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The Film Portal

Man working with a movie projector in a movie theater, 1958

A film (British English) – also called a movie (American English), motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick – is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and the art form that is the result of it. (Full article...)

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Grease 2 is a 1982 American musical romantic comedy film and the sequel to the 1978 film Grease, adapted from the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Originally titled More Grease, the film was produced by Allan Carr and Robert Stigwood, and directed and choreographed by Patricia Birch, who choreographed the original stage production and prior film. The plot returns to Rydell High School two years after the original film's graduation, with a largely new cast, led by Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer in her first starring role.

The film was released in United States theaters on June 11, 1982, and grossed $15 million against a production budget of $11 million, a far cry from its predecessor's $132 million domestic box office. Despite breakthrough roles for Pfeiffer, Adrian Zmed, and Christopher McDonald, the film received mostly negative reviews from critics. Despite this, Grease 2 maintains a devoted fan base decades after its release. (Portal:Film/Featured content)

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The following are images from various film-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1A still from The Story of the Kelly Gang (Australia, 1906; 80 min.) (from Film industry)
Image 2Poster for the 1956 Egyptian film Wakeful Eyes starring Salah Zulfikar and Shadia (from History of film)
Image 3Discounted DVD home video film releases sold in the Netherlands (from Film industry)
Image 4Salah Zulfikar and Nadia Lutfi in Saladin the Victorious (1963) (from History of film)
Image 5The first two shots of As Seen Through a Telescope (1900), with the telescope POV simulated by the circular mask (from History of film)
Image 6William Friese-Greene (from Film industry)
Image 7
The Pathé Brothers, by Adrien Barrère.
(from Film industry)
Image 8Nestor studio, 1911 (from Film industry)
Image 9Czermak's 1855 Stereophoroskop (from History of film technology)
Image 10Eadweard Muybridge's The Horse in Motion cabinet cards utilized the technique of chronophotography to study motion. (from History of film)
Image 11Frame from a c.1912 Chronochrome film (from History of film technology)
Image 12Cinématographe Lumière at the Institut Lumière, France (from History of film technology)
Image 13A frame from the Lumière brothers staged comedy film, L'Arroseur Arrosé (1895) (from History of film)
Image 14Insert shot in Old Wives for New (Cecil B. DeMille, 1918) (from History of film)
Image 15Animated GIF of Prof. Stampfer's Stroboscopische Scheibe No. X (Trentsensky & Vieweg 1833) (from History of film technology)
Image 16The Wizard of Oz (from History of film)
Image 17Edward Raymond Turner's three-color projector, 1902 (from History of film technology)
Image 18A scene from Raja Harishchandra (1913) – credited as the first full-length Indian motion picture. (from Film industry)
Image 19A.E. Smith filming The Bargain Fiend in the Vitagraph Studios in 1907. Arc floodlights hang overhead. (from History of film)
Image 20The Cinématographe Lumière in projection mode (from History of film technology)
Image 21A shot from Raja Harishchandra (1913), the first film of Bollywood. (from Film industry)
Image 22Poster for a Biograph Studios release from 1913 (from Film industry)
Image 23The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world (founded 1912) and the forerunner to Hollywood. It still produces global blockbusters every year. (from History of film)
Image 24Bahiga Hafez (1901–1983) Egyptian filmmaker and actress in 1920s and 1930s (from Film industry)
Image 25
An electrotachyscope
American Scientific, 16/11/1889, p. 303
(from History of film technology)
Image 26A surviving two-color-component image from the first Technicolor feature film, The Gulf Between (1917) (from History of film technology)
Image 27GIF animation from retouched pictures of The Horse in Motion by Eadweard Muybridge (1879). (from History of film technology)
Image 28Complex vignette shot in die Austernprinzessin (The Oyster Princess) (from History of film)
Image 29Don Juan is the first feature-length film to use the Vitaphone sound-on-disc sound system with a synchronized musical score and sound effects, though it has no spoken dialogue. (from History of film)
Image 30Georges Méliès (left) painting a backdrop in his studio (from History of film)
Image 31Publicity still for the Egyptian film My Wife, the Director General (1966) (from Film industry)
Image 32Akira Kurosawa, Japanese film director (from History of film)
Image 33Louis Poyet [fr]'s engraving of the mechanism of the "fusil photographique" as published in La Nature (april 1882) (from History of film technology)
Image 34The Jazz Singer (1927), was the first full-length film with synchronized sound. (from History of film technology)
Image 35London IMAX has the largest cinema screen in Britain with a total screen size of 520 m². (from Film industry)
Image 36Italian neorealist movie Bicycle Thieves (1948) by Vittorio De Sica, considered part of the canon of classic cinema (from History of film)
Image 37Flying pelican captured by Marey around 1882. He created a method of recording several phases of movement superimposed into one photograph (from History of film technology)
Image 38Max Skladanowsky (right) in 1934 with his brother Eugen and the Bioscop (from History of film technology)
Image 39The Hollywood Sign (from Film industry)
Image 40Off Plus Camera Film Festival in Kraków, 2012, with Andrzej Seweryn, Daniel Olbrychski, and Wojciech Pszoniak on stage. (from Film industry)
Image 41Cinema admissions in 1995 (from History of film)
Image 42A production scene from the 1950 Hollywood film Julius Caesar starring Charlton Heston (from History of film)
Image 43Film still from Dickson Greeting (from History of film technology)
Image 44Charlie Chaplin (from History of film)
Image 45Publicity still for the Egyptian film Yahya el hub (1938) (from Film industry)
Image 46The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world (founded 1912) and the forerunner to Hollywood. It still produces global blockbusters every year. (from Film industry)
Image 47Old Chinese Cinema in Qufu, Shandong (from Film industry)
Image 48Mona Zaki, Egyptian film star (from Film industry)

