From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Keith (Bill Hader) writes a letter to his sister, as Dave (Andy Samberg) asks what he is doing. As Keith responds, explaining he has not seen his sister in a long time, Dave suddenly and inexplicably shoots him. In the following overly dramatic, slow-motion death overdubbed by a cue of "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap, Dave is seen visibly shaken as Keith, in shock, collapses. As Dave gathers his bearings, Keith suddenly shoots him in return, having recovered from his injury long enough to exact his revenge to the same music cue. After both men have fallen to the ground from their separate shootings, another man, Eric (Shia LaBeouf), enters looking for them (saying he's "just thought of the funniest thing"). Dave comes back to life to shoot Eric in the stomach, who collapses, once again to the same music. The sister herself (Kristen Wiig) enters the scene, and begins to read the letter ("Dear Sister, By the time you read this...") until she too is shot in the gut several times by each of the three men on the ground, with the music cue restarting with every shot, until she collapses too. The short ends as two police officers (Jason Sudeikis and Fred Armisen) are observing the crime scene. One finds the letter, left on the table near the brother's body, and begins to read. The letter is revealed to be a prediction of each shooting, in detail, and ends claiming that two police officers will come across the letter and then shoot each other after reading it. While the reading officer laughs it off, his partner turns and shoots him as the reading officer shoots him as well to overlapping "Hide & Seek" cues. ===== The War Within is the story of Hassan, a Pakistani engineering student in Paris, who is apprehended by American intelligence services for suspected terrorist activities. After his interrogation, Hassan undergoes a radical transformation and embarks upon a terrorist mission, surreptitiously entering the United States to join a cell based in New York City. After they have meticulously planned an event of maximum devastation, the members of the cell are arrested, except for Hassan, Khalid, and their cell leader Izzy. With no alternative and nowhere else to turn, Hassan must rely on the hospitality of his former best friend Sayeed, who is living the American dream with his family in New Jersey. To go forward and carry out his own attack, Hassan takes advantage of Sayeed's generosity while plotting his strategy and amassing materials to create explosives. Eventually, Hassan's skewed religious fervor clashes with his feelings for Sayeed and his family, especially Sayeed's young son Ali, his eight-year-old daughter Rasheeda, and Sayeed's sister Duri, with whom Hassan begins to fall in love. When Izzy is arrested, Khalid and Hassan decide to use the explosives in a suicide attack on Grand Central Station. Duri discovers Hassan mixing the explosives in her brother's house. When Sayeed tries to stop him, Hassan knocks him out and runs away. Duri follows Hassan to stop the attack. At the last minute, Khalid loses his nerve and Hassan goes to the target alone. Duri arrives at Grand Central Station just before Hassan detonates his explosive belt. After the attack, Sayeed is held by the police, who believe that he helped Hassan. ===== A pilot who has been handed a very difficult assignment to destroy the menacing alien forces that have captured six planets in a neighboring allied solar system. The aliens have enslaved all of the inhabitants of the planets and must be killed. ===== German countess Nina von Halder (Bisset) is a student in veterinary medicine in Berlin, Germany on the eve of World War II. Ostracized by her family due to her liberal views and opposition to the Nazi government, she lives alone, independent and strong- willed. The film opens with Nina studying at the library the day Germany invades Poland. She is angered and tells a classmate she knows the reasons Hitler gave for the invasion (to allegedly rescue ethnic Germans from Polish attackers) are a pack of lies. One day while on errands Nina witnesses Brownshirts attacking a vendor. She also sees a man attempting to help the vendor. She confronts them and demands to know why he is being attacked. They say they beat him because he sells to Jews. She tells them to leave the man alone or she will report them to her brother-in-law, a high-ranking Nazi official. Later, while attending an informal party hosted by her friend, she recognizes the man who came to the assistance of the vendor. Her friend, Erica, tells her that his name is Fritz Friedlaender and he is a writer. She is immediately attracted to him, but Erica warns Nina that it would be illegal to date him under the Nuremberg Laws because he is Jewish. The headstrong Nina ignores this advice, however, and begins a relationship with him. When he returns home, he finds Nina desperately waiting for him. He tells her what happened. She has worse news for him; the Resistance has discovered that the Nazis are taking the Jews to Nazi death camps in occupied Poland and gassing them. She still believes his mother is still safe in Theresienstadt. She then tells him about a train going to Switzerland. She and her friends are smuggling several Jews on board. She professes her love for him, but wants him to go where he will be safe. That night, they go to the train depot, where he and other refugees are placed in boxes with a small supply of food and water. As she leaves, she sees Fritz running up to her; he loves her so much that he's unable to leave her. Together they return home. At the war's ending months, Germany is invaded by the Soviet Union in 1945. Nina knows that the Russians want revenge for the millions of their countrymen murdered by the Third Reich. Attempting to hide in the cellar, they are caught by the Russians and forced outside. Nina yells to the soldiers that Fritz is Jewish, but they ignore her. Once outside, Fritz is forced to kneel as the Russians prepare to shoot him. He starts singing "Shema Israel". The Russian soldier lowers his gun and says that he is Jewish too. During the voice-over while the camera pans over a bombed-out and devastated Berlin, Nina tells the audience that Ruth Friedlaender is eventually transferred from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, where she is gassed. Eventually she and Fritz marry; Fritz dies in 1973. ===== The movie is about a kid named Izzy who lives in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights. His family faces a crisis after his father, Paul, suffers from a stroke. His mother, Sue, is an English teacher whose salary is only enough to pay the rent for their apartment. Izzy is trying to find ways to escape his problems by breaking into people's apartments. Izzy does not steal things from houses, instead he eats food, moves around the furniture, writes words on walls, takes showers, and burn pieces of paper. Izzy hangs out with a group of kids who are hoodlums. When Paul's medical insurance is running out, Sue decides to bring Paul back home and take care of him by herself. When Izzy tries again to break in, he gets caught when the homeowners are at home having sexual intercourse. Izzy is subsequently taken to the local police station. ===== The dejected Surgeon-Captain Lioren is disappointed that his Court-martial has rejected the death penalty for him, and instead has assigned him to O'Mara at Sector General. He is plagued with guilt, because he is responsible for the genocide of an entire race. At moments during his new tasks, he ponders the individual events that led up to the alien deaths. First contact with the Cromsag planet was quickly followed by the discovery that their entire population was wasting away from some unidentified disease. They were starving, and their birth rate was abysmal. Additionally, they were continually in hand-to-hand combat with each other, presumably competing for food. The Sector General ships hurriedly provided food to malnourished people everywhere, along with medical aid for combat injuries, and tried to determine the cause of the mysterious disease. Despite their best efforts, deaths from the plague continued to increase. Lioren grew frustrated with the slow process of sending samples back to Sector General and awaiting diagnostics and full tests to ensure the effectiveness of potential cures. In his arrogance, he administered a treatment to the entire population ... and they rose up and slaughtered each other, wiping out their own race. Interspersed with recalling these events, he shares some of his story with people at Sector General. Lioren speaks to the terminally ill Dr. Mannen, eventually reviving Mannen's interest in life. Lioren also offers encouragement to the isolated alien Khone (see Star Healer.) Next he is asked to speak to a gigantic Groalterri, whose race is so advanced they have until now refused all contact with the federated planets. The humans are desperate to make any sort of progress with this race, but the Groalterri patient won't communicate with anyone. Bit by bit, Lioren shares his own guilty history and talks the suicidal alien into lowering its emotional barriers. From its story he manages to figure out the Groalterri's hitherto unknown injury and arrange surgery that will change its life. Finally, at the end, Lioren meets with the handful of Cromsag survivors. ===== A famous chef wangles an appointment to Sector General for the challenge of creating food for so many different species. Like the Sommaradvan healer Cha Thrat (Code Blue - Emergency), he creates chaos everywhere he goes. He first meets the swimming "crocodile-like" Chaldars, who complain that their food is unsatisfying. Realising that they are accustomed to capturing their food live, he develops motile food for them. They are delighted, but they completely destroy their hospital ward charging around chasing it. Next, he learns that the spray-on food used to nourish the Hudlar is uninteresting. His investigations show that it needs small toxins to "flavor" it, which would be found naturally on their home planet. He visits a Hudlar ship, but causes a huge cargo bay accident expelling him into space. He rescues himself by riding some sprayers back to the station, but is in everyone's bad books. Sympathetic staffers hide him on the ambulance ship Rhabwar for an upcoming assignment. In the meantime, an epidemic at the hospital turns out to be a major nutmeg overdose caused by a sous-chef foolishly using ten times the required amount in a recipe. The Rhabwar is sent to a starving planet, whose people think their dwindling meat supply is the only desirable food and are shamed by its lack. He is able to commune with their first Cook better than the diplomats are doing. He finds ways to improve their sad vegetarian diet, and helps to set more positive attitudes toward it. The Cook's son is wounded on a game-hunting expedition, and the medical ship takes him on board for healing. The populace grows very angry, mystifying the team. They finally recall the aliens' cannibal tradition and produce him alive. ===== A man suffering from multiple mysterious illnesses and allergic reactions is labelled a hypochondriac. Finally he is sent to Sector General as a last resort. He befriends his fellow alien patients, telling them his life history. Rather than dismissing his complaints, the attentive hospital doctors develop a theory, and bring him back to his home planet. At the scene of a childhood accident that seems to have started it all, explanations are found. ===== Sector General's director O'Mara is headed for retirement. His memories of life at the hospital are shown through flashbacks, while in the book's 'present' time he goes through the process of selecting his own replacement. ===== Having informed the King of Sommerlund about the fate of the Kai Order, Lone Wolf is instructed to make a journey to their ally, the neighbouring country of Durenor, to retrieve the legendary Sommerswerd, which is Sommerlund’s only hope at repelling Darklord Zagarna’s massive invasion. Lone Wolf is given the Seal of Hammerdal and sets off on a ship bound for Durenor, but when a traitor on board sabotages the ship, he is forced to make his way on foot to Durenor despite the enemies that await him around every corner. ===== After defeating Darklord Zagarna’s invasion, Sommerlund has begun rebuilding and little scars of war remain after one year. Work on rebuilding the Kai Monastery was about to commence when disturbing news from the north came. The merchants returning from summer trading to Kalte told of Brumalmarc, leader of the Ice Barbarian, has fallen to a hunch-backed magician. The description fit Vonotar, the former wizard from the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star, who betrayed Sommerlund and helped the Darklord Zagarna in the invasion and massacre of the Kai Order. Apparently after his defeat, Vonotar made his way to the frozen wastes of Kalte and to the ice fortress of Ikaya and through deception, managed to trick the Cruel Brumalmarc to adopt him as his magician and thus cost him his life and fortress. News of his survival spread in Sommerlund like wildfire with people demanding he pay for his treachery. The king is obliged to promise that the traitor be brought back and stand trial for his crimes and thus has asked you to go capture and bring him back. ===== Falco's closest friend, Petronius Longus, has finally caught one of the leading criminals in Rome, Balbinus Pius. But a quirk in Roman law allows a convicted felon, even a murderer, time to depart before the sentence is carried out. Balbinus' departure has left a vacuum in the underworld of Rome, and there is a crowd of criminals trying desperately to fill the void. Their first step is to engineer a robbery that reverberates throughout the city. Falco is again called upon by the Emperor Vespasian to supply answers, as quietly and quickly as possible. A couple of murders, a kidnapping or two, and more suspects than Falco cares to count takes him, and his patrician girlfriend Helena Justina, to places a family shouldn't have to go. ===== In the beginning, a teenage boy named Lester, who is "kind of geeky" and "kind of sleepy" recently got a new issue of the Super Duper Hero Squad comic book. He was reading it while walking on a dock, until he fell asleep next to a cargo crate lying beside a cargo ship. After he and the cargo were loaded onto the ship by a crane and cruised off, the ship got hijacked by pirates who scuttled it. Lester luckily found a life jacket and swam toward the most adjacent island while the cargo ship sank. Lester must find his way home by exploring the island for someone or something that can help him survive. ===== The story takes the form of an eclectic and quirky fairy tale with satirical elements and dealing with philosophical concerns. It is told via the framing device of Moonshadow, now 120, looking back on his earlier life. The action concerns the events leading up to the "awakening" of Moonshadow, the child of a hippy mother and an enigmatic alien father. The alien, who resembles a glowing orb of light bearing a stylized human face, abducted Moonshadow's mother from Earth in 1968 along with her black pet cat, Frodo. When the idealistic and naive Moonshadow is orphaned at approximately age 15, he becomes friends with a venal and opportunistic furry humanoid named Ira. Moonshadow and Ira and Frodo the cat set out to find a life for themselves in the stars. Moonshadow loses his innocence, but eventually makes peace with the world and reconciles himself to the actions of his seemingly capricious alien father. ===== A well-known Iranian director, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, plans to make a film for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of cinema. He placed an advertisement in a newspaper in order to hire one hundred actors. He has prepared 1000 application forms, but 5000 people show up. The result is a riot in which the applicants are trampled on and wounded. Mohsen Makhmalbaf auditions dozens of men and women in front of the camera; their statements, which are by turns funny and touching, reveal the reality of life in Iran. Thus, the director enables us to see and understand those intellectuals, students and children and above all the women, who can not normally be heard or seen. It shows, once again, that cinema is of vital importance in countries such as Iran. ===== Tony Fitzjohn (John Michie) has just come to work on Kora, a lion preserve, for two elderly brothers, George and Terrence Adamson (Ian Bannen). On his first day, Fitzjohn ignores George’s advice not to run and is nearly mauled. Being informed this is how the last person to fill his position died, Fitzjohn writes the whole place off as crazy and decides to leave. After a last minute change of heart, and a lion cub brought in from a zoo for him to train and reintroduce into the wild, he discovers his life’s true calling. Years pass and Kora’s lions are being picked off by herdsmen one by one with bullets and poison and the elephants and rhinos are being poached at an alarming rate for their tusks and horns. The Adamson brothers are expending all of their energies in protecting the wildlife but can hardly compete; as Fitzjohn observes “A ranger may make 800 shillings a month but a poacher will pay him 10,000 just to turn his back for a day”. The odds seem to be insurmountable as the poachers pile in and the animal death toll rises, while the local government decides that it does not really want a wildlife preserve at all. ===== The film follows the meandering (sexual) adventures of the poet and drunk, Charles Serking, laying bare the sleaze of life in the less reputable neighborhoods of Los Angeles. Serking's life takes a turn for the better when he meets Cass, a young hooker with self destructive habits. They have a stormy relationship. When Serking gets an offer from a major publishing house, Cass tries to stop him from leaving, but fails. Serking gives in to the temptation of the big bucks, but soon realises his mistake and returns to L.A only to find that Cass has killed herself in his absence. Devastated he hits the bottle in a nightmarish drinking bout, but finally reaches catharsis and returns to the seaside guesthouse where he spent his happiest moments with Cass. Here he rekindles his poetry with the aid of a young admirer in one of Ferreri's trademark beach scenes. ===== Toxic Crusaders cleaned up Toxie's act considerably. Toxie was still a grotesque mutant endowed with superhuman powers, but underneath it all, he was a good-hearted, law-abiding citizen of the fictional town of Tromaville, New Jersey (the setting of most of Troma Entertainment's films). Another change from the films was that the toxic waste also mutated his mop into a sentient being that would sometimes battle enemies by itself or motion to Toxie ideas on how to solve problems. The villains were still polluters, albeit polluters from a different world. Hailing from the planet Smogula, Czar Zosta, Dr. Killemoff, and Psycho wreaked ecological havoc with the help of Tromaville's corrupt Mayor Grody. Bonehead, a street punk who bullied Melvin, joins them in the first episode. Dr. Killemoff and Czar Zosta were cockroach-like extraterrestrials from the planet Smogula, which is a world where pollution is natural as fresh air and water is natural to Earth. Natives of Smogula thrive on pollution and need it to survive. For unexplained reasons, Czar Zosta and other Smogulans were able to withstand Earth's atmosphere without problems while Dr. Killemoff wears a breathing apparatus to survive. Dr. Killemoff, like most villains, also had a seemingly endless army of foot soldiers called Radiation Rangers. Other villains and heroes made their appearances on the show with equally ridiculous origins as the Crusaders. Few if any of these characters made more than one appearance. ===== In 1860, Baron Victor Frankenstein, sentenced to death, escapes execution by the guillotine by having a priest beheaded and buried in his place with the aid of a hunchback named Karl. Three years later, Victor, now going by the alias Doctor Stein, has become a successful physician in Carlsbrück, catering to the wealthy while also attending to the poor in a paupers' hospital. Hans Kleve, a junior member of the medical council, recognises Victor and blackmails him into allowing him to become his apprentice. Together with Karl, Victor and Hans continue with the Baron's experiment: transplanting a living brain into a new body, one that is not a crude, cobbled-together creature. The deformed Karl is more than willing to volunteer his brain thereby gaining a new, healthy body particularly after meeting the new assistant at the hospital, the lovely Margaret. The transplant succeeds, but when the excited Hans tells Karl that he will be a medical sensation, Karl panics and convinces Margaret to free him. Hans notes that the chimpanzee into which Victor had transplanted the brain of an orangutan ate its mate, and worries about Karl, but his concerns are brushed off by Victor. Karl flees from the hospital and hides in Victor’s laboratory, where he burns his preserved hunchback body. He is attacked by a drunken janitor, who takes him for a burglar, but manages to kill the man. Victor and Hans discover Karl is missing and begin searching for him. The next morning, Margaret finds Karl in her aunt's stable. While she goes to fetch Hans, Karl experiences difficulties with his arm and leg. When Hans and Margaret arrive, he is gone. At night, Karl ambushes and strangles a local girl. The next night, he rushes into an evening reception. Having redeveloped his deformities, he begs Victor for help, using his real name of Frankenstein, before he collapses and dies. Victor, disregarding Hans' pleas that he should leave the country, appears before the medical council, where he denies being the infamous Baron Frankenstein. The unsatisfied councilors open Victor's supposed grave, only to discover the priest's body, and conclude that the real Frankenstein is still alive. At the hospital, the patients violently attack Victor out of fear, and Hans rushes his dying mentor to the lab. The police arrive to arrest Victor, but when Hans shows them Victor's dead body, they leave. Hans then transplants Victor's brain into a new body that Victor had prepared earlier, which he made to resemble him. Sometime later in London, Hans assists Victor, now calling himself Doctor Franck, in welcoming some patients. ===== At the turn of the 20th century in the fictional village of Clagmoor Heath in Cornwall several locals are dying from what is deemed to be the "Black Death". Harry Spalding (Ray Barrett) inherits his late brother's cottage and arrives with his new bride, Valerie (Jennifer Daniel) . The inhabitants of the village keep clear of the newly arrived couple and only the publican, Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper), befriends them. Bailey explains that the hostility exhibited by the townspeople is the result of many mysterious deaths in the community. The sinister Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman), the owner of the nearby Well House, is the only resident in the vicinity of the cottage and he lives with his daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pearce). The Doctor treats his daughter with cruel contempt and she is attended by a silent Malay servant (Marne Maitland). Hoping to learn something of the deaths, Harry invites the local eccentric, Mad Peter (John Laurie), home for dinner. After warning them that their lives are in danger, Mad Peter quickly departs only to return later that evening foaming at the mouth, with his face blackened and swollen. He dies within a few minutes. The Spaldings attempt to alert Dr. Franklyn, but Franklyn arrogantly states that Peter's death is not his concern, explaining that he is a Doctor of Divinity, not a surgeon. In an attempt to help Harry clear up the mystery, Tom Bailey illegally unearths Mad Peter's corpse and discovers a strange neck wound like a snake bite. Harry and Tom dig up the coffin of Harry's dead brother, Charles, and find that corpse also has those same strange marks. Realizing that they are threatened by something far worse than they had ever imagined, Harry is quick to answer an urgent message from the Well House. There he is bitten by a mysterious reptilian creature, but he still manages to return to his home and recover from the bite. Meanwhile, at the eerie abode, Valerie witnesses Dr. Franklyn's attempt to kill his own cursed daughter (who was changed into the reptile creature after being abducted by a Malay snake cult that included the doctor's own servant). She also witnesses a fierce struggle between the doctor and the deranged Malay servant. During the battle, a lantern is overturned and Dr. Franklyn is bitten by the venomous fangs of his reptilian daughter. Both the doctor and the reptile die in the fire and the Well House crumbles in flames, with Harry and Valerie fleeing for their lives. ===== The adventures between the two friends range from the real life (such as going to school for the first time, making a playhouse out of a piano box, and dressing up to go calling) to the extraordinarily fanciful (such as being taken for a ride in the milkman's magic wagon by his talking horse, and flying away on a cloud while enjoying a picnic). The fanciful adventures are provided by Betsy's active imagination and her love of telling stories. The book deals with the themes of shyness, with the birth of new siblings, with the joys of an active imaginations, and even touches on death within the family. ===== Eddie Hopper is a construction contractor from Long Island, New York, with two grown daughters. One of them, Betsy, is about to be married. Money is tight in the Hopper household, but Eddie, much to the distress of his wife, Lola, decides that it is important to throw a lavish wedding to impress the well-off family of the man Betsy is to marry. Everyone in the family is throwing advice Eddie's way, even the ghost of his father. A new house Eddie is building is adding to his financial and emotional woes. In desperation, he turns to his crooked brother-in-law, Oscar, who ends up getting Eddie involved with loan sharks. A young man named Stevie Dee is sent to keep an eye on Eddie, but instead turns his gaze to Connie Hopper, who is not only a police officer but the bride's sister. Betsy's wedding ultimately goes on as scheduled, but is disrupted by a torrential downpour of rain. ===== The Killing Dance continues the adventures of Anita Blake. In the novel, Anita continues to explore her relationship with her two romantic interests, Richard, a werewolf, and Jean-Claude, a vampire, while attempting to resolve an assortment of conflicts ranging from werewolf politics to unsolved murders. As with its predecessors, The Killing Dance blends elements of supernatural, hardboiled and police procedural fiction. The Killing Dance also marks Hamilton's first significant introduction of elements of erotic fiction into her genre fusion. ===== The Killing Dance takes place in May, about a month and a half after Bloody Bones and like the previous novels, The Killing Dance begins with a potential job for Anita in her role as an Animators, Inc. employee. In this case, Anita and Jean-Claude are in Anita's office meeting with Sabin, a master vampire, and with Dominic Dumare, Sabin's human servant. Sabin and Dumare explain that Sabin, in order to please a mortal lover, promised to abstain from feeding on the blood of live humans. As a result, he has developed a condition in which his body is irreversibly rotting away, and is beginning to lose control of his powers. Dumare, a necromancer, believes that if he and Anita join their abilities and his experience, they may be able to cure Sabin, and Anita agrees to help if possible. Jean-Claude and Anita ponder the parallels between Sabin's relationship with his unnamed mortal love and their own romantic relationship, and Anita leaves for a date with her other boyfriend, Richard. (Although Jean-Claude, a vampire, is in the process of consolidating his leadership of the city, Richard is locked in an ongoing struggle for leadership of the werewolves of the city with their current Ulfric, Marcus, primarily because Richard, unlike Jean-Claude, is not willing to kill in order to assume or maintain power.) Anita and Richard go to a dinner party at Anita's friend Catherine's house. There, they meet one of Jean-Claude's vampires, Robert, and his wife, Monica. Monica announces that she is pregnant, which Anita had previously thought impossible for a vampire of Robert's age. Monica is also very friendly with Anita, notwithstanding her assistance in the plot to hyponize Catherine and blackmail Anita in Guilty Pleasures. Anita wonders if Jean-Claude deliberately planned for Robert to attend the party to spy on her and Richard. She and Richard are forced to leave the party early after she receives a call from Edward. Edward, one of the world's premier assassins and a sort of friend of Anita's, tells Anita that he has received a proposed contract to kill Anita. He has refused, but wants her to get home and begin making plans to protect herself while he investigates the identity of the person putting out the contract on her life. Anita and Richard arrive at her house and meet Mrs. Pringle. Anita suspects that someone is in her apartment, and, while Richard helps Mrs. Pringle move a television, she engages in a gun battle through her closed front door, ultimately killing Jimmy Dugan, a local thug known as "Jimmy the Shotgun". Anita is taken to police headquarters and questioned for quite some time by Detective Branswell, who eventually lets her go. Anita and Richard argue about her decision to confront Jimmy the Shotgun without asking Richard to back her up, and Anita agrees to move into Richard's house for the time being in order to protect her neighbors from any potential collateral damage. Edward contacts Anita at Richard's house and tells her that the contract on her life has been increased to $500,000 if the murder is performed within 24 hours. Edward suggests that Anita try to deduce the identity of the person offering the contract by figuring out who would need her dead that quickly, but she doesn't have any ideas. Richard then receives a call from Stephen. Stephen is being forced to participate in one of Raina's pornographic movies, and is desperate for Richard's protection. Richard and Anita leave to rescue him. At the farmhouse where Raina shoots her movies, Richard and Anita confront several werewolves and various crew members. Richard reassures Heidi, a non-dominant werewolf trapped in the middle of the conflict between Marcus and himself. One of the werewolves, Sebastian challenges Richard, but Richard easily subdues him with the raw power of his beast. Approximately 30 werewolves gang up on Richard, including Sebastian and Jamil, and Anita realizes that the situation was a trap to kill him. She goes to rescue Stephen while Richard holds off the wolves. Anita follows the sounds of Stephen's screams and finds a room where Stephen is being tortured on film by his brother Gregory while being restrained by Raina and Gabriel. Anita removes Stephen and finds Richard fighting off the twenty werewolves outside the filming room. She and Richard confront the wolves, and Anita realizes that because the wolves do not believe Richard is willing to kill, they are not afraid of him. She threatens to kill Raina if anyone uses Stephen in a film again, setting herself up as a challenger for Raina's position as the pack's lupa. After returning to Richard's home, Richard stays awake as guard while Stephen sleeps in Anita's bed for protection. Later morning, Anita wakes to find Jason, Sylvie and Lillian at Richard's house. Lillian tends wounds while Jason and Sylvie attempt to convince Richard that he must be willing to kill to lead the pack. Anita and Richard go to a separate room to argue and come close to having sex, only to be interrupted by the weres on the other side of the door. Anita worries that her relationship with Richard makes her vulnerable, because unlike Jean-Claude, Anita can't count on Richard to make the hard decisions necessary to survive. Anita leaves the bedroom to find that several more shapeshifters have arrived—Rafael, Christine, and about fifteen others. She learns that Jean-Claude and many of the city's shapeshifters support Richard's attempt to dethrone Marcus as Ulfric, but that as long as Richard is not willing to kill, his claim is weakened. Richard ultimately declares Anita as his lupa and declares himself willing to kill Marcus if necessary to assume control of the pack. In order to assume a dominant role within the pack, Anita is forced to fight Neal, one of the werewolves present until first blood is drawn. She maneuvers him into a position where she can judo throw him through a window, drawing blood. As Neal cleans himself off, Edward arrives. Edward thinks that whichever assassin accepted the contract will try to kill Anita during her date with Jean-Claude at the opening of Dance Macabre, Jean- Claude's new club. Over Richard's objections, he and Anita make plans to use Anita as bait to draw out the assassin. Jean-Claude and Anita arrive at the club and are mobbed by reporters, "outing" Anita as the vampire's girlfriend. Under pressure from Jean-Claude, Anita admits that she wanted to keep their relationship secret and that her desire to do so was unfair to Jean-Claude. Anita meets Liv and Damian, two new and powerful vampires in Jean-Claude's retinue, as well as Cassandra, a new addition to the Thronos Rokke clan of werewolves. During the floorshow, Anita is forced to intervene to stop Damian from permanently hypnotizing one of the guests. Anita helps the guest into the women's bathroom with the help of another patron, Anabelle Smith. Smith draws a gun on Anita, but is distracted when some women enter, allowing Anita enough time to draw a knife and kill her. The police arrive and arrest Anita for the second time in two days. Detective Greeley does his best to get Anita to talk, but Dolph ultimately convinces Greeley to turn Anita over to Dolph by telling Greeley that Anita is a suspect in other crime. Dolph takes Anita to a suburban home in Creve Coeur, and shows Anita the crime scene—one of Jean- Claude's vampire's, Robert has been staked out inside a magic circle and ritually killed. Anita, as a necromancer, is unable to cross the circle, which was designed to block the magic of the dead. She hypothesizes that the circle was used to prevent Jean-Claude from learning of Roberts' death, and meets Tammy Reynolds, a new member of RPIT. Anita guesses that the crime must have been performed by at least two supernatural beings with enough strength to restrain Robert, in addition to someone with sufficiently detailed knowledge of necromancy to perform the ritual. Because even John Burke and Anita herself lack the expertise to perform the ritual, Anita tells Dolph that Dominic Dumare is the only suspect she can identify. Anita and Dolph clash over what she can tell Jean-Claude about Robert's death and about whether her loyalties now lie with Jean-Claude or with RPIT. After some more investigation, Anita accompanies Robert's widow, Monica to the hospital. While at the hospital, Anita speaks to Edward, who tells her that the contract on her life has been extended another twenty-four hours and convinces her to take cover in the Circus of the Damned while he attempts to identify who is behind the hit. At the Circus, Anita tells Jean-Claude about Robert's death and learns for the first time about Jean-Claude's past with Asher and Julianna. Jean-Claude tells Anita that Asher has petitioned the Vampire Council for permission to kill Anita as revenge for Julianna's death. Later, Jean-Claude and Anita discuss their relationship, both with each other and with Richard. Jean-Claude tells Anita that he loves her, and promises not to stand in her way if she chooses Richard, but demands that she see Richard change into a wolf before committing. They kiss, and Richard enters. With Richard's control weakened by the approaching full moon, Jean-Claude baits Richard and Richard knocks Anita down in the course of attacking Jean-Claude. Jean-Claude leaves to prepare for the approaching dawn, and Richard and Anita discuss their relationship. Jason arrives, severely beaten as a result of his attempt to prevent Richard from entering earlier, and acknowledges Richard as his master. Richard feeds from Jason's blood and feeds Jason some of his own blood and power. Shaken by Richard's display of inhuman behavior, Anita worries that perhaps Richard is right that killing Marcus will mean surrendering too much of his human identity. After some hesitation, Anita proposes that Richard sleep with her that morning, and that they marry as soon as possible. Richard refuses, promising to sleep with Anita and to marry her, but only after she sees him as a werewolf. Anita is awakened by Cassandra leaning over her bed in darkness. Cassandra apologizes for the fright and explains that Richard and Jean-Claude have a plan. The men explain that they wish to experiment calling the power that the three of them summoned accidentally in The Lunatic Cafe. Richard sees the power as a way to force Marcus to back down without a death, and Jean- Claude sees it as a means to secure his control of the city and his safety. Anita reluctantly agrees to the experiment after forcing Jean-Claude to promise that he will not mark either of the others as his servant. As the three engage in the initial stages of a ménage à trois, Anita is first uncomfortable, but soon overcome by a combination of lust and magical power. Acting on instinct, Anita demands blood to complete the ritual, and Jean- Claude bites Richard even as the two men continue seducing Anita. Anita is flooded with power, and instinctively raises the dead, much as she did when flooded with power by inadvertent human sacrifices in The Laughing Corpse and Bloody Bones. As Anita makes plans to investigate what she has raised from the dead and where, Richard and Jean-Claude sense an emergency and race her to the location of an old cemetery within the Circus. Anita learns that she has raised scores of zombies, as well as the resting forms of three vampires: Damian, Liv, and Willie. The three discuss their relationship some more—Jean- Claude and Richard are threatened by Anita's power and need for dominance, while Anita and Richard are threatened by Jean-Claude's ongoing seduction of them both. (On the other hand, Cassandra, a post graduate student of magical theory as well as a werewolf, is more clinically interested in the magic than in their relationship). Unsure whether, after raising them as zombies, Anita will be able to return the vampires to death in a way that allows them to rise as vampires with the setting sun, the group decides to call Dominic Dumare for assistance. (Anita reveals that a woman alibied Dumare, eliminating him as a suspect in Robert's killing.) Dominic and Cassandra are both intellectually fascinated by Anita's power to raise vampires, and, at Dominic's request, Anita experiments with the power, learning that she can heal vampires that she raises during daylight. Dominic helps her develop a ritual to combine her powers with Jean-Claude's and Richards and lay the vampires and zombies to rest, and they agree to try to use the technique to heal Sabin the next day. Jean-Claude, Richard, and Anita discuss their mutual relationship some more. Richard has agreed to accept Jean-Claude's marks as his animal servant, but will not accept a subordinate position to either Jean-Claude or Anita, and threatens to kill Jean-Claude if he attempts to assume control. Anita, for her part, will not even accept the marks. Jean-Claude claims to be threatened by Anita's new power and by the prospect of a three-way battle for dominance "for all eternity," but he is intrigued by the amount of power the three of them can raise. Edward arrives, with an assistant, the psychopathic mercenary Harley. Edward explains that he has learned that Marcus was behind the contract on Anita's life, and Jean-Claude hypothesizes that Marcus wanted to distract Richard from concentrating on that night's battle of succession. Anita and Richard dress for the battle and leave, with Edward and Harley as backup. Using Jean-Claude's mark, Anita and Richard unite their three powers once more, this time magnifying Richard's power. Holding Anita's hand, Richard helps her "ride" his power, allowing the two of them to run through the forest like wolves. At the wolves' sacred clearing, Richard and Marcus face off. Sebastian stabs Richard in the back in order to help Marcus, but is killed by Edward, who has taken up a sniper's position nearby. Without further interference, Richard tears out Marcus's heart, killing him. In order to prevent her from killing Raina, Richard grabs Anita. He holds her down bodily as he changes to his wolf-man state. He invites Anita to share his power again, but she flees in horror, just as the pack begins eating Marcus. Anita runs back to the Circus and Jean-Claude. Distraught, Anita finally gives in to Jean-Claude's ongoing seduction, in the first of the many detailed scenes of erotica that Hamilton has since introduced into the series. The next morning, Richard arrives, and is devastated by the combination Anita's rejection of him the previous night and discovering that she has had sex with Jean-Claude. After an emotional fight, Richard declares that he will always love Anita and leaves. Cassandra arrives to help Anita clean up but then, to Anita's surprise, knocks Anita unconscious and delivers her to Raina and Gabriel. With Anita safely bound on the set of Raina's porn films, Cassandra explains that she, Dominic and Sabin are a triumvirate. Cassandra was the lover who convinced Sabin to give up feeding on humans, causing him to develop his degenerative condition. Dominic believed that by sacrificing Jean-Claude's triumvirate, they could heal Sabin, and the three of them came to St. Louis to do so. Discovering that Anita was not marked by Jean-Claude, they are going to try the sacrifice with just Jean-Claude and Richard. Anita attempts to reason with Cassandra, and promises to heal Sabin by raising him during daylight the next day. Cassandra refuses, stating that they do not have even one more day before Sabin loses his mind permanently, and leaves Anita to be raped and killed in Raina's snuff film. Gabriel, a psychotic sadomasochist, has been fantasizing about arming Anita with silver knives and raping her while she tries to kill him. Anita talks Gabriel into trying out his fantasy and gives her the knives. Unknown to Gabriel, Anita accepts the first and second vampire marks from Richard and Jean-Claude while waiting for the scene to begin; with her weapons and the extra power from the marks, she is able to kill both Gabriel and Raina. Together with Edward and Harley, Anita races to the sacrifice site to save Jean-Claude and Richard. At the site, Dominic has prepared another circle of power against the dead, which Anita, a necromancer, is unable to enter. Edward crosses the circle and kills Dominic to stop his spell but is knocked unconscious by Sabin. Harley shoots Cassandra. Anita kills Sabin and is then forced to kill Harley, who has lost control without Edward to anchor him to reality. She rushes to Richard and Jean-Claude and finds Richard dying, his heart pierced by Dominic's blade. Jean-Claude explains that he is shielding Anita from Richard's pain, and that he and Richard will probably die. Anita is unable to cope with losing both men and agrees to accept the third mark, giving blood to Jean-Claude and saving Richard and Jean-Claude's lives. In the epilogue, Anita explains that Monica's baby is doing well, and that she and Jean-Claude remain lovers, but that Richard has frozen them both out of his life, rendering the triumvirate useless. Even more ominously, Edward has declared that because Anita killed Harley, she now owes him one favor, which he will collect when he sees fit. ===== Frank, Joe, Chet and Tony travel to Puerto Rico to investigate the mystery behind a coded letter they received from the Hardy father. They later go in a race against time to stop a criminal mastermind from using an atomic bomb to take over the government of the fictional country of Tropicale. ===== Kiju Han, a journalist, must face his memories of Vietnam as he writes a series of articles on the subject for his local newspaper. The articles attract a fellow veteran, Chinsu Pyeon, who begins randomly appearing in Han's life. The film, through a series of flashbacks, depicts both the events in Vietnam and their aftermath in the lives of these two soldiers. ===== Close friends Judd Steiner (based on Nathan Leopold and played by Dean Stockwell) and Artie Strauss (based on Richard Loeb and played by Bradford Dillman) kill a boy on his way home from school in order to commit the "perfect crime". Strauss tries to cover it up, but they are caught when police find a key piece of evidence -- Steiner's glasses, which he inadvertently left at the scene of the crime. Famed attorney Jonathan Wilk (based on Clarence Darrow and played by Orson Welles) takes their case, saving them from hanging by making an impassioned closing argument against capital punishment. ===== Leonard Junger tries to find a rent-controlled New York City apartment, and to interest various women. ===== Lon Chaney plays Grumpy Anderson, a railroad engineer with an obsession for running his train on time. His slavishness to promptness causes several tragedies which alienate him from his family. By the story's end, the engineer restores their faith in him and validates his obsession by forcing his train through a flood to bring badly needed Red Cross supplies to the victims. ===== In London in 1813, a Swiss father, William Robinson, wishes to escape the influence of the superficial profligacy of London on his family. His eldest son, Fritz, is obsessed with Napoleon, whom he considers his hero. His middle son, Jack, is a foolish dandy who cares only about fashion and money. And his dreamy son Ernest is preoccupied with reading and writing to the exclusion of all else. William Robinson sells his business and house, in order to move with his wife and four sons to Australia. They set out on a brig bound for the faraway country. Following a long voyage, the family is shipwrecked on a remote deserted island after the captain and crew are washed overboard during a storm. The family members collaborate to create a home for themselves in the alien jungle environment. They gradually learn to use the unfamiliar plants and animals to create what they need to live and thrive. They have many adventures and challenges and make many discoveries. The mother, however, misses her elegant home and community in England, and wishes to somehow be rescued and return. The father slowly convinces her that living in the natural environment is better for the family and that they are meant to be there. In the end, Fritz and Jack board a ship home while the rest of the family stay on the island. ===== The film opens by describing the final day of Jake Hannaford, an aging Hollywood director who was killed in a car crash on his 70th birthday, with narration from an elderly Brooks Otterlake, who had been a protégé of Hannaford's. Just before his death, Hannaford was trying to revive his waning career by making a flashy film, laden with gratuitous sex scenes and violence, with mixed results. At the time of Hannaford's party, this film (titled The Other Side of the Wind) has been left unfinished after its star stormed off the set, for reasons not immediately apparent to the audience. A screening of some incomprehensible parts of Hannaford's unfinished experimental film takes place, in order to attract "end money" from studio boss Max David. Hannaford himself is absent, and a loyal member of his entourage, the former child star Billy Boyle, makes an inept attempt to describe what the film is about. Intercut during this, we see various groups setting out for Hannaford's seventieth birthday party at an Arizona ranch. Hannaford arrives with a young Brooks Otterlake, a commercially successful director with a talent for mimicking celebrities, who credits much of his success to his close study of Hannaford. Many journalists attending the party brandish cameras, and shoot out invasive questions, eventually querying Hannaford's sexuality and whether he has long been a closeted homosexual, in spite of his macho public persona. Hannaford has a history of seducing the wife or girlfriend of each of his leading men, but maintains a strong attraction to the leading men themselves. Several party guests comment on the conspicuous absence of John Dale, Hannaford's leading man in his latest film, whom Hannaford first discovered when Dale was attempting suicide by jumping into the Pacific Ocean off the Mexican coast. As the party proceeds, Hannaford finds out that Dale's suicide attempt had been faked, and that he had actually set off to Mexico to find Hannaford. Meanwhile, guests are shown more scenes from the film at the ranch's private cinema. One scene makes it clear why Dale left the film – he stormed off the set in anger, in the middle of a sex scene in which he was being goaded by Hannaford off-screen. As the party continues, Hannaford gets progressively drunker. He is washing his face in the bathroom when he breaks down in front of Otterlake, asking for the young director's help to revive his career. A series of power outages in the middle of Hannaford's party interrupts the screening. The party continues by lantern- light, and eventually reconvenes to an empty drive-in cinema, where the last portion of Hannaford's film is screened. Having realized at the party that Otterlake is not going to financially support Hannaford's new film, the two have a mournful last exchange in the drive-in theatre, realising that their friendship is at an end. Intrusive journalist Juliette Rich has asked Hannaford the most explicit questions of all about his sexuality. At this moment, Hannaford slaps Rich in drunken outrage, while a drunken Billy Boyle mounts an impassioned defense of the director. As dawn breaks at the ranch, Dale is walking around the mostly empty house, having only just arrived the morning after. He finally arrives at the drive-in just as a drunken Hannaford is leaving and asks him to get in the sports car with him, but Dale does not. Hannaford drives away, leading to his fatal car accident. Meanwhile, Hannaford's symbolic film finishes screening to a now-almost-empty drive-in theatre. The only person still watching is the actress who starred in it. She watches the final scene, and drives off as Hannaford's closing narration says: ::"Who knows? Maybe you can stare too hard at something, huh? Drain out the virtue, suck out the living juice. You shoot the great places and the pretty people, all those girls and boys – shoot 'em dead." ===== The point-of-view character, a physicist with a time-travel theory, is approached by retired Senator William Proxmire. Proxmire has come up with a scheme to abolish such money-wasters (as Proxmire views them) as space travel. His plan is simple; many of those who worked for or advocated space travel cited the science fiction of Robert A. Heinlein as their inspiration. However, the iconic writer only began his career after being discharged from the United States Navy due to tuberculosis. If a time traveler were to cure Heinlein, he would presumably remain in the military and this impact on history would be negated. Sure enough, the scheme is carried out. However, Proxmire finds out that he has not succeeded as well as he would have liked. Although Heinlein's absence from the literary world of the new timeline did neutralize the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, other authors took Heinlein's place just a decade later – in mainstream literary magazines such as The New Yorker. Science fiction thus gained an air of respectability, and inspired people to even greater achievements. Proxmire's political career ended when this culture of science fiction fans boycotted Wisconsin cheese in response to his Golden Fleece Awards. The new timeline is far more technologically advanced; solar power satellites can be seen in the night sky, a lunar colony exists, and a mission to Mars is underway. The healthy Heinlein turned out to be as skilled an officer as he would have been an author, and is now an admiral with great influence over an equally healthy space program – he denies the Russians spacecraft, but has placed a number of cosmonauts on the Mars mission as payment for fusion bombs to be used in the ship's ORION drive. ===== The plot concerns the efforts of an astronaut and geologist/anthropologist, known to the natives as "Purple", to escape from a primitive world on which he is stranded and return to his people. The events are seen from the perspective of Lant, one of the natives, who becomes, in the course of the novel, Speaker (chieftain) of his people. The natives, a fur covered people, believe in magic and the book shows how sufficiently advanced technology would be perceived by a primitive society. Purple lands in an egg- shaped vehicle. He casually disrupts the lives of Lant's people, and thoughtlessly demeans Shoogar, the village magician. Shoogar gets revenge by destroying Purple's vehicle, which results in an atomic explosion. Many of the villagers are dead or injured: the rest, including Lant and Shoogar, are forced to flee. Purple is presumed dead. The villagers eventually wind up on a fertile peninsula, which, as the summer approaches, is rapidly becoming an island (thanks to the influence of the two suns, the shorelines on this world are somewhat variable). To the annoyance of the existing inhabitants of the area, the villagers contrive to be trapped in the verdant area by the rising seas. The villagers are less happy when they learn that Purple is here, serving ineffectively as local magician, having succeeded the incumbent, Dorthi, by killing him by landing on him in a fall from the sky in an impact suit. Lant's people wish to flee, but have nowhere to go. Lant, who becomes Speaker of the villagers more or less by default, and the local Speaker persuade the two magicians to swear to a peace treaty. Purple can call his mother ship to get him, but must return to the distant area of the old village to do so. Everyone is stranded on the island for a considerable length of time. Purple conceives the idea of fabricating a flying machine to return him to the area. He persuades his villagers (who are actually anxious to get rid of him) and Lant's, to join in the scheme. The ship will have balloons, sails, and pedal-driven steering. A good part of the book deals with the tribulations of Purple in trying to create this work, beyond the technology of the local people. He creates 'aircloth' (a thin, airtight cloth), a rubber-equivalent, and splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. He is successful in building the ship. But in so doing, he has changed the lives of the villagers forever. Not only do they have these new technologies, but he has created problems with