Actor Steve Buscemi (1957)

The upcoming film Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2022) is an American animated adventure comedy, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and released through Amazon Studios. As the hotel celebrates its 125th anniversary, Mavis overhears Dracula’s retirement plans, prompting her to share them with Johnny. Excitedly, Johnny reveals his own plans to renovate the hotel. However, Dracula worries about the potential damage Johnny could cause and falsely claims that only monsters can own the hotel due to a “monster real-estate law”. This leaves Johnny disappointed. With the help of Van Helsing’s transforming ray, he attempts to ...

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018) is an American monster comedy film created by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. In the late 1800s, Dracula and his companions travel incognito on a train headed for Budapest. However, their plans are disrupted when Dracula’s nemesis, Professor Abraham Van Helsing, shows up and exposes the group. In order to protect his friends, Dracula pushes them off the train while the monsters make their escape through the roof. Van Helsing becomes determined to destroy Dracula, but is consistently outsmarted by him. Fast forward to present day – one year after the events of the previous film – and ...

Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) is a sci-fi action movie adapted from the popular toy line by Hasbro. In the year 484 AD, after coming across the Knights of Iacon, a group of hidden Transformers on Earth, Merlin seeks their assistance to aid King Arthur and his knights. With their help and armed with a staff, Arthur defeats the Saxons. However, Merlin is cautioned to keep the staff hidden. In present day, five years after the devastation in Hong Kong, Optimus Prime lands on Cybertron’s ruins and crosses paths with Quintessa, a deranged Cybertronian goddess who manipulates him into becoming Nemesis Prime and sends him back to Earth to retrieve Merlin’s ...

Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) is an American animated monster comedy film created by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation with support from LStar Capital. Produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it continues the story of Mavis and Johnny following their marriage, which was approved by her father Count Dracula. As they prepare for their son Dennis’s fifth birthday, Drac grows concerned that the child has yet to develop vampire powers. To protect him from potential dangers in Transylvania, Mavis suggests moving to Johnny’s hometown of Santa Cruz, California for a more ‘normal’ upbringing, much to ...

The American film, The Cobbler (2014), directed and cowritten by Tom McCarthy with Paul Sado, tells the story of a New York City cobbler and his family. In the past, a group of Jewish men gathered in the shop to discuss a troublesome thug. The cobbler then showcases his special stitching machine to his son, emphasizing its significance. Presently, Max Simkin carries on the family business as the cobbler while his friend Jimmy runs the neighboring barber shop. Meanwhile, Carmen Herrera fights against realtors who want to destroy their neighborhood for development. ...

Time Out of Mind (2014) is an American drama film written and directed by Oren Moverman. Set in the bustling cityscape of New York, the story follows George, a mild-mannered but confused man who is kicked out of an apartment by Art. However, it turns out he was just staying at a friend’s place, known as ‘Sheila’, who had been evicted. From the beginning, it’s clear that George has fallen on hard times, claiming his wallet was stolen and struggling to get assistance through phone calls. He ends up sleeping on the streets and eventually finds himself seeking warmth in a hospital emergency room, where staff nurse Maire shows him compassion. ...

Monsters University (2013) is an American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. As a child, Mike Wazowski visits the Monsters Inc. factory during a class field trip where he learns about the process of harnessing human children’s screams for energy to sustain the monster world. Despite being initially upset when sneaking into the human world through a door following a scarer at work, Mike is praised by the scarer, inspiring him to pursue a career as a scare himself. Fast forward twelve years later, Mike enrolls in the scaring program at Monsters University and is ...

Hotel Transylvania (2012) is an American animated monster comedy film jointly produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. Following the tragic death of his wife Martha at the hands of a human mob, Count Dracula erects a grand hotel exclusively for creatures in Transylvania. Here, he raises his daughter Mavis and provides a refuge for monsters seeking to escape persecution from humans. Regular guests at the hotel include iconic monsters such as Frankenstein, Wayne and Wanda Werewolf, Griffin the Invisible Man, and Murray the Mummy. On Mavis’ 118th birthday, she expresses her desire to explore the human ...

Rampart (2011) is a gripping crime drama directed and co-written by Oren Moverman and James Ellroy. The film follows Dave Brown, a seasoned member of the LAPD’s Rampart Division with over two decades of experience. In the midst of training a new officer, Brown resorts to violence to extract information from a suspect regarding a meth lab location. After his shift, he returns home to his two daughters and two ex-wives, who also happen to be sisters. A late-night visit to a piano bar leads to a spontaneous one-night stand with a stranger. However, Brown’s fate ...

Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014) is a popular American period crime drama created by Terence Winter and aired on HBO. It takes place primarily in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the Prohibition era of the 1920s and features Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, a notorious criminal. Winter drew inspiration from Nelson Johnson’s 2002 non-fiction book, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City, which focuses on the real-life kingpin Enoch L. ...

