query: Black Panther is a character.

pos: Superhero A superhero ( sometimes rendered super-hero or super hero ) is a type of heroic stock character who possesses supernatural or superhuman powers and who is dedicated to fighting crime , protecting the public , and usually battling supervillains . A female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine ( also rendered super-heroine or super heroine ) , although the word superhero is commonly used for females also . Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters , especially in American comic books since the 1930s .   By most definitions , characters do not require actual supernatural or superhuman powers or phenomena to be deemed superheroes . While the Dictionary.com definition of `` superhero '' is `` a figure , especially in a comic strip or cartoon , endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime '' , the longstanding Merriam-Webster dictionary gives the definition as `` a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers ; also : an exceptionally skillful or successful person '' . Terms such as masked crime fighters , costumed adventurers or masked vigilantes are sometimes used to refer to characters such as the Spirit , who may not be explicitly referred to as superheroes but nevertheless share similar traits .   Some superheroes use their powers to counter daily crime while also combating threats against humanity from supervillains , who are their criminal counterparts . Often at least one of these supervillains will be the superhero 's archenemy . Some long-running superheroes such as Batman , Spider-Man , Superman , Captain America , Wonder Woman , Iron Man , the Flash , Wolverine , Green Lantern , and Hulk have a rogues gallery of many villains .

pos: Black Panther (comics) The Black Panther ( T'Challa ) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller and co-plotter Jack Kirby , he first appeared in Fantastic Four # 52 ( July 1966 ) . He is the first black superhero in mainstream American comics , debuting years before such early African-American superheroes as Marvel Comics ' the Falcon ( 1969 ) and Luke Cage ( 1972 ) , and DC Comics ' Green Lantern John Stewart ( 1971 ) and Black Lightning ( 1977 ) . The character is usually depicted as the king and protector of Wakanda , a fictional African nation . Chadwick Boseman portrays the Black Panther in Captain America : Civil War ( 2016 ) and is set to return in Black Panther ( 2018 ) , both set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe .

neg: Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist -- as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known -- was the practice of denying employment to screenwriters , actors , directors , musicians , and other American entertainment professionals during the mid-20th century because they were accused of having Communist ties or sympathies . Artists were barred from work on the basis of their alleged membership in or sympathy with the Communist Party USA or refusal to assist investigations into the party 's activities . Even during the period of its strictest enforcement , the late 1940s through the late 1950s , the blacklist was rarely made explicit or verifiable , but it directly damaged the careers of scores of individuals working in the film industry .   The first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25 , 1947 , the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee . A group of studio executives , acting under the aegis of the Association of Motion Picture Producers , fired the artists -- the so-called Hollywood Ten -- and made what has become known as the Waldorf Statement .   On June 22 , 1950 , a pamphlet entitled Red Channels was published . Focused on the field of broadcasting , it identified 151 entertainment industry professionals in the context of `` Red Fascists and their sympathizers . '' Soon , most of those named , along with a host of other artists , were barred from employment in most of the entertainment field .   The blacklist lasted until 1960 , when Dalton Trumbo , a Communist Party member from 1943 to 1948  and member of the Hollywood Ten , was credited as the screenwriter of the highly successful film Exodus , and later publicly acknowledged by actor Kirk Douglas for writing the screenplay for the movie Spartacus . A number of those blacklisted , however , were still barred from work in their professions for years afterward .

neg: The Pink Panther Strikes Again The Pink Panther Strikes Again is the fifth film in The Pink Panther series and picks up where The Return of the Pink Panther leaves off . Released in 1976 , Strikes Again is the third entry to include the words Pink Panther in its title , although the story does not involve the Pink Panther diamond .   Unused footage from the film was later included in Trail of the Pink Panther .

neg: Underwater panther An underwater panther , called Mishipeshu or Mishibijiw in Ojibwe ( -LSB- mɪʃɪbɪʑɪw -RSB- ) , is one of the most important of several mythological water beings among many indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands and Great Lakes region , particularly among the Anishinaabe .   Mishipeshu translates into `` the Great Lynx '' . It has the head and paws of a giant cat but is covered in scales and has dagger-like spikes running along its back and tail . Mishipeshu calls Michipicoten Island in Lake Superior his home and is a powerful creature in the mythological traditions of some Native American tribes , particularly Anishinaabe tribes , the Odawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi , of the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States . In addition to the Anishinaabeg , Innu also have Mishibizhiw stories .   To the Algonquins , the underwater panther was the most powerful underworld being . The Ojibwe traditionally held them to be masters of all water creatures , including snakes . Some versions of the Nanabozho creation legend refers to whole communities of water lynx .   Some archaeologists believe that underwater panthers were major components of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex of the Mississippian culture in the prehistoric American Southeast .

neg: Black Fox Black Fox may refer to :   Black fox , a fox that has a black coat  Black Fox Nuclear Power Plant , a nuclear power plant proposed by the Public Service Company of Oklahoma in 1973  Black Fox ( Cherokee chief ) , the leading chief of the Cherokee from 1801 to his death in 1811  Black Fox ( comics ) , the code name of two unrelated fictional characters in Marvel Comics  Black Fox : The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler , a 1962 documentary film  The Black Fox , a fictional Robin Hood-esque character from the movie The Court Jester , played by Edward Ashley  Black Fox ( miniseries ) , a 1995 mini-series , with Tony Todd and Christopher Reeve  Member of the weasel family : Fisher ( animal )

neg: Gods (Marvel Comics) Gods are fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Several characters in many stories have been referred to as gods . Generally , however , only those belonging to two specific types are considered to be the `` true '' gods . Other worlds besides Earth also have their own gods , with different origins .

neg: Black Jack Tarr `` Black '' Jack Tarr is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . Jack Tarr is Sir Denis Nayland Smith 's aide-de-camp , and is a powerful giant of a man with a gruff manner .

neg: Panthers (band) Panthers is an American rock band from Brooklyn , New York . The Village Voice described them as `` groundbreaking dissonant HC ( hardcore ) with Rolling Stones swagger . '' Three members were previously in the hardcore band Orchid . Panthers have released four records . The most recent two , The Trick and Things Are Strange were released on Vice Records . Prior to that they released via Dim Mak Records and Troubleman Unlimited .   They began as a side project by members of the bands Orchid , Turing Machine , and The Red Scare .   Kip Uhlhorn went on to form the band Cloudland Canyon with Simon Wojan of King Khan & the Shrines .

neg: A Shot in the Dark (1964 film) A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment in The Pink Panther series . Peter Sellers is featured again as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté .   Clouseau 's bungling personality is unchanged , but it was in this film that Sellers began to give him the idiosyncratically exaggerated French accent that was to later become a hallmark of the character . The film also introduces Herbert Lom as his long-suffering boss , Commissioner Dreyfus , Burt Kwouk as his stalwart man servant Cato and Andre Maranne as Francois , all of whom would become series regulars . Elke Sommer plays Maria Gambrelli . Gambrelli would return in Son of the Pink Panther , this time played by Claudia Cardinale , who played Princess Dala in The Pink Panther . Graham Stark reprised his Hercule Lajoy role in Trail of the Pink Panther .   The film was not originally written to include Clouseau , but was an adaptation of a stage play by Harry Kurnitz adapted from the French play L'Idiote by Marcel Achard . The film was released only a few months after the first Clouseau film , The Pink Panther .

neg: Michael Tabor (Black Panther) Michael Aloysius Tabor ( December 13 , 1946 -- October 17 , 2010 ) was an American member of the Black Panther Party who was charged and tried as part of an alleged conspiracy to bomb public buildings in New York City and kill members of the New York Police Department . Four months into the trial Tabor and another defendant fled to Algeria . Despite his ultimate acquittal on all charges , Tabor remained in exile in Africa until his death , never returning to the United States .   Tabor was born on December 13 , 1946 , in Harlem and joined the Black Panther Party while in his teens . In 1970 , Tabor and 12 other members of the Black Panthers were charged for their involvement in a plot to kill police officers and to plant bombs in New York City commercial and public buildings , including the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx . Support for the prosecution 's case came from undercover officers who claimed that the defendants had developed plans for a series of bombings and had conducted classes to instruct those participating in the plot how to construct explosive devices .   Together with fellow defendant Richard Moore , Tabor failed to appear at their trial in February 1971 , forfeited $ 150,000 in bail and were declared fugitives . Blank Panther leader Huey P. Newton called Moore and Tabor `` enemies of the people '' for evading justice while on trial and putting the other defendants and the party at risk . Connie Matthews , Newton 's former secretary and Tabor 's wife , also left the country and was said to have taken valuable records with her . The two finally surfaced in Algeria the following month together with Eldridge Cleaver .   The New York Times published a lengthy letter from Moore on the day before the verdicts were read explaining that they had fled the U.S. because they feared that their lives were at risk . On May 13 , 1971 , after an eight-month-long trial , the jury in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan delivered an acquittal on all 156 counts . In a statement issued from Algiers , Tabor stated that the trial represented `` an attempted railroad and that the defendants ' rights were flagrantly violated '' and said that he was `` overjoyed that the brothers are free '' .   Algeria expelled Tabor and he and Matthews moved to Zambia in 1972 , where Tabor wrote about politics and hosted a radio show . Despite repeated requests , Tabor refused to return to the United States . He died at age 63 in Lusaka , Zambia , on October 17 , 2010 , due to complications of multiple strokes . He was survived by his second wife , Priscilla Matanda , as well as by a daughter and three sons .

