Hoffman

Hoffmann or Hofmann is a surname of German origin. The original meaning in medieval times was "steward, i.e. one who manages the property of another". The name was later adopted by many Jewish families. In English and other European languages, including Yiddish and Dutch, the name is also spelt Hoffman, Hofman, Huffman, Gofman or Hofmans.

Hoffman

Hoffman (film)

Hoffman is a 1970 British film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Peter Sellers, Sinéad Cusack, Ruth Dunning and Jeremy Bulloch.

It is notable for the haunting music by Ron Grainer, the theatrical art of scene setting, fine color cinematography, and as one of Sellers' few 'straight' performances.

Plot

Hoffman is the satirical tale of an older man, played by Peter Sellers, who pressures a young woman to come to his flat in London. As the film progresses, it is revealed that Sellers' character has caught one of his workers dealing in a scam against his company, and has decided to blackmail the man's lovely fiancée away for a full week to convince her to fall in love with him instead. A witty drama rather than a comedy, the film has an almost terrifying performance by Sellers, involved in intricate mind games with the other protagonists.

Production

The movie was one of the first greenlit by Bryan Forbes while he was head of EMI Films.

Reportedly, Sellers despised Hoffman because the lead character too closely reflected his own personality. According to Bryan Forbes, who was head of the studio that financed the film, Sellers went through a depressive phase after filming was completed and he asked to buy back the negative and remake the movie. He also gave an interview where he said the film was a disaster.

Hoffman (Detroit automobile)

The Hoffman had two prototype vehicles built by the R.C. Hoffman company of Detroit, Michigan in 1931. They were front-drive vehicles, powered by Lycoming straight-8 engines. The wheels were carried on solid load-bearing axles. Semi-elliptical springs were equipped on the front end, along with torque arms.

References

Descent

Descent may refer to:

As a noun

In genealogy and inheritance:

In mathematics:

Other uses:

The Descent

The Descent is a 2005 British horror film written and directed by Neil Marshall. The film follows six women who, having entered an unmapped cave system, become trapped and are hunted by troglofaunal flesh-eating humanoids.

Filming took place in the United Kingdom. Exterior scenes were filmed at Ashridge Park, Buckinghamshire/Hertfordshire. Because the filmmakers considered it too dangerous and time-consuming to shoot in an actual cave, interior scenes were filmed on sets built at Pinewood Studios near London. The Descent opened commercially 8 July 2005 in the United Kingdom. It premiered in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and opened commercially on 4 August 2006 in the United States.

A sequel, titled The Descent Part 2, was released in 2009 and depicts events that take place two days after the end of the original film. It was successful, earning twice as much as the film's budget; however, not as much as the original and was not as favorably reviewed.

Plot

Juno (Natalie Mendoza), Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) and Beth (Alex Reid) are whitewater rafting in Scotland. Sarah's husband Paul (Oliver Milburn) and their daughter Jessica (Molly Kayll) wave and cheer from the bank. Juno is seen talking intimately with Paul by Beth. On the drive back to their hotel, Paul gets distracted, causing a collision. Paul and Jessica are killed, but Sarah survives.

Descent (video game)

Descent is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay in Europe in 1994. The game features six degrees of freedom gameplay and garnered several expansion packs, as well as a 1996 port to the PlayStation. A Sega Saturn port was also announced, but later cancelled. The game is set out in the Solar System where the player as cast as the Material Defender, a mercenary hired by the PTMC.

Descent spawned two direct sequels: Descent II in 1996 and Descent 3 in 1999. On April 10, 2015, a prequel titled Descent: Underground was successfully funded on Kickstarter, raising over $600,000 USD through crowdfunding to bring Descent back to the PC with release expected in March 2016.

On December 29, 2015, it was revealed in a Good Old Games forum post that was made in regards to Descent, Descent II and Descent 3 being removed from sale, that Parallax Software in fact, still exists as of 2015 and owns the copyrights to Descent and Descent II. Due to a royalties dispute with Descent and Descent II' publisher, Interplay, where Parallax is claiming that since 2007, they have not been paid any royalties from the sales of Descent and Descent II, they have took action in the fall of 2015 and terminated the 21 year sales agreement that Interplay had, meaning that the company no longer has the rights to sell Descent and Descent II.