From Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ===== Act One begins with a chance encounter: Lil is a regular at Bluefish Cove, fishing on the coast. Eva is a fairly naïve housewife who has just left her husband, and has rented a cottage at Bluefish Cove on a whim. Lil feels an immediate attraction for Eva, but she misunderstands Lil’s flirting as friendliness, and Lil fails to realize that Eva is straight, inviting her to a party later that night. Bluefish Cove has become somewhat of a lesbian colony, a haven for Lil and her friends. Lil is mortified upon realizing Eva is not a lesbian, but Eva doesn’t take any hints and shows up at the party. To soften the blow, Lil convinces her friends to pretend they are all straight, at least for the party. When Eva arrives, she and Kitty – who is terrified of being outed – stumble through awkward dialogue until Donna and Sue arrive. Not aware that they are supposed to be pretending to be straight, Donna and Sue exclaim that they are lesbians - and that everyone at the cove is a lesbian. Eva realizes her misunderstanding to everyone’s extreme embarrassment and leaves. Later, she returns to Lil and their attraction is actualized – they begin an affair, but Lil conceals her cancer from Eva. Act Two jumps to midsummer. Lil’s cancer has significantly progressed, and she collapses in agonizing pain. Refusing to undergo any further treatment or have any more organs removed, Lil has accepted that this summer at Bluefish Cove will be her last. It is a crushing realization to Lil that this coincides with her first real love, Eva. Still, Eva refuses to be pushed away by Lil’s tough exterior and promises to spend the rest of Lil’s time by her side. The last scene shows Lil’s friends mourning her recent death. A number of commitments have been made in her honor – Kitty decides to reopen her OBGYN practice, Eva considers renting Lil’s cabin next summer…all of the friends feel Lil’s loss, but resolve to maintain their connection to Bluefish Cove, Lil’s favorite place. ===== Saucy Marianne Madison, bored with her routine life, falls for dashing con artist Valentine Corliss, who has come to her small town looking for fresh marks to swindle. He soon charms her into faking her well-respected father's name on a letter of endorsement which he presents to a small group of local merchants, who willingly give him money. Corliss then prepares his escape, but not before conning Marianne to come away with him with the promise of marriage. After spending a night together in his Columbus hotel, Valentine abandons Marianne. Angry and ashamed—and unmarried—she returns home and announces to her jilted fiancé Dr. Lindley that she will now marry him. But she has toyed with him enough, and he informs her that he has fallen in love with her shy younger sister Laura. But all is not lost. After confessing to her father and the duped investors, Marianne accepts wealthy but portly Wade Trumbull's marriage proposal. Trumbull bails her father completely out of his debt and during their first year of marriage Marianne comes to be genuinely fond of him. ===== The novel is set in the fictional Massachusetts town of Durham shortly after World War I. The Pentland family is rich and part of the upper class, but their world is rapidly changing. The old Congregational church the Pentlands long favored has disbanded as more and more WASPs have left Durham, replaced by immigrant Roman Catholics with very different religious customs. The Pentlands once ruled upper-class society in Durham, and still do. But even upper-class society is changing: Many of the "old line" families have either died off or moved away, while many nouveau riche have moved into the area who do not share the same old-fashioned values and observe the same old-fashioned norms of behavior that the Pentlands do. The patriarch of the family is old John Pentland. He lives in Pentland Manor, a large and old-fashioned manor house, with his sister, Cassie. Cassie is a fussy, moralistic, snobbish old maid who sticks her nose into everybody's business and who is firmly determined to see that the Pentlands uphold the "old ways." Her companion is Miss Peavey, who lacks intelligence but in all other ways is as moralistic and disapproving as Aunt Cassie. John's son and heir, Anson, married the wealthy but low-status Scotch-Irish girl Olivia. The couple have a son, John (nicknamed "Jack") and a daughter, Sybil. The Pentlands say that they can trace their family heritage back to the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Anson is writing a book about the family. John Pentland's niece, Sabine, is the black sheep of the family. Her parents died, and her home was lost to creditors. She became Aunt Cassie's ward. But twenty years ago, she married a poor, low-born man named Callender and fled with him to Europe. John Pentland acts as if he is widowed, but about a quarter of the way through the novel the reader realizes that his wife is not dead. For the past two or three decades, Pentland's wife Agnes has been insane, and now lives in an upstairs room in a far wing of the house. She is cared for by a nurse, Miss Egan. Every morning, John Pentland visits her and speaks with her despite her insanity. Afterward, he visits Mrs. Soames, a long-time friend of his wife's, and plays cards. His attention to the widowed Mrs. Soames is unseemly (so Aunt Cassie says), but no one can openly criticize him for it as John Pentland is the patriarch of the family. The novel is set during the early autumn. Olivia is almost 40 years old, and she increasingly feels trapped and stifled by her life. She and her husband have a loveless marriage (they have not shared rooms for years), and their son Jack is constantly ill. The novel opens as Olivia's daughter, Sybil, returns home from a boarding school in Paris. Sabine Callender and her daughter, Therese, have also returned to Durham and are spending the summer at Pentland Manor. Therese is a débutante, and is being "introduced" to Durham upper-class society. Aunt Cassie and Miss Peavey repeatedly criticize Sabine for being a flapper and for the scandal she brought down on the family. Also visiting Durham that fall is Jean, the son of a Frenchman who married an American woman and who Sybil met in Paris. Sybil is in love with Jean, and creates scandal by pursuing him relentlessly. Also newly arrived in Durham is Michael O'Hara, an Irish immigrant who has achieved wealth and political prominence in Boston. He bought Sabine's former home and is refurbishing it. Aunt Cassie and Miss Peavey are horrified by the arriviste and constantly snub him. Anson is upset by the attentions O'Hara lavishes on his wife and daughter. O'Hara soon tells Sabine that he has fallen in love with Olivia, and Olivia reciprocates. O'Hara says he is willing to sacrifice everything just to love her. Anson Pentland, meanwhile, refuses to give Olivia a divorce for fear it will ruin his career and the family's good name. Several events happen in quick succession: Jack dies, but only Olivia is there to comfort him at the end. Olivia discovers the Pentland groom is having a secret affair with someone in the house. (The reader realizes it is the nurse, Miss Egan.) The night Jack dies, Olivia runs into a momentarily-lucid Mrs. Pentland, who tells her that there is a secret in the attic which could not only destroy but also free the family. (She is quickly hushed by Miss Egan, and soon falls back into muddled incomprehensibility.) Sybil marries Jean, and Olivia is convinced her daughter will find the happiness that she has never had. Several secrets are revealed by the end of the novel, which mark the Pentlands as hypocrites. Olivia learns that John Pentland loves Mrs. Soames (whether he has consummated his affair with her is unclear), and has not divorced his insane wife out of duty. His daily visits with his wife are not performed out of love (as everyone assumes) but out of a desire to divert attention from his affair with Mrs. Soames. Olivia comes to believe that Mrs. Pentland's ravings about a secret in the attic were not madness. She soon discovers a packet of letters that reveals that the Pentland family's ancestor was a bastard child who stole the name from an aristocratic family that had died shortly after arriving in the New World. She suspects Anson knows the truth, and is lying about the family in his book. John Pentland, broken-hearted at the death of his grandson, changes his will and leaves all his money to Olivia. He commits suicide by riding his horse into a deep ravine and falling to his death. Olivia rejects Michael O'Hara's love, realizing that she is the only person strong enough to hold the Pentland family together through the coming years of immense change. John Pentland has given her the chance, through her control of the family fortune, to force the Pentlands to adapt rather than die off like so many other upper- class families have. By leaving with Michael, Olivia believes that she would be taking the easy way out and actually cheapening herself. ===== Salud (Bud Spencer) and Plata (Terence Hill) eke out a living as bush pilots in South America. Beside carrying a few passengers and a small amount of cargo, their most lucrative activity is in faking aircraft crashes, on behalf of Salud's brother (Alexander Allerson), who will be able to collect the insurance money. Flying over the Andes on another flight, the two pilots crash for real in the middle of the piranha-infested jungle. In a native village, they meet Matto (Cyril Cusack), an old man who takes Salud to see a mountain and tells him the story of three friends who killed themselves. There, the duo find an emerald mining operation run by the unscrupulous Mr. Ears (Reinhard Kolldehoff). Ears dictates prices on the black market, uses thugs to keep out competitors, and keeps his workers as slave labor. Plata and Salud decide they will confront Ears, using aircraft to deliver their goods, and offering the natives a much better life. Wanting to fly Matto to Salvador, where he would live in a modern city, Plata and Salud take the old man and his dog along with them, but he passes away on the flight. Plata finds a large emerald tied to a cord that Matto wore. In Salvador, the two inept crooks try to cash in on their find, but end up in jail. After a successful breakout, the pair find themselves pitted against the ruthless Ears, but in the end, right prevails. ===== Skeeter is a 14-year-old orphan who lives with his uncle Jesse in a one-room shack in the swamps of the Pascagoula River in Mississippi. He has heard the sound of a strange animal in the swamp near their shack, and one summer evening he convinces his uncle to help him go out and find it. When they do, they see it is a small animal with short red and white fur that makes a chuckling yodel sound and cleans itself like a cat. Jesse is unsure what the animal is, but Skeeter is convinced it is a dog. The next day, Jesse's friend Alpheus "Cash" Evans, owner of the general store in the nearby village of Lystra, comes to help Skeeter and Jesse track down the animal. With Evans is his tracking dog Gabe and two vicious hog dogs named Bark and Bellow whom he keeps leashed. Evans releases Gabe at the spot where Skeeter and Jesse saw the animal, and Gabe eventually picks up its scent and starts tracking it. As they listen to Gabe tracking the animal it becomes clear that it is outrunning Gabe. It bursts into the clearing, and Evans releases Bark and Bellow. When the animal stands its ground and fights back against the hog dogs, Evans calls them off and allows it to escape. He acknowledges that Skeeter was right - the animal is a dog. The following day, Skeeter sets out to tame the dog. He is able to locate it, and it proves to be a friendly female who allows him to leash her and bring her with him to the shack. Jesse convinces Skeeter to let her off her leash, and she remains with them. Skeeter decides to name the dog Lady. Skeeter and Jesse take Lady out with them, and when Lady flushes a covey of quail Skeeter becomes determined to train her as a bird dog. However, Lady's behavior makes it clear that she is someone else's dog, and Skeeter fears that Evans will discover who her real owner is. Skeeter is horrified when Lady chases and kills a water rat, something no true bird dog will stoop to. He ties the half-eaten rat around her neck, and brings her back to the shack. There, he find Evans visiting with an English Setter he has just purchased. Evans had planned to give his new dog to Jesse and Skeeter to train (for which he intended to pay them three dollars a week), but seeing Lady with her rat causes him to change his mind. When Skeeter apologizes afterwards, Jesse shrugs it off and tells him to concentrate on training Lady. Within a few months, Skeeter has trained Lady to cast and point like a proper bird dog. A visiting Evans sees Lady pointing at a clump of sage fifty yards away and refuses to believe she has detected birds from so far away. Jesse wagers the cost of a sawblade Evans had given him on credit that Lady is indeed pointing birds. Skeeter is privately dubious, but Jesse wins his bet when a covey of quail break from the sage. Evans is impressed, and he spreads the word about Skeeter's remarkable dog. In time, Evans hears from a traveling salesman out of Mobile, Alabama that a kennel in Connecticut lost a Basenji near Pascagoula. The description of the lost dog, named Isis of the Blue Nile, matches Lady. A sorrowful Evans tells Jesse, who passes the word on to Skeeter. When Lady responds to the name Isis, Skeeter knows he has the lost Basenji, and decides to return her to her rightful owner. A wire is sent to the kennel, and a man named Walden Grover flies down from Connecticut to take possession of Lady. Skeeter himself must put Lady in the crate in Grover's pickup truck, then watch as Grover drives off with her. Evans then asks Skeeter to finish training his English Setter, and the boy accepts. With the $100 reward Grover gave him, the boy buys his toothless uncle a set of false teeth, and puts a down payment on a 20 gauge shotgun for himself. ===== The episode begins with Eddie staggering drunkenly into the flat at 1:30am. He went out four and a half hours earlier with £1.75 to buy two fish suppers for himself and Richie, but instead of going to the fish and chip shop, he went to the chemist and spent the money on cheap Old Spice (which was being sold at 25p a bottle), which he drank. While trying to find alcohol around the flat, Eddie drinks a bottle of bleach, and passes out. Richie cannot revive him, and so attaches a noose to his leg and hoists him upstairs to bed. Richie goes to his bedroom to masturbate. A few seconds later, we hear a window smashing. Richie comes out of his bedroom and we hear more objects breaking downstairs. Richie wakes Eddie up. They spend a few minutes deciding what to do. Richie says that the burglars might be looking for drugs, so Eddie suggests throwing Lemsip down the stairs for them. Eddie goes back into his bedroom and brings a service revolver back out with him, and goes to shoot the lock off the hatch into the attic, until Richie asks why they do not use the key and tell him the burglars will hear Eddie shooting his gun. There is no ladder, as it was confiscated by the police when some nurses moved in next door, so Richie has to climb on Eddie's back to reach. Richie falls off Eddie's back, and down the stairs, landing on the burglar (played by Paul Bradley, best known as Nigel Bates in EastEnders). Richie and Eddie tie the burglar to a chair using Sellotape, and try to interrogate him, although they do not really know how to go about doing this. Richie calls the police, but puts the phone down halfway through when Eddie finds the burglar's bag, which is full of silverware. Richie tries ending the phone call by claiming that he has been sleep- telephoning again. They plan to sell the silver and make a new life in the Bahamas, and are walking out of the flat when they realise that something must be done with the burglar. Eddie suggests killing him by feeding him stale fish fingers. They do not have any fish fingers, so Richie sends Eddie onto the roof to get some poisoned pigeon pellets. While outside, we see that a second burglar is on the outer wall of the flat. Eddie falls through the glass roof but gets some pellets, which Richie puts into one of the cups of tea he is making. They take the tea to the burglar but cannot remember which cup contains the poison, especially as all the cups are the same colour, so, after Richie punishes Eddie by shoving a pencil up his nose, they force the burglar to drink all of them. The burglar promptly vomits. The police knock on the door. Richie answers the door to the police while Eddie tries to hide the burglar. Richie claims that he telephoned the police in his sleep, and tries to close the door, but the police officers force their way past Richie into the flat. The police are suspicious about the state of the flat, but Richie says that he caused the mess by "sleep-vomiting". One of the officers approaches Eddie and asks "Do you realise that you have a pencil up your nose?" then Eddie says that he has been "sleep-doodling" again. The officer points out that his paper is upside down and Eddie then says "So are my eyes". The officers find the shattered glass and Richie says he has been "sleep- glazing" again. Richie then throws insults to the officers and says that he has just been "sleep-slanging" again. The officers leave, after hitting Richie on the head with a truncheon for wasting police time. Eddie reveals that he had hidden the burglar by Sellotaping him to the ceiling. While they are attempting to get the burglar down by hitting him with a broom, a second burglar comes in through the window, and knocks Richie and Eddie unconscious with a club. When Richie and Eddie wake up, they are stripped to their underwear. The room has been stripped bare except for two chairs that the pair are tied to. They have mouse traps positioned in front of their genitalia, and Eddie has a note attached to his knee. The episode ends when Eddie reads the note, which says "Sue Carpenter". This drops their guard, causing the mousetraps to trigger. ===== The story revolves around Harish Mishra (Amitabh Bachchan), a retired Shakespearean theatre actor who spent precisely thirty years and nine months on stage and then suddenly quit, and his first and last act as a cinema artist. He is immensely passionate about Shakespeare, believes that nothing even comparable can ever be written, knows all his plays by heart, lives in those stories, condemns modern cinema and considers theatre as a much higher artform for directors and actors to convey their message to an audience. It is Diwali, a time when box offices are flooded with new releases and Shabnam (Preity Zinta) has to attend the premiere of her latest movie: The Mask. However, she decides to visit her co-star Harish and heads to a cubbyhole of old Kolkata where Harish is bedridden in a coma. He is being taken care by Vandana (Shefali Shah) and a nurse, Ivy (Divya Dutta). Vandana treats Shabnam with spite as she blames her and the entire cast and crew for Harish's condition. But soon they are seen bonding over tea and are involved in a conversation about Harish. In flashbacks, their story and equation with Harish emerges. The movie sees parallel narration from Goutam (Jisshu Sengupta), a journalist who recalls his encounters with the veteran actor. He had suggested Harish for the lead role to his elder brother Siddharth (Arjun Rampal) who happens to be an ambitious perfectionist director. After a casual meeting with Harish, Siddharth realizes that to convince Harish to act in his film, he has to win his trust and establish a relationship with him. And, hence, the impatient young auteur attempts to win the trust and collaboration of the aged performer, who sits raging against the modern world from the sanctuary of his study. Harish finally agrees to act in the film. Shooting happens on the stunning Himalayan foothills of Mussoorie. On the sets he befriends Shabnam and teaches her lessons on acting, life and Shakespeare. As the story unfolds one gets to know his relationship with Vandana, the reason behind his quitting theatre and last but not the least the reason for his illness. The Last Lear becomes a captivating reflection on the comparative artifices of stagecraft and cinema. ===== In 1860, Victor Frankenstein after creating the monster together with his partner Zuckel, the monster attacks the assistant and falls from a cliff. Assuming the monster is dead, Victor returns to his wife Elizabeth and daughter Emily. A police inspector named Bellbeau investigates some mysterious mutilations killings, and Victor is blackmailed by his former assistant, who lost an eye in his fight with the monster. Victor grows more and more paranoid, having terrifying nightmares about his creature, believing him to be pure evil. The monster survived his fall, and stole clothes and food from the villagers, whom he killed in his confusion, including Zuckel. Victor's daughter, Emily, spends time with her grandfather, a wise blind man who warned his son Victor about his experiments. When the monster finds his way to the grandfather's cabin, he becomes good friends with Emily and the old man, because they can see that he only wants to be loved, and they give him the name Franken. Victor wanted to rid himself of all the evidence of his experiments, so he decided to hunt the monster down and shoot him. From Emily, the monster learns about God. When a fire breaks out in the woods, Emily's mother is killed, and Franken can only rescue Emily's grandfather. When Philip tries to shoot Franken, he is accidentally killed by the monster. Emily thinks Franken did it on purpose and shoots his hand, and Franken is once again alone. He seeks refuge in a church, where gazes upon the crucifix, and notices that both Christ and himself has a hole though their hands, he breaks into tears, and begs god for forgiveness. Victor believes that his creation killed his wife, he finds him the church, but Franken escapes. The grandfather tells Emily that it was not Franken's fault that her mother died, and she sets out to find him. At the mountains, Inspector Bellbeau and his police force open fire on the monster. Emily comes to his rescue, and for the first time, Franken speaks her name. Tired of a life he never wanted, the monster commits suicide by throwing himself off of a cliff. Victor, driven mad by all the terror he caused, shoots himself in the chest. Inspector Bellbeau visits Franken's grave, as the red scarf Emily gave the monster blows away in the wind while Emily now lives with her grandfather. ===== The play, based on true events, is set in 1960 London. In his declining years, Orson Welles is directing a production of Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright. Olivier is fresh from his triumphant theatrical portrayal of vaudevillian Archie Rice and is about to reprise the role in the film adaptation of John Osborne's The Entertainer. He and Plowright are in the early stages of a romantic liaison; Olivier's tumultuous marriage to Vivien Leigh is all but ended. Critic Kenneth Tynan also figures in the plot, which debates the merits of stage versus screen, the internal struggle that theatrical performers endure when contemplating a leap to films, and the ways that the studio system frustrated the careers of individual artists. It is a study of theatrical egos, each of the protagonists living more on the stage than in real life, each one feeling insecure while jockeying for power. ===== Bobby and Scott, two young men in their late-twenties living in New York City, are struggling to make careers out of their artistic dreams. Bobby is a struggling writer and Scott is a struggling musician. Despite being close friends, their competitiveness with each other gets in the way. Neither of them are productive because they don't believe in themselves and both share incredibly high standards for their work. Bobby casually dates a New York University student, but struggles to look past their age difference. Bobby meets an old lover, Deirdre, who is headed to Los Angeles, and begs Bobby to take care of her dog while she's away. Bobby agrees but only in exchange for a sexual favor upon her return. Bobby soon loses Deirdre's dog and has a chance encounter with a cashier at a clothing store. Later, when Bobby makes the mistake of sharing an idea for the opening of his new screenplay with Scott, Scott tells their mutual friend, Hart, a playwright. Hart steals the idea, incorporating it in his new play "Death of a Banker," a campy morality tale starring Anthony Rapp about the September 11 attacks, which is set to be performed off-Broadway later that month. ===== Brought up in the lap of luxury, Neev Shergill and Prachi Shah are oblivious to the harsh realities of life. Neev and Prachi's childhood friendship blossoms into love. On the other hand, friends turned lovers Milind Mishra and Ayesha Mehra have lived in poverty all their lives. Prachi and Ayesha become close friends. Meanwhile, Prachi's brother Alaap starts a relationship with Milind's sister Sukriti. Things turn ugly between Prachi and Milind's families when Alaap humiliates Sukriti and dumps her after a one-night stand. Prachi is about to marry a man named Varun but he turns out to be a fraud. Finally, as Neev and Prachi are about to be married, it is revealed that Prachi and Ayesha are half-sisters. Prachi's father Inder had an affair with Ayesha's mother Amrita but left her for his wife Premlata and their daughter Prachi. Amrita became mentally unstable but Inder could never accept Ayesha. Ayesha begins to resent Prachi. She takes over the Shah family's business empire and blackmails Neev into marrying her. Shortly after they get married, Prachi discovers that Inder's death was not an accident but a murder. Milind, who had moved to Turkey for work, re-enters as a millionaire. To teach Ayesha a lesson as well as to make Prachi pay for Alaap's misdeeds, he presents Prachi with a deal: he will help her find her father's murderer if she agrees to marry him. Prachi accepts. Milind and Prachi's marriage leaves Neev and Ayesha devastated. Milind uses Prachi to make Ayesha jealous, but when alone, mistreats her. Slowly, Milind starts respecting and caring for Prachi. Ayesha constantly attempts to create misunderstandings between them by implying that Prachi is cheating on him with Neev. Neev discovers Ayesha manipulated Prachi into breaking up with him and wants her back but she refuses. Milind and Prachi confess their feelings and consummate their marriage. Prachi comes to know about Sukriti and Alaap's illegitimate son, Ritvik and brings the child home and pretends to be his mother. This infuriates Milind and he takes the matter to court. The two nearly get divorced, but the truth comes out just in time. A desperate Ayesha now decides to murder Prachi but Milind is hit by the car and he suffers partial amnesia forgetting Prachi is his wife. Ayesha forces Neev, who has ended his marriage with her, to marry Prachi so that Milind can be hers but before any wedding, Milind's memory returns and he adn Prachi reunite. A dejected Ayesha finally gives up. A businesswoman named Mallika falls for Milind. Ayesha warns her to stay away from Milind and Prachi. One night Mallika brings Milind to her uncle's farmhouse and spikes his drink, making him pass out. Ayesha shows up and in the ensuing scuffle, Mallika stabs and kills Ayesha. Prachi learns that she is pregnant but, before she can tell Milind, she finds out that Ayesha has been murdered and Milind is arrested for it. Mallika forces Prachi to leave Milind to help free him. Prachi agrees and leaves Milind to catch a train. In the meanwhile, Milind is released. He figures out that Mallika is responsible for Prachi's sudden decision to leave him. He tries to stop Prachi but in vain. Prachi reaches Kolkata and meets a Bengali couple - Proteek Dasgupta and his wife Panchi, who are travelling with their infant. Panchi hears out Prachi's story and urges Proteek to convince her to stay with them. Milind drives off to the station where Prachi's train is supposed to arrive. Upon reaching there, he and the Shahs come to know that there has been a blast on the train and assume Prachi is dead. ===== Shy loner Evie (Taylor) hears musician Drumstrings Casey (Pearce) on the radio one night and becomes infatuated with him. She pursues him, carving his name (sadly, backwards) in her forehead with broken glass, and eventually they meet and then marry. They both still struggle to make something of their lives. ===== When a group of Russian anarchists kidnap a Russian prince in Vienna there are repercussions. On learning that the Cardinal d'Orsay has agreed to convey some hollow candlesticks from the Emperor to the Princess Marionoff in St Petersburg, two spies both see the possibility of using them to convey messages safely into Russia. One is an eager young idealist involved in the plot against the prince, the other is Madame Demidoff, a beautiful agent of the Tsar. When the candlesticks go missing at the border, the two engage in a race to get them back, both realizing that their very lives could depend on the retrieval. ===== Jessie Holden is invited by her boyfriend, Kevin, and two friends, Freddy and Marie, to spend one Halloween night at Santa Mira Hospital, abandoned years ago due to a fire. Their friend, Emmett, is preparing the props to scare Jessie when he and his dog, Dutchess, are attacked by a ghost. Meanwhile, Allan is searching for his sister, Meg, who went missing with her friend, Kathleen, in the hospital a few days ago. His father's old friend, former actor-turned-cop Arlo Ray Baines, initially refuses his plea to accompany him to the hospital, but changes his mind and trails him anyway. Allan finds Dutchess horribly mutilated, but she suddenly rises up and attacks him until he shoots and blows her to bits. Upon entering the third floor, he reunites with Meg, who says that she got separated from Kathleen. Arriving at the hospital, the four friends begin searching for Emmett. When they are alone, Kevin cheats on Jessie by having sex with Marie. Meanwhile, Jessie, who is revealed to be spiritually aware, tells Freddy the story of her late mother, who died due to disease years ago but is still calling her every Halloween. The two stumble upon a terrified Emmett in the locker room. When the five meet up, Emmett suddenly begins attacking them. Allan and Meg arrive in time and Meg uses Allan's gun to shoot Emmett to bits. She tells the group that everyone who die in the hospital are reanimated; Emmett and Dutchess are among them. A paranoid Kevin, suspecting that Marie is becoming a ghost, grabs Allan's gun and shoots her dead. Since Meg refuses to use the elevator, the group split up, with Jessie, Kevin, and Freddy taking Marie's body to the elevator and Allan and Meg using the stairs. The former three are transported to the third floor, where Jessie has a series of premonitions involving a child murderer named Jacob. Jacob was committed to the hospital's third floor that was specifically reserved for mental patients. Despite this, he managed to murder a little girl in the hospital's premises anyway. When he tried to run away by burning the hospital as distraction, Nurse Russell threw away the door keys, trapping both of them in the fire. Jacob has been killing and reanimating people in the hospital so he can possess them, but all have failed so far. While inspecting the floor, Kevin goes missing. Jessie and Freddy reunite with Allan, Meg, and Arlo, who has killed a reanimated Kathleen and decided to save them all. They find Kevin trapped by the little girl's spirit and manage to free him, but in the process, Freddy is revealed to have died and was reanimated, forcing Arlo to shoot him. The rest try to escape through the stairs, however, Jessie eventually realizes that until they are able to beat Jacob, he will never allow them to leave. To do it, she impersonates Nurse Russell, intending to scare him from the living world. The plan works. Nevertheless, Jacob uses a reanimated Marie to kill Kevin. Kevin is reanimated, but shows no symptom of a normal ghost. It is revealed that he is directly possessed by Jacob, who finds Kevin, a sociopath, to be a perfect vessel. At the same time, Meg shows herself to be a reanimation; she had died alongside Kathleen back then. However, she is possessed by Russell and retains her control. Russell tells the group to leave while she confronts and successfully subdues Jacob. Jessie, Allan, and Arlo leave the premises safely, finding out that it is already the noon of All Saint's Day outside. Back at the hospital, Jacob vows to escape, but Russell casually states that he will have to get through her first before turning off the lights. ===== ===== Crystal, the only daughter of the old, long-exiled haughty royalist, the Comte de Cambray, is on the eve of betrothal to de Marmont, (secretly an ardent Bonapartist). Bobby Clyffurde, the Englishman, who is in love with Crystal, confronts Victor de Marmont about why he is pretending to be a royalist. De Marmont replies that he has never led the Comte to suppose anything, the Comte has merely taken de Marmont’s political convictions for granted. As if two potential suitors weren’t enough, Crystal has yet another admirer, Maurice de St. Genis, whose impecunious state (her father sees him as a penniless, out- at-elbows, good for nothing) has precluded him from obtaining her hand in marriage. However at the moment of Crystal’s betrothal to de Marmont, Maurice finally gets his revenge upon his rival. Once the guests have assembled for the ceremony, there is a disturbance from the end of the corridor and St. Genis enters the room, his rough clothes and muddy boots providing a contrast to the immaculate get-up of the Comte’s guests. Looking flushed and clutching his cane he announces that he has only come to avert the awful catastrophe that is about to fall on the Comte and his family. At the young man’s ominous words, M. le Comte goes pale and demands to know what catastrophe could be worse than twenty years of exile? "An alliance with a traitor, M. le Comte" he replies. St. Genis goes on to accuse his rival of pinning Napoleon’s proclamation on the walls of Grenoble. Yet, rather than deny the accusation de Marmont defends his actions with fervor, pulling a copy of the declaration from his pocket and waving it at the assembled group while shouting “Vive l’Empereur”. Despite the sudden rupture of her engagement, Crystal‘s heart is by no means broken, but it is not St. Genis who in the end wins her love, for we are left with the understanding that it is Clyffurde, the English merchant who eventually overrides the prejudices of the old French count. Clyffurde laughingly asks Crystal’s aunt, Mme. la Duchesse “Do you think that if I promise never to buy or sell gloves again, but in future to try and live like a gentleman-he will consent?” ===== A village in rural Thailand is celebrating Loy Krathong, when the festivities are disrupted by the descent of a spaceship. Ray beams are fired from the craft and all the village's women find they are suddenly pregnant. Only a few hours later the women give birth. The alien offspring have the power to kill by just staring and they have an insatiable appetite for raw meat. ===== The book tells the story of Skafloc, elven-fosterling and originally son of Orm the Strong. The story begins with the marriage of Orm the Strong and Aelfrida of the English. Orm kills a witch's family on the land and later half-converts to Christianity, but quarrels with the local priest and sends him off the land. Meanwhile, an elf named Imric, with the help of the witch, seeks to capture the newly born son of Orm. In his place, Imric leaves a changeling called Valgard. The real son of Orm is taken away to elven lands and named Skafloc by the elves who raise him. As the story continues, both Skafloc and Valgard have significant roles in the war between the trolls and the elves. ===== The film traces the progress of three Marines on shore leave during World War II, in the Pacific. One of the men, Nico (Jeffrey Hunter), is a seasoned, decorated sergeant; the second, Frankie (Robert Wagner), is a perennial goof-off, who drinks too much; and the third, Alan (Bradford Dillman), is an intellectual from a wealthy family. He has joined the Marines, despite his father's protests. Nico, Frankie and Alan come to San Francisco on a furlough from the war. Nico proposes and marries his pregnant girlfriend Andrea (Hope Lange). A drunken Frankie fights with Charlie Stanton, his hateful stepfather, who thinks him a coward. The wealthy Alan catches his fiancée, Sue (Dana Wynter), with another man. Lorraine (Sheree North), who is in love with Frankie, has joined the military as a WAVE. She introduces his friend Alan to her roommate Kalai (France Nuyen), a nurse of Hawaiian-French heritage. They all go to Lorraine's apartment, where Frankie first passes out, then wakes up screaming at the thought of returning to the war. Lorraine decides to leave him. Kalai professes her love for Alan. The three men return to the Pacific front. Frankie initially shows cowardice and Nico slaps some sense into him. Later, Frankie saves Alan and is honored for his heroism. Alan becomes ill with malaria and when a wounded Japanese soldier calls out to him for help, he tries to give the Japanese soldier some water but Nico shoots the wounded soldier and reveals to Alan and the other marines that a grenade was hidden under the wounded soldier as a trap. Alan then begins to question the futility of the war. When an advancing enemy tank threatens the platoon, Nico singlehandedly blows up the tank, but dies from his wounds. Back home, Kalai visits Sue in the hospital after she tries to commit suicide. Suffering from alcohol withdrawal, Sue dies during Kali's visit. The war ends and Alan returns to Kalai and becomes a professor at the local university. Frankie, now promoted to sergeant, brings Nico's last love letter home to Andrea, who has given birth to their child. Andrea tells Frankie that she would like to see him again. ===== Act 1 At the opening of the show, Austin Bennett prepares for a date with his girlfriend Catherine, but discovers her cheating on him ("Another Saturday Night in New York"). He tells his brother Jeff, who suggests that the best way to win Catherine back is by pretending not to care. Jeff volunteers to find dates for them and plans a night on the town ("Oh What a Difference"). Meanwhile, Marcy Fitzwilliams is agonizing over her breakup with a man named Larry. Her friend Diana Bingley, an actuary, suggests some "dating rules" that will determine her ideal rebound time, telling Marcy that the best way to find Mr. Right is by finding Mr. Wrong ("The Actuary Song"). Austin and Jeff end up on a double-date with Marcy and Diana after setting one up on J-Date, despite none of them being Jewish. Diana is impressed with Jeff, but Marcy and Austin don't share a connection at all. Marcy reveals that she is a photographer, while Austin tells her that he writes greeting cards, but only as a way of supporting his passion for poetry. Austin is unable to explain this without frequently mentioning Catherine, to Marcy's annoyance ("But I Don't Want to Talk About Her"). Marcy decides Austin is "perfectly wrong" for her. Meanwhile, Jeff and Diana attempt to have sex, but Jeff throws his back out. Jeff's hospitalization gives Marcy a chance to try and continue seeing Austin. Over a conversation at the coffee shop, Marcy equates Austin's coffee preferences with his rigid lifestyle choices in general, and explains her own free-spirited nature ("Coffee"). Austin tries to call Catherine and win her back with an impromptu poem, which fails, and Marcy agrees to help him write a better one. As Jeff returns from the hospital and continues casually dating Diana, Marcy and Austin continue to work on a poem for Catherine, while fighting over details along the way. A bartender and cocktail waitress muse that their differences make them a perfect couple ("The Perfect Romance"). After Austin completes the poem, Marcy tells him to wait six months before sending it, but Jeff accidentally mails it out with the bills. Catherine's negative response ends up in Marcy's hands before Austin has seen it, and she takes him to a Chinese restaurant that offers free wine, in order to get him drunk enough to break the news to him. A series of humorous conflicts with the waiter at the restaurant result in Austin and Marcy skipping out on their bill and stealing a box of wine from the restaurant. Austin is impressed with himself for standing up for Marcy, and thanks her for his acting out of character ("Because of You"). When they are about to kiss, Marcy stops him and shows him the letter from Catherine. He grows angry, and they have a heated argument, but end up having sex. Meanwhile, Jeff and Diana articulate the nature of their "friends with benefits" relationship ("We're Just Friends"). The next day, Austin is ecstatic over his night with Marcy, and has fallen in love with her, though Marcy doesn't know how she feels about what happened. Jeff tells Austin to tell himself that he doesn't love her. Austin tries, but ends up thinking their relationship might have a future ("Maybe We Just Made Love"). Austin admits his feelings to Marcy, who rejects him, telling him she isn't ready for true love ("Just Not Now"). Ashamed, Austin goes home, and finds Catherine waiting for him. Act 2 On the streets of New York, Marcy meets the bartender and cocktail waitress from her first date with Austin, and tells them what happened. They elaborate on the joys of singlehood, and assure her she's better off. Marcy agrees at first, but changes her mind after seeing a happy couple on the street ("Alone"). Meanwhile, Diana is with Austin and Jeff in their apartment, where Austin has ordered Chinese food. The delivery man turns out to be the same waiter Austin skipped out on earlier. While Austin and the delivery man are settling the bill in another room, Diana tells Jeff she wants to be exclusive. Jeff responds with fear, spelling out the negative impact that would result if they were to be a real couple ("That's What's Gonna Happen"). After the delivery man leaves, Marcy shows up and tells Austin she loves him despite all his flaws, which she mentions in great detail ("Even Though"). Austin is offended by the "anyway" aspect of her love, and rejects her, telling her Catherine has taken him back. Diana, Jeff, Marcy, and Austin sing separately about the hurt they feel from not being with the ones they love ("But I Do"). Marcy and Diana go back to the bar where they had the first double date to drink and forget. The bartender and cocktail waitress remember them, and they all tell tales of lost love in the past, vowing to give up dating. Marcy and Diana have a change of heart, and the bartender and cocktail waitress imply that they were trying to make that happen all along ("What Do We Do it For?"). Diana tries to talk to Jeff, but is interrupted by Austin, who is fretting that Catherine doesn't know how he takes his coffee, despite having dated him for five years. Diana explains to Austin that everyone needs someone to love, and Marcy is his. Jeff also admits that he loves Diana ("Marcy's Yours"). Austin vows to rid himself of his uptight nature, knowing Marcy will accept him no matter what ("Goodbye"). In the final scene, Austin is trying to write a poem for Marcy, but she arrives before he can finish it. He improvises one, spelling out the ways she is different from him, but saying that rather than loving her "anyway" (as she had said earlier), he loves her "because" ("I Love You Because"). ===== ===== Daigoro is a monster who was orphaned after the military used intercontinental missiles to kill his mother while she tried to protect him. Only one man stood against that decision. He pitied the infant, and took it as his own and raised him in Japan. But Daigoro grew too large and too expensive to feed. The man made Daigoro an icon for a business. Elsewhere Goliath, a monster who had been trapped in an asteroid for a long time, went to Earth and battled Daigoro. Goliath eventually defeated Daigoro by striking him with lightning from his horn. Goliath then left to pillage the world, leaving Daigoro to die. Daigoro recovered and practiced daily for his next battle against Goliath. After an intense fight, Daigoro breathed his fire ray and managed to defeat Goliath. The humans then grabbed Goliath while he was still weak and strapped him to a rocket and launched him into space. ===== In 1938, Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer (Brad Pitt) leaves behind his pregnant wife to join Peter Aufschnaiter (David Thewlis) in a team attempting to summit Nanga Parbat in the British Raj (present-day part of Pakistan). When World War II begins in 1939, they are arrested by the authorities for being enemy aliens and imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp in Dehradun in the Himalayan foothills, in the present-day Indian state of Uttarakhand. Harrer's wife, Ingrid (Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė), who has given birth to a son he has not seen, sends him divorce papers from Austria. In 1944, Harrer and Aufschnaiter escape the prison and cross into Tibet. After being initially rejected by the isolated nation, they manage to travel in disguise to the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa. There, they become the house guests of Tibetan diplomat Kungo Tsarong (Mako). The Tibetan senior official Ngawang Jigme (B. D.Wong) also extends friendship to the two foreigners with gifts of custom-made Western suits. Aufschnaiter falls in love with the tailor, Pema Lhaki (Lhakpa Tsamchoe), and marries her. Harrer opts to remain single, both to focus on his new job of surveying the land and not wishing to experience another failed relation after his wife. In 1945, Harrer plans to return to Austria upon hearing of the war's end. However, he receives a cold letter from his son, Rolf, rejecting Harrer as his father, and this deters him from leaving Tibet. Soon afterwards, Harrer is invited to the Potala Palace and becomes the 14th Dalai Lama's (Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk) tutor in world geography, science, and Western culture. Meanwhile, political relations with China sour as they make plans to invade Tibet. Ngawang Jigme leads the Tibetan army at the border town of Chamdo to halt the advancing People's Liberation Army. However, Ngawang Jigme ends up surrendering and blows up the Tibetan ammunition dump after the one-sided Battle of Chamdo. During the treaty signing, Kungo Tsarong tells Harrer that if Jigme had not destroyed the weapons supply, the Tibetan guerrillas could have held the mountain passes for years; long enough to appeal to other nations for help. As the Chinese occupy Tibet, Harrer condemns Ngawang Jigme for betraying his country, declaring their friendship over. Harrer further shames the senior official by returning the jacket that Ngawang Jigme gave him as a present, which is a grave insult in Tibetan culture. Harrer tries to convince the Dalai Lama to flee, but he refuses; not wanting to abandon his people. The Dalai Lama encourages Harrer to return to Austria and be a father to his son. After the coronation ceremony, in which the Dalai Lama is formally enthroned as the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, Harrer returns to Austria in 1951. Harrer's son, Rolf, refuses to meet him at first, but Harrer leaves a music box that the Dalai Lama gave him and this piques the boy's interest. Years later, Harrer and Rolf (now a teenager) are seen mountain- climbing together, suggesting they have mended their relationship. ===== A millionaire businessman falls in love with his Galician maid, and decides to marry her despite her daughter's opposition. She mistreats her and even makes her look like a thief, until the real motives are discovered. ===== Ángel Magaña and Elisa Galvé play a constantly bickering young couple who draw up a suicide pact and prepare to kill themselves. However they are constantly interrupted by surprises, particularly the timely arrival of a dying gangster, who gives them $30,000 worth of ill goods. ===== A man returns to his village after a long time and meets his ex- girlfriend, now married to a husband in desperate economic situation. ===== In San Deigo, California an old man was robbing a store only to be under the control of a mysterious criminal name Taipan, but the old man dies when the device on his head gives him a heart attack. In the morning a College Dropout named Tony Valdez (Wilmer Valderrama) saves his cousin from a gang before he enters the competition. Entering Tony then gets help from Sammi and an old friend of the family who adds additions to his board to get ready. He wins the first round and encounters a woman named Valeria who flatters him to his liking. His parents then check upon him and his mother gives him the Condor amulet. That night Tony overhears his parents talking to Nigel Harrington about a mistake within the research and Tony believes that they are crooks. That morning trying to explain to an arrogant Tony about it, only for him to leave them. Before the Competition, a competitor name Z-Man tries to hit on Sammi but his attitude makes her leave, while she is gone a mysterious man sabotages Tony's board which then makes him lose the race. As his parents were going to the police, only to be ambushed by mind-controlled skaters that caused them to crash and die. Tony hearing their death, guilt-ridden he finds them dead and wished he'd listen, only to be nearly beaten to death by the same skaters that killed them. Awake he finds his legs brutally damaged and still believed his parents were crooks. He is then sent to Therapy under a former surfer named Dogg who helps him understand that "the body heals only when the mind heals" and reveals that he too was cheated because a gang threatens him to lose. Meanwhile, Sammi starts getting to know Z-Man better and going out with him. After gaining enhanced boots Tony takes the title the condor to fight crime and uncover that he was wrong about his parents. When he went on a date with Valeria and then leaves when a call about his parents was unearthed, he notices that it was a trap, he faces Taipan who is revealed to have a serpent symbol on his back then reveals that his parents were trying to report the error. That night Nigel was revealed to be the culprit and hired Taipan and the mind-controlled skaters to kill them when they were cutting him out. Meanwhile weak and hurt Tony goes to Sammi for help, admitting he was wrong and apologizing for the way he treated her and started realizing her feelings for him, the moment was interrupted by Reuban, Tony's cousin that he saved from the gang, only to reveal that it was him that sabotage his board showing he was ungrateful for everything. Tony then gets a call from Valeria about ditching her, he then leaves and Sammi makes a discovery on what was the error with Dogg watching over her. At the beach house, Tony visits Valeria only to realize she and Taipan are the same. Both brawled and realized that they are mortal enemies, Valeria left him to drown and starts using a selfish Reuban to destroy Sammi for unearthing Nigel's secret. Tony survives but is aided by his rival Z-Man, which made them friends instead of being bitter enemies, they then save Sammi and Dogg from the fire at their house. Nigel then makes a deal with the highest bidders only to be betrayed by Valeria and murdered. Taipan takes control and was using Nigel to gein the moment only to realize she failed to kill Tony, who stops them from doing the deal. Tony and Valeria fight on the falling building, she then was caught and Tony tried to save her, but her lack of honor wanted to finish to job to kill him. She fell into the fire and leaving Tony to blame himself for being a fool with lust. Tony visits his parents grave and has a new relationship with Sammi who he owed his life. Z-Man and Tony then are seen in another contest on a ramp with Sammi and Dogg at the bleachers. Meanwhile, a mysterious clan that Valeria came from sees a dying Valeria given the same device that the mind-controlled skaters were given, not realizing that it gave each on a heart-attack after, leaving a fate unknown. ===== The story begins in 1995 as Santiago Díaz Herrera is hurt while fencing with his best friend Marcos Lombardo. Marcos wants to bring Santiago back to Buenos Aires but his father, Alberto, commands him to leave Santiago in a Moroccan jail, and Santiago is declared dead. Eleven years pass, and in 2006 Santiago returns to Buenos Aires seeking revenge on the Lombardos for their crimes to himself, his father and other people who have stood in their way over the decades. ===== At the train station in Mayport, Florida, Paymaster Blair Kimball (Boise De Legge) arrives a day early. Dr. A. G. Maynard (Sam Jordan), the local dentist and Constable Jed Splivins (Lions Daniels) greet him, as pilot Finley Tucker (Harold Platts) looks on. Kimball is carrying $25,000 for the railroad payroll. Waiting with station master Thomas Sawtelle (George Colvin) in his office, Sawtelle's daughter Ruth (Kathryn Boyd) comes with her father's lunch. When she sees Finley, she asks for a ride in his new aircraft. After the flight, he proposes for the 100th time, but Ruth says she is not certain she loves him. Captain Billy Stokes (Laurence Criner), a World War I fighter pilot, known as "The Flying Ace" because of his downing of seven enemy aircraft in France, returns home to resume his former job as a railroad detective. General manager Howard MacAndrews (R.L. Brown) assigns Stokes to find Kimball, who has gone missing along with the $25,000 company payroll, and apprehend a gang of railroad thieves. Stokes suspects that Finley is to blame, which is confirmed when he finds Kimball alive and hidden in the tail of Finley's plane. With the help of Peg (Steve Reynolds), Stokes identifies Constable Splivins as a member of Finley's gang, and arrests him. A desperate and crazed Finley flies off with Ruth, whom he has drugged. Stokes chases Finley in his own aircraft but is afraid for Ruth's safety. Shaking his captive and reviving her, Finley says Ruth has to kiss him, or "get out and walk on a cloud." Suddenly, Finley's aircraft catches fire but Stokes is nearby, dropping a rope ladder to Ruth, who climbs into Stokes' aircraft. Failing to put out the fire, Finley dons a parachute and jumps safely, only to be arrested on the ground. After her ordeal, Stokes comforts Ruth, and makes his feelings about her known. ===== In February 1945, the demoralized Imperial Japanese Army on Leyte is in desperate straits, cut off from support and supplies by the Allies, who are in the process of liberating the Philippine island. Private Tamura has tuberculosis and is seen as a useless burden to his company, even though it has been reduced to little more than a platoon in strength. He is ordered to commit suicide if he is unable to get admitted to a field hospital. A sympathetic soldier gives him several yams from the unit's meager supplies (???). On his way, he notices a mysterious fire on the ground. When he reaches the crowded hospital, he is judged not sick enough to treat. He joins a group of other rejectees outside. When the Allies start shelling the area, the medical staff abandon the patients and run away. The hospital is hit and destroyed. Tamura flees as well; looking back, he sees many bodies strewn around, but chooses not to go to the aid of any who may still be alive. Traveling alone, Tamura discovers a deserted village on the coast, where he finds a pile of dead Japanese soldiers. As he searches for food, a young Filipino couple arrive by canoe and run to a hut to retrieve a cache of precious salt hidden under a floorboard. When Tamura enters the hut, the girl begins to scream. Tamura tries to placate them by lowering his rifle, but she continues to scream. He shoots her. The young man escapes in his canoe. Tamura takes the salt and leaves. He next encounters three Japanese soldiers. They sight another fire. Tamura believes they are signal fires, but one of the others tells him that farmers are just burning corn husks. The squad leader mentions that the army has been ordered to go to Palompon for evacuation to Cebu. Tamura asks to accompany them. When one soldier notices Tamura's full bag, he shares his salt. They soon join a stream of ragged, malnourished, dejected soldiers heading to Palompon. Among them are Nagamatsu and Yasuda, familiar men from Tamura's company. Yasuda, wounded in the leg, has Nagamatsu try to trade tobacco for food. When the soldiers come to a heavily traveled road, they decide to wait for night before trying to cross, but they are ambushed by the waiting Americans. The few survivors flee back the way they came. Later, an American jeep arrives. Tamura prepares to surrender, but gives up the idea when he sees a Filipino woman gun down a fellow Japanese trying the same thing. The accompanying American soldiers are too late to stop her. Tamura wanders aimlessly. He comes across a crazed, exhausted soldier, who tells Tamura he can eat his body after he is dead. Tamura hastily departs. He comes across Nagamatsu and Yasuda again. They claim to have survived on "monkey meat" and are living in the forest. Later, Nagamatsu goes out to hunt more "monkeys". When Tamura mentions he has a grenade (given to him to commit suicide), Yasuda steals it. Tamura leaves to find Nagamatsu. When Nagamatsu almost shoots him, he realizes what monkey meat really is. Nagamatsu tells Tamura they would be dead if they did not resort to cannibalism. They head back to camp, but when Tamura mentions that Yasuda has his grenade, Nagamatsu says they will have to kill him, or he will do them in with the grenade. However, Yasuda is too wary. A standoff ensues. Nagamatsu stakes out the only source of water in the area. After several days, Yasuda tries to bargain, to no avail. Finally, he makes his way to the water and is shot. Nagamatsu begins butchering the body for meat. Tamura becomes disgusted and shoots Nagamatsu. Tamura then heads towards the "fires on the plains", desperate to find someone "who is leading a normal life." He slowly walks forward, even as the Filipinos shoot at him. The film ends with Tamura collapsing on the ground, his fate ambiguous. ===== The Banshee of myth is based, as most legends are, on real events. Centuries ago, an alien race known as the Lamia arrived on Earth. Amoral scientists, they viewed humanity as nothing more than experimental subjects. The literal translation of their name for humans is lab rats. They were named Banshee because of the sound their spacecraft made. When hovering they emit a low throbbing sound akin to ', and when they take off they emit a sound like a whooshing sheeeeee. Hence the name Baaan-sheee. The Lamia has a defensive/attack ability which involves them emitting ultra-high- frequency sound from their throats, a wail which disorients and pains any humans who hear it, allowing the victims to be taken on board the ships for experimentation without resistance. It is for this reason that the 'wail of the Banshee' was associated with death, as whenever it was heard, death followed for someone nearby. Category:1992 British television series debuts Category:1992 British television series endings Category:1990s British children's television series Category:British fantasy television series Category:British science fiction television shows Category:ITV children's television shows Category:Television series by ITV Studios Category:English- language television shows Category:Television shows produced by Central Independent Television ===== The novel is set about 1914, when the first motorized vehicle was driven into Native American territory. It concerns a boy named Laughing Boy who seeks to become an adult who can be respected among his Navajo tribe. They live in a place known as T'o Tlakai. He has been initiated into tribal ways, is an accomplished jeweler, and can compete favorably at events such as racing wild horses, which he has either caught or capably traded at market. At a tribal event, Laughing Boy encounters a beautiful, mysterious young woman known as Slim Girl, and the two are soon attracted to each other. Complications