
Jim Abrahams
Writer · 1944 – 2024 · Shorewood, Wisconsin, USA
Jim Abrahams (May 10, 1944 – November 26, 2024) was an American movie director and writer. Abrahams was born in Shorewood, Wisconsin, to a Jewish family, and attended Shorewood High School. He was known for the spoof movies that he co-wrote and produced with brothers Jerry Zucker and David Zucker, such as Airplane! (for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay) and The Naked Gun series. The team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker (also referred to as "ZAZ") really began when the three men grew up together in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Abrahams later produced movies on his own such as Big Business, and further honed his skills in parody with Hot Shots! and its 1993 sequel Hot Shots! Part Deux.
Movies9
Movie7.3ComedyAn ex-fighter pilot is forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
Airplane!
1980 · 5.3K votes
Movie6.9ComedyRomanceAn African prince decides it’s time for him to find a princess... and his mission leads him and his most loyal friend to Queens, New York. In disguise as an impoverished immigrant, the pampered prince quickly finds himself a new job, new friends, new digs, new enemies and lots of trouble.
Coming to America
1988 · 4.9K votes
Movie7.1ComedyPopular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.
Top Secret!
1984 · 1.5K votes
Movie6.4ComedyAngelo "Snaps" Provolone made his dying father a promise on his deathbed: he would leave the world of crime and become an honest businessman. Despite having no experience in making money in a legal fashion, Snaps sets about to keep his promise.
Oscar
1991 · 596 votes
Movie6.2ComedyA series of loosely connected skits that spoof news programs, commercials, porno films, kung-fu films, disaster films, blaxploitation films, spy films, mafia films, and the fear that somebody is watching you on the other side of the TV.
The Kentucky Fried Movie
1977 · 373 votes
Movie7.2DocumentaryThis documentary charts the complexity and genius of the NBA's all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's legendary career, both on and off the court. Spotlighting a six-time MVP and six-time world champion, the film examines his controversial and landmark moments, his outspoken feelings about race and politics, and the evolution of the game.
Kareem: Minority of One
2015 · 25 votes
Movie5.5DocumentaryAs part of the film's promotion, a mockumentary was aired on HBO. Titled Hearts of Hot Shots! Part Deux—A Filmmaker's Apology, the mockumentary parodied Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, the 1991 documentary about the making of the film Apocalypse Now (which starred Charlie Sheen's father, Martin Sheen).
Hearts of Hot Shots! Part Deux—A Filmmaker's Apology
1993 · 4 votes
Movie6.5DocumentaryWeight loss expert Vinnie Tortorich and award-winning filmmaker Peter Pardini want you to join their team to make a hard-hitting documentary film that exposes the widespread myths and lies around healthy eating, fat and weight loss and shows how, in spite of all our good intentions, we go on getting fatter and fatter.
FAT: A Documentary
2019 · 20 votes
Movie7.0DocumentaryA look at the problems associated with cocaine use, including the toll it takes, not only on the users themselves but on society in general.
Cocaine Blues
1983 · 1 votes
Series1
TV7.7DramaComedyA fast-break series chronicling the professional and personal lives of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of sports' most revered and dominant dynasties — a team that defined an era, both on and off the court.
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty
2022 · 191 votes