Selected image

Credit: The Great Train Robbery still, public domain image from 1903 film.

The Great Train Robbery was a milestone of cinema upon its release in 1903. The short clip shown at the end of the film depicting a bandit shooting his gun at the audience had a profound effect on them, with many allegedly thinking they were actually about to be shot.

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Did you know...

... that Keivonn Woodard's nomination for The Last of Us made him the second-youngest actor and first black deaf actor to be nominated at the Emmys?
... that Hearst Castle inspired Xanadu, the lavish mansion in the 1941 film Citizen Kane?
... that until the release of the documentary Predator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, sexual abuse claims involving record producer Johnny Kitagawa went widely unreported in Japanese media?
... that Atlanta's "quicker picker-upper" aired martial arts movies, professional wrestling, jazz music, and Japanese-language programming?
... that Drake has the personal approval of U.S. president Barack Obama to portray him in a biopic if the opportunity came?

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Atkinson at the premiere for Johnny English Reborn in September 2011

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson CBE (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles in the sitcoms Blackadder (1983–1989) and Mr. Bean (1990–1995), and in the film series Johnny English (2003–2018). Atkinson first came to prominence on the BBC sketch comedy show Not the Nine O'Clock News (1979–1982), receiving the 1981 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance.

Atkinson has appeared in various films, including the James Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983), The Witches (1990), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Rat Race (2002), Scooby-Doo (2002), Love Actually (2003), and Wonka (2023). He played the voice role of Zazu in the Disney animated film The Lion King (1994). Atkinson portrayed Mr. Bean in the film adaptations Bean (1997) and Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007). He also featured on the BBC sitcom The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996) and played the titular character in ITV's Maigret (2016–2017). His work in theatre includes the role of Fagin in the 2009 West End revival of the musical Oliver!. (Full article...)

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Per a review process, Featured lists are considered to be the best list articles on English Wikipedia.

