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Seth Rogen |
Seth Rogen is a Canadian actor, comedian, and Emmy-nominated writer.
He began his career doing standup comedy for four years during his teens, coming in second place in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest when he was sixteen. After moving to Los Angeles, Rogen landed supporting roles in Judd Apatow's two critically acclaimed network television comedies, Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared (the latter of which also hired Rogen as a staff writer). Both shows were cancelled after one season.
After landing as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show, for which he and the staff received an Emmy nomination, Rogen was guided by Apatow toward a film career. Rogen was cast in a major supporting role, and credited as a co-producer, in Apatow?s directorial debut The 40 Year-Old Virgin. After receiving many good notices for that performance, Universal Pictures agreed to cast Rogen as the lead in Apatow?s next directorial feature, Knocked Up.
Rogen has appeared in the films Donnie Darko, You, Me, and Dupree and Fanboys, in addition to the Apatow-produced comedies Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Superbad (a semi-autobiographical comedy Rogen originally intended to headline years ago, co-written by Rogen and Evan Goldberg). Rogen also wrote the screenplay for another comedy which Apatow helped co-produce, Owen Wilson's Drillbit Taylor.
Rogen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Mark Rogen, an assistant director of a Workmen's Circle, and Sandy, a social worker. Rogen, who is Jewish, attended a Talmud Torah school, as well as Camp Miriam, a Habonim Dror camp where he would perform stand-up comedy for fellow campers. Rogen got his start in show business at age 13 after signing up for a comedy class. With his trademark deadpan humour, he placed second in the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest at 16, then headed south of the border to continue stand-up and acting.
Rogen's first exposure to the entertainment field began with commercial work in Canada at the age of 13. After trying his hand as a standup comic, Rogen snapped up his first starring role in the Judd Apatow/Paul Feig 1980s-set teen series Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000) with only two auditions. He played cynical, acerbic "freak" Ken Miller. Apatow was very impressed with Rogen's improvisational skills. After the show was cancelled in the middle of its first season, Rogen was cast in a similar role in Apatow's second, also short-lived series, Undeclared (2001-2002), and went on to write several episodes. In 2001, Rogen also had minor roles in Donnie Darko (playing Ricky Danforth) and Dawson's Creek, in an episode he claims he never saw. Following the cancellation of his second series in 2002, Rogen developed a soured attitude toward television, not wanting to act on another show unless Apatow was involved.
Rogen's first major writing job was for Apatow's second short-lived television series, Undeclared, for which he was hired as a writer before he was offered an acting role. During the show's run, Rogen wrote one episode by himself and co-wrote four others.
Rogen's experience with Undeclared paid off when he and his writing partner, Evan Goldberg, joined the writing staff of Da Ali G Show for its second season. In 2005, the Ali G Show writing staff, including Rogen and Goldberg, received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the Writing For A Variety, Music Or Comedy Program category. As it turned out, Rogen had signed on to the show for what became its final season; Da Ali G Show ended due to the creative decision that its mode of "surprise" comedy would become unsustainable if the show continued much longer. Rogen's association with the show's star, Sacha Baron Cohen, was not over, however; In a recent interview with Tokion Magazine(Issue 55), Rogen claimed to have made uncredited contributions to Cohen's film version of Borat.
Rogen's most recent project is the 2007 comedy, Superbad, the script for which he wrote years ago as a starring vehicle for himself. The Superbad team then looked for "an 18-year-old version" of Rogen and chose frequent Rogen collaborator Jonah Hill. Rogen also wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Owen Wilson vehicle, Drillbit Taylor, which is based on a 70-page scriptment written by John Hughes.
Rogen returned to the big screen in 2005 with a major supporting role in Apatow's directorial debut The 40-Year-Old Virgin. The film was a massive success, grossing $109,449,237 domestically ($177,358,395 worldwide). Apatow then cast Rogen as the lead in the 2007 film Knocked Up.Upon completing The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Apatow had approached Rogen about potential starring roles, but the actor suggested many high concept science fiction ideas. After Apatow insisted that Rogen would work better in real life situations, the two agreed on the accidental pregnancy concept that became Knocked Up.
Rogen and Apatow's latest project, as of summer 2007, is the teen comedy Superbad at Columbia Pictures. Rogen and Evan Goldberg wrote the film, with Apatow as co-producer. While Rogen did pen Owen Wilson's upcoming Drillbit Taylor, he does not expect to appear in it since the script mostly involves high school students. Freaks and Geeks co-star James Franco also revealed that he will reunite with Rogen for the Apatow-written comedy, Pineapple Express. According to a Bill Hader fansite, Rogen is set to host Saturday Night Live sometime in October.