neg: Panther Creek (Blackwater River) Panther Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of Missouri . It is a tributary of the Blackwater River .   Panther Creek was named for the panthers which once roamed there .

neg: Freddie Lee Peterkin Freddie Lee Peterkin , also known as Freddie Lee , is a published author , singer -- songwriter , actor and ordained interdenominational Minister , born in Pahokee , Florida . He is known for his gritty power soul vocals reminiscent of Bobby Womack . He has become an artist of public note through his 2008 independent release of the Soul and Gospel album Beyond Comprehension under the recording name of Freddie Lee . He made his prime time acting debut as `` DJ Freddie Murphy '' on Channel 4 's T4 Stars & Strikes and as a character in BBC2 's Grumpy Guide to Work in 2011 . He was also the voice for Bewiser Owl in the Bewiser Insurance TV commercial in 2012 and 2013 . He established himself in the live entertainment industry with his choreographed costume Soul Tribute stage productions for theatres and resorts in 1991 . These critically acclaimed shows include The Sounds of the Four Tops , The Sounds of the Drifters and The Sounds of the Temptations .   Freddie Lee Peterkin is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity , Delta Psi Chapter a Fraternity known for members such as Martin Luther King . This historic organization was the first inter-collegiate Greek-letter organization established for Black college students founded on December 4 , 1906 . Peterkin was responsible for composing many Delta Psi Chapter fraternity anthems such as ' I Know I 've Been Changed ' written in 1985 while he was pledging . He was also a dancer and choreographer of the Delta Psi Chapter 's ` Step Shows ' . Stepping ( African-American ) or step-dancing is a form of percussive dance in which the participant 's entire body is used as an instrument to produce complex rhythms and sounds through a mixture of footsteps , spoken word , and hand claps and a strong part of Black Greek Letter Fraternities .   Peterkin is the son of migrant workers originally from Georgia who came to Florida to pick crops for a living . He is of African and Seminole Indian heritage . His stepfather , James Elijah Jr. , was the lead vocalist of the 1960s and 1970s gospel group , The Royal Lights . His sister Breyona Elijah is part of the gospel group James Smith & Nu Birth and they are both cousins of Gospel group Damali . His mother Bernice Bell is also a singer and as a child won a competition to write a song for Joe Tex , for which she was awarded concert tickets and a chance to meet her idol . Joe Tex went on to have a major hit with the song but Bernice remained uncredited . Bernice Bell has been more recently recognized for her charity work and ran youth programs in Pahokee 's Padgett Island Community Center for 17 years and donating hot meals to Pahokee 's underprivileged children . The community center was recently renamed `` The Bernice Bell Community Center '' .

neg: Black doll A black doll is a doll of a black person . Representations , both stereotypical and realistic , fashioned into playthings , date back centuries . More accurate , mass-produced depictions are manufactured today as toys and adult collectibles .

neg: Black Reel Awards The Black Reel Awards , or `` BRAs '' , is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film ( FAAAF ) to recognize excellence in African-American , as well as those of African diaspora 's cinematic achievements in the around the world film industry as assessed by the Academy 's voting membership . The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette , officially called the Black Reel Award . The awards , first presented in 2000 in Washington , DC , are overseen by FAAAF .   The awards ceremony was initially awarded online their first two years before the first live show in 2002 . The awards have broadcast to radio since 2014 . Currently , the Black Reel Awards is the oldest cinema-exclusive awards ceremony for African-Americans .   The 16th Annual Black Reel Awards ceremony was held on February 18 , 2016 . A total of 315 Black Reel Awards have been presented since the inception of the award through the 16th .

neg: Man-Ape Man-Ape ( M'Baku ) is a fictional character , a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The character is depicted as a frequent enemy of the Black Panther .

neg: Black people Black people is a term used in certain countries , often in socially based systems of racial classification or of ethnicity , to describe persons who are perceived to be dark-skinned compared to other given populations . As such , the meaning of the expression varies widely both between and within societies , and depends significantly on context . For many other individuals , communities and countries , `` black '' is also perceived as a derogatory , outdated , reductive or otherwise unrepresentative label , and as a result is neither used nor defined .   Different societies apply differing criteria regarding who is classified as `` black '' , and these social constructs have also changed over time . In a number of countries , societal variables affect classification as much as skin color , and the social criteria for `` blackness '' vary . For example , in North America the term black people is not necessarily an indicator of skin color or ethnic origin , but is instead a socially based racial classification related to being African American , with a family history typically associated with institutionalized slavery . In the United Kingdom , `` black '' was historically equivalent with `` person of color '' , a general term for non-European peoples . In South Africa and Latin America , mixed-race people are generally not classified as `` black '' . In other regions such as Australasia , settlers applied the term `` black '' or it was used by local populations with different histories and ancestral backgrounds .

neg: Black Skin, White Masks Black Skin , White Masks ( Peau noire , masques blancs ) is a 1952 book by Frantz Fanon , in which Fanon studies the psychology of the racism and dehumanization inherent in situations of colonial domination .   With the application of historical interpretation , and the concomitant underlying social indictment , the psychiatrist Frantz Fanon formulated Black Skin , White Masks to combat the oppression of black people . He applied psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theory to explain the feelings of dependency and inadequacy that Black people experience in a White world . That the divided self-perception of the Black Subject who has lost his native cultural origin , and embraced the culture of the Mother Country , produces an inferiority complex in the mind of the Black Subject , who then will try to appropriate and imitate the culture of the colonizer . Such behavior is more readily evident in upwardly mobile and educated black people who can afford to acquire status symbols within the world of the colonial ecumene , such as an education abroad and mastery of the language of the colonizer , the white masks .   Based upon , and derived from , the concepts of the collective unconscious and collective catharsis , the sixth chapter , `` The Negro and Psychopathology '' , presents brief , deep psychoanalyses of colonized black people , and thus proposes the inability of black people to fit into the norms ( social , cultural , racial ) established by white society . That `` a normal Negro child , having grown up in a normal Negro family , will become abnormal on the slightest contact of the white world . '' That , in a white society , such an extreme psychological response originates from the unconscious and unnatural training of black people , from early childhood , to associate `` blackness '' with `` wrongness '' . That such unconscious mental training of black children is effected with comic books and cartoons , which are cultural media that instil and affix , in the mind of the white child , the society 's cultural representations of black people as villains . Moreover , when black children are exposed to such images of villainous black people , the children will experience a psychopathology ( psychological trauma ) , which mental wound becomes inherent to their individual , behavioral make-up ; a part of his and her personality . That the early-life suffering of said psychopathology -- black skin associated with villainy -- creates a collective nature among the men and women who were reduced to colonized populations .

neg: Black Power movement The Black Power movement was a political movement to achieve a form of Black Power and the many philosophies it contains . The movement saw various forms of activism some violent and some peaceful , all hoping to achieve black empowerment . The Black Power movement also represented socialist movements , all with the general motivation of improving the standing of black people in society . Originated during the Civil Rights Movement , some doubted the philosophy of the movement begging for more radical action , taking influences from Malcolm X . The cornerstone of the movement was the Black Panther Party , a Black Power organization dedicated to socialism and the use of violence to achieve it . The Black Power movement developed in the criticisms of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s , and over time and into the 1970s , the movement grew and became more violent . After years of violence , many left the movement and the police began arresting violent actors in the movement . The Black Power movement also spilled out into the Caribbean creating the Black Power Revolution .   Motivated by principles of community control , Black Power activists founded scores of institutions and services , including black-owned bookstores , food cooperatives , farms , media , printing presses , schools , clinics , and ambulance services .

neg: Pink Panther jewel The Pink Panther is a fictional diamond with a distinctive flaw which resembles a leaping panther . The diamond was a major plot device in a series of films which are collectively known as the Pink Panther movies . In addition , the Pink Panther is an animated character who appeared in the title sequences for these films and eventually appeared in his own cartoon series .

neg: BAD Girls, Inc. B.A.D. Girls , Inc. is a fictional group of female adventurers who all have had criminal records . The group first appeared in Captain America vol . 1 # 385 . Three of the group 's four members ( Asp , Black Mamba and Diamondback ) were previously members of the Serpent Society . They were teamed with Captain America on several occasions before disappearing for several years , during which time Black Mamba and Diamondback made solo appearances elsewhere .

neg: Zamasu , is a fictional character and the first original antagonist in the Dragon Ball Super series created by Akira Toriyama . He is first introduced in the forty-seventh episode of Dragon Ball Super anime which first aired on June 12 , 2016 and in chapter # 14 from the manga . He is one of the main antagonists in the Future Trunks Saga .   Goku Black is an entity that resembles Son Goku , and referred to himself as such before being given the name `` Goku Black '' by Bulma . He wears a single Potara earring and a Time Ring , the latter of which allows him to travel between different timelines at will . He wreaks havoc in Future Trunks ' timeline , bringing humanity to the brink of extinction . As he explains to Future Trunks , he has come to believe that only the decimation of humanity , which he views as corrupt and violent , can make Earth a utopia .   It is later revealed that Goku Black is the original version of ( spelled Zamas in the manga ) , an apprentice from Universe 10 . In the anime 's original , unaltered timeline , Zamasu hijacked Goku 's body using the Super Dragon Balls as part of his plan to attain supreme power and wipe out all mortals . Although Beerus manages to go back in time and kills Zamasu , Goku Black 's Time Ring prevents him from being erased from existence . To complete his plan , he joins forces with the Zamasu of Future Trunks ' timeline , who uses the Super Dragon Balls to become immortal .