crime, intoxication, the ecology, and has altered the relationship between the sexes. In addition, he has introduced money into the culture. Purple, Shoogar, Lant, and Lant's adult two sons take off for the old village. They get there, and Purple is able to summon the mother ship and depart. There is a brief epilogue---after the return home, Lant notes that a new flying machine, much larger than the first, is to be built, thus continuing the industrial revolution started by Purple. ===== The protagonist, the Mindworm of the title, is an orphan, the result of a liaison between a U.S. Navy lieutenant and a nurse aboard ship during viewing of early atomic tests. He is a mutant, as a result of the atomic fallout after the testing, and he can "hear" the thoughts of others around him. Cast out into the world as a young adult, he is about to be gang raped by hoboes when he discovers an ability to feed off strong emotions, killing one of his assailants in the process. He uses this to eliminate the rest of his attackers. He moves from town to town, eavesdropping on the thoughts of people around him, and using his abilities to induce the intense emotion he craves, and to gain material wealth. The thoughts he hears often represent a brutal side of America, as he hears the large and small cruelties people inflict on each other, ranging from family quarrels to beatings carried out in dark alleyways. He can hear thoughts in other languages, though he cannot understand them. As he moves into communities where new Eastern European immigrants have congregated, he starts hearing the term "wompyear". Just as he realizes that this is their pronunciation of the word "vampire" and they have recognized him, his neighbors burst in and kill him. ===== In the near future, a race riot results in the destruction of an area just outside Los Angeles. The city sells the construction rights to a private company, which then constructs an arcology, named Todos Santos. The higher standard of living enjoyed by Todos Santos residents causes resentment among Angelenos. The arcology dwellers have evolved a different culture, sacrificing privacy - there are cameras (not routinely monitored) even in the private apartments - in exchange for security. The residents are fiercely loyal to the arcology and its management, and the loyalty runs both ways. During the course of the novel, Todos Santos is compared to a feudal society, with loyalty and obligations running both ways, hence the title of the novel. The systems at the arcology are run by MILLIE, an advanced computer system, and some high-level executives have direct links to MILLIE via bio-electronic implants in their brains. Other workers in the arcology work by telepresence, including one woman who remotely operates construction equipment on a lunar base. Todos Santos causes resentment among Angelenos, but has improved their lives as well. The company that owns the arcology tows icebergs in, solving the water shortage for all Southern Californians. Todos Santos has dug a Los Angeles subway using a digging machine, which uses an oxyhydrogen torch. Todos Santos is at the hub of the subway system, and contains a huge mall, which Angelenos may visit. This easy access causes Los Angeles' city officials to complain about the shopping dollars and tax revenues going outside the city limits. As the story opens, three young Angelenos sneak into the maintenance areas of Todos Santos. When they are detected by Todos Santos' security systems and personnel, they give every appearance of being terrorists, including spoofing the correct electronic access codes. When non-lethal means of stopping the three fail, Deputy Manager Preston Sanders orders lethal gas released rather than risk a bomb going off. Two of the intruders are killed. They turn out to be youths, with high tech equipment and boxes with such labels as "bomb", but without the actual means of harming the arcology. It soon turns out that they were duped by the "Friends of Man and the Earth" (FROMATE), anti-technology zealots who want to see Todos Santos destroyed or abandoned, as a means of forcing the arcology to turn off its lethal defenses for a later real attack. The deaths of the two youths cause political problems. Sanders is charged with murder. While arcology manager Art Bonner is quite prepared to defy the city authorities, Sanders turns himself in. The arcology is forced to turn off its lethal defenses as the FROMATEs planned. When that happens, they soon face a full-fledged attack by the FROMATEs, which they deter by non-lethal means, until the intruders prove they have deadly weapons, at which point Todos Santos security responds in kind, shooting and killing most of the intruders. While city authorities are still reacting to this, the arcology launches a jailbreak, the idea of chief engineer (and resident genius) Tony Rand. They tunnel under the jail using the tunneling machine that the "Saints" used to build the L.A. subway, release sleep gas into the jail, and free Sanders. Los Angeles soon retaliates with arrest and search warrants, but they are soon defeated by the sheer size of the arcology and the ability of the Todos Santos executives, aided in part by their direct links to MILLIE, to hide Rand and Sanders. After Todos Santos shows that it can cause Los Angeles trouble, such as by contaminating the Los Angeles water supply with salt water, and by work stoppages among the telepresence operators, a truce is arrived at: Rand and Sanders will leave the country permanently, and relations between Los Angeles and Todos Santos will be restored. In effect, Todos Santos has won, if only by restoring the status quo ante. Notable Quote: "Think of it as Evolution in Action" (Tony Rand) ===== ===== The film starts as the Looking Glass recaps the story of "Snow White". The cruel Queen is gone forever and the kingdom is now at peace as Snow White and the Prince prepare to get married. Meanwhile, back at the castle of the Queen, her animal minions celebrate their freedom by throwing a party for themselves. The Queen's equally evil wizard brother, Lord Maliss, arrives at the castle, looking for his sister. After learning about the Queen's recent demise, he vows to avenge her death by any means. He transforms into a wyvern and takes control of the castle, transforming the area surrounding the castle into a perilous wasteland. Afterwards, Scowl the owl starts training his companion, a purple bat named Batso, on how to be evil. The next day, Snow White and the Prince are in the meadow picking flowers for their wedding, when suddenly Lord Maliss, in his dragon form, begins attacking Snow White and the Prince as they are traveling to the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. He takes away the Prince, who tried to fight him, but Snow White manages to flee into the woods. Snow White reaches the cottage and meets the Dwarves' female cousins, the Seven "Dwarfelles": Muddy, Sunburn, Blossom, Marina, Critterina, Moonbeam, and Thunderella. The Dwarves have left the cottage after they bought another mine in a different kingdom, but the Dwarfelles gladly assist Snow White, taking her to visit Mother Nature at Rainbow Falls. Mother Nature has given the Dwarfelles individual powers to assist her; she holds Thunderella accountable for not being able to master her powers correctly, accuses the other Dwarfelles of improperly using their powers, and threatens to take them away as punishment. Lord Maliss attacks them, but Mother Nature shoots him with lightning, causing him to crash and return to his human form. Before leaving, Lord Maliss informs Snow White that the Prince is held captive in his castle. Snow White and the Dwarfelles travel to Lord Maliss' castle in the Realm of Doom, along the way encountering a strange cloaked humanoid known as the Shadow Man. Lord Maliss sends his horned wolves after the group, and they manage to escape with the help of the Shadow Man. Lord Maliss is furious at this failure and transforms into his dragon form, finally capturing Snow White successfully by himself and taking her to the castle. The Dwarfelles follow them and sneak into the castle as well while fending off Maliss's minions. In the castle, Snow White is reunited with her Prince, who begins acting strangely, and takes her through a secret passage to supposedly escape. When Snow White realizes that he is not the real Prince but is actually Lord Maliss in disguise, he attempts to throw a magical red cloak on Snow White to petrify her into stone. He almost succeeds, but is attacked by the Shadow Man, whom he overpowers and seemingly kills. The Dwarfelles arrive and attack Lord Maliss as well, but fail and become petrified themselves. The only one unharmed is Thunderella, who finally gains control of her powers and assists Snow White to defeat Lord Maliss. The cape is thrown on him and Lord Maliss is permanently petrified in mid-transition between his human and wyvern form. As the sun shines onto the castle, the Dwarfelles are restored back to their normal selves. The Shadow Man wakes up and he turns out to be the Prince. The Prince reveals that Lord Maliss had cast a spell on him and he has been watching over Snow White during her journey, guarding her with his life. Mother Nature decides to let the Dwarfelles keep their powers because they have finally proven themselves by working together as one, and she allows them to attend Snow White's wedding. In the end, Mother Nature takes in Batso and Scowl to be trained as her new apprentices. Snow White and the Prince are reunited, as the two of them share a kiss, and begin to live happily ever after. ===== The story opens with a panoramic view of the Salinas Valley in winter. The focus narrows and finally settles on Elisa Allen, cutting down the spent stalks of chrysanthemums, in the garden on her husband’s ranch. Elisa is thirty-five, lean and strong, and she approaches her gardening with great energy. Her husband, Henry, comes from across the yard, where he had been arranging the sale of the thirty steers. Then he offers to take Elisa to town so they can celebrate the sale. He praises her skill with flowers, and she congratulates him on doing well in the negotiations for the steer. They seem to be a well-matched couple, though their way of talking together is formal and serious. While talking about their plan to go out, Henry jokingly asks Elisa if she would like to see a fight. Showing no interest, Elisa refuses and says she wouldn't like it. They agree on dinner and a movie instead. Elisa decides to finish her transplanting before they get ready to leave for town. Elisa hears “a squeak of wheels and a plod of hoofs,” and a man drives up in an old spring wagon (He is never named; the narrator simply calls him “the man”). Earning a meagre living, he fixes pots and sharpens scissors and knives. He travels from San Diego to Seattle and back every year. The man chats and jokes with Elisa, but she admits that she has no work for him to do. When he presses for a small job, she becomes annoyed and tries to send him away. Suddenly, the man’s attention turns to the flowers that Elisa is tending. When he asks about them, Elisa’s annoyance vanishes and she becomes friendly again. The man remembers seeing chrysanthemums before and describes them: “Kind of a long-stemmed flower? Looks like a quick puff of colored smoke?”. Elisa is delighted with his description. The man tells her about one of his regular customers who also gardens. He claims this customer has asked him to bring her some chrysanthemum seeds if he ever finds some in his travels, and Elisa is happy to oblige. She invites the man into the yard and prepares a pot of chrysanthemum shoots for the putative woman’s garden. She gives him full instructions for tending them. Elisa envies the man’s life on the road and is attracted to him because he understands her love of flowers. In a moment of extreme emotion, she nearly reaches for him but snatches her hand back before she touches him. Instead, she finds him two pots to mend, and he drives away with fifty cents and the chrysanthemum shoots, promising to take care of them until he can deliver the chrysanthemums to the other woman. Elisa goes into the house to get dressed for dinner. She scrubs herself vigorously and examines her naked body in the mirror before putting on her dress and makeup. When Henry sees her, he compliments her, telling her she looks "nice," “different, strong and happy”. When Henry and Elisa drive into town, she sees "a dark speck" ahead on the road. It turns out the man tossed her chrysanthemum shoots out of his wagon, but kept the pot Elisa had put them in. She feels hurt. Henry does not notice and Elisa does not mention it to him. It's then that Elisa brings up an interest in the fights that night. She asks if "women ever go to the fights". Henry answers "Oh sure, some", but reminds her that she probably wouldn't like it. She agrees and says the night out alone will be plenty. She turns her head so he cannot see her crying. She also says she feels like an old woman. ===== There is unrest in the upper class Marshwood house as Nigel (Edward Atterton), the Earl of Marshwood, is engaged to a film actress, Miranda Frayle. However, many disapprove because this would mean Nigel would be marrying below his class. When Nigel brings Miranda home to the Marshwood estate to meet his family, Lady Marshwood's (Julie Andrews) maid Moxie (Sophie Thompson) reveals that Miranda is her sister; they devise a charade so that Moxie may meet her sister as an equal. However, when Miranda lies about her past (stating she's a cockney and that Moxie was a drunk and is now dead), Moxie finds it harder and harder to hide her identity. Meanwhile, Miranda's ex-boyfriend and fellow film star Don Lucas (William Baldwin) arrives, wanting Miranda back. ===== Eight years after the film, the game begins in a dream sequence where a man named Bruce Banner transforms into a large and powerful monster dubbed the Hulk and destroys waves of soldiers and tanks sent by the military to attack him. Upon awakening, Bruce Banner is contacted by his old mentor Dr. Crawford who explains that he has developed a cure for the Hulk called the Gamma Orb. Unfortunately, military troops led by the corrupt General John Ryker have raided the lab. Bruce Banner sneaks into the lab and discovers that General Ryker wants to obtain the Gamma Orb. After reaching Dr. Crawford, Bruce allows his old mentor to use the Gamma Orb on him, but Crawford betrays Banner and uses it to steal the Hulk's energy. Crawford touches the Orb and absorbs a part of Bruce Banner's power transforming himself into a Hulk-like creature called Ravage. Simultaneously, Banner transforms into the Hulk. After a chase of Ravage over rooftops and through sewers with Ryker's forces in hot pursuit, Hulk finds himself at a dead end where he is ambushed by the vampire Half- Life. Hulk defeats Half-Life who explains that Ravage has taken the orb to Alcatraz but will kill a hostage there if the Hulk is detected. Bruce infiltrates Alcatraz which has been secretly occupied by the Leader and his private army. Bruce deactivates the Gamma detection device using a security terminal which shows live footage of a Gamma chamber used to mutate the Leader's henchmen into Gamma-irradiated super soldiers. It also shows the Leader's psychotic brother Madman taking the hostage Betty Ross to the irradiation chamber after being ordered by a mysterious voice to "dispose" of her when she refuses to further aid them in their schemes. Seeing Betty in distress causes Bruce to transform into the Hulk decimating the research facilities and defeating Madman after disabling the irradiation chamber. Betty tells the Hulk that she has been exposed to the Gamma radiation and must be taken to the military Gamma base. The Hulk takes Betty to the base, but is incapacitated by a force field. Bruce is sedated and strapped to an operating table where General Ryker plans on dissecting him. Betty frees Bruce, who (disguised as a soldier) formulates an antidote, transforming into the Hulk and fighting the military while trying to find and destroy the shield generator. Hulk finds the generator, but is confronted by Flux, a Hulk-like soldier. The Hulk defeats Flux and throws him into the generator, destroying it. Hulk escapes and returns to Alcatraz. After fighting through the Leader's forces as Hulk and Bruce Banner, Hulk finally confronts Ravage, who was guarding Leader's teleport device. Ravage is defeated and returns to the form of Dr. Crawford. Crawford informs Bruce that the Gamma Orb is at Leader's control center (called New Freehold) and Bruce teleports to it. After being ambushed by Half-Life and Madman, Bruce once again transforms into the Hulk and confronts them. Madman escapes at the middle of the fight, leaving Half- Life to battle Hulk alone. After beating Half-Life, the Hulk finally confronts the Leader. The Leader uses the orb to cure the Hulk. Bruce was finally free of his mutation, but in order to save humanity from the Leader's Gamma army, he touches the Orb to become the Hulk once more. He unleashes the Hulk, who beats the Leader despite his powerful psychic attacks and destroys the Gamma Orb. As New Freehold begins to collapse, the Leader escapes by teleporting himself. The Hulk manages to reach the teleport chamber, but he encounters one final fight with Madman. After defeating Madman, the Hulk teleports himself and escapes. The ending shows Dr. Crawford trying (and failing) to create another Gamma Orb, General Ryker experimenting on Flux, and Bruce Banner walking alongside a highway attempting to hitch a ride home. Banner's shadow was that of the Hulk. ===== Michael Scott (Steve Carell) organizes a casino charity event in the warehouse, and unwittingly winds up with two dates for the evening, his boss Jan Levinson (Melora Hardin) and his real-estate agent Carol Stills (Nancy Carell). Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) go through audition tapes for her wedding band and discover that colleague Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) has his own band. Jim, upset about Pam's impending marriage to Roy Anderson (David Denman), tells the documentary crew that he met with Jan about transferring to the Stamford, Connecticut branch of Dunder Mifflin because he has "no future here." During Casino Night, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) wins a game of craps and kisses Angela Martin (Angela Kinsey) on the cheek, disregarding their attempts to keep their intimate relationship a secret. She slaps him and walks away, with the two quietly enjoying the experience. Jan and Carol share an awkward conversation when they realize Michael has invited them both. Jim tells Jan that he's made a decision about the transfer. After Roy leaves, Jim tells Pam that he is in love with her. After a stunned pause, she states she cannot be with him. He tells her he wants to be more than friends, but she claims he "misinterpreted things." Heartbroken, Jim apologizes for misinterpreting their friendship and discreetly wipes a tear from his cheek as he walks away. Jan leaves Michael and Carol, noticeably upset from the night's events, and it is revealed she packed an overnight bag in her car, implying she had planned to spend the night with Michael. Pam returns to the office and talks to her mother over the phone about Jim's confession. Jim enters the room and approaches her as she hastily hangs up. She begins to say something but Jim kisses her, and after hesitating, she returns the kiss, ending with the two staring at each other in silence. ===== The story begins in Birdwell Island, while Emily Elizabeth calls for her enormous red Labrador Retriever, Clifford. She hears a rustling in the bushes, and Clifford pops up and rushes toward her. Emily Elizabeth tells Clifford that they are going to be late for a carnival. Clifford is excited and then races away. Clifford visits the carnival with Emily Elizabeth and her friends, Charley and Jetta, and Clifford's friends, Cleo and T-Bone. Clifford, Cleo, and T-Bone are amazed by an animal act known as Larry's Amazing Animals, consisting of Shackelford the High Flying Ferret, Dorothy the High Wire Heifer aka Daring Cow, Dirk the Extreme Dachshund, and Rodrigo, Chihuahua of Steel. However, despite the animals best efforts, their show is failing due to their respective failed acts, but all remain oblivious of the truth as their owner and the show's host, Larry Gablegobble, expresses how proud he is of their efforts. After the show, Larry tells the worrisome carnival owner, Peter Tiberius "P.T." Jones, that the only way for their performances to continue is to win a Tummy Yummies Animal Talent Contest, promising fame, fortune, and a lifetime supply of Tummy Yummies. When Clifford and his friends go to collect their autographs, Shackleford attempts to convince them to join the act, believing Clifford's size and appearance would help them improve and save their show, but none of them agree because they don't want to leave their owners. The next day, Clifford overhears the Howards' conversation with their neighbor Mr. Bleakman. He mistakenly believes he is a financial burden on the family and decides to join the Amazing Animals, with T-Bone and Cleo joining him. After escaping a town afraid of Clifford, the group finds Larry’s animals. Since Gablegobble cannot accept animals with owners, they dispose their dog tags, claiming they are to trick dogcatchers. Larry happily welcomes Clifford and his friends and during their next performance, Clifford manages to save the show, receiving a great round of applause and sparking jealously from Shackleford. Clifford soon begins to make a great and positive impact on the show as he manages to help the others improve their acts, such as helping Dorothy conquer her fear of heights. Clifford immediately becomes the star of the show, much to Shackleford's jealousy and annoyance, believing Clifford has begun to take his place, and the newspapers are sent to P.T., who is proud of Larry. Meanwhile, Emily Elizabeth searches for Clifford and finds out he ran away. Larry's Amazing Animals finally receives entry for the Tummy Yummies contest that will perform the next night. However, when Clifford goes to find Shackleford and reveals the news, Shackleford reveals his anger and jealousy towards Clifford. He believes they are all better off without him. Hurt by Shackleford’s words and missing Emily Elizabeth, Clifford decides to leave early and return home to Birdwell Island to reunite with Emily Elizabeth. Cleo and T-Bone join him, but managed to convince Clifford to return and in the process saves Larry and the others from their broken down bus and make it to the contest. Larry's Amazing Animals wins the contest, but the fun-loving CEO of Tummy Yummies, George Wolfsbottom, tricks Larry into signing a contract giving him full custody of Clifford and kidnaps him for his spoiled daughter Madison. At a hotel, Shackleford tries to get everyone to realize Clifford just wanted the Tummy Yummies, prompting a furiously disgusted Cleo to expose his true intentions. Shackleford realizes he was wrong about him and shows the tags to Larry, who contacts Emily Elizabeth. Larry drives the animals to Wolfsbottom’s mansion. While Larry talks to a security guard, the animals infiltrate the mansion and Shackleford breaks Clifford out of his cage. Shackleford apologizes to Clifford for being jealous, but T-Bone accidentally sets off the alarm and Wolfsbottom's security guards try to capture the animals. The group narrowly escape from the security guards and Emily Elizabeth arrives in time to claim Clifford before Wolfsbottom can get him. Wolfsbottom refuses to let her keep Clifford, showing his contract, but Madison, having a change of heart, steps in and convinces her dad to let Clifford go. Wolfsbottom tears up the contract and allows Clifford to go where he truly belongs. Cleo and T-Bone bid the Amazing Animals a farewell and Clifford reconciles with Shackleford. The film ends with Clifford, Emily Elizabeth, Cleo and T-Bone returning to Birdwell Island and moving on with their lives. ===== Gustav von Aschenbach, a composer, travels to Venice for health reasons. There, he becomes obsessed with the stunning beauty of an adolescent Polish boy named Tadzio who is staying with his family at the same Grand Hôtel des Bains on the Lido as Aschenbach. While Aschenbach attempts to find peace and quiet, the rest of the city is gripped by a cholera epidemic, and the city authorities do not inform the holiday-makers of the problem for fear that they will leave. As Aschenbach and the other guests make day-trips into the city centre, they begin to realize that something is seriously wrong. Aschenbach decides to leave, but in a moment of impulse decides to stay. However, he himself is dying from heart disease. Rejuvenated by the presence of Tadzio - though they never actually converse - he visits the barber who, in his words, "returns to you merely what has been lost", dyeing his grey hair black and whitening his face and reddening his lips to try to make him look younger. As he leaves the barber's shop the barber exclaims: "And now Sir is ready to fall in love as soon as he pleases". Aschenbach continues to gaze at Tadzio from afar, the latter more aware that he is being gazed at. In the climactic scene, Aschenbach sees Tadzio being beaten up on the beach by an older boy. When released, Tadzio walks away from him alone towards the horizon. He suddenly turns back to look at Aschenbach, then turns away to face the sun, and stretches his arm out towards it. Aschenbach too, stretches his hand as if to reach Tadzio, and at that very moment—heightened by the crescendo in Mahler's Adagietto—he dies from a heart attack. A few people notice him collapsed on his chair and alert the hotel staff. They carry Aschenbach's body away. ===== In London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society ("Why Can't the English?"). At Covent Garden one evening, he meets Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself a phonetics expert who had come from India to see him. Higgins boasts he could teach anyone to speak so well he could pass them off as a duke or duchess at an embassy ball, even the young woman with a strong Cockney accent named Eliza Doolittle who tries to sell them flowers. Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her accent makes that impossible ("Wouldn't It Be Loverly"). The following morning, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, seeking lessons. Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all the attendant expenses if Higgins succeeds. Higgins agrees and describes how women ruin lives ("I'm an Ordinary Man"). Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle, a dustman, learns of his daughter's new residence ("With a Little Bit of Luck"). He shows up at Higgins' house three days later, ostensibly to protect his daughter's virtue, but in reality to extract some money from Higgins, and is bought off with £5. Higgins is impressed by the man's honesty, his natural gift for language, and especially his brazen lack of morals. Higgins recommends Alfred to a wealthy American who is interested in morality. Eliza endures Higgins' demanding teaching methods and treatment of her personally ("Just You Wait"), while the servants feel both annoyed with the noise as well as pitiful for Higgins ("Servants' Chorus"). She makes little progress, but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are about to give up, Eliza finally "gets it" ("The Rain in Spain"); she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper-class accent, and is overjoyed at her breakthrough ("I Could Have Danced All Night"). As a trial run, Higgins takes her to Ascot Racecourse ("Ascot Gavotte"), where she makes a good impression initially, only to shock everyone by a sudden lapse into vulgar Cockney while cheering on a horse. Higgins partly conceals a grin behind his hand. At Ascot, she meets Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young, upper- class man who becomes infatuated with her ("On the Street Where You Live"). Higgins then takes Eliza to an embassy ball for the final test, where she dances with a foreign prince. Also present is Zoltan Karpathy, a Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins. After he dances with Eliza, he declares that she is a Hungarian princess. Afterward, Eliza's hard work is barely acknowledged, with all the praise going to Higgins ("You Did It"). This and his callous treatment of her, especially his indifference to her future, causes her to walk out on him, leaving him mystified by her ingratitude ("Just You Wait (Reprise)"). Outside, Freddy is still waiting ("On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)") and greets Eliza, who is irritated by him as all he does is talk ("Show Me"). Eliza tries to return to her old life but finds that she no longer fits in. She meets her father, who has been left a large fortune by the wealthy American to whom Higgins had recommended him, and is resigned to marrying Eliza's stepmother. Alfred feels that Higgins has ruined him, lamenting that he is now bound by "middle-class morality" ("Get Me to the Church On Time"). Eliza eventually ends up visiting Higgins' mother, who is outraged at her son's callous behavior. The next day, Higgins finds Eliza gone and searches for her ("A Hymn to Him"), eventually finding her at his mother's house. Higgins attempts to talk Eliza into coming back to him. He becomes angered when she announces that she is going to marry Freddy and become Karpathy's assistant ("Without You"). He makes his way home, stubbornly predicting that she will come crawling back. However, he comes to the unsettling realization that she has become an important part of his life ("I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"). As he listens to a recording of Eliza's voice, she reappears in the doorway behind him, turning off the recording and saying in her old Cockney accent, "I washed my hands and face before I come, I did." Higgins looks surprised, then pleased, and says, "Eliza ... Where the devil are my slippers?" ===== In Salzburg, Austria in 1938, Maria is a free-spirited young postulant at Nonnberg Abbey. Her love of music and the mountains, her youthful enthusiasm and imagination, and her lack of discipline cause some concern among the nuns. The Mother Abbess, believing Maria would be happier outside the abbey, sends her to the villa of retired naval officer Captain Georg von Trapp to be governess to his seven children. The Captain has been raising his children using strict military discipline following the death of his wife. Although the children misbehave at first, Maria responds with kindness and patience, and soon the children come to trust and respect her. Liesl, the oldest, is won over after Maria protects her from discovery when she is nearly caught sneaking back into the house after meeting with Rolfe, a messenger boy she is in love with. The Captain is unhappy with Maria’s approach in caring for the children, criticizing her perceived lack of discipline. While the Captain is away in Vienna, Maria makes play clothes for the children and takes them around Salzburg and the surrounding mountains, and teaches them how to sing. When the Captain returns to the villa with the wealthy socialite Baroness Elsa Schraeder and their mutual friend, the musical agent Max Detweiler, they are greeted by Maria and the children returning from a boat ride on the lake that concludes when their boat overturns. Displeased by his children's clothes and activities, and Maria's impassioned appeal that he get closer to his children, the Captain orders her to return to the abbey. Just then he hears singing coming from inside the house and is astonished to see his children singing for the Baroness & Max. The Captain joins his children, singing for the first time in years. Afterwards, he apologizes to Maria and asks her to stay. Impressed by the children's singing, Max proposes he enter them in the upcoming Salzburg Festival, but the suggestion is immediately rejected by the Captain as he is opposed to his children singing in public. He does agree, however, to organize a grand party at the villa. The night of the party, while guests in formal attire waltz in the ballroom, Maria and the children look on from the garden terrace. When the Captain notices Maria teaching Kurt the traditional Ländler folk dance, he cuts in and dances with Maria in a graceful performance, culminating in a close embrace. Brigitta then realizes that Maria’s face is red. Confused about her feelings, Maria blushes and breaks away. Later, the Baroness, who noticed the Captain's attraction to Maria, convinces Maria about it. Maria, knowing that is true, tells the Baroness that she must return to the abbey. The children attempt to go to Nonnberg Abbey to visit Maria, and they ask Sister Margaretta if she can tell her that they want to visit her. Sister Margaretta informs the children that Maria has been in seclusion and hasn’t been seeing anyone. To the children’s disappointment, she ushers them out of the abbey. After pleading a couple of times, the children’s luck turns down when she turns and walks away. Margaretta then brings Maria to the Mother Abbess. When she learns that Maria has stayed in seclusion to avoid her feelings for the Captain, she encourages her to return to the villa to look for her life. After Maria returns to the villa, she learns about the Captain's engagement to the Baroness and agrees to stay until they find a replacement governess. The Captain's feelings for Maria, however, have not changed, and after breaking off his engagement, the Captain marries Maria. While the Captain and Maria are on their honeymoon, Max enters the children in the Salzburg Festival against their father's wishes. When they learn that Austria has been annexed by the Third Reich in the Anschluss, the couple return to their home, where a telegram awaits informing the Captain that he must report to the German Naval base at Bremerhaven to accept a commission in the German Navy. Strongly opposed to the Nazis and the Anschluss, the Captain tells his family they must leave Austria immediately for Switzerland. Many of the Von Trapps' friends are prepared to accept the new regime, including Rolfe, who has joined the Hitler Youth. That night, as the von Trapp family attempt to leave, they are stopped by a group of Brownshirts waiting outside the villa. When questioned by Gauleiter Hans Zeller, the Captain maintains they are headed to the Salzburg Festival to perform. Zeller insists on escorting them to the festival, after which his men will accompany the Captain to Bremerhaven. Later that night at the festival, during their final number, the von Trapp family slip away and seek shelter at the nearby abbey, where the nuns hide them in the cemetery crypt. Brownshirts soon arrive and search the abbey, and the family is discovered by Rolfe. Upon seeing Liesl, he hesitates to raise the alarm (long enough to allow the family time to flee), and the family is able to escape using the caretaker's car. When the soldiers attempt to pursue, they discover their cars will not start as two nuns have removed parts of the engines. The next morning, after driving to the Swiss border, the von Trapp family make their way on foot across the Swiss Alps into Switzerland. ===== The film covers the years 1529 to 1535, during the reign of Henry VIII. During a private late-night meeting at Hampton Court, Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor of England, chastises More for being the only member of the Privy Council to oppose Wolsey's attempts to obtain from the Pope an annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, a marriage that has not produced a male heir. With the annulment, Henry would be able to marry Anne Boleyn, with whom he hopes to have such an heir, avoiding the risk of more dynastic wars like the Wars of the Roses. More says that he cannot agree to Wolsey's suggestion that they apply "pressure" on Church property and revenue in England. Unknown to More, the conversation is overheard by Wolsey's aide, Thomas Cromwell. Returning to his home at Chelsea at dawn, More finds his young acquaintance Richard Rich waiting for his return so as to lobby for a position at Court. More recommends instead that Rich find a job as a teacher. Rich declines More's advice, saying that teaching would offer him little chance to become well known. More finds his daughter Meg chatting with a brilliant young lawyer, William Roper, who announces his desire to marry her. The devoutly Catholic More says he cannot give his blessing as long as Roper remains a Lutheran. Some time later, Wolsey dies of a heart attack. Henry appoints More Lord Chancellor of England, succeeding Wolsey. The King makes an "impromptu" visit to the More estate and again requests More's support for an annulment, but More remains unmoved as Henry alternates between threats, tantrums, and promises of unbounded royal favour. After the King leaves, Cromwell promises Rich a position at Court in return for damaging information about More. Roper, learning of More's quarrel with the king, says that his religious views have altered considerably and declares that by attacking the Church, the king has become "the Devil's minister." More is admonishing Roper to be more guarded when Rich arrives, pleading again for a position at Court. When More again refuses, Rich denounces More's steward as a spy for Thomas Cromwell. An unmoved More responds, "Of course, that's one of my servants." Humiliated, Rich joins Cromwell in attempting to bring More down. Meanwhile, the king has Parliament declare him "Supreme Head of the Church of England" and demands that bishops and Parliament renounce all allegiance to the Pope. More quietly resigns as Lord Chancellor rather than accept the new order. His close friend, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, attempts to draw out his opinions in a friendly private chat, but More knows that the time for speaking openly of such matters is over. In a meeting with Norfolk, Cromwell implies that More's troubles would be over were he to attend the king's wedding to Anne Boleyn. After More does not, he is summoned again to the royal palace of Hampton Court, where Cromwell has his base. Interrogated, More refuses to answer. Infuriated, Cromwell declares that the king views him as a traitor, but allows him to return home. He must do so on foot, since the boatmen are aware of his political disgrace and unwilling to ferry him. As More arrives at his house, his daughter Meg informs him that a new oath is being circulated and that all must take it or face charges of high treason. Initially, More says he might be willing to take the oath, depending on its wording. Upon learning that it names the king as Supreme Head of the Church, More refuses to take it and is imprisoned in the Tower of London. More remains steadfast in his refusal to take the Oath and refuses to explain, knowing that he cannot be convicted if he has not explicitly denied the King's supremacy. A request for new books to read backfires, resulting in the confiscation of the books he has, and Rich removes them from More's cell, providing an opportunity for Rich to gather further information against More. More says goodbye to his wife Alice, Meg and Roper, urging them not to try to defend him, but to leave the country. More is finally brought to trial, with Cromwell as prosecuting counsel, but refuses to speak about the marriage or why he will not take the Oath. As an experienced judge, he cites his silence in defence, maintaining that the legal principle is that silence is to be taken as consent. Cromwell calls Rich to testify. Rich says that, when he went to take More's books, More told him he would not take the Oath because Parliament did not have the authority to make the King the Head of the Church. Since under the new legislation such a declaration constitutes treason, the jury convicts More. The judges hand down the common- law sentence for treason: death. It emerges that Rich has been made Attorney General for Wales as a reward for his role. Upon receiving his death sentence, More denounces the king's Supremacy over the Church as illegal, citing the Biblical foundation for the authority of the Papacy over the Church and declaring the alleged Supremacy of the King repugnant to the legal institutions of all Christendom. More further declares that the Church's immunity to State interference is guaranteed both in Magna Carta and in the King's own coronation oath. As uproar ensues, the judges pronounce the full sentence according to the standard forms: More is remitted to the Tower and condemned to death by beheading. The scene switches from the court to the scaffold on Tower Hill, where before his execution More observes custom by pardoning and tipping the executioner before declaring, "I die his Majesty's good servant, but God's first." He kneels at the block and the executioner cuts off his head. A narrator intones an epilogue, listing the subsequent untimely deaths of the major characters, apart from Rich, who "became Chancellor of England, and died in his bed." ===== Kay Miniver (Greer Garson) and her family live a comfortable life at a house called "Starlings" in Belham, a fictional village outside London. The house has a large garden, with a private landing stage on the River Thames at which is moored a motorboat belonging to her devoted husband, Clem (Walter Pidgeon), a successful architect. They have three children: the youngsters Toby (Christopher Severn) and Judy (Clare Sandars), and an older son, Vin (Richard Ney), a student at Oxford University. They have live-in staff: Gladys, the housemaid (Brenda Forbes), and Ada, the cook (Marie De Becker). As World War II looms, Vin returns from the university and meets Carol Beldon (Teresa Wright), granddaughter of Lady Beldon (Dame May Whitty) from nearby Beldon Hall. Despite initial disagreements—mainly contrasting Vin's idealistic attitude to class differences with Carol's practical altruism—they fall in love. As the war comes closer to home, Vin feels he must "do his bit", and enlists in the Royal Air Force, qualifying as a fighter pilot. He is posted to a base near to his parents' home and can signal his safe return from operations to his parents by "blipping" his engine briefly (rapidly open and closing the throttle, which results in short, sharp roars of sound) as he flies over the house. Vin proposes to Carol in front of his family at home, after his younger brother prods him to give a less romantic, but more honest, proposal than he had envisioned. Together with other boat owners, Clem volunteers to take his motorboat, the Starling, to assist in the Dunkirk evacuation. Early one morning, Kay, unable to sleep as Clem is still away, wanders down to the landing stage. She is startled to discover a wounded German pilot (Helmut Dantine) hiding in her garden, and he takes her to the house at gunpoint. Demanding food and a coat, the pilot aggressively asserts that the Third Reich will mercilessly overcome its enemies. She feeds him, calmly disarms him when he collapses, and then calls the police. Soon after, Clem returns home, exhausted, from Dunkirk. Lady Beldon visits Kay to try and convince her to talk Vin out of marrying Carol on account of her granddaughter's comparative youth at age eighteen. Kay reminds Her Ladyship that she, too, had been young—sixteen, in fact—when she married her late husband. Lady Beldon concedes defeat and realizes that it would be futile to try to stop the marriage. Vin and Carol marry; Carol has now also become a Mrs. Miniver, and they return from their honeymoon in Scotland. A key theme is that she knows Vin is likely to be killed in action, but their short love will fill her life. Later, Kay and her family take refuge in their Anderson shelter in the garden during an air raid, and attempt to keep their minds off the frightening bombing by reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which Clem refers to as a "lovely story". They barely survive as a bomb destroys part of Starlings. The Minivers take the damage with nonchalance. At the annual village flower show, Lady Beldon silently disregards the judges' decision that her rose is the winner. Instead, she announces that the rose entered by the local stationmaster, Mr. Ballard (Henry Travers), named the "Mrs. Miniver", as the winner, with her own Beldon Rose taking second prize. As air raid sirens sound and the villagers take refuge in the cellars of Beldon Hall, Kay and Carol drive Vin to join his squadron. On their journey home, they witness fighter planes in a dogfight. For safety, Kay stops the car, and they see a German plane crash. Kay realizes Carol has been wounded by machine-gun fire from the plane, and takes her back to Starlings. She dies a few minutes after they reach home. Kay is devastated. When Vin returns from battle, he already knows the terrible news: Ironically, he is the survivor, and she the one who died. The villagers assemble at the badly damaged church where their vicar affirms their determination in a powerful sermon: A solitary Lady Beldon stands in her family's church pew. Vin moves to stand alongside her, united in shared grief, as the members of the congregation rise and stoically sing "Onward, Christian Soldiers", while through a gaping hole in the bombed church roof can be seen flight after flight of RAF fighters in the V-for-Victory formation heading out to face the enemy. ===== The Welsh mining village of How Green Was My Valley The film begins with a monologue by an older Huw Morgan (voiced by Irving Pichel): "I am packing my belongings in the shawl my mother used to wear when she went to the market. And I'm going from my valley. And this time, I shall never return." The valley and its villages are now blackened by the dust of the coal mines that surround the area. A young Huw (Roddy McDowall), the youngest child of Gwilym Morgan (Donald Crisp), walks home with his father to meet his mother, Beth (Sara Allgood). His older brothers, Ianto (John Loder), Ivor (Patric Knowles), Davy (Richard Fraser), Gwilym Jr. (Evan S. Evans), and Owen (James Monks) all work in the coal mines with their father, while sister Angharad (Maureen O'Hara) keeps house with their mother. Huw's childhood is idyllic, the town, not yet overrun with mining spoil, is beautiful, and the household is warm and loving, the miners sing as they walk home (in this case Bread of Heaven in Welsh). The wages are collected, the men wash then eat together. Afterwards the spending money is given out. Huw is smitten on meeting Bronwyn (Anna Lee), a girl engaged to be married to his eldest brother, Ivor (Patric Knowles). At the boisterous wedding party Angharad meets the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), and there is an obvious mutual attraction. Trouble begins when the mine owner decreases wages, and the miners strike in protest. Gwilym's attempt to mediate by not endorsing a strike estranges him from the other miners as well as his older sons, who quit the house. Beth interrupts a late night meeting of the strikers, threatening to kill anyone who harms her husband. While returning home, crossing the fields in a snowstorm in the dark, Beth falls into the river. Huw dives in to save her with the help of the townspeople, and temporarily loses the use of his legs. He recovers with the help of Mr. Gruffydd, which further endears the latter to Angharad. The strike is eventually settled, and Gwilym and his sons reconcile, yet many miners have lost their jobs. Angharad is courted by the mine owner's son, Iestyn Evans (Marten Lamont), though she loves Mr. Gruffydd. Mr. Gruffydd loves her too, to the malicious delight of the gossipy townswomen, but cannot bear to subject her to an impoverished churchman's life. Angharad submits to a loveless marriage to Evans, and they relocate out of the country. Huw begins school at a nearby village. Abused by other boys, he is taught to fight by boxer Dai Bando (Rhys Williams) and his crony, Cyfartha (Barry Fitzgerald). After a beating by the cruel teacher Mr. Jonas (Morton Lowry), Dai Bando avenges Huw with an impromptu boxing display on Mr. Jonas to the delight of his pupils. On the day that Bronwyn gives birth to their child, Ivor is killed in a mine accident. Later, two of Morgan's sons are dismissed in favor of less experienced, cheaper laborers. With no job prospects, they leave to seek their fortunes abroad. Huw is awarded a scholarship to university, but to his father's dismay he refuses it to work in the mines. He relocates with Bronwyn, to help provide for her and her child. When Angharad returns without her husband, vicious gossip of an impending divorce spreads through the town. Mr. Gruffydd is denounced by the church deacons, and after condemning the town's small-mindedness, he decides to leave. Just then, the alarm whistle sounds, signalling another mine disaster. Several men are injured, and Gwilym and others are trapped in a cave-in. Young Huw, Mr. Gruffydd, and Dai Bando descend with others for a rescue attempt. Gwilym and his son are briefly re- united before he succumbs to his injuries. Huw rides the lift to the surface cradling his father's body, his coal-blackened face devoid of youthful innocence. Narration by an older Huw recalls, "Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still, real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then." The movie ends with a montage of family vignettes showing Huw with his father and mother, his brothers and sister. File:How Green Was My Valley 1.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 2.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 3.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 4.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 5.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 6.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 7.