From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== The film starts with a group of kids taking a hayride in the country on Halloween. They pay the local farmer to take them to a secluded area of the forest. The kids arrive and begin drinking, telling the farmer to come back after dark to pick them up. As the party wears on the group separates to find their own little love nests. Meanwhile, the farmer has stumbled across a large tree stump which he proceeds to remove with the help of his tractor. Under the stump is a large wooden box with an ancient seal telling not to break open the box. The farmer breaks the seal and opens the box. Inside is the Bill Heinzman "Flesheater" who precedes to eat the farmer making him a zombie in the process. Both zombies head towards where the kids are. Two of the kids who retreated to the barn for some alone time are killed by the flesheaters. As the flesh-eater is killing the kids, two of their friends walk in and see what's happening then they run outside to warn the group at the party. Inside the barn the kids who were attacked become zombies and head out of the barn for fresh victims back near the party and one of the girls is attacked in the woods by the zombies. It tears a chunk of shoulder away but the girl is saved by her boyfriend who hears her screams and tackles the flesh-eater. The remaining kids retreat to the old "Spencers Farm" a dis- used farmhouse in the woods. They proceed to nail up the windows and doors. They manage to phone the police but the call is cut short when a zombie outside rips the phone line out. Meanwhile, the two kids who escaped from the barn have caught up with the group (who refuse to open the doors in case of an attack) so the two kids hide in the basement and lock the door. Upstairs the girl bitten on the shoulder dies and returns as a zombie. Just as she gets up the zombies outside break in and the remaining group are slaughtered, each becoming a zombie and heading into the woods for more victims. A police car then turns up at Spencer's farm responding to the cut-short phone call. The police officer is attacked by a group of zombies and left for dead. The kids in the basement open the door and see the body of the policeman. They take his gun and kill his half remaining zombie corpse and escape into the night. Some of the zombies find their way to a residential street where they proceed to eat a local family inside their home turning them into zombies in the process. The two kids find a local stable where they try to warn the owner about the coming attack. He goes inside the house to find that his wife has become a zombie. More zombies appear and the man is cornered and eaten alive and the kids flee again. They find a large barn where a Halloween party is being held. The kids try to warn the group about the undead but they laugh it off as Halloween nonsense. Soon the zombies arrive and slaughter the party-goers. The two kids who survived the basement find a hiding spot inside the framework of the barn. Back in town, the police department are assembling a posse after hearing of the officer who was killed at Spencer's farm. As daylight approaches the posse have arrived at the woods. They find zombies emerging from the woods and proceed to kill the creatures. They proceed through the woodland killing zombies as they go. The posse arrive at the barn and find the party-goers are all zombies. The posse kill them as the zombie group come out of the barn. The two kids hiding in the barn hear the gunshots and think they are saved. They exit the barn and are shot on sight by a sniper (the same actor who shoots Ben in Night of the living dead). The posse throws all the bodies inside the barn and barricade it shut. They set it on fire burning the remaining few zombies inside. The posse thinking they destroyed all the zombies head home. A few days later a police officer is checking out the remains of the barn when he is attacked by the original flesheater, who kills him and begins the outbreak over again. ===== Shūichi Kushimori (Kazunari Ninomiya) lives with this mother Yūko (Kumiko Akiyoshi) and younger stepsister Haruka (Anne Suzuki). One day, his estranged stepfather Ryūji Sone (Kansai Yamamoto) suddenly returns home and begins to freeload off his family. After Shūichi encounters what appeared to be Sone making sexual advances towards Haruka one night, he tries to get rid of Sone. However, Shūichi discovers that it is impossible to do so legally as Haruka is his daughter, and Yūko asks him to endure it until Haruka turns fifteen and can choose Yūko as her legal guardian. After thorough research and experimentation on electrocution, he carries out his plan and kills his stepfather. The police declares that Sone had died of natural causes, especially as Shūichi was supposed to be in school at that time. His alibi checks out because his classmates saw him leave with a half-finished painting and return with it finished at the end of class. Later, at home, Haruka reveals to him that Sone had been dying of cancer. Shūichi continues his everyday life and begins seeing classmate Noriko Fukuhara (Aya Matsuura). One day, Takuya Ishioka (Yosuke Kawamura), a classmate who skips school and causes trouble, goes to see him at the convenience store where he works. Ishioka, who figures out what Shūichi did and has the bag of the things he used to kill Sone, threatens to tell the police if Shūichi does not get him 300,000 yen (approx. $3,000 USD) in a week. Although Shūichi regrets his actions, in order to keep Ishioka quiet, he fools Ishioka into staging a robbery at his workplace with a fake knife. Shūichi stabs him, making it look like an act of self-defense on the security cameras. However, police officer Masashi Kano (Baijaku Nakamura), who also met Shūichi at the time of Sone's murder, finds flaws in Shūichi's claims and actions. While seeing Noriko home at the train station, Shūichi admits to her that he is a murderer. The police manages to uncover the truth of what really happened to Sone and Ishioka, but Kano lets Shūichi go home on the basis that he promises to willingly turn himself in the next day. After having breakfast as usual with his family, he visits Noriko at school before class starts. She confirms that she lied for him and will continue to lie for him in court. Shūichi leaves her a tape recording before he leaves. Then he commits suicide, steering his bike into the direct path of a bus. In his tape recording, Shūichi talks about his favorite things. Noriko stops coloring her drawing of a future Shūichi blue to listen. ===== Alain Getty is a Home Automation Engineer who accepts a job in the south of France to work on a small camera drone in a technology company owned by Richard Pollock, and moves to a suburb of Toulouse with his wife Bénédicte. After three months, Richard invites himself and his wife Alice to dinner at Alain's house. They arrive late and create a scene with their marital problems; Alice is very rude to Bénédicte. Alain discovers a rodent lodged in the S-bend of the kitchen sink, which recovers after Alain retrieves it. A veterinarian identifies it as a lemming, a Scandinavian animal that does not live in France in the wild. The next evening Alice visits Alain, working late at his office. She says that Richard once tried to kill her and that the only reason she is still with him is to see him die. She attempts to seduce Alain, who resists her advances, but doesn't tell Bénédicte about the incident. Alice visits Bénédicte alone, and alludes to having had sex with Alain, before saying she feels tired. Bénédicte shows her the guest bedroom, where she creates a mess and eventually shoots herself. Bénédicte feels an urge to spend the night in the guestroom where Alice committed suicide. Despite Alice's death, Richard and Alain go on a business trip to Biarritz the next day. During the drive, Alain asks Richard if he had really tried to kill Alice. In response, Richard asks Alain if he and Alice had sex, which Alain denies. That evening, Alain calls Bénédicte, who initially doesn't answer, then abuses him. Concerned, Alain decides to drive home immediately, although it is late and he is tired. He finds Bénédicte sleeping and is unable to wake her. He hears noises coming from the kitchen, discovers it is full of lemmings and faints. Alain wakes up in a hospital; he crashed after falling asleep at the wheel, and the previous night's events were apparently a dream. Upon Alain's release from the hospital, he and Bénédicte visit Richard's lakeside holiday chalet. Bénédicte continues to behave coldly. She asks why Alain hadn't told her about Alice's attempt to seduce him, using the exact words Alice used that night and asks Alain to call her "Alice". They have sex and Alain falls asleep. When he wakes, Bénédicte and their car are gone. Alain hitches a ride home and discovers that Bénédicte started an affair with Richard while he was in hospital and is about to move into his house. Alain uses his drone to observe Richard's house, and finds Bénédicte as expected. As Richard and Bénédicte are about to have sex, the camera fails. It appears that Alice has taken control of Bénédicte and resumed her life with Richard inside Bénédicte's body. Meanwhile, the vet returns the lemming to Alain's house. The lemming bites Alain and disappears in the house. The next day, Richard confronts Alain at work with pieces of the drone he found in the garden. That evening, "Alice- Bénédicte" visits Alain to offer him a deal: If he kills Richard, he would get Bénédicte back. She gives Alain the key to Richard's house and leaves. That night Alain goes to Richard's house. He finds Richard and "Alice-Bénédicte" asleep in the bedroom, and smothers Richard with a pillow while "Alice- Bénédicte" watches. Alain carries Richard's body to the kitchen, where he operates the coffee-machine and the gas stove. "Alice-Bénédicte" follows him to the car in a trance-like state. Back at their house, "Alice-Bénédicte" goes straight to bed. When she wakes up, she is Bénédicte again—she says she dreamt of Alice, but doesn't remember any of the recent events. The next day, the couple are in their garden when they receive news of Richard's apparent suicide by causing a gas explosion in his house. Bénédicte innocently asks Alain if he believes Richard committed suicide because of Alice's death. She then discovers the dead lemming and throws it away. The mystery of its origin is resolved by Alain in a voice over: Their neighbours' son had brought the animal from a family holiday to Finland; his upset father then flushed it down the toilet. Finally, Alain mentions that Bénédicte is pregnant. ===== Engineer Sam Merrit has been sent to the planet Hestia to build a dam. The colonists believe that a dam will enable them to expand beyond their single river valley and escape the squalid conditions that have persisted there since the founding of the colony over a hundred years ago. Upon arrival Merrit finds that, in his professional judgment, a dam will not solve the colony's problems, and the construction of the dam will force the relocation of many of the cat-like alien natives as the reservoir fills. However, having made the years-long sublight journey to Hestia at great personal inconvenience, he is reluctant to return home without accomplishing anything. From the start, he has little patience for the colonists' blame-shifting attitude, and as he becomes familiar with one of the alien women, Merrit becomes increasingly convinced that destroying the alien culture by building the dam is not an acceptable option. ===== Three men - Dr. Ken Tashiro, Dr. Jules Masson, and journalist Perry Lawton - are trapped in a bathysphere due to seismic activity. They are rescued by the crew of the supersubmarine Alpha, captained by Craig McKenzie (Cotten), who they learn is over 200 years old (and that the Alpha was launched in the early 19th century). McKenzie takes them to Latitude Zero to heal Dr. Masson's injuries. Along the way, they are attacked by a rival supersubmarine, the Black Shark, captained by Kuroi (Hikaru Kuroki), who works for a rival of McKenzie's, Dr. Malic (Romero). Using super-technology, McKenzie gives the Black Shark the slip. The crew of the Alpha soon return to Latitude Zero, a super-advanced utopia hidden fifteen miles below sea level at the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line populated by people from all over the world reported missing in accidents at sea. It has existed since the 19th century, as none of its inhabitants age or die, and greed and political divisions plaguing the surface world are unknown here. It also surreptitiously assists mankind's technological and cultural advancement. Malic, however, wishes to destroy Latitude Zero using superweapons and artificially grafted monstrosities like giant rats and anthropomorphic bats. He kidnaps a Japanese physicist allied with McKenzie, Dr. Okada, and his daughter Tsuruko, and forces Okada to assist him in his schemes. Moreover, after a cruel experiment grafting the wings of an eagle to a lion, he removes Kuroi's brain and places it in the creature as punishment for her failures. Upon receiving an emergency signal from Okada, McKenzie organizes a rescue expedition, and Tashiro, Masson and Lawton, as well as Latitude Zero physician Dr. Anne Barton (Haynes) and Kōbo (Ōmae), volunteer to help. Equipped with James Bond-style devices and rendered resistant to physical harm by a special bath, they infiltrate Malic's island base, Blood Rock, fight their way to the enemy control center, and rescue the Okadas. As the team escapes, Malic enters the Black Shark and fires an onboard laser at them. Just then however, Kuroi turns against Malic and attacks the laser, causing the weapon to fire at the island's cliffs, which collapse on the submarine and destroy it along with everyone aboard. Of all the visitors to Latitude Zero, only Lawton (Jaeckel) wishes to return home. He is picked up by a US Navy vessel, where he meets Commander Glenn McKenzie (also Cotten) and Lt. Hastings (also Romero). Startled by these similarities, Lawton additionally discovers that all his knowledge of Latitude Zero's existence was either ruined or taken. Just as he is about to resign himself to the idea that his adventure never occurred, the ship receives a message stating that a cache of diamonds has been deposited in his name in a safe deposit box in New York City, and the ship is ordered to change course to Latitude Zero. ===== As Christmas season approaches, Ian is invited by his father, Richie, to join him for a skiing holiday in Park City, Utah. Ian convinces several of his friends to come along. There is Jon, who brings along his German girlfriend, Carla, but has competition for her from a German ski instructor, Hans. Another friend, David, is gay and wants to lose his virginity. Keaton discovers his sister Jane is pregnant and has no plans to tell the man who might be the father. Keaton also has issues with his friend, Lisa, who wants their relationship to become romantic. ===== In I, Lucifer, God presents the devil with a chance of redemption by living a somewhat sinless life in a human body. Lucifer, not wanting redemption, takes God’s offer for a trial but instead takes it as a month's holiday. This story takes place in London and Lucifer lives in the body of Declan Gunn (an anagram of "Glen Duncan", the author's name), formerly a struggling writer who is suicidal. While in Declan’s body, Lucifer takes his body for granted and abuses drugs, alcohol, and sex. Not only does Lucifer still live a devilish life, but also he starts to realize what being a human is really like. He realizes there is so much going on in their lives and so much temptation, and people can’t simply do whatever they please. As Lucifer’s trial is coming to an end, he receives a visit from the angel Raphael, who attempts to help Lucifer head in the right direction. Raphael tells him the world is going to end so there’s no choice but to gain redemption from rebelling against God and be accepted back into heaven. Lucifer makes his decision. The whole story is permeated by the main character's versions of biblical episodes and his disparaging opinions about God and "Jimmeny" (Jesus). ===== The film follows a lonesome desperado known only as "Gold Bullet" as he arrives in a small western town 'Last Valley' populated by thugs, rogues, gunslingers and businessmen. "Gold Bullet" is in town for one reason only, to collect a debt owed to him by a former employer Henry Wynn. Will Wynn give up the money or will it all end in bloodshed? ===== In the summer of 1967, Marshall Stouffer is chased in Fort Smith, Arkansas, by his two older brothers, Mark and Marty; the brothers love using Marshall to film him in stunts, which he dislikes. Occasionally Marty and Mark will show footage of their antics in their garage to all their friends. Marshall repeatedly and secretly gets even with his brothers by pulling revenge pranks of his own, like cleaning the toilet with his brothers' toothbrushes and filling their canteens with downstream river water into which they had been urinating. Mark and Marty have a dream of filming dangerous animals around the country, and the dream starts when they find a rare, special camera in a shop where they have their films developed. Despite their father Marty Sr.'s insistence that they cannot afford the camera, he relents after their mother, Agnes, says she will give them her "vacation" money that she has been saving for several years. Marty and Mark purchase the camera & begin planning their trip. Their father is against this idea. The three brothers start camping. First, they miss a shot at catching an eagle, then go to film some alligators, and start by seeing a man who was attacked by an alligator. As they go in a swamp on a boat, Mark throws some bait but it lands in the trees, trying to retrieve it, his clothing gets stuck in a branch underwater and he starts to drown, Marshall and Marty drive the boat in attempts to save him, but it crashes into another branch, which sends Marshall flying into the water. Marshall gets a knife from Marty and cuts Mark loose, but Marshall is now dealing with a bigger problem; he and the alligator are face to face. Marshall is able to get back on the boat in time. When they get back to the hut, the alligator man (Strango) tells them about how back when he served in the Korean War he befriended a fellow soldier named Phil. Strango and Phil would exchange stories about their wilderness adventures. Strango would talk about hunting alligators and Phil would tell tall tales about bears. This rouses Marty's attention and he asks about it. Strango states that Phil was talking about a cave full of hundreds of bears somewhere "Out West." They drive northwest until they reach Devil's Playground in Colorado, "the last home of the wild American wolf." Devil's Playground is located on government protected land. They catch footage of a wolf creeping up on a doe. Then as the wolf is about to ambush the doe there is a series of explosions. The brothers look up and see two F-4 Phantoms flying overhead. The pilots see the brothers and turn around, firing missiles at them eventually hitting a giant boulder knocking the three down. As they get up a herd of wild horses comes thundering towards them. They get in the truck just in time to film it. When the horses pass Marshall sees an owl that looks a lot like his owl Leona. The three follow it and discover a cave. On the wall of the cave is an ancient Indian drawing of a cave filled with bear-shaped figures. Marty and Mark draw it on Marshall's chest and show it to an old Native American woman. The woman tells them that it's located near Arapaho Peak in Montana. After a strange man (Danny Glover) saves Marshall after going down the stream, he tells the brothers about the cave where it is too. During the journey, they meet a woman whose husband was killed by bears, when returning to their van, they discovered they been robbed, but they still got the film, Mark breaks his leg after getting into a fight with Marty. Despite his injury, they continued finding the Bear Cave, they discovered it and begin filming while the bears are asleep, but the bears wake up, luckily the brothers sing a song that puts them to sleep. However the bears wake up, after some Bat Guano lands on one of their lamps and they managed to escaped, not before grabbing the camera. Upon returning home, Marshall learns his Dad never flew the plane and things start going downhill when the brothers' father get injured and is in the hospital, causing the boys and their mother to do the work now. The next day Marshall flies the plane, but Leon (Tracey Walter) jumps in helps while flying it, after flying it, his father ends up being impressed for learning how to fly it. They display their film at the school gym, and everyone claps, but when their adversarial affiliate DC makes a rude comment, their dad begins to applaud, having the crowd cheer and clap. DC, who is always being a "devil's advocate" from the beginning, becomes the only one who wants his money back, which he gets from Marty Sr., but everyone else comments all of the brothers with compliments. Marshall and his Dad smile at each other. ===== Henry Harriston is a psychoanalyst whose patients are driving him crazy by constantly leaving him messages during his off hours. On a whim he places an ad offering up his apartment for a housing swap. Béatrice Saulnier (Juliette Binoche) a Parisian dancer responds to his ad and without meeting the two switch apartments. Béatrice is impressed with Henry's high-tech apartment which is both beautiful and spacious. Henry meanwhile is horrified when he arrives in Béatrice's apartment and finds it filthy and messy. Meanwhile, Henry's patients, who Henry sees at home, begin coming to his apartment seeking therapy. Béatrice begins listening to their stories, and the patients accept her as Henry's temporary replacement. At Béatrice's apartment Henry discovers a cache of love-letters written to Béatrice by various men. Béatrice's lovers also begin showing up in her apartment and talking to Henry about their love for her. When they begin calling the apartment telling Henry how helpful he was and how they want to talk to him again he turns tail and returns to New York. Originally intending to simply pick up his mail, Henry notices that his patients keep coming in and out of his apartment and, when he tries to enter his apartment, is pushed out by Béatrice's friend who is posing as her receptionist. Believing that Béatrice is intentionally running a scam, he goes to confront her, posing as a fake patient, John. Instead of confronting her however, he keeps up the ruse of being a patient, but is unable to talk and the session consists of Béatrice and Henry saying "Yes" back and forth at one another. Despite this, the two find themselves attracted to one another and the session ends with Béatrice suggesting that Henry, as John, come back. Henry meanwhile is convinced that Béatrice really does mean well and decides to keep up the ruse and continue seeing her. After a particular session in which Henry talks about his distant relationship with his mother, both Henry and Béatrice begin to think they've fallen in love with one another. Henry refuses to say anything, feeling too cowardly, while Béatrice's friend tells her she cannot be involved in a relationship with a patient. Béatrice and Henry become close and continue to feel strongly towards one another. During one of their sessions the light turns off and both secretly whisper love confessions in the dark, but neither hears what the other is saying. Henry's friend urges him to run to Béatrice or write her a letter but as these are all things that Béatrice's previous lovers have done that have failed, Henry refuses. He decides that the only way the situation will be resolved is if Béatrice confesses her love to him. Instead she calls him late at night to tell him their sessions must come to an end as she is returning to Paris. Henry tells Béatrice he loves her, but she hangs up before she hears what he has said. Henry rushes to the airport hoping to get a last minute flight to Paris. Unfortunately, the plane is overbooked. Henry decides to wait on standby. He is able to get the last ticket as one passenger has not shown up, however that ticket belonged to Béatrice, so while Henry flies to Paris, searching the plane, looking for Béatrice, Béatrice stays behind. Eventually arriving home, Béatrice realizes she cannot go to her apart as Henry is still in her apartment and goes to stay with her neighbour. On her neighbour's terrace she sees her plants which have flourished in her absence. She strikes up a conversation with Henry, who she cannot see through the plants. He disguises his voice so she will not recognize him. Talking to Henry through the plants Béatrice confesses that she came early because she had fallen in love with one of Henry's patients, John. Realizing that Henry and John are one and the same person, Béatrice climbs over the terrace back into her apartment and kisses Henry, telling him she loves him. ===== Beowulf "Bey" Shaeffer, half-dreaming, fitfully remembers events leading up to the moment he is shot with an ARM punchgun, a weapon best described as a large-caliber handgun. The recent events, and his memories leading up to them, keep replaying in his head, and Shaeffer realizes that he must be inside Carlos Wu's special autodoc, and that he must be terribly damaged. When he finally awakens, Shaeffer learns he has been in the autodoc for four months and eleven days. He crawls out of the autodoc, feeling unbalanced, and finds himself on the same deserted island on which they had all landed, though he is alone. Moving to the center of the island, which is a shallow cone, he finds the corpse of a tall, headless man in the depression. It is not Carlos, Sharrol Janss, or Feather Filip. Shaeffer takes the boots, pants, and jacket, the latter torn front and back by a large hole. He finds a knife, a ration brick, some sunblock, and tannin pills in the pockets of the jacket. He barely manages to climb out of the cone’s depression then heads back to the autodoc to fix his ruined skin and feet; the yellow sun of Fafnir has ravaged his albino skin and the coral has cut his feet. After falling asleep, Shaeffer dreams of the events leading up to him reawakening in the autodoc the first time. He and Sharrol had gone to a party held at Carlos’s home in the Great Barrier Reef. There they met Feather Filip. The party was to feature small dinner dishes and recreational sex. Once there, Carlos tells them that Feather is an ARM, part of the United Nations police. After a few hours of eating and sex, Feather activates a shield to keep them from being spied upon and gets to work, knowing that anyone who’d been watching would expect that Feather had something too kinky in mind to share over surveillance tapes. Carlos worries that the ARM will care what they’re saying, but Feather says they will dismiss it as “Feather coming down after a long week.” Carlos and Feather intend to leave Earth for good. They want to go as a group, four adults and two children, to match the profile of a family on Fafnir that has fallen on hard times. They will provide the family, the Graynors, with transportation to Wunderland and funding once they are there, and under their names Carlos, Feather, Shaeffer, Sharrol and the kids Tanya and Louis will continue on to Home as Shashters (residents of Fafnir's one continent, Shasht). Sharrol is annoyed as she and Carlos had talked this over extensively, years before. Sharrol has Flatland Phobia, she cannot leave Earth, which Carlos knows. Their plan to work around that is that Sharrol, Tanya and Louis will travel in cold sleep to Fafnir then again to Home. Both Carlos and Feather have their reasons for going; Carlos is tired of the ARM supervising his every move, and Feather is about to retire and knows she will never be let off-planet and the United Nations will never approve a “schiz” (a paranoid schizophrenic) having children. Feather also tells Shaeffer the UN will never let him off Earth again as he knows too much about the Core explosion, the puppeteers and Kdatlyno, and Julian Forward’s work. Carlos told Feather he wanted to offer them the chance to come along, as they need a pilot, and Shaeffer can fill that need. They talk it over until Shaeffer and Sharrol are convinced. After landing on Mars in the hyperdrive ship "Boy George", Shaeffer and Feather leave to retrieve the ship they will use to land on Fafnir. It is a stealth lander, used during the Fourth Man-Kzin War, and the ARM thinks it’s going to the Smithsonian Luna to be displayed as the ship that Sinbad Jabar landed on Kzinhome with to invade and destroy the Patriarch’s harem. Shaeffer reads up on life and lifestyles on Fafnir; it has a 22-hour day, and the locals move at their own pace. Shaeffer, Feather, and Carlos move Carlos’ massive autodoc into the lander, put Sharrol into the intensive care cavity to sleep throughout the trip, put Tanya and Louis in the cold sleep box together, then leave in the Boy George for the three-week trip to Fafnir. Shaeffer remembered it was an uncomfortable trip; Feather kept giving him strange looks, so he avoided her until the night before they reached Fafnir, when she turned up between his sleeping plates. They were both aroused, but the next day she was all business as they exited Boy George behind Fafnir’s moon in the lander while the ship traveled on alone, passing too close to an ARM base on an asteroid that Feather was not supposed to know about, but did, then changed course hastily and left in the direction of another ex-Kzinti world, Hrooshpithtcha, to throw off their trail. In the lander, Shaeffer found a small island with no one around and used the lower jets to burn out the lamplighter nest in it, then sank the lander into the melting center. In the morning, when dawn gave them enough light, they inflated the boat, then Feather and Carlos used the gravity lift to put the freezebox with Tanya and Louis in it into it. Feather brought the lift to the autodoc and they moved it toward the boat as Feather called him. Turning toward her is the last thing Shaeffer remembers. Now, four months later, Shaeffer realizes that Feather did not just want to leave Earth, she wanted Carlos as well. But Carlos wanted Sharrol and his children, and Sharrol would not leave earth without Shaeffer. After they arrived, Carlos knew he was no longer useful to Feather. She shot Shaeffer to prove that she could and would take life, if necessary. But Shaeffer remembered seeing Carlos leaping into the boat just after he was shot. Shaeffer hides the autodoc using the gravity lift to move it into the sea at low tide. The only time he would not be able to use it is during high tide. For the next week, Shaeffer lives at sea, scooping up sunbunnies and finding clutches of eggs. Finally, on the eighth night, he sees lights near the horizon. Using mag-specs, Shaeffer sees that it is a boat, but is not moving. Sending up flares, Shaeffer begins swimming toward the boat. He doesn't want anyone to know that's where he and Carlos' autodoc had been hidden. The owners of the boat are siblings Wilhelmin and Toranaga, their boat is called the Gullfish. They had both been recently separated from their mates. They replaced his torn jacket with a new one from a locker on their boat, after he cleans out his pockets. Shaeffer presented himself as Persial January Herbert, an identity he assumed as part of setting up his accounts on Fafnir and Home using money given to him by his oldest friend on Earth, Elephant. Shaeffer tells Wil and Tor a story of having lost his wife, Milcenta, in a boating accident, then being rescued and trying to find her but ultimately becoming depressed and drinking. When a torpedo ray hits his boat, Persial gives up and starts swimming. He then decides she might still be alive under a different name. Searching the records of Fafnir for either Sharrol or Feather, he finds Sharrol alive and safe under the name Milcenta, but not Feather. The tradition on Fafnir when rescued is to give your rescuers a life gift, a present expressing your value as perceived by yourself. Twelve days after being picked up, they arrive at Booty Island. At the hotel, Shaeffer uses the styler and his rooms caller to check for Sharrol after establishing his identity as Martin Wallace Graynor. It found that Sharrol had been using autodocs, but had never made her way to Shasht, to find Carlos, Tanya, or Louis. Shaeffer thinks she may be grieving over losing him. Using a transfer booth to travel to Shasht, Shaeffer visits Outbound Enterprises, the iceliner company they were using to travel to Home. He explains that he is four months late because he’d been shipwrecked. His husband, John Graynor (Carlos) and their children Tween and Nathan (Tanya and Louis, respectively) had gone on to Home, but neither Milcenta nor Adelaide (Feather) had shown up either. However, John had left a message for Adelaide. Shaeffer persuades the clerk to read it then show it to him, so that he could know whether Milcenta was dead or not. Shaeffer alters a transfer booth card to let him go on a random walk, as users flash from booth to booth in a local area every few seconds. There is a chance he’ll come across Feather rather than Sharrol, but he decides to risk it. He believes Sharrol has likely taken a job somewhere in Pacifica, since she has not gone on to Home or Shasht. At Solarico Omni, he finds Sharrol. At first she is terrified of him and points Feather’s punchgun at him, which she kept. Keeping himself between her and a Kzin officer, Shaeffer tries to calm her fears. She recounts waking up on Fafnir, with everything feeling wrong, the light, the gravity, and Earth so far away. Then a booming sound and Shaeffer falling to the ground as Feather pointed her weapon at him. Carlos had jumped into the boat and roared away, while Feather screamed at him, Shaeffer looking dead to her. Sharrol jumped on Feather’s back and cut her throat. Feather was a trained ARM but she never took Sharrol seriously, which proved to be her last mistake. The tall, headless man on the beach was Shaeffer's corpse: He couldn't fit in the autodoc as it was designed for smaller humans.. So Sharrol could only put his head in there and hope for the best. Shaeffer and Sharrol tape messages for their benefactors, Wil and Tor in Shaeffer’s case, and the crew of Hand of Allah in Sharrol’s. They present them with life gifts: Shaeffer gives Wil and Tor silverware service for a dozen, while Sharrol gives the crew of Hand of Allah red meat and vegetables. Wil and Tor have undoubtedly turned in the torn jacket to Fafnir police but they will never know if he was a murderer, as Shaeffer had presented a plausible reason for the tears in his jacket, and there was just no evidence otherwise. They then tape a message for Carlos as John Graynor with Ms. Machti, the Outbound Enterprises desk clerk, in mind as well, letting him know that Milcenta was safe and hinting that Adelaide was 'out of the picture'. Sharrol does not want to travel again anytime soon so they plan to stay on Fafnir for a while; being underwater is second nature for Sharrol, and similar to being underground for Shaeffer, if he doesn't look out a window. ===== Mikami, Kanji, and Satomi have been friends since they were children, having grown up in the same small town in Ehime Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. Now, all three are in their early 20s and have made their way to Tokyo for different reasons. Kanji is last to arrive, having gotten a new job in Heart Sports' sales department and transferring to the Tokyo office. At work, he meets a vivacious new colleague, Rika, as well as being reunited with his best friends from home--Mikami and Satomi. Mikami is Kanji's best male friend and Satomi is their platonic female friend whom both have had a crush on since high school. The situation becomes more complicated as Kanji sees Mikami forcedly kissing Satomi, which upsets Kanji deeply. But he heals his broken heart by developing strong feelings for Rika, who is energetic, funny, encouraging and caring. However, their relationship is a bit unstable because Kanji is dating her on the rebound, and Rika has been having a (not so) secret affair with her and Kanji's boss, Waga. The affair is de-emphasized in the TV series, but in the manga, the affair is much more important. Rika gets pregnant with Waga's child (not shown in the drama version). Meanwhile, Satomi thinks that Mikami was just playing with her when he kissed her, and so she rejects him. He turns to a medical school classmate, Nagasaki, and begins pursuing her. Eventually Kanji realizes Satomi's feelings, and he chooses her over Rika. ===== The 1911 season finds the Emersons planning to excavate at Zawyet el'Aryan, south of the great pyramids of Giza. David Todros has just been married to Lia, the daughter of Walter and Evelyn Emerson, and the happy couple will be joining the expedition after their honeymoon. The family's happiness is dimmed, however, by allegations that David has been making and selling fake antiquities under the guise of his late grandfather Abdullah's legacy. Ramses and Nefret take on the task of ferreting out the source of the rumors - and the fakes - with fears that the Master Criminal is behind it. Meanwhile, Percy Peabody, Amelia's evil nephew, turns up as a member of the Egyptian Army and an intermittent pest. He has written a lurid (and completely false) memoir about his time in Egypt, keeps proposing to Nefret, and seems up to something, though he doesn't have the brains to be part of the plot the Emersons are investigating. Two young Americans join the Emersons' dig, Geoffrey Godwin and Jack Reynolds, whose sister sets her sights on Ramses. Ramses is also investigating the illegal drug trade. ===== The novel takes place in 1914, as Ramses Emerson works undercover to gather intelligence for the British military, Nefret returns from studying medicine in Switzerland, and Percy Peabody returns to wreak revenge on the Emerson family for past events. The Emerson have acquired the firman for part of the Giza concession, but of course are distracted by the criminal element, and eventually by a startling revelation from the Master Criminal, Sethos himself. ===== In the Camargue a local young playboy named Frédéri (Jourdan) falls in love with a young woman from Arles. His family thinks she is unsuitable as a wife because she had a fling with a soldier. His entourage attempt to cheer him up but he intends to commit suicide. ===== Brandon Ma (Brandon Lee) is a regular guy with a job and a girlfriend May (Regina Kent). He has two jobs, so he can support his girlfriend and his dream of owning a motorcycle. Brandon's best friend is Michael Wan (Michael Wong), an ambitious and murderous drug dealer. Michael also loves May and so he comes up with a plan using a corrupt police officer named Sharky (Lam Chung) that will win her for himself and get Brandon out of his way. It seems that the corrupt cop has been using his police connections to dominate the local cocaine trade, so Michael has him killed and uses Brandon as the fall guy. Brandon goes to jail and meets Hoi (Mang Hoi), although he thinks that he will be released soon thanks to the efforts of his good buddy Michael. However, after 8 long years, Brandon finally gets out of jail and vows revenge on Michael for betraying their friendship and stealing the love of his life. Whilst out of prison he learns that May has had his son. With the help of Hoi, Brandon tracks down Michael. Whilst engaging his guards he learns that May is dead. After killing Michael's guards, Brandon confronts and kills his former friend Michael. The movie ends with Brandon bidding farewell to his friend Hoi (who aided him in fighting Michael's guards) and leaving with his son. ===== The novel details lives of two very opposite Victorian women, Agnes and Sugar, and the linchpin on whom they revolve: William Rackham. William, the unwilling and somewhat bumbling heir to a perfume business, is a businessman of moderate success and little self- awareness. He married the exquisitely doll-like Agnes, who embodies the Victorian "female ideal" of naive femininity, for her beauty though he barely knew her. Since she has been kept completely in the dark on sexual matters, Agnes' diaries express utter confusion over events like menstruation (she believes a demon returns periodically to "bleed" her), pregnancy, sex, or childbirth: she does not even acknowledge her young daughter, Sophie. Sophie, who takes after her father, is very carefully kept far from her mother's sight by the household staff, who otherwise disregard Agnes' desires and ignore her. Outside of the house, few know of Agnes' madness (though knowledge of it spreads during the length of the story), who presents herself as an inveterate hostess and socialite to the world during each season. William soon becomes obsessed with a worldly young prostitute named Sugar, an unconventionally intelligent and strong-willed young woman who uses the affair with William to climb to a higher perch in the rigidly stratified class system of the time. William purchases Sugar from her madame (Sugar's own mother) and sets her up in a luxurious flat of her own, where he regularly visits her on his terms. Sugar has been a prostitute since the age of 13 and views sex as a living, not a pleasure, with no physical act too taboo. She is resentful of her reliance on William's (and men in general) favour and indulges her fantasies about harming her and her fellow prostitute's clients in an explicitly gruesome novel of revenge erotica she pens in her spare time as she works to maintain William's continued interest using both her body and her mind. As William's fortunes climb from Sugar's excellent business acumen, Agnes becomes increasingly eccentric. William eventually decides to move Sugar into his household, hidden as a member of his staff. Sugar is designated as Sophie's governess and grows to genuinely love the girl as her own even as Agnes' mind begins to spiral into hallucinations of angels and William retreats to the man's world of his business dealings. Agnes catches sight of Sugar around the property and becomes convinced that Sugar is her angel come to take her to the Convent of Health. The book culminates in William losing all after having long and obliviously neglected the needs of the two women. The day before Agnes is to be moved to an asylum on the orders of William, she runs away in search of the Convent of Health on the advice of Sugar, who indulges Agnes' fantasy that she is her angel. A body is later found in the river Thames, which William believes is Agnes but that Sugar has reason to believe is not that of Agnes. After Agnes' supposed death, it is implied that William is considering courting another woman of his station rather than marrying Sugar. Sugar discovers that she has become pregnant by William and before she is able to end the pregnancy by jumping down the stairs of the house, the doctor (the same doctor who was implied to be sexually abusing Agnes) discovers the pregnancy and reports it to William. William dismisses Sugar from the household in a letter. Sugar, having grown fond of Sophie and convinced William will not care for her, takes Sophie with her when she leaves. The end implies that William never finds Sophie, Sugar or Agnes. Other characters include Henry Rackham, William's pious brother who wants to be a clergyman, and his obsession and obstacle to the cloth, and Emmeline Fox, a widow who works in the Rescue Society, which tries to reform prostitutes. ===== Eight teenagers, including Brady (Mark McLachlan), Claire (Caitlin Martin), Duncan (Chris Solari), Kit (D. W. Reiser), Annabelle (Julie Mintz), Sunny (Summer Knight), Foster (Rhett Jordan), and Hubs (Greg Wayne) are going on a weekend boat trip on a remote lake in Southern California for spring break. As the group is about to depart on their boat, they are warned by Sheriff Bowman (Harrison Young) to be sensible and keep out of danger. After a day of partying, the group have a bonfire, where Kit tells them a local story about how in the early 1900s, ninety-six years ago, a hotel owner named Harlan featured a crocodile named Flat Dog at his hotel. Harlan eventually sets up a shrine to Flat Dog, believing her to be an avatar to the ancient Egyptian crocodile god (Sobek), creating a cult that worshiped the crocodile. The town eventually ran Harlan away because of his heathenism and torched his hotel years later when Kit was a kid. Close by, two local fishermen destroy a crocodile nest, only for them both to be attacked by Flat Dog, who devours them both. The following day the teenagers continue to party. Annabelle's dog, Princess, runs away, leading the group to the crocodile's nest, where Duncan breaks an egg and Hubs hides one in Claire's bag. At night, Sunny becomes incredibly drunk and reveals Brady cheated on Claire with her, resulting in Claire breaking up with Brady. Hubs, who is also heavily intoxicated falls asleep at the bonfire while the rest of the group returns to the boat. Sometime later, Hubs attempts to return to the boat but is eaten by Flat Dog, while the boat becomes untied and begins to drift in the lake. In the morning, the friends find their boat has become stuck, leaving them stranded. While the rest of the group attempt to fix the boat, Brady and Sunny go to try to find Hubs. Sunny attempts to get Brady to go swimming, but she narrowly escapes an attack by Flat Dog. The pair rush back to the boat to warn the others. However, Flat Dog arrives and sinks the boat, killing Foster in the process. Meanwhile, Sheriff Bowman finds the fishermen and Hubs remains before visiting Shurkin (Terrence Evans) and Lester (Adam Gierasch), two locals who take care of alligators. Shurkin sets out with the Sheriff to find Flat Dog—and kill her to avenge the deaths of his grandfather and father—while Lester is seen to be feeding the crocodile, but is eventually devoured himself. As night falls, the teenagers are still stranded in the woods searching for a road. Flat Dog returns, and ultimately Sunny is eaten. The rest of the group reach a small shop, where Brady attempts to phone the Sheriff, but Flat Dog breaks through a wall and devours Annabelle. As Kit escapes to start the truck outside, Brady, Claire, and Duncan fight off Flat Dog. In the chaos, a fire starts which causes the truck to explode, killing Kit and scaring away Flat Dog. The next day, the Sheriff and Shurkin find Brady, Claire, and Duncan and pick them up on their boat. Soon after, Shurkin is knocked into the water and eaten, before the Sheriff is also killed. With the boat's engine broken, the survivors swim to land. Claire finally discovers the crocodile's egg in her bag, and the group uses it as bait to lure the crocodile to them so they can kill it. As Flat Dog arrives, Duncan attempts to kill her. However, he is quickly swallowed whole, only to be regurgitated moments later. Claire gives the crocodile the egg, which hatches into a baby crocodile, before it returns to its nest, leaving Claire, Princess, Brady, and Duncan free to escape. ===== Reno Davis is an American writer who has recently retired from boxing. Now unemployed and broke in France, he encounters the wealthy widow of a French general. Anne de Villemont is attracted to Reno, and he to her, but she keeps him at arm's length. She also hires him to tutor her eight-year-old son Paul. The real reason she wants Reno is for protection. Reno is led to believe that Anne's husband was killed in the Algerian conflict, and he is troubled by Anne's intense fear that Paul will be kidnapped. He then discovers the family has ties to a fascist organization that plans to take over all of Europe. He takes on the shady psychiatrist Morillon and mysterious family friend Leschenhaut, both of whom frighten Anne whenever they are around. Reno is framed for his best friend's murder as he and Anne become the targets of the ambitious and maniacal schemers who wish to rule Europe. Reno and Anne are hunted around France while protecting Paul from being abducted. The chase ends at the Colosseum in Rome, where Reno and the villains engage in a showdown. ===== The Paladin (Baen Books, 2002 re-issue) The Lord Saukendar, Imperial sword master and