query: The Vampire Diaries is a popular American drama television series.

pos: The Vampire Diaries The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec , based on the popular book series of the same name written by L. J. Smith . The series premiered on The CW on September 10 , 2009 and concluded on March 10 , 2017 , airing 171 episodes over eight seasons .   The pilot episode attracted the largest audience for The CW of any series premiere since the network began in 2006 . The first season averaged 3.60 million viewers . It was the most-watched series on the network before being supplanted by Arrow . The show has received numerous award nominations , winning four People 's Choice Award and many Teen Choice Awards .   On April 26 , 2013 , The CW officially announced that the spin-off The Originals , which focuses on the Original family of vampires , had been ordered to series , and the show began airing during the 2013 -- 14 American television season .   On April 6 , 2015 , lead actress Nina Dobrev confirmed via Instagram that she and co-star Michael Trevino ( who plays Tyler Lockwood ) would be leaving the show after its sixth season . Dobrev returned to record a voiceover for the seventh-season finale . Trevino appeared as a guest star in season seven and returned for season 8 . On March 11 , 2016 , The CW renewed the series for an eighth season , but on July 23 , 2016 , announced that the eighth season , which would have 16 episodes , would be the show 's last . The final season began airing on October 21 , 2016 .

neg: List of Scream episodes Scream is an American slasher horror television series developed by Jill Blotevogel , Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie for MTV and is based on the slasher film series of the same name created by Kevin Williamson . The series premiered of June 30 , 2015 , following the airing of the second episode of the fifth season of Teen Wolf , to mixed reviews from critics , though it has slowly earned a strong fan base throughout its run .   As of October 18 , 2016 , 24 episodes of Scream have aired , concluding the second season . Following the airing of the second season finale , it was announced that a two-hour Halloween special would air on October 18 , 2016 . On October 14 , 2016 , MTV renewed the series for a third season to consist of 6 episodes , which will premiere in 2017 .

neg: Know Thy Enemy `` Know Thy Enemy '' is the 17th episode of the second season of The CW television series , The Vampire Diaries and the 39th episode of the series overall . It originally aired on April 7 , 2011 . The episode was written by Mike Daniels and directed by Wendey Stanzler .

neg: Procedural drama A procedural drama is a genre of television programming which focuses on how crimes are solved or some other aspect of a law enforcement agency , legislative body , or court of law . Some dramas include a lab or conference room with high-tech or state-of-the-art equipment where the main characters meet to work out the problem . Shows usually have an episodic format that does not require the viewer to have seen previous episodes . Episodes typically have a self-contained , also referred to as stand-alone , plot that is introduced and resolved within the same episode .   The procedural format is popular around the world . In 2011 , the director of a TV consultancy said , `` The continuing trend is for procedurals because they use a predictable structure . '' Due to their stand-alone episodic nature , they are more accessible to new viewers than serials . Self-contained episodes also make it easier for viewers to return to a show if they have missed some episodes . In general , procedural dramas can usually be re-run with little concern for episode order .   Procedurals are often criticized for being formulaic . Procedurals are also generally less character-driven than serialized shows . However , some procedurals have more character emphasis than is typical of the format . Some may occasionally feature a storyline stretching over several episodes .   A popular variant is the police procedural .

neg: Buffy the Animated Series Buffy the Animated Series is an animated television series concept based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer created by Joss Whedon . Initially greenlit by 20th Century Fox in 2002 , it went ultimately unproduced and unaired when no network was willing to buy the series . The series would have taken place in the middle of Buffy season 1 , as writer Jeph Loeb described the continuity as `` Episode 7.5 '' .   Whedon and Loeb would later revisit the style of the series in the Season Eight comic story `` After These Messages ... We 'll Be Right Back ! '' .

neg: Girls (TV series) Girls is an American television series that premiered on HBO on April 15 , 2012 . Created by and starring Lena Dunham and executive produced by Judd Apatow , Girls is a comedy-drama following the lives of four young women living in New York City . The show 's premise and major aspects of the main character were drawn from Dunham 's own life .   The series has received a positive response from critics and consistent accolades , including the 2013 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series -- Musical or Comedy .   Girls sixth and final season concluded on April 16 , 2017 , with a total of 62 episodes .

neg: Supernatural (season 2) The second season of Supernatural , an American fantasy horror television series created by Eric Kripke , premiered on September 28 , 2006 , and concluded on May 17 , 2007 , airing 22 episodes . The season focuses on protagonists Sam ( Jared Padalecki ) and Dean Winchester ( Jensen Ackles ) as they track down Azazel , the demon responsible for the deaths of their mother Mary and father John . They attempt to discover the demon 's plan for Sam and other psychic children -- young adults who were visited by Azazel as infants and given abilities , and whose mothers often then died in a fire . During their travels , they use their father 's journal to help them carry on the family business -- saving people and hunting supernatural creatures .   The season aired on Thursdays at 9:00 pm ET in the United States , and was the first season to air on The CW television network , a joint venture of The WB and UPN . The previous season was broadcast on The WB . It averaged only about 3.14 million American viewers , and was in danger of not being renewed . The cast and crew garnered many award nominations , but the episodes received mixed reviews from critics . While both the brotherly chemistry between the lead actors and the decision to finish the main storyline were praised , the formulaic structure of the episodes was criticized .   The season was internationally syndicated , airing in the United Kingdom on ITV , in Canada on Citytv and SPACE , and in Australia on Network Ten . It was released on DVD as a six-disc box set September 11 , 2007 , by Warner Home Video in Region 1 . Although the season was split into two separate releases in Region 2 , the complete set was released October 29 , 2007 , and in Region 4 October 3 , 2007 . The episodes are also available through digital retailers such as Apple 's iTunes Store , Microsoft 's Xbox Live Marketplace , and Amazon.com 's on-demand TV service .

neg: L. J. Smith (author) Lisa Jane Smith , known professionally as L. J. Smith , is an American author of young adult fiction best known for her best-selling series The Vampire Diaries , which has been turned into a successful television show . Her books , particularly The Vampire Diaries and Night World , have been in the New York Times Best Seller list and have been nominated for five awards .

neg: The Secret Life of the American Teenager The Secret Life of the American Teenager ( often shortened to Secret Life ) is an American teen drama television series created by Brenda Hampton . It first season aired on ABC Family on July 1 , 2008 and ran until June 3 , 2013 . The show was renewed for four additional seasons .   The series received generally mixed reviews from mainstream critics when it began broadcasting , but was well received among female and teenage viewers . The pilot episode broke the record for the highest rated debut on ABC Family with 2.82 million viewers , a record previously held by Kyle XY . The season one finale brought in 4.50 million viewers , beating that night 's episode of Gossip Girl , which had less than half its usual number of viewers . Premiering to mostly positive reviews from critics and being well received among viewers , the second season of Secret Life opened with the largest audience for the series , posting a series high in total viewers with 4.68 million viewers ; in adults 18 -- 34 it was the number one scripted original premiere of Summer 2009 . Furthermore , the mid-season premiere became ABC Family 's most watched telecast of all time with viewers ages 12 -- 34 , with more than three million viewers watching .   The show earned the Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer TV Show during its premiere season , and spawned a book entitled The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens .

neg: Promised Land (The Vampire Diaries) `` Promised Land '' is the 21st episode of the fifth season of the American series The Vampire Diaries and the series ' 110th episode overall . `` Promised Land '' was originally aired on May 8 , 2014 , on The CW . The episode was written by Rebecca Sonnenshine and directed by Michael Allowitz .

neg: Tales of the Vampires Tales of the Vampires is a five issue American comic book limited series ( later collected in a single trade paperback ) , published by Dark Horse Comics and set in the Buffyverse . It comprises an anthology of short stories written by Joss Whedon , Jane Espenson , Ben Edlund , and Drew Goddard . Each story tells the tale of one or more Buffyverse vampires , and the otherwise unrelated collection is strung together by a bridging story written by Whedon .   The anthology is presented as a series of stories told by an ancient vampire to a group of young Watchers . Tales of the Vampires is the tale of that storytelling session and functions as a bridge among the other items in the anthology . The stories in this series are generally considered to be an official part of the Buffyverse canon .   Dark Horse published a new one-shot special based on the Tales of the Vampires concept by Becky Cloonan , Vasilis Lolos , Gabriel Bá and Fabio Moon in June 2009 . Specifically , this one-shot is a tie-in with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight storyline following `` Harmonic Divergence '' in which vampires become very popular with the public at large .