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 8.jpg File:How Green Was My Valley 9.jpg File:How Green was My Valley 10.jpg ===== The plot, though interesting and certainly a change from the normal which tends to be either slapdash comedy or highly predictable stuff, is perhaps too radical for the digestion of the still largely conservative public. Unknown faces, a couple of which often wear deadpan expressions, expounded the problem. The opening scene is impressive enough with a well-executed dance-tableau performance of The story of life by students of an art academy. Sara (Anchal) and Ashal (Ashal) are partners in the academy and in love with each other. Ashal has dreams of striking it rich before settling down to marital bliss and fate brings him face-to-face with the one person that is determined to make his dreams become a reality - Nisha (Nisha). Nisha, enamoured by Ashal, sweeps him off to Dubai to establish a branch of the academy there. Ashal gets involved with her, although he still loves Sara, and Nisha manages to create enough hurdles between them to make Sara marry a loving business tycoon, Akhter. Meera makes a guest appearance as a dancer. Ashal spots her dancing at a nightclub and begins to pursue her. And all this before the interval! After a couple of dance sequences, Ashal discovers that the woman he has been pursuing is not Sara, but her twin sister Anchal. Before he can think of starting with her where he had left off with Sara, he discovers she has a fiance, Sameer. He brings her to Pakistan, fiance in tow, to reunite with her mother and sister and discovers that Sara has become a widow. She gives birth to a son and her step mother-in-law gets her kidnapped to coerce her to marry her younger son, so as to keep the wealth in the family. Some of the developments that take place are totally unnecessary and one is left wondering why they were incorporated to begin with, except perhaps to give the required footage to the film. For instance, the sole reason for Anchal's presence seems to be an excuse to choreograph two glamorous songs on the twin sister, since they couldn't possibly be depicted on her as a widow. The presence of a villain, Grenwich, also appears to be superfluous, for he arrives and disappears without making any difference to the plot. Other than the fact that there is simply too much happening, the one aspect that detracts from the film is that some of the concepts introduced are largely unacceptable. Nisha could well have played the role of 'the other woman' without having to resort to drinking, smoking and sleeping with the hero, or for that matter, kidnapping him, brief as it may have lasted. And similarly, there were no justifiable reasons for Ashal to be drinking and sleeping around - other than the fact that he didn't have to strive hard for either. While it is heartening to see new and attractive faces finally gracing the silver screen, and Nisha and Sameer definitely have talent, both Ashal and Anchal need to be groomed further. Anchal has a tendency to speak with her eyes shut and both of them have frequently delivered their lines sans expression. Anchal's make-up, especially as Sara, is horrendous, while she looks considerably better in her role as the twin sister. The costumes are pleasing to the eye and the only grouse one has is Anchal's insistence on wearing heavy walking shoes under most of her slinky, sexy outfits. The songs are well choreographed and have catchy lyrics, especially Dharak dharak keh kehta hai dil and the cinematography is slick. One does wonder why there was such hype about leading film stars for a guest role, as Fahim Burney stated. A dance sequence in the film that eventually went to Meera, though it was an enjoyable number, didn't strike one as anything particularly spectacular. On the whole, one feels that the basic fault with Fahim Burney's direction lies in his treatment of the film as a bold television play. Otherwise, the film is packaged well and other than the one time when Ashal and Nisha are shown as speaking on stage without mikes, he has been quite meticulous about details and logical sequencing of events. Maybe he'll be wiser the next time round. ===== Zimmy (Ali Tabish) and Tina (Resham) belong to middle-class families; live and study in Dubai, and fall in love after initial indecisiveness. Zimmy becomes a famous singer thanks to Tina who appears in his first music video as a friendly-cum-romantic gesture. Seth Tahir Dawood (Nadeem) in Bangkok catches a glimpse of Tina on TV and asks his personal secretary, played by Kanwal, to arrange his meeting with her. The secretary is helped by Sweetie (Sajid Hasan), Tina's brother - a drunkard and a gambler - who manages to convince her mother that the 40-something Seth is the perfect match for Tina. Zimmy returns from an outdoor shoot to learn of the marriage and heartbroken, vows never to get married. But unknown to him, he is admired by Haya (Zara Sheikh), the daughter of Seth Dawood and Tina's step daughter. The film moves at an amazingly rapid pace in the latter half, but sadly in no particular direction. People die as if there is they have some kind of death wish, and the abrupt conclusion confirms that the director, for reasons better known to him, was in a rush to wrap things up. ===== Koi Tujh Sa Kahan is a movie whose story revolves around a loving couple of husband and wife, i.e. Peeru (Moammar Rana) and Bella (Reema Khan), respectively. The story starts with Bella (Reema Khan) who has traveled all the way along to Singapore to lead the naming ceremony of PEERU HOTEL, which is owned by her group named Surkhab Group of Companies, as a token of gift to her husband on his birthday. There she also narrated the success story of her husband (Peeru), who from meager post of waiter as today turned to be the MD of the group. Given all that, both are enjoying a Beautiful and Idealistic Life after Marriage which is full of Love and Passion. Despite a very affectionate relationship between the husband and wife, Peeru's secretary named Beena (Veena Malik) is shown taking keen interest in Peeru and trying to make illegitimate advances towards Peeru many times. Finally, Beena was successful at inviting Peeru to her home on her birthday party, and Peeru fell for the trap as Peeru was the only invitee for the night. However, before Beena can take advantage of the night and wine, Bella, on the advice of her close but very skeptical friend, Sarah (Simran), intervened on time before any mishap takes place. Although it was not the first time that Sarah (Simran) was seen taking a keen interest in the affairs of Peeru and Bella, while her detest for Beena was also not new. However, the event was enough to shake the trust and affection for Peeru in Bella's heart. The above event was soon followed by a call from Beena to Bella, which was full of infuriating utterances by Beena, that made Bella leave her house in anger. Soon Bella was at Beena's home, and her pistol pointed towards Beena. Suddenly, there were bangs of gun shots, and Beena was dead, while Bella kept denying that she fired any of the shots. On the advice of Peeru (Moammar Rana), Bella (Reema Khan) plans to leave for Singapore in order to hide from the police. However, in the last moments, she changes her plan and goes on to stay in Malaysia with her uncle SIR ROMEO (Nadeem Baig), without keeping her husband informed of this. Thus, with an intention to let her husband know about her change of plans, Bella calls to Peeru (Moammar Rana) only, to overhear her friend Sarah and her husband Peeru's romantic gossip. Feeling completely with broken trust, she had a mild nervous breakdown which she soon comes out of. In the meantime, it becomes clear that Peeru and Sarah, planned this all along for lust, revenge, money and property. While Bella being supported by her faithful driver Butta Singh (Irfan Khoosat) and her uncle Romeo, recovers once again. Soon Butta Singh discloses the fact that it was he who fired the shots that day out of love and faithfulness for his masters and that he will take the responsibility of the murder when the right time comes. Now aware of the true intentions of her husband, Bella takes back the "Power of Attorney" from Peeru, who once again becomes penniless. Uncle Romeo meets with Sarah and talks Sarah into killing Peeru for 10 million dollars on his birthday. The offer was accepted by Sarah. Finally, on Peeru's birthday, Bella (Reema Khan) reveals the real story to all the invited guests, while on the other side, Sarah points her gun towards Peeru. However, a shot from behind by Sarah's boyfriend Zaviar (Bebrik Shah) on the pretext of getting cheated by him, ends her life. However, in the meantime, Peeru realizes his mistakes and apologizes to Bella, who after some thinking forgives him. Thus the movie ends on a happy note. ===== Copy of the manuscript of the first page by Henryk Sienkiewicz Krzyżacy tells the story of a young nobleman, Zbyszko of Bogdaniec, who together with his uncle Maćko of Bogdaniec returns from the war against the Order (Knights of the Cross) in nearby Lithuania. In a tavern inn Zbyszko falls in love with the lovely Danusia, who is traveling with the court of the Duchess Anna. He swears to her his knight's oath and promises to bring her "three trophies" from the Teutonic Knights. On his way to the royal city of Kraków (Cracow), Zbyszko attacks Kuno von Liechtenstein, who is an official diplomatic delegate of the Teutonic Knights. The penalty is death. Yet, on the scaffold, Danusia saves him from execution when she jumps onto the platform in full view of the crowd, and promises to marry him, covering his head with her handkerchief (an old Polish tradition that carries with it a stay of execution if the couple wed). Zbyszko and Maćko return home to their estate, where they rebuild their mansion. After some time Zbyszko returns to Danuśka and marries her. However, she is soon treacherously kidnapped by four Teutonic Knights who want revenge – her father Jurand fought against the Germans. Jurand himself is soon captured by them, imprisoned and cruelly tortured and maimed. Zbyszko's quest to find and save his kidnapped Danusia continues until, at long last, he rescues her. However, it is too late already. Danuta has been driven insane because of her treatment at the hands of her captors, and eventually dies. The long-awaited war begins. The combined forces of Poland and Lithuania under the command of Polish King Ladislaus Jagiello destroy the Teutonic Order in the monumental 1410 Battle of Grunwald. This battle signals the true terminal decline of the Teutonic Order. ===== The trilogy is set in Britain and the Otherworld or Far Lands. Technology is failing and magic has returned along with armies of mythical creatures, and Faerie folk from the Otherworld. Everyday people face the hardships of living in a world with little law and order, poor communications and a Government that is struggling to maintain power. Travelling is fraught with danger of attack from creatures and monsters from the Otherworld. Within the cities gang rule is taking place and it is never safe to venture out after dark. Mark Chadbourn uses the gods of Celtic mythology referred to as the Tuatha Dé Danann within his books and the idea that Ley lines and ancient sites such as Stone Henge are connections to, and areas of, the Earth's energy which he calls the Blue Fire. The ancient sites act as gateways to the Otherworld. He draws on the theories of Brane cosmology to create a multiverse, where time in one dimension moves at a different rate from another; one hour in our world could be days or weeks in another. ===== Christopher Columbus (Jim Dale) believes he can find an alternative route to the far East and persuades the King (Leslie Phillips) and Queen of Spain (June Whitfield) to finance his expedition. But the Sultan of Turkey (Rik Mayall), who makes a great deal of money through taxing the merchants who have to pass through his country on the current route, sends his best spy, Fatima (Sara Crowe), to wreck the trip... ===== Youngblood Hawke is the story of Arthur Youngblood Hawke, an ex-Navy man from rural Kentucky who comes to New York to publish his first novel, Alms for Oblivion. Arthur's late father had literary ambitions, but his mother has a more worldly temperament and spends years trying to pry a fortune from family relations in the coal mining business. Hawke's parentage helps explain the conflict between his mastery of the written word and his sometimes obsessive hunt for wealth. After publishing his first novel, he falls in with an older married woman, Frieda Winter, with whom he maintains an emotionally tumultuous affair for too long. He also carries a torch for Jeanne Green, his editor who has helped make his work commercially viable. His second novel is an unqualified success and he becomes a literary sensation. His fame carries with it some wealth, but Arthur has a weakness for building even more wealth fast. He gets involved with Scott Hoag, a builder from his own town, who gives him the opportunity to participate in real estate developments such as suburban shopping centers. In a few years, Arthur overextends himself and winds up seriously in debt. In the end, he works himself to death between the money he owes; jealousy over Jeanne, the love of his life (who married a man she didn't love to spite him) and the tragedy of Frieda Winter's son's suicide, for which Hawke feels responsible. A head trauma from his days of coal trucking also comes into play, and (like Thomas Wolfe) he eventually dies of an infection at a young age. In his legacy after death, he achieves the status that he had sought while alive. ===== ===== The prologue of the novel begins with a dramatized account of the second EVA of Apollo 17. Astronaut Jack Schmitt discovers orange soil in Shorty Crater at the very end of the EVA and gathers samples in a race against time to get back to the LEM. Meanwhile, Wernher von Braun is watching the end of the mission on TV with other NASA engineers. Katrina Suttner, the young daughter of one of von Braun's colleagues, is in on a secret involving the mission, and is certain that humans will soon return to the Moon. The novel then skips ahead 30 years. Jack Medaris, the protagonist, is preparing the launch of a privately funded, unmanned mission to the Moon to gather more of the orange soil, which appears to have enormous potential as a source of clean nuclear energy on Earth. Shortly before launch, Medaris' probe is destroyed by unknown terrorists or saboteurs. It also becomes clear that Medaris is driven to go to the Moon to recover the secret left by Katrina, who later became his wife and was killed in a test-stand accident. Medaris hatches a plot to hijack the Space Shuttle Columbia on a routine mission. The plan nearly comes off, but his renegade pilot is accidentally shot and killed, and one payload specialist from the planned crew, Penny High Eagle, launches with him. Medaris takes the controls of Columbia, and gradually persuades High Eagle that she should help him, if only for their mutual survival. NASA also reluctantly agrees to help, in order to prevent the loss of their spacecraft. Medaris has developed a new rocket motor which will make it possible to take Columbia into lunar orbit. With the help of High Eagle, he is able to attach the smuggled engine, and boost the shuttle to the Moon. He has also smuggled a bare-bones LEM, of his own design, aboard the shuttle, which will allow him to make a one-man EVA to the Apollo 17 landing site. Back on Earth, a mysterious consortium is using a private security company to try to sabotage Medaris' mission by any means possible, including hiring a group of computer hackers to take control of a set of hunter-killer satellites parked behind the Moon, and persuading Roscosmos to intervene and take over the shuttle in LEO. In spite of these obstacles, Medaris successfully lands on the Moon, gets the orange soil, retrieves the message from Katrina, and returns to Earth. High Eagle and Medaris form a romantic and physical relationship during the return. ===== Yawara Inokuma is a young girl who aspires to an ordinary life but due to her innate talent is forced to practice judo by her authoritarian grandfather, Jigorou Inokuma, with the aim of achieving the championship in Japan and the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Because of the pressure from her grandfather she generally has a bad attitude about judo, avoiding it as much as she can. However, over time she comes to understand why her grandfather loves judo and appreciates it more. ===== The book begins in fictional Landsdale County, Connecticut, where Jim and Muriel Blandings are being shown an old farmhouse by a real estate agent. Blandings, a successful New York advertising executive, and his wife want to leave their tiny Midtown apartment, where they live with their two daughters. They fantasize that the farmhouse will meet their needs. After some negotiation, they buy the house. They soon learn that the house is structurally unsound and must be torn down. They design the perfect home in the country, imagining an idyll, but they are quickly beset by construction troubles, temperamental workmen, skyrocketing bills, threatening lawyers, and difficult neighbors. The Blandings' dream house soon threatens to be the nightmare that undoes them. Hodgins wrote a sequel, Blandings Way, published in 1950. ===== Advertising executive Shunsuke Sakuma (Naohito Fujiki) is at the top of his game. Winning numerous advertising awards, the cool Shunsuke lives a life most men only dream of. He luckily lands a new massive product campaign for Mikado Beer, Japan's largest conglomerate corporation. Working on the project for almost two years with an estimated three-billion Yen invested, the project would "make" Shunsuke. But in its final stages, the project is suddenly dropped by a single man - Katsutoshi Katsuragi (Ryo Ishibashi) the son of the original founder and Vice President of Mikado Beer. Declared "incompetent" by peers in the world of advertising and replaced by a nobody on the project, Shunsuke gets drunk and drives to Katsuragi's mansion to "tell him off." But instead, he sees a girl climbing out from the house and trails her. The "girl" happens to be Juri Katsuragi (Yukie Nakama), Katsutoshi Katsuragi's eldest daughter from a mistress. Shunsuke approaches Juri, threatening that he would tell her father if she did not come with him. Initially, Shunsuke planned to bring her back to Katsuragi to win his favor, but after thinking things through, he plots a "payback" scheme by kidnapping Juri. Juri, not wanting to stay with her father, goes along with the kidnapping. Scared of the media frenzy that would result if they found out that he had an extramarital affair, Katsutoshi Katsuragi goes along with the kidnapping. . . or does he? In a world of players where everyone is playing a game, who is the one to pull the strings? . . . ===== The film is set in a town after a nuclear war, the town is destroyed and polluted with radioactive elements, with multiple dead bodies lying in the streets. A police curfew is established in the immediate vicinity and only healthy people are allowed admittance to the underground bunkers. The main character, Professor Larsen, played by Rolan Bykov, is a Nobel Prize in Physics laureate, who lives in the basement of a museum along with his sick wife and several other people who used to work at the museum. He often writes letters to his son Eric, though he has no way of contacting him. Larsen believes the war has ended and that more surviving humans exist outside the central bunker, but nobody else believes his theories and instead think that humanity is doomed. Larsen visits an orphanage where the current caretaker of the surviving children explains that she's thinking of evacuating to the central bunker, though may have to leave the children behind as they likely won't be allowed in since they're sick, to Larsen's disapproval. Larsen is informed that he also might be rejected from entering the central bunker due to his old age. With his wife's health declining, Larsen sneaks past several soldiers during curfew hours and attempts to find medicine for his wife, escaping from a military raid in the process. When he returns to the museum's basement, however, he finds that his wife died. The other museum employees bury her body. In one of his letters to Eric, Larsen tells a darkly humorous story on how someone failed to prevent the nuclear war. According to him, an operator from an electronics center had a chance to cancel the first missile launch (which happened due to a computer error), but was unable to reach the computer in time to abort the launch as he was slowed down by a cup of coffee in his hands. The operator then hung himself in return. Larsen makes a trip to the central bunker in an effort to find Eric. After sneaking into a medical facility, he enters the children's department, only to find all the children sick, injured, and screaming in agony, much to Larsen's horror (it's assumed he didn't find Eric amongst them). After returning to the museum basement, he finds that a museum employee is about to take his life as he thinks the history of mankind has ended and that mankind was doomed from the very beginning. He then leaves the group, lies down in a grave, and shoots himself dead, much to the horror of his son. Later, while salvaging books from a flooded library, Larsen talks with a man who disagrees with his theory on how there's hope for mankind, referencing how Jesus said mankind was doomed. Larsen visits the orphanage again where he learns the children were rejected from entering the central bunker. The caretaker leaves the children for Larsen to look after, for she is evacuating to the central bunker herself. The remaining museum employees also evacuate to the central bunker, though Larsen stays behind to look after the children (it's assumed they're the only people left in the town). On Christmas Day, Larsen creates a makeshift Christmas tree out of sticks and candles while the children design Christmas ornaments to decorate it with. In his final letter to Eric, Larsen writes that he finally found purpose in life and that he hopes his son doesn't leave him alone in the world. The final scenes are narrated by one of the children Larsen looked after, who explains that he died some time later. On his deathbed, he told the children to leave the museum and find somewhere else to go while they have the strength, still believing that life exists elsewhere. The film ends with the children wandering through the apocalyptic landscape together, their fates unknown. Deadmans-1200-1200-675-675-crop-000000 ===== Karan Shergill (Hrithik Roshan) is a lazy and aimless young man from Delhi who has no goals for his future. His father (Boman Irani) is a wealthy businessman and his brother is a successful individual living in the United States. His girlfriend, Romila Dutta (Preity Zinta), also known as Romi, a student activist and aspiring journalist, out of well-meaning sincerity tells him he needs to find a goal in life. When his friend Parvesh announces he is going to join the Indian Army, Karan takes the Combined Defence Services Examination as well, despite his parent's disapproval. Karan gets selected into the Indian Military Academy, although his friend backs out. However, he's undisciplined and unused to life there. He keeps receiving punishments from the training team due to his overconfidence and lazy attitude. Upset, he runs away from the academy and is forced to confront his parents' low opinion of him. His decision also causes Romi to angrily break up with him for not respecting his own decision. Devastated, Karan finally comes to terms with his situation and makes his decision. He returns to the IMA, takes his punishment, becomes a focused, disciplined officer cadet and eventually commissions into the Indian Army as a Lieutenant. Karan is posted to the 3rd battalion of the Punjab Regiment, commanded by Col. Sunil Damle (Amitabh Bachchan). The battalion is stationed in Kargil, Ladakh. Karan comes home on leave and is heartbroken to find out that Romi is getting engaged, but his leave is cut short and he's recalled to his battalion due to an outbreak of hostilities in Kargil. He reports back to his battalion, where he is promoted to the rank of acting Captain. Col. Damle briefs the officers on the latest situation and reveals that a number of infiltrators have crossed the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan and currently occupy a series of mountain peaks on the Indian side of the border. The battalion has been assigned to secure Point 5179, a crucial vantage point dominating the army's main supply line, the National Highway 1D. The northern side of the mountain is on the Pakistani side of the LoC, the western side has a 1000-foot vertical rock cliff and the southern side has 3 km of empty ground with no cover. Therefore, the battalion decides to attack from the eastern side of the mountain. The first part of the assault is successful. The battalion destroys the enemy's screening units with Karan cited for his bravery in saving another officer's life. Meanwhile, Romi gets stationed to Kargil as a war correspondent. Romi goes to Kargil where she meets a changed Karan and begins to fall in love with him again amidst the war. However, Karan remains reluctant to return her feelings as he’s still under the impression that she’s engaged. In the second phase of the assault, the battalion attacks the peak of the mountain but fails to capture it due to the strategic advantage and heavy weaponry the Pakistanis have. The unit suffers heavy casualties. Brigadier Puri (Amrish Puri) summons Col. Damle and gives him 48 hours to capture the peak – after that time period, responsibility for Point 5179 will be given to another battalion. Col. Damle then orders a group of 12 officers and soldiers (including Karan) to scale the 1000-foot rock cliff on the western side of the mountain and flank the enemy stronghold. They will be provided with artillery support from the eastern side. Karan realises that he has finally found his goal in the form of capturing the peak. Karan also learns of Romi’s failed engagement and expresses his feelings for her. Romi promises Karan she will wait for him whether he returns or not. The unit sets off on their mission and while moving through a grass field toward the rock cliff, they come under fire. The unit discovers a Pakistani mortar unit in the field and destroys it, but loses their commanding officer and a number of other soldiers. The team's radios are also destroyed, so they cannot communicate with battalion HQ. Out of the initial 12, only 6 remain. They decide to continue with the mission. They successfully scale the cliff and attack the Pakistani position during the night. Their assault is successful although Karan is wounded, and the team loses 3 more men. The next morning, Karan limps to the peak, where he plants the Indian flag and fires a flare, signaling to Col. Damle that they captured the peak. The film ends with Karan leaving a military hospital and reuniting with his parents and Romi. Romi asks him that having attained his 'Lakshya' what is his next goal. To which Captain Shergill replies, "you", and they embrace. The movie ends on a poignant shot of Colonel Sunil Damle and Subedar Major Pritam Singh paying respect to martyrs of Operation Vijay. ===== Remeer's father, the last of the dragon warriors, was sent on a quest to find the last of the dragons terrorizing the village. His father never returned. Years later Remeer sets out on his own journey to find out what happened to his father. Remeer is joined by his four friends: Kashian (a bounty hunter), Barness (a spiritual guru), Rein (a warrior), and Ferris (a witch). Each help him as he makes his way through the five dungeons in the land. Remeer (or its equivalent 'Lemele') is used for prominent characters in two more video games developed by Produce! and published by Enix, The 7th Saga and Mystic Ark. ===== On a December day in 1805, Hornblower travels with his very pregnant wife and their son to London on a canal boat via the Thames and Severn Canal and the Thames. He is excited about getting his new orders and obtaining his first command as a post-captain. On the canal, the assistant boatman becomes incapacitated through drink, thus allowing Hornblower the opportunity to learn much of canal boat operation when he volunteers to take the man's place at the boat's helm. Upon their arrival in London, Hornblower assumes command of the Atropos. His first assignment is a unique one: to organise Admiral Horatio Nelson's funeral. The Battle of Trafalgar had just taken place, in which Nelson was shot and killed by a musket. The whole nation is in deep mourning and all eyes are on the funeral. The funeral consists of a procession on the Thames between Greenwich Pier and Whitehall Steps, during which the ceremonial barge conveying Nelson's coffin springs a leak. The crew, after frantic bailing, barely manage to unload the coffin without disrupting the proceedings noticeably. Once Hornblower finishes with the funeral, he is presented to the King at Court. He is informed that the King's nephew, a German prince driven out of his principality by Napoleon, is to be one of his midshipmen on the Atropos. Hornblower's treatment of the prince is a continuing subplot. Hornblower is then sent to collect from Gibraltar three Sinhalese pearl divers and their quarrelsome salvage master to recover treasure from a sunken British ship, the Speedwell, which went down in Marmorice Bay in Turkey carrying a fortune in silver and gold – the pay chests of the British Army in Egypt. Hornblower is given the salvage operation. The Turks are already aware of the presence of the gold, and in the weeks Atropos is present in Marmorice become aware of the supposedly secret recovery operation. They bring a Turkish warship into the bay, and man a previously deserted fort, trapping Atropos. When the Turks demand all the money Hornblower has so far recovered, he puts them off until the following morning. In the middle of the night, he makes a daring escape by an extremely perilous route, avoiding both ship and fort, and outsmarting the Turks. Following Hornblower's delivery of the treasure at Gibraltar, he helps capture a Spanish ship, the Castilla, and makes his way into a Sicilian port for repairs. He does such a fine job that his ship attracts the notice of the King of The Two Sicilies. The British government transfers the vessel to the Sicilian navy in return for the King's allegiance. Hornblower makes his way back to England, only to find both of his children mortally ill with smallpox. ===== The novel's plot revolves around the life and times of the fictional character Paul Tallard and this character's struggles in reconciling the differences between his English and French Canadian identities. ===== The game begins the week after Super Bowl XL when the Pittsburgh Steelers pull off a 21–10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. The coach that the player is about to take control of was formerly the offensive/defensive coordinator for the Steelers and is now ready to move up to take the reins of an entire team. First, the player selects a team and then proceeds to the job interview. The coach overall will range from 50 to around 80 at the end of the interview. Depending on how well the interview goes, the player will receive up to five offers from five teams though there are eight teams that are likely to send the player an offer although the player can pick any team they wish. The player selects a team and then signs a contract with them. In addition to being the head coach, the player is also the general manager of the team. On the first day, the player will meet the team owner. Aside from meeting the team owner, the player also meets the other coaches with whom he will work. Daily activities, depending on the time of the season, include hiring and firing coaches, calling players' agents, checking e-mail, identifying players to scout at the NFL Scouting Combine, gameplanning for the next game, and running practice. During the game, the player can motivate and discuss strategy with the team, which can affect the motivated player's reception. The career is 30 years long from 2006 to 2036. ===== Falco arrives home in Rome with Helena Justina and Julia Junilla Laeitana, his new baby daughter, and barely have time to settle in before being subjected to a welcome-home party. Falco and Petronius sneak out for a drink in a nearby street next to a fountain, which is not working. When a worker turns up to clean it, it is revealed that a severed hand had blocked the aqueduct. Falco and Petro start to investigate, but their case is stolen by Anacrites. Petro puts up a sign proclaiming that awards are to be given on the discovery of any body parts. Falco talks to his brother-in- law and is told that severed body parts have been discovered in the rivers and aqueducts for several years, usually after festivals. When he's told that Petro put up the sign he runs back to his old apartment (where Petro now lives after being kicked out by his wife) as a slave hands over a new hand to Petro. Petro takes down the sign. Anacrites, who is rather annoyed at being muscled out of his stolen case, sends four men to beat up Falco and Petro. They defeat the bruisers easily and trail them back to Anacrites. Soon afterwards, Julius Frontinus finds and gives over a new hand. It looks the same as the other hands but this one has a wedding ring with two names inscribed (Asinia and Caius). They track down Caius Cicurrus, the widower of Asinia. He is innocent and is greatly grieving for his lost wife. Petro's wife dumped him after he took up with Balbina Milvia from Time to Depart. Milvia's husband Florius sends men to beat up Falco and Petro. Falco, with the help of his trainer Glaucus and Glaucus's trainees, beats off his attackers but Petro has no such help and is heavily injured. Milvia comes to Falco asking him to help her, as she fears that her mother, who has vanished, has been taken by the killer. Falco finds Cornella Flaccida at a new apartment. He goes out to the country but finds no suspects. After continuous reconnaissance he has two problems: First, Claudia Rufina, the heiress from A Dying Light In Corduba and the new fiancee to Helena's brother Aelianus, has vanished, and second, a slave called Thurius has been identified as the murderer. Falco goes out to rescue Claudia and apprehend Thurius. He captures Thurius and finds his lair and his victim. He finds that it's not Claudia, it's Milvia's mother, who vanished again. Unlike Claudia, however, no one liked her enough to send out a search party. Claudia is later found to have eloped with Helena's other brother Justinus, an act that has disastrous consequences. The book ends with Falco telling Petro his wife went out with another man, and later receiving a visit from Anacrites. ===== With the Secret Society, the sponsors of the two previous Battle Arena Toshinden tournaments, finally defeated, it would soon transpire and be known that the Secret Society's long-time rival criminal group, the Organization, who have been observing both tournaments from the shadows, are now ready and prepared to make their own move in having to bring forth the destructive fighting god, Agon Teos, into the world. The Organization's leader, Abel, requires the sacrificial blood of the world's strongest warriors and through the knowledge of his loyal agent, Vermilion, Abel organizes and sponsors a third Battle Arena Toshinden tournament in order to lure Eiji Shinjo and his fellow Toshinden fighters out in the open while pitting them against his own chosen warriors, who have copied and learned their specific targets' respective fighting styles. Furthermore, Abel targets a young English boy named David as he seeks to use him as a potential human vessel for Agon Teos. Managing to escape from the relentless pursuit of the Organization, David is soon saved and rescued by a young Japanese female gambler named Shizuku Fuji and in due time, both David and Shizuku enter the tournament in order to help aid Eiji and the rest of the Toshinden fighters against the Organization. Eiji and the Toshinden fighters progress through the tournament and defeat their chosen rivals, during which a few storyline developments occur and happen from within the competition, such as Organization members Atahua and Tau forfeiting their matches to both Ellis and Gaia (with Atahua learning and understanding from Tau that the murder of a fighter couldn't justify the means of restoring an ancient empire), Tracy sparing the life of her vengeful older twin sister Rachael, who had refused Tracy's offer of starting over with her and walking away from her to never be seen again, and Organization member Cuiling switching sides in order to help Eiji and the rest of the Toshinden fighters out after killing Bayhou and avenging Fo Fai's past death while also realizing that Abel had to be stopped before he could succeed in bringing Agon Teos to the world. Eiji comes face- to-face once again with Vermilion and overcomes the assassin before finally encountering his long-lost older brother, Sho. The two battle and Eiji wins, with Sho complimenting his brother's skills before leaving. Eiji soon faces and slays Abel in single combat, but at the same time, accidentally frees the Organization's previous leader, Veil, who was betrayed and usurped by Abel long ago. Robbed of his revenge, Veil battles Eiji but is also killed as well. With the deaths of both Veil and Abel, the Organization is completely destroyed and the world is miraculously saved from the malevolent wrath of Agon Teos. However, Eiji soon discovers that Vermilion had somehow survived and escaped the Organization's destruction while completely disappearing without a trace. Faced with an enticing offer, Eiji starts his own plan in order to lure Vermilion out for a final battle. ===== Like most of the Henry Huggins books, the incidents in this book follow an ongoing plot line. In this case, Henry wants to go on a salmon-fishing trip with his father. However, Ribsy has been causing all manner of trouble for the family. For example, Ribsy tries to prevent the garbage man from taking away the trash because Ribsy thinks it belongs to Henry. Henry's father says that Henry can only come on the trip if he can keep Ribsy out of trouble for a month. Henry is able to do this, and Ribsy actually helps him catch an enormous Chinook salmon at the end of the day. ===== Ryo Saeba and Kaori Makimura are assigned to locate Shizuko Imamura, the runaway daughter of the CEO of a prominent Japanese newspaper. Kaori leaves in the middle of the search, unhappy with the way Ryo ignores her romantic feelings for him and flirts with other women. Ryo finds Shizuko at a skateboarding park and a chase ensues, but she escapes in disguise. Shizuko boards a luxury cruise liner, the Fuji Maru, with the ticket she found in the suit she stole. Kaori also boards the ship with her lustful cousin while Ryo sneaks inside to follow her. A terrorist gang led by MacDonald have plans to hijack it and take the rich passengers hostage with Police Officer Saeko Nogami and her buxom sidekick in pursuit. Staying next door from each other, Shizuko overhears MacDonald's plan. MacDonald discovers her and sends one of his men to kill her, but she knocks him out and escapes. She then bumps into the ship's first officer, who takes her to the boiler room and reveals himself as a terrorist. When he attempts to silence Shizuko, Ryo, who had been staying there since his encounter with Kaori and her cousin at the swimming pool, saves her. When MacDonald's gang arrive, the officer is killed in the shootout while Ryo and Shizuko escape into the movie theater, where Game of Death is being shown. To beat two towering opponents, Ryo interprets Bruce Lee's techniques from the film. At the ship's casino, a party hosted by the captain is interrupted when MacDonald kills the captain and terrorizes the partygoers, including Saeko and her sidekick. After robbing them of their valuables, he entices the rich patrons into a sadistic card game. A few opponents are quickly disposed of until Kao Ta, a skilled card gamer who uses his cards as shurikens, joins in. When MacDonald is distracted by seeing Ryo and Shizuko not far away, Ta and Saeko put an end to his game. MacDonald's henchman Kim kidnaps Kaori and takes her to his room. When Ryo bursts in, both men fight before MacDonald and his men interrupt, capturing Ryo in the process. Kaori escapes, bumping into Shizuko, Saeko, and the rest of the main characters. They take down a gay terrorist trying to seduce Kaori's cousin and prepare to save Ryo. The next day, Ryo is stood before a firing squad. Shizuko, Saeko, and her sidekick interrupt the planned execution, but are forced to separate by MacDonald's gang. Shizuko uses her gymnastic skills to defeat one henchman, Saeko saves Ta after he runs out of cards in a fight with several terrorists, and her sidekick falls off a ledge and is left unconscious. Ryo goes into the gaming parlor with his hands still tied, but is thrown into a Street Fighter II arcade game by Kim and suffers an electric shock. This causes him to hallucinate and think Kim is Ken from the game. After a failed attempt to defeat him as E. Honda, Ryo defeats him as Chun-Li. As a Taiwanese counter terrorism unit, the "Thunderbolts Squad", arrives and take his men out, MacDonald blows up bombs he had set up all over the ship and takes Kaori hostage at the casino. When Ryo and Saeko arrive, he injures both women and starts a long fight with Ryo. However, MacDonald is thrown into the stage and dies when he accidentally steps on his remote, setting off the bombs behind the T.V. panels. Ryo and Kaori find Shizuko and return to her father. He speaks to Ryo privately, seeing him as a future husband to Shizuko. Listening to their conversation, Kaori leaves in anger, unaware that Ryo has declined the man's offer. However, Ryo finds her and tries to apologize with a rose, but then Saeko drives up and flirts with him. He gives her the rose instead and furious, Kaori smashes him through the air with a big hammer. Ryo wakes up in his recurring dream with beautiful women at the swimming pool. ===== A planet called 'Prince Samual's World' had been bombed heavily during the Secession Wars and had spent about 400 years in isolation. As a result, much of the technological knowledge of the First Empire was lost on the planet; when Second Empire ships found the planet, its technological level was somewhere around that of 19th century Europe. For years, Colonel Nathan "Iron" MacKinnie had been famous on the planet for his masterful defense of the city-state republic of Orleans against the expansionist kingdom of Haven (ruled by King David). After allying with the Second Empire, Haven embarked on a new unification campaign, and MacKinnie set up a decisive battle that, had Orleans won, would have broken Haven. However, unknown to MacKinnie, the new Haven campaign was a lure to get Orleans' forces into the field, so that the Second Empire's more advanced weaponry (including spaceships) could destroy them. These weapons quickly killed most of Orleans' troops, as well as MacKinnie's fiancée. After the loss of its army, Orleans was forced to surrender, and MacKinnie was then pensioned off by the Haven authorities. Months later, drinking in a Haven tavern with his former top sergeant, Hal Stark, MacKinnie overheard a drunken Imperial officer boast of having been on Makassar, a nearby primitive planet that had a store of First Empire knowledge in a surviving building that locals treated as a temple. Leaving the tavern, MacKinnie and Stark were arrested by the Haven secret police and taken to see their leader, Citizen Malcolm Dougal (who was secretly a key advisor to King David, although without official government portfolio). Dougal had learned through his spy network (and told MacKinnie) that under Imperial law, planets without manned space travel at the time of assimilation into the Second Empire became colonies, governed by outworlders and at the mercy of the Imperial Traders Association; but planets with manned space travel, even primitive space travel, became self-governing. Dougal thus offered MacKinnie an opportunity to go to Makassar disguised as a merchant/trader, to locate and return with information from the library to help Haven build a spaceship. Dougal also told MacKinnie that every non- Imperial in the tavern who may have heard the Imperial officer's remarks had been killed, except for MacKinnie and Stark. To save both Stark's life and his own, MacKinnie accepted. With Stark and a company of Haven agents not known to the Imperials, including Mary Graham, a young woman with a university education (highly unusual for Haven), MacKinnie boarded a ship of the Imperial Traders Association as the leader a merchant company looking for trade opportunities on Makassar. McKinnie's company was restricted to arming themselves with medieval chain mail, shields and swords, because Imperial law mandated that no more advanced technology may be introduced to a more primitive planet, and were fitted with Imperial space suits for the trip. Reaching Makassar, MacKinnie and his company found few trade goods in the main city, because it was blockaded on both land and sea, which Dougal had anticipated would be the case, giving the company an excuse to travel to Batav, the city where the First Empire library/temple was located. MacKinnie, with the help of a former Haven Navy commander in his company, bought and refitted a sailing ship with leeboards. (Although a primitive technology to Imperials, leeboards were an advanced one in Makassar terms (which the Imperials failed to appreciate) that would allow their ship to travel much faster than any other on the planet.) MacKinnie's ship then outran most of the blockading pirate ships and soon arrived in Batav, which was under the control of "temple" high priests who were themselves besieged by vast hordes of barbarian horsemen. There were also Second Empire missionaries stranded in Batav, who believed that the Traders allowed them to travel to Batav because the killing of Imperial missionaries would provide a pretext for Imperial intervention on Makassar. MacKinnie convinced the high priests to let him recruit Batav citizens into an army to defeat the barbarians. He then maneuvered the most intelligent and suspicious of the high priests and Temple guards into a suicide mission, while his army defeated the barbarians by utilizing superior tactics. He used the resulting power vacuum to install the Second Empire missionaries as Batav's new religious leaders. The grateful clerics were unexpectedly supportive of MacKinnie's secret mission and were willing to allow MacKinnie's company full access to the library archives. One of MacKinnie's men was a physicist chosen for his eidetic memory, to research early plans for space travel. During this period, after an unsuccessful assassination attempt on MacKinnie by the barbarians (which wounded Stark), MacKinnie and Mary Graham, who served as commander of the commissary for MacKinnie's army, secretly became lovers. MacKinnie and company (minus the injured Stark, who remained on Makassar as commander of the army in MacKinnie's name) then returned to Prince Samual's World. Back in Haven, Dougal's men used the acquired knowledge to build a primitive manned spaceship, adopting a low-tech design of Robert Goddard—a rapid firing cannon using high-explosive shells detonating behind the ship to provide propulsion (but which might blow up the ship). Because the ship would not be airtight, only members of MacKinnie's company (who still had their space suits) could pilot it, and because it would only be able to carry a minimal payload, Graham (the lightest of the company) volunteered and was chosen as pilot. Before the launch, MacKinnie proposed to her, and she accepted. As soon as Prince Samual's World was unified, and in the presence of unsuspecting Imperial witnesses, Graham's ship was launched and achieved orbit, although it could not re-enter the atmosphere (meaning that the Imperials had to rescue Graham). King David then immediately requested that Prince Samual's World be admitted to the Second Empire as a self-governing world capable of manned space travel, not as a colony. The Imperials eventually conceded the self-governing issue, but they realized that MacKinnie and Graham (who have now become the most famous couple on the planet) were part of a Dougal plot to acquire knowledge from the First Empire library during the Makassar trip, which embarrassed the Imperial Navy. The Navy officers insisted that MacKinnie and Graham, at least, be visibly punished, while the Imperial political representatives wanted to give Makassar a chance to continue to develop independently. Using the pretext of Graham's illegal introduction of new technology - wooden horse collars - on Makassar, the political representatives offered MacKinnie and Graham exile on Makassar as punishment (while reminding them that Dougal was likely to execute them due to their fame), and they accepted. ===== ===== Five children on a school trip stay overnight in Old Harwick Hall, a reputedly haunted house. They find the dusty diary of a boy called Richard Clayton Harwick and read that after Richard ran away to sea to escape his stepfather, he returned to an empty house. His mother had died of grief while his sister had also died in childbirth. This sparks a discussion of Richard's actions between the children. The discussion leads to each of them divulging their own family problems. Claudia reveals that her parents had divorced after several fights. The 'scarlet woman', a pleasant woman named Stella, tries but fails to win Claudia's approval. However, after a dinner party with her father's friends who also ignore Stella, Claudia realises her mistake and attempts to get them into attention by wearing beautiful green pyjamas bought by Stella in front of the guests, shocking them into politeness. Colin reveals that his 'Dad' (who was his mother's partner but not his biological father) was left behind by his mother after they had absconded one day. While his mother was frustrated with Jack (Dad)'s unemployed state, Colin, who loved him very much, attempted to keep in contact with Jack. Failing to do so, he plans to find him in the future. Pixie recounts her parents' separation and her father's second marriage. She dislikes both her stepsisters. In a quarrel with her stepmother Lucy, Pixie unburdened herself of her grievances. Lucy aired her frustrations as well, and they made up. Ralph entertains the children with a comical description of his extended step-family, spanning two previous stepmothers and their children, one stepfather and one future stepmother, whom he is infatuated with. Robbo's story is about his stepfather, The Beard, and his sister Callie, who cannot get along. This had caused much trouble for the family especially after the birth of stepbrother Dumpa. Callie finally moved in with her father instead. Before going to bed, the other children secretly place a broken wooden cow made by Richard Harwick into Colin's bag, as a reminder to him to make the best of what he faces. ===== The twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah prosper because of their great deposits of salt, which are mined by an army of slaves. The decadent citizens, who have become wealthy by trading salt, live in luxury and use slaves as servants and for violent games of entertainment. After a night of revelry, Astaroth (Stanley Baker), the Prince of Sodom, tells slave girl Tamar (Scilla Gabel) to carry a message to the king of the Elamites, with whom he plans to overthrow his sister, Bera, Queen of Sodom (Anouk Aimée). Returning from her meeting in the desert with the Elamite leader, Tamar is captured by a Sodomite patrol. Queen Bera demands the name of her co-conspirator. Tamar refuses to speak under interrogation and Bera has her and her two young sisters killed. Meanwhile, Lot (Stewart Granger) leads his family and a Hebrew tribe through the desert, hoping that he can find a permanent home for his people along the fertile banks of the River Jordan. By contrast with the people of the twin cities, the Hebrews are presented as a pious and austere people with high moral standards. As the Hebrews approach their destination, Lot meets the beautiful Ildith (Pier Angeli), who luxuriates in a litter while a group of slave girls in chains precede her over the rocky terrain. Lot assumes that Ildith owns these women. She tells him that she is also a slave, albeit the chief of the Queen of Sodom's body slaves. Lot tells her that owning slaves is evil. The following dialog ensues: > Ildith: "Evil? How strange you are. Where I come from, nothing is evil. > Everything that gives pleasure is good." > Lot: "Where do you come from?" > Ildith: "There, not far. Just ahead: Sodom and Gomorrah." Once Lot and his people reach the Jordan, he negotiates the use of the land on one side of the river with Queen Bera, promising her both grain and defense should Sodom's desert enemies attack. In a surprising turn, she gives Lot Ildith, who does not wish to leave the queen or her life of luxury in Sodom. Astorath is disgusted and baffled by his sister's easy terms with the Hebrews. However, he soon turns his attentions to Lot's flirtatious daughter, Shuah (Rossana Podestà). Ildith dislikes the rough conditions of the Hebrew camp, but soon befriends Lot's daughters. She and Lot also fall in love and plan to marry. Meanwhile, Shuah and Astaroth begin a secret affair. Lot's other daughter, Maleb (Claudia Mori) and his headstrong lieutenant, Ishmael (Rik Battaglia) also plan a marriage. Lot and Ildith's wedding day celebrations are interrupted by an Elamite attack. Although the Hebrew farmers and the Sodomite soldiers fight valiantly, they are nearly defeated by the fierce nomadic warriors. In a last, desperate measure, Lot orders that the dam that the Hebrews have built be broken. His quick thinking saves the twin cities and the Hebrews, but the camp and the crops are destroyed. However, the flood waters reveal that the Hebrew camp is also the site of a vast salt deposit. Lot now believes that the Hebrews can move out of the wilderness and live among the Sodomites ("Separate, but in their full view", he cautions) by selling salt. (In the original Roadshow prints, this is where the theatrical intermission occurred.) Some time later, Lot and Ildith now live in luxury in Sodom. Sodomites and Hebrews both revere Lot and seek his judgment. Ishmael however, believes that Lot has succumbed to luxury and instead should liberate Sodom's mine slaves. Lot disagrees and advises Ishmael to wait, believing that the Sodomites will change their ways in time. Ishmael does not heed Lot and unsuccessfully tries to set the slaves free, believing that the Hebrews will harbour them. Instead the Hebrews shut their doors on the desperate escapees who are soon recaptured and sentenced to death. As the newly appointed minister of justice, Lot must now sentence Ishmael. However Ishmael is only one of Lot's problems, as he is confronted by the jealous Astaroth, who tells him that not only has he slept with both of Lot's daughters, but that Ildith had known and kept the affairs secret. An outraged Lot kills Astaroth. At this point, Queen Bera's plot becomes clear: she used the Hebrews to destroy the Elamite threat and also used Lot to rid her of her scheming brother. Lot becomes deeply remorseful that he has not only killed but he led his family and people into sin. Bera has him taken to prison. While Lot asks God for forgiveness and guidance, two angels appear to tell him that God is displeased with the twin cities and will destroy them. Lot pleads with the angels to spare the city if he can find just ten Sodomite citizens who will repent and leave the cities with him. The angels agree and free both Lot and Ishmael from prison after warning Lot that anyone leaving Sodom who looks back will be struck down as well. Meanwhile, many recaptured slaves are tortured to death on the wheel. Queen Bera exclaims "But wait, the games have just begun", as Lot appears seeking ten righteous Sodomites. Although he has God's consent, Lot finds it impossible to persuade any Sodomite citizens to follow him, only the slaves are willing to accompany him. Even his own daughters, who believe Lot a hypocrite, at first refuse. Ildith, however, convinces them to leave, hoping that they will someday understand their father and his greatness as a leader. Shuah goes only grudgingly, telling Lot that she hopes to see him suffering, as she does now that Astaroth is dead. Immediately after the Hebrews and Sodomite slaves leave, God assails Sodom with earthquakes and lightning. Queen Bera retreats with her slave Orphea to her palace, where they are killed under the collapsing pillars. The Sodomites flee into the streets, still committing vile and selfish acts to save themselves or exploit the chaos, and are killed by collapsing buildings and fire. Meanwhile, Ildith now wishes she were back in Sodom. Despite her love for Lot, she cannot accept his God, choosing to believe in Lot rather than in a Divine plan. Despite Lot's warnings, Ildith looks back at Sodom. God turns her into a pillar of salt just as He destroys the city with a final fiery explosion. Lot collapses in grief. Maleb and Shuah rush to comfort him. He staggers off with the Hebrews, who wander the desert once more. ===== The story opens in August/September 1914. Rose Sayer, a 33-year-old Englishwoman, is the companion and housekeeper of her brother Samuel, an Anglican missionary in German East Africa (present-day Tanzania). World War I has recently begun, and the German military commander of the area has conscripted all the natives; the village is deserted, and only Rose and her dying brother remain. Samuel dies during the night and Rose is alone. That day, another man arrives at the village: this is an English Cockney named Allnutt, who is the mechanic and skipper of the African Queen, a steam-powered launch, owned by a Belgian mining corporation, that plies the upper reaches of the Ulanga River. Allnutt's two-man crew has deserted him at the rumours of war and conscription. Allnutt buries Samuel Sayer and takes Rose back to the African Queen, where they consider what they should do. The African Queen is well- stocked with tinned food, and carries a cargo of two hundredweight of blasting gelignite. It also holds two large tanks of oxygen and hydrogen. Rose is inflamed with patriotism, and also filled with the desire to avenge the insults the Germans piled on her brother. It occurs to her that the main German defence against a British attack by water is the gunboat Königin Luise, which guards the fictional Lake WittelsbachGiles Foden. Mimi and Toutou Go Fourth: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika into which the Ulanga feeds. She asks Allnutt if he can make the gelignite into a makeshift torpedo. Allnutt replies that that is not possible, but after some thought, he concludes that by loading the gelignite inside the emptied tanks, putting the tanks into the bow of the launch, and rigging a detonator, they could turn the African Queen itself into a sort of large torpedo. Allnutt is inclined to laugh off the idea, but he gives in to Rose's greater strength of will and the two of them set off down the Ulanga, Rose steering and Allnutt maintaining the launch's ancient, balky, wood-burning steam engine. The descent to the lake poses three main problems: passing the German-held town of Shona; passing the heavy rapids and cataracts; and getting through the river delta. After many days on the river, they come close to Shona, and Allnutt's nerve fails; he refuses to take the launch under fire, anchors in a backwater, and gets drunk on gin. Unable to work the launch single-handed, Rose sets out to make Allnutt's life miserable until he agrees to her plan; while he is asleep she pours all his gin overboard, then refuses to speak to him. The weak-willed Allnutt eventually gives in and the African Queen gets under way again. They come in sight of Shona at midday; the German commander assumes the launch is coming in to surrender (because he believes no boat could pass the rapids below the town, so Shona is the only possible destination); he does not realise his mistake until too late, and though he and his men open fire, the launch receives only minor damage. Below the town, the African Queen spends several days shooting the rapids; Allnutt is exhilarated, and he and