arise immediately from her past experiences in the Indian Schools, boarding schools run under the auspices of the federal government for education and assimilation of Native Americans. Native American children were sent to these schools from numerous tribes, where they were forced to abandon their individual languages and cultures and instead adopt the English language and Western cultural standards. These complications affect both his family's view of the relationship, and the relationship itself in ways that slowly unfold and intertwine as the novel progresses. It offers a rare glimpse into the Navajo lifestyle and territory. The novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was published as an Armed Services Edition during WWII. ===== Kiss of the Fur Queen begins with the champion dog- sled racer Abraham Okimasis and the story of his two sons, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis from Eemanipiteepitat, Manitoba. Both brothers are taken from their families and sent to a residential school where they are unable to speak their language, forced to cut their hair, and renamed to Jeremiah and Gabriel. In their residential school experience, both brothers are physically and sexually abused at the hands of the priests which leads to Jeremiah's celibacy and Gabriel's inability to form successful relationships. The residential school is also the time that Gabriel meets the Fur Queen or better known as the trickster who watches over them throughout their lives. When he returns from residential school, Jeremiah moves to Winnipeg to pursue his interests in music which acts as a coping strategy for his earlier abuse. He immerses himself fully in his musical pursuits which results in his further isolation and feelings of loneliness due to his lack of meaningful relationships and family connections. Gabriel decides to join his brother in Winnipeg to continue his passion for dance. He embraces his homosexuality at a time when it was not safe to do so publicly, and self-medicates with drugs and alcohol. He turns to prostitution and endures vivid flashbacks of the abuse he suffered at the hands of the priests. Both brothers have troubles reconciling their two identities and this leads them to reject their Native identity and embrace the dominant culture. ===== As the day begins, Betty frantically tries to keep Daniel focused on work, but as she makes phone calls to his home to ask when he was coming in, it appears that Daniel is more occupied with sleeping with women than with his job, as he has reverted to his old hard-partying ways. Betty also notices author Quincy Combs (Leslie Jordan) in Daniel's office, looking to dig up dirt about the Meade family, even after telling Betty about Fey Sommers' diaries. Betty tells Quincy that he is wasting his time but Quincy isn't buying Betty's threats. Betty is also distracted by Christina, who shows off an invitation to a new night club that was given to her by Wilhelmina. Christina became worried that Betty is too focused on Daniel, so she hopes that Betty will loosen up with the invitation. But as we're about to find out, old habits are hard to break. As Betty and Christina enter the club, Betty tries to loosen up but it's not working, even after a big guy (who claims to be from Cheboygan, Michigan) asks her to dance with him. However, Betty discovers Daniel at the same club she and Christina are at. She sees her boss and Becks partying and flirting with a young model, Petra, and her sister, Lena. After Betty sees this, she also thinks she sees Quincy, who called her for info on Daniel's whereabouts, only to discover that Quincy was never there after she tries to warn Daniel, even as to taking a microphone from the DJ booth. Daniel, upset over being embarrassed by Betty, blames her for controlling his life and causes Daniel to betray Betty in a big way as he chews her assistant out, saying that the only time Betty should be concerned with Daniel is at work. When Christina and Betty leave the club, as Betty questions Christina why she doesn't like taking compliments for her clothes shown at the MODE Fashion Show, Betty learns from Christina about her "deal" with Wilhelmina and how she got the invitation, which results in Betty ending her friendship with the only person she ever trusted at MODE. Meanwhile, things go from bad to worse when Quincy stalks the Meades. As the other Meades deal with this new-found obstacle, Alexis schemes to get her hands on the diaries. Not to be outdone, Wilhelmina also hunts for them, as Quincy claims that the last six months of her life that were detailed in another set have not been accounted for. When Quincy confront Alexis about a secret dungeon that Bradford and Fey went for their secret trysts, Alexis decides to seek it out by looking at a blueprint of the Meade Building after Quincy shows her the passage from the diary. Alexis learns that the diaries hold a key to Bradford's treatment of Alexis, but as Alexis tries to call her dad in an effort to extend an olive branch, Wilhelmina succeeds in winning over Bradford by seducing him with her feet and learning his secret fetish, thus outwitting her former ally; it appears that Wilhelmina gave Quincy pictures of Alexis (before and after) in exchange for information on how to turn Bradford on. When Wilhelmina sees Alexis' name on Bradford's answering machine, she put it on voice mail. As for Amanda, she's upset that Alexis would choose Nick over her, so she attempts to sway Alexis into hiring her. Alexis also asked Amanda about the dungeon that Bradford had kept hidden, but told her it doesn't exist. But as Amanda secretly visits "The Closet" to look for shoes, she accidentally opens a compartment that leads to the hideaway. Meanwhile, Ignacio feels the heat when Constance pressures him to make their relationship a romantic one despite his non-attraction to her, knowing that her demands stands in the way of him obtaining a green card so he can stay in the United States. So despite warnings by Hilda not to go, Ignacio believes it's the only way he can see the lawyer that Constance hired for him. When he arrives to Constance's apartment, he discovers that Constance tricked him; she never called the lawyer and used this evening to lure him into marrying him. Hours later, Hilda is visited by Ignacio's real caseworker, who happens to be a man! Hilda learns from him that Constance was fired two months earlier, prompting Hilda to go to Constance's place after she warns Ignacio. As she arrives and prepares to confront her, Ignacio tells Hilda that Constance isn't a bad person; she had her heart broken, so he decides not to turn her in and forgives her. Back at Daniel's apartment, Daniel is having sex with Petra. But Lena comes in to drop a bombshell as Daniel finds himself in major jeopardy as he discovers that Petra is actually 16 and her "sister" Lena is actually her mother, who extorts Daniel into putting her daughter on the cover of MODE. Daniel finds himself wondering what he should do to get himself out of this situation, but when he calls Betty at home, Betty, upset over Daniel's actions at the club towards her, tells Ignacio to give him a message: she just "punched out". ===== In the wake of Claire Meade's arrest, the Suarezes find themselves dealing with the press coverage. The episode opens with a news reporter seeking to get a comment from Betty who, while trying to get away from the news cameras, runs directly into the wall of a bus shelter. Justin amuses himself by watching the footage repeatedly, which distinctly annoys Betty, who later expresses her guilt over Claire's arrest to Hilda. At MODE, the now released Bradford and Alexis finally face off, with Bradford firing his daughter. Later on, Bradford goes to see Claire to see how she is doing. Claire insists that she has been better while he tells her that he is here for her. Daniel later comes in and Claire informs them that she wants them to be a family again, including Alexis. Bradford is extremely uncomfortable with the idea until Claire tells her husband that he can't fire Alexis, since he does not own MODE. She reminds him that while he is the owner of Meade Publications, she owns the rights to MODE and therefore Alexis stays. Meanwhile, Marc's mother -- to whom he has never disclosed his homosexuality -- visits the office; she brings along her cat, Lady Buttons of Camelot. Amanda learns that after three years of willingly pretending to be Marc's girlfriend during such visits, she has been "dumped" in absentia because Marc wanted to escape his mother's pressure to move on to marriage. Amanda gets angry and storms off, yelling to Marc that she will be the best 'pretend girlfriend' he has ever had. Hours later, Betty tells Daniel that it may be a good thing that he and Alexis work side by side, but Daniel informs her that it was never easy working directly beside Alex, because he always had to come out on top. Daniel and Alexis later meet with Wilhelmina to inform her that they are both Editors-in-Chief at MODE and inform Wilhelmina that she is still the creative director. When he begins to claim what duties he will handle, Alexis interrupts and insists that she does not want anything to do with the business. After Daniel leaves the room, Wilhelmina rushes over to Alexis and tells her that she has to take what belongs to her and that she cannot leave MODE, then volunteers her office. Marc then panics when Wilhelmina drags him down to their new office and tells him it is only temporary--just long enough for Alexis and Daniel to push each other out. Marc gets a text message on his cell phone informing him that his mother is in the building. Marc's mother, Jean, stops at the desk to see Amanda and tells her that she cannot believe how she broke her little boy's heart with all of her drug and sex addictions. An incensed Amanda then notices Betty walking down the hall, pulls her over to the desk and vengefully tells Jean that Betty is Marc's new girlfriend. Betty laughs, but before she is able to mention that Marc is gay, Marc cuts Betty off in mid-sentence by kissing her on the lips (with Amanda in the background pretending to vomit). Marc then rushes to the bathroom and washes out his mouth in disgust. Betty is stunned by Marc's deceit, but when he begs her to help him, she agrees to play along. Back at the desk Amanda notices Betty's cell phone is ringing, and when she sees it is Ignacio on the phone, Amanda cruelly tells Mrs. Wiener that she should answer and initiate a chat about Betty and Marc's relationship. Moments later Amanda joyfully rushes over to tell Marc and Betty the news that they have dinner plans with Betty's family. Marc then tells Betty that if she helps him, he will tell her important information that will help save Daniel's job. Betty later rushes to see Daniel and tells him Alexis is planning to take over the company and push him out, prompting Daniel to go see Alexis, who then tells him they should try working together. Daniel insists he is not just her kid brother anymore and she cannot push him around, but Alexis tells him they are in this 50/50. So Daniel agrees and instructs her to have her "letter from the editor" ready by noon tomorrow, so they can print them side by side. When he leaves, she calls in her new assistant, Nick, and orders him to cancel his plans for tonight because they have to get their work completed by midnight, informing him Daniel is crazy if he thinks she is going to share anything with him. Alexis has a major photo shoot and sends her pictures in to be on the next cover of MODE. Wilhelmina is pleased with this scheme, saying this is too easy. Alexis tells them Daniel is not going to know what hit him and rushes out the door. In another corner of the building, Marc and Betty are working hard at memorizing personal information about each other, until Betty gets distracted by Henry, who comes over to drop off the mail. After Henry mumbles the answers to the personal questions concerning Betty -- all of which Marc had failed -- Henry leaves. Betty goes to see Daniel and tells him his "letter from the editor" needs to be his own statement about the Meade family instead of about shoes, then rushes home to fix dinner. Marc, Jean and Buttons the cat -- demoted from royalty after finishing poorly in a show that afternoon -- arrive at the Suarez household for dinner. Hilda jokingly insists to Marc that she "wouldn’t have missed this evening for the world." As everyone struggles to make conversation during the dinner, Betty focuses the conversation on Jean and her cats. Jean then brings up Marc's old roommate and friend, Chuck; while Jean is shown to be oblivious to clues that Chuck had actually been Marc's boyfriend, Marc quickly insists that they were not that close. Hilda and Ignacio make numerous comments hinting to homosexuality and giggle at the situation. Things get a little too intense and Betty excuses them to her room, informing Marc that he is a grown man and needs to tell his mother the truth. Marc insists that if tells her the truth now it will ruin things, but Betty assures him that it is the right thing to do, and that it will make their relationship better. Justin arrives and complains to everyone that his father took him out for fast food when he is trying his best to watch points for swim suit season, before showing off his "Free Claire Meade" T-shirt, saying that he will not rest until Claire is free. When Buttons notices the door open and runs out, Ignacio runs after her and sets the alarm off on his ankle tag. Jean sits in shock at all that is going on around her. The doorbell then rings and Daniel enters the room, and when Jean asks who he is, Justin tells her that Daniel is Betty's ex-boyfriend. Around the same time, Wilhelmina goes to see Claire in the hospital and tells her she is worried about the business because Daniel and Alexis are going to kill each other. She suggests she get her attorney to draw up a power of attorney so she can keep things running smoothly. But Claire informs Wilhelmina that only a Meade will run the company from now on. Wilhelmina then holds a bottle of liquor in front of Claire's face, which Claire stoically resists. Wilhelmina puts a glass of liquor right on the table in front of Claire, who is handcuffed to the bed. When she leaves, Claire tries to reach it, but fails. Daniel has come to see Betty at her home to tell her he has finished the editor's letter and wants her to proof it, to see her look at him with pride. She informs him that she is proud of him and that she will submit it in time for the printers. After Daniel leaves, Marc walks in to see what is keeping Betty so long, then informs her that she need not worry about the letter since Alexis has already sent the issue to print. In shock, Betty tells Marc she must notify Daniel immediately. She slams the door leaving Marc all alone there with his mother and her family. Betty catches up to Daniel and they rush off to stop the press. As Marc and Jean gather their things to leave Betty's house, he informs her he is breaking up with Betty. She is thrilled to hear this and starts criticizing all the Suarez family until Justin runs by, saying in a sing-song voice "Golden Girls marathon." Jean tells Marc she does not even know what "that" is, that Justin is so "swishy." Marc becomes furious and tells his mother to shut up. This momentarily silences her, and Marc informs her that these people have done a really nice thing for him tonight and informs her that she is practically calling her own son "swishy" when she talks that way about Justin. She warns him not to say any more but Marc tells her to open her eyes and see him for what he really is. Jean says she'd better leave, but Marc blocks the door, saying he may never be this brave again. He tells her that he loves her, but if she wants to get to know the real him, she'll have to get to know him as he is. Jean looks at her son and tells him that if this is the lifestyle he has chosen, and if this is the real him, then she does not want to know him. She opens the door and leaves the Suarez house and sarcastically instructs him to thank them for a "lovely" evening. Alexis sees Daniel and Betty running down the street to the printers and as they sprint side by side toward the entrance, Alexis wins in the end. Daniel later runs into Betty at a bar and tells her that if Alexis wants the company, then she can have it and he will be only too glad to return to his old lifestyle of partying and unemployment. Meanwhile, Wilhelmina sits in her office and thinks of a plan, so she reaches down and scratches out her own last name on her stationery and writes Meade in its place, then dolls up and heads over to see Bradford, where she offers him a little dinner and some company. Betty arrives back home and finds Marc sitting alone on her front porch. He tells her that his mother left when he told her the truth. Betty tells him she has learned that it is not always family that loves you the most, but that sometimes it is the family we make for ourselves. Marc tells her fondly that she will always be his "Little Chimichanga" and then leaves to go home while Betty sits alone to read the letter that Daniel wrote, in which he talks about how happy he is to have Alexis back with him and that his family is finally coming together. Betty then goes inside and spends time with her family. ===== Colonel Miltiades Vaiden, a decorated Civil War Confederate officer, former overseer of Crowninshield plantation and head of local KKK chapter, personal and economic trials and tribulations during the Reconstruction period. The title, "The Store", is symbolic of Col. Milt's ethical and economic transition from post war poverty to economic independence, set against the "old plantation" culture. The novel describes in blunt language, the cultural stress the old plantation society and former slaves have in adjusting to the post war reconstruction. ===== The story opens with the family of Ivan Shtchevbakoff; a generally harmonious family that does rather well for itself. They were on good terms with their neighbors, the family of Gabriel Chormoi, until one day when a hen that belonged to the Shtchevbakoff family flew into the yard of the Chormoi family and laid several eggs. Later that day, Ivan's daughter-in-law went to retrieve the eggs, but grandmother Chormoi takes offense at being accused of stealing. A huge uproar ensues that embroils every member of each family. Against the advice of the family elders to seek quick reconciliation, the families bring cases against each other in court, and they blame each other for every little mishap that happens to befall them. Every accusation makes the enmity grow, the children learn from the example of their parents, and the feud goes on for six years. The elders urge for the families to forget their differences, but the feud continues. A drunken Gabriel strikes one of Ivan's daughters-in-law, and Ivan eventually sees to it that he is sentenced to flogging. Gabriel is shocked, and he curses his neighbor. The magistrate urges the two to reconcile, but Gabriel refuses. Ivan eventually begins to feel sorry for Gabriel, but he refuses to see his own wrongdoing in the quarrel. Ivan's father urges him to reconcile, and to stop wasting his time and money going to court, and to stop setting a bad example for his family. Ivan still refuses to reconcile. Eventually Gabriel sets Ivan's house on fire. No neighbors will help Ivan save his belongings, and eventually the fire overtakes Gabriel's house as well. Ivan's father is burned in the fire, and, on his deathbed, Ivan's father asks his son whose fault the fire was. Ivan finally realizes that it was his fault, and asks forgiveness from his father and from God. His father urges Ivan never to tell that it was Gabriel that had set the fire, and Ivan agrees. Gabriel and Ivan again became good friends, and their families lived together as their houses were rebuilt. The families then go on to become more prosperous than ever, all for following the elders' advice: to quench a spark before it becomes a fire. ===== In the opening section of the story, Clay Calvert is a hand on the sheep ranch of Preston Shiveley, his stepfather's father. Without really intending to, Clay helps his stepbrother, Wade Shiveley, escape from jail, and becomes a fugitive himself. He and a Tunne Indian boy flee into the wilderness where Clay joins up with a horse-trader who has a beautiful young daughter, Luce. In the second section of the story, Clay and Luce are married and living in the sparsely populated coastal regions. There they meet with a group of settlers who are planning a trip to eastern Oregon where they can put down stakes. On the trip east, they meet again with Wade Shiveley, who is accusing Clay of stealing his horse. Wade Shiveley is eventually hanged for a crime he did not commit, and Clay is free to move on. Shortly after, Luce falls ill and Clay goes for help. When he returns Luce is gone, apparently with her father. In the final section of the story, Clay decides not to pursue Luce, but follows the wheat harvest, and eventually ends up as a hand on a scow on the Columbia River. Clay goes back to the Eastern plains to harvest grass for hay where he once again meets the Tunne Indian boy. He later discovers the Indian boy dead and suspects that he was killed by Luce's father. He decides then to rejoin the settlers who had moved from the Coast and stays with them until a harsh winter drives them off of their homesteads. On the way back west Clay once again unites with Luce. ===== In the tale and in Shirley's retelling, Death and Cupid accidentally exchange their arrows and cause chaos as a result. Cupid shoots potential lovers and inadvertently kills them. Death shoots at elderly people whose time of passing has come, and strikes them ardent instead; he shoots duellists about to fight, and they drop their swords to embrace and dance and sing. The "serious" portion of the masque features the kind of personifications standard in the masque form: Nature, Folly, Madness, and Despair. As usual in masques of Shirley's era, the work contains a comic anti-masque, with a tavern Host and a Chamberlain, and a dance of "Satyrs and Apes." (The poor Chamberlain is struck by Death with Cupid's arrow, and falls in love with an ape.) The god Mercury eventually intervenes to set things right; Cupid is banished from the courts of princes to common people's cottages (a suitably sober moral for the Puritan regime then in power). The slain lovers are shown rejoicing in Elysium. "Cupid and Death resembles Caroline masque in its use of staging, music, dance, singing and dialogue. Yet it differs in that the masquers take part in the action and they do not dance with the audience at the end...The balance between spoken prose dialogue, recitative and song carries the performance away from masque and towards opera, a form Davenant planned to introduce to the London stage as early as 1639."Corns, p. 276. Cupid and Death was performed at Rutland Boughton's Glastonbury Festival in 1919,Rose, p. 29. by the Consorte of Musicke (notably Anthony Rooley and Emma Kirkby) in 1985, and by the Halastó Kórus (directed by Göttinger Pál) in Budapest in 2008. ===== Attorney Wayne Fletcher (Chaney, Jr.) intends to divorce his wife and marry his secretary (Joyce), who comes from a wealthy family. When the wife is found suffocated to death, he naturally becomes the suspect. As others are killed in the same manner and a phony medium (Bromberg) also claims Fletcher is guilty, Fletcher begins to imagine his dead wife is communicating with him, making it even more difficult for him to prove his innocence. ===== A respected neurologist, Dr. Mark Steele (Lon Chaney, Jr.) treats his patients successfully with hypnosis, but has troubles of his own from a marriage falling apart, that he cannot treat himself in the same way. His wife Maria (Ramsay Ames) is cheating on him on a regular basis, which is something Mark is well aware of. When Maria returns home one night in the early morning hours after a rendez-vous with her lover, Mark finally tells her that he has had enough and that he wants a divorce. Maria, who is leading a very comfortable life as a doctor's wife, refuses her consent to a divorce, and laughs at him as she does so. That night Mark has a dream about strangling his wife to death. When Maria goes away for the weekend, Mark decides to leave and gets into his car and drives off. Come Monday morning he wakes up in his office only to learn that he is suffering a mental blackout and that the memories of the weekend is missing. He is informed by the police that his wife has been murdered, and that her face was disfigured by some kind of acid. Mark begins to worry about not remembering the slightest thing about his own actions during the weekend. His worries increase after finding a button from his own jacket near where his wife's body was found. He starts suspecting that he himself has done away with her. His nurse, Stella Madden (Patricia Morison) tells him not to air his suspicions to the police until he knows more. The police go on to arrest Maria's lover, an architect named Robert Duval (David Bruce), for the murder. Inspector Gregg (J. Carroll Naish), one of the detectives on the case still believes that Mark is the murderer. Duval's disabled wife (Fay Helm) pays Mark a visit, trying to convince him to help her prove that her husband is innocent. Duval is eventually convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. In a moment of guilt Mark gets the idea to hypnotize himself to find out if he really is the real murderer. The hypnosis, however, is not completed because inspector Gregg arrives and interrupts. Nurse Stella does make an audio recording of the session though, and on the audio Mark talks about meeting up with his wife at a cabin in the mountains. He also tells of having a quarrel with her and leaving the cabin just as Duval arrives, going straight to his office and sedating himself into deep sleep. Gregg listens to the recording, but still seems to suspect Mark of being the real murderer. Curious and craving for information Mark visits the incarcerated Duval and finds out that he borrowed $10,000 from Maria in order to pay off some gambling debts. After the visit Mark hears that Duval's request for pardoning has been denied by the governor. He talks to nurse Stella, who faints right in front of him in the office. Mark assumes that the nurse is beat from too much work. He suggests hiring another nurse as a secretary to handle the bills for the time being, and drives Stella to visit her family. Upon his return to the office Mark gets a visit from inspector Gregg. Mark is confronted with the fact that there's a connection between Mark's private clinic and the acid used on the face of his murdered wife. Mark realizes there might be more at stake than he first thought and decides to hypnotize Stella to see if she knows more than she is letting him believe. On the night of Duval's scheduled execution, with very little time left, Mark gets to hypnotize Stella. She tells him the truth about her plan together with Duval to get the $10,000 and that she killed Maria when Duval tried to give the money back. She also admits having tried to burn down the medical office, destroying numerous records, to cover the fact that she had been embezzling from him. Gregg overhears this and arrests Stella, explaining to Mark that he had never really suspected him but needed to gather evidence against Stella.Calling Dr. Death, Turner Classic Movies website; accessed June 8, 2016. ===== Jeff Carter (Lon Chaney, Jr.) is testing a vaccine for influenza. He is working for tycoon, Roger Graham (J. Carrol Naish), who takes the credit and the profit for Jeff's discovery. Roger cares more about profits than safety. Jeff resigns and is blacklisted by his boss. He heads to South America to perfect the formula. Graham has used this opportunity to release the drug and romance Jeff's attractive wife, Mary (Brenda Joyce). When Jeff hears that his son has died, he takes revenge. ===== Aditya Kashyap, heir to a wealthy family of industrialists, is depressed and suicidal, and walks out of a major company meeting. He wanders aimlessly until he boards a train where he meets another passenger, Geet Dhillon, an excessively jovial and talkative young girl. Aditya is initially irritated by Geet and exits the train, but she follows him, leaving both of them behind as the train departs. They chase down the train to the next stop, only for Geet to again miss the train while distracted. Geet wanders the station and is accosted by men who believe her to be a prostitute, but Aditya saves her from trouble and the two book a room at a nearby hotel for the night, where Aditya becomes more comfortable talking to her. Geet is on her way to elope with her boyfriend Anshuman, who her family is unaware of, and she and Aditya depart the next morning for her family home in Bathinda. The two of them grow closer over the journey, and when Geet recognizes Aditya as a public figure, Aditya confides in her that he is depressed because of his company's financial struggles and his former girlfriend's marriage to another man. At Geet's family home, her relatives are exceedingly grateful to Aditya for keeping Geet safe and ask him to stay with them for the week. Geet's family attempts to arrange her wedding with her childhood friend Manjeet, but an uninterested Geet pretends to be in love with Aditya to derail their plans. She decides to run away from home in order to elope with Anshuman, and Aditya assists her escape that night, leading Geet's family to assume she in fact eloped with Aditya. The two of them arrive in Manali, where Anshuman resides; Geet tries to get Aditya to accompany her in meeting Anshuman, but Aditya, who has fallen in love with her, bids her farewell. Nine months later, Aditya has revived his company's success and enjoys a renewed optimism owing to the time he spent with Geet. He launches a new product named after her, alerting her family to her possible whereabouts, as she has not contacted them in the preceding nine months. Geet's uncle comes to Aditya's office to confront him; Aditya does not know where Geet is, but promises to bring her back in nine days. He returns to Manali to meet Anshuman, but learns that Anshuman rebuffed Geet the moment she arrived. Aditya tracks Geet down to Shimla, where she leads a quiet, sullen life as a schoolteacher. He takes her to a hotel and offers her the catharsis of berating Anshuman over the phone, but Anshuman becomes ridden with guilt and attempts to reconcile with Geet. Aditya encourages her to marry Anshuman, and the three of them return to Bhatinda. To their surprise, Geet's family warmly welcomes her home, believing her to have eloped with Aditya. For the rest of the day, Geet repeatedly fails to find an opportunity to tell her family the truth. The next day, Anshuman devises a plan for he and Geet to announce their marriage to her family, but Geet comes to realize that she is in love with Aditya. She abandons Anshuman and reunites with Aditya as he spends his last day at her family home, and the two of them passionately kiss. Their planned wedding, now genuine, successfully occurs, and Geet and Aditya go on to have two children together. The film ends with Geet's grandfather giving his dying blessings to the couple in front of their children. ===== Magician Montag the Magnificent delivers hectoring speeches about the nature of reality to his audience and then performs mutilation tricks on female "volunteers". The women appear unharmed immediately afterward but later collapse, dead, in public or at home—mutilated in the same grisly fashion suggested by Montag's stage tricks (cut in half with a chainsaw, drilled through with a punch press, etc.). Audience member Sherry Carson, a local TV talk show hostess, and her boyfriend Jack begin to suspect that Montag is somehow involved in the murders. Jack and fellow reporter Greg attempt to research the case but are unable to come up with any solid evidence. Montag agrees to appear on Sherry's show to perform a fire trick; when the cameras roll, he hypnotizes not only everyone in the studio, but also the viewing audience at home. With a wave of his hand, Montag starts a blaze and is guiding Sherry and two plainclothes cops toward it when Jack intervenes and pushes Montag into the fire instead. Screaming, the magician dies. Back at home, Sherry and Jack have a drink as they discuss their strange experience. Suddenly, Jack laughs and begins peeling his own skin from his face to reveal that he is actually Montag. "What makes you think you know what reality is?" he asks Sherry before disemboweling her with his bare hands. But Sherry, still alive and laughing maniacally, tells the baffled Montag that none of what has happened was real—and that even he is part of her illusion. "You are no longer even here," she informs Montag. "You'll have to start your little charade all over again." "But I...I am Montag!" the magician stammers helplessly. Then he is back onstage, dazed, reciting the same speech that he delivered to his audience at the beginning of the film: "What is real? How do you know that at this second you aren't asleep in your beds, dreaming that you are here in this theater?" And in the audience an unimpressed Sherry turns to Jack, muttering, "You know what I think? I think he's a phony." ===== The book is narrated in the first person. It is a coming-of-age story, or Bildungsroman. The protagonist is Omon Krivomazov, who was born in Moscow post-World War II. The plot traces his life from early childhood. In his teenage years, the realization strikes him that he must break free of Earth's gravity to free himself of the demands of the Soviet society and the rigid ideological confines of the state. After finishing high school, he immediately enrolls in a military academy. Omon soon finds that the academy does not, in fact, create future pilots, but instead exposes cadets to a series of treacherous trials, beginning with the amputation of both of their feet. The goal of the trials is to manifest Soviet heroism in the cadets. These amputations come as a reference to a famous Soviet ace-pilot Alexey Maresyev, who, despite being badly injured in a plane crash after a dogfight, managed to return to Soviet-controlled territory on his own. During his 18-day-long journey, his injuries deteriorated so badly that both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee. Desperate to return to his fighter pilot career, he subjected himself to nearly a year of physical therapy and exercise to master control of his prosthetic devices. He succeeded and returned to flying in June 1943. Before any intentional amputation can occur, Omon and his friend are whisked out of the academy into a top-secret installation, located under KGB headquarters in Moscow. There, they start preparing for an "unmanned" mission to the Moon. Omon is told that to substitute for researching, building and launching an automated probe, the Party prefers to use people, trained for "heroism", to fulfill the tasks nominally performed by machines, such as rocket stage separation, space vehicle course correction and so on. Soon Omon indeed seems to be launched to the Moon, strapped into a seat inside a Lunokhod, which he is meant to drive like a bicycle on the lunar surface. He is the final piece in a multi-stage mission to deliver a radio beacon to a specific point on the Moon and activate it. This he does, even though once he leaves the confines of the hermetically sealed Lunokhod, his protection against the vacuum and the interstellar cold consists of a cotton-filled overcoat and "special hydrocompensatory tampons"Plevin, Victor. Omon Ra. New Directions. 1998. 137. stuffed up his nose. However, when the time comes for Omon to shoot himself after he places the beacon, according to his orders, the gun he was given for the purpose misfires. Omon finds himself not on the Moon at all, but in an abandoned subway tunnel, where he had been driving his Lunokhod all along, ignoring all signs which might have given him a clue as to his real whereabouts. He tries to escape and is chased and shot at, but he manages to find his way into the "normal" world again, coming up into one of the stations of the Moscow Metro. One of Omon's "teachers" explains the idea behind the charade: even if the fact that the Soviet Union is a champion of peaceful space exploration holds true only inside a person's head (namely, the hero's; no one knows of him or his mission apart from its organizers), this is not any different from it being the reality. The reality, when it concerns subjects not capable of being experienced, is in fact only a perception formed in people's consciousness, and can be manipulated to the extent that the question of "true" version of events becomes meaningless. ===== Young Buddhist monk Ananda, arrives at a temple in order to restore its paintings. These paintings depict Thelapaththa Jathakaya, a moral story where Lord Buddha said that a man with a big target in life must not be swayed by passion (Keles), the five senses and especially beautiful women. One day, Ananda picks up a hair pin belonging to a young woman. While attempting to return this object to its owner, his repressed feelings are awoken by the beauty and sensuality of the woman. The young monk's inner spiritual world is plunged into turmoil. Then one day the paintings are destroyed. While restoring them for the second time Ananda begins to realize that he is trapped in a web of his worldly desires and attachments and highlights the inner struggle of a young Buddhist monk who finds himself attracted to a pretty village girl. ===== American adventurer Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) earns a living as a tourist guide in Cusco, Peru but plans to make his fortune by finding the Sunburst, an Inca treasure. He possesses an ancient carved stone which gives the location of the Sunburst but has no means to travel there. He is also menaced by his dubious associate Ed Morgan (Thomas Mitchell) who wants the treasure for himself and tries to have Harry killed. When Romanian defector Elena Antonescu (Nicole Maurey) arrives, Harry apparently agrees to help her travel to Mexico so she can then get to America, but in reality he uses her situation to his own advantage. Together with Elena, he steals a plane used by a Romanian official who is attempting to get Elena to return and uses it to fly to Machu Picchu. There he discovers an archaeological expedition headed by Dr Stanley Moorehead (Robert Young), who is preparing to enter the tomb where the Sunburst is said to be located. Moorehead becomes infatuated with Elena, while Morgan arrives and coerces Harry into helping him find the treasure. While Morgan is asleep, Harry slips away and enters the tomb, locating the Sunburst hidden inside a hollow pillar. Morgan then appears and grabs the Sunburst at gunpoint before shooting his way out of the temple while being pursued by Harry and a group of locals. Trapping Morgan on a cliff edge, Harry gets the Sunburst back while Morgan falls to his death. Rather than take it for himself, he gives the Sunburst back to the local Indians who believe it must be returned to the temple. ===== The novel is set in the later chapters of Pride and Prejudice. After a series of unpleasant experiences while visiting Norwycke Castle (as depicted in the previous novel in the sequence) Fitzwilliam Darcy accompanies his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, to the home of their aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Although not looking forward to spending time with his self- impressed aunt, Darcy has resolved to use the time to forget what he views as his unacceptable desire for Elizabeth Bennet. Much to his surprise and chagrin, however, she is also in the area visiting her cousin, the pompous clergyman Mr Collins and his new wife (and her close friend) Charlotte, who are frequent visitors to Lady Catherine. Darcy is therefore thrown daily into Elizabeth's company, and finds himself unable to further resist her charms. Driven to jealousy by the developing friendship between Elizabeth and Colonel Fitzwilliam, Darcy finally accepts the strength of his love for her and, after weighing the consideration of her lowly social standing and its possible effect on his future status, decides to propose marriage to her. Much to Darcy's shock and anger, however, his proposal is rejected; not only is Elizabeth greatly insulted by Darcy's high-handed manner of proposal, but she has also heard from Colonel Fitzwilliam of Darcy's role in persuading his friend Charles Bingley to break his ties with Jane Bennet, Elizabeth's sister, who is in love with Bingley. Furthermore, she has been poisoned towards him by slanderous lies spread by Darcy's nemesis, George Wickham, and is convinced that Darcy is "the last man in the world whom [she] could ever be prevailed upon to marry". Heartbroken by Elizabeth's refusal and stunned by the depth of her dislike towards him, Darcy decides to put Elizabeth behind him and leaves Rosings, but not before writing her a letter explaining the true history between himself, Wickham, and his sister Georgiana, and attempting to justify his actions regarding Bingley and Jane Bennet. Upon his return to London, however, Darcy begins acting in an increasingly uncharacteristic and erratic fashion towards his friends and Georgiana, culminating in his unwise acceptance of an invitation to a party held by Lady Sylvanie Monmouth, who attempted to seduce him at Norwycke Castle. She holds Darcy responsible for the death of her mother during those events. He is rescued from calamity by his good friend Lord Dyfed Brougham, a seemingly foppish aristocrat who in actually is a government agent. Brougham is investigating Sylvanie, who has links to Irish revolutionaries and intends to drug Darcy and then blackmail him into funding their operations. No longer trusting his own judgement, Darcy proceeds to get drunk in a nearby tavern before confessing the entire matter and his relationship with Elizabeth to Brougham. Brougham sympathizes with him but nevertheless criticises Darcy's manner towards Elizabeth. The next morning, Darcy realizes the truth of Brougham's criticisms and is mortified by his own arrogance and pride, resolving to improve himself. He confesses the matter to Georgiana and begins to act in a less arrogant, aloof fashion to those around him. Soon after, Darcy returns to his estate of Pemberley, and is astonished to find himself once more in the company of Elizabeth, who is on a tour of Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle, the Gardiners. After a chance encounter with Elizabeth, Darcy realises that her behaviour towards him is much warmer than their last meeting, while still guarded. Eager to show that he has taken her criticisms of his character on board and is mending his ways, Darcy makes a sincere effort to make her and her relatives feel comfortable and welcome. He soon finds that he genuinely likes Mr and Mrs Gardiner, and is delighted when, upon introducing Georgiana to Elizabeth, the two women take an instant liking to each other. Just as Darcy believes their relationship is thawing, however, Elizabeth receives news from home that her younger sister, Lydia, has eloped with none other than George Wickham, who is fleeing gambling debts accumulated with the other officers in his militia unit. Determined to help Elizabeth in any possible way, Darcy returns to London and, unknown to either the Bennets or the Gardiners, uses Dyfed Brougham's contacts in the London demimonde to quickly find Wickham and Lydia. After failing to persuade Lydia to leave Wickham, Darcy proceeds to blackmail and bribe Wickham into marrying her, assuring Wickham's future good conduct by buying his many debts. This carries the implicit threat that Darcy will have Wickham sent to debtors' prison if he misbehaves. Darcy also purchases for him a commission in an obscure army regiment whose home barracks are in Newcastle upon Tyne, over two hundred miles from Lydia's family. Wickham is forced to agree, and after Darcy has approached the Gardiners with this plan (on the condition that his own role in the affair be kept secret), Wickham and Lydia are married. Soon after, Bingley decides to return to his estate at Netherfield, to which he invites Darcy; upon seeing Jane Bennet and Bingley reunited, Darcy guiltily confesses his role in keeping the two separate. Bingley is angry, but quickly forgives Darcy; after straightening out the misunderstanding, Bingley and Jane are soon engaged. After hearing a false report that Elizabeth Bennet and Darcy are also to be married, an outraged Lady Catherine arrives at Darcy's London home having attempted to bully Elizabeth into promising to never enter into an engagement with Darcy. Darcy is elated when he learns that Elizabeth refused, realizing that her feelings towards him might have changed, and he returns to Netherfield. Once again, Darcy proposes to Elizabeth; this time she happily accepts, and the two are married. ===== Rose Garvey, and her husband Gerald, live next door to her sister Lana Butt, and her husband Harry, in the fictional Larkworthy Road, Muswell Hill, North London. Gerald is an underpaid junior executive, while Harry is a well-paid fitter. The slightly snobbish Gerald makes sure that he and Rose keep up a pretence of doing well even though they are not. Meanwhile, the Butts' relative wealth encourages Lana to put on airs and graces, although Harry remains down to earth. ===== Terry and June Fletcher are a middle-aged, middle-class couple who find themselves alone when their grown-up children, daughters Susan and Debbie, leave home. However, they are not alone for long as Aunt Lucy comes to live with them, along with her talking mynah bird. Terry frequently hits upon an idea, which due to his foolhardy and obsessive manner he then continues with whatever the consequences, while June remains patient and tolerant. ===== The fullest version of Yoshitsune consists of fifteen scenes in five acts. Though this was originally intended to be performed across the better part of a day, modes of performance have changed, and the full version would today take twice that long, due to the style and speed of current forms of acting. For this reason and others, Kabuki plays are almost never performed in their entirety today, and Yoshitsune is no exception. The fullest standard version of any play is called tōshi kyōgen, which in the case of Yoshitsune consists of nine of the full fifteen scenes. However, again as is the case with most plays, individual scenes or elements of Yoshitsune may be performed alone as part of a day's program of other such bits and pieces. The first, second, and fourth scenes of Act One are the most rarely performed today. The fundamental structure of the play is very much in keeping with that of Japanese traditional drama forms as a whole. The philosophy of jo-ha-kyū is employed throughout, as actions, scenes, acts, and the play as a whole begin slow (jo), then get faster (ha), and end quickly (kyu). Also, Yoshitsune follows the traditional five-act structure and the themes traditionally associated with particular acts. Act One begins calmly and auspiciously, including scenes at the Imperial Palace. Act Two features combat. Act Three is something of a sewamono insertion into the jidaimono tale, turning away from the affairs of warriors and politics to focus on the lives of commoners. Act Four is a michiyuki journey, metaphorically associated with a journey through hell. Act Five wraps up the plot quickly and returns to themes of auspiciousness. The following plot summary is based on the full fifteen-scene version. ===== Terry, an average, heterosexual man, advertises for a lodger for his flat in Streatham and Julian, a flamboyant gay Channel 4 celebrity moves in. Julian soon disrupts Terry's mundane life, turns the flat into something similar to an 18th-century Turkish boudoir and disrupts Terry's relationship with his girlfriend, policewoman Rene. Unusually for a sitcom, Terry and Julian breaks the "fourth wall" by recognising the studio audience and viewers, and employs use of audience participation. ===== The episode begins with Richie and Eddie acting as volunteers in an identity parade. A suited man is accompanied into the room by a uniformed police officer, whom Richie insults, assuming him to be the criminal. It turns out, however, to be a member of CID, Chief Inspector Grobbelaar. The suspects are brought in, who turn out to be Eddie's friends Spudgun and Dave Hedgehog. Spudgun's mother, Mrs. Potato, enters the room and identifies him as stealing her handbag to take to a cross-dressing party. Chief Inspector Grobbelaar orders one of the officers to take her outside and give her a good drubbing. Next, we see Richie and Eddie entering their local pub, The Lamb and Flag. They go to order drinks with their earnings from the identity parade, and notice that there is a new barmaid. The two pretend to be health and safety officers in order to get free food and drinks. Spudgun, Dave Hedgehog and Mrs Potato are also posing as health and safety officers, and are planning their next identity parade that afternoon. Richie tries to chat up the barmaid (Julia Sawalha), complimenting her on her "short summer frock" and asking whether she uses Timotei shampoo. While doing so, he claims he was a soldier in the Falklands War. This catches the attention of a nearby drinker (Robert Llewellyn), who actually fought in the war, who starts questioning him. Meanwhile, the toilet door bursts open, and a man staggers drunkenly into the bar and collapses, where a visibly shocked Richie announces that it is the local bookmaker, tight-mouthed Larry. Larry then vomits at their feet, leading a confused Eddie to point out that he is not being tight-mouthed today. The Falklands veteran begins questioning Richie again, and shows him his service medal. Richie is shocked and does not know what to say. The war veteran also shows Richie that he lost his leg in the war and now has a false leg made of carved wood. He carries on questioning Richie and works out that he was lying about being in the Falklands War. Richie shows the veteran his appendix scar. This does not impress the veteran, who thinks that Richie is showing him his "very small" penis and beats him up. Then Tight-Mouthed Larry reappears and tells the entire pub of a horse, Sad Ken, that is certain to win despite having 100/1 odds. He tells everyone in the pub that it is a secret and to forget it before he leaves. Richie is left lamenting the fact that he and Eddie have only £16 between them to put on the horse, and openly admits he wishes he had a huge wad. Eddie then points out that perhaps a great big pile of cash would be more useful in the circumstances and the two go to the toilets, where they plan to steal the war veteran's leg, take it to a pawnbroker, sell it, place the proceeds on Sad Ken, buy the leg back with the winnings and keep the profit. They leave the toilets to find that the veteran has fallen asleep. Eddie runs over and tries to remove his leg, before realising he is twisting the veteran's real leg. Richie takes over and unfastens the false leg, and sends Eddie to the pawnbroker to sell the leg and place the bet. Richie starts feeding the veteran alcohol with a funnel to keep him asleep. At a pawnshop, there is a crowd of people selling various items to raise stake money for the horse race. Spudgun is trying to sell a rat, claiming it is a mink. Eddie enters with the leg. Harry says it must be worth at least £2,500, but offers Eddie £1.50. Eddie blackmails the pawnbroker into giving him £500 for it. Back in the pub, the war veteran wakes up, and says that he feels completely legless and wants to go for a walk to clear his head. Richie points out that he does not know the half of it and persuades him to stay in his seat by asking to hear some war stories. At the bookie's, Eddie places "£500, on the nose, on Sad Ken", and the cashier asks him if he would like to pay tax. Outraged by the suggestion, Eddie declines, pointing out that it is the most ridiculous question he's ever heard before going to watch the race with the rest of the drinkers. Sad Ken, who is in fact blind and only has three legs, runs the wrong way and falls over, then is shot along with his jockey. Eddie returns to the pub and explains that Sad Ken didn't win, and now they have no money to buy the leg back with. Tight-Mouthed Larry and Dick Head, the pub landlord, enter the bar with a pile of money and reveal that the Sad Ken tip had been a scam, and the new barmaid had been Dick's niece, Veronica. The pair go back into the toilet and plan to mug the next person who enters. A man enters who they start to beat up, but it turns out to be Chief Inspector Grobbelaar. The episode ends back in the police station, with Richie and Eddie in an identity parade, where Eddie demands to see a, preferably naked female, lawyer. Chief Inspector Grobbelaar picks the two out as the men who assaulted him, and the other police officers start beating up Richie and Eddie. ===== By the year 2056, an epidemic of organ failures has devastated the planet. The megacorporation GeneCo provides organ transplants on a payment plan. Clients who default on payments are hunted down by Repo Men: skilled assassins contracted by GeneCo to repossess organs, usually killing the clients in the process. The CEO of GeneCo, Rottissimo "Rotti" Largo (as listed in a newspaper article about his kids), discovers he is terminally ill. Rotti's three children, Luigi Largo, Pavi Largo, and Amber Sweet (Carmela Largo), who changed her name to help her become a popular singer, bicker over who will inherit GeneCo. Rotti believes none of his children are worthy heirs, as they consistently embarrass him with their robust attitudes, and instead plans to pass on his fortune to 17-year- old Shilo Wallace, the daughter of his ex-fiancé Marni. Meanwhile, Shilo longs to explore the outside world. She is constantly reminded by her overprotective father Nathan that she has inherited a rare blood disease from her deceased mother Marni which requires her to stay indoors. She secretly visits her mother's tomb and runs into GraveRobber, who is digging up bodies to drain Zydrate, a euphoric and extremely addictive pain-killer made by GeneCo that is secreted from dead bodies. He sells it on the street to keep up with his GeneCo payments. After losing consciousness, Shilo wakes up to find herself at home with Nathan. Nathan prepares for work, not as the doctor he has led Shilo to believe he is, but as the head Repo Man for GeneCo. Nathan believes he killed Marni with a treatment he created for her illness. In truth, Rotti poisoned Marni's medicine behind Nathan's back as revenge for Marni leaving him. Rotti blackmails Nathan, agreeing to keep him out of jail and with his then-newborn daughter Shilo if he performs surgical repossessions for the company. Rotti lures Shilo to the GeneCo 1st Annual post-plague Italian Renaissance Fair with the promise of a cure for her blood disease. There she finds the Largo brothers arguing about their father's will, while their sister harasses Blind Mag, GeneCo's opera singer and celebrity spokesperson. Mag uses surgically enhanced eyes but works for Rotti indefinitely as a result, having been tricked into signing her contract in blood pre-surgery. After introducing her to Mag, Rotti stations his henchwomen to guard Shilo. He then announces that Mag will soon give the last GeneCo-sponsored performance of her career. GraveRobber helps Shilo escape the fairgrounds. As they hurry through the city, GraveRobber encounters several of his customers including the surgery addict Amber, who has skipped the fair she was supposed to speak at, once again publicly embarrassing her father. Under the stupor of the drug, she explains that she will be replacing Blind Mag after her eyes are repossessed following the opera. After GeneCops arrive, GraveRobber and Shilo part ways and she quickly returns to her room before Nathan notices she was gone. Rotti hires Nathan to repossess Mag's eyes but Nathan refuses, citing Mag's close relationship to Marni. He quits his repo job mid-surgery, telling Rotti, "I cannot do this job. Find someone else." This angers Rotti and he vows to have Nathan taken out. Mag arrives at Shilo's house and reveals she is Shilo's godmother. Mag states she was unaware Shilo was even alive, Nathan having told her she died with her mother. She cautions Shilo to not make the same mistakes she did. Nathan arrives home and forces Mag out after she scolds him for lying to her about Shilo's death. Meanwhile, back at GeneCo, Rotti writes down his will, ready to make Shilo his sole beneficiary with his signature. Rotti phones Shilo and invites her to the Opera, delivering her mother's burial dress for her to wear. Nathan finds the GeneCops searching his basement. They try to arrest Nathan, but he quickly dispatches them and heads to the opera looking for Shilo. At the opera, Amber takes the stage for her premiere, but her performance is ruined when her transplanted face falls off. Mag takes to the stage and sings her final song. She deviates from the song's grand finale, denouncing the Largo family and gouging out her eyes in a final act of defiance. Rotti cuts the cords suspending Mag, dropping and impaling her on a fence. Rotti assures everyone that Mag's death is part of the performance and convinces the audience to stay seated. Shilo sees a Repo Man arrive and attacks him with a shovel before realizing the Repo Man is her father. Onstage, Rotti reveals that Shilo does not have a blood disease but that Nathan has been making her ill with the "medicine" he insists that she take. Nathan explains that he was trying to keep Shilo safe from the world after being unable to cope with the loss of Marni. Approaching death's door, Rotti tells Shilo that she will inherit GeneCo if she kills her father. When she refuses, Rotti uses the last of his strength to shoot Nathan. Rotti then dies from his terminal illness and Nathan dies with one last farewell to Shilo. Shilo then leaves, deciding that her father's murderous tendencies do not dictate her future and that she is "free at last" to live her own life. In the epilogue, GraveRobber explains that Shilo fled, leaving GeneCo with no legal heir. A mid-credits scene reveals that Amber became GeneCo's new CEO and auctioned her fallen face to charity, symbolising GeneCo's commitment to change. ===== Standing next to a water reservoir in a monastery enclave, a monk sees a fish and goes to get his net to catch it. The fish eludes him and the monk gets rather agitated as he tries increasingly extreme ways of catching the fish. He gets into the pond himself, and enlists the help of other monks; he tries candles, and a bow and arrow to no avail. The more the fish manages to evade him, the more obsessed the monk gets. He follows the fish out of the pond into a canal, through different landscapes and out of the confines of the monastery. Eventually the chase gets less frantic and the monk and the fish move in harmony. They float through a door into the open space and drift off into the sky together.Internet Archive ===== When Michael Scott (Steve Carell) repeatedly disrupts Darryl Philbin's (Craig Robinson) warehouse safety training session, Lonny Collins (Patrice O'Neal) and Darryl mock the office workers' safety session in retaliation, claiming that office work does not entail physical danger. Offended by Darryl's disdain for office safety training, Michael decides to demonstrate the risk of depression and suicide by jumping off the roof, landing on a hidden trampoline. When Michael tests out the trampoline by dropping a watermelon from the roof, it bounces off and hits an office worker's car, prompting it to be replaced by a bouncy castle hidden from the general view of the parking lot. From the roof of the building, Michael talks dramatically about the dangers of depression. When the bouncy castle is discovered, Jim and Pam realize that Michael is "going to kill himself pretending to kill himself." The employees collectively talk Michael down from the roof, with Darryl doing most of the talking, to assure Michael that he is brave simply by living as himself. At the end, the car that was hit by the watermelon is revealed to be Stanley's (Leslie David Baker), who is shocked to see the mess. Meanwhile, the