Moviefone is an American-based movie listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, theatre information, film reviews, or advance tickets. The service is available nationwide in many but not all area codes, and is owned by AOL.^[1]

History[link]

In 1989, Russ Leatherman, Rob Gukeisen, Andrew Jarecki, Pat Cardamone and Adam Slutsky launched the interactive telephone service, with initial service in New York City and Los Angeles.^[2] Russ Leatherman provided the voice of "Mr. Moviefone" for the automated phone service.^[3] After gaining popularity, it later expanded across the United States and eventually adopted an online presence as Moviefone.com. In 1999, Moviefone was purchased by AOL for more than $400 million. In 2001, it entered a partnership with MovieTickets.com that crosslinked their ticketing offerings; by 2004, Moviefone's online arm was acquired outright by MovieTickets.com.^[4] However, in 2012, Moviefone announced a partnership with MovieTickets.com rival Fandango.^[5][6]

In media[link]

In an episode of Seinfeld entitled The Pool Guy, Kramer's phone number is very similar to Moviefone's, and gets many calls from people wanting listings. In the end he decides to just play along and give out movie listings. Unfortunately, Mr. Moviefone himself eventually finds out and comes after Kramer, angry that Kramer is stealing his business.^[7] As of January 2009, the actual Moviefone has incorporated voice recognition, prompting users with "Now you can just tell me the name of the movie you want to see," almost identical to Kramer's line in the Seinfeld episode.

Kansas City rapper Kutt Calhoun spoofs the use of Moviefone in his intro track for his album Feature Presentation. The skit includes someone calling "KCMO Moviefone" and goes through the steps to find a listing for "Kutt Calhoun: Feature Presentation."

In one episode of the Dilbert TV series, the Pointy-Haired Boss uses Moviefone to check on his IBM stock.

In the 13th season of The Simpsons, in the episode "Blame It On Lisa," the "real" Mr. Moviefone is seen at the phone company with a woman he's about to take on a date. He advises the woman that "tonight's date is rated R, for scenes of nudity."

In the movie The Sweetest Thing, Christina (Cameron Diaz) gives men the AOL Moviefone number when she doesn't want to hear from them again. In the opening sequence, a man dials the number and the familiar voice says, "AOL MOVIEFONE!"

In the movie 30 Minutes or Less, the number used to dial the bomb vest is replaced by the number for moviefone.

Moviefone regularly appears on the nationally-syndicated radio show Elvis Duran and the Morning Show.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Leatherman Interview on Fox News Radio
• List of U.S. states with Moviefone local numbers

Bradley Cooper
Cooper speaking at the USS Ronald Reagan in July 2009
Born	Bradley Charles Cooper[1] (1975-01-05) January 5, 1975 (age 37) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Georgetown University The New School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Spouse	Jennifer Esposito (2006–2007)

Bradley Charles Cooper (born January 5, 1975) is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, Wedding Crashers, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".^[2]

Early life[link]

Cooper was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in nearby Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. His mother, Gloria (née Campano), is Italian-American, and his father, Charles J. Cooper, was Irish-American and worked as a stockbroker for Merrill Lynch. He has one sister named Holly.^[3][4][5] Cooper was raised Catholic.^[6][7] While attending Germantown Academy, Cooper worked at the Philadelphia Daily News.^[8] After graduating from Germantown Academy in 1993,^[9] he attended Villanova University for his freshman year,^[10] then transferred to Georgetown University, from which he graduated with an honors BA in English in 1997.^[11][12] Cooper became fluent in French at Georgetown and spent six months as an exchange student in Aix-en-Provence, France.^[13][14][15] Later, in 2000, he received an MFA in acting from Actors Studio Drama School at The New School in New York City.^[11][16]

Career[link]