Though Rogen has penned scripts for both film and television, his comedic stylings tend to rely heavily on improvisational dialogue. Apatow noticed this improvisation talent on the set of Freaks and Geeks, which influenced his decision to have Rogen write for Undeclared and pitch jokes for The 40 Year-Old Virgin.As with most Apatow projects, the dialogue in Rogen's films is usually not what was on paper. Rogen says he prefers improvised dialogue because it captures the essence of real friends spouting jokes. Because Apatow never stops rolling after takes, allowing his actors to improvise differently each time, Rogen's two largest film roles to date (The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) both achieved the rare milestone of shooting over a million feet of film, almost unprecedented for comedies.
Rogen moved to Los Angeles at the age of 16, after Apatow discovered him in Vancouver. During his late teens, Rogen's parents moved from Canada with him, but by the time he landed his second television series, his parents would live in both Canada and the United States. Rogen still resides in Los Angeles. He continues to write and produce with longtime writing partner, Evan Goldberg, with whom he has worked with on Da Ali G Show, Knocked Up, and Superbad, the latter of which is a semi-autobiographical take on their longtime friendship. He lives with Lauren Miller, his girlfriend of two years. Rogen and Miller attended the film premieres of The 40 Year-Old Virgin, You, Me and Dupree and Knocked Up.
Wallpapers: available
Filmography
# Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) .... Zack
# Horton Hears a Who (2008)
# The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
# Fanboys (2008) (post-production)
# The Pineapple Express (2008)
# Superbad (2007) .... Officer Michaels
# Shrek the Third (2007) (voice) .... Ship Captain
... aka Shrek 3 (Singapore: English title) (USA: working title)
... aka The Third (USA: promotional abbreviation)
# "American Dad!" .... Student (1 episode, 2006)
- Camp Refoogee (2006) TV Episode (voice) .... Student
# You, Me and Dupree (2006) .... Neil
# Knocked Up (2006) .... Ben Stone
# "Help Me Help You" (1 episode)
- Working Women (????) TV Episode
# The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) .... Cal
... aka The 40 Year-Old Virgin (USA: poster title)
... aka The 40-Year-Old Virgin (USA: DVD box title)
# Early Bird (2005) (TV) .... Bart
# Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (2004) (V) .... Eager Cameraman
... aka Anchorman: Wake-Up Ron Burgundy (USA)
... aka Wake Up Ron Burgundy (USA: closing credits title)
# Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) .... Eager Cameraman
... aka Anchorman (USA: short title)
# "Dawson's Creek" .... Bob (1 episode, 2003)
- Rock Bottom (2003) TV Episode .... Bob
# "Undeclared" .... Ron Garner (17 episodes, 2001-2002)
- Eric's POV (2002) TV Episode .... Ron Garner
- Hal and Hillary (2002) TV Episode .... Ron Garner
- The Perfect Date (2002) TV Episode .... Ron Garner
- The Day After (2002) TV Episode .... Ron Garner
- Truth or Dare (2002) TV Episode .... Ron Garner
(12 more)
# Donnie Darko (2001) .... Ricky Danforth
... aka Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut (USA: director's cut)
# North Hollywood (2001) (TV)
# "Freaks and Geeks" .... Ken Miller (15 episodes, 1999-2000)
- Noshing and Moshing (2000) TV Episode .... Ken Miller
- Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers (2000) TV Episode .... Ken Miller
- Discos and Dragons (2000) TV Episode .... Ken Miller
- Smooching and Mooching (2000) TV Episode .... Ken Miller
- The Little Things (2000) TV Episode .... Ken Miller
(10 more)
| movies : | 2253 |
| soundtracks : | 30470 |
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| 2010-03-15 23:39:39 | Reuters | |
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| Hollywood braces for talks on DVD releases | |
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Top Hollywood executives and theater owners will seek this week to resolve a brewing dispute over DVD release schedules, a contentious question as the industry grapples with shifting viewer patterns and the advent of high-tech home entertainment.
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| 2010-03-15 22:39:56 | Playbill | |
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| Hallelujah! Valerie Harper Is Tallulah in 'Looped', Opening on Broadway | |
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A late-career Tallulah Bankhead - the hard-drinking, blowsy American stage and film actress - sweeps back onto Broadway, embodied by Valerie Harper, in <i>Looped,</i> a new comedy that officially opens March 14 at the Lyceum Theatre.