stalwart supporter of the Emperor is betrayed, falsely accused of an affair with his childhood sweetheart Lady Meiya, now the Emperor's wife. Meiya is dead, and hostile forces have command of the Emperor's regency. Wounded, desperate and cut off from his supporters, Saukendar runs for the border. In a homemade cabin high in the hills Saukendar survives crippled and alone, his warhorse Jiro and his regrets his only company, while the empire is bled by the rapacious warlords that are regent to the Emperor. Only occasional assassins dispatched by the Regent disturb his morose existence. Taizu, a country girl from Hua locates him, demands he teach her sufficient swordsmanship to exact her revenge for her people's suffering. Despite his better judgment and strenuous efforts to discourage her, she forces him to take her on as apprentice swordswoman. Shoka, as he prefers to be known to his friends, becomes fond of the girl. In the process of teaching her and supporting her cause, they become embroiled in the affairs of empire, becoming the spearhead of a revolt that rescues the Emperor from his Regent and his people from the clutches of the warlords. ===== The Great New Wonderful is a series of vignettes of incidents taking place concurrently around Manhattan. The only other thing linking the incidents is the month in which they occur: September 2002. Recurring themes include Frustration and Sugar. The vignettes include: * An accountant (Jim Gaffigan) undergoing a therapy session in the office of a passive-aggressive psychologist (Tony Shalhoub). * Two immigrants from India on security detail for a visiting dignitary. * An ambitious pastry chef (Maggie Gyllenhaal) preparing a professional pitch that she hopes will make her the reigning doyenne of New York's competitive cake scene. * A Brooklyn housewife (Olympia Dukakis) fixes her husband's dinner and then sits at the kitchen table making collages out of old magazines while her husband sits on the balcony, smoking a cigarette. * Allison & David Burbage (Judy Greer, Tom McCarthy) struggle to keep their marriage together while coping with their increasingly difficult and strangely self-possessed 10-year-old son. ===== ===== It's the 22nd century and protagonist Grant Calthorpe is a former sport-hunter collecting ferva leaves for the Neilan Drug Company, living near the Idiots' Hills with a parcat named Oliver. To evade stinging palms in the Ionan jungle, he rewards loonies with chocolate to collect the ferva leaves for him. One day, suffering the native "white fever" and its "attendant hallucinations", Calthorpe follows Oliver to Lee Neilan, daughter of the owner of Neilan Drug, also affected by the fever. Each human believes the other a hallucination, until Calthorpe confirms her report of a newly built slinker settlement, whereupon he rescues her from the local slinkers. Having restored her health, he learns that she had crash-landed an aircraft against the Idiots' Hills while trying to reach Herapolis. When a party of slinkers undermines his shack, Calthorpe and Neilan flee into the Idiots' Hills, hoping the slinkers cannot follow them into the rarefied atmosphere. In a narrow valley between two peaks, they find a deserted city, apparently built by more-civilized previous generations of loonies. When opposed by the modern loonies, the slinkers form a narrow, dense mob, which Calthorpe destroys with a "flame pistol". This attracts Lee Neilan's father Gustavus, himself in search of her, and effects reunion. In gratitude to Calthorpe for saving his daughter, Gustavus offers him charge of a ferva plantation near Junopolis; whereupon Lee proposes her own marriage to Calthorpe. ===== The Isle of Dread is meant to introduce players and Dungeon Masters familiar with only dungeon crawl-style adventures to wilderness exploration. As such, the adventure has only a very simple plot, even by the standards of its time. The module has been described as a medium to high level scenario, which takes place on a mysterious tropical island divided by an ancient stone wall. (preview) The characters somehow find a fragment from a ship's log, describing a mysterious island on which many treasures can be found, and set out to explore it. Typically, the characters will first make landfall near the more or less friendly village of Tanaroa and after possibly dealing with some troublesome factions in the village, set out to explore the interior of the island. In the course of their explorations, they may find a number of other villages of unfamiliar intelligent creatures, numerous hostile monsters and the treasures they guard, and a band of pirates. Many prehistoric creatures, including dinosaurs, are prominently featured, especially in the original printing of the adventure. Near the center of the island is a hidden temple inhabited by monstrous, mind-bending creatures known as kopru; the characters may stumble across it or learn that it is a source of problems for the other inhabitants of the isle, and the climax of the adventure typically consists of the characters exploring this temple, battling its inhabitants, and uncovering its secrets. ===== It is an exploration of how a film's form can influence audience perception of the content of film. MUBI For this film, the footage comes from Apple Knockers and Coke, a famous porno loop from the late '40s featuring Monroe look-alike Arline Hunter while the song "I'm Through With Love" Senses of Cinema by Marilyn herself is playing. TCM.com ===== Supernatural phenomena and strange occurrences are no sweat for the Nanami Paranormal Investigation agency, headed by Asagi Nanami. As "freak" activity grows to a terrifying fever pitch, Asagi's assistants—Naoki, Tokiko, and Mahime—help to solve several major "freak" cases. Freaks are creatures with the ability to possess humans and prey on their weaknesses. However, Asagi and his gang are no ordinary humans; each is equipped with a special power to vanquish Freaks. ===== The story is about a horror movie actress named Raven Quinn (Debbie Rochon). After her marriage crumbles down, she wins the custody of her daughters and raises them alone. She feels fortunate that she finds a good neighbor named Wayne (Grant Kramer), who provides a much needed emotional support and agrees to baby-sit her two young daughters. Little does Raven know that Wayne has had his share of murders while growing up and has now set his eyes to stalk her. Wayne has an altar that is full of Raven's pictures and a mannequin resembling Raven in his house. Wayne feels cheated that Raven's co- workers are sharing her attention. Feeling jealous, Wayne murders Raven's co- stars one by one while dressed in a Santa Claus costume. His weapon of choice is a "claw". ===== Peacekeeping immortals living in clans inhabit a mythical mountain range called Zu, which is situated between Heaven and Earth. A demon called Insomnia desires to rule Zu and the world below, so it begins to destroy the various clans. In the Kunlun Mountains, Dawn sends away her apprentice, King Sky, because she believes that their emotional attachment to each other hinders their progress. She gives him her weapon, the Moon Orb, to help him train. He is to return only after he has attained a higher level. If she cannot be found, the Moon Orb will find her. Moments after they part, Insomnia attacks Dawn and disintegrates her. 200 years later, at Omei, Grandmaster White Brows senses darkness coming and despatches his student, Red, to investigate. King Sky joins Red and the Omei clan to fight Insomnia. White Brows engages and weakens Insomnia with his weapon, the Sky Reflector. Insomnia retreats into the legendary Blood Cave after its defeat with Omei's top warriors in pursuit. At the cave, King Sky notices Enigma, an Omei member who resembles Dawn. White Brows warns them that the cave is capable of draining the powers of those who venture near it. Red and King Sky risk their lives to battle Insomnia in the cave, and narrowly escape after White Brows sacrifices the Sky Reflector to save them. With Insomnia absorbing the cave's energy, White Brows orders Red to guard the cave entrance while the Omei members regroup and return to base. White Brows tries to combine Enigma's Heaven Sword with Hollow's Thunder Sword, the two guardian weapons of Omei, to form a new weapon, the Flaming Sword of Thunder. Unfortunately, the fusion process fails and rebounds, causing Hollow to die and Enigma to be seriously injured. King Sky rescues Enigma. White Brows tells King Sky that Enigma is Dawn's reincarnation. He then appoints King Sky as the chief of Omei while he enters a new dimension to find a weapon to destroy Insomnia. Before leaving, he resurrects Hollow, who is renamed Ying, in the hope that the reborn Hollow can wield the Thunder Sword in their most desperate hour. However, when Ying turns out to be rather inept, King Sky tries to take his place and use the Thunder Sword himself, but fails and ends up being burnt to death. Enigma mourns his loss and buries his charred remains. In the meantime, Red is possessed by Amnesia, a flower demon, while standing guard outside the Blood Cave. He returns to Omei, decimates the clan, and captures Enigma. Amnesia then destroys the rest of Omei. To the Omei survivors' frustration, Ying has yet to reawaken his past avatar and unlock his abilities. However, during a match against Thunder, an Omei swordsman, Ying suddenly recalls his past life and regains his powers. Concurrently, King Sky returns to life just in time to intercept and receive the new weapon found by White Brows. With the new weapon, King Sky joins Ying and the Omei survivors in confronting the possessed Red at the Blood Cave. After Ying rescues Enigma, they return to Omei to stop Insomnia's final assault. King Sky exorcises Red, but the latter sacrifices himself to destroy Amnesia. At Omei, Enigma and Ying successfully fuse their swords to form a new weapon to defeat Insomnia. King Sky joins the duo and they weaken Insomnia. Enigma possesses Insomnia to prevent the demon from escaping, giving King Sky a chance to destroy it. Just as Insomnia is destroyed, Enigma remembers herself as Dawn and tells King Sky she is happy to find him again before disappearing. After the battle, Enigma is reincarnated as a new immortal and Mount Omei is restored. King Sky parts with the Omei to rebuild his clan. ===== Conan, having been exiled after a drought struck his Bamula tribe and murdering the high priest who blamed him for it, journeys across the savannah of Kush. He instinctively feels that something is watching him, but sees nothing. However, he is being followed by a pack of hungry lions. An hour later, an exhausted Conan has fought off three lion attacks and is out of arrows. He runs through the darkness, with a lioness lapping at his heel, as a beam of moonlight peeks out from behind the clouds. Soon, Conan realizes the lions have stopped their pursuit as the vast plain mysteriously ends. Suddenly, Conan finds himself within the center of a giant circle of dead vegetation. At the edge, the lions simply look on as Conan examines his surroundings. Not knowing how long the lions will be kept at bay by whatever force is preventing them from crossing into the circle, Conan travels deeper into the dead area. Soon, he discovers a ruined castle. As a storm begins forming right above him, Conan realizes his only shelter is the crumbled and misshapen structure ahead of him. Conan makes his way inside the ruined building, noting the black onyx stone and bizarre architecture before him. In fact, the halls and stairs appear to be built for a creature larger than human-sized while strange carvings riddle the walls. Conan wonders if perhaps this was an ancient citadel of the long-extinct Serpent Men he has heard of in legends. Conan sleeps peacefully as the storm passes overhead, frequently jerking awake with his sword at the ready, seeming to hear whispering voices. He becomes convinced that the shadows are ghosts unsuccessfully trying to devour him. He's unaware that in one corner of the castle, the shadows are converging into a sentient mass which is planning to consume him. Meanwhile, a band of Stygian slave traders are searching the savannah for tribesmen to capture. Caught in a violent storm, the men spy the castle in the distance and make their way towards shelter. They burst inside and distract the shadowy black mass that was slowly approaching Conan. Conan, now awake and contemplating the horror he had finally noticed, hides in the shadows while watching as the Stygians eat, drink, and finally fall asleep, with one standing guard. As the sentinel stands, back to his sleeping companions, a hideous shape made from the spirits of a thousand dead souls appears in the center of their camp. The monstrosity, with a hundred heads and a dozen feet and arms, throws itself onto a sleeping Stygian and rips him to shreds. The Stygians rise up and attack the beast to no avail, as it methodically kills one after another. Conan, still hiding, decides to leave the scene while the monster is distracted by climbing out a window. He finds the slavers' horses and begins to mount one, when a lone Stygian, driven mad by his experience, bursts out of the castle. Conan is forced to kill the man to end his insanity. Soon, Conan hears the shuffling of movement towards the door. He doesn't wait to see who or what comes out, swiftly taking the Stygian's armor and spurring his horse into a gallop far away from the cursed castle. ===== While leading a dance troupe, Karan and Priya fall in love and participate in a dance audition and the winner would get the chance of performing on the luxurious Singhania cruise owned by rich businessman Raj Singhania. Jojo Fernandes leader of another troupe wins by cheating in the competition. Soon Karan beats up Jojo and accidentally kills him and gets selected to perform. Raj meets Priya at the deck and eventually falls in love with her and proposes her. It is revealed that Priya and Karan have been scheming to have Raj wed her to get his money. Meanwhile, another dancer named Harry from the troupe gets wind of their plot and starts blackmails Karan to give him money or else he will tell Raj about the plan and tell the police about the death of Jojo Fernandes.It was revealed that Karan killed Jojo Fernandes deliberately. Karan meets him at the designated place to hand him over the money but instead kills him. Unknown to Karan, just before dying, he calls Raj to reveal the truth. The call goes in the voice mailbox since Raj is not in his office. Affected by the dilemma of choosing a caring husband over personal ambition, Priya meets with an accident while returning home. Raj showers Priya with all his love and care. Priya is overwhelmed to know Raj has kept a fast for two days. Priya tells Karan that she will not go with the divorce. Karan feels betrayed and decides to get his revenge on Priya and Raj. He feigns a call from Harry and acts as if he is been harassed for a bribe. Priya decides to give her jewelry to Karan to save him. However, Karan anonymously calls Raj from a public phone and lies to him that Priya loves Karan and she is giving away the money that she looted from Raj to Karan. Raj follows her and sees that Priya is meeting Karan and handing over her jewelry. Raj misunderstands it.He also finds the recording of Harry Raj blackmails Karan by showing him the tape to kill Priya. Raj explains every point of the plan right up to precise time and says that he will call on the landline as he wants to hear Priya scream while she is dying. Priya, unaware of the plan, decides to confess everything to Raj in an audio recording and replace the tape with the music cassette in Raj's car. She knows that Raj has a habit of listening to music while traveling to the office. In the recordings, she mentions that if Raj has forgiven her, he should give her a call. If not,she will leave him forever. Raj was discussing a meeting with an employee that day and hence, doesn't listen to the tape. Karan enters the house as planned and waits for the call. At the same time, Priya is also waiting for the call from Raj expecting him to forgive her. Raj calls the landline as planned, an excited Priya answers the phone. Karan attacks her at the same time and ensures Raj can hear her screams. Raj soon listens to the tape as he sits in the car in horror. He rushes to save Priya only to see the police and an ambulance waiting at the house. It is revealed that Priya is saved and the saviour is none other than Karan; meanwhile, the person who really attacked Priya is a small thief and he is the one who is dead.Karan then tells Raj that by using Harry's cassette, he can prove nothing.He blackmails Raj saying he had recorded the meeting with him about the murder and demands that Raj divorce Priya with large alimony as a part of his ransom plan.Raj goes to meet Karan at a decided spot where he says he is ready to go to jail,but only after Karan is killed.Both men break out in a fight and Karan was about to kill Raj but is confronted by Priya. Karan tells her about Raj's plan to kill her,but she says that she is aware of it. At the end of the movie, Priya and Raj kill Karan and reunites. ===== The No Turning Back Group allegedly discussed their 'grumbles' at David Cameron over a bowl of soup at the so-called Dinner Party Plot (2013). John Redwood refutes these claims. ===== Florence Eldridge as Anabelle West, imperiled heroine of The Cat and the Canary (1922) The story concerns the death and inheritance of old Cyrus West, a rich eccentric who felt that his relatives "have watched my wealth as if they were cats, and I — a canary". He decrees that his will be read 20 years after his death, at which point his relatives converge at his old family home, now a spooky old haunted mansion. The will reads that his most distant relative still bearing the name of West be sole heir, provided they are legally sane. The rest of the night spent in the house calls into question the sanity of Annabelle West, a fragile young woman who is legally Cyrus West's heir. ===== ===== Alanna, now squire to Prince Jonathan of Conte, has to protect her dreams of knighthood and friends through their first war with Tusaine. She slowly learns more about her gift, using it primarily to heal, and continues to hide her true gender while both George and Jon have fallen in love with her. She continues to be suspicious of and protect Jon from his power-mad first cousin, Roger, on the way to her becoming a full-fledged knight. ===== A newly knighted Alanna leaves the capital to travel among the Bazhir in the desert and after being attacked by bandits and her sword breaking, she gets adopted by one of the tribes, though clashing with the tribe's shaman who seeks to destroy her name with the sword that broke her own. After fighting to the death with the shaman for her honor and winning, she has to replace the shaman and cannot leave until she trains another. After training the first 2 girl shamen she rides back home and fixes her sword. ===== The first chapter of this book finds Alanna, Faithful, and Coram on a quest for the 'Dominion Jewel', which grants immense psychokinetic power to any monarch who owns it. In the town of Berat, Alanna befriends martial-arts champion Liam Ironarm, called the 'Dragon of Shang', who joins the quest. Liam begins training her in Shang fighting style, and the two become lovers. The party thence traverse the realm of Sarain, evading a civil war between the native 'K'miri' tribes and the ruler, Warlord jin Wilima, and acquire new companions in Princess Thayet, the Warlord's only child, and her K’miri protector Buriram Tourokom. At the mountain range known as the 'Roof of the World', Alanna becomes frustrated by the blizzards blocking their progress and her magical sense that trouble is occurring back in Tortall. She casts a spell on the group to keep them asleep and then ascends to the pass, where she undergoes a grueling physical trial to acquire the Jewel from its immortal guardian, Chitral. She succeeds in winning the Jewel and returns to the group, to find that Liam—who is afraid of magic—is angry at being bewitched by her. Their romantic relationship ends, though they continue as friends and colleagues. Upon their return to Tortall, Alanna is met by her old friend Raoul of Goldenlake, who informs her of three key events that have occurred in her absence: the Tortallan monarchs have died; Prince Jonathan has been named King but not yet been crowned; and Alanna's twin brother Thom, to prove himself the most powerful sorcerer in the realm, has resurrected Duke Roger (killed by Alanna in an earlier book). Alanna hurries to take Jonathan's side and give him the Dominion Jewel, and Jonathan names her as his King's Champion. Elsewhere in Corus, Thom is being rapidly poisoned by his own magic, by its interaction with that of Roger. On the eve of the Coronation, Tortall's Great Mother Goddess warns Alanna that the ceremony will be a "crossroad in time", decisive of the realm's future. During the coronation, Roger’s plan comes to fruition: he causes a series of magical earthquakes using his and Thom’s joined power to bring down the palace, while insurgents loyal to Roger and his allies Lady Delia of Eldorne, Alex of Tirragen (Alanna’s childhood friend), and Claw, aka Ralon of Malven (Alanna’s former bully) storm the palace. Jonathan uses his Gift and unleashes the Dominion Jewel’s power to keep the earthquakes at bay, while Alanna‘s friends battle to protect Jonathan from assassination and Alanna goes in search of Roger. In the prolonged battle, Thom dies, drained of his life by Roger's magic. Alanna duels Alex and defeats him. She then kills Josianne, after the princess has killed Si Cham and Faithful. Roger awaits her in the catacombs, presiding over a Gate of Idramm. He reveals how he survived his death due to Sorcerer's Sleep, as well as his hand in Lightning's origins. Weary and temporarily Giftless, Alanna remains ready for battle. Roger summons Lightning toward him, and after resisting, she realizes the benefit of having the sword fly toward him. In less than the blink of an eye, Roger is impaled by the force of the sword's movement. Alanna emerges from the battle to find in the aftermath that Jonathan and her friends survived, the insurgents are defeated and captured, but Liam Ironarm was killed defending Jonathan. Later, Alanna returns to the Bazhir (a Bedouin-like ethnicity of Tortall's southern desert) to recover from her losses. She learns that Jonathan has married Thayet—a match Alanna had given her blessing to—and appointed George a baron to guard Tortall's coast. George arrives in the desert to seek out Alanna, who professes her mutual love for him. The two head exit the tent to tell the Bloody Hawk tribe of their betrothal. Category:1988 American novels Category:1988 fantasy novels Category:Tortallan books Category:Books about cats ===== Creative license was used in writing the screenplay, and many incidents were sanitized and fictionalized, including the following: Lon Chaney had stated in interviews at the time that he did not want Creighton (later Lon Chaney Jr.) to be an actor as is clearly depicted in the film's conclusion. At the time of his father's death, Creighton Chaney had been married for two years, attended business college, and worked at an LA water heater company.Classic monsters. "http://www.classic-monsters.com/lon- chaney-jr/" Lon Chaney Jr When the company failed and financial problems became overwhelming for Creighton, he started to accept film work and was billed under his birth name. It was only in the mid-1930s that he allowed himself (at the insistence of film producers) to be billed as "Lon Chaney, Jr.", an action he often said he felt ashamed of. In later life, Chaney Jr. stated that he was proud of the name "Lon Chaney", but not of the name "Lon Chaney Jr." In the film, Lon is depicted as being at home, and surrounded by family and friends when he passes on. In reality, Chaney died in his hospital room after suffering a hemorrhage. The depiction of Chaney's makeup for The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame differs significantly from Chaney's original makeup for these films. Cagney's face appears partially immobile behind an elaborate full latex mask and other makeup. Lon Chaney actually took great pride in his ability to distort his appearance using only a minimum of makeup, which still allowed for a great deal of facial expression. For instance, Chaney utilized thin wires in his nose and around his eyes, false teeth and dark paint around his eyes and nostrils, plus other methods. Bud Westmore's recreations of the original makeups are clearly partial masks which resemble the originals. Cagney's face in some scenes is fairly immobile, such as the scene where he speaks to Creighton while wearing his Hunchback of Notre Dame makeup, and when he speaks to the actress at the conclusion of the unmasking scene in The Phantom of the Opera. ===== The book is split into three parts. ===== In 1895, the Royal North Surrey Regiment is called to active service to join the army of Sir Herbert Kitchener in the Mahdist War against the forces of the Khalifa (John Laurie). Forced into an army career by family tradition and fearful he might prove a coward in battle, Lieutenant Harry Faversham (John Clements) resigns his commission on the eve of its departure. As a result, his three friends and fellow officers, Captain John Durrance (Ralph Richardson) and Lieutenants Burroughs (Donald Gray) and Willoughby (Jack Allen), show their contempt for his action by each sending him a white feather attached to a calling card. When his fiancée, Ethne Burroughs (June Duprez), says nothing in his defence, he bitterly demands a fourth from her. She refuses, but he plucks one from her fan. Harry confides in an old mentor and former surgeon in his father's regiment, Dr. Sutton (Frederick Culley), that he now realises he did act out of cowardice and must attempt to redeem himself. He departs for Egypt. There, he disguises himself as a despised mute Sangali native, with the help of Dr. Harraz (Henry Oscar), to hide his lack of knowledge of the local languages. Faversham (left) guiding the blind Durrance through the desert to safety During the army's advance, Durrance is ordered to take his company into the desert to lure the Khalifa's army away from the Nile so that Kitchener's army can sail past. Durrance is blinded by sunstroke, and the company is overrun. He is left for dead on the battlefield, while Burroughs and Willoughby are captured. However, the disguised Faversham takes the delirious Durrance across the desert and down the Nile to the vicinity of a British fort. As he is putting something into Durrance's wallet, Faversham is spotted and mistaken for a robber. He is placed in a convict gang, but escapes. Six months later, the blind Durrance has returned to England. Out of pity, Ethne agrees to marry him. At dinner with Ethne, her father, and Dr. Sutton, as Durrance is relating the tale of his miraculous rescue, he pulls out a keepsake letter from Ethne, the only thing he had in his wallet during the "robbery". A white feather and his card drop out, revealing to the others that his rescuer was Harry Faversham. Nobody has the heart to tell him. Burroughs and Willoughby are thrown into a dungeon in Omdurman with other enemies of the Khalifa. Still playing the addled Sangali, Faversham surreptitiously gives them hope of escape and passes them a file, but arouses the suspicions of the guards. He is flogged and imprisoned with the others. He reveals his identity to his friends and organizes an escape during Kitchener's attack. Faversham leads the other prisoners in overpowering their guards and seizing the Khalifa's arsenal, where they hold until the arrival of Kitchener's forces. Durrance learns of Faversham's deeds from a newspaper account and realises it was Harry who saved him. He dictates a letter to Ethne, releasing her from their engagement on the false pretext of going to Germany for a prolonged course of treatment to restore his eyesight. Some time later, Harry attends a dinner with his friends and Ethne, where General Burroughs (C. Aubrey Smith), Ethne's father, acknowledges that Harry has forced all of them to take back their feathers—all except Ethne. Faversham playfully makes her take back her white feather by the courageous act of interrupting the General in the midst of his favourite war story about the Battle of Balaclava to correct his embellishments; the irritated Burroughs complains that he will never be able to tell that story again. ===== Billy, a shy young man looking for a date, meets the beautiful Jenny Smith at a nightclub. They enter a relationship where Billy is bashful to tell Jenny that he loves her due to fear of being "trapped", and both paramours receive advice from their respective friends. The couple engage in sexual encounters while using barrier devices; during these encounters Billy is unable to reveal to Jenny his affection. Then, one year after their first meeting, Billy and Jenny decide to take a vacation, and (hastily) sleep together without condoms or diaphragms. Soon after, Jenny discovers that she is pregnant, and argues with Billy, who accuses her of trapping him into marriage. The couple take bad consultations from their coworkers. Eventually, Jenny decides to go to a clinic to abort her unwanted child. Billy comes to his senses and stops her from doing so, resulting in the two confessing their love for one another. The film ends with Billy and Jenny getting happily married and celebrating the birth of their child. ===== Divorcee Martha Tierney awakes to a phone call from the headmistress of her son's school telling her that Jonathan, her son, is not at school. Martha, an alcoholic, is disoriented. Jonathan sneaks out early in the morning for a secret meeting with his father at a doughnut shop at 8 A.M. Jonathan leaves the house early and stops by a neighbor who tells him that the chosen doughnut shop is closed and he will have to meet his father in the street. Jonathan is stalked by Lawrence Miller, a former professor who has lost his job over accusations of child molestation. When Patrick fails to show at the doughnut shop, Lawrence pretends to be a friend of Jonathan's father and lures him off to the zoo, then on to an apartment that doubles as a film studio for child pornography movies. Patrick, Martha, the neighbors, and investigating detective Sergeant Mooney all work together to hunt for the little boy. Jonathan uses all his courage and resourcefulness to escape the sexual abuse that he knows is coming. ===== After a routine health inspection, the inspector, Mr. Carnegie, after an exhaustive listing of problems in the kitchen, informs Basil and Sybil that Fawlty Towers is below standard, with the flaws including the presence of two dead pigeons in the water tank. He will, therefore, recommend closure to the Council if they do not rectify the problems within 24 hours. The staff all get to work straight away. When Basil is alerting Manuel, he notices that he is keeping a pet rat, having been conned into thinking that it's a Siberian hamster. Basil, afraid that the health inspector will take issue with it, removes it. Infuriated, Manuel threatens to resign, and it is debated what to do with it. Eventually, it is agreed that it will be moved to a friend of Polly, but she and Manuel secretly hide it in a shed nearby. Foolishly, Manuel lets it out to exercise, and it escapes back into the hotel, prompting a discreet rat hunt. Unfortunately, Basil learns of it from the Major, who had tried to shoot it, and decides to join in the hunt after a confrontation ("Let's have a little Basil hunt, shall we? And then we can deal with the sackings later on"). During the search, Basil applies rat poison to a veal fillet and puts it on the floor in the kitchen. Just as Carnegie arrives, the Major sees the rat and shoots at it. Basil silences him (by jabbing him in the groin with the butt of the gun) and persuades him to say his target was a starling. Manuel, while asking about his rat, whose name is "Basil", is informed that the chef puts a lot of basil in the ratatouille. Panicking ("He put Basil in the ratatouille?!"), Manuel runs into the kitchen, only to be informed by Terry that "I haven't made any bleedin' ratatouille!" In the commotion, a tray of veal is spilled, and the poisoned cutlet is picked up as well by an unknowing Terry. To make matters worse, every subsequent guest asks for veal, including Mr. Carnegie, who has decided to stay for lunch after declaring the hotel to once again be in satisfactory condition. Unable to persuade him to try something else, or discern which veal is safe, they resort to using a piece the cat chewed, as it is not demonstrating signs of poisoning. Moments later, Basil retrieves it after he walks out the back and sees the cat choking, only to discover that the cat was, by extremely remarkable coincidence, throwing up a fur ball when Basil had seen it. Meanwhile, Manuel spots the rat at the table of an engaged young couple named Quentina and Ronald, and struggles to take their order. Basil is called over to explain Manuel's shock, and informs him that there is a bread roll under the table, ordering Manuel to get a box. Polly takes their order, and of course, they ask for veal. When Basil explains that the veal is off, only for them to see Sybil serve Carnegie his veal (which Basil claims is "veal substitute"), the couple decide to dine elsewhere, but Polly informs Basil that the rat is in Quentina's handbag. She catches him trying to fish it out, and he is only saved from a "bunch of fives" from an indignant Ronald after Polly says that there has been a bomb scare. Unfortunately, the rat bites Basil and escapes into the dining room. Manuel catches and hides it in the biscuit tin. When he turns around for a moment, the Major takes the box for a biscuit. Manuel does not see this and frantically searches for the box. Carnegie finishes lunch and asks for some coffee, cheese and biscuits for afters. The Major unknowingly hands Polly the box containing the rat. On opening the lid, the rat's head pops up and looks directly into Mr Carnegie's face. Carnegie is speechless, especially when Basil asks "would you care for a rat, or...?" Polly removes the rat and returns to Carnegie, who is still dumbfounded by what he has seen, and not altogether certain that he did see it. Sybil ends the series with the line "I'm afraid it's started to rain again," in an attempt to distract Carnegie as Manuel drags Basil, who has fainted off-screen, out of the dining room. ===== In post-Glasnost Moscow, the KGB stumble across an old disused training facility recreating 1960s London. They soon discover that the purpose of the facility was to integrate KGB agents into British society. Two of these agents are still missing 25 years later. In fact, the two agents have become integrated into British society so well they themselves have forgotten the reason they were sent there in the first place. They are as British as the British as far as they are concerned. One of them, Jeremy Coward, has become a successful City financier with a string of girlfriends, a posh car and a studio apartment. The other, Albert Robinson, is a hard-working moderate trade unionist living in Eccles in the north of England, with a wife, children and a council house. One day, Albert's daughter hears a strange noise coming from the attic. Looking for his daughter, Albert also hears the noise and discovers an old radio transmitter. He recognises the Russian radio transmission and suddenly realises that his old bosses are out to find him. Scared for his family, he goes away for a few days and manages to locate his associate. The KGB also begin to take action to retrieve the two rogue agents and send Major Grishina - a darkly attractive female officer - to the United Kingdom in order to bring them back to the Soviet Union. Her arrival alerts the CIA and MI5 that something big must be happening for the KGB to send such a high-ranking officer to Britain. Her arrival also shakes up the Soviet representatives in the UK. The chief KGB officer in the UK is more decadent than the locals and is originally discovered watching an American baseball game on the TV. The action unfolds as the KGB pursue the two errant agents across England - hotly pursued by the CIA and MI5. ===== Mississippi State Penitentiary, the setting of the film In April 1967, the office of Marvin Kramer, a Jewish civil rights lawyer in Indianola, Mississippi, is bombed by the Ku Klux Klan, killing Kramer's five-year-old twin boys and leading to the amputation of Kramer's legs and his later suicide. Klansman Sam Cayhall (Hackman) is tried for murder in the bombing, and is eventually convicted and sentenced to die in the gas chamber at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. Twenty-nine years later, in 1996, Adam Hall (O’Donnell), a young attorney at the Chicago law firm of Kravitz and Bane, seeks assignment to the firm's pro bono representation of Cayhall in the last weeks before his scheduled execution. Adam is Sam Cayhall's grandson, his family having since moved away from the South and changed their name, haunted and shamed by Cayhall's crime. Adam is motivated to take the case in a search for some understanding of the dark secrets of his family, which prompted the suicide of Adam's father the year Sam was sentenced to death (and whose body Adam found as a child). Adam is sent by the firm to Jackson, Mississippi to take over the case and there reconnects with his aunt Lee Bowen (Dunaway), an alcoholic socialite who has managed to avoid public association with her infamous father, and who warns Adam about the dangers of dredging up the past. On death row, Sam remains a brusque, bitter, unrepentant racist who brags about his participation in the Klan bombing campaign of which the Kramer bombing was a part, though he denies that any of the bombings were intended to kill. He taunts Adam for his youth, legal inexperience, anti-racism, and the suicide of his father, but he agrees to allow Adam to represent him, though he forbids Adam from seeking clemency from Mississippi Governor McAllister, who had prosecuted Sam in his last retrial and had campaigned on that prosecution in his election to Governor. Nevertheless, as he begins to argue the case, Adam is approached by the Governor through an aide, Nora Stark (Rochon), who suggests that the Governor might consider clemency if Sam provides information about unidentified co- conspirators to the bombing. As Adam investigates, inconsistencies in the facts of the original case come to light, casting doubt on Sam's intent to kill and suggesting that he lacked the ability to make the bomb himself, and both Stark and the original FBI agent who investigated the case indicate that the bombing may have been the result of a broader conspiracy involving the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and White Citizens' Councils, which were active at the time of the bombing in opposition to civil rights. Sam refuses to authorize Adam to seek access to the Sovereignty Commission's files, sealed by order of the state legislature, fearing it would expose Sam's former associates in the Klan, as well allowing the Governor to obtain useful information on political enemies, which he indicates is the Governor's real reason for seeking Sam's cooperation in unsealing the files. Adam continues to work through the courts, filing and arguing motions for a stay of execution, including on the grounds that Sam was legally insane and unable to tell right from wrong, due to his indoctrination into the Ku Klux Klan. At the same time, Lee, faced with the unearthed ghosts of the family history and having lapsed back into full-blown alcoholism, reveals to Adam that in the early 1950s, as children, she and Adam's father had witnessed their father murder the family's African-American neighbor, Joe Lincoln, during a fight that had started because Adam's father, Eddie, had wrongly accused Lincoln's son of stealing a toy soldier. Eddie had blamed himself for the murder, as well as Lee, for failing to stop Sam, the guilt of which was a factor in Eddie's later suicide and Lee's alcoholism. Lee also reveals how their father had been indoctrinated into the Klan as a child, showing Adam a historic photograph of Sam as a young boy attending a Klan lynching (which Adam uses in his arguments before the courts). Adam and Nora secretly gain access to the Sovereignty Commission's sealed files, which prove a wider conspiracy to the bombing, and also indicate the participation of an accomplice. The former FBI agent resurfaces, and reveals to Adam that the FBI had identified the accomplice, Rollie Wedge, whom the FBI had never been able to prove responsible, but who has reunited with other Klan members to commemorate the bombing on the eve of the pending execution. Adam goes to the Klan reunion and is beaten by several Klan members, and threatened at gunpoint by Wedge. Adam's persistence, the revelation of how much Sam's hatred had destroyed his family, and his impending execution begin to affect Sam, and he softens, reconciling with Lee and expressing remorse for his actions and the effect they have had on his family. Sam forcefully rejects the Klan when Wedge visits him in prison to encourage him to remain silent, and it is revealed that Wedge was the one who had built the bomb and set it deliberately to kill. Ultimately, Adam's motions for a stay are denied by the courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Despite Sam's finally authorizing the release of relevant Sovereignty Commission files, the Governor refuses to grant clemency, betraying him and Adam, while nonetheless using the files as political leverage (as Sam had predicted), though Wedge, identified in the files, is finally arrested. Ultimately, Sam is executed in the gas chamber, though Adam remains a confidant and advocate for his grandfather up until his execution, and he and Lee embrace at the end, in the hope that maybe the ghosts of the past are gone. ===== Daine receives a summons from some old friends—the wolf pack from her old village, led by Brokefang and his mate Frostfur, who are unhappy with the nobles ruining the Long Lake, their territory. They send messengers to ask Daine for help and then disappear back into the night to hunt while Daine discusses this over with her teacher, Numair Salmalin. Numair agrees to help the wolves, but he decides that he first must visit the nobles in Fief Dunlath at a party to further investigate after they find the burnt remains of the Ninth Rider Group. Numair recognizes a battle mage at Fief Dunlath, who appears to be wooing Lady Yolane. After Daine boldly approaches them about the threat to the wolves and to the area with a warning that if they don't change, things will happen, the nobles all laugh at her. She retires with Numair back to their quarters and they stealthily leave in the night from Fief Dunlath. Tristan Staghorn, the mage in Dunlath is a war mage from the Carthaki university where Numair studied to become one of the 7 most powerful mages in the world. Upon discovering Tristan was there, Numair realized that the situation in Dunlath was worse than they had thought. He creates a magical simulacra (clone) of himself and plays on Tristan's knowledge of him back in Carthak, where he was a "book-bound idiot." He explains to Daine that people who are Black robe mages study books and learn nothing practical. Daine seems to think he relies too much on the enemy mage's stupidity. Shortly after this, Numair decides to go back to the city where King Jonathan is and warns him of something afoot in Dunlath. Daine stays to sort out the mess with her friend Brokefang and Numair tells her not to do anything extreme or he will lock her in the deepest dankest dungeon he can find when he gets his hands on her again. Throughout the book, Daine reaches the next level in the development of her wild magic as she starts to share minds with animals, a useful ability as she uses the eyes of squirrels and other creatures to spy. This ability soon translates to gaining certain characteristics of animals once she returns to her natural body. Daine discovers she has the power to morph into animals after Maura, Lady Yolane's somewhat plain and much younger sister, runs away from Fief Dunlath. Shortly afterwards, Rikash Moonsword the Stormwing appears to be fond of Maura and he makes Daine rethink her theory about all Stormwings being naturally evil. Maura tells Daine about Yolane's plans to become Queen—a deal with Emperor Ozorne of Carthak, who is also hinted at causing the siege at Pirate's Swoop in the first book. In the meantime, Daine meets a basilisk named Tkaa, who comes to be an important ally and a partial tutor to Kitten, her dragonet. Tristan creates a magical barrier to isolate fief Dunlath from help. Daine learns that Tristan and his mage friends Alamid and Gissa are going to dump a poison called bloodrain into the river at the north of Dunlath to kill everything living within ten miles of the river. Tristan tries to hurt Daine with his magic, and Numair turns Tristan into an apple tree with a word of power, also causing a tree somewhere in the world to turn into a human. ===== Daine travels with a Tortallan embassy to Carthak in order to help cure the Emperor's birds of a mysterious sickness, as well to improve relations with the hostile country. ===== Daine and the mage Numair are faced with certain death when they are suddenly swept into the mystical realms of the gods, where Daine learns the secrets of her past. But she and Numair are both needed in the mortal world to help fight the desperate war that is raging in Tortall. And so they undertake the journey home – a dangerous journey that will teach them about life and about each other. Their path leads them to the final clash, which involves both gods and immortals – a battle in which the only chance for Tortall's future lies with Daine and her wild magic. Set in Tortall during the reign of King Jonathan IV and Queen Thayet, Realms of the Gods is the final book in The Immortals series, which chronicles a time when the world is invaded by immortal creatures. ===== Oscar had a nightmare where he is being chased by a hungry shark. He was woken up by Mrs. Sanchez and is kicked out from her apartment by repofish as he didn't pay their rent to them. Oscar then has to save all the items from falling before they are destroyed. He then removes all graffiti that had messages making fun of him, only to find out that the fish were just making up that message for another Oscar who lives by the canals. Oscar then tells the fish to remove the graffiti before the police can arrive. Oscar later stages a dance party through the news anchor, Katie Current to prove that he can defeat sharks. As he is dancing, Sykes, Oscar's boss, arrives and tells him to be in the Whale Wash on time before he does, leading to a taxi chase all over the city. Arriving at the Whale Wash, he sees that Sykes has snuck in first and Oscar must avoid detection from the Whale Wash guards to get to work on time before he can get fired. ===== The four adult sons of Katie Elder – John (John Wayne), who is a famous (or infamous) professional gunman; Tom (Dean Martin), a professional gambler; Bud (Michael Anderson, Jr.), the youngest brother, still in school; and Matt (Earl Holliman), an unsuccessful hardware dealer – reunite in their hometown of Clearwater, Texas (approximately 2 hours east of Dallas in northeast Texas), in 1898 for their mother's funeral, sharing regret that none of them have lived up to her high expectations of them. The townspeople and new deputy sheriff are unfriendly, to the two eldest John and Tom in particular. Katie Elder, however, was extremely well liked by everyone in the community, who were all aware of her honesty, her poverty and her undying love for the sons who neglected her. The brothers want to do something for Katie's sake, and their plan is to send youngest son Bud to college, raising money through a sale of another man's herd of horses, even though Bud wants to emulate his eldest brother. Morgan Hastings (James Gregory), a gunsmith and rising entrepreneur, claims ownership of the Elders' rich ranch and house / outbuildings for his Hastings Gun Manufactory, saying he won it from their father in a game of cards; Bass Elder