neg: Teen drama A teen drama is a genre or type of drama series with a major focus on teenage and young adult characters . It came into prominence in the early 1990s , especially with the popularity of the Fox series Beverly Hills , 90210 . After 90210 became a success , television writers and producers realized the potential for this new genre to reach out to a previously ignored demographic . In the past , most series that maintained a focus on teenagers had been sitcoms , while adolescents in drama series were usually part of a larger ensemble that included adults and children .   More often than not , teen dramas have soap opera elements , incorporating one or more ongoing story arcs spanning several episodes . The young characters must deal with the dramatic ups and downs of their friendships and romances while facing an array of issues thought to be typical of adolescence . There have also been many successful teen-based series with major science fiction , fantasy and action/adventure themes .

neg: Shadowhunters Shadowhunters ( also known as Shadowhunters : The Mortal Instruments ) is an American fantasy television series that is loosely based on The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare , and developed for television by Ed Decter . It is the second adaptation of the novel series , after the 2013 film The Mortal Instruments : City of Bones , which like Shadowhunters was produced by Constantin Film .   The show received a straight-to-series order on March 30 , 2015 , and premiered on January 12 , 2016 on Freeform . In March 2016 , it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season of 20 episodes , which premiered on January 2 , 2017 . In April 2017 , it was announced that the series had been renewed for a third season of 20 episodes .

neg: American Vampire American Vampire is an American Eisner Award-winning comic book series created by writer Scott Snyder and drawn by artist Rafael Albuquerque .   The series imagines vampires as a population made up of many different secret species , and charts moments of vampire evolution and inter-species conflict throughout history . The focus of the series is a new American bloodline of vampires , born in the American West in the late 19th century . The first of this new species is a notorious outlaw named Skinner Sweet , who wakes from death , after being infected , to find he has become a new kind of vampire , something stronger and faster than what came before , impervious to sunlight , with a new set of strengths and weaknesses . The series goes on to track his movements through various decades of American history -- along with the movements of his first and only known progeny : Pearl Jones , a young woman working as a struggling actress in the 1920s silent film industry when she is attacked by a coven of European vampires hiding in Hollywood . Sweet saves her ( uncharacteristically ) by giving her his blood , thereby turning her into an American vampire like him , at which point she seeks revenge on the classic vampires who attacked her in life . The complicated and charged relationship Jones has with Sweet is another focus of the series .   The first five issues featured two stories -- one by Snyder and the other by Stephen King , both drawn by Rafael Albuquerque . As of the sixth issue , Scott Snyder has taken over as sole writer .   American Vampire has spun off two mini-series . The first , `` Survival of the Fittest '' , illustrated by Sean Murphy focuses on the cases files of the V.M.S. , the vampire hunting organization of the series . The second , `` Lord of Nightmares '' , illustrated by Dustin Nguyen further focuses on the mythology presented by Survival of the Fittest . In June 2013 , a one shot co-written by Snyder and Albuquerque ( who also illustrates the 64-page issue ) , entitled `` Long Road to Hell '' which features vampire hunter Travis Kidd , was released .

neg: ER (TV series) ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist and medical doctor Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19 , 1994 , to April 2 , 2009 , with a total of 331 episodes spanning over 15 seasons . It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Television , in association with Warner Bros. . Television . ER follows the inner life of the emergency room ( ER ) of fictional County General Hospital in Chicago , Illinois , and various critical issues faced by the room 's physicians and staff . The show became the longest-running primetime medical drama in American television history . It won 23 Primetime Emmy Awards , including the 1996 Outstanding Drama Series award , and received 124 Emmy nominations , which makes it the most nominated drama program in history . ER won 116 awards in total , including the Peabody Award , while the cast earned four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series .

neg: Instinct (2017 TV series) Instinct is an upcoming American drama television series .

neg: Trio (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) The Trio is a group of three fictional characters in the sixth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer , who serve as the villains of the season . They continually strive to neutralize Buffy , the Slayer , and thus the primary obstacle to their ultimate goal of taking over Sunnydale . Though initially comic relief and little more than a nuisance to the Scooby Gang , they take a darker turn by the episode `` Dead Things '' . Most of their schemes combine science and mysticism , and they are able to avoid detection by the Scoobies ( who merely assume their conducts to be the doings of demons ) until halfway through the season .   The Trio was formed by Warren Mears , technology expert ; Andrew Wells , summoner of demons ; and Jonathan Levinson , caster of spells . Jonathan was a long time recurring character , having first appeared in season 2 , and was a friendly acquaintance of the Scooby Gang , and Warren had appeared twice in season 5 . While Andrew had never been seen on the show before , his brother was in `` The Prom '' episode , and Andrew often speaks of the time he summoned flying demon monkeys to the school production of Romeo and Juliet , of which Buffy and the Scoobies have no recollection .   The three of them begin season 6 as good friends . Tired of being pushed around , they resolve to combine their expertise and `` take over Sunnydale '' as equal partners . As the stakes rise , the power shifts and Warren gradually dominates the group . Though Jonathan and Andrew lack the malice and hatred of true villains , Warren eventually reveals his true colors as a violent misogynist capable of murder . The Trio is continually thwarted by Buffy , and none of their actions make any name for themselves in Sunnydale 's mystical underground , as revealed in `` Villains '' . The group is ultimately disbanded when , after a face-off with Buffy , Warren flees and leaves Andrew and Jonathan to take the fall with the police .

neg: Fool Me Once (The Vampire Diaries) `` Fool Me Once '' is the 14th episode of the first season of The CW television series , The Vampire Diaries and the 14th episode of the series overall . It originally aired on February 11 , 2010 . The episode was written by Brett Conrad and directed by Marcos Siega .

neg: Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series , created by Paul Feig , with Judd Apatow as executive producer , that aired on NBC during the 1999 -- 2000 television season . Eighteen episodes were completed , but the series was canceled after only 12 had aired .   A fan-led campaign persuaded NBC to broadcast three more episodes in July 2000 ; the three remaining unaired episodes , for a total of 18 , aired that September on the cable network Fox Family Channel .   The series appeared on Time magazine 's 2007 `` 100 Greatest Shows of All Time '' list , and placed third on the magazine 's list of greatest television shows of the 2000s ( decade ) . In 2007 , Freaks and Geeks ranked # 21 on TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever . In 2008 , Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years . The same year , AOL TV named it the Best School Show of All Time . In 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time , and ranked it # 1 on their list of 60 shows that were `` Cancelled Too Soon '' . It launched several of its young actors into successful television and film careers .

neg: Dexter (season 1) The first season of Dexter is an adaptation of Jeff Lindsay 's first novel in the Dexter series , Darkly Dreaming Dexter . Subsequent seasons have featured original storylines . This season aired from October 1 , 2006 to December 17 , 2006 , and follows Dexter 's investigation of `` The Ice Truck Killer '' . Introduced in the first episode , `` Dexter '' , this serial killer targets prostitutes and leaves their bodies severed and bloodless . At the same time , Dexter 's foster sister , Debra Morgan ( Jennifer Carpenter ) , a vice squad officer , aspires to work in the homicide department , and Dexter 's girlfriend , Rita Bennett ( Julie Benz ) , wants their relationship to be more intimate . Christian Camargo appears as Rudy Cooper and is a recurring character until the end of the season .   The show 's first season received generally favorable reviews from critics ; it was praised as `` bold , different and exciting , with a central character and performance that take your breath away '' by the New York Daily News . The Wall Street Journal saw `` the grotesqueries of Dexter '' as `` not something that can easily be dismissed with the old '' ` you do n't have to watch ' line '' , and concluded that `` We do have to live among the viewers who will be desensitized , or aroused , by this show '' . The aggregate site Metacritic scored the show 's first season at 77 out of 100 based on 27 critics reviews .   The season received high ratings for Showtime ; the pilot episode attracted more than a million viewers , giving the channel its highest ratings in nearly two years , while the finale `` Born Free '' drew an audience of 1.1 million viewers in the U.S. On average , the season was watched by two million viewers per episode during its original run when factoring in DVR viewers . Due to the 2007 -- 2008 Writers Guild strike and encouraged by the show 's critical success and high ratings on Showtime , CBS , a national terrestrial broadcast network , announced in December 2007 that it was considering airing an edited version of the first season of Dexter for free-to-air broadcast . It began to broadcast it on February 17 , 2008 , and thus , Dexter became the first program in 20 years to air on a broadcast network after being shown on a premium cable channel . During the show 's rerun on the CBS network in 2008 , the ratings were much higher , reaching 8.2 million viewers during its premiere February , giving the network its best rating in the 10 p.m. timeslot since December the previous year . During its 12-week run , it dropped to 7.1 million in early April , and to 6.6 million during the season 's finale on May 6 .

neg: L.A. Law L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC , from September 15 , 1986 , to May 19 , 1994 .   Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher , it contained many of Bochco 's trademark features including an ensemble cast , large number of parallel storylines , social drama , and off-the-wall humor . It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s , and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as capital punishment , abortion , racism , gay rights , homophobia , sexual harassment , AIDS , and domestic violence . The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff .   In addition to its main cast , L.A. Law was also well known for featuring then relatively unknown actors and actresses in guest starring roles , who later went on to greater success in film and television including : Don Cheadle , Jeffrey Tambor , Kathy Bates , David Schwimmer , Jay O. Sanders , James Avery , Gates McFadden , Bryan Cranston , C.C.H. Pounder , Kevin Spacey , Richard Schiff , Carrie-Anne Moss , William H. Macy , Stephen Root , Christian Slater , and Lucy Liu . Several episodes of the show also included celebrities such as Vanna White , Buddy Hackett and Mamie Van Doren appearing as themselves in cameo roles .   The show was popular with audiences and critics , and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run , four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series .