office staff begins betting on various things, from counting the jelly beans in Pam Beesly's (Jenna Fischer) candy dish to whether Creed Bratton (portrayed by the actor of the same name) will notice that his apple has been replaced with a potato. Karen Filippelli (Rashida Jones) loses every bet and realizes that she is still an outsider. Also, Andy Bernard (Ed Helms) is back after several weeks in anger management training, determined to make a fresh start with his co-workers. His attempts to go by the name Drew are unsuccessful, and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) decides to shun Andy for three years, although he often "unshuns" him to inform him of Michael's plans. ===== An unnamed narrator meets the famous Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith, "one of the most remarkable men of the age" and a hero of "the late tremendous swamp-fight, away down South, with the Bugaboo and Kickapoo Indians." Smith is an impressive physical specimen at six feet tall with flowing black hair, "large and lustrous" eyes, powerful-looking shoulders, and other essentially perfect attributes. He is also known for his great speaking ability, often boasting of his triumphs and about the advancements of the age. The narrator wants to learn more about this heroic man. He finds that people do not seem to want to speak about the General when asked, only commenting on achievements of the "wonderfully inventive age" and how "horrid" the Native Americans whom the General had fought against had been. The narrator begins to believe there is some concealed secret he must uncover. When he visits the General's home, he sees nothing but a strange bundle of items on the floor. The bundle, however, begins to speak. It is the General himself, and his servant begins to "assemble" him, piece by piece. Limbs are screwed on, a wig, glass eye and false teeth, and a tongue, until the man himself stands "whole". The General has lost more than battles, it seems: he was captured and severely mutilated by Native American warriors and now much of his body is composed of prostheses, which must be put in or on every morning and without which he cannot appear in public. The narrator now understands the General's secret — he "was the man that was used up." ===== The film takes place in and around Cape Town and a nearby township, Khayelitsha. The film centers around two teenage friends, the younger Madiba (Junior Singo) and the elder Sipho (Innocent Msimango). One day, as they are playing alongside the railroad tracks, they find a dead body. With him they find a gun with one bullet and a video camera. Sipho takes the gun and Madiba takes the camera, which he puts inside a wooden toy camera to make it seem a not-working toy. Sipho seems to harmlessly joke about the gun at first, but begins spending more time in Cape Town, robbing parking meters and paying for glue to sniff. He eventually starts living in abandoned places in Cape Town with a group of thugs. Madiba films the world around him, finding beauty in both Khayelitsha and Cape Town. He tries many filming techniques and is skilled, but finds his videos very personal and does not normally let other people see them. While in Cape Town, he meets and forges an unlikely friendship with a white Cape Town girl, Estelle (Dana de Agrella) from a rich family, who gets into conflict with her racist father about this. Sipho uses the gun to rob people. Madiba disapproves and does not want any of the stolen money, but still considers him his friend. One of Sipho's robberies goes wrong and he is killed. In the end Madiba and Estelle run off and take a train together. ===== Pollyanna, now cured of her crippling spinal injury, spends her time teaching the "glad game" to new town, and a very bitter woman, Mrs. Carew, who became very bitter hearted since her sister's son, Jamie, was missing. Along the way she makes new friends, such as Sadie and Jamie: Jamie is a delicate literary genius whose withered legs compel him to rely on a wheelchair and crutches. Some years later, twenty-year-old Pollyanna and her aunt fall upon hard times. Following the death of Dr. Chilton, as a means of making money, Pollyanna and her aunt are forced to take in the friends Pollyanna made six years earlier as boarders. However, there are many skeletons lurking in people's closets, causing numerous misunderstandings and many revelations, including how old childhood friend Jimmy Bean- Pendletonhttps://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page%3APollyanna_Grows_Up.djvu/176 had ended up all alone since the death of his father. ===== Artist Dave Stuart is blinded by a jealous assistant. The father of his fiance offers an operation to restore his sight, but Stuart will have to wait until the man dies. The benefactor dies a premature death and Stuart becomes a suspect. ===== In Moscow, four terrified women prisoners are brought to the office of Joseph Stalin, who chooses Dasha, the smallest and most beautiful, and punishes her by shaving off her black hair. Moments later, plastic surgeon Dr. Petrov leads Stalin into the operating room and transforms his face so that he is unrecognizable. After his handlers announce publicly that Stalin has died, they secret him away to a hideout, where Greta Grisenko serves as his nurse. Meanwhile, Greta's twin sister Lili continues searching for her, as she has been ever since Russian troops invaded their home country of Lithuania and took Greta, against her will, to Moscow. Earlier, Lili had engaged private investigator Steve Anderson, an American living in Berlin, to find Greta, and now locates him there and asks why he has failed to contact her with information about her sister. Steve has discovered that Greta is working in Moscow and, despising Communists, refuses to work with Lili until she convinces him that her sister is an innocent victim of the Russians. Steve takes Lili to the home of Mischa Rimilkin, a one-armed espionage agent who reveals that Greta has been working for Petrov. Upon receiving assurance from the U.S. Army that Lili is not a spy, the men divulge to her that Dasha, now confined to a mental hospital, claims that Stalin has been surgically altered and is living clandestinely with Greta. The next day, Lili once again pleads with Steve to help her locate Greta, but Steve protests that the job is too dangerous. He is won over, however, by Lili's clever idea to force Stalin into action by announcing over the radio that he is alive. As they have hoped, Stalin hears the broadcast and orders his henchman, Igor Smetka, to kill Steve. Mischa then brings Steve and Lili to Abensburg, Germany, where Stalin's son Jacob has been living in secret since the Allies captured him during World War II. On the train, Steve and Mischa note the suspicious presence of a nun wearing combat boots, and once in Abensburg, Mischa follows the nun into a church. At the same time, Steve and Lili visit Jacob, who hates his father and, after conceding that he may be alive, warns them that they are in grave danger. That night, Mischa and Steve vie for Lili's attention, and although Steve eventually wins a kiss, he then insults her, prompting her to slap him. From Lili's hotel room window, Steve spots the nun approaching and races downstairs, where he finds that Mischa has been knocked out. Steve overpowers the nun and removes the disguise, revealing his old cohort, Russian Tata Brun. Tata explains that he has been ordered to kill Steve in return for permission to see his exiled family, and the two agree to part without violence. In the next few days, Mischa, Steve and Lili study old films of Stalin to become familiar with his mannerisms. Before one screening, Steve spots Igor and, suspecting impending danger, orders Lili to return to the hotel. Although Steve and Mischa wait in the screening room for an attack, none comes. Soon after, Tata arrives with a cab driver who announces that Lili has been abducted by Igor. Steve notifies the police and agrees to act as bait to attract Stalin's men. Surrounded by undercover agents, Steve and Mischa walk the streets near the screening room, and as planned, they are attacked. With Tata's help, they capture one of the assailants, whom Tata recognizes as one of the Communist agents who tortured him. Tata now returns the favor, torturing the man into confessing that Stalin is in the Greek mountains. After the agent dies from his injuries, Steve and Mischa travel to the mountains, and there learn from bistro owner Count Molda that a nearby monastery was taken over years earlier by a mysterious group. Curious, Steve and Mischa sneak into the monastery at night, but are immediately captured by the waiting Molda, who introduces them to three other men and their women companions. Unable to discern which man is Stalin, Steve offers them all political asylum in the West, but the men respond by showing them Tata, who has been tortured and killed. They then place Steve and Mischa in a cell next to the imprisoned Lili. That night, Lili receives a visit from Greta, and although Lili is thrilled to see her sister, Greta attacks her. When Lili pulls at Greta's hair, Greata's wig comes off in her hands, and Lili realizes that her sister has been enslaved and brainwashed. Although the women whip Steve mercilessly, he refuses to talk, and when Steve returns to the cell, Mischa uses his fake arm to bludgeon the guard. The two men then manage to free Lili, and together they stumble onto a room full of stolen cash and burn the currency in the lit fireplace. Just then, Greta bursts in and kills Mischa, forcing Steve to slay her. Steve and Lili are soon recaptured and taken to Molda, who orders them killed. Just then, however, Jacob enters and shoots Stalin's henchmen. Molda steps forward, tenderly addressing Jacob as "son," but Jacob is unmoved and orders his father at gunpoint into a waiting car. As Steve and Lili follow them in another car, Stalin tries to reason with his son, but Jacob resists, denouncing his father's violence and campaign of terror against their people. Steve pulls up to the car and shoots at Jacob to make him stop. Trapped, Jacob willingly steers the car over a cliff. While Steve and Lili watch the fiery explosion, they note a nearby Biblical inscription reading "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." ===== In one sketch, Gingold and Epstein played two wealthy hypochondriacs who compare their X-rays."The Openings", " 'From A to Z' Photo Caption", The New York Times, April 17, 1960, p.X1 ===== The film covers 24 hours in the life of three youths in Montevideo. The story is about three young boys, Leche, Javi and Seba, trying to survive until Sunday. They have a lot of problems regarding studies, girls, and their lives consist mostly of drinking or sleeping or meeting strange people like the crazy delivery boy, a retarded drug addict, and a philosophical counter clerk at a video rental store. Javi has landed a job driving a sound truck that plays the same radio spot for pasta all day long, while his buddy Leche, who is supposed to be studying for his exams, instead finds himself having sexual fantasies about his tutor, and Seba is waylaid by a handful of small-time dope dealers when all he wants to do is go home and watch the porno movie he's just rented. ===== This historical drama recounts the events that led to the accession of Catherine the Great, Empress of all the Russias. The film opens with the arrival in 1744 of Princess Sophie Auguste Frederika – whose name would be changed to ‘Catherine’ – from her father's court of Anhalt- Zerbst (in modern Germany) to the court of the Empress Elizabeth. "Little Catherine" is to marry the Grand Duke Peter, nephew and heir presumptive of the unmarried and childless Empress Elizabeth. Peter already displays signs of mental instability and a sharply misogynist streak. He rejects Catherine on their wedding night, reacting to something innocently said by his French valet, claiming that she used feminine tricks to win him over. In time, though, Peter accepts her and they have a happy marriage for a while. Meanwhile, Catherine gains important experience of government from working as principal aide to the empress. The empress dies and Peter becomes tsar, but his mental illness is starting to get the better of him, along with sheer boredom in the job. Catherine still loves him despite beginning a very public love affair with one of her best friends – until one night when Peter goes one step too far in publicly humiliating his wife. She ceases to love him, which enables her to be clear-headed in supporting a planned coup d'état. The following morning, he is arrested and Catherine is made Empress of All the Russias. The elevation is marred by Peter's murder that very morning, contrary to Catherine's command. Grigory Orlov explains that everything has a price, and the crown has the highest price of all. The film ends, with Catherine in tears on her throne, while the cheers of the crowds are heard outside. ===== still from film Stenographer Marilyn David (Claudette Colbert) and newspaper reporter Peter Dawes (Fred MacMurray) meet every Thursday on a bench outside the New York Public Library to eat popcorn and watch the world go by. One day, Peter confesses his love to her, but she tells him she only considers him a friend—that someday she will find love when she meets the right man. Afterwards on the subway, Marilyn meets a wealthy English aristocrat, Lord Charles Gray Granton (Ray Milland), who is visiting New York incognito as a commoner. After she helps him escape a confrontation with a subway guard, he walks her home and the two flirt with each other. He does not tell her that his father is the Duke of Loamshire, nor does he mention that he is engaged to an Englishwoman. In the coming days they go on dates to Coney Island and have dinner together, and soon they fall in love. At their next Thursday meeting, Marilyn reveals to Peter that she has fallen in love with someone. Disappointed, he tells her that things can never be the same between them, but assures her that she can always depend on his friendship. When Charles' father, Lloyd Granton (C. Aubrey Smith), learns that his son intends to propose to an American girl, he insists that they first return to England to break off his current engagement properly. Charles visits Marilyn before he leaves and—still not revealing his identity—tells her that he found a job and will be out of town on business for a few weeks. The next day, Peter learns from his editor that the Duke of Loamshire and his son have been in New York for six weeks without the press being aware of it, and are preparing to sail back for England. While working on his usual shipping news column at the docks, Peter spots Duke Granton and his son Charles boarding a ship. After a brief interview, the duke gives Peter $100 to keep their names out of the newspapers. Annoyed at the duke's arrogance, Peter publishes his column the following day, complete with a photo of the Grantons. When Marilyn sees that her "Charles" is in fact Lord Granton returning to England to marry his English fiancé—at least according to Peter's story—she rushes to her friend heartbroken and reveals that Charles is the man she's been dating. Believing that Charles was simply using her, Peter writes a fictitious article about Marilyn, whom he calls the "No" Girl, turning down Lord Granton's marriage proposal and deciding to hold out for true love instead. The story causes an immediate scandal and generates sympathy for Marilyn who becomes an overnight celebrity. Meanwhile on the ship, the Grantons are informed of the scandal and that Charles' fiancé has broken her engagement. Convinced that Marilyn is attempting to blackmail him, Charles sends her a telegram asking how much money she wants in return for her silence. That night while comforting Marilyn over drinks at the Gingham Café, Peter decides to capitalize on the publicity and her newfound celebrity. He works out a deal with the owner who gives Marilyn a job as a singer and dancer at the café—even though she cannot sing or dance. After a few singing and dancing lessons and a massive promotional campaign, Marilyn opens to a packed house. Despite her lack of talent, her self-effacing manner wins laughs from the audience who are completely won over by her innocence and charm. Through Peter's clever management and publicity stunts, the "No" Girl becomes a household name and a nightclub star, with her image appearing on billboards, posters, and front page newspaper articles across the country. Despite her fame and popularity, Marilyn is unable to forget her feelings for Charles. Believing that if she sees him again she'll get over him, Marilyn travels to London to perform her nightclub act. During one performance, she sees Charles in the audience; after sharing a romantic dance together, they agree to renew their relationship. A brokenhearted Peter graciously bows out of her life and returns to America so she can be happy. Later he sends her a box of popcorn as a reminder of their friendship. Meanwhile, life with Charles is not as perfect as she had envisioned. He seems more interested in her celebrity than in their love. When Charles invites her to go away with him to the country for a week—implying she is someone with loose morals—she assembles the press and announces that she's "going home to sit on a bench and eat popcorn". Back in New York on a snowy Thursday night, Marilyn rushes through crowds of her admirers and makes her way to the library bench. Peter soon arrives with his popcorn, takes Marilyn in his arms, and kisses her passionately. ===== During a visit to the bank, the protagonist Ed Kennedy, a nineteen-year-old Australian taxi driver, accidentally foils a robbery. After speaking to the police, he is interviewed by local media and proclaimed a hero, though the robber leaves him a warning that he sees "a dead man" when he looks at Ed before being taken away by police. Ed complains about his life, lamenting his strained relationship with his mother, Bev Kennedy, as his father died recently and left Ed with only his dog, the Doorman. He lives alone in an apartment, playing cards every week with his friends: Ritchie, who is unemployed and generally apathetic about life; Marv, a stingy carpenter; and Audrey, a fellow taxi driver whom Ed is in love with, although she does not return the feeling. One night he receives a small unmarked envelope, inside of which is an Ace of Diamonds with three addresses and times of day written on them. His friends deny involvement, so Ed investigates the three addresses. Ed arrives first address at midnight, and witnesses a man raping his wife while their daughter cries on the porch. The second corresponds to a senile widow named Milla who lives alone, and the third is the address of a young girl named Sophie who runs barefoot every morning but still cannot win at her track meets. Realizing that the sender of the cards intends for Ed to involve himself with the three people, Ed researches Milla's history and discovers that she is waiting for her husband who died sixty years ago during World War II, so he pretends to be Jimmy and comes to read to her weekly. For Sophie, he raises her spirits by giving her an empty shoe box to encourage her to try running barefoot at her next competition; although she loses again, she still finds pride in her achievement. Ed is initially unsure how to approach the rapist, until he receives a gun in the mail, which he uses to kidnap the man and threaten him to leave the city and never return. After finishing the Ace of Diamonds, two masked men break into his house, assault him, and leave him a congratulatory letter as well as an Ace of Clubs with a vague clue. The next day, Ed reveals to Audrey his involvement in the cards, before telling her that he wishes the two of them could be together, but Audrey declines him. Eventually, Ed picks up a man in his cab who tells him to drive to the river before leading Ed on a chase to a rock formation on which the three names are written for Ed to "solve." The first is Thomas O'Reilly, a pastor in a run- down area of the city with a dwindling congregation; Ed helps him by organizing and advertising for a party with free beer in order to encourage everyone to come on Sunday. The next, Angie Carusso, is a single mother who Ed witnesses buying ice cream for her children, and he buys her one as well to show that she is appreciated. Finally, Gavin Rose is a young boy who constantly fights his brother, so Ed beats up Gavin in order to encourage the brother to take revenge, which they do one night by assaulting Ed and cementing their brotherhood. After participating in a yearly football game, Ed's dog is stolen and he has to buy it back from a boy, who also gives him the Ace of Spades, on which are three names of famous authors. After trying to kiss Audrey one day and being gently rejected again, he goes to the library and eventually realizes that the street names come from parts of the title, with notes written on certain page numbers for specific addresses. The first, Glory Road, has Lua Tatupu, whose family has decorated their home for Christmas with strings of broken lights, so Ed buys new ones for them and sets them up himself. On Clown Street, Ed runs into his mother on a date, and he eventually drives to her house and confronts her about her disdain for him before reconciling. Finally, on Bell Street he meets an old man named Bernie Price who runs an antiquated theater. Ed brings Audrey there to watch Cool Hand Luke and invites Bernie to watch it with them, but eventually the screen cuts to videos of Ed performing his tasks so far. Ed finds the Ace of Hearts on his seat in the theater, on which is written three movie titles. After consulting with Bernie, he realizes that they are references to his three friends Ritchie, Marv, and Audrey. He talks to Ritchie late one night and the two stand in a river for an hour, as Ed encourages him to search for something he cares about. Afterwards, Ed, confused by Marv's stinginess, asks him for a loan as a ploy, causing Marv to reveal that he has been saving money to care for a child he had with a girl named Suzanne Boyd who moved away after she became pregnant years ago. After discussing it, Ed convinces him to travel to her house, and although Suzanne's father angrily claims that he brought shame upon the family, the two eventually reconcile and Marv is reconnected with Suzanne and their daughter. Finally, Ed comes to Audrey early one morning and dances with her for three minutes to show his love for her, hoping that she can love him back. Upon returning elatedly to his place, he finds a Joker with his own address written on it, which bothers him greatly because he assumed he had finished. One day a man enters his cab and asks him to drive to every address he has been to so far, taking him on a tour of his accomplishments, before revealing that he was the robber, who asks Ed if he still sees "a dead man" when he looks in the mirror, before telling him to go back home. Inside is a man who claims responsibility for the entire series of events, before handing him a folder that details all of Ed's adventures. In a postmodern twist, the man is strongly implied to be Markus Zusak himself, who has written Ed's story right down to the current discussion they are having. He leaves Ed to consider the philosophical implications, and Ed stays inside for days before Audrey comes one afternoon and asks to stay with him for good. They kiss and Ed explains everything to her, before realizing that the story he resides in is actually a reminder to others of their true potential, ending with "'I'm not the messenger at all. I'm the message.'" ===== After going through the excruciating training of the academy, Chung Lap Man (Ron Ng) and Lee Pak Kiu (Sammul Chan) finally become official police officers and are assigned into the same branch. One operation causes Kiu's girlfriend to die a violent death, and Kiu and Man separate from one another. Newly appointed police chief Cheung Ging Fung (Michael Tao Dai Yue) turns out to be the crime leader of that operation. Kiu further discovers that there's an inside story to his girlfriend's death... The feelings between Man and his colleague Cheung Nim Yan (Joey Yung Jo Yi) gradually develop. However, his cousin Man Jing (Kate Tsui), like before, pursues him. On the other hand, Kiu loves Fung's ex-wife, Yuen Wai Nei (Sonija Kwok Sin Nei). However, the old feelings between Fung and Nei still hasn't ended. Facing the impacts of career, friendship, and love, how will the two new officers deal with it all?" ===== ; Ryo is a high school freshman who tends to take people's words literally. After being hurt several times because she misunderstood someone, she avoids people. She creates an imaginary cell phone, feeling it would be pointless to buy one when no one would call. One day while she is on the bus, however, her imaginary cell phone begins to ring. At the other end is a boy named Shinya who is also calling with an imaginary cell phone. Ryo is shocked and after they disconnect, she tries calling people and connects with a college student named Yumi, who instructs her in the ways of imaginary phones. Though Shinya lives an hour in the past from Ryo, they talk regularly through their imaginary phones, staying constantly connected. Through their friendship, Ryo is able to find her voice and begin talking in the real world. They eventually talk on the real phone, and decide to meet. Ryo takes a bus to the airport, but a car nearly runs her over. Shinya pushes her out of the way and is struck instead. In the ambulance, Shinya dies. Ryo calls Shinya in the past. She tries to save him by saying she hated him on sight, but he sees through her and gets her to admit what happened. He is determined to save her, so they frantically say their good-byes. Ryo goes to his funeral and afterwards finds his locker where he left a cassette radio he'd promised her. Ryo also realizes that Yumi is really her future self. ; An unnamed Boy is put in the special class at school after he attacks a classmate who teased him about the burn mark on his back. The Boy's father regularly abused him, including leaving the burn on his back by throwing an iron at him. His mother abandoned him, and he now lives with an aunt and uncle he feels don't care anything about him. In the class, he meets Asato, a quiet boy who rarely talks. Asato's mother murdered his father and then tried to kill Asato as well. While alone with Asato after school, the Boy hurts himself carving. Asato comes over and touches him, and half the wound leaves the boy's arm and moves to Asato's so that they are equally sharing the pain. They become friends that day, and begin exploring the depths of Asato's powers. After Asato removes a scrape from a little boy's knee, the child's mother treats them to ice cream. At the parlor, they meet Shiho, a young woman with a burned face who hides her scars behind a mask. When a kid the Boy had pushed out of a window breaks his arm with a baseball bat, Asato takes that wound as well, but then moves it to the kid with the bat. The Boy decides Asato should move all of his wounds to his father, who is lying unconscious and dying in the hospital. Whenever gets new injuries, the Boy would take Asato there to use his father's dying body as a "dumping ground." Eventually, they share the secret of Asato's powers with Shiho and she asks Asato to remove the burn for just three days so she can remember what its like to live without it. She leaves town afterward, however, and Asato sinks into a depression. No one can stand looking at him with the scar on his face, even the Boy, so they go to the hospital to give it to the Boy's father. However, when the arrive, they find he had just died. The Boy cries for him, and asks Asato to move all the scars back from his father's body to him instead. Asato says he can't and runs, and the Boy realizes Asato had never given any of the wounds to his father after all. Asato runs from through the hospital, curing everyone he touches and taking on their wounds. The Boy realizes Asato wants to die because he thinks no one wants him. Outside, he takes on the fatal wounds of an accident victim, but the Boy convinces him to give him half, just like the day they became friends, so that they could share the pain equally. The wounds are serious and both spend a long time in the hospital, but during the stay the Boy comes to the conclusion that Asato was given the power because he had a pure heart, and that he wants Asato to always know someone is there willing to share his pain. ; A patient at a hospital finds a flower with the face of a girl, that hums a beautiful melody. ===== Gösta Berling, a Lutheran vicar, is sacked because of his inappropriate life style. He entertains a wealthy lady who in return supports him. Following a variety of adventures he meets up with Elizabeth Dohna, a former duchess, and they start a new life together. ===== The story deals with the narrator's attempt to make sense of the only additional character, Odradek, and gives a detailed description of the creature in the second paragraph: At first glance it looks like a flat star- shaped spool for thread, and indeed it does seem to have thread wound upon it; to be sure, they are only old, broken-off bits of thread, knotted and tangled together, of the most varied sorts and colours. But it is not only a spool, for a small wooden crossbar sticks out of the middle of the star, and another small rod is joined to that at a right angle. These details offer the reader the ability to examine and criticize the purpose and necessities of objects for things or people such as Odradek. Odradek is described as an object, yet is also given a “hypothetical humanoid appearance” when the narrator describes the object as being able to stand upright on two points of the star. In the fourth paragraph the narrator states that Odradek has a lingering presence in his home, often not seen but his presence is noticeable. It is discovered that Odradek can speak, again seen as having human capabilities. Throughout the story, the narrator provides an extensive analysis of Odradek, attempting to emphasize how the object has taken on a life of its own, displaying life like qualities and traits, as well as his silent relationship with the object. The narrator's main concern about the creature Odradek is revealed in the final paragraph: "In vain I ask myself, what will happen to him. Can he die? Everything that dies has once had a sort of aim, a sort of activity, which has worn it out; this is not the case of Odradek. Will he therefore one day tumble down the stairs before the feet of my children and my children's children, trailing a line of thread after him? It's clear he does nobody any harm; but the notion that he might even outlive me is almost painful to me." The narrator fears that this purposeless object will outlive him. The family man, throughout the story, fears that Odradek will attack his role as the family man, the patriarchal figure in society. ===== Paulsen opens his book with a vivid retelling of a story in which he watched brush wolves kill and devour a live doe in the woods. This event revealed the raw, unfabricated realities of nature to him. Paulsen recounts many incidents he has undergone with his dogs on their runs, including times he has been carried to safety by his sled dogs after breaking his knee on the trail, became violently ill in the midst of extreme cold conditions, and a variety of mysterious happenings in the Alaskan wilderness. In all of their adventures, he bonds closely with his dogs, particularly one named "Storm". Storm was an ideal dog that taught Paulsen many life values. Part One closes, and Part Two begins with Paulsen entering a team of fifteen of his dogs in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, an approximately 1,153.2 mile-long sled dog race from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, Alaska. The race proves to be long and arduous. Extreme cold conditions and difficult terrain put both he and his team to the test. He is repeatedly afflicted by lifelike hallucinations caused by extreme sleep deprivation, such as a man with a trench coat talking about educational grants, and hallucinating about a man hallucinating. But Gary is spurred onward by the beauty of the race and his devotion to the team. During the race, Gary experiences a unique feeling when he is running with his dogs. After nearly seventeen days, he at last crosses the finish line in Nome. He places last in the race, but the accomplishment and adventure are all that matter to him. Gary feels at home and a sense of peace when he is sledding with the dogs in the race. Main characters include Gary Paulsen (narrator), Dollar, Storm, Yogi, Obeah, Duran, Columbia, Cookie, Olaf, Dunberry, Scarhead, Hawk, Neil, Fred, Clarence, Alex, Wilson, and Blue (Animals). Category:1990 non-fiction books Category:Books by Gary Paulsen Category:American memoirs Category:Young adult books ===== Mux's main motivation is an intense desire to bring justice to rapists, thieves, and vandals in his own way, documenting all his actions through a camcorder held by his colleague Gerd, a somewhat simple-minded former long-term unemployed man in his fifties. Through his accidental involvement in a domestic murder case, he eventually attracts a great deal of media attention, allowing him to expand his operation to a nation-wide affair and effectively becoming a crime-fighting entrepreneur. However, his inability to cope with the flawed nature of the human condition proves to be his downfall, as he shoots his girlfriend Kira after discovering that she cheated on him. After a failed suicide attempt and a hasty burial, Mux hands ownership of his company off to an employee and flees to Italy, taking Gerd with him, as he is a witness to his murder of Kira. Mux dies soon after, getting run over while stepping in the way of a speeding car. ===== Here, the course information of each raid was plotted by Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF), who received information by telephone.Parker 2000, p. 123. Additional intelligence was provided by the Y Service radio posts, which monitored enemy radio communications, and the Ultra decoding centre based at Bletchley Park, which gave the RAF intelligence on the German order of battle.Bungay 2000, p. 192. Colour-coded counters representing each raid were placed on a large table, which had a map of Britain overlaid and squared off with a British Modified Grid. As the plots of the raiding aircraft moved, the counters were pushed across the map by magnetic "rakes". This system enabled the main "Fighter Controller" and Dowding to see where each formation was heading, at what height, and in what strength. This allowed an estimate to be made of possible targets. The age of the information was denoted from the colour of the counter. The simplicity of the system meant that decisions could be made quickly.Bungay 2000, pp. 61–69. ===== Paul Kersey is a successful, middle-aged architect and family man who enjoys a happy home in Manhattan with his wife Joanna. One day, Joanna and their grown daughter Carol are followed home from D'Agostino's by three thugs, who invade the apartment by posing as deliverymen. Upon finding that Carol and Joanna only have $7 on them, the thugs rape Carol and brutally beat Joanna before fleeing. Upon arriving at the hospital, Paul is devastated to learn that Joanna has died from her injuries. Shortly after attending his wife's funeral, Paul has an encounter with a mugger in a darkened street. Paul fights back with a homemade weapon, an improvised blackjack made from a sock with two rolls of quarters in it, causing the mugger to run away. Paul is shaken and energized by the encounter. Paul's boss sends him to Tucson, Arizona, to see Ames Jainchill, a client with a residential development project. A few days later, Paul is invited to dinner by Ames at his gun club. Ames is impressed with Paul's pistol marksmanship at the target range. Paul reveals that he was a conscientious objector during the Korean War, when he served as a combat medic. He had been taught to handle firearms by his father, a hunter, but after his father was killed in a hunting accident, Paul's mother made him swear never to use guns again. Paul is successful in helping Ames plan his residential housing development. Ames drives Paul back to Tucson Airport and presents Paul with a gift for his work on the development, which he places into Paul's checked luggage. Back in Manhattan, Paul learns from his son-in-law, Jack, that his daughter is severely depressed from the trauma of the assault and is now catatonic, and they have Carol committed to a mental hospital. Paul learns that Ames has given him a nickel-plated Colt Police Positive revolver and a box of ammunition. He loads it and takes a late-night walk during which he is mugged at gunpoint. Paul shoots the mugger, and in a state of shock, he runs home and vomits. The next night, Paul walks through the city looking for violent criminals. Over the next few weeks, Paul kills several criminals, some of whom he lures into attacking him by presenting himself as an affluent victim for a mugging, and others when he sees them attacking innocent people. NYPD Inspector Frank Ochoa investigates the vigilante killings. His department narrows it down to a list of men who have had a family member recently killed by muggers and are war veterans. Ochoa soon suspects Paul and is about to make an arrest when the district attorney intervenes and tells Ochoa that "we don't want him." The district attorney and the police commissioner do not want the fact to get out that Paul's vigilantism has led to a drastic decrease in street crime, and they fear that if that information becomes public knowledge, the whole city will descend into vigilante chaos, but they do not want Paul to be arrested because they do not want a martyr. Ochoa does not like the idea but relents and agrees to try to "scare him off". One night, Paul shoots two more muggers before being wounded in the leg by a third mugger with a pistol, whom he pursues to a warehouse. When Paul corners him, he challenges him to a fast draw, only to faint because of blood loss, with the mugger escaping. His gun is discovered by a young patrolman, Jackson Reilly, who hands it to Ochoa and is told to forget he ever saw it. The press is informed that Paul is just another mugging victim. Hospitalized, Paul is told by Ochoa to have his company transfer him to another city, and in exchange, Ochoa will dispose of Paul's revolver. In addition, Paul is ordered by Ochoa to leave New York permanently. Paul arrives in Chicago Union Station by train. Being greeted by a company representative, he notices a group of hoodlums harassing a young woman. He excuses himself and helps the woman. The hoodlums make obscene gestures, but Paul makes a finger gun at them and smiles. ===== It is 1814. There is peace in Europe as a defeated Napoleon is sent into exile on the island of Elba. Major Sharpe (Sean Bean) is assigned to head the Scarsdale Yeomanry in his native Yorkshire, depriving him of a chance to settle the score with his adulterous wife Jane (Abigail Cruttenden) and her lover, Lord Rossendale (Alexis Denisof). Sharpe and Regimental Sergeant Major Harper (Daragh O'Malley) are met on their arrival by George Wickham (Douglas Henshall), an officer in the Yeomanry. As he escorts them to town, they are ambushed and shot at. Sharpe pursues (but does not catch) one of the men, who turns out to be his close childhood friend, Matthew Truman (Philip Glenister). Wickham takes Sharpe to meet Sir Willoughby Parfitt (Tony Haygarth) and Sir Percy Stanwyck (Philip Anthony), wealthy businessmen who own many cotton mills between them. Parfitt tells Sharpe about the post-war unrest. The discharge of men from the army has flooded England with unemployed workmen; the increased competition and a reduced demand for cotton gives Parfitt an excuse to lower wages. He is opposed by Truman, a rabble rouser who stirs up the discontented, poverty- stricken masses. Meanwhile, the financially strapped Rossendale inherits an estate in neighbouring Lancashire. He had used his influence to get Sharpe posted as far from London as possible, but now has to relocate (with Jane) nearby. Both Rossendale and Jane speak with Sharpe separately, but nothing is resolved. Dan Hagman (John Tams), one of Sharpe's former riflemen, shows up looking for work, but turns down Sharpe's offer - nine years in uniform is enough for him. He becomes a follower of Truman. When Sharpe hears of an illegal meeting, he orders his soldiers to tread gently, but Wickham deliberately disobeys his orders and incites a massacre; Truman gets away in the confusion. However, Wickham cleverly manages to place all the blame on Sharpe. Sharpe visits Sally Bunting (Karen Meagher), a woman who had been kind to him in his childhood. From her, he learns that his mother is dead and also that Truman is his brother (or more likely half-brother). He arranges to meet with him at their mother's grave. Parfitt learns of it and sends Wickham to take them both. Sharpe, Harper and Hagman get away, but Truman is shot dead by Wickham. While in hiding, Sharpe is warned by Lady Anne Camoynes (Caroline Langrishe) that Parfitt and Wickham intend to secretly intercept and destroy a steam engine that Stanwyck is bringing in, in order to weaken his business rival. They intend to blame it on disaffected machine wreckers. Sharpe and his friends foil the scheme, catching Wickham red-handed. Sharpe uses this to blackmail Parfitt into clearing his name. In the end, Sharpe heads back to London, Harper to Ireland, while Hagman stays behind, having taken a liking to Sally. ===== After being blamed for a party which he didn't throw or have any knowledge of, that resulted in many damages, young Darren (Lou Taylor Pucci) loses his scholarship. Being from a lower-middle-class family he will not have enough money to pay for college next semester without his scholarship. His roommate, Coleman (John Hensley), who actually threw the party, sympathizes with Darren and gives him a stash of fifty ecstasy pills. If he sells the pills he would have enough money to stay in school. Darren sells to many weirdos, including a dominatrix who wants the pills so her "pets" can be numb when she has sex with them. When he visits his girlfriend, her roommate sets Darren up with a connection. The brother of this roommate, a seemingly mentally-challenged and over-zealous white-collar employee named Ralphie (Eddie Kaye Thomas), is obsessed with Diff'rent Strokes. He makes Darren watch four hours of the show, but Darren leaves. Upon leaving he is harassed by a drug dealer known as The Seoul Man (Ron Yuan), who almost kills him. Once again his luck turns sour when his girlfriend finds out that he is selling drugs and breaks off with him. Coleman owes money to a drug dealer, so a group of three armed thugs are sent to extract the money from him at his dorm. Not having the money, he says he will call Darren and they can take whatever pills he has left as collateral. Darren comes back to the dorm, and gives the pills to the thugs, who leave. The next day, Darren feels defeated, but discovers that Coleman paid his tuition in full and is leaving the college. Reinvigorated, Darren begins dating Gracie and the movie ends with the two sitting on a bench with Darren taking a picture on his phone, saying that Gracie is about to make his parents very happy. ===== Priyanka Sethi returns to Delhi from New York with her mother after her parents divorce and has trouble adjusting to her new school. Priyanka, who sings, composes and plays guitar, often spends time in her school's music room, where she befriends three unlikely people: Malini, who plays keyboards secretly due to her conservative father's opposition to music; Bikki, an extrovert Punjabi girl who plays tambourine; and Kajal, a hot-headed rebellious girl who plays drums. The four of them create a band of their own, called Pink Band and try to break stereotypes regarding music, bands and societal norms, and soon become celebrities popular with other girls. The queen bee of the school, Koel, is jealous of them and frequently attempts to sabotage the band. Despite all odds, the band sticks together, and the story shows how they achieve international fame with their will and music. ===== Ryan Cawdor arrives in the remains of the New Mexico MAT-TRANS chamber with his son Dean, having rescued him from a slave camp to the north. Once they exit the facility the pair see smoke coming from the direction of Jak Lauren's ranch, where their friends Krysty Wroth, J.B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, and Mildred Wyeth were waiting for Ryan's return. Ryan and Dean set off for the ranch, fearing the worst. When they arrive they discover the ranch burned to the ground and completely deserted, but curiously find no bodies, not even the remains of the absent livestock. Further adding to the confusion there are only a small number of bullet casings found on the property, and inside the still-standing smokehouse Ryan discovers several pieces of smoked meat infested with maggots. A final, cryptic clue comes when Dean tries to pull water from the well and discovers a note from Krysty affixed to the top of the rope. The note urges Ryan not to drink from the well but offers no other explanation, saying that for some unstated reason there's not enough time for one. Reluctantly Ryan and Dean leave the water and head north, towards their friends. Several miles north the pair come across a deep mining pit, now filled with bodies. Dean examines them up close, discovering each has been shot through the head, apparently at point-blank range. Disturbingly, this includes at least a dozen children. Finally as they head into the foothills, Ryan discovers a long note from Krysty, explaining the situation. Sometime after Ryan's departure, an oxen train of religious settlers passed by the Lauren farm, asking for permission to camp nearby for the night. Jak and his wife Christina cautiously agreed, but along with Ryan's friends made plans to watch their new guests carefully. This proved wise, as that night a number of the settlers attempted to take the ranch by force. Poorly armed and ill-organized, the attackers were quickly fended off and killed. Somewhat alarming signs of sickness on the corpses of the attackers led Mildred to examine other members of the group. She discovered advanced symptoms of the bubonic plague, but an even more disturbing discovery came when Mildred learned the time between the onset of symptoms and the near-terminal stages seen in her examinations was less than two days. Furthermore, the disease appeared to be excessively virulent, among other symptoms causing uncontrollable diarrhea. With the ranch house and immediate area fouled by stricken settlers, including the well, Mildred declared the area needed to be sterilized using the only guaranteed method available: fire. Since the settlers were still a possible combat risk and all just hours away from an agonizing death, it was agreed that they should all be killed. Mildred did so personally, administering a single headshot to each settler. The bodies were then taken by Doc Tanner via oxcart to the mining pit to be interred. The friends then released the Laurens' livestock, intending to round them up later, set fire to the ranch with gasoline, and departed north. The mystery surrounding the ranch now explained, Ryan and Dean head further into the hills to make camp. During dinner they are surprised by a sec hunter, the fifth of a set of merciless robotic hunters that Ryan mistakenly activated while rescuing his son. The 'droid is programmed to kill Ryan and Ryan alone, at any cost, and has evidently followed him through the MAT-TRANS system. It is heavily damaged, evidently in the course of its pursuit, but is still a potent threat. Attempts to shoot it blind it but do not stop it, and Ryan's one effort at close-quarters combat nearly kills him. Finally Ryan wades into a nearby pond. The sec hunter follows, but stops just shy of the water level reaching its chest. Realizing the damage it has suffered has made some elements of the 'droid no longer waterproof, Ryan pulls the sec hunter fully into the water, escaping with only a heavy blow to the back. The sec hunter shorts out spectacularly, eventually going dark and sinking into the pond. Just a few minutes later, Krysty, Jak, Christina, and Doc Tanner arrive, reuniting with the Cawdors. The next day Ryan, Krysty, and Jak set off to meet J. B. and Mildred, who have camped in a box canyon to watch over the Lauren's recovered livestock. As they near the edge of the canyon they spot stickies, a particularly vicious breed of mutant so named because of the octopus-like suckers which coat their palms and other parts of their bodies, allowing them to grapple onto surfaces easily, as well as rip the flesh from a human body with trivial ease. The stickies are prone, overlooking the canyon and sighting on something, presumably J. B. and Mildred, through rifles. The three companions quickly dispatch the stickies, only to be held at gunpoint when the rest of the stickies move in behind them. Jak is able to escape, while Ryan and Krysty are tied up and taken to the stickies' camp several miles away. The leader of the stickies is an unusually intelligent and unusually (for a sticky) blond-haired mutant named Charlie. Almost 20 years prior Ryan, J. B., and a Trader man named Abe cleared out a nest of stickies. The only survivor left was a strangely blond sticky child: Charlie. Resentful over the death of his parents, but equally resentful of their unintelligent, barbaric lifestyle which led to their extermination, Charlie has become well-educated and intelligent, and has organized a large group of fellow stickies into a functioning community, rather than an animalistic nest. He gleefully tells Ryan that his leadership is asserted by periodically and publicly killing "norms", something he says he will enjoy even more when it is Ryan. Ryan and Krysty are placed in a pit used to hold captives, and discover one of the eight other people there is none other than Abe. This comes as a surprise, since they had assumed Abe was killed while trying to reach the first redoubt. Though shot in the neck with an arrow, Abe was able to remove the shaft and recovered after several months, leaving him with two scars and a ragged voice. The reunion is bittersweet, especially when Charlie tells the captives be intends to have killed all of them within three days. Ryan begins trying to formulate a plan. The next day the sticky camp is visited by "fladgies", religious worshipers who practice flagellation on themselves and each other. The stickies take them captive, and, in a grim form of irony, decide to whip them to death. In an effort to save himself the leader of the group tells Charlie about a large group of armed lepers he saw heading towards the camp, intent on taking it for their own. Charlie heeds the warning, but allows the fladgies to be whipped to death anyway. That night, while planning an escape attempt, the captives are interrupted when Ryan is ordered out of the pit. He is tied up and taken by a female sticky who previously made unreturned advances to Ryan while serving him food. Once in her home, the sticky binds Ryan to the bed and then rapes him. After the third time she forces him to perform cunnilingus on her, then attempts to smother him while in this position. Ryan is only saved when the sticky is shot by a leper, one of many now attacking the sticky camp. The leper decides to shoot Ryan as well, only to be shot by an unseen sticky. With both assailants dead Ryan is able to free and arm himself. He makes his way to the holding pit and frees Krysty, Abe, and the other captives; they then recover their confiscated weapons from Charlie's home and make their escape through the mountains. In the process they suffer some losses, and Abe is wounded by a musket shot, making it necessary to carry him. Eventually the group is reunited with J.B., Mildred, Doc Tanner, Dean, and Jak and Christina Lauren, who have come to rescue Ryan and Krysty. Mildred examines Abe's wound and determines it isn't necessarily fatal, but will need careful observation. When his condition begins to worsen Ryan elects to stay with Abe in a derelict town, in the hopes of allowing him time to regain some health. Jak decides to stay with him, while the rest continue on, hoping to lead Charlie and the band of pursuing stickies away from Abe, Jak, and Ryan. This proves mostly successful, as Charlie investigates the town only briefly before continuing on; however, he leaves behind three scouts who find Ryan and Jak. They are able to kill them all, but not before the third scout stabs Jak in the chest, hitting his lung. Meanwhile, Charlie catches up to the fleeing group, only to be caught in a well-orchestrated trap; he escapes, but all of his companions are killed. Charlie returns to the town, Ryan's friends in pursuit. He draws Ryan out by holding the injured Jak at gunpoint, but before he can kill him he is wounded by a brick thrown by one of the freed captives. A partially recovered Abe then attacks Charlie, wielding a piece of glass as a dagger, and stabs him in the stomach. The sticky is able to overpower Abe and escape. Two months later the companions are at the Lauren's newly built ranch. Abe has recovered fully, and Jak, while touch and go for a while, is now healed, albeit with minor lung damage. Christina has given birth to Jak's daughter, Jessica; she is also openly resentful towards Ryan for his perceived role in nearly killing her husband. For that reason, Ryan has elected to leave with his friends that day. As he is saying his goodbyes to Jak, Christina calmly calls both of them to the back of the house. There they find Charlie, freshly killed, and Christina holding an axe. Charlie had arrived, begging for food, but made the mistake of threatening Jessica, prompting Christina to kill him with the nearby axe. She then further reiterates her desire for Ryan to leave, to which he agrees. The companions travel back to the MAT-TRANS chamber under the destroyed redoubt, Abe now with them. When the jump completes Ryan opens his eye and finds something is very wrong.... ===== Ryan Cawdor awakes following a MAT-TRANS jump and finds himself in an environment with a decreased amount of oxygen, as well as apparently lower gravity. Dr. Theophilus Tanner awakes as well, and with (for him) remarkable clarity reasons that they must have jumped to a MAT-TRANS facility not on the planet. Along with Krysty Wroth, J. B. Dix, Mildred Wyeth, Ryan's son Dean Cawdor, and former Trader associate Abe, the group cautiously explores the facility. Doc's near-certain hypothesis is confirmed when they discover viewing portholes, showing them an unbroken view of stars, clearly placing them in space somewhere. Though possessing a good knowledge of astronomy, J. B. is unable to recognize any constellations seen through the portholes, making it possible that the facility is not orbiting around the Earth. The facility is empty, full of corpses who appear to have died of unknown causes, possibly a disease, just weeks prior. Exploration of the facility leads to the space station's bridge; there Ryan finds a folder containing the station's logs for the past several months. However, entering the bridge triggers an automatic self-destruct countdown, and Ryan loses the folder when he drops it while leaving the bridge, seconds before the security doors shut. The companions make it to the MAT-TRANS chamber and jump out just before the malfunctioning, accelerated countdown reaches zero. The next jump takes the group to a redoubt somewhere under Chicago, revealed by graffiti left on the walls. A map indicates the facility has been mostly cleared by evacuating personnel during the beginning of the Great Dark, but two areas of interest are not marked as cleared: the garage, and the chron-jump section. This last part attracts Doc Tanner's attention: "chron-jump" was the name given to the government department responsible for "trawling" him forward in time from 1896. The companions agree to investigate the section. When they arrive they find it still functional, prepared to execute a trawling of three targets from just scant weeks before the beginning of the Great Dark. The companions decide to make an attempt to bring the targets forward, reasoning that it may save people who would otherwise die in the nuclear holocaust. The first attempt is unsuccessful, producing an unpleasant collection of disconnected body parts and gore. The second target arrives intact and alive, but curiously she is bound in a straitjacket. Careful examination of the information on the computer reveals that she is a clinically insane mass murderer, convicted of torturing, castrating, and murdering dozens of young boys. Disgusted, Ryan kills her with a shot to the head. The third trawling attempt is successful as well, bringing forward a 19-year-old man named Michael, a member of an isolated Christian monastic order who has been trained in the fictional martial art of Tao-Tain-Do. Brother Michael is skeptical of the story the companions tell him, but accepts that his situation is beyond his control. Reluctantly, he follows them. The redoubt's garage contains a fully operational war wag, and the companions set out in it to explore the ruins of Chicago. The city turns out to be not just destroyed but nearly leveled, possibly from high incendiary warheads, leaving only a flat, charred, black wasteland. The level of destruction is shocking to nearly everyone, including Brother Michael. Unable to deny that the companions' story is true, Michael declares that he can no longer consider himself a member of the order, no longer "Brother" Michael. Since he lacks a last name, Doc Tanner suggests he use "Brother"; Michael accepts, christening himself "Michael Brother". The group takes shelter in a stripped Victorian mansion; that evening they are attacked by a large group of mutants. Michael, who already has displayed remarkable speed and reflexes, singlehandedly kills a group of at least a dozen mutants while armed only with a pair of knives. This does not escape Ryan's notice, who concludes Michael may be faster than even Jak Lauren. Towards the end of the attack Abe is wounded lightly by a mutant. Enraged, he follows the fleeing mutant into the night, only to fall into a rapid-flowing, rock-strewn river while grappling with the mutie. The companions find no sign of him, and presume him dead. The next day, however, they are startled to find some distance away alongside the road, battered, naked, but alive. Abe explains that he had nearly drowned before someone pulled him free of the river. When he was able to see the person, he recognized him as none other than the Trader. Both Ryan and J.B. are incredulous, believing their former employer is dead, but Abe maintains that it was him. He then says he plans to stay behind in order to track down the Trader and, ideally, join up with him. Abe parts company with the companions on good, if bittersweet, terms. While the companions stop to attempt repairs on the rapidly worsening war wag, Doc and Michael surreptitiously depart. Doc intends to go back to the chron-jump section and attempt to send himself back in time to be reunited with his family, and has convinced Michael to assist him and be sent back as well. As they travel by foot Doc's mental state becomes increasingly unstable, with him often mistaking Michael for his long-dead wife Emily. Meanwhile, Krysty is kidnapped by a group of highly organized, female mutants. Calling themselves "Midnight" because of their large, nocturnally adapted eyes, the group believe Krysty is the "fire-haired" leader mentioned in their group mythology who will free them from their subterranean existence. Krysty soon learns other, disturbing things about Midnight, particularly that they are an all female group by virtue of killing any male offspring, and also practice cannibalism, including on their doomed male infants. In order to find Krysty's whereabouts, Ryan, J. B., Mildred, and Dean capture one member of a Midnight sec patrol. Though initially resistant to interrogation by Ryan, the captured woman reveals the necessary information when Mildred "persuades" her using her extensive medical knowledge and a scalpel. Shaken