afterwards was shot in the back at night, and the killer is still unknown. Hastings hides a hostile attitude towards the brothers and brings in a hired gun, Curley (George Kennedy). Noting Hasting's suspicious attitude, the Elders begin to suspect foul play upon their return. Hastings claims Bass lost the ranch in a game of Blackjack, so John, in a ruse, states their father wouldn't have been caught dead playing Blackjack poker. When Hastings learns about the brothers' investigations, he kills the well-loved sheriff (Paul Fix) and frames the Elder brothers for the murder. Then, while the Elders are being moved to a nearby different county jail for safety, Hastings, not content with seeing them go to prison, arranges an ambush in which Matt is killed and Bud seriously injured. Deputy Sheriff Ben Latta (Jeremy Slate) is not part of the conspiracy, but is shot and killed by Hastings when he decides to aid the Elders after seeing he had been fooled. The surviving Elders succeed in beating back the ambushers. Going back to town to get medical help for Bud, John and Tom barricade themselves in the town smithy. Tom manages to sneak around back alleys to kidnap Hasting's weak-willed son Dave (Dennis Hopper), although he is seriously injured in the process. Hastings shoots his own boy in an attempt to prevent him from testifying. In the presence of John Elder and the local judge, Dave manages to relate the tale of his father's crimes before he dies. Now vindicated, John takes up arms in righteous fury and kills Hastings, who is hiding in his gunsmith shop, by shooting up a cask of gunpowder inside his own gun store, blowing up the building. ===== Modern-day secular India is held at ransom by powerful criminal Baba Sikander (Mithun Chakraborty) and his brothers, Aftab (Milind Gunaji) and Sameer (Prithvi Zutshi). They begin by demanding money from wealthy businessmen; when their victims refuse to pay, they are killed. One of their victims is Kantilal Shah, a rich businessman. Karan Shah (Rahul Khanna) is Kantilal's adopted son. He was a mere canteen boy who was spotted and adopted by Kantilal while trying to secretly listen to a board-room discussion. He gained his father's trust over the years and was gradually given the responsibility of running the family business, much to the chagrin of his step-sister, Anjali. Upon hearing that his father's life is in danger, Karan returns from America and convinces his father not to give in to the extortionist's demands and instead ask him to provide that amount to his past victims and their families. Kantilal agrees. Then five days later, a day after his birthday, Kantilal is gunned down in the elevator along with four of his bodyguards. Anjali openly renounces Karan and asks him not to participate in her father's funeral. A shocked and devastated Karan announces to Baba that he will apprehend and bring him to justice in India, no matter where he had to look. However, Karan finds out that Baba is hiding in Italy, which does not have an extradition treaty with India. Thus, unable to take any legal action, Karan recruits some mercenaries to go with him to Italy and help him bring Baba back to India. The first man he chooses is a suspended former police inspector, Arjun Srivastav (Arjun Rampal), who had located and brutally killed his then pregnant wife's assailants on his own and now lives as a single parent with his school-going daughter. After some persuasion from Karan and his daughter alike, Arjun agrees. Arjun recommends that the second man involved be Abhimanyu (John Abraham), who is currently in Vashi Jail and had been Baba's chauffeur and hitman before being framed by Baba and his associates following a failed job. Abhimanyu is rescued in broad daylight by Arjun and his men, who were pretending to be doctors, on the pretext of a medical checkup (The escapade takes place dramatically, in a style adopted from the film Spy Game to spring Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack) from a Chinese prison.) Arjun and Karan convince Abhimanyu to help them with vital information about Baba and his gang in return for a heavy payment. He reluctantly agrees to do so. The trio then go to Venice (where Baba is said to be, based on Abhimanyu's information). There, Abhimanyu meets his girlfriend Sonia (Lara Dutta) and tries backing out of the mission by passing of Sonia as Baba's girlfriend who wants a huge amount of money for the information she would supposedly provide. Thus, under this pretext, he double crosses Arjun and Karan, takes the money, and tries escaping with the money along with Sonia. Before he can do so, both he and Sonia are kidnapped by Baba and his men. Priya (Amisha Patel), a press reporter from Aaj Tak, looking for a story on Karan earlier, has followed the two there, using a satellite tracker for mobile phones. She meets them and tells them about Abhimanyu's deceit. Despite this, The three go to rescue Abhimanyu and Sonia, in a lengthy gunfight and high speed car chase. Karan and Arjun are angry at Abhimanyu's betrayal, however the latter apologizes and agrees to help them in return for their saving his life since he intends to settle scores with Salim (Chunky Pandey), one of Baba's trusted aides who had been instrumental in helping Baba set him up. The five then go and apprehend Salim and after some effort, he divulges at gunpoint that Baba is in Munich. Abhimanyu then shoots him for his betrayal. Karan finds Baba in Munich and tells him about Salim's death much to Baba's devastation, reiterating his warning that he would fulfil his promise of bringing the latter back to India at any cost. In course of time, the group become good friends. Acting on a tip, when they go to Baba's guest house in Munich to catch him red handed, they are fooled and are then surrounded by Baba and his men. A lengthy gunfight follows, in the course of which, Arjun dies while getting into a jeep. Baba now warns Karan to leave him alone and save his own life and that of the others while there is still time. Devastated, Karan feels that bringing the others on the mission was a big mistake, much to Abhimanyu's fury. However he takes a final stand as Priya motivates him not to give up the fight at this point, reasoning that he had always been right, once when he had asked his father not to give in to Baba's demands and even now, when he had decided to gather the group to bring Baba back to India. Karan and Abhimanyu, now go to apprehend Baba as he leaves the country through the French border. Sonia and Priya alert the French Border Police as France has an extradition treaty with India. The trick works, as Baba is cornered by Karan, Abhimanyu and the French border police just as he is crossing the border. A long and devastating gunfight ensues, at the end of which many of Baba's most trusted aides are killed. Finally, Baba is left alone and stranded after Karan stops Abhimanyu from shooting him, reasoning that the terror Baba inspired in people had to end and this would thus end Baba's life in turn. Baba is sent to India, sentenced to death and hanged. Karan becomes a national hero for his feat. He reconciles with his sister and finally marries Priya. The couple adopt Arjun's daughter, Ayesha. Abhimanyu and Sonia also get married and settle down in Venice. ===== A group of criminals, led by the ruthless Alexander Ward, hatch a plan to steal gold bars from a bank vault in Deadwood, South Dakota. Ward sends one of his henchmen, Marty Jones, to set an explosion in a nearby gold mine; the detonation will act as a diversion for their heist. Although Marty, accompanied by local barmaid Natalie, succeeds in setting off the explosion, he encounters a beast in the mine. The beast kills Natalie, but Marty escapes with his life. The next morning, the explosive goes off as planned, and Marty and his gang succeed in stealing gold bars from the vault. Led by a local guide named Gil Jackson, they set off to a remote cabin, where they hope to be picked up by a plane. Gil is initially unaware of their plans, but he becomes suspicious when he hears reports of the robbery on the radio and discovers that they're carrying handguns. They reach the cabin without incident but, once there, a violent snowstorm delays the plane's arrival. Marty's "secretary" Gypsy is taken with the young Gil and tells him that Marty plans to kill him once the plane arrives. Gil and Gypsy take off back to town together. Marty, who still carries unpleasant memories of his encounter with the beast, has all the while been concerned about being followed. He encounters the beast again during the trip to the cabin, but his companions think he's losing his mind. Eventually, however, they become convinced of the beast's reality when they see it attack Marty's other henchman, Byron. Despite their fear of further attacks, the gang is set on tracking down Gil and Gypsy before they reach town, so they head to a nearby cave. Another snowstorm forces Gil and Gypsy to take shelter in the cave as well, which turns out to be the lair of the beast. In the final struggle, the beast kills the remaining gang members, but Marty shoots it with a flare gun before he dies. Gil and Gypsy are left to watch as the monster burns to death. ===== In Burundi, a British forensic anthropologist is examining the corpses in a mass grave, claiming they were all killed in an identical manner. When the woman digs her shovel into what she believes is another grave, an unseen creature attacks and violently drags her into the river. The UN soldiers accompanying her fire into the water, but only her mangled corpse floats to the surface - before being devoured. In a New York City newsroom, television journalist Tim Manfrey (Dominic Purcell) is assigned by his boss, Roger (Patrick Lyster), to travel to Burundi with Aviva Masters (Brooke Langton), a reporter who deals with animal stories and has become interested in Gustave, a gigantic, fierce crocodile known to have killed hundreds of people in Africa, over the years. With the killing of the anthropologist, Gustave is suddenly a story of interest to the world. Tim doesn't want to go, knowing that Burundi is a war zone, but he has little choice, since one of his stories turns out to have been based on falsified evidence. Tim and Aviva are accompanied to Burundi by Tim's cameraman and friend, Steven Johnson (Orlando Jones) and herpetologist Matt Collins (Gideon Emery), who is intent on capturing Gustave alive. At the airport in Bujumbura they are met by a government official nicknamed Harry (Dumisani Mbebe), who tries to delay their departure by warning them of unrest in the bush, caused by a dangerous warlord who has nicknamed himself "Little Gustave." Tim manages to overrule Harry by faking a call to Roger, and the team departs the next day, accompanied by two soldiers. When the party reach the village where the last attack occurred, they meet their guide, a licensed hunter named Jacob (Jürgen Prochnow), and are blessed by the local shaman. The friendly villagers later assemble a steel cage in order to capture the crocodile and take it to a nearby swamp. The first attempt to capture Gustave, by placing a goat as bait, fails, but Matt manages to shoot a tracking dart into it. The next day, Steven happens upon the shaman and his family being executed by men working for Little Gustave and films it. While the others debate airing the footage, Jojo (Gabriel Malema), a teenage villager who helped set up the cage, uses himself as live bait to capture Gustave. The beast arrives, and tries to devour him, but disappears, as Tim, Matt, and Steven race to rescue him. Meanwhile, Aviva catches one of the soldier escorts stealing money from a tent. The soldier knocks her down and attempts to rape her, but Gustave arrives and kills him. Aviva escapes unharmed, and catches up with the others. The remaining guard relays over his radio that the Americans videotaped the shaman's execution. Just as the group realizes that the soldiers work for Little Gustave, the remaining guards, believing Jacob videotaped the evidence, wounds him; Jojo intervenes, and shoots them. While Jacob's wound is being treated, Gustave attacks the group. Jacob recalls the story of how his wife, Ona, was killed by Gustave, and that he swore revenge. Jacob produces a grenade, and detonates it as Gustave grabs him in his jaws, and devours him, but the explosion fails to kill the crocodile. The next day, a helicopter arrives to airlift the survivors, but a truck arrives with two of Little Gustave's men, who fire a rocket at the helicopter. The group ducks, except for Matt, who runs after the helicopter to stop it from flying away. Matt is rammed by the truck and shot to death by the younger of the two militia members, a teenager performing what is clearly his first execution. When the driver of the truck notices the rest of the group, Tim yells for them to split up. In the ensuing chase, both of Little Gustave's men are killed: when the truck crashes into the river, the teenager is thrown out and dies on impact, while the driver is shot by Aviva when he tries to strangle Tim to death. Steven stumbles upon Gustave and struggles to escape. While Aviva stays with the injured Jojo, Tim goes to look for Steven, but finds only his camera. As they are waiting for help, Tim remarks to Aviva that he now understands the shaman's earlier words that "we make our own monsters." Matt had earlier told the group that crocodiles frequently feed on carrion, and there is no limit to how large they can grow, given enough sustenance; it is the bodies from the civil war, floating in the river, that have given Gustave a taste for human flesh, and allowed him to reach such a gargantuan size, as the years go by. Harry arrives in a Range Rover, but Tim realizes that he is actually Little Gustave upon discovering the shaman's necklace in his possession, who wants the video evidence. Tim attempts to trick Harry by giving him the GPS tracker linked to the dart on Gustave, saying it will locate the computer with the video. Harry forces Tim and Aviva to lead them to the "computer." While Harry holds Aviva at gunpoint, Tim and one of Harry's men follow the tracking signal to Gustave's lair, where the crocodile is sleeping. Tim finds Steven's mutilated body, and a combat knife in the scattered human remains, and stabs the guard. At the same moment, Aviva splatters Harry with Matt's container of crocodile pheromones and runs. Gustave wakes up but catches the scent of the pheromones, ignoring Tim and Aviva in favor of devouring Harry. Tim, Jojo and Aviva climb into the Range Rover, but Gustave attacks through the rear window. Tim stabs the crocodile in the mouth with a machete. It then roars in defeat, as the others manage to escape. Tim, Aviva, Jojo, and Wiley receive medical treatment and fly back home to America, watching leftover footage of Steven on his camera. The end credits state that the Burundian Civil War ended with a ceasefire in 2005, but Gustave is very much alive and still killing people in the Rusizi River of Burundi. ===== Count Dracula is an old vampire who, because of his advanced age, is forced to host tours of his castle to get new victims. In an attempt to revive his long-lost love, Vampira, Dracula sets out to collect blood from the bevy of Playboy Playmates living at his castle. However, one of the Playmates whose blood is drained is black, turning the revived Vampira into a black woman. Dracula enthralls the hapless Marc to collect blood from three white women in hopes of restoring Vampira's original skin color. Dracula transfuses the blood into her but she is unchanged; however, her bite turns Dracula black. Marc and his love Angela race to destroy Dracula but are taken aback upon seeing Dracula's new skin tone. Their surprise gives the vampires time to slip away to catch a flight to Rio for Carnival. ===== In the opening scene, a civil servant named Ivan Kuzmich Podkolyosin sits alone in his room smoking a pipe and contemplating marriage. He has hired a matchmaker (Fyokla Ivanovna), as was the custom in Russia at the time, to help find him a bride. As the two converse, the audience discovers that Podkolyosin has been in search of a bride for quite some time. The reason for his not being yet married, however, owes to his own indecisiveness rather than the lack of a suitable partner. In fact, Fyokla has found him a nice young woman named Agafya Tikhonovna. When Podkolyosin's friend Kochkaryov unexpectedly pays a visit and finds Fyokla at Podkolyosin's home, he learns for the first time of his friend's search for a bride. The fact that Podkolyosin has not mentioned it to his friend provides further proof of his indecision. Kochkaryov becomes outraged at Fyokla because she also married him, and his wife and he are unhappy with the marriage. Kochkaryov, after cleverly getting Fyokla to reveal the location of Agafya's home, informs Fyokla that her services are no longer needed and that he will proceed with the matter on his own. In the next scene, Agafya and her aunt, Arina, discuss the issue of marriage and the matchmaker walks in on them. She informs the two women that several suitors will soon be making appearances at the home. Presumably, Fyokla has just made the rounds of the town in hopes of beating out Kochkaryov and Podkolyosin, as she will not receive any money if the marriage should occur without her help. Besides Kochkaryov and Podkolyosin, three suitors arrive. The first is Yaichnitsa (which can mean either 'fried eggs' or 'omelet'). Yaichnitsa is overly concerned with the dowry and appears skeptical as to whether Fyokla has told him the truth about it. The second suitor, Anuchkin is a man of refinement and wants a bride who speaks French, a language fashionable among the upper classes, even though he doesn't speak the language himself. The third, Zhevakin, a retired navy lieutenant, has a detailed story about the time his squadron spent in Sicily, where, amazingly enough, no one speaks Russian. He is often mesmerized by female beauty. At this point, Podkolyosin and Kochkaryov arrive and everyone sits down to chat. Yaichnitsa almost immediately demands that Agafya make a decision, which makes her so uncomfortable that she leaves the room. All of the suitors wonder what happened. Once they are alone Kochkaryov tries to scare off the other suitors by calling Agafya ugly, unable to speak French and her dowry worthless. Kochkaryov later pays Agafya a visit in her room and convinces her to choose Podkolyosin over the others (she herself was indecisive about who she liked best). The other suitors all come back and Agafya and Kochkaryov together tell them off until only Podkolyosin remains. After a great deal of pushing on the part of Kochkaryov, the two become engaged. Actually, Kochkaryov had to propose because Podkolyosin was still indecisive and wanted to wait another month before proposing. Kochkaryov insists that the wedding must take place immediately as he has already ordered all of the food and the guests are waiting at the church. The bride and groom begin to get dressed and Podkolyosin muses to himself about the splendor of marriage. However, he soon changes his mind again and jumps out the window. After only a short while, Agafya wonders where he has gone. Everyone searches for him, and eventually they discover that he has escaped through the window and called a cab to take him home. The play ends with Fyokla scolding Kochkaryov for his sub-par matchmaking skills. If the grooms escapes through the door the wedding can still be put back on track, she says, but if he jumps out the window it is all over. ===== While searching for lost lumberjacks, three members of a search-and-rescue team are killed by an unseen force. Dr. Robert Verne accepts a job from the Environmental Protection Agency to write a report about a dispute between a logging operation and a Native American tribe near the Androscoggin River or Ossipee river in Maine. Dr. Verne's wife Maggie accompanies him on the trip. She is pregnant, but is apprehensive to tell her husband as he is against having children. In the town, the local paper mill director, Bethel Isely blames the Native Americans, dubbed Opies (short for "original people") for the missing lumberjacks and rescue team. The Opies instead blame Katahdin, a vengeful spirit of the forest that has been awakened by the activities of the loggers, which Isely describes as "larger than a dragon with the eyes of a cat". The Vernes are disturbed when they witness a confrontation between the Opies and Isley's bodyguard, Kelso, which nearly results in the death of an Opie, John Hawks. The Vernes see several signs of environmental damage: a salmon large enough to devour a duck; a deranged, vicious raccoon; plant roots growing on the surface; and a bullfrog-sized tadpole. Hawks and his friend Ramona ask Verne to include Opie perspectives in his report. They believe the paper mill operations are somehow causing grave danger to the environment and people alike. Hector M'Rai, Ramona's grandfather, claims to have seen Katahdin and describes him as "part of everything in God's creation". Verne and Maggie tour the paper mill to look for incriminating evidence. Although Isely insists the mill has excellent safety protocols, Verne notices that Maggie's boots have mercury deposits—a mutagen that causes birth defects, it is used in logging as a fungicide and does not show up in water purity tests because it sinks to the bottom. Verne needs more evidence and determines to take blood tests from the Opies. That night, the Nelson family, who have set up a camp in the woods, are killed by Katahdin, a large bear with one of its sides containing horribly mutated skin. Isely and Sheriff Bartholomew Pilgrim believe Hawks and the Opies are responsible and try to arrest them. However, Hawks escapes. Verne, Maggie, and Ramona take a helicopter to the campsite to investigate the killings. Verne and Ramona find huge scratch marks on the trees, while Maggie finds two mutated bear cubs, one dead and one alive, trapped in a salmon poacher's net. Forced to spend the night in the woods due to inclement weather, they nurse the cub back to health inside one of Hector's tepees. A distressed Maggie explains to Verne about her pregnancy and that she has eaten contaminated fish. Isely and Sheriff Pilgrim arrive and, upon seeing the mutant cub, accept that Hawks and his men are innocent of any crime. Katahdin arrives and attacks the camp in search of her cub. Pilgrim is killed, but the others escape through tunnels beneath Hector's home. The next day, Isely tries to reach a nearby radio tower to call for help, but is killed by Katahdin. Later that night, she attacks the truck in which the others are driving away. They swim across a river to a log cabin. Verne drowns the cub when it attacks Maggie. Katahdin kills Hector and Hawks, and knocks Ramona and Maggie unconscious. Verne stabs Katahdin repeatedly, forcing her into the lake where she drowns. The next day, Verne and Maggie escape, unaware that another mutant creature (the cubs' father) is still active within the forest. ===== The series is set in an industrial estate occupied by the Spottiswood & Company factory, a small manufacturing plant producing a wide range of goods ranging from cuckoo clocks to windmill money boxes. Each episode focuses on a machine called Bertha that can produce any item requested of her. In each episode, the factory experiences a crisis affecting its daily production schedule, which Bertha invariably solves with the help of her factory worker friends. ===== A year after having been reactivated, Helm receives a message from his ex-wife, asking for his aid, and soon finds himself fighting to protect his family from an enemy agent. ===== Part 1 In San Francisco in 1898, countless Chinese girls are sold into slavery and brought to the American West to live as prostitutes among the miners and railway workers. Capt. Billy Fender (James Russo) arrives in San Francisco and purchases five Chinese girls to be sold as prostitutes in Idaho. In southeastern Oregon, Prentice "Prent" Ritter (Robert Duvall), an aging cowboy, arrives at the Gap Ranch to inform his cowboy nephew, Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church), that his mother died. Estranged from her son years earlier after he left the family ranch to become a buckaroo, she left behind a brief impersonal note informing her son that she left everything in her will to her brother Prent. Uncomfortable with her unfair decision, and wanting to reconnect with his nephew, Prent tells him about his plan to transport 500 horses from Oregon to Sheridan, Wyoming, where he will sell them to the British Army. He offers Tom 25% of the profits if he joins him in the business venture. After purchasing 500 horses from various ranches in the region, Prent and Tom head out east with the herd toward the Idaho border. Along the way, Prent sends Tom into a nearby town to purchase supplies. At the local saloon, he purchases three bottles of whiskey. When the bartender attempts to throw out an Irish fiddler named Heck Gilpin (Scott Cooper), Tom intervenes and punches out the bartender. He hires the fiddler to accompany them on their venture. Back on the trail, they meet Capt. Billy Fender and his five Chinese girls. Fender asks if he can follow along and Prent agrees. That night, Fender offers the cowboys sex with one of the Chinese girls, but they decline. Later, Fender drugs the cowboys' whiskey, and while they sleep, he steals their money and saddled horses and escapes with one of the girls (later given the name of #4), leaving the other Chinese girls behind. The next morning, the men realize what's happened, and Tom rides off in search of Fender. He finds him in a drunken sleep after he's raped the girl. For being a horse thief and other transgressions, Tom hangs Fender from a tree and heads back to camp with the girl. Meanwhile, Prent becomes acquainted with the Chinese girls who are taught to call him "Uncle Prent". Unable to bridge the language gap, Prent assigns numbers to the girls, naming Ghee Moon (Jadyn Wong) #1, Mai Ling (Caroline Chan) #2, Sun Fu (Gwendoline Yeo) #3, Ye Fung (Olivia Cheng) #4, and Ging Wa (Valerie Tian) #5. He first tried to name Ging Wa #4 but she protests that 4 is n unlucky number. When Tom returns with Ye Fung, she is given the unlucky name of #4. The group then continues east across Idaho. As the oldest of the girls, #3 explains to the others that these men are good and will protect them. Along the way, Tom teaches #3 how to drive the wagon, and Prent teaches #5 how to ride a horse. One night, #2 develops a tick fever. While Tom watches over her during the night, she dies. The next morning, after they bury her, Prent speaks over the grave: "We're all travelers in this world. From the sweet grass to the packing house, from birth 'til death, we travel between the eternities." Meanwhile, a hired killer named Ed "Big Ears" Bywaters (Chris Mulkey) rides into the town of Caribou City, Idaho where he meets up with "Big Rump" Kate Becker (Rusty Schwimmer), the woman who runs the city and its illegal activities. Fender was supposed to deliver the five Chinese girls to Kate, who provided him with the money. She offers to pay Ed to bring the girls back to her, but he is more interested in abusing one of Kate's former prostitutes, Nola Johns (Greta Scacchi). Back on the trail, Prent and his outfit meet up with two strangers, one of whom Prent identifies as Smallpox Bob, and proceeds to gun him down. He orders Tom to kill his companion and his horse. Smallpox Bob infected thousands of Indians by selling them smallpox-infected blankets. Afterwards, they burn Bob and his companion and their horses and blankets. As the flames rise, the ghosts of their Indian victims dance over the flames. That night, #3 notices a hole torn in Tom's shirt, and she mends the shirt while he sleeps. A silent attraction has grown between the two. The next day, Prent orders Tom and Heck to take the girls into the town of Caribou City and find someone who will take care of them. In town, after finding a room for the girls, Tom meets Lung Hay (Donald Fong) who is able to speak with the girls in their native language. Lung Hay explains to Tom that the girls do not want to leave Tom, Prent, and Heck—that they do not feel safe without them. Later at the saloon, Tom and Heck meet "Big Rump" Kate, who offers them one of her whores. After they decline, she demands that they hand over the Chinese girls whom she paid for when she hired Fender. Back at the girls' room, three men break in and attack the Chinese girls wanting to rape them. Nola Johns hears the nearby screams and rushes in to help them, only to be hit in the face by one of the attackers. Tom and Heck rush in, throw one man out the window and beat up another. They throw the third man to the floor, and Tom shoots both of his thumbs off. Nola begs Tom to take her with them for her protection. As they all prepare to leave town, Kate and her henchmen approach, but Tom draws his weapon and guards his party as they leave. Kate vows to take revenge. Part 2 Prent and his group recover from their ordeal, as Tom stitches the wound on Lung Hay's head, and Prent treats Nola's broken nose. They decide to spend several days resting the horses by the Snake River. Prent sees two men fly fishing and wishes he could try it someday. At night the men talk about the unfathomable mysteries of women, and they all enjoy listening to Heck's fiddle music. They begin to reveal more about themselves. Lung Hay left his wife in China many years ago to follow the promise of gold in America. Nola turned to prostitution after her husband killed himself. Heck was educated back east, but the prospect of adventure led him out west. Prent and Nola begin spending more time together, but Prent—whose memory of his dead wife and seven-year-old daughter still haunt him—is cautious about his feelings for her. Tom and #3 also spend time with each other, going for long walks together. No one notices #4, who had been raped by Fender and again during the attack at the hotel, growing more depressed and withdrawn. One afternoon on the trail, she steps in front of stampeding horses and is killed. Prent and his outfit continue east through Wyoming, encountering a band of Crow Indians who demand payment to pass through their land. They demand two horses. Prent insists on only one, but gives the Indians a small carved horse figure he made as the second horse. Further on, Prent and Tom sense that they are being followed. That night, Prent sits alone by the fire while the others hide nearby. Ed and his gang ride into the camp. They were hired by Kate to bring back the Chinese girls and kill the rest. Pretending to be Smallpox Bob, Prent scares them away with the help of Tom and Heck providing cover. After passing through Cody, Wyoming, Prent decides to head north through the Big Horn Mountains and over a steep pass known as the Whale's Back in order to avoid Ed and his gang. Tom wants to face the horse thieves and kill them, but Prent remains adamant. They abandon the wagon and, although the way is steep, they manage to make it over with the horses safely. Eventually, Prent leads his horses safely into Sheridan, Wyoming, where he closes out the deal with Malcolm, who purchases the horses on behalf of the British Army. Afterwards, Prent and the others relax, bathe, and enjoy a good meal at Malcolm's home. That night, Prent gives Tom his share of the profits plus a bit more so he can start a new life, squaring things between the two of them. Prent admits that he had to sell the farm to finance the horse venture but by giving Tom a generous amount, he also squares things between Tom and his late mother The next day, after Tom rides off to gather in some strays, Ed and his gang show up in Sheridan and kill Heck. In the ensuing gun battle, Ed takes Nola, Lung Hay, and the girls hostage, forcing Prent to throw down his rifle. Just as Ed prepares to torture and kill Prent, the aging cowboy yells out an Indian cry as a warning to Tom, who has just arrived back at the ranch. Tom rushes to the scene, aims, and shoots the gang members and wounds Ed. As the burly killer takes aim at Tom, Prent takes a heavy mallet and clubs Ed to death. Sometime later, Nola and the girls prepare to board a stagecoach to San Francisco. Tom says goodbye to #3 as a gentle snow falls over them. She hugs Tom and boards the stage, but at the last minute, overwhelmed by feelings of love for the young cowboy, steps down with her bags. As the stage pulls away, Tom sees her standing there, and he smiles. Time passes and then, in 1912 at Siam Bend on the Snake River in Wyoming, Prent is fly fishing on his ranch when his longtime friend Lung Hay approaches with a letter from Nola, who has been corresponding with him for fourteen years. She writes that the girls are doing fine, that she is pleased with the name of the ranch (a reference to Prent's earlier statement to her that he would never be the king of Siam), and that her love for him has never wavered. An epilogue then reveals that in 1913 Heck's parents had his body disinterred and reburied in Richmond, Virginia. It is stated that Ging Wa (#5) studied medicine at Stanford University and moved to China with Ghee Moon (#1) to start a hospital but they were lost in Mao Zedong's revolution. It is also revealed that Tom Harte and Sun Fu married, and their grandchildren still ranch in Wyoming. The epilogue closes by stating that Nola Johns was buried at Siam Bend on the Snake River and that Prent rests at her side. ===== Jon Lansdale (Michael Caine) is a comic book illustrator, whose relationship with his beautiful wife Anne (Andrea Marcovicci) and daughter Lizzie (Mara Hobel) is on the rocks. While driving, Anne and Lansdale end up behind a slow-moving truck and an impatient driver behind them. In the heat of an argument, Anne accidentally pulls back too fast while Lansdale is waving down the truck driver, causing his right hand to be completely severed. Anne attempts to find the severed hand but it is too late. Lansdale then starts a painful adjustment to not having his drawing hand, while Anne deals with the guilt of having caused the accident and tries to get closer to her husband. Lansdale attempts unsuccessfully to recover the hand himself, though he does find his signet ring that Anne gave him. The couple move to New York and Lansdale is approached by his friend and agent Karen Wagner (Rosemary Murphy) to co-produce his comic with another artist, David Maddow (Charles Fleischer). Lansdale however, begins to show signs of a mental breakdown, and when he shows the test boards to Karen, they are all marked up. The deal is off and Karen fires Lansdale, who cannot recall marking up the boards while questioning his daughter about the incident. In a fit of frustration, Lansdale loses his signet ring. Anne is unable to cope with Lansdale's increasingly erratic behavior and general instability. Lansdale becomes jealous of Anne's yoga instructor and begins his slow descent into total darkness when an encounter with a homeless man (Oliver Stone) leaves the man dead at the "hand" of his former appendage. It's not entirely clear whether or not this was a real event or something in his mind. Lansdale begins having hallucinations about various inanimate objects coming to life as a hand, like a shower faucet. After his final meeting with Wagner, Lansdale comes forth with his intention to take an offer to teach at a small community college in California. At the suggestion of his friend Brian (Bruce McGill), Lansdale rents out a cabin in the woods for the time being. While the majority of his students fail to show an interest in comic books, this is not the case with Stella (Annie McEnroe), who also takes a personal interest in Lansdale. Annie insists on staying with Lansdale during the Christmas season, and he begins to have violent hallucinations about the hand strangling her. That night, the missing ring reappears on Lansdale's pillow. Lansdale and Stella begin a romantic relationship despite the latter showing an interest in Brian. Not long after, Lansdale meets Brian at a bar, but is confused as he should be on a two-week vacation with Stella. He soon learns that Brian hasn't seen her since she last went to Lansdale's cabin. Lansdale picks up Anne at the airport, but soon realizes she has no real intention of staying as she previously claimed. He hallucinates the hand strangling her, causing the car to crash in a fiery explosion. While his wife and daughter are at the cabin, Lansdale confesses to Brian that he slept with Stella. Soon after, Brian is killed in his car by the hand. That night, Lansdale awakens to see the hand trying to kill Anne. Lizzie overhears the commotion and calls the police, and Lansdale chases the hand outside into the nearby barn. The hand tries to attack him, but Lansdale stabs it. The hand crawls to a nearby spare tire and explodes into a puff of smoke, before wrapping itself around Lansdale's throat and causing him to lose consciousness. Lansdale awakens to find his own hand (the one attached) around his throat while the police skulk around. The sheriff, with Lizzy, and his deputies attempt to ask Lansdale what happened. Discovering that Anne is still alive, Lansdale attempts to explain what happened when the officers notice a pungent smell permeating the area in the carport around the car, specifically from the trunk. Lansdale tries to prove that nothing is wrong by opening the trunk, only to be horrified by the sight of Stella and Brian's dead bodies stuffed inside. At a local insane asylum, a psychologist (Viveca Lindfors) is trying to communicate with Lansdale. She wants him to remember and admit that it was him, not his severed hand, who killed all the victims. He says that the hand wants to kill her because it hates her. Suddenly, the hand (which apparently existed all along) appears from behind the psychiatrist and strangles her. Lansdale, completely taken over by the essence of the hand, looks at her dead body and starts to laugh. He loosens the restraint on his other hand and gets up, presumably to escape from the asylum. ===== John "J. J." Johnson is a rookie deputy sheriff in the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Because of his inexperience and race, he experiences tension with his white colleagues as their first black deputy. Although he initially clashes with Deputy Deborah Fields, the department's first female deputy, they strike up a friendship. While on patrol, Johnson backs up Deputy Bono when he stops a black man, Teddy Woods, at a gas station. When Bono runs Woods' drivers license, he finds a warrant for his arrest. Woods reveals he has a stolen pistol in his car, and the police officers arrest him. Deputy Fields is the second deputy to the scene of a murder, but Detectives Baker and Hall dismiss her observations. Mr. Greenspan says a black man murdered his wife in a botched robbery, and the detectives pressure Woods to confess after they trace his stolen pistol to the murder. Woods defiantly proclaims his innocence, frustrating his lawyer, James Locket, who advises him to show less attitude in court. At the same time, community activist Reverend Banks raises awareness of the death of a black prisoner whom he believes to have been murdered by the police while in custody. Johnson dismisses the concerns of his family and girlfriend, saying there is no evidence of this. While coaching Bono on what to say at the trial, Johnson's commander, Clarence Massey, learns that Bono stopped Woods because of his race. Frustrated, Massey instructs him to come up with a better excuse. Bono suggests a traffic violation and later requests that Johnson back him up. Johnson agrees, and Massey praises him for his loyalty and dependability while chastising Fields for her refusal to fit in better. At the trial, Locket points out holes in the police testimony, making Johnson wonder if he made the right decision. Fields joins Johnson in investigating what really happened. With help from a whistleblower, they discover numerous cover-ups that involve Baker, Hall, and Massey. As the trial progresses and Greenspan's testimony proves problematic, Massey has Baker murder Greenspan to prevent him from becoming a liability. Hall, sick from cancer, dies at the station. Tensions rise as Johnson and Fields continue pursuing their own investigation, and they become further paranoid when Johnson insists they were intentionally given faulty intelligence during a drug raid. After Fields is hospitalized following an assault, Johnson and Baker come to blows. Massey breaks them up and temporarily places Johnson in a jail cell. When released, he delivers incriminating evidence to Locket that implicates Baker in various crimes, including the murder of the black prisoner and framing Woods. The jury can not reach a verdict. Facing a widespread investigation of police corruption that goes to the city council and mayor's office, the district attorney offers to drop the charges against Woods. Locket, with the reluctant backing of a city councilman, instead pushes for a new trial, which the judge accepts. Bono turns state's evidence and testifies against Johnson, admitting that the two committed perjury. Caught up in the probe, Johnson pleads guilty and receives a suspended sentence. After the sheriff's department is disbanded, Massey retires, Baker is sentenced to four years and is in an honor prison while appealing. The unit is disbanded and the other officers including Bono are reassigned. ===== A man wakes up in a small concrete space bleeding from the abdomen. He can barely move and has no recollection of why or how he came to be there. Crawling forward he eventually meets a woman and they try to piece together their past lives. ===== In 1988 Brooklyn, New York, Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) is the manager of the El Caribe nightclub in Brighton Beach, which is frequented by Russian mobster and drug lord Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov) and owned by Vadim's uncle Marat Buzhayev (Moni Moshonov). Bobby has distanced himself from his father, NYPD Deputy Chief Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall), and his brother, Captain Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg). Bobby uses his mother's maiden name, Green, as his last name and stays on the sidelines enjoying a hedonistic life with his girlfriend Amada Juarez (Eva Mendes) and best friend Louis "Jumbo" Falsetti (Danny Hoch). When Joseph leads a police raid on El Caribe in hope of arresting Vadim, Bobby refuses to cooperate. The incident strains Bobby's relationship with his father and brother even more, and Bobby and Joseph come to blows. The police are unsuccessful in making a case against Vadim, who decides to retaliate. The next evening, Joseph is shot by a masked assailant and his unmarked police cruiser is firebombed. Joseph survives the ambush and is hospitalized for four months. Vadim, unaware of Bobby's family ties, confides that the Chief will be the next victim. Bobby resolves to help the police and, without his father's knowledge, goes undercover inside Vadim's cocaine-smuggling operation with a police listening device hidden in a cigarette lighter. The device is discovered and Bobby narrowly escapes being murdered as the police raid the operation and arrest Vadim. Bobby and Amada are placed in protective police custody and their relationship begins to deteriorate. When Vadim escapes custody while being transported to a hospital, Burt and the police prepare to move Bobby and Amada to a new location. During a torrential rainstorm the police convoy is intercepted by Vadim's men, and during a chaotic car chase Burt is fatally shot. When he sees his father's body, Bobby blacks out in the rain. The police take Bobby and Amada back to their motel near Kennedy Airport. Bobby wakes up a few hours later and finds Joseph in the motel room. Joseph tells him that their father has been shot and killed. At the funeral, a colleague of Joseph's, Captain Jack Shapiro (Tony Musante), gives him Burt's Korean War medal. Bobby is told that a Russian shipment of cocaine is arriving sometime in the coming week. To avenge his father, Bobby decides to officially join the police force without the consent of Amada, who leaves him. After he is sworn into the NYPD, Bobby learns the true involvement of Jumbo and Marat. He and Joseph organize a final sting operation, set for April 4, 1989. During the raid, Joseph is emotionally incapacitated by the memory of his shooting and cannot continue. Vadim flees into the reed beds, and the police toss in flares to smoke him out. As the beds are engulfed in flame and smoke, Bobby runs in to find Vadim himself, ignoring the other officers' pleas that he wait. Bobby shoots Vadim in the chest, mortally wounding him. Nearly a year after the raid on El Caribe, Bobby, now in uniform, graduates from the NYPD Police Academy to become a full-time police officer. Before the ceremony, Joseph reveals to Bobby that he has decided to switch to a job in the administration sector, since the shooting led him to realize that he needs to spend more time with his children. As the chaplain announces that Bobby is to give the valedictorian address, Bobby thinks he sees Amada in the audience, but it turns out to be an illusion. Bobby and Joseph express their brotherly love. ===== In the third game, you play as Takuya Aihara for the last time. Kōji, a male student you had an encounter with in the first game, and who was in the chemistry club the previous game, is still trying to get Takuya's different side mixed with him. He secretly gets Asami Satoh to make more of the memory-change potion and proceeds to trick Takuya into getting it. ===== The play is concerned with the significance of rock and roll in the emergence of the socialist movement in Eastern Bloc Czechoslovakia between the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Velvet Revolution of 1989. Taking place in Cambridge, England and in Prague, the play contrasts the attitudes of a young Czech PhD student and rock music fan, who becomes appalled by the repressive regime in his home country, with those of his British Marxist professor, who unrepentantly continues to believe in the Soviet ideal. The play takes place over several decades from the late 1960s until 1990, ending with a concert given by The Rolling Stones that year in Prague. Recurrent references are made to a glimpse by one of the main characters of the young Syd Barrett performing Golden Hair. Barrett's physical and mental decline also plays a role in the drama (Barrett in fact died during the play's run). The underground Czech group The Plastic People of the Universe are held up by another character as an ideal of resistance to Communism. The poetry of Sappho is another recurrent motif; its pagan sensualism is implicitly compared with the anarchic erotic force of Rock music. One of the characters, a Czech writer, is named Ferdinand as an homage to Václav Havel. Havel wrote three plays with a protagonist named Ferdinand Vaněk, a stand-in for Havel himself. These plays were distributed by samizdat and became a symbol of the resistance. A number of Havel's friends then wrote their own Vaněk plays with Ferdinand Vaněk as a character.Goetz-Stankiewicz, Markéta. The Vaněk Plays, University of British Columbia Press, 1987. Stoppard continues in that tradition. This play is one of several works in Stoppard's oeuvre concerned with artistic dissent against the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia: Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth also concerns this, as does Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Professional Foul. ===== The episode opens with the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard unit in Eastgate cinema. They are watching a film about Napoleon, in particular a scene where he says goodbye to Marie Walewska, his mistress.Dad's Army: The Complete Scripts A panning shot moves across the faces of the platoon while they are watching, Mainwaring looking superior, Wilson looking bored, Frazer muttering "rubbish", Pike sucking his thumb, Godfrey asleep, Walker with his arms around a blonde girl, and Jones looking dreamy. After the film ends "God Save the King" begins playing, but the platoon all stampede out apart from Mainwaring who gets knocked over in the rush but struggles up to stand to attention while