Cooper began his professional acting career on the television series Sex and the City in 1999,^[5] and also served as a presenter for Globe Trekker. Cooper made his film debut in Wet Hot American Summer in 2001, before landing his role as Will Tippin in the successful television drama Alias.^[5] He returned twice to Alias as a guest star after leaving the show in 2003, and he also guest-starred on the short-lived TV series Miss Match in the same year. Cooper shot scenes for the 2002 psychological thriller Changing Lanes; the footage was removed from the finished film but is featured on the film's DVD and Blu-ray releases.^[17][18]

Cooper co-starred in the ABC Family film I Want to Marry Ryan Banks with Jason Priestly, and appeared as a regular guest star in the WB series Jack & Bobby. He played the popular villain Sack Lodge in the hit comedy Wedding Crashers and appeared in the film Failure to Launch as a friend of Matthew McConaughey's character. Cooper played the lead role in the Fox sitcom Kitchen Confidential, based on a memoir by chef Anthony Bourdain, which debuted in September 2005. However, despite critical acclaim, Fox announced after just four episodes that the series had been canceled.^[19][20]

Cooper at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Whatever Works

In March 2006, Cooper starred in Three Days of Rain on Broadway with Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater.^[21][22] Cooper also appeared on stage as Jake in the 2008 production of Theresa Rebeck's play The Understudy at the Williamstown Theatre Festival alongside Kristen Johnston.^[23]

Cooper at Comic Con 2007

In 2007, Cooper starred in Season 5 of Nip/Tuck as Aidan Stone, a television star on the fictional show Hearts 'N Scalpels. Cooper also starred in Yes Man with Jim Carrey. He also made an appearance in the movie The Rocker with Rainn Wilson in 2008.

On February 7, 2009, Cooper hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guest TV on the Radio. Cooper impersonated Christian Bale in a fake commercial for a DVD featuring celebrities yelling at movie crew members called, "No, Bruce! Let Me Finish! The Best of Celebrity Tirades." In 2009, Cooper starred in the films He's Just Not That into You, Case 39^[24] and The Hangover. In October 2009, Cooper received the Hollywood Comedy Award at the 13th Annual Hollywood Film Festival and Hollywood Awards.^[25] The success of The Hangover led to new opportunities for Cooper, but in an interview with Shave Magazine, Cooper said: "It’s the same. I mean, look, more doors have been opened for sure but it’s not like I sit back with a cigar on Monday morning and go through the scripts that have been offered."^[26]

In 2010, he starred in Valentine's Day, and played the role of Templeton "Faceman" Peck in the feature film version of The A-Team. He guest co-hosted WWE Raw on June 7, 2010 along with his The A-Team co-stars Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson.^[27]

In 2011, Cooper starred in the techno-thriller Limitless, based on the 2001 novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn, as well as the comedy sequel The Hangover Part II. As of August 2011^[update], he is filming for The Place Beyond the Pines, in the role of an early 1990s police officer.^[28] He will then go on to film an adaptation of Matthew Quick's serio-comic novel The Silver Linings Playbook with Robert De Niro and Jennifer Lawrence, directed by David O. Russell.^[29][30] In September 2011, GQ UK presented Cooper with the "International Man of the Year" award.^[31] On November 16, 2011, People magazine named him Sexiest Man Alive.^[32]

In January 2012, plans were announced for Cooper to reunite with The Silver Linings Playbook co-star Jennifer Lawrence for the Susanne Bier adaptation of Ron Rash's period novel Serena.^[33] In March 2012, Cooper and Warner Bros. entered into a two-year first look deal for his production company 22 & Indiana Pictures.^[34]

Personal life[link]

Cooper married actress Jennifer Esposito in late 2006.^[35] In May 2007, it was announced that Esposito had filed for divorce.^[36]

In September 2010, it was reported that Cooper and actress Renée Zellweger had been in a relationship for over a year.^[37] On March 18, 2011, People reported that the couple had ended their relationship.^[38]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bradley Cooper

• Bradley Cooper at the Internet Movie Database
• Bradley Cooper on Charlie Rose
• Works by or about Bradley Cooper in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Bradley Cooper at the Notable Names Database

Ed Helms
Helms at the Dublin premiere for The Hangover, June 2009
Born	Edward Parker Helms (1974-01-24) January 24, 1974 (age 38) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation	Actor/comedian
Years active	2002–present

Edward Parker "Ed" Helms^[1][2] (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian known for his work as a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as Andy Bernard on the US version of the sitcom/mockumentary The Office and for his role as Dr. Stu Price in The Hangover films.