query: Stanley Kubrick worked.

pos: Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick ( -LSB- ˈkuːbrɪk -RSB- July 26 , 1928 -- March 7 , 1999 ) was an American film director , screenwriter , producer , cinematographer , editor , and photographer . He is frequently cited as one of the greatest and most influential directors in cinematic history . His films , which are mostly adaptations of novels or short stories , cover a wide range of genres , and are noted for their realism , dark humor , unique cinematography , extensive set designs , and evocative use of music .   Kubrick was born and raised in the Bronx , New York City , and attended William Howard Taft High School from 1941 to 1945 . Although he only received average grades , Kubrick displayed a keen interest in literature , photography , and film from a young age , and taught himself all aspects of film production and directing after graduating from high school . After working as a photographer for Look magazine in the late 1940s and early 1950s , he began making short films on a shoestring budget , and made his first major Hollywood film , The Killing , for United Artists in 1956 . This was followed by two collaborations with Kirk Douglas , the war picture Paths of Glory ( 1957 ) and the historical epic Spartacus ( 1960 ) . His reputation as a filmmaker in Hollywood grew , and he was approached by Marlon Brando to film what would become One-Eyed Jacks ( 1961 ) , though Brando eventually decided to direct it himself .   Creative differences arising from his work with Douglas and the film studios , a dislike of Hollywood , and a growing concern about crime in America prompted Kubrick to move to the United Kingdom in 1961 , where he spent most of the remainder of his life and career . His home at Childwickbury Manor in Hertfordshire , which he shared with his wife Christiane , became his workplace , where he did his writing , research , editing , and management of production details . This allowed him to have almost complete artistic control over his films , but with the rare advantage of having financial support from major Hollywood studios . His first British productions were two films with Peter Sellers , Lolita ( 1962 ) and Dr. Strangelove ( 1964 ) .   A demanding perfectionist , Kubrick assumed control over most aspects of the filmmaking process , from direction and writing to editing , and took painstaking care with researching his films and staging scenes , working in close coordination with his actors and other collaborators . He often asked for several dozen retakes of the same scene in a movie , which resulted in many conflicts with his casts . Despite the resulting notoriety among actors , many of Kubrick 's films broke new ground in cinematography . The scientific realism and innovative special effects of 2001 : A Space Odyssey ( 1968 ) were without precedent in the history of cinema , and the film earned him his only personal Oscar , for Best Visual Effects . Steven Spielberg has referred to the film as his generation 's `` big bang '' , and it is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made . For the 18th-century period film Barry Lyndon ( 1975 ) , Kubrick obtained lenses developed by Zeiss for NASA , to film scenes under natural candlelight . With The Shining ( 1980 ) , he became one of the first directors to make use of a Steadicam for stabilized and fluid tracking shots . While many of Kubrick 's films were controversial and initially received mixed reviews upon release -- particularly A Clockwork Orange ( 1971 ) , which Kubrick pulled from circulation in the UK following a mass media frenzy -- most were nominated for Oscars , Golden Globes , or BAFTA Awards , and underwent critical reevaluations . His last film , Eyes Wide Shut , was completed shortly before his death in 1999 at the age of 70 .

neg: Stanley Dorfman Stanley Dorfman is an English film director and producer . Dorfman was active in Great Britain throughout the 1960s and 1970s . He was the original co-producer and director for the TV music show Top Of The Pops and created and directed the BBC 's In Concert series .   He later moved to the United States where he directed music videos by many major artists .   Dorfman is currently based in Los Angeles .

neg: Stanley Theater (Utica, New York) The Stanley Theatre is a historic Baroque movie palace in Utica , New York . Over the years , it has gone through several changes of ownership , but has always been affiliated with Warner Brothers Pictures .   Originally owned by the Stanley-Mark Strand Corporation chain , the Stanley Theatre ( and entire movie theatre chain ) was purchased three days before opening by Warner Brothers . The company was eager to showcase its products on as many screens as possible . The theatre opened on September 10 , 1928 , with the silent movie Ramona starring Dolores del Río .   Thomas W. Lamb , a prolific theatre architect , designed the 2,963 seat cinema for the Mastbaum chain of theatres . The theatre was named for Stanley , one of the Mastbaum brothers . While Lamb and his firm designed over 300 theatres worldwide , he is considered to be somewhat of a local , having owned a camp in the Adirondacks . ( His great grandson lives in the Albany area today . )   The Stanley was built in less than 13 months on the expanding southern edge of downtown , some four blocks away from Utica 's theatre district . Unfortunately , all the theatres located there were razed during the Urban Renewal era of the 1960s and 70s . The Stanley remained open through all of this , though it suffered many years of benign neglect . In 1974 , when the threat of destruction became very real , the Central New York Community Arts Council ( renamed Stanley Center for the Arts in 2008 ) spearheaded a campaign to acquire the property , which it did for $ 135,000 .   The design motif of the Stanley Theatre is dubbed `` Mexican Baroque '' because of its unique blend of styles . The terra cotta and tiled mosaic exterior shows the Mexican influence , while Habsburg lions , Indian faces , and a multitude of angels and cherubs grace the lavish gold leaf Baroque theatre interior . Moorish influence is also evident in the star-splashed ceiling and twisted columns flanking the stage . Legend has it that the grand entry staircase was designed to resemble the main staircase on the Titanic ocean liner .   While the Stanley Theatre continued to be primarily a movie house , it introduced live events early in its history . Today it is host to the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute Great Artists Series ( over 75 years ) ; Broadway Theatre League ( 50 years ) ; Utica Symphony ( over 60 years ) ; and the Mohawk Valley Ballet ( over 25 years ) .   Notable early performers included legendary singers Marian Anderson , Ezio Pinza , Lily Pons , Jeanette MacDonald , and Gene Autry . Later illustrious entertainers included Chuck Mangione , Conway Twitty , Third Eye Blind , Diana Ross , Barry Manilow , and Harry Connick Jr. . The Stanley was also host to multiple appearances by Jerry Seinfeld , Wynton Marsalis , George Carlin , Itzhak Perlman , Bob Weir & RatDog ! , and B.B. King . More recent performances include Aretha Franklin and legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach . The Broadway Theatre League brought in National Touring productions of Cats ( musical ) , Annie , Evita , Sweeney Todd , and Barnum .   The theater was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 . It is significant for its relationship to the early movie industry and its distinctive architecture .

neg: Cool Hand Luke Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American prison drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg , starring Paul Newman and featuring George Kennedy in an Oscar-winning performance . Newman stars in the title role as Luke , a prisoner in a Florida prison camp who refuses to submit to the system .   The film , set in the early 1950s , is based on Donn Pearce 's 1965 novel of the same name . Pearce sold the story to Warner Bros. , who then hired him to write the script . Due to Pearce 's lack of film experience , the studio added Frank Pierson to rework the screenplay . Newman 's biographer Marie Edelman Borden states that the `` tough , honest '' script drew together threads from earlier movies , especially Hombre , Newman 's earlier film of 1967 . The film has been cited by Roger Ebert as an anti-establishment film which was shot during the time of the Vietnam War , in which Newman 's character endures `` physical punishment , psychological cruelty , hopelessness and equal parts of sadism and masochism . '' His influence on his prison mates and the torture that he endures is compared to that of Jesus , and Christian symbolism is used throughout the film , culminating in a photograph superimposed over crossroads at the end of the film in comparison to the crucifixion . Filming took place on the San Joaquin River Delta , and the set , imitating a southern prison farm , was built in Stockton , California . The filmmakers sent a crew to Tavares Road Prison in Tavares , Florida , to take photographs and measurements .   Upon its release , Cool Hand Luke received favorable reviews and became a box-office success . The film cemented Newman 's status as one of the era 's top box-office actors , while the film was described as the `` touchstone of an era . '' Newman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor , George Kennedy won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor , Pearce and Pierson were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay , and the score by Lalo Schifrin was also nominated for the Best Original Score . In 2005 , the United States Library of Congress selected it for the National Film Registry , considering it to be `` culturally , historically , or aesthetically significant . '' It has a 100 % rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes . The quotation used by the prison warden ( Strother Martin ) in the film , which begins with `` What we 've got here is failure to communicate , '' was listed at No. 11 on the American Film Institute 's list of the 100 most memorable movie lines .

neg: Filmography and awards of Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick directed 13 feature films and three short documentaries over the course of his career , from Day of the Fight in 1951 to Eyes Wide Shut in 1999 . Many of Kubrick 's films were nominated for Academy Awards or Golden Globes , but his only personal win of an Academy Award was for his work as director of special effects on 2001 : A Space Odyssey .