Image 1
John Ford with portrait and Academy Award, circa 1946

John Ford (1894–1973) was an American film director whose career spanned from 1913 to 1971. During this time he directed more than 140 films; however, nearly all of his silent films are lost. Born in Maine, Ford entered the filmmaking industry shortly after graduating from high school with the help of his older brother, Francis Ford, who had established himself as a leading man and director for Universal Studios. After working as an actor, assistant director, stuntman, and prop man – often for his brother – Universal gave Ford the opportunity to direct in 1917. Initially working in short films, he quickly moved into features, largely with Harry Carey as his star.

In 1920 Ford left Universal and began working for the Fox Film Corporation. During the next ten years he directed more than 30 films, including the westerns The Iron Horse (1924) and 3 Bad Men (1926), both starring George O'Brien, the war drama Four Sons and the Irish romantic drama Hangman's House (both 1928 and both starring Victor McLaglen). In the same year of these last two films, Ford directed his first all-talking film, the short Napoleon's Barber. The following year he directed his first all-talking feature, The Black Watch. (Full article...)
Image 2
Matondkar in 2010

Urmila Matondkar is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi films. She has appeared in over 60 films. She has been praised by the critics for her acting and dancing skills. She made her screen debut as a child artist in B.R. Chopra's Karm (1977), and later appeared in Shekhar Kapur's critically acclaimed Masoom (1983). After making her debut as the heroine in 1989 Malayalam thriller Chanakyan, Urmila began a full-time acting career, with a leading role in the 1991 action Narsimha. She rose to prominence with Ram Gopal Varma's blockbuster Rangeela (1995). Her portrayal of an aspiring actress, Mili Joshi, opposite Aamir Khan received praise from critics, and garnered her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

In 1997, Urmila received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Judaai. The following year, she starred in the crime drama Satya, which has been cited as one of the greatest films of Indian cinema, for which she received another nomination for Best Actress. The same year, her dance performance in the item number "Chamma Chamma" from China Gate won her rave reviews. In 1999, she received praise for playing a psychopath in the thriller Kaun and a reserved girl in the romantic comedy Khoobsurat, a box office success. Her other four releases of the year including Jaanam Samjha Karo, and Hum Tum Pe Marte Hain were commercial failures. She played an obsessive lover in the 2001 romantic drama Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. (Full article...)
Image 3

Daniel Radcliffe received multiple awards and nominations for reprising his role in the film.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 is a 2011 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) as the second of a two-part adaptation of the 2007 novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling, and the eighth and final instalment in the Harry Potter film series. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, and Julie Walters. Its story concludes Harry Potter's (Radcliffe) quest to find and destroy Lord Voldemort's (Fiennes) Horcruxes in order to stop him once and for all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 premiered at Trafalgar Square in London on 7 July 2011, and was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on 15 July. Produced on a budget of $250 million, it grossed $1.342 billion, finishing its theatrical run as the highest-grossing film of 2011 and the third-highest-grossing film of all time. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 332 reviews. (Full article...)
Image 4
Ratatouille is an animated film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States as the eighth film produced by Pixar. It was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005. The plot follows Remy, a rat who dreams of becoming a chef and tries to achieve his goal by forming an alliance with a Parisian restaurant's garbage boy. Ratatouille was released to both critical acclaim and box office success, opening in 3,940 theaters domestically and debuting at #1 with $47 million, grossing $206,445,654 in North America and a total of $624,445,654 worldwide. The film is on the 2007 top ten lists of multiple critics, including Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun as number one, A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times and Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal as number two.

It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Original Score, Achievement in Sound Editing, Achievement in Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay and Animated Feature Film, losing to Atonement, The Bourne Ultimatum and Juno, respectively, winning the latter one. Ratatouille was nominated for 13 Annie Awards, twice for the Best Animated Effects, where it lost to Surf's Up, and three times in the Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm and Patton Oswalt, where Ian Holm won the nomination. It won the Best Animated Feature Award from multiple associations including the Chicago Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Annie Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics, the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) and the Golden Globes. (Full article...)
Image 5
Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film for his film The Counterfeiters

This is a list of submissions to the 80th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited the film industries of various countries to submit their best film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film every year since the award was created in 1956. The award is handed out annually by the Academy to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue. The Foreign Language Film Award Committee oversees the process and reviews all the submitted films.

