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Today's featured article
Paul Verhoeven, director, in 2016
Total Recall is a 1990 American science-fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven (pictured) . Based on a 1966 short story by Philip K. Dick , the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger , Rachel Ticotin , Sharon Stone , Ronny Cox , and Michael Ironside . It tells the story of Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) and the shadow organization that tries to prevent him from recovering memories of his past as a Martian secret agent. Schwarzenegger convinced Carolco Pictures to develop the film with him as the star, after the project had lingered in development hell at multiple studios over sixteen years. The film was one of the most expensive ever made at the time, and became the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year . Reviewers liked its themes of identity and questioning reality, but criticized content perceived as vulgar and violent. The practical special effects were well received, earning the film an Academy Award , and the score by Jerry Goldsmith has been praised as one of his best works. (Full article... )
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Kasia Niewiadoma
Today's featured picture
The sailfin snapper (Symphorichthys spilurus ) is a species of marine ray-finned fish in the snapper family, Lutjanidae . It is found in the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, at depths between 5 and 60 metres (16 and 197 feet). It lives in areas of sand near to reefs in lagoons and over outer reefs. The sailfin snapper is targeted in mixed-species fisheries throughout its range, being caught predominantly using handlines and bottom trawling . The juveniles appear in the aquarium trade . This sailfin snapper was photographed in Wilhelma , a zoological–botanical garden in Stuttgart , Germany.
Photograph credit: H. Zell
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