Rose are reconciled and become lovers. Rose, embarrassed, admits that she does not know Allnutt's first name; he tells her it is Charlie. On the third day the launch strikes on rocks while passing another rapid; she loses way and does not respond well to the tiller, so they are forced to anchor in the lee of a rock outcropping. Allnutt dives and finds that the driveshaft is bent and the propeller has lost one of its blades. Over the next weeks they slowly repair the damage without being able to beach the launch; Allnutt has to dive again and again to remove the shaft and propeller. On shore they gather wood and construct a makeshift bellows to heat the shaft so Allnutt can straighten it. Then Allnutt makes a new propeller blade out of scrap iron and bolts it to the stump of the old blade. After numerous dives to fix the shaft and propeller, they continue on their way and eventually pass the rapids, coming out of the Ulanga River into the larger Bora River, which feeds into the lake. Passing the river delta is long and arduous. Tormented by myriads of biting insects, sickened with malaria, and wracked by the terrible heat and powerful thunderstorms, they drag the launch through miles of reeds and water-grass with their boat-hooks, occasionally diving to cut fallen logs out of their way. Even the shallow launch (which has a draft of only thirty inches) constantly grounds on the thick mud. Finally, after weeks of exhausting labour, they emerge into the lake. They hide the launch in a stand of reeds and begin constructing the torpedo. Allnutt releases the gas from his two tanks and unscrews the valves, leaving a hole big enough for him to fill the tanks with gelignite, packed in mud. He cuts two holes in the front of the launch, right at the waterline, and fixes the two tanks there; he then constructs detonators from nails and revolver cartridges, so the gelignite will detonate on impact. All that is left is to pilot the launch right into the side of the Königin Luise, and the resulting explosion will destroy both vessels. They have been keeping track of the gunboat's habits, and choose a night when it will be anchored close to them. They argue about which of them should pilot the launch and which stay behind, but in the end they agree that they will both go. They fire up the engine and set out on the attack, but halfway to their target a sudden storm sweeps up out of nowhere and overwhelms them; the African Queen sinks, and Rose and Allnutt have to swim for safety. The two lovers are separated in the storm, but both are captured by the Germans the next day. They are brought before the captain of the Königin Luise to be tried as spies. Both refuse to say how they came to the lake, but the captain sees "African Queen" written on Rose's life-saver and deduces that they must be the mechanic and the missionary's sister from the mysteriously missing launch. He decides it would be uncivilised to execute them, so he flies a flag of truce and delivers them to the British naval commander, who dismissively sends them to separate tents under guard while he takes his newly arrived reinforcements out to sink the Königin Luise. Having succeeded in this, he sends Rose and Allnutt to the coast to speak to the British Consul, where he advises Allnutt to enlist in the British Army. Rose and Allnutt agree that when they reach the coast they will ask the Consul to marry them. The story ends with the narrator's comment that "Whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided." The MV Liemba was the inspiration for the German gunboat. ===== The film opens in July 1912, with a traveling salesman being chased onto a train just about to depart. As the train gets underway, the salesmen on the train get into a rhythmic conversation about credit that veers off to discussion of the con man 'Professor' Harold Hill ("Rock Island"). After the train arrives in River City, Iowa, 'Professor' Harold Hill (Robert Preston) reveals himself to the others on the train before getting off, ready to swindle the famously stubborn citizens ("Iowa Stubborn"). Masquerading as a band instructor, Hill plans to con the townspeople into paying him to create a boys' marching band. Once he has collected their payment and the instruments and uniforms have arrived, he will hop the next train out of town, leaving them without their money or a band. With his associate Marcellus Washburn (Buddy Hackett), Hill incites concern among River City’s parents that their boys are being seduced into sin and vice by the town’s new pool table ("Ya Got Trouble"). He convinces them that a marching band is the only way to keep the boys out of trouble, and begins collecting their money ("76 Trombones"). Anticipating that Marian (Shirley Jones), the town's librarian and piano instructor, will attempt to discredit him, Hill sets out to seduce her into silence. Also in opposition to Hill is the town's Mayor Shinn (Paul Ford), owner of the billiard parlor, who orders the school board to obtain Hill's credentials. When they attempt to do so, Hill avoids their questions by teaching them to sing as a barbershop quartet via "sustained talking". Thereafter, Hill easily tricks them into breaking into song whenever they ask for his credentials ("Sincere", "Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little/Goodnight Ladies", and "Lida Rose"). Hill’s attempts to woo Marian, who has an extreme distrust of men, have little effect ("Marian the Librarian") despite his winning the admiration of her mother (Pert Kelton) by singing ("Gary, Indiana") and his attempts to draw out her unhappy younger brother Winthrop (Ronnie Howard). When Marian discovers that Hill's claim to being a graduate of "Gary Conservatory, Gold Medal, Class of '05" is a lie (Gary was founded in 1906), she attempts to expose him but is interrupted by the arrival of the Wells Fargo wagon ("Wells Fargo Wagon"). When Winthrop, after years of moody withdrawal, joins in with the townspeople and speaks effusively with Marian due to the excitement at receiving his cornet, Marian begins to fall in love with Hill and hides the evidence she has uncovered from Mayor Shinn. Hill tells the boys to learn to play via the "Think System", in which they simply have to think of a tune over and over and will know how to play it without ever touching their instruments. Marian falls further in love with Hill, and in counterpoint with The Buffalo Bills, they sing "Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You". Hill's con is nearly complete; all he has to do is collect the rest of the money and disappear. Meeting Marian at the footbridge – the first time she has ever been there with a man – he learns that she knew of his deception but did not tell because she is in love with him ("Till There Was You"). He is about to leave town when Charlie Cowell (Harry Hickox), a disgruntled anvil salesman who was run out of Brighton, Illinois because Hill had conned the townspeople there, comes to River City and exposes Hill. Sought by an angry mob and pressed to leave town by Marcellus and Marian, Hill realizes he is in love with Marian and cannot leave ("Till There Was You (Reprise)"). Hill is captured by the mob and brought before a town meeting to be tarred and feathered. Marian defends Hill, and the townspeople, reminded of how he has brought so many of them together, elect not to have him tarred and feathered. Mayor Shinn reminds the townspeople how much money Hill has taken, with no apparent result. When he demands to know "Where's the band?" Hill is saved by the town's boys, who play Beethoven's Minuet in G. Although their technical expertise leaves much to be desired, the boys' parents are enthralled. As the boys march out of the town hall, they are suddenly "transformed" into a spectacular marching band in resplendent uniforms, playing and marching with perfection, led by Hill ("76 Trombones 2nd Reprise"). Hill is reunited with Marian, and all the other main characters join in during the credits. ===== A BOAC airplane crash-lands on the Greenland ice cap far from its usual route after flying in a seemingly erratic fashion. An International Geophysical Year scientific research team based near the crash site rescues the surviving passengers and takes them to their cabin. Most of the flight crew are dead with one of the pilots having been shot in the back. The station's only means of contact with the outside world, a radio set, is destroyed in a seemingly accidental manner. With not enough food for everyone and no hope of rescue, the leader of the scientific research team, Dr Mason, decides that they must set out for the nearest settlement, some 300 kilometers away at the coast. Meanwhile, the pilot who was shot and in a coma is found to have been suffocated with a pillow in his sleep. An attempt is also made on Mason's life by getting him to be lost in the arctic night. The scientists' suspicion falls on the stewardess but she is soon cleared. Mason orders another scientist, Joss, to stay behind and try to repair the radio so that a field expedition can be contacted. The dead passenger is determined to be a military courier; soon after that the wreck goes up in flames. Mason leaves with the group along with the other scientist, Jackstraw, while remaining in touch with their station by means of a short range radio. Meanwhile, the field expedition returns to the station and contacts Mason. They inform him that a massive military mobilization has located the crashed plane and that it carried something very important. The government, having refused to divulge anything, had tried to contact Mason's station. Finding the station to be non- responding, they have requested the expedition chief, Captain Hillcrest, to investigate. Mason decides to go on with the journey since any attempt to return will induce the murderers to act. He keeps this new development to himself and Jackstraw. Hillcrest sets out after the group but soon finds that the petrol he picked up at the station has been tampered with. Sugar has been added to the petrol disabling the engine and leading him to get bogged down. A solution is found when one of the passengers, a chemist, suggests that the petrol be mixed with water and the top layer of the resultant mixture be siphoned off. At almost the same time, the government relents and informs Mason through Hillcrest that the military courier carried a top secret missile guidance mechanism disguised as a tape recorder. Mason realizes that one of the passengers picked up such a device at the crash site. This precipitates the murderers into action and they take over the group. Finding that killing the entire group is not possible, the criminals initially take the survivors with them, but soon abandon all of them except for the stewardess, for whom Mason has developed a romantic attachment, and the father and manager of a passenger who is a boxer. In the process, one of the passengers left behind is killed. The group stumbles on in the arctic blizzard guided by sled dogs. Soon they come across an abandoned sled that contains rocket radiosondes, which they use to guide Hillcrest to them. A chase ensues across the arctic landscape to the shore where a trawler waits for the criminals. But the intervention of the Navy, on information from Hillcrest, frightens off the trawler. The criminals are surrounded and after a bitter hand-to-hand struggle, the secret device and surviving hostages are rescued. The first killer is killed, however the second one is still on the go. Having to have locked himself and the stewardess in a very fast moving glacier, it is not as easy for him anymore. Dr. Mason manages to rescue the stewardess, but the killer is left to die. ===== The film is about bullying (with death threats and assaults causing injuries), friendship, and soccer. Don (Clemens Levert), a 12-year-old boy, is the main character. Don's best friend at his new school is Milos (Marius Gottlieb). Milos boasts about his big brother who supposedly protects him and is a sportsman. However, this brother is already missing several years after the war in former Yugoslavia, and he is probably dead. Don confronts him with his lies and false hope. Initially this shocks Milos. Henri (Samir Veen) is the worst bully. Don gains respect by being good at football. He organizes a football team. Several former bullies become friends. Don even invites his worst enemy, Henri, to join, because he plays well. On and off Henri is in the team; when he is, he is team leader, when not, Don is. Milos is so afraid of the ball that he seems to be of no use for the team. However, he can run fast, and is assigned the task to stay near one strong opponent, making him ineffective. Don gets little support from his parents: when he comes home beaten up, he is blamed for fighting. When this happens a second time, they are about to send him to a boarding school in England. However, the whole class except Henri comes, led by Milos, to the house, and asks the parents to allow Don to stay. After Don says also that he wants to stay, the parents give in. At the final of the competition they win by unfair tactics such as kicking their opponents. Henri refuses to shake hands with Don. However, he does one positive thing: he makes good for destroying Milos' football by asking the judge to give them the ball, and, after he gets it, giving it to Milos. ===== A young cross breed puppy is up for sale and we can hear him talking. He sees Mikey passing by him and begs him to take him home. Mikey, however, has to hurry past in tow of his mother, and two harsh looking individuals buy the puppy. He manages to escape them and starts his life as a stray. James is a private air pilot working for Samantha - who we see has a crush on him and is always trying to extend the trips to spend more time with him; something James is very oblivious about. Mollie is looking for a job after getting laid off due to the recession. Mikey tells Santa Claus that he wants a dog for Christmas, James feels the time has come to give him one and tells Samantha about this. One day, though, the dog gets caught by the animal rescue force and taken to a kennel, where several others are kept - presumably also found on the streets. He is about to be put down on the same day that James brings Mikey there to select one. Overjoyed, he bumps into the dog he saw as a puppy, and takes an instant liking to him and decides to take him home. He names the dog Rocks. When James, Mikey, and Rocks get home, they see that Samantha is there and has brought over her dog, Daphne, who is highly trained and she wants James to have her as a present from her. Rocks and Daphne do not get along. Rocks is messy and untrained while Daphne is pedigreed and well trained to be tidy and obedient, though she is also spoiled. However, Daphne bonds with Julie while Rocks does with Mikey. Rocks wears Mollie's patience due to his untrained behavior, leaving her to clean up after his messes. Samantha starts having James fly on long trips to many different cities and keeps him away from his family. Mollie has to job hunt, take care of two kids, and take care of the two dogs. James and Mollie develop tensions over Samantha. Mollie suspects that James is cheating on her, if not she has strong feelings that Samantha has been trying to steal him from her. Even her own mother suspects, that Samantha is doing what she can to part her and James. When she confronts James, he uses her past as leverage to and even admits he doesn't know if Mollie's cut off ties with Albert (Mikey's biological father). He admits he has faith in his wife and wants her the same; to which she agrees but still distrusts Samantha's intentions. After another trip, both have dreams of the other being unfaithful, highlighting their fears. Despite these tensions, however, James and Mollie are clearly still in love with each other and miss each other while they're apart. As Mollie becomes more tired, Daphne realizes that she needs to become more independent. Rocks helps her learn how to go outside by herself and use her sense of smell to track people or things. The two dogs start becoming friends. On Christmas Eve, Samantha sets up a plan to trick James into spending the night with her. She tricks him into coming to her fancy cabin in the woods by saying that she wants to introduce him to a prospective wealthy client. She stalls for time until it is too dangerous for James to leave because a snowstorm outside has gotten too dangerous. James calls Mollie to tell her that he cannot make it home for Christmas. Mollie learns that he is alone with Samantha and becomes devastated that he is going to cheat on her. However, Mollie's mother convinces her to trust her instincts that James loves her and would never do that. Mollie decides to drive through the storm with the kids and the two dogs to "bring Christmas to Daddy." Their car gets stuck in the woods due to the severe cold and the storm. They are attacked by wolves, and Rocks scares the wolves off while Mollie and her kids get inside the car. Daphne sets out to find help using the tracking skills that Rocks taught her. Rocks runs out to track down James on his own. He finds Samantha's cabin, and James realizes that Mollie has set out to find him. He confronts Samantha about her lies and intentions and quits his job, then goes with Rocks to track down his family. They are attacked by wolves, and Rocks fights them off while James escapes. Meanwhile, Daphne has found some forest rangers that take Mollie, the kids, and Daphne to safety into their cabin. They worry about James and Rocks. James finds them, and Rocks quickly runs in afterward to show that he survived the encounter with the wolves. The family and dogs are happily reunited and spend Christmas together. ===== The basic plot of the novel concerns an attorney named Sam Bowden, who caught Max Cady, an illiterate, brutal rapist, in the act. Bowden later testifies against him. The jury finds Cady guilty and Cady is sent to prison for fourteen years, where he develops and nurses an obsessive grudge, fueled with rage and hatred over how Bowden sent him to jail. After Cady is paroled, he begins stalking Bowden's family, not only seeking vengeance, but also envying what Bowden has, particularly eyeing Bowden's innocent teenage daughter. Cady's vendetta slowly escalates from stalking and annoying the family to attempting to kill those he deems close to the family. Cady attempts to kill Bowden's son by shooting him with a high power rifle from far away but fails due to the wind velocity sending the bullet into his son's arm instead. As his wife is leaving the hospital, she nearly dies in a car crash after Cady removes the lug nuts from one of her tires. Bowden sends some thugs to beat Cady hoping to run him off. Unfortunately, the plan fails and Cady manages to beat them instead. However, as the cops respond to the fight, Cady swings his arm into a police officer and gets arrested for assaulting a cop. While this sends him to jail, Bowden realizes he will be back out soon enough. Desperate, Bowden decides to work with the police to set up a trap. If Cady enters Bowden's house, he can be shot for trespassing. The plan is to convince Cady he is out of town. He will hide in a treehouse outside while a police officer named Kersek covertly stands guard in the house ready to shoot Cady, should he show up. Bowden anxiously waits outside in the dead of night with a gun of his own. Then he hears his wife screaming and runs into the house. As he is entering, it's too dark to see clearly but he can see a shadow of Cady running towards him. They collide with a force hard enough to break Bowden's foot. As Cady is fleeing the premises, Bowden angrily shoots his gun in Cady's direction and then makes his way inside. He finds out that Cady began assaulting his wife but was interrupted by Kersek. Unfortunately, Kersek was not fast enough to kill Cady and Cady killed him instead and then left once he realized this whole thing was a setup. Cady killed a cop, so the police begin their search for Cady. As daylight begins, they find a trail of blood in Bowden's backyard. They follow it and find Cady's corpse. It turns out Bowden's frantic shot hit Cady and severed an artery and he bled to death. The Cape Fear River is not featured in the novel, though it is integral in both film adaptations. ===== During an 1864 battle of the American Civil War, a lone Union soldier, Captain Lee Briggs (Bradley Horne), is dispatched on a mission to investigate a mysterious object reported to Union forces. He leaves to venture on the mission. 175 years later, in the year 2039, United States Astronaut Lee Miller (Gunner Wright) is sent to the International Space Station (ISS) as a one-man skeleton crew to examine if it is safe for use and to perform necessary modifications after it had been abandoned two decades earlier for reasons unknown. Shortly after arriving on board, tumultuous events break out on Earth, eventually resulting in Miller losing contact with CAPCOM and finding himself stranded in orbit alone, forced to helplessly watch events on Earth from portholes 200 miles above his home planet. Miller struggles to maintain his sanity while in isolation by interacting with Polaroid pictures of former ISS crew members left aboard the ship. When the station has some power glitches, Miller journeys into an unpressurised module of the space station to perform repairs and discovers the 1864 journal of Briggs. Miller reads Briggs's account of the war and becomes enthralled by the mysterious object he is searching for, not realizing he will soon become more familiar with the very same object, and not by accident. In 2045, six years after losing contact with CAPCOM and with a failing oxygen system inside the ISS, Miller puts on a space suit and goes for a spacewalk, deciding that it would be easier for him to detach his tether and slowly drift towards Earth and to burn in the atmosphere than slowly suffocate to death on board the ISS. He finds, however, that he is unable to go through with his suicide. Miller is seen still aboard the ISS, presumably much later: his hair has grown extremely long, and he is extensively tattooed. He has drawn sketches of people and battles of the Civil War from the journal all over the interior of the ISS. The cramped quarters of the space station have become a rat's nest symbolic of his diminished sanity. He then seems to be contacted from outside the ISS, and to receive instructions to dock and transfer over. He does so, and seems to arrive in a giant uninhabited structure of distinctly human making. It is unclear whether this is reality or imagined by Miller, who is now insane. Miller wanders around until he happens upon a server mainframe where he finds a book titled A Love Story' As Told by 'You. Inside this book, he finds pictures of Captain Lee Briggs with his discovery, a gigantic cube-like alien object that may have helped advance Human society. In the index of the book, Miller finds a reference to himself and types it into the computer prompt. He then finds himself inside a generic hotel room, where a disembodied voice says: During the speech, we see the same cube-like object in space in the year 2045. The viewer is left to assume that this object has 'obtained' Lee Miller and is speaking directly to him. The film ends with the voice of a computer speaking of human connections and love. ===== Tim and Graeme are listening to a string quartet in an open-air classical music concert. Bill is also present at the concert, but he is listening to rock music on his radio. Suddenly, some men in dark-coloured suits force the string quartet members to leave the stage. Shocked and disbelieving at what they have just witnessed, the Goodies go home. Both Graeme and Tim are very disappointed. They had been enjoying listening to the classical music, and they check the newspaper for some live classical music elsewhere, but find that all the live music concerts have been replaced by jukebox music. Turning on the television to hear classical music, they find that Moira Anderson is missing -- and they are just in time to see Kenneth McKellar being dragged off stage. The live music television programmes are all being taken over by recorded music. The Goodies decide to investigate what is happening and form their own music group so that they would also be stolen. Bill 'tunes' their piano so that all the notes sound identical. When Graeme complains, Bill 'tunes' the keyboard so that the keyboard will play musical tunes when a person moves his hand up and down the keyboard (Graeme makes him change the keyboard back to normal). The Goodies try various types of music, and various musical instruments (including a piano accordion which stretches to "the point of no return"). Finally, with Bill playing the guitar, and Graeme programming his computer to play orchestral music, they decide to sing "Land of Hope and Glory" -- Bill is the principal singer, and Graeme and Tim sing harmony -- with Tim receiving help with his harmony in the form of his "glee singers" (two very pretty girls). At the end of the song, they wait to be kidnapped, and are upset when only Tim's "glee singers" are stolen; the kidnappers reject them because they "ain't good enough." The next step in their plan to be stolen has the Goodies giving a non-stop Woodstock Festival- type concert, in which they perform songs as various types of music groups. After a week of performances which nobody comes to watch, they are about to give up their plan as being hopeless, but unbeknown to them, the Goodies have also been stolen. They are driven to a house in the country, where they discover the identity of the mysterious being behind the kidnappings. Telling the Goodies that he is the Music Master, he explains the reason why the kidnappings occurred. The Goodies are not impressed and Graeme says: "You're a loony!", to which the Music Master replies proudly: "Thank you!" Horrified at what they have found, the Goodies plan to right the situation -- however, one of their decisions leads to unexpected and unforeseen consequences for themselves. The Goodies are now enslaved to the Music Master and Bill finally came up with a plan escape by playing the square dance rhythm and get all the musicians out but Rolf Harris and Cilla Black, Gerald and the mobsters chase after the trio as they playing the instruments to get a head start and defeating them, But the Music Master rides over hill with his cannon organs, eventually The Goodies call out the violinists to shoot violin bows as arrows on the defeated Music Master. All musicians shown The Goodies some gratitude and rewarding them girts but When Cilla got out of her prison she perish the trio with her high tone voice. ===== In 1987, wealthy New York investment banker Patrick Bateman’s life revolves around dining at trendy restaurants while keeping up appearances for his fiancée Evelyn and his circle of wealthy and shallow associates, most of whom he hates. Bateman describes the material accoutrements of his lifestyle, including his morning exercise, beautification routine, designer wardrobe and expensive furniture. He also discusses his music collection in scholarly detail. Bateman and his associates flaunt their business cards in a display of vanity. Enraged by the superiority of his co- worker Paul Allen's card, Bateman murders a homeless man and his dog. At a Christmas party, Bateman makes plans to have dinner with Allen, who mistakes Bateman for another coworker. Bateman gets Allen drunk and lures him back to his apartment. While playing "Hip to Be Square", Bateman delivers a monologue to Allen about the artistic merits of the song, then murders Allen with a mirror-polished axe. He disposes of the body, then stages Allen's apartment so that others believe Allen has gone to London. Bateman is later interviewed about Allen's disappearance by private detective Donald Kimball. Bateman takes two prostitutes, who he names Christie and Sabrina, to his apartment and expounds on his opinions of the band Genesis. After they have sex, Bateman brings out instruments he uses for bodily harm. They later leave his apartment evidently bloodied and mistreated. Bateman's colleague Luis Carruthers reveals a new business card. Bateman tries to kill Luis in the restroom of an expensive restaurant, but Luis mistakes the attempt for a sexual advance and declares his love for Bateman, who flees in disgust. After murdering a model, Bateman invites his secretary Jean to dinner, suggesting she meet him at his apartment for drinks. When Jean arrives, unbeknownst to her, Bateman holds a nail gun to the back of her head while they chat. When he receives a message from Evelyn on his answering machine, he asks Jean to leave. Kimball meets Bateman for lunch and tells him he is not under suspicion in Allen's disappearance. Detective Kimball interviews Bateman again, and while Kimball remains suspicious of Bateman, he reveals that a colleague of Bateman’s spotted Paul Allen in London, calling into question the entire investigation. Bateman is relieved by the news but is perturbed and begins to doubt himself. Bateman invites Christie and his acquaintance Elizabeth to Allen's apartment for sex, and kills Elizabeth during the act. Christie runs, discovering multiple female corpses as she searches for an exit. A naked Bateman chases her and drops a chainsaw on her as she flees down a staircase, killing her. Bateman breaks off his engagement with Evelyn. That night, as he uses an ATM, he sees a cat, and the ATM displays the text "feed me a stray cat". When he prepares to shoot the cat, a woman confronts him, so he shoots her. A police chase ensues but Bateman kills all four cops. Fleeing to his office, Bateman enters the wrong building, where he murders a security guard and a janitor. In an office he believes is his, Bateman calls his lawyer Harold Carnes and frantically leaves a confession regarding the many murders on Carnes' answering machine. The following morning, Bateman visits Allen's apartment, expecting to clean up Allen's remains, but it is vacant and for sale. He pretends to be a potential buyer but the realtor tricks Bateman into revealing that he is not there to buy the apartment. She then cryptically tells him that the apartment does not belong to Paul Allen, before ordering him to leave. While Bateman goes to meet with his colleagues for lunch, a horrified Jean finds detailed drawings of murder and mutilation in Bateman's office journal. Bateman sees Carnes at the restaurant and mentions the phone message he left the prior evening. Carnes mistakes Bateman for another colleague and laughs off the phone confession as a joke. Bateman desperately explains who he is and again confesses the murders, but Carnes rebukes it as impossible, as he recently had dinner with Allen in London. A confused and exhausted Bateman returns to his friends, where they briefly muse on whether Ronald Reagan is a harmless old man or a hidden psychopath, before discussing their dinner reservations yet again. Left with the possibility that no one knows he is a murderer, or that he simply hallucinated the various killings, Bateman's voiceover narration reveals his realization that he will escape the punishment he feels he deserves, and that there has been no catharsis: "This confession has meant nothing." ===== Eleven- year-old Gregor is left home alone in his family's New York City apartment to watch his sister and grandmother. When Gregor's baby sister Boots falls through an old air duct grate in the building's basement, he dives in after her. The two fall miles below into the Underland: a subterranean world home to humans with near-translucent skin; giant sentient bats, rodents, and insects; and an escalating conflict between the human city of Regalia and the rats' King Gorger. They meet several "Underlanders", among them the Regalians' crown princess Luxa, her cousin Henry, and the bats who are "bonded" to them. At first, Gregor wants only to return home, but when he is attacked by two rats during an escape attempt and saved by the Underlanders, he inadvertently brings the conflict between the two groups to a head. It is then that he learns the real reason for the rats' hatred of Overlanders: a mysterious prophecy written by the human colony's founder Bartholomew of Sandwich hints that an Overland "warrior" will stop an attempt by the rats to take over the underground realm once and for all. The Regalian council believes Gregor to be this warrior, and tries to convince him to undertake the quest mentioned in the "Prophecy of Gray". Though he sympathizes, Gregor is reluctant to help until he learns a surprising fact: his father, who disappeared unexpectedly over two years before, had actually fallen down into Regalia just like Gregor and Boots and been taken prisoner by the rats. Gregor, his sister, and a group of Regalians go on a journey to rescue Gregor's father and recruit allies for a war against the rats. The quest group is challenged to successfully recruit allies for the Regalians, and then journeys to find Gregor's dad emaciated and tortured in the personal prison of King Gorger. When the rat king discovers their rescue attempt, Henry reveals that he has been helping the rats all along, hoping to ally them with the Regalians and conquer the entire Underland. During the questers' attempt to escape, Gregor sacrifices himself to lure the rats' attack force — King Gorger and Henry among them — off the edge of a cliff. Henry's bat Ares, who had no knowledge of his bond's treachery, chooses to save Gregor rather than Henry as they fall. When the few remaining quest members make it back to Regalia, Luxa and her family are devastated, both because of Henry's treason and death and because Ares has been sentenced to banishment (essentially a death sentence in the Underland) for allowing his bond to die. Gregor saves his life by using his status as the "warrior" to form a new bond with him. When things have settled down somewhat and the Regalian doctors have done all they can for his father, Gregor and his family return to the surface. ===== The beautiful Tollea is abducted and taken to Cobra Island, where the Queen is her grandmother. Hava warns the angered Ramu not to go after her, but Ramu sets sail for the forbidden island, with his young friend Kado accompanying him as a stowaway. A panther attacks Ramu, who is saved by a dart from Kado's deadly blowgun. They continue the search for Tollea, unaware that the high priestess of the island is Naja, her twin sister. The queen has ordered Tollea to be forcibly returned to Cobra Island only so she can displace her evil sister. Ramu mistakenly becomes involved with Naja, who falls in love with him. Kado is captured and tortured by the brutal Martok, but refuses to reveal Ramu's whereabouts. Martok proceeds to murder the Queen. When they finally meet, Naja attempts to kill her sister with a spear, but plunges to her own death instead. Martok insists that Tollea perform a forbidden cobra dance, whereupon the island's volcano begins to erupt. It ceases when Martok is killed by Hava, and when Ramu is about to return home, Tollea asks him to remain and help her rule Cobra Island. ===== [This section is a rough translation from German. It has been generated by a computer. Please help to enhance the translation. It is from the German-language article that is under "Deutsch" in the "languages" sidebar.] The CEO of a bank, Simon O'Reily (Anthony LaPaglia), becomes aware of the mathematician Jim Doyle (David Wenham), whose software makes it possible to predict stock market trends. Doyle is hired by O'Reily and supplied with the best computer hardware. He enters into a relationship with his colleague Michelle Roberts, who views O'Reily's business activities critically. Meanwhile, the couple Diane and Wayne Davis, who took out a loan in a foreign currency at the bank, become insolvent. The son of the couple is found dead after a meeting with the deliverer of the eviction notice. The Davises sue the bank on the grounds that they were not informed about the risks of a loan in foreign currency. O'Reily demands a proof of loyalty from Doyle, requiring Doyle to falsely state in court that he was present as an intern in the bank's loan counseling of the Davises and that Wayne Davis was sufficiently informed. That causes the Davises to lose their lawsuit. Doyle informs his boss that a stock market crash would soon occur. Roberts finds out in Doyle's hometown that his real name is not Jim Doyle; the bank had terminated his father's credit, whereupon his father committed suicide. A man who watches Roberts on behalf of O'Reily learns the truth and warns O'Reily. O'Reily wants to stop the bank's stock sale, but right now Wayne Davis breaks into O'Reily's house to shoot him. O'Reily offers him two million dollars if Davis allows him to make a phone call. Davis realizes that it should be a very important call for the bank; He destroys the house's power-box to stop this important phone-call, which is intended to warn the bank of Doyle's plans, and leaves the estate. Stock prices initially perform as expected, but then they rise instead of falling. The bank goes bankrupt after losing $50 billion. Doyle leaves the country. He asks Roberts to come after him before departure, which she refuses. The married couple Davis bring an account statement at an ATM, on the unexpected $727,000 credits - a reference to the opening credits - are. They want to clarify the matter in the neighboring bank branch, but this is one of the numerous branches, which were closed by order of O'Reily. They decide to keep the money. ===== Two packs of werewolves, divided by principles, are signaled by the moon of the coming of an ancient prophecy. A young boy named Timothy (Matthew Knight) approaches his 13th birthday, unaware this marks the time of his transformation. Timothy has been raised by his grandmother Nana (Barbara Gordon), his mother Rachel (Rhona Mitra), his uncle Jonas (Elias Koteas), his cousin Katherine (Sarah Carter) and Katherine's boyfriend, Adam (Shawn Roberts). His father is said to be dead. Rachel and Timothy have been unaware that the rest of the family are "good" werewolves who have guarded Timothy and his secret since birth. They know that Timothy is a "half-blood" who is prophesied to end the curse. But they also know that Timothy's power will put him in danger, for there are other werewolves that revel and embrace their blood-lust and are bent on finding and killing the boy. Four of these werewolves are a motorcycle pack—leader Varek (Jason Behr), and cohorts Zo (Kim Coates), Sonya (Natassia Malthe), and Grenier (Rogue Johnston), who use a hawk as an airborne spy—who track down Timothy in the small town of Huguenot, precipitating the movie's extended chase. Varek discovers the location of Timothy via a video tape which is shown to various "good" werewolves that he is alive and well. Reaching Huguenot, Varek saw Nana and Timothy and proceeds with a gunfight between his pack against the "good" werewolves and various townspeople. Adam's father is killed in the gunfight and Nana sacrifices herself to let Timothy and the others escape. Jonas explain the whole situation to both Rachel and Timothy and they are convinced after Jonas and others turn into werewolves at night. The next day, Timothy faints and is sent to a nearby hospital. Varek's gang infiltrate the hospital and attack Timothy. Grenier is killed by Adam while Katherine is being held hostage by Varek. It is subsequently revealed that Varek was Caleb, Rachel's husband and Timothy's father, and his transformation was due to him feeding on humans. After escaping to a safe place, Adam goes off on his own and finds Katherine and brings her back. At sundown, Katherine was discovered to have been forced to feed on humans and kills Adam with his own gun. Just as Katherine is about to attack Timothy, Jonas manages to kill her with a gunshot in the back. They manage to find their next safe place, with Rachel and Timothy hiding in a steel cage while Jonas sets out to ambush Varek, Zo & Sonya. Zo is killed after being trapped and being dropped down from a height. Sonya tries to attack Rachel and Timothy but is shot by Timothy. Rachel then proceeds to finish Sonya off. Varek then tries to kill Timothy but is stopped by Jonas. They get into a struggle and in a bid to win, Jonas feeds on Varek's arm and knocks Varek unconscious. Taken over by the blood frenzy, Jonas attempts to attack Timothy, but is shot to death by Rachel. Varek wakes up and bites Timothy but the clock chimes midnight. He is then struck by Rachel and knocked to the ground. He then transforms back into a human and to his former self, Caleb. It is later revealed that Timothy is the cure via his blood and that they travel around, giving the cure to those who want it. They also fill bullets with Timothy's blood. The film leaves off with Timothy saying "For some I am salvation, for the others their destruction". ===== Occupational therapist Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) is inspired by anthropologist Louis Leakey (Iain Cuthbertson) to devote her life to the study of primates. She writes ceaselessly to Leakey for a job cataloguing and studying the rare mountain gorillas of Africa. Following him to a lecture in Louisville, Kentucky in 1966, she convinces him of her conviction. They travel to the Congo, where Leakey and his foundation equip her to make contact with the gorillas, and introduce her to a local animal tracker, Sembagare (John Omirah Miluwi). Settling deep in the jungle, Fossey and Sembagare locate a troop of gorillas, but are displaced by the events of the Congo Crisis and forcibly evicted from their research site by Congolese soldiers, who accuse Fossey of being a foreign spy and agitator. Fossey is resigned to returning to the United States, but Sembagare and her temporary host Rosamond Carr (Julie Harris) motivate her to stay in Africa. Fossey establishes new research efforts in the jungles of neighboring Rwanda, where rampant poaching and corruption become apparent when she discovers several traps near her new base at Karisoke. Nevertheless, Fossey and her colleagues make headway with the gorillas, taking account of their communication and social groups. Her work impresses Leakey and gains international attention. National Geographic, which funds her efforts, dispatches photographer Bob Campbell (Bryan Brown) to highlight her research. Fossey, initially unreceptive, grows increasingly attached to Campbell after several photo sessions with the gorillas, and the two become lovers, in spite of Campbell's marriage. Campbell proposes to divorce his wife and marry Fossey but insists that she would have to spend time away from Karisoke and her gorillas, leading her to end their relationship. Fossey forms an emotional bond with a gorilla named Digit, and attempts to prevent the export of other gorillas by trader Van Vecten (Constantin Alexandrov). Appalled by the poaching of the gorillas for their skins, hands, and heads, Fossey complains to the Rwandan government and is dismissed, but a government minister (Waigwa Wachira) promises to hire an anti-poaching squad. Fossey's frustrations reach a climax when Digit is beheaded by poachers. She leads numerous anti-poaching patrols, burns down the poachers' villages, and even stages a mock execution of one of the offenders, serving to alienate some of her research assistants and gaining her various enemies. Sembagare expresses concern at Fossey’s opposition to the emergent industry of gorilla tourism, but she nonchalantly dismisses his worries. On December 27, 1985, Dian Fossey is murdered in the bedroom of her cabin by an unseen assailant. At a funeral attended by Sembagare, Carr, and others, she is buried in the same cemetery where Digit and other gorillas had been laid to rest. Sembagare symbolically links the graves of Fossey and Digit with stones as a sign that their souls rest in peace together. A pre-credits sequence explains that Fossey’s actions helped save the gorillas from extinction, and her death remains a mystery. ===== The story is told from the first-person perspective of a working-class husband, who recalls a story told by L. T., a chatty co-worker, about the brewing trouble behind his marriage. These problems are attributed to pets purchased by L. T. and his wife. The wife purchases a dog for L. T. which dislikes him instantly and sides with his wife. Soon, L. T. purchases a cat for his wife, which immediately takes to L.T. instead. Despite the fact that the dog and the cat get along fine, L. T. and his wife continually argue. While riding home in the narrator's car, L.T. asks if his arrogance is to blame. L.T.'s wife eventually leaves him, saying she is going to her mother's house, but fails to arrive there. The narrator reveals that she has taken the dog with her, and her car was discovered abandoned on a deserted roadside in Nevada. The only thing found was her dog, axed to death. It's revealed that a serial killer is on the loose in the area, who kills women with an axe. L.T. still hopes she is alive, although this is unlikely. ===== Tim says that he is expecting a letter from his Uncle King Arthur. Bill points out that King Arthur is not Tim's uncle. Tim responds, "Okay, Arthur King", and goes on to point out that his uncle's name is King Arthur on his birth certificate, although admits that there is a comma between "King" and "Arthur". He insisted that the uncle does look "king-ish" and he does live at Camelot, not "Camelot" in Bill's sense, but "Camelot, 33 Acacia Road, Wessex. Graeme and Bill mock Tim about it, and Graeme asks Tim if his aunt is Queen Guinevere. Tim answers "No, of course she's not Queen Guinevere. She's Queen Doris". Tim's other relatives include his Uncle Sir Lancelot, and a parson (the Venerable Bede). Tim's Uncle King Arthur's heralds signal their arrival by blowing their trumpets, and deliver the letter to Tim by hand. Uncle King Arthur writes that he is having trouble with the local Town Planner and asks Tim to look after "Camelot" while he and the family are on holiday. He says that he will make Tim the Earl of Northumbria if Tim succeeds in keeping "Camelot" out of the Town Planner's hands. Then, the Town Planner arrives accompanied by two of his clerks (standover men), and asks the Goodies to sign a release for "Camelot" to be handed over to him (following which "Camelot" can be demolished and replaced by a super-highway). Graeme decides that they should fight for "Camelot". When the Goodies arrive at "Camelot", which is located in an ordinary suburban street, they are surprised to find that "Camelot" is indeed a real castle, complete with drawbridge and moat. Graeme, wandering around the castle, sees some notices on the wall: "An Englishman's castle is his home." and "You don't have to be mad to live here, but it helps", both of which he proceeds to rip off the wall. Bill walks into the room dressed in medieval clothes, while Tim arrives dressed as a jester and immediately begins to tell jester jokes. Tim and Bill say "Once a Knight, always a knight, twice a night, and you're doing all right!" followed by Tim and Bill singing (and dancing) a duet of the Morecambe and Wise song "Bring Me Sunshine". Graeme is determined to keep "Camelot" safe, and he decides to open the castle to the public to help with its financial upkeep. He sings: "Roll up, roll up to Camelot in 1973, and tour the Middle Ages for only 50p". The Town Planner then arrives at "Camelot", and Bill signs over the castle to him, saying that Tim's uncle and aunt would like a "two up, two down". Graeme is horrified at what Bill has done and says that Bill should not have sold the castle. Graeme refuses to hand the castle over to the Town Planner, saying that everyone who comes to the castle has to be dressed in medieval clothes. The Town Planner says that he will be back and will take over the castle by vacant possession. Graeme says that they do not intend to leave the castle. However, a fire-breathing dragon and a woman's scream succeed in making the Goodies do so. While they are outside rescuing the 'damsel in distress' from the dragon, the Town Planner returns (dressed as the Black Knight in a suit of medieval armour) to take over the vacant castle, sending the Goodies to the torture chamber to force their consent, but fails. To regain the castle, the Goodies fight the Town Planner and his clerks in archery, swordsmanship and jousting (with the Goodies riding their trandem instead of a horse). The Goodies and their adversaries also fight other medieval contests, and the Goodies end up winning the battle, so they are able to hold on to the castle for Tim's relatives. King Arthur and Queen Doris and their family then return from their holiday and everything returns to normal at "Camelot". ===== The short story details two astronomers caught outside their base on the Moon as a battle rages between the forces of Earth and the Federation of the outer planets of the Solar System over possession of the Moon's supply of uranium. It differs dramatically from the novel in chronology - the story is set in c. 2015, while the novel is c. 2175. In most other respects the plot of the short story is retained by the novel. ===== Dr. Robert "Rack" Hansen, a veterinarian in rural Verde Valley, Arizona, receives an urgent call from a local farmer, Walter Colby. Colby is upset because his prize calf is sick for no apparent reason. The animal is brought in to Hansen's laboratory. Hansen examines the calf, which dies shortly afterward. Hansen tells Colby he cannot explain what made the animal so ill so quickly, but takes samples of the calf's blood to a university lab in Flagstaff. Diane Ashley, an arachnologist, arrives looking for Hansen, Ashley tells Hansen that the calf was killed by a massive dose of spider venom, which Hansen greets with skepticism and disbelief. Undaunted, Ashley tells him the problem is serious and that she wishes to examine the animal's carcass and the area where it became sick. Hansen escorts Ashley to Colby's farm. Moments after they arrive, Colby's wife, Birch, discovers their dog is dead, Ashley tests the dog's carcass and concludes that it also died from a massive injection of spider venom, Hansen is incredulous, until Colby states that he recently found a massive "spider hill" on a back section of his farmland. He takes Hansen and Ashley to the hill, which is covered with tarantulas. Ashley theorizes that the tarantulas are converging due to the heavy use of pesticides, which are eradicating their natural food supply. In order to survive, the spiders, normally cannibalistic to each other, are combining to attack and eat larger animals. Hansen and Ashley return to the Colby farm to burn the spider hill. As the scientists and the Colbys walk past a barn, a bull stampedes out, also being attacked by tarantulas. Ashley notes that the spiders likely will not be afraid to attack people. Colby douses the spider hill with gasoline and lights it on fire, but many of the spiders escape using a distant tunnel. Colby is attacked by a group of tarantulas while driving his truck the next day, sending the truck over the side of a hill and killing him. Hansen happens upon the accident scene and helps the sheriff, Gene Smith, examine the wreckage. Colby's body is found encased in spider webs. Ashley is notified by her colleagues that a sample of venom from one of the spiders is five times more toxic than normal. Hansen is told by the sheriff that several more spider hills have been located on Colby's property. Hansen, Ashley and the sheriff examine the hills along with the mayor of Camp Verde, who orders the sheriff to spray the hills and the surrounding countryside with a pesticide. Ashley protests, arguing that pesticide caused the problem to begin with and that the town would be better off using birds and rats (tarantulas' enemies in nature) to eradicate them. The mayor dismisses the idea, fearing that having a large number of spiders and rats would scare away patrons of the county fair. A crop duster is enlisted to spray the pesticide; but once airborne, the pilot is attacked by tarantulas, causing him to crash the plane and perish before he can disperse the spray. The spiders begin assaulting local residents, killing Birch and Hansen's sister-in-law, Terri. Hansen arrives at their home and rescues Terri's daughter, Linda. Hansen, Ashley and Linda take refuge in the Washburn Lodge. They consult with the sheriff, who tells them the spiders are everywhere and Camp Verde is cut off. Officer Smith drives into town, while Hansen and the other survivors at the lodge plan to load up an RV and escape. However, the spiders have them trapped in the lodge and they barricade themselves inside. Smith arrives at Camp Verde and finds the town under siege by the spiders. Smith is killed when another car crashes into a support post under the town's water tower, causing it to fall on his vehicle. At the lodge, the power goes out, and Hansen is forced to venture into the lodge's basement to change a blown fuse, he succeeds, but is besieged by spiders who break through one of the basement windows. He makes it upstairs just in time to be saved by Ashley. The next day, the survivors rig up a radio receiver and listen for news of the attacks. To their surprise, the radio broadcast does not mention the attack; the outside world is oblivious to what happened. Hansen pries off the boards from one of the lodge's windows, and discovers the building along with the entire town of Camp Verde encased in spider silk cocoons. ===== Arjun (Jayam Ravi), an unemployed youngster, and Deva (Rahul Dev), a powerful don, both fall in love with Sailaja (Shriya), a middle-class beauty, at the same time on a rainy day at a railway station. Arjun keeps bumping into Sailaja coincidentally every time it rains. This makes them both feel that it is the rain that keeps bringing them together, and they start to fall in love. Deva takes the backdoor route to get Sailaja, with the help of her good-for- nothing father Sundaramoorthy (Kalabhavan Mani). After learning of Arjun and Sailaja's love, Deva and Sundaramoorthy work up devious plans to break them up. They soon succeed in creating a rift between the two lovers. Though Arjun realizes what is really happening, Sailaja falls prey to Deva and her father's foils. The young lovers part ways; Sailaja becomes a leading lady in the movies, and Arjun works with his uncle (Rajesh) in a quarry as a demolition expert. Deva is cheated out of some money by Sundaramoorthy, and he finds out where Sailaja lives and kidnaps her. Sundaramoorthy realizes that the only person who is daring enough and cares enough to get his daughter back is Arjun and goes to him with his pleas. It takes much convincing, but Arjun decides to rescue Sailaja but for reasons other than love. At this point, Sailaja begins to realize that her father lied to her and tries to get back with Arjun, but he refuses because she did not trust him. Sailaja convinces Arjun that it was not her fault, and they both start loving again. The climax is a heroic fight between Arjun and Deva, in which Arjun is the victor. In the end, Arjun unites with Shailaja. ===== Shiva and Vishnu (both played by Ajith Kumar) are identical twins. Shiva, the elder one, is a bus conductor, while Vishnu, the younger one, has a mild intellectual disability. Shiva overhears his