1.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
2.
Science fiction film
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Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition. The genre has existed since the years of silent cinema. The next major example in the genre was the film Metropolis - being the first feature length science fiction movie, from the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies. After Stanley Kubricks landmark 2001, A Space Odyssey, the fiction film genre was taken more seriously. This definition suggests a continuum between empiricism and transcendentalism, with science fiction film on the side of empiricism, and horror film, however, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien. The visual style of fiction film can be characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange, as well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky. For example, in Dr. Strangelove, the, distortion of the make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien and familiar images are juxtaposed, as in The Deadly Mantis, Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902, Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune, generally considered the first science fiction film, several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein, a adaptation of Mary Shelleys novel. Taking a more adventurous tack,20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a based on Jules Verne’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis and Frau im Mond. In the 1930s, there were big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine, King Kong, Things to Come. Starting in 1936, a number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials, notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers and these serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Doctor X, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, F. P. The 1940s brought us Before I Hang, Black Friday, Dr. Cyclops, The Devil Commands, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Man Made Monster, It Happened Tomorrow, It Happens Every Spring and The Perfect Woman
3.
Horror film
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Horror film is a film genre that seeks to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on their fears. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres, Horror films often deal with viewers nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event. Another of his projects was 1898s La Caverne maudite. Japan made early forays into the genre with Bake Jizo and Shinin no Sosei. The era featured a slew of literary adaptations, with the works of Poe and Dante, in 1908, Selig Polyscope Company produced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In 1910, Edison Studios produced the first filmed version of Frankenstein, the macabre nature of the source materials used made the films synonymous with the horror film genre. Before and during the Weimar Republic era, German Expressionist filmmakers would significantly influence later productions, the first vampire-themed movie, Nosferatu, was made during this period, though it was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stokers Dracula. Other European countries also, contributed to the genre during this period, though the word horror to describe the film genre would not be used until the 1930s, earlier American productions often relied on horror themes. Some notable examples include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, The Cat and the Canary, The Unknown, and The Man Who Laughs. Many of these films were considered dark melodramas because of their stock characters and emotion-heavy plots that focused on romance, violence, suspense. The trend of inserting an element of macabre into American pre-horror melodramas continued into the 1920s, directors known for relying on macabre in their films during the 1920s were Maurice Tourneur, Rex Ingram, and Tod Browning. Ingrams The Magician contains one of the first examples of a mad doctor and is said to have had a influence on James Whales version of Frankenstein. The Unholy Three is an example of Brownings use of macabre and unique style of morbidity, he remade the film in 1930 as a talkie, during the early period of talking pictures, Universal Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Brownings Dracula was quickly followed by James Whales Frankenstein and The Old Dark House, some of these films blended science fiction with Gothic horror, such as Whales The Invisible Man and featured a mad scientist, mirroring earlier German films. Frankenstein was the first in a series of remakes which lasted for years, the Mummy introduced Egyptology as a theme, Make-up artist Jack Pierce was responsible for the iconic image of the monster, and others in the series. Universals horror cycle continued into the 1940s with B-movies including The Wolf Man, the once controversial Freaks, based on the short story Spurs, was made by MGM, though the studio disowned the completed film, and it remained banned, in the UK, for thirty years
4.
Demi Moore
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Demi Gene Guynes, professionally known as Demi Moore, is an American actress, former songwriter, and model. Moore dropped out of school at age 16 to pursue an acting career. After making her debut later that year, she appeared on the soap opera General Hospital and subsequently gained recognition for her work in Blame It on Rio. Her first film to both a critical and commercial hit was About Last Night. Which established her as a Hollywood star, in 1990, Moore starred in Ghost, the highest-grossing film of that year, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She had a string of additional successes in the early 1990s, including A Few Good Men, Indecent Proposal. In 1996, Moore became the actress in film history when she was paid a then-unprecedented fee of $12.5 million to star in Striptease. Her next major role, G. I. Moore was born on November 11,1962 in Roswell and her biological father, Air Force airman Charles Harmon, Sr. left her mother, Virginia, after a two-month marriage, before Moore was born. When Moore was three months old, her mother married Dan Guynes, an advertising salesman who frequently changed jobs, as a result. Moore said in 1991, My dad was Dan Guynes, there is a man who would be considered my biological father who I dont really have a relationship with. Moore learned of him at age 13, when she found her mother and stepfathers marriage certificate, Dan Guynes committed suicide in October 1980 at age 37, two years after he separated from Moores mother. Charles Harmon appeared on Inside Edition in 1995, making an appeal to see his grandchildren, Virginia Guynes had a long record of arrests for crimes, including drunk driving and arson. Moore broke off contact with her in 1990, when Guynes walked away from a rehab stay Moore had paid for at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota. Guynes posed nude for the magazine High Society in 1993, where she spoofed Moores Vanity Fair pregnancy and bodypaint covers, Moore and Guynes briefly reconciled shortly before Guynes died of cancer in July 1998 at age 54. Moore was cross-eyed as a child, this was corrected by two operations. She also suffered from kidney dysfunction, at age 15, Moore moved to West Hollywood, California, where her mother worked for a magazine-distribution company. Moore attended Fairfax High School there, and recalled, I moved out of my familys house when I was 16 and left high school in my junior year. In August 1979, three months before her 17th birthday, Moore met musician Freddy Moore who was married and at the leader of the band Boy
5.