Early life[link]

Helms was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. His mother was a school administrator and his father was an attorney.^[3] He graduated from The Westminster Schools in 1992 a year after his Office co-star Brian Baumgartner. Originally a geology major, Helms graduated from Oberlin College with a degree in film theory and technology in 1996 and spent a semester as an exchange student at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.^[4][5]

After graduating from Oberlin, Helms began his comedy and acting career as a writer and performer with New York City sketch comedy bands, and studied improvisation with the Upright Citizens Brigade troupe.^[6]

Helms concurrently worked as a trainee film editor at Crew Cuts, a post-production facility in New York City. While doing so, he recorded some rough voiceover scratch tracks that eventually led to paying voiceover work, which in turn led to finding a talent agent.^[7]

Career[link]

Television work[link]

Helms was performing comedy in New York City when, as he recalled in a 2005 interview, "The Daily Show had a sort of open audition with a casting company that I had dealt with. I read for the part, and got it".^[8] In his April 2002 to mid-2006 tenure on the satirical news program, Helms contributed "field reports" in addition to hosting various segments of the show, such as Digital Watch, Ad Nauseam, and Mark Your Calendar. He has also contributed to the This Week in God segment. Helms left the show in 2006, but has occasionally returned for brief appearances. On July 21, 2008 he returned for Obama Quest – a segment covering then-Senator Barack Obama's trip to Iraq. He occasionally narrates the Prescott Group educational films on sister series The Colbert Report.

In late July 2006, NBC announced that Helms would join the cast of the mockumentary The Office, along with his fellow The Daily Show correspondent Steve Carell, in a recurring role as Andy Bernard. Helms has been a series regular since the third season.^[9] "He had so much in common with this character we wanted to create," recalled Paul Lieberstein, a writer for the show who also plays Toby Flenderson, the human resources director at the Scranton branch of Dunder Mifflin. "I can't remember when they starting merging."^[10]

Helms returned to The Daily Show on December 5, 2006, stating he had been gone because he was "undercover at a paper company in Scranton", an allusion to his stint on The Office. In February 2007, NBC announced that Helms had been promoted to series regular, and in February 2010 Helms was added to the show's opening credits. In June 2009, on a radio interview with National Public Radio, Helms said that like his character, Andy Bernard, he is obsessed with a capella music.

Helms has appeared on such television shows as Tanner on Tanner, Childrens Hospital, Arrested Development and Cheap Seats, and in various Comedy Central specials. He has done commercial voiceover work in campaigns for Burger King, Doritos, Hotels.com, Sharp Aquos and Advair asthma medication, and he voices Angel, a character on Cartoon Network's Weighty Decisions series.

Helms plays guitar, banjo (which was shown in the commercial bumpers and on a What Up With That? sketch when he hosted Saturday Night Live in 2011), and piano, and he has played all three, as well as a sitar, in some of his movies and television performances.

Film work[link]

Helms starred in the 2011 film Cedar Rapids and co-starred in the blockbuster 2009 film The Hangover. He previously appeared in small roles in films including Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, Meet Dave, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, I'll Believe You, Evan Almighty, Semi-Pro and, with Office co-star Jenna Fischer, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. In 2009, Helms appeared in The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, directed by Neal Brennan and starring Jeremy Piven.

