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John Sayles is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Executive Producer, Editor, Sound and Additional Writing American born on 28 september 1950 at Schenectady (USA)

John Sayles

John Sayles
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Birth name John Thomas Sayles
Nationality USA
Birth 28 september 1950 (73 years) at Schenectady (USA)
Awards MacArthur Fellows Program

John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor and author.

Best films

Apollo 13 (1995)
(Scriptwriter)
The Howling (1981)
(Scriptwriter)
Piranha (1978)
(Story)
Lone Star (1996)
(Director)

Usually with

Maggie Renzi
Maggie Renzi
(17 films)
Tom Wright
Tom Wright
(8 films)
John Sloss
John Sloss
(6 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of John Sayles (48 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

That Guy Dick Miller, 1h31
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Films about television, Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry
Actors Dick Miller, Allan Arkush, Belinda Balaski, Roger Corman, Meiert Avis, Joe Dante
Roles Himself
Rating73% 3.675393.675393.675393.675393.67539
The documentary surveys the life and acting career of Dick Miller, who has performed in over 170 roles in various films and television shows as a character actor. It features several interviews, as well as footage from many of Miller's performances.
Casting By
Casting By (2012)
, 1h29
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry, Documentary films about cities
Actors Marion Dougherty, Lynn Stalmaster, Woody Allen, Jeff Bridges, Glenn Close, Robert De Niro
Roles Self
Rating75% 3.787123.787123.787123.787123.78712
The film is a celebration of the casting profession, highlighting its previously unsung role in film history while also serving as an elegy to the lost era of the New Hollywood. It focuses on casting pioneer Marion Dougherty, an iconoclast whose exquisite taste, tenacity and gut instincts brought a new kind of actor to the screen that would mark the end of the old studio system and help to usher in this revolutionary new period. The film draws a line through the last half century to show us the profession’s evolution from studio system type-casting to the rise of large ensemble films populated with unique and diverse casts.
The Story of Film: An Odyssey, 15h15
Genres Documentary
Themes Documentary films about business, Documentary films about the film industry
Actors Alexandre Sokourov, Norman Lloyd, Lars von Trier, Paul Schrader, Kyōko Kagawa, Haskell Wexler
Roles Self
Rating83% 4.1946254.1946254.1946254.1946254.194625
L'histoire du cinéma international racontée à travers l'histoire de l'innovation cinématographique. Couvrant six continents et douze décennies, il montre comment les cinéastes sont influencés par les événements historiques de leur époque et par les autres cinéastes.
In the Electric Mist, 1h42
Directed by Bertrand Tavernier
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime
Themes Films about alcoholism, Assassinat, Medical-themed films, Films about drugs, Ghost films, Serial killer films, Political films
Actors Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard, Kelly Macdonald, Mary Steenburgen, Levon Helm
Roles Michael Goldman
Rating60% 3.0497653.0497653.0497653.0497653.049765
Iberia Parish's Sheriff Detective Dave Robicheaux (Tommy Lee Jones) is investigating the murder of a young woman and has a chance encounter with a pair of Hollywood stars, Elrod Sykes (Peter Sarsgaard) and his girlfriend Kelly Drummond (Kelly Macdonald). They are in the small town to make a Civil War film.
Great Directors, 1h30
Origin USA
Genres Documentary
Actors David Lynch, Todd Haynes, Stephen Frears, Agnès Varda, Catherine Breillat, Richard Linklater
Roles Self
Rating63% 3.190263.190263.190263.190263.19026
Great Directors features interviews with Bernardo Bertolucci, David Lynch, Stephen Frears, Agnes Varda, Ken Loach, Liliana Cavani, Todd Haynes, Catherine Breillat, Richard Linklater and John Sayles.
Honeydripper, 2h3
Directed by John Sayles
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films
Actors Danny Glover, Keb' Mo, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Kel Mitchell, Yaya DaCosta, Brent Jennings
Roles Zeke
Rating66% 3.3447353.3447353.3447353.3447353.344735
Filmed and set in Alabama, the film stars Danny Glover as the owner of a blues club that is failing until he hires a young electric guitarist (Gary Clark, Jr.). The film also stars musician Keb' Mo', actor/comedian Kel Mitchell and singer Mable John. Rhythm and blues singer Ruth Brown recorded some songs for the film and was cast to play a role, but died before filming started.
Sunshine State, 2h21
Directed by John Sayles
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy-drama
Actors Angela Bassett, Edie Falco, Alan King, Cullen Douglas, Clifton James, James McDaniel
Roles Man who almost got hit by a golf ball (uncredited)
Rating67% 3.3972553.3972553.3972553.3972553.397255
As the primarily white town of Delrona Beach, Florida is preparing for its annual festival, one of the parade floats is set afire. A young black boy named Terrell is found guilty of the deed, and he is sentenced to community service with a local community theater. An orphan, Terrell is in the care of an elderly relative, Eunice Stokes, who lives in the neighboring, primarily black community of Lincoln Beach.
Girlfight
Girlfight (2000)
, 1h50
Directed by Karyn Kusama
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Sports films, Martial arts films, Boxing films, Le boxe anglaise
Actors Michelle Rodríguez, Paul Calderon, Ray Santiago, Louis Guss, Tara Strong, Shannon Walker Williams
Roles Science Teacher
Rating66% 3.346273.346273.346273.346273.34627