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| 2010-03-15 22:39:56 | Playbill | |
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| Turner to Star in Premiere of 'High' at Hartford TheaterWorks Prior to Midwest and NYC | |
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Tony and Academy Award-nominated actress Kathleen Turner will star in the world premiere of <i>Looped</i> playwright Matthew Lombardo's <i>High</i> at Hartford TheaterWorks this July.
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Top movies
| Avatar | 2009 | |
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| Science Fiction, Thriller, War, Romance, Mystery, Fantasy, Family, Drama, Adventure, Action | |
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In the year 2154, the RDA corporation is mining Pandora, the lush, Earthlike moon of the planet Polyphemus, in the Alpha Centauri system. Parker Selfridge, (Giovanni Ribisi), the administrator, employs former marines as mercenaries to provide security. The humans aim to exploit Pandora’s reserves of unobtanium, a valuable mineral.Pandora is inhabited by the na’vi, a paleolithic species of sapient humanoids with feline characteristics.[16] Physically stronger and several feet taller than humans, the blue-skinned indigenes live in harmony with Nature and worship a mother goddess called Eywa.Humans cannot breathe Pandora’s atmosphere. In order to move about Pandora uninhibited, human scientists have genetically engineered human-na’vi hybrid bodies called Avatars, which are controlled by genetically matched human operators. Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former marine, arrives on Pandora to replace his murdered twin brother, an Avatar operator. Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver), the head of the Avatar Program, considers him an inadequate replacement for his brother, relegating him to a bodyguard role.While Jake is escorting Augustine and biologist Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) in their Avatar forms, the group is attacked by a large predator, and Jake becomes separated and lost. Attempting to survive the night in Pandora’s dangerous jungles, he is rescued by Neytiri (Zoë Saldaña), a female na’vi. Neytiri brings Jake back to Hometree, which is inhabited by Neytiri’s clan, the Omaticaya. Mo’at, (C. C. H. Pounder), the na’vi shaman and Neytiri’s mother, instructs her to teach him their ways.Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), the mercenary leader of the security forces, learns of Jake’s relationship with the Omaticaya, and offers to get him new legs in exchange for providing intelligence about the natives and learning what it will take to make them abandon Hometree, which rests above a large deposit of unobtanium.During the next three months, Jake becomes close to Neytiri and the Omaticaya, and begins to prefer the life he lives through the Avatar. Jake’s attachment begins to erode his loyalty towards the corporation and the humans and when he is finally initiated into the tribe, he and Neytiri choose each other as mates. Jake’s change of loyalty is revealed when he disables a bulldozer as it destroys the Tree of Voices; upon seeing this, Col. Quaritch forcibly disconnects him from his Avatar, and presents Selfridge and Augustine with a vlog in which Jake had admitted that his mission was fruitless; that the humans had nothing the Omaticaya considered to be of value and that they would never abandon Hometree. This convinces Selfridge that negotiations would be fruitless and he orders the destruction of Hometree.Augustine, whose research suggests that all organisms on Pandora are linked in a vast bio-botanical neural network, protests at the destruction of Hometree, but Selfridge persists, allowing Jake only one hour to convince the na’vi to leave before Col. Quaritch’s forces arrive. When he reveals the true nature of his mission to the Omaticaya, Neytiri accuses him of betraying them, which results in Jake and Augustine’s temporary imprisonment. Jake’s time runs out and Quaritch’s forces destroy Hometree. Eytucan (Wes Studi), Neytiri’s father and clan chief, and many others are killed in the attack. Jake and Augustine are once again disconnected from their Avatars and detained for treason against the humans. Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez), a security force pilot who is disgusted by the violence, breaks them out but Augustine is wounded by the ruthless Quaritch during their escape. With Augustine in a critical state, Jake turns to the Omaticaya for help. Searching for a way to regain their trust, he remembers that Neytiri told him that only five na’vi had ever tamed the Toruk, an immensely powerful flying beast. Successfully taming it, he flies to the na’vi, who have gathered at the sacred Tree of Souls. He pleads with Mo’at to heal Augustine, who is now dying. They attempt to transplant her soul into her Avatar but fail.With the assistance of Neytiri and Tsu’Tey (Laz Alonso), the new leader of the Omaticaya, Jake vows defiance against the humans, and assembles thousands of na’vi from other clans. Jake prays to Eywa to intercede on behalf of the na’vi in the coming battle. Col. Quaritch, seeing the na’vi’s growing strength, orders a preemptive strike on the Tree of Souls, as it is the