but resolved, the group heads to the mutants' lair to rescue Krysty. During the initial assault Dean is separated from the group, eventually captured and placed in the same cell as Krysty. With someone there to help her afterward, Krysty calls upon her enhanced strength to break the chains binding both her and Dean. Dean kills the arriving pair of guards, recovering his and Krysty's weapons in the process, and helps the severely weakened woman make her escape. After a brief gunfight most of the Midnight leadership are killed, and the group reunites and flees to the surface. The companions make their way to the redoubt, and find Michael and Doc in the chron-jump facility, prepared for a jump whose countdown is fast approaching execution. The machinery is obviously malfunctioning, but Doc refuses to leave the jump chamber, protected by Michael and holding the group at gunpoint. Ryan manages to disable Michael by faking a stagger and then kicking him in the groin, and Mildred disarms Doc by shooting a support on the chamber's lid, knocking the weapon from his hand when the lid swings down. They manage to drag Doc from the chamber a few seconds before the jump executes, whereupon the chamber malfunctions spectacularly and bursts into flames. Doc apologizes profusely for his behavior, which the group accepts. After some time to recover, the companions make their way to the MAT-TRANS chamber; Michael accompanies them. Ryan closes the door and initiates the jump. ===== Ryan Cawdor, his son Dean, Krysty Wroth, J. B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, Mildred Wyeth, and Michael Brother arrive in an icy redoubt via a surprisingly pleasant MAT-TRANS jump. The redoubt is both small and thoroughly stripped, its only occupants a curious breed of concrete-burrowing albino worms in one small section of the facility. A minor situation occurs when a worm latches onto Dean while he is urinating, necessitating its careful removal by his father. Using a sextant, J. B. places their location somewhere in Colorado. With no supplies in the redoubt the companions venture out into the snowy wilderness, making camp some distance away. That night they are briefly joined by a trio of poachers, who inform them they are on land belonging to Baron Alferd Nelson of the ville of Vista. They also ask the companions' assistance in hunting a large mutant bear in the area; the companions agree, but sneak away once the poachers are asleep, not wanting to potentially run afoul of a Baron. Unfortunately the group is set upon the next day by the bear in question, a monstrous -long Grizzly standing tall at the shoulder. With some difficulty they are able to kill it, the gunfire attracting the poachers. The gunfire also attracts Vista sec boss Rick Coburn and a contingent of his men. Coburn has the poachers executed, then takes Ryan and his friends prisoner and escorts them back to meet with the Baron. During the trip Ryan converses with Coburn, and assesses him as both extremely competent and (reluctantly) likeable. Baron Nelson proves to be a large, powerfully built man, standing over tall. Initially he orders the group hanged, but quickly changes his mind when Coburn points out that there are women and a child in the group. At the urging of his dowager mother, Nelson confides that he recently lost his wife and son, his wife when he strangled her for adultery with members of a group of roaming "trappers", and his son being brutally tortured and killed by others of the same group. Nelson has since learned that the "trappers" were in the employ of Wizard Sidler, the Baron of nearby Yuma and son of the late former baron of Vista. Later that night Alferd has Ryan brought to him and requests Ryan travel to Yuma and bring back the men responsible for his son's death, along with Sidler. He also states he will be keeping Krysty, Mildred, and Dean in the ville. Should Ryan be successful in his task he says he will let everyone leave freely; should Ryan refuse the request or fail to execute it he will keep the women and child as his new family and have the rest executed. Ryan reluctantly agrees. Elsewhere, Abe has traveled to see a Native American "seer", hoping she can help him track down the Trader. The woman is able to tell him that the Trader is far to the West, but also warns that three of Abe's friends - whose descriptions match Ryan, Krysty, and J. B. - are in grave danger. The companions, minus Krysty, Mildred, and Dean, head North for Yuma, encountering a traveling group of actors along the way. When the actors reveal they are heading to Yuma the companions quickly offer to join with them, pretending that they have at least minimal acting experience. The ruse is seen through by the group's female performer, Ellie Morte, but she allows them to join anyway once Ryan assures her their purpose is not nefarious. Attached to the troupe, the companions enter Yuma virtually unchallenged. Once in the ville J. B. begins to take scrupulous measures to ensure his face is never fully seen by anyone other than the group. Ryan suspects his behavior may have something to do with one of their targets, a man Nelson identified as "Jennison", but when pressed J. B. refuses to discuss the matter; he assures Ryan he will let him know the details once he is certain they are necessary to know, but that the issue is not important right now. Ryan has little trouble locating his targets; he is almost immediately told to meet with Sidler at the ville's restored movie theater, and seated with the Baron are five of the six targets (the sixth is revealed to have died some months earlier). Following that meeting the companions begin to plan how they are going to capture Sidler and his group. The plan begins to take shape when Ryan learns that the play the troupe intends to perform includes a brief scene requiring audience participation. Because of the risks involved otherwise, the companions inform the troupe of their plans; the actors hesitantly agree to go along with the plot. Wizard Sidler does not attend the play initially, claiming sickness, which delays the kidnapping and brings Ryan and his friends close to missing Baron Nelson's deadline. Finally word comes that Sidler will be attending, delivered in person by Sidler's associate Jim Jennison. J. B., still taking measures to obscure his face, is able to confirm his suspicions, and once Jennison leaves he shares them with the group: Jennison is his half-brother. He still emphatically supports the plan to kidnap Sidler and his men, particularly since his half-brother's purported misdeeds do not come as a surprise to him. That night the group pulls off the plan successfully, and narrowly makes it out of Yuma before the ville's sec men realize what has happened. Back in Vista, Baron Nelson has been spending ample time with Dean, clearly using him as a surrogate for his deceased son but otherwise treating him nicely, even indulgently. It is only when the Baron's mother calls the three to a private audience with her that they realize the truth: the Baron does not intend to honor his agreement even if Ryan succeeds, and plans to kill the rest of the group on their return. Dean kills the woman while she tries to hold the three at gunpoint, and Krysty uses the dead woman's pistol to kill Alferd when he arrives and confronts them. Rick Coburn learns of what transpired, but decides not to do anything until the rest of the group's return. During the trip back to Vista, Sidler manages to break free of his bindings and kills Ellie before he in turn is killed by Doc. The woman's death comes as a particular loss to Tanner, who had recently started a sexual relationship with her. Sometime later the wagon carrying the remaining captives is driven off the edge of the road amid a harsh snowstorm, sending it to the bottom of a craggy ravine. The captives arm themselves and escape, but are quickly killed by J. B. and Ryan. The last captive standing is Jennison, who demands J. B. let him go free; J. B. refuses, and shoots his half-brother dead. The companions then use the ruins of the wagon as a makeshift pyre for the members of the acting troupe, all killed during the escape. By the time Ryan and his friends return to Vista, Rick Coburn has appointed himself Baron of the ville. Though he cannot simply let the companions go, owing to their direct involvement in the death of the previous Baron, Coburn gives them a two-hour head start after leaving the ville before he and his sec men come after them. The companions are able to make it to the redoubt with Coburn still trailing behind, but nearing. Ryan enters the standard door activation code, but the heavy metal blast door fails to open. After another failed attempt he curses as he realizes the door is not functional, and he and his friends now have nowhere to flee to as Rick Coburn and his armed posse nears. ===== "Kamata Town: not an ounce of chic..." "Perhaps I should move there..." So begins Yuko's story. Yuko, is 35 years old; unemployed, single and is on medication to combat manic depression. There are a number of men in Yuko's life: * her college friend, Homma, now a member of parliament; * K, a confessed pervert who she meets on the Internet; * Yasuda, a manic depressive young gang member; * Soichi, Yuko's cousin who separated from his wife and child, and was also dumped by his mistress. Yuko seems to create a different persona depending on whom she is talking to at the time. By the end of the movie, Yuko knows that she needs more than what Soichi and the other men in her life can give her. We all need a soft life -- the literal meaning of "Yawarakai Seikatsu" -- once in a while, but as Yuko discovers, there's also something to be said for this hard thing called reality. ===== Picking up directly from the events at the end of Shockscape, Ryan Cawdor, his son Dean, Krysty Wroth, J.B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, Mildred Wyeth, and Michael Brother find themselves trapped at the exterior entrance of a redoubt somewhere south of Yuma, Colorado. The group is being pursued by a posse headed by Rick Coburn, sec boss of the nearby ville of Vista, intent on killing them for the death of the ville's Baron. Safety lies within the redoubt, but the exterior keypad which operates the redoubt's main doors is not functioning. Ryan makes the decision to scale the mountain the redoubt is built into, with the intent of reaching a section of corridor which has been opened to the elements following an earthquake. Ryan scales the steep mountain and makes it inside, taking more than a half-hour to recover from the subzero climb. He then makes his way into the redoubt, carefully moving past a hive of mutated albino worms, previously shown to be carnivorous and capable of burrowing through solid concrete. At this point he is attacked by Coburn, who has followed Ryan's ascent into the redoubt. The two spar hand-to-hand, finding themselves evenly matched. When Coburn pulls a gun (shortly before Ryan was going to pull a knife) the noise rouses the nearby mutant worms, who swarm Coburn and devour him alive. Ryan opens the entrance door and lets his friends into the redoubt; the companions then make a jump in the redoubt's MAT-TRANS chamber. The jump takes them to a somewhat damaged redoubt, which all describe as being unnaturally humid. The reason for this is soon discovered: the bulk of the facility appears to have become submerged, leaving only the MAT-TRANS facility above water. The companions exit through a partially submerged, open tunnel, finding themselves on a chain of islands; using his sextant, J.B. places them on the Florida Keys. The group is alarmed to discover that Michael, who earlier revealed that he cannot swim, has not surfaced. They briefly search for him, only to find him when a gigantic sea serpent emerges from the bay, clutching Michael. Inexplicably, Michael is rescued when a large group of dolphins appear and swarm the serpent, causing it to drop him and scaring it off. Michael is shaken, but okay. The companions venture south, and eventually come across a seemingly intact facility identified as the Mark Tomwun Institute of Peaceful Oceanographic Research. The group soon learn from the facility's eponymous leader that the dolphins which rescued Michael came from the Institute, and furthermore are startled to learn that one of the Institute's members, Miranda, is able to speak with the dolphins directly. Tomwun offers the companions hospitality and a place to stay, which they accept. Several days pass, and the Institute seems perfect: peaceful, safe, with ample food and comfortable lodging. Some of the companions, particularly Ryan and J.B., are nonetheless suspicious, but initially have no evidence to base their suspicions on. This changes on an evening when Ryan is attacked by a Seminole Indian, mistaking him for a member of the Institute. Later on an Institute trip to observe ocean phenomena, Ryan is tipped overboard by an undersea volcanic eruption, and washes ashore a large distance from the rest of the group. On his trek back to the Institute he comes across a shipwrecked Seminole vessel, its hull breached by explosives and its merchant crew slaughtered. Ryan confronts Tomwun with these pieces of information, at gunpoint, upon his return. Tomwun confesses that the boat was indeed sunk by the Institute, or rather their trained dolphins carrying explosives. He assures Ryan that the sinking was a mistake, and the intended target was the man who he asserts slaughtered the crew: Red Jack Yoville, leader of a large band of pirates. Yoville has been capturing and pillaging settlements in the area, and Tomwun feared the Institute would be next. Disgusted with Tomwun's tactics and relative apathy over the deaths of the Seminole merchants, Ryan still agrees to spare his life and the lives of the Institute's other occupants; the companions leave for the redoubt the next morning. On the way they come across an encampment of pirates, and when surprised by a pirate returning from urinating have no choice but to open fire on the encampment. The companions survive without injury, but are unable to prevent some of the pirates from escaping, presumably to warn the rest of their group. The companions reason that the pirates will likely set up ambushes further north, and reluctantly head back to the Institute. Meanwhile, Abe has been following the Trader towards the west coast, hearing repeated tales of a man matching the Trader's description. After spending several days holed up against a snowstorm Abe comes across a wandering hunter, who tells him he has a letter for Abe from the Trader. The note recounts several events in Abe's immediate past, including a fight with a mutated bobcat, and ends telling Abe that the Trader is trying to leave his old life behind, but will still be happy to see Abe if he catches up with him. Back in Florida, Ryan and Tomwun come to an agreement: Ryan and his friends will stay for five days, during which time they will defend the Institute should the pirates attack. Scouting missions during the first four days reveal nothing, save for a peculiar race of mutants living in a near-immaculate Best Western hotel on a southern island. When Ryan and Krysty return from scouting the island, they learn that a group of eight pirates—a scouting party—attacked the Institute and were repelled. The next day Yoville himself arrives in a wag under a white flag of truce. Yoville tells Ryan that the two have met previously when Ryan was traveling with the Trader, and offers Ryan a deal: Ryan and his friends will leave unharmed while the pirates raid the Institute (and kill its inhabitants). Remembering his previous encounter with Yoville, specifically an ambush attempt by the pirate leader, Ryan refuses the offer, and shoots the two accompanying pirate commanders dead. Yoville retreats. The next day at dawn the pirates attack en masse, coming over land with war wags and armed men as well as by boat from the north and south. The group is prepared for the wags, and detonates a large gasoline incendiary device as they cross the bridge, disabling the wags and killing a large number of pirates. The companions struggle for a way to deal with the approaching boats, but have the problem taken care of when a sudden earthquake causes waves large enough to tip them over. Unfortunately the earthquake does not stop, evidently not a simple quake but something cataclysmic. Tomwun attempts to stop the group from leaving, only to be shot by Ryan. As the companions leave they watch a mortally wounded Tomwun fall into a newly opened fissure, and further fissures destroy the remains of the Institute. The companions quickly overtake the fleeing Yoville, and with his approach masked by the continuing earthquake Ryan gets close to the man and kills him. Ryan and his friends then use Yoville's single remaining vehicle to head for the redoubt. Though hampered by shifting, treacherous terrain, they make it to the facility. Before entering the still-submerged entrance the group notes the source of the earthquake: a visible and gigantic volcanic eruption roughly 50 miles from shore. Doc notes that the force has generated a massive tsunami headed their way; the group quickly swims into the redoubt, which is barely functioning. As Ryan closes the doors to the MAT-TRANS chamber the lights begin to dim, and he soon realizes something is wrong with the jump he has just initiated. ===== Ryan Cawdor, his son Dean, Krysty Wroth, J.B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, Mildred Wyeth, and Michael Brother begin a MAT-TRANS jump in a decaying redoubt, only for the jump to go awry part-way through. When they awake they each find themselves alone in a distinctly separate redoubt, with the exception of Dean and Krysty who were in close contact when the jump occurred. Individually they explore the outer control rooms of their respective redoubts, only to all decide (for varying reasons) to jump again; all decide to jump within the 30 minute "return window", which under normal circumstances will return them to the last facility they jumped from. Instead they are all sent to a different facility, presumably because their initial jump point has ceased to function. Though the companions are all sent to the same facility, their arrival is staggered in 20 minute increments. Ryan arrives first and proceeds through the facility, followed (unknowingly) by J.B. who in turn is followed (also unknowingly) by Mildred. Ryan discovers the top floor of the redoubt houses a massive wartime mortuary which has recently been invaded by hostile "cannies". Though of little relative threat, Ryan is nonetheless forced to open fire on an attacking group of cannies. J.B. immediately recognizes the sound of Ryan's blaster and rushes to his aid, with Mildred meeting up with the two soon after the firefight concludes. Meanwhile, Krysty and Dean have arrived at the redoubt and waited long enough to greet Michael as he jumps in. They proceed to the top floor and reunite with the rest of the group, unaware that Doc Tanner has arrived some time after them. Doc's mental stability has been temporarily impaired owing to the stress of his initial destination combined with back-to-back jumps, and in this state he mistakenly comes face-to-face with a large group of cannies. The ensuing battle draws his nearby friends to him, who help kill the remaining cannies and save Doc from certain death. Reunited, the companions explore the redoubt, finding several warehouse-sized rooms filled with innumerable refrigerated corpses, slowly being raided and used for food by the cannies. Doc refuses to let the corpses be used for food, locates the environmental control room, and increases the ambient temperature as far as the system will allow. The long-frozen bodies quickly begin to rot, and Ryan and his friends leave the facility as fast as possible. The area outside proves to be a hilly pine forest, which causes both Mildred and Doc to doubt J.B. when his sextant places them somewhere in Kansas; he asserts that he is correct. The argument is moot and the companions enjoy several hours of relative peace and favorable conditions. Sometime later a horse-mounted hunting party is spotted in the distance, causing the companions to hide. Initially suspecting it to be a deer hunt, the companions soon learn it is a manhunt. The fleeing man is caught a short distance from Ryan and his friends, then brutally executed at the order of a beautiful, raven-haired woman. Before the hunters can leave Dean falls from his hiding place, forcing Ryan and his friends to reveal themselves. The woman is introduced as Mistress Marie Mandeville, the daughter of the local Baron; she orders Ryan and his friends to accompany her back to the ville. Along the way Doc nearly drowns while crossing a raging river and is rescued by Ryan, but loses his LeMat Revolver in the process. Meanwhile in the ville of Andromeda, somewhere near the Cific Ocean, Abe is continuing his search for Trader. While at a bar he is set upon by three men, scavengers who mistakenly believe he has a map to a cache of pre-dark technology, and intend to interrogate him for the information. Though outnumbered and caught unprepared, he is saved when the three men are shot dead. His savior is none other than the Trader. Reunited, the two begin to travel together, and eventually start offering payment for any traveler willing to carry a message for either J.B. or Ryan, should they come across either. The message simply states that Abe has found the Trader, and the two will be near Seattle for the next three months. Back in Kansas, the Baron, Nathan Mandeville, greets the companions warmly and shows them great hospitality, offering them fine food and comfortable lodgings. Nonetheless there is a subtle undertone of something sinister in the Baron's attitude, further emphasized by veiled, ambiguous warnings from the ville's sec boss, Harry Guiteau, as well as the extreme security measures in place throughout the ville. The following day the companions are invited to participate in a series of public, competitive challenges, which they accept. The first challenge pits Michael against the ville's jailer, Jericho, in unarmed wrestling. Michael wins the first bout, only to be sucker-punched by Jericho as her readies for the next round. Angered, Michael crushes Jericho's larynx, then finishes him with a bone-breaking kick to the face. The death attracts the immediate attention of Mistress Marie, who appears to orgasm watching Michael kill the larger man. The remainder of the competition is spent with Michael seated by her side, the two touching intimately and at one point with Marie possibly giving Michael a handjob. At the end of the day's events Mistress Marie leaves for her quarters with Michael at her side. While the other companions eat dinner and, later, return to their rooms, Michael and Marie spend time alone in her room. Both are drunk, and in this state Marie mentions that she will keep Michael "safe"; Michael briefly realizes this implies his friends will not be safe. The two then proceed to have sex for several hours, with Mistress Marie variously biting him, performing fellatio, engaging in vaginal intercourse, having Michael perform cunnilingus on her, and ordering him to kiss her boots and suck her boot heels in order to "show you'll do what I tell you." While this happens Marie plays a collection of custom vids, which start with relatively benign subjects such as bondage, group sex, and pegging, but move on to darker subjects such as bestiality, eventually culminating in a vid showing Mistress Marie disemboweling a pre- teen boy, to her both recorded and live sexual pleasure. Michael reacts by simultaneously punching Marie and vomiting in her face, and flees for his friends' rooms. After Michael tells his friends what he witnessed, the group makes an attempt to leave the ville, only to be stopped by a large contingent of sec men led by Marie. The companions are disarmed and escorted back to their rooms. The following day Ryan concludes they are going to be hunted for sport, which Marie confirms. The companions are given only their bladed weapons and a 15 minute start. Rather than hopelessly trying to reach the redoubt, Ryan and his friends circle around and re-enter the ville from the back just as the hunting party, consisting of most of the ville's sec men, leave from the front. The companions disable the ville's hydroelectric generator, then make their way into the Baron's armory to recover their weapons. In the process Doc discovers and takes a replica LeMat, chambered for more common, modern ammo. With the sec men fast approaching J.B. rigs the armory with a timed explosive and the group flees downstairs; the ensuing explosion kills most of the sec men and starts a massive fire. Baron Nathan is killed by Doc, while Marie seeks cover and Guiteau takes Dean hostage, using him as a human shield. Mildred takes careful aim, shooting off Guiteau's trigger finger and then killing him with a shot between the eyes once Dean is clear. Michael declares he will deal with Marie himself, calmly approaches her while she tries (and fails) to shoot him, and after exchanging some brief, unheard words with the woman, he snaps her neck. The companions then leave for the redoubt. The thawed bodies in the upper floors of the redoubt have rotted thoroughly, causing most of the cannies to die of starvation. After making their way through the near-unbearable stench the companions arrive at the MAT- TRANS chamber. Everyone links hands, lest they be sent to separate locations, and Ryan closes the door to start the jump. ===== In 1965 Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse rent a recently vacated apartment in the Bramford, a large Gothic building in New York City, after the previous tenant, an elderly woman, fell into a coma and died. Guy and Rosemary ignore their friend Hutch's warning about the Bramford's dark past involving witchcraft and murder. Rosemary meets a young woman, Terry Gionoffrio, a recovering drug addict whom Minnie and Roman Castevet, the Woodhouses' elderly next-door neighbors, took in from the street. Rosemary admires a pendant necklace the Castevets gave to Terry but dislikes its contents' pungent odor. One night, Terry apparently jumps to her death from the Castevets' seventh-floor apartment. Soon the Castevets befriend Guy and Rosemary; Guy grows increasingly fond of them, but Rosemary finds them annoying and meddlesome. Minnie gives Terry's pendant to Rosemary as a good luck charm containing "tannis root". Guy lands an important role in a play after the original actor inexplicably goes blind. With his career on track, Guy wants to have a baby with Rosemary. On the night they plan to conceive, Minnie brings them individual cups of chocolate mousse. Guy chastises Rosemary for complaining hers has a chalky "under-taste". She eats only a small portion before secretly discarding the rest. She passes out and experiences a dreamlike vision in which a demonic presence rapes her as Guy, the Castevets, and other Bramford tenants - all nude - watch. The next morning, Rosemary's body is covered in scratches. Guy says he had sex with her while she was unconscious since he did not want to miss "baby night". When Rosemary becomes pregnant, the Castevets insist she go to their close friend Dr. Abraham Sapirstein, a prominent obstetrician, rather than her own physician, Dr. Hill. During her first trimester, Rosemary suffers severe abdominal pains and loses weight, though Dr. Sapirstein attributes it to temporary stiff pelvic joints. Her gaunt appearance alarms Hutch, who later researches the Bramford's history and Roman Castevet. The night before Hutch is to meet with Rosemary to share his findings, he falls into a mysterious coma. Rosemary, unable to withstand the pain, insists she must visit Dr. Hill; Guy is angry because he worries Dr. Sapirstein will be offended. As they argue, the pains suddenly stop and Rosemary feels the baby move for the first time. Three months later, Hutch's friend, Grace Cardiff, calls Rosemary to inform her Hutch is dead. Before dying, he briefly regained consciousness and told Grace to give Rosemary a book on witchcraft along with the cryptic message: "The name is an anagram". Rosemary studies the book and deduces that Roman Castevet is an anagram for Steven Marcato, the son of a former Bramford resident and a reputed Satanist. She suspects the Castevets and Dr. Sapirstein belong to a Satanic coven and have sinister plans for her baby. Guy discounts her suspicions and throws the book away, making her think he may be conspiring with them. Terrified, Rosemary visits Dr. Hill for help. Assuming she is delusional, he calls Dr. Sapirstein, who arrives with Guy to take Rosemary home. They assure her that neither she nor the baby will be harmed. Rosemary locks herself in the apartment, but coven members infiltrate and restrain her. Dr. Sapirstein sedates a hysterical Rosemary, who goes into labor and gives birth. When she awakens, she is told the baby was stillborn. As Rosemary recovers, she hears an infant crying that Guy claims belongs to new tenants. Believing her baby is alive, Rosemary discovers a hidden door leading into the Castevets' apartment. The Castevets, Guy, Dr. Sapirstein and other coven members are gathered around a bassinet. Peering inside, Rosemary is horrified and demands to know what is wrong with her baby. Roman tells her the baby, Satan's son, has his father's eyes and urges Rosemary to mother her child. When Guy tries to calm Rosemary by claiming they will be generously rewarded and can conceive their own child, Rosemary spits in his face. After hearing the infant's cries, Rosemary gently rocks the cradle. ===== Terry Jones first journeys to Africa, where bones have been discovered with notches in them. However, there is no way of knowing if they were used for counting. Jones then discusses the Ishango bone, which must have been used for counting, because there are 60 scratches on each side of the bone. Jones declares this "the birth of one"; a defining moment in history of mathematics. He then journeys to Sumer. Shortly after farming had been invented and humans were starting to build houses, they started to represent 1 with a token. With this, it was possible for the first time in history to do arithmetic. The Sumerians would enclose a certain number of tokens in a clay envelope and imprint the number of tokens on the outside. However, it was realized that one could simply write the number on a clay tablet. To explore why the development of numbers occurred there and not some other place, Jones travels to Australia and meets a tribe called the Warlpiri. In their language, there are no words for numbers. When an individual is asked how many grandchildren he has, he simply replies he has "many", while he in fact has four. In Egypt, the numeral system provides a fascinating glimpse of Egyptian society, as larger numbers seem more applicable to higher strata of society. It went something like this: One was a line, ten was a rope, a hundred a coil of rope (three symbols for smaller numbers, probably applicable to the average Egyptian), a thousand a lotus (a symbol of pleasure), ten thousand was a commanding finger, and a million – a number the Sumerians would never have dreamed of – was the symbol of a prisoner begging for forgiveness. The Egyptians had a standard unit, the cubit, which was instrumental for building wonders such as the pyramids. Jones then journeys to Greece to cover the time of Pythagoras. Jones discusses with mathematician Marcus du Sautoy Pythagoras' obsession with numbers, his secret society, his dedication to numbers, the Pythagorean theorem, and his flawed belief that all things could be measured in units (brought down by the attempt to measure the hypotenuse of an isosceles right triangle, in units relative to the two legs). Archimedes was also in love with numbers. He tried to see what would happen if one took a sphere and turned it into a cylinder. This concept would later be applied to map making. Archimedes lived in Syracuse which at the time was at war with Rome. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier while working on a mathematical problem. The Romans were not interested in mathematics for its own sake, and as a result mathematics declined. The Roman numeral system was clumsy and inefficient. One reason that Terry Jones theorizes might be was that the numerals that the Romans used were basically the old-fashioned lines of the Ishango bone. Jones discusses India's invention of a more efficient numeral system, including the invention of the concept of zero. He explains how the concept traveled west to the Caliphate. Then it arrived in Italy where it met fierce resistance. The reason for this was that most people were familiar only with the Roman numerals and not the superior Indian numerals. Eventually, the Hindu-Arabic numerals displaced the Roman ones. Jones discusses finally how Gottfried Leibniz invented the binary system, which is the foundation for modern digital computers. He planned on building a mechanical computer to use this system, but never followed through with the plan. Leibniz was convinced that 1 and 0 were the only numbers anyone really needed. In 1944, a computer called Colossus was used to crack enemy codes during World War II. Computers like Colossus evolved into modern computers, which are used for every type of number calculation. ===== ===== Joe Harris (José Ferrer) is a popular, established local radio news reporter covering Broadway entertainment with a wise-guy attitude. Herb Fuller is the network's undisputed star. When Fuller dies in an auto accident, Philip Carleton (Dean Jagger), president of the Amalgamated Broadcasting Network, assigns Harris to prepare a memorial extravaganza, including an elaborate public viewing and a special memorial show featuring interviews with Fuller's radio cast, the "Fuller Family" (based on Arthur Godfrey's cast of "Little Godfreys"), and others who knew him. Carleton dangles a chance at Harris becoming Fuller's replacement if he succeeds. Assisted by network PR man Nick Cellentano (Jim Backus), Harris is intrigued by odd comments at the public viewing, including some from various individuals who attend strictly out of boredom and are indifferent to Fuller. Harris meets Sid Moore (Keenan Wynn), Fuller's longtime producer, who offers his assistance while realizing Harris is in line to become Fuller's successor. Aided by his secretary Ginny (Joanne Gilbert), Harris discovers Fuller was an alcoholic and an unethical womanizing egomaniac who became a star in spite of it. He is visited by Paul Beaseley (Ed Wynn), owner of a tiny Christian radio station in New England, who first hired Fuller, impressed by his inspirational poetry, and treated him as a son, only to discover Fuller's dark side. Harris is initially condescending to the mild-mannered Beaseley, but by the time he finishes his story, Harris is apologetic. Harris's investigations reveal Fuller's relationship with Carol Larson (Julie London), the alcoholic vocalist on his show, and various conflicts of interest involving his relationship with various song publishers whose songs were performed on Fuller's program. Fuller bandleader Eddie Brand (played by real-life bandleader Russ Morgan), hoping to remain on what he, too, suspects will become Harris's show, dutifully records an artificially sincere sound bite regarding Fuller. Moore signs Harris to a contract, then reveals more of Fuller's escapades. Carleton privately warns Harris of Moore's duplicitous nature, telling the newsman that the network will spin his chances of becoming Fuller's successor negatively so that Moore agrees to release him from the contract, adding that if Harris cannot secure a release, the network will turn elsewhere. Amassing the research into a script, Harris has to choose between praising the beloved, amusing and warm-hearted Fuller the public saw or unmasking the phony beneath the image. Harris makes up his mind as the broadcast starts, throwing away his prepared script to tell the truth about Herb Fuller. As Carleton and Moore listen in, Moore realizes what Harris is about to do. He rips up Harris's contract and demands that Carleton stop the broadcast. Seeing that Moore has done precisely what he had hoped for, Carleton refuses to stop the broadcast, explaining that he can market Harris as a man of principle and honesty to the public just as easily as his network marketed Fuller's phony image. ===== "The Adventurous Eight," a multiracial talented group of singing and dancing teenagers from Sandusky, Ohio crave stardom so badly that they spend their spare time rehearsing their original songs and dance routines in an old building every day after school. The group consists of two boys and 6 girls: Matt, Michael, June, Debbie, Rita, Francine, Meryl and Valerie. A tacit promise of an audition from a well known dance executive leads the kids to New York, but on arrival at the company headquarters they are greeted by the news that the executive who had promised them an audition died. At first rebuffed when they claim to have met Mr. Sabol personally, they provide a business card from him, which leads them to a meeting with the current head of the company, Clem Friedkin. They then tell their story as to how Matt (John Scott Clough) and Michael (Don Franklin) met him by posing as waiters and obtained the card. However, they told their story for nothing since the show they arrived to perform in has been postponed for three weeks and he doubts they'd make it past the first round. After pressing him, he promises that if they are still in town when he returns in 3 and a half weeks he will give them 5 minutes to audition. When the boys return with the bad news, they all come together to agree to do whatever it takes to stay in town. After three days of cleaning the filthy apartment they can afford, they want to eat more than fast food. Matt comes up with a plan how they can eat steak that night: dancing for tips in a fancy restaurant. The number goes off well since they picked a hotel with a dental convention whose members think the entertainment was the manager's idea. As they sit around and eat, they discuss their success and what to do with their money. Over the next couple of weeks, the Adventurous Eight continue to raise money by passing out business cards while dancing in front of crowds in hopes of getting paying gigs. Which is what happens after being seen during one of their performances. When they go to famous dance club The Zoo, they run into a rival dance crew who is more street savvy and dances rings around them. Furious with what happened at the club, Michael demands they learn more current dance moves so they are never shown up again as well as being ready for the contest. Furthering their issues, the male tenants of the apartment building continue to refuse to keep their hands to themselves and one of the girls breaks a car window fighting them off. Two of their parents are called to get them out of jail. After some pleading, they allow their daughters to stay until the contest is over. Matt found himself tempted by Susan, the young woman who has hired the group to dance for a party she is tasked with coordinating since they are spending a lot of time together. After their performance at the party, she pulls Matt away from the rest of the group to pay him and is caught kissing him by her mother. He fails to wipe her lipstick off and after a heated argument girlfriend June decides to leave the group and return to Sandusky. The rest of the girls convince her to stay during a late night out drinking. Michael asks Matt if he thinks they are ready for the Shoot Out contest and they agree they are, but they have something to do first. They return to The Zoo and challenge the rival dance crew, this time coming out on top with fresh new dance moves. However when they return to see Friedkin, he refuses to give them the audition because Susan's mother made a call. They find Mrs. Sabol and convince her to assist them in getting into the contest (she calls Susan's mother for a reference and gives them a shot since they have never agreed on anything) after she seem them perform. Later, she goes to see Friedkin and discovers he has rigged the contest in favor of pre-selected entertainers who are guaranteed to make the company more than $250,000,000 over the next decade instead of staying true to the vision of her husband. After returning to the apartment, she convinces the group to take a chance with her and allow her to be their manager. The night of the contest, she disguises herself to get in and brings the group. She then contacts her people to get them and herself on stage (Friedkin barred her from the contest). Before going on stage, Matt tells June he's going to leave the group. She thinks he's not sincere and doing it for Susan, but Michael divulges that Susan married her boyfriend after using Matt to make him jealous. The group gets on stage and performs successfully and eventually to the cheers of an encore while Mrs. Sabol informs Friedkin that she is going to begin taking back control of her company. ===== Under the German military administration in occupied France during World War II. Paul Latour is a prisoner of war in Germany and his wife Marie lives hand-to-mouth with their two children in a squalid flat. A neighbour, whose husband is also in Germany, has fallen pregnant and is trying to lose the baby. Marie helps her, successfully. Other women come to her and she starts charging. While talking with Paul, following his release, she reveals that a fortune teller saw "nothing but good things" in her future, along with a lot of women, which she wouldn't clarify. Marie confesses to wanting to be a famous singer. She has, however, lost her love for her husband, who has been wounded and struggles to stay in employment, and rejects his crude and abrupt sexual demands. Although he cannot find work, he rents a bigger flat at her prompting. Marie continues her illicit business and lets prostitutes use their bedrooms during the day. When one of the abortions goes wrong, the woman dies and her despairing husband commits suicide. Marie shrugs off the tragedy and hires a maid to help. She visits a music teacher, who tells her that she has a great voice. She also starts a daytime affair with a collaborator and offers the maid a pay raise if she sleeps with Paul. Paul is unhappy with this arrangement and, after he returns home early and witnesses Marie and her lover asleep together, he sends an anonymous denunciation to the police, alerting them to her illegal activities. A recent law of the Vichy régime, determined to enforce morality and stop population decline, has made abortion a treasonable crime. Marie is condemned to death and guillotined. ===== The Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour addresses the wizarding media, stating that the Ministry remains strong despite Lord Voldemort gaining power and the Death Eaters committing mass killings of Muggles and infiltrating the Ministry. Meanwhile, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger resolve to complete the mission Albus Dumbledore gave Harry by hunting down and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes. Severus Snape informs Voldemort of Harry's impending departure from Privet Drive. Voldemort commandeers Lucius Malfoy's wand, due to his own wand sharing the same core as Harry's and therefore being unable to kill him. The Order of the Phoenix escort Harry to safety using Polyjuice Potion to create decoy Harrys. During their flight they are ambushed by Death Eaters, who kill Mad-Eye Moody and Hedwig, and injure George Weasley. Arriving at The Burrow, Harry has a vision of the wand-maker Ollivander being tortured by Voldemort. The next day, Scrimgeour arrives with Dumbledore's will. Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, Hermione receives a copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and Harry receives the first Golden Snitch that he caught in a Quidditch match. Scrimgeour reveals that Harry was also bequeathed the Sword of Gryffindor, which has gone missing. The Death Eaters kill Scrimgeour and replace him with Pius Thicknesse. The Ministry begins arresting and persecuting Muggle-born witches and wizards. Death Eaters also attack during Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding. Kingsley Shacklebolt's patronus charm forewarns the wedding party, and most escape. Harry, Hermione, and Ron disapparate to London, but are attacked in a diner by Death Eaters. The trio seek refuge at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. They discover that the "R.A.B." from the fake Horcrux locket is Regulus Arcturus Black, younger brother of Sirius Black. Kreacher, the Blacks' house elf, tells them that Mundungus Fletcher broke in and stole many items from the house, including the real locket. Kreacher and Dobby apprehend Fletcher, who reveals that the locket is in the possession of Dolores Umbridge. Using Polyjuice Potion, the trio infiltrate the Ministry and find the locket around Umbridge's neck. Harry stuns Umbridge and Hermione retrieves the locket. The trio escape their pursuers by apparating in the wilderness, but Ron is injured and cannot apparate again until he recovers. After unsuccessful attempts to destroy the Horcrux, the trio take turns wearing it to dilute its power. Harry sees a vision of Voldemort interrogating and killing the wand-maker Gregorovitch, who claims a teenage boy stole the legendary Elder Wand from his shop. While Ron is wearing the locket, he is overcome by negative feelings and falls out with Harry before abandoning him and Hermione. Hermione deduces that the Sword of Gryffindor can destroy Horcruxes and decides to go with Harry to Godric's Hollow. They visit Harry's parents' graves and the house where they were killed. They encounter Bathilda Bagshot, who they believe may have the sword. Bathilda lets them into her house before revealing herself as Nagini, possessing Bathilda's reanimated corpse. Hermione and Harry escape into the Forest of Dean, but Hermione accidentally breaks Harry's wand whilst fighting Nagini. She identifies the mysterious thief in Harry's vision as Gellert Grindelwald. Harry sees a Patronus in the form of a doe, which leads him to a frozen pond. Gryffindor's sword lies beneath the pond's ice, which Harry breaks and jumps into. The locket around his neck strangles Harry, but Ron arrives and rescues him. Harry speaks Parseltongue to open the Horcrux locket, which Ron eventually decides to destroy. Hermione and Ron reconcile, and the trio decide to visit Xenophilius Lovegood to learn more about a symbol in the book Dumbledore left Hermione. Lovegood explains to them that the symbol represents the Deathly Hallows, three magical objects that can make a wizard master of Death. Hermione reads the story of the Hallows, after which the trio awkwardly attempt to leave but are stopped by Lovegood. He reveals that Luna Lovegood has been kidnapped and then summons the Death Eaters, intending to hand over Harry in exchange for her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione disapparate as Lovegood's house is destroyed. Back in the wilderness, the trio set up camp when Snatchers find them. Hermione uses a curse to disguise Harry as the Snatchers take them to Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix Lestrange imprisons Harry and Ron in the cellar with Luna, Ollivander, and Griphook. Bellatrix tortures Hermione for information on the Sword, which Bellatrix claims was in her vault at Gringotts. Harry requests help, communicating with a broken mirror in his possession. Dobby apparates into the cellar to save them. Harry and Ron rush to save Hermione, and a battle ensues that sees Harry disarm Draco Malfoy. Dobby drops a chandelier onto Bellatrix, forcing her to release Hermione. Bellatrix throws her knife at them as Dobby grabs everyone and disapparates. Although Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrive at Shell Cottage safely, they find that Bellatrix's knife has fatally wounded Dobby, and he dies in Harry's arms. Harry insists that they bury Dobby without any magic. Meanwhile, Voldemort breaks into Dumbledore's tomb and steals the Elder Wand, revealed to have been in Dumbledore's possession. ===== Gay soap actor Cliff (Chris Bruno) is about to marry an unsuspecting girl (Linda Larkin) for the sake of his image, to the chagrin of his boyfriend Wes (Jack Koenig). However, a prowling reporter (Deborah Gibson) has some interesting photographs which could cause general consternation. The main romance is between the reporter Melissa and the maid of honor's uncoordinated date Jake (Sean Runnette). ===== Sarah France is the 42-year-old widow of a GP, Henry. She lives in an often volatile family situation with her elderly mother, Eleanor Prescott, and her daughter, eighteen-year-old Clare France, with both of whom she shares a house. After Henry's death, all three members of the family have to find a way to cope with each other as best they can. Sarah often finds herself in the middle of things, usually figuratively, but always literally, given that she has her daughter living upstairs and her mother in the basement flat. [In the radio series it was the mother who lived upstairs and the daughter downstairs.] Eleanor is ruthlessly cunning and takes every opportunity to get one over on Sarah. Anything told to Eleanor will spread by word of mouth throughout an extensive network of the elderly of the area, or the "geriatric mafia". Clare is trying to be independent of her mother, though often has to come running back in times of crisis. The relationships between the three women change constantly through each episode. Sometimes mother and daughter ally against grandmother, sometimes mother and grandmother go against daughter, but usually grandmother and granddaughter gang up on the long-suffering Sarah, whose one haven is Bygone Books, the remarkably unsuccessful second-hand bookshop where she works for Russell, who dispenses in turn sympathy and wisdom. Most of the time, Russell sees the women's relationships second-hand through Sarah, although he isn't opposed to taking the occasional more active role when necessary. In turn, Sarah can see some of Russell's difficulties of living with a gay partner in 1980s London suburbia, while at the same time seeing Russell's relationship as the one perfect marriage she knows. The adaptation for television allowed more to be seen of some of the more minor characters in the radio series, with appearances by some who had appeared only by reputation on the radio. These included Eleanor's best friend and rival Vera Poling, and Valerie Brown on the pension counter's sister Mary. In the television adaptation, Sarah also gained an on-off partner in Sam Greenland. Many of the exterior locations for the TV series were shot in the village of Thames Ditton in Surrey and Twickenham. Encouraged by the success of the transfer from radio to television, in 1991 Simon Brett began writing a stage play version, with intention of both Scales and Sanderson continuing to play their roles, and the option of different actresses to portray Clare. The production was planned as a three hander comedy-of-errors across the generation gaps, but the idea was dropped following the death of Sanderson in 1992, with Brett feeling that the part could not be replicated by anyone else. ===== Returning from the Cretaceous period, The Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones journey to the present day, where Cybermen have been teleporting into labs and stealing technology. The Doctor takes Martha back to the Royal Hope hospital, where they have a confrontation with a pair of Cybermen in the car park. After nearly being captured, the Cybermen suddenly disappear, due to faults with their unfamiliar teleportation technology. The Army also want to get their hands on the Doctor, and ask for his help, so the Army capture him and his TARDIS from the Royal Hope Hospital, and he is separated from Martha. At the Army Base, the Doctor realises that the Cybermen who were made on Earth, not the parallel universe (and were therefore not sucked into the void) having been using teleportion devices stolen from the Torchwood building, to help them gather enough technology to create a portal capable of reopening The Void and release the Cybermen trapped inside. But the Cybermen do not know how to open the Void, and so they need the Doctor to open it for them. That's why they're trying to capture him alive. While Martha is separated from the Doctor, the Cybermen reappear, and capture her. They take her to their secret base where they discuss whether or not to kill her. Soon, the Doctor phones her on her mobile, and lets slip where he is. Just as Martha is about to tell him where she is, the Cyberleader snatches her phone and destroys it, then plans an attack on the Army Base where the Doctor is being held. The Doctor manages to figure out that the Cybermen are at the Millennium Dome. But a team of 6 Cybermen (who were being kept frozen since the battle of Canary Wharf) attacks the base. The Army manages to destroy all but the Cyberleader with special weapons they had prepared in case Cybermen should invade again. The Cyberleader tells the Doctor that they'll kill Martha unless he helps them, then vanishes. The Doctor and the Army plan to attack the Millennium Dome. Having retrieved his TARDIS from the base, the Doctor manages to materialize right inside the Dome but the Army cannot enter due to a force-field set up by the Cybermen. The Doctor cooperates with the remaining two Cybermen & the Cyberleader, and opens their portal by linking up their equipment to the TARDIS. But the Cybermen realize that the Doctor's methods do not work, and the force-field does not lead to the Void. Instead, it leads to Prehistoric Earth. A Tyrannosaurus rex appears and kills two Cybermen. Martha damages the force-field generator, and the Doctor uses an electrical cord from it to fry the Cyberleader. The portal then closes. With the Army entering too late, the Doctor and Martha say good-bye, then leave in the TARDIS to go somewhere 'peaceful'. ===== Fearing his death, Ranbir Singh (Salim Ghouse) decides to kill Kohinoor when he is a child, though in vain. After 20 years, Kohinoor (Govinda) returns to claim his rightful place in the kingdom. He has developed advanced powers over matter and animals, which he uses to his advance to free his nanny, Ameenabi (Aruna Irani) who is being held by Ranbir and his associates. Kohinoor must pass numerous tests, including being exploited by a television reporter, Shaili Mathur (Manisha Koirala), who claims that she loves him; and fight hungry, blinded, man-eating lions. ===== Ryan Cawdor, his son Dean, Krysty Wroth, J.B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, Mildred Wyeth, and Michael Brother arrive in a MAT-TRANS chamber which appears unusually constructed. The normally seamless bulletproof glass windows are badly aligned, along with the doors, and the exterior control chamber appears to be a hastily constructed chamber carved from an existing cave, with chisel marks still showing in the surrounding granite. The atmosphere outside is heavy and foggy, and in addition to preventing J.B. from putting his sextant to use the fog also seems to interfere with both compasses and electronic equipment, including watches. The companions venture out cautiously into the barren surroundings, encountering a variety of highly mutated insect-like creatures, as well as a few sources of water, including a fast-flowing stream. All are tainted with an unknown substance that causes an unpleasant stinging on contact, and thus clearly undrinkable. Eventually the companions arrive at surprisingly intact town, which is revealed to be an "Old West" themed reconstruction called Lonesome Gulch. In short order the companions are surrounded by a large group of flying reptilian creatures, and after the companions take shelter in the town's General Store the creatures attack. J.B. and Ryan rig a crude timed explosive, then wait with the others in the store's root cellar; when the explosives detonate the companions flee in the ensuing confusion, though Ryan is wounded by one of the creatures. The companions make it to the MAT-TRANS chamber and make the jump. Ryan and his friends arrive in a familiar redoubt, and after some exploration conclude that it is a redoubt in Louisiana, where they initially met Jak Lauren. However, rather than the wet Louisiana bayou they are expecting, the group finds the area outside the redoubt is a barren, flat, lifeless desert. Furthermore, Ryan and J.B.'s radiation detectors show the area is dangerously radioactive, forcing them back inside before they can investigate a cause for the sudden change in the terrain. With no resources in the redoubt, the group reluctantly makes a third jump. When the companions arrive in the next chamber they find that Ryan, Doc, and Michael are all unconscious. After some time Doc comes around, but Ryan manages only to regain consciousness briefly before passing out again. Most troubling is Michael, who regains consciousness only to attack Doc ferociously, claiming he is Satan. Michael is subdued and restrained; the group concludes that Michael has been driven to psychosis by the back-to-back jumps, but have no idea if he will recover. When Mildred examines Ryan she notes that his wound is obviously infected, presumably with some kind of poison, and needs to be sterilized. The companions head into the redoubt, finding it thoroughly cleared out but locating a sterile medical facility. With no other options Mildred sterilizes Ryan's wound with a superheated knife, with the rest of the group holding Ryan down due to a lack of any anesthesia. Partway through the process Michael regains consciousness, no longer psychotic, and helps restrain Ryan. The procedure is successful, and Ryan begins to recover. The next day the companions set out from the redoubt, having found ample water but no food. J.B.'s sextant places them in New England, and Doc recognizes the nearby lake as Lake Champlain. The companions find a man's corpse, as well as one of a stickie (a vicious breed of mutant), and further evidence of stickie activity. Sometime later they encounter three people searching for their friend, who they identify as the corpse. Saddened, but grateful for knowing their friend's fate, the young people invite the companions back to their ville, Quindley. Quindley is immediately recognized as an unusual ville: the residents are all strict vegetarians, and the ville does not have a Baron, but rather an unseen (behind a one-way mirror), "all- knowing" leader calling himself Moses. Furthermore, the ville's residents react strangely to most of the companions, save for Michael and Dean, and Doc notes that none of Quindley's inhabitants appear older than 25. This is confirmed by the ville's second in command, Jehu, who when pressed further reveals that once someone turns 25 they are ritualistically executed. The companions are not subject to this, and Jehu commands that they be treated as guests. This is met with disapproval, to the point where Jehu kills one of Quindley's residents after he in turn attempts to kill Doc. Quindley is shown to have other problems as well. Though warned of stickies being present in the area, the ville's guards do not alter their patrols, as Moses has not authorized it. This results in the deaths of four children when stickies attack a group near the edge of town. Ryan and his friends kill the stickies before they can kill any more. Quindley's residents also attempt to convince Dean and Michael to stay permanently; a woman named Dorothy is particularly successful with Michael, fostering a romantic and sexual attachment between the two. The woman's allure is strong enough that, after showing him two prisoners awaiting execution and kept in narrow cages which force them to stand, Dorothy convinces Michael to have sex with her in front of them as a form of torture. The following night the prisoners are ritually executed by being burned alive. During the execution stickies attack the ville, and using a large fire and a smaller force as a distraction manage to capture more than a dozen of the ville's children, along with Krysty, Mildred, Doc, and Dean. When Ryan offers Moses assistance in recovering the children Moses refuses, saying that no rescue attempt will be made. The