Diana Guzman is a Brooklyn teenager whose hot temper gets her into trouble at school as she repeatedly starts fights with other students. Her frustration stems from her unhappy home life; she lives in a public housing estate with her brother Tiny and their single father, Sandro. Sandro pays for Tiny's boxing training in hopes of his becoming a professional boxer, although Tiny would prefer to be an artist. After visiting Tiny's gym and intervening in a spar to defend him, Diana asks the trainers to let her box, too. She is told she can train there, but not compete in actual fights. When she learns that she cannot afford coaching from Tiny's trainer, Hector Soto, she asks her father for an allowance but he tells her to get a job. She resorts to stealing his money instead and returns to the gym, where Hector begins to teach her the basics of boxing.
Gridlock'd
Gridlock'd (1997)
, 1h25
Directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Crime
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Films about drugs, Hip hop films, Buddy films, Gangster films
Actors Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, Charles Fleischer, Bokeem Woodbine, James Pickens Jr.
Roles Cop #1
Rating68% 3.447783.447783.447783.447783.44778
Set in Detroit, Gridlock'd centers around heroin addicts Spoon (Tupac Shakur), Stretch (Tim Roth) and Cookie (Thandie Newton). They are all in a band together in the spoken word genre. They go by the name of Eight Mile Road, with Cookie on the vocals, Spoon on the bass guitar (plus secondary vocals), and Stretch on the piano. Spoon and Stretch decide to kick their habit after Cookie overdoses on her first hit. Throughout a disastrous day, the two addicts dodge police and local criminals while struggling with an apathetic government bureaucracy that thwarts their entrance into a rehabilitation program.
Matinee
Matinee (1993)
, 1h39
Directed by Joe Dante
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Fantasy
Themes Political films
Actors John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Omri Katz, Kellie Martin, Lisa Jakub, Simon Fenton
Roles Bob
Rating68% 3.446323.446323.446323.446323.44632
In Key West, Florida in 1962, boys Gene Loomis (Fenton) and his brother Dennis (Lee) live on a military base (N.A.S. Key West); their father is away on a nearby submarine. After hearing the announcement of an exclusive engagement of Lawrence Woolsey's (Goodman) new sensational horror film Mant! ("Half man! Half ant!" "in Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama!"), including Woolsey's appearance in-person, they arrive home to President Kennedy's television interruption, stating the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Woolsey finds this atmosphere of fear to be the perfect environment in which to open his atomic-radiation-themed film.
Passion Fish, 2h15
Directed by John Sayles
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy-drama
Themes Films about disabilities
Actors Mary McDonnell, Alfre Woodard, Vondie Curtis-Hall, David Strathairn, Leo Burmester, Nora Dunn
Roles Soap Opera Doctor (uncredited)
Rating72% 3.6468153.6468153.6468153.6468153.646815
May-Alice Culhane, a New York daytime soap opera actress, is left paralyzed after an accident on her way to getting her legs waxed, which she finds ironic. As the film opens, she lies in a hospital bed, confused and scared, watching her own show on TV and shrieking, "That was supposed to be my close-up!"
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (1992)
, 3h13
Directed by Spike Lee
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Action, Historical
Themes Assassinat, Politique, Films about racism, Films about religion, Political films, Films about Islam
Actors Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr., Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee
Roles FBI Agent
Rating76% 3.848343.848343.848343.848343.84834
Malcolm X divides the life of the African-American activist Malcolm X into three sections. The first section deals with the troubled childhood of Malcolm Little, whose father, a preacher, was murdered by the Black Legion and whose mother was institutionalized for insanity. Malcolm grows up and gets a job as a Pullman porter, calling himself Detroit Red. Getting involved with a Harlem gangster named West Indian Archie with whom he has a falling out, Malcolm flees to Boston and decides to become a burglar. He and his best friend, Shorty (played by Spike Lee) are arrested by the police and Malcolm is sentenced to a ten-year prison term. The second section follows Malcolm's life in prison, where a fellow inmate, Baines, introduces him to the teachings of the Nation of Islam.
Straight Talk, 1h31
Directed by Barnet Kellman
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Dolly Parton, James Woods, Griffin Dunne, Michael Madsen, John Sayles, Teri Hatcher
Roles Guy Girardi
Rating57% 2.8530752.8530752.8530752.8530752.853075
Shirlee Kenyon is a down-home country girl who, through a series of mistakes, is hired as a radio talk show host. Her show is wildly successful but her success is based on the lie that she is actually a clinical psychologist. She has to learn that giving advice and following it can be harder than she thought.
City of Hope, 2h9
Directed by John Sayles
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Musical
Themes Political films
Actors Vincent Spano, Chris Cooper, Tony Lo Bianco, Joe Morton, Jace Alexander, Barbara Williams
Roles Carl
Rating72% 3.6434953.6434953.6434953.6434953.643495
The film tells the story of Nick Rinaldi (Vincent Spano), who has spent his life in one New Jersey city, getting a free ride from his well-connected father (Tony LoBianco) and hearing the locals talk of his brother's death in Vietnam. As Rinaldi searches for more self-control, he quits the contractor's job provided by his father, feeling that major events are about to happen in his life. By the film's ending, his life will change, as will the lives of many others.