The Messenger (2009) is a war drama film, marking the directorial debut of Oren Moverman, who co-wrote the screenplay with Alessandro Camon. After returning from fighting in the Iraq War, U.S. Army staff sergeant Will Montgomery discovers that his girlfriend Kelly is now engaged to someone else. Before his discharge, he is assigned the role of casualty notification officer, under the guidance of Gulf War veteran Captain Tony Stone. Their superior, Lieutenant Colonel Dorsett, emphasizes the importance of this task as many have failed in the past. Captain Stone then briefs ...

The fantasy comedy-drama film Charlotte’s Web (2006) is an adaptation of E. B. White’s novel of the same name. In the springtime on a farm in Somerset County, Maine, Fern Arable discovers her father John poised to kill a runt from a litter of newborn pigs. She pleads with him to spare the piglet’s life, naming him Wilbur and caring for him tenderly. The following day, Fern sneaks Wilbur into her school desk and when her teacher overhears his squeals, she demands to know what is inside. Fern lies and claims there is nothing in her desk, causing the teacher to angrily send them both to the ...

In the film Paris, I love you (2006), 20 different filmmakers each capture five-minute moments in the magical City of Love. These moments are linked together through transitional interstitial sequences and an introduction and epilogue. The transitions smoothly connect the previous film’s ending shot to the following film’s beginning shot, creating a continuous flow and building anticipation for what comes next. Through this technique, we witness the vibrant life of Paris through a recurring mysterious character and a common theme of love that ties all 20 segments together. 01. Tuileries (

The Island (2005) is an American science fiction thriller film, directed and co-produced by Michael Bay based on a story by Tredwell-Owen. On July 19, 2019, residents of a secluded compound, including Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta, are governed by strict rules as they believe the outside world is no longer habitable except for one pathogen-free island. In this dystopian setting, a lottery determines who gets to leave the compound and live on the island each week. However, Lincoln begins experiencing dreams that he knows are not his own memories. When Dr. Merrick, ...

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) is a compilation of short films and a feature-length anthology by renowned director Jim Jarmusch. Throughout the various segments, black and white tiles are consistently used as a visual element. This artistic choice reflects the underlying theme of opposing personalities, as each vignette portrays two individuals who have conflicting views but still maintain a cordial atmosphere while seated at a table together. Strange to Meet You. In the 1986 short film Coffee and Cigarettes, Roberto ...

Big Fish (2003), directed by Tim Burton and based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace, follows the life of Edward Bloom. At his son William’s wedding, Edward reminisces about the day Will was born, claiming to have caught a giant catfish with his wedding ring as bait. Growing up, Will often heard these fantastical stories, but never believed them to be true. This caused a rift between him and his father. However, when Edward is diagnosed with cancer years later, Will and his pregnant wife Joséphine visit Edward at their ...

Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) is an American spy action comedy film that was both co-produced and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Siblings Carmen and Juni Cortez are now full-time agents for the OSS’ recently established Spy Kids Division. Their main competition comes from Donnagon Giggles’ children, Gary and Gerti. During a mission to rescue the president’s daughter, Alexandra, the Giggles siblings outshine Carmen and Juni. While defending Gary, Carmen’s actions drive a wedge between her and Juni. At the OSS awards ceremony, Donnagon manipulates the president’s teleprompter and takes over as director of the agency instead of ...

Monsters, Inc. (2001) is an animated comedy created by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. In this unique world where monsters reside, the city of Monstropolis relies on the screams of human children for their main source of energy. At Monsters, Incorporated, highly skilled ‘scarers’ venture into the human world through portals located in children’s bedroom closets to collect screams. This job is known to be perilous as humans are believed to be poisonous and even capable of killing a monster upon physical contact. However, energy production has been on the decline due to a decrease in fear among children. The ...

Armageddon (1998), an American science fiction disaster film, was both produced and directed by Michael Bay with Jerry Bruckheimer also on board. In the film, a colossal meteor shower obliterates the orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis and proceeds to pummel various cities including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Moncton, Halifax, and Newfoundland. Later in the film, we learn that these meteors were knocked out of the asteroid belt due to a collision with a rogue comet. In addition, this same collision caused a massive asteroid – comparable in size to Texas ...

The black comedy crime film, Fargo (1996), was written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen. In the year 1987, Jerry Lundegaard, an executive sales manager at a Minneapolis car dealership owned by his father-in-law, Wade Gustafson, finds himself in desperate need of money. He devises a plan to have his wife Jean kidnapped. Shep Proudfoot, a mechanic and convicted felon, sets up a meeting for Jerry in Fargo, North Dakota with criminals Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud. They agree to carry out the job. In exchange for their services, Jerry gives them a new ...