neg: Herbert Mason Not to be confused with Herbert Mason the photographer who photographed St Paul 's Survives ( 1940 ) .   Samuel George Herbert Mason ( 1891 -- 20 May 1960 ) was a British film director , producer , stage actor , army officer , presenter of some revues , stage manager , stage director , choreographer , production manager and playwright . He was a recipient of the Military Cross the prestigious award for `` gallantry during active operations against the enemy . '' He received the gallantry award for his part in the Battle of Guillemont where British troops defeated the Germans to take the German stronghold of Guillemont .   Mason began his theatrical career at the age of 16 and appeared in several productions at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre including Barry Jackson 's The Christmas Party . During the 1920s he stage managed some of the largest shows in London ( including many of Andre Charlot 's musical revues ) and began his film career with the arrival of sound in motion pictures . Mason was the Assistant director for I Was a Spy , which was very successful in the box office and voted best film of the year . He made his debut as director in 1936 with The First Offence . His most prominent film was A Window in London a dark thriller set in the London Underground , which was a remake of the original French drama film Metropolitan . Another successful film included Take My Tip , in which he directed Jack Hulbert whose `` dances -LSB- were -RSB- beautifully staged . ''   Several rising actors and actresses ( including Vivien Leigh ) made their film debuts in some of his films before they rose to prominence . He worked for several studios and production companies including Gaumont British , Gainsborough Pictures , London Films and MGM-British Studios . Mason directed 16 films ( from thrillers to comedies ) , moved into producing for the rest of his career and authored some plays with his wife Daisy Fisher , a novelist and playwright also with a background in theatre .   His films were generally very well received , and some of them were marked out for the inventiveness of the plot , locations used for shooting and humour . Some of his films are remembered for introducing rising actors and actresses to the screen before they became famous .

neg: Art film An art film is typically a serious , independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience . An art film is `` intended to be a serious artistic work , often experimental and not designed for mass appeal '' ; they are `` made primarily for aesthetic reasons rather than commercial profit '' , and they contain `` unconventional or highly symbolic content '' .   Film critics and film studies scholars typically define an art film as possessing `` formal qualities that mark them as different from mainstream Hollywood films '' , which can include , among other elements , a sense of social realism ; an emphasis on the authorial expressiveness of the director ; and a focus on the thoughts , dreams , or motivations of characters , as opposed to the unfolding of a clear , goal-driven story . Film scholar David Bordwell describes art cinema as `` a film genre , with its own distinct conventions '' .   Art film producers usually present their films at specialty theatres ( repertory cinemas , or , in the U.S. , `` arthouse cinemas '' ) and film festivals . The term art film is much more widely used in the United States , the UK and Australia than in Europe , where the term is more associated with `` auteur '' films and `` national cinema '' ( e.g. , German national cinema ) . Because they are aimed at small niche market audiences , they can rarely get the financial backing that will permit large production budgets , expensive special effects , costly celebrity actors , or huge advertising campaigns , as are used in widely released mainstream blockbuster films . Art film directors make up for these constraints by creating a different type of film , which typically uses lesser-known film actors ( or even amateur actors ) and modest sets to make films that focus much more on developing ideas or exploring new narrative techniques or film-making conventions .   A certain degree of experience and knowledge are required to fully understand or appreciate such films . One mid-1990s art film was called `` largely a cerebral experience '' that one enjoys `` because of what you know about film '' . This contrasts sharply with mainstream `` blockbuster '' films , which are geared more towards escapism and pure entertainment . For promotion , art films rely on the publicity generated from film critics ' reviews , discussion of their film by arts columnists , commentators and bloggers , and `` word-of-mouth '' promotion by audience members . Since art films have small initial investment costs , they only need to appeal to a small portion of the mainstream viewing audiences to become financially viable .

neg: David A. Goldsmith David A. Goldsmith lives and works in the UK and Italy . His career in television spans the vast technological changes : from film to videotape ; from black & white to colour ; from terrestrial to satellite ; from the UK 's three national networks to the plethora of channels today ; from analogue to digital ; from 405 lines to High Definition . He moved through the ranks : from a Programme Assistant in educational television to a presenter of Ready Steady Go ! ; from film Location Manager at the newly formed Yorkshire TV to Programme Director ; from drama to current affairs ; from making documentaries in ITV to directing at ITN where he won a BAFTA award covering the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege .   Other experiences include : teaching at the then London College of Printing , TV production for the Metropolitan Police , directing the pan-European satellite experiment , setting up the BBC 's school of TV Journalism in Bucharest , starting the RGB news production Partnership , and as a Vice President at ScanSat Broadcasting launching its news department .   In 1993 he acted as an advisor to a start up television company in Hungary . Assisted in the production of a documentary about the British television industry .   His documentaries mainly in the field of human rights range : from the 1964 civil rights campaign in Mississippi to Amnesty International 's concern about the state of human rights in Mexico ; from following the Six-Day War in Jerusalem to the role of policewomen under the Equal Opportunities Act ; from World War I Old Contemptibles in Flanders to Hells Angels in Great Britain . His enthusiasm for the documentary led to his book The Documentary Makers published by RotoVision . Since 2006 he has been developing a film project to be shot in Venezuela .

neg: Hollywood blacklist The Hollywood blacklist -- as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known -- was the practice of denying employment to screenwriters , actors , directors , musicians , and other American entertainment professionals during the mid-20th century because they were accused of having Communist ties or sympathies . Artists were barred from work on the basis of their alleged membership in or sympathy with the Communist Party USA or refusal to assist investigations into the party 's activities . Even during the period of its strictest enforcement , the late 1940s through the late 1950s , the blacklist was rarely made explicit or verifiable , but it directly damaged the careers of scores of individuals working in the film industry .   The first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25 , 1947 , the day after ten writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee . A group of studio executives , acting under the aegis of the Association of Motion Picture Producers , fired the artists -- the so-called Hollywood Ten -- and made what has become known as the Waldorf Statement .   On June 22 , 1950 , a pamphlet entitled Red Channels was published . Focused on the field of broadcasting , it identified 151 entertainment industry professionals in the context of `` Red Fascists and their sympathizers . '' Soon , most of those named , along with a host of other artists , were barred from employment in most of the entertainment field .   The blacklist lasted until 1960 , when Dalton Trumbo , a Communist Party member from 1943 to 1948  and member of the Hollywood Ten , was credited as the screenwriter of the highly successful film Exodus , and later publicly acknowledged by actor Kirk Douglas for writing the screenplay for the movie Spartacus . A number of those blacklisted , however , were still barred from work in their professions for years afterward .

neg: Going Steady (book) Going Steady : Film Writings 1968 -- 1969 is the third collection of film reviews by the critic Pauline Kael , comprising the years 1968-1969 , when she first began her film-reviewing duties at The New Yorker and which covers , '' a crucial period of social and aesthetic change at the end of the sixties . ''   The collection for the most part consists of reviews of individual films , but includes one long essay , ( which appeared originally in Harper 's Magazine ) , entitled `` Trash , Art , and the Movies '' , perhaps the closest Kael comes to a manifesto defining her personal aesthetics in regards to films . In the essay , Kael dissects , compares , and contrasts the merits of `` trash '' films that are nevertheless entertaining , as well as `` art '' films that are uninteresting . In doing so , Kael lambastes `` art '' films such as Kubrick 's 2001 : A Space Odyssey , concluding her treatment of that particular film by declaring : `` If big film directors are to get credit for doing badly what others have been doing brilliantly for years with no money , just because they 've put it on a big screen , then businessmen are greater than poets and theft is art . '' The essay is divided into ten parts , ranging from discussions of The Thomas Crown Affair to Petulia . Kael 's overriding theme is to dismantle the intellectual pretences of those who deride films deemed to be `` trash '' on the basis of dubious aesthetic concerns , notwithstanding the entertainment appeal a particular `` trash '' film might possess .   Other notable reviews include Kael 's treatment of the Norman Mailer film Wild 90 , its relation to cinéma vérité , and the implications of that particular film-making technique .   This book is out-of-print in the United States , but is still published by Marion Boyars Publishers of the United Kingdom .

neg: Cinema of India The cinema of India consists of films produced across India . Cinema as a medium has gained immense popularity in the country and as many as 1,600 films in various languages of India are produced annually . Indian films have also come to be followed throughout South Asia , the Greater Middle East , Southeast Asia and other countries . Dadasaheb Phalke is known as the `` father of Indian cinema '' . The Dadasaheb Phalke Award , for lifetime contribution to cinema , was instituted in his honour , by the Government of India in 1969 , and is the most prestigious and coveted award in Indian cinema .   In the 20th century , Indian cinema , along with the Hollywood and Chinese film industries , became a global enterprise . As of 2013 , in terms of annual film output , India ranks first , followed by Nollywood , Hollywood and China . In 2012 , India produced 1,602 feature films . The Indian film industry reached overall revenues of $ 1.86 billion ( 93 billion ) in 2011 . This is projected to rise to $ 3 billion ( 200 billion ) in 2016 . In 2015 , India had a total box office gross of , the fourth largest in the world outside North America . Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic norms of delivering product , altering the manner in which content reached the target audience . Biopics like Dangal and CGI-laden epics like Baahubali emerged as transnational blockbusters grossing over $ 200 million each in early 21st century . Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened . The Indian government extended film delegations to foreign countries such as the United States of America and Japan while the country 's Film Producers Guild sent similar missions through Europe .   The provision of 100 % foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox , Sony Pictures , Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. . Indian enterprises such as AVM Productions , Prasad 's Group , Sun Pictures , PVP Cinemas , Zee , UTV , Suresh Productions , Eros Films , Ayngaran International , Pyramid Saimira , Aascar Films and Adlabs also participated in producing and distributing films . Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India . By 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India , making the commercial presence of the medium felt .   The South Indian film industry defines the four film cultures of South India as a single entity . They are the Telugu , the Tamil , the Malayalam and the Kannada industries . Although developed independently over a long period , gross exchange of film performers and technicians as well as globalisation helped to shape this new identity .   The Indian diaspora consists of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made available both through media such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially feasible . These earnings , accounting for some 12 % of the revenue generated by a mainstream film , contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema , the net worth of which was found to be 1.3 billion in 2000 . Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator with the music rights alone accounting for 4 -- 5 % of the net revenues generated by a film in India .