parents' plot to kill Vishnu. He runs away to another city with Vishnu and strives hard to look after him. A 'dada' Sundaramoorthy (FEFSI Vijayan), who runs a beggar trade, beats Vishnu brutally, and Vishnu becomes handicapped for life. Shiva leaves Vishnu in a home run by a social worker Lalitha (Sujatha). During the day, Shiva works as a bus conductor, and at the same time, poses as Vishnu: to play Robin Hood and steal from the rich and corrupt. A gang including Thangam (Meena), Mani(Ramesh Khanna), and others assist him in these operations. He is never suspected, and so, with the stolen money, he takes care of not only Vishnu, but also 800 people in other institutions for the physically handicapped. A college student Lavanya (Kiran Rathod) falls in love with Shiva, but he later comes to know she is Sundaramoorthy's sister-in-law. Matters worsen when Sundaramoorthy becomes the chairman of the institute for the physically disabled. How Shiva deals with the situation forms the rest of the story. Meanwhile, Thangam is in love with Shiva, though he does not know this. Later she gives up her love and lets Lavanya marry Shiva. At last, Shiva marries Lavanya and Thangam marries Vishnu. ===== Although the plot was slightly changed from that of the original story, the basis remained similar. Set in a small village in the Tuscany district in Italy, the story starts with a poor old carpenter named Geppetto, who lives alone. One day, Geppetto finds a mysterious wooden log, from which, he carves a marionette which comes to life and becomes the child he never had. Geppetto decides to call him "Pinocchio". Later on, Geppetto convinces Pinocchio to start going to the local school. Pinocchio sets out towards the school, but on his way, he meets the Fox (who is pretending to be limping) and the Cat (who is pretending to be blind) who manage to persuade him to join them in a walk to the theater to watch a puppet show. Pinocchio decides to join the puppet theater in order to save up money, which he would be able to give to the poor Geppetto. Pinocchio performs in the theater in different cities and, after he manages to save enough gold coins, he decides to escape from the theater and return home with the gold coins he earned. On the way home, Pinocchio meets the fox and the cat again, who have decided to trick Pinocchio. They tell him that if he plants the coins in the fields of wonder, they would rapidly grow into a large tree which would produce thousands of new golden coins. Pinocchio doesn't understand that they are trying to trick him, even though Pinocchio's companion, Bella the duckling, tries to warn him. Pinocchio, who believes their lies, follows the fox and the cat towards the fields of wonder. They stop at an inn, where the cat and fox eat a full meal on Pinocchio’s expense. During the night, the inn keeper wakens Pinocchio, notifying him that the fox and cat had to leave urgently, but they would meet Pinocchio at the fields of wonder. Pinocchio sets out immediately towards the fields of wonder. When he passes through the forest, the fox and cat, who are dressed up as robbers, surprise attack him and try to rob Pinocchio. Pinocchio manages to run away into the forest. While running into the forest, Pinocchio meets the fairy with turquoise hair. Later on, the cat and the fox (who are still in disguise) manage to seize Pinocchio, and they hang him on a tree in order to retrieve the golden coins. Pinocchio holds on to the golden coins and, eventually, the fox and the cat decide to leave him hanging on the tree. The fairy with turquoise hair appears later on and rescues Pinocchio. After Pinocchio continues his journey towards his home, along the way, he meets the Fox and the cat yet again (although he doesn't know that they were the robbers who tried to steal his golden coins). They remind Pinocchio about the fields of wonder, and he agrees to follow them once again in order to plant the golden coins. When they reach the fields of wonder, Pinocchio plants the golden coins in the soil, and while he goes to get water, the fox and the cat dig up the golden coins and quickly disappear. After Pinocchio discovers that he was a victim of fraud, he goes back to Geppetto. Later on, Pinocchio, The fox and the cat, and several children join a wanderer, who leads them towards the land of toys, which consists of amusement facilities and as much candy as they desire. The next morning Pinocchio and his friends wake up and discover that they have transformed into donkeys during the night- the real reason for which they were initially brought to the land of toys by the wanderer. The donkeys are later on taken to the market and sold by the wanderer to a circus. Only after Pinocchio understands that the curse would be removed only after he would change his ways and would start doing good deeds, does he decide to change his ways. After Pinocchio manages to save the circus from burning in a big fire, he transforms back to his former-self. Later on, Geppetto is tricked by the fox and the cat and, therefore, he sets out to search for Pinocchio in the ocean. After Pinocchio discovers that, he decides to search for Geppetto. While searching for Geppetto out in the ocean, Pinocchio gets swallowed by a whale. In the whale's stomach, he meets Geppetto (who had also been swallowed by the whale). Pinocchio manages to find the courage and wisdom needed to get himself and Geppetto out of the whale’s stomach safely. Eventually, as a token to Pinocchio's good deeds, the fairy with turquoise hair decides to transform Pinocchio into a real boy. ===== Dr. Henry Jekyll's wife, Kitty, is secretly involved with his friend Paul Allen (who hounds money from Jekyll). Ignoring the warnings of his colleague and friend Dr. Ernst Littauer, the middle-aged, mild-mannered Jekyll concocts a chemical potion which he hopes will help him learn the depths of the human mind. By testing the potion on himself, he transforms into Mr. Edward Hyde, a young and handsome, but also murderous and lecherous man. Soon, Hyde becomes bored with conventional debauchery and when he sets his eyes on Kitty, he decides he must have her. When Kitty rejects him, Hyde rapes her and leaves her unconscious. When Kitty wakes up in the bed, she immediately notices that Hyde has scratched her neck in various places. Distressed, Kitty walks over to the table, where she finds a note written to her. When Kitty goes into the other room looking for Paul, she looks in to find out that her lover has been bitten by a venomous snake. To Kitty's misfortune, Paul is dead. Kitty walks over to the patio, puts her leg over the balcony, covers her ears in response to the loud music playing from the party and allows herself to fall off the balcony and through the glass roof covering the party guests. Hyde frames his other self for these crimes. The next day, Jekyll is horrified to learn of what Hyde has done. After speaking to his other half via a mirror, Jekyll turns uncontrollably into Hyde. Hyde then kills a man in Jekyll's laboratory by shooting him in the back and sets his body up on a desk. Hyde then sets fire to the laboratory as police arrive. Via a window, Hyde pretends that Jekyll is trying to kill him as the building burns. After escaping the building, Hyde claims Jekyll tried to kill Hyde and ended up shooting himself due to madness as the innocent man and Jekyll's laboratory burns. A few hours later, Hyde is summoned to the police station where he and some officers discuss the crime. After declaring Dr. Jekyll responsible for the crimes, Hyde tries to leave the building, but at the last minute Jekyll fights him from the inside and takes over again. As Dr. Jekyll sits on a bench, looking as sickly as ever, he is surrounded by astonished people and arrested for his alleged crimes. ===== Sachein (Vijay), a carefree and happy going guy joins a college in Ooty and falls for Shalini (Genelia) immediately on seeing her in first sight. Shalini studies in the same college as Sachein and is considered a popular and beautiful student, while also being a short tempered and arrogant girl with an upper-middle class status. Sachein comes to know all of this information about her from Arnold aka Ayyasamy (Vadivelu), who is a guy that studies in the college for about nine years and keeps studying there because he thinks that students should give their respect to their college professors, while also informing Sachein, that there are so many boys trying to impress her. This makes Sachein take a different route and he starts mocking Shalini in front of her, which irritates her. Slowly, they both become good friends, after Sachein saved her father in a bike accident. Santhanam (Santhanam), who is another student in the college also loves Shalini. But, he feels jealous seeing her and Sachein being good friends and decides to separate them. Santhanam writes in one of the walls of the college, that Sachein loves Shalini and this angers Shalini, as she misunderstands that Sachein has done it. Shalini shouts at Sachein, but Sachein informs Shalini, that he is so outspoken and does not want to write in the college wall to convey his love, which makes Shalini realize her mistake. But to her surprise, Sachein informs that, although he has not written it, but the content present on the wall is true which means that he is in love with Shalini. This again angers Shalini and she shouts at him that she considered him only as a good friend and that she wasn't in love with him. Later, Shalini overhears Sachein challenging Santhanam that Shalini will convey her love within the next thirty days, as their college years will be completed by then. Shalini challenges Sachein that she will never fall in love with him. Manju (Bipasha Basu) is also from the same college and she likes Sachein. Shalini gets jealous when she spots Sachein and Manju together often. But Manju informs Shalini that Sachein loves Shalini so much and asks her not to hide her feelings, as it is very evident that Shalini too likes Sachein. This makes Shalini realize her love towards Sachein. Sachein comes to know that Shalini’s parents have arranged a wedding for her and he meets Shalini on the last day of their college and says that he has lost the challenge and he will be leaving Ooty tomorrow. But Shalini hides her feelings towards Sachein and she plans to propose her love the next day as she wants to win the challenge by not conveying her love within the 30 days. On the 31st day, Shalini is excited and goes to propose Sachein. But suddenly, she meets Gowtham (Raghuvaran) on the way, who is Sachein’s father. Gowtham is a billionaire, in which this fact makes the entire college be surprised that Sachein is the only son of a rich business tycoon, as Sachein always stays very simple and down to earth. Now Shalini feels bad, that if she proposes her love towards Sachein at this moment, then he might misunderstand that she decided to marry him after knowing that he is so rich and decides to stay calm. Sachein leaves to the Coimbatore International Airport in Coimbatore and Shalini also follows him. In the airport, Shalini could not control her emotions and proposes to Sachein. She also revealed that it is her ego that didn’t let her convey her love during the last thirty days. Sachein feels so happy and the couple are united. ===== One Day in Europe consists of four stories about communication misunderstanding which take place on a single day in four cities (Berlin, Istanbul, Moscow and Santiago de Compostela). The Champions League match between Galatasaray and Deportivo La Coruña which takes place in Moscow on that particular day only worsens the problem. The movie shows how four tourists in four places interact with the local police after being robbed or staging a robbery with the intent to collect a police report to be used to claim insurance. The football match actually plays a silent role in the movie showing how the policemen are engrossed in the game and care little for the loss of the tourist. ===== Barton Royal is an overweight man in his 40s who is obsessed with boys. He lives in Los Angeles but travels out of state to find and abduct a suitable young boy so he can be his "father". When he spots 12-year-old Billy Neary in an Iowa shopping mall, he follows the boy home, abducts him late that night, and drives back to California with Billy strapped into the back of his Aerostar minivan. The narrative includes glimpses of Barton's miserable childhood, especially the physical and sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and his recollections of what he has done to other boys before Billy. Billy tries to escape and also manages to make a few telephone calls, both on the road to and from Barton's home. Barton's behaviour switches between extreme violence and interludes of self-delusion. Billy finds his way into Barton's dungeon, his "black room", and discovers the remains of many other young boys. Billy's father beats the police to Billy's location, just barely preventing Barton from torturing and killing him. ===== The story revolves around Chinna (Suriya), a village youth who receives sympathy because he is a hunchback and is lauded for selfless service to others. He covers up his handicap with humor. Unmindful of his looks, Chinna goes around looking for a suitable bride with the help of his friend Kuzhandhaisamy (Vivek). Brushing aside many insults hurled at him, he carries on. In contrast is Karthik (also Surya), a violent college student who madly loves his classmate Priya (Jyothika). She meets Chinna, who assures her that she would get her married to the man of her dreams. However, she is killed in a fracas involving Varadhan (Bobby), a gangster, where she was hit and kicked brutally as Varadhan wanted to take revenge against Priya's father DCP Nair (Devan), who arrested him. Karthik and Chinna saw this, but Varadhan told him that he will get killed if he tells anyone what he saw. Karthik is framed as Priya's killer and gets arrested, but Chinna pleads Nair and tells the truth behind Priya's murder. Meanwhile, Chinna comes across an orphaned, poor, blind girl Shenbagam (Jyothika). He wins over her heart by helping her out when her brother (Thalaivasal Vijay) died. After his efforts, she gains her vision (Priya's eyes are transplanted to her). This results in a tussle between Chinna and Karthik as to whom Shenbagam now belongs. However, fearing his looks, Chinna decides to give way to Karthik and ends up staying in a temple where Kuzhandhaiasamy finds him and brings him to Shenbagam. Shenbagam does not care of looks and accepts him. Before their marriage, Varadhan returns to avenge Chinna. Karthik remembers Priya and avenges her death by killing Varadhan. Karthik approves Chinna and Shenbagam's wedding before being sent to jail. The film ends with the couple spending their honeymoon in Ooty. ===== A woman named Leigh Michaels moves to Los Angeles, and finds a job directing live television. An older man sees her on the balcony of her new apartment, through a telescope. He enters her apartment when she's out, and begins to terrorize her with phone calls and strange gifts from a fictional company, "Excursions Unlimited". Michaels reports the harassment to the police, but because no threat has been expressed, they take no action. The gifts include a telescope, but Michaels does not understand she is being watched until the second half of the film. With the help of co-worker Sophie and boyfriend Paul Winkless, she attempts to take action against the voyeur. ===== After a young surveyor, Olda (Petr Forman), watches himself on television, and his colleagues Slezák (Bolek Polívka) steals his love interest Jitka (Tereza Pergnerová), he is suddenly completely without energy and ends up unconscious for three days. In hospital he meets Fišarek (Zdeněk Svěrák), a healer who is visiting his neighbour, Mikulík (Jiří Kodet). After leaving hospital he works on his energy problems with Fišarek, who shows him how to take energy from his surroundings, especially wood. When Mikulík dies, they go to inspect his body. They are interrupted by his daughter Anna (Edita Brychta), who displays antagonism towards Fišarek. Fišarek continues his tests on Olda, with some other healers. They witness a teacher on television, struggling to express himself, as Olda did. We then witness an alternate universe in which alternate versions of people on television party raucously using energy sucked from their real world counterparts. Back in the real world Olda visits Anna at work and they go for coffee together. Despite meeting a drunken Slezák in the cafe, they click, and Olda drives Anna home. They admit their feelings for each other, and progress to the bedroom to make love. However, Olda accidentally turns the television on, and his energy is again sucked from him, at which point he realises the truth. When he visits Fišarek to tell him, he meets the teacher from the television, who has reached the same conclusion. The teacher heads to the High Tatras to escape televisions, while Olda stays in Prague to be near Anna. The teacher comes into contact with a television even in the High Tatras and appeals to Fišarek for help, who joins him. The next time he is at Anna's, Olda suggests marriage, but then discovers that she has a daughter. She tells him to meet her at the opera the next day if he wants to keep seeing her. In the meantime he buys several remote controls as protection. Back at his flat he meets Jitka, who complains about Slezák and propositions him. He rejects her and goes to meet Anna at the opera (Nabucco), where he has trouble staying in his seat due to fluctuating energy levels. After the opera they drive back to Anna's, with Olda struggling to avoid televisions on the way. During a power cut that evening, Olda formulates a plan to overcome his condition by flooding the television with energy. The next day Olda collects as much energy as he can from his surroundings. In the evening Anna and Olda go to her work party, but Olda is preoccupied. Eventually he leaves to carry out his plan. He is interrupted by Slezák, who is looking for Jitka. Olda continues undeterred and on a bridge near his house, uses a stockpile of wood in his flat to overwhelm the television set with energy. When the dust settles his television alter-ego has appeared; they embrace and merge. Slezák, who had broken into Olda's flat by the time of the explosion, is arrested. The next morning Olda phones Anna to apologise and it is presumed that their relationship will proceed normally. ===== N. Pugazhendi aka Pugzeh (Arjun) is a news reporter working for QTV in Chennai. One day, a riot occurs between the students and the bus drivers in the city following a communal clash which disrupts normal life. The Chief Minister (CM) of the state, Aranganathar (Raghuvaran), informs the police over wireless not to arrest the protesters as they belong to his community and political party. The conversation is recorded by Pugazh in his video camera. Pugazh meets a village girl named Thenmozhi (Manisha Koirala) and falls in love with her. However, her father (Vijayakumar) does not accept the marriage proposal as he wants to get Thenmozhi married only to a government employee. One day, QTV arranges for a live interview with Aranganathar and the anchor in charge does not turn up at the last moment. Pugazh is thrilled and excited as he gets the opportunity to interview the CM. During the course of the interview, Pugazh unmasks many events done by Aranganathar and his party against the welfare of the state, for political reasons with necessary evidences, and he also blames Aranganathar for not taking action while at the riot by evidencing his recorded video taken at the time of the riot. Aranganathar justifies his indifferent stands and challenges Pugazh to accept his post for a day so that he will realize the pressures faced on a daily basis. Pugazh, after a brief trepidation, accepts the challenge provided the constitution permits. Lawmakers confirm that such a provision is possible, and Pugazh is sworn in as the CM for 24 hours. To everyone's surprise, Pugazh does not prefer speaking to the waiting media crew, but he gets into action immediately by collecting a list of irresponsible civil servants and issuing suspension letters immediately. He helps poor people rightfully reclaim houses allotted by the government and requests every Indian citizen to pay all required taxes even if it is for a day, highlighting the effects of avoiding the same. Mayakrishnan (Manivannan), an honest official, is the government secretary and helps Pugazh through his one-day mission. Finally, Pugazh digs a case of corruption against the ruling party leading to the arrest of Aranganathar. The next day, Aranganathar retains as the CM and cancels all orders issued from the previous day. Taking Pugazh's success as his defeat and a demean to his long-standing political career, he plans to take revenge and sends goons to kill Pugazh, who escapes with heavy injuries. Aranganathar's image is tarnished before the public, and the coalition parties withdraw their support, resulting in dissolving the government and leading to another election. A huge crowd gathers in front of Pugazh's house, requesting him to contest in the upcoming election. Other political parties also come forward to offer their support for their own reasons. However, Pugazh is not for it as he wants to have a safe and secure life. Thenmozhi's father advises him not to go in politics, while accepting him to marry Thenmozhi. Mayakrishnan makes him understand how much the people have gathered themselves and shows the plight of people and advises him to sacrifice his comfort zone for the sake of achieving heights in the politics and doing good for the people. Finally, Pugazh accepts to it and contests in the ensuing election and wins by the vast majority of voters ever in the political history of Tamil Nadu. After assuming the office, Pugazh is keen in the state development and gets busy in his schedule of doing welfare to the people, while Aranganathar and other politicians unite as they are worried by the change of events. They hire a hitman to get Pugazh killed, but he escapes with the help of the Z Cadre security guard officials, who shoot the hitman to death. A bomb planted in Pugazh's house to kill Pugazh, instead claims the lives of his parents. Pugazh, on knowing that Aranganathar is behind this, gets enraged and challenges the latter that the law will not spare him. Aranganathar plans to create a havoc in the rule of Pugazh, and hence, he has his men plant bombs across Chennai. Pugazh and Mayakrishnan get to know of this by a tactful inquiry of Chinnasamy (Cochin Haneefa), who is Aranganathar's right-hand henchman. The bomb squad diffuses all the bombs except one. Aranganathar blames Pugazh to be the man behind the entire episode and claims it as a ploy to win public support. Pugazh realizes that he will be prevented from performing his duties and invites Aranganathar to his office. As their conversation progresses, Pugazh pulls out a gun and shoots himself without causing any major injuries. He throws the gun to Aranganathar who catches it out of his reflexes. At the same time, the security guards officials rush in upon hearing gunfire and see Aranganathar pointing the gun at Pugazh. The security guards officials then shoot and kill Aranganathar to save Pugazh. Pugazh feels glad that he can continue his mission without being interrupted, but he also feels guilty for having staged a false incident to kill Aranganathar. He confesses to Mayakrishnan that even he has been forced to play the game of politics. Mayakrishnan supports him by consoling that he played the politics only for a good cause and that Aranganathar deserves this. Thenmozhi's father realizes the greatness of Pugazhendhi and consents to the marriage. The movie ends showing Tamil Nadu as a developed state under the rule of Pugazh with world class infrastructures and free of violence. ===== ;Part one The episode begins showing TV news footage of Sabretooth attacking police forces, indicating a time of unrest between mutants and humans. Jubilee's foster parents register her under the Mutant Registration Act, apparently designed to support mutants. Later, The Sentinels attempt to apprehend Jubilee at a mall. However, the Sentinels are stopped by a group of X-Men who were coincidentally shopping at the time. Jubilee wakes up, confused, at the X-Mansion. Storm explains to Jubilee that the purpose of the X-Men is to fight for peaceful existence between humans and mutants. Whilst the X-Men are briefed on the incident at the mall, Jubilee leaves the mansion to visit her foster parents. There, she is ambushed and captured by the Sentinels. Before she passes out, Jubilee sees Henry Peter Gyrich, who is alongside the Sentinels. The X-Men discover that the group running the Mutant Registration Program intend to track down and eliminate mutants. Storm is assigned to lead Beast, Morph, and Wolverine into the Mutant Control Agency headquarters to destroy the registration files. The four mutants break in, while Cyclops, Gambit, and Rogue observe from the outside. ;Part two Wolverine smells the soldiers' gun oil and quickly closes the door before the soldiers have chance to fire. Storm enters and sweeps the guards away with her wind power. Meanwhile, Jubilee is interrogated at the base of Gyrich and Bolivar Trask. Gyrich hears of the attack at the Agency and orders his men to destroy the mutants. After destroying the files on mutants, the X-Men escape to the Blackbird but are confronted by the Sentinels. During the confrontation with the Sentinels, Morph is shot and presumed dead. Beast gets blasted against the fence, electrocuted, and ultimately captured. The rest of the group retreat to the Blackbird on Cyclops' command, though Rogue is forced to render Wolverine unconscious with her absorption powers before he could defy Cyclops' orders and fight a hopeless battle. Meanwhile, shown on TV, the President of the United States claims that several mutants attacked the Mutant Control Agency and that there will be a counter-offense. But after meeting with Gyrich, the President decides to cancel the Mutant Control Registration. Later that night, after a talk with Wolverine in a bar, Cyclops visits Jubilee's foster parents' home. Her foster father calls Gyrich to inform him of Cyclops' presence. Gyrich sends some Sentinels, but later the father regrets his decision when his wife tells him that Jubilee is suspected to have been kidnapped by the Sentinels. Subsequently, he tells Cyclops everything. Cyclops leaves, but is attacked by a Sentinel. Cyclops purposely blasts off the Sentinels' arm, so it can escape with the Blackbird following it back to its home base. Landing clumsily, the wounded Sentinel damages the electrical box and electricity is released on the base. Jubilee manages to escape her bonds, but she is cornered by the Sentinels which are quickly defeated by Cyclops. While the X-Men attack the base, Gyrich and Trask try to escape. After the Sentinels are defeated and Jubilee rescued, Jubilee decides that it's best to stay at the Mansion and waves goodbye to her foster parents, heading for a new future. ===== The novel is a satire consisting almost entirely of dialogue and mocking most of the important figures then at Oxford University, with regards to aestheticism and Hellenism. ===== Ten years after the events of Toshinden 3, Eiji Shinjo, who is now the new leader of an organization called the "Gerard Foundation", has organized a fourth Toshinden tournament which revolves around the gathering of four holy weapons that can be used to either save the world or destroy it. Eiji's old enemy, Vermilion, is after the four holy weapons for his own malevolent ambition and that many fighters from within the tournament, including Eiji's own nephew Subaru, will find themselves getting caught from within the conflict itself. Can Eiji stop Vermilion before it's too late? A plot point introduced in this game focused on the Four Sacred Arms. Though seen in full since Battle Arena Toshinden 2, their relevance was never previously brought up. Each weapon bears a reference to one of the Chinese cardinal beasts, Byakko, Suzaku, Seiryu and Genbu. The weapons also seem to change appearance depending on the user. While the Byakko no tachi (White Tiger Fang) is usually seen as a rather plain katana, the Seiryuu no yari (Azure Dragon Spear) was a long leaf tipped spear while held by Mondo, yet altered to an ornate golden rod in the hands of Eos. As a purely cosmetic addition, when using a certain attack, an image of the beast associated with the weapon will display in the background. Plotwise, it was said that when all four weapons were gathered together, they would bestow tremendous power on a person. Most characters in the game have their endings based around uniting the weapons and receiving the power of them. In some endings, they use this power to speak to a parent or loved one. However, Eiji's ending reveals the true nature of the power behind the weapons: It is the "Toshin", or god of fighting. ===== Byron Bay, 1962. On the second last day before the whaling station is closed down for good, Flinch, the young spotter, is involved in a terrible accident. Over a decade later, Flinch has become a recluse, unable to move on from that fatal moment. The Bay, too, seems stalled in its bloody past, the land and the ocean on which it was founded now barren and unyielding. It is only after crossing paths with Karma, a girl living in one of the hinterland's first hippie communes, that Flinch gradually and reluctantly embarks upon a path towards healing, coming to terms with his past, present and future. ===== Off Beat's story begins with Tory's first encounter with Colin. While out running errands, he catches Colin and Dr. Garrets as they move in across the street. Almost a year later, Tory convinces his mother to pull him from public school and send him to St. Peter's, where he expects to be more academically challenged. This is, however, merely an orchestration to get closer to Colin, who also happens to attend the same institution. While Tory generally has an over-active imagination, Colin truly has secrets to conceal. After bribing Paul into tracking down a license plate number for him, Tory discovers that Colin and his guardian are somehow connected to something known as the "Gaia Project," which may or may not be responsible for episodes of sickness that the boy experiences. Behind the guise of a student council member, Tory offers peer tutoring sessions to students whose conduct is below what is considered acceptable, thereby dragging Colin into his scheme along with his newfound friend, Mandy. As their study sessions grow more frequent, Colin starts to treat Tory more like a friend. The boys pursue private outings, but their closeness indirectly results in Tory running into trouble with his mother, Paul, and Mandy, though they are ultimately reconciled when Tory admits to errors on his part. Paul's hard drive is mysteriously hacked, but key bits of information concerning the Gaia Project manage to be salvaged. In order to investigate just how much he has unearthed about the Project, Colin steals one of Tory's journals while dining at the Blake household. Puzzled as to why he is drawn to Tory, Colin attempts to determine whether or not Tory has "attunement" after collapsing in a café, then proceeds to voice his own suspicions regarding the other's intentions in returning his journal. Volume 2 ends with Colin hitting Tory after Tory insists on working with him on the project. Colin's slap turns out to be a "time out" moment for the two and both boys go up to Colin's apartment. Colin is amazed at how his cats react so positively to Tory and the two boys start talking. At one point, Tory begins to see Colin in a new light and misspeaks, practically spilling the beans about feelings that, up until then, were not clear to him. Tory leaves frustrated and Colin has an idea about Tory's true intentions at this point. A steamy dream seals the deal for Tory and his feelings towards Colin are in focus... just in time for Colin to up and disappear with his guardian. A few weeks pass and Tory, now more curious, decides to see the newly available apartment with a real estate agent. He finds a plant left behind and starts to care for it. He also starts feeding Colin's cats who were left behind as well. Two days before Christmas, late in the afternoon, Colin comes back for his plant and is surprised to find it at Tory's. The boys, still unsure how to deal with all the discovery decide to try something... a kiss... Tory is most interested in contact information from Colin but Colin is not forthcoming, with the exception of a package of plant food labeled "Grow-Pak" and a hint about a new backer for the project. Colin leaves, telling Tory not to be bored, a subtle suggestion that Colin wants Tory to figure out where he's going. As Colin drives away, Tory is broken hearted, but starts to put the clues together in his journal to try to find out about "Grow-Pak" and where Colin went. In the epilogue, we see Tory a few years older starting a job at "Grow-Pak". The reader is then treated to what seems like the first meeting between Colin and Tory since the day they kissed. The book leaves us with an ambiguous "The End... ?" to let the reader decide how their relationship continues. ===== A chart depicting the genealogy of the Jermyn family in the story. The story begins by describing the ancestors of Sir Arthur Jermyn, a British nobleman. His great-great-great-grandfather, Sir Wade Jermyn, had been an early explorer of the Congo region, whose books on a mysterious white civilization there had been ridiculed. He had been confined to an asylum in 1765. Lovecraft describes how the Jermyn family has a peculiar physical appearance that began to appear in the children of Wade Jermyn and his mysterious and reclusive wife, who Wade claimed was Portuguese. Wade's son, Philip Jermyn, was a sailor who joined the navy after fathering his son, and disappeared from his ship one night as it lay off the Congo coast. Philip's son, Robert Jermyn, was a scientist who made two expeditions into the interior of Africa. He married a daughter of the (fictional) 7th Viscount Brightholme and fathered three children, two of which suffered from severe disabilities, but the middle one of whom, Nevil Jermyn, had a son, Alfred, who was Arthur Jermyn's father. In 1852, Robert Jermyn met with an explorer, Samuel Seaton, who described "a grey city of white apes ruled by a white god". Robert killed the explorer after hearing this, as well as all three of his children. Nevil Jermyn managed to save his son, Alfred, before his death. Robert was put in an asylum and, after two years, died there. Alfred Jermyn grew up to inherit his grandfather's title, but abandoned his wife and child to join a circus, where he became fascinated with a gorilla "of lighter colour than the average". He became its trainer, but was killed in Chicago after an incident in which he attacked the gorilla and the latter fought back. Arthur Jermyn inherited the family possessions, and moved into Jermyn House with his mother. Arthur Jermyn is described as having a very unusual appearance, and supposedly the strangest in the line descended from Sir Wade Jermyn. Arthur became a scholar, eventually visiting the Belgian Congo on a research expedition, where he heard tales of a stone city of white apes and the stuffed body of a white ape goddess, which had since gone missing. Returning to a trading post, Arthur talks to a Belgian agent who offers to both obtain and ship the goddess's body to him. Arthur accepts his offer, and returns to England. After a period of several months, the body arrives at Jermyn House. Arthur begins his examination of the mummy, only to run screaming from the room, and later commit suicide by dousing himself in oil and setting himself alight. Lovecraft then describes the contents of the stuffed goddess's coffin—the ape goddess has a golden locket around her neck with the Jermyn arms on it, and bears a striking resemblance to Arthur Jermyn. It is clear that Wade Jermyn's supposedly Portuguese wife was really the ape goddess, and all of his descendants were the product of their union. Arthur's remains are neither collected or buried, on account of this. The mummy is removed and burnt by the Royal Anthropological Institute. ===== When high school music teacher Michael McCann discovers his wife is pregnant by his best friend, he divorces her and retreats into a life of solitude as a maker of finely crafted furniture in rural Virginia. Five years later, his only companion is a valuable collection of gold coins. Tanny Newland, the unsavory younger brother of politician John Newland, crashes his brother's car in the woods surrounding Michael's house, seriously injuring the woman he is with. Afraid of being arrested for drunk driving, Tanny steals Michael's coins while he is sleeping, takes off into the night and is never seen again. Weeks later during a winter storm, Michael is startled to discover a toddler has wandered into his home while he was outside gathering wood. A short distance away he discovers the body of her mother, a heroin addict whose car had run out of gas nearby. Unbeknownst to him, the child is the maritally illegitimate daughter of John Newland, who participates in the investigation but keeps his relationship to the child a secret in order to protect his career. Michael is permitted to adopt the child and christens her Mathilda. She proves to be a bit of a handful in her early years, but with the help of friend and local shopkeeper April Simon, Michael manages to raise her to be a bright, personable, precocious young lady, and the once sour, lonely man is transformed by her presence. As John Newland watches his daughter grow older, he begins to invite her to join him and wife Nancy in their home. John arranges for her to learn to ride a horse, eventually giving her one of her own. Due to Nancy's two miscarriages and the couple's deep desire to have a child, Nancy insists on adoption. John finally reveals Mathilda's true identity and his desire to adopt her properly. Nancy encourages him to gain custody of the girl, and a trial ensues. Although the lawyer tries to manipulate the court and Mathilda herself to see that the Newlands are the better parents, Mathilda herself still refuses and honestly prefers Michael. The judge is inclined to side with the Newlands, given their wealth and ability to provide Mathilda with advantages she never would have with Michael. Then the remains of Tanny Newland - surrounded by the gold coins he stole from Michael - are found at the bottom of the quarry his brother was draining to create a lake surrounded by real estate he planned to sell. Michael's sudden return to wealth - and the judge's realization that Tanny was most likely killed by his brother - convinces him that Mathilda should remain with Michael. The film ends with Michael taking Mathilda to visit her late mother's grave, in a remote potter's cemetery. ===== Following a lecture on the gases the enemy will use, Captain Mainwaring reads a communiqué sent by GHQ, which says that there is insufficient communication between the ARP and the Home Guard, so the new Chief Warden is attending to discuss co- operation. Mainwaring is disgusted to learn from Wilson that the new Chief Warden is that 'common fellow' Mr Hodges. Mainwaring believes that Hodges' occupation (a greengrocer) doesn't entitle him to be Chief Warden. Wilson agrees by saying that he has dirty finger nails. When Hodges arrives, he and Mainwaring have a brief argument about who should get the church hall every Wednesday evening. Some time afterwards, Walker talks to Jones about his delivery van. He reckons that he should lend it to Mainwaring as platoon transport. Jones is suspicious, so Walker admits that it will help his black market activities, but offers Jones petrol coupons in return. Jones reluctantly agrees. The next day, Mainwaring congratulates Jones and Walker on their efforts with the van. Jones tells Mainwaring that it not only serves as a troop carrier and armoured car, but it also serves as an ambulance. Wilson demonstrates with some of the platoon to Mainwaring, their new embarking and disembarking strategy, which interrupts Hodges' ARP lecture. He demands to know the reason why, and is intrigued to learn that the van doubles up as an ambulance. He asks the men to come down to Saturday's air raid practice and act as stretcher-bearers for the ambulance. Mainwaring concludes the lecture by telling Jones and Walker that the van is being converted to gas. Jones and Walker reluctantly travel to the church hall with a giant gas-bag on the roof. Jones' bayonet accidentally punctures the gas supply pipe and Jones and Walker succumb to the gas. When they recover, they learn that the gas bag is nearly empty. They reach the church hall to find it empty except for Frazer, who tells them that everyone's already at the practice. Frazer decides the gas fire of the Vicar (the Reverend Timothy Farthing) can be used to refill the gas bag. The Vicar interrupts, but Frazer passes it off as filling the Vicar's gas fire. The trio arrive at the practice, and they prepare to load an old man onto the back of the van, but Jones has left the keys at his shop. They attempt to put the old man through the window of the van, while Jones 'borrows' an irate man's bike to fetch the keys. When he returns, they prepare to load the old man into the van, but it drives off before they can fully load him on. After two unsuccessful attempts, the old man gets up off the stretcher, declaring "I'll walk to the flippin' hospital!" ===== Upon being released from prison, Ricky (Ashley Walters) is collected by Wisdom, an eccentric and naive friend who is desperate to establish himself within their neighbourhood. Immediately after arriving back, Wisdom accidentally breaks a wing mirror off a car belonging to a local gang member. The following confrontation leads to Ricky pulling away Wisdom in an attempt to keep peace. Wisdom later returns a gun to Ricky, who stores it within his bedroom, which is shared with his younger brother Curtis who finds the weapon and hides it away for his brother himself. Wisdom hunts down the gang member, named Godfrey, for spreading word that he does not want to fight, and to get revenge shoots the Staffordshire bull terrier which Godfrey used to threaten Wisdom during the earlier altercation. As a result, Godfrey and his associate destroy Wisdom’s car with a baseball bat and drive past his home shouting that he is "dead." Knowing that Godfrey would soon kill him otherwise, Wisdom tries to kill Godfrey. However, he fails and is seen by Godfrey. As the two flee from here, Curtis accidentally shoots his friend Rio when Rio suggests they take the gun out and play with it. Their mother when she next sees Ricky, asks him to go home, pack his belongings and leave whilst they are at church to give Curtis a chance to avoid the gang lifestyle. Just before heading home, he goes to Wisdom’s house to get the money Wisdom told him to take before he left, only to find Wisdom dead, presumably at the hands of his rival, he leaves after sitting there for a long time thinking. As he packs his bags, he asks Curtis to go to the takeaway and get a kebab, and when Curtis returns, his brother has already left. As Ricky is waiting at the train station, mysterious hooded figures are appearing and closing in around Ricky. As Ricky is about to run away, Godfrey comes out and shoots him six times in the chest. His body is later identified, and the film ends with Curtis reclaiming the gun from where he hid it and throwing it into the river. ===== Respected anthropologist James Krippendorf (Richard Dreyfuss) and his wife, Jennifer (Barbara Williams), bring their three children along during their much-enjoyed search in New Guinea for a lost tribe. The search fails, despite the family's best efforts. After Jennifer's death back in the U.S., James falls into academic stagnation, having spent all his foundation grant money raising the children as a single parent. Scheduled to lecture at a college and fearful of being charged with misuse of grant funds, James concocts an imaginary tribe, the Shelmikedmu, using the names of his children as a basis. He later fakes a 16 mm "documentary" film, casting his children as tribe members and superimposing footage of a legitimate New Guinean tribe so as to enhance the illusion. Anthropologist Veronica Micelli (Jenna Elfman) contacts cable-TV producer Henry Spivey (David Ogden Stiers), forcing James to continue creating fraudulent footage as James' rival Ruth Allen (Lily Tomlin) becomes suspicious. Because he has described a culture unlike any other, Krippendorf's fraud becomes increasingly famous. James himself masquerades as a tribal elder, while his two sons, Mickey (Gregory Smith) and Edmund (Carl Michael Lindner), create and enact increasingly imaginative rituals. Only the eldest child, James' daughter Shelly, refuses to participate due to her disgust at the dishonesty perpetrated by her father. Taking advantage of her curiosity, James tricks Veronica into participating in his false documentary. When she discovers the truth, she is initially angry, but later helps James continue his fraud. Ruth Allen travels to New Guinea, discovering no tribe in the location specified by James. She transmits the news via fax to a colleague, who exposes James at a gala. James' imaginative son, Mickey, improvises a lie, that the Shelmikedmu hide by means of a magical ritual known only to them. Unknown to the majority of the characters, Shelly has contacted the New Guineans befriended by her family during the futile search for the lost tribe, urging them to masquerade as the Shelmikedmu in order to disappoint Ruth Allen. The ruse succeeds, and the accusation of fraud is abandoned. James, relieved of his worries, ends his fraud. Because Veronica has become sexually involved with him during her participation in his deceit, she assumes the role of a mother toward the children, though she is not explicitly said to marry James. ===== Sue and her younger brother Eddie are American tourists in London and after Eddie wants to visit Terror Tower, they join a tour of the castle. As the tour progresses, Sue notices that a man wearing black is following them as they move throughout the castle. The man in black, who also wears a cape, chases them and the children manage to escape. After going back to their hotel room, they find out that the suite is empty and that their parents are not in the hotel. They have trouble remembering their last name as well. After they leave the hotel's restaurant, the man in black blocks their path, and sends them to Medieval times with magical stones. Confused, alone and frightened, Eddie and Sue are once again stalked by the man in black and eventually find refuge in the home of a peasant woman who promises to keep them safe. However, this turns out to be a ruse, as the woman quickly betrays them and turns them over to the man in black, who is revealed to be the lord high executioner. Sue and Eddie are then taken back to Terror Tower to await execution. In the dungeon, the children meet Morgred, a sorcerer, who informs them that they are Susannah and Edward, heir to the throne and niece and nephew to the man in black. It is revealed that the man in black murdered their parents and was attempting to murder the children in order to claim the throne for himself. However, before he could succeed, Morgred sent the children into a distant future with new memories in hopes of saving them from their uncle. Fully aware of their identity, Sue and Eddie, along with Morgred, are led to their execution. After a brief standoff with the man in black, the children manage to break free and recover the magic stones allowing Morgred to, once again, send them into the future. Now in the present, they are part of the tour again. A bearded man, Morgred, joins the children and tells them to call him Mr. Morgan. ===== Lupin is forced to give up his life of crime when he discovers police computers are able to predict his every move. His retirement is short-lived when his colleague Jigen inherits the secret location of a stolen giant diamond called the "Super Egg", which is hidden in the Statue of Liberty; Lupin helps recover the diamond by stealing the entire Statue. Meanwhile, Goemon becomes bodyguard to a beautiful woman who is on the run from The Three Masons, a sinister secret society which is also seeking the Super Egg. ===== George applies for an interview with Kruger Industrial Smoothing and gets the job, but notices a picture of Kruger (Daniel von Bargen) and his family at the beach with a not-so-bald George in the background in Kruger's office. Later George tells Kramer and Jerry at Monk's Café about the "boombox incident" that occurred in the summer of 1989: George was at the beach and a family sat down next to him. After returning from swimming in the surf, George found all his things gone. After screaming at the kids, he became so angry he threw their boombox into the ocean. Moments later, he found his things in the water and realized that the tide, not the kids, had taken them out. The father (Kruger) demanded George pay for the boombox, so George evaded it by giving him a fake address. Now, George is worried that he may get fired once Kruger recognizes him from the picture. Kramer suggests sneaking the picture out and getting George's image airbrushed out. George takes to the idea and leaves. Meanwhile, Kramer is annoyed at the "misshaped, shoddy meats" in the sandwiches he eats, stating that he "hasn't had a decent sandwich in 13 years." He solves his problem by getting a meat slicer. Elaine can't sleep because her neighbor forgot to turn off the alarm clock before leaving for Paris. Kramer tells her that the same thing happened to his friend Lomez, so he (Lomez) blew his neighbor's circuit. He and Elaine then set off to do just that. Meanwhile, Jerry begins dating a doctor, Sara Sitarides (Marcia Cross). The next day, George goes to pick up the picture, but finds out Kruger was airbrushed out instead of him (due to Kruger's baldness, the clerk mistook him for George, since George in the picture still had hair. He also points this out to George, annoying him further). Elaine realizes her neighbor's cat (whose meowing is worse than the alarm clock) now can't eat because shutting off the power also shut off its automatic feeder. Jerry tells Elaine his date with Dr. Sitarides didn't go well because she kept making him feel like "if I don't save lives, I'm worthless." Elaine then reveals that Sitarides is a dermatologist and Jerry gets annoyed at this, not considering a dermatologist to be a "life-saver", and noting that their advice to patients is simply to "put some Aloe on it." George convinces him to go on a "revenge date" to tell her off. Elaine and Kramer go back to Elaine's apartment with the meat slicer and feed the cat under the door. Elaine borrows Kramer's slicer, but uses it for slicing other things, including an uneven pair of heels. She eventually gets a piece of her heel stuck in it. Jerry's revenge date doesn't go well when a former patient of Sitarides' comes up and thanks her for saving his life. The reason: he had skin cancer. George goes back to the Foto Hut, and finds himself airbrushed out, and only a drawing of Kruger back in. He then realizes he has to get a photo of his boss without his shirt on (as he was in the picture) to put back in. When Elaine drops by to pick up pliers to remove the heel from Kramer's slicer, she drops a helpful tip about how Sitarides goes by offices screening people for skin cancer (that's how they met). George then realizes all he has to do is set up a screening at Kruger's and he can get his picture (after Jerry apologizes to Sitarides). Kramer goes to Elaine's to pick up his slicer. She manages to get the heel out just in time, but dings up the blade in the process. When trying to get back into Elaine's apartment, he accidentally pulls off her doorknob, trapping her inside. Jerry starts getting an allergic reaction. Kramer thinks Sitarides gave it to him when he went down to apologize to her. He decides to go down to Kruger's - where Sitarides is doing the cancer screening - and ask her. Kramer comes along to pick up his blade. Jerry insults Sitarides and causes her to leave. As Kruger comes in for his screening, Kramer (with his white butcher's coat on) takes Sitarides's place as the doctor (Dr. Van Nostrand). Kramer then checks Kruger for moles ("the freckle's ugly cousin," as Kramer puts it). He takes a picture of Kruger for George, but finds a mole on Kruger's right shoulder. To drown out the cat's meowing, Elaine turns up her stereo to max volume. As she tries to call a locksmith to fix her door, one of her neighbors keeps yelling at her to shut off her radio, before finally getting fed up and blowing Elaine's circuit like she and Kramer did, cutting off her call to the locksmith and leaving her without power. George gets the picture fixed and Kramer starts getting into dermatology. While flipping through one of Kramer's medical books, Jerry finds a section on his condition and figures out that his hives came from an allergic reaction to Benzene, commonly used as a metal cleaner. Kramer had been using Jerry's hand towel with metal cleaner to clean his slicer blade, and gave him hives. George returns to work and suggests Kruger go see another dermatologist about his mole, but finds Kruger isn't worried about it. Because the mole is visible in the picture (which he thinks was taken in 1989), he thinks it hasn't grown. Kruger then reveals to George about that day when he and his kids took this "pear-shaped loser[s]" clothes and threw it all in the ocean. Finally learning the truth, George gets mad and informs him that the pear-shaped loser was him and that he went to great lengths to remove himself from Kruger's family picture; Kruger replies, "Well I'll be - you have lost a lot of hair." George answers, "That's what they tell me!" At the end of the episode, Kramer, George and Jerry camp outside Elaine's apartment, feeding her under the door until the locksmith arrives. Jerry sees another dermatologist who prescribed him Aloe to treat his hives and George ends up not getting fired anyway because Kruger "didn't care." ===== Following the arrival of an unpleasant and dull new astronomer neighbour Dennis Sidebottom, a supposed lottery winner, the gang plot their biggest ever practical joke: an elaborate conspiracy involving a penguin stolen from a supermarket Christmas display, an alien from Mars, a spaceship and a "message for mankind" carved on a meteorite. The series also included a number of subplots, such as Ben's infatuation with Sidebottom's pianist daughter, Samantha, and the thieving activities of the Sidebottom's disturbing son, Tod - on one occasion he is caught shoplifting a large quantity of Dolly Parton albums. It was also notable for its realisations of Ben's fevered imagination, which led to extravagant dream sequences, such as a recurring image of him as a millionaire, complete with a well-spoken butler called Finlay, and another featuring Sidebottom as a vampire. ===== Before the events of the film, Moomin's father had finished