Helms has been developing, with Judd Apatow, a Universal Pictures film, A Whole New Hugh, in which he would star, and which he would co-write with Jake Fleisher and Ian Berger.^[6] Variety reported in February 2009 that Helms would star and he and Fleisher would co-write a Warner Bros. feature about a time-traveling Civil War re-enactor, with the film to be produced through The Office star Steve Carell's production company Carousel. Helms reprised his role as Dr. Stu Price in 2011's The Hangover Part II, and also played the Once-ler in The Lorax the following year.

Other work[link]

Helms is also in a band called "The Lonesome Trio" with his friends Ian and Jake. They formed the band when they were in college, and still get together to play a few shows every year.^{[citation needed]}

On February 17, 2012, Helms guest-starred in Ray Williams Johnson's YouTube program Equals Three. He appeared in the episode "CONSPIRACY THEORY".^[11]

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Television[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ed Helms

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ed Helms

• Ed Helms at the Internet Movie Database
• Ken P., May 5, 2006 Helms Deep: Ken P. goes in-depth with Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms. at [IGN.com]. Retrieved 2009-10-28
• Plum TV Telluride video of Ed Helms, Rob Corddry and Aziz Ansari at Comedy Fest 2008
• Ed Helms in "Zombie American" short

Zach Galifianakis
Galifianakis in Austin, Texas, March 19, 2009
Birth name	Zachary Knight Galifianakis
Born	(1969-10-01) October 1, 1969 (age 42) Wilkesboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, film, television, music
Nationality	American
Years active	1996–Present
Genres	Alternative comedy, observational comedy, musical comedy
Subject(s)	Everyday life, self-deprecation

Zachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis^[1] ( /ˌɡælɨfəˈnækɨs/ GAL-i-fə-NAK-iss; born October 1, 1969)^[2] is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special. While initially more of an "underground" comedian, he garnered mainstream attention for his role as Alan Garner in the comedy film The Hangover and its sequel The Hangover Part II.

Early life[link]

Zach Galifianakis was born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.^[2] His mother, Mary Frances (née Cashion), ran a community center for the arts, and his father, Harry Galifianakis, was a heating oil vendor. Galifianakis' paternal grandparents emigrated from Crete, Greece,^[3][4][5] and Galifianakis was baptized in his father's Greek Orthodox faith.^[6][7][8][9] His mother is of Scots-Irish descent.^[10] He has two siblings, a younger sister, Merritt, and an older brother, Greg.^[11] His uncle, Nick Galifianakis, was a congressman from North Carolina between 1967 and 1973. He attended Wilkes Central High School, and subsequently attended but did not graduate from North Carolina State University, where he was a communications major.^[12]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Galifianakis' career began on television in 1996, when he played the recurring role of a stoner named Bobby in the short-lived sitcom Boston Common. Then he joined Saturday Night Live as a writer but lasted only two weeks.^[13] Galifianakis co-starred in the film Out Cold and had small roles in Corky Romano, Below, Bubble Boy, Heartbreakers, Into the Wild, Super High Me, Little Fish Strange Pond, and Largo.

He had his own episode of Comedy Central Presents, which first aired in September 2001. It included a stand-up routine and a segment with a piano, and concluded with an a cappella group (The Night Owls, introduced as his "12 ex-girlfriends") singing "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles while he made jokes.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, he was the host of his own VH1 talk show called Late World with Zach. It featured many of his friends and regular performers from the LA comedy and music venue Largo where he appeared frequently during this time period. One episode featured Largo regulars Jon Brion and Rhett Miller as musical guests. His next television role was as a coroner named Davis in the Fox drama Tru Calling, which lasted from 2003 to 2005.^[6] He has also appeared many times on Jimmy Kimmel Live and has made three appearances on Reno 911! as "Frisbee".

Galifianakis starred as Alan Finger on the Comedy Central show Dog Bites Man, a fake news program that caught people during candid moments thinking they were being interviewed by a real news crew. In addition, he was on an episode of the Comedy Central show The Sarah Silverman Program as Fred the Homeless Guy. He also had a recurring guest role as a doctor on the animated Adult Swim show Tom Goes to the Mayor and appeared in several episodes of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! in a recurring role as Tairy Greene.