Whoopi Goldberg
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Caryn Elaine Johnson, known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg, is an American actress, comedian, author and television host. She has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards for her work in television and is one of the few entertainers who has won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. She was the black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar. In the period drama film The Color Purple, her role was playing Celie. In the romantic fantasy film Ghost, Goldberg played Oda Mae Brown, in 1992, she starred as a pretend nun in the comedy Sister Act. From 1998 to 2002, she was co-producer of the game show Hollywood Squares. Since 2007, she has been the moderator of the television talk show The View. Caryn Elaine Johnson was born in Manhattan, New York City on November 13,1955, the daughter of Robert James Johnson, Jr. a clergyman, and Emma Johnson and she was raised in the Chelsea-Elliot Houses. Goldberg has described her mother as a stern, strong, and wise woman who raised her as a mother with her brother Clyde. She went to a local Catholic school, St Columbas when she was younger and her more recent forebears migrated north from Faceville, Georgia, Palatka, Florida, and Virginia. She dropped out of Washington Irving High School and she has stated that her stage forename was taken from a whoopee cushion, If you get a little gassy, youve got to let it go. So people used to say to me, Youre like a whoopee cushion, and thats where the name came from. According to the Jewish Chronicle, one suggests that her mother thought that the familys original surname was not Jewish enough for her daughter to become a star. According to an anecdote told by Nichelle Nichols in Trekkies, a young Goldberg was watching Star Trek, theres a black lady on TV and she aint no maid. This spawned lifelong fandom of Star Trek for Goldberg, who would ask for and receive a recurring guest-starring role on Star Trek. Between 1979 and 1981, she lived in East Germany, working in a number of theater productions, during her travels, she would smuggle various items into the country for the artists she stayed with. Goldberg trained under acting teacher Uta Hagen at the HB Studio in New York City and she first appeared onscreen in 1982 in Citizen, Im Not Losing My Mind, Im Giving It Away, an avant-garde ensemble feature by San Francisco filmmaker William Farley. Goldberg created The Spook Show, a show composed of different character monologues in 1983
6.
James Cameron
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James Francis Jim Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, inventor, engineer, philanthropist, and deep-sea explorer. He first found success with the science fiction action film The Terminator. He then became a popular Hollywood director and was hired to write and direct Aliens and he found further critical acclaim for his use of special effects in Terminator 2, Judgment Day. After his film True Lies Cameron took on his biggest film at the time, Titanic, despite Avatar being his only movie made to date in 3D, Cameron is the most successful 3D film-maker in terms of box-office revenue. In the time between making Titanic and Avatar, Cameron spent several years creating many documentary films and co-developed the digital 3D Fusion Camera System, described by a biographer as part scientist and part artist, Cameron has also contributed to underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. On March 26,2012, Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench and he is the first person to do this in a solo descent, and is only the third person to do so ever. In total, Camerons directorial efforts have grossed approximately US$2 billion in North America, not adjusted for inflation, Camerons Titanic and Avatar are the two highest-grossing films of all time at $2.19 billion and $2.78 billion respectively. Cameron also holds the achievement of having directed two of the three films in history to gross over $2 billion worldwide, in March 2011, he was named Hollywoods top earner by Vanity Fair, with estimated 2010 earnings of $257 million. Cameron was born in 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, the son of Shirley, an artist and nurse, and Phillip Cameron and his paternal great-great-great-grandfather emigrated from Balquhidder, Scotland, in 1825. Cameron grew up in Chippawa, Ontario, and attended Stamford Collegiate School in Niagara Falls and his family moved to Brea, California in 1971, when Cameron was 17 years old. He dropped out of Sonora High School, then attended Brea Olinda High School to further his secondary education, Cameron enrolled at Fullerton College, a two-year community college, in 1973 to study physics. He switched to English, then dropped out before the start of the fall 1974 semester, next, he worked several jobs, including as a truck driver, writing when he had time. That way