For the 80th Academy Awards, which were held on February 24, 2008, the Academy invited 95 countries to submit films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Sixty-three countries submitted films to the Academy, the highest number of submissions in the history of the award, including Azerbaijan and Ireland, which submitted films for the first time. Several of the submissions were subject to controversy. The Academy determined that initial submissions from Israel and Taiwan did not meet Academy requirements, and both countries submitted new films as replacements. Bolivia's official submission, Los Andes no creen en Dios, did not appear on the Academy's list of accepted submissions. (Full article...)
Image 6
The 60th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on April 11, 1988, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT. During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 22 categories honoring films released in 1987. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr. and directed by Marty Pasetta. Actor Chevy Chase hosted the show for the second consecutive year. Two weeks earlier, in a ceremony held at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on March 27, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Shirley Jones.

The Last Emperor won all nine awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director for Bernardo Bertolucci. For their performances in Moonstruck, Cher and Olympia Dukakis won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Michael Douglas won Best Actor for his role in Wall Street; and Sean Connery won Best Supporting Actor for The Untouchables, the latter becoming the first Scottish thespian to win an acting Oscar in any of the four categories. The telecast garnered 42.2 million viewers in the United States. (Full article...)
Image 7
Trisha in 2022

Trisha is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Tamil and Telugu films. She was first seen in 1999 in a minor supporting role in Jodi, then in the music video of Falguni Pathak's song "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye". The first project she accepted as a lead actress was Priyadarshan's Lesa Lesa, but a delay in the film's release meant that her first appearance in a lead role was in Ameer's directorial debut Mounam Pesiyadhe in 2002, which was a commercial success.

The following year, Trisha appeared as a terminally ill woman in Manasellam, which was a commercial failure. Her next release in 2003 was Hari's action film, Saamy in which she played a soft-spoken Brahmin girl and attracted praise for her performance. The film became a major commercial success, resulting in Trisha receiving new offers, including those from several high-budget productions. Lesa Lesa, which was to have been her debut as a lead actress, was released next. This romantic musical, based on the 1998 Malayalam film Summer in Bethlehem, earned her the ITFA Best New Actress Award. Following Lesa Lesa, she starred in Alai and Enakku 20 Unakku 18 both of which were commercial failures. She made her debut in Telugu cinema in the same year with Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu, which was also unsuccessful. (Full article...)
Image 8
Black Swan is a 2010 independent psychological horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky. It premiered as the opening film for the 67th Venice International Film Festival. The film had a limited release in selected cities in North America on December 3 and took in a total of about $415,800 on its opening day. After Black Swan's opening weekend it grossed over $1.4 million, averaging around $80,200 per theater, the second highest per location for the opening weekend of 2010. When Black Swan finished its worldwide theatrical run, it had achieved blockbuster status with ticket revenue amounting to more than $325 million. Critics appreciated the film, with review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reporting an approval rating of 85 percent and placed it among their lists for the year's best films.

Black Swan has received honors in categories ranging mostly from recognition of the film itself, to its cinematography, direction and editing, to the cast's performance, particularly Natalie Portman's portrayal of the film's protagonist, ballerina Nina Sayers. The film was submitted for consideration for the Golden Lion at Venice's International Film Festival, but lost to Sofia Coppola's Somewhere. Mila Kunis was later given the Emerging Performer award for her portrayal of Nina's rival Lily, at the same ceremony. Darren Arnonofsky also earned a nomination from the Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film. He was also named Best Director by the San Diego Film Critics Society and San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards. The Visual Effects Society and Cinema Audio Society Awards each gave the film a single nomination, while Amy Westcott won for her work on Black Swan's contemporary costumes from the Costume Designers Guild. (Full article...)
Image 9
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, painter, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. Indeed, the surreal and in many cases violent elements to his films have earned them the reputation that they "disturb, offend or mystify" their audiences.