remaining companions discuss the matter and decide to steal one of the ville's boats and set out after the stickies the next morning. Michael joins them sometime later and volunteers to come along, which they accept. That morning Ryan and his friends steal a boat without incident and set off for where they believe the stickie camp is located. There they find a group of at least 30 stickies, who have already started killing the captive children. Though it is a difficult task they manage to kill the entire contingent of mutants, freeing their friends and the surviving children. At Michael's request the group returns to Quindley in the hopes of convincing Dorothy to accompany them. Unknown to them, Moses had previously ordered they be executed that morning during breakfast, and following their disappearance has ordered their death should they return. Ryan and his friends search for Dorothy unsuccessfully but without incident, and eventually arrive at Moses' temple. There they find both Dorothy and Jehu mostly naked, bearing teeth and whip marks as well as other signs of recent sexual abuse. Jehu attempts to kill Doc but is shot before he can, and his body knocks a torch into a nearby tapestry, starting a large fire. Doc then shoots through the one-way mirror hiding Moses, shattering it, revealing him to be a bedridden, grossly obese mutant dwarf. The companions take Dorothy and leave the temple, allowing Moses to burn alive, and are able to exit Quindley without incident. The companions make it to the redoubt safely, and with some coaxing convince Dorothy to enter the MAT-TRANS chamber. Ryan starts the jump, but partway through Dorothy panics and tries to leave the chamber. Ryan is unable to move, and passes out as he watches an already-fading Michael attempt to stop Dorothy. In the epilogue, a traveling merchant arrives at the ruins of Quindley some weeks later. The ville has burned to the ground, the temple fire having spread to the other buildings, and its residents have fled the area or died. The merchant takes out a note he was given, to be delivered to men named J.B. Dix and Ryan Cawdor, a note given to him by Abe and the Trader telling the men to meet them in Seattle. The merchant drops the note into the water, remarking to himself that if the Trader asks, he can say he at least tried. ===== The novel opens with Ryan Cawdor resting in a box canyon in New Mexico, a few feet from Jak Lauren. Ryan notes the heavy sadness affecting Jak, sadness he shares. The reason is revealed when the two arise and have a brief moment at three new graves nearby: the graves of Jak's wife Christina, his infant daughter Jenny, and Ryan's traveling companion Michael Brother. The narrative then moves to a few days prior. Ryan, his son Dean, Krysty Wroth, J.B. Dix, Dr. Theophilus Tanner, Mildred Wyeth, and Michael Brother arrive from their latest MAT-TRANS jump. When Ryan awakes he discovers Michael crying, bitterly depressed over the absence of Dorothy, a woman the companions tried to bring with them from their last destination, but who panicked and fled as the jump started. This simply adds to Michael's already growing depression over his life in the Deathlands, and the companions decide to let him deal with his emotions as he sees fit, but with the understanding to keep an eye on him should he turn dangerous. Several of the companions recognize the color of the jump chamber walls, and Dean identifies it as the New Mexico redoubt, placing them near Jak Lauren's ranch. The companions set out for the ranch, and in a matter of hours are reunited with Jak Lauren and his family. Christina is still less than pleased to see Ryan, owing to her husband's near death during Ryan's last visit, but agrees to let the group stay for a few days. The next four days pass peacefully and pleasantly. On the fourth day most of the companions set out, accompanying Jak on a day-trip to hunt deer. Michael opts to stay behind and help Christina care for Jenny and do other chores, part of his efforts over the past days to break out of his depression. The group sets off, and eventually find and kill two deer. As they are dressing them Krysty has a prophetic vision (an ability she has as a mutant) strongly foretelling death, although it is vague and without detail. Assuming the worst, the companions set off quickly for the Lauren ranch. As they approach they see a large group of horses riding away from the ranch. When they finally arrive Jak finds his wife in the kitchen, dead, murdered after being raped and tortured. J.B. finds Jenny in one of the barns, also dead, having been thrown violently against a wall. Michael is nowhere to be found. The companions help Jak clean up the bodies of his wife and daughter, in order to prepare them for burial. Sometime after they finish, Michael is found praying in front of the corpses. After some effort the group manages to get him to respond to them, and with further prompting he tells them what happened. While the rest of the group was away hunting, Michael spotted a large dust trail in the distance, indicating people moving towards the Lauren farm. Christina didn't seem in any way alarmed by the news, so Michael continued performing various chores around the ranch. Eventually two armored wags arrived at the Lauren ranch, but it was only when numerous, heavily armed, uniformed men and women exited the vehicles that Michael knew something was wrong. Unarmed and heavily outnumbered, Michael was unable to act against the uniformed group, and instead hid in a nearby pile of hay. Several men took Christina into the house, presumably to rape her. After Christina severely wounded one of her rapists with a concealed knife other members of the group killed Jenny in retaliation. The armed group then executed Christina and left quickly, fleeing a group of Native Americans approaching on horseback. Michael fled into the hills, overcome with guilt. The companions' reactions to Michael's story is mixed; Jak is furious with Michael for not trying to save his wife and child, though Ryan and J.B. maintain that any attempt on Michael's part would have simply resulted in his death without saving Jak's family. Ryan also notes that the horsemen they saw on approach were not the attackers and were presumably hunting the uniformed group as well, something they would not have known without Michael's account. Based on Michael's description, Jak tentatively identifies the attackers' leader as the General, a vicious raider rumored to prey on Native American communities and isolated settlements in the area. The companions make plans to bury Christina and Jenny the following day, then head out in pursuit of the General. Meanwhile, near Seattle, Abe is still with the Trader, waiting in the hopes that J.B. and Ryan will meet up with them, as Abe has sent a message to do so with several traveling merchants. Abe has spent the past five weeks with the Trader, and has noticed that his former employer seems changed. While the Trader is just as powerful and commanding as he was in the past, Abe is worried about a new streak of brutality he has noticed in the man's behavior. Abe keeps these observations to himself. The next day, the companions awake and find that Michael is not in his room. They initially assume he has simply left the ranch, but he is discovered in the barn, dead, having hanged himself. Inside his room Dean finds a suicide note, which Doc reads aloud to the rest of the group. In it, Michael explains that he is not killing himself simply out of guilt, but also due to his worsening depression over the past few weeks, which he attributes to the bleak life found in the Deathlands. He then says goodbye to each of the companions individually, and asks Jak for forgiveness; Jak bitterly confesses to the rest that he had already forgiven Michael. With Jak's approval the group bury Michael alongside Christina and Jenny in a remote box canyon. Afterward they stock up on supplies at the ranch and head out on horseback in pursuit of the General. The companions camp for the evening in the abandoned ville of Opium Wells. During the night Dean is ambushed while urinating and briefly threatened for information on the rest of the group, which is cut short when Ryan and his friends surround the ambushers. Once Dean states that they are hunting the General the ambushers reveal they are Navaho, also hunting the General for a recent attack on one of their settlements. A tense truce is established, and the Navaho release Dean. After further discussion the Navaho agree to travel alongside Ryan and his friends, to better their chances of catching and killing the General. The truce between the two groups is soon tested when, the following evening, they come across one of the General's wags which has become stuck in the mud. At Jak's suggestion they start a small fire near the wag in order to make its occupants believe the Navaho intend to burn them alive inside the vehicle. The stranded raiders flee the vehicle and are killed. However, when one of the Navaho looks inside the vehicle they are grabbed by a lone remaining raider, who pulls the pin on an implosion grenade he is holding. Ryan is standing atop the vehicle as this happens, and closes the entrance hatch to contain the blast as he flees. The ensuing detonation batters Ryan but does not kill him, thanks to the hatch being closed, but the surviving Navaho claim Ryan's actions doomed their tribesman. A direct conflict between the two groups is narrowly avoided by mention of the General, but the Navaho vow to bring up the matter again once he has been dealt with. The two groups follow the path of the remaining wag back to the General's hideout, a natural attraction called the J.C. Wright Caverns. The groups leave their horses outside with Dean to guard over them, then head around the rise the caverns are situated in the hopes of finding a way in that doesn't require a frontal assault; the abandoned visitor's center proves to have a still-accessible stairway leading down into the caverns. Once inside Ryan and his friends prepare to make a covert assault on the General and his gang, but their plans go awry when two of the Navaho loudly charge a group of raiders (in order to battle "honorably") and are killed without inflicting a single casualty. Ryan and his friends are able to kill the small group of raiders, but not without alerting the General and the rest of his contingent that they are under attack. The rest of the Navaho move to make an attempt on Ryan's life, but he, J.B., and Jak have anticipated this and kill the Native Americans before they can fire a shot. The situation turns into a standoff, and the General eventually asks for a brief truce to discuss terms, which Ryan and J.B. agree to, temporarily. The General proposes he and his remaining gang be allowed to leave in the wag. Ryan has no intention of letting him leave alive, not the least reason being that he recognizes that the General is not just a brutal killer, but absolutely insane. Meanwhile, Jak has moved silently through the dark caverns and placed himself behind the General and his gang, and starts to kill raiders one by one. This starts a brief firefight which kills the rest of the raiders but allows the General to escape into the caverns. Rather than chase the General through the dark caves, the companions leave the caverns and wait for him to attempt to flee. Sometime later the General exits through the visitor's center, only to be stopped at gunpoint by Ryan and his friends. Jak then moves in on the seemingly unarmed General, quickly disarms him when he tries to pull a derringer, and then kills him with a knife through the eye. The companions then take the remaining wag and head back for the Lauren ranch. On the trip back the group spends the night in the small ville of Patriarch. The next morning at breakfast Ryan meets the town's only other guest, a traveling merchant. The merchant recognizes Ryan and, after some brief questions, gives him one of Abe's notes. Ryan shares the news of Abe's success in finding the Trader with the rest of the group, and he and J.B. decide to set out alone for Seattle after they return to the ranch. ===== Elizabeth Butler is an archaeologist, and the author of several popular books that challenge her colleagues' ideas about Maya civilization. Elizabeth has a strange gift, connected to a suicide attempt as a young woman, which allows her to see the spirits of ancient people while she walks at dusk and dawn. The story opens with Elizabeth in the middle of an eight-week field study at Dzibilchaltún. Her team hopes to find dramatic artifacts that will spark interest and increased funding for future field studies at the site. In the middle of the field study, Elizabeth's estranged adult daughter Diane arrives unannounced. After the death of her father, Elizabeth's ex-husband, Diane suddenly abandoned her life in the United States, and flew to Mexico to see her mother. It is revealed that Diane has seen Elizabeth for only a few brief visits since Elizabeth left her as a young child to be raised by her father. Neither is sure what Diane wants from Elizabeth. As the two struggle to connect, Elizabeth has a new experience: one of her spirit visions, a Mayan priestess named Zuhuy-kak, can see and speak with Elizabeth. Zuhuy-kak provides unprecedented knowledge about the Mayans' departure from Dzibilchaltún, and leads Elizabeth to the major archaeological find her team needs, but demands a sacrifice to the goddess Ix Chebel Yax. As the dig progresses, haunted by bad luck and tragedy, Zuhuy-kak makes it clear that Elizabeth must sacrifice her daughter. ===== In 1993, 21-year-old Lance Armstrong becomes World Cycling Champion. In Austin, Texas, four years later on October 2, 1996, at age 25, Armstrong is diagnosed with testicular cancer with metastasis to the lungs and abdomen. On October 3, Dr Jim Reeves removes Armstrong's diseased testicle. On October 5, after banking sperm, Armstrong begins chemotherapy. The first chemo cycle Armstrong undergoes is BEP. After receiving a letter from and talking to an oncologist, Steve Wolff, with events Armstrong discovers that the cancer has also spread to his brain. After Dr Wolff suggests Armstrong to get an opinion from Dr Lawrence Einhorn—the foremost expert on testicular cancer—Armstrong went to the Indiana University medical centre in Indianapolis. He decided to receive the rest of his treatment there. On October 25, Armstrong's brain lesions were removed by Dr Scott Shapiro. For the three remaining chemo cycles Armstrong was given an alternative protocol, VIP, by Craig Nichols — the primary oncologist. Armstrong completed chemotherapy on December 13, 1996, and by February 1997, he was declared cancer-free. In 1997, Armstrong launched the Lance Armstrong Foundation to support those battling cancer. On May 8, 1998, he married Kristen Richard. In 1999 their first child, Luke David Armstrong, was born. ===== Homer and Marge say goodnight to their children, but all does not go according to plan. Bart tries to ask about the mind, but is left contemplating it as he does not get a proper answer. Lisa fears that bed bugs will eat her after hearing Marge say "Don't let the bed bugs bite". Maggie is terrified by the lyrics of "Rock-a-bye Baby". Ultimately, all of the three children decide to sleep in the parents' bed. ===== Almost a year after 9/11, strange things start happening to narrator Scott Staley, who—at the time of the attacks—had been employed at "Light and Bell Insurance" on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center. Not only is Scott unable to get rid of his survivor's guilt (on 9/11, he followed an inner voice which told him to take a day off and enjoy the sun), but items belonging to his late colleagues suddenly begin appearing in his apartment. A pair of sunglasses, a baseball bat, a whoopee cushion – Scott can identify them all. After convincing himself that they are no illusion and that others can see them, Scott tries disposing the items in a dumpster. However, they reappear after he returns home. He explains this to Paula, a neighbor, who offers to stow away one of the things. Soon, Paula experiences the most horrible nightmare of her life. In her own mind, she recreates the last minutes of the item's owner. Paula immediately returns the object, but makes Scott understand his mission: he must give the things to the victims' family members– and on seeing the joy on their faces, he feels his guilt slowly fade away. ===== Inspector Cramer takes the unprecedented step of approaching Nero Wolfe for his help on a stalled murder investigation. Leonard Dykes, a clerk for a small law partnership, has been found dead in the East River with no leads other than a list of names in his pocket. While initially unable to help, a month later Wolfe is approached by the father of Joan Wellman, a reader for a small fiction publisher who was killed in a hit-and- run incident, late at night in Van Cortlandt Park. After reading a recent letter that Joan had written to her parents, Wolfe realises that the name ‘Baird Archer’, an author whose novel Joan was reading for her employer, had also appeared on the list found in Leonard Dykes’ pocket. Wolfe orders Archie Goodwin to explore the link between Archer's novel and the two murder victims. To that end, Archie arrives at the office of Rachel Abrams, a stenographer, mere minutes after she has been thrown out of a window to her death. In the moments before the police arrive Archie confirms that Baird Archer was one of her clients. Wolfe decides to begin the investigation with Dykes, and Archie arranges a meeting with the female employees of Corrigan, Phelps, Kustin and Briggs, the law partnership Dykes worked for. During the meeting, tempers flare and in a resulting argument the former senior partner of the firm, Conroy O’Malley, is mentioned. O’Malley was disbarred for bribing a jury foreman to fix a case, and while Dykes was blamed for exposing him to the Bar Association it becomes clear that all four of the partners have motives to betray him. Soon after, the five lawyers—James Corrigan, Emmet Phelps, Louis Kustin and Frederick Briggs—approach Wolfe, keen to avoid further scandal. The men agree to send Wolfe all correspondence relating to Dykes, including a resignation letter he submitted. When they receive the letter, Wolfe and Archie discover an odd notation, apparently in Corrigan's handwriting, which corresponds a verse in the Book of Psalms. The same verse - “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help” - was used for the title of Baird Archer's novel, which confirms to Wolfe that Archer was a nom de plume of Dykes and his novel a Roman à clef based on O'Malley's downfall. Archie is dispatched to Los Angeles to persuade Dykes's sister Peggy to help them trap her brother's murderer. Archie writes a letter to the law firm purportedly from Peggy asking for advice over the legal rights of her brother's novel, and hires a local private detective to pose as a literary agent. Soon after, James Corrigan unsuccessfully tries to acquire the manuscript, resorting to violence and attempted theft in order to do so. Archie begins to tail Corrigan, but soon after his return to New York Wolfe receives a rambling phone call, apparently from James Corrigan, which is abruptly ended with the sound of a gunshot. The police discover that Corrigan has apparently committed suicide, and the next day Wolfe receives a suicide note written by Corrigan confessing to having exposed O’Malley and committed all three murders to keep his secret. Although the authorities are willing to rule Corrigan the murderer and his death a suicide, Wolfe has a breakthrough and summons the major witnesses to his office. There, he reveals that the supposed suicide note was flawed in one crucial respect; it claimed that Corrigan was aware of the contents of Dykes’ novel, when in fact Corrigan's actions in Los Angeles clearly demonstrated that he had never seen the manuscript before. In fact, Corrigan was murdered by Conroy O’Malley, who had staged his death as a suicide. O’Malley had discovered that Corrigan had betrayed him via Dykes's manuscript and had committed the other murders both to frame Corrigan and cover up his actions. After holes in his alibi are discovered, O’Malley is charged and convicted of murder. ===== Louis (Leslie Cheung) is a lovely young man from a rich family and misses his dead mother. He has a good friendship with his cousin Kathy (Pat Ha). Louis and Kathy later meet Tomato (Cecilia Yip), who becomes Louis' girlfriend, and Pong (Kent Tong), who becomes Kathy's boyfriend. The four live a casual life together, hang out aimlessly, and share their dreams and difficulties with one another on frequent trips to Hong Kong's outlying islands. But Kathy's past returns to haunt her. She once lived in Japan, and had romance with Shinsuke Takeda (Yung Sai-Kit), a Japanese who is the member of Japanese Red Army. Shinsuke Takeda is bored of the life as a Red Army member and wants to quit the organization. This leads to a vow of revenge by the organization and Shinsuke Takeda runs to Kathy to ask for help. However, he was eventually found by the killers dispatched by the Red Army and both Kathy and Shinsuke are killed, while Louis and Tomato, who is pregnant with Louis' kid, survive the crisis. ===== The translator Fariba Tabrizi (29, played by Jasmin Tabatabai) is living under the threat of the death penalty in her own country Iran after being revealed, by the vice squad, to be homosexual. With some support from a relative, Fariba is able to flee from her home country to Germany. When she is in the refugee detention centre at Frankfurt Airport her application for asylum is turned down. She lives hour by hour with the thought in mind that she may be deported. Her desperate prospects are dramatically improved by the suicide of a fellow-inmate also from Iran she assumes his identity and, as Siamak Mustafai, and using his temporary permit of sojourn, is re-located to the provinces of Swabia. Fariba knows Germany only from literature and from her work as a translator which leave her in no way prepared for the likes of Sielmingen. The contrast to a metropolis such as Teheran could scarcely be greater. At first glance her survival seems to be assured. However, in the refugee home she is obliged to uphold her male disguise in cramped quarters and she is not permitted to leave the Regional District of Esslingen. A single word wrong, any attempt at contact is allied for her with the danger of her cover being blown. The only way to escape from this predicament is by means of forged documents. To do this she is in urgent need of money. With a little help from her roommate Gasmut she comes into contact with Lächle (30), the local godfather. He is instrumental in procuring an illegal, seasonal job for her in a sauerkraut processing factory right in the middle of a complex hick town coterie. Anne (26) is manoeuvred by her workmates into taking on a bet. She will get a bike for her son if she can manage to get a date with the refugee chap. Uwe (29) finds it totally out of order that Anne is so solicitous about Siamak's well-being. His worries are not entirely unfounded, since Anne derives some kind of pleasure from the strange foreigner. Under any other circumstances Fariba would have been only too glad to respond to Anne's advances, however she is afraid on account of the whole business of the Siamak facade. With great stubbornness Anne drags Siamak along to the boozy leisure activities of her little hick town clique. In the process they become dangerously close and Anne begins to get wind of Fariba's true identity. When Siamak's permit of sojourn runs out Fariba gets into arrears with the instalments for her documents. It becomes clear to her that she will never manage things on her own. She risks everything and takes Anne into her confidence. She wants at long last to be able to live as a woman again, to live out her profession, to enjoy big cities. To break away from the provinces would also be the fulfilment of a dream for Anne. She does not disappoint Fariba. Together they successfully go in for car theft. Fariba gets her new passport. The world is their oyster. Just as Fariba is changing out of her Siamak disguise Uwe and the clique turn up in Anne's flat. Uwe demands an explanation. The row escalates. The noisy dispute leads to Fariba's downfall. During the routine check on account of disturbance of the falsified passport falls into the hands of the police. The system which she believed she had outwitted takes its relentless grip. Fariba knows: this is the end, her hopes are shattered. Anne has to watch on helplessly as Fariba is put under arrest. The term "in orbit" is officially used by the UN to refer to asylum-seekers who find themselves orbiting around planet Earth because they can actually find legal domicile nowhere at all. ===== Gorou Saruwatari and Lostman are mountain climbers who have ascended some of the highest mountains around the world. At the peak of Mount Everest, they see the ISA Space Station in the sky above and become determined to go into space. At the same time, ISA begins a program to research and obtain a new energy source which has been discovered on the moon. Gorou and Lostman attempt to join the program through different approaches: Lostman becomes a pilot and Gorou takes a job as a construction worker. ===== Geophysicist Gordon Graham is a participant in the Gamanovia Project, whose mission is to increase the land area of the overpopulated twenty-second century Earth by creating new continents through the manipulation of geological forces. The project's initial goal is to raise a new land mass to be called Gamanovia around the existing Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. The name of the proposed new continent was chosen to honor fifteenth century Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, the first European to navigate the region's waters, and for João da Nova, who discovered Ascension Island a few years later. A sinister group concealing itself under the mask of the bogus Churchillian Society, supposedly dedicated to proving that the works of twentieth-century dramatist George Bernard Shaw were actually written by Winston Churchill, is attempting to discover the secrets of the project. The Churchillian Society's "cover" purpose is a spoof on the present-day body of thought similarly dismissing William Shakespeare's authorship of the Shakespeare plays on the grounds that he, as a commoner, could not possibly have written great literature. When Graham becomes involved with Jeru-Bhetiru, an alien woman from the country of Katai-Jhogorai on the planet Krishna, the society attempts to blackmail him into serving them by kidnapping and threatening to kill her. Instead, Graham allies himself with World Federation constable Reinhold Sklar and Jeru's fiancé Varnipaz bad-Savarun, a diplomat from the Krishnan kingdom of Sotaspe, to thwart the plotters. The enemy is gradually revealed as a rogue band of Thothians from the Procyonic star system, hoping to seize the new continent by claiming Ascension, which currently lacks any sovereign government. Graham and his cohorts find themselves in a tight race against time, in which the labyrinthine bureaucracies of the future Earth prove almost as much an impediment as the enemy, and the hypnotic powers of the reptilian alien Osirians bring about treachery within their own ranks. An added problem for Graham is that the rescue of Jeru will gain nothing for him personally, but rather benefit only his rival Varnipaz; though Graham and Jeru love each other, people in her country wed on the basis of interest and advantage, considering love to have nothing to do with marriage. ===== It describes the experiences of growing up in the 1920s in a small market town in England of the narrator, Oliver. It tells three separate stories from his childhood, resolving them many years later. All three stories end with Oliver seeing the other main character for the last time. Category:1967 British novels Category:Novels by William Golding Category:Faber and Faber books Category:Fiction set in the 1920s ===== Samuel ('Sammy') Mountjoy, a talented painter but a directionless and unhappy man, is a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. Recently some inmates escaped from his camp. A Gestapo officer, Dr. Halde, interviews Sammy in an attempt to find out about the escape organisation; when Sammy denies knowing anything, Halde has him locked in a small store-room, awaiting possible torture. Under the pressure of the darkness, isolation and horrified anticipation he gradually breaks down; in a series of long flashbacks, he wonders what brought him to his current state, and in particular, how he lost his freedom. As a very young child he was happy, despite living in a slum and never knowing his father. He was adopted by the local priest and attended day school and grammar school, where he was torn between two diametrically opposed parent-figures – the kindly science master Nick Shales and the sadistic Rowena Pringle, who taught religious studies. He also fell desperately in love with a girl in his class, Beatrice Ifor. Whilst a student at art college he managed to become Beatrice's fiancé, and eventually her lover, but when she was unable to return his violent passion he grew bored with her and married another woman. After some years he found that Beatrice had gone incurably insane. The novel alternates these flashbacks with Sammy's increasing terror and despair. Then, just as he loses all self-control and cries for help, he is abruptly released by the camp commandant, who apologises, outraged that an officer should have been humiliated like this. ===== The movie is set in French-occupied Vietnam in 1922, where peasant rebellions against the French colonialists have erupted throughout the country. In response, the French have created units of Vietnamese secret agents to track down and eliminate the rebels. One of the agents is Le Van Cuong. Although he has a perfect track record, his conscience is troubled by the bloodshed he has caused. Following the assassination of a high-ranking French official, Cuong is assigned to seek and kill the notorious leader of the resistance. Cuong encounters Vo Thanh Thuy, a relentless revolutionary fighter and the daughter of the rebel leader. She is captured and imprisoned by Cuong's cruel superior, Sy. Cuong suspects that Sy learned about the attack on the French official beforehand and could have prevented it. Suspicious, he warns Thuy that her organization has a mole and helps her escape the prison, thus becoming a fugitive himself. Her fiery patriotism inspires Cuong, and he develops feelings for the young woman as well. Meanwhile, Sy follows Cuong and Thuy, knowing the pair will lead him to Thuy's father. Cuong changes his clothes and accompanies Thuy to her father. French soldiers attack them one night, but they managed to defeat them all. Thuy and Cuong then encounter Sy and Hua Danh. Though Sy couldn't find them, Cuong has to fight Hua Danh and manages to kill him, but not before being wounded. Later, while tending Cuong's wounds, Thuy reveals that her mother killed herself after being raped by a French soldier and couldn't bear having a child. Her father didn't learn of her mother's death until after he was freed from his imprisonment for opposition activities. Cuong and Thuy then make love. Meanwhile, Sy finds Cuong's father and tortures him before gouging his eyeball. He then faces Cuong and asks him where the rebel's hideout is. Cuong says that they have to go on a train, and Sy leaves. Cuong meets with Thuy, and she reveals that she lied about the train because she didn't trust him. She then takes him to her father's hideout. Thuy's brother is suspicious of Cuong, while her father accepts him regardless. Suddenly, the hideout is ambushed because the French saw Cuong and Thuy together. Sy captures Thuy's father and reveals Cuong as a traitor to the French. When Sy delivers Thuy's father to his boss, his boss instead gives Sy another boss, not trusting a Vietnamese person to be in charge. Furious, Sy kills both of his bosses and plans to execute Thuy's father. Meanwhile, the rebels are held at gunpoint in a village, awaiting execution. Cuong asks the firing squad to take off his blindfold because he doesn't fear death. Using a hidden knife, he cuts his bindings and frees all the rebels. Cuong and Thuy fight off the soldiers, and Thuy's brother tells her to go save her father before dying. Thuy and Cuong fight off the French people near a train, and Cuong finally confronts Sy. Cuong and Thuy finally manage to kill Sy by stabbing him in the eye. After they save Thuy's father, they return to the village where they found most of the people dead, except for a little girl. After paying their homage, Cuong and Thuy spread the ashes across the rivers of Vietnam. ===== The protagonist of the novel, Margayya begins his career as petty money-lender doing his business under the Bunyan tree, in front of the Central Co-operative Land Mortgage Bank in Malgudi. He helps the shareholders of the bank to borrow money at a small interest and lends it to the needy at a higher interest. In the process, he makes money for himself. The Secretary of the Bank and Arul Doss, the peon, seize from his box the loan application forms he has managed to get from the Bank through its shareholders; they treat him with contempt, and threaten to proceed against him. This sets the path of improving his position. Balu, his spoilt-child throws his account book, containing all the entries of his transactions with his clients into the gutter, and it becomes impossible for Margayya to resume his old practice. He shows his horoscope to an astrologer and is assured that good times will come for him if he offers puja to Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. The puja is done for forty days, with ash from a red lotus and ghee made of milk from a grey cow. Margayya goes through the puja with all rigour and at the end of it is full of a prosperous career. Dr. Pal, who sells him the manuscript of a book on Bed Life, for whatever ready cash Margayya's purse contains, assures him that the book named Domestic Harmony will sell in tens of thousands if only he can find a publisher. Madan Lal, “a man from the North”, reads the manuscript and agrees to publish it on a fifty-fifty partnership basis. The book is at once popular and sells like hot cakes and Margayya hits a fortune. Margayya is again ruined through his son Balu. He had admitted him in school in great style, getting the blessing of his brother and sister-in-law next door. His wealth had made him become the Secretary of the School Managing Committee. This had armed him with enough power over the Headmaster and the School Staff. He had engaged a private tutor for his son and instructed him to thrash the boy whenever necessary. But Balu was not good in his studies. He could not clear his S.S.L.C. He tried to persuade him to take the examination for he second time. The result was that Balu seized the School Leaving Certificate Book, tore it into for quarters and threw them into the gutter the same gutter which closed its dark waters over Margayya's red account book, carried away the School Leaving Certificate Book. Then Balu ran away from home. A few days later there was a letter from Madras telling Margayya that his son was dead. The brother's family immediately comes to his help, though Margayya felt that he could do without their help and wondered if that would change the existing relationship between them. He left for Madras, discovered through the good offices of a fellow traveller a police inspector in plain clothes that his son was not really dead, traced the boy and brought him home. He wanted to marry him to a girl named Brinda, the daughter of the owner of a tea estate in Mempi Hills. When a pundit, after an honest study, declared that the horoscopes of Balu and Brinda did not match, he was curtly dismissed with a fee of one rupee. Another astrologer, whom Dr. Pal found, gave it in writing that the two horoscope matched perfectly and was paid Rs. 75 for his pains. “Money can dictate the very stars in their course.” Balu and his wife were helped to set up an establishment of their own in Lawley Extension. Margayya, wishing to draw Dr. Pal away from his son, sought his help in attracting deposits from Black Marketers on the promise of an interest of 29%. If he got Rs. 20,000 deposit each day and paid Rs. 15, 000 in interest, he had still Rs. 5000 a day left in his hands as his own. Margayya became rich. It was now necessary for him to own a car. Every nook and corner of his house was stuffed with sacks full of currency notes. He was on the right side of the police, contributed to the War Fund when driven to do so, and worked day and night with his accounts and money bags, though his wife was unhappy at his straining himself so much. One day Margayya visited his son in Lawley Extension. He found Brinda and her child. The girl could not hold back her tears, while narrating Balu's nocturnal activities. When Margayya got out of the house, he found a car halting in front of it. Out of which emerged Balu. His companions were Dr. Pal and a couple of women in the town. The enraged Margayya pulled Dr. Pal out of the car, beat him and dismissed the two women with contempt. The next day Dr. Pal with a bandaged face whispered to all and sundry that things were not going well with Margayya's concerns. Hundreds of people swarmed Margayya and pressed him to return their deposits forthwith. All the accumulated wealth was disbursed. Still hundreds of people could not be satisfied. The run on the Bank led to Maragayya's filing an insolvency petition. And thus like a house of cards the wealth that Margayya had accumulated was blown away. He advised his son to take his place under the Banyan tree with the old box. When Balu hesitated to do that for fear of what people would say about it, Margayya offered to do so himself. ===== Nick Cutter (Douglas Henshall) is practicing putting in his office using a thin animal femur a little over 3 feet long as a club. Claudia Brown (Lucy Brown) visits him, wanting to talk about Helen Cutter (Juliet Aubrey) and why she might have saved her (in episode 5). She also remembers that Nick kissed her (although she does not appear to be angry about it), causing Nick to miss his shot. Elsewhere Abby Maitland (Hannah Spearritt) helps Connor Temple (Andrew-Lee Potts) practise chat-up lines for prospective nights out, although he is clearly more interested in her. Another anomaly has appeared in the Forest of Dean in the same place as the Episode One anomaly, bringing with it a terrible predator that possesses human-like intelligence and amazing agility, and tracks its prey using sonar-like abilities, much like a bat. It breaks through the perimeter surrounding the Forest of Dean, and makes its way to Wellington Zoo. Here, it breaks into the lion den and kills a lion. It leaves no trace of itself or the lion, except a smear of blood on a leaf. Abby has been called to the zoo because of the lions' disappearance, bringing Connor along. Connor takes a sample of this blood and has it tested, which shows it to be partly lion blood, and partly bat blood but with some weird differences in the DNA. The creature goes on to kill three people, including Abby's boss. Meanwhile, Helen returns, taking Stephen Hart (James Murray) aside in the university grounds. She reveals that there has been another creature incursion, but refuses to say more until she meets Nick and Lester. However, she does indicate she was pleased to see Stephen again, and kisses him on the lips as she departs. Lester agrees to the meeting (reluctantly). He, Claudia, Nick and Stephen meet her, and she tells Nick and the others that it is a highly developed predator from the future, that came through an anomaly into the Permian period and then through another anomaly into our period. Helen insists she has no idea how the creature found its way through, and that she just came back to help, having learned it was on the rampage, and decides to stay at her old house - Nick's house. At the house, Nick quizzes Helen as to her real motives. She reveals that the creature didn't come through on its own - she was observing it and it sensed her presence: in her haste to escape, she fled through the anomaly, and the creature followed her through to the present day. When Nick accuses her of causing the situation, Helen defends herself by saying she does still care enough to want to help stop it...and that she does still care about Nick. Stephen and Connor puzzle on the creature in Nick's office. Connor mentions the disappearance of Abby's boss and the lion. Stephen realises that the Predator must be hunting in that area and leaves to find Abby, telling Connor to bring backup. Abby is safe at the zoo, but at that moment the creature appears. It is unable to detect them due to the seals in the tank next to them, and flees when Ryan's men arrive. Realising the danger, Nick and Ryan's men hunt the creature in a search-and-destroy mission, using dogs to track it. The creature attacks them again, killing a soldier, then escapes into the trees. Connor notices that the dogs picked it up before they did, and concludes that it hunts by sound. The team concludes it is hunting by echolocation, and when Stephen and Connor mention the bat blood, they conclude it is a futuristic species of bat. Helen agrees to this, saying that 75% of all mammal species are bats or rats, and that possibly they are the species that becomes dominant. Nick sends Connor to the pickup for a laptop oscilloscope that picks up and displays the sound waves caused by the creature. While Connor is in the pickup, the creature jumps on the pickup and tries to break into it, but Abby distracts the creature. As it prepares to attack her, Stephen shoots and wounds the creature; it escapes into the forest. Despite being unnerved, Connor refuses to give up, reasoning Han Solo would never give up: Nick agrees, although noting he always saw Connor as R2-D2 himself. Connor thanks Abby for saving him. Using the oscilloscope, they find the den in an abandoned storage hut, and enter it. Inside they find that the creature has given birth to at least 5 young. Then the oscilloscope starts to react loudly, and the creature attacks, killing a soldier. Nick, thinking quickly, grabs an infant and runs into a nearby greenhouse. The creature follows and Nick shoots the glass above it, causing a shower of broken glass which reflects the creature's sound waves back at it, confusing its sonar sense. Taking advantage of the distraction, he shoots it in the head, killing it. Realising the creatures are too dangerous to stay in the present, and that they could wreak catastrophic damage on ecosystems in the past, Helen and Nick suggest using the infants to guide them to the anomaly leading from the Permian to the future: once they have found the anomaly into the future and make sure it closes, they will kill the infants, as they are too dangerous to be allowed to live, as well as stationing a permanent guard at the site of the future anomaly in case it reopens. Just before they enter the anomaly, Claudia kisses Cutter right in front of Helen, much to her surprise and to the disapproval of Lester. After Cutter and Helen have departed with the infants, Connor learns that an autopsy has shown that the creature was male: thus there is likely a female creature still at large. Almost immediately after, the female leaps through the anomaly, although the team in the present don't realise due to its speed. The landscape is conifer forest on hilly lava. A herd of Scutosaurus are on a hill opposite beyond a valley. Nick takes a picture of Helen as a souvenir. He then realizes that they were creating their own past and that that picture is the picture that they found in Episode One. Then he remembers the skeleton they found, and works out what is going to happen. Nick then realises Helen has been using him - she didn't care about him, she just wanted to find the future anomaly. The female creature catches up with them and attacks them. She attacks and kills all of Ryan's soldiers. Captain Ryan runs after the creature and shoots her twice but fails to deliver a fatal kill-shot to the creature. With his position now exposed, the predator attacks and mortally wounds Ryan. The predator turns towards the others but before she can attack Nick, an Inostrancevia appears, charging and briefly stunning the adult creature. Nick attends to Ryan, as the adult creature recovers - to see her young being eaten by the Inostrancevia. The two predators battle; the gorgonopsid loses an eye and suffers wounds in the process. Despite this, the Inostrancevia emerges victorious as it rears and falls over backwards, crushing the creature beneath its weight. The Inostrancevia roars in victory and then retreats with the creature's body. Nick aids Captain Tom Ryan (Mark Wakeling), who had also worked out that the skeleton in Episode One was his own, before dying. Helen confirms that none of the creature's young have survived, and she and Nick bury the dead men in the Permian and return through the anomaly, despite Helen's pleas that they could stay in the past and find the future anomaly. Unseen by the group, two of the baby future predators are left climbing a tree as the group retreats to the present. Helen and Nick sadly tell the others that Captain Ryan didn't make it and that all his soldiers died as well. Nick then says that no one else is to go through the anomaly. Helen immediately reveals she is not staying. Trying to avoid going back alone, Helen reveals that before she disappeared she had an affair with Stephen, much to Nick's fury. However, Stephen refuses to go with her. Helen then walks back through the anomaly. Nick asks where Claudia is, and to his shock finds that no-one there knows of any Claudia Brown. He realizes that the last time-jump has changed the past and thus changed the evolution of the earth causing some modern end-results. As he tries to take this in, the anomaly begins to fluctuate behind him... ===== This chronicles the first 48-hour shift for the new surgical interns. Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) meets Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey), with whom she had a one-night stand the night before, and discovers he's the new attending and chief of neurosurgery at Seattle Grace, and also her "boss". All the interns are introduced to their resident in charge, Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), nicknamed "The Nazi" for her serious demeanor and strictness. They are also introduced to the Chief of Surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.) and the head of cardiothoracic surgery Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who catches the eye of Cristina (Sandra Oh). Meredith has trouble with her first case, a teenage girl who's having unexplained seizures. Izzie (Katherine Heigl) dislikes Meredith, as she thinks she's trying to "get ahead" by sleeping with an attending surgeon; it is revealed Izzie had a past career as a model, which is how she put herself through medical school, and she is teased by Alex (Justin Chambers). George (T.R. Knight) earns the nickname "007" after all of his initial patients are pronounced dead. Meredith is the daughter of acclaimed surgeon Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), who evidently had an affair with Richard years before, while married to Meredith's father, Thatcher. Ellis is now battling Alzheimer's disease and Meredith constantly and secretly visits her. ===== The story is about the conversion of an ordinary house into an interplanetary portal or stargate by mysterious alien beings who apparently have taken up the task of exploring space for habitable planets and connecting them to each other, thus allowing civilizations to swap ideas easily. In the story, a tinkerer and trader, Hiram Taine, finds out that his house contains peculiar creatures who repair and upgrade things in interesting ways and transform parts of his house to a substance impervious to harm. After unearthing a spaceship buried in the backyard, he discovers that the front part of his house is no longer on Earth but on a strange desert planet which is now accessible by merely passing through the front door. A little exploration in the desert reveals the existence of another similar house which opens to a rainy planet and some spaceships identical to the one unearthed in the backyard sitting in launch cradles next to some other empty launch cradles, implying several other similar houses. The story ends with the arrival of some aliens of either the desert planet or one of those connected to it, who are eager to trade ideas with the new member of the universal "planet-network". ===== Tom's owner, Clint, is grilling steaks outside in his backyard. Jerry also hungers for some steaks and runs out of the basement to get to them, but Tom manages to stop him by trapping him with a fork. Tom then flings Jerry back into the basement, which makes him angry, and Jerry brings out his own fork to stab Tom with. The two engage in a fencing match with their forks; Tom misses every time, and accidentally stabs Clint in the butt with it, causing him to leap and yell in pain. After Tom nervously salutes him, Clint angrily sears Tom's head with a hot girdle, turning his head into a waffle. Then, he goes back to grilling his steak in fury. Later, Jerry next hides in a shuttlecock, trying to sneak onto the table, but Tom catches him and hits him with a racket. The shuttlecock bounces against the net and ricochets into Clint's mouth. Thinking that Tom threw the shuttlecock at him, the angry Clint grabs the racket and breaks it apart over Tom's head. Afterward, Jerry shakes up a bottle of Kooky Kola (which is a pun on the soda, Coca-Cola) soda and sprays it on one of Clint's steaks, ruining it completely. Thinking that Tom is responsible for the damage, Clint shakes up another bottle of Kooky Kola and force-feeds it to him as Tom gulps it, which turns him into a bottle. Jerry laughs at Tom's predicament, and the Tom once again chases Jerry. While Tom is searching for Jerry, Tom gets enamored with the aroma of the steam and goes up to the grill. Jerry, who was hiding behind the grill, places Tom's tail into the grill, causing Tom to scream in pain and run around wildly with the grill in tow. In the process, he smashes the table where Clint is eating steak, ruining his lunch and angering him further. Tom lands above the swimming pool with the heavy grill to cool off, but is unable to get out of the water due to the grill's weight. Clint, finally having had enough of Tom's shenanigans, yanks Tom up by his neck and pounds him for ruining his lunch. All the while Jerry hides under the picnic table covering his eyes with his hat. After the beatings are done, Clint ties Tom to a lawn chair to keep him out of trouble before storming off to cook some more steaks. Jerry then wheels the chair with Tom's hands tied to a wooden post out of the yard and attaches it to a car's bumper, and the car drives away with the chair, carrying the screaming, unconscious Tom with it. After that, Clint returns to his grilling in peace, while Jerry climbs up onto the table to steal and eat one of Clint's cooked steaks. ===== My Frogger Toy Trials begins with a young boy named Kyle, who is watching an advertisement for Toy Pets (a toy meant to be used in a tournament consisting of several worlds with several levels each) anticipating the arrival of his. Eventually, he meets a cloaked man named Shadow, who delivers his Toy Pet egg to him. One month later, on the day of the tournament, Kyle is disappointed that after all that time, his egg still hasn't hatched yet. He meets up with his friend Lucy, who is also participating in the tournament. After talking with his mother and Lucy, Kyle and Lucy leave for the tournament. On their way, Kyle discusses with Lucy that he hopes that his Toy Pet turns out to be a dragon. Soon after arriving, Kyle's egg begins to hatch. However, instead of the dragon he asked for, Frogger hatched. Kyle seems to hate him at the start, because of his lack of abilities, to the point of Kyle insulting Frogger. ===== Andreus finally begins the military maneuvers against Meldrith which had been feared in Wren to the Rescue. Lirwani agents launch a covert strike to abduct Tess and assassinate the King and Queen. These events take place while Wren is on vacation in Alat Los. As part of the plot, Tess is drugged via a drink presented to her by one of the agents posing as a stable worker, but the effect does not take full hold until she is in a hidden staircase in the palace, and is rescued by her most loyal servant after reviving in time to witness her parents' murder. After being evacuated to a building in the hills, Tess raises the alarm to Wren, Tyron, and Conor using the summons rings which they began using after the events of Wren's Quest. Capitalizing on the disarray inflicted by the toppling of royal order, Andreus moves the full force of his army into Meldrith, over 1 million troops in all. Tess organizes all support she can in order to mount raids against the Lirwani occupation forces, which were not yet evenly spread throughout Meldrith's lands. Wren and Tyron, having been successfully recalled earlier, are sent to seek the aid of Hawk Rhiscarlan, who is known to have now set himself up in some form of power at the ruins of his ancestral home, directly south of Senna Lirwan. ===== Hawk Rhiscarlan attempts to gain favor with Andreus of Senna Lirwan by succeeding where Andreus was foiled in Wren to the Rescue. Tyron is deployed in the guise of a dog in order to gain reconnaissance among the nobles of Cantirmoor which might reveal who is behind the trouble, but is captured by Hawk. During this time, unaware of the new plot afoot, Wren ventures to the records center for the Siradi border guards who found her in a brigand- devastated trade caravan as a very young child. Wren is accompanied by Connor Shaltar for protection in case of any trouble, though that idea was hatched by Leila and Queen Astren of Meldrith to allow Connor to avoid confinement by his uncle Fortian Rhismordith to a particular vacation house as punishment for his tendency to socialize with stage performers. Excursion into such remote territory fails to spare the pair form the interesting times, however, as they are forthwith pursued incessantly yet intermittently by mysterious and vaguely menacing couriers clothed in blue, culminating in an entire forest fire being levied as an attack against the protagonists, which Connor manages to dispel though an exertion of his own manner of magic, which leaves him prostrate and asleep for two full days. Upon regaining consciousness, Connor discovers his location to have changed to that of a stone fortification of considerable vintage, whereupon Wren briefs him regarding the elapsed time and the fact that this is indeed the Siradi border-guard records center, as well as one of their command posts. Category:1993 American novels Category:1993 fantasy novels Category:American fantasy novels Category:Novels by Sherwood Smith ===== The story begins with a detailed description of an anxious young woman. The woman is frustrated with the narrator for some reason which he cannot understand as they are strangers. The narrator contemplates the situation and wonders what will help the little woman with her obsessive frustration with him. He considers that even committing suicide would not affect her anger at him. The reliability of the narrator is not a given, and sometimes there seems the suggestion that he is not the actual source of the woman's irritation, but merely considers himself to be so.Kafka, Franz. The Complete Stories. New York City: Schocken Books, 1995. 