building Moominhouse. During one rainy evening, the Muskrat suddenly appears at the front door to stay because his riverbank home had been destroyed by Moominpappa's bridge, built earlier that day. The next day, the rain's turned everything black and according to Muskrat, it is soot from outer space. He believes that a threat is coming from space and nothing can be done. Moominpappa gets an idea about the astronomical observatory in the Lonely Mountains, where a telescope can see far into space. The next morning, on their way, the trio meets Snufkin for the first time, who has heard about a comet that could crash to Earth at any time. He joins the group, and they climb the steep mountains towards the observatory. On the way, Moomin finds a golden anklet, which Snufkin knows belongs to the Snorkmaiden. They arrive at the observatory, where they discover that the comet will be colliding in two days. On the way back home, Moomin saves the Snorkmaiden from a giant carnivorous plant, and they immediately fall in love with each other. Both Snorks join the group while they try to reach Moominvalley before the comet. Two days later, Moomin and friends meet the Hemulen and when a hurricane strikes them, they all fly to the Moominhouse with Snufkin's tent. Back home, they all decide to move to a cave Sniff had found for shelter. Sniff is lost during the move when he sees a kitten and begins to follow it with a piece of cake. When there are only minutes left to the expected moment of the comet impact, Moomin and Snufkin find Sniff, who is paralyzed with fear, and they carry him into the cave at the last minute. The comet almost crashes into Earth, but suddenly changes its course and turns away. The next morning, the sea returns and the characters celebrate on the beach, where Moomin gives Snorkmaiden a pearl he had found. ===== 24 Hours on Craigslist tells the story of 121 people who used Craigslist on August 4, 2003. ===== Itti (Chatchai Plengpanich) is a former police officer, now convicted criminal, and endowed with powerful black magic abilities that make him a feared prisoner. He is moved to solitary confinement in a specially constructed cell, but with his mind-reading abilities, is able to detect a weakness in the one jailor who brings him food. In his interactions with the jailor, he is able to take over the man's mind and use the man to help him escape. A young police officer, Santi (Akara Amarttayakul) is assigned to track Itti down, and in confronting Itti, Santi becomes increasingly obsessed with gaining magical powers himself. ===== After the trials and tribulations faced with the High Prince and others, Rohan, Sioned, Pol and Andry along with the rest of their families and friends, must defend their land against a large army of barbarians. No one knows where this army comes from or why they are attacking the Continent - or focusing on the Desert, High Prince Rohan's beloved homeland. Rohan and Pol are forced to flee across the Desert as they are pursued by the invaders. The Dorvali are forced to flee their island, but Ludhill, Prince Chadric's heir, and his wife stay on the island and form a resistance. Prince Kostas of Syr revels in leading his army and manages to secure his princedom. Rohannon defends Kierst after the death of Prince Volog, and manages to fend off the invaders by having the army pad their armor to look like women. Andry protects Goddess Keep by using a ros'alath, a sorcerous wall, which terrorizes and kills those who touch it. As Rohan and Pol retreat across the Desert, they discover the enemy's fear of dragons. For a while the Desert forces are able to outsmart the enemy, but at the Battle of Stronghold the High Warlord arrives with his elite forces. The defenders of the Desert lose the battle, and High Prince Rohan dies as his beloved Stronghold burns. Category:Dragon Prince series Category:Novels by Melanie Rawn Category:1991 American novels Category:DAW Books books Category:Books with cover art by Michael Whelan ===== The plot of Fate/hollow ataraxia is based 6 months after the events of Fate/stay night. Like its preceding counterpart, the story is set in Fuyuki City. Bazett Fraga McRemitz, a member of the Mages' Association and a master in the Fifth Holy Grail War, wakes on the fourth day of the Fifth Holy Grail war with a new servant, Avenger, and no memory of what happened to her beforehand. She and Avenger set off to fight and win the Holy Grail War. Meanwhile, Shirō Emiya lives a peaceful life with all of his friends from the Fifth Holy Grail War. After one of her experiments changes time and space, Rin Tohsaka leaves for the Mages' Association in England to fix things. The Servants sense a new danger while dark creatures appear soon afterward. Shirō, as a precaution, sets off to ensure nobody is in danger and instead finds himself frequently meeting a mysterious girl, Caren Ortensia. Both Bazett and Shirō find themselves in a time loop that lasts four days, beginning of the fourth day of the Fifth Holy Grail War. Each time they die or survive four days, they always awake on the first day of the loop, aware of what has happened to them since the first time loop began. Determined to end the loop, Bazett, Avenger, and Shirō fight to discover the truth behind what is causing the endless four days. ===== Eight-year-old Ana, stoic and quiet, approaches her father's bedroom. She hears a woman in bed with her father and confessing her love for him. Descending the stairs, Ana spies an attractive middle-aged woman hastily dressing and rushing from the bedroom to the front door of the darkened house. The woman and Ana exchange glances but do not speak. Once the woman has left, Ana enters her father's bedroom and finds the man dead, apparently from a heart attack. As if not really understanding the gravity of the situation, Ana unflappably takes away a half-full glass of milk, which she carries to the kitchen and cleans. In the kitchen, she sees her mother, who chides her for being up so late and sends her off to bed. Reality and fantasy swap places. The bizarre death of Ana's father, who is revealed to have been a senior Army officer, is real. The apparently banal appearance of the mother at the fridge, on the other hand, was in fact fantasized by the child. Ana's mother has already died of cancer; her image is only a fanciful illusion of the little girl's mind. Blaming her mother's illness and death on her father, Ana had dissolved a mysterious powder she believed to be a potent poison in his milk glass as a willful act of murder. Her belief in the power of the poison was thus confirmed when her father died. At her father's wake, Ana sees again the mysterious woman who fled her father's bedroom on the night of his death. The woman, Amelia, is the wife of her father's close friend and fellow military officer. Ana's satisfaction of having rid herself of her father's presence is short-lived, for her mother's sister, her Aunt Paulina, soon arrives to set the house in order. The all- female household is completed by the children's grandmother, mute and waiting for death in a wheelchair, and the feisty, fleshy housekeeper, Rosa. Ana takes refuge in the basement, where she keeps her powder, and where she is watched by an apparition of herself from twenty years in the future. The adult Ana, looking exactly like her mother, recounts her infancy. The little rituals of everyday life fill Ana's days during her summer vacation from school. Tortured by the memories of her mother's illness, Ana rebels against her aunt's authoritarian style, and in bouts of loneliness she variously imagines her mother's continued presence, or even her own suicide. Though diverted by the presence of her two sisters, Ana's only truly close companions are the family maid, Rosa, and her pet guinea pig, Roni, whom she discovers dead in his cage one morning. Ana's mother's painful death from cancer, her father's presumed murder, her guinea pig's death and her own imagined suicide weigh on the girl's mind. Ana even offers her grandmother the opportunity of dying and ridding herself from loneliness by providing her a spoonful of the poison. The old woman turns down Ana's offer and realizes that the powder is simply baking soda. The adult Ana explains child Ana's obsession with the powder: her mother once told her that it was a poison, so strong that one spoonful would kill an elephant. Adult Ana further explains her motivation in wanting to kill her father: "The only thing I remembered perfectly is that then my father seemed responsible for the sadness that weighed on my mother in the last years of her life. I was convinced that he, and he alone, had provoked her illness." In a flashback, we see child Ana watching her parents on an occasion when her father came home late. Her mother pleas him to open up to her, to love her. He coldly accuses her of causing him grief to which she responds by crying out that she’s sickly and desires death, which he again discards as an attempt to change his behavior. Ana attempts to poison her aunt with the same powder. She repeats the preparation of milk with the substance, but awakens the next morning for the first day of school to find that Paulina is still alive. Ana and her two sisters leave the stifling family compound after one, Irene, tells her a vision from a dream she had of being put at the stake, "...y cuando me iban a matar, me desperté." They march into the vibrant and noisy city, which they have been all but shut out from. The film ends with girls in black uniforms going to classes and then an aerial vision of Castilian and Aragonese Madrid. ===== Two 13-year-old blind girls Marie and Inga are close friends in a boarding school for the blind, and share a love for music. The girls are fairly sheltered in their school, and have a motto, "Trau bloß keinem Gucki!" ("Don't trust a "lookie"" [sighted person]). They try out for a school band, but despite their musical skills they are turned away for their blindness. Then Marie meets a young émigré from Kazakhstan, "Herbert" (Oleg Rabcuk), and hides him from the police in the school, with the help of the sighted caretaker Mr. Karl (Dominique Horwitz). Herbert needs money to return to his homeland, against his father's wishes. Inga proposes that the three form a band of clowns (which is what the German name of the film implies) to play music in the street, "The Blind Flyers", with Herbert pretending to be blind as well. The band is successful—for a time. According to the director, the film was not supposed to be about blindness per se, and aimed to portray blind people as normal. And although the characters Marie and Inga are totally blind, they are played by partially sighted actresses Ricarda Ramünke (who won "Best Young Actress" award) and Maria Rother, who in real life attend boarding schools for the visually impaired. ===== A powerful magician claiming to be the one true Merlin (one of many characters in the Marvel Universe to make this claim) escapes from a S.H.I.E.L.D. containment facility dubbed the Warehouse. He journeys to the United Kingdom where he transforms the entire country into a fantasy realm. The Howling Commandos are charged with stopping him. The team is headquartered in Area 13, a classified base run by S.H.I.E.L.D. for its supernatural black op program. It also serves as a research and development facility, specializing in the supernatural. ===== The story begins with three children and a horse. These are young versions of Dudley Do-Right, Nell Fenwick, Snidely Whiplash, and Horse. The three talk of their aspirations; Dudley believes he is destined to be a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer (Mountie) while Nell wishes to see the world. Snidely, however, wishes to be the "bad guy" and travel around the world. Several years later, all three have fulfilled their supposed destinies. Dudley is now a Mountie (but always sticks to the rules and is frequently oblivious to even the most obvious of things), and Snidely has become an infamous bank robber. After Snidely and his gang rob a bank of its money and gold, Snidely tricks his entire gang into believing he has fled with all the gold to the Sudan and going on a wild goose chase after him. Snidely subsequently salts the stolen gold and spreads it in the lakes. Dudley catches him the act, but Snidely fools him into thinking he is vampire hunting, and uses a similar tactic to scare Horse off. Not long after, Nell returns from her world tour and reunites with Dudley. The two attend a festival at the nearby Kumquat tribe. Meanwhile, Prospector Kim J. Darling (Eric Idle), the poorest man in Semi-Happy Valley, stumbles across the gold in the river and is made into a media sensation by Snidely. The subsequent gold rush boosts Snidely's popularity and, after foreclosing many local mortgages, he quickly takes control of the town, renaming it "Whiplash City". Eventually, Snidely's men return from the Sudan to kill him for his deceit, but Snidely convinces them otherwise by offering them lives of luxury in his new town. Dudley becomes convinced that Snidely is up to something and confronts him, but Snidely laughs him off and snatches Nell from him. Snidely sends his second in command, Homer (Jack Kehler), to assassinate Dudley with a bomb, but Dudley is absent when the bomb goes off. Nell's father Inspector Fenwick (Robert Prosky), who is in good favor with Snidely, discovers Dudley's feud with Snidely and discharges Dudley from the Mounties. Dudley falls into a depression and wanders across the town until he runs into a drunken Darling, who offers him shelter at his cave in the woods. Darling tells Dudley of Snidely's plans and newfound popularity and takes him to see a Gala Ball in Snidely's honor. Despite Darling's warning not to challenge Snidely due to his loss of favor, Dudley comically attempts to take Nell back from Snidely, but loses pathetically. Feeling sympathy for Dudley, Darling decides to put him through a very harsh training regimen to make him a more formidable opponent and take back Semi-Valley from Snidely. Dudley's first act is to intimidate one of Snidely's men into telling him the next gold shipment. Dudley sabotages the shipment and leaves his mark on Snidely's workshop as well as his favorite golf course. Snidely, unaware that Dudley lost his job, is offended by this and more so with his men's incompetence to stop him, believing Dudley is enjoying the perks of being the villain. Eventually, Darling leaves to find his family and parts ways with Dudley thanking him for his friendship. Dudley then uses his new training to win Nell back from Snidely, who swears revenge. At a nighttime town meeting, Snidely attempts to rally the people against Dudley, but it falls on deaf ears. The populace have grown weary of Snidely and shows more respect for Dudley in his efforts to retake their town. Snidely ultimately discovers that Dudley and Nell are at another festival with the Kumquat tribe and leads a full-scale attack on them. The Kumquats flee for their lives until Horse reappears and helps Dudley sabotage Snidely's tanks by making Snidely and Homer accidentally shoot each other. A cavalry of Mounties appears and arrests Snidely and his men. Darling also arrives with his wife, the Prime Minister of Canada (Jessica Schreier) and is reunited with Dudley, revealing that they called out the cavalry. Inspector Fenwick reinstates Dudley in the Mounties. The final scene shows Dudley and Nell living together in Dudley's rebuilt house. They share a kiss as the film closes. ===== Red Nichols (Kaye) is a small-town cornet player who moves to New York City in the 1920s and finds work in a band led by Wil Paradise (Crosby). He meets and marries singer Willia Stutsman, a.k.a. "Bobbie Meredith" (Bel Geddes). Red and his friends Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, Artie Schutt and Dave Tough form their own Dixieland band called "The Five Pennies" (a play on Nichols' name, since a nickel equals five pennies). As their popularity peaks, the Nichols' young daughter Dorothy (Susan Gordon) contracts polio, and the family leaves the music business, moving to the balmier climate of Los Angeles, where Nichols works in the shipyards and both parents help Dorothy work on her recovery. As a teenager, Dorothy (Tuesday Weld) learns of her father's music career and persuades him to make a comeback. His first attempts to play a horn (he threw his own treasured instrument into the San Francisco Bay in despair when Dorothy was ill) are a miserable failure. Eventually he listens to his wife and daughter, and practice restores his skill. His old friend Tony Valani (Guardino), now a huge success, gets him a gig to perform at a small club, with The New Five Pennies. Nichols, nervous and terrified of splitting his lip, is disappointed when he sees no other old friends in the audience. He opens the show, and after a few notes, “Won't you come home Bill Bailey?” echoes through the dark. The lights comes up, and it is Satchmo and his friends. Willa comes up on stage and tells him she has a surprise for him. Dorothy steps onto the dance floor without her cane and asks her father to dance. Willa sings “This little penny is to wish on...” while they do. Then Nichols takes his horn and plays “Glory Hallelujah!” His friends join in. ===== Professor X discovers Genosha's acceptance of mutants, and Cyclops assigns Storm, Gambit and Jubilee to go on a tour there. Wolverine, meanwhile, leaves the X-Men in an attempt to find solitude in Canada. He is rendered unconscious during a confrontation with Sabretooth, and is rescued by a group of Eskimos whom he finds peace with. However, one of the villagers becomes jealous of Wolverine's popularity among them and leaves. He then teams with Sabretooth against Wolverine, and together they attempt to capture him. Sabretooth double-crosses him and holds the other Eskimos captive on top of a cliff whilst he is distracting Wolverine. Wolverine rescues the villagers after Sabretooth falls off the cliff into a river. Meanwhile, those in Genosha are attacked by an army of Sentinels. ===== In 1594 Archer became involved in controversy, when it was alleged that he had plotted two years previously with other Jesuits and Stanley to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I. The chosen assassin had been Hugh Cahill, a Tipperary man, who confessed that he was paid to hang about the court at London, on the off chance that the queen might present herself as a target, and then stab her. The confession had been obtained under torture by Richard Topcliffe, and further information came from an agent of Robert Cecil, secretary to the queen. At this time, Archer was also implicated in a plot to torch the French and English ships at Dieppe. The merits of the allegations are impossible to judge, although it seems clear that Archer was acquainted with Cahill. The assassination plot was just one of many against the queen that received credence during the final decade of her reign. One sceptic has pointed out that the evidence only emerged once Father Robert Persons had published his A Conference about the Next Succession to the Crown of England. The book does appear to have alarmed Elizabeth's advisers, and from that date onward the flow of supposed plots against the queen's life became steady. In 1601 Cecil himself was accused of treason at the trial of the Earl of Essex on the basis of his reading of Person's book, but survived this twist and went on to secure the succession of James I upon the queen's death two years later. ===== Kelly (Mary-Kate Olsen) and Lynn Farmer's (Ashley Olsen) parents, Don (Eric McCormack) and Christine (Kelli Fox), are deeply in debt and in danger of losing their home. During the Halloween season, they visit Christine's cold and cruel Aunt Agatha (Cloris Leachman) to ask for a loan, which is immediately refused. While the girls wait outside, they meet Agatha's grave digger (Wayne Robson) who tells them the story of Agatha's twin sister Sophia (also played by Cloris Leachman) who is trapped inside the house. He explains to the girls that Agatha's home once belonged to a powerful witch who, before being burned at the stake 200 years before, had hidden her moonstone, the rare gem which gave her power. As children, Agatha and Sophia, tired of being twins, heard the tale and began looking for the stone in hopes of using its power to no longer be identical. Agatha found the moonstone but hid it from her sister and instead began using the magic it possessed to make her sister's life miserable. Years later on Halloween, Sophia and her fiancé George (Matthew Walker), now Agatha's butler, prepared to elope and begin their life together, but Agatha, out of jealously and rage, cast a spell that banished her sister into the netherworld through a mirror, which she keeps hidden in the attic. On the 7th year at midnight, this Halloween, the spell will become permanent and there will be no way for Sophia to be rescued. Back at home, Kelly and Lynn learn of their parents' financial problems. Christine expresses that if Aunt Sophia were still around, she would be able to help them. Knowing this, the girls begin a rescue mission to free Aunt Sophia before it is too late. The spell can only be broken by twins who have possession of the moonstone, so Kelly and Lynn's ultimate goal is to apprehend it. The only problem is, Aunt Agatha wears the gem around her neck at all times. While out trick or treating, they swap costumes with two other kids so they are able to get away from their parents. The first person they meet is a homeless man who dreams of money and stardom, Mr. N (Meshach Taylor), who offers to help the girls because they should not be on such a dangerous journey without an adult. The girls carry with them a toy magic wand that they won at a Halloween party, which actually has unexplained genuine magical powers (though it is heavily implied that the twins have the magical powers and not the wand). Kelly, Lynn and Mr. N visit a phony psychic to ask where they are able to find the witches gathering that Aunt Agatha will attend that night. Lulu is unable to answer and instead they use the wand to find the location and set off again by hitching a ride on a pumpkin truck. They get dropped off near a woods and find a small house deep inside, the home of a man named Oscar (Phil Fondacaro) who wishes to be taller. They tell him the whole story and he agrees to go along with them. Meanwhile, Don and Christine discover the girls have gone and inform the police. Aunt Agatha overhears the girls' plan using the magic mirror and begins a plan to get rid of them. She is threatened by their presence because she knows that the power of twins combined is superior to her own. Kelly, Lynn, Mr. N and Oscar turn up at the gathering in costumes in hopes of fitting in and they oversee the events inside. Aunt Agatha reveals the story of her spell on her sister to the crowd while Mr. N and Oscar create a plan to try to get her to hand over the moonstone, which she does, intrigued by their promise to double her power. However, they are soon found out and are chased through town. They decide to split up; Lynn, who has the moonstone, with Oscar, and Kelly goes with Mr. N. Followed by Agatha and her butler, Kelly and Mr. N run into a dead end at an abandoned warehouse. Mr. N goes out to confront Agatha, but she turns him into a crow, leaving Kelly alone. Later on, Aunt Sophia appears to Kelly, expressing that Lynn and Oscar have freed her, but Kelly realizes it is a trick and that Aunt Agatha has transformed herself to try and catch her. She manages to get away but is then gets caught by George when she flees from the building. Mr. N, as a crow, finds Lynn and Oscar to tell them what has happened (but not before puncturing one of Agatha's tires off-screen to help Lynn and Oscar buy time). Lynn starts to panic, since her and Kelly have never been apart and Kelly is probably scared all by herself. In the same part of town, Lynn finds where Mr. Gravedigger lives and goes to ask for his help in getting to Agatha’s house. On their way, the police officer looking for the girls sees them driving away. She informs Don and Christine where she saw them, and Christine realizes it is near Aunt Agatha's mansion so that is probably where they are heading. Fifteen minutes to midnight, the group break into the house to search for the mirror. Lynn hears Aunt Sophia crying out for help in the attic and she goes to investigate. The good news is, Lynn has the moonstone, but the bad news is, Kelly is not there, and she needs both twins to free her. Minutes later, Agatha, George and Kelly arrive. Agatha tries to persuade Lynn into betraying her sister, but Lynn refuses. Still, she promises to hand over the moonstone if Agatha lets everyone go, to which Agatha agrees. Lynn places the moonstone on the floor and then Aunt Agatha breaks her end of the promise, threatening to turn everybody into animals forever. Mr. N flies down the staircase and snatches the moonstone away in his beak, while Kelly escapes from George's watch and the girls flee upstairs to free Sophia together. Oscar and Gravedigger are turned into turtles when they make their last stand towards Agatha. The twins ask Sophia what the incantation is, but Sophia reveals that it has to come from their hearts. Aunt Agatha bursts into the room laughing, revealing that it is after midnight. Lynn and Kelly tell each other that they love each other and want to be sisters no matter what anybody else says or thinks, and Sophia is finally freed. Lynn explains she pushed the clock ahead by five minutes, so it was not too late after all. Enraged, Agatha attempts to push her sister back into the mirror, but the twins fight back and Agatha falls into the mirror herself. All of Agatha's dark magic is destroyed and the mirror is shattered, thus trapping her in the netherworld forever. Don and Christine arrive at the mansion to find Sophia safe and happily returned. Everyone keeps what happened a secret, preferring to tell them that Agatha went on a long trip to "reflect". Kelly and Lynn thank their new friends for helping them out: Mr. Gravedigger for his courage and bravery when standing up to "you know who", Oscar for his fabulous plans and distractions, and Mr. N for being their first companion who looked out for them on the road. He tells them he has also learned that money is just money and that friends are more important. Aunt Sophia and George fall in love all over again, and redecorate the mansion so it is a second home for the whole family. She also agrees to give the Farmers the money they need to save their home. Days later while enjoying family time in the garden, Lynn and Kelly are cleaning up the broken mirror in the attic and they see Aunt Agatha in one of the broken pieces. She asks for help, but the twins say "No chance" and walk out of the attic while holding hands and the magic wand. The movie ends with Aunt Agatha shouting, "I hate Halloween!" ===== Gabe, an adventurous young boy, lives in Manhattan with his parents who are on the verge of divorcing. Gabe spends most of his free time exploring the city on his scooter. His daily exploits are followed and encouraged by the friendly concierge at his building. Gabe encounters Rosemary, an 11-year-old classmate whom he's known since kindergarten, in a self-defense class. After being partnered with her for sparring, he suddenly notices her as a girl, not another face. To Gabe's elation, they begin spending time together and he is completely enamored with not only her, but her life. Rosemary lives with her loving upper-class parents on the edge of Central Park. One day, Gabe takes Rosemary on a tour through Central Park, and another day they venture across the city for fun and try to inspect an apartment for rent, worrying Gabe's nervous parents. Rosemary's parents take them to hear a jazz pianist at The Carlyle, where the young twosome finally hold hands. After the show, Rosemary's parents tell them to say goodnight and her parents go to get milk. After they walk off, Gabe and Rosemary begin talking, and he interrupts her by kissing her. Rosemary's family's life is in contrast to Gabe's; his parents have declared an awkward truce while waiting for their divorce to be finalized. As their relationship progresses, Gabe begins to question what is happening to him and why he is falling in love with Rosemary. To complicate matters, he discovers Rosemary is going to summer camp for six weeks and her parents are enrolling her in a private school when she returns. When things seem to be going perfectly, Gabe's world is turned upside down when he and Rosemary are assigned new sparring partners. Gabe is jealous of Rosemary's new partner, a tall blonde boy who's much better at self-defense than Gabe is. With their remaining time running out, Gabe tries to get closer to Rosemary, but only drives her away. In a desperate move to win Rosemary back, Gabe attempts to show off and earn his yellow belt, but painfully fractures his hand in the process. Being crushed with what love really is, he learns from his father that his parents' marriage fell apart because of things left unsaid. Realizing he is running out of time, Gabe goes to find Rosemary at a wedding reception she is attending and declares his love. Taken aback, Rosemary replies she doesn't think she is ready for love, but is really happy to see Gabe and asks him to dance. As they dance, Gabe muses that he and Rosemary were on different paths — "like two ships that passed in Sheep Meadow". He returns home to find his parents laughing over their honeymoon recollections. Gabe is pleased and surprised when his father says he "cleared out some old stuff" and his parents appear to have reconciled. They happily go out for dinner, and as the movie ends, Gabe, narrating, summarizes what Rosemary meant to him: "...I'm never gonna get another first love. That one's always gonna be her." ===== The novel concerns a young priest, Amaro, who serves as diocesan administrator at Leiria. Amaro lacks a vocation, having been pushed into the priesthood by his aristocratic patrons, the Marquesa de Alegros and, later, the Conde de Ribamar, and, owing to the vow of chastity he was obliged to take, is obsessed with women and deeply sexually frustrated. Upon arriving in Leiria, he falls for Amélia, the beautiful daughter of his landlady, a pious widow and the mistress of his superior, Canon Dias. After Amélia's fiancé, João Eduardo, publishes an exposé of the local clergy's venal habits in the town's newspaper under a pseudonym, Amaro and his colleagues and parishioners expose João Eduardo as the author of the piece, pressure Amélia to break off the engagement, and drive João Eduardo out of town. Amaro begins a sexual relationship with Amélia, meeting first in his coal cellar and then in the bell-ringer's house, using charitable visits to his bedridden, mentally disabled daughter as a cover. His love affair with Amélia ends in tragedy when she becomes pregnant and is forced to seclude herself in the countryside for the duration of the pregnancy in order to prevent a scandal. João Eduardo returns to Leiria, and there is talk of convincing him to marry Amélia and hence make the child legitimate, but this does not come to pass. Amaro and his maid, Dionisia, who also acts as a midwife, find a wet-nurse who, it is implied, kills babies in her care. Amélia gives birth to a healthy boy, who is handed over to the wet-nurse by Amaro and killed. Amélia suffers complications after the birth and dies of a burst aneurysm, or so the doctor tells everyone. She was in good health immediately after the birth, but became hysterical when she was not allowed to see her son. The actual paternity of Amélia's child, while the subject of gossip, never comes to light, and Amaro moves on to another parish. The novel leaves him in Lisbon, discussing the events of the Paris Commune. ===== ===== During a chair hockey game at the power plant with office supplies, Mr. Burns chastises Homer for behaving unprofessionally during the game. Homer gets in more trouble when an ice cream truck passes by the plant, causing him to fantasize that Mr. Burns is an ice cream cone and try to lick him, resulting in Homer being fired as he runs towards the ice cream truck. Homer uses a $100 bill to buy a 25 cent ice cream from the ice cream man, Max, who collapses and dies of a fatal heart attack while changing the bill into coins. Max's widow sells the truck to Homer, and Homer has Otto remodel it a la Pimp My Ride. Meanwhile, the television series Opal — Springfield's version of The Oprah Winfrey Show — has a show about successful women, which sends Marge into a deep depression, as she feels she has not done anything memorable with her life. Marge is inspired by all the Popsicle-sticks Homer brings home, and makes sculptures out of them. Kent Brockman sees the sculptures and interviews Marge, who says she creates them so they will serve as a reminder of her when she is gone. Kent includes her on a news special, Kent Brockman's Kentresting People. Thanks to the publicity, Rich Texan creates an art show to showcase Marge's talent; however, it opens on Saturday, a day with high ice cream sales. Homer promises to return by 3 o'clock to see the art show. He loses track of time and hurries home, but accidentally crashes into his own lawn in the process, destroying all of Marge's sculptures. Marge says that Homer has ruined her dreams and locks herself in the bedroom. Homer tries to express how bad he feels by slipping pictures of himself under the door but falls asleep. When he wakes up, Marge is gone and Grandpa is looking after Bart and Lisa, who tell him that Marge left hours ago. Marge is on top of city hall, where she declares she will show the world how she feels about Homer. She reveals the largest Popsicle sculpture she has ever made, and the subject is Homer. Marge realizes that Homer tried to keep his promise to her and make it on time, not that he did not care, much to the shock of a nearby Opal. Marge apologizes to Homer for the way that she acted, Homer apologizes for ruining her sculptures, and the two reunite. The scene shifts 200 years into the future, where the Homer sculpture is the only remaining element of Western art in a world where iPods have conquered humanity, whipping them with headphones for a hobby. ===== The game centers around the disappearance of journalist Jack Lorski, and his young female companion, Karen Gijman, in Europe while investigating a series of bizarre murders. Some weeks later, the agency they work for receives a package containing a CD-ROM. On this CD-ROM is a mixture of disturbing footage and reports made by Jack, but also some other data including puzzles and messages, created by someone referring to themselves only as "The Phoenix." The agency then decides to release the CD-ROM to the public in the hope of finding out what happened to Jack and Karen. This is where the player comes in. In 1975, a beach goer accidentally witnesses the murder of Peter Volker, a German professor of epigraphy. Years later, Jack Lorski randomly purchases the video camera with the film still inside. He tracks down Karen, the daughter of the cameraman who went missing the same year, presumably in connection to the murder. The two decide to track down the killers. It turns out a group called Manus Domini, a solar cult, murdered Volker to prevent him from releasing the "cursed codex" of the Nag Hammadi. The Phoenix in turn, is murdering the members of Manus Domini, in order to fulfill the initiation ritual of Giordano Bruno, whom he claims to be the reincarnation of. After realizing he is being tracked by Karen and Jack, he kidnaps them both in order to bring attention to the murders, and reveal the existence of Manus Domini. Upon completing the primary games, the player is given the opportunity to play a game with the Phoenix for Karen's and Jack's life. Regardless of the outcome, a member of SKL, the paper investigating Jack's disappearance, hacks the Phoenix's site and locates Jack and Karen, who are found and rescued. ===== Young Prince Karl, of a small kingdom within the German Empire, is sent off near the turn of the 20th century to get a university education in the university city of Heidelberg. His grandfather was one of a handful of petty kings within German-speaking central Europe. Fictional Karlsburg is small, but fiercely proud of its history and traditions. Karl has been raised most of his life for the military, but when it comes time for him to marry, the princess picked for him cannot stand his stiff formality. This would not be such a problem but for the fact that Karlsburg has no great wealth, only good breeding. His tutor recommends that he be sent to a university to develop an easier, more sociable manner. He (eventually) slips into the social mix, becomes accepted as a "good chap" by his student peers, and falls deeply in love with Kathie, a pretty, popular, and musically inclined barmaid, who holds "court" in the local biergarten. Love notwithstanding, when his old grandfather dies unexpectedly, the young prince must marry the princess and take his place in the small kingdom that he is destined to rule. He returns for one last time to Heidelberg to bid Kathie a poignant farewell. ===== A series of tornadoes in West Tennessee cripple the Hellman-Klein Nuclear Power Plant by damaging a power transformer and a generator. This leaves the plant with very little power to operate. As an operator shuts down non-vital systems, which include the electric pumps, a second tornado hits the plant, damaging the diesel pumps. Meanwhile, Campbell Maguire (Daniel Costello), the plant supervisor's young son, is caught in the twisters. His babysitter is killed and he runs away towards the plant on his bike. When the diesel pumps fail, the staff try to restart the electric pumps, but they won't respond. The nuclear reactor overheats, causing coolant to evaporate from the waste pool, threatening to expose radioactive material. The staff attempt to initiate SCRAM procedures to try to shut down the nuclear reactor, but the computer fails to respond. An operator named Neville goes in to manually shut down the reactor, but is exposed to large amounts of radiation. He is successful, though, and the reactor is shut down, although he is presumably fatally injured by the radiation. Coolant is still rapidly evaporating from the waste pool, meaning the radioactive material will be exposed in half an hour. A local police officer named Jake (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), a friend of Corrine, searches for Campbell and finds him. Together they make their way to safety at Corinne's request. On the way they discover Jake's girlfriend, Ashley (Charmaine Guest), trapped on a steep hillside in her car. Jake goes down to rescue her. Both Jake and Ashley are nearly killed when her car slides over the cliff but Campbell saves their lives, risking his own to do it when he is given an option to escape. Jake lauds Campbell as a hero and lets a relieved Corrine know of her son's survival and heroism. Firemen spraying water into the pool only slows the evaporation, however a disused diesel generator is found and they plan to hook it up to the electric pumps. They order some diesel fuel for it but the truck driver panics at the idea of driving in the adverse weather. Jake, a former truck driver, intercepts the fleeing truck driver and delivers the diesel to the plant himself. At the plant the heat is starting to prove too much for the firemen and they start to pass out while the water from the hoses is having very little effect. It is mere minutes before the waste pool will be completely exposed. Jake helps the firefighters while Corrine hooks up the fuel and attempts to start the generator. With the generator running the pumps restart and the waste pool starts to refill, and the crisis is averted. The plant is damaged, but stable. Campbell and Corrine are finally reunited as Jake and Ashley set a date to get married. Corrine and Neville look at each other while Corrine holds her son closely. She says "thank you" to him for his self-sacrifice of his life to shut the reactor down. Neville is led away, eventual fate uncertain although he likely dies of radiation poisoning as the characters said anyone who entered the reactor chamber would get a fatal dose. ===== All the Whos of Whoville enjoy celebrating Christmas. The Grinch arrives in Whoville as a baby, adopted by two elderly sisters. He was a timid child who had a crush on Martha May Whovier, one of the prettiest girls in his school, who showed empathy towards him. Bully Augustus May Who, however, was jealous that Martha liked the Grinch more than him and began to mock him for having a beard. Because of this, the Grinch cut his face while attempting to shave, to which his classmates—except Martha—laughed at him and caused the Grinch to lose his temper and declare that he hates Christmas. He fled to the top of Mount Crumpit, north of Whoville, where he then took up residence. Years later, nobody likes the Grinch because of his mean-spiritedness, especially at Christmastime. But six-year-old Cindy Lou Who believes that everyone is missing the point about Christmas by focusing too much on the gifts and festivities and too little on the personal relationships. She encounters the Grinch at the post office and later discovers his tragic past. Cindy nominates the Grinch to be the town's "Holiday Cheermeister", much to the displeasure of May Who, who is now the mayor of Whoville. Cindy climbs to Mount Crumpit to invite the Grinch to the celebration and he eventually accepts. As Cheermeister, the Grinch participates in several events and begins to have fun, but May Who reminds him of his childhood humiliation by giving him an electric shaver as a present before publicly proposing marriage to Martha and giving her a gaudy engagement ring. Enraged, the Grinch berates the Whos for their materialism by telling them that Christmas is only about gifts that they will end up throwing in the garbage, which is dumped on Mount Crumpit near his home. He burns down the tree (the Whos, however have a spare) and goes on a rampage before returning home to Mt. Crumpit. Finally fed up with the Whos' Christmas, the Grinch concocts a plan to crush the Whos' Christmas spirit by stealing all of their presents, decorations and food while they're sleeping. He disguises himself as Santa Claus and dresses his dog Max as a reindeer, then descends into Whoville. The first house he enters is Cindy's, and lies to Cindy when she catches him stealing their tree, allowing him to escape. The Grinch continues stealing all of the gifts, decorations and food and stuffing them all in a large sack, before climbing back to the top of Mt. Crumpit to destroy it all by pushing the sack off the side. When the Whos wake up on Christmas morning, they are horrified to discover the theft and May Who blames Cindy for letting the Grinch ruin the holiday for the town. However, her cheerful father, town postmaster Lou Lou Who, comes to his daughter's defense by explaining to Maywho and all of the other Whos that he has finally figured out what Cindy has been trying to tell the whole town — Christmas is mainly about being together with family and friends, not just gifts and fancy decorations. The Whos agree with Lou and start singing Whoville's Christmas carol. Before the Grinch can push the sack of stolen gifts off the top of Mount Crumpit, he hears the Whos singing and realizes that he has failed to prevent Christmas, but then has an epiphany and finally realizes the true meaning of Christmas, causing his heart to grow three sizes. The sleigh full of gifts then begins to slide over the edge of the cliff along with Cindy, who had come to spend Christmas with him. The Grinch gets the strength to lift the loaded sleigh and carry Cindy to safety, and they ride down the mountain to return everything. The Grinch apologizes for the burglary and surrenders himself to the police, who accept his apology and deny May Who's request to arrest and pepper spray the Grinch. Martha even turns down May Who's proposal and returns his engagement ring to him, declaring that her heart belongs to the Grinch. Afterwards, the redeemed Grinch joins in the Whos' celebration feast and carves the roast beast himself in his cave. ===== Set in China in the 1980s or 1990s, the film tells the story of Li Ming, a young orphan of the Tangshan earthquake, who leaves to study at the home of a renowned botanist. A secretive man and commanding father, he lives on an island that he has transformed into a luxurious garden. Anxious to share this solitary life, his daughter, An, welcomes with joy the arrival of the female student. Soon their friendship develops into a sensual, but forbidden attraction. Incapable of separating themselves, Ming and An create a dangerous arrangement to be able to continue spending their lives together: Ming marries An's brother, who is a People's Liberation Army, PLA soldier and cannot bring his wife with him. However, An and Ming's relationship is discovered by the botanist who has a heart attack when he finds out. Before he dies, he tells police that it was his daughter and daughter-in-law's homosexuality "disease" that killed him. Thus, An and Ming are sentenced to death by a court and executed. ===== The show stars Fraidy "Nine" Cat (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer), an unlucky and miserable cat who, like all cats, has nine lives, but has used up eight of them and is on his ninth and last life, where he wants to make it last. The main joke of the series is that as if Fraidy's life was not miserable enough, every time Fraidy inadvertently says out loud any single- digit number (from one to eight), or any word or any part of a word that rhymes with or sounds the same as the number's name in any language, a ghost from one of his former lives will appear and mistakenly tend to make things even worse for the hopeless cat. The ghosts are: # Elephunt Cave "One" Cat (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A prehistoric saber-toothed tiger with a caveman motif. He owns a huge pet Apatosaurus named "Ant" (voiced by Lennie Weinrib). # Kitty "Two" Wizard (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A befuddled magician whose wand was often on the wrong setting. # Captain "Three" Kitt (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A pirate who is the self-proclaimed "buccaneer's buccaneer". # Sir Walter "Four" Cat (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A foppish Elizabethan nobleman who is also an expert swordsman. # Billy "Five" the Kit (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A western cowboy. He is a small guy with a very loud voice. # Jasper "Six" Catdaver (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - An undertaker who actually prefers to expedite Fraidy's passing to the "Other Side", though not out of spite. He is ironically the least troublesome of the ghosts. # Captain Eddie "Seven" Kittenbacker (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A pilot who is a very erratic flier. # Hep "Eight" Cat (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) - A zoot-suited jive-talking street cat. # Cloud Nine (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) - As accidentally saying a number from one to eight gets Fraidy a ghost, as if to fill the void towards his last life, saying "nine" calls forth an ominous, malevolent storm cloud (shaped like the number nine) which immediately gives chase after Fraidy, attempting to blast him with bolts of lightning until Fraidy manages to either outrun the cloud or its (supposedly) limited time it can stay expires. Each short begins with all eight ghosts appearing around Fraidy who says to the audience about his life: "Every kitty has nine lives. But eight of mine went fast. Now there's only one life left, and I want to make it last!" Cloud Nine appears and he starts running. Then he morphs into the yellow-lined cat's name which its letters said it was at the end of the intro. Whenever terrified by some dangerous situation, Fraidy often exclaims: "This kitten's splitting!" ===== The game begins shortly after the failure of a rebellion instigated by the dark god Morbus against the great god HE. For his treachery, HE banishes Morbus to Earth, Morbus's most hated place in the universe, due to its vast amounts of greenery. Unable to bear touching foliage, Morbus determines to destroy all of Earth's plant life. His dark gardener eventually develops a substance known as shadow-weed, which sucks the energy out of the land, killing all nearby foliage, and transforming the terrain into a blackened wasteland; the Dark Lands. Meanwhile, unaware of the presence of Morbus, a war is raging between three races who have recently come into contact with one another; the Romans, the Vikings and the Mayans. The first to encounter the Dark Lands are the Romans, whose scouts return word of the effects of shadow-weed, which they initially believe to be a new Mayan weapon. As a result, the Romans attack and destroy a nearby Mayan colony, but quickly realise the Dark Lands are not the Mayans' doing. When the Mayans, who have also encountered the Dark Lands, suggest a temporary alliance, the Romans reluctantly agree. However, as they begin to investigate the Dark Lands further, the Mayans turn on them. Elsewhere, the Vikings also encounter the effects of shadow-weed, when they discover one of their most sacred burial grounds surrounded by the Dark Lands. Setting out to reclaim their territory, they are attacked by an army of mindless soldiers. Nearby, the Romans learn the secret of how the Dark Army is created - human settlers are converted by Shamans into servants of Morbus, thus forming the Dark Tribe. They are then put to work on mushroom farms, converting mushroom spores into manna, which is transported to the nearest Dark Temple, where it is used to create the Dark Army. With this clearer understanding of the Dark Tribe, the Romans ally with the Vikings, and determine to destroy the farms. However, the Mayans see the alliance between the Romans and the Vikings as a direct threat. Only after attacking colonies belonging to both do they realise the alliance was not focused on attacking them, but on combating the Dark Tribe. By this time, however, they find themselves surrounded by the Dark Lands. Despite their previous animosity, the Romans and the Vikings save the Mayans, and the three unite, going on the offensive in an effort to wipe out the Dark Tribe. Eventually, the Vikings locate what they believe to be the final Dark Temple. They destroy it, but the remnants of the Dark Tribe survive, and rally for a final battle. Secure in the knowledge that one more victory is all that is required, the Mayans launch an attack. They prove victorious, and with all of the Dark Tribe's temples and farms eradicated, and no way of breeding new troops, Morbus retreats to his lair. Begging HE for mercy, Morbus is horrified to see vines infesting the building, quickly wrapping themselves around him, and turning him to stone. ===== Another Hope is an alternative history re-imagining of the events in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977). Mixing familiar moments from the film with new story material, Jareo drew inspiration and mixed in elements from the prequel films. The book deals in minute details of the Death Star, the politics of Darth Vader's henchmen, and insight into Vader and Princess Leia's adoptive parents. Biggs Darklighter, a minor character in the film, has been given an expanded role. The text adds a "Mary Sue" version of Ryoo Naberrie, described as "a gutsy underling on the Death Star". ===== The core of the story, as indicated by the title, is the end of the influence of supernatural beings from our world with the victory of Christian King Brian over the heathen Vikings. Among the Irish dead is a fey prince whose own death will cause the death of his fairy lover, a metaphor for the waning away of all the Sidhe. Odin himself makes an impressive and doomful appearance, making the battle a Götterdämmerung. This is more Wagnerian in tone than the utter end of the world predicted for Ragnarök, though it is indeed the end of a world. ===== Lovelock is set in a near-future in which humanity is preparing to send out its first interstellar colonization ship, called the Ark. Lovelock, a genetically- and cybernetically-enhanced Capuchin monkey relates the story in the first person. Lovelock serves as the "Witness" for Carol Jeanne Cocciolone, meaning that his job is to record every waking moment of the life of a prominent member of society. As the chief Gaiaologist of the Ark, Carol Jeanne is responsible for managing the extensive terraforming their new planet will require, integrating the terrestrial species needed for the colonists' survival with the planet's existing ecology. In the speculative future described by the novel, a new field of science, Gaiaology, has come into existence, based on the Gaia Hypothesis. Like every Witness, Lovelock has been indoctrinated to love and obey his owner unconditionally. ===== The story revolves around a Japanese sophomore named Kotaro Makimura. As the school year ends and summer vacation approaches, he decides to admit his feelings to his crush, the beautiful Kaho Serizawa. As hopeless as the situation looks to his best friends Ai and Takeshi, he is determined to make Kaho his girlfriend by the end of summer vacation. However, on his way home, he has a collision with a mysterious stranger, and ends up getting covered in a strange multi-colored powder. When he wakes up the next day, he finds himself waking up on September 1 - the first day of the next school year. He also learns that Kaho, who had been his girlfriend, had died in a car accident. Eventually, Kotaro discovers that he has begun day-dropping, in which he skips days, and goes back and forth in time through different days of the summer vacation. With the help of Ligene the Time Patroller (also translated as Lee Jane), Kotaro must win Kaho's heart and prevent her death before he runs out of time. Although Kaho is the girl that Kotaro aspires for at the beginning of the game, the player can choose different decisions that will eventually lead him to relationships with one of the other four girls. Of course, the wrong decisions could result in an ending in which Kotaro wins the affections of none of them. Although the objective of the game is to become the boyfriend of one of the girls, some of these other endings can be the only way to view certain images not found in the other paths. ===== The novel focuses on three main characters, the killer Stuart Richards, the undercover policeman John Lynch, and the policeman Captain Edelson, who assigns the undercover role to Lynch. Each chapter (20 in total) focuses on one of the character's thoughts. Focus is placed on Lynch's feelings about various minority groups, including gay men and his feelings related to working undercover and how his life is changing as the job progresses. Additional focus is Richard's various heterosexual exploits, his rocky relationship with his father and many more memories of his life, both past and current, and Edelson's thoughts on the case and how he hopes it will garner him a promotion if he solves it. ===== A promising young martial arts