Friday, April 17, 2020

April 17 - Adam McKay


Happy 52nd Birthday, Adam McKay! Born today in 1968, this American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and film director had served as head writer for the NBC's American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show Saturday Night Live (also known as SNL) for two seasons. 

Among his credits, McKay is best known for directing the 2015 American biographical drama/comedy-drama film 'The Big Short'.  

The film was based on American author and financial journalist Michael Lewis' 2010 finance book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, showing how the financial crisis of 2007–2008 was triggered by the United States housing bubble. 

Set in 2008, Wall Street guru and eccentric hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Christian Bale) realizes that a number of subprime home loans are in danger of defaulting. Burry bets against the housing market by throwing more than $1 billion of his investors' money into credit default swaps.  

His actions later attract the attention of banker Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), hedge-fund specialist Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and other greedy opportunists. Together, these men make a fortune by taking full advantage of the impending economic collapse in America. 

The film also co-stars Brad Pitt (who co-produced) as retired former trader Ben Rickert. Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez make cameo appearances as themselves in non-sequiturs to explain different financial aspects of the film. 

McKay is also best known for writing, producing and directing the 2018 American biographical drama/comedy film 'Vice'.  
  
Governor George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) of Texas picks Dick Cheney (Christian Bale), the CEO of Halliburton Co, to be his Republican running mate in the 2000 presidential election.  

No stranger to politics, Cheney's impressive résumé includes stints as White House chief of staff, House Minority Whip and defense secretary. When Bush wins by a narrow margin, Cheney begins to use his newfound power to help reshape the country and the world. 

The film also co-stars Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld and Tyler Perry as Colin Powell. 'Vice' is the second theatrical film to depict the presidency of 43rd U.S. President George W. Bush. 

This was following American film director, producer, and writer Oliver Stone's ('Salvador', 'Platoon', 'Wall Street', 'JFK', 'Natural Born Killers') 2008 American biographical drama/political drama film 'W.' (pronounced "dub-ya"). 

'Vice' later earned McKay three Oscar nominations for Best Original ScreenplayBest Director and Best Picture at the 91st Academy Awards in late February 2019. 

McKay is also best known for directing 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy', 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby', 'Step Brothers, 'The Other Guys' and 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues'. 

McKay has a comedy partnership with Will Ferrell, with whom he co-wrote 'Anchorman', 'Talladega Nights' and 'The Other Guys'. 

Nicknamed Ghost Panther, McKay has been active from 1986–present. 

#borntodirect 
@GhostPanther 
@newyorker 

No comments:

Post a Comment