In 2006, Galifianakis was featured in Fiona Apple's music video for the song "Not About Love" where he is seen lip-synching the lyrics to the song. A year later Kanye West employed Galifianakis and indie rock musician Will Oldham for similar purposes in the second version of the video for his song "Can't Tell Me Nothing". In June 2006 Galifianakis released the single "Come On and Get It (Up in 'Dem Guts)", a comedic rap/hip-hop/dance song which features Apple's vocals.

Galifianakis was, together with Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, and Maria Bamford, one of the four Comedians of Comedy, a periodic packaged comedy tour in the style of The Original Kings of Comedy and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. They chose to perform at live rock clubs as opposed to comedy clubs to try to reach a different audience. Much of the tour was taped, and has been featured in both a short-lived TV series on Comedy Central and a full length movie that has appeared at SXSW and on Showtime.

On February 22, 2008, he made an appearance on the Jackassworld.com: 24 Hour Takeover. He interviewed various members of the Jackass cast.

Galifianakis starred in the independent film Visioneers which played in select cities in 2008. This was Galifianakis's first starring role in a film and was given a direct-to-DVD release. That same year, Galifianakis appeared in a web video series of advertisements for Absolut vodka, along with Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, creating a parody of the Golden Girls in which one has a deep anger issue, breaking the fourth wall in exasperation and outright violence on the set.^[14] He also completed the pilot Speed Freaks for Comedy Central.^[15]

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis[link]

Galifianakis has a series of videos on the Funny or Die website titled "Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis" where he conducts interviews with popular celebrities between two potted ferns. He has interviewed Jimmy Kimmel,^[16] Michael Cera, Jon Hamm,^[17] Natalie Portman,^[18] Charlize Theron, Bradley Cooper (with a brief appearance by Carrot Top), Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter (with a brief appearance by Andy Dick), Ben Stiller, Steve Carell, Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, Tila Tequila, Jennifer Aniston and Will Ferrell. His interview style consists of typical interview questions, bizarre non sequiturs and sometimes inappropriate sexual questions and comments.^[19]

Mainstream performances: 2009–present[link]

Galifianakis co-starred as Alan Garner in the hit comedy The Hangover and earned the MTV Movie Award for the Best Comedic Performance.^[20] Following The Hangover's release, Galifianakis was prominently advertised in subsequent films that featured him in supporting roles. These included G-Force, Youth in Revolt, and the Oscar-nominated film Up in the Air.

Galifianakis is currently a member of the regular cast playing a supporting role in the HBO series Bored to Death. He hosted Saturday Night Live on March 6, 2010 during the show's 35th season, during which he shaved his beard mid-show for a sketch, and then closed the show wearing a fake beard.^[21] He hosted again on March 12, 2011 and shaved his head this time, in a Mr. T-like hairstyle, which was allegedly supposed to be used for a sketch that never aired due to time constraints.^[22] In 2010, he starred in several films, including Dinner for Schmucks, It's Kind of a Funny Story,^[23] and Due Date.

On October 29, 2010, while debating marijuana legalization on the show HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Galifianakis appeared to have smoked marijuana on live television;^[24] host Bill Maher denied that it was real marijuana in an interview with Wolf Blitzer during an episode of The Situation Room.

In 2011, he returned as Alan Garner in the sequel, The Hangover Part II, which was set in Thailand.^[25]

In 2011, he voiced Humpty Dumpty in DreamWorks Animation's Puss in Boots.

Galifianakis will star alongside Will Ferrell in The Campaign, a political comedy directed by Jay Roach in 2012.^[26]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Zach Galifianakis

• Official website
• Zach Galifianakis on Myspace
• Zach Galifianakis on Charlie Rose
• Zach Galifianakis at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about Zach Galifianakis in libraries (WorldCat catalog)