Lynch's oeuvre encompasses work in both cinema and television. His films include The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, and perhaps his most critically successful film, 2001's Mulholland Drive; whilst his television debut, Twin Peaks, earned five Emmy Award nominations for its first season. (Full article...)
Image 10
Moneyball is a 2011 American sports drama film directed by Bennett Miller. The film features Brad Pitt in the lead role, who also co-produced it, with Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Chris Pratt playing supporting roles. Based on the 2003 nonfiction book of the same name by Michael Lewis, the film focuses on the 2002 season of the Oakland Athletics baseball team. The team's general manager Billy Beane (Pitt), and assistant general manager Peter Brand (Hill), decide to build the team by opting for a sabermetric approach to selecting players. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, while Stan Chervin wrote the story.

Made on a budget of $50 million, Moneyball premiered at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2011, and had its theatrical release two weeks later on September 23, 2011. The film was successful at the box office, earning over $110 million. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, surveyed 254 reviews and judged 94% to be positive. The film was nominated for 73 awards, winning 19; its screenplay and the performances of Pitt and Hill received the most attention from award groups. (Full article...)

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I have always enjoyed dealing with a slightly surrealistic situation and presenting it in a realistic manner. I've always liked fairy tales and myths, magical stories. I think they are somehow closer to the sense of reality one feels today than the equally stylized "realistic" story in which a great deal of selectivity and omission has to occur in order to preserve its "realist" style.

— Stanley Kubrick

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Terms - Animation • Beta movement • Camera • Cult film • Digital cinema • Documentary film • Dubbing • Experimental film • Fan film • Film crew • Film criticism • Film festival • Film frame • Film genre • Film journals and magazines • Film industry • Film manifesto • Film stock • Film theory • Filmmaking • History of film • Independent film • Lost film • Movie star • Narrative film • Open content film • Persistence of vision • Photographic film • Propaganda • Recording medium • Special effect • Subtitles • Sound stage • Web film • World cinema

Lists - List of basic film topics • List of film topics • List of films • List of film festivals • List of film formats • List of film series • List of film techniques • List of highest-grossing films • List of longest films by running time • List of songs based on a film or book • Lists of film source material • List of open content films

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1961-04-13 Tale Of Century - Eichmann Tried For War Crimes
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
A Trip Down Market Street (High Res)
A Visit to the Seaside (1908)
Animated phenakistiscope disc - Running rats Fantascope by Thomas Mann Baynes 1833
Annie Oakley shooting glass balls, 1894
Chicago Theatre blend
Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)
De Orient Magazine advertisement for Panggilan Darah (1941)
Edison's Greatest Marvel-The Vitascope - Restoration
Geneva mechanism 6spoke animation
Jane Russell in The Outlaw
Lagu Kenangan (1953; obverse)
Le Voyage dans la lune (black and white, 1902)
Loie Fuller (1901)
Lonesome (1928)
MultiplaneDemo
Muybridge race horse animated
Nanook of the North
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Poesaka Terpendam ad, Poestaka Timoer 66 (15 Oct 1941), p3
Poster - Island of Lost Men 01
Poster for Quo Vadis (1913 silent film) - Lygia Bound to the Wild Bull
Poster for Quo Vadis (1913 silent film)
Ratna Moetoe Manikam ad, Poestaka Timoer 66 (15 Oct 1941), p6
Regeneration (1915)
Rory Kennedy 2011
Roundhay Garden Scene
Safety Last (1923)
State Fair (1933 film poster) - Restoration
Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928)
Stunt Pyrotechnics Luc Viatour
Supir Istimewa (1954; obverse)
The Dover Boys at Pimento University 1080p
The Freshman
The General (1926)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Mummy 1932 film poster
The Mystery of the Leaping Fish (1916)
Wings (1927)
Winsor McCay (1912) How a Mosquito Operates