center of na’vi religion and culture; its destruction would leave the na’vi too demoralized to continue resisting the humans.As the humans move against the sacred site, the na’vi fight back fiercely, but human technology and firepower outweighs their bravery; they suffer heavy casualties, including Tsu’Tey and Trudy. When all hope seems lost, the Pandoran wildlife suddenly attack the humans in great numbers, overwhelming them in the air and on the ground. Neytiri interprets this as Eywa answering Jake’s prayer.Col. Quaritch orders the bombing of the Tree of Souls but Jake destroys the bomber before it can reach its target. Quaritch escapes in an AMP (Amplified Mobility Platform) suit. He finds the Avatar interface pod, where Jake’s human body is located, and attacks it, damaging it and exposing Jake to Pandora’s atmosphere. Neytiri kills Quaritch and saves Jake, seeing his human form for the first time. With the human attack successfully repelled, they reaffirm their love for each other.The defeated humans are expelled from Pandora, while Jake and his friends remain. Jake is seen wearing the insignia of the Omaticaya clan leader, suggesting that he has become the new leader after the death of Tsu’Tey. The film ends with Jake’s soul being successfully transplanted into his na’vi Avatar.When a geeky, overweight rushee is found dead at the hottest sorority on the campus, the three most popular girls of the house are prime suspects.Trailer:
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| Sherlock Holmes | 2009 | |
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| Thriller, Mystery, Comedy, Adventure, Action | |
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The film, set in London of 1891, opens with Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) racing to prevent a human sacrifice ritual conducted by Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). Holmes and Watson stop the sacrifice just in time and neutralize Lord Blackwood, after which the police, led by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan), arrive and arrest him.Within prison, Lord Blackwood triggers panic, even causing a prison warden to be struck down with a seizure. Holmes, on the other hand, has been bored silly in the three months between Blackwood’s capture and his impending execution.Watson has met a girl named Mary (Kelly Reilly) whom he intends to wed, and will be moving out of his apartment. This upsets Holmes as he fears he will lose the close bond he built up with Watson. Meanwhile, Holmes gets re-acquainted with Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), the only person who has managed to fool him twice. She offers him a sum of money to pursue a case, and leaves his apartment. Holmes disguises himself as a vagrant and trails Adler to a coach, within which sits a man whose face is not seen but who has a wrist mounted pistol which he uses to threaten the disguised Holmes.The day before his execution, Blackwood asks to meet with Holmes. Holmes notices that Blackwood has scrawled occult symbols and inscriptions on the walls of his prison cell, and Blackwood warns Holmes that death will not be an obstacle to him. He states that three more murders will occur, and there is nothing Holmes can do about it.Blackwood is subsequently hanged and Watson himself personally verifies that Blackwood has no pulse and is clinically dead. Three days after he is buried, the stones that sealed his tomb are found shattered, and a witness claims he saw Blackwood leave the tomb alive. Holmes and Watson are called to the scene to investigate. When the coffin is removed, instead of Blackwood’s corpse, they find the body of a red haired midget, the very man Irene Adler had asked him to find.With Blackwood apparently back from the dead, London is astir with rumors about his dark powers, and Holmes and Watson resume their hunt to track him down and uncover the mystery of his resurrection. During their search, they find a room filled with dead, hung pigs. The two discover that they have been followed by Ms. Adler, who was trapped by Blackwood, she is bound and cleave-gagged on a factory conveyor belt. Holmes braves the flames and blades to saves her, securing her trust. Watson follows Blackwood but is caught by a tripwire and sets off a massive explosion, in which he is badly wounded.Holmes’ and Watson’s adventures lead them to uncover an occult-dabbling secret society known as the Temple of the Four Orders (similar in vein to secret societies such as the Order of the Eastern Star, the Freemasons, the Illuminati and the Rosicrucians), with Blackwood eventually leading it on a quest for world domination. Blackwood leaves many (apparently supernatural) murders in his wake, and manages to take control of the secret society. Blackwood uses the influence of the police to have the police hunt down Holmes and bring him to Parliament, where Lord Coward inadvertently gives Holmes the clues he needs to reveal Blackwood plans to launch a major attack on the British parliament.Holmes and Watson discover a machine designed to release a chemical gas, hidden in the sewers under parliament but Adler manages to disarm it. When his plan fails Blackwood flees and in a battle on the construction site of the Tower Bridge, Holmes reveals all of the scientific