317-324. ===== Joan McCarty (Glenda Farrell) is married to boxer Ritzy McCarty (Pat O'Brien), who has had some minor success, due to his active footwork in the ring and colorful personality. His crowd-pleasing technique catches the eyes of promoters Gavin (Robert Gleckler) and Stephens (Henry O'Neill). Under their management, Ritzy starts fighting in better venues and attracts the attention of Patricia Merrill (Claire Dodd). Patricia and Ritzy began an affair, which his wife Joan tolerates. When Ritzy learns that he has been winning because his opponents were paid to lose the fights, and that Joan agreed to these conditions, he leaves her. Ritzy is suspended for fighting in a fixed fight. Patricia loses interest in him because he is no longer successful. He gets a job attracting customers to a health lecture. Patricia is there and invites him to visit her, but he finds a pregnant Joan waiting at Patricia's apartment. Ritzy, now determined to provide a good life for his child, accepts an offer to lose a fight. However, Ritzy puts up a good fight and knocks out his opponent after hearing that his wife has given birth to a boy. Impressed by the fight, Stephens visits him in the hospital and offers to put Ritzy back in the ring again, this time with legitimate fights. ===== The show closely follows the plot of the books, with only a few alterations and cuts for length. The first act is based on Anne of Avonlea, while the second act is based on Anne of the Island. During the course of the first act, Gilbert Blythe gives up the position of Avonlea Schoolmaster for Anne Shirley, allowing her to stay close to home to care for her adoptive mother, Marilla Cuthbert. It is revealed that almost all of Avonlea knows that Gilbert is deeply in love with Anne, and she with him, although Anne will not admit it. In return for the kindness he has done her, Anne agrees to a wager with Gil; he will propose to her at some day of his choosing, and if she says no he will never ask again. After some time, Anne's best friend Diana Barry becomes engaged to her beau, Fred Wright and at the end of the first act, marries him. Gilbert takes advantage of his wager with Anne and proposes to her following the wedding, but she rejects him. He vows never to propose again. Through a series of fortuitous events, Anne is finally able to follow her dreams and go to Redmond University. The second act opens with Anne of the Island, introducing several new friends for Anne. Meanwhile, Anne falls in love with a millionaire named Royal Gardner much to the dismay of Marilla and Diana back home in Avonlea. Although she toys with the idea of marrying Roy, she finally decides that she does not truly love him and rejects his proposal. Roy storms off and is not seen again. Gilbert, who is paying his way through University with odd jobs, happens to be working as a waiter at the restaurant where Anne and Roy are. He gives Anne an early birthday gift in the form of three letters her parents left behind before they died. As she reads the letters she begins to realize that she truly can love somebody, and finally finds the love she's had for Gilbert all along. The show ends with Anne proposing to Gilbert back home in Avonlea for the summer, as the entire town and several friends from Redmond look on. ===== A flourishing metropolis, the crowd bustling about, each one conjecturing a beautiful wish to wait for his or her fate. A beautiful story can take place anywhere, perhaps it's in the mall, perhaps it's in the cafe, or perhaps, it's in the subway..... ===== Frank Fay, as a Mexican named Don Carlos, rides into a small Texas border settlement on the Fourth of July in the early 1880s. He is accompanied by his two inseparable companions, played by Georgie Stone and George Cooper. The day is being celebrated in the style of a Spanish fiesta. Fay challenges a rough Texan, played by Noah Beery, to a duel, only to find himself invited to undertake the dangerous task of capturing a cattle rustler who has been stealing cattle from the Lazy Y Ranch. He accepts the task on the promise of receiving $7000 in gold if he can return both the thief and the stolen cattle within 10 days. During the next nine days, Fay spends his time making love to every pretty girl he meets, serenading many of them by singing the theme song to the film while playing his guitar, while his two companions join in the harmonizing. He lies to them all, telling each girl exactly what she wishes to hear. Throughout all this time, he does nothing towards earning his reward. On the 10th day, he captures the cattle rustler and turns up the cattle to everyone's surprise by using a simple method of which no one had thought. He rides back to Mexico with his latest conquest in his arms. ===== Lantern slide for the film. Aniuta (Bernice Claire), known as The Flame, is a peasant girl who incites the people against the Czarist regime and the aristocracy through singing. Prince Volodya (Alexander Gray) is the leader of a group of Cossack troops who falls in love with the girl, even though she is part of a revolution that is opposed to his social class. Konstantin (Noah Beery) is a revolutionary who also falls in love with Aniuta, much to the anger of his lover, Natasha (Alice Gentle). The revolutionaries succeed in overthrowing the regime, leaving the Prince and his aristocratic class in peril for their lives and fortunes. Konstantin becomes the new leader and his brutal treatment of the people make many regret having supported the revolution in the first place. After he attempts to seduce her, Aniuta flees to a village in her native Poland. The Prince, fleeing from the new regime, happens to arrive at the same village. When he meets the girl again he decides to stay. They put their political differences aside and become romantically involved. Hearing from his spies that the Prince is at a Polish village, Konstantin immediately goes there and arrests him, announcing that he attends to execute him. Aniuta desperately attempts to free the Prince by agreeing to have sex with Konstantin. The Prince is released from prison through this ruse, but when is it discovered that she had no intention of keeping her side of the bargain, she is thrown into jail. The Prince disguises himself and attempts to free the girl, but he is discovered and imprisoned again. Before they can be executed, Natasha, revealing the real reason behind Konstantin's execution order, tells the troops to release both the Prince and Aniuta. Konstantin is arrested by the troops soon after as a traitor to the revolution, and is executed, leaving the Prince and the girl free to pursue their romance. ===== The film tells the story of a young engineer (Roberto Airaldi) from Buenos Aires who met a girl (Mirtha Legrand) at Córdoba Province falling in love with her; but her mother (Ana Arneodo) and her sisters (Aída Luz, Silvana Roth) don't agree with their feelings and they do all that they can for separate them, but at the end he discover why. ===== Paulina, the daughter of the millionaire owner of a store, becomes employed at the store under an assumed name. She investigates the injustices of the workers and leads a strike, forcing her father and the store operators to bring about improvements in working conditions. ===== Howard Spitz is the author behind a string of poorly selling detective novels. He discovers that in contrast children's books enjoy strong sales. Believing it an easy way to make money, Spitz becomes a children's author with his new book character, a bovine detective named "Crafty Cow", but finds writing for his new audience significantly difficult. Whilst doing research at the local library, he submits his drafts to a little girl called Samantha Kershaw who polishes them up. In return, she asks Spitz to find her father who left her mother before she was born. Spitz also discovers that to become a successful children's author he will need to do public appearances with his audience. Terrified at the prospect of having to spend time with children, Spitz hires a struggling actor to serve as his public face. But soon his doppelgänger is having delusions of grandeur, as his book becomes more and more successful. Finally, at an awards ceremony, he confesses his identity, and finds that after spending so much time with Samantha, and after all the help she's given him, he feels more at ease around children. ===== At a way station in the desert, Roland Deschain meets Jake Chambers for the first time. Under hypnosis, Jake remembers that he has recently been killed in his own world, the New York City of 1977, when someone pushed him into traffic. This event creates the series' first link of Roland's world to ours, and Jake's account leads Roland to believe that the man in black may have caused the death. While searching the way station's cellar for usable supplies, Roland encounters a demon that speaks to him through a skeleton buried behind the wall. The demon warns him that the man in black will be able to use Jake as an asset against him as long as the two are traveling together. On impulse, Roland takes the skeleton's jawbone with him. Roland and Jake set off into the desert, heading toward a mountain range where the man in black has gone. Along the way, Roland tells Jake about a training session under the severe regimen of his teacher Cort, who showed him how to use a hawk as a weapon; and how Roland and one of his best friends, Cuthbert Allgood, exposed the cook Hax as a traitor working for the Good Man and sent him to the gallows. Among other changes made by King for the 2003 revised version of The Gunslinger, King altered the "Rain in Spain" nursery rhyme included in the opening pages. ===== It is spring 1922 and William, who is now eight years old, is off to a boarding preparatory school. After asking Virginia, Rose buys Alice a small dog, called "Thimble", for Alice to keep her company after William leaves. Shortly William leaves, Richard and Virginia go to France. Miss Treadwell, the governess, believes she is in charge in their absence, and annoys the other servants by taking tea in the Morning Room. The servants are dismayed when she puts Alice on a bread and water diet as a punishment for her behaviour. Jennifer Chivers, a friend, joins Alice for her lessons with Miss Treadwell. When Thimble chews Miss Treadwell's shoe, she orders the dog to be presented to her the following morning so she can have it put down. However, the servants hide Thimble in Edward and Daisy's flat above the garage, and tells Miss Treadwell and Alice that it has gone "missing". It reappears moments after Richard and Virginia return home. When Richard and Virginia return home, she immediately complains about the behaviour of the other servants. However, immediately Virginia dismisses Miss Treadwell and gives her four weeks wages instead of notice. It is then decided that Alice will go to a day school, something that Alice is very happy about. ===== Natasha Martin is a beautiful auto mechanic and aspiring musician who is invited to join music producer Infamous aboard his private jet en route to Las Vegas in appreciation of her services on his Ford GT. She is also a highly skilled race car driver, but is sometimes haunted by memories of her father's death at a NASCAR race many years ago. Meanwhile, on another side of town, Carlo has just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He meets up with his brother Jason before heading to Vegas themselves. Carlo is not happy that Jason is living with their mob boss uncle Michael D'Orazio, whom he always sees as the cause of their family's destruction. They are unaware that Michael has been running an unsuccessful counterfeiting ring and owes millions of dollars to another syndicate led by the "Godfather". On the outskirts of Vegas, a high-stakes race event is being held, with Michael, Infamous, Hollywood producer Jerry Brecken and Chinese businessman Marcus Cheng placing their bets over who has the better car. When Infamous' driver fakes an ankle injury, Natasha becomes Infamous' driver in exchange for $300,000 and a recording contract. However, she is unaware that Infamous has to place her on his wager, as Michael - who has been obsessed with her since watching her band perform on stage earlier - has placed four platinum bars at stake. At the same time, Brecken wagers his brand-new Enzo Ferrari on Natasha. Natasha (driving a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren) takes on Jason (driving a Lamborghini Diablo). As they approach the finish line, Natasha is several car lengths ahead of Jason, but he quickly zips past her by engaging the onboard nitrous system. Unfortunately, because of the excessive speed, the Diablo loses downforce, flies off the ground and flips in mid-air before crashing upside down at the finish line. Attempting to avoid the falling Diablo, Natasha crashes on a barrier and is knocked unconscious. Before Carlo can reach Jason to rescue him, the Diablo bursts into flames, killing his brother instantly. Michael's henchmen, dressed as paramedics, place Natasha in an ambulance and speed off. Natasha wakes up in Michael's mansion, realizing that she is now his property. Meanwhile, Carlo meets up with an old military friend and picks up some ammunition and gear before riding a Ducati 999 with the intent to kill Michael. After breaking into Michael's mansion, Carlo and Natasha bump into each other and leave the complex. This prompts Michael to have his henchmen kidnap her mother and convince her to drive for him at the next race at Red Rock Canyon in Nevada. Meanwhile, after receiving an ultimatum by the Godfather to pay him $80 million following a botched attempt at giving him counterfeit bills, Michael raises his funds for the upcoming race by borrowing money from the banks using his mansion as collateral. In the final race, Michael, Brecken, Infamous and Cheng place their bets for a combined purse of $100 million. Infamous and Cheng are eliminated from the race after their cars (an SLR and a Porsche Carrera GT, respectively) are involved in separate crashes. During the race, Natasha (driving Michael's Enzo) receives a phone call from Carlo notifying her that he has rescued her mother. While she is several car lengths ahead of Brecken's Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, she stops the Enzo an inch away from the finish line and gives the S7 the win, costing Michael the race. With no money left, Michael is given a last ride from the Godfather's henchmen. As a way of thanking Natasha for handing his driver the victory, Brecken gives her a recording contract (which shortly gives her a gold record and lands her on the cover of Variety), an Enzo and a Koenigsegg CCX. The film ends with Natasha (in the Koenigsegg) and Carlo (in the Enzo) racing each other before being chased by the police on the freeway. ===== The events of this novel take place on the fictional continent of Zamonia, which is also featured in Moers' previous novel The 13 Lives of Captain Bluebear. While Rumo is not a prequel to Bluebear, the two do have many parallel events and returning characters such as Volzotan Smyke, Professor Nightingale, and Fredda the Alpine Imp. There is also a character named Rumo in The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear, but this character, briefly seen, is not the protagonist of Rumo and His Miraculous Adventures but rather a different Wolperting using the same name. This epic consists of two separate sections, with both sections together telling the tale of how Rumo the Wolperting became Zamonia's most illustrious hero. ===== The film follows two teenagers, Luca (Nicolas Vaporidis) and Claudia (Cristiana Capotondi), and their friends as they all prepare for the dreaded maturità (high school graduation) exams during the summer of 1989. At a party, Luca meets and immediately falls for Claudia. The film then follows both teenagers and their friends through their various personal experiences and adventures during the summer. In addition, throughout the film, Luca is desperately trying to get back in favour with his literature teacher (Giorgio Faletti), who will be the teacher sitting in on his oral exams. The film contains many references to music that was popular in the 1980s, and includes songs of the time period by bands such as Europe, Duran Duran ("Save a Prayer" and "The Wild Boys"), and Cecchetto ("Gioca Jouer"). ===== Free trade through the Bajoran wormhole is vital for the Bajoran economy. Unfortunately, a cloaked ship is attacking other ships, killing the crew and taking all the cargo. The attacking is going after Cardassian ships as well, causing the powerful Gul Dukat to show up. The two sides reach a cautious agreement to hunt down the ship. Unfortunately two Deep Space Nine crew-people are captured by the cloaked enemy. Dukat doesn't care that these people are in harm's way and now the rest of Deep Space Nine's forces must rescue their trapped comrades, neutralize the ship and keep war at bay. ===== During the Argentine War of Independence, Pancho Ramirez led well-disciplined and successful forces against the Royalists, eventually founding the short-lived Republic of Entre Ríos in 1820. When opposition forces captured his wife in 1821, Ramirez was killed and beheaded during an ill-fated attempt at rescue. ===== Fifteen-year-old honor student Molly Stewart (Donna Wilkes) attends private prep school in the Los Angeles area in the daytime, but transforms herself to "Angel" at night: a leather mini- skirted, high-heeled street teenage prostitute who works Hollywood Boulevard. Angel has a "street family" made up of aging movie cowboy Kit Carson (Rory Calhoun), street performer Yoyo Charlie (Steven M. Porter), transvestite Mae (Dick Shawn), fellow hookers Crystal (Donna McDaniel) and Lana (Graem McGavin), and her landlord, eccentric painter Solly Mosler (Susan Tyrrell). The street's dangers increase as a psycho-necrophiliac serial killer (John Diehl) begins to stalk and murder prostitutes. Los Angeles Police Lt. Andrews (Cliff Gorman) is assigned to the case, but finds no leads. Tragedy strikes Angel's group of friends when Crystal becomes a victim. The next day at school, Molly is confronted by teacher Patricia Allen (Elaine Giftos), who is concerned about Molly's lack of extracurricular activities. Molly explains that her mother was paralyzed by a stroke and she has to head home immediately after school each day to care for her. Lt. Andrews advises the hookers to work in pairs. Angel teams up with her partner, Lana. Lana takes a potential client to a motel room that she and Angel share. When Angel shows up at the room with a client of her own a couple of hours later she finds Lana's body in the shower. Angel gives the police a description of the suspect and a composite sketch is made. The killer is brought in for a lineup and Angel recognizes him, but he shoots his way out of the police station and escapes. Andrews takes Molly/Angel home to speak with her parents, but discovers that Molly's father left nine years ago and her mother abandoned her three years ago. Molly maintains the pretense of a mother at home so that she will not be sent to a foster home. She believes that her father will return someday. She has paid her rent, school tuition and living expenses through prostitution since she was 12. Despite Andrews' warnings to stay off the street, Angel/Molly purchases a pistol and returns to work. Her masquerade falls apart that night when some classmates recognize her on the street. Word flashes through the students at her school and soon everyone knows that Molly spends her evenings as a Hollywood hooker. The next day, Ms. Allen visits Molly's apartment and insists on meeting her mother. Mae pretends to be Molly's mother, but Allen is not fooled. Mae is still at the apartment when the killer shows up later. They fight, and he stabs her, leaving her mortally wounded. Solly discovers Mae and the two share a tender moment of friendship before Mae succumbs to her wounds. Andrews and Molly return to her apartment and find Mae's body. Molly heads out on the streets with Solly's huge long-barreled Magnum to avenge Mae and Andrews goes after her. After a fight and chase, Carson, whom Andrews enlisted to help, shoots the killer. Molly, Andrews, and a wounded Carson walk off together and the film fades to black. ===== A female Argentine tango singer in occupied France (Libertad Lamarque) gets romantically involved with a Resistance member (Juan José Miguez). A local Gestapo commander (Alberto Bello) tries to convince her to infiltrate the Resistance in exchange for her little daughter's safety. ===== ===== A melodramatic, psychological thriller, the film tells the story of a young wealthy widow, who is unhappy. She meets a Bohemian artist who marries her to escape the poverty of his family, but is stifled by her possessiveness and jealousy. The plot centers around a love triangle, which was bold for its time. ===== An engineer leads an expedition to the summit of a mountain and is blamed when a young girl on the team plummets to her death. ===== Raised by woodtrolls in the Deepwoods all his life, Twig believes he is one of them, yet strongly suspects there is something different about him, as he does not fit in with them; in particular, he feels a longing to live as a sky pirate. He sets off to find his true kind when he learns from his adoptive woodtroll mother that he is not a woodtroll after all, but was found abandoned in the woods and taken in by them. His adoptive mother tells him to travel to their cousin's house to mull things over, but during Twig's journey through the Deepwoods, he ends up unintentionally straying from the path. This is an act no woodtroll ever commits, for the woodtrolls' greatest fear is getting lost, and this fear is not without reason. The forest is populated with both fierce natural predators and evil demons, the most dangerous being the Gloamglozer. Twig soon stumbles upon a slaughterer who is being attacked by a hover worm. Twig kills the hover worm and the grateful slaughterer invites him to spend the night in his village. The next morning, Twig is woken by a slaughterer who tells him that he has outstayed his welcome, and is expected to leave immediately, which he does. Twig has a run- in with a skullpelt, a predator which hunts people who fall under the illusions of the Deepwoods' lullabee trees, but is saved by a caterbird which has just hatched from its cocoon. As all caterbirds share telepathic dreams whilst in the womb, and the oakelf sage of Twig's woodtroll village lived in a caterbird cocoon, this caterbird knows all about Twig. The caterbird tells Twig his destiny lies "beyond the Deepwoods" and flies off, promising to return when he is in danger. That night, Twig is almost eaten by a bloodoak, a man-eating tree, but escapes and ends up in a gyle goblin colony, where he is almost fed to the goblins by their leader, the Grossmother. After a gyle goblin guides him to safety, Twig meets an injured banderbear, one of the forest's dominant predators. The banderbear is sick because of a rotten tooth, which Twig pulls out. Soon, Twig and the banderbear become great friends, but one day the banderbear is killed by a swarm of wig-wigs, ferocious predators which act like piranhas. Later, Twig almost drowns in a swamp, but is rescued by a flathead goblin who vanishes before Twig can thank him. Twig meets a young girl who takes him as a "pet" in the underground society of the termagant trogs. Twig spends a few months with the trog girl, but eventually she undergoes the termagant trogs' maturation ceremony by drinking sap from a bloodoak root, turning her into a monstrous brute like the other adult female trogs. However, a lone trog male saves Twig, much to his surprise, and directs him to the exit. Twig finally meets some sky pirates, whose ship has crashed due to the flight-rock which powers the ship falling out of the sky when it was struck by lightning, and helps them repair it. When their captain Cloud Wolf, whose real name is Quintinius Verginix, tells a story about his past, Twig realizes that Quintinius is his true father, and wants to join his crew. To Twig's horror, though, the next morning he awakens alone, abandoned by his father again. Distraught, Twig realizes the pirates' campfire has started a forest fire. Twig runs for his life and ends up in the Edgelands on the outskirts of the Deepwoods, where he meets the Gloamglozer face to face. The Gloamglozer tempts Twig into living a life as a Gloamglozer himself, having failed to fit in anywhere else, and reveals that he had been influencing Twig's journey all along in the guise of a slaughterer, gyle goblin, male trog and flathead goblin. However, when Twig agrees, the Gloamglozer instead throws him off the side of the Edge. The caterbird returns and rescues Twig before dropping him onto the deck of Quintinius Verginix's ship. Finally reunited with his true father, who apologizes for leaving him and promises to always protect him, Twig and the sky pirates set sail. ===== The film begins with some sequences related to the youth of Dr. Gutiérrez, his arrival in Buenos Aires from his native Arrecifes, his law studies and his frustrated life as a writer and being the subject of unrequited love. An accident resulting in the death of a child changes his vocation and he goes on to study Medicine. There are battle scenes, featuring Gutiérrez in the Civil War and the Paraguayan War and, finally, his struggles as a pediatrician. ===== Boxing school in the film Image taken onset of Diez segundos. On the left, Ricardo Duggan, in dressing gown and towel on the neck, in the center, Oscar Villa laying a hand on the chest of Raul del Valle on the right holding the towel. The film is loosely based on Horacio Estol's 1946 Vida y combates de Luis Angel Firpo, a biography of the Argentine boxer Luis Ángel Firpo who came close to beating Jack Dempsey in 1923. In the film, a humble lad starts to learn to box to defend himself, then goes on to become a professional boxer. He is trained heavily by Oscar Villa. Duggan's love interest in the film is played by Patrica Castell. ===== The series stars Kathleen Mallory, a policewoman who is tall, blonde, beautiful, and green-eyed. She also has immense street and computer smarts. Her physical beauty masks a cold, amoral interior, however; O'Connell describes Mallory as a sociopath. New York City police detective Louis Markowitz picks up an 11-year-old homeless street urchin for stealing. Instead of arresting her, he takes Kathleen Mallory home and raises her as his own. Mallory (as she likes to be called) still deals with issues from her traumatic childhood, but she has an undying love (or at least the closest thing she can manage to it) for her adopted parents. She follows Louis to the police academy and ends up in the special crimes unit, specializing in computer research. Louis begins investigating the brutal murders of several older, wealthy women from Gramercy Park. While working alone and hot on the trail of this serial killer, he is murdered alongside another victim. Mallory takes it upon herself to take on this investigation (without police sanction, of course) and tries to piece together all the bits of information Louis had gathered. Louis trained Mallory well, but there is still the possibility that following his trail will cause Mallory to make the same mistakes he did, and lead to her becoming another victim. Along the line, Mallory uncovers a complicated plot that deals with magic, séances, and insider trading. ===== A railroad track walker had discovered missing spikes.p.210 The incident at first appeared to be an attempt to wreck a train carrying strike breakers to non-union mines.p.69 A former member of the WFM by the name of H.H. McKinney was arrested and confessed to K.C. Sterling, a detective employed by the Mine Owners' Association, and D.C. Scott, a detective for the railroad, that he had pulled the spikes. McKinney implicated the president of District Union No. 1, the president of the Altman local, and a WFM activist in an alleged conspiracy to wreck the train. But then McKinney repudiated his confession by writing a second confession, stating that he had been promised a pardon, immunity, a thousand dollars, and a ticket to wherever he and his wife wanted to go, to "any part of the world," if he would lie about the spikes. He didn't know who had pulled them, and the first confession had been brought to him, already prepared, while he was in the jail.p.210 McKinney and his wife were then given new suits of clothing, and he was granted unusual privileges, allowed to spend time away from the jail for free meals and to see his wife. A trial was held for the three union men, and McKinney changed his story again, this time asserting that his original confession was true, and that the repudiation was false. He testified that he didn't know who paid for the meals and clothes.p.105-106 But some of the testimony in the trial implicated the detectives who had arrested McKinney, and suggested that the detectives pulled the spikes, intending to blame the union. One of the two arresting detectives admitted to being employed by the CCMOA for secret work, and a third detective confessed to helping plot the derailing. One of the detectives had also been seen with another man working on the railroad tracks.p.211p.70 McKinney testified he would be willing to kill two hundred or more people for five hundred dollars.p.107 In his autobiography, Bill Haywood, the secretary treasurer of the Western Federation of Miners, stated that the president of the Victor Miners' Union and many other union men were on the train.The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood, William D. Haywood, 1929, pages 142-143. Rastall agrees with Haywood on this point, there were union men on the train. Haywood charged that McKinney had also worked with a third detective named (Charles) Beckman, from the Thiel Detective Service Company. Beckman had worked undercover as a member of Victor Miners Union No. 32 since April. His wife was an undercover member of the union's Ladies' Auxiliary.p.211 Additional testimony indicated that Detective Scott inquired of a railroad engineer named Rush, where would be the worst place for a train wreck. Rush pointed out the high bridge where, if a rail was pulled, the train would crash three or four hundred feet down an embankment, killing or injuring all on the train. Scott told Rush to be on the lookout for damaged track that night at that spot. Later that evening Rush stopped his train, walked ahead on the track and discovered that spikes had been pulled.The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood, William D. Haywood, 1929. Sterling admitted in his testimony that the three detectives had tried to induce WFM members to derail the train.p.211 But in Bill Haywood's perception, Detectives Sterling and Scott put all the blame on McKinney and Detective Beckman. A jury of non-union ranchers and timbermen unanimously found the three union men "not guilty."p.70 McKinney was allowed to go free on the train-wrecking charge, but was later arrested for perjury. He was released on $300 bond, which the Mine Owners' Association covered.p.211 Detectives Sterling, Scott, and Beckman were never arrested. ===== The novel is primarily composed of three separate plots, interleaved throughout the course of events. In the main plot, Ryan Cawdor and J.B. Dix set off for Seattle in an armawag, leaving their friends behind at Jak Lauren's farm. Ryan and J.B. intend to meet up with Abe, a friend and formerly employed by their once-leader, Trader. The two had long believed Trader was dead after disappearing into the Colorado mountains, but Abe has since sent word that the Trader is alive. More importantly, Abe's note says that he and the Trader will be waiting to meet Ryan and J.B. near the ruins of Seattle, but only for the next six weeks. Scant hours into their trip, Ryan and J.B. are stopped by a group of "fladgies": religious extremists who practise self-flagellation. The group's leader doesn't just ask for food and supplies, he demands them, earning a denial at gunpoint from the two friends. Ryan and J.B. travel onward, not bothering to kill the group. Some days later J. B. and Ryan link up with a traveling animal show, run by a woman named Ellie Kissoon and her three daughters. The group heads to Weatherill Springs, and that evening put on a show outside the local bar for the ville's occupants. During the show an audience member extinguishes his cigar on one of the group's lions in a show of bravado, causing the animal to attack and starting a panicked firefight. In the aftermath several audience members are dead and Ryan is asked by Ellie to put down the mortally wounded lion, which he does. The group leaves town quickly, chased by gunfire from angry residents, and escape unharmed. Afterward Ryan notes that the bar's lockbox was missing following the incident, and after some hinting one of Ellie's daughters outright admits that they stole it during the confusion. This earns bemused approval from both Ryan and J. B., but the two nonetheless decide to part ways with the group, not the least reason being that Ellie and her daughters have expressed romantic interest in the two over objections that they are both in committed relationships. ===== Transit is presented in a non-linear narrative and follows four main characters from around the world who meet in fortuitous circumstances. The film opens in Los Angeles sometime in 2004 where Asha, an Americanized Indian woman, returns from her trip to Nairobi, Kenya and is riding a taxi driving through the freeway. The scene fades to black and the story shifts back six months earlier in St. Petersburg, Russia. Tatjana, a secretary, is in an abusive relationship with Yuri, a cab driver who is a drug user. On impulse, she ends the relationship and proceeds to have sex with a Mexican businessman named, Ruben, whom she has flirted with in her boss's office to the chagrin of her close friend, Masha. Tatjana naively believes that Ruben is the man she wants to be with, and so she ends up flying to Mexico City to follow him. Upon tracking his residence, Tatjana is dismayed when a woman holding a baby in her arms states that she is Ruben's wife after saying that she is looking for Ruben. Tatjana goes to a public park to make a call on a payphone and scream her frustrations to Ruben on the phone. Emotionally tired and exhausted from the flight and carrying her large stroller bag around the city in the heat, Tatjana loses consciousness and faints on the spot. Nearby, a man has observed Tatjana whilst enjoying a picnic with his friends. A brief flashback of two months prior reveals the man to be Jose Luis, nicknamed Champignon (mushroom) or Champy for short, by his handsome yet womanizing friend, Blanco. Champy feels envy and resentment towards Blanco as he is unsuccessful in finding a girlfriend, whilst Blanco already has a relationship but finds time to enjoy infidelities with beautiful women, despite Blanco's good intentions to pair him with women during his secret trips with his mistresses in Acapulco. Champy, however, has landed a job with a brewery company, and the story returns to present time to the picnic with Champy, Blanco, and the rest of their friends to celebrate Champy's new job. When Champy sees Tatjana faint after her phone call, he immediately runs to her side with his friends chasing after him. The group crowds around the unknown girl, and one of Champy's female friends suggest that he take her to his apartment to recover. The story cuts to Los Angeles where Asha is shown with Vip, her fiancé who is also an Americanized Indian, having lunch to celebrate an event. It is shown that Asha is a film student on her way to Kenya to shoot her graduation documentary film. Her parents are conservative and traditional Indian people, and they record a heartfelt video message to Asha's uncle and aunt, whom she will be residing with once she arrives in Nairobi. On the eve before her flight, Asha stumbles upon a sex tape of Vip with one of his female Caucasian colleagues she found while preparing to follow Vip to a nightclub where he his partying with his friends. Hurt by this betrayal, she goes to the nightclub and witnesses with her very eyes that Vip is indeed not the man she knows. The couple argue outside the club and Asha terminates their engagement after it is further revealed that Vip has had more than one instance of his sexual liaisons with other women. During their fight, Champy is seen by his car packing things in the trunk. The scene then cuts to Champy and Asha in an empty bar, with Champy writing down his contact details on his company's promotional sticky note paper and give it to Asha. The story then moves to Nairobi, where Asha is living with her relatives. Unfortunately, her documentary project comes to a temporary obstacle, with her original concept scrapped because of lack of funds from her documentary subject, and she is frustrated at having to start over and look for a new story angle. The story also introduces Matthew, a local who is into the burgeoning hip-hop culture of Nairobi. ===== A scene from the film Since completing a portrait of Genuine, a high priestess, Percy becomes irritable and withdrawn. He loses interest in painting and refuses to see his friends, preferring to spend his time alone with the portrait in his study. After turning down a wealthy patron's offer to buy the picture, Percy falls asleep while reading stories of Genuine's life. Genuine comes to life from the painting and escapes. Genuine is purchased at a slave market by an old eccentric named Lord Melo. He learns that she had been sold into slavery when her people were conquered by a rival tribe. Melo locks her in an opulent chamber beneath his house, though she begs to be set free. Guyard the barber visits Lord Melo every day at noon, though today he sends his young nephew Florian in his place. Meanwhile, Genuine breaks out of her underground prison, climbs the immense staircase to find Florian shaving the sleeping Lord Melo. She bewitches him into slitting Melo's throat with a straight razor. Florian falls under Genuine's spell, but when she demands that he prove his love for her by taking his own life, he cannot go through with it and is forced to make his escape. Melo's grandson Percy arrives at the house. He too becomes infatuated with Genuine, quickly forgetting any questions he has about his grandfather's sudden death. Although Genuine loves Percy in return, their romance is destined to be short-lived. Guyard, stirred up by Florian's tales of murder and witchcraft, arms a mob with scythes and bludgeons and storms Melo's house. Florian, still infatuated with Genuine, secretly makes his own way inside, determined that he shall have her, or no one will. ===== During the events of Aero the Acro-Bat 2, Zero receives a telegram from his girlfriend Amy telling him that an evil lumberjack named Jacques Le Sheets is deforesting their homeland Stony Forest to produce counterfeit money and has also captured her father. Ignoring Edgar Ektor's protests, Zero decides to put a stop to Le Sheets. Upon arriving at the island, Zero's plane is shot down and crashes on the beach, so he starts making his way to the forest on foot. During his journey, Zero learns that Amy has also been captured after an unsuccessful attempt to save her father by herself. At the paper factory, Zero fights Le Sheets and pursues him on a flying ship. Aboard the ship, Zero finds that the mastermind is none other than Edgar Ektor. After defeating Ektor with Amy's assistance, the two squirrels parachute safely away, while Ektor's ship crashes into a cliff. ===== The story takes place in colonial Africa, where Dawn is a white girl, kidnapped in infancy and is being brought up by a black native, Mooda, who runs a canteen in the now German colonial settlement. Dawn falls in love with a British rubber planter, Tom Allen, who is now a prisoner of war. The native black leader of the tribes in that region is also in love with Dawn and becomes extremely jealous when he hears of Dawn's love for Allen, who, in turn, is sent back to Britain by the Germans for attempting to steal Dawn, whom they believe is half black. Eventually, the British regain control of the territory and drive out the Germans. Allen returns to the colony. When the settlement experiences a drought, the local tribal leader attempts to incite the natives against Dawn, claiming God is angry because Dawn has dared to love a white man. Allen is unable to save Dawn because the colonial authorities refuse to act unless they have proof that Dawn is one hundred percent white. Eventually Dawn's "mother" (Mooda) confesses that she is not Dawn's true mother and that Dawn's real mother was white which Dawn's father confirms. Allen quickly brings British troops just as the natives are about to sacrifice Dawn. During the ceremony however, one of the virgin priestesses reveals that the jealous tribal leader has been lying about Dawn and that God is not interested in Dawn as she is pure white. Furthermore she reveals that the tribal leader had violated her (the priestess's) chastity and claims the true reason for God's anger was this sacrilegious act. The tribal leader is deposed and sacrificed to the anger of the natives and the drought quickly ends as rain pours down. In the end, Dawn and Allen, happily reunited, sail back to England together. ===== When his partner is gunned down, Frank Hovannes, a detective inspector with the New York City Police Department, wants to lead his organized-crime unit against the mob. Legal and departmental restrictions inhibit him, so Hovannes decides to take the matter into his own hands. A vigilante act, a contract hit against one of the crime syndicate's members, is designed to stir the mob into action so that Hovannes and his men can catch them in the act. He runs into strong objections from his superiors in the police force along the way. ===== The film opens outside Mount Pleasant Baptist Church on West 81st Street in Manhattan. A man is attacked by another man wielding an ice axe. The attack is intercut with graphic closeups of a woman undergoing surgery. The NYPD arrive to process the scene. The coroner, Dr. Ferguson (Whitmore), shows Sergeant Edward Delaney (Sinatra) that the fatal wound on the skull was made with a round object. Meanwhile, the 20th Precinct receives news that Delaney's wife Barbara (Dunaway) is recovering from emergency surgery. The information is relayed to Delaney at the scene, and he rushes to the hospital. Barbara's surgeon, Dr. Bernardi (Coe), explains that complications from her kidney stones forced him to remove the organ. Over the course of the film, Barbara's condition worsens, and Delaney harbors deep suspicions that Bernardi is incompetent. The murder on 81st Street is a kind of solace for Delaney. Much to his colleagues' surprise, he throws himself into the case despite constant admonitions from his friends and supervisors that the NYPD's priorities are elsewhere. One of his early visits is to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he consults with Arms and Armor curator Christopher Langley (Gabel) about the type of weapon that could make such a unique wound. The elderly Langley is thrilled to have such a unique problem to solve, and he devotes a great deal of time to research. The angle of entry and the perfectly spherical nature of the wound eliminate most of the weapons familiar to Langley. He decides the weapon must have been some kind of tool, and he visits a hardware store, where he explicitly asks for the best implement to kill someone. A bemused clerk helps Langley deduce that the weapon was most likely an ice axe. Delaney has discovered that a similar attack had occurred recently on West 79th Street. After consulting with the perpetually harried Ferguson, he discovers that the wound patterns are nearly identical. As they investigate, they realize that similar attacks have been taking place all over New York City. Langley uses the new information to locate the exact model of ice axe that would cause such injuries. At one sporting goods store, the owner hands over the addresses that he collected from every customer who bought that ice axe. The addresses eventually lead Delaney to the high-rise building of Daniel Blank (Dukes). Blank has been seen intermittently throughout the film cleaning up after his murders. As Delaney closes in on him, Blank attempts one more attack, but it does not go as planned. After striking several blows, his victim escapes only to be hit by a passing car. Delaney's investigation of Blank confirms that he is the killer. Delaney realizes that his chances of arresting and obtaining a murder conviction against Blank are slim due to Blank's wealth and high social position in the city. Before going to confront Blank in his luxury apartment, Delaney gets a Luger nine millimeter pistol from a closet in his home. It is a souvenir that Delaney brought home as a soldier returning from World War II. Delaney finds Blank curled up in a closet in a deeply disturbed state. He confesses to his crimes before composing himself. Blank brags about how respectable and well-connected he is, and he guarantees that he will get away with his crime. He confidently goes to the phone to report Delaney for breaking and entering. Delaney shoots Blank in the head with the Luger pistol as Blank is speaking with the police operator on the telephone. Delaney goes to his office at the police precinct station house and retires from the police department. As he is leaving the station house, the desk sergeant tells him of the discovery of Blank's body and asks him if he wants to respond to the call. Delaney informs the sergeant that he just retired as he walks out of the building. The final scene shows Delaney reading to his wife in the hospital, holding her hand. He cries as she dies. ===== The executive producer of a late night sketch comedy show sparks a media frenzy when he has an on-air meltdown during a live broadcast. The newly appointed network president, Jordan McDeere (Amanda Peet), has to scramble to make things right by hiring back two former prized employees to become the new executive producers of her network's flagship program. In doing so, she appoints two former members of the team: writer Matt Albie (Matthew Perry) and former sketch producer, now director Danny Tripp (Bradley Whitford), who had left the show years before on terms that were not amicable. Meanwhile, Albie and ex-girlfriend Harriet Hayes (Sarah Paulson) come to terms with having to work on the show together very soon after their breakup. ===== Marge is embarrassed at a Parent-Teacher Association meeting because she does not have an e-mail address. She decides to buy her own computer and is quite taken by the Internet. Quickly becoming bored with her lack of email messages she repeatedly hits the refresh button causing new advertising banners to appear. A banner ad for a MMORPG called Earthland Realms catches her attention. Marge clicks on it and soon creates a character for the game. She begins exploring the local town and interacting with game personas, all of whom are Springfield residents including Apu the gem trader, Seymour Skinner the turkey, Moe who looks like a troll but is not, Mrs. Krabappel the enchantress, Snake the Cobra King, Chief Wiggum the pig man, Smithers the Barbarian, Comic Book Guy the fully armored crusader-like warrior, and Sideshow Mel as a creature who looks surprisingly like a Tauren. Suddenly, everyone hides as a knight named "The Shadow Knight" appears riding a menacing black horse. The Shadow Knight is the most powerful and deadly character in the game (as Moe remarks "He once beat me to death with my life bar!"). While offline Marge walks by Bart's bedroom door. She unintentionally hears Bart say "Another senseless killing by the Shadow Knight" and realizes that Bart is the Shadow Knight. Meanwhile, Homer referees Lisa's soccer game. His subpar skills frustrate Lisa. Stung by her criticism, Homer learns the rules of soccer and becomes a better referee, briefly impressing Lisa. While playing soccer, Lisa trips when trying to steal the ball from another player. Homer calls a foul and gives the ball to Lisa. Upon getting the ball, Lisa decides to take advantage of the situation and pretends to be fouled hoping that Homer would grant her penalties. Brazilian footballer Ronaldo points out that Lisa is a "flopper" Homer gives Lisa a yellow card. Angry, Lisa rips up the yellow card, causing Homer to give her a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct and to eject her from the game. Back in the MMORPG, Marge goes to the Shadow Knight's castle and meets Milhouse who is cursed to look like a female servant as a result of an evil spell. Marge constantly frets about Bart and, to Bart's dismay, redecorates his "trophy room" with the Hello Kitty expansion pack. In a fit of rage Bart smashes many of the decorations with a mace. In the process, he accidentally kills Marge's character which severely disappoints real world Marge. Homer and Bart go to Moe's Tavern to escape the troubles that have occurred with Marge and Lisa. Moe gives them surprisingly good advice about their situations. Homer jokingly asks "What have you done with the real Moe?" and everyone laughs. A cutaway shot reveals that the real Moe is bound and gagged in the room next-door. Acting on fake Moe's advice, Bart makes up for killing his mother's character by reviving her with two-thirds of his life force. Revived, "Elf Marge" tends to the Shadow Knight; however, other characters raid the castle to take advantage of his weakened state. The other characters brutally kill the Shadow Knight. In a rare breach of character Bart is blasé about his character's death. He decides to go outside and play. In the real world Homer enters Lisa's room. He offers her a BBC documentary produced in cooperation with Canal+ about "floppers", hoping that she will forgive him. Watching the documentary Lisa realizes it was she that was at fault. Instead of forgiving Homer, Lisa apologizes for her injustice against him. Homer, Bart, Lisa and Maggie play a game of soccer in their back yard; however, Marge continues gaming inside. Feeling sorry for Bart, Marge dons the Shadow Knight armour and begins a revenge campaign for him starting with Moe's character. Marge juggles Moe's character head like a soccer ball. As he is being beat up Moe comments on why he pays $14.95 a month to play the game. ===== Tom and Jerry are sleeping outside during the day when a yellow bird wearing a red pilot's helmet lands on Tom, waking him up. Although the warbling bird brushes Tom's torso off and reacts politely like "pardon me", Tom goes after the bird, catches it, and proceeds to beat it up. Jerry wakes up hearing this and goes after Tom by tying a string to his tail, throwing the string over a tree then tying the other end to a telephone pole. After this, he cuts the pole and tips it enough to lift Tom up into the tree. The bird and Jerry then fill a large tub with water, put it on an outside fireplace and light a fire underneath. Tom is begging them to stop as the bird loosens the string. The string releases Tom and he sling-shots into the tub, where he splashes around shouting and screaming in pain, jumps out and bounces away and back (with funny "boing boing" noises). The bird and Jerry laugh at the fact Tom looks bottomless. After all his fur is back, Tom grabs the hose and chases Jerry and the bird into the mousehole and with a nasty chuckle, tries flooding them out, but Jerry and the bird stop the hose with a mousetrap until the water backs up enough and the bird comes out and pops the hose, leaving Tom tied up in the hose. Tom then tries catching the bird on a telephone wire and almost electrocutes himself, then falls off bashing into a wheelbarrow and into a shed, where he gets an idea. He turns himself into some kind of bird then climbs a tree, but before he could take off, Jerry brings an electric oscillating stand fan over, turns it on, and Tom loses his balance, falls off and bounces away. Next, Tom returns to the house with a box saying "DANGER"!. We find out that it's a cannon, and while he is trying to take aim at the bird, Jerry sneaks down, drills a hole in the missile, then ties Tom's tail in it, so when he fires the missile, he is taken with it into a tree. As the missile goes through the tree, Tom gets his rear end stuck in the back of the tree and in the front part, Tom's head and feet are sticking out. Finally, in the most memorable scene, Tom takes a medium-sized amount of grass around the outdoor fireplace, sets it in there and sets it on fire, causing smoke to just about blanket the sky. Afterwards, he grabs a lawnmower and mows a strip in the field, then lines the strip with Christmas lights, illuminates them, then waits at the end of the strip with his mouth open. However, instead of the "yummy" bird, a jet airliner comes down and picks Tom up by his mouth. After the plane flies over the tree Jerry and the bird are in, Tom lands on the same branch they're on. The bird then slaps a sticker saying "VIA AIR MAIL" on his forehead, kisses him on the cheeks, then Jerry salutes him, while Tom tiredly returns the salute. ===== The film emphasizes the theme of revenge and manipulation of characters by Dantès until the final swordfight with Mondego. The courtroom scene in which Dantès brings down crown prosecutor De Villefort is a highlight of the film, as is the scene between Dantès and Mercedes when he reveals Mondego's treachery to her (which occurs almost precisely as in the novel). However, important characters are omitted and several scenes differ from the novel. Villefort's wife for instance, never appears, and there is no mention of her ever having poisoned anyone. In the novel, it is Mondego rather than Danglars who commits suicide, and Dantès and Mondego do not engage in a swordfight. As in the novel, Dantès loses Mercedes because of his vengeful bitterness. Haydee has only a minor role in the film, and there is no indication that she and Monte Cristo become lovers as in the book. ===== Western society is split up into nine castes, from Lower- Lower to Mid-Lower all the way up to the privileged Upper-Upper. Mauser himself was born a Mid-Lower. Ambitious, he had chosen one of the few professions, Category Military, where upward mobility was still a reasonable possibility. To prevent any chance of a ruinous war between the West and the Sov-world, the Universal Disarmament Pact had restricted all militaries to pre-1900 technology. Gradually, powerful corporations began settling business disputes by hiring troops to fight real battles (fracases) on one of many military reservations. This served a dual purpose: to maintain a military well-honed by actual combat and to provide the decadent general population with a diversion. The life-and-death struggles are so popular that they are televised. Mauser had worked his way up to captain and Middle-Middle status after many years of effort. When upstart Vacuum Tube Transport finds itself forced into an expensive, division-sized fracas with Continental Hovercraft, he sees his opportunity. He signs up with the underdog, even though the much wealthier Continental is able to hire the best soldiers available, including Marshal "Stonewall" Cogswell, the finest commander in the business. Mauser tells Baron Haer, the head of Vacuum Tube, that he can engineer an improbable victory with a gimmick he has been working on for a long time; in return, he expects the baron's support which, in conjunction with his anticipated popularity with fracas fans, should be enough to get him promoted into the Upper caste. The baron's son, Bart, scoffs at the undisclosed idea, but the baron is desperate for experienced officers and hires him. When the conflict starts, Mauser takes off in a glider, something no one else had thought of before. Powered aircraft had not been invented before 1900, but gliders had. From his vantage point, Mauser can see where all of the enemy forces are positioned. This information makes Cogswell's situation hopeless and he recommends to his employer that he settle quickly. When Mauser returns in triumph to Vacuum Tube headquarters, he learns that Baron Haer has died of natural causes. His son does not have the deceased man's political influence, and has also invested heavily in the rival company, assuming his side will lose, so Mauser is out of luck. However, his unusual interest in the state of western civilization attracts the interest of Dr. Nadine Haer, the late baron's attractive, reform-minded daughter. ===== A group of five friends around thirteen years old begin to understand that life is not simply about riding bicycles, playing soccer games, or, if they can, enjoying the summer. Guido (Alan Ardel) works under his father's orders and is sometimes rewarded with a beating. Damian (Juan Pablo Bazzini) is an adopted child and, as such, suffers from an identity crisis that typically marks the teenage years. Matias (Hernan Wainstein) is left outside his own house every night by his hateful parents. Alejo (Emiliano Fernández) discovers that his mother has a lover and that women have desires and men have their failures. Esteban (Juan Ignacio Perez Roca) is the goal-keeper of the football team and, as such, has the central role among his friends. Esteban draws his generosity from his family. With their hormones kicking in due to reaching puberty, the boys become curious about women and begin to have sexual desires, yet they still have to deal with their parents and families. They begin to spend time outside a women's hairdressing salon. The five boys yearn to grow older faster and dream about a place outside of their small town. ===== Bugs is living in his rabbit hole that is just outside of Las Vegas, when Yosemite Sam builds a casino over it. Being given the option to gamble or get out, Bugs tries his luck. At every game he plays (blackjack, roulette, slot machines) he wins in surprising and spectacular fashion, much to Sam's consternation. By the time he leaves with a sum total of $8,042,123,297.55 (more money comes out of Sam, as if he was another slot machine), Sam is down to his last quarter. After reprimanding a group of cheaters, tells them that lucky medals, four- leaf clovers, horseshoes, or rabbit's feet are not allowed, and realizes that he has been hornswoggled. Bugs has meanwhile used his newfound riches to buy a luxury hotel suite. Sam follows him shooting and Bugs is forced to win a prize car to outrace him; Sam, meanwhile, drives a giant pirate ship, complete with cannons. The two race out of Las Vegas and eventually make it to the Hoover Dam. There is a conveniently placed slot machine, which Sam uses his last quarter to play. He "wins", but the screen reads H2O, causing the dam to burst. Sam phones Bugs, who is atop the now empty dam, to tell him, "I hate you, rabbit." Porky ends the film with his usual "That's all folks!"