I could sit down and read it, and if theyd let me photocopy it, Cameron quit his job as a truck driver to enter the film industry after seeing Star Wars in 1977. When Cameron read Syd Fields book Screenplay, it occurred to him that science and art was possible. They raised money, rented camera, lenses, film stock and they dismantled the camera to understand how to operate it and spent the first half-day of the shoot trying to figure out how to get it running. He was the director, writer, producer, and production designer for Xenogenesis and he then became a production assistant on a film called Rock and Roll High School, though uncredited, in 1979. While continuing to educate himself in film-making techniques, Cameron started working as a miniature-model maker at Roger Corman Studios, making rapidly produced, low-budget productions taught Cameron to work efficiently and effectively. He soon found employment as an art director in the sci-fi movie Battle Beyond the Stars and he did special effects work design and direction on John Carpenters Escape from New York, acted as production designer on Galaxy of Terror, and consulted on the design of Android
7.
Batman (1989 film)
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Batman is a 1989 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the first installment of Warner Bros. initial Batman film series, the film stars Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, alongside Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough and Jack Palance. In the film, Batman is widely believed to be an urban legend until he goes to war with a rising criminal mastermind known as the Joker. After Burton was hired as director in 1986, Steve Englehart, Batman was not greenlit until after the success of Burtons Beetlejuice. Numerous A-list actors were considered for the role of Batman before Keaton was cast, Keatons casting caused a controversy since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions dictated a high salary. The tone and themes of the film were influenced in part by Alan Moore and Brian Bollands The Killing Joke, filming took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out, uncredited rewrites were performed by Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems. Batman was a critical and financial success, earning over $400 million in box office totals and it was the fifth-highest-grossing film in history at the time of its release. The film received several Saturn Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination, as Gotham City approaches its bicentennial, Mayor Borg orders district attorney Harvey Dent and police commissioner James Gordon to make the city safer. Meanwhile, reporter Alexander Knox and photojournalist Vicki Vale begin to investigate rumors of a vigilante nicknamed Batman who is targeting the citys criminals, Batmans alter-ego is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire industrialist who, as a child, witnessed his parents murder at the hands of a psychotic robber. At a fundraiser for the bicentennial in Wayne Manor, Bruce meets and falls for Vale, however, the evening is cut short as Bruce is alerted to Commissioner Gordons sudden departure due to police business and leaves to investigate as Batman. Mob boss Carl Grissom, who has already been targeted by Dent, with the help of corrupt police lieutenant Max Eckhardt, Grissom sets Napier up to be killed in a raid at Axis Chemicals. However, Grissoms plan is foiled with the arrival of Commissioner Gordon, in the ensuing shootout, Napier kills Eckhardt, but Batman suddenly appears and, in a struggle, Napier is knocked into a vat of chemicals. Batman escapes and Napier is presumed dead, as Batman returns to his life as Bruce Wayne, Napier is revealed to have survived the accident, but left horribly disfigured with chalk white skin, emerald green hair, and a ruby red grin. Driven insane, Napier calls himself the Joker, killing Grissom, the Joker begins to terrorize Gotham City by lacing hygiene products with Smilex, a deadly chemical which causes victims to die laughing with the same maniacal grin as the Joker. Whilst searching for information on Batman, the Joker also falls for Vale and he lures her to the Gotham Museum of Art, but Batman arrives and rescues her. They escape in the Batmobile, but are pursued by the Jokers men, Batman takes Vicki to the Batcave, where he gives her information from his research on Smilex that will allow the citys residents to protect themselves from the toxin