the anthem plays to a now empty cinema. The platoon is next seen on the upper deck of a bus going back to Walmington-on-Sea. Mainwaring asks the platoon what they thought of the film. Sponge says they should have sat at the front as he couldn't see. Mainwaring says he was disappointed - he thought the film would have been about strategy and tactics but consisted of Greta Garbo being chased around a four poster bed. Walker replies that that is strategy and tactics. Wilson and Mainwaring are given their tickets by an attractive bus conductress who Mainwaring takes a fancy to. When Walker, Pike and Jones start larking about then singing the ribald song "Roll Me Over In The Clover" Mainwaring stops them and apologises to the bus conductress. She is grateful and says he is "very gallant". Warden Hodges arrives, and teases the platoon for going to the cinema and not being ready for Hitler. Whilst buying a ticket he asks the bus conductress for a "tickle at the terminus". Mainwaring is furious and intervenes again, and is thanked by the bus conductress. He then instructs the platoon that after their disgraceful behaviour in the cinema, they are to let him go off the bus first and in an orderly fashion. When the bus stops at Walmington, Hodges lets him get halfway down the bus then shouts "It's closing time in five minutes", thus causing Mainwaring to get knocked over again in the stampede as the platoon rush for the pub. Later, the platoon are on parade. Frazer gives a long rambling explanation of how he complained to the manager about the "sheer historical inaccuracies of the film", but eventually admits sheepishly that he got his money back. Mainwaring berates them for the two examples of bad behaviour. They apologise, but he responds by saying that "fine words butter no parsnips". This provokes a discussion in the ranks, about how you can't get butter, or parsnips (with Walker offering to obtain both), until he says that the platoon will have to stand to attention whilst Sergeant Wilson plays the National Anthem on the gramophone 6 times. They stand to attention, but Wilson plays the German National Anthem "Deutschland Über Alles" by mistake, and is half asleep so Mainwaring has to shout at him to take it off. He and Wilson go to Mainwaring's office, where they find the vicar at his desk, who refuses to get out of the way for Mainwaring. Whilst Jones continues to play the National Anthem at an increasing speed, Mainwaring and the vicar have to stand, then race to sit on the chair, like musical chairs. The next scene is in Mainwaring's office after the parade. Walker arrives and gives Sgt Wilson two bottles of Black Market stout, and presents Mainwaring with some similarly sourced cheddar cheese. Mainwaring excuses this to Wilson by saying it is for his vegetarian wife. He rings her to spring this 'toasted cheese supper' surprise on her, but she gets the wrong idea on the phone and says she has a headache and is going to bed. Mainwaring is disappointed, but Wilson suggests they eat the cheese between them. Mainwaring is touched, then Jones arrives and, tempted by the cheese, offers some kidneys if he can join them. Cut to the end of the feast, when Jones tells a wonderful rambling story about a native girl he nearly married in the Sudan. Mainwaring leaves to go home, suggesting that the bus conductress they met earlier wouldn't have turned down a toasted cheese supper. The next scene is in Mainwaring's Anderson shelter in his garden. He is having a restless night after eating the (rather indigestible) meal with Wilson and Jones. He takes some bismuth (indigestion) tablets. The scene now shifts, and we see Mainwaring dreaming that he is Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. It features the rest of the cast in various roles, including Wilson as Wellington, flanked by Frazer as Gordon of the Highlanders and Hodges as a senior officer. Sponge is Marshal Ney, Walker is "Captain Gerald" in the cavalry, Jones is a French Corporal, Pike is a French drummer boy and Godfrey is a French artillery man. Many catch phrases and actions are used: "put those lights out", "you stupid drummer boy", Private Godfrey's upside down cakes, "Oi, Napoleon", and also some phrases from earlier in the episode, such as Sponge saying "we should have sat down the front, in the ninepennies" when Mainwaring complains that he can't see the battle. At the surrender, Wilson acts very superior, for instance asking Mainwaring for his full name and address, and refusing to let Mainwaring borrow his pen. Mainwaring says farewell to his troops, with great comic effect. Hodges then tells the troops that the Duke will buy them all a drink, and in the stampede they knock Mainwaring over into the mud. Mainwaring is next seen just before being exiled to Elba, standing next to the bus conductress, who is dressed as Marie Walewska. They exchange farewells, then Mainwaring wakes up, to find that he has overslept and he has a rude note from his wife complaining that he didn't come home last night. ===== A story by Henry Lawson, was written in 1902 and included in Triangles of Life (1913). The story records the return home to his farm on New Year's Eve of a poor carpenter, who discovers that his three children and the household chores have been neglected by his neurotic and slatternly wife; after cleaning up and attending to his family during the night, the workman returns to his trade next morning. The setting of the story (Pipeclay), the fact that the foreign father's name is Nils, and the tension between the parents, suggest that the story is autobiographical. The story begins on New Year's Eve, with a father pacing steadily and hopelessly through the smothering darkness. He arrives home to his cold and uninviting hut. The man's oldest son emerges from the darkness. He had been feeling sick, he says. But he is better now. He would like to help his father with the cooking and cleaning, but has neither the knowledge nor the means to do so. The man's wife, Emma, calls from her bedroom. She is currently "bad again in the head" and whines constantly about her husband's utter uselessness. Everything is his fault. The following morning, New Years Day, the man rises from his sleep and leaves for the farming town at which he works. But the new year brings neither hope nor relief- it is just the beginning of another bleak, unpromising cycle of life. "And the old year died as many old years had died." ===== New Secret Service agent Mike Connelly, assigned to protect President-elect Jack Cahill, becomes uneasy having to protect a person who is having an affair with a friend's wife. Connelly feels even worse about it after preventing an assassination attempt aboard Cahill's plane where a flight attendant is accidentally killed in the process. Sensing Connelly's discomfort around Cahill, his boss reassigns him to the team that protects the "nuclear football" as soon as Cahill becomes president. In the film, the "nuclear football" briefcase contains a high-tech laptop computer, which can only be operated through a two key system (one key operated by the president and the other by the agent on "football duty") along with thumbprint and eye retina scans from the President. In real life, the football still uses paper playbooks and an officer of the military guards/carries the football. After the newly inaugurated president has been planning a meeting with Fung, the President of Taiwan, to discuss the strained relationship between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, one of the Secret Service agents returns home to find that his family is being held hostage by some men who are later revealed to be Fung's henchmen. They force him to participate in a plot to steal "the football". When Presidents Cahill and Fung are in Taiwan aboard Fung's ship, the latter insists that he feels that peaceful co-existence with mainland China may no longer be possible and that drastic action must be taken to ensure China does not invade Taiwan. Soon afterwards, Fung's henchmen begin killing all the other agents, leaving Mike Connelly as the only loyal Secret Service agent left. Fung's men, along with Fung's girlfriend Iris, are successful in stealing the football, and Fung forces Cahill to activate it (by knocking him unconscious to get his thumbprint and eye retina scans), explaining that he will use the US's ICBMs to launch a nuclear strike on China. He hopes that this will lead a revolution among his people towards "a new beginning" of Taiwanese freedom, pointing out that since he alone controls all of the US's missiles, he would not have to worry about a mutually assured destruction of both China and the United States. Only the United States should worry when China retaliates. Meanwhile, Vice President Valdez is informed of the situation and Fung makes a phone call to her explaining that he has seized control of the United States' nuclear missiles and will launch one against Beijing unless both China and the United States within 24 hours recognize Taiwan's independence and that the United States promises to use its full military might against China if it tries to invade Taiwan. Valdez insists that this would never be possible and later Fung follows through with his threat, launching a first strike against Beijing using an ICBM from Nebraska. Valdez first contacts the President of Russia to assure that the missile is not targeted towards Russia. Then Valdez contacts Chairman Tzu of China to explain the situation and that the United States did not launch the missile and is therefore not responsible. She also offers to give Tzu the chance to shoot the missile out of the sky but Tzu angrily points out that this would be impossible. It is then that he gives the order to launch a retaliatory strike against the United States using one of China's ICBMs, which he calls "an eye for an eye". True to his word, the missile is targeted for Washington, D.C. After Beijing and later Washington are destroyed, Tzu launches a second strike using several of China's missiles as further retaliation for the destruction of China's capital. Meanwhile, Iris is revealed to Agent Connelly to be an undercover Chinese agent whose assignment was to recover the football and return it to Beijing. But even she had no idea Fung would actually launch missiles against her country, and points out that China would no doubt retaliate against the US in response to the attack, thus she points out now they both have a common interest. Together they are able to escape Fung's ship and follow Fung and the still kidnapped President to Hong Kong. They are both ultimately successful in taking out all but one of Fung's henchmen, all of which are rogue elements of the People's Liberation Army. The last remaining one strangles Iris to death however and continues his search for Agent Connelly. Meanwhile, Connelly finds President Cahill held at gunpoint by Fung who still has the football. Fung along with Agent Thornton orders Connelly to surrender or else either Fung or Thornton will kill the President. It is then Cahill says for Connelly to "remember your duty". Fung at first thinks he means the duty of protecting the President, but then Connelly points out that he is on football duty and that it's "some other guy's job" to protect the President. Connelly shoots the President in the leg which shocks Fung and distracts him just long enough to allow Connelly to take him and Agent Thornton out. Connelly and President Cahill now are in control of the football and begin the process of deactivating it. The last of Fung's henchmen however, is able to fatally wound the President before Connelly can take him out. But not before President Cahill is successfully able to deactivate the football. By doing so, Vice President Valdez and NORAD have regained control of the United States' nuclear arsenal. Valdez gives this news to Chairman Tzu and says that he may now order the destruction of his missiles. Tzu refuses, thinking Valdez is bluffing. Valdez then gives the order to NORAD that "Stage One is a go", which Tzu is horrified to find out is in fact a launch of several of the US's ICBMs. Valdez warns Tzu has one minute to destroy his missiles, and if he does, Valdez will destroy her missiles and points out to Tzu that he does not want to know what "Stage Two" is. Just when it seems all hope is lost however, Tzu complies with Valdez's instructions and destroys all his missiles which soon afterwards Valdez does the same with hers. Thus a major nuclear war was narrowly averted. At the end of the film, it has been implied that Valdez was elevated to the presidency, giving a speech to the American people about the challenges that go with her new responsibilities. She reminds them not to lose hope. ===== The film details the story of the 17th-century social reformer and writer Gerrard Winstanley, who, along with a small band of followers known as the Diggers, tried to establish a self-sufficient farming community on common land at St George's Hill ("Diggers' Hill") near Cobham, Surrey. The community was one of the world's first small-scale experiments in socialism or communism, and its ideas were copied elsewhere in England during the time of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, but it was quickly suppressed, and in the end left only a legacy of ideas to inspire later generations of socialist theorists. ===== The story opens in the winter of 1799-1800 when "until three months before, [Hornblower] had been a prisoner in Spanish hands." He is the most junior of five lieutenants in the ship of the line HMS Renown. The ship has just captured a French vessel, and one of the prisoners is recognised as Irish revolutionary Barry McCool. Admiral William Cornwallis gives Hornblower the distasteful task of arranging McCool's execution for desertion from the Royal Navy. Cornwallis insists that McCool is to make no final speech before his execution, so that he cannot try to incite mutiny among the Irish sailors in Renown's crew. Hornblower is unwilling to prevent McCool speaking by gagging him. However, in return for a promise by McCool not to speak before he is hanged, Hornblower agrees to send McCool's only possession, a sailor's sea chest with his name "B I McCOOL" in raised letters on the carved lid, to his widow, along with a covering letter. He is prevented from immediately doing so when Renown has to put hastily to sea after McCool is executed. While at sea, Hornblower discerns a message hidden in an oddly clumsy poem in McCool's letter. By moving the letters of the carved name in a sequence and in a manner revealed by the poem, a secret compartment forming the lid of the chest is revealed. The compartment is stuffed with currency notes and secret correspondence to other Irish rebels, in fact "Everything one would need to start a rebellion," as Hornblower comments to himself. Hornblower, revolted at the spectacle of McCool's execution and suspecting the money could be French counterfeits, decides to spare other Irishmen from the gallows and throws the chest overboard. Later, "when the Renown lay in the Hamoaze, completing for the West Indies," he discovers that McCool actually left no widow, and the chest was intended to reach an Irish revolutionary society. As McCool's letter said, he had remained "faithful unto death," though to the cause of Irish independence, not a woman. Hornblower now throws McCool's final letter overboard too. The setting of this final action links it to the opening of Lieutenant Hornblower which begins in mid-1800. Category:1950 short stories Category:Short stories by C. S. Forester Category:Horatio Hornblower Category:Fiction set in 1799 ===== The novel is set in County LeitrimThe 100 best novels: No 97 – Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990), The Guardian, Monday 27 July 2015 Retrieved 2016-03-07. in the rural midlands of Republic of Ireland. The story spans a period of twenty years in the middle of the twentieth century. It centres on Michael Moran, patriarch of the Moran family and a former IRA member who was an officer and guerrilla fighter in the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War in the 1920s. Although Moran is a well-respected member of his community and a devout Catholic, there is a cruel, violent, and controlling side to his character. He dominates the lives of his second wife, Rose, and his five children. His children strive to establish their own lives while remaining loyal to the family. Most of the story is told through the use of flashbacks, as Moran's daughters attempt to recreate Monaghan Day for their elderly and depressed father, because it was the day when he always seemed to be at his best. ===== The novel opens with an elderly, weak, and depressed Michael Moran being taken care of by his daughters. Although they have busy lives and families of their own in Dublin and London, they have never really left the family home because they feel more important there. They have decided to recreate "Monaghan Day," an event Moran always seemed to enjoy, hoping that this will somehow reverse his failing health. Monaghan Day was a market day, when Moran's friend McQuaid used to visit and they would reminisce about the war. The family's story is told through the use of flashbacks as the women in Moran's life remember the past. Moran was a once prominent Republican who fought for Irish independence in the 1920s. He is now a widower with three daughters and two sons. They live in a house called "Great Meadow" on a small farm in the west of Ireland. He thinks that his time in the IRA was the best of his life, and misses the security provided by the military's structure, rules, and clear demarcation of power. In his old age, however, he is bitter about the "small-minded gangsters" that are now in charge of the Republic of Ireland. For example, he refuses his soldier's pension because he feels that the government has betrayed the ideals that he fought for in his youth. He transfers the violent nature that served him well in battle to his dealings with his family. Moran's controlling nature is shown from the very first flashback narrative. On a past Monaghan Day, Moran petulantly refuses to yield to McQuaid's authority, "an authority that had outgrown" his own. McQuaid leaves abruptly and ends their long friendship. This is a defining moment for Moran, after which he withdraws into "that larger version of himself,” his family, over which he exercises absolute authority. Through his influence, the outside world is kept at an "iron distance", and the family unite against it. Moran marries a local woman called Rose Brady when his children are teenagers. Rose is in middle-age when she marries Moran. Despite her mother's warning that he is "one sort of person when he's out in the open among people – he can be very sweet – but that he's a different sort of person altogether behind the walls of his own house," she is determined to marry him. She becomes a mother to the children and is their mainstay. For example, she helps Maggie to leave for London to become a nurse. She often alleviates the disputes between Moran and the children. She is quietly tolerant of Moran's mood swings, even when he verbally abuses her. Moran's personality becomes apparent in his dealings with his family, who all love and respect him despite his violent outbursts and his lack of apologies. His family are actually "inordinately grateful for the slightest good will." Although he can be tender towards his family, he is often obstinate and cruel and demands constant attention. For example, on his wedding day he is content because "he needed this quality of attention to be fixed upon him in order to be completely silent." He enforces his own view of the world on all those around him. He is a devout Catholic and makes sure that his family upholds all the values he fought for. He recites the Rosary daily, looking for religious help for his inner turmoil and the complications of his daily life. His violent nature stems from traumas he received as a guerrilla fighter in his youth. However, he thinks that the war was the best part of his life, because "things were never so simple and clear again." He feels that he is losing his position as the centre of attention as he ages and the children start to escape from Great Meadow. He demands help and attention at inappropriate times as a way of focusing the others on his needs. Although he is mostly calm with his daughters, he is threatened by his sons as they grow up. Luke, the older son, leaves for London because of his father's overbearing authority and only returns once. Thoughts of Luke are painful to Moran, and the others refrain from mentioning him. Michael, the youngest child, hides behind Rose until he gains the courage to leave also. The only way that the children can assert any autonomy is through exile, thus tacitly rebuking Moran's ethos of family solidarity. Moran dominates his daughter's lives and they regularly return to the family home despite their own busy lives. They yearn for his approval, yet fear his temper. He tells them that it is important that the family stick together: "Alone we might be nothing. Together we can do anything." They find individuality painful compared to the protection of the familial identity. Moran's friendship with McQuaid is also recounted using flashbacks, and there is an account of an attack carried out on the British Army by the Flying Column to which they belonged. There is also a description of the argument between them that ended their friendship and left Moran with no male friends. Moran dies at the end of the novel. He is buried under a yew tree, but his influence does not leave his family "...as they left him under the yew, it was as if each of them in their different ways had become Daddy." ===== In late 19th-century Mexico, Federales capture Quintero (Fernando Rey), a revolutionary who attempts to rally those opposing the dictatorship of President Díaz. Before going to prison, Quintero gives his lieutenant, Maximiliano O'Leary (Reni Santoni), $600 () with which to continue the cause. Bandit chief Carlos Lobero (Frank Silvera) demands that the money be used for guns and ammunition, but Max instead crosses the border in search of Chris Adams (George Kennedy): a legendary, American gunman whom his cousin had told him about. Max finally finds the laconic Chris, witnessing him free a man from a rigged trial, first by using his wits, then with the famed hair- trigger skill as a gunfighter. Chris agrees to mount a rescue of Quintero and uses $500 of Max's money to recruit five highly trained combatants: Keno (Monte Markham), a horse thief and hand-to-hand combat expert (whom Chris saved from hanging); Cassie (Bernie Casey), a brawny but intelligent former slave, who can handle dynamite; Slater (Joe Don Baker), a one-armed, sideshow sharp-shootist; a tubercular wrangler called "P.J." (Scott Thomas), and Levi Morgan (James Whitmore), an aging family man who is doubtful of his worth, despite his incredible knife-throwing skills. En route to Mexico, the motley band of Americans becomes less mercenary when observing the brutal treatment of the peasants. Their journey is marked by encounters with a political prisoner's little boy, Emiliano Zapata (Tony Davis) and a pretty peasant girl, Tina (Wende Wagner), who falls in love with P.J. When Lobero learns that Max did not buy guns with the $600, he refuses to allow his men to take part in Quintero's rescue. Realizing that he needs support, Chris frees a prison gang that includes Zapata's father, then trains them in military tactics. Despite their superior fighting skills and strategy, Chris' men are outnumbered and their valiant effort to free Quintero appears doomed. At the last moment, 50 of Lobero's bandits, having slain their leader for his lack of patriotism, thunder onto the prison grounds and turn the tide of battle. Of the original seven, only Chris, Max and Levi survive. Before riding home, Chris and Levi leave behind the $600 the peasants had collected. ===== There is no real plot that runs throughout this documentary. Instead, each skater was placed into their segment to showcase their skills. Some of the skaters also incorporated a short story into their segments. Some of these story lines include McCrank looking for a job, Berra being killed by an unknown attacker, Reynolds hanging out with an orangutan, Kirchart and Klein's rampaging mayhem in the city and Lasek taking down Hawk so that Lasek can become the number one skateboarder. ===== A recurring theme of the Mexico Trilogy deals with El Mariachi being alone as all of his loved ones die in front of him. The first film of the trilogy, El Mariachi, tells the story of an out-of-work musician, known simply as El Mariachi (Carlos Gallardo), traveling through Mexico. He arrives in a small border town, hoping to find work in some of the local cantinas and clubs. Unfortunately for the man, local hoodlums mistake him for a recently escaped convict who has been hunting down his former associates with a guitar case filled with weapons. As the story progresses, El Mariachi falls in love with a woman who helps him hide from those who are trying to kill him, and eventually sees her die at the hands of those same men. He seeks revenge for all he has been put through. The second film, Desperado, continues with El Mariachi's (later portrayed by Antonio Banderas) quest for revenge where he finds a new love and quenches his thirst for revenge. The third and final film, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, revolves around a failed coup attempt on the President of Mexico wherein El Mariachi is the hero who saves him. El Mariachi also seeks revenge on the murderer who killed his wife. ===== Montgomery "Monty" Capuletti is a hard-living, heavy-drinking, pot-smoking, gambling family man who makes his living as a baby photographer in New Dorp, Staten Island. He loves his wife Rose but has a very tense relationship with his wealthy, snobbish mother- in-law, Mrs. Monahan, who runs a successful department store chain and hates the way Monty acts and lives. There is an added ethnic rivalry between Monty and his wife's family, as he is Italian and they are Irish. The irresponsible Monty cannot even pick up a wedding cake for his engaged daughter Allison without fouling up. He and his best friend Nicholas 'Nicky' Cerone are smoking marijuana while driving, and an accident destroys the cake. After Mrs. Monahan dies unexpectedly, his family is in for an inheritance. Attorney Scrappleton reveals that Mrs. Monahan left a stipulation in her will that if Monty is able to curb his vices for a year by going on a diet and giving up drugs and gambling, he will receive $10 million. If not, the family gets nothing. Allison's wedding to Julio goes off without a hitch, at least until the wedding night. Monty's gambling and drinking buddies are also interested in whether or not Monty can really give up everything and bet whether or not he will make it. Monty and Nicky go to the mother-in-law's department store and find awkward fashions, catering to a clientele which clearly do not include the likes of Nicky and Monty. Nicky argues that it may not be worth it to Monty if this is the kind of atmosphere he will be exposed to, but Monty points out he must tough it out to provide for his wife and daughters, not just him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Monahan's scheming nephew Clive Barlow does his best to undermine Monty's resolve so the money and department store can instead be left to him. Monty ultimately reforms. When the entire year is up, he and the family celebrate aboard a boat. To his chagrin though, Mrs. Monahan turns up. She had faked her own death simply to persuade her slovenly son-in-law to straighten up. Ultimately though, she gives the money to Monty on the basis he upheld her stipulation. Now rich, Monty and his family live in a mansion. Still in control, Mrs Monahan denies Monty dessert and coffee then commands a beer she found in the refrigerator be thrown out. Monty gleefully agrees to each action then says he's heading out for a walk. Mrs. Monahan gloats about her actions and that she finally has Monty under control to her daughter's chagrin. However, Monty has actually proceeded to a hideaway under the house to join Nicky and his friends for pizza, poker, and beer. ===== Retired thief, Roy Egan (Harvey Keitel), comes out of retirement to help his youngest brother, Lee (Timothy Hutton), with a jewelry heist in Palm Springs. Along for the ride are hired muscle, Jorge Montana (Wade Dominguez), and wheelman, Skip Kovich (Stephen Dorff). The heist goes down the next day and, thanks to Jorge's scrambling of the police monitors and traffic signals, their getaway is successful. In Skip's motel room, his girlfriend, Gena (Dana Barron), voices how little money he will be receiving from the heist. At the trailer park Lee and Jorge are having some beers and talking about how much each will make when Skip shoots them. Roy, who was in the bathroom, hears the gunshots, slams the door on Skip, and runs for it. Roy steals a car and heads to Los Angeles where he rents a room and starts plotting. He stops at Jorge's house along the way to inform his wife, Rachel (Famke Janssen), about her husband's death and to ask if she knows Skip's whereabouts. Skip employs Odell and his crew as protection against Roy, and proceeds to deal with his debt to loan shark Harvey (Elliott Gould). Harvey is connected with the Chinese mob and Skip convinces Harvey to use his connections to track down Roy, in exchange for more money on top of what he already owes him. Roy is found by two members of the Chinese mob and kidnapped but he frees himself, killing his captors in the process. Rachel finds a bruised and bloody Roy lying in her yard. She cleans him up and Roy offers her $5,000 to take care of him. Once he recovers, Rachel asks for $100,000 instead. Roy refuses at first, but when she gives him Jorge's address book full of contacts – including Skip – he accepts. Rachel also tells Roy where the Chinese mob launders cash and gives him a Saint Christopher medal for protection. Roy attacks the man in charge, Uncle Luke (François Chau), and takes Skip's money, but unknowingly leaves his motel key behind. Uncle Luke tells Skip about the key Roy left behind. Chinese mobsters later attempt to kill Roy in his motel room, but Roy is waiting for them. Skip kidnaps Rachel. He goes to a trailer where his girlfriend Gena finds that Odell has sent two of his guys to get the money Skip owes them. They take Gena hostage and Skip kills them both, purposefully killing Gena in the process. Skip and Roy plan to meet at a refinery and when Roy arrives, he gets into a gun fight with the mob who are after Skip. Roy takes them out, but is severely wounded, although still able to beat Skip to death with his bare hands. He rescues Rachel who speeds a barely conscious Roy to a hospital. When she returns, both Roy and her car are gone, but he has left her money in a duffel bag. Rachel and her children bury Jorge and relocate to Port Arthur, Texas. One day, the postman delivers a small package to her. She opens it and finds the religious medal she gave Roy, assuring her that he's alive. ===== Doug Madsen (Tim Allen), Woody Stevens (John Travolta), Bobby Davis (Martin Lawrence) and Dudley Frank (William H. Macy) are four middle-aged everymen living in a Cincinnati suburb who find themselves disillusioned with the quality of everyday life and lack of adventure. Doug is a dentist who has trouble bonding with his son Billy (Dominic Janes); Dudley is a single (yet sometimes preoccupied)computer programmer who is afraid to talk to women; Bobby is a henpecked plumber whose wife has made him return to work after having taken a year off to unsuccessfully write a book; and Woody is a wealthy lawyer married to a supermodel. They find escape from their daily routines on weekends by riding motorcycles together posing as a biker gang called the "Wild Hogs". One day, Woody finds out his wife is divorcing him thus rendering him bankrupt. He convinces his friends to go on a road trip on their bikes to California. After encountering several misadventures, they end up at a local bar, where they meet a rowdy, much larger biker gang called the Del Fuegos, headed by Jack Blade (Ray Liotta). Jack calls the Wild Hogs "posers" and has his gang steal Dudley's bike after a bogus deal to exchange Dudley's bike for a new bike that is in fact used and derelict, forcing the men to leave with Dudley in a sidecar attached to Woody's bike. Furious at their bullying of Dudley, Woody returns to the Del Fuegos bar and retrieves Dudley's bike, cuts off their bikes' fuel lines in the process and fabricates a story to the other Wild Hogs of how he "negotiated" with them to return the bike. When the Del Fuegos hear the Wild Hogs riding back past the bar, they attempt to pursue them, only for the bikes to stall. Jack inadvertently drops his lit cigarette onto the ground, igniting the fuel leaking from the bikes which then causes the bar to explode. Woody, after witnessing the explosion from afar, convinces the others to keep riding. Eventually, the Wild Hogs run out of gas and end up stranded in the desert. They eventually push their bikes to Madrid, New Mexico, where they stumble into a diner and help themselves to water and beer without paying. As a result, the townspeople first mistake them for Del Fuegos. When the Wild Hogs explain their actions, they learn that the Del Fuegos have been terrorizing the town frequently, while the local police force are unable to do anything to protect the town. Although Woody is still anxious about the Del Fuegos, the others convince him to stay in the town overnight. During their stay in the town, Dudley falls in love with Maggie (Marisa Tomei), the diner's owner. While out searching for the Wild Hogs, Jack's closest biker members Red and Murdock (Kevin Durand and M. C. Gainey) spot the group and report their location to Jack. Jack tells the pair not to harm the Wild Hogs until he gets there, leaving them unable to fight back when Bobby notices and confronts the pair by splashing beer and spraying ketchup and mustard on their clothes before finally physically attacking Murdock, thus scaring off Red. The Wild Hogs are hailed as heroes amongst the town's residents and celebrate well into the night with the townspeople. The next day, Woody persuades the others that they must leave, but their departure is ruined when the Del Fuegos arrive. Jack threatens to wreck the town unless the Wild Hogs pay for the damage done to their bar. Woody admits to the Wild Hogs what he really did to get Dudley's bike back as well as the real reason for the trip, exasperating the others. Jack and the rest of the Del Fuegos take over Maggie's diner, but when he threatens to burn it, Dudley confronts them and is held hostage. The others attempt to rescue Dudley but fail. They then decide to fight the Del Fuego gang letting Jack, Red, Murdock and a member trained in martial arts "Tiny" battle the group in a 4 on 4 altercation but the Wild Hogs are beaten severely, but refuse to give up. The townspeople band together to battle the Del Fuegos, but just as Jack threatens to take on the rest of the town, Damien Blade (Peter Fonda), Jack's father and the founder of the Del Fuegos, arrives and stops the fight. Damien lectures Jack for letting four "posers" hold off an entire biker gang, questioning aloud just which side was the "posers". He also adds that the bar was merely an insurance scam and therefore was glad that the Wild Hogs destroyed it. Damien tells the Del Fuegos to leave town and ride the open road until they remember what riding is really about, mentioning as he leaves that Jack "takes after his mother". He then acknowledges the Wild Hogs by telling them his motto: "Ride hard, or stay home". He also lightheartedly informs the Wild Hogs to "lose the watches", indicating the watches on their wrists. Doug and Bobby's wives arrive, and Doug reconciles with his son. Bobby's wife orders him to return with her, but he refuses and convinces her to let him finish the ride. The Wild Hogs leave and arrive in Southern California, where everyone except for Dudley crashes into a surfboard. During the credits, it is revealed that the Wild Hogs called Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to give the Del Fuegos a new bar. The Del Fuegos react in joy (while Jack is emotionally speechless) at their new bar while the Wild Hogs watch the event on TV. ===== The film follows the story of two Italian immigrant couples living in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the early 20th century; Teresa (Patrícia Pillar) and Angelo (Alexandre Paternost) and Pierina (Glória Pires) and Massimo (Bruno Campos). While the couples struggle for survival in their new country, an unexpected love between Massimo and Teresa emerges. They fight against family and cultural traditions and head to a new destiny, leaving their partners behind. Quatrilho is the name of a card game in which the player has to betray his partner in order to win. It is also a reference to the Portuguese language word quatro, which means four. The film was also advertised as O Qu4trilho. ===== Millennium Snow focuses on Chiyuki Matsuoka, a high school girl hospitalized with a heart problem. Since birth her heart has been very weak and she was told that she would probably live to be only fifteen. However, one day she meets Tōya Kanō, a vampire, with the opposite problem: Tōya lives for about one thousand years. It's customary for a vampire at his age of eighteen to choose a human partner to be with for 1000 years who in turn would let him drink their blood and share his life span for the millennium. Early in the series, Chiyuki offers Tōya her blood, so that she would be able to live longer, but Tōya refuses, claiming he dislikes the sight and taste of blood. In the beginning, he even looks down on humans, believing that they are weak creatures who will only die before him and leave him behind, but later on he, with the help of Chiyuki, starts to see the world in a different perspective. ===== Mass (Nagarjuna Akkineni) is an orphan, who bonds well with his landlord's son Adi (Sunil). He is behind a collegian Anjali (Jyothika), who happens to be the daughter of Vizag city's mafia don Satya (Raghuvaran). This restricts her from falling for him, as it would land him in danger, but she finally gives in after some time. She suggests that he ties the knot immediately before her brother Seshu (Rahul Dev) and Satya try separating them. The gangsters, in the process, kill Adi when he tries to stop them when they try separating the lead pair before their marriage. Mass moves into Vizag and stays in an apartment hiding his identity to take revenge on the mafia dons. Finally, his quest for revenge is completed and he also eliminates the antisocial elements in the society by killing them. ===== Geetanjali a.k.a. Geetha (Anuradha Mehta), a college student, goes to Kanyakumari on a trip. She finds a poem in a diary left on a beach and signs in it, saying that she wishes the poet will succeed in his love. Later on, her anklet falls into the ocean and a guy jumps into the water in front of her eyes but no one sees him resurfacing. However, Geetha did not see who jumped in the ocean. She dreams about the incident frequently with the idea that the guy who jumped has died but her friends ask her to forget it. Ajay (Siva Balaji) is a spoiled brat, and is the son of local MP Avataram (Rajan P. Dev). He likes to flirt with beautiful girls and wants them to be his girlfriends. One day he sees Geetha and proposes to her. When she refuses, he threatens to jump from the top of college building. Being afraid of being held responsible for a death, Geetha accepts the proposal with the thought that as some guy has already died for her and she doesn't want someone to get hurt because of her and starts dating him. Aarya (Allu Arjun) is a happy-go-lucky guy who enjoys his life with friends and kids. On his first day to the college, he sees Geetha who was just confessing her love to Ajay who was at the top of the college building, threatening her. Charmed by her beauty, Aarya falls in love with her and proposes to her. One day Avataram arranges a party in his house and it so turns out that Ajay introduces Geetha to his father and persuades him to fix their marriage. Ajay's father, who initially pretended to accept his son's marriage with Geetha, turns tables upside down by introducing another girl Lalasa and announces that his son is going to marry Lalasa. He threatens his son not to marry anyone except Lalasa. Being embarrassed by the situation and helpless, Ajay sits down and starts to get frustrated. Aarya, who loves Geetha so much that he never hesitated to help her, decides to bring Ajay to Geetha and helps them elope. On their way, they are followed by Avataram's henchmen. They eventually find a train and get into it. When they get down of the train in the night, they are shocked to see the leader of Avataram's henchmen who forces Geetha to come with him, defying his boss' order. On the other hand, Ajay remains helpless, while Aarya fights all the men and finally defeats them, rescuing Ajay and Geetha. They walk on to the nearby town, which happens to be Aarya's hometown. Being tired, the three go to bed. The next morning they wake up and realize that Ajay is missing. Aarya tries to convince Geetha that Ajay left to win over his father. This leaves private time for Aarya and Geetha and they grow close to each other. Geetha starts liking Aarya and begins to understand him. When she tries to confess it to him, Ajay and his father return. Avataram agrees to get Ajay married to Geetha. On the day of wedding, Geetha finds out that Aarya was the guy who dove into the sea for her anklet and realizes that he came into her life much before Ajay. She realizes that while Ajay blackmailed her into loving him; Aarya just wanted to see her happy. Geetha also realizes that Aarya truly loves her, while Ajay was just acting on his impulse of wanting what he couldn't have. She leaves the wedding hall in tears and confesses her love to Aarya and they both reconcile with each other and this time he successfully throws the stone into the Plastic Coke Cup indicating he truly succeeded in his love. ===== Kaoru Sakurazuka is a normal Japanese young man, not unique in the least except for another person's features, which drive him crazy. His name doesn't thrill him either. He tries to never let people know that he has some of Sakuya Kamishiro's thoughts by trying to use all of his normal states of mind. He enjoys his time at school with his friends Touya and Renji. In the game, Kaoru begins to have dizzy spells. After going to the school nurse—who's also famous for inventing new concoctions in the name of science—and accidentally using a vial of experimental medicine, Kaoru is shocked to wake up the next day to find that he's been transformed into a girl. ===== Shiner explores three relationships in which some form of abuse is not only involved but savored. The central story involves Tony and Danny, two friends whose relationship changes once Danny discovers that he becomes sexually satisfied when Tony physically abuses him. Another storyline involves Tim, an out of work boxer who is being stalked by Bob, a shy loner who still lives at home with his mother. Third is Reg and Linda, who discover their sex life improves when they hit each other during the act. ===== The film starts in the 1940s, during another drought in the sertão, when ranch hand Manuel (Geraldo Del Rey) is fed up with his situation. His boss tries to cheat him of his earnings and Manuel kills him, fleeing with his wife, Rosa (Yoná Magalhães). Now an outlaw, Manuel joins up with a self-proclaimed saint who condones violence (at one point slaughtering a baby) and preaches disturbing doctrines. It is now Rosa who turns to killing and the two are on the move once again. And so it goes, the two running from one allegiance to another, following the words of others as they attempt to find a place in their ruthless land. Blending mysticism, religion, and popular culture in this symbolic and realistic drama, Rocha insists that rather than follow the external and obscure dogmas of culture and religion, man must determine his path by his own voice. ===== Screenshot from Mortyr Screenshot from Mortyr In 1944, unexpectedly for the Allies, a German winter offensive results in over 80% of European territories falling to German control. No one really knows what Hitler and his generals did to bring forth this course of events, but the fall of London made it clear that the Allies had little chance of winning the war. Soon after, the destruction of Moscow and the taking of Washington D.C. ended the war. It was hard to believe that it was the German military technique or their leaders' tactical skills. People started to talk about final development of the Wunderwaffe, especially that not many managed to flee from the battlefields to tell what they have seen - their reports were unclear and not explaining anything. Nevertheless, the world was unable to stop the Führer and his Reich. In the year 2093, 148 years after the end of the war, the overwhelming Reich rules the Earth under totalitarianism, but Armageddon is nearing. The victory of German troops brought not only terror of Nazi dictatorship but also mysterious weather changes, which are seemingly leading the world towards destruction. General Jurgen Mortyr thinks that the Nazis are somehow responsible for the growing number of disasters and weather changes. The only way to prevent the destruction of mankind is to travel back in time to 1944. General Mortyr assigns his son, Sebastian, the mission to investigate and stop the events that could destroy the future of mankind. ===== After the World War II, in the Brazilian sertão. A group of impoverished peasant mystics (beatos) gathered around Dona Santa (Rosa Maria Penna), a female spiritual figure, join in veneration of Saint George with an obscure figure named Coirana (Lorival Pariz). Coirana claims to have restarted the cangaço and seeks to take the revenge of Lampião and other cangaceiro martyrs, presenting the tale of Saint George and the Dragon in a contemporary class conflict context. They threaten the town of Jardim de Piranhas governed by Coronel Horácio (Joffre Soares) a blind and old cattle owner married to younger and attractive Laura (Odete Lara). Dr. Mattos (Hugo Carvana), the corrupt police chief of the town, hires Antônio das Mortes as a jagunço against Coirana and Antônio fatally wounds Coirana in a duel. However, Antônio is changed by his experiences with the poor, and so he then demands that the coronel distribute the food stored in a warehouse to the remaining cangaceiros. The colonel raged and sent Mata Vaca (Vinícius Salvatori) to kill Antônio das Mortes. But Antônio das Mortes with the help of his friend "Professor" (Othon Bastos) kills Mata Vaca and his jagunços. The coronel is killed by Antão (Mário Gusmão), the helper and possibly lover of Dona Santa in a scene reminiscent of Saint George slaying the Dragon iconography. The movie ends with Antônio das Mortes walking by the roadside, carrying on the struggle - in some ways hopeless or unending - which extends beyond the killing of the colonel and the expropriation of his land. ===== O Sertão das Memórias is a black-and-white film that tells the story of two Sertanejos, the inhabitants of Sertão. Maria is the female reincarnation of Jesus, representing the strength of the Sartanejo women. She invites the Beatas (holy women) on a mission of prayer for which they journey through the countryside, witnessing social unrest among the population. Maria meets the hero of the peasants, the strong worker Antero whose history intermingles with hers. Through mythical dreams, visions, and stories heard along their journey, we witness the unfolding of Biblical prophecy in which Old Testament texts mingle with the folktales of the Sertão. The film aims to show how people try to find strength in myths, art, and religion when faced with the harsh realities of life. ===== A race of gelatinous creatures, having abandoned their dying planet and traveled to Earth, land in San Francisco. They infiltrate Earth's ecosystem, latching onto plantlife and taking the form of small pods with fragrant pink flowers. Elizabeth Driscoll, a laboratory scientist at the San Francisco Health Department, brings one of the flowers home, where she lives with her boyfriend Geoffrey. Leaving the flower on their bedside table, she awakens the next morning to discover Geoffrey now behaving strangely cold and distant. Elizabeth's colleague, Matthew Bennell, advises her to visit his psychiatrist friend David Kibner, who is holding a book- signing party to promote his new self-help book. As Elizabeth and Matthew drive to the bookstore, a hysterical man warns them of danger and shouts "They're coming! You'll be next!" before being chased away by a mob of people and then hit by a car. The mob watch his death without any emotion. At the bookstore, Elizabeth asks Kibner for help regarding Geoffrey, but he theorizes that Elizabeth is simply using the belief that Geoffrey is behaving differently as an excuse to end their relationship. Despite other people complaining of similar scenarios, she takes his advice. Meanwhile, Matthew's friend Jack Bellicec calls Matthew to investigate when a grotesque body covered in fibres which resembles Jack is found in his wife Nancy's mud baths. Sensing danger with these odd occurrences, Matthew goes to Elizabeth to warn her. After breaking into her house, he finds Elizabeth in a deep sleep but also discovers a semi-formed duplicate of her in the bedroom. Suspecting Geoffrey's involvement, Matthew takes Elizabeth home with him, but when he returns later with the police, the duplicate body is gone. The following night, Matthew and his friends are nearly duplicated as they sleep, by four pods in Matthew's garden. The aliens gestate inside the pods which grow to around three feet (about 1 m) in length before breaking open and spawning a human duplicate that grows rapidly. The pods duplicate any humans while they are sleeping in the immediate vicinity, copying not just their physical characteristics but their memories too. Once the duplication is complete, the original human dies and disintegrates and the alien "pod person" takes their place. Matthew calls the police, but realizes that the department has been infiltrated. They have also begun tracking him through the phone lines, alerting others to the group's location. Matthew destroys his own semi-formed duplicate before escaping with the others, pursued by the aliens who emit a shrill scream when they discover a human being among them, drawing other aliens nearby. Cornered at a dead end road, Jack and Nancy break away and create a distraction, allowing Matthew and Elizabeth to hide and eventually escape back into the city. There, the pair takes refuge in the health department, where they each ingest a large dose of Speed, keeping them awake for several more hours. Again tracked through the phone lines, they are soon captured by Jack and Kibner, who have been duplicated. Matthew and Elizabeth are both injected with sedatives whilst being informed of the aliens' intentions for survivability, though their previous dose of Speed enables them to escape and kill Jack’s duplicate whilst locking Kibner in a refrigerated room. Matthew and Elizabeth reunite with Nancy, who has learnt to evade the aliens by hiding her emotions and blending in with them. The two follow her example, but their cover is blown when Elizabeth screams at the sight of a mutant dog with a human head. They separate from Nancy amid the chaos and quickly board a truck en route to Pier 70, where the aliens are cultivating more pods and intending to ship them to other widely populated cities. While Matthew scouts the area in an attempt to flee aboard a vacant ship, Elizabeth falls asleep and is duplicated. Matthew returns and is horrified as her body disintegrates in his arms. Pursued by the duplicate Elizabeth, he breaks into the docks' warehouse and burns down the building, destroying hundreds of pods. He flees and hides under a bridge, exhausted, as the aliens try to find him. The next morning, Matthew returns to work at the health department and witnesses several schoolchildren being taken for duplication, while more pods are being prepared for the remaining West Coast cities.In the final scene, Matthew (Donald Sutherland) demonstrates the characteristic pose by which the "pod people" identify unconverted humans. As he heads towards City Hall, he encounters Nancy, who quietly approaches him and attempts a hushed conversation. To her horror, he points at her and emits an earsplitting shriek, having been replaced by the pods himself. ===== Steve Malone, an agent from the Environmental Protection Agency, is sent to a military base in Alabama to test possible effects on the surrounding ecological system caused by military actions. With him is his teenage daughter from his first marriage, Marti, his second wife Carol, and Marti's half brother Andy. On their way to the base, they stop at a gas station. In the restroom, Marti is threatened by an MP member with a knife. When he notices her fear, he lets go of her, satisfied that she shows an emotional response. Before she leaves the room, he warns her, "they get you when you sleep". Steve and his family move into their new home on the base, and Marti makes friends with the base commander's daughter Jenn. On his first day in day care, Andy runs away because he is recognized as an outsider among the other somehow conformist children. He is picked up and brought home by helicopter pilot Tim. Marti and Tim quickly feel attracted to each other. Meanwhile, while examining soil samples, Steve is approached by medical officer Major Collins, who asks him about psychological effects, particularly narcophobia (the fear of sleep), and their possible relation to toxication of the environment. Steve believes that a physiological reaction would be more likely. In the evening, Marti and Jenn go to the bar attended by the station's military personnel, where they meet not only Tim but also the MP who threatened Marti at the gas station. He denies that they ever met before. That night, a group of soldiers can be seen picking giant pods from the river running by the base. When Andy wakes up and enters his mother's room, Carol's body crumbles to dust, while a naked soulless double emerges from the closet. Nobody believes Andy's story that his real mother is dead and the person pretending to be Carol is only an impostor. The following night, Marti and her father are nearly "taken over" too by duplicates emerging from the giant pods. Carol attempts to convince Steve that the takeover is a good thing, claiming that it ends confusion and anger. She also claims that there's no place to go, as the events at the base are not an isolated incident. Steve is almost shocked and saddened into compliance, but Marti and Andy drag him out the door. Carol emits a shrill and mechanical scream that alerts other "pod people" to the presence of a human being. Now the majority in numbers, they swarm over the base chasing the remaining humans. After hiding Marti and Andy in a warehouse, Steve enters Major Collins' office. The hysterical Major tries to call for help, but the line is blocked. While swallowing sleep-prevention pills Collins announces that it is too late to run; all they can do is fight. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of a group of pod people, led by base commander General Platt. While Steve hides, the pod people try to convince the Major that the individual is not important, and that only conformity can solve the world's problems. The Major shoots himself rather than live in such a world. Steve returns to his children and tells them to follow him, claiming to have found a way out. They drive aimlessly through the military base, as loudspeakers shout out instructions for spreading the invasion by carrying out pods in trucks. Realizing that her father was replicated while he was away, Marti swerves the car to the side and tries to escape with her brother. Tim, who escaped his former comrades who tried to turn him into one of them, suddenly appears and Marti takes his gun and shoots the Steve duplicate. Pod Steve's body shrinks into a mass of seething, bloody goo. Tim manages to get hold of a helicopter gunship, but Marti and Andy are taken away by the pod people. They sedate both of them and take them to the base infirmary where the remaining human beings are being systematically duplicated by pods. Tim is able to rescue Marti, despite her pod duplicate trying to seduce him into compliance. Incomplete, it dies when he pulls its connecting tendrils off Marti. Marti and Tim leave the building, pretending to be pod people so they can get to Tim's helicopter to escape. However, they are spotted by Jenn, now a pod duplicate, who gets suspicious and tells Marti she saw Andy looking for her. When Marti reacts by displaying emotion, Jenn responds by giving out a pod scream to alert the other pod people. Tim and Marti manage to get in the helicopter and are joined at the last minute by Andy who runs up to them. But right after taking off, Andy, who is actually a pod duplicate, attacks both and tries to bring down the helicopter. After a short scuffle, a heartbroken Marti is forced to throw Pod-Andy out of the helicopter and he gives out a pod scream while falling to his death. The ending of the film is an ambiguous one. Tim destroys the trucks filled with pods with the helicopter's rockets, while Marti confesses her profound hatred in a voice-over narration, thereby hinting at a loss of humanitarian quality. While they land on another base, the words of Marti's replaced stepmother earlier in the film can be heard, suggesting that the phenomenon may have already spread beyond the army base: "Where you gonna go, where you gonna run, where you gonna hide? Nowhere... 'cause there's no one like you left." ===== The film is based on the novel Memórias do Distrito de Diamantina, written by João Felicio dos Santos (who has a small role in the film as a Roman Catholic pastor). It is a romanticized retelling of the true story of Chica da Silva, an 18th-century African slave in the state of Minas Gerais, who attracts the attention of João Fernandes de Oliveira, a Portuguese sent by Lisbon with the Crown's exclusive contract for mining diamonds, and eventually becomes his lover, rises into power and into the Brazilian high society of the time. Moreover, João quickly lets the intendant and other authorities know that he can be bribed, and gets onto their corruption scheme. Eventually Lisbon hears of João's (and Xica's) excesses and sends an inspector. José, a political radical, is another main character, who provides Xica refuge. ===== Junbao and Tienbo grow up together in a Shaolin Temple as monks, studying the martial arts and generally getting into trouble. They are both expelled from the temple after Tienbo impulsively almost kills a fellow student who cheats in a fight against him. Aided in their escape by their sympathetic teacher, they receive final instructions regarding the potential paths of their different personalities, with a specific warning given to Tienbo. Junbao and Tienbo then go into the outside world to find their way in life. Meanwhile, a gang of henchmen are forcibly taking money from a local shop owner. A girl nicknamed Miss Li steals the money and returns it. Having noticed the money gone, the henchmen start to chase down Little Melon, who holds her own during the fight but soon gets outnumbered and into trouble. Junbao comes to her aid and defeats the gang, before Army reinforcements arrive to break up the fight and so the trio flee to escape capture. At this moment the eunuch governor Liu Jin travels through the town, roughing up the locals as he does so. Tienbo realizes that he wants to be as rich and powerful as the governor, but Miss Li warns him that the governor has "the heart of a viper". Miss Li then shows the two sworn brothers to a pub for food. Inside the pub, they find a young woman named Siu-lin, who is searching for her lost husband, during which she supports herself by playing on a sanxian that said husband gave to her as a wedding gift. She finds him inside the pub as the new husband of the governor's sister, who picks a fight with Siu-lin. Siu-lin gets the upper hand in the duel, but the husband, eager to please his wealthy new wife, hits and injures Siu-lin on the head with a stool. Junbao comes to Siu-lin's rescue by fighting off the governor's sister's bodyguards before fleeing. The next day, while Junbao and Tienbo are making money with their amazing kung fu skills, the governor's second-in- command spots them and is impressed with Tienbo's abilities (and his eagerness to kow-tow to authority). He offers him a position in the army, which Tienbo readily accepts. However, Junbao is more reluctant to do so and declines going with Tienbo, and so the two brothers part ways. Later, some soldiers come to the pub to collect taxes (which have increased due to the governor’s greedy nature), but Junbao and the rebels (who have stolen great valuables from the governor to give back to the poor) fight and kill them one by one. One soldier escapes alive and starts off towards the army's camp to warn them about the rebels with Junbao in pursuit. Just in front of the army encampment, Tienbo kills the soldier before he warns the rest of the army about the rebels whereabouts. Tienbo warns Junbao to stay clear of the rebels as they'll get him into trouble. Now knowing where the rebels are hiding however, Tienbo takes this unique opportunity to gain a promotion. He sets a trap for Junbao and the rebels by telling them that the army is on patrol and when would be the best time to attack them. Junbao and Siu-lin collect all the rebels from the region and go to the army camp (thus, falling for Tienbo's trap). A big battle occurs where most of the rebels die. Tienbo captures Miss Li and Siu- lin. In the end, the only escaped survivors are Junbao and a few rebels. Because of the trap, the governor promotes Tienbo to Embroidered Uniform Guard lieutenant. Tienbo kills Miss Li to prove his devotion to the governor, and with his new authority (and some poignant advice from the governor) holds Siu- lin as bait so that he can lure Junbao to defect. Junbao shows up to confront Tienbo and rejects his offer, and after a fierce fight manages to rescue Siu- lin. However, due to the injury he receives and the fact that his best friend betrayed him, Junbao's mind snaps and he goes crazy. While recuperating in the countryside safehouse with the help of Siu-lin, he has a sudden epiphany that regains his mental health, and begins using natural phenomenon as inspiration to create a new style of martial arts which uses "soft" movements to offset power, speed and strength. While the governor is traveling to Beijing to see the empress, Junbao and Siu-lin intercept the convoy, defeat his sister and guards and captures the governor as a hostage, before going to the army camp to confront Tienbo. Due to his arrogance, Tienbo declines and starts to fight Junbao, thinking the latter is still the inferior fighter. To Tienbo's surprise, however, Junbao is now fighting using the heretofore unseen style, which he calls Tai chi, and is able to fend off Tienbo's superior strength with ease. Out of frustration, Tienbo kills the governor in order to gain complete control over the troops surrounding them. Siu-lin intervenes and convinces them not to listen to Tienbo, as he just betrayed their leader. Seeing this (and also the brutal way Tienbo utilizes his troops as battle fodder), the troops back off and leave Tienbo's fate to Junbao. After a stunning series of parries and blows by Junbao, Tienbo is defeated and eventually killed when he falls upon a bundle of spears. After the fight, Junbao parts way with Siu-lin, and returns Tienbo's ashes to the Shaolin Temple, before establishing his own school at Wudang Mountains. ===== The story occurs in Los Angeles, where a fight between Master Tak (Yuen Wah) and Johnny (Jerry Trimble) destroys Tak's herbal medicine store. Johnny is prevented from killing Tak when Anna (Anne Rickets) comes to save him. During his recovery he stays in Anna's camper van. Jet (Jet Li) arrives from Hong Kong on the airport bus. When he arrives at Tak's store to resume as Tak's Kung Fu student, he finds the store shuttered and three thieves steal his bag. He chases their car on foot through the streets and eventually catches them. The thieves are so impressed with Jet's physical skills they beg him to be their master. They take Jet to their home (an abandoned municipal building) but they're attacked by a larger gang. Jet reluctantly steps in to defend his new friends, but their home is set on fire. Johnny and his gang are closing down kung fu schools and making a name for themselves. Jet meets May (Crystal Kwok), a bank worker responsible for the loan on Tak's store - but neither knows where Master Tak is. Jet finds himself in the middle of a robbery at a carpark. He finds himself fighting beside Johnny, but Johnny recognizes him from one of Tak's pictures and makes it clear he intends to kill both Jet and Tak. Anna and Jet's friends get beaten up, so Jet trains his friends to defend themselves. Jet is eventually re- united with Tak, but Tak claims he's no longer interested in either teaching Kung Fu or doing herbal medicine. Jet and his friends go to Tak's store and prepares to deal with Johnny's gang. The three friends put their newfound skills into practice fighting four members of Johnny's gang. Jet and Johnny fight outside the store until the police step in. Jet and Tak argue, and Jet decides to return to Hong Kong. On the airport bus he's attacked by two dreadlocked men armed with a shotgun who was at the carpark. Jet manages to defeat the men and regain control of the bus despite a shotgun blast killing the driver. May has been following the bus in her car, possibly intending to express romantic interest in Jet. In the meantime, Tak and the three friends make their way to a rooftop where Johnny and his gang are holding Anna hostage. Jet and May go to Tak's store to find a note and a will. They quickly make their way to the rooftop of a tall building where Tak has disabled 15 or 20 of Johnny's men but is beginning to tire due to his age. Jet takes over for his master and fights Johnny while Tak and the friends defeat the rest of the gang and rescue Anna. After an intense fight Jet manages to kick Johnny off a hanging wire to his death. Jet boards the airport bus, once again intending to go to Hong Kong. To his surprise he finds May there as well; planning to go to with him for a holiday, but the three friends and Master Tak drive up beside the bus: Master Tak has stolen Jet's passport so he can't leave. Jet and the others laugh at May's misfortune of traveling alone but she in anger and frustration shoves her ticket in Jet's mouth as the credits roll. ===== In the grand tradition of the lone hero who mysteriously appears in a town desperate for help (think "Shane, "Billy Jack", "James Bond" and "Chinese Connection"), having survived a war and now serving the government as an undercover agent, Danny Silva takes on his biggest foe yet: the street gangs that have taken over his neighborhood. Unwilling to play by the rules set down by the criminals, Silva forgoes the use of guns and decides to battle the thugs with the strength of his fists, spirit and willpower, turning himself into a real-life, modern-day superhero. Packed with pulse pounding, adrenaline-filled action; "Latin Dragon" gives us our first mainstream Hispanic martial arts action hero. ===== Science professor John Butler and his family - wife Kim, teenage daughter Katie, young son Greg (the siblings always go barefoot), and dog Digger - are on a rafting trip along the Amazon River when their raft hits a rock and capsizes. They are swept through a cavern and caught in a whirlpool; upon resurfacing, they find themselves in a mysterious realm where humans coexist with various prehistoric creatures, including dinosaurs. The Butlers meet and befriend a clan of Neanderthals led by: Gorok; his wife Gara; their teenage son Lok; and their young daughter Tana. Gorok and his family have a pet of their own, a baby Stegosaurus named Glump. Gorok and Company aid the Butlers' efforts to find a means of returning home; for their own part, John and his family do what they can to make the Neanderthals' daily lives easier. (Examples of such included introducing Gorok's family to basic technology, such as simple machines - particularly the lever and the wheel - sailboats and windmills.) ===== Two boys from the same school are murdered. In their stomachs there are capsules containing scraps from a diary that describe the next victims. Suspecting there might be the possibility that a killer is at the same school, detective Chu Ja-young (Shin Eun-kyung), with her rookie partner Kim Dong-wook (Eric Mun) search the school to find identical handwriting that matches that of the diary excerpts. When they finally find the matching one, they're told that Jin-mo, the student who wrote the text, has died already in a car accident one month previous. As Ja-young and Dong-wook discover Jin-mo's secret diary, more clues are revealed concerning the next victim. They also discover that Jin-mo was bullied by his schoolmates, and that there is a darker secret to be revealed. ===== Working out of their van, Black (Master P) and Blue (Johnson) deal in TV sets and boomboxes, but then a driver mistakenly drops off a cell phone shipment. Business is on the upswing, but then the local crime boss, Roscoe, and his enforcer, T-Lay (Tom Lister Jr.), have a deal go sour and blame Black and Blue. Lorraine's boss Dalton and the FBI are also closing in. ===== In Los Angeles, two rival gang leaders are also trying to be music producers. When DJ's (Mack 10) equipment shorts out and Lonzo (Fat Joe) is cut out of the action by a record producer, the two join forces, which also requires a tentative peace between gangs. With backing from Gator (CJ Mac), a smooth New Orleans drug king, DJ and Lonzo start drug dealing, organizing their gangs into pushers. Just as their finances are looking up, one of Gator's team pulls a double cross and two of DJ and Lonzo's gang bangers start a shooting war. Can the erstwhile music producers salvage anything of their bond or their plans? ===== Devlin Stonehand is an ex-metalsmith and ex-farmer from the conquered land of Duncaer. After losing his family to banecats, he decides to take the oath of the Chosen One, hoping for a quick death. Instead, Devlin solves the mystery of elusive bandits, and defeats a lake monster, to the growing annoyance and concern of his enemies. Attacks made against him, both mundane and magical, fail to stop him. Meanwhile, as the Chosen One continues to live, the common people of Jorsk begin to respect and worship him. Nobles from around the kingdom seek Devlin out for help with local troubles and troubles to the kingdom overall. Helping those he deems sincere, Devlin seeks out the barony that is having no trouble, and investigates in his role as Chosen One. There he finds an oppressed populace, and confronts the baron with charges of treason. The arrested baron is sent back to the capital, Kingsholm, to be judged by the king. When he finally understands the depths of the baron’s treachery, he returns to Kingsholm to uncover the rest of the conspiracy. When he arrives, he finds that the Marshal of the Royal Army, Duke Gerhard, is a main conspirator, and the accused baron has been released. Devlin challenges Gerhard to a duel, in which Gerhard is slain and Devlin almost dies. He recovers over time, and is named the new General of the Royal Army and given a voting seat on the king’s council. ===== ===== ===== "The world of Pandemia seethes with tension as imperial troops wage war along its borderlands and omens predict disaster. When the Protocol which restricts the use of magic begins to break down, only a few handpicked people have a chance to preserve the balance of their crumbling society." (1) ===== Someone is killing wizards, and doing so apparently without the use of magic. Lord Darcy is sent to investigate. He must uncover the murderer and ascertain whether the whole business is a ploy to kill the king himself. To complicate matters Darcy must investigate during the preparations for the investiture of Gwiliam, Duke of Lancaster (King John IV's younger son), as Prince of Gaul. To add international tension, the Crown Prince of Poland, His Majesty the King of Courland (Latvia), will attend the ceremony. (In this timeline, Poland is a great empire ruling most of Eastern Europe, and there is an ongoing cold war between it and Darcy's Anglo-French Empire). ===== In New England (a term which in this history includes the whole of our North America) an Azteque Prince is found dead on a stone altar. Lord Darcy and Sean O Lochlainn are sent across the Atlantic to investigate. Darcy must identify the killer and determine whether the Azteques are returning to human sacrifice. Perhaps an attempt is being made by the rival Polish Empire to upset the balance of power between the Angevin Empire and the Azteques? ===== The Devil Star Imperial Forces have established a base on and invaded the Alpha Kentowry system. The Solar System Allied Forces have entrusted their Warrior, aboard The Astoro Raider, to attack the invasion force and destroy their mother ship.Manual, p.16 ===== Chariclea, the daughter of King Hydaspes and Queen Persinna of Ethiopia, was born white through the effect of the sight of a marble statue upon the queen during pregnancy (an instance of the theory of maternal impression). Fearing accusations of adultery, Persinna gives her baby daughter to the care of Sisimithras, a gymnosophist, who takes the baby to Egypt and places her in the care of Charicles, a Pythian priest. Chariclea is then taken to Delphi, and made a priestess of Artemis. Theagenes, a noble Thessalian, comes to Delphi and the two fall in love. He runs off with Chariclea with the help of Calasiris (kalasiris), an Egyptian who has been employed by Persinna to find Chariclea. They encounter many perils: pirates, bandits, and others. The main characters ultimately meet at Meroë at the very moment when Chariclea is about to be sacrificed to the gods by her own father. Her birth is made known, and the lovers are happily married. ===== Homesick for her family in Los Angeles, lounge singer Petey Brown (Ida Lupino) decides to leave New York City to spend some time visiting her two sisters and brother on the West Coast. Shortly she lands a job at the nightclub of small- time-hood Nicky Toresca (Robert Alda) where her sister Sally (Andrea King) is employed. While evading the sleazy Toresca's heavy-handed passes, Petey falls in love with down-and-out ex-jazz pianist, legendary San Thomas (Bruce Bennett), who has never recovered from an old divorce. Variously helping to smooth over or solve the problems of her sisters, brother and their next-door neighbor, the no-nonsense Petey must wait as San decides whether to start a new life with her or sign back on with a merchant steamer. ===== Jaded by a world which has deceived him, an older gentleman withdraws from society into a somber and lonely existence. When a crisis develops in his city, it soon becomes clear that he has led a more than unusual life. He is a man with secrets, bitterness, lies, and regret - and he's being watched. ===== The novel is a first contact story, following the generation ship But the Sky, My Lady! The Sky! as it approaches the Destiny Star. Humans have been colonizing the 500 light- years around Earth for a few thousand years, and have never run into a sentient alien species — until now. The discovery of an Industrial Age alien race upsets the established protocols of the ship, leading to uncertainty and delays in habitation, which in turn leads to societal unrest and conflict aboard the ship. ===== The plot of the game was actually a twist on the usual "Save the World" story setting for many platform/adventure games. One evening, Hugh Tazmanian Devil was telling his three children (Taz, his sister Molly and his brother Jake) an intriguing tale: Once there were huge giant seabirds that laid giant eggs which could feed a family of Tazmanian devils for over a year. There are also legends that somewhere along the island of Tasmania, there is a Lost Valley, where the giant seabirds still nest. Taz becomes fascinated by the prospect of the potentially large omelet and leaves in search for one of those giant eggs. Thus, the player must direct Taz across various stages in search for the Lost Valley and its Giant Bird. ===== The world of Operation Luna has an alternative history, which mostly resembled our own until a great "Awakening" brought awareness of supernatural forces to the world at large. This Awakening led to drastic changes in society; industrial machinery was largely replaced by technology driven by magic, spells, and "goetic forces" instead of fossil fuels and electricity. For example, the main mode of transportation is broomsticks and magic carpets fitted with cabins for people to sit in; radios are called "runers," apparently activated by runes; and the propulsion behind space flight is achieved by a combination of mechanical technology, spelled crystals, and arcane materials such as mummy dust. Steve helped in the construction of a spacecraft for Operation Selene, the United States' first attempt to send a manned craft to the Moon. However, a disaster caused by beings adverse to the mission destroy the vehicle and nearly kill the celestonaut, Curtice Newton, although Steve, in wolf form, saves her. Afterward, Steve, Ginny, and a handful of people begin to investigate the disaster and make plans to put Operation Luna into effect, a smaller version of Operation Selene independent from NASA. Since the identities of the entities behind the Operation Selene disaster remain somewhat veiled and mysterious, Steve and Ginny enlist the help of a number of people, including Balawahdiwa, a Zuni high priest; Fotherwick-Botts, an enchanted sword that can talk; and Fjalar, a Norwegian dwarf who forged Fotherwick-Botts. Though the characters live in Gallup, New Mexico, the characters travel to various other locations in their investigations, including London, England, various parts of Norway, and even Yggdrasil, the legendary Norse site of the World Tree. The time period is roughly in the late 1990s. Although vague, their initial investigations reveal that the malevolent spirits who collaborated with Coyote are Asian in origin, leading them to suspect a connection to Dr. Fu Ch'ing, a Chinese scientist, government agent, and thaumaturge. (The U.S.' largest competitor for space exploration in the novel is China rather than Russia.) Meanwhile, the F.B.I. suspects Ginny's brother, Will, an astronomer who helped in the planning of Operation Selene and who has an interest in Chinese culture and connections with people in the country. Steve and Ginny themselves worry that he may be possessed by an evil spirit, though tests reveal no trace of a foreign entity. ===== Harold Parkette is in need of a new lawn mowing service. The summer before, a neighbor's cat was accidentally killed when another neighbor's dog chased it under the mower. Harold has been putting off hiring new help for the summer, but when he sees an ad for a mowing service, he calls. A van reading "Pastoral Greenery" soon pulls up to his home. The man working for the service, a hairy, pot-bellied fellow, is shown the overgrown back lawn and is hired. Harold is enjoying a rest as he reads the paper, wondering about the lawnmower man mentioning Circe, when he hears the lawnmower outside. Startled, he races to the back porch and sees the lawnmower running by itself and the naked lawnmower man following it on all fours and eating the grass. The lawnmower seemingly deliberately chases and kills a mole and Harold faints. When Harold revives, the lawnmower man explains that this new method, introduced by his boss, grants substantial benefits, and that he makes sacrificial victims of customers who cannot appreciate the process. Harold, though unnerved, allows the lawnmower man to return to work. As soon as the man is out of sight, Harold desperately calls the police, but is interrupted by the lawnmower man, who reveals his boss's name: Pan. The lawnmower briefly chases Harold through his living room before brutally slaughtering him. When the police arrive, they conclude that Harold was murdered and dismembered by a schizophrenic sex maniac. As they leave, the scent of freshly cut grass hangs strongly in the air. ===== When Miss Bianca's owner, referred to as "The Boy," becomes sick and is taken to a mountain resort far from the city, where the fresh air will help him get over his illness. Miss Bianca must travel with him and leaves her house, known as the "Porcelain Pagoda," in charge of Bernard, whom she trusts with her life. Shortly after Miss Bianca leaves, Bernard is visited in his bachelor flat by an obnoxious old mouse named Nicodemus, who tells him that he is in a great predicament and hoped to find the legendary Miss Bianca to help him. The problem centers around his owner, an orphaned young lady named Miss Tomasina, who has been kidnapped by mountain bandits under the order of her legal guardian, and with only three days before she comes of age to claim her parents' properties as hers. Bernard decides to take the case, in the process gathering valuable clues and going through several mishaps, like being kept as a pet for a few minutes by a bunch of school girls and almost getting roasted alive by two housemaids. He also meets one of the most curious characters of the whole series, a stuffed bear named Algernon, who proves to be an invaluable ally for the future. Bernard and Algernon eventually travel to a desolate and perilous wasteland known as the "Wolf Range," where their clues had pointed that Miss Tomasina is being kept. All this time, Miss Bianca daydreams about Bernard and wonders what he is up to. When she arrives home from the mountains, she realises that Bernard is nowhere to be found and worriedly runs to his flat to see if he is not terribly ill, ready to nurse him all night if necessary. Upon questioning Nicodemus and Bernard's neighbors, she hears all about Bernard's quest to rescue Miss Tomasina and really begins to worry about him. It is in this point of the series that readers realise just how important Bernard is to Miss Bianca, and is where she lets go of her formal self and gives in to her love for him, realizing that she just cannot live without Bernard. She refuses to eat or sleep, and becomes very taciturn, thinking of nothing except her dear Bernard, lost in some desolate corner of the Wolf Range, with only a stuffed toy to accompany him. Meanwhile, Bernard and Algernon eventually find the bandits' hideout and rescue Miss Tomasina right on time. The most hilarious events occur at this point, as well as a very bleak one: the legal guardian of Miss Tomasina dies from a heart attack in the middle of the court. After all the adventure, Algernon finds a place with another stuffed bear named Nigel and form a stuffed toy club. Bernard returns to Miss Bianca and they sit beside the fountain in her courtyard, leading to one of the few but very touching moments in which Bernard and Miss Bianca's whiskers touch and they feel each other's love aglow. Miss Bianca asks Bernard to please come and live with her, for she feels that they have had enough adventure in their lifetime and wishes to settle down and retire. Bernard, however, has a different feeling. Something inside him tells him that there is still something he must do, one more adventure to live, which leads to the final part of the Rescuers series, Bernard into Battle. And with this scene, the story ends. Category:1977 British novels Category:1977 children's books Category:British children's novels Category:Fictional mice and rats Category:Heinemann (publisher) books Category:Children's novels about animals Category:British children's books Category:Male characters in literature Category:Literary characters introduced in 1977 ===== Set in an unspecified South American country, the story begins at a birthday party thrown at the country's vice presidential home in honor of Katsumi Hosokawa, the visiting chairman of a large Japanese company and opera enthusiast. As a not-so-subtle pretext to get Hosokawa to invest in the country, famous American soprano Roxane Coss is scheduled to perform as the highlight of the party. Near the end of the party, members of a terrorist organization break into the house, intending to take the President of the country hostage. When they realize the President is not in attendance, the terrorist group decides to take the entire party hostage. After determining they have too many hostages, the terrorists decide to release all of the hostages except those they deem most likely to return a large ransom. Two major romantic relationships develop as the standoff drags on and serve as the backdrop to the rest of the story. The first is between Coss and Hosokawa, who develop a deep bond even though they do not speak each other's language and thus cannot communicate verbally. The second relationship is between the translator Gen and the young terrorist Carmen, who must keep their love a secret. The two lovers meet in the china closet every night. At the end of the novel, the government breaks into the house and kills all the terrorists. All of the hostages are freed except for Hosokawa, who dies in the struggle. In an epilogue that takes place some years later, former hostages Simon Thibault and his wife meet with Gen and Roxane, who are getting married in Italy. ===== Taking place in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, this is the story about three beautiful, young females named Sonya, Kei, and Lukish. They are in an extremely popular girl band called The Pussy Cats which is managed by an old hag. However, this is only a cover up. In actuality, the girls are the notorious female assassins known as The Midnight Panther, who will kill men for money by first sleeping with them and executing them in their own unique manner. The old hag is, in reality, a witch who arranges the transactions. However, when the girls receive a commission to kill the despotic king who is murdering his subjects, one of them takes the job personally and requests the honor. ===== Ripper takes place in New York City in the year 2040. It opens with the investigation of the recent murder of Renee Stein, the third victim of a serial killer known as "The Ripper", largely out of the modus operandi similarity to Jack the Ripper. The player assumes the role of Jake Quinlan, a reporter for the Virtual Herald, whom The Ripper sends messages to detailing his murders (an act attributed to Jack the Ripper, although no letters have been proven to come from him). Along with the police (whose investigation is headed by Detective Vincent Magnotta), Quinlan is seeking The Ripper's true identity. After investigating Renee Stein's murder, Quinlan receives a message from The Ripper, who warns Quinlan that his girlfriend, Catherine Powell, will be the next victim, as she has gotten too close to discovering his identity. Quinlan manages to find Powell still alive, but in a coma "deeper than anyone thought possible." Cybersurgeon Claire Burton at the Meta-Cognition Center of the Tribeca Center Hospital manages to retrieve a distorted image of Powell's attacker, but requires additional information from Quinlan to make it clearer. (This is also a reference to Jack the Ripper, as the police hypothesized that they might be able to get an image of the killer from the retinas of the victims.) He provides this through investigating into what Powell was on to in her investigation and homes in on three possible suspects for The Ripper's murders. In order to transmit this information into Powell's brain directly, he enlists the help of Joey Falconetti, a hacker who specializes in interfacing directly with the human brain. Quinlan's investigation leads him to discover that all of The Ripper's victims and all of those associated with the investigation of The Ripper (except Quinlan himself) were involved with an old gaming group known as the Web Runners, who played a game based on the Jack the Ripper mystery. The last session of this game somehow caused one of the players to die in real life. The player that died happened to be Catherine Powell's mother. Assistance from a pathologist named Vic Farley reveals that The Ripper's murders were done by placing a code into a victim's brain while in cyberspace that caused their internal body pressure to rise to a point of explosion, which Farley experiences immediately after providing his explanation. Quinlan also finds a cyberspace weapon developed by a murdered cyberarchitect named Hamilton Wofford, designed specifically to kill The Ripper inside a virtual recreation of the historic Whitechapel district of London, where the Jack the Ripper murders took place. After assembling the weapon and gathering the necessary protection from The Ripper's weapon, Quinlan enters cyberspace, kills The Ripper, and manages to escape the virtual Whitechapel in time to escape its destruction. The Ripper can be one of four possible suspects: Joey Falconetti, Claire Burton, Vincent Magnotta, or Catherine Powell. With each play-through, certain clues and actual identity of The Ripper vary, though the bulk of the story is unchanged, and clues indicating the guilt of all four suspects will appear regardless of who the killer is. For instance, Catherine Powell experiences mysterious surges in brain wave activity that coincide with all the Ripper's murders regardless of whether or not she actually is the Ripper, and no alternative explanation for these surges is provided. However, the changes in the game's story and puzzles are limited to the game's third act- after Farley's death. ===== The story opens with the unnamed narrator and his party, boating on the Darling River, coming across a young man on horseback driving some horses along the bank. The young man asks if the water is too deep to cross, to which a joker in the party replies that it is deep enough to drown him. The young man continues up the river. The following day, a funeral gathers at a corner pub, the deceased being the young horsemen encountered the previous day. The anonymous man is a union member, however, little more is known about him. Though the "defunct" is of a different religion to the majority of the town, they, nonetheless, organise a respectful burial as "unionism is stronger than creed." "Drink, however, is stronger than unionism," and, by the time the hearse passes by the pub, "more than two- thirds of the funeral were unable to follow." The narrator and his party respectfully follow the dwindling funeral procession, observing the conflict between the Bushfolks' respect for the dead, and their own personal comfort. The burial itself is sombre, yet emotionless. Nobody actually knew the deceased, and so it is impossible to feel sad for him. It is heard that the young man's name is James Tyson, though this is "simply the name he went by." The narrator does eventually hear the man's real name, but he has already forgotten it. ===== George and Ann Farber, their son Georgie, and their dog Lucky arrive at their lake house. Their next-door neighbour, Fred, is seen with two young men, Peter and Paul. They find Fred reacting somewhat awkwardly. Fred and Paul come over to help put the boat into the lake. After they leave, George and Georgie stay outside by the lake, tending to their boat. Georgie asks his father why Fred was behaving so strangely. While Ann is in the kitchen cooking, Peter visits and asks to borrow some eggs. Ann gives him the eggs but Peter clumsily drops them. Feeling a little annoyed after Peter accidentally knocks her phone into the sink filled with water, Ann gives him another four eggs and he leaves. Soon afterwards she hears Lucky barking and finds Peter and Paul inside together. Lucky had jumped on Peter, causing him to break the second batch of eggs. Paul asks her to try out one of the golf clubs outside, and she begrudgingly agrees. In the boat, George and Georgie hear Lucky barking hysterically when suddenly the barking stops. Peter and Paul request more eggs, and Ann becomes frustrated, but George arrives and tries to force the men to leave, slapping Paul. In retaliation, Peter breaks one of George's legs with the golf club. The two young men then take the family hostage. Paul guides Ann on a hunt to find the family's dog, which he had killed with George's golf club. When their neighbors, the Thompsons, visit, Ann passes the two men off as friends. After returning to the house, the Farbers are forced to participate in a number of sadistic games in order to stay alive. Paul asks if George or Ann wants to bet that they will be alive by 9:00 in the morning, and says that he and Peter are betting they will not be. Paul frequently ridicules Peter's weight and lack of intelligence, and describes a number of contradicting stories of Peter's past, although no definitive explanation is ever presented as to the men's origins or motives. During the "games", Peter and Paul put Georgie's head in a bag and ask Ann to strip naked. Georgie is nearly suffocated until George asks Ann to follow the men's instructions. When released from the bag, Georgie escapes the house with the help of his parents. He goes to the neighbors', where he discovers their bloody corpses. Meanwhile, Paul pushes Ann, whose hands have been tied with tape behind her back, onto a sofa that is some space away from George, and ties her ankles with tape before going out to search for Georgie, leaving Peter to watch over the Farbers. Ann asks why they do not directly kill them, and Peter answers that they should not forget the fun of the games. When Peter goes to kitchen to get eggs, Ann jumps to George but George fails to untie her before Peter comes back, and Peter beats her and breaks the eggs again. Ann begs Peter to let them go, but he refuses. Georgie finds a shotgun in the neighbors' house and Paul tells him to go ahead and shoot him with it, but the gun fails to go off. Paul returns him to the living room, and gives the shotgun to Peter. The men play a new game, saying whoever gets counted out will be shot. While Paul is in the kitchen getting something to eat, Georgie panics and runs, which results in Peter shooting and killing him. Paul berates Peter for being trigger-happy, and the two men decide to briefly leave. George and Ann are grief-stricken over their loss, but they eventually resolve to survive. Ann is able to free herself and flee the house while George desperately tries to make a call on the malfunctioning phone. Ann fails to find help, only to be re-captured by Peter and Paul, who bring her back to the house. After stabbing George, they tell Ann to say a prayer before making a choice for her husband; a painful and prolonged death with the "little" knife, or a quick and brutal death with the "big" shotgun. While Paul is talking, Ann seizes the shotgun on the table in front of her and kills Peter. An enraged Paul grabs the shotgun and starts looking for the television remote. Upon finding it, he rewinds the last occurrences back to a moment before Ann grabs the shotgun, breaking the fourth wall. On the "do over", Paul snatches the shotgun away before she can grab it and admonishes her, saying she is not allowed to break the rules. Peter and Paul kill George and take Ann, bound and gagged, out onto the family's boat. Ann tries to free herself, but is caught by Paul and Peter. Around eight o'clock in the morning, they nonchalantly throw her into the water to drown, thus winning their bet. They knock on the door of the Thompsons' house and request some eggs. The film ends with Paul glancing at the camera with a smirk. ===== In southern Arizona Territory, hired gun-turned-marshal Chris Adams rescues his old friend, former bounty hunter Jim Mackay, from an ambush. Jim asks Chris to help him defend the Mexican border town of Magdalena from De Toro and his bandits, but Chris is reluctant. Chris refuses his new wife Arrila’s request to release teenager Shelly Donavan, jailed for robbery. Chris meets with newspaper writer Noah Forbes for a story on Chris' eventful career. The next morning, loading prisoners onto the Tucson prison wagon, Chris decides to free Donavan. Chris meets