neg: Lolita (1962 film) Lolita is a 1962 British-American black comedy-drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick . Based on his novel of the same title , Vladimir Nabokov also wrote the screenplay . It follows a middle-aged literature lecturer who becomes obsessed with an adolescent girl . The film stars James Mason as Humbert Humbert , Sue Lyon as Dolores Haze ( Lolita ) , and Shelley Winters as Charlotte Haze , with Peter Sellers as Clare Quilty .   Owing to the MPAA 's restrictions at the time , the film toned down the more provocative aspects of the novel , sometimes leaving much to the audience 's imagination . The actress who played Lolita , Sue Lyon , was 14 at the time of filming .   Lolita polarized contemporary critics , but is well-received today . Kubrick later commented , however , that if he had realized how severe the censorship limitations were going to be , he probably would never have made the film .

neg: George Stanley (sculptor) George Stanley ( April 26 , 1903 -- 1973 ) is an American sculptor . He designed the Academy Award of Merit , or Oscar , as well as sculpting the Muse Statue at the Hollywood Bowl .

neg: Major film studio A major film studio is a production and film distributor that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box office revenue in a given market . In the North American , Western , and global markets , the major film studios , often simply known as the majors , are commonly regarded as the six diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85 percent of U.S. and Canadian box office revenue . The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate .   The `` Big Six '' majors , whose operations are based in or around the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood , are all centered in film studios active during Hollywood 's Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s . In three cases -- 20th Century Fox , Warner Bros. , and Paramount -- the studios were one of the `` Big Five '' majors during that era as well . In two cases -- Columbia and Universal -- the studios were also considered majors , but in the next tier down , part of the `` Little Three '' . In the sixth case , Walt Disney Studios was an independent production company during the Golden Age ; it was an important Hollywood entity , but not a major . Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , United Artists , and RKO were majors .   Today , Disney is the only member of the Big Six whose parent entity is still located near Los Angeles ( actually , on Disney 's studio lot and in the same building ) . The five others report to conglomerates headquartered in New York City , Philadelphia , and Tokyo . Of the Big Six , Paramount is the only one still based in Hollywood , and Paramount and Fox are the only ones still located within the Los Angeles city limits , while Disney and Warner Bros. are located in Burbank , Columbia in Culver City , and Universal in the unincorporated area of Universal City .   Most of today 's Big Six control subsidiaries with their own distribution networks that concentrate on arthouse pictures ( e.g. Fox Searchlight Pictures ) or genre films ( e.g. Sony 's Screen Gems ) ; several of these specialty units were shut down or sold off between 2008 and 2010 . The six major studios are contrasted with smaller production and/or distribution companies , which are known as independents or `` indies '' . The leading independent producer/distributors -- Lionsgate Films , The Weinstein Company , and former major studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer -- are sometimes referred to as `` mini-majors '' . From 1998 through 2005 , DreamWorks SKG commanded a large enough market share to arguably qualify it as a seventh major , despite its relatively small output . In 2006 , DreamWorks was acquired by Viacom , Paramount 's corporate parent . In late 2008 , DreamWorks once again became an independent production company ; its films were distributed by Disney 's Touchstone Pictures until 2016 , at which point distribution switched to Universal .   The Big Six major studios are today primarily backers and distributors of films whose actual production is largely handled by independent companies -- either long-running entities or ones created for and dedicated to the making of a specific film . The specialty divisions often simply acquire distribution rights to pictures in which the studio has had no prior involvement . While the majors still do a modicum of true production , their activities are focused more in the areas of development , financing , marketing , and merchandising . Those business functions are still usually performed in or near Los Angeles , even though the runaway production phenomenon means that most films are now mostly or completely shot on location at places outside Los Angeles .   Since the dawn of filmmaking , the U.S. major film studios have dominated both American cinema and the global film industry . U.S. studios have benefited from a strong first-mover advantage in that they were the first to industrialize filmmaking and master the art of mass-producing and distributing high-quality films with broad cross-cultural appeal . Today , the Big Six majors routinely distribute hundreds of films every year into all significant international markets ( that is , where discretionary income is high enough for consumers to afford to watch films ) . It is very rare , if not impossible , for a film to reach a broad international audience on multiple continents and in multiple languages without first being picked up by one of the majors for distribution .

neg: Tony Zierra Tony Zierra is an American director and producer . He has directed three movies : Carving Out Our Name , USA The Movie and My Big Break in which he also appeared .   From an early age Zierra 's goal was to become a filmmaker . He attended film studies classes at NYU , Texas A&M and UCLA . His first documentary , Carving Out Our Name premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to much acclaim .  Shortly after , Zierra went on the road to capture America 's reaction to the September 11 attacks . The film that emerged , USA The Movie , explores the cyclical nature of violence and retaliation . The film was the subject of an in-depth analysis from a Deleuzian perspective by scholar and commentator Dion Dennis . Zierra 's award-winning documentary , My Big Break , is a cautionary tale about the darker side of celebrity and the consequences of fame that also includes his struggle to make his first film . My Big Break has received consistently strong reviews and has been repeatedly praised for its unusually candid look at the effects of success on young rising stars in Hollywood.http : / / staticmass.net/documentary/my-big-break-dvd-2011-review/http://www.theentertainmentcorner.com/2012/05/my-big-break-interview.html My Big Break won Best Documentary at the Boston Film Festival , Best Documentary at Artsfest , Pennsylvania , was nominated for Best Documentary at the Raindance Film Festival in London and was an official selection of The American Cinematic Experience Festival in New York . Zierra has been a featured speaker at The Popular Culture American Culture ( PCA/ACA ) national academic conference in New Orleans , PCA/ACA Southwest/Texas academic conference and the PCA/ACA national academic conference in Boston . Zierra is in production on the documentary SK13http : / / www.imdb.com/title/tt1562571/about the legendary filmmaker , Stanley Kubrick . His documentary '' Filmworker ''  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6851066/?ref_=nv_sr_1 about the life of Stanley Kubrick 's longtime assistant , Leon Vitali is part of the Cannes Film Festival Official Selection 2017 premiering in Cannes Classics http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/infos-communiques/communique/articles/cannes-classics-2017-1

neg: John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( -LSB- ˈhjuːstən -RSB- August 5 , 1906 -- August 28 , 1987 ) was an American film director , screenwriter and actor . He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed , many of which are today considered classics : The Maltese Falcon ( 1941 ) , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre ( 1948 ) , The Asphalt Jungle ( 1950 ) , The African Queen ( 1951 ) , The Misfits ( 1961 ) , Fat City ( 1972 ) and The Man Who Would Be King ( 1975 ) . During his 46-year career , Huston received 15 Oscar nominations , won twice , and directed both his father , Walter Huston , and daughter , Anjelica Huston , to Oscar wins in different films .   Huston was known to direct with the vision of an artist , having studied and worked as a fine art painter in Paris in his early years . He continued to explore the visual aspects of his films throughout his career : sketching each scene on paper beforehand , then carefully framing his characters during the shooting . While most directors rely on post-production editing to shape their final work , Huston instead created his films while they were being shot , making them both more economical and cerebral , with little editing needed .   Most of Huston 's films were adaptations of important novels , often depicting a `` heroic quest , '' as in Moby Dick , or The Red Badge of Courage . In many films , different groups of people , while struggling toward a common goal , would become doomed , forming `` destructive alliances , '' giving the films a dramatic and visual tension . Many of his films involved themes such as religion , meaning , truth , freedom , psychology , colonialism and war .   Before becoming a Hollywood filmmaker , he had been an amateur boxer , reporter , short-story writer , portrait artist in Paris , a cavalry rider in Mexico , and a documentary filmmaker during World War II . Huston has been referred to as `` a titan '' , `` a rebel '' , and a `` renaissance man '' in the Hollywood film industry . Author Ian Freer describes him as `` cinema 's Ernest Hemingway '' -- a filmmaker who was `` never afraid to tackle tough issues head on . '' Worked for Ethos Group .