student named Chi-Hao has spent most of his life studying under a master and has fallen in love with the master's daughter Yin- Yin. After the master fails to properly fight off a group of thugs, he sends Chi-Hao to study under a superior master, Shen Chin-Pei. He instructs Chi-Hao to learn from Chin-Pei and defeat the local martial arts tyrant, Ming Dung- Shun, in an upcoming tournament in order to earn Yin-Yin's hand. Chi-Hao meets a young female singer, Yen Chu Hung, on the road to the city and rescues her from Dung-Shun's thugs. She falls in love with him, but he resists her advances with difficulty. He reaches town and begins studying under Suen Chin- Pei. After an initial beating by Chin-Pei's star pupil, Han Lung, Chi-Hao improves rapidly. One day, another thug of Dung-Shun's, Chen Lang, breaks into the school and beats all of Chin-Pei's students. Chin-Pei finally arrives and fights him, but is struck by a dishonorable blow and severely wounded. Chi-Hao tracks Chen Lang down and defeats him. When Chin-Pei hears of this, he selects Chi-Hao to receive his most deadly secret, the Iron Fist. Han Lung discovers that Chi-Hao has been chosen as Chin-Pei's successor and becomes intensely jealous. He conspires with Dung-Shun to have Chi-Hao crippled. He lures Chi- Hao into the forest, where Dung-Shun's three new Japanese thugs ambush him. They overpower him and break his hands. Later, they visit his old master's school and kill him as well. Yen helps Chi-Hao recuperate and again tries to woo him, but he resists her. Finally, Chi-Hao's fellow students locate him and encourage him to regain his fighting spirit. He begins training and soon overcomes his wounds. Yin-Yin arrives, but withholds the news of her father's death. A rejuvenated Chi-Hao successfully defeats all the other students to become Chin-Pei's representative for the upcoming tournament. Han Lung returns to Dung-Shun with the news, but Dung-Shun's son blinds him and casts him out. On the day of the tournament, a conscience-stricken Chen Lang warns Chi-Hao of the three Japanese thugs lying in ambush on the road to the arena. Chi-Hao fights the thugs killing two of them. Then Chen Lang arrives and holds off the head of the Japanese thugs so that Chi-Hao can get to the tournament on time. He arrives just in time and defeats Dung-Shun's son to win the tournament. Dung-Shun stabs and kills Chin-Pei in the midst of the celebration and departs. As Dung-Shun arrives back home, he discovers that all the lights are out. Han Lung appears in the darkened room and, guided by Yen's direction, fights Dung-Shun and his son. Han Lung blinds the son, who is then stabbed by his father in the confusion. Dung-Shun bursts out of the dark room and summons his minions who kill Han Lung and he himself kills Yen Chu Hung. Chi-Hao arrives at Dung Shun's house, but Dung-Shun flees and commits suicide by stabbing himself before Chi-Hao can fight him. As he leaves, the chief Japanese thug arrives with Chen Lang's head. He and Chi-Hao face off. Chi-Hao uses his Iron Fist power, causing his hands to glow red, and delivers several powerful blows that send the thug smashing into a brick wall. With the thug defeated and killed, Chi-Hao, Yin-Yin, and Ta Ming departs. ===== 15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz (Ellen Page) is in her underwear under a tattered shower curtain at the back of a bus in Winnipeg, Manitoba, looking for her little brother Sonny (Zie Souwand), who thinks he's a dog. Tracey's journey leads into the dark underbelly of the city, into the emotional cesspool of her home, through the brutality of her high school, the clinical cat-and-mouse games with her shrink and her soaring fantasies of Billy Zero (Slim Twig) - her rock and roll saviour. Her travels also put her in contact with the seedier inhabitants of the city, like Lance (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos), her would-be saviour who ultimately puts her life in jeopardy. Tracey's stories begin to intertwine truth with lies, and hope with despair, as she moves closer to the truth of Sonny's disappearance. ===== A quartet of women on a road trip experience car trouble, and seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned farmhouse, where they have an orgy. The girls are interrupted mid-coitus by the home's owners, a group of hillbilly cousins who make the travellers have sex with them. Afterward, two of the women are tied to chairs and placed in a boathouse, though one of them manages to free herself, and undo her companion's ropes. While those two have sex, they are spied on by three of the rednecks, who eventually join them. Outside, one of the girls has been tied up and placed in the back of a truck. While her abductor digs a grave, the woman tries to make a run for it, but she is quickly recaptured. The girl is taken back to the house, where she and two of her friends (one of whom is placed in a swing) are used for sex. Next, a female member of the backwoods clan has sex with one of the girls, choking her and suffocating her with a bag during the act. Another orgy occurs, this time involving two men and two women, the latter being urinated on before the sex begins. After one of the hillbillies climaxes, the film abruptly ends, with the women presumably still being held prisoner in the farmhouse. ===== Bunny, an elderly female rabbit, lives alone in a small cabin in the forest. While baking a cake one night, she is continually bothered by a large moth that keeps flying around her kitchen. No matter what she does, she cannot get rid of the intruder; she is especially annoyed when it runs into a photograph, taken many years ago, of herself and her late husband on their wedding day. Eventually she knocks it into the cake batter, which she quickly and angrily pours into a pan and shoves into the oven. She then sets the kitchen timer and falls asleep, only to be awakened by loud rumblings and blue-white light coming from the oven, whose door soon falls open. Crawling inside, she finds herself confronted by the moth and begins to float through an otherworldly space toward the source of the light, with a pair of giant moth wings sprouting from her back to propel her as the insect leads her along. She is soon revealed to be among dozens of moths being drawn to the light. The film ends with a close-up of the wedding photo, which comes to life as the younger Bunny nestles her head contentedly on her husband's shoulder; the shadows and reflections of two of the moths play across the image as well.1999 Bunny: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive During his introduction to the film on the Ice Age DVD & VHS, Wedge offers his take of these events: Bunny dies in her sleep, and the oven serves as a gateway to the afterlife. Her spirit is instinctively drawn into it, as a moth going toward a bright light, and is finally reunited with her husband. Ice Age: Disc Special Edition - Animated Views ===== An evil magician has brought an evil spirit back to life and is plotting to seize control of the kingdom, and has kidnapped the princess for use as a sacrifice. Four warriors venture into the world of magic to save the princess of the kingdom from the wicked magician: Ash the knight, Gren the roving warrior, Cisty the elf, whose whole family was destroyed by the evil spirit in the past, and the old magician Vold with the magic staff must now set off to save the princess. ===== Robinette Broadhead, a married millionaire with health problems, returns in this novel. Even with his need for medical care, Broadhead does not feel that he deserves transplants to keep him alive, as he is still feeling guilty about his horrible journey to a black hole many years ago. He still attempts to research more about the advanced alien Heechees and their star-travelling technology. At the same time, a madman named Wan attempts to search for his father within black holes, using stolen equipment and a Heechee ship. Wan's probing is noticed by a sentient race of slow-moving creatures who inform a Heechee patrol that is sent out of their black hole to observe the galaxy. Fearing that humans may alert a malevolent race of beings known as the Assassins, the Heechee patrol tries to find out more about human achievements in space flight and whether or not the damage done by them can be undone. Wan's probing also releases Gelle- Klara Moynlin from her two decade-long entrapment. Moynlin was a companion of Robinette on his journey to the black hole, which Moynlin experienced as only several elapsed days. The journeys of these past and future friends of Robinette begin to converge, and in the end, humans finally meet the Heechee race. ===== The story is set in 490 BC, the time of the Medic Wars, during which Persian armies sweep through the Ancient world. Having brought home to Athens the Olympic victor's laurel crown, Phillippides becomes commander of the Sacred Guard, which is expected to defend the city-state's liberty, a year after the expulsion of the tyrant Hippias. Athenian supporters of Hippias conspire, hoping to sideline Phillippides with a marriage to Theocrites' expensive servant Charis, and thus neutralize the guard. She fails to seduce him, as his heart is already taken by a young girl before he learns her name is Andromeda, daughter of Creuso. Everything personal is likely to be put on hold when the news breaks that the vast army of Darius, the Persian King of Kings, is marching on Greece, hoping that its internal division will make its conquest a walk-over. Theocrites instructs Miltiades to hold back the Sacred Guard to defend the temple of Pallas after a likely defeat, and proposes instead to negotiate terms with Darius, but is told an alliance with Sparta could save the Hellenic nation. Phillippides makes the journey and survives an attempt on his life by conspirators; he returns with Sparta's engagement during the Persian attack in far greater numbers on Militiades valiant troops. Charis, left for dead after overhearing Darius's orders, reaches the camp to tell that the Persian fleet, now commanded by the traitor Theocrites, is heading for the Piraeus to take Athens. Miltiades sends Phillippides ahead to hold out with the Sacred Guard until his hopefully victorious troops arrive, and after his perilous journey back they successfully beat back the Persians. ===== The film follows the kidnapping of Carla (Maestro) and her boyfriend when they are suddenly kidnapped in Caracas, Venezuela. Carla (Mía Maestro) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux) are a young upper-class couple fresh from a night of dancing and partying when they cross paths with Trece (Carlos Julio Molina), Budu (Pedro Perez) and Niga (Carlos Madera), three men who make their living by kidnapping unwitting young adults to extort quick money from their wealthy parents. Carla and Martin become their next victims and are sent on a terrifying overnight journey through Caracas as they wait for Carla's father Sergio (Rubén Blades) to hand over twenty thousand dollars - a small amount for a rich Caraqueño, but the equivalent of more than 8 years of the Venezuelan minimum wage. They are emotionally and physically hurt, but soon form a relationship with their captors to try to escape. However, none of their plans pan out. They continue in the Land Cruiser, listening and understanding, even if slightly, their captor's point of view. Through the many mishaps they encounter, they begin to, albeit scarily, bond with the kidnappers. Martin flees the kidnappers in a crowded square, telling Niga to kill his girlfriend, abandoning her. However, he is soon apprehended by one of their cronies and returned to them and murdered in the trunk of a taxi. After her father pays their ransom, the kidnappers heatedly argue over her fate, between murder, rape, and release. Trece pays his share to the others to release her unharmed, and Carla is soon released, only to be found by another set of kidnappers. However, Trece returns to the scene and shoots them, freeing her again at that time. In the final scene she can be seen with much more modest attire and an inelegant car, continuing her work with sickly, impoverished children. ===== Betty Suarez is a quirky, 22-year-old Mexican American woman from Queens, New York, who is sorely lacking in fashion sense. She is known for her adult braces, rather unusual wardrobe choices, sweet nature, and slight naïveté. She is abruptly thrust into a different world when she lands a job at Mode, a trendy, high-fashion magazine based in Manhattan that is part of the publishing empire Meade Publications owned by the wealthy Bradford Meade. Bradford's son, Daniel, has been installed as editor-in-chief of Mode following the death of Fey Sommers (Bradford's longtime mistress). Bradford hires the inexperienced Betty as his womanizing son's newest personal assistant to curb his habit of sleeping with his assistants. As time goes by, Betty and Daniel become friends and help each other navigate their individual professional and personal lives. Life at Mode is made difficult for both Betty and Daniel by their co-workers. Their most serious threat comes from creative director Wilhelmina Slater, a vindictive schemer who devises numerous plots to steal Daniel's job and seize control of the Meade empire. In addition, Wilhelmina's loyal assistant Marc St. James and Mode receptionist Amanda Tanen continually mock and humiliate Betty for her lackluster physical appearance, awkward nature, and initial lack of taste in fashion, though they both ultimately warm to Betty in later seasons. However, not everyone at Mode is against Betty; she gains loyal friends in Scottish seamstress Christina McKinney and nerdy accountant Henry Grubstick. She also receives strong support from her father, Ignacio, older sister, Hilda, and nephew, Justin. ===== The Fallen Earth story begins in the 21st Century, when the first in a series of natural disasters hits the United States. As Americans struggle to recover, an investment tycoon named Brenhauer buys a controlling stake in a mega- corporation named GlobalTech. By 2051, he moves his headquarters to the Grand Canyon Province, where GlobalTech eventually creates a self-sufficient economic and military mini-state. Meanwhile, in India and Pakistan, the Shiva virus, named for the dance-like convulsions that it caused in its victims, appears among the human populace. As the infection starts to spread, countries accuse each other of engineering the virus. Political paranoia turns to open aggression and nuclear conflict. The nuclear conflict combined with the virus devastates the planet. Less than one percent of Earth's population survived the Fall, and the Hoover Dam Garrison and Grand Canyon Province are the only known outposts of human civilization. Outside the protective confines of the Hoover Dam Garrison, the player encounters ruins of the old world, genetically altered creatures, strange technology, and six warring factions. Some factions seek to rebuild the old world, others wish to build a new one in their own image, and some simply desire chaos and anarchy. ===== The story is based on the legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh (made into a 4-act opera by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1907), which disappears under the waters of a lake to escape an attack by the Mongols. (Russia was under the Mongol-Tartar yoke for a period of three centuries in the Middle Ages.) The film itself follows the legend only loosely, however, and its highpoint is a battle between the Russian soldiers and the Mongol hordes, symbolizing a clash of cultures (the Virgin Mary appears early in the film, in effect watching over the Russian side of the battle). ===== Eddie Dodd is a burnt-out attorney who has left behind civil rights work to defend drug dealers. Roger Baron is an idealistic young legal clerk, fresh out of law school, who encourages Dodd to take on the case of Shu Kai Kim, a young Korean man who was imprisoned for a gang-related murder committed in New York's Chinatown and has now killed a fellow inmate in self-defense. Kim's mother believes her son was wrongfully accused in the gang-related murder. Dodd and Baron's investigation leads to a conspiracy among the district attorney, a police informant, and several police officers. ===== After celebrating and drinking at their friends' party, Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) and her photographer boyfriend Tun (Ananda Everingham) get into a car accident. Jane runs over a young woman that she didn't see. With much fear, Tun prohibits her from getting out of the car: they drive away, leaving the girl lying on the road. Tun begins to discover mysterious white shadows and what appear to be faces in his photographs. A suspicious Jane thinks these images may be the ghost of the girl they hit on the road. Tun, who has been experiencing severe neck pains since the accident, visits a specialist and is dismayed to find that his weight is double his regular weight. Unconvinced of the existence of the supernatural, Tun dismisses the idea of being haunted although his friends are also being disturbed by this mysterious girl. Jane discovers that the girl was Natre (Achita Sikamana), a shy young woman who had attended the same college as Tun. After confronting Tun, Tun admits that he and Natre were in a relationship, which Tun had kept secret from his friends. Natre loved Tun dearly and threatened to commit suicide when Tun abruptly broke off the relationship. Tun witnesses his friend, Tonn, committing suicide, and discovers that his two other close friends from college have also committed suicide. Believing that they have been coerced into doing so by Natre's ghost, Tun becomes convinced that he will be next. The haunting of Tun by Natre's ghost escalates, so he and Jane visit Natre's mother. At her house, they discover the decaying body of Natre in her bedroom. They learn that Natre had committed suicide, but her mother could not bear to have her cremated. They convince her mother to have a proper funeral for Natre, after which Jane hopes that everything will return to normal. Tun and Jane spend the night in a hotel, where Tun wakes up and is confronted by Natre's ghost. Tun tries to escape but is pursued; ultimately, while trying to get away, he falls off a fire escape and is injured. However, on returning to Bangkok, Jane collects some photographs. One of the films shows a series of images of Natre crawling towards the bookcase in Tun's apartment. Jane finds a set of negatives hidden behind the bookcase. She develops the negatives to find photographs in which Tun's friends—the ones who committed suicide—are sexually assaulting Natre. Utterly disgusted by her findings and now convinced that Natre tried to warn her, a teary Jane confronts Tun. Tun admits that he witnessed the rape but did nothing to stop his friends, and that he was the one who had taken those photos. He says he did it out of peer pressure and has never forgiven himself, but Jane leaves him. Knowing that he is still haunted by Natre, Tun begins taking pictures of every room in his house, but does not see Natre in any of the photos. He throws the camera across the room in a rage, only for it to go off, taking a photograph of Tun, revealing Natre sitting on Tun's shoulders. In the ensuing confrontation, Natre covers Tun's eyes making him unable to see, making him lose balance and fall out of the window. The final scene shows a badly bandaged Tun slumping over in a hospital bed while Jane visits him. As the door swings closed behind Jane, the glass reflection shows Natre still sitting on his shoulders. ===== The story takes place in the town of Ramanathapuram. Nandha (Suriya) is sent to a rehabilitation center for murdering his father as a boy after witnessing his father's infidelity and abuse towards Nandha's mother (Rajashree) when she finds it. He returns home to his mother, who is deaf and mute, and his sister (Sheela), who are still in a state of shock after what has happened to their family. Nandha decides to get a new life by trying to give himself a college education. Having the record of being an ex-convict, he finds it difficult to get a seat in a college. He meets Periyavar (Rajkiran), a very rich disciplinarian who runs an arts and science college with an iron hand. Periyavar's forefathers were the kings of the Ramanathapuram kingdom and fell in line in with the Britishers. After independence, all of their palaces and titles were taken by India's government, but a lot of other material wealth was in their hands. He still thinks himself a guardian of people and helps a lot of poor people. He even goes to the extent of providing justice when law and police cannot or will not. Periyavar develops a soft corner for Nandha and guides him like his own son. Kalyani (Laila), a Tamil exile from Sri Lanka, meets Nandha and both fall in love. Meanwhile, the villain Saravanan asks Periyavar, who also helps Sri Lankan students in his college a lot, to aid an antisocial element, but Periyavar refuses outright. Periyavar's son-in-law agrees to help Saravanan. Meanwhile, Periyavar falls sick and gets admitted in the hospital. Nandha stays around to look after his mentor and guide. Fearing what he has done might be out in the light, the son-in-law pulls out the oxygen tube of Periyavar in the hospital when Nandha is not around and blames Nandha for murdering his father-in-law. Nandha, having to deal with the pain of losing the only man who gave him a second chance to live, also struggles the fray of being convicted of murder once again and chooses to kill Periyavar's son-in-law in the court campus. The case is dismissed due to the lack of evidence. Finally, Nandha is acquitted as there are no eyewitnesses to the murder. After being acquitted for Periyavar's son- in-law's murder, Nandha returns home. His paranoid mother, who still believes that her son still has murder instincts, waits at home to feed a meal, which she has poisoned herself. He finds out that the food is poisoned when he eats it, but continues to do so with a satisfaction that he is being fed by his mother. Nandha dies in his mother's lap and when his sister and Kalyani come out to see what has happened, they realise that both mother and son are dead. ===== Wilson enters Mainwaring's office to find him writing a Confidential Report about him. Mainwaring shows it to him so he can sign it and make sure he is playing fair. Wilson scoffs at his attempts, comparing it to a headmaster's end-of- term report. Mainwaring is not quite so blasé, and hints that the Confidential Report could lead to big changes. He hints that he may be promoted to Major very soon, and admits he wants to start a recruiting campaign to triple the platoon and turn it into a company. He convenes a parade and tells them of his plan. Jones suggests a poster similar to that of Lord Kitchener's recruitment poster, and Mainwaring is delighted with the suggestion. Jones then suggests a secret ballot to decide the face for the poster, and Frazer decides to bring in a professional photographer. Jones wins the ballot by a large margin and the photographer turns out to be Mr Blewitt. After four unsuccessful attempts, the photo is taken, and Wilson takes it round to the printers. At the printers, a police officer is asking for a Wanted poster of an escaped prisoner of war to be printed. The photo is placed on the out-tray along with Jones' photo on top. Two days later, Godfrey brings in a sample of the poster, and the platoon discover that the disorganised printer mixed the photographs up. Jones now appears to be a wanted man. Jones notices the poster outside a Free Polish Club (not, as Pike mistakenly believes, somewhere giving away free polish). A Polish Army major comes out, comments on the poster, "Ugly-looking swine," and then sees Jones is the man on the poster. Jones is arrested and interrogated; despite his protests, the major persists in believing Jones is the escapee, and puts him in the local POW camp. Hodges drives Mainwaring and the rest of the platoon to the POW camp, where they too are arrested by the same major. Mainwaring puts his foot in it by declaring Jones is his colleague, and they are all placed in the POW camp with Jones. Wilson comments that the Colonel will not be very impressed with what happened, and wonders what he will write in Mainwaring's Confidential Report. ===== Chris Pepper and Charlie Salt lose their nightclub and turn to Pepper's aristocratic twin brother for help. He refuses to help them, and is then found murdered. Pepper assumes his identity, and soon discovers that he was a diamond smuggler, and was murdered by his accomplices. Salt and Pepper band together to put the criminals behind bars. ===== George Lester (Jerry Lewis) is an American living in Britain. His passion is get-rich-quick schemes, and they have caused financial and personal grief for he and his wife, Pamela, (Jacqueline Pearce) who is considering divorce if he continues with them. Willy Homer (Terry-Thomas) is a conman who plans to help George raise some quick cash by selling plans for a drill to a group of Arabs. The plans, which were stolen, are smuggled to Lisbon with help from his accomplice, Fred Davies (Bernard Cribbins). As they are about to trade the plans, they realise that they are being double-crossed. A series of chases follows, and eventually the plans are revealed to be worthless to everyone. Distraught, George finds comfort in his wife and promises to never embark on any more schemes, but Willy shows up at his door with another one. ===== Fico Fellove is the owner of El Tropico, a swank nightclub in late 1950s Cuba. Fico lives for his family and his music, while facing the harsh realities of Batista's dictatorial regime. His brother Ricardo becomes a revolutionary, his brother Luis joins the democratic opposition, and his father Federico, a well- respected university professor, pushes for change by constitutional, peaceful means. When Ricardo is arrested and threatened with execution, Fico calls upon an old prep school friend Castel, now a police captain, for help. Ricardo is released from jail, and Fico offers to help him go to Miami or New York City, but Ricardo instead joins communist rebels headed by Che Guevara. Fico is approached by Meyer Lansky, of New York's Genovese crime family, who wishes to open up a gambling room at El Tropico. Fico, who intends for his club to remain a place of music, turns down the offer. When a bomb later explodes at the club, killing Fico's star entertainer (who is also his lover), Fico assumes that Lansky is behind it. However, in the increasingly unsettled climate, he cannot be certain. Luis becomes connected with a plot to seize the presidential palace, kill Batista, and restore democracy. The plot fails and most of the attackers are killed. Luis escapes but is killed later by Batista's secret police. At the urging of his mother, Fico tries to cheer up Luis’ distraught widow AuroraFico and Aurora fall in love. The Communists seize power after Batista flees the country. Fidel Castro declares there will be no elections and Che Guevara oversees the arrests and summary execution of all those who supported the Batista regime. Among those to be executed is Captain Castel. Fico asks Ricardo, now a high-ranking officer in the new regime, to return the favor that Castel once carried out to save Ricardo's life, but Ricardo does nothing to save Castel. Ricardo visits his uncle Donoso, a tobacco farmer and cigar maker. Donoso feels that while Castro may be in power now, “the land endures” and says that the farm will next pass to Ricardo. Ricardo announces that the reason for his visit is to appropriate the farm for the state. Donoso, furious, has a heart attack and dies. Ricardo, overcome by grief, commits suicide shortly after the funeral. The revolution effects Fico in other ways. The musicians' union, controlled by Castro, has declared the saxophone to be an imperialist instrument and forbids its use. The club is eventually shut down on a flimsy pretext. After a chance meeting with Castro, Aurora is declared Revolutionary Widow of the Year and begins to work for the State, and she ends her relationship with Fico. Fico's parents beg him to leave Cuba and start a new family. Reluctantly, he procures exit visas for himself and Aurora. In a last effort to convince her to join him, Fico barges in on a reception for revolutionary leaders and Soviet Bloc ambassadors, but Aurora refuses to go. He raises a toast to a democratic Cuba, then leaves the reception. He says his goodbyes to his parents and goes to the airport, where most of his money and possessionsincluding a prized family pocket watch from his fatherare confiscated. Fico begins a new life in New York. Working as a dishwasher and piano player at a Cuban club, he hopes to save enough money to bring his family to America. Meyer Lansky approaches him with an offer of a Cuban nightclub in Las Vegas, but Fico turns him down. He runs into Aurora, who is in New York as part of a Cuban delegation to the United Nations. He now realizes that Aurora is like Cuba: beautiful, alluring, but also damaged and unattainable. He decides now that his cause is to build a new life until he can return to the city he lost. Fico recites a poem by Cuban nationalist Father José Martí and commits himself to someday returning to his "lost city". He later opens a new nightclub in New York. ===== At the Drones Club, a Crumpet and his guest see Pongo Twistleton looking distraught. The Crumpet explains that Pongo has learned his mischievous Uncle Fred, Lord Ickenham, is coming to London, and tells the following story about what happened the last time Uncle Fred came. Uncle Fred suggests to his nephew that they visit a suburb, Mitching Hill, formerly an estate owned by an uncle when he was younger. They go there, but get caught in a shower of rain and take shelter in a doorway. The door is opened by a maid, and Uncle Fred, finding the owners are away, gains access to the house by posing as someone come to clip the parrot's claws, with Pongo introduced as his assistant Mr Walkinshaw. The maid leaves on an errand, and Uncle Fred makes himself comfortable. A pink-faced man visits the house looking for Mr Roddis. Uncle Fred claims to be Mr Roddis and introduces Pongo as his son Douglas. The visitor is Wilberforce Robinson, an eel-jellier, who is in love with Roddis's wife's estranged sister Connie Parker's daughter Julia, but is disapproved of by the family as being beneath them socially. He has come to Mr Roddis for help. When Julia arrives with her parents, Uncle Fred suggests Robinson hide behind the sofa to avoid trouble. The Parkers enter, and Uncle Fred introduces Pongo as a deaf veterinarian attending to the parrot. Julia's parents tell the story of the eel-jellier wooing their daughter, and Julia insists she loves him, on which the man leaps from behind the couch and kisses her. Uncle Fred criticizes the Parkers' insistence that their family is superior to Robinson's by claiming that various cousins and uncles made their money in immoral and even criminal ways. Though Mrs Parker denies all, Robinson sees it as vindication of his own family background, and claims all he needs is a hundred pounds to buy a share in a business. Uncle Fred provides the money at once, and Robinson and Julia leave delighted. Uncle Fred and Pongo leave the Parkers drinking a reviving cup of tea after their bizarre ordeal, and in the street meet Mr Roddis, the owner of the house. Uncle Fred introduces himself as a neighbour Mr J. G. Bulstrode, and Pongo as his brother-in-law, Percy Frensham. He tells Roddis two people broke into his house, pointing through the window to the tea- drinking couple, and advises Roddis to call the police. Though Uncle Fred is pleased with his actions, Pongo is shaken by his uncle's mischief. Thus, concludes the Crumpet, is Pongo's demeanour - on hearing he has to face another visit from his uncle - explained. ===== The platoon are to be featured in a film to help the war effort. Private Pike, a keen cinema-goer, is very excited but once the film producers arrive to measure them for uniforms, it becomes clear that the platoon are going to be playing the Nazis. Despite his protests, Captain Mainwaring is informed that they will be only in the distance anyway. Mainwaring is measured for his uniform, but they do not have an officer's uniform to fit him. Instead, Wilson and Pike are chosen to be the officers. Mainwaring is excused from appearing in the film by the Colonel. The platoon are dressed as German soldiers for their parts. Pike is enjoying his turn as an officer, goosestepping around and acting like the German officers he has seen at the cinema. Mainwaring informs the platoon that they must stay inside Jones' van to avoid being spotted and creating an alarm. Once they reach the film location, they are met by the producer who says that the filming has been postponed due to a problem with the lead actors, much to Mainwaring's disgust. Mainwaring halts outside the "Six Bells" public house to telephone Headquarters. Pike sees the pub and persuades Wilson that, now they are officers, they should all go for a drink. Thus the platoon converge upon the pub dressed as Nazis, much to the shock of the landlord. The landlord tells his barmaid to warn the village. Mainwaring discovers what has happened and orders the men outside, where they are met by an angry mob. They accuse Mainwaring of being a quisling. The landlord telephones Walmington-on-Sea to tell the Home Guard that Nazis are heading that way. Unfortunately, the telephone is answered by Hodges and the vicar, who assume the landlord is drunk. After seeing the backs of the platoon, who are still dressed as Nazis they decide to sound the alarm by ringing the church bells. Wilson realises what has happened and Mainwaring tells Pike to phone Headquarters to inform them it is not an invasion. Pike returns laughing to inform Mainwaring that the whole south coast was on red alert and the Brigadier himself wanted to know what "blithering idiot" was responsible. Pike informs Mainwaring that he has made him an appointment to see the Brigadier on Monday. ===== Sarah L. Caul is 24 years old, attractive, skilled in martial arts, and highly intelligent. When the audience first meets her, she has no idea who she is, where she is from, or how she came to be in a white room, in no discernible location. A familiar melody wakes Sarah from a deep sleep, and she finds herself teaching a history class in the school she attended at age 11. The ‘school’ is revealed to be a replica, and all of Sarah's books and files are completely blank and empty. Now thoroughly confused, Sarah's assistant principal, Sandrine (Terasa Livingstone), explains that Sarah is not a school teacher; rather, she is an assassin, and she has something on her body that Sandrine's government desires. After a deadly shootout and a high speed chase on a cat-walk, Sarah is intercepted by another "handler" like Sandrine, who tells her the same story, claiming to be from a different country and a different agency, but still desiring the same unknown element. Like Sandrine, once the handler had extracted all of the evidence he could from Sarah, he attempts to kill her. Not able to trust anyone, Sarah spends the duration of her time in the construct trying to stay alive long enough to uncover the truth, and find out why so many people want her dead. She endures a series of wire-fu fights and a car chase while conducting an intense investigation into her past. Sarah eventually finds herself back in the white room where she started, where, before she can be killed, two gunshots are heard and a slow, wobbly figure emerges from the shadows. The figure is revealed to be J. Edgar Hoover (Seymour Cassel), who is very much alive and very happy to see that his granddaughter, Sarah, is doing just fine. Apparently, Hoover was aware that two government factions had ascertained that he was still alive, and he used his granddaughter as bait to flush out these two agencies, thus eliminating them and any proof of his continued existence. Having shared this, Hoover helps Sarah up and dusts her off, and the two walk off into the light. ===== On his way to UNIT HQ in order to deliver some radioactive materials, Warrant Officer John Benton has an unexpected flashback to his childhood in Lancashire. After visiting the grave of his older brother Chris, Benton has a further flashback to his childhood in 1944. Later, having failed to contact UNIT successfully, Benton senses that there is potential trouble lurking nearby and orders Willis to repair the jeep while he himself investigates. Unbeknownst to both of them, there is a stranger lurking in the woods who aims to steal the radioactive material. As Benton wanders through the woods, he is further haunted by his childhood; it is revealed that Benton blames himself for the death of his older brother Christopher—while playing a game of chase, Christopher slipped off a wall and fell to his death. A ghostly entity, which takes the form of Benton's father, torments John and tries to convince him that he is weak and unworthy of being in the army. John eventually breaks the hold over the spirit and realizes that his brother's death was an accident and that he was actually trying to save him. Returning to the jeep, having now exorcised his demons, he manages to subdue the mystery man who was attempting to steal the radioactive source. Benton and Willis leave the woods and resume their journey while the voice of his father states that the game is now over. ===== In a dystopianBabylon A.D. Review. empireonline.com (August 2, 2008). Retrieved on September 7, 2020. 2027, Russian mobster Gorsky (Depardieu) hires the mercenary Toorop (Diesel) to bring a young woman known only as Aurora (Thierry) from Europe to New York City. Gorsky gives Toorop a variety of weapons and a subdermally implanted UN passport. Toorop, the girl, and her guardian Sister Rebeka (Yeoh), travel from the Noelite Convent in Kyrgyzstan to reach New York via Russia. Unlike in the technologically advanced U.S., war and terrorist activity have transformed Russia's cities into dangerous, overpopulated slums. The stress of humanity's situation causes Aurora to act out in strange ways and display clairvoyance abilities. On one such occasion, Aurora, seemingly for no reason, panics and runs from a crowded train station, just before it explodes in a terrorist attack. The protagonists must also evade an unknown group of mercenaries claiming to have been sent by Aurora's supposedly dead father. Later, they board a submarine that carries refugees to Canada. To avoid satellite detection, the submarine abandons and shoots some refugees. Aurora, infuriated by the loss of life, operates the 30-year-old submarine without training. Sister Rebeka tells Toorop that Aurora could speak nineteen different languages by the age of two, and always seems to know things she has never learned. Three months before leaving with Toorop, she began acting differently. This occurred after a Noelite doctor administered a pill. The doctor told her to go to New York City and arranged for Toorop to escort them. After arriving in Alaska with help from Toorop's associate Finn (Strong), the protagonists are attacked by weaponized drones. Toorop manages to destroy all the drones, but also gets wounded. These perils cause Finn to betray the group, so Toorop shoots him dead. Once in Harlem, a news broadcast about the bombing of the Kyrgyzstan convent causes the group to realize there is more going on than they know. The Noelites have become a major new salvationist religion, which vast numbers of people cling to as the world spirals out of control. However, in private meetings, it is seen that their High Priestess (Charlotte Rampling) only desires power and uses invented miracles to court converts. Gorsky, working for the Noelites, had planted a tracking device in Toorop's passport and bombed the convent when he knew they were in the United States. The doctor who earlier saw Aurora examines her again in a hotel room. When he leaves, Aurora reveals (without being told) that she is pregnant with twins despite being a virgin. Looking outside the hotel, Toorop sees Gorsky's men and the Noelite group, heavily armed and waiting for them on the street. The High Priestess calls Toorop and asks him to bring Aurora outside. Just before they take her away, Toorop changes his mind and starts a firefight with the two groups to get two women to safety. Gorsky's men can fire guided missiles onto Toorop that track his subdermal passport. Rebeka gets killed defending Aurora, who in turn shoots Toorop, saying, "I need you to live." Toorop's clinical death causes the guided missile to go off target (missing Toorop) and explode near Aurora instead; she inexplicably survives. Dr. Arthur Darquandier (Lambert Wilson) revives Toorop using advanced medical techniques, but several of Toorop's body parts are replaced with cybernetics to undo the damage of being dead for over two hours. Darquandier explains that when Aurora was a fetus, he implanted a supercomputer into her brain. It is also implied that the Noelite group had him create Aurora to become pregnant at a certain time to use her as a "virgin birth". After she was born, the Noelites hired Gorsky to kill Darquandier, but he failed. Darquandier remained "dead" until he found his daughter in Russia with Toorop. Darquandier uses a machine to scan Toorop's memory to find out what Aurora said to him before and shortly after shooting him. In Toorop's memory, Aurora tells Toorop to "go home". Toorop and several of Darquandier's men leave the facility. En route to Darquandier's lab, the High Priestess calls Gorsky, and during their videocall Gorsky is killed by a nuclear missile launched at him by the High Priestess. The High Priestess confronts and kills Darquandier, but Toorop has already escaped. Toorop goes to his old house in the forest, finds Aurora, and takes her to a hospital, where, 6 months later, she dies after giving birth. Aurora was "designed to breed", not to live, so her death after childbirth was preprogrammed. Toorop takes care of her two children. In a scene that is only present in the theatrical cut but was removed from the director's cut, the twins are shown to be of different ethnicities, one looking like Aurora and the other like Toorop. ===== Mainwaring tells Wilson that before a battle, their commander told them a joke. However, when Mainwaring attempts to cheer up his unusually quiet platoon with a joke, it does not work. Jones asks Mainwaring if he and his section can speak to him in private. Once in the office, Jones admits that he took his section for a quick drink in the Horse and Groom. Mainwaring is less than impressed, so is annoyed when he hears that they also stopped in the King's Head to stop Cheeseman shivering, and stopped in the Goat and Compasses. Mainwaring is then amused to learn that Godfrey had begun to sing rather raucously, so he was taken into the Red Lion to sober up. The landlord had come up to Jones and had told him about something rustling in the haystack. Jones shot at the rustler, and was shocked to learn that it was a turkey, which is now plucked and stuffed in his refrigerator! Mainwaring is shocked, and insists that they pay Mr Boggis, farmer at the North Berrington Turkey Farm, the only place where the turkey could have come from, for the loss of his turkey. However, Mr Boggis is not there. Eventually they discover Mr Boggis is at market day; however the farm worker is unwilling to accept money for the bird unless he is certain that one is missing. They attempt to count the birds, and discover after much chaos that no birds are missing. Therefore, Jones' section decides to hold a turkey dinner for the OAPs of Walmington-on-Sea. Mainwaring is delighted and decides to organise a Turkey Dinner General Purposes Committee, with himself as chairman, of course. Mrs Fox will cook the turkey, Mrs Pike decides to make the stuffing, and Mrs Cheeseman will make the gravy. Everything goes well, until Mainwaring emerges from the office in his dinner suit: he is guest speaker at a Rotary Club dinner. Pike whirls around with a plate in his hand, and accidentally spills gravy all over Mainwaring's suit. Jones uses blotting paper to get rid of the gravy, but ends up making a mess of Mainwaring's shirt, which he covers up with white enamel paint, which ends up on Mainwaring's dinner jacket. A sling is the only answer to the problems, as it will not only hide the paint, but it will also make Mr Mainwaring appear more brave at the dinner. However, Hodges comes bursting through the door, bumping into Pike, and knocking gravy onto his sling once again. ===== Following the events of Venus in Copper, the Imperial authorities are seeking Falco out for an assignment in Germany (which given the events of his last mission abroad, Falco is slow to accept). Meanwhile, Falco is not pleased with Titus Caesar attempting to seduce Helena. When Helena gets an invitation to a private dinner with Titus, she pleads that Falco stay by her side on the same day, but he instead decides to see a client in Veii -- who unfortunately turns out to be a widow more intent on pleasure than business. Disgusted, Falco returns to Rome, but Helena has disappeared, apparently leaving Falco for good. Romantically depressed, Falco goes over to the Palatine to be personally briefed by the emperor Vespasian on his latest assignment -- broker peace between Rome and the Celtic tribes of Germany (whose leaders are thought to be Veleda, a priestess and Julius Civilis, a local strongman), locate a missing military officer named Munius Lupercus, and deliver a new standard in the form of a two-foot long human hand, cast in iron, to the 14th Gemina at Moguntiacum -- the last actually being a pretext for Falco to investigate them, given that the 14th's loyalty is held in doubt. Much to Falco's annoyance, he is also to escort an ex-slave named Xanthus into Germany as well, whose specialty is hairdressing. Falco's trip is marked by a number of misadventures -- poor food and even poorer wine, unscrupulous souvenir sellers and cramped conditions, as well as murder. At Lugdunum, Falco and Xanthus bump into two travellers quarrelling with a group of potters, who are later found murdered. At the crime scene, Falco makes the acquaintance of a centurion named Helvetius, before trying to contact Helena's brother Justinus, a military tribune serving at Argentoratum, but discovers that Justinus has been transferred elsewhere, and so proceeds down the Rhenus further into Germany, where the relatively wealthy Xanthus is accosted by a peddler named Dubnus. Falco discovers that Dubnus is selling curios which may have been relics of Varus' ill-fated expedition, and asks Dubnus about Veleda, who tells him that she lives in a tower in the middle of the forest somewhere in the north. At Moguntiacum, Falco tries to contact the local military legate, Florius Gracilis, but discovers that like Lupercus, Gracilis is missing. Falco finally meets Justinus and upon discussing Gracilis further, he discovers that Gracilis has been absent without leave, and his whereabouts are unknown, and in addition to his official duties, begins tracking down Gracilis. Running out of leads, Falco finally tries to make enquiries with the camp prefect of the 14th Legion, but accidentally lets it slip that he was part of the infamous 2nd Augusta. Brusquely driven off and humiliated, he is warned by to cease his inquiries. Later, three apparently drunk soldiers attack Falco, but he is saved by Xanthus who kills one of the soldiers, and finally discovers that Justinus has another guest, and it's none other than Helena, who has also brought along his niece, Augustinilla, because her mother, Victorina, is having "woman problems". Falco and Helena go shopping and meet a German potter, Julius Mordanticus, whose uncle Bruccius has gone missing along with his cousin in Gaul. Falco immediately identifies Mordanticus' relatives as the men killed in Gaul, and tells Mordanticus to contact Helvetius, while Helena uncovers strong business rivalry between the potters of Lugdunum and Moguntiacum over commercial contracts to supply high- quality ceramics to the Roman army -- suggesting that Gracilis himself was bribed by Lugdunum. Helena then buys a bowl from Julius Mordanticus for Falco to bring back as a gift for his mother in Rome. Eventually, Falco goes north with Justinus, Dubnus, Helvetius and twenty young recruits from the 1st Aduitrix, another legion present in Moguntiacum, in search of Civilis and Veleda, but is captured by the Bructeri along with Helvetius and the twenty other soldiers. He manages to meet Veleda and tries to convince her that Vespasian wants to make peace, but Veleda refuses to listen to him. Just as things begin to look bleak, however, Justinus rides in and speaks with Veleda in Celtic, offering himself up as a hostage in return for the safe passage of Falco and his team back to civilisation. Veleda agrees and gives Falco a silver token taken from Lupercus' body. Apparently, Lupercus was murdered en route to Veleda. She asks Falco and Helvetius to use a galley captured from Petillius Cerialis (now decrepit from neglect) to escape so as to throw off the tribesmen's suspicion -- she must not be seen aiding the Romans. Justinus shortly after manages to rejoin the men, and tells Falco and Helvetius that Veleda does not wish for further war with Rome, and they take off in Cerialis' galley. Unfortunately, the galley is in poor shape and Falco and the men are soon shipwrecked in the lands of the Tencteri, a staunchly anti-Roman tribe, where they encounter the 14th Gemina's legate, Florius Gracilis, hunting for aurochs with the Gauls of Lugdunum, who then kill Helvetius. Gracilis and his followers soon decide to kill the survivors as well because they know too much, but Gracilis is gored to death by an aurochs, and Falco banishes the survivors of Gracilis' party. The Tencteri then attack Falco's party, but they are saved by the arrival of the 14th Gemina. One last job remains to be solved -- finding Civilis. Fortunately for Falco, his formidable niece Augustinilla managed to track down Civilis in Augusta Treverorum, and Falco goes to meet him, only to discover that Civilis is now an aged and broken man. Realising his time is up, Civilis agrees to accept Roman parole (as well as a new haircut from Xanthus!) Xanthus joins Civilis to start a new life as a freedman in Germany (although Falco now suspects that Xanthus was an Imperial agent meant to watch over Civilis). Back in Moguntiacum, a military parade is held to commemorate Vespasian's birthday, and the Iron Hand is officially handed over to the 14th Gemina. During the ceremony, Falco decides that Helena ought to marry Titus, but she asserts that she is staying put at Falco's side, and even writes the official report on the mission for Falco! ===== This first novel in the Marcus Didius Falco Mysteries series introduces the main characters as well as establishes relationships that continue and grow throughout the series. Falco stumbles upon a conspiracy in the trading of silver ingots, but not before it claims the life of a young girl (Sosia Camillina) Falco meets and is smitten with. Hired by Sosia's uncle, a senator, to find out who murdered her and by the Roman Emperor Vespasian, to uncover the conspiracy, Falco finds himself on the next boat to Britain. Once there he meets a lady way out of his class, Helena Justina, the daughter of the Senator who hired him, and Sosia's cousin. At first sight Falco and Helena loathe each other: He hates her class, and she hates his prejudice. Things are made no easier by Sosia's death, especially for Helena. Working under cover, Falco himself working down a silver mine, acting as a mine slave, Falco learns the meaning of hate, pain and abuse. After being rescued by Helena and a friendly centurion, Falco heads back to Rome, as the reluctant charge of the even more reluctant Helena. After spending so much time together, and many arguments, misunderstandings and denials, Falco and Helena fall in love (and subsequently consummate this in a horse stable, in a public garden). Eventually, Falco sorts out the case and only has to bring the culprits to justice. However, there is no justice, as one of the culprits is Domitian, the Emperor's wayward son, and the only other surviving culprit is very close to Helena and her senator father. After a final, bloody, retribution is carried out in the climax, Falco is offered a promotion to the equestrian rank. As an equestrian Falco would be upper middle class and could marry Helena without bringing her or her family shame, as would with his current meagre earnings. He refuses, seeing the offer as a bribe to keep the conspiracy hushed-up. After realizing his mistake and how he must have insulted Helena, he returns to Vespasian and asks for the chance again, and while he is told that his name can be added to the equestrian lists, he must first raise the 400,000 sesterces himself in order to purchase the land of that value, which is the qualification for equestrian status. Vespasian came from an equestrian family that rose into the senatorial rank under the Julio–Claudian emperors, and although he fulfilled the standard succession of public offices, he had really made his name and earned his power in military service. Dejected, Falco returns to his dilapidated tenement in the Aventine Hill and there finds Helena waiting for him. She promises to wait for him for as long as it takes. ===== Lily Marshall (McEntire) has a loving, supportive husband, two great kids and an unfulfilled dream: to return to college and get the degree she always wanted. Lily wonders if there is life beyond her family and home. The hole in Lily's life is soon filled by too much. There's a confusing new social life on campus, schoolwork keeping her up late, a part-time job keeping her from her husband and kids whose mom is turning into a stranger. Lily's strength, love and perseverance are the only things that can help her now. ===== Nargis, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar in scene from the film. Neena (Nargis) is the spoiled daughter of a rich businessman (Murad). One day while horseriding, she loses control of her horse and is rescued by a young man named Dilip (Dilip Kumar). Dilip instantly takes a liking to her and starts to frequently visit her house where he entertains her with his singing along with Neena's friend Sheela (Cukoo). Neena's father dislikes this; he tries to make her realise that spending so much time with Dilip is not wise, as Dilip might misconstrue their friendship as love. On the day of Sheela's birthday party, Dilip realises he has fallen in love with Neena and tries to tell her. However, tragedy strikes on the same day when Neena's father dies of a heart attack, leaving Neena devastated. Dilip comforts her and Neena gives him the responsibility of looking after her father's business and staying in a spare room at her home. Dilip tries to confide in Neena about his feelings for her but is shocked when her fiancé Rajan (Raj Kapoor) returns from London. Rajan and Neena eventually get married, and Dilip finally reveals his true feelings for Neena on the wedding day. Neena is shocked by Dilip's revelation as she thinks of him only