Noah to discuss his exploits, as Donavan celebrates his release with Hank and Bob Allen. Donavan leads the brothers in a bank robbery just as Arrila meets Chris and Noah outside. Wounding Chris, Donavan abducts Arrila and escapes with the Allens. Revived two days later, Chris sets off in search of Arrila, accompanied by Noah. In the desert, Noah and Chris find Arrila dead. Chris tracks down the Allens and demands Donavan's whereabouts. Confident that Chris will take them back to town for trial, Hank reveals that Donavan has fled to Mexico, and admits Arrila was raped and tortured before her murder. Chris shoots Hank, and Bob pleads for his life, insisting he did not join in the assault, but Chris shoots Bob as Noah looks on in shock. Chris rides to the Mexican border and finds Jim with armed farmers from Magdalena, hoping to ambush De Toro. Jim reveals that Donavan rode by the previous day, and Chris again refuses to join, telling Jim he is badly outnumbered and will be slaughtered. Chris and Noah track Donavan through the desert, only to find themselves circling back toward Jim's location. Hearing distant gunfire, they find the farmers dead with no sign of Jim. Chris assumes the women of Magdalena have been left unprotected and Jim will have returned there, and rides into Mexico with the uncertain Noah. At the mission in Magdalena, Chris kills three bandits and find the townswomen, who have been beaten and raped. Laurie Gunn explains that the women were defenseless against De Toro and his more than forty men who arrived the previous day. Although Laurie and the women plead with Chris to help them escape before De Toro's return, he points out there are no horses and a desert trek would kill them. Realizing that the American Cavalry will not cross the border, Chris and Noah ride to Tucson, promising to return. Not far from Magdalena, the pair come upon the bodies of Jim, Donavan, and the remaining farmers. In Tucson, Chris meets with the governor then travels to the prison, asking the warden to pardon the last five prisoners he arrested: Pepe Carrall, Walt Drummond, Scott Elliott, Mark Skinner, and former Confederate captain Andy Hayes. Chris tells the criminals he will sign their pardons if they join his posse, and they grudgingly agree. Loaded with supplies, the group departs for De Toro's hacienda. The men overcome the guards and loot the home, and Chris takes De Toro's woman captive. Riding to Magdalena, Chris warns the men not to escape. Chris designs an elaborate trap for the bandits. The women and construction worker Elliott help prepare several ditches, barbed wire fences, and hidden barriers. After training the women in reloading the weapons, the town awaits De Toro's arrival. The bandits attack, but the town’s initial assault with long-range guns sends the outlaws into disarray. The defenders retreat to the second line of defense; protected by Elliott's clever fences, they dynamite many of the bandits. Walt, Hayes and Elliott are killed and Noah wounded as the group retreats behind another rigged barricade. At the mission where De Toro's woman and the town children are hiding, Chris tells Laurie his last resort: they will lure the bandits inside and blow up the church. Pepe is killed in De Toro's renewed assault. Hearing the bandits approach, Laurie prepares to dynamite the mission and frees De Toro's woman, who rushes outside into the gunfight and is accidentally shot by De Toro. Momentarily stunned, De Toro is killed by Chris, and the remaining bandits flee. Chris, Noah, and Skinner decide to start new lives in Magdalena. ===== A fiddler, wandering in the forest, gets bored and longs for company. He starts to play his fiddle, which draws to him a wolf, fox, and hare, none of which is the company he seeks. Using the animals' admiration for him and his playing, he tricks each of them into becoming ensnared or trapped so that he can continue on his way alone. He finds a companion that he seeks, a woodsman, but at that time the wolf has worked itself free, and frees the fox and hare on his way to pursue the musician. Just as the animals come upon the musician with the goal of doing him mischief, the woodcutter steps in front and protects him with his axe. The animals leave, and the musician thanks the woodcutter with another song, and then leaves. ===== The boy agrees to work for Glad, a benevolent pimp who specializes in "boy-girls." Glad gives him a raccoon penis bone, which he wears as an amulet for protection, good fortune, and sexual prowess as well as to signify his status as one of Glad's boy-girls. He is given the name Cherry Vanilla, but on his first date with a trucker he uses the name Sarah. Hoping to outperform his rejecting mother and become the greatest lot lizard of them all, he goes off on his own into the wilds of West Virginia and is eventually taken up by a very powerful and very dangerous pimp known as Le Loup. Unaware that this new girl is a boy, Le Loup uses him not to turn tricks but as an object of veneration – and donations – with luck-conscious and magic-fearing truckers. Eventually Saint Sarah's mystique fades, and when he is revealed to be a boy Le Loup forces him to work alongside other boy prostitutes and live in captivity with them. After an agonizing year, Glad is finally able to rescue him from Le Loup, but the boy who returns is no longer capable of rejoining Glad's boy-girls; his mother Sarah is long gone as well. In an afterword, the boy who is now a grown man tells the reader that his therapist, Dr. Owens has suggested he write about his experiences as to “better his recovery”. The boy closes the story by revealing that Sarah was found in an abandoned trailer after shooting herself. He stops to wonder why he ever tried to be like her, before realizing that the only thing that mattered was that he wasn't. Sarah uses narrative elements and characterizations that also occur in the short stories of The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2001). But unlike The Heart or Harold's End (2004), Sarah is rich in humor and more fabulistic in its characters and situations. These qualities temper the harsh themes this novel shares with the other JT LeRoy books: abuse, exploitation, abandonment, betrayal, loss. Like them, it also explores the dynamics of identity and gender and employs the plot situation of having one's hidden life exposed and the shaming, hostility, and violence that ensue. Poet and critic Stephen Burt called Sarah "a work of art" and "a book about the risks and thrills of false identity," which derives its power "from the glee with which it refuses realism: multiple subjects (sexual trauma, coming out, rural poverty) that American fiction usually depicts with flat-footed seriousness instead come together for a Technicolor romp." ===== Ganesh (Prabhu Deva) is a famous dancer and beats Anthony in a dance competition to head into the international arena. Infuriated, Anthony arranges an accident for Ganesh, in which Ganesh loses his legs and cannot dance anymore. He becomes depressed and suicidal, but his sister Priya (Kamalinee Mukherjee) consoles him and tells him to teach someone who could get benefited. Ganesh aims to set up a dance school and starts his search for a competent dancer and finds about Raghava (Raghava Lawrence), who also works as a cleaning boy at a dance school in Visakhapatnam. Ganesh comes to know about him and his four friends and makes them his students. The rest of the movie revolves around their training and budding love between Priya and Raghava. Finally, Raghava and his batch defeat Anthony's batch on the dance floor. The movie ends with a film offer to Raghava, given by actor Chiranjeevi (Chiranjeevi). ===== While on a road trip in the Southwest, Rae (Long) discovers that her man, Michael (Foxx), spent the $15,000 they set aside for a home on a vintage Studebaker. Rae promptly dumps Michael at a convenience store and hops a ride to the airport. Soon after, Michael loses the car when a young kid cons him out of the keys. Michael soon finds his day going from bad to worse when he's caught up in a botched robbery at the convenience store where he's now stranded. The cops (local vigilantes) show up ready for a gunfight. Michael finds himself trying to convince the gunman (Yáñez) to let him and the other hostages go, all while trying to plan how to get to the airport before Rae's flight leaves. ===== A car accident changes an orphan's life as she becomes the legal guardian of her four brothers. She meets a woman who sets to return to her husband who is in Paris by asking Rocio to pretend that she is Isabel (the woman's daughter). The father (Carlos Estrada) hasn't seen her in 13 years and doesn't know that the real Isabel is dead. ===== Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie) seeks to keep the ship "spick and span" and arranges for Dave Lister (Craig Charles) to be obedient by having his cigarettes confiscated; when Cat (Danny John-Jules) finds them, Rimmer offers him a deal to return them in exchange for getting all the fish he wants from the food dispensers.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 47. However, Lister refuses to let this get to him, instead wondering why he could not be with a hologram of his true love Kristine Kochanski (Clare Grogan). When he questions Holly (Norman Lovett) over his decision to revive Rimmer and not anyone else, particularly Kochanski or one of his drinking buddies, the computer explains that Rimmer was considered by him to be the best to keep Lister sane. Regardless of Holly's answer, Lister demands Rimmer to let him have Kochanski as a hologram for a few hours. Rimmer refuses his request leading to an argument between the pair, which prompts Lister to declare his intention to outrank him by passing his exams. Rimmer naturally assumes he plans to pass the Astronavigation Exam, which Lister and himself have failed before. He soon discovers that Lister seeks to pass the chef's exam, which is much easier and will still allow him to outrank Rimmer. Rimmer gets increasingly nervous when Lister appears to be doing well with his study prodding a cake and other foods quite well. Rimmer realises Lister may pass, so to prevent this, Rimmer corrupts his image to appear and sound like Kochanski and convince him that she wouldn't be interested in someone like Lister, but fails when he acts out of character. Once the exam results come in, Rimmer nervously asks how he did, to which Lister smugly implies that he passed, refusing to show off his results.Howarth & Lyons (1993) p. 48. ===== A former divorcé learns that her new husband's past includes an abandoned wife. After he disappears with his two sons, the two wives team up to find him. ===== Rocio is an orphan girl who is in a finishing school. She has fun teasing the boys from the neighboring school as she tries to fix a church. They found out the needed a large amount of money and the children decide to put on a talent show. Rocio is sad that her father won't come to the talent show, as he left her 5 years ago, so her friends try to reunite father & daughter for the talent show. ===== The story revolves around the relationship between the Tabajara indigenous woman, Iracema, and the Portuguese colonist, Martim, who was allied with the Tabajara nation's enemies, the Pitiguaras. Through the novel, Alencar tries to remake the history of the Brazilian colonial state of Ceará, with Moacir, the son of Iracema and Martim, as the first true Brazilian in Ceará. This pure Brazilian is born from the love of the natural, innocence (Iracema), culture and knowledge (Martim), and also represents the mixture (miscegenation) of the native race with the European race to produce a new caboclo race. ===== Jwala Prasad is to marry the girl of his dreams. On the day of the marriage, his wife is dressed all in red, mixes poison in the milk, and Jwala becomes a monster, and continues to terrorize the region, first abducting brides dressed in red and killing them. When a groom confronts and kills the monster, it leaves the body of Jwala Prasad and possesses the body of his killer. Years later, another man has now killed this creature, and the monster has possessed the man's body, and it is again on a killing spree. The suspense mounts as one by one the brides are killed off and no one seems to have a clue. Everybody seems to be suspect, including the village Priest, the Thakur, his son, and several other people. The suspense is unraveled in the end and the monster is made to promise that he will no longer possess any person and will not carry on with his killing spree. ===== Kate, an attractive young woman, is attempting to comfort her father upon her mother's death – even though her mother is alive and has run off with Kate's uncle and is living in Droitwich, leaving them destitute. He suggests that Kate become a prostitute to solve their money troubles. Kate refuses indignantly and decides to go to London to seek her fortune, over her father's objections ("Why walk all the way to London when you can make a fortune lying on your back?!"). Lord Blackadder is at home, target practising with his bow and arrow (his servant, Baldrick, is holding the target). Hanger-on Lord Percy enters and announces that he is in love with Jane Harrington. Blackadder remarks casually that he and Baldrick had both slept with her, which throws Percy's aim off and he shoots Baldrick in the groin with an arrow. Kate enters, disguised as a boy, introduces herself as "Bob," and asks to be accepted into Blackadder's service. Blackadder hires her on the spot, firing Baldrick in the process. However, Baldrick is allowed to stay and work for Blackadder, as long as he works a bit harder and lives in the gutter. Over the next few weeks Lord Blackadder finds himself strangely attracted to his new servant and spends a great deal of time with "Bob". Lord Melchett and the Queen are concerned by this, and even Blackadder himself begins to worry after he nearly kisses "Bob" during a friendly tussle. He seeks advice from a doctor, who prescribes leeches to be dissolved in his mouth,aph.gov Official Hansard section 9285 (pdf) . Retrieved 29 November 2007 and (on Baldrick's advice) consults the Wise Woman, who gives him three options: 1) kill Bob; 2) commit suicide; or 3) go ahead and sleep with Bob and, to ensure no one ever finds out, kill everyone in the entire world. With no other options, Blackadder orders Bob out of his service, but the truth is revealed (along with "Bob's" breasts) and after a very brief sexual encounter Blackadder asks Bob/Kate to marry him. She accepts, and the Queen consents, after being reassured that Kate's nose is not prettier than hers. Baldrick is chosen as Kate's bridesmaid, while Edmund's choice for best man is his old school chum, Lord Flashheart, "the best sword, the best shot, the best sailor and the best kisser in the Kingdom". The wedding service does not go as smoothly as planned. Edmund bribes Kate's father to leave before anyone sees him, and Lord Flashheart has not shown up. With no best man, Blackadder reluctantly asks Percy to fill in. At that moment Flashheart crashes through the roof, throws Percy out, and begins chatting up every woman in the room, including Nursie and Baldrick. He is quite taken with "Bob" and proceeds to steal her from Blackadder. The two of them swap clothes as Kate reveals she now prefers boys' clothing and Flashheart prefers dresses, announce they are running away together, set off a bomb, and disappear. Melchett reminds Edmund that in such circumstances, it is customary for the groom to marry the bridesmaid, a suggestion positively received by Baldrick. ===== By the time this book opens, characters Calwyn, Trout, Tonno, Halassa and Mica are making and enacting plans to rescue chanters from their various underprivileged situations and form a school of chantment; thus integrating the Nine Songs by which nature is commanded, as well as their singers, into society. While Calwyn and her friends are freeing windworkers from pirates' ships, they meet Heben, a former (exiled) princeling from the continent of Merithuros, who was a prisoner of the pirates'. On the island where the rescued windworkers live, Heben tells them that the ironcraft chanter children of Merithuros are being kidnapped, among them his (legal) brother and sister. Calwyn and her friends embark for the desert of Merithuros to rescue the captured children. Trout, the inventor, decides to remain behind. Darrow is alone on his boat Heron, where he reminiscences about his childhood. It is revealed that he was the son of a sea-captain and was nicknamed "Mouse" by the family-like crew. During his pre-adolescent years, Mouse discovered that a crew member named Arram was an ironcrafter, and that he himself could use the same gift. At his request, Arram secretly taught Mouse to use ironcraft, enabling him to manipulate matter by his songs. While docking at a Merithuran town, Mouse sang ironcraft to save his father from falling cargo. A Merithuran sorcerer saw this and took the terrified child away. Calwyn, Tonno, Mica, Halasaa, and Heben travel to Merithuros on the boat Fledgewing. There the outsiders of the group learn of the discontent lives of the common folk, who try to protest the cruelty of the Merithuran Empire. Tonno stays on the ship whilst the others ride on the goatlike "hegesi" to the Palace of Cobwebs where the royalty live. There, the group hope to learn where the kidnapped children are. Along the way, Calwyn and Mica earn the chauvinistic Heben's respect through their use of chantment. After many days of riding, they finally reach the Palace of Cobwebs. Darrow returns to the island of Ravamey, his current refuge, and learns that Calwyn and others have left. He is given cause to think that they have gone to the Black Palace, where the chanter children are actually held. Darrow is revealed to have lived in the Black Palace during his childhood. It is there that he acquired his name, which was derived from the title of his father's ship, Gold Arrow; there that he was given extensive training in the use of ironcraft by the harsh, partisan, cruel Merithuran sorcerers; and there that he first met the power- mad Samis. Calwyn and friends are inside the Palace of Cobwebs. Calwyn, disguised as a noblewoman and the others as her servants, have no success in learning anything useful, though they note the presence of chantment, implying the children to be nearby. Also present is a sorcerer of the Black Palace, Amagis by name, who recognizes their powers but does not confront them. Instead, he persuades Third Princess Keela to ingratiate herself with Calwyn, in hope of learning more about the latter. This is only a partially successful venture. After a parade and during a feast, the aged Emperor suddenly falls ill and dies. In the resulting clamor, the seekers sneak away and split up to search for the children. Darrow is sailing to Merithuros, while recalling to attention that Samis had singled him out as an ally, naming him "Heron". When the old lord of the Black Palace was dying, Samis seized his office and the Ring that signified it. He later attempted to persuade Darrow to join him in the quest to become Singer of All Songs and conquer the world; Darrow refused, cast away the name "Heron", and fled, later to meet Calwyn. Calwyn finds Shada, Heben's legal sister, trapped on a tower. To keep her there, Shada's kidnapper has broken the bones of her feet. Shada explains that five of the kidnapped children, including herself, are hidden in the Palace of Cobwebs, where they sing chantments to keep the palace intact. Halasaa heals Shada and they escape from the pursuing Amagis. The group reunites and search for the four other children. Calwyn and one of the children, Ched, try to warn the inhabitants of the steadily collapsing Palace while the others steal supplies and escape. No one pays attention to Calwyn, except Keela, who tries to take Ched from her. Calwyn and Ched escape, leaving the palace just as the palace collapses. Calwyn uses Ironcraft for the first time to assist in their escape. Falling debris kills Ched. Calwyn overhears some soldiers conspiring to crown the Fifth Prince so that they can control the dimwitted man and rule the Empire through him. Darrow meets Tonno at a Merithuran harbor. At a bar, Darrow meets the leader of the commoners who want to rebel against the empire. Darrow earns a partnership by promising to take the leader, Fenn, to the fabled Black Palace. Calwyn and friends travel towards the Black Palace. Halasaa becomes ill along the way, because of the barrenness of the land. In his telepathic conversations with Calwyn and other characters, Halasaa reveals that Merithuros was once a fertile, generous land, but was reduced to wasteland by humans. When confronted by wasunti (wild dogs), Calwyn uses the Power of Beasts to turn them away. Oron, one of the children, is bitten by one of the wasunti. Halasaa teaches Calwyn the Power of Becoming, with which Calwyn heals Oron. Possibly as a result, Calwyn almost faints from exhaustion. When she awakes, they have been saved by Darrow, Tonno, and the rebels. They head to the Lip of Hathara, which is a stone wall surrounding the Black Palace. Darrow and the children rescued from the Palace of Cobwebs (except for Ched who died) use ironcraft to open a doorway, but do not close it. This leaves an entryway for the army and nobles led by Keela, who are all heading to the Palace. When the protagonists enter, they are attacked by the sorcerers. Oron goes missing, later to be discovered, threatened and suborned by Keela. Darrow reveals the Ring of Lyonssar, making himself the Lord of the Black Palace. This confuses Calwyn, who associates such a manouevre with the desire for control. Later, Darrow explains his methods, whereas Calwyn disclaims any division that he has suspected her of having in her affections. Darrow also reveals that the Black Palace can, if its mechanisms are released, become a wind-powered war machine, similar to a terrestrial warship. Calwyn compares the sorcerers' tradition of living in the Black Palace to the tradition in which she was raised, wherein priestesses hide behind walls of ice, and wishes that the chanters would "come out of hiding". On the roof of the palace, Calwyn and Darrow share a passionate kiss (during which Darrow's ring becomes caught in Calwyn's hair), finally acting on their feelings for each other. In the next morning, the remaining imperial soldiers are advancing toward the Black Palace. Darrow rallies sorcerers, rebels, and his friends, invoking them to build a Republic on the ruins of the Empire, wherein a more generous way of life is followed. When the various factions begin to quarrel, Darrow reveals the soldiers to them as a common enemy, whereupon all unite in their opposition to this. Heben, impromptu, questions the wisdom of war and suggests that all factions co-operate rather than compete. Darrow supports this idea. Tonno discuses with Calwyn their means of getting back to Ravamey. He assumes that Darrow will stay here and assume the role of Lord of the Black Palace. This saddens Calwyn, because despite the fact that Darrow has finally acted on his love for her, she must leave him in Merithurous to fulfill his duty. In addition, Halassa is sick and needs her aid more at the moment than does Darrow. The imperial army attacks; moments later, Oron unwillingly obeys Keela's order to activate the mechanisms of the Black Palace, which are a series of metal pipes. When air is run over the pipes correctly, the pipes create a chant of Ironcraft powerful enough to move the Black Palace itself. As it advances menacingly, Calwyn responds to the needs of the injured land and uses all of her chantment to heal it. In the process, she sacrifices all of her own power to sing. Using chantment, Darrow halts the Black Palace in its path saving Calwyn. As a result of Calwyn's chantment, the region called Hathara becomes the site of a lake, into which all the fighters throw their weapons. Because his sickness and weakness corresponded with that of the land, Halasaa is restored to health even as the land is revived. Keela is captured; although she attempts to talk her way out of trouble, she is imprisoned at Darrow's command. It is revealed that Keela believes Samis to be alive; because Darrow doubts the clarity of his own perception of Samis as dead, he is frightened by this information. Calwyn, upon regaining her strength, is distraught to find that she has lost all of her chantment. She watches aimlessly as Heben, Darrow, Tonno, and the leaders of the various Merithuran factions build the foundations of their new Republic. Eventually, she is approached by Darrow. He attempts to console her without much success. He then reveals that he intends to seek Samis, to discover whether he is in fact alive, and if he is so to kill him. Darrow discusses the future with Calwyn, suggesting that she might go back to Antaris to heal, and eventually asks her to promise him that if she returns to Antaris in search of healing, she will not go alone, but in the company of friends, and to promise him that she will return upon success or failure. When she does not promise to return, arguing that she cannot ensure it, he leaves her, disappointed. ===== Upon being caught cheating in his Leaving Certificate exam and being banned from sitting the exam for another three years, a young man commits suicide. A close friend of his subsequently plots to cheat in his own Leaving Certificate in order to get revenge against the system. With the help of a rag-tag group of friends this young man organizes a complex scheme to steal copies of the test papers from the Department of Education and, upon winning, show the world he has beaten the system. ===== Fifty gunmen force all of the men in a small Mexican village to ride off with them into the desert. Among the captured farmers is Chico, who years before was one of seven hired gunslingers responsible for ridding the village of a tyrannical bandit, Calvera. Chico's wife, Petra, seeks out the only other members of the band to survive: Chris and Vin. She begs them to save the village once more. To replace the deceased members of the group, Chris buys the release of Frank (a taciturn gunman) and Luis (a famous bandit), held in the local jail and recruits Colbee, a ladies' man and deadly gunman, and Manuel, a young cockfighter. The six men discover that the missing villagers are being used as slave labor to rebuild a desert village and church as a memorial to the dead sons of wealthy rancher Lorca. In a surprise attack, the six gunmen force Lorca's men to leave, and prepare for a counterattack with Chico. The cowed farmers offer no assistance, but the seven defenders successfully repulse Lorca's initial attack. Lorca, the rancher, then gathers all of the men on his land to rout the seven men. The situation seems bleak until Manuel discovers a supply of dynamite which the seven use in a counteroffensive. They are eventually overrun, but Chris emerges victorious from a shootout with Lorca. The rancher's gang flee, leaving Frank, Luis, and Manuel dead in the fighting. Chico plans to resettle the village on Lorca's fertile land, and Colbee remains to help teach the villagers how to defend themselves against future attacks; he also plans to pursue the available women. Chris and Vin once more ride off together. ===== Described by the author as a "farce in three scenes", the story involves an overbearing mother who travels to a luxury resort in the Caribbean, bringing along her son and her deceased husband, preserved and in his casket. ===== Mercenaries Arthur, Melody, and Forte are hired by the King of Enrich to hunt down and capture a renegade ninja by the name of Rodi. The group pursues Rodi to the nearby mines where, after a brief skirmish, an unknown craft crashes through the roof. All four characters are gravely injured, but soon healed by being possessed by strange spirits. While those inhabiting Arthur, Melody and Rodi seem benevolent, Forte is occupied by an evil spirit. From here the story follows the three unwitting heroes as they fight to stop the revival of the legendary 1,000 year kingdom, which would return the world to an age of darkness.Complete script for USA translation , Shining Force Central. Shining the Holy Ark takes place 20 years before Shining Force III. While in the town of Enrich, Arthur and the others meet a young boy named Julian. He tells them that his father went to investigate a haunted mansion in the woods, but never returned. Since that time he has been in the care of a family friend. It would later be discovered that Julian's father was killed by Galm, one of the mythical Vandals that ruled over the world during the time of the 1,000 year kingdom. His father's death compels Julian to seek revenge against Galm, which sets into motion his involvement in the events of Shining Force III.Shining Force Chronology and Connections, Shining Force Central. ===== Morgarath, the exiled lord of the bleak, barren Mountains of Rain and Night has been waiting fifteen years in his dark realm, carefully planning his revenge against the Kingdom of Araluen. His former fief, known as Gorlan, was long ago brought to ruin as a result of his unsuccessful rebellion against King Duncan. Now he silently plots to rebel again, rallying hideous creatures known as Wargals to his side. Wargals have little will of their own, and are easy to control, therefore being suitable as soldiers in Morgarath's army. After fifteen years, Morgarath prepares to unleash his power, except using two strong beasts called the Kalkara, which are very powerful ape-like assassins, to attempt to weaken the Kingdom before trying to take the Kingdom once more. Meanwhile in Araluen, in Redmont Fief, a special day has come for 15-year-old Will and his fellow wardmates (Horace, Alyss, George, and Jenny), called Choosing Day, where they all become an apprentice to a craftmaster or have to work in the local farms. Jenny is apprenticed to Master Chubb, the castle cook. Horace is accepted to Battleschool, and George is accepted to Scribeschool, while Alyss is accepted as a courier. Although Will's first choice was Battleschool (he does this because he thinks his father was a brave knight, although he doesn't know for sure what happened to him), Baron Arald explains to him that his talents lie in other directions. Instead of being accepted to Battleschool, he becomes apprenticed to Halt the Ranger, after sneaking into a guarded tower at the castle. Rangers are the intelligence group of the country and specialize in long-range weapons and the art of staying unseen. Will is not overly excited about this, but he is trained in these skills The main reason why he is being trained in these skills is that he needs to prepare for the annual Ranger meeting called the Gathering. During this time he begins to establish a closeness to Halt and starts to realize that being a Ranger is much better than it seems. Will is given a horse named Tug, from an old horse trainer by the name of Old Bob. In the meantime, Will's wardmate Horace is in Battle school. His life is harsh and he is bullied by three older Battleschool cadets: Alda, Bryn, and Jerome. During a local holiday known as Harvest Day, Horace and Will fight, increasing their hatred for each other. A few days after this incident, Will and Halt find signs of a wild boar that has been roaming the area. They also meet a rambling, frightened farmer by the name of Salt Peter. The two get a group of men that will kill the boar, and Horace is recruited to the boar hunt. During the hunt, it is discovered that there are two boars, one which is killed by a hunter, and the other runs straight at Horace, who tries to kill it but fails. Will distracts the boar, also tries to kill it and fails, and is saved by inches from death by Halt's well-timed arrow. In saving Horace's life, he cements a friendship between Will and Horace and erases the lasting tension between the two. Sometime after the killing of the boar, Alda, Bryn, and Jerome corner Horace and beat him brutally. They then proceed to the forest to give Will the same treatment. He manages to evade the three for a few minutes but is quickly overpowered. Horace then arrives and intervenes, and the bullies leave Will to continue hitting Horace. They are in turn stopped by Halt, who invites Horace to swordfight the bullies individually. One by one, he defeats them and incapacitates Alda. As a punishment, they are banished from the fief, making Horace closer to the Rangers. However, it has now come time for Halt and Will to leave for the Gathering. Here Will meets Halt's former apprentice, Gilan. During the Gathering, the Rangers receive a report that the Kalkara, vicious creatures under the control of Morgarath, have entered Araluen. Halt, Will and Gilan leave to track down and kill the Kalkara. Halt thinks that the Kalkara is headed to the Ruins of Gorlan and tells Will to go back to Redmont, get back up and rendezvous at the ruins. At Redmont, Baron Arald, and Sir Rodney head out to slay the Kalkara (with several others following) and to save Halt. Finding that Halt is battling the Kalkara alone (and not faring so well), Sir Rodney and Baron Arald manage to knock one into the fire, but are badly injured by the other. Will watches, horrified, and knows he must do something. He runs over to a torch that Baron Arald dropped, creates a flaming arrow, and shoots the Kalkara fatally in the chest. Back at his fief, Will is considered a hero and receives his bronze oakleaf which identifies him as a Ranger's apprentice. When he and his ward mates reunite to congratulate him at an inn, Alyss surprisingly kisses Will. Meanwhile, Araluen prepares for a war with Lord Morgarath and his army of Wargals. ===== In the prologue, Halt (a legendary Ranger) sees Dirk Reacher, one of Morgarath's allies, give him a plan. Halt thinks about this, but eventually decides it's true. Meanwhile, on a special mission for the Ranger Corps, Will (the protagonist and Halt's apprentice), his friend Horace (a Battleschool apprentice), and the Ranger Gilan (another of Halt's former apprentices) travel to Celtica, a neighbouring country southwest of Araluen. When they ride to Celtica, they discover that all the people in the villages have mysteriously vanished. Will and Horace wonder if all the villagers have been slain or captured, but Gilan believes that the evil Lord Morgarath devised a plan to cross the mountain pass faster. If that was true, and the King wasn't warned, the country would be destroyed. Gilan rides to warn King Duncan, the King of Araluen, and Will and Horace begin to follow a straggling Wargal force. On their way, they come across an abandoned girl named Evanlyn, who claims to be a maid to a lady of the Araluen court, but is actually the Princess herself in disguise. When the three of them follow the dimwitted Wargals they discover that a gargantuan bridge is in the process of being built across the impassable Fissure for their war party to cross. They also discover that the King's army will be trapped on the Plains of Uthal, because the plans that Halt captured in the prologue of the book were merely a ruse to distract them. Will burns the bridge with Evanlyn's help. Evanlyn tries to warn Will about a rock thrown by a Skandian but is too late, giving a chance for a Skandian to grab them. Will and Evanlyn are taken captive by the group of Skandians ruled by Jarl Erak, but Horace is able to escape their grasp. After, he tells the King and his aides about what is going to happen, the army starts to get prepared for the army that is supposed to attack them from behind, Halt is sent to take care of them with a force of cavalry and archer units (an archer and pikeman). In the middle of the battle, Morgarath calls a truce and challenges Halt to a duel, but King Duncan forbids it to happen. Then, unexpectedly, Horace challenges Morgarath to single combat. About to be defeated by Morgarath, Horace then, in a last-ditch attempt to win the battle, throws himself into the path of the battle horse, to throw it off balance. He is successful, but only manages to wind Morgarath. Morgarath is confident that he is going to win by a last powerful stroke of his broadsword, but Horace blocks it with the double-knife defence that Gilan taught Will and stabs Morgarath in the heart to win the battle. The Wargals become harmless as soon as Morgarath dies and the mind domination is broken. Immediately Halt goes looking for Will and Cassandra but he is too late. The Skandians sail for Skandia to sell Will and Princess Cassandra as slaves. ===== Freddy was an intelligent pig that lived on the Bean Farm. To avoid the cold winter at their farm in Upstate New York, the animals decided to vacation in Florida. At first Charles the rooster is prevented from joining them by his acerbic wife, Henrietta. The animals encounter a man and a boy who wished to capture them. The animals scared them off. Later, Charles and Henrietta joined the group again. They also met the man and the boy, with the same results as last time. The animals were also joined by the man's black dog, Jack. They next passed through Washington, D.C. where three senators took them on a tour of the city. At the end of the tour, one of the senators made a speech on how pleased he was by the animals' visit. A few days later, while walking towards Florida, a thunderstorm forced the animals to take refuge in an empty log house. A flock of swallows mention a pile of gold in the area. The animals found the gold but were unable to take it with them, because they couldn't carry it. After meeting two men who tried to capture Hank, the old horse, and Mrs. Wiggins, a cow, the animals arrived at Florida only to get trapped on an island in a swamp by some alligators. After they escaped the alligators, the farm animals started the long trek northward. Their further adventures included disguising themselves to get past the two kidnappers, returning stolen property to some townspeople, taking the pile of gold with them on an old carriage, and taking the gold back from the man and the boy who tried to steal it before they got back to the Bean farm. Once they got to the farm, they showed Mr. and Mrs. Bean the gold and they all danced merrily. Category:1927 American novels Category:American children's novels Category:Pigs in literature Category:Alfred A. Knopf books Category:1927 children's books ===== The novel is narrated by Alexias, a noble Athenian youth, who becomes a noted beauty in the city and a champion runner. The novel suggests that young male Athenians were treated almost like modern debutantes and wooed by older men seeking to be their lovers; in fact, in a memorable passage, Alexias' father, Myron, himself a former beauty and champion athlete, writes to his son before leaving Athens for the Sicilian Expedition. The father imparts to the son the traits he should seek in a lover – qualities like honor, loyalty and courage. However, the father also warns the son not to become involved with women as he is much too young. (See Athenian pederasty.) As an ephebe (adolescent male), Alexias falls in love with Lysis, a man in his 20s – a champion wrestler and a student of Socrates. The novel follows their relationship through the Peloponnesian War, the surrender of Athens, the establishment of the Thirty Tyrants rule over Athens, the democratic rebellion of Thrasybulus and shortly after. The story ends with first hints of the eventual trial of Socrates for teaching blasphemy and sowing social disorder. From the beginning of the novel, Socrates figures prominently; both Alexias and Lysis become his students in their youth. Socrates was very prominent around the city, always talking to new people. Also characterized in the novel are Plato and several figures from his Dialogues who were Socrates' students, including Xenophon, Crito and Phaedo. Another historical figure who figures in the story, albeit mostly off-stage, is Alcibiades, the Athenian general who flees Athens on a charge of sacrilege and functions as a military adviser to Sparta until he is recalled by a resurgent democracy in Athens. Alexias and Lysis serve under Alcibiades' command until his carelessness leads the fleet to disaster and he once again goes into exile. In the course of the novel, Lysis falls in love with and marries a woman who sees Alexias favorably and encourages the continuation of her husband's relationship with him. Not long after this, Athens is defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Alexias' conservative father is murdered under the Spartan-installed tyranny known as The Thirty. Alexias and Lysis go to Thebes, joining Thrasybulus when he leads a force of exiles to liberate Athens. Lysis is killed in the battle between the Long Walls running from the port of Piraeus to Athens (the Battle of Munychia). Shortly after the victory, Alexias takes Lysis' widow under his protection, marries her and continues his family line. The book ends with the postscript that this story (incomplete and long-forgotten) has been found by Alexias' grandson (also named Alexias), a commander of Athenian cavalry in the service of Alexander the Great. ===== On a winter night in Antaris, Tamen, the Guardian of the Wall, and other priestesses approach the ice Wall that surrounds Antaris. A priestess drugs herself, whereupon the other priestesses sing a hole into the wall. The drugged priestess is sealed inside. Characters Calwyn, Mica, and Trout are traveling to Antaris, Calwyn's home, hoping that the priestesses may restore Calwyn's lost powers of chantment, by which she was able to manipulate wind, ice, animals, and living systems. Upon reaching the Wall, Mica uses the Clarion of the Flame, a magical object used to invoke fire, to burn a hole into the Wall. The drugged priestess is revealed, whereupon Calwyn tries to heal her, but does not succeed. The three notice other corpses encased in the Wall, which Calwyn attributes to a failure to entomb them according to custom. The three proceed to the priestesses' Dwellings. When reaching the Dwellings, Calwyn enters the kitchen where she sees a now crippled Lia, a revered priestess and milk healer. Lia warns Calwyn that Tamen will hunt Calwyn down and seal her into the Wall with the other priestesses; having contracted an ailment called snow-sickness, they were put into the Wall in hopes of appeasing their goddess Taris, who would presumably restore spring. Marna, the High Priestess, has died and Tamen has been promoted to High Priestess in her place. Tamen then appears and accuses Calwyn of bringing the cruel intruder Samis, the endless winter, and the snow- sickness to their homeland. Calwyn argues that she has the right to return home. Tamen sings ice onto Trouts face, whereupon Mica uses the Clarion to melt the ice and attack Tamen. This sets the kitchen on fire. The three flee and are rescued by Ursca, the infirmarian, who takes them to an abandoned, lightning-struck barn where in the rafters is a snow-sick Marna, apparently alive. It is revealed that when Marna contracted snow-sickness, Ursca proclaimed that Marna had already died and hid her in the barn to prevent Marna from being sealed into the wall. Ursca leaves the three, whereafter Calwyn reprimands Mica for using the Clarion as a weapon. This quarrel upsets both girls. Calwyn sleeps; later, she awakens to find Marna speaking with great difficulty. Calwyn tries to calm her; Marna tells Calwyn that the world is broken but can be mended. She speaks of the Wheel, which is an object of power, and of the mysterious Tenth Power (of chantment, which is used through specific songs) before she falls asleep. Gilly, a priestess who was formerly frivolous but has become wiser, comes in the morning to help Marna and there befriends Mica. At night, Calwyn sneaks out to visit Lia, who reveals that she believes that Calwyn will put an end to the snow-sickness. It is also revealed that Marna holds the same opinion. While Calwyn, Mica, and Trout travel to Antaris, Darrow, Tonno, and Halaasa travel to Gellan, where they encounter the ex-princess Keela. Darrow, while investigating an enclosure of sick chanters, contracts the snow-sickness himself. Later he and the others, including Keela, rendezvous with Calwyn, who has left Antaris and is in search of a missing piece of the Wheel. During the further travels of the combined party, Keela secretly relays information to her half-brother Samis, who is a sorcerer bent on achieving power over others. Subsequently, the travelers enter the Veiled Lands, which are a region unknown to Calwyn's people but legendary among Halasaa's. Their journey continues underground, culminating at the mysterious Knot of Waters, where Calwyn embraces her own death to save Keela from drowning. This sacrifice revives Calwyn, restores her powers of chantment, and creates a sibling-like bond between the two women. The Clarion of the Flame is lost in the Knot and never again used. The travelers are met by some of Halaasa's people, who teach them the true history of their world, wherein it is revealed that the snow-sickness is part of a larger pattern of entropy taking place all over Tremaris. Whereas originally all the songs of chantment overlapped, each one strengthening the others, a war between the Tree People and the Voiced Ones (see below) caused the peoples who used them, and therefore the chantments themselves, to separate. It is suggested that the abuse of chantments, practiced during the war, caused chantment to fall into disfavor everywhere. The connections between songs, people, lands, etc. became weaker and more lost. After this meeting, Calwyn is captured by Samis, who desires to heal Tremaris so that it will not be destroyed before he can conquer it. He keeps her a prisoner in the long-abandoned city-spacecraft called Spareth, which is the means by which the Voiced Ones (colonists from another planet, presumably Earth) arrived on Tremaris millennia before the story begins, trains her in advanced uses of chantment surpassing her previous abilities, and additionally reveals to her the Tenth Power mentioned by Marna. This is the Power of Signs, a code by which the songs of chantment may be written and learned. A minor romance occurs between the two of them during this time, culminating and terminating when Samis and Calwyn use their chantments to empower Spareth, sending it into interplanetary space. Calwyn, now revealed as the legendary Singer of All Songs, remains on Tremaris, while Samis flies inside Spareth, intent on reaching its port of origin. Ultimately, Calwyn must unite Tree People and Voiced Ones in a common need. In this she succeeds. All the people who had contracted snow-sickness, including Darrow, are healed. The peoples are united in harmony, and a new, better world begins. ===== Chuck Levine, a womanizing bachelor, and Larry Valentine, a widower struggling to raise his two children, are two veteran New York City firefighters. During a routine sweep of a burned building, a segment of floor collapses on Chuck, but Larry saves his life. Chuck vows to repay Larry in any way possible. Experiencing an epiphany from the incident, Larry tries to increase his life insurance policy. He finds out that a lapse in the paperwork after his wife's death keeps him from naming his children as primary beneficiaries. The representative from the insurance company suggests that Larry find a new spouse so he can name that person as his beneficiary. However, there is no woman in Larry's life that he loves or trusts. Inspired by a newspaper article about domestic partnerships, Larry asks Chuck to enter a civil union with him. Although Chuck declines at first, he is reminded of his debt to Larry and finally agrees, entering a domestic partnership and becoming Larry's primary beneficiary in the event of his death. To their dismay, however, investigators arrive to inquire about their abrupt partnership, suspecting fraud. Chuck and Larry decide to enlist the help of lawyer Alex McDonough, who suggests they have a formal wedding ceremony to prove they are committed. The pair travel to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada for a quick same-sex marriage at a wedding chapel, and Chuck moves in with Larry and his children. Alex invites the couple to a gay benefit costume party. At the end of the evening, the partygoers are confronted by homophobic protesters. Chuck is provoked