neg: Alan Greenberg (film director) Alan Greenberg ( born October 14 , 1950 in New York City , died January 27 , 2015 in Portland , OR ) was an American film director , screenwriter , photographer and author .   Greenberg visited Jamaica from a young age , and was a friend of Bob Marley . Following Marley 's death , Marley 's family asked Greenberg to make a film about Marley . In 1981 , Greenberg filmed Land of Look Behind ( 1982 ) , a documentary film that includes footage of Marley 's funeral as well as scenes filmed in Jamaica 's remote Cockpit Country and the capital city of Kingston . The film ended up being more of a visionary portrait of the Jamaica of that period ( focusing on the Rastafari movement and reggae culture ) than a film primarily about Marley . The film has won considerable critical acclaim , as well as winning the Gold Hugo Award for Best Documentary in the Chicago International Film Festival , the U.S. 's largest film competition . Land of Look Behind has also been honored as the best American documentary film of its era , and the legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog says '' ` Land of Look Behind ' has achieved things never seen before in cinema . ''   Greenberg worked closely with Werner Herzog on many projects . He served as a special unit photographer on the films Cape Fear '' by Martin Scorsese ( 1991 ) and 1900 , by Bernardo Bertolucci ( 1976 ) . He also wrote twenty screenplays and three books . His book Heart of Glass , about the making of the 1976 Werner Herzog masterwork of the same name , was called `` The best book on the making of a film ever written '' by Rolling Stone magazine . A new and entirely revised edition of the book , entitled , `` EVERY NIGHT THE TREES DISAPPEAR : Werner Herzog and the Making of ` Heart of Glass ' '' was published in hard cover by the Chicago Review Press . It featured Greenberg 's previously-unpublished photographs , which Herzog called `` strange and beautiful . '' ''   In 2012 Greenberg was going to write and produce a film based on his acclaimed screenplay `` Love in Vain '' , a poetic account of the mysterious blues genius Robert Johnson . `` Love in Vain '' was also the first screenplay ever published by a major house ( Doubleday ) as literature .   Greenberg 's latest screenplay , `` Tutankhamun - Lord of Two Lands '' , a radically researched vision of the Boy King 's murder intertwined with the intrigue surrounding his tomb 's discovery in 1922 , was to have been produced in 2013 .

neg: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures Stanley Kubrick : A Life in Pictures is a 2001 documentary about the life and work of Stanley Kubrick , famed film director , made by his long-time assistant and brother-in-law Jan Harlan . Its running time is 142 minutes long , it consists of several 15-minute chapters , each detailing the making of one of his films -- and two more showing his childhood and life .   Jan Harlan managed to get many of Kubrick 's collaborators for interviews , including Tom Cruise , Nicole Kidman , Keir Dullea , Arthur C. Clarke , Malcolm McDowell , Peter Ustinov , Jack Nicholson , György Ligeti and Matthew Modine . It also has interviews from film directors who were inspired by Kubrick such as Woody Allen , Steven Spielberg , Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack .   The film contains some rare footage , including from the Kubrick family home videos and on film sets , and clips from Fear and Desire - Kubrick 's first feature-length film .   It was released on DVD on October 23 , 2007 , and was featured on the tenth disc of Stanley Kubrick : The Essential Collection and Stanley Kubrick : Limited Edition Collection DVD and Blu-ray released May 31 , 2011 , respectively . The documentary was also bundled in a box set of some of Kubrick 's other films released January 22 , 2008 .   The soundtrack of the film is by composer and musician Jocelyn Pook , who had previously worked with Kubrick on Eyes Wide Shut .

neg: Film Booking Offices of America Film Booking Offices of America ( FBO ) , also known as FBO Pictures Corporation , was an American film studio of the silent era , a producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films . The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole ( U.S. ) , the American division of a British import -- export company and Robertson-Cole was formed by the English-born Harry F. Robertson and the American Rufus Sidman Cole . Robertson-Cole bought the Hallmark Exchanges ( formerly the Mutual Exchanges that became known as Exhibitors-Mutual Exchanges ) from Frank J. Hall in 1920 . Exhibitors-Mutual/Hallmark had distributed Robertson-Cole product , and acquiring the exchanges gave them the right to distribute their own films plus Hall 's product , with the exception of Charlie Chaplin reissues he had the rights to .   Robertson-Cole initiated movie production in the United States in 1920 . That year , it incorporated Robertson-Cole Studios , Inc. and bought 460 acres in Santa Monica , California to establish a studio . The property , which became known as the `` R.C. Ranch '' , enabled Robertson-Cole to centralize movie production , which previously had been scattered . The movie company had relied on equipment rentals to produce motion pictures . Two years later , a corporate reorganization led to the company 's new name , with FBO becoming the official name of the distributing operation and Robertson-Cole Pictures Corp. the name of the production operation . In 1923 , the studio contracted with Western actor Fred Thomson , who would soon emerge as one of Hollywood 's most popular stars . Thomson was just one of numerous screen cowboys with whom FBO became identified .   The studio , whose core market was America 's small towns , also put out many romantic melodramas , non-Western action pictures , and comedic shorts . In 1926 , financier Joseph P. Kennedy led a group that acquired the company . In June 1928 , using RCA Photophone technology , FBO became only the second Hollywood studio to release a feature-length `` talkie . '' A few months later , Kennedy and RCA chief David Sarnoff arranged the merger that created RKO , one of the major studios of Hollywood 's Golden Age .

neg: Shane Stanley Shane Stanley ( born June 15 , 1971 in Los Angeles ) is a multi-Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and founder of Visual Arts Entertainment , a film and television production company based in Los Angeles . Best known for executive producing Gridiron Gang starring Dwayne `` The Rock '' Johnson for Sony Pictures and directing Bret Michaels music videos supporting the hit show Rock of Love . Stanley , a four-time nominee , was the youngest to ever win a production Emmy Award , winning his first at sixteen and his second at nineteen for his work on The Desperate Passage Series . Stanley made his directorial debut helming his own screenplay A Sight for Sore Eyes which starred Academy Award nominee Gary Busey . Besides being honored with dozens of prestigious awards and film festival honors , the film was invited to screen at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and won Best Drama at the International Family Film Festival in 2006 .   Also a commercial and music video director , Stanley 's most recognized work includes campaigns for Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfare , Sony PlayStation , Morongo Casino , Resort & Spa , Kimberly-Clark , San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino as well as PSA 's for the American Diabetes Association . His most known music videos include StorySide : B 's `` Miracle '' and Bret Michaels 's Go That Far which reached # 1 and remained on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown for over three months . The video is ranked on the network 's list of 100 Best Music Videos . As of 2010 , five of Stanley 's music videos have been on the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown , ( two simultaneously ) . Shane co-wrote Bret Michaels 's autobiography , `` Roses & Thorns '' for Simon & Schuster and most recently produced the late Zalman King 's , Pleasure or Pain which will release in 2014 . Pleasure or Pain would be Golden Globe Nominee , King 's final film before his passing in 2012 .   In 2015 , Shane directed The Untold Story starring Barry Van Dyke , Nia Peeples , Jason Connery , and Ellen Greene a film he co-wrote with his father , Lee Stanley . This would be their first collaboration since Gridiron Gang in 2005 .  Shane began 2016 helming Mistrust which he co-wrote with Tiffany Johnson . The film stars two-time Golden Globes winner , Jane Seymour ( actress ) , Parker Stevenson , Patrick Bristow , William Shockley ( actor ) , and Nia Peeples .

neg: B movie A B movie is a low-budget commercial movie , but one that is not an arthouse film . In its original usage , during the Golden Age of Hollywood , the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature . Although the U.S. production of movies intended as second features largely ceased by the end of the 1950s , the term B movie continues to be used in the broader sense it maintains today . In its post -- Golden Age usage , there is ambiguity on both sides of the definition : on the one hand , the primary interest of many inexpensive exploitation films is prurient ; on the other , many B movies display a high degree of craft and aesthetic ingenuity .   In either usage , most B movies represent a particular genre -- the Western was a Golden Age B movie staple , while low-budget science-fiction and horror films became more popular in the 1950s . Early B movies were often part of series in which the star repeatedly played the same character . Almost always shorter than the top-billed films they were paired with , many had running times of 70 minutes or less . The term connoted a general perception that B movies were inferior to the more handsomely budgeted headliners ; individual B films were often ignored by critics .   Latter-day B movies still sometimes inspire multiple sequels , but series are less common . As the average running time of top-of-the-line films increased , so did that of B pictures . In its current usage , the term has somewhat contradictory connotations : it may signal an opinion that a certain movie is ( a ) a genre film with minimal artistic ambitions or ( b ) a lively , energetic film uninhibited by the constraints imposed on more expensive projects and unburdened by the conventions of putatively `` serious '' independent film . The term is also now used loosely to refer to some higher-budgeted , mainstream films with exploitation-style content , usually in genres traditionally associated with the B movie .   From their beginnings to the present day , B movies have provided opportunities both for those coming up in the profession and others whose careers are waning . Celebrated filmmakers such as Anthony Mann and Jonathan Demme learned their craft in B movies . They are where actors such as John Wayne and Jack Nicholson first became established , and they have provided work for former A movie actors , such as Vincent Price and Karen Black . Some actors , such as Bela Lugosi , Eddie Constantine and Pam Grier , worked in B movies for most of their careers . The term B actor is sometimes used to refer to a performer who finds work primarily or exclusively in B pictures .