic rigor and selective undergraduate admissions process. Among its peers, Brown is noted for a culture of campus activism and longstanding commitment to academic and intellectual freedom exemplified by its Open Curriculum and course "shopping period." The university has been described as the "progressive Ivy," "hip Ivy," and "creative Ivy."
Dying to Remember is a 1993 American made-for-television thriller drama film directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman and starring Melissa Gilbert and Ted Shackelford.