into punching their leader, and the incident is picked up by the local news. With their apparent homosexuality and marriage revealed, Chuck and Larry are heckled, and their fellow FDNY firefighters refuse to work with them. Their only ally is Fred G. Duncan, an angry, intimidating firefighter who reveals to Chuck that he is gay, and has not felt comfortable telling anyone. Chuck becomes romantically interested in Alex after the two spend time together, but finds himself unable to get close to her because she thinks he is gay. During a heart-to-heart talk about relationships, the two spontaneously kiss, but Alex, still believing Chuck is gay and married, is shocked and immediately distances herself from Chuck. Meanwhile, city agent Clinton Fitzer arrives to investigate the couple, and the strain on both Larry and Chuck causes them to fight. Larry asserts that Chuck's constant absence to spend time with Alex is jeopardizing their ability to maintain the ruse of their relationship. Chuck tells Larry that he should stop refusing to move on from the death of his wife. Later that evening, a petition circulates to have Chuck and Larry thrown out of the firehouse. Upon discovering it, Larry confronts the crew about personal embarrassments on the job that Chuck and Larry helped them overcome. Afterwards, Chuck and Larry apologize to each other and reconcile their differences. Eventually, numerous women publicly testify to having slept with Chuck in the recent past, and the couple is called into court to defend their marriage against charges of fraud. They are defended by Alex, and their fellow firefighters arrive in support, having realized all that Chuck and Larry have done for them over the years. Fitzer interrogates both men, and eventually demands the pair to kiss to prove that their relationship is physical. Before they do so, Chuck and Larry are interrupted by FDNY Captain Phineas J. Tucker, who reveals their marriage to be a sham and that they are both straight. He emphasizes that the situation reminded people not to be judgmental, and then offers to be arrested as well, since he knew about the false relationship but failed to report it. This prompts each of the other firefighters to claim a role in the wedding in a show of solidarity. Chuck, Larry, and the other firefighters are sent to jail, but they are quickly released after negotiating a deal to provide photos for an AIDS research benefit calendar, and Chuck and Larry keep their benefits. Two months later, Fred and Alex's brother, Kevin, are married in Niagara Falls at the same chapel as Chuck and Larry. At the wedding party (which features musical guest Lance Bass), Larry moves on from the death of his wife and talks to a new woman, while Alex agrees to a dance with Chuck. ===== A great battle was fought between the holy Nexus and the demonic Void — who battled over the Rod of Creation, which created the world of Ushka Bau. Their battle was so immense, the rod broke into two pieces, and both gods fled with half. This then took the form of eleven rings. These rings were then entrusted to representatives of each of the six classes (Sorcerer, Knight, Archer, Necromancer, Enchanter and Conjurer). All of the rings have been lost, and the story of the rings has turned to a legend. Master Thalmus has requested the presence of a young sorcerer named Buc, his most promising of students. Buc attempts the quest of finding the rings, restoring the Rod of Creation, and destroying the evil Void once and for all. ===== Helen Gahagan in costume as the title character. Leo Vincey (Randolph Scott) is called from America to the family's ancestral estate in England where his dying uncle John Vincey (Samuel S. Hinds) and Horace Holly (Nigel Bruce) convince him that their ancestor, also named John Vincey (also played by Scott), found the fountain of youth 500 years ago. Following the route outlined in an old journal, Leo and Holly travel through frozen wastes, as a guide named Tugmore and his daughter Tanya (Helen Mack) join them on their quest. They stumble upon the ancient city of Kor, where they are attacked by cannibals but are saved by She Who Must Be Obeyed (Helen Gahagan) and her Minister Billali (Gustav von Seyffertitz). She believes that Leo is the reincarnation of John Vincey — her lover many years ago — and vows to make him immortal like herself to rule this Shangri-La in eternal youth. Tanya warns Leo that nothing human can live forever. At the end, She asks Leo to step into the Flame of Life with her, so that they can become immortal. When Leo hesitates, She offers to step in first. Rather than renewing her youth, She ages hundreds of years, becomes a withered mummy-like creature and dies. Leo, Holly, and Tanya then safely make their escape. Gahagan's depiction of the "ageless ice goddess" inspired the Evil Queen in Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. ===== The story begins with Joe's earlier, unsuccessful attempts to acquire a double buggy, and how Mary's suggestion to grow potatoes becomes a profitable venture. Following a string of good luck, Joe decides to buy a double buggy for Mary, to show his appreciation for all the sacrifices she has made over the years of their marriage. The surprise gift strengthens what had been a somewhat unstable marriage. ===== Five teenagers — Kate (Margo Harshman), Zack (Greg Cipes), Vicky, Riff, and Ashley — are on their way to pan for gold during Spring Break when they make a wrong turn. They encounter two strange men, Pig and Garth, who warn them to return home, saying there have been murders in the area. Making their way into town, four of the teens head inside a store, where they meet brothers Simon (Crispin Glover) and Stanley. Simon is unhelpful, denying the teens requests to buy anything. Frustrated, the group leaves and finds a campsite. Unbeknownst to them, there is someone observing the teens, dressed in a ghillie suit. He chases Ashley through the woods before realizing that she is not 'dream girl' and murders her. The attacker - revealed to be Stanley - begins to cut up her body, saying that he will make her into a present for 'dream girl'. Back at the store, Zack arrives to find it closed and empty. He lets himself in and discovers numerous bodies hanging from the ceiling, including those of Pig, Garth and Clay. Zack pulls several newspaper articles off the bodies, as he then flees the store. After dark, Simon arrives and tells the teens Stanley is missing. At this moment, a terrified Zack arrives and manages to convince Simon to leave. The teens find their van's tires punctured, stranding them. The group heads into the forest to look for Ashley and discover that Stanley has made a 'doll' out of Ashley's head, hands, and feet. They are watched by Stanley, who kills Riff, while Simon kills Vicky. Kate is stopped by Simon in his truck, who lies and tells her that the others are safe at his store. Zack sneaks up and climbs into the truck bed as Kate gets into the truck. While they are driving, Simon explains that he and Stanley have lived in the area their entire lives with their parents Quinn and Carrie, and took over the gas station when Quinn and Carrie died. Simon takes Kate to an old campsite where two long-decayed bodies are sitting at a picnic table. He ties her to the table when Stanley appears in his ghillie suit. Suspicious, Simon chops off several of Stanley's fingers with a cleaver, and it's revealed that it is actually Zack in the suit, trying to masquerade as Stanley. Simon ties Zack to a tree and tortures him. Zack confesses his love to Kate calling her his 'Dream Girl.' This angers Simon and he burns Zack alive. Turning back to Kate, Simon announces that he is also Stanley, having taken over his brother's identity after murdering Quinn and Carrie while the real Stanley is in a coma. Kate seduces Simon, distracting him; he accidentally frees her in the ensuing struggle, allowing her to flee. Returning to Zack's charred body, Kate promises to kill Simon. Moments later, Simon also approaches the body, vowing to kill her. Kate bursts from Zack's corpse where she was hiding, bringing the cleaver down on Simon's head. He falls to the ground, but when she looks down at where his corpse should be, he is gone. A hand reaches for her just before the film cuts to black. The film ends with another group of youths arriving at the store asking Simon for directions. Put off by his strange behavior, they leave. Simon goes into the back room and opens a trapdoor, revealing Kate tied up with infant twins before the screen cuts to black. ===== In this installment, which takes place during the 1915–1916 season, newlyweds Ramses and Nefret Emerson spend their time living on their family's dahabeeyah on the Nile, while the rest of the group remains at the house near Giza, where their excavations continue. Between the antics of Ramses' former associates in the smuggling trade, the reappearance of the Master Criminal, and yet another unknown adversary with a rich find, little time is permitted for romance...but of course, the younger Emersons make the most of it. ===== The Golden One is a combination of two stories. The first story deals with the search for an unknown tomb, one where some artifacts have started to appear on the black market. The second story follows Ramses Emerson as he is sent on another mission behind Turkish lines. After arriving in Egypt in January, 1917, Amelia acquires a magnificent cosmetic jar with the cartouche removed. Rumors of a new, previously untouched tomb are rife, and this is significant evidence. After a brief stay in Cairo, the family moves on to their home in Luxor. When the Emersons arrive in Luxor, they encounter Joe Albion and his family, a wealthy American collector of antiquities, who make no secret of his desire to deal on the black market. Cyrus Vandergelt is acquainted with Joe Albion, and tells Emerson he would do anything to get what he wanted. This riles Emerson, and relations with the Albions are frosty at best. Jamil, a former employee and Jumana’s brother, is at the center of the rumors about the tomb. Early in their excavations, the Emersons discover one looted tomb with links to Jamil. They learn that he is manipulating a number of people and even attempts to kill Emerson and Peabody. When his family confronts him, his ancient musket explodes, mortally wounding him. But before he dies, he leaves a clue to the location of the tomb – “in the hand of the God”. The Emerson and Vandergelt expeditions now try to figure out which “hand of the God” Jamil meant. Just then Ramses is called back into service as an agent. An English spy, claiming to have converted to Islam, has become a tool of the Turks and is now known as Ismail, the Holy Infidel. Ramses is sent to discover if the turncoat is Sethos. It so happens that Ismail is in Gaza, just inside the Turkish lines. Ramses is forced to take a novice agent with him as well, but manages to get into Gaza without much trouble. While trying to get a look at Ismail, Ramses companion fires at Ismail and misses. In the confusion, Ramses is caught but the other agent makes his escape. The head of the Turkish secret service, Sahin Pasha, takes possession of Ramses, but makes a surprising offer: convert to Islam and marry his daughter, Esin, and he will set Ramses free. While Ramses is left to consider the offer in a dungeon, Esin engineers Ramses’ escape. Meanwhile, the Emersons, who had secretly arrive in a town just behind the British lines, are ready to come to Ramses aid if needed. They get word of his capture and are working out a rescue plan when Ramses shows up. They prepare to make their getaway when Sethos also appears, with Esin in a rug. They are forced to escape to a temporary hiding place, where they again encounter Sethos. He was indeed Ismail, sent to destroy Sahin Pasha, which he has done by humiliating him. But his work is not done and he returns to Gaza. As the Emersons are about to leave for Cairo, Sahin appears, hoping to regain his status by returning with both his daughter and Ramses. Though he wounds Ramses, Emerson captures him, and they all return to Cairo. Sahin Pasha is turned over to the authorities, and Esin is sent to a secure home. When the Emersons return to Luxor, they concoct a story that for most people would be implausible, but does bear some resemblance to previous adventures, so no one asks much about it. However, the tomb is still undiscovered. The Albions are making it clear that nothing will stop them from getting what they want, and they seek to abuse Jumana’s trust as one means of doing so. Both Bertie Vandergelt and Ramses have encounters with the Albion son. When Jumana is caught by Peabody sneaking into the compound one night, Peabody assumes the worst and decides to harshly punish her. Peabody is terribly disappointed, and feels that Jumana has abused her position of trust in the family. But that morning, Cyrus and Bertie appear, unable to contain their excitement. Bertie, with help from Jumana, has found the tomb in the hills above Deir el Medina. The two of them had been climbing for the last few nights around a rock formation that looked like a fist, the “Hand of the God”. It is a royal cache, containing the mummies and funerary times of four of the Wives of the God. Peabody realizes her mistake and for once is contrite about jumping to conclusions. Sethos reappears, and is amazed at the discovery. He also warns Emerson of the Albions. Sethos considers them unscrupulous, a serious charge coming from Sethos. But the Albions appear again, making it clear that they expect to get some of the items from the tomb. When they are sent away by Emerson and Cyrus, they decide to try force. Sethos warns Emerson, and the Emersons and Vandergelts ambush the Albions and their hired thugs. Caught by Emerson and Vandergelt, the Albions are forced to give up the few items they had bought from Jamil, and then disappear. The only thing left is the announcement that Ramses and Nefret are going to have a baby. ===== The 1919 season opens with the Vandergelts and Emersons packing the God's Wives treasures found (in the previous book) for Cyrus Vandergelt by his adopted son Bertie. Just after the Service d'Antiquités representative comes to inspect their work, several items disappear together with the conservator Cyrus had hired on Sethos's recommendation. The conservator's skeleton is found later in the desert, without the objects. These events coincide with a visit from Emerson's brother Walter, his wife Evelyn, their daughter Lia and her husband David (the Emersons' adoptive son), plus their small children. Meanwhile, the Emersons meet up with Justin Fitzroyce, a young person with a strange mental malady, and his companion, François, who quickly develops a dislike of the family after Ramses mistakes his attentions to the boy for physical abuse. Justin is travelling with his grandmother, the elderly, sometimes confused, Mrs Fitzroyce; also with them is her companion, who turns out to be Maryam, the teenage daughter of Sethos, fallen on hard times. Amelia tries to befriend Maryam and helps her to rebuild her relationship with her father when he arrives to visit. She also reassures Maryam that the Emersons were not responsible for the death of the girl's mother, Bertha. Along the way, the Emerson family is dogged by a series of mysterious events ranging from strange pranks to near-fatal accidents. Most of these seem to be directed at the Arab servants, including Selim, who is badly injured when a motor-car imported by Emerson crashes as a result of the wheel-nuts having been removed. The exception is a mystery attacker who targets Maryam. In addition, Ramses is temporarily taken prisoner and drugged by a mysterious woman disguised as the goddess Hathor. The same woman later reappears at the temple ruins during the night but the Emersons fail to apprehend her. As the head of the Service arrives to take possession of the treasure for transport to Cairo, Nefret is captured by the criminal gang intent on stealing the treasure, and held prisoner on the dahabeeyah belonging to the FitzRoyces, as is Emerson when he impetuously comes to rescue her. "Justin" is revealed as Maryam's elder half- sister and "Mrs FitzRoyce" as an old associate of Bertha's. Through Emerson's efforts, Nefret escapes through a window of the boat, to be picked up by passing fishermen; meanwhile Maryam, who is implicated in the plot, shows her true loyalties by rescuing Emerson. The final chase scene has Amelia, Rameses, Sethos, Selim, Daoud, Cyrus, Walter, and Bertie racing down-river armed to the teeth to rescue Nefret and Emerson, and is unlike any other scene in the Amelia series. ===== The story begins in summer, 1907, ten years after the Emersons' expedition into the Nubian desert in The Last Camel Died at Noon, when the Emersons were lured to a Lost Oasis where the remains of a Meroitic - Ancient Egyptian civilization that had avoided the outside world for centuries still survived. It was during that journey that the Emersons brought back Nefret Forth to live with them in England. A messenger from the Lost Oasis now appears at their home in Kent, pleading for help for their friend, King Tarek, and they have no choice but to go to his aid, though they mistrust the young man who claims to be Tarek's younger half-brother. This time it is Ramses who experiences the feeling of foreboding that normally assails Amelia, as they head off to the Sudan and into the desert to help their friend. Unlike their first trip, they bring a far larger force, in full awareness that the Lost Oasis will no longer be a secret no matter what the outcome of this expedition. It soon becomes apparent that the Emersons are not the only ones interested in the Lost Oasis. They run into too many people who are interested in their travel plans, and ultimately bring some unexpected guests with them. These include a British adventurer who has in his company a mysterious young woman. The girl unsuccessfully attempts to seduce Ramses, but he remains strangely attracted to her, although he is really in love with Nefret. Upon their arrival, the family finds things have indeed become desperate for King Tarek, who has been deposed by the father of the duplicitous messenger who brought them to the oasis. The usurper's plan is to obtain the endorsement of the Emerson family in order to neutralise any popular resistance this regime. Nefret, who up until now has seemed to miss her old life, is taken from the group and made to resume her position as high priestess. When Amelia catches an intruder in their quarters, she is relieved to find that it is her old enemy and admirer Sethos, and he promises to help rescue Nefret. Amelia is up to her usual plotting and lists, Emerson is as bombastic as ever, Ramses plays the part of the action hero, and the assistance of Selim and Daoud becomes essential to the Father of Curses and the Sitt Hakim. Chronologically, this book covers the time period immediately after The Ape Who Guards the Balance, although it was published some years later than the books that follow it chronologically. ===== In 1922, the Emersons are excavating at Deir el Medina when a melodramatic visitor delivers a challenge—and a solid gold ancient statuette—to them: find out where it came from and why it brings bad luck to its owners. Emerson, of course, doesn't believe in curses, but he does believe someone has robbed a find of historic proportions. When their visitor turns up dead and her stepchildren disappear, everyone except the Emersons believe the murder is a family affair. Ramses, meanwhile, finds a papyrus which he suspects to be of historic importance, and an assistant who is not all he seems. ===== The story begins with Mitchell reminiscing about the first time a cousin noticed that Bill the rooster was a ventriloquist. Not even Bill himself recognised his own peculiar skill, and he always "thought it was another rooster challenging him, and he wanted badly to find that other bird." When Mitchell's neighbour, an Irishman named Page, brings home a big white rooster, the two birds become involved in a vicious cock-fight. Though Bill emerges victorious, Page announces that it was "a grand foight" and bears no malice, yet he is then constantly on the lookout for a fighting-cock that may topple Bill. Page borrows an experienced game-bird from town. Page and Mitchell's father agree on a fight, and Mitchell is forbidden to attend. Mitchell scales a tree and watches the fight unfold over a fence. Jim, the more experienced bird, runs Bill in circles for a whole hour until the large rooster can no longer move. Jim then gives Bill a "father of a hiding." Bill, his pride completely shattered after a defeat, is “so disgusted with himself that he [goes] under the cask and die[s].” ===== Howard Carter returns as a featured character, as the Emersons are privy to his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamon. ===== It tells the tale of an old beggar named Ramu who has had a miserable life. One day Ramu is walking along thinking about his unhappy existence and feeling angry at God. God, at the request of an archangel who felt pity for the beggar, drops a massive diamond on his path in plain sight. The diamond is worth so much that it would feed him and all his descendants for several generations. On the ground, Ramu has decided after some pondering that he should not be angry about his life or blame God because he still has a few things to be grateful for, such as retaining his sight at such an old age. To illustrate to himself how much worse life could be if he were blind, he decides to close his eyes as he walks. Ironically, he does not see the diamond because of this and merrily walks past it, missing it by just inches. God takes back the diamond and puts an ironwood branch further up the path. Back in heaven, God says, "The only difference is that Ramu shall find the branch. It shall serve him as a walking stick until the last of his days." The archangel asks God, "Have you just taught me a lesson, God?" God answers, "I don't know. Have I?" ===== In this storyline, the Digital World is controlled by an intelligent computer named Yggdrasil. Digimon have multiplied so much that Yggdrasil is unable to handle the load and the Digital Hazard occurs. This leads to the creation of the "New Digital World", which consists of three layers known as Urd (past), Versandi (present), and Skuld (future). Yggdrasil then lets loose the Project Ark as well as the X Program to eliminate any Digimon it no longer wants. However, some Digimon adapt by obtaining a program called the X-Antibody, which strengthens them, changes their appearances, and immunizes them against the X Program. Yggdrasil sends in the thirteen Royal Knights to keep order in the Digital World. After that, three human boys, Kouta, Yuuji, and Shinji, find their way into the Digital World and meet their respective partner Digimon, Dorumon, Ryuudamon and Omnimon X. Kouta and Yuuji resist Yggdrasil and the Royal Knights, while Shinji sides with the computer and the thirteen Digimon. 15 years later, in 2019, the Manga received a sequel titled "Digimon Chronicle X", which followed the story of the Royal Knights and Seven Great Demon Lords fighting against each other in their X forms. ===== ===== The book centers around twin siblings, Mitch and Amy, who bicker constantly over insignificant things. It chronicles their average daily experiences and their opposing personalities and interests, as well as their sibling rivalry. It also explores how they deal with their respective learning problems: Amy with multiplication and Mitch with reading and spelling. However, it also deals with their problems with a tormentor named Alan Hibbler, who harasses them constantly for no apparent reason until a schoolyard fight leads Amy to realize that his antagonistic behaviors may be linked with his father Judson Hibbler's great notoriety and Alan's poor skills in spelling (the same learning problem as Mitch). ===== Ramona Quimby has spent most of the summer with her friend Howie Kemp, pounding old bricks into dust in a game called Brick Factory. Brick Factory makes Ramona feel powerful, something that doesn't happen very often since she is the youngest in her family. Longing to be brave and grown-up, Ramona sticks up for her older sister, Beatrice "Beezus" Quimby, when some boys tease about her nickname (calling her "Beezus Jesus" or "Jesus Beezus") by claiming they will go to hell for mocking Jesus. However, Ramona is crushed to realize that instead of considering her a hero, Beezus is embarrassed, and becomes angrier at Ramona for defending her than she is at the boys for teasing her. By the end of summer, Mother gets a part-time job and some workmen cut a hole in their house to add an extra bedroom (especially since Beezus and Ramona would bicker often when they shared a room). Beezus and Ramona are going to take turns using the new room (for half a year), and Ramona gets to be first, though she finds it frightening to go to sleep in the new room alone. When first grade starts, Ramona begins learning to read. However, she is convinced that her teacher, Mrs. Griggs, dislikes her. This feeling is worsened by Ramona's tendency to get into trouble. One day when her class is making paper-bag owls for Parents' Night, Ramona sees Susan, her kindergarten nemesis, copying Ramona's owl. Mrs. Griggs sees Susan's owl first and shows it off to the class. Ramona is outraged at Susan for copying as now Ramona's owl isn't special, and destroys both owls. The next day, Ramona is forced to apologize to Susan in front of the whole class, but things improve when the class is nice to her afterward. One day on her way to school a big dog comes after Ramona, so she takes off her shoe and throws it at him. The dog picks up her shoe and carries it away, forcing Ramona to limp her way back to school. That turns out to be the morning Mrs. Griggs finally chooses Ramona to lead the morning flag salute, and Mrs. Griggs discovers that Ramona is only wearing one shoe. Ramona uses her ingenuity to deal with the situation, and when her shoe is returned, the school secretary compliments her bravery, resulting in her nickname "the Brave". ===== Three gold miners named Dave Regan, Jim Bently, and Andy Page are sinking a shaft at Stony Creek. The trio own a young retriever dog named Tommy, described as "an overgrown pup... a big foolish, four-footed mate." Andy and Dave, fishing enthusiasts, devise a unique method of catching fish using explosives. The dog picks up an explosive cartridge in its mouth, and runs the fuse through the campfire, prompting the three men to flee. Tommy, thinking it a game, playfully chases down his "two-legged mates," who try everything in their power to escape the cartridge. Jim tries to climb a tree and then drops down a mine shaft, meanwhile Andy has hidden behind a log. When Dave seeks refuge in the local pub, the dog bounds in after him, causing the Bushmen inside to scatter. Tommy comes across a "vicious yellow mongrel cattle-dog sulking and nursing his nastiness under [the kitchen]," who takes the cartridge for himself. A crowd of dogs, curious about this unusual object, gather around the cartridge. The subsequent explosion blows apart the yellow cattle-dog and maims numerous others. For half an hour, the Bushmen who witnessed the spectacle are laughing hysterically. Tommy the retriever trots home after Dave, "smiling his broadest, longest, and reddest smile of amiability, and apparently satisfied for one afternoon with the fun he’d had.". ===== Set in the late 1580s, the film very loosely follows the real-life exploits of the 16th century Irish prince Hugh Roe "Red Hugh" O'Donnell. The story begins when Hugh's father, the Chief of the Name, dies, leaving his son as Chief of Clan O'Donnell. With his ascension to the throne, an Irish prophecy is seemingly fulfilled which promises independence from Elizabethan and English rule. In response, the Queen's Lord Lieutenant abducts him and imprisons him in Dublin Castle as a hostage for the Clan's good behavior. After a daring escape, he flies across Ireland with the sons of Hugh Roe O'Neill. The O'Donnell lords see this occurrence as the opportunity to strike back at the foreigners by force, but Hugh convinces them the right plan is to band together with the other clans of the island, and bargain for their freedom from a position of strength. As he prepares for battle, O'Donnell also courts the beautiful Kathleen McSweeney, to further augment the clans of Ireland. ===== The sketch begins with old man preparing dinner for himself and his beloved dog, Five Bob. Dinner consumed, the man gathers a pick and shovel and travels to a "blackfellow's grave about which he was curious." He digs up the bones, places them in a bag, and starts for home. He discovers the body of a man, parched by the intense Australian sun. After close examination, the deceased man is determined to be a friend of the old man, an alcoholic named Brummy. The old man, somewhat ingeniously, devises a way of carrying Brummy back home, but he is startled by numerous large, greasy black goannas. He wonders why the peculiar lizards are so abundant today. He only discovers later, when he shoots one near the house, that they are attracted to Brummy's body. When the old man returns to his home, he decides that Brummy deserves a respectful funeral. He buries his friend, and decides that something must be said. He is unsure of Brummy's religion, or if he even has a religion at all, but the old man does his best. Presently, he rises, takes up his tools, and walks back to his hut as the sun sinks on the "grand Australian bush." ===== In the 1700s, a beggar is tossed into London's Newgate jail, along with a pile of papers upon which his unfinished opera is scribbled. The beggar boasts to the other prisoners that his opera, unlike others of the day, is about a real person, the dashing highwayman Captain Macheath, who, dressed in a red coat, holds off the world with a pistol in each hand, seduces women with five notes of a tune, and generally leaps from misfortune. To the beggar's disappointment, the other prisoners point out that his hero Macheath is among them, in irons and behind bars, and Macheath, who is scheduled to be executed the next morning, admits that there is "no arguing with reality." Taking the first page of the opera, Macheath begins singing, and the beggar, encouraged by Macheath's good voice, urges him to continue, until the following story, the beggar's opera, is sung for the prison inmates: While riding to London, feeling merry and free, Macheath robs a carriage, and steals a kiss and a locket from a maiden. Later, in London, Macheath's wife, Polly Peachum, pines for him. Polly's parents, shopkeepers Mr. Peachum and his wife, are scandalized to learn from their employee Filch that Polly has secretly married the highwayman. To make the best of the situation, as they are always eager to make money, they urge her to lure Macheath into a trap and collect the reward for his capture. Meanwhile, outside of town, Macheath encounters a carriage ridden by Newgate's jailor Mr. Lockit, Lockit's daughter Lucy and Mrs. Trapes, whom Lockit is wooing. Lucy, who met Macheath when he was once imprisoned, scolds him for taking her virtue without making good on his promise to wed. When Macheath rides off, Mrs. Trapes suggests that Lucy betray him for the reward and give the money to her father. Later, during a tryst in a hayloft, Polly warns Macheath that her parents are mounting an ambush. Macheath escapes with Polly's help after a swashbuckling fight, then hides in a back room of a tavern, where he is unable to resist socializing with the prostitutes, whom he considers friends. However, prostitute Jenny Diver has been bribed by Peachum and Lockit to betray him, and with the help of her colleagues, Macheath is soon captured. From his jail cell, Macheath urges Lucy to steal the jail keys and set him free, promising to marry her in return, but then Polly shows up and he is forced to introduce the women to each other. During the night, Lucy steals the keys and releases him, but later Polly sneaks back and, finding Macheath gone from the cell, screams in anguish without thinking, thus drawing attention to his escape. Meanwhile, Macheath disguises himself in the stolen cape and gloves of a lord and slips into a gaming house to avoid making good his promise to unite with Lucy. However, the proprietor recognizes the cape and alerts Lockit and Peachum about the impostor wearing it. Back at the jail, Polly is accused of freeing Macheath and is locked in Lucy's room, where Lucy, after losing track of Macheath, attempts to drug her. When they hear the recaptured Macheath being returned to prison, Lucy and Polly proceed to Macheath's cell and demand that he choose between them. He refuses, as he will soon be hanged and sees no reason to disappoint either of them. The next morning, riding atop his coffin as it is carted through the streets to the gallows, Macheath waves farewell to the friendly crowd that has gathered to see him off. At the gallows, after kissing both Lucy and Polly goodbye, Macheath is blindfolded and awaits his fate, and the opera comes to its incomplete end. The real Macheath, who is still in the jail, protests that he should not have to hang twice. After pondering the complaint, the beggar agrees and yells for Macheath's reprieve. The rest of the prisoners join in the chant and mob the turnkey, who comes to investigate the ruckus, allowing Macheath to escape. The highwayman steals a horse from the cart containing his coffin and when safely out of London, sings that his freedom has been returned because of a beggar's opera. ===== ===== The episode begins with a few lines of text explaining that the starship Hermes has been destroyed by a synthetic, highly corrosive micro-organism. An escape pod from the ship carries a lone survivor, Talia Garrett. The pod and the woman are picked up by Red Dwarf, but it is revealed that the microbe has also been brought on board when part of the empty escape pod dissolves away. Now some time into their prison sentence, the Dwarfers have been put on probation for good behaviour. Arnold Rimmer is attending to Captain Hollister as he recovers from yellow fever. Hollister notices that Rimmer has tried to slip in a form pardoning him from all crimes. Rimmer explains his ambition to become an officer someday, perhaps even a Captain. Hollister tells him he is not officer material and dismisses him as Talia enters. It seems that the Captain and Talia know each other from the past. Rimmer, disgusted at the Captain's success with women and his own failure in that regard, leaves. In the corridor he attempts to steal some chocolate from the vending machine, only for the AI of the machine to promise revenge. Rimmer tells the machine that the day that happens he'll be captain of the ship. Meanwhile, back in The Tank, Kryten tells Lister that he is changing Miss Kochanski's calendar, as she had earlier complained to him that it was "The wrong time of the month". Lister realises what is going on and instructs Kryten secretly on how to behave. Kochanski returns to her cell and discovers Kryten has attempted to celebrate her period with a banner that reads 'Have A Fantastic Period' as well as giving her a gift-wrapped tampon and encouraging her to try it on and give it a twirl. Kochanski makes Kryten realise he's been tricked. Later, in Lister and Rimmer's cell, they discover that Kryten, in an act of revenge, has hidden Baxter's illegal moonshine in their cell, just after Holly informs them of a cell inspection. Knowing that being caught with it will cost them probation, and with the water tank full the two have no choice but to drink the hooch. As a result, both are drunk when Ackerman arrives for the inspection. When Baxter finds out, believing his hooch was stolen by Rimmer and Lister, he threatens to finish off the two, now in sickbay, sleeping off the stomach pump. The two decide they need to escape. Kryten and Kochanski pretend to be ill to land in sickbay, while the Cat is forced to disguise himself as a nurse after his attempts to get beaten up only result in the toughest prisoner in The Tank offering to be his bitch. As the Dwarfers escape they find that the microbe from the Hermes is now eating away at Red Dwarf. They decide to tell Hollister (against Rimmer's advice), who then announces that Red Dwarf will be abandoned—however, due to a shortage of escape craft, the prisoners will be left behind to die. Now that the Dwarfers have the run of the ship, Kryten and Kochanski devise a plan which involves entering a mirror universe where everything is opposite; negative becomes positive and a virus becomes an antidote. Kryten builds a prism laser and directs it at a mirror to create a dimensional gateway. Rimmer crosses over with a sample of the virus, only for the device to break and trap him in the mirror universe. He realises he is not a failure in this universe but is instead Captain, and berates the alternative Hollister, now a 2nd Technician, for being useless. When Talia comes in, Rimmer, thinking she is his lover, snogs her, only to be told she is his spiritual advisor. Rimmer quickly goes to the science lab to talk to the professor, the alternative Cat, who knows the formula for the antidote (Cesiumfrancolithicmyxialobidiumrixydixydoxidexidroxhide). Given the complicated name, Rimmer asks for it to be written down. Rimmer triumphantly returns to his universe with the formula written down only to find Red Dwarf a flaming inferno falling apart with the others gone. The dispensing machine tells him that the other Dwarfers had repaired the prism and followed him into the mirror universe and Rimmer is now the ship's Captain since he's now the only crew member remaining. Rimmer tries to return to the mirror universe, but the microbe has destroyed the laser. Believing it to be his only hope, he prepares to create the antidote but the dispensing machine points out that the formula he has written down is now the formula for the virus, having reverted into its mirror opposite. After exchanging insults, the machine finally gets its own back on Rimmer by launching a can at his head and hitting him, knocking him to the ground and causing the now useless slip of paper containing the formula to burn up from the surrounding flames. The episode ends with the Grim Reaper, played by series director Ed Bye, coming to claim Rimmer as Adagio for Strings plays in the background. Rimmer kicks Death in the crotch and runs off down the flaming corridor, claiming that "only the good die young" as Death winces "That's never happened before ..." The episode ends with an ominous "The End" caption, but is soon refuted with its sudden erasure and replacement with a defiant "THE SMEG IT IS". ===== The story is told through the eyes of Willis Seward "Willie" Keith, an affluent but callow young graduate of Princeton University. Following a mediocre living as a nightclub piano player, he signs up for midshipman school at Columbia University with the United States Navy to avoid being drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He endures inner conflicts over his relationship with his domineering mother and with May Wynn, a beautiful red-haired nightclub singer, the daughter of Italian immigrants. After barely surviving a series of misadventures that earn him the highest number of demerits in his class, he is commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve and assigned to the destroyer minesweeper U.S.S. Caine, an obsolete warship converted from a post-World War I-era destroyer. Willie, with a low opinion of the Navy, misses his ship when it leaves on a combat assignment. Rather than catch up with it, he plays piano for an admiral who has taken a shine to him. He has second thoughts after reading a last letter from his father, who has died of melanoma. But he soon forgets his guilt in the round of parties at the admiral's house. Eventually, he reports aboard the Caine. The ensign immediately disapproves of the ship's decaying condition and slovenly crew. He attributes these conditions to a slackness of discipline by the ship's longtime captain, Lieutenant Commander William De Vriess. Wouk's ship Destroyer/Minesweeper USS Zane after repair at Mare Island, San Francisco, September 1943, Note forward anti-aircraft gun, and three smokestacks Willie's lackadaisical attitude toward what he considers menial duties brings about a humiliating clash with De Vriess when Willie forgets to decode a communique announcing that De Vriess will soon be relieved. De Vriess is relieved by Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg, a strong, by-the-book figure, whom Willie at first believes to be just what the rusty Caine and its rough-necked crew needs. But Queeg has never handled a ship like this before, and he soon makes errors that he is unwilling to admit. Caine is sent to San Francisco for an overhaul, in an admiral's hope that the captain will make further mistakes someplace else. Before the ship departs, Queeg browbeats his officers into selling their liquor rations to him. In a breach of regulations, Queeg smuggles the liquor off the ship, and when it is lost, he blackmails Willie into paying for it. Willie sees May on leave, and after unsuccessfully attempting to seduce her, decides he has no future with a woman of a lower social class. He resolves to let the relationship die by not replying to her letters. As the Caine begins its missions under his command, Queeg loses the respect of the crew and loyalty of the wardroom through a series of incidents. Tensions aboard the ship cause Queeg to isolate himself from the other officers, who snub him as unworthy, believing him an oppressive coward. At one point, during the invasion of Kwajalein, Queeg is ordered to escort low-lying landing craft to their line of departure. But instead, Qeeg orders the Caine to throw over a yellow dye marker to mark the spot, and the Caine hastily leaves the battle area. The officers nickname Queeg "Old Yellowstain," a nickname that implies cowardice. The dynamic, intellectual communications officer, Lieutenant Thomas Keefer, who had initially coined the nickname of "Old Yellowstain" for Queeg, suggests to the Caine's executive officer, the dutiful Lieutenant Stephen Maryk, that Queeg might be mentally ill. Keefer directs Maryk to "Section 184" of the Navy Regulations, under which a subordinate can relieve a commanding officer in extraordinary circumstances. ===== Shakti (Madhavan) is a young man from a village with no job but much ambition and dreams. As he sees his life pass him by, stuck in a rut in his hometown, he decides that he will try his fortunes elsewhere. Chennai beckons him and off goes Shakti to join his uncle Kirikalan (Vadivelu), who has a stall of magic tricks at an exhibition. Kirikalan is not really a magician, but is posing as one, and his amateurish tricks don't exactly bring in big crowds. Next door to Shakti and Kirikalam's stall though, is one ever-populated with visitors. The reason: it's an all- girls stand, with mermaid costumes as the theme. Velli (Reema Sen) is the 'head mermaid' at this stall run by her sister, and bitter quarrels between her and Shakti ensue, when he feels that she and her team are unfairly taking their customers away, and she has this impression of him being an unsavory character. This misunderstanding is seen at different occasions where Velli and Shakti just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time — be it when Shakti gets off the bus from his village, asks for directions and is told to follow Velli, walking in the distance (Velli thinks he's a womaniser) or when Shakti finally catches up with a miscreant who had picked his pocket and demands his money back — only Velli walks into the scene only at the demanding part. This whole collage of scenes is animated, with Kirikalan and Shakti trying to woo customers back to their stall, Shakti and Velli getting into arguments, and a general state of "fun" ruckus. Of course, love has been brewing as an undercurrent between the two young people. The exhibition grounds owner (Manivannan) keeps harassing Velli under some pretext or the other, like the rent not being paid on time. In fact, he has a soft spot for her, feelings thoroughly rejected by her. He finally abducts her, but Shakti rescues her. Similarly, Velli's plight is repeated when her "mora maapillai" (betrothed suitor) enters the scene and tries to force her to be with him, and Shakti steps in once again to save and protect Velli. The undercurrents of love blow up into a full-fledged torrent, and Velli and Shakti make up for all of their lost time professing their love for each other and romancing their way happily through the exhibition. Meanwhile, we see a series of murders in different towns of the state and two perpetrators of these crimes slinking away from each. Not every time is it foolproof though, and at one crime scene, a witness spots the main culprit. He is instructed by the police to sketch and give them a pictorial description of the murderer, when it comes to the police's knowledge that both the criminals have been seen at Kumbakonam some time ago. Going through various fact files, the police come across the incident of a bad fire at a marriage hall in Kumbakonam ,and as the officer in charge of the investigation (Bhagyaraj) flips through the picture files of the deceased, Kannan's (Madhavan — the 2nd) face is shown, and the witness jumps. He tells the police he doesn't need to sketch anything when the face of the main murderer itself is staring them in the eye — he points to the photo of Kannan - it is the face of Shakti, only this one has light eyes. Investigations into the murder lead the police to Chennai. As luck would have it, Shakti is spotted, recognized, and arrested. Kannan, on the other hand, follows the murder investigation and is upset to find that an innocent man has been captured for crimes he has committed. He meets Kirikalan and Velli and plots to help Shakti get out. And so he does, and Shakti and he escape by the skin of their teeth. After much chase-and-hide, Kannan tells the story of what led him to murder all those people. Kannan, his elder brother, and his father were renowned caterers and were commissioned to cook for a marriage function in Kumbakonam. The host was Kannan's father's friend and this gentleman's daughter Manjula (Nikita Palekar) was going to be married in a joyous ceremony. There, Kannan meets Jyoti (Anushka) and falls in love instantly. At first he panics that Jyoti is the bride at the function but is vastly relieved when he finds out she is not. She really likes Kannan too and it all seems like Wonderland. Unfortunately, the groom creates trouble at the wedding and walks out, leaving the family distraught and desperate. Suddenly Kannan makes a suggestion, "Father, this is our friend's wedding and the bride is a wonderful girl. Why can't Anna (elder brother) marry her?" A brilliant idea and it is decided - only fate has to fell her axe right then, when all hell breaks loose and a raging fire attacks the marriage house. The father of the bride is a good man, and a dignitary in the town of Kumbakonam. He comes to know that a bunch of powerful thugs and gang leaders have sold a large piece of government property to a north Indian businessman, completely illegally at exorbitant prices, with no gain for the townspeople themselves. He strongly opposes them and all their mischief comes to public notice and foils their plans. They want his blood as revenge. They set fire to the building of the wedding and kill every single inmate inside — but two people escape, Kannan and his friend. Kannan, whose light eyes are a result of the fire (he walks with help and not very clear sight) is heartbroken and devastated at the loss of his entire family and lady love at what was to be a joyous, happy occasion. He vows retribution on the villains and sets about cold-bloodedly fulfilling this. Shakti decides to help Kannan achieve his revenge with the help of Velli and Kirikalan. At the end, however, Kannan sacrifices his own life to kill the final baddie, and he reunites with his family and lady love in heaven. ===== The Sesame Street gang have gone on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Big Bird has arranged to meet with Snuffy at the museum but before he can, it is