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKZzgzzsQEI ===== A new heavy metal band named Black Roses plays at a sleepy town called Mill Basin, causing the town's kids to turn into rockers. However, what the town does not know is that the band is also turning kids into demonic monsters. The soundtrack features many prominent bands at the time such as King Kobra, Tempest, Hallow's Eve, Lizzy Borden among others. Most of the music for the band "Black Roses" was performed by the members of King Kobra, with Mark Free on vocals, and Carmine Appice on drums. ===== The book follows the plight of Suleiman, a nine-year-old boy living in Tripoli in Libya, stuck between a father whose clandestine anti-Qaddafi activities bring about searches, stalkings and telephone eaves droppings by Qaddafi's state police, and a vulnerable young mother who resorts to alcohol to bury her anxiety and anger. The only people he has to turn to are his neighbor Kareem, and his father's best friend Moosa. The book provides a description of Libya under Qaddafi's terror regime, and a narration of ordinary people's lives as they try to survive the political oppression. Suleiman grows up partially wealthy because his father, Faraj, is involved in the exotic trade business. Since Faraj's job involves traveling overseas for long periods of time, Suleiman's childhood has primarily been reared by his mother, Najwa. As a youth, Najwa was oppressed by her family, and she desired her independence through education instead of forcefully getting marriage. She made a plan to swallow multiple birth control pills in order to deter a future husband. However, she miraculously still got pregnant with Suleiman and was nonetheless forced to abandon her dream for education and raise Suleiman. She disparages the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, claiming that Scheherazade still had to ask permission from Shahryar. Her cynical view of the world instills a sense of confusion and a weary eye towards authority. Ustath Rashid, a university professor, moves next door to Suleiman's family and they become friends. Rashid and his son, Kareem, take Suleiman on a trip to Lepits Magna in order to engage with the past history of Libya. Two days after the trip, Ustath Rashid is kidnapped by members of Qaddafi's Revolutionary Committee. Suleiman watches Kareem stand perplexed and confused, suddenly rumored to be a "traitor". A week later, Suleiman sees his father being followed by his office clerk, Nasser, at the Martyr's Square, and suspects him of being involved in something other than exotic trade. His suspicions prove true as the Revolutionary Committee comes his home and interrogate the family. Najwa and Moosa, Faraj's best friend and the son of a wealthy lawyer from Egypt, hangs a picture of Qaddafi in their living room. They burn all of Faraj's books and letters. Suleiman is saddened and angered by watching his father's work being destroyed, and he keeps a book titled Democracy Now, a gift from Ustath Rashid. Within the political, social, and familial confusion, Suleiman is forced to define his own independence and grows up awkwardly. He fights with Kareem as they play a game of "Your Land, My Land" because he called his father a traitor, he envies Adnan because he felt diabetes gives a person independence, and after offering the village beggar Bahloul food, he gets into a fight with him. His mother's psychology deteriorates throughout the confusion and becomes more reliant in consuming alcohol, but after she reveals to Suleiman a history of familial abuse, he imagines his mother happy, and realizes that the ability to imagine her happy means happiness is still attainable. After making allegiance with their neighbor, Abu Jafer, Suleiman and his family watch a national broadcast to show the strength of Qaddafi's revolution. To deliver a symbolic message, the government hangs Ustath Rashid, demonstrating that no one is capable to stand against the revolution. Faraj returns after the hanging, is badly beaten, and Suleiman has fear for his father. In a moment of irony, Suleiman found himself longing for the connection the family had while watching the hanging of Ustath Rashid. Suleiman is eventually forced to leave Tripoli and travel to Cairo. He objected the decision but was nonetheless sent. After fifteen years in Cairo, Suleiman grows to be a pharmacist, believing that he did so because of his mother's addiction to her own medications. After his father's passing, Najwa decides to travel to Cairo to see his son. Once they reunite, she adores as if they were never separated, and he realizes that despite all the political confusion and madness, they were still able to live. ===== Dr. Goodwin is on a botanical expedition in the Himalayas. There he meets Dick Drake, the son of one of his old science acquaintances. They are witnesses of a strange aurora-like effect, but seemingly a deliberate one. As they go out to investigate, they meet Goodwin's old friends Martin and Ruth Ventnor, brother and sister scientists. The two are besieged by Persians as Darius III led when Alexander of Macedon conquered them more than two thousand years ago. The group is saved by a magnificent woman they get to know as Norhala. She commands the power of lightning and controls strange metal animate Things, living, metallic, geometric forms; an entire city of sentient cubes, globes and tetrahedrons, capable of joining together and forming colossal shapes, and wielding death rays and other armaments of destruction. They are led to a hidden valley occupied by what they name "The Metal Monster", a strange metal city occupied by the metal animate Things Norhala commands. This city is governed by what they call the Metal Emperor, assisted by the Keeper of the Cones. Ruth is slowly being converted by Norhala to become like her; her little sister. Martin, her brother, tries shooting the Metal Emperor, who retaliates with a ray blast, putting Martin in a comatose state. Closed in between the Metal Monster and the Persians, it falls to Goodwin and Drake to find a way to escape their predicament. ===== John Lamar buys a Jade Box in Asia but it is stolen by his friend Martin Morgan. A cult, searching for the box because it contains the secret to invisibility, catches up with and abducts Lamar. After discovering the theft, the cult send a message to Martin and the pair's children: John Lamar's son, Jack, who is engaged to Martin Morgan's daughter, Helen. Jack searches for the Box while Martin attempts to discover the secret of invisibility for his own schemes. ===== No Dominion Is the second book in the Joe Pitt Casebooks series written by Charlie Huston. Vampyre Joe Pitt is down on his luck, behind on rent and low on blood. With nowhere else to turn he finds himself asking his former boss Terry Bird head of the vampyre clan the Society. Bird tosses Joe a job, tracking down the source of a new drug on the streets, a drug powerful enough to cause those infected with the Vampyre Vyrus to freak out. For this one Joe has to cross Coalition turf and head down to Harlem, home of the vampyre clan known as the Hood. ===== Secret Service agent Gary Gordon (Kenneth Harlan) is working on shutting down the "River Gang", a smuggling ring. His girlfriend Lola's father, John Mackey, is secretly a member of the gang. Soon after, events are complicated when the villainous Kent Martin (Gayne Whitman) attempts to blackmail Mackey for his daughter's hand in marriage. At one point, Lola's father is falsely accused of murder, and agent Gordon tries valiantly to prove his innocence. ===== Narrated in English by a Japanese officer named Kuroki (in the form of a journal he is writing for his wife), the film is set in the Asiatic-Pacific theater during an unspecified period of World War II. A platoon of 16 Japanese soldiers is stranded on an island in the Pacific with no means of communicating with the outside world. Lieutenant Kuroki keeps his men firmly in hand and is supervising the building of a boat for their escape. An American C-47/R4D transport plane is shot down by a Japanese Zero, crash landing on the same island. The Zero and an American F4U Corsair destroy each other, with no outside commands learning of the island. Marine Aircraft Wing Captain Dennis Bourke assumes command of the platoon of Marines he was transporting, over their 2nd Lieutenant Blair and Sergeant Bleeker. Confidante to Bourke is Navy chief pharmacist's mate Francis. As the 19 Americans learn of the Japanese platoon’s existence on the island, tension mounts resulting in a battle for the Japanese boat. The vessel is destroyed and a Japanese soldier is seriously injured. Calling a truce, Koruki trades the Americans access to water in exchange for a visit from their doctor to treat the wounded soldier, whose leg has to be amputated. The truce results in both platoons, reduced in numbers through their earlier conflicts and later natural disasters, choosing to live side by side - although a line is drawn forbidding one from encroaching on the other's side of the island. There is some clandestine cooperation and trading and earnest respect and friendship. When the Americans establish radio contact and their pickup by a US naval vessel is arranged, they demand that the Japanese surrender, but Kuroki reestablishes that they are at war. As the Americans proceed to the beach, Bourke orders his men to be ready to shoot to kill. When they are ambushed by the remaining 8 men of the Japanese platoon, the remaining 11 Americans are given no option but to retaliate, resulting in a bloody and pointless firefight during which all the Japanese and most of the Americans are shot dead. Only Francis, Bourke, Bleeker, Blair and Corporal Ruffino survive the skirmish. Bourke orders Francis to examine the mortally wounded Kuroki to see if he can be saved. They move onto the beach and wait to be rescued by the American naval vessel, stationed just offshore. Francis reports Kuroki's death and hands Bourke the Japanese officer's journal, written in Japanese with what appears to be an address. Bourke speculates that one day he will be able to deliver it to Kuroki's widow. Kuroki's final narration calls what he is to do "just another day." The film ends with a long shot of the island, superimposed with the words "Nobody ever wins." ===== The movie takes place in mid 19th Century Andalusia, Spain. An attractive flamenco dancer and singer, Rosarillo, captivates Andalusian audiences with her talent. On her wedding night, while she performed, her husband is murdered. When she is told the news onstage, she vows to avenge her husband's murder. ===== In an abandoned mansion, two homeless squatters witness a woman who hits her husband and leaves him for dead. ===== In the early nineteenth century a valet impersonates his master. ===== In France during World War I, pretty nurse Marthe (Micheline Presle) waits for her husband, Jacques, while he fights on the front lines. The lonely Marthe begins a tempestuous affair with 17-year-old François (Gérard Philipe), with whom she had a dalliance before marrying Jacques. Jealous François struggles with the fact that Marthe is married, while she tries to prove her devotion to her young, hotheaded lover. Things become even more complex when Marthe becomes pregnant with François' baby. ===== Young newspaper reporter Harvey Hanford (Harry Houdini) is in love with Mary Cameron (Ann Forrest), the ward of his rich, eccentric Uncle Dudley Cameron (Thomas Jefferson), who opposes the match. Harvey becomes involved in a newspaper scheme to plant evidence for a fake murder of his uncle. Dudley Cameron is actually killed, however, and Harvey is framed and arrested for the murder. Jailed unjustly for a murder he did not commit, freeing himself, Harvey is able to pursue the actual killers. Confronting the gang, Harvey is overwhelmed, but using his amazing powers of escape to free himself in a series of remarkable escapes from handcuffs, chains and a straitjacket, culminating in a climactic mid-air aircraft collision. Following the collision, Harvey is vindicated and finally reunited with Mary. ===== Edgar Marsh, a shy librarian obsessed with erotica, becomes infatuated with his neighbour Betty Clare when he sees her undressing in her bedroom. He invites her to dinner, and although she clearly is uncomfortable with the attention he pays her, he showers her with jewelry and fantasizes about their future. Complications arise when he introduces her to his friend Carl Loomis, whom Betty finds far more attractive and appealing. After witnessing Carl and Betty together in her bedroom, Edgar bludgeons Carl to death with a poker and buries him beneath the floorboards in his piano room. His overwhelming guilt leads him to believe a ticking metronome and the incessant dripping of a faucet actually are the sound of his victim's heart still beating. ===== When a lieutenant is mortally wounded in a winter ambush that decimates his platoon, he passes command to the highest ranking survivor, Sergeant Towler (Sidney Poitier). However, with the exception of African- American Towler, all of the men left alive are white. Towler feels Private Kincaid (Alan Ladd), an ex-sergeant with eleven years experience (demoted for doing things his way), is better suited for command, but the lieutenant orders him to take charge and complete their vital mission: to take and hold a farmhouse strategically positioned in a mountain pass for the advance of their battalion. After the lieutenant dies, Southerner Private Bracken (Paul Richards) initially refuses to take orders from Towler, but Towler forces him, at gunpoint, to back down. With their radio not working, Towler leads ten healthy survivors and a badly wounded Private Casey on a stretcher to their objective. As they warily approach the farmhouse, one soldier spots someone inside and throws a grenade, which wounds a Korean woman. The only other occupants are her young son and her adult, part-French daughter Maya. Kincaid and some of the others want to leave before the enemy attacks, but Towler keeps them there. They repel an attack later that night. Hunter, a Navajo, volunteers to scout the area in place of Towler. They agree on a password. Hunter is captured, but despite being hit repeatedly, refuses to say the password when he is forced toward the outpost manned by Towler and Kincaid. After his challenges are not answered, Towler fires, striking Hunter and some enemy soldiers. After the enemy is repelled, Hunter gives the password. Towler and Kincaid find him; he talks to Towler before dying. Bracken tries to force himself on Maya. Her scream brings Towler, but Bracken ignores Towler's order to leave and strikes him. Towler knocks him down, but Bracken remains defiant. Lazitech, manning the outpost, is the next casualty. At his own request, Casey is carried to a gunport to fight; he dies in the next assault. Towler and Kincaid start brawling when Towler catches Kincaid slacking off afterward, but they break off when they hear a tank approaching. After driving off the accompanying infantrymen with a machine gun, Towler and Kinkaid use kerosene and torches to set the tank on fire. When a tank man opens the hatch, Kinkaid tosses in a grenade. The tank runs over his leg when he jumps off; Corpsman Wade has to amputate it, but the only man who has the right type blood for a transfusion is Towler. The operation is a success, despite Wade's lack of training. When a column of tanks is spotted, Towler sends his men and the civilians up the pass, while he goes back and carries Kinkaid to the outpost. Fortunately, friendly aircraft appear and bombard the enemy infantry as they advance, signalling the approach of the battalion. ===== In September 1938, advanced British aircraft prototypes carrying experimental and secret equipment are vanishing with their crews on test flights. No one can fathom why, not even spymaster Major Hammond (Ralph Richardson) or his sister Kay (Valerie Hobson), a newspaper reporter, who is working undercover in the works canteen at the Barrett & Ward Aircraft Company. At first, Major Hammond is seen as an outsider at the aircraft factory, especially by Mr. Barrett, the owner (George Merritt), who is working under a government contract. Hammond soon finds a friend in star pilot, Tony McVane (Laurence Olivier), who helps him try to solve the case. Hammond becomes convinced that Jenkins (George Curzon), the company secretary at the factory, is a foreign agent and mole but Jenkins is killed by gunmen firing from a moving car before he can give up the names of his contacts. McVane returns to the aircraft factory, determined to make the next test flight. His aircraft, like the others, is brought down by a powerful ray beamed from a mysterious salvage ship S.S. Viking, manned by a foreign crew. Although the nationality of the crew and agents aboard the ship is only implied, it was understood by audiences, "All of the crew speak with German accents and little doubt is left who the villains are", wrote Variety. The aircraft, McVane and the crew are taken hostage on Viking, where he discovers that many other missing airmen have suffered the same fate. Gathering up weapons, McVane leads the survivors in an attempt to take control of the ship. Major Hammond learns the truth and directs a Royal Navy ship () to come to their rescue. Kay and McVane form a relationship and Hammond learns, to his chagrin, that his long- time lady friend, whose plans with him are repeatedly being cancelled as the action escalates, has married someone else. ===== Space Major Reeves, a rocket expert and friend of Colonel White (voiced by Donald Gray), leaves Cloudbase after completing a tour of the facility. He departs in a motor yacht for the island military installation Base Concord, unaware that Captain Black is watching from the shore. Black uses the Mysterons' powers to induce nausea in Reeves, who falls overboard and drowns in the yacht's slipstream. A Mysteron reconstruction of Reeves arrives at Base Concord, shoots the control room officer and launches an incendiary variable-geometry rocket (VGR) under the control code "ZERO". He then escapes in a J-17 fighter jet, with the flight program unit in his possession, leaving the base personnel no way of knowing the VGR's target or which of the 10,000 listed codes must be transmitted to trigger its self-destruct. In addition, for reasons unknown the VGR is not appearing on radar. The commander of Base Concord alerts Spectrum and White dispatches Captains Scarlet and Blue (voiced by Francis Matthews and Ed Bishop) to Base Concord. Meanwhile, the Angel squadron are launched to track down Reeves and recover the unit. Reeves is quickly intercepted but refuses to surrender, instead crippling Melody's (voiced by Sylvia Anderson) aircraft with the J-17's machine gun and forcing her to eject before she crashes into the ocean. At Base Concord, Scarlet, Blue and the base personnel realise that the VGR would be invisible to radar only if it were travelling upwards, and that because its descent would be equally vertical the only plausible target is the base itself. A replacement unit is installed and the personnel use it to transmit codes one after the other in a desperate effort to find the one used by Reeves, to no avail. In the air, Reeves ignores Rhapsody's (voiced by Liz Morgan) order to surrender and deliberately kills himself when he crashes his fighter, causing the original unit, which survived the crash, to fall to the ocean floor. Minutes before impact, and with Base Concord fully evacuated except for Scarlet and Blue, White radios them and instructs them to leave. However, in a last-ditch effort to save the base, Scarlet and Blue disobey White and carry on trying codes. "AMEN" is the code used, but at the same time, the sunken unit is knocked over by an underwater current and the impact causes it to re-transmit "ZERO", triggering the VGR's self-destruct. Scarlet and Blue return to Cloudbase believing that they miraculously found the correct code. When the truth is revealed, White reprimands them for their insubordination but stops short of court-martialling them, recognising the value of their bravery in the fight against the Mysterons. ===== A French Bulldog is adopted from the Happy Kennel by a girl named Ai and is given the name Alex. She tells him stories and reads to him from a book titled The Adventures of Freddy about dog who leaves home to find the Fortune Tree. However, he is separated from Ai when he mistakenly follows a girl wearing the same clothes as Ai on a bus. Adopting the name Freddy, after the hero in Ai's storybook, Alex begins his quest to return to Ai. But before he can return to his owner, Freddy and his new friends must find the Fortune Tree and save it from dying, otherwise all the humans in the world will lose their good will and no longer care about their pets. ===== At the beginning of the holiday season, a school administrator, Cal Peterson (Gerald McRaney), is sent to a financially troubled school to find a way to keep it from closing. After reviewing expenses, he decides that the best way to save money is to cancel the music program in which his niece Fern (Alison Pill) is enrolled and let go its teacher, Lily Waite (Naomi Judd). News of his decision leaks out prematurely, causing resentment among the students. After realizing how much the program has benefited his shy niece, he regrets his decision, but can think of no better alternative. In a subplot, with Peterson's help, a long- time lady friend secretly arranges a reunion of his father Jake Peterson's WWII squadron, as a Christmas present. He is so happy that he decides to propose. The film ends with a concert by the music department's students, where Peterson hears his niece perform and then announces that the townspeople have donated enough money to keep the program going. ===== Reynard "Reynie" Muldoon is an orphaned boy with a love for puzzles and books, living in an orphanage in the metropolis of Stonetown with his tutor, Miss Perumal. Upon noticing an advertisement in a newspaper targeted towards gifted children, he follows up and finds himself presented with a series of complex puzzles and odd tests. He passes all of the tests set before him and qualifies to help Mr. Nicholas Benedict. He meets three other children who are each gifted in their own way: George "Sticky" Washington, Kate Wetherall, and Constance Contraire. Mr. Benedict, the organizer of the tests, is assisted by his subordinates Number Two, Rhonda Kazembe, and Milligan, the secret agent turned security guard for Benedict. They explain that a mysterious threat plagues the world in the form of secret messages transmitted into people's minds via television and radio signals. These messages have created the illusion of international panic known as "The Emergency". Mr. Benedict invited the children to form a team to stop the Sender, the individual sending the messages. The messages originate at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened "L.I.V.E." The children later decide to call themselves the Mysterious Benedict Society. Upon joining the Institute as students (and spies), the children discover that the school's principal Ledroptha Curtain is Mr. Benedict's long-lost twin brother. They also find that like the Emergency, the Institute relies on illusions like its pretentious lack of rules and nonsensical curriculum that can only be mastered by memorization. A hierarchy also exists among the student body: * Executives, the older students that run the Institute. * Messengers, the slightly younger students with "special privileges". * Recruiters, the adult "kidnappers" (later known as Ten Men). * Helpers, abducted amnesiac adults who do the grunt work around the school, such as cooking meals and cleaning dorms. Deducing that Messengers are the ones broadcasting the secret messages, Reynie and Sticky succeed in their lessons and become Messengers themselves. They help Kate and Constance cheat on their tests so they too succeed. Through their investigation, the children discover that Mr. Curtain transmits his messages through a device known as the Whisperer that interfaces directly with his brain. Mr. Curtain, after convincing the world that the Emergency exists, is preparing to tell the world that he alone can solve the problems. They also discover that this machine is capable of "sweeping away" memories. When the children learn that Milligan, who has been helping them behinds the scene, is kidnapped, and that Mr. Curtain plans to boost his messages to transmit directly to people's brains, The Mysterious Benedict Society concoct a daring plan. While Sticky and Reynie are in Mr. Curtain's office for their Messenger duties, Kate and Constance break in. Mr. Curtain attempts to wipe their memories, but Constance manages to resist him and confuse the Whisperer. At the same time, Mr. Benedict and his team enter the Institute just as Milligan breaks out of his prison through the underground sewers. Mr. Benedict manages to disable the Whisperer and the Society escapes from the island. Due to the Society's efforts, the Whisperer's mind-numbing messages cease. The Institute is raided by government agents and shut down, although Mr. Curtain manages to elude capture. Upon returning to Stonetown, the four children settle down and find families of their own. ===== On a climbing expedition in the Himalayas, Professor Jeffries is led by his Sherpa, Pemba, to a high point on a mountain using an ancient tablet. Jeffries is out looking for the Abominable Snowman, who lives in the mountains. He's convinced that the Snowman lives close by, but Pemba tells him he won't lead Jeffries anymore, as it would be intruding on the territory of the Abominable Snowman. Jeffries, who seems to care about the Snowman over their safety, decides to cut the rope and continue. As soon as Jeffries fades from view, Pemba sees the outline of a large creature in front of him. Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne and Velma are on vacation in Paris. However, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy have not arrived yet, and the gang wonders where they are. Shaggy and Scooby are in a small plane that they think is going to Paris, but is really going to the Himalayas to drop off Alphonse LaFleur, a French hunter and trapper. LaFleur wants to find and kill the Snowman, and is taking Shaggy and Scooby along as bait. LaFleur then locks Shaggy and Scooby up with his equipment, and throws them off the plane. Shaggy, realizing they are not going to Paris, manages to get a quick phone call through to Fred before the phone goes dead. Fred uses the GPS on his phone to track them, and then he, Daphne and Velma head to the Himalayas to find them. Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby manage to land near a small village on the mountain, where Professor Jeffries and Pemba currently are. Jeffries tells Pemba he never should have left him, and that he almost died on the mountain. Many of the other villagers are leaving, fearing the creature and its wrath. Shaggy and Scooby go to the High Lama to ask for a phone to call their friends. The High Lama, a strange person, tells them there is only a phone on the weather station nearby. The High Lama is uneasy about letting them go in, but lets them. In the room is a statue of the Snowman holding a very large crystal, which the High Lama says it protects the villagers from the Abominable Snowman's powers. They then meet Pemba's sister Minga, who has decided to stay in the village. Minga constantly listens to the radio, and has a crush on the DJ from the station that she's listening to. Pemba tells her to leave the village, and he, Shaggy, Scooby and Jeffries (who says that everyone should stick together), decide to go to the weather station. LaFleur arrives, and decides to accompany them. As they travel, Minga runs up to them and says that she heard on the radio that a big storm is approaching. Shaggy wonders how there could be any radio reception so high up, and Pemba tells him there isn't, as it's just the weather station man pretending to be a DJ. Pemba realizes that Minga has a crush on the weatherman and deduces that she's just tagging along with them as an excuse to meet him. Minga denies this, and explains that there really is a storm coming. Everyone looks up and sees a dark cloud, and they decide to set up camp to wait out the storm. During the night, Jeffries gets out of his tent and leaves with his sled, which is filled with TNT and other explosives. Some time later, the Snowman attacks Shaggy and Scooby. LaFleur tries to capture the Snowman, but fails when all his traps backfire on the Snowman, instead working on him. Scooby and Shaggy manage to lose the Snowman but get lost themselves. However, they are relieved to see a snowplow approach them. In the snowplow is Del Chillman, whom the gang had met before. Del takes them to the weather station, where he works. Chillman tells them he decided to take the job so he could find out if the legend of the creature is true. He also reveals that he's the DJ/weatherman. He had the radio just to do weather reports, but plays songs to pass the time. Meanwhile, Fred, Daphne and Velma get to the village and see it is deserted. They follow Shaggy's tracks and see where the party camped the night before, and also the footprints of the Snowman. Velma notes that they are not very deep in the snow. They find Pemba, who was caught by one of LaFleur's traps. Minga is nowhere to be found and Jeffries is still gone, so the gang decides to split up and search for everyone else. At the weather station, Del goes out to look for the others. Once he leaves, the Snowman appears and attacks Shaggy and Scooby. As they run away, LaFleur shows up, tries to capture the creature, and struggles to save Shaggy and Scooby, but fails, and falls off a cliff, apparently to his death, or better yet whether he might have survived the fall. Scooby and Shaggy manage to escape and find their way to the lost kingdom of Shangri-La, but are pursued by the Snowman. Del catches up to the rest of the gang, but finds the weather station destroyed and some helium tanks missing. As Scooby and Shaggy walk around the city, the Abominable Snowman appears and chases them. Daphne and Pemba find a large cave and go inside, and conclude that is where the Snowman lives. They also find an empty helium case. Shaggy and Scooby lose the Snowman again, and everyone meets up in an old mine, each coming from a different direction. There, they see Jeffries mining for crystals like the one on the Yeti statue. They capture him and conclude he is the Snowman, although he denies it. Then the Snowman appears and chases everyone, while Jeffries gets free and follows them. The Snowman chases Shaggy, Scooby, and Jeffries down the mountain. Jeffries attempts to get the crystals in the mine cart that Scooby and Shaggy are riding in. The rest of the gang prepares a trap for the Snowman, but Shaggy, Scooby and Jeffries get caught in it. The High Lama comes out to see what happened. Then an avalanche starts, and almost crushes Velma and Del, but the Snowman saves them at the last moment. The Snowman is revealed to be Minga, who has been behind the mystery from the very beginning. She used the helium to fly, which caused the footprints to not be as deep. Minga confesses that she did it so that Del wouldn't stop broadcasting his radio show (also her way of admitting that she has feelings for Del). Del's touched by what Minga says, and finds it romantic. Jeffries is taken to jail because he was taking the crystals for his own gain. The gang wonders if there really is a Snowman, but then LaFleur appears and tells them that something saved him from his fall and brought him to the village (presumably the real Snowman). The gang, along with Del and Minga (who are now boyfriend and girlfriend), return to Paris for their vacation. Unfortunately, Fred gets on the wrong plane and ends up in the Amazon. The others go to find Fred, with Daphne complaining, "I'd like to have a vacation that actually stays a vacation." ===== The show's plots often take place within the confines of the fictional fraternities Kappa Tau Gamma (ΚΤΓ) and Omega Chi Delta (ΩΧΔ), or the fictional sorority Zeta Beta Zeta (ΖΒΖ). Throughout the course of the series, other non- Greek characters and situations are introduced, but they all tie into larger relationships with the Greeks. The series follows Rusty and Casey Cartwright as they endure the events surrounding the Greek system at Cyprus-Rhodes. There are six chapters, arranged into four seasons. The series stars Jacob Zachar and Spencer Grammer as the lead characters. ===== Vijay is a local hooligan working for Mr. Karla and is in charge of taking "protection money" from people of that locality. A lawyer called Anand moves into that place and refuses to give Vijay money when that reaches Mr. Karla's ears he gets pissed and asks Vijay to settle this case quickly. Vijay burns Anand's motorcycle to try to force him to give him money. Anand refuses again and Anand tries to convince Vijay to quit that job and Vijay challenges Anand to fight with him. Anand does not touch the drunk Vijay but Vijay gets beaten down by his own carelessness. Later, Vijay goes to steal a motorcycle for Anand as Anand's son made a complaint to him that he has to carry his 15 kilos bag to school now as Vijay burned down Anand's motorcycle. Anand refuses to take the bike and police come to arrest the gang. The gang gets bailed before the complaint is even written. Mr. Karla gets angry at this and tells Vijay to settle this case as quickly as possible. Vijay beats Anand with his gang. Kavita goes to confront Vijay. Vijay goes to visit Anand at the hospital but Anand sends him away. Meanwhile, Vijay meets Anshu who works with Anand, unknown to him. Vijay hides his real self (Captain Dada) in front of Anshu and the two start liking each other. Vijay does such after having some small conversations with Kavita who he now addresses as sister. Seeing how Anshu gets lost in the air, Anand asks Anshu to make a meeting with her boyfriend and him. That day, Anand reveals the truth to Anshu. Anshu is heartbroken and calls it an end to their relationship. Also earlier that day, Vijay asked Mr. Karla to release him because he wanted a new beginning for Anshu which the latter made it seem he did but he didn't. Hearing that the two has officially ended, Mr. Karla and his right-hand decide to make Raj and Anshu marry each other as Anshu is the police commissioner's niece. Mr. Karla also sends another man to collect "protection money" in Vijay's locality. Vijay fights with the new man. The commissioner gets Vijay jailed after hearing Mr. Karla angry at the new man. Kavita asks Anand to release Vijay and Anand releases him as he can see Vijay's want to change himself. Later, Vijay meets Anshu and settle everything between them. They decide to escape when the commissioner catches them but Pushpa, Anshu's aunt who has always supported and protected Anshu from her abusive husband, comes pointing a gun at the commissioner and tells them to run away. The commissioner orders an Inspector to arrest Vijay and Anand. The news reached Mr. Karla and his son Raj. When on the road, Vijay escapes with Anshu without Anand and Gaflet, who was granting him a house to live through the night. Karla's right man finds the two and at the same time the Inspector. Before the Inspector puts Vijay in jail, Raj comes and gets killed in the fuss. The Inspector gives the tree his jeep. Anand goes to take his wife and son away from that colony as their lives are in danger. Anand and some of Vijay's friends fight against Karla's goons and during that Addha loses his life. Karla takes the hospital Anand is in custody. The commissioner and police force come at the hospital and the fight game begins. Mr. Karla is hanged to death through his own choices. The movie ends with everyone together and happy. ===== The Fatal Eggs can be described as a satirical science fiction novel. Its main protagonist is an aging zoologist, Vladimir Ipatyevich Persikov, a specialist in amphibians. The narration begins in Moscow of 1928, which seems to have overcome the destructive effects of the Russian Civil War and is quite prosperous. After a long period of degradation, research at the Zoological Institute has revived. After leaving his microscope for several hours, Persikov suddenly noticed that the out-of-focus microscope produced a ray of red light; amoeba left under that light showed an impossibly increased rate of binary fission, reproducing at enormous speeds and demonstrating unusual aggression. Later experiments with large cameras — to produce a larger ray — confirmed that the same increased speed of reproduction applied to other organisms, such as frogs, which evolved and produced a next generation within two days. Persikov's invention quickly becomes known to journalists, and eventually to foreign spies and to the GPU, the Soviet secret service. At the same time, the country is affected by an unknown disease in domesticated poultry, which results in a complete extinction of all chickens in the Soviet Russia, with the plague stopping at the nation's borders. A sovkhoz manager Aleksandr Semenovich Rokk (whose name is also a pun on the novel's title, Rok meaning fate) receives an official permission to confiscate Persikov's equipment, and use the invention to attempt to restore the chicken populace to the pre-plague level. However, the chicken eggs which are imported from outside the country are, by a mistake, sent to Persikov's laboratory while the reptile eggs destined for the professor end up in the hands of the farmers. As a result, Rokk breeds an enormous quantity of large and overly aggressive snakes, ostriches, and crocodiles which start attacking people. In the panic that follows, Persikov is killed by a mob — which blames him for the appearance of the snakes — and his cameras are smashed. The Red Army attempts to hold the snakes back, but only the coming of sub-zero weather in August—described as a deus ex machina—puts a stop to the snake invasion. In an earlier draft the novel ends with the scene of Moscow's complete destruction by the snakes. "The Fatal Eggs" article in Bulgakov Encyclopedia at www.bulgakov.ru ===== One of Narayan's later works, the Painter of Signs is a bittersweet novel that looks at the lives of Raman, a painter of sign boards, and Daisy, a social worker interested in curtailing India's population growth. The story is set in Malgudi, like many of Narayan's works with the Sarayu, Ellaman street and The Boardless Hotel being significant landmarks in the novel. At its very core, The Painter of Signs is Raman and Daisy's progressive love story in a conservative town in South India. Raman is a sign-painter who takes the art of calligraphy very seriously. He devotedly creates the perfect signboard for all his customers, taking great care in the styling of words on the board. Made using the "best rosewood" from the Mempi mountains, Raman believes that his signboards are a notch above his rival Jayaraj's. Living with his aunt, a conservative old woman who likes to ramble about mythological stories and old family gossip, on Ellaman Street, Raman goes through periods of frustration at his aunt's interest in his going abouts and feelings of guilt for ignoring her affection and presence. Not orthodox himself, Raman neither sports a tuft like others from his caste nor has inhibitions in eating meat if necessary. He looks down on superstitions and old-fashioned notions of religion and caste and spends his time reading ancient copies of books on science and history. He does have a tendency to quote from the scriptures and make associations with events in the scriptures and those in his life. Daisy, an intense young woman involved in family planning campaigns, hires Raman to make a signboard for her office. For no reason whatsoever, Raman finds himself bewitched by her beauty, and more so by her precision, authority and her devotion to her career. It so happens that he has to accompany Daisy on a three-week campaign in the villages around Malgudi to identify potential sites where he can paint signs and messages on population control and finds himself further attracted to her firmness, simplicity, and her tendency to shun luxuries and comforts of all sorts. He finds that his resolve to remain unmarried, seeing marriage as commonplace and unnecessary, is weakening. The story goes on to outline Daisy's complicated past and her eventual admission of a mutual attraction for Raman. The two start spending the nights together, and decide to get married in the ("Gandharva" style),the simplest form of marital union. Daisy seems to be unaffected by the relationship though, and tells Raman that she will not change her last name, or house-keep for him. Raman mulls over the eventualities of such a wedlock, but is steadfast in his affection and love for Daisy and constantly tells himself that her needs and wishes will always be more important than his. His aunt, upset over her nephew's unorthodox afflictions - especially at his decision to marry out of caste - asks him to arrange a one way trip to Benaras for her. His repeated beseechings to her to stay and bless him and Daisy have no effect. On the morning that Daisy is to move into Raman's house on Ellaman Street, she changes her mind about Raman, feeling that her sense of purpose and her independent existence may be affected by married life. She decides to leave Malgudi for a three-year family planning initiative in villages all over India. Confused and befuddled, Raman tries his best to convince her, telling her that his house on Ellaman street will be open for her whenever' she decides to return. The Painter of Signs is preoccupied with the complications of human characters and human relationships. As Raman finds himself being torn between his Aunt and Daisy, the traditional way and the modern way, we see the protagonist as being "in- between" in the town of Malgudi. At the end of the novel, Raman's aunt left for Benares on a pilgrimage and Daisy left the town of Malgudi to pursue her career which means that Raman is left alone in Malgudi. This depicts the fact that it seems as though Raman cannot facilitate either women or what they represent (traditionality and modernity respectively), thus presenting the problematic themes of human character and their relationships with one another. Category:1977 novels Category:Novels by R. K. Narayan Category:Novels about artists Category:Viking Press books Category:Heinemann (publisher) books Category:1977 Indian novels ===== At the start of the story, Youn Suu is a rookie Explorer on her first assignment in interstellar space. Like most Explorers, she suffers from a significant physical deformity--in her case, a facial blemish that has been left untreated to "qualify" her for the Explorer Corps. Her first assignment, with her partner Tut, is to investigate a sudden infestation of the Balrog in a domed city on the home world of the Cashlings. While there, she is herself infested by the red moss. At the same time, Youn Suu and Tut encounter Admiral Festina Ramos, present on a mission of her own. Aboard an Outward fleet starship, Youn Suu is monitored medically, though there is no cure for her condition and no real treatment. The Balrog, far more than a parasite, is a hive mind well above the human level of development, so that killing it would violate the central precept of the League of Peoples. As its symbiotic relationship with its human host develops, the Balrog comes to share the mental functioning of its host, and prolongs the host's life while consuming her body--"her" because the only prior human host was also female (and also a Buddhist). Youn Suu is also exposed to potential exploitation, by people who want to use the Balrog's special abilities for their own purposes. Meanwhile, Ramos and the other explorers are called to an emergency rescue on a planet called Muta, where Unity survey teams have suddenly disappeared, with barely a peep of a distress signal. The planet Muta, temperate and Earth-like, is to outward appearances almost ideal for colonization; yet colonizing efforts by the Unity, and the Greenstriders, and perhaps others, have mysteriously failed. The three Explorers land on the planet; even with the most elaborate precautions they fall prey to its peculiar circumstances, and find themselves stranded and contaminated with a microbe that threatens to destroy their bodies. Investigating their predicament, they learn that the entire planet was once a global research station for the Fuentes, a species that discovered a way to transcend the physical body and transform itself into energy-based or consciousness-based entities. The research done by the Fuentes on Muta 6500 years earlier had been in pursuit of that goal--but had gone horribly wrong, dooming Fuentes and Greenstrider and Unity individuals to a disembodied but tortuous existence. While being hunted by raptor-like reptiles, the three Explorers must find a way to repair alien technology to reverse the damage, before their own bodies collapse. ===== In Tom and Jerry's penthouse apartment room on the 20th floor of a 30-story apartment building around 10:00 PM, Tom finishes reading a book and prepares to sleep, setting his wind-up alarm clock to ring in the morning. Unfortunately for Tom, this is also time for Jerry to get up. The mouse's alarm-watch rings and Jerry showers (using a wrench on a pipe) and grooms himself before setting out for a tiny elevator in the wall. He hears Tom snoring and stops briefly (with a close-up of Tom's feet) before he enters the elevator and descends to a club with a sign that says "Le Cellar Smoqué" ("The Smoky Cellar" in French) displayed at its entrance. Jerry arrives at the bar and has a martini (of which he only eats the cheese on the toothpick, leaving the bartender to drink the rest of the martini). Then, Jerry begins playing the drums with a jazz octet, which puts the club into full swing. Shortly afterward, being woken up by the noise, Tom opens the elevator, only to get blasted by the music. He tries to block the elevator doors with a pillow, but it's not enough to stop the noise. He lowers a hose into the elevator shaft in hopes of drowning out the noise. His smug laughter is interrupted by an angry dog that drags Tom downstairs and throws him into his flooded apartment room. Dripping wet, Tom goes back to his apartment room and decides to stop the noise at its source by grabbing some tools and heading down to the basement through the air vents. Hearing the music through the floor, Tom saws a hole in the floor and uses a plunger, but the music is coming from a radio, and to make matters worse, the angry dog (whom the radio belonged to) pulls Tom up through the floor and punches him back up to his 10th floor apartment room through the floors and his bed. Now completely bruised and sleep deprived, Tom cries over this and puts bigger corks in his ears, wraps up his head with first-aid bandages and tries to settle down to sleep. At that very moment the music stops, causing an elated Tom to wake up with a start, lose the bandages and pop the corks out. A tired Jerry is seen leaving the elevator toward his mousehole. Tom gleefully goes back to sleep, only to be awoken seconds later by his ringing alarm clock he had set before. However, having been woken up by the noise, Jerry turns on the light in his Mouse hole, peeks out, and signals to Tom to turn off the alarm clock with a shush, but this hypocritical action from Jerry immediately causes Tom to scream (since Jerry kept him up all the night) and run straight out through the wall, leaving a Tom-shaped hole on the wall. A confused Jerry shrugs it off, thinking that Tom's gone bonkers and imitates a Charlie Chaplin silent walk before going back to sleep. ===== Deep Dwarven Delve is a straightforward dungeon crawl that leads the players through an abandoned dwarven mine, centering on freeing dwarves in another world from thralldom. ===== The year is 1928. Samuel Fulton (Charles Coburn) is an old and lonely New York millionaire who has decided to leave his fortune to the family of the late Millicent Blaisdell. Millicent is the only woman he has ever been in love with and they briefly dated, until she dumped him because she did not return his love. Samuel explains to his lawyer Edward Norton (Frank Ferguson) that losing the love of his life was what inspired him to build up a career as a wealthy businessman, eventually becoming the richest man in the world. Fearing the family will spend the money the wrong way, he decides to visit them in a small Vermont town, faking a newspaper advertisement to board a room under the alias John Smith. The family is initially reluctant to take in Samuel, but Roberta, the youngest daughter, (Gigi Perreau) wastes no time and makes him feel as welcome as possible. He notices that the Blaisdells are a happy family who, although poor, are proud of their background. Father Charles (Larry Gates) has taught the family not to put a value on materialistic products. Nevertheless, mother Harriet (Lynn Bari) wishes for her daughter Millicent (Piper Laurie) to marry Carl Pennock (Skip Homeier), a wealthy but snobbish young man who could buy Millicent everything that Harriet never had. Millicent, however, is not keen on Carl and prefers to marry Dan Stebbins (Rock Hudson), a charming but poor soda jerk. While staying at the Blaisdells, 'John' is given a job at Dan's store as soda jerk. One night, Millie and Dan announce their engagement, which upsets Harriet. Shortly after, Norton arrives, announcing the family has inherited $100,000 from an unknown man. When realizing Norton is not joking, the family – especially Harriet – immediately gives up their humble life for the upper-class life style. Charles is not enthusiastic of his wife's sudden craze of materialism, but allows her to buy whatever she wants. The oldest son Howard (William Reynolds) immediately starts gambling a large amount of money and lands a debt, which prompts Samuel to help him. Meanwhile, Dan, feeling he could never live up to Millie's expectations, breaks off their engagement. Afterwards, Millie reluctantly starts dating Carl again, much under the pressure of her mother. Samuel helps both Millie and Howard escape from a raid, which results in his being jailed. Soon, Harriet feels that Samuel's presence is ruining the family image, unaware of the reason why he ended up in jail. In this period, he is supported only by Dan, who admits his intentions of leaving town to build a career. Trying to prevent Millie and Dan from disappearing out of each other's life, he sets up a meeting at the cinema. There, an argument follows, and Millie exclaims her hatred for the family's sudden wealth, complaining that it is the cause of all bad things happening to her. She is comforted by Samuel, and thereby attracts the attention of other theatre-goers, who suspect that Sam and Millie were necking. During the ongoing social party at Blaisdell's house, there is gossip of the necking in the cinema, which prompts Harriet to force Millie to announce her engagement to Carl. Meanwhile, Charles announces he has lost his investments, which makes Samuel realize that the Blaisdells are in no position of making wise financial decisions. Obligated by Samuel, Norton refuses a loan, after which Charles begs the Pennocks for money. Pennock Senior (Paul McVey) refuses the loan to Charles and leaves with wife and son Carl the party, which makes clear that the engagement is off. Much to Harriet's distress, the Blaisdell family returns to their old lifestyle. At the end, Roberta reveals that 'John' has won the first prize at an art show, having secretly entered his paintings. Samuel immediately leaves the house to avoid the press, and realizes that the Blaisdells now think of him as the grandfather he could have been. ===== The Homesteader involves six principal characters, the leading one being Jean Baptiste (Charles Lucas), a homesteader far off in the Dakotas, the lone African American living in the area. To this wilderness arrives Jack Stewart, a Scotsman, with his motherless daughter, Agnes (Iris Hall), who doesn't know that she is biracial. In Agnes, Baptiste meets the girl of his dreams. Peculiar fate threw her in the company of the Homesteader, but, because Baptiste is black and Agnes is presumably white, their love is forbidden by law. Baptiste eventually sacrifices the love of this girl of his dreams, goes back to his own people and marries Orlean, the daughter of a black preacher named McCarthy. McCarthy, the embodiment of vanity, deceit and hypocrisy, really admires the marriage his daughter has made. He speaks of the "rich" young man she has married, praises him to the highest. Baptiste does not know, however, that McCarthy requires and is in the habit of having people praise him. Baptiste does not do it because he is not of the temperament to do so. Because of this failure grows the tragedy of mismarriage to Orlean (Evelyn Preer), a sweet girl, kind and good, but like her mother, without the strength of her convictions. Baptiste, Orlean having failed him, is persecuted by McCarthy and by Ethel (McCarthy's other daughter), who, like her father, possesses all the evil a woman is capable of; she is married to weak-kneed Glavis. In the end, Orlean, driven insane by the evil she had been the innocent cause of, rights a wrong which causes Baptiste to go back to his land in the Dakotas, where he finds the girl he first discovered. Later, he learns the truth about her race and the story has a beautiful ending.Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Black and White: A Source Book on Black Films, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1997, , p. 94. ===== Indian cities are being terrorized by a group of people who want the government to give in to their demands and are willing to go to any extent for that purpose. Honest, experienced and diligent cops Abhay Singh (Om Puri) and Abbas Lodhi (Naseeruddin Shah) are part of the anti-terrorism task force set up by the government to eliminate the menace. Abbas Lodhi comes up with the idea of "Operation Dhanush", which involves sending two undercover cops, Anand (Manoj Bajpai) and Shiv (Milind Gunaji) among the terrorist group, so that they shall be part of them and learn all about them, and can call him through radio and transmit all the information under the code name Dhanush. Only Abbas and Abhay know about this operation. Anand, one of the undercover cops, is exposed by the terrorists a few years later. However, he dies by consuming cyanide before they can get any information from him. Now Shiv is left alone in the gang. He soon wins the trust and respect of everyone in the gang, including the mastermind Commander Bhadra (Ashish Vidyarthi) himself. Bhadra is captured and tortured by the police. But try as they may, he does not reveal anything to Abbas or Abhay. When Bhadra is in jail, the gang appoints one of their sharpshooters to kill a minister as he is approaching the city in his car, which he does successfully. This man is apprehended and interrogated by Abhay. He agrees to help the police for the safety of his family, but soon is poisoned in jail itself by a corrupt cop, Inspector Tiwari (Shrivallabh Vyas). Soon one of Abhay and Lodhi's trusted and highly respected officers, and good friends, IGP Pathak (Amrish Puri), commits suicide when the CBI come to arrest him on charges of being linked with the terrorists. This comes as a rude shock for Abhay and Lodhi. They now realize that there are people all over who seem to be linked with the terrorists. Now Bhadra offers Abhay the chance to join with and help the terrorists, or else his family will be in danger. Abhay does not oblige. The terrorists shoot the family dog, killing it, shoot at Abhay's son's leg and injure him, and send messages directly and indirectly to threaten him. Abhay finally agrees. Bhadra asks for Abhay to sham a fake kidnap drama and allow him to escape, which he unwillingly does. Lodhi is shocked at Bhadra's escape, but he does not understand why Abhay is acting strangely. Now outside, Bhadra soon send two people, Surinder (Annu Kapoor) and Mala to stay in Abhay's house, and asks the latter to accommodate them. The two of them keep Bhadra informed about everything, and threaten to kill Abhay's wife and child if he were to try anything funny at any time. Only Abhay knows about their true identity. Soon Bhadra meets Abhay, and under threat of his wife and child being killed by Bhadra's signaling to the couple at their house, Abhay reveals that it was Lodhi who had arranged for two undercover cops to be sent to the gang, and only he knows 'who' Dhanush really is. Abhay also comes to know that Inspector Tiwari, who was supporting Bhadra, has been eliminated. The gang attacks Lodhi. He almost starts to finish them off, when he sees that one of the people sent to capture him is Shiv, so he goes along with them. Lodhi is beaten, but he does not reveal who the inside man is. Soon he is killed accidentally by Bhadra's pistol. The shock of all that is happening is too much for Abhay to bear. He tells everything to Sumitra (Mita Vashisht), who tells Abhay that as a Police officer, he had taken an oath to protect the nation, and he must go by that. She also says that she will take care of everyone and everything if he were not there. Consoled, Abhay is then called for a late night meeting by Bhadra again. When he leaves for Lodhi's house first, Surinder tries to attack and rape a girl being taken care of by Abhay and his wife. At this point, Mala orders Surinder at gunpoint to leave the girl, but Surinder shoots Mala. Sumitra sees all this, and in order to save him, seduces Surinder. Once in the bedroom, she pushes Surinder off, and kills him with her own gun. Abhay Singh is informed and he returns home, and consoles his family and bids them goodbye. He goes to meet Bhadra, where he attacks the criminal and is overpowered and bound to a chair. With only Shiv in the room, Commander Bhadra asks Abhay about the inside man, and suddenly points the pistol at Shiv. Abhay jumps off, attacks Bhadra, breaks free and stabs him in the neck with the broken wood of the chair. On hearing the commotion, as the entire gang comes from outside to break into the room, Abhay tells Shiv to shoot him, because then it will appear as though Abhay was killed when he attacked Bhadra, and Shiv being highly trusted, would become the new gang leader. A reluctant Shiv does so, just as the gang breaks in. Shiv declares himself to be the terrorist gang leader, and the others accept his leadership. Abhay Singh passes away in peace. ===== Saga is set in a fantasy world where an age-old strife exists between five competing Gods. Each God heads up a faction with unique races and abilities. The factions are Magic (Dark Elves), Machines (Dwarves), Nature (Elves), War (Orcs and Ogres), Undead (Undead) and Light (Giants and Humans). Each faction is diametrically opposed to two other factions. For example, Machines hates Magic (they are naturally opposite, technology vs. mysticism), and Machines also hates Nature (machines vs. living things). Nature also despises War, for their tendency to destroy nature. Light faction are champions of order and justice, while Magic faction delve deep into the black arts, and the circle completes itself. Each faction has an ethos and a strategic quality that sets it apart, giving players a spectrum of play styles to identify with. The system is designed to create a balanced tension between the factions, giving each faction two archenemies and two neutrals to war with or form alliances with. The result is a world where endless war is inevitable. However, the Machine (Dwarf) and Nature (Elf) factions have put aside their differences to join the Order (Machine, Nature, Light), and the remaining factions have joined the Brotherhood (War, Magic, Undead). The Undead faction is a recent (2008) addition and not part of the original five races. ===== Kishan and Bishan are childhood friends. Kishan is an orphan, but is self-sufficient and hard- working, while Bishan comes from an affluent background. The friendship between the two is extremely strong and is the bane of Bishan's uncle, who has his eyes on his widowed sister's wealth. In a bid to separate the two friends, the uncle manipulates his sister into sending Bishan away to the city and then abroad for further education. When the two friends reunite years later, Bishan (Amjad Khan) discovers that Kishan (Amitabh Bachchan) has a great voice. Bishan is now a successful businessman and he wants to promote Kishan's singing talent. Kishan goes to the city with his friend, where Bishan asks Komal (Neetu Singh) to groom him to be a performer and a gentleman. Kishan tries to get expelled from the process by being uncooperative and disruptive. In the meantime, Bishan discovers that the family wealth has been systematically looted over the last 18 years by the uncle and his son. He is forced to borrow by mortgaging his remaining assets in order to ensure that Kishan becomes a successful singer. This causes a major rift between Bishan and his wife, who is convinced that Kishan will turn his back on his friend if he were to ever succeed. Kishan's debut concert is a huge success and he goes on to donate the proceeds of his earnings and consequent record deals in order to rid his friend Bishan of his many mortgages and in order to help woo his estranged sister-in-law and lovable nephew (Bishan's 10-year-old son) back into the house. Kishan proceeds to become a star and Komal (Neetu Singh) - his trainer professes her love for him. Bishan in the meanwhile falls into a conspiracy further set by his treacherous uncle (Jeevan) and cousin (Ranjeet). He is kidnapped alongside several hostages - primarily children on his shipping vessel, brainwashed, tortured and forced to sign a confession that all the misdeeds have been done by him. Bishan loses his mental stability and goes into shock. He is then thrown into an asylum after he has a breakdown and experiences amnesia. Kishan pretends to be mentally ill and admits himself into the asylum by tricking the authorities and saves his friend by reviving his memory successfully by feeding him rotis as he used to when they were children. The climax follows the typical action confrontation formula reminiscent of films in that era where there are big explosions and the heroes single-handedly take on hordes of goons. The movie ends with the children - hostages being saved, the family uniting and the treacherous mastermind (Ranjeet) being sent to jail. ===== The story starts with Chan Ho-Nam (Ekin Cheng) still being paranoid about the horrific death and his relationship with Smartie (Gigi Lai) which constantly gives him nightmares. After having Mei Ling (Shu Qi) hinting that she wants to marry Ho-Nam, Ho-Nam shown little to no reaction due to the fear of losing another loved ones. That night, Ho-Nam goes to his pub only to be noticed that Chicken (Jordan Chan) was set up by Taiwan's San Leun Triad to be married into a Yakuza family as a political marriage. At that wedding day at Japan, Ho-Nam met with Akira Kusakari (Roy Cheung), the Yakuza leader's adopted son. At the wedding venue, Hung Hing's attending members were met by Chicken's cousin and one of the district leader the Taiwanese gang San Leun, Koh Chi-Wah (Blackie Ko) who then introduced to the son of San Leun's dragonhead, Lui Fu-Kawn (Peter Ho) and after the meeting, the wedding start and ended in hilarity. After the wedding, Hung Hing's attending members like Ben-Hon (Vincent Wan) and Sister 13 (Sandra Ng) followed Chi-Wah to a restaurant to celebrate. Out of happiness for his cousin and the recent victory of Chen Shui-bian as the new Taiwanese president, he over enthusiastically sang a Hokkien song which irate a bunch of Chinese nationals behind the group which soon turned into a brawl with the Chinese splashing tea on Chi-Wah. Chicken and Akira stopped the brawl in time and the next day, Chiang Tin-Yeung (Alex Man) finally met Ichio Kusakari (Sonny Chiba) and Ichio discussed about a tripartite alliance between them, Hung Hing and San Leun but Chiang announces his retirement to return to Thailand and declares that his position and all affairs of Hung Hing will be passed on to Ho-Nam. Hearing of Chiang's plans for retirement, Ichio too thought of retiring and leaving the business to the younger generation where he picked Chicken as his successor. After the meeting, Ichio praised Hung Hing's members for their strength and agility and curiously asked if they knew anything about Kendo. Chiang jokingly told Ichio that he may pass some knowledge to them where soon, a Kendo match was held and Ho-Nam took the plate and fought Ichio. Ichio managed to initially beat Ho-Nam by disarming him. Not be seen as a loser or a weakling, Ho-Nam used his countless battle skills on the streets of Hong Kong into good use by tying his weapon to his hand and fought mostly single-handedly as he is accustomed to and forced Ichio into a draw. Back in Taiwan, San Leun was also having a meeting to talk about the new leadership of the gang. Fu-Kwan denied the request to be the new dragonhead as his long period of stay in the US has made him unfamiliar with Taiwan despite being Taiwanese so Chi-Wah recommended Chicken due to his contribution to the gang but Chicken himself also denied the request as he had no ambitions to be the dragonhead and stated that "Picking a dragonhead shouldn't be about his nationality or whether he's a Taiwanese or can he speak Min-Nan language but more of courage and tenacity". Due to the constant rejection from another gang leader to appoint Chicken as the new suggested dragonhead, Chi-Wah again nearly came up to brawl with the other person. A few days later had passed and Fu-Kwan was met with an accident. As the dispute about the new San Leun's leadership contention wasn't settled, Chicken was instantly blamed for causing the crash but as he arrived at the hospital after receiving the news, he declared he's not the one to do it and Fu-Kwan believes him. Despite the infighting, Chicken was brought to a meeting with an old Taiwanese mafia boss who told the present that the situation is changing and the new government wants nothing but for the gangsters to cooperate with them. Chicken went to ask a veteran gang leader on his views. After that, both Chicken and Chi-Wah went to a karaoke lounge to have fun and a bunch of girls flirted with them. Suddenly, a girl that