8.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the installment in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the role and Sean Connery plays Indianas father, Henry Jones. Other cast members featured include Alison Doody, Denholm Elliott, Julian Glover, River Phoenix, in the film, set largely in 1938, Indiana searches for his father, a Holy Grail scholar, who has been kidnapped by Nazis. After the mixed reaction to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg chose to compensate with a film that toned down the violence, during the five years between Temple of Doom and Last Crusade, he and executive producer Lucas reviewed several scripts before accepting Jeffrey Boams. Filming locations included Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey, the film was released in North America on May 24,1989, to mostly positive reviews. It was a success, earning $474,171,806 at the worldwide box office totals. It won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing, in 1912, thirteen-year-old Indiana Jones is horseback riding with his Boy Scout troop at Arches National Park in Utah. While scouting caves, Indy discovers a group of robbers who have found a golden crucifix belonging to Coronado and steals it from them. The men give chase through a circus train, leaving Indy with a bloody cut across his chin from a bullwhip. Indy escapes, but the local sheriff makes him return the cross to the robbers, impressed with Indys bravery, the leader of the robbers gives Indy his fedora, and encourages him to not give up. In 1938, Indy recovers the cross off the coast of Portugal, later, Indy is introduced to Walter Donovan, who informs him that Indys father, Henry Jones, Sr. has vanished while searching for the Holy Grail, using an incomplete inscription as his guide. Indy then receives Henrys Grail diary via mail from Venice, realizing that he would not have sent the diary unless he was in trouble, Indy and Marcus travel to Venice, where they meet Henrys Austrian colleague, Dr. Elsa Schneider. They flee, however, when the catacombs are set aflame by the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword, a secret society that protects the Grail from evildoers. Indy and Elsa capture one of the Brotherhood, Kazim, and Indy tells him that his goal is only to find his father, Kazim tells him that Henry is being held in Castle Brunwald on the Austrian-German border. Marcus later reveals a map drawn by Henry of the route to the Grail, at Castle Brunwald, Indy rescues Henry, but learns that Elsa and Donovan are actually working with the Nazis, and are using him to find the Grail for them. Meanwhile, Marcus is captured in Hatay, while waiting with Sallah for the Joneses, the Joneses escape from Castle Brunwald. Henry tells Indy that to reach the Grail, one must face three booby traps and his diary contains the clues to guide them through the challenges safely and they recover the diary from Elsa at a book burning rally in Berlin
9.
Darkman
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Darkman is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. It is based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universals horror films of the 1930s. Unable to secure the rights to either The Shadow or Batman, Raimi decided to create his own superhero and it was produced by Robert Tapert, and was written by Raimi, his brother Ivan Raimi and Chuck Pfarrer. Darkman was generally received by critics and performed well at the box office, grossing almost $49 million worldwide. This financial success spawned two sequels, Darkman II, The Return of Durant and Darkman III, Die Darkman Die, as well as comic books, video games. Over the years, Darkman has become regarded as a cult film, scientist Dr. Peyton Westlake is developing a new type of synthetic skin to help acid-burn victims. He is frustrated with a flaw that causes the skin to rapidly disintegrate after 99 minutes and his girlfriend, attorney Julie Hastings, discovers the Bellasarious Memorandum, an incriminating document proving that developer Louis Strack has been bribing members of the zoning commission. Before she leaves, Westlake asks her to him. When she confronts Strack, he confesses, but shows Julie what hes been planning and he also warns Julie to keep her guard up as mobster Robert Durant wants the document. Back at Westlakes lab, Dr. Westlake is conducting an experiment when the lights go out, Dr. Westlake and his assistant Yakatito, are astounded to find the synthetic skin is stable after 100 minutes. Westlake deduces that the skin is photosensitive. Their joy is short lived, when Durant and his crew show up and demand the Bellasarious Memorandum, while searching for the document, Durant and his gang kill Yakatito. They proceed to beat Westlake, burn his hands and dip his face in acid, after they find the document, they rig the lab to explode- leaving Julie to watch the explosion. The blast throws Westlake through the roof, into the river, thought to be dead, he survives but is hideously burned. He is brought to a hospital and subjected to a treatment which cuts the nerves of the spinothalamic tract. However, he loses his tactile sensation. The loss of sensory input gives him enhanced strength due to adrenal overload and keeps his injuries from incapacitating him. After mourning the loss of his lab and realizing how badly burnt he is, the process is long, and in the meantime, Westlake plots revenge against Durant and his men
10.