as a friend. Dilip tries to leave but stays to avoid any suspicion from Rajan. A few years later, Rajan and Neena are the parents of a daughter. On their daughter's birthday, Dilip arrives with a present. When the electricity cuts off and causes a blackout in their home, Neena tries to secretly tell Dilip that she does not love him and that he should leave, unaware that she has said all this to Rajan. Rajan accuses Neena of having an affair with Dilip and Dilip decides to clear Rajan's misunderstanding. He confronts Rajan and tries to convince him that he is wrong about Neena. In a fit of rage, Rajan attacks Dilip rendering him unconscious. He leaves home and takes his daughter with him. Neena comes to Dilip's aid and tells a doctor to save him as he is proof that she has not cheated on Rajan. When Dilip awakens, he is half mad and tries to molest Neena, insisting she really is in love with him. Neena grabs a gun and shoots Dilip, killing him instantly, and is then imprisoned. Rajan testifies against Neena in court about her affair with Dilip and how she killed him to hide her infidelity. While Neena awaits for the judge's verdict, Rajan tells his daughter that she is not coming back and tears up the doll that Dilip had given her on her birthday. Inside the doll he finds a letter Dilip had written for Neena, saying that Rajan is the fortunate one who she loves and he has realised this now. Upon reading the letter, Rajan realises he had been wrong about Neena and that Neena loved only him. The judge sentences Neena to life imprisonment and Rajan and his daughter come to see her before she is taken away. ===== Cross-cultural couples did exist in Baku early 1900s. Here Georgian woman Alexandra from a Christian background was married with Azerbaijani man Alipasha Aliyev of Muslim tradition. Pictured here with their daughter Tamara, early 1900s. In the novel, Ali and Nino have a daughter named "Tamar".Ali and Nino: The Business of Literature, special issue of Azerbaijan International, 15, no. 2–4 (2011), Photo 5, p. 23. Baku Realni School, the setting of the first scene in the novel Ali and Nino. Today, this building houses the University of Economics, Istiglaliyyat (Independence) Street. Ali and Nino is the story of an Azerbaijani youth who falls in love with a Georgian princess. Essentially, the book is a quest for truth and reconciliation in a world of contradictory beliefs and practices – Islam and Christianity, East and West, age and youth, male and female. Much of the novel is set in Baku's Old City (Ichari Shahar) on the eve of the Bolshevik Revolution beginning around 1914. Ali Khan Shirvanshir, a descendant of a noble Muslim family, is educated in a Russian high school for boys. While his father is still culturally Asian, Ali is exposed to Western values in school and through his love of Georgian princess Nino Kipiani, who has been brought up in a Christian tradition and belongs more to the European world. The book describes the love of Ali for Nino, with excursions to mountain villages in Daghestan, Shusha in Azerbaijan, Tbilisi, Georgia, and Persia. Upon graduating from high school, Ali determines to marry Nino. At first she hesitates, until Ali promises that he will not make her wear the veil, or be part of a harem. Ali's father, despite his traditional Muslim view of women, supports the marriage while trying to postpone it. The book takes a dramatic turn when a (Christian) Armenian, Melik Nachararyan, whom Ali thought was a friend, kidnaps Nino. In retaliation, Ali pursues him on horseback, overtakes his "lacquered box" car and stabs him to death with a dagger. Contrary to the tradition of honor killing urged by Ali's friend Mehmed Heydar, Ali spares Nino's life. Ali then flees to Dagestan to escape the vengeance of Nakhararyan's family. After many months, Nino finds Ali in a simple hilltown in the mountains near Makhachkala. The two marry on the spot and spend a few months in blissful poverty. As turmoil follows the Russian Revolution, Ali Khan makes some tough ideological decisions. When the Ottoman Army moves closer to his native Baku, Ali Khan watches the developments closely. The Bolsheviks recapture Baku, and Ali and Nino flee to Iran (Persia). In Tehran, Ali is reminded of his Muslim roots, while Nino is fundamentally unhappy in the confinement of the harem. Upon establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Ali and Nino return and become cultural ambassadors of their new country. Ali is offered a post as ambassador to France – an idea Nino had arranged – but Ali declines, because he fears he will be unhappy in Paris. When the Red Army descends on Ganja, Azerbaijan, Ali takes up arms to defend his country. Nino flees to Georgia with their child, while Ali Khan dies in battle as the Bolsheviks take the country. (The Bolshevik victory led to the establishment of Soviet domination of Azerbaijan from 1920 to 1991 and the end of the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which lasted from May 1918 to April 1920.) ===== Billy Coy (Mickey Rooney) arrives in the town of Carrell, California and offers himself as a mechanic for Arthur "Red" Stanley (Thomas Mitchell) at his garage. Red turns down Billy initially, but after seeing a photo of his father, "Cannonball" Coy, a famous driver, Red scares up a job for Billy. Billy's father died in an accident at the Indianapolis 500 several years previously. Red was Cannonball's mechanic, riding with him the day he died in the north turn of the Indianapolis motor speedway. Red inquires after "her"; he still carries a torch for Mary (Spring Byington), Cannonball's widow and Billy's mother. At the garage, Billy befriends a tomboy, Louise Riley (Mary Hatcher), whose father owns the nearest racetrack. Billy gets a chance to prove his skills as a driver in a qualifying race, but he is too arrogant to follow his employer's advice and is unsuccessful. He asks Louise to meet on Saturday night at the track. Thinking it is a date, Louise does the unheard of for her—she buys a dress and heels (in which she is unskilled at walking), assisted by her family's maid (Hattie McDaniel). As it turns out, Billy needed her help with changing some carburetors, much to Louise's disappointment. She gamely wobbles on high heels with him to the garage, buoyed by her love of cars and affection for Billy. Billy gets another chance to drive for another car owner, Deacon Jones. The car is green and referred to as a "Hoodoo Wagon" due to a racing superstition that green cars are unlucky. A helpful gadfly in the pits reminds Billy this is the same color as the car his father drove when he crashed and burned. Billy drives but is pushed off the track by driver Vic Sullivan (Michael O'Shea). Billy survives the crash but fails to qualify. He vents his frustration at the dirty trick by punching Vic. Distracted by the spectacle, another driver injures his hand by absentmindedly placing it on the searing exhaust pipe of his car in which he's sitting; Billy is offered the opportunity to drive in the incapacitated man's stead. Billy wins the next race and continues driving for Jones. Together with his team's other driver, Happy Lee (Steve Brodie), they make headlines with their success. Billy gets arrested for speeding after he has too much to drink. Red bails him out, and contrary to Red's advice, Billy goes on to race that same night. When the left rear wheel in Happy's car breaks, Billy tries desperately to catch up to Happy and alert him but instead crashes into Happy's car after the wheel comes off. The car skids to a stop in Billy's path. Happy's car is smashed through the wall, rupturing the gas tank and the car bursts into flames. Despite Billy's frantic efforts to save him, Happy dies in the blaze. After the race, the other drivers avoid Billy, convinced Billy made good his tyro promise to "...drive over them" and he is fired from Jones's garage. Billy decides to move "back east, where the big cars and the big money are." Billy stays in contact with Louise, and starts fresh as a race car driver. In his absence, his mother and Red get married. On the day of the next Indianapolis 500 race, Mary, Red and Louise turn out to support Billy. He drives one of Red's cars and leads, but on the final lap Billy drives through flaming gasoline from a wreck which causes Billy's engine to catch fire. Battling the smoke, Billy finishes the race, taking third place, leaping from the car just before it explodes. Billy is bitterly disappointed not to have won, especially since without a winning purse Red can't afford to race again. To Billy's delight, in a show of great sportsmanship, the winner insists officials give the trophy to Billy for his bravery.http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/68743/The-Big-Wheel/ ===== Two students uncover a series of mysterious signs in otherwise normal photographs taken around New York City with an antique spoon. They determine that these are clues that depict a pathway from a train station in New York City to a seahorse in the wilderness. Kate sets off alone to follow the crumbs, which leads her to a terrifying encounter with a psychic in a decaying cottage. The psychic falls prey to the Boxheads, a mysterious and evil cult that traps victims, whose smiling photographs appear on boxes that hide the faces of the cult members. Escaping from the psychic's cottage, Kate waltzes through the woods, taking shelter for the night in an eerie motel where she has frightening dreams and hallucinations. In one of these, a young girl falls victim to the Boxheads and disappears. Joined by her friend Mark, who has been analyzing and enhancing the photographs, Kate discovers that the young girl's image can be found hidden in all the pictures she had taken. The trail of photographs leads Kate and Mark to the home of Walter, the domineering leader of the Boxhead cult. Walter bombards his guests with pompous opinions about porcupines, as his young wife Lisa silently cowers in his presence and vents her emotions on a turnip mash. After dinner, Walter overpowers his guests. Kate is chained in a basement dungeon and told to "smile for the camera" as she fights back her tears. Mark is taken to a remote place in the woods to be sacrificed in a Boxhead ritual. Mysteriously freed from her chains by the young piglet, Kate escapes and follows Walter into the teacup, where she fights for her life and exacts her revenge. ===== Hornblower has recently returned to England from the Pacific in the frigate HMS Lydia, having gained widespread fame (but no financial stability) as a result of sinking the superior ship Natividad in battle. As a reward for his exploits, he is given command of HMS Sutherland, once the Dutch ship Eendracht, and which is, in Hornblower's estimation, "the ugliest and least desirable two-decker in the Navy List". He is assigned to serve under Rear Admiral Leighton, Lady Barbara Wellesley's new husband. Throughout, Hornblower is torn between his love for Lady Barbara and his sense of duty and loyalty to his frumpy wife, Maria. His feelings for Maria are complicated by the previous loss of both of his children to smallpox. Hornblower's first orders are to escort a convoy of East Indiamen off the Spanish coast. He successfully fights off simultaneous attack on the convoy by two fast, manoeuvrable privateers. Since he has been forced to sail with an understrength crew, and had to make do with "lubbers, sheepstealers, and bigamists", he breaks Admiralty regulations and presses twenty men from each Indiaman just before they part company. With his ship now fully manned, Hornblower wreaks havoc on the French-occupied Spanish coast. He captures a French brig, the Amelie, by surprise, storms a French fort and takes several more vessels in its harbour as prizes, repeatedly fires upon several thousand Italian soldiers marching along a coastal road, and saves his Admiral's ship from certain ruin by towing it away from a French battery during a severe storm. When Hornblower encounters a squadron of four French ships of the line that have broken through the English blockade of Toulon, he attacks them despite the odds of four to one, and manages to disable or heavily damage all of them. However, with many of his men killed or wounded, including Bush, who loses a leg, and his ship dismasted, he is then forced to strike his colours and surrender. This novel ends as a cliffhanger. ===== Princess Cimorene is frustrated by her life and persuades the castle staff to teach her fencing, magic, cooking, Latin, and other interesting subjects that are considered very "improper" for princesses to learn. The King and Queen take Cimorene on a state visit to a neighboring kingdom. Cimorene learns that they plan to arrange her marriage to an annoying prince named Therandil. Faced with the prospect, Cimorene runs away. She meets a group of dragons, and volunteers to become the "captive" princess of the dragon Kazul. Kazul assigns Cimorene to cook for her and organize her library and treasure hoard. Cimorene likes her position and becomes friends with Kazul, but finds she must constantly deal with knights and princes who want to rescue her. She hopes that a sign on the road to the cave will keep would-be rescuers at bay. While posting the sign, Cimorene encounters a wizard. The wizard tries to stop her from returning home, but Cimorene does not fall for his tricks. Annoyed, the wizard leaves using complicated magic, and Cimorene guesses that he is a powerful wizard. Cimorene tells Kazul about her meeting with this suspicious character, and Kazul explains that the dragons and the wizards disagree about the wizards' access to the Caves of Fire and Night. The wizards' staves absorb magic from any magical sources nearby – including dragons. Cimorene and Alianora, princess to the dragon Woraug, find another wizard gathering herbs near the dragon caves. Cimorene brings a sample of the herb back to Kazul. Panicking, the dragon burns it up immediately, but the inhalation of the smoke causes Kazul to fall ill. The plant is dragonsbane, poisonous to dragons. Kazul sends Cimorene to warn another dragon that the wizards are gathering dragonsbane. This news comes too late as the King of the Dragons has already been fatally poisoned. Although Kazul is still ill, she must leave to compete in the trials to choose the next King of the Dragons. (The King is a King regardless of gender.) Cimorene hurries through the dragon caves on errands for Kazul, where she meets a prince turned into a living statue. Based on information from the Stone Prince and Alianora, Cimorene realizes that the wizards poisoned the King with the help of Woraug. The wizards plan to interfere with the trials to allow Woraug to win the title of King. In exchange, Woraug will give them access to the Caves and magical items held by the dragons. Alianora discovers a way to melt wizards: Soapy water mixed with lemon juice. With this discovery, and the help of her friends, Cimorene foils the wizards' plan. Meanwhile, Kazul wins the trials fairly and becomes the King of the Dragons. ===== The protagonist of the story is Elizabeth, a young woman who is taking time away from college to earn a bit of money and discover a sense of direction. By happenstance, she ends up landing in Baltimore near the home of Mrs. Pamela Emerson, a recent widow and the mother of seven grown children. Seeing Mrs. Emerson struggling to store her porch furniture in the garage for the winter, she stops to offer help and ends up becoming Mrs. Emerson's handyman and companion. The story, which spans 14 years, discusses the relationship between first Elizabeth and Mrs. Emerson and then the relationship between Elizabeth and several of Mrs. Emerson's children, particularly Timothy and Matthew. Elizabeth and the Emersons end up changing each other's lives in fundamental ways. ===== Raymond Woods, a junior manager in a bank in the City, is becoming increasingly bored of his life as it takes a downhill tumble. First he finds out that he has missed the promotion opportunity at work by his bad tempered and disapproving boss, Strothers, and then he catches his wife a couple of days before Christmas having an affair with Strothers. (MISSING:) There is a plot detail left out here. Hugh Laurie character decides to get back at his bank boss by stealing money from the bank and get back at his wife by leaving her and living the high life in Rio. His character loves to watch latin dancing, hence another reason to go to Rio, where the dancer Orlinda is. Touching down in Rio, he calls a cab to take him to a nice hotel. The cab driver, Paulo, takes him to a fairly run down hotel. Raymond insists he needs a much nicer hotel with a beach, while Paulo insists Raymond would not be able to afford such a hotel, but suddenly changes heart once Raymond shows him a large wad of cash. Paulo immediately befriends Raymond, with his eyes greedily on his cash as he owes money to the biggest Mafia leader in Rio. He insists that he is prepared to take Raymond wherever he needs to go and whatever he needs done can be done. Therefore, Paulo takes Raymond to the nicest hotel in Rio. Raymond trips up in a commotion at the door of the hotel, dropping his bag and spreading his cash all over the floor. Once he hastily shuffles it all away, the hotel clerks immediately show him to the Presidential suite. After a day of shopping and generous spending Raymond reveals to Paulo he has come to Rio to look for the famous samba dancer Orlinda. Paulo then calls to tell Raymond he has found Orlinda. After dropping Raymond off at the club where Orlinda is performing, Paulo sneaks back to the hotel in an unsuccessful attempt to steal the money. Meanwhile, Raymond and Orlinda dance together, then Paulo drives them back to the hotel. Paulo tells Orlinda about the safe. Raymond enjoys a passionate night with Orlinda, but wakes to find the money gone. Raymond tries to find Orlinda, believing she has been kidnapped along with the money. Realising it is Christmas Eve, Paulo helps Raymond find Orlinda at midnight mass. She confesses to stealing his money, but tells him she doesn't have it, as she owed money to a Mafia leader, Bichero. On leaving mass, Raymond sees Bichero handing out cash, and runs after Bichero's car, but is captured. Bichero is about to have him executed, but instead locks him in a safe and forces him to count Bichero's money. On Christmas Day, Orlinda visits Raymond to give him a present. Raymond is still angry at the fact that she has ended him up in this situation. She tells him that she wished the money was only a small portion of what he owned and it wouldn't matter that she took it, and tells Raymond he's a "common crook". She tells Raymond not to give up hope. Raymond collects a large portion of the money and claims it is his. Orlinda then meets up with Paulo who takes his taxi and ties a rope to pull away at the bars of Raymond's prison. Raymond decides he should return the money to the bank, as he still has enough time to get back to England and return the money to the vaults without anybody noticing it had gone. He quickly buys a ticket back to London and hires a taxi driver to rush him back to the bank. However, when he arrives, the police are all over the building. About to rush in and explain to the police inspector, he discovers that over the Christmas period, somebody tunnelled into the vault and swiped the remainder of the money. Confused and relieved, Raymond leaves the bank, intending to return to Rio. Catching a taxi, when a couple leave, he recognises them as his wife and Strothers who have evidently just returned from their holiday in Tenerife. He tells his wife he'll leave her the address of where he's living in Rio to send the divorce papers, resigns from his job and goes back to Rio. He is next shown living with Orlinda and Paulo some years later with two babies and Bichero as his servant. ===== The novel interweaves the stories of real and fictional characters. It is told from many points of view, including that of Henry Wirz, the camp commandant, who was later executed. It also features William Collins, a Union soldier and one of the leaders of the "Raiders". The "Raiders" are a gang of thugs, mainly bounty jumpers who steal from their fellow prisoners and lead comfortable lives while other prisoners die of starvation and disease. Other characters include numerous ordinary prisoners of war, the camp physician/doctor, a nearby plantation owner, guards and Confederate civilians in the area near the prison. Andersonville is clearly based on prisoner memoirs, most notably Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy. Henry Wirz, who received an injury earlier in the war and never recovered properly, is portrayed not as an inhuman fiend but as a sick man struggling with a job beyond his capacities. Kantor's novel was not the basis for a 1996 John Frankenheimer film Andersonville. Although Kantor did sell the motion picture rights of his novel to one of the major Hollywood studios in the 1950s, it was never produced. Kantor's novel and the movie of the same name are two separate properties. ===== Joe Sacco visits Goražde, a mainly Bosniak enclave in eastern Bosnia surrounded by hostile Serb- dominated regions. Sacco visits the locals and gets a first-hand view of the war's brutal effect on the town. The story of Goražde develops through the narrations of Edin, a graduate student who was studying engineering in Sarajevo before the war, and other residents of Goražde. Yugoslavia had been a multi-ethnic country and its cultural pluralism was proudly propagandized throughout the world. Edin and many others recall having fun with their Serb and Croat friends during the Josip Broz Tito era. However, after the death of the charismatic former Partisan leader, the newly elected president of Serbia Slobodan Milošević begins to incite extreme Serb nationalism among the Serb population. By bringing back the painful memories before the Tito era in which bloody conflicts raged between Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, he succeeds in inciting chauvinistic sentiment among the Serbs. The republics of Slovenia and Croatia, intimidated by the development of the situation, declare independence from Yugoslavia. The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina is rapidly deteriorating. The Serbian Democratic Party led by Radovan Karadžić represents the ethnic Serbs and is against disintegration; the Party of Democratic Action and the Croatian Democratic Union, respectively representing Bosniaks and Croats, are in favor of breaking apart from the Yugoslav federation. Bosnian Serbs, fearing that once Bosnia gains independence they would be persecuted by the numerically superior Bosniaks and Croats, organize their armed forces and prepare for the upcoming war. The tension among nations is now visible; Serbs and Bosniaks now go to separate cafés. Vigilantes raised from both sides patrol the streets and night for fear of Serb/Bosniak attack. Amid this atmosphere, Edin returns home from Sarajevo to protect his family. The first attack on the community is realized in 1992. Bosniaks are caught unaware, and many lose their family members and loved ones while escaping from the indiscriminate attack. In the joint offensive of Bosnian Army and Bosniak militias captured Goražde. They find their homes looted and burnt by Serbs. Bosniaks who couldn't escape and were caught by the Serbs were killed in horrendous manners and buried en masse, amongst them Edin's friends. Refugees who flocked from nearby towns of Višegrad and Foča testify their accounts of atrocities committed by Serbs, among them mass executions, rapes, etc. Residents of Goražde try to maintain life in the town, now sieged by Serb- dominated areas of Republika Srpska. They suffer from destruction of basic infrastructures, shortage of utilities such as electricity, and hunger. Food supplies airlifted by U.S. C-130s flown from Germany help relieve food shortages, but Bosniaks have to risk their lives in the long winter trail to reach the airdropped packages. In 1994, the town is subjected to a second major Serb offensive. This offensive, orchestrated by the Serb general Ratko Mladić, is in scale much larger than the first offensive, and causes massive destruction to the town. Edin and other Bosniak militiamen desperately try to defend Goražde from the enemy that outnumbers them. Meanwhile, the international society is blind to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Goražde. Despite having designated Goražde a 'safe area', the United Nations and its military arm in former Yugoslavia, UNPROFOR, make no effort to stop the Serb advance for fear that UN could also be implicated in the conflict and compromise its neutrality. Only after pleas for intervention from the Bosnian president Alija Izetbegović, and the terrible situation in Goražde reaches media and sparks international indignation do the UN and the United States respond with bombings on major Serb military positions. The bombings stop the attack and the people of Goražde once again manage to defend their village at a heavy cost of 700 dead, most of them civilians. A contingent of British peacekeepers are stationed in Goražde thereafter to supervise the disarmament process of the militias. There were also a few Serbs whose loyalties stood with the Republic of Bosnia and chose to remain in Goražde throughout the war. They were despised by the Bosniak refugees, who lost everything they had at the hands of Serbs; they were equally hated by the Serb militias, who took them for traitors and threatened to kill them. In 1995 Gen. Mladić plans another offensive in eastern Bosnia and takes it into action. The offensive succeeds due to the inaction of the UN peacekeeping forces. Serb forces take Dutch peacekeepers hostages, and assault the towns of Srebrenica and Žepa, both designated 'safe areas' by the UN. Bosnian forces firmly believed that the UN troops would protect them from attack, hence they were totally unprepared. Both Srebrenica and Žepa fall to the Serbs. Over 8,000 Bosniak males were massacred in Srebrenica, while the Bosniak population in Žepa was expelled. The UN's peacekeeping efforts in Bosnia have failed. After suffering much diplomatic humiliation at the hands of Bosnian Serbs, the United States begins bombing strategic Serb positions. Now the Serbs have turned the rest of the world their enemy; a joint Croat-Bosnian offensive drives most Serbs out of northern Bosnia, and the Serbs return to the negotiating table. Sacco came to Goražde in the immediate aftermath of these events through the 'blue road', a narrow road opened by the UN peacekeepers that links sieged Goražde to the rest of Bosnia. The Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats finally come to an agreement, and the Dayton Accords is adopted. Among the conditions for peace, Goražde is not to be receded to the Serbs and both sides are required to demobilize their troops. Edin and other residents of Goražde rejoice at this news. However, townsfolk point out that there is still much more to go. According to the agreement, Bosniak refugees evicted from their homes can return to their homes, but no refugee would dare enter Serb-dominated areas without any assurance of safety. Sacco re-visits Goražde a year later. Much has changed within a year. The 'blue road', which only aid workers, peace-keepers and journalists could pass through, is now open to everybody. Life goes on in Goražde. A Benetton merchandise shop has opened in Sarajevo. Edin and his friend Riki go to Sarajevo to resume their studies. Edin has no time to waste; he has wasted the most important period in his life in battlefields. He now must get used to everything. ===== The Mitchell Vineyard, in the rolling hills of Northern California, is the very blood of Clovis Mitchell (James Stewart), a spare and dignified grandfather and guardian to Kelly (Stephanie Zimbalist) and her brother Chris (Michael Sharrett). The heart of the household, though, is Lassie, a handsome young collie, affectionate, obedient, sensitive, and very wise. A threat is in the air one night when Jamison (Pernell Roberts) and his associate Finch (Robert Lussier) appear at the winery and offer to buy the land from Clovis. They get a refusal from the old man, while Lassie growls in the background. Jamison promises to return, and does, to claim Lassie, one of a litter he says escaped during a fire. She has a tattoo mark in her right ear to prove it. Clovis has no alternative but to give up the dog, and tells his heart-broken grandchildren. Lassie has an alternative; taken by private plane to Jamison's home in Colorado Springs, fitted with a handsome green collar with gold studs, Lassie makes her escape. Chased by helicopter and kennel men through the rocks and hills of Colorado, Lassie manages to elude them and out- stare a cougar before she joins up with new friends – Gus (Mickey Rooney), a down-at-heel wrestling manager and Apollo (Mike Mazurki), a kindly mountain of a man and Gus's so-called star. About the time they are binding up Lassie's sores, giving her food and water, and moving along in their van, young Chris bolts on his first day of the school term and sets off alone in search of Lassie. With his distraught grandfather setting out to find the boy, and Kelly and her sweetheart, attorney Allan Fogerty (Lane Davies), checking with the police, Chris takes a car conveyor in the direction of Colorado Springs. Soon after the truck takes off, a hungry and frightened Chris leaves the vehicle, buys food in a restaurant from a sympathetic waitress (Alice Faye), then goes out to look for another truck, and finally dives into the back of a cattle truck. The restaurant waitress, hearing reports of Chris's disappearance, calls his home and tells his sister where the boy has been, but Chris is on the move again, and so is Lassie. He in an empty cattle truck, she in the doorway of a freight car. Lassie leaps from the freight car and continues her journey. Clovis and the police officer who is aiding in the search for Chris, hear his cries as he is about to be crushed by a herd of Longhorns being loaded into his hiding place. Everybody is home – everybody but Lassie, whose ownership by Clovis has been clarified by Allan, the young attorney, who is about to join the family as an in-law. Lassie continues her long, painful journey. Wet, sore-footed, and limping, she stumbles upon the Mike Curb Congregation, who are rehearsing. The group takes Lassie along to their engagement, where a flare is knocked over, causing a fire. Panic ensues. Lassie is trying to save the life of a kitten from a burning dressing room and is presumed dead, but she is not, and the next day – Thanksgiving – Lassie, tired and filthy, comes wagging over the hill to Chris, Clovis, Kelly, and home. ===== Brother Fish is a story spanning four continents and eighty years though the story primarily takes place in Australia and Korea. The story deals with the friendship of Jacko McKenzie, a native of the (fictional) Queen's Island in the Bass Strait, and James ‘Jimmy’ Pentecost Oldcorn, an orphan American ex-soldier, who have been meeting at the Gallipoli Bar of the ANZAC Hotel, Launceston, Tasmania for 33 years, since their release from a prisoner of war camp in Korea. In the bar, Jacko reminisces back to his youth on Queen's Island, of the poverty, being the son of a fisherman and a washerwoman, and the characters inhabiting his home town. One of the defining points of Jacko's life was his first encounter with Miss Nicole Lenoir- Jourdan, town librarian and indomitable justice of the peace. The librarian would go on to fundamentally influence Jacko's life, starting with additional English lessons during his formative years, as a friend, and ultimately as a business partner. A key feature of the novel is Jacko's recounting of his army days, first as an infantryman who did not see service in World War II (on account of joining up too late), and most importantly, those spent in Korea. It was during this spell that Jacko met Jimmy, an American soldier, and care is taken to delve into the background of the latter. Following their release, the lads return to Queen's Island, where, Jimmy is a big hit with the local girls. During the brief stopover in Launceston, Jacko meets Wendy, the daughter of a local doctor, and ex-finance of one of Jacko's comrades, sadly fallen in Korea and the two eventually marry. As Jacko and Jimmy set about rebuilding their lives, ideally based on starting their own fishing business, they turn to the domineering Miss Lenoir-Jourdan once more. Her own chequered past as a Russian émigré, first to Shanghai, and later on to Australia via Hong Kong, following a dramatic fallout with a Chinese Triad boss is described in detail, and ultimately rounds out the novel. The story concludes with Jimmy and Jacko enjoying their pint in the ANZAC, before going to say their final goodbyes to an old and dear friend, who is dying. ===== While Jones and the rest of the platoon hold a bayonet practice, Mainwaring and Wilson discuss the upcoming Ceremonial church parade of all the Home Guard platoons in the area. Mainwaring receives a new officer's cap in the post and hangs it on a nail on the door. Unfortunately, while charging at a dummy of Adolf Hitler, Pike bayonets the door, and subsequently punctures Mainwaring's new hat. Mainwaring is incensed and shouts at Pike, while Wilson receives a telephone call from Mrs Mainwaring. He hands the phone to Mainwaring, claiming she heard him shouting. Mainwaring is forced to leave the parade to put back the bedding in the air-raid shelter, leaving Wilson in charge. Captain Square arrives, and compliments Jones on his impressive row of medals. He goes into the office and confronts Wilson about a note he sent about the church parade, which stated that all medals should be worn. Wilson finds the note hidden under some other papers, and Square surmises that the reason he hid the letter is because Mainwaring hasn't got any medals, and he didn't want to feel out of place. Square orders Wilson to read the letter to the platoon. Next parade, Mainwaring inspects the men, and is shocked to see that they are all wearing their medals (except for Pike who has been forced, by his mum, to wear his Scout badges instead!). He riles Wilson about the unimportance of medals, and is even more disgusted when he learns that Chief ARP Warden Hodges, the Vicar and the Verger also have medals. After the church parade, Square irks Mainwaring by saying that his platoon are too old to be of any real use. Mainwaring responds by claiming that his platoon could wipe the floor with his any day, because they're fitter, better trained and better led, and insults Square by saying that he has a Colonel Blimp mentality. Square is angered and says that Mainwaring should prove that or apologise, and the Colonel suggests some initiative tests to settle the argument. Both Square and Mainwaring accept the challenge. Hodges, the Vicar and the Verger volunteer to be umpires. Once they receive the details of the test, Mainwaring convenes a parade to discuss their plan of action. Walker tells Mainwaring that he has made separate flags for both platoons to fly at the top of a tower, to mark the end of the test. Frazer foresees a snag: while they're performing the test, Godfrey will still be trying to climb out of Jones' van, and suggests that he breaks his leg to avoid going on the test, but Jones suggests that they carry Godfrey the way the natives carried Dr. Livingstone in Africa. Mainwaring agrees. As the first part of the test, a race between the two platoon vans to the site of the initiative tests, gets underway, Jones suffers an attack of malaria and Frazer recommends quinine, but Godfrey only has tonic wine in his Red Cross bag. As they set off, they realise they have been travelling in a circle, and the Eastgate van is catching them up. Mainwaring tries to stall them by swerving all over the road, but Hodges stops them, allowing the Eastgate platoon to get ahead. However, their van breaks down and Mainwaring's platoon resume their lead. To stall the Eastgate platoon, Mainwaring decides to release some sheep onto the road, but they eventually end up blocking the Walmington-on-Sea platoon. They eventually come to a halt on a bridge, with the Eastgate platoon approaching from one direction and the Walmington platoon arriving from the other. Neither commander is willing to back down, so both platoons get out and push their respective vehicles. Hodges arrives and is accidentally pushed into the river by Wilson. Mainwaring and Square rush to help, but tell their respective Sergeants to let down the enemy's tyres, leaving them both stranded. After they arrive, the first initiative test begins, which involves puncturing balloons with bayonets. The Eastgate platoon take the early lead, mainly thanks to a drunken Corporal Jones. However, Walker and Godfrey use their initiative by using a cigarette and a safety pin respectively. The final balloon floats away out of reach, but Mainwaring shoots it and they quickly rush off. The second initiative test begins, which involves carrying feathers from a tank to three barrels. Many ideas are suggested, but Pike comes up trumps by suggesting that they carry the barrels to the tank, and fill them up from there. This works, and gives them a huge advantage. Hodges attempts to stifle the platoon's effort by pulling the plug out of one of the boats they must use to cross the river, but Mainwaring and the platoon choose the other boat, leaving Hodges fuming. He rows over in a dinghy to fetch another boat, but it's revealed that Sergeant Parkins, of the Eastgate platoon, had removed the plug from the dinghy and tested it for the plugless boat, and Hodges ends up in the water again. The platoon pass successfully through a battlefield, and successfully fire five rounds at the target, leaving them with just the flag to fly at the top of the tower, with still a huge margin for victory. However, their plans are temporarily scuppered when Mainwaring inadvertently pulls the rope off the flag pole. A still drunken Jones bravely, and successfully, shins along the pole and secures the rope again. However, he suffers another attack of malaria, giving the Eastgate platoon the opening they need to fly their flag. But Frazer notes that it's the Walmington platoon's flag they're flying, and Square is irate. The Walmington platoon have won! The Eastgate platoon leave the tower in a huff, and Wilson prepares to chuck the Eastgate flag over the parapet, but Walker stops him. Mainwaring is shocked to learn that both flags are theirs. Walker offers up an excuse, but Mainwaring sees through him, knowing he did it on purpose. However, he is prepared to let him off because they won the contest. ===== The prologue tells the story of how the world was created by a powerful dragon named Mim, who maintained peace and created powerful dreams. She was possessed by the powerful Lord of the Locusts, driving her mad and leading the other dragons to seal her, as well as the Lord of the Locusts, away in stone. Rose, the youngest of the two sisters, is being trained to be a Veni-Yan-Cari (an "Awakened One"). Her mastery of the Dreaming Arts, a talent possessed by nearly everyone in her family except her older sister Briar, is renowned throughout the Valley. She sets off for Old Man's Cave to take her final exam with Briar, Lucius, the Captain of the Guards, and her two dogs, whom Rose can understand and talk to. It is clear that Rose is falling for Lucius and that he reciprocates her feelings, but he behaves oddly around Briar. The Red Dragon appears and meets with the headmaster to alert him that the River Dragon has gone rogue. On the way, Rose gets her "gitchy feeling" (a manifestation of her dreaming arts), alerting her that something is wrong. She then dreams about freeing a dragon from a river. The next day, Rose encounters the Red Dragon, who orders her to go to her headmaster. On the way, she is attacked by locusts and then by Balsaad, the River Dragon she freed in her dream. She cuts off his hand, but it suddenly reattaches. Balsaad flees and Rose describes the ordeal and her dream to Briar, who asks her to not tell the Order about it. Rose goes after Balsaad once more and is told by the Red Dragon how to defeat it - at a price. She must take Balsaad to the river where she freed it, kill him, and then kill the next living thing she sees. Meanwhile, Lucius then leads the Veni-Yan-Cari in battle with the rat creatures, who are being led by a mysterious new master to take back the valley. As Rose leads Balsaad back to the river, she is knocked out and has a dream. It is revealed that Briar is Balsaad's new master and the one who led the rat creatures to the valley. The Lord of the Locusts has discovered Briar's hidden hatred of her sister, inspired by jealousy of the powers Briar would never have as a dreamer and future queen, and has taken advantage of it through her dreams. Rose is about to be killed by the Lord of the Locusts, but Briar stops him, as she wants to be the one to kill her. She then wakes up and kills Balsaad by chopping him up and his body parts are washed away by the river's current, and then Briar appears at almost the same time as one of her dogs. She has aged as punishment for defying the Locust King and begs Rose not to kill her, thus Rose kills her dog rather than Briar. She brings Briar back to the valley and bursts into tears when her other dog asks where its companion is. Later, the people of the valley cheer her victory while the Red Dragon looks on disapprovingly. ===== As Mainwaring and the platoon return from an exhilarating route march, he discovers Wilson reading Pike's Hotspur comic. There is a letter written in Pike's handwriting hidden amongst the pages. Mainwaring reads it and is instantly disgusted. He convenes an impromptu parade, where he confronts Pike about the letter, and asks Wilson to read it. It says that the Home Guard will only spot any parachutists if they land in a public house, and that their section made sure there were no parachutists in eleven pubs in two hours! Mainwaring makes the platoon promise that he will not hear any more stories about his men drinking. He goes on to say that he has offered to be the host for a sherry party for local civil dignitaries and army officers. Jones' section (sans Frazer, because he's "meeting" a client in Eastbourne) volunteer themselves as stewards. When they leave, Mainwaring praises his men, declaring them indispensable. Wilson asks if Mainwaring was harsh about the public house business, but Mainwaring does not think he was, and blames it on the way he was brought up: every member of his family knew when to stop. Meanwhile, on board a train carriage, a drunken figure with more than a passing resemblance to Mainwaring downs a bottle of Scotch. The train stops at Eastbourne, and Frazer joins the man in the carriage, and quickly learns that the drunken man is Mainwaring's black sheep brother Barry, and that he is on his way to Walmington to collect a half-hunter watch that, he claims, Mainwaring stole from him after their father's demise. Frazer is more than happy to tell Mainwaring that his brother is in town. A few days later, Mainwaring tells Wilson that he is not ashamed of his brother, but he feels that he let his talents go to waste, while he became a respected and trustworthy figure who can look the world full in the face. Barry rings and Mainwaring declines the call, leaving it to Wilson. Mainwaring tells Wilson to tell Barry that he will meet him at the Red Lion inn. When he gets there, he confronts Barry about the watch. Barry claims that their father intended to give Barry the watch for looking after him. Mainwaring scoffs at his attempts to look after their father, and refuses to hand over the watch. Barry blackmails his brother by saying that he will show him up at the sherry party if he does not. Mainwaring reluctantly hands over the watch, getting Barry's solemn oath that he will be out of Walmington on the 9:30 train. The party goes well until Barry unexpectedly arrives, wanting to apologise for his earlier behaviour, and gets into a lengthy chat with Chief Warden Hodges, the Vicar and the Verger. Pike drags him into the dressing room, giving him a bottle of sherry to himself, in exchange for keeping his mouth shut. Mainwaring arrives, and Hodges gleefully tells him that he had a chat with his brother. Mainwaring is shocked and asks Wilson, Frazer, Jones, Sponge and Pike to get him out as soon as possible. They try shoving him through the window, but he is too fat, so they carry a comatose Barry out in an empty cupboard. Wilson admits to Mainwaring that he retrieved the watch for him, but Mainwaring's heart of gold allows him to give the watch back to Wilson, and tells Wilson to give it back to Barry and wish him well. ===== The platoon are parading in their snow camouflage suits so they can blend in with the snow, if there was any. Jones' glasses are completely white except for two small, dark holes in the middle because he has highly colored eyes. He also has cotton wool pushed up his nostrils, because he claims that his nostrils flare. Pike is wearing a white sheet over his head because his mother would not let him put whitewash on his face. Frazer is dressed in his mother's wedding dress (it was all he could find) and Godfrey is wearing a pierrot costume he wore, complete with pompoms, for the Army and Navy Stores Christmas party, where they made up a troupe called the Gay Gondoliers. The Vicar and the Verger interrupt the parade and inform Mainwaring of a church bazaar they are holding for the Comforts for the Troops Fund. Mainwaring naturally takes charge, and forms a small executive committee. Godfrey will provide chutney and homemade wine, Frazer will draw silhouettes, Mrs Pike will run a jumble sale, Mrs Fox will perform fortune-telling in a gypsy tent, Mrs Mainwaring will provide lampshades, Mrs Yeatman will organise the tombola, and Jones will auction a monster brawn. Hodges shoves his oar in by declaring he will auction three oranges, much to the committee's surprise. The bazaar opens, and Mrs Mainwaring's lampshade stall is empty, and Mainwaring tells Wilson that Mrs Mainwaring had an unfortunate incident with the bath (their bath had been recently enameled, and the enamel paint came off in one long strip, making an enamel skirt around her as she prepared to take a bath), and she won't be coming. Mainwaring admits to Wilson that he would only be embarrassed by the lampshades anyway, but it turns out that Pike picked them up from Mainwaring's house. Jones and Pike carry Jones's brawn into the yard, as it is melting in the heat. Mainwaring tries to win a bottle of whisky from the tombola stall, but loses out to the Vicar. When he notices the town clerk and some of his men drunk, he confronts Godfrey, who admits that everybody's tasting the wine, but nobody's buying it. A dispatch rider arrives with a message but, when he leaves, his motorcycle runs over Jones' brawn, making it unsellable. Mainwaring finds that Sponge is selling the lampshades as funny hats. Just as Hodges announces the auction of the oranges, Mainwaring tells Wilson that he must get one of the oranges for Mrs Mainwaring. The Verger overhears and warns Hodges, who resolves to stop Mainwaring. The first orange is sold for 1 shilling to Mrs Yeatman, before Mainwaring had finished bidding. The second orange is withdrawn from the sale because Mainwaring was the only bidder. Wilson tells Pike to buy the orange for Mainwaring. As a result, the orange eventually sells for an enormous 10 shillings. Mainwaring brings Jones' section into the office. Mrs Mainwaring rings and tells Pike that she's gone to stay with her sister for the weekend. Pike tells her about the orange, but she promptly slams the phone down. Mainwaring therefore decides to share the orange with Wilson and Jones' section. Suddenly Hodges comes bursting in and tells Mainwaring that they'll find the orange rather bitter: it's for making marmalade with. ===== The story is based on the lives of 12th-grade students in an elite school called "Maurya High" for the kids of the rich and the famous, and scholarship students from poorer families.indya.com - STAR - STAR One - Remix (archived from 7 February 2005) The four main characters are Tia Ahuja (a fashion entrepreneur's only daughter: Sumit Ahuja), Anvesha Ray Banerjee (a Bollywood filmstar's only daughter: Sonia Ray), Yuvraaj Dev (brat son of India's politician: Yashwant Dev), and Ranveer Sisodia (dwelling from a middle-class Rajasthani family who comes to Maurya to avenge the death of his father with Sumit Ahuja). They form the music group "Remix" and become the singing sensation of the decade. ===== The platoon are travelling to a battle school in the country. Save for an incident involving Godfrey's weak bladder, the journey is uneventful. Disaster strikes when they arrive at the station Mainwaring opens the secret instructions, and it is clear that he doesn't know how to read a map. They start off confidently, but it's not long before they find themselves back at the station. They try again and Mainwaring leads them into an ambush led by a rugged captain. When they finally reach the school, they are greeted by a cheery Major Smith, who then proceeds to tell them that, to the platoon's horror, they have missed the evening meal by four hours. He introduces them to Captain Rodrigues, a tough Spanish captain (the captain who had led the ambush) who fought in the Spanish Civil War and doesn't approve of military disciplines such as arm-waving. He gives Mainwaring and the platoon a single blanket each to keep them warm and some carrots and onions to eat. Rodrigues wakes up the sleeping platoon in the morning with a thunderflash, telling them that they have missed breakfast as well. Walker is fed up with this and is determined to search for food at a nearby farm, but is scared off by the unimpressed farmer. Rodrigues hints that they will have an opportunity to capture his HQ; unfortunately no one has succeeded due to the fierce Alsatians, barbed wire and the electrified fence. The platoon are soon put to the test, and are handed what was clearly a quickly-made meal. As the exercise continues, Mainwaring falls down a hole, finds a secret tunnel and discovers it leads to Rodrigues' HQ. Later that night having been missing all afternoon, he returns to take the platoon through the tunnel and ends up in the stores. Walker is impressed, and it isn't long before the HQ is captured. On the train home, Mainwaring is relieved to find himself in his mens good graces again, though laments that he felt the platoon deserved a more tangible reward. Walker then reveals that he is fully laden with food as whilst the others were dealing with Rodrigues, he was cleaning out the stores. ===== Ida, with help from her two best friends Sebastian and Jonas, robs the bank where her mother works, to get the money to save her dying father. During the heist, the kids overcome high-tech security systems, guard dogs, and a nasty head of security to get to a bank vault suspended 100 feet off the ground. ===== Brian Robeson, a 13-year-old boy who spent 54 days surviving alone in the Canadian wilderness the previous summer, is hired by the government to again live in the woods with only two knives and surviving only by his wits, so the military can learn his survival techniques. Though reluctant at first, Brian eventually agrees. This time, Brian sets out for a remote Canadian location accompanied by Derek Holtzer, a government psychologist. Though the government stipulated the duo take emergency supplies, Brian insists they abandon everything but a knife and an emergency radio, saying that it would be impossible to eat bugs and sleep in the rain when a tent and prepared food is within reach. During their stay, things take a grim turn when their camp is struck by lightning, which knocks Derek into a coma and destroys the radio. Knowing that Derek will die of dehydration long before anyone finds them, Brian builds a raft in a desperate bid to navigate down the unknown river to the nearest inhabited point known as Brannock's Trading Post for emergency aid. The biggest problem is the trading post is 100 miles downriver. Despite rapids, the craft's unwieldiness, exhaustion, and a lack of geographical knowledge, they finally reach the trading post and Derek survives. After the two get back home, Derek buys Brian a canoe named The Raft as a thank you present. ===== The Narrator, who is not named but simply called "Brother", recounts the life of his younger brother, William Armstrong, nicknamed "Doodle". Doodle is born a sickly child, who is not expected to live because of his birth defects. His family even has a small coffin made in the case of his death, and presumably chooses the robust name 'William Armstrong' because it would look good on a gravestone. Doodle survives, but for most of his childhood, he is unable to move or respond to his environment. Brother even goes so far as planning to smother the baby with a pillow, thinking that having no brother was better than having a brother who wasn't truly there. Luckily, Doodle smiles at Brother before he can do the deed, and, overjoyed that his brother is smart, Brother leaves him be. Doodle eventually learns to crawl, even though the doctor says the strain of even sitting up might kill him because of his weak heart. He crawls backwards, though, reminding the narrator of a doodlebug, leading him to nickname William, "Doodle". But Doodle is still very weak and feeble. Brother wanted someone who could run and jump and play with him, but resents having the weak and fragile Doodle instead. The narrator even has to pull his brother around in a wooden go-kart his father built him, because Doodle can't walk. It is now that Brother decides to train Doodle to be a "normal human being". He takes Doodle down to the swamp to teach him how to walk. Eventually, shortly before his sixth birthday, Doodle learns to walk with help from Brother. Encouraged by this, Brother decides to teach Doodle how to run, climb vines, swim, row and even fight to prepare Doodle for school. However, almost a year after the plan was made, Doodle is far from accomplishing the goals by the nearing deadline. One day, a big red bird appears in their garden, looking sick and tired. The boys' father identifies it as a scarlet ibis, a tropical bird that was blown off-course by a recent storm. When the bird dies, Doodle, pitying the creature, buries it, while the rest of the family looks on and laughs. Afterwards, the boys go to the nearby Horsehead Landing to continue Doodle's "training". On their way back to the house, Brother has Doodle practice rowing. A sudden rainstorm comes, and when they reach the riverbank, Doodle is tired and frightened. Brother, angry and frustrated that Doodle could not finish his training before school starts, runs ahead of Doodle, leaving the frightened boy behind. When Brother does not see Doodle, he returns for him, his anger dissipated. To his horror, he finds Doodle, lifeless, lying on the ground with blood flowing out of his mouth, staining his throat and shirt a brilliant red. The story ends with Brother crying and cradling Doodle's body. As this happens, Brother recalls how he killed Doodle with his selfish pride. =====