closing time. Big Bird decides to go off and look for Snuffy. Before the group can leave, they realize Big Bird is missing and run all through the museum looking for him. The chase has them going through different exhibits at high speed and missing, spotting, and chasing him. After a bit, they give up, only to find that they are locked in the museum overnight. They decide to go back out and look for Big Bird and look at all the exhibits while they are at it. Big Bird eventually finds Snuffy and they wander the Egyptian exhibit and encounter an Egyptian prince named Sahu (Aram Chowdhury) and his cat who have been cursed to remain on Earth and not be able to become a star like his parents until he answers the question "Where does today meet yesterday?" Every night at midnight for thousands of years, a demon (James Mason) appears to ask Sahu that and he has answered wrong every night. Big Bird suggests Sahu remain on Earth and become "the only 4,000 year old kid on Sesame Street", but later agrees with Snuffy that they should work together to get the answer right. Meanwhile, the group has split up and are all in different exhibits. Bob and Cookie Monster find themselves looking at pictures with food in them. While Cookie Monster tries to eat the pictures, Bob points out to him a sign that says "Please don't eat the pictures." He replies with "Oh, this going to be a long night." He later sings the song "Don't Eat the Pictures" about this. Oscar finds an exhibit of Greek and Roman statues that have been broken by natural disasters. He looks in and breaks into song on how beautiful they are to him. Grover finds an exhibit filled with armor from medieval times and thinks a suit of Maximilian armour is a guy named "Max" and tries to befriend him by changing into his Super Grover costume and singing a song. Bert and Ernie view the painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware, to which Bert comments on the dedication of Washington and his men, but Ernie comments how he was very silly to cross in the winter and should have waited until Easter or taken the George Washington Bridge. As the night passes, Big Bird and Snuffy continue to try to figure out the answer to the question. Soon just before midnight Big Bird unknowingly figures out the answer is "a museum." When the demon appears that night, the question is answered correctly and Sahu is sent to Osiris (Fritz Weaver) to have his heart weighed. When the feather to weigh his heart doesn't appear, Big Bird offers one of his to help. But when Sahu's heart is too heavy, Big Bird claims that it wasn't fair since Sahu was on Earth for 40 centuries and he was so alone his heart would be heavy, so he can't become a star. After this, Sahu's heart becomes lighter and he is now ready to join his parents and take his cat. Big Bird and Snuffy then exit the museum, look up into the night sky, and see four stars in a straight line (representing Sahu, his parents, and his cat), and are glad that they reunited Sahu with his parents. When morning comes, Big Bird finds the group and Snuffy is not there. He got up early and left to get to "Snufflegarden." Cookie Monster was promised anything on a hot dog stand as a special reward for not eating anything in the museum, and decides to eat the entire stand. After the credits, Big Bird pretends to be a statue. He encourages the viewers to visit their local museum, and comments on how staying perfectly still is tiring and wonders how statues can do it. ===== Jack Sands, the story's narrator, is a spaceship pilot down on his luck. In September 2111, he is about to be evicted from a flophouse when he is recruited by his old friend Captain Harris Henshaw to co-pilot an expedition to Europa. Sands is one of only two survivors of a previous visit to the Jovian moon. The other was his drug-addled co-pilot Kratska, who crashed the expedition's ship, the Hera, while landing it on Earth. While Sands lay unconscious in a hospital, Kratska put the blame for the crash on him, ruining his reputation. Kratska has since disappeared. Sands' new co-pilot is Claire "The Golden Flash" Avery, whose sole qualification was winning the circumlunar Apogee race; more by sheer luck and suicidal risk-taking than by skill, in Sands' opinion. The other members of the expedition are the chemist Stefan Coretti and the biologist Gogrol. Sands has proof of Avery's poor piloting ability during the landing on Europa, when he is forced to take over to prevent her from crashing the Minos. His suspicions are aroused when he realizes the crew of the Minos are doing no actual exploring. One day, he and Avery return from gathering food to find Henshaw shot dead and Coretti wounded by Gogrol. The biologist forces the two pilots into the next valley and then crosses back over the airless ridge connecting them wearing an air helmet. He takes their helmets with him, so they can't follow. Avery then tells Sands the real purpose of the mission: Captain Gunderson of the Hera had discovered vast deposits of protactinium on the previous expedition, and worked out a process for using it as a power source. Gunderson was lost in the crash, along with his notes, but it was hoped that he had left a copy behind on Europa. Now Gogrol has found the notes. Gogrol returns because he needs one of them to pilot the ship to one of the human settlements on Io. He shoots Sands in the leg and abducts Avery; when she passes out on top of the ridge, he picks her up and carries her, then tosses his pistol down to Sands with one shot left, so Sands can commit suicide. Instead, Sands shoots a native bladder bird and uses its air sac to keep breathing as he gives chase. He catches up to Gogrol in the darkened spaceship control room, finally recognizing him as Kratska. Sands sends Avery outside to retrieve Coretti; Kratska chooses that moment to attack Sands, but Sands manages to kill Kratska before passing out. When Sands comes to, he is travelling in space aboard the Minos, which Avery has piloted to Io. Sands enters the control room in time to watch her make a perfect landing. ===== The story starts off with Raghu (Raghuvaran), a passport-issuing officer, and his wife Shanthi (Shanthi Krishna), who live in Chennai. Raghu, being an honest man, tells Shanthi that he cheated on her with a coworker when he was in Goa. She immediately leaves for her mother's house. Raghu, being a transformed gentleman, tries to stop her by apologizing, but in vain. Raghu's brother Vijay (Vijay), being a good and supportive brother, and Shanthi's brother Suriya (Suriya), being a non-emotive but supporting brother, meet in a cinema theater. Vijay, being a righteous brother, blames Shanthi to be the cause of the problem, and Suriya blames Raghu for the same. They keep on fighting at every chance. Meanwhile, both Vijay and Suriya find their own girlfriends in Akhila (Kausalya) and Asha (Simran) respectively and fall in love. One day, Raghu finds a bundle of cash on his table and meets Muthukumaraswamy (Karan), the person who kept the money there. Raghu finds out that Muthukumaraswamy is an MLA who is wanted by the police. Muthukumaraswamy wants to leave the country to escape from the police, and he needs a fake passport to flee the country; otherwise, the police will catch him. Since his passport is confiscated by the police, he tells Raghu to get one for him, but Raghu, being a sincere officer, disagrees and calls the police instead. Muthukumaraswamy gets angry and promises to avenge Raghu. Meanwhile, Raghu and Shanthi apply for a divorce according to the Hindu Law of Divorce. Child custody of their daughter Sona (Jennifer), who was in Shanthi's sister's house when the breakup occurred, is given to the mother by the court. One day, Suriya takes Sona to a fair and somehow loses her. In the confusion that follows, Sona falls from a Ferris wheel and is taken to the hospital by Vijay. She is brought to Raghu's house once she recovers. Soon, Vijay discovers that Sona has lost her hearing in the accident. Some days later, Suriya finds that Sona is missing. Suriya finds Vijay, and the two get into a huge punch fight. Then, Raghu tells everyone that Sona is in his sister's house. Since Sona's custody is given to the mother, this action of Raghu's is wrong in the eyes of law. Shanthi and Suriya, accompanied by a lawyer, come to Raghu's house to get Sona back. At that time, Raghu suffers a serious asthma attack while in the bathroom, and everyone saves him. After recovering, Raghu tells that Sona is not in his sister's house but has been kidnapped by Muthukumaraswamy, who is out on bail. In the turn of events, Raghu issues a fake passport to Muthukumaraswamy, but he does not want him to escape from the police. The two heroes join hands and make sure that this does not happen. They save Sona, who is with Muthukumaraswamy's wife and brother-in-law Kachiram (Ajay Rathnam) in a van. Finally, Kanthaswamy (Prakash Raj), the Chennai Deputy Commissioner of Police, arrests Muthukumaraswamy. The movie ends with Vijay and Suriya becoming best friends again after a long time and reconciling with their lady loves, and Raghu and Shanthi also embrace each other with Sona. ===== Following a cataclysm, the earth becomes an immense desert in which the scarcity of drinkable water renders it a valuable commodity. The story centers around Juju, a teenage boy who belongs to one of the gangs which prevail on behalf of the new organizations, and Rael, a girl who will perhaps be able to save humanity. ===== For 400 years, there was a family of thieves stealing money and priceless property, particularly those items that were originally illegally stolen. The main motivation is that anything and everything can be stolen, no matter how much they protect that item. And in those years, that thief was only known by one name, Mouse. In the latest version, a young college art teacher named Muon Sorata is the latest to take up the name of Mouse. He is surrounded by three highly devoted and attractive assistants who help him pull off heists of art museums and landmark towers. The thieves have the power and resources to steal entire buildings and take structures out to sea but never get caught. Mouse is also known for not abandoning those who serve him, even if it means his capture. ===== Cover of production announcement showing an 'Inland Gnome', drawn by W.W. Denslow in 1894 ===== The story centers on the life of Mike Fallon, a high-class hitman. Fallon was known for making his murders look like accidents, often going to extravagant lengths to do so. Fallon is also noted for his love of high living and glamorous girlfriends. Mike Fallon's, "I don't give a damn" attitude to his hits was changed the day his ex-girlfriend (a would-be Greenpeace activist) was murdered. Fallon then went on a murderous rampage to find out who paid the contract on his girlfriend and who actually made the hit. ===== The story begins in the Roman province of Judea with the portrayal of the Massacre of the Innocents in the Nativity. The remainder of the film portrays the annunciation and birth of Jesus Christ to explain why King Herod the Great (Ciarán Hinds) ordered the murder. One year before the massacre, Zechariah (Stanley Townsend), a rabbi in Jerusalem, is making an offering, when he is told in a vision by the Archangel Gabriel (Alexander Siddig) that his wife, Elizabeth (Shohreh Aghdashloo), will bear a son. Zechariah does not believe him, stating that he is too old, and Gabriel tells him that he will be unable to speak until the boy is born. In Nazareth, 16 to 17-year-old Mary (Keisha Castle- Hughes) is farming when soldiers come to collect taxes. One man, unable to pay, has a third of his land seized and his daughter pressed into debt slavery. Mary, betrothed to marry 32-year-old Joseph of Judaea (Oscar Isaac), is visited by Archangel Gabriel and told that she will become pregnant with God's son, whom she is to name "Jesus". He tells her that God has blessed her cousin Elizabeth with a child despite her old age. Mary visits her before the harvest, where she witnesses the birth of John the Baptist to Elizabeth and Zechariah, who regains his speech. Mary returns from the visit pregnant, to the shock of Joseph and her parents, who fear that Joseph will accuse her of adultery, a sin punishable by death by stoning according to the Torah. At first Joseph does not believe Mary's religious explanation, but decides not to accuse her. Still shocked and angry, he is later visited in a dream by the Archangel Gabriel, who tells him of God's plan for Mary's son. Finally believing, he is ashamed of his earlier doubts. Meanwhile, Roman emperor Caesar Augustus has demanded that every man across the Roman Empire return with his family to his place of birth for the census. A direct descendant of King David, Joseph is forced to travel across Palestine's rocky terrain from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the place of his birth. With Mary on a donkey laden with supplies, it takes the couple nearly four weeks to reach Bethlehem. Upon arriving in town, Mary goes into labour, and Joseph frantically seeks a place for her to deliver. There is, however, no room in any inn or home because of the crowds arriving for the census, but at the last minute an innkeeper offers his stable for shelter. Meanwhile, three Magi—Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar (Stefan Kalipha, Nadim Sawalha and Eriq Ebouaney) —travel towards Judaea after having previously discovered that three planets will align to form a great star. This Star of Bethlehem appears before the Magi, after a visit by the Archangel Gabriel. The Magi visit Herod and reveal to him that the Messiah is still a child and he will be a Messiah "for the lowest of men to the highest of kings." Shocked by this, Herod asks that they visit the newborn Messiah and report the child's location back to him, under the pretence that he, too, would like to worship him, while in fact he plans to kill the baby for fear of a new king taking his throne. The Magi arrive at the stable where Mary is giving birth to Jesus, and they present the Infant with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Suspicious of his intentions, the Magi avoid Herod, returning home via a different route. Herod realises that the Magi have tricked him and orders the death of every boy in Bethlehem under the age of two. Joseph is warned in a dream of the danger and flees to Egypt with Mary and Jesus as the film ends. ===== The plot of the video game is based on the film, albeit liberties are taken occasionally. King Neptune's crown has been stolen by Plankton and SpongeBob and Patrick must retrieve it from Shell City and save Bikini Bottom. ===== Dhracian hunter Rath arrives by sea, searching for the F'dor demons and also for Ysk, now known as Achmed the Snake, the Assassin King of Ylorc. At the same time dragons gather in a primeval forest glade to mourn the death of the dragon Llauron, who died protecting his daughter-in-law Rhapsody and her newborn son, Meridion, which happened at the end of the previous book of the series, Elegy for a Lost Star. His death also means the loss of the lore and control over the Earth itself that it represents. The dragons are terrified for what will come as a result of this loss. In Navarne, Lord and Lady Cymrian hold a secret meeting attended by King Achmed, his sergeant Grunthor, Lord Marshal Anborn, young Duke Gwydion Navarne and Constantin, the Patriarch of Sepulvarta. It becomes clear that Talquist, the new ruler of Sorbold, is making preparations for a war against his neighbours. Ashe sends his wife and baby Meridion to safety to Ylorc with Achmed and Grunthor and calls a meeting of Cymrian nobles. Meanwhile Anborn and Constantin travel with an army to the Holy City of Sepulvarta, which has been attacked by sorboldian troops. Achmed meets Rath, who tells him of his destiny to hunt the F'dor demons, yet declines Rath's request to join him - as a Firbolg King and protector of the Earth Child he has other priorities. ===== Kanade Otsuka is a high school girl who sometimes sees the future when she touches someone or something. Though she is uncomfortable being touched, she refuses to live her life in fear and uses her powers to help those she sees in trouble. One day, she meets Arou Naitou, a school mate who can see the past but does not feel he can do anything with his knowledge. They also meets Namiki Masahiro, another student who can also see the future but has more control over his power than Kanade and uses it purely for selfish reasons. Kanade, Arou, and Namiki must in a world where society might not accept them if their secret is ever known other than by their friends. On several occasions, people learn about their secret (the school doctor, people from Arou's middle school, family members), with varying results. For example, Arou's classmates from middle school react negatively, distressing him, while another classmate tries to use Arou's talent for the benefit of society. ===== In an underground poker game, a man is revealed to be cheating with a hole card when the game gets robbed. He manages to defend himself and everyone but him and one robber is killed. Hustlers Tiffany (Thandie Newton) and Charlie Miller (Gabriel Byrne) meet up with Larry Jennings (Jamie Foxx) as he's winning a poker game. They agree to a partnership to work a game with a potential profit of $20,000. Larry meets their third, Vernon (Stuart Townsend), a card mechanic who is working as a blackjack dealer. In a flashback, Vernon switches out the contents of a six deck shoe and they take the casino for $40,000. As Vernon and Charlie wait for Larry, corrupt cop Scarne (Bo Hopkins) shakes them down. Larry arrives and, after seeing Vernon's skills agrees to team with them - Larry will bet high on Vernon's crooked deals. At the game, Larry gets impatient with the slow action and, on his own deal, gets over $100,000 in the pot. He loses; the money he bet belongs to a mobster named Malini (Patrick Bauchau), who sends his enforcers Marlo (Roger Guenveur Smith) and Nate (B-Real) to retrieve him. They take him to the house, which has been stripped bare - everyone at the game was in on the con. They take Larry to an airport and kill him. The man and the robber (from the first scene) agree to cut cards for the money. The robber cuts a King and the man cuts the Ace of spades. They reach for their guns; the man gets his first and kills the robber, whose blood splatters on the ace. The three speculate that the story is an urban legend about "The Dean." They talk about taking the Dean (Sylvester Stallone) down at a game with a $250,000 buy-in and total stakes of at least $2,000,000. After Vernon's departure, it's revealed that he and Tiffany had been lovers until Vernon left and Tiffany slept with Charlie. The next day, Malini's enforcers track down Charlie to a restaurant and Marlo demands the return of Malini's money. Charlie agrees to pay back $100,000, but Nate pulls a gun and a gunfight ensues. Tiffany arrives in time to kill Nate, but Marlo escapes. Charlie, Vernon and Tiffany escape and hide out with The Professor (Hal Holbrook), Vernon's former mentor, who is suspicious of Charlie and insists Vernon is better than him. Scarne arrives at the murder scene and realizes that the three are involved from a description by the witnesses. The three arrive at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for the game, where they discover that the host is Malini. Vernon and the Dean bust the other players and agree to play five card stud. Dean's former lover Eve (Melanie Griffith) arrives, and they take a break. The three talk about the trouble Vernon is having and Tiffany speculates the cards are marked. Vernon discovers the Dean is using a "juice deck," a deck marked to be readable when one's eyes are unfocused. In the final hand, Vernon mucks a card and deals the hand. He deals the Dean two pair, Kings and Queens, and himself a pair of Jacks with a 7 in the hole for the Dean to see. The Dean goes all in, and when Vernon is $50,000 short, Charlie and Tiffany make up the shortfall so he can call the bet. Before the cards are turned up, Marlo enters the room. Identifying the three as the team who conned Larry, Malini's muscle pull their guns and Tiffany pulls hers, then Scarne enters with his gun drawn. The Dean insists that the hand be completed and Vernon swaps out his hole 7 for a third Jack, which would beat the two pair he'd dealt the Dean. The room is stunned when the Dean turns up a third Queen to take the hand. Malini tells the three they can leave but advises them to stay out of the Los Angeles rackets. Charlie splits up the partnership with Vernon and, after Marlo's revelation that he was tipped off by Tiffany about shaking down Larry, with her as well. As Vernon sits alone in a diner, The Dean, Eve and Scarne enter, revealing the game was all an elaborate setup by the four of them to con Charlie and Tiffany. They split the take, but as he leaves the Dean pauses to flip the blood-stained Ace of spades to Vernon. ===== Angélique (Audrey Tautou), a successful art student, purchases a single pink rose at a flower shop to be delivered to her lover, Dr. Loïc Le Garrec (Samuel Le Bihan). In between creating her art projects, Angélique works part-time at a cafe and house-sits for a wealthy vacationing family. Her friend David (Clément Sibony) disapproves of her affair with Loïc, who is married, but she insists that Loïc will leave his wife for her. When Loïc's wife, Rachel (Isabelle Carré), has a miscarriage, the pair separate and Angélique prepares to leave with Loïc on a romantic getaway to Florence. However, Loïc doesn't meet Angélique at the airport, having chosen to mend things with his wife. This throws Angélique into a self-destructive cycle of clinical depression, losing her job and scholarship. While watching the news one night, she learns that Loïc has been arrested for assaulting one of his patients, Sonia Jasmin (Nathalie Krebs). She goes to Sonia's house to convince her to drop the charges and, in the ensuing scuffle, Sonia has a heart attack and dies. Thinking this will win Loïc back, Angélique steals from the house to make it look like a robbery. Instead, Loïc is arrested for Sonia's murder. Angélique, after witnessing Loïc embrace his wife as he is dragged away, returns home, turns on the gas oven, and lies down on the floor to commit suicide. At this point the film rewinds to the opening scene when Angélique bought the pink rose. This time the film follows the delivery boy and the subsequent events play out from Loïc's viewpoint. Loïc receives the pink rose and assumes that his wife sent it to him. It is revealed that Loïc barely knows Angélique and that they cross paths only because Angélique is house- sitting for Loïc and Rachel's neighbor. Loïc receives Angélique's gifts and messages but doesn't know who sent them. It is revealed that Rachel's miscarriage was caused by "someone" running her down with a moped; earlier in the film, Angélique is shown having suffered an "accident" that ruined her friend's moped and injured her arm. Loïc comes to believe that his stalker is Sonia; he physically attacks her and she presses charges for assault. After she dies of a heart attack, Loïc is arrested as the prime suspect for her murder. After his arrest, Rachel tells the police that he was with her on the night of the death, which clears him of all charges. That night, Loïc sees an ambulance pull up to his neighbor's house after Angélique tries to kill herself. As a doctor, he performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, which causes her to regain consciousness. Now aware of her, he considers the possibility that she is his stalker. Exploring the house that she was house-sitting, he finds a life-sized garbage mosaic of himself. Loïc and Angélique have a final confrontation, in which he declares that they never had, nor ever will have, a relationship. Angélique strikes him over the head with a brass figurine and he falls down the stairs. Angélique is arrested, diagnosed with erotomania, and remanded to a mental institution. Rachel stands by her husband while he recovers from his injuries, and several years later the couple are shown at a house with their young children as Loïc hobbles around with a walker. Five years after the attack, Angélique is released from the mental institution. Her therapist praises her progress and tells her, "If you keep taking your medication, you will be fine". However, when the cleaning man is clearing Angélique's room, he discovers her pills have been glued to the wall behind the wardrobe in a mosaic of Loïc, thus showing that Angélique has never taken her medication, and is still obsessed with Loïc. The film then ends with a quotation from a real erotomaniac: "Though my love is insane, my reason relieves the pain of the heart, telling me to be patient and not lose hope." ===== Mitchell and his mate drop their swags, and sit down in the mulga shade on the edge of a plain. Mitchell reflects about the last time he saw his family, after having been away for eight years. While he speaks, he holds a young cattle-pup, and occasionally intercuts his tale with observations about the pup's feet, or a request for a knife. With his story complete, Mitchell and his mate take up their swags, "[turn] their unshaven faces to the wide, hazy distance, and [leave] the timber behind them." ===== Having learned from Odo that a Changeling has taken Gowron's form and is now in control of the Klingon empire, Sisko is ordered by Starfleet Command to expose the impostor. He, Odo, O'Brien, and Worf (the first disguised as Klingons) must infiltrate Ty'Gokor, the headquarters of the Klingon military, impersonating candidates for the "order of the Bat'leth". They are given four devices which, when activated, will emit radiation which will force any nearby Changeling to revert to its natural gelatinous state. Gul Dukat escorts them to Ty'Gokor in his captured Klingon Bird of Prey. The four arrive at the Hall of Warriors, where the all-night party before the induction ceremony has already begun, and try to blend in as best as they can. When General Martok, second in command to Gowron, arrives, the four scramble to set up their radiation emitters. Gowron arrives a and begins issuing the awards. When Sisko is called to receive his award, he attempts to activate the emitters, but is knocked to the floor by Martok, who has finally recognized them and has them thrown in a security cell. Once they are alone, Martok confides to Sisko that he too believes that Gowron is an impostor. With the emitters destroyed, the only way to expose Gowron is to kill him. Martok releases Sisko and his group and leads them back to the Hall of Warriors. Worf challenges Gowron to a one- on-one duel. Martok wonders why Sisko does not shoot Gowron outright. Odo observes that Gowron chose to fight Worf in single combat, thus showing Klingon honor, while Changelings do not care for honor. Odo concludes that the Changeling is not Gowron, but Martok. Just when Worf is about to kill Gowron, Odo reveals the false Martok to the crowd, and the Klingons open fire, quickly destroying the Changeling. Gowron realizes that Odo was fed false intelligence that Gowron was the Changeling, which would have led to Gowron's assassination by the Federation, thus allowing the fake Martok, and thus the Dominion, to gain control of the Klingon Empire. Gowron agrees to a ceasefire in the war between the Klingons and the Federation, and Sisko and his men are returned safely back to DS9. ===== Uday (Nana Patekar), a criminal don, takes it upon himself to get his kindhearted sister, Sanjana (Katrina Kaif) married, but he is unsuccessful since no one wants to be associated with a crime family. Dr. Ghunghroo (Paresh Rawal) has also been trying to get his nephew, Rajiv (Akshay Kumar) an auctioneer, married but due to his condition—the alliance must be with a purely decent family—he is also unsuccessful. When Rajiv jumps into a burning building to save Sanjana, he is smitten by her. Uday and Majnu (Anil Kapoor), Uday's brother gangster hatch a plan for an alliance with Dr. Ghunghroo. The plan works and Dr. Ghunghroo confirms the alliance, thinking that Uday is a very decent man. But when he is later told that Uday and Majnu are mobsters, he quickly takes his family and flees to Sun City, South Africa to escape. However, Majnu and Sanjana have come to Sun City as well. Rajiv meets Sanjana again and the two fall in love. After an initial showdown with them as he comes to know they are Sanjana's brothers and as they are confronted by Rajiv, Dr. Ghunghroo reconciles with Uday and Majnu and finally agrees to the alliance. Uday and Majnu invite a powerful don of the underworld, RDX (Feroz Khan) to the engagement. At the party, a girl named Ishika (Mallika Sherawat) arrives, claiming to be Rajiv's childhood betrothed. Ishika is actually Dr. Ghunghroo's sister-in-law, who he asked to come and try to break off the engagement. Ishika manages to do so, leaving Rajiv and Sanjana heartbroken. Dr. Ghunghroo reveals that he did this for Rajiv's mother, who had married into a crime family and was harassed and tortured, thus telling Dr. Ghunghroo to raise Rajiv away from crime when he was born. Dr. Ghunghroo decides he will agree to the marriage only if Uday and Majnu give up their life of crime. Rajiv and Sanjana do this by reawakening Uday's love for acting and encouraging Majnu to pursue his love for painting. With these things keeping them busy, Uday and Majnu have no time for crime any more. Rajiv's actions anger RDX's son, Lucky, who attempts to shoot Rajiv. Sanjana gets hold of the gun and fires a shot that hits Lucky, causing him to go unconscious. RDX is informed of his son's death and comes to attend the cremation. However Lucky, who is still alive, escapes, trying to show his father that he's actually alive. RDX sets the pile of wood on fire, believing he is cremating his son's body. However Lucky, who had been hiding under the wood, jumps out upon realising the wood is on fire, and the truth is revealed to RDX. Rajiv, Ghunghroo, his wife, Ishika, Uday, Majnu and Sanjana are captured by RDX and brought to a cabin set next to a cliff. The frightened group is forced to play Passing the Parcel (Hot Potato) with a globe—but the one who ends up with the globe must jump off the cliff. When Rajiv refuses to pass the globe to Sanjana, Lucky angrily yanks it out of his hands, just as the music stops. Now that his son has the globe, RDX figures the only way he can maintain his image is by killing everyone. Before he can, several government brokers sneak up and cut the footings of the cabin, causing the house to start falling over the cliff, with everyone trapped inside. However, the cabin is suspended by only one column. Hilarious chaos ensues as the group tries to balance the cabin together and keep it from falling off the cliff. Rajiv finds a rope and the group uses it to get back onto stable ground. But to everyone's shock, the floor breaks and Lucky is found hanging on the edge of the cabin. While Rajiv is trying to rescue him, Sanjana reveals the truth to everyone that she was the one who shot Lucky, but Rajiv blamed himself so that Sanjana wouldn't get in trouble. After Rajiv rescues Lucky, the cabin he is standing on falls off into the cliff. Sanjana keeps crying for him thinking he is dead. However, Rajiv survives the event and is reunited with Sanjana and his family. Lucky and RDX are grateful to Rajiv for saving their lives and RDX gives up his life of crime, allowing Rajiv and Sanjana to finally get married. However, they realise that Ishika fooled them along with Rajiv, as a part of his plan to marry Sanjana. This angers Uday and Majnu, who decide to kill Rajiv as he escapes along with Sanjana and Ishika. ===== The novel centers on three main character groups; that of the scholic Hockenberry, Helen and Greek and Trojan warriors from the Iliad; Daeman, Harman, Ada and the other humans of Earth; and the moravecs, specifically Mahnmut the Europan and Orphu of Io. The novel is written in present-tense when centered on Hockenberry's character, but features third-person, past-tense narrative in all other instances. Much like Simmons' Hyperion where the actual events serve as a frame, the three groups of characters' stories are told over the course of the novel and their stories do not begin to converge until the end. ===== As in some of her other short story collections (e.g. Partners in Crime), Christie employs an overarching narrative, making the book more like an episodic novel. There are three sets of narratives, though they themselves interrelate. The first set of six are stories told by the Tuesday Night Club, a random gathering of people at the house of Miss Marple. Each week the group tell tales of mystery, always solved by the female amateur detective from the comfort of her armchair. One of the guests is Sir Henry Clithering, an ex-Commissioner of Scotland Yard, and this allows Christie to resolve the story, with him usually pointing out that the criminals were caught. Sir Henry Clithering invites Miss Marple to a dinner party, where the next set of six stories are told. The group of guests employ a similar guessing game, and once more Miss Marple triumphs. The thirteenth story, Death by Drowning, takes place some time after the dinner party when Miss Marple finds out that Clithering is staying in St Mary Mead and asks him to help in the investigation surrounding the death of a local village girl. At the start of the story Miss Marple secretly works out who the murderer is and her solution proves correct. ===== Ashok (NTR Jr.) is a mechanic who is thrown out of his house because of his rash actions that have led to the death of his grandmother (Rama Prabha). His father (Prakash Raj) still harbours anger against Ashok despite his good behaviour that has a positive outcome. Ashok then happens to meet an insecure yet talented dancer named Anjali (Sameera Reddy) and fall in love with her. Anjali witnesses a crime involving KK (Sonu Sood), the leader of one of the largest crime syndicates in Andhra Pradesh. KK then tries to ensnare Anjali within his evil plans, while Ashok wages a one- man war against KK's gang. Ashok's friend Rajiv (Rajiv Kanakala) attempts to rescue Anjali, but KK has him killed. Ashok then avenges Rajiv's death by killing KK's sidekick. This enrages KK, and his gang captures Ashok's sister (Revathi), demanding that Ashok hands himself over to them in return for her safety. Ashok's father drags him to KK's manor and orders him to save his sister. Ashok and KK then get into a dramatic fight at Ashok's sister's wedding. Just when it appears that Ashok will emerge the winner, KK's mother (Vadivukkarasi) tries to shoot Ashok but accidentally kills her own son. She drops the gun and falls down dead, apparently dying of shock. The film ends with Ashok's sister getting married and Ashok receiving his father's forgiveness. ===== The movie takes the point-of-view of Jay (David Grant), a college student whose main interests are theater and computer games. While Jay moves around his school's well-equipped theater building he delivers a long voice- over soliloquy revealing his quirky personality. Jay has difficulty interpreting other people: he mentions that his classmates often try to trick him into believing absurd statements, and he cannot always tell whether girls are just being polite to him or if they especially like him. Jay's voice-over is intercut with scenes of the production that is being performed in the theater, a fashion show version of Hamlet. Jay leaves the theater and encounters one of his professors, Dr. Max Boaz (John Kessel). As Jay and Max are walking outdoors a sniper opens fire from a rooftop and kills all the people around Jay. His roommate Walt (Stephen Grant) yells from the rooftop, asking Jay to come up and join him. Jay assumes Walt must be up there trying to assist wounded people or stop the sniper. Eager to help, Jay enters the building and tries to get to the roof, experiencing several bizarre encounters with other people along the way. After Jay arrives on the roof he learns that Walt is actually the sniper. Between outbursts of shooting, Walt says he comes from a long line of sharpshooters and has been working on a book about his family entitled The Delicate Art of the Rifle. Walt also tells Jay about incidents in which Walt tried to locate his girlfriend. She had disappeared and her friends and relatives did not remember her. Walt has come to the conclusion that there is some sort of "metaphysical virus" that erases people from history, removing all traces of them. Walt believes that he also has the virus and will soon disappear. The movie ends with a long steadicam scene that follows Jay as he walks through the theater building closing doors and turning off lights. In his voice-over monologue Jay reveals that Walt vanished and was never found. Jay says he has lost all his newspaper clippings of the sniper incident. At the very end Jay's voice-over intimates that Walt "erasing virus" theory might have been correct, but with Jay as a classic unreliable narrator this is never definitively established. ===== Ramona is well into her 2nd grade year at Glenwood School, and all is going well until one day her father comes home and announces he has lost his job. The Quimbys must now cope with the breadwinner searching for another job, filling out job applications and collecting unemployment insurance. Mrs. Quimby goes to work full-time, but things are still very tight for the family. Mr. Quimby sinks into depression and Mrs. Quimby tells the children that they must not do anything that would further upset their dad. Ramona wants to help, so she crosses almost everything off her wish list for Christmas. Then she adds one more item – a happy family. But will her wish come true? The Quimbys are also dealing with the family's temperamental car, Beezus' problems with her creative writing class, and Ramona's efforts to get her father to stop smoking. One day when Ramona worries about the family, Mr. Quimby reassures her the Quimbys will always be together and strong, no matter what happens. That Christmas Beezus and Ramona participate in their church's Christmas pageant. Beezus is to be the Virgin Mary and Ramona decides that she and her friends Howie and Davy should be sheep. Unfortunately, her Mother doesn't have time to sew a costume so Ramona has to wear a pair of old pajamas, which she hates. In the end, the sheep steal the show and Ramona and her family share a wonderful night together. ===== "People should not think being seven and a half years old was easy, because it wasn't."Cleary, Beverly Ramona and her Mother, HarperCollins, 1979, pg. 42; At last, Ramona's father, Robert, has a job again, so the Quimbys host a brunch to celebrate. Ramona is burdened with the task of keeping her friend Howie Kemp's little sister, Willa Jean, out of everybody's way. Not wanting Willa Jean to touch any of her toys, Ramona gives Willa Jean a pop-up box of tissues to play with. When Willa Jean strews tissues through the house, the guests decide to take their leave. When someone remarks that Ramona was just like Willa Jean when she was younger, Ramona feels hurt and upset, not believing that she was ever such an exasperating spoiled pest. When Dorothy states that she could not get along without Beezus, Ramona feels isolated and unappreciated by her family. Now that both Dorothy and Robert are working full-time, everyone must pitch in to keep the house running as smoothly as possible. One day, the family comes home to find that, in the rush to leave the house in the morning, the Crock-pot was not plugged in, forcing the family to improvise dinner from the sparse ingredients on hand. The preparation of said dinner causes an argument between Robert and Dorothy, which frightens the girls, who had never before seen such behavior from their parents. Suddenly worried that their parents might get a divorce like some of their respective classmates parents have recently, Beezus and Ramona comfort each other that night at bedtime, and Beezus tells Ramona that she will always be there to look after her. The next morning, Beezus and Ramona are surprised to find their parents sitting at breakfast together, acting as if the argument never happened. Robert and Dorothy explain that marital spats are a part of life and do not necessarily foreshadow a divorce. When it is further indicated that Beezus and Ramona fight, Ramona feels that the comparison is unfair, and orders her parents to never fight again. Tempers flare again when Beezus refuses to let Dorothy cut Beezus' hair. Dorothy normally cuts the girls' hair, but Beezus reveals that she has saved her allowance to get her hair cut at a local hairdressing academy. The battle of wills between Beezus and Dorothy makes Ramona happy, since she is still envious of their relationship. When the appointment goes wrong and Ramona ends up with a cute pixie haircut and Beezus gets a bad perm and ends up with "forty-year-old" hair, Ramona suddenly feels bad for Beezus and decides it is nicer when everyone in the family is happy. Matters become complicated once more when Dorothy buys Ramona a new pair of pajamas, the first time Ramona has not received Beezus' hand-me-downs. Ramona loves her new pajamas so much that she wears them to school underneath her clothes. She finally admits this fact to her teacher, Mrs. Rudge, who promises Ramona that she will not reveal Ramona's secret to anybody. When Ramona overhears Dorothy's end of a phone conversation with Mrs. Rudge that night, however, she mistakenly assumes that Mrs. Rudge has betrayed her confidence. She becomes angry, argues with her parents, and decides to run away from home. Dorothy, to Ramona's shock, offers to help her pack a suitcase. Dorothy purposefully packs the suitcase so that it is too heavy for Ramona to carry, which turns out to be a ploy to get Ramona to stay. When Ramona realizes that she had been tricked, Dorothy says the words that Ramona had longed to hear since the day of the brunch and Willa Jean's tissue incident: "I couldn't get along without my Ramona." Cleary, Beverly, Ramona and her Mother, HarperCollins, 1979, pg. 182; ===== Third-grader Ellen Tebbits lives with her parents on Tillamook Street in Portland, Oregon. The book opens when Ellen heads to her dance class at the studio run by the mother of a classmate, Otis Spofford, who is always teasing her. When she arrives, she heads to change in a broom closet so the other girls cannot see her terrible secret: Ellen is wearing woolen underwear. After class, she accidentally walks in on a new girl in class, Austine Allen, who's also wearing the dreaded underwear. Soon, the two become best friends. Other chapters in the book deal with Ellen's first- ever time going horseback riding, her efforts to bring a giant beet to school for show-and-tell, and Ellen and Austine's efforts to put up with the obnoxious Otis' antics. During summer vacation, Ellen and Austine decide to dress as twins on their first day back to school. The plan is for their mothers to make identical dresses for them. Austine's mother, however, cannot sew, so her dress doesn't turn out well. As the day goes on Austine begins to amuse herself by tugging on the sash of Ellen's dress. Ellen gets irritated and finally slaps Austine in the lunch line when her sash comes undone. Unfortunately, Austine was innocent; Otis had pulled on her dress. Austine begins spending time with other girls and ignores Ellen, who thinks everyone looks down on her for slapping her best friend. In the final chapter, the teacher chooses Ellen and Austine to go outside and clean the chalkboard erasers. Austine continues to ignore Ellen, who becomes so angered by this that she yanks on the sash on Austine's dress and rips it. Both girls end up in tears and, after learning that Otis was the culprit in the lunch line and that both of their mothers made them wear their dreaded woolen underwear that day, they mend their friendship. ===== The Doctor (Robert Picardo) asks Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to alter his program to allow him to captain the ship if an emergency occurs. Janeway refuses the request. Despite this, the Doctor alters his own sub-routines, allowing him to daydream, while Voyager is traveling through an apparently harmless nebula. Among other ego-fulfilling fantasies, the daydreams include one where he becomes the "Emergency Command Hologram" and defeats an attacking alien vessel using a fictional deadly photonic cannon. The Doctor finds that his daydreams are occurring when he doesn't want them to, a side effect of his faulty programming, and the crew disables the new routines. Meanwhile, undetected by Voyager, the crew of an observation ship of the Hierarchy species has been monitoring Voyagers passage. As they have done with other ships that pass through the nebula, the Hierarchy determines whether there is any value on the ships, and if so, attacks them. They are unable to scan Voyager via normal means, and instead use a microscopic tunneling scan. This latches onto the Doctor's program, allowing them to witness events experienced by the hologram, though they are unaware of where reality stops and the Doctor's fantasies begin. Though the Hierarchy's crewman Phlox (Jay Leggett) soon realizes their mistake, the Hierarchy has already issued the command to attack Voyager for their anti- matter reserves. Phlox uses the tunneling scan to reactivate the Doctor's daydreaming programs to allow him to communicate with the hologram. Phlox explains the situation to the Doctor, who in turn reports this to Janeway. As Voyagers crew becomes aware of the approaching Hierarchy ships, Janeway arranges for the deception to be complete, temporarily turning the Doctor into the Emergency Command Hologram. The Doctor, less confident in reality than his daydreams, is still able to bluff regarding use of the photonic cannon and the Hierarchy quickly retreats. Janeway commends the Doctor for his performance and arranges a team to evaluate the prospects of putting the hologram in charge of the ship under emergency situations. ===== On stardate 48921.3, encounters a cloud of space-dwelling lifeforms, and Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) takes the ship in for a closer look. The ship is soon drawn in and engulfed by the swarm of creatures, whose proximity disables the helm controls and shields. The crew endeavor to escape without harming the swarm, but when the creatures begin attaching themselves to the hull, they wreak even more havoc on the ship’s systems. A version of the creatures as large as Voyager arrives, and the crew realize that they have been mistaken for another of the species; the smaller creatures are attempting to mate with the ship. When the larger creature attacks, Voyager adopts a position of submission, based on behavior the crew observed in the smaller members of the species. Losing interest, the smaller creatures detach from Voyager and allow it to leave. In response to Voyagers exposure to the swarm, Kes (Jennifer Lien) begins eating abnormally, including insects and soil. In sickbay, she has a fever, a dangerously elevated pulse and blood pressure, and a tumorous growth on her back. She resists the Doctor’s (Robert Picardo) treatment and locks herself in his office, finally relenting only to explain to Captain Janeway that she's undergoing the elogium: the Ocampa mating cycle. This process only happens once and usually affects Ocampa between four and five years old—but Kes is not even two. Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and Kes agonize over whether to have children and the ramifications of becoming parents. After discussing children and family with Lieutenant Tuvok (Tim Russ), Neelix decides he's ready to be a father, while Kes has instead decided against it. Ultimately, because the Doctor believes the elogium was artificially induced by the creatures' proximity to the ship, it may come upon her again later in her life when she is ready. Throughout the episode, concerns arise over shipboard fraternization. After Captain Janeway and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) discuss whether the ship is an appropriate place to raise children, Ensign Samantha Wildman (Nancy Hower) announces that she is pregnant by her husband, who is still in the Alpha Quadrant. =====