Dick Tracy (1990 film)
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Dick Tracy is a 1990 American action comedy film based on the 1930s comic strip character of the same name created by Chester Gould. Dick Tracy depicts the love relationships with Breathless Mahoney and Tess Truehart. Tracy also begins his upbringing of The Kid, development of the film started in the early 1980s with Tom Mankiewicz assigned to write the script. The screenplay would instead be crafted by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, the project also went through directors Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Walter Hill, and Richard Benjamin before the arrival of Beatty. Filming was mostly at Universal Studios, Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film score, and the music was featured on three separate soundtrack albums. Dick Tracy was released in 1990 to mixed reviews, but was a success at the box office and it picked up seven Academy Award nominations and won in three of the categories, Best Original Song, Best Makeup and Best Art Direction. A sequel was planned, but a controversy over the rights ensued between Beatty and Tribune Media Services. The lawsuit was resolved in Beattys favor in October 2013, however, no plans for a sequel or follow-up have been publicly disclosed as of June 2014. Beatty created The Dick Tracy TV Special in 2008, which featured him reprising the character to be interviewed by film critic Leonard Maltin. At an illegal card game, a street urchin witnesses the massacre of a group of mobsters at the hands of Flattop and Itchy. Big Boys crime syndicate is aggressively taking over small businesses in the city, Detective Dick Tracy catches the urchin in an act of petty theft. After rescuing him from a ruthless host, Tracy temporarily adopts him with the help of his girlfriend, meanwhile, Big Boy coerces club owner Lips Manlis into signing over the deed to Club Ritz. He then kills Lips with a cement overcoat and steals his girlfriend, after Lips is reported missing, Tracy interrogates his three hired guns Flattop, Itchy, and Mumbles, then goes to the club to arrest Big Boy for Lips murder. Instead of providing testimony, she attempts to seduce Tracy. Big Boy cannot be indicted and he is released from jail, Big Boys next move is to try to bring other criminals, including Spud Spaldoni, Pruneface, Influence, Texie Garcia, Ribs Mocca, and Numbers, together under his leadership. Spaldoni refuses and is killed, leaving Dick Tracy, who discovered the meeting and was attempting to spy on it. The next day, Big Boy and his henchmen kidnap Tracy and attempt to bribe him, Tracy refuses, however, Tracy is saved by Kid, who gets prized by the police with a Honorary Detective Certificate, which will remain temporary until he decides a name for himself. Breathless shows up at Tracys apartment, once again in an attempt to seduce him, Tracy shows he is only human by allowing her to kiss him
11.
Field of Dreams
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Field of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy-drama sports film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, who also wrote the screenplay, adapting W. P. Kinsellas novel Shoeless Joe. It stars Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta and it was nominated for three Academy Awards, Best Original Score, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture. Ray Kinsella is a novice Iowa farmer who lives with his wife, Annie, in the opening narration, he explains how he had a troubled relationship with his father, John Kinsella, who had been a devoted baseball fan. While walking through his cornfield one evening, he hears a voice whispering, If you build it and he continues hearing this before finally seeing a vision of a baseball diamond in his field. Annie is skeptical, but she allows him to plow the corn under in order to build a baseball field, as he builds, he tells Karin the story of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Months pass and nothing happens, his family faces financial ruin until, one night, Ray recognizes him as Shoeless Joe Jackson, a deceased baseball player idolized by John. Thrilled to be able to play again, he asks to bring others to the field to play. He later returns with the seven players banned as a result of the 1919 scandal. Rays brother-in-law, Mark, cant see the players and warns him that he will go bankrupt unless he replants his corn, while in the field, Ray hears the voice again, this time urging him to ease his pain. Ray attends a PTA meeting at which the possible banning of books by radical author Terence Mann is discussed and he decides the voice was referring to Mann. He comes across a magazine dealing with Manns childhood dream of playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers. After Ray and Annie both dream about him and Mann attending a game together at Fenway Park, he convinces her that he should seek out Mann. He heads to Boston and persuades a reluctant, embittered Mann to attend a game with him at Fenway Park, while there, he hears the voice again, this time urging him to go the distance. At the same time, the scoreboard shows statistics for a player named Archibald Moonlight Graham, who played one game for the New York Giants in 1905, after the game, Mann eventually admits that he, too, saw it. Ray and Mann then travel to Chisholm, Minnesota where they learn that Graham had become a doctor and had died sixteen years earlier. During a late night walk, Ray finds himself back in 1972 and encounters the then-living Graham and he also says that the greater disappointment would have been not having a medical career. He declines Rays invitation to fulfill his dream, however, during the back home. While Archie sleeps, Ray reveals to Mann that John had wanted him to live out his dream of being a baseball star and he stopped playing catch with him after reading one of Manns books at 14
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