methods behind Blackwood’s seemingly supernatural resurrection, powers, and murders. Blackwood falls and gets tangled in some chains used for the construction; when they finally untangle, one gets caught around his neck and he is accidentially (and ironically) hanged. Above London, Holmes handcuffs himself to Ms. Adler until she explains her motives to become involved with the case. She explains that the mysterious caped man in the carriage is one Professor Moriarty, who had used the battle to covertly steal an important component of the machine. Adler warns Holmes that Moriarty is just as brilliant as he is, and infinitely more devious. Holmes leaves Adler, and returns to explain to Watson how Blackwood managed to fake his death. The film ends with Holmes learning of a new case involving Professor Moriarty.Trailer:
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| Up in the Air | 2009 | |
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| Comedy, Drama | |
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George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a man who travels around the country to various workplaces and conducts employee layoffs on behalf of bosses too cowardly to do it themselves. Walter Kirn stated in the film’s press notes: "Ryan is like a masseur who comes in and sort of rubs your shoulders while rolling your desk chair into the elevator." On occasion, he delivers motivational speeches about the virtue of a relationship-free life, often using a backpack analogy. He relishes the comfort of being anonymous during his perpetual travels. He does not have a personal life and chooses to stay away from his family. He is close to achieving his personal goal of 10 million frequent flyer miles.During his frequent flying, he meets a woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga) with whom Ryan starts to pursue a casual relationship. Ryan receives a business partner, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a young, ambitious, but still naïve Cornell graduate. Against Ryan’s wishes, his company chooses to ground him and keep him at the corporate headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska after the introduction of a new efficient layoff system introduced by Natalie.[9] Ryan counters that Natalie knows nothing about what it takes to fire people, and the company suggests that Ryan take Natalie on his travels to show her what the company does. Ryan begrudgingly accepts.Natalie, unaccustomed to Ryan’s lifestyle, questions Ryan’s philosophies and goals, but Ryan does not see the value in long-term relationships and is happy in his niche. While on the road, Natalie’s boyfriend leaves her through text message, leaving her devastated. Ryan and Natalie meet Alex, and take Natalie to a crash a tech-conference party. After Natalie sees the kind of relationship Ryan and Alex maintain, she is infuriated and criticizes Ryan’s viewpoint as juvenile. The company is impressed with Natalie’s performance and her program becomes active. Natalie returns home, and Ryan is invited to his sister’s wedding.Ryan decides to invite Alex to accompany him to the wedding in northern Wisconsin, saying that he wants to have a partner occasionally in his travels. Alex agrees and they fly together to Wisconsin, where they meet Julie (Melanie Lynskey) and her fiancé, Jim (Danny R. McBride). Ryan takes Alex to where he grew up, showing her around Waupaca High School, where he played on the basketball team.Their date is cut short when Ryan’s older sister Kara (Amy Morton) calls: apparently, Jim has gotten cold feet, and Ryan must use his skills as a motivational speaker to convince him to marry. This runs counter to Ryan’s no-strings-attached philosophy, but Ryan successfully argues that important moments in life are seldom alone. Jim reconsiders, apologies to Julie, and the wedding proceeds as planned. Ryan and Alex enjoy themselves, but Ryan finds himself alone after Alex departs once again to her life between planes.When Ryan returns, Natalie walks him through the process of her program. Ryan is then seen presenting at a convention but, reconsidering his life philosophy, leaves in the middle to go visit Alex. Arriving on Alex’s front door in Chicago, Ryan discovers that Alex is a married woman with young children. She tells him that this is her real life and that Ryan was just a side-line. Ryan, devastated, returns home and receives even more upsetting news: an employee that he and Natalie had a hand in firing, killed herself by jumping off a bridge into a river. Natalie quits and goes to San Francisco. Seeing how talented she is, Ryan writes a letter of recommendation to the company Natalie is interviewing for back in San Francisco.Natalie’s program is put on indefinite hold and Ryan goes back to flying across the country to do his job. Ryan, while airborne, crosses his 10 million mile mark, a feat only six others have accomplished with him being the youngest. The film then shows various people fired by Ryan commenting on how they were able to get through unemployment and rebuild their lives thanks to the help and inspiration of their families. The film ends with Ryan reflecting on his life choices, finding himself most at home on his planes.Trailer:
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