was on top of Chicken took out a dagger and tried to stab at Chicken, who saw the dagger, fought her off and both guys flee the lounge. Both fled towards a road but found both sides to be surrounded by gangsters of unknown origin and the two guys instantly fought their way out. However, Chi-Wah blocked the gangsters off for Chicken to run away only for him to be hit in the head and laying on the ground with Chicken fighting to get him out but failed and saw Chi-Wah being beaten to death while being extricated. At the same time, Nanako (Anya Wu), Chicken's wife, was alone at home and Akira came to visit drunk. While Nanako was taking care of him, he professed that he had always loved Nanako but it was his father's mistake to not let them be together and forcefully raped Nanako. While taking care of his still-shaken wife, Chicken's buddies, Ho-Nam and friends, came to Taiwan to find out what was happening. Knowing how the current politics is useless and in disarray and his support, Chi-Wah, dead, Ho-Nam declares his full support for Chicken together with Dai- Tau/Big Head (Chin Kar-Lok) and Pou-Pan (Jerry Lamb). However, Chicken told Ho-Nam not to worry as he'll settle his own issue and their arrival to support him had already made him happy. Ho-Nam then went to meet Mei Ling who was shopping. She's late due to buying a watch for Ho-Nam but with Ho-Nam passing the watch back to her, in a fit of anger, she storms off and at the corner of his eye, he saw a girl that looked very much like Smartie. Curious, he followed her to her workplace at an kindergarten and both had a chat and learnt that her name is Rong Yu and she's also from Hong Kong and both became friends. At the safehouse where Chicken was hiding, his underling noticed a bunch of cars approaching the house and in a panic, shouted that their under attack. Whilst preparing for an ambush, it turned out that the "unknown personal" was Ichio sitting on a wheelchair who came to look for Nanako and Chicken. After comforting Nanako, Ichio explained to Chicken that Akira was a traitor who sold the Yakuza's evil deeds to the police and Akira was the cause of his disability. Vowing for vengeance for both Ichio and Nanako, Chicken promises to kill Akira. At the meantime, Fu-Kwan was released from hospital and it was revealed that the assassination attempt on Chicken and Chi-Wah was all along orchestrated by Fu-Kwan to rid Chicken from San Leun. Ho-Nam then met with Fu-Kwan who questioned San Leun's internal conflict and their intentions on dealing with Chicken. Fu-Kwan, again lied and said that he had never doubted Chicken to be the one that caused him to be hospitalized but directly after Ho-Nam left the meeting, it was shown that both Akira and Fu- Kwan had always been working with each other in getting rid of Chicken. Ho-Nam then went to meet with Rong Yu and Mei Ling, who had always sensed that Ho-Nam was odd, followed him in the shadows and noticed both Rong Yu and Ho-Nam together. Mei Ling then followed Rong Yu back to the kindergarten where she voiced her displeasure about her relationship to Rong Yu. At the funeral of another contender of the leadership of San Luen (The one that had bad blood and gave advice to Chicken earlier in the show), things escalate out of control when Chicken entered the funeral hall and the whole of San Luen mobbing him. To control the situation, Ho-Nam took out a pistol and fired warning shots in the air. At the same time, Ichio entered the hall and declared that till Chicken is deemed the traitor, his life will be in Ichio's hands and if Chicken is found guilty, he will end Chicken's life himself. After the funeral, Chicken and Hung Hing's other members discuss plans on crippling Fu-Kwan's rising power. Knowing that he's already aligned himself with the new government and had planned to rename San Leun something else, they estimated that attacking Fu-Kwan head-on will be suicidal due to his ties with the government. During Chen Shui-bian's inauguration day, Fu-Kwan gave a speech on his ambitions of incorporating all gangs in Taiwan into an umbrella cooperation and plans to combine both Chi-Wah's "Black Panther Gang" and Chicken's "Venom Snake Gang" into a new entity with Akira at the helm. Chicken and the whole of Hung Hing bursts into the arena and Chicken declared Fu-Kwan the betrayer of San Leun with a traitor spilling out that the assassinations that had happened were all plotted by Fu-Kwan. With his family in Hung Hing's hands (The ploy Hung Hing came out with to threaten Fu-Kwan's power), the strategist of the gang had no choice but to spill the beans that what Chicken and the traitor who accused Fu-Kwan was right as everything that's happening to San Leun was done by Fu-Kwan. Soon after, the official who negotiated with Fu-Kwan also declared that the deal between San Leun and the government is off due to the ridiculous request of Fu-Kwan. Sensing defeat, Fu-Kwan slowly backs away from the crowd only to pull a pistol and firing a few rounds before fleeing with Akira. Ho-Nam and the rest gave chase. Akira nearly escaped but only to land himself in a hall where Ichio was waiting with Chicken for him. Surrounded by both ends, Akira instantly acts pitiful and asks for forgiveness. However, Ichio was having none of it and threw Akira a Wakizashi to commit hara-riki but instead of using it on himself, he flipped the dagger towards Ichio only to be disarmed by Ichio himself and dropped the dagger. Chicken then promptly took the dagger and stabbed Akira to death. At the same time, Ho-Nam was still chasing Fu-Kwan and both of them were driving themselves into a head-on collision. Both were not injured and soon climbed on top of their cars and continued fighting. Ho-Nam beats him easily but Fu-Kwan again draws his pistol on Ho-Nam. Ho-Nam, having no fear, inches closer to Fu- Kwan's barrel and few seconds later, the police arrives to arrest Fu-Kwan. The story ends with Ichio thanking the Taiwanese official for his assistance and revealed that Ichio himself can actually speak Mandrin all along. ===== After nearly being run down in the street by a gang known as the Scars, Brenda (Linda Blair) and her deaf-mute younger sister Heather (Linnea Quigley) and their friends trash the car of the gang leader, Jake. Jake exacts his revenge by getting his cohorts to gang-rape Heather. A fight between Brenda and her friends and the Scars at a local nightclub results in Brenda's pregnant, soon-to-be-married friend Francine being murdered by the Scars, who throw her off a viaduct. When Brenda learns who is responsible for Heather's rape, and that Francine is dead and the Scars are responsible, Brenda arms herself and sets out to avenge them. Finding them at a nearby warehouse, Brenda impales one of the gang members, Fargo, with an arrow; kills another, Red, by snapping a bear trap shut upon his neck; and then begins to torture Jake with arrows shot into his thighs and a hunting knife as he hangs by his feet from a gate. However, he then manages to free himself and attacks her. The showdown ends in a nearby paint store; as a burglar alarm blares, Brenda douses Jake in paint and then sets him on fire with a cigarette lighter that she has previously had difficulty getting to produce a flame, just before the police arrive. The movie ends with Brenda (who is presumably facing charges for the murders of Fargo, Red and Jake), Heather and their surviving friends visiting Francine's grave, and Brenda comments, "At least we set things right," to which her friend Stevie replies, "No, Brenda. You set things right."amazon.com ===== The series is set in the year 5808. The human civilization has taken gigantic steps in the conquest of the space, and with the creation of the three-dimensional tunnel, people can travel to any Galaxy in the universe. "The Gentleman of the Cosmos" is a company that manages the tunnel and dominates organizes the trips. The main characters of the series are part of Yamamoto Anshin Travel (YAT), with the plot revolving around Goro Hoshiwatari, an adolescent who has left his home to travel by the space and to find the whereabouts of his father, who disappeared fifteen years ago during the explosion of the main transporting center of the three- dimensional Tunnel that he created. Goro falls in love with Katsura, the commander's daughter; and becomes the YAT mechanic/janitor after an accident that he was responsible for, so he tags along to pay for the damage, as well to find his father. Finding his father turns out not to be his only problem, since Kanea, a young lady whose mother is the owner of "the Gentleman of the Cosmos", is in love with him. In addition, Kanea's mother had a mysterious and conflicting past with Yamamoto. The second series takes place six months after the first. YAT ships and crew are transported to a very far universe. They soon discover that the person responsible is Professor Nota, a scientific who is working on a teletransportation device, helped by a cat-like girl with psychic powers called "Pinky". Then, the professor is kidnapped by Emperor Ganon, who wants to use the device to rule the universe. The aim of the YAT crew is finding the kidnapped professor and going back to Earth. ===== The film features an ensemble cast of Greek actors portraying various characters, each living his own story in modern Greece. Almost everyone of the protagonists is interrelated to each other, and all live their own parallel stories which often converge at several points. Several professional actors appear briefly or in non-speaking cameo roles. As a result, there is no central plot or prominent protagonist who may be singled out. The major theme of the movie is sex and each character's approach to it, portrayed in a comedic way. ===== A weak and timid man, discovering his resemblance to a famous wanted criminal, "the dragon", gives up his normal, dull life in order to become famous. He becomes the leader of a criminal group (so that they think of him as "the dragon") in a great and ambitious operation. He also falls in love with a young and beautiful singer working in the bar that is the group's base of operations; but unfortunately she cannot understand his tragic emotional situation. After a while he is identified not to be "the dragon" by the members of this group and one of them, in anger, murders him. ===== ===== The main characters, Johnny Street and Arthur Lane play partners in a small Yorkshire building firm. The series records their rather odd experiences in Yorkshire suburbia, doing a variety of small and large jobs for householders. Street and Lane often wax philosophical to each other about life, the Universe, and everything. Lane worked for Street's father in the firm, which apparently suffered from certain financial irregularities. Street gave up a teaching career to rescue the family business. The humour is understated, lurking under a stereotypically laconic Yorkshire mindset. Various running jokes are used. "Head Office calling!" means Mrs. Street, who fields customer calls at home, is calling Johnny on his mobile phone. The "lady with the boiler on Misperton Avenue" is a fictional customer used as an all-purpose excuse for not being able to take on a job right away (the builders do not want to seem desperate for business) or for making a quick exit from an embarrassing situation. ===== In India, a young woman is kidnapped, and her young male companion beaten within an inch of his life. He is working class Sikh, Surinder Singh; she is his wife, the former Davinder Samra, a Canadian Sikh whom he met when she visited India a year earlier for her cousin's wedding. For both, it was love at first sight. However, Davinder comes from a traditional Sikh family, who made their fortune in Canada. Her parents, who knew nothing of Surinder when Surinder and Davinder eloped, were seeking a suitable husband for her. As the story unfolds leading to the kidnapping/beating and the subsequent investigation by the local police and Crime Investigation Division, the power of money and of Sikh family honor is shown. ===== In general terms, the story involves epic incidents between two warring families, the Pandavas (representing the good side) and the Kauravas (representing the evil side). Both sides, being the offspring of kings and gods, fight for dominion. They have both been advised by the god Krishna to live in harmony and abstain from the bloody lust for power. Yet their fights come to threaten the very order of the Universe. The plot is framed by a dialogue between the Brahmin sage Vyasa and the Hindu deity Ganesha, and directed towards an unnamed Indian boy who comes to him inquiring about the story of the human race. ===== The film takes place at the University of Prague in 1820, where a poor young man named Balduin is the city's wildest student and greatest swordsman. He becomes smitten with Countess Margit Schwarzenberg after rescuing her from drowning but knows he cannot pursue his love for her because he is poor. A sorcerer named Scapinelli offers Balduin 100,000 pieces of gold in exchange for any item to be found in the student's room. Balduin agrees, thinking he owns nothing, but is astonished when Scapinelli calls forth Balduin's reflection from the mirror and absconds with it. Balduin attempts to woo Countess Margit but is haunted by the appearance of his mirror double. Baron Waldis-Schwarzenberg, the countess's fiancé and cousin, challenges Balduin to a duel for her hand. Privately, the countess's father begs Balduin not to kill the Baron, as he is the last surviving heir to their family fortune. Balduin agrees but is thwarted when his double appears at the duel in his place and kills the rival suitor. Balduin sneaks into Margit’s room and she confesses her true feelings to him. However, she is frightened by the appearance of the double, collapsing in a swoon. Dejected, Balduin returns to his room to retrieve a pistol. He fires at his double, only to drop dead himself. Scapinelli then comes into the room takes the contract Balduin signed with him tears it up, throws it like confetti and disappears out the door. ===== A cop's wife gets a surprise when her husband gets murdered in a break in. The break in was meant to kill the cop. The wife, afraid for her life, runs to the house her husband built, away from the protection of cops. Is she really safe there? ===== The preface to the story shows Episcopal priest, the Reverend Dr. T. Lawrence Shannon (Richard Burton), having a "nervous breakdown" after being ostracized by his congregation for having an inappropriate relationship with a "very young Sunday school teacher." Two years later, Shannon, now a tour guide for the bottom-of-the-barrel Texas company "Blake's Tours," is taking a group of Baptist school teachers by bus to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The group's brittle leader is Miss Judith Fellowes (Grayson Hall), whose 16-year-old niece Charlotte Goodall (Sue Lyon) tries to seduce Shannon. Fellowes accuses Shannon of trying to seduce Charlotte and declares that she will ruin him. In a moment of despair, Shannon shanghais the bus and its occupants, then tries to prevent Fellowes from calling his boss by stranding the tour group at a cheap (and, he mistakenly thinks, phoneless) Costa Verde hotel in Mismaloya. Shannon assumes the hotel is still run by an old friend named Fred, but the man died recently, so the hotel is now run by Fred's widow, the bawdy and flamboyant Maxine Faulk (Ava Gardner). Another new arrival at the hotel is Hannah Jelkes (Deborah Kerr), a beautiful and chaste itinerant painter from Nantucket who is traveling with her elderly poet grandfather (Cyril Delevanti). They have run out of money, but Shannon convinces Maxine to let them have a room. Over a long night, Shannon battles his weaknesses for both flesh and alcohol, Miss Fellowes' niece continues to make trouble for him, and he is "at the end of his rope," just like an iguana kept tied by Maxine's cabana boys. Shannon suffers a breakdown, the cabana boys truss him in a hammock, and Hannah ministers to him there with poppy-seed tea and frank spiritual counsel. Hannah's grandfather delivers the final version of the poem he has been laboring to finish and dies. The characters try to resolve their confused lives with Shannon and Maxine deciding to run the hotel together. Hannah walks away from her last chance at love. ===== Pat Travis (Troy Evans) is a Vietnam war veteran who needs heart bypass surgery and heads off to the government-funded Monument Heights Veterans' Hospital in Washington D.C. However, when he gets there, he finds a hospital in complete chaos, riddled with lethargic, insidious bureaucracy and unable to accommodate new patients due to the government's 'creeping cutback' policy. There, he meets wiseguy veterans Luther Jerome (Keith David), who introduces him to the hospital's hectic situation, and 'Shooter' Polaski (Leo Burmester), who shortly drives through the hospital's entrance and starts a shooting rampage with his M16 after being issued an Article 99 form - which states the hospital finds the patient eligible for treatment, but cannot be treated immediately as the supposed ailment is not service-related. The hospital is managed by by-the-book bureaucrat Executive Director Dr. Henry Dreyfoos (John Mahoney), who is determined to uphold the government's policies by any means, to the point of directly cutting patient's acceptance rates by half and instituting rigorous dress codes and supply regulations. He's backed up by Chief of Medicine Leo Krutz (Jeffrey Tambor) and Chief Nurse Amelia Sturdeyvant (Julie Bovasso), who follow and back-up Dreyfoos' policies, fearing for their jobs. Dreyfoos greatest opposition comes from the hospital's ER team led by surgeon Dr. Richard Sturgess (Ray Liotta), who has no qualms in exposing Dreyfoos' politicking to the press when he has the opportunity (mostly thanks to his friend Luther) and performing illegal midnight hospital supply thefts called 'midnight requisitions' to be able to properly perform surgeries. Dreyfoos is aware of Sturgess' activities, but cannot prosecute him as he is unable to gather evidence. Sturgess' team is joined by Dr. Peter Morgan (Kiefer Sutherland), who plans to work temporarily in the hospital before starting private practice. He's eventually instructed by Sturgess and his colleagues Ruby Bobrick (John C. McGinley), Sid Handleman (Forest Whitaker) and Robin Van Dorn (Lea Thompson) and constantly monitored by Nurse White (Lynne Thigpen). His 'potential' after failing to attend to Travis' heart attack and causing a ruptured artery leads Sturgess to try and convince him to join the team and also fight Dreyfoos' administration, but Morgan refuses, fearful their wrongdoings will eventually influence his medical career. Meanwhile, Morgan also meets World War II veteran Sam Abrams (Eli Wallach), considered by the hospital a 'gomer', a person who cannot be admitted even with a critical condition and has to be constantly moved and kept from administration so he will not be discharged. Abrams' sharing of experiences with Morgan has the newcomer doctor slowly start caring for him and start disagreeing with several of the hospital's conditions, especially that he cannot accommodate the veteran and has to use old diagnoses to repeat needless exams. Morgan also starts a relationship with Robin while Sturgess does so with psychologist Diana Walton (Kathy Baker), equally a by-the-book character that slowly starts opening up to Sturgess shortly after Polaski's incident. Morgan learns, through overhearing Dreyfoos' conversation through the phone, a new shipment of cardiac surgery tools is stored in the pathology department and relays it to Sturgess, who performs a 'midnight requisition' to get them. However, this was a trap set by Dreyfoos, who films the theft and blackmails Sturgess into voluntary suspension and a declaration of guilt when charges are brought up, in exchange for the tape and a written declaration sparing both Bobrick and Handleman. Sturgess falls apart while Walton backs him up, committed on not giving up on him. Shortly after, Abrams passes away and this affects Morgan heavily, feeling he failed him. Morgan eventually finds Dreyfoos' tape and, infuriated he was used as bait, declares open rebellion against Dreyfoos, getting himself suspended. Morgan arranges for Sturgess to return to the hospital and both, along with Luther and the veterans, start planning a hostile takeover to properly attend the patients without the administration's interference. The veterans successfully lock the security guards outside while Dreyfoos is away, and Luther, armed with Polaski's M16, keeps the guards away while the police, despite being pressured, cannot remove the veterans as the hospital is under federal jurisdiction. It does not take long before the press arrive and this catches attention of the FBI and the Inspector General (Noble Willingham), who travels to assess the situation. The Inspector General attempts negotiating with Luther, but he stands his ground as the veterans unfurl a massive banner in the hospital stating 'No Surrender'. The FBI prepares to break into the hospital and retake it by force, cutting off the power and issuing a final warning. Sturgess, who starts Travis' triple bypass surgery after he falls into critical condition, leaves Morgan in charge as he convinces Luther to lay down resistance and reopen the hospital, much to the Inspector General's shock. He and Dreyfoos enter the building and attempt to interrupt Travis' surgery and have Morgan arrested, but Morgan stands his ground. Dreyfoos tries insisting on the arrest, but the Inspector General, revealed to have been a Vietnam veteran and acknowledging the situation the hospital is facing, spares Morgan and suspends Dreyfoos from the hospital management. Morgan decides to become a permanent resident in Monument Heights as no prosecutions are made and Travis is saved. Victory is sadly short-lived, as Dreyfoos' unnamed replacement decides to upkeep Dreyfoos' previous policies. Morgan and Sturgess decide to join up and make a stand against the 'new' administration. ===== Executioners reunites the main characters of The Heroic Trio in a dark, post-apocalyptic story set in a world ravaged by war, torn by social and political strife, and desperately short of uncontaminated water. The Wonder Woman (Anita Mui) is now the mother of a young girl, named (in the English dubbed version) Charlie. She has abandoned her role as a crime fighter in order to become a better mother and wife. But while walking her daughter home from the grocery store, she witnesses an attempted water theft. In a brief display of her true prowess (and to the delight of her daughter), she stops the thief and returns the bagged water to the would-be victim. The Invisible Girl, (Michelle Yeoh), has finally accepted her true role as a hero and strives to atone for the evil deeds she committed while under the influence of her former Evil Master (as shown in The Heroic Trio), She has become an agent of change, striving to use her abilities for the good of society. She's gone so far as to become the tutor of the masked hunchback Kau, another of the Evil Master's former servants. Lured into a blast furnace in "The Heroic Trio", Kau had been horribly burned and disfigured; somehow, he retains his almost superhuman vitality and ability, yet has no moral compass, other than his allegiance to his tutor. She hopes to reform him and show him a better way, as the Wonder Woman and the Thief Catcher did for her. The Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung), is still up to her old ways, just trying to make a profit out of a bad situation. Yet even she is starting to strive for a higher standard, and has come to realize that she is part of a team and has responsibilities to something greater than herself. The three heroes are forced to overcome devastating personal loss, conflicting loyalties, and overwhelming odds, to bring security and justice back to the people. ===== Dear Friends follows a high-school student named Rina (played by Keiko Kitagawa) who believes that friends are not necessary and that they can only be used in times of need. Thus, she is unable to maintain a decent relationship with her friends and classmates. Her family's relationship is also lacking; her father does not care much about his family and her mother is over-protective. Rina spends a lot of her time going to a club in Shibuya where Yousuke (played by Masaya Kikawada) is the disc jockey with her friends Hiroko (played by Airi Toriyama) and Emi (played by Hatsune Matsushima). (In the opening scene, Rina has "borrowed" Hiroko's boyfriend for sex, infuriating Hiroko.) Yousuke falls for Rina, but her attitude has a feral edge, and they neck but stop short of having sex. After obtaining a large amount of money under false pretenses (i.e. claiming she is pregnant when she is not and forcing the guy [not Hiroko's boyfriend or Yousuke] to pay for the abortion) and spending it on a bottle of Dom Pérignon (which she sprays over everyone at the club), Rina collapses on the dance floor. She eventually discovers that she has cancer (non-Hodgkin lymphoma) and becomes hospitalized for an indefinite amount of time. In the hospital, she is not visited by her family, but by one of her classmates named Maki (played by Yuika Motokariya). Although Maki tells Rina that they were friends in primary school, Rina does not remember her, so Maki takes the opportunity to re-connect with her. A young girl, Kanae, (played by Mao Sasaki) who is also hospitalized tries to become friends with Rina, but she holds fast onto her mantra of friends being unnecessary. Throughout her hospitalization, Rina begins to lose hope as her well-being falls apart. Her hair falls out from the chemotherapy and she looks pale and thin. Rina learns that Kanae also had cancer (leukemia), and has died after a bone marrow transplant failed. Rina must undergo a mastectomy as the cancer has spread to her left breast. She decides to commit suicide by jumping off the hospital's rooftop. Before she can jump, however, she is confronted by Maki, who stabs herself in the chest with a knife and declares that she will share the same pain as Rina and that she does not want to lose her friend. Maki has suicidal tendencies (as evidenced by scars on her wrist), but sees in her relationship with Rina a reason to keep living. Rina shows some hope again when she realizes that she can find friendship in Maki, but she does not see Maki while the latter recovers from the stab wound. Hiroko and Emi then visit Rina in the hospital ward. Hiroko throws away a love letter from Yousuke to Rina that she was supposed to deliver, then claims that she and Emi had three-way sex with him. Emi acknowledges this (even though it is new to her). After treatment, Rina is discharged. She tries to go back to her party lifestyle, but cannot force herself to behave as she once did. She goes back to the club, where Emi apologizes for the hospital visit (claiming that Hiroko put her up to it) and states that Hiroko overdosed on drugs. Rina decides she is ready to have sex with Yousuke, but he has second thoughts after seeing Rina's mastectomy scar. Rina goes back to the hospital rooftop to jump, but is stopped by the head nurse. The head nurse says that Maki wanted her to live, but Rina claims that Maki has not seen her recently. Then, another nurse pushes a zombie-like Maki in a wheelchair onto the rooftop. Maki says that the only reason she is still living is so that she could meet friends like Rina. Maki has a terminal illness: an unspecified neurodegenerative disease. Rina finds her purpose in life, fully recovered from cancer, applies to nursing school, becomes a nurse, and takes care of Maki during her final days. After three months, Maki dies. ===== The film starts off with a girl, Jenna, who is seen doing household activities such as cleaning and shopping, and gradually it is revealed that her mother is sick and dying of cancer. Her daughter Jenna, who is in her mid-teens and has problems herself, gradually parts ways with her mother and grandmother, and makes friends with a girl she used to dislike. After a while, she starts to smoke, drink and even has sex as a way to forget about her mother's disease. Eventually, Jenna and her mom reunite, shortly before the latter's death, when Jenna realizes how much she has missed her. At the end of the film, Jenna and her grandmother go to Thailand together, a thing Jenna has always dreamed of but originally involving her mother. ===== There was not a central story in Por estas calles. At the beginning, the main story revolved around the tribulations of elementary teacher Eurídice Briceño, falsely accused of murder, who has to hide under a new identity. But the other characters soon took bigger screen time, and it became an ensemble story. During its runtime, the telenovela adapted many stories inspired by news headlines. One of the show's characters, Don Chepe Orellana, "bore a striking resemblance to former president Jaime Lusinchi, who in real life had of course been manipulated by Blanca Ibáñez. On the show, Don Chepe and his mistress Lucha (Carlota Sosa) pocketed public money with one sleight-of-hand move after another, doled out favors to campaign contributors, developed all kinds of illegal schemes to hold on to power, and ruthlessly eliminated political enemies."Jones, Bart (2008), Hugo! The Hugo Chavez Story from Mud Hut to Perpetual Revolution, London: The Bodley Head, p183 ===== Edwer Thissell, the new consul from Earth to the planet Sirene, has trouble adjusting to the local culture. The Sirenese cover their faces and heads with exquisitely crafted masks that indicate their social status (strakh) and mood. They also communicate by singing, accompanying themselves with one of a score of musical instruments, selected based on the social situation and feelings. Furthermore, errors of etiquette may prove fatal. Thissell is a clumsy musician and lacks confidence in the alien society, so he is forced to wear a lowly Moon Moth mask. One day, he receives an alert to arrest a notorious assassin named Haxo Angmark, who is due on the next starship. Thissell, however, gets the message too late. He races to the spaceport, but Angmark, thoroughly comfortable with Sirenese customs, has already landed and disappeared. Thissell commits a number of serious social blunders in his haste to reach the spaceport and in enquiring after Angmark. The next morning, Thissell is shown the body of an offworlder. He concludes that, since the fugitive would be unable to pass himself off as a native, Angmark must have killed and taken the place of one of the other three expatriates on the planet. But since even they wear masks, how is Thissell to know which one? Eventually, Thissell solves the mystery by borrowing a slave from each of the suspects and determining their masters' mask preferences before and after Angmark's arrival. He succeeds in identifying his quarry, but is captured and forced to walk unmasked in public (the ultimate humiliation to the natives), while Angmark masquerades as Thissell by wearing his Moon Moth mask. However, the Sirenese turn on Angmark and kill him for the perversion of unmasking another man and, ironically, for Thissell's previous gaffes. Thinking quickly, Thissell cleverly represents his humiliation as an act of unsurpassed bravery, asking if any present would be willing to be so shamed in order to destroy his enemy. With his new-found confidence, Thissell receives offers of gifts (the acceptance of which would enhance the prestige of both the giver and the recipient). He first goes with a mask maker to procure a covering more befitting his lofty new strakh. ===== The show was a follow on from the original Blinky Bill books by Dorothy Wall. Set in the fictional Bollygum National Park, characters include Blinky Bill, Mrs Magpie, Angelina Wallaby and Walter Wombat from the books, and new characters such as Charlie Goanna, Eric Echidna, Sybilla Snake and Kerry Koala from the neighbouring fictional Acadia Ridge park. ===== The series takes place in a near future in which a South American despot named Rykos launches his sole two atomic missiles on New York City in the U.S. and Moscow in the U.S.S.R. The two superpowers, each believing the other has launched a first strike, retaliate. By the time American president Cole and a Russian premier with the first name Mikhail have realized their errors, their fully automated nuclear-missile systems can not be countermanded. Only hours before the apocalypse begins, a Saturn VI rocket launches bearing three astronauts: Captain Boyd Ellis, United States Air Force; his fiancée, Jill Malden; and Japanese physicist Ikei Yashida. Weeks later, after the post-apocalyptic radiation has subsided to safe levels, their space capsule lands upon a melting Greenland ice field, where the three ally themselves with Kuno, a 3rd-century Goth revived from his ice-encased suspended animation. The four encounter a Russian scientist/cyborg in Canada, where they commandeer a futuristic jet plane; undersea dwellers; and brutish U.S. military survivors, among others. ===== The soap opera tells the tale of the Wadhwa family and its daughter-in-law, Kumkum. She is happily married to Jatin. However, he dies of a brain tumor while she is expecting their first child. The Wadhwas decide to get their young daughter- in-law remarried and find an eligible young man named Vishal. However, when obstacles arise leading and the marriage is called off on the last day, Jatin's younger brother Sumit impulsively marries Kumkum in order to save her from societal disgrace. Sumit is plagued by guilt for marrying Kumkum against her will,but She eventually falls in deep love with him while trying to expose Renuka (Sumit's ex girlfriend).The crux of the story evolves as a blossoming romance between Sumit and Kumkum leads them to realise that they are soulmates and how Kumkum being the ideal daughter-in-law of the Wadhwa family protects Sumit's family despite the adverse circumstances facing them. Manik (an impostor bearing Jatin's face) creates havoc in their lives, but Kumkum exposes his fake identity and unites with Sumit. Kumkum gives birth to Sharman and Aashka (Sumit and Kumkum's progeny). ===== This film opens with Treasury officer Jimmy Mercer (Wesley Snipes) and his partner Brady (Dan Hedaya) doing some undercover work, when Mercer's fellow agent is shot and killed by a new man, Ronnie (Viggo Mortensen) that criminal Red Diamond (Dennis Hopper) pulled out of jail. Now on a snap of anger and thoughts of revenge, Mercer wants to find the killer and take him down before he gets transferred to Newark. Although a cop and close colleague claims over dinner that Mercer must do it "by the book," Mercer replies that "when I'm done with this motherfucker, I'm gonna put him in a box..... by the book." A background theme is the closing of a big band dance emporium called the Palace. Lonely, Red takes hooker Vicky (Lolita Davidovich) there for dancing. Lolita is also involved romantically with Mercer, who is estranged from his ex-wife. Red continues to try to build a relationship with his old girlfriend, waitress Mona, (Valerie Perrine). Typically, he has manipulated and betrayed her in the past. Red is under increasing pressure to repay mob debts to boss Tony Dio (Tony Lo Bianco). He manipulates Ronnie into a crime spree culminating in the murder of the boss and ransacking his apartment. He tells Ronnie to meet him at the palace at 9 PM to split up the money. He asks Mona to meet him there as well. Mercer is building his case against Red and arrives at the murder scene seconds too late. Red is soon arrested and a net is laid for Ronnie at the club At the club Red again manipulates Ronnie in an attempt to escape, yelling gun as he ducks. Ronnie is shot by Mercer in the exchange and Red almost escapes. As Red is taken away in the police car Mona arrives, seeing him pass by. In the last scene Jimmy asks Vicky to leave with him. The epilogue reports that they actually did move to Newark. ===== The main character is an ordinary man who is wealthy and works as a journalist. He has a regular routine in his life: posts articles in the post box, has a talk with people in a tea shop, goes to the library and the house. One day, he meets a man from an unknown land called "Timbuctoo", another of Narayan's creations, the land being similar to the US. The man seems to have come for an official duty for UN and seeing the calmness of the place, decides to stay here for his work. There comes a twist of what is exactly the man up to and how the main character of the novel solves the problem. The story is simple, and the author honestly admits to being a short story writer, rather than a novelist as he tells; most of the people skip the intrinsic details given about the places and only catch the content (at the end of the book, his words about the story). It is a good read book and can be read for the calmness with which Narayan writes his story, as a critic rightly points out . ===== During a summer festival, the Angel of Death (Robert Z'Dar) instructs his "Soultaker" subordinate (Joe Estevez) to kill five people: Zack (Gregg Thomsen), Zack's friends Brad (David "Shark" Fralick) and Tommy (Chuck Williams), Brad's girlfriend Candice (Cinda Lou Freeman), and Zack's ex- girlfriend Natalie (Vivian Schilling). After Natalie's friend leaves her behind, Zack offers her a ride home in Brad's car, although Brad is high on cocaine and reluctant to accept her as a passenger. Driving home at high speed, Brad crashes the car to avoid hitting the Soultaker. Candice dies instantly while Natalie, Brad, Zack, and Tommy fall comatose as their souls leave their bodies. The Soultaker then takes Candice's soul and informs the Angel of Death, who orders him to recover the other souls. Thinking they survived the crash, the four return to the car, unaware their bodies were taken to a hospital. There, Soultaker reveals himself and claims Brad's soul; the others, helpless to stop him, flee. They run into a convenience store and attempt to tell the cashierwho cannot see themthat someone is after them. While inside, they see a news report on the crash, which confuses them, and Natalie accuses Zack of knowing Brad had been using drugs. They leave the store and call emergency services, but the operator cannot hear them and hangs up on them. Appearing again, the Soultaker tries to claim Natalie's soul, but her resemblance to his past lover, whom he killed in his former life, stays his hand. Zack rescues her and they flee, leaving Tommy behind. The Angel of Death reprimands his subordinate for failing to take her soul, and the Soultaker then takes Tommy's. Zack and Natalie go to her house, where they tell her mother Anna (Jean Reiner) about the Soultaker. Zack and Natalie reconcile while Anna prepares a bath for her. While she bathes, Anna watches her from behind the bathroom door. Meanwhile, Zack learns from a live television announcement from Natalie's father Mayor Grant (David Fawcett) that their life support systems will be turned off at midnight. During the broadcast, Anna appears onscreen; at the same time, the "Anna" watching Natalie suddenly morphs into the Soultaker. He attempts to make a pact with her, offering her eternal life on the condition that she stays by his side forever. Zack arrives and attempts to attack the Soultaker, but is overpowered. Natalie tries to shoot the Soultaker to no effect. When she tells the Soultaker she wants to be with Zack, the Soultaker throws him out of the window. Zack survives the fall. Hoping to return to their bodies before midnight, Natalie and Zack flee to the hospital. Natalie is captured by the Soultaker on an elevator which leads to the afterlife; he claims he is an angel charged with collecting souls. He convinces her there is nothing left for her in the living realm, that Zack is already dead, and that she can be saved if she stays with him. While searching for her, Zack encounters Brad, who has become a Soultaker, as those who kill someoneeven by accidentmust pay for it with service as a grim reaper. With Brad's help, he enters the afterlife and rescues Natalie. Brad gives him two empty "soul rings", which can help him and Natalie return to their bodies. They find Natalie's body, and she places herself in the ring but remains comatose. Discovering that her pendant is acting as a barrier between her soul and her body, Zack pulls her soul from her body to reattempt the process when the Soultaker reappears. After a chase around the hospital, Zack escapes by leaping off the roof. The Soultaker is confronted by the Angel of Death, who tells him that he has failed since it is now past midnight. Despite his pleas, the Soultaker is imprisoned into a soul ring by his master. Zack returns to his body and saves Natalie's life; he later visits her when she is discharged from the hospital. ===== The Bell sisters, Annie (KaDee Strickland), Jane (Teri Polo) and Sammy Bell (Sarah Jones), inherited "The Wedding Palace" after their parents' divorce. David Conlon (Michael Landes), photographer for The Wedding Palace and ex-boyfriend of Annie's whose tension-filled dealings with her are clearly the result of pent-up sexual chemistry; and Russell Hawkins (Benjamin King), Jane's husband and the company COO; round off the cast. Then there's wedding singer Ralph Snow (Chris Williams), who always aspired to be the next Lenny Kravitz, but instead is stuck crooning endless cover songs and retro medleys for unappreciative wedding guests. Amanda Pontell (Missi Pyle) adds to the frenzied scene as a former bridezilla client who becomes a board member of The Wedding Palace. ===== The story is set in the Rhondda Valley in the early 1930s. It chronicles the trials and tribulations of the peoples, set against the backdrop of the aftermath of the General Strike and the Great Depression in the South Wales Valleys. It is principally seen through the eyes of a newly ordained chapel minister, the Reverend Dan Price. The story is peopled with colourful characters who mostly struggle to live their lives during economic troubles. They include Dan's uncle, John 'Shoni' Lloyd, an ex- First World War soldier and confirmed non-chapel goer, Morgan 'Big Mog' Morgan, an ex-miner, ex-soldier and now a successful bookie and philanthropist, David 'Dai Hippo' Daniels, an ex-miner and firebrand Communist activist, and Guy Sprattling, ('the captain') a badly shell-shocked veteran of the war who works for Big Mog until he is eventually able to face the world again. Dan throws himself into his work at Beulah chapel, which is heavily in debt, and attempts to draw more people into the work of the chapel and improve attendance (and thereby its income). He persuades the fiery 'Llew Rhondda', the chapel's choirmaster known as 'God's Songmaster', to revive the tradition of choral performances at Beulah. On his visit to Evans the Draper, he meets Lucy Meredith and is smitten with her, eventually courting her, whilst carrying on his full-time work at the chapel, giving lectures, producing amateur dramatics and trying to persuade people to come to chapel instead of attending boxing matches and communist rallies. When he dies, Evans the Draper wills his estate and house to Lucy, so that she and Dan can marry. ===== TAP is a murder mystery in which religious and cultural groups think that a poet has been killed by a word in an all-encompassing thought- language. ===== Shahenshah Jalal-ud-din Akbar is the grandson of Babur, and the son of Humayun. He is known to have ruled over Hindustan with a humane and just heart. He knew in order to garner the support of the Hindus, he must treat them sensitively, allow them to worship freely, and in order to maintain this peace, he married Jodha Bai, a Hindu Rajput, the sister of Raja Bhagwant Das. Through this marriage they became the proud parents of Shehzada Salim (Jahangir). Akbar first met Nadira in the Anar garden, while she was awaiting the arrival of her lover. So pleased he was with her that he wanted to reward her, but she only asked for an Anar, so he ended up bestowing her with the name of 'Anarkali'. He met her the second time when she was able to revive Salim, who was seriously wounded in a war in Kabul. Once again Akbar was pleased with her, wanted to reward her, but again she turned him down. The third time she ended up annoying Akbar when she sang and danced in his court under the influence of alcohol, and he has her imprisoned. The very foundations of Akbar's palace will be shaken to the roots, and his manner of meting out justice will be put to the extreme test, when he finds out that Salim is in love with Anarkali and wants to marry her. While Akbar may have been successful to end the strife between Hindus and Muslims, but will be able to break down the wall between the rich and the poor? ===== After her widower father, Kedarnath, passes away, Shobha goes to live with her father's friend Charandas and his wife Shanta, who had their son go missing as a child. Years later, Shobha is now matured and Charandas scouts for a suitable groom. A wealthy man, Sunder, would like to marry Shobha, but the family detests him. Then one night Shobha is abducted. The Police are informed but their search is in vain. A few days later, they get wind that Shobha may be in Sunder's custody, and a search proves to be in vain. Then Shobha returns home and tells them that she was rescued by a wealthy man named Azaad, housed in a mansion, looked after very well, and brought back home all in one piece. They subsequently find out that the wealthy man is none other than a notorious bandit named Azaad. They are even more shocked when Shobha informs them that she wants to marry Azaad. Will Charandas and Shanta permit her to marry a bandit? ===== The Doctor and Martha arrive on the Castor, an abandoned prison ship floating in space. Whilst exploring they find a fully populated village and forest, whose inhabitants appear to be unaware of the spaceship outside, and whose children are mysteriously disappearing. Later, The Doctor and Martha find a creature from another dimension, who, because of its telepathic powers, was used to remove the evil from prisoners in the Castor. To keep itself sane, it expelled the evil, creating a separate being which killed the crew. The telepathic creature then created the forest and village in an attempt to balance itself with goodness, but, due to low power supplies, it is having to remove small parts of the 'program', such as children, to conserve power. The Doctor offers to pilot the ship closer to a sun to give the creature more power to run the program, and a woman from the village absorbs the evil into her body, before exiling herself, so she can learn to control it. The Doctor and Martha then leave the creature to maintain the forest world. ===== Fragments of a mysterious stone known as the are scattered across the globe. Once all four pieces are assembled, the location to the world's largest deposit of gold will be revealed. The villainous Gang are searching for the Skull Stone. Standing in their way are Gan and Ai who become the masked heroes Yatterman-1 and Yatterman-2. The two are aided in their adventures by a large mechanical dog Yatterwan. Unlike previous series in the Time Bokan franchise, Yatterman does not cover any specific time/space travel. Instead, the places where the hero travel to and the individuals they encounter are either a homage or parody. The fictional characters or places are usually represented by purposely misspelled names or familiar actions. For example, a revolution leader is named "Yashington" as a homage to George Washington; and a place resembling ancient Japan is named "Yametai" ((I) want to stop), as a spoof of Yamatai. ===== A writer of murder novels adopts a new identity to track down the hit-and-run driver who killed his son. Along the way he falls in love with a beautiful film star, and a series of disastrous complications take their course. ===== Framed and convicted of a crime she did not commit, Flora, played by Fanny Navarro is sent to prison, where she meets Roberta, played by Golde Flami, who becomes her protector and lover. ===== The Big Five are seeking hidden in the basement of a hotel treasure. ===== The film begins with the Five aboard a ship sailing to Africa. The group later cross the desert on camel and the jungle and stay in a palace. ===== Roberto Moran (Mariano Mores) has just arrived in Buenos Aires from the provinces to work in a foundry. He can play the bandoneón by ear but wants to have proper training in music at a conservatory run by a frustrated old musician, Don Matias (Ricardo Galache). The old man first rejects both Roberto and his instrument, but after hearing him play, he changes his mind and takes him on, though forbidding him to play popular music, which he despises. Roberto becomes a great classical pianist, but as he acquires proficiency, he secretly composes tangos too. One of the best sequences shows him informally playing the Argentine "Taquito Militar" accompanied by the other students playing their classical instruments (violin, clarinet, harp). Roberto wins a scholarship to go to Europe to further his success as a pianist but he turns it down, preferring to compose "music that reveals the soul of the city". "The day will come," he tells the conductor Aquiles Baldi (Orestes Soriani), "when your great orchestra will play this kind of music." A conflict arises with the arrival of factory owner, Francisco Romani (Santiago Gómez Cou), a calculating authoritarian who admires the United States. Roberto and Romani are both interested in Isabel (Diana Maggi), the conservatory director's daughter, who is torn between staying with the infatuated young musician who loves her or opting for the affluence of his more mature opponent. At the end of the film the roles are reversed: while Roberto achieves both popular success and the support of the "cult", showing his old master he can indeed express the "voice of the city", the entrepreneur is finally revealed to be a worthy suitor, full of feeling, who can succeed in winning the heart of the young woman. ===== ===== The son (Oscar Rovito) and the star (Armando Bo) Mario Lopez (Oscar Rovito) is a child, the son of an aging footballer (Armando Bo) . On the one hand, while his father is disowned by supporters for being no longer physically able to play it, he tries to convince himself that this is a temporary decline and he will return to his former star status. On the other hand, his mother and his maternal grandfather, reject the world of football and the street, arguing that it is a primitive world and inadequate, isolating him. Only his son remains a major fan. Dying from a serious illness, he tries to please his fans once more and regain his legendary status. ===== Khamlao is a Black op Counter-terrorismsecret agent for the country of Wongnaileum, which shares the common Isan dialect and culture with its neighboring country, Thailand (similar to [Laos]). He is dispatched to Bangkok on a secret mission to track down some terrorists. To do so, he goes undercover as a luk thung singer working for a record label that serves as a front company for dealers in weapons of mass destruction. As he probes deep inside the record company, he finds that the company's executive secretary is actually a CIA agent, assigned to the same mission. Meanwhile, Khamlao's wife, Keaw, discovers that Khamlao had lied to her about his job in Thailand. The end of the film leaves where the first film starts. ===== Oliviero Rouvigny, a failed writer and an alcoholic, lives in a crumbling mansion with his wife Irina, who is scared of Oliviero's cat, Satan, that used to belong to his late mother Esther. The only other main resident is the black maid, Brenda. To fight boredom, Oliviero organizes decadent parties for local hippies and humiliates and abuses Irina in front of the guests. A key early plot-point is the elegant gown that belonged to Rouvigny's dead mother that he catches Irina wearing which angers him. After his mistress Fausta, a young student and bookstore employee, is found murdered, Oliviero becomes the primary suspect after being fingered by Fausta's boss Bartello. The author lies when questioned by police and tells them that he was fixing a flat tire on his car during the time Fausta was murdered and forces Irina to cover for him. Later, Irina investigates the supposed flat tire in the boot of her husbands car but he catches her and angrily beats her. During the night during a heavy thunder storm, Brenda puts on Esther's gown and is silently watched by Oliviero. Brenda senses someone else is in the house and attempts to flee to her room but is mortally wounded by the still-unseen killer with a bill-hook. Irina finds the dying Brenda who collapses at her feet. Oliviero appears and coldly views the body and convinces Irina to help him conceal it to avoid further suspicions. Brenda's body is buried in the cellar, although Oliviero refuses to dispose of the blood-stained gown with the body and tells Irina to wash it. Then Oliviero's niece Floriana suddenly arrives for a visit from Paris. A sinister gray-haired man also appears and seems to watch the Rouvigny's from afar. Later at the house, the same gray-haired man shows up and gives Irina a dry-cleaning package containing the gown. Oliviero flies into a rage after believing his wife sent the dress out to be cleaned and beats her and locks her in a closet where Satan claws Irina. Floriana finds her aunt in the closet and frees her. Irina finds comfort in Floriana's arms and bed, and the two decide to find a way to deal with Oliviero. The same night, the killer strikes again and murders a local prostitute named Giovanna, who had coincidentally arrived in town the same day Floriana appeared. The girl's aunt/madame kills the attacker. The following day, the police inspector reveals to Oliviero that the serial killer was none other than the book store manager Bartello, who was really an escaped mental patient named Lipori. Rouvigny tells his wife this and attempts to strangle her. Floriana, meanwhile, has began a relationship with the local milkman Dario, who previously dated Brenda. Following attending a dirt-bike race in which Dario competes but is forced to drop-out of due to his bike failing, Floriana is taken by Dario to an old barn where they make love while Oliviero secretly spies on them. Irina catches Satan after the cat kills several of her pet doves and in a angry rage stabs one of the cats eyes out with a pair of scissors. This is witnessed by the elderly woman who collects bottles from the house and she is ordered to leave by a crazed- looking Irina who rushes into the house and collapses. Later Oliviero enters Floriana's room and finds her laying in bed in his mother's gown. Floriana reveals she knew that her uncle spied on her when she bedded Dario in the barn loft and then proceeds to seduce Oliviero. The next morning, Oliviero confronts Irina about his missing cat and questions why she bought new scissors. The elderly woman, Mrs. Molinar, visits the town and asks to speak to the Chief of Police regarding the Rouvigny's. Oliviero, Floriana, and Irina visit a mountaintop scenic view and the two women discuss killing Oliviero by pushing him over the cliff. That night, Irina is awakened by the sound of Satan's wailing outside. She goes to the room of Floriana and overhears her niece and Oliviero discussing her and Oliviero mentions he has made space in the cellar for his wife's body. Irina rushes outside and sees Dario secretly meeting with Floriana and asking her to meet him in the morning. Irina spies Satan and chases him into the cellar where she discovers that Brenda's corpse has been uncovered, giving credence to Oliviero's murderous plans. Irina approaches Olivero, passed out next to his typewriter and violently stabs him to death with the scissors. Following the murder, Floriana reveals she watched but indicates that Irina will surely go to prison unless she covers up the murder. Floriana reveals that she has been after the jewelry that Oliviero had stashed in the mansion. Irina humbly gives her the jewelry and the two sleep together one final time before Floriana departs in the morning. The gray- haired man, Walter, sneaks into the house in the early morning hours and begins writing on Oliviero's type writer "vendetta" repeatably before escaping as Irina and Floriana investigate. Disturbed by these events, Floriana abandons Irina and rushes out to meet Dario. Walter appears and its discovered is the secret-lover to Irina, who goes to the cellar. Irina reveals that it was she who killed Esther as well as Brenda. The original scheme was to convince Oliviero he was Brenda's killer and drive him mad, however his own plans to murder Irina and bed Floriana forced a change of plan. Walter kills both Floriana and Dario by throwing oil on the road as they attempt to escape on motorbike, making it look like an accident so he can recover the family jewels. Later, Irina pushes Walter off a cliff to have the jewelry all for herself. When Irina returns to the mansion, she finds the police there. Mrs. Molinar, the old woman, had filed a complaint for animal cruelty, as she had seen Irina stabbing Satan. Inside the mansion, the police officers notice that the cat seems to be mewing in agony inside a wall. As they tear down the wall, they discover the cat and the dead body of Oliviero inside. ===== Wealthy New York businessman G. Ellery Cobbold has sent his son Stanwood, a blundering ex- American football player, to London, to separate him from Hollywood starlet Eileen Stoker with whom he is in love. When Cobbold discovers that Stoker is also in London, making pictures, he insists that Stanwood goes to stay with a distant relation, curmudgeonly widower Lord Shortlands. But Stanwood stays put. Instead, good-looking movie agent Mike Cardinal goes to Shortlands' castle (Beevor, in Kent), posing as Stanwood. He is pursuing Shortlands' beautiful daughter Terry. But Terry is wary of him because he is too handsome. Lord Shortlands himself is in love with his cook, Mrs Punter, and would like to marry her. Unfortunately she insists on £200 to buy a pub, which Shortlands doesn't have, the purse-strings at Beevor Castle being firmly in the control of his domineering elder daughter Adela. Also, he has a rival in suave butler Mervyn Spink. Things look up for "Shorty" when he discovers that a stamp in his collection is worth £1000. But Spink fools Adela into believing that the stamp is his, and it gets locked up in a safe. It so happens that Stanwood's butler, Augustus Robb is an ex-safe breaker, and Mike masterminds a burglary. This goes disastrously wrong, and Mike gets hit in the face with a bag of safe breaking tools. The up-side is that his battered face makes him suddenly attractive to Terry. So, after a final misunderstanding, things end happily for Mike and Terry. Stanwood and Eileen also get together. But Mrs Punter runs off with Augustus Robb, leaving Shorty and Spink ruing their loss in love but bound in their increased fortunes; Spink is a big winner in a horse race and Shorty has been invited to live with Mike and Terry in Hollywood, away from Adela, where the savvy Mike has assured him he can make a handsome income by appearing in movies as a character actor of butlers. ===== Haines plays a shipping clerk named Jack Kelly. He neglected golf to work for the aging Mr. Waters (George Fawcett). On one day, Mr. Waters fires Pop Kelly (Bert Woodruff). Jack witnesses this and is outraged. He wants revenge and breaks a window with a golf ball. Mr. Waters catches him but, instead of being mad, he is impressed with Jack's golfing skills. He later that day announces to his dad he is invited by The Oakmont Country Club to be a guest of the club for a minimum of two weeks. His role there will be the teacher of Mr. Waters, trying to teach him how to golf. Pop doesn't want to say goodbye, but lets him go. At the club, he meets Allie Monte (Joan Crawford) and immediately falls in love with her. He introduces himself as a member from the shipping business of her family. However, Allie sees through him and walks away. Harold Johnson (Edward Earle) is the club champion and devotes himself to Allie. He tries to get her attention at a game, but she is not charmed with his presence. Over the days, the members – including Allie – become more pleased with Jack as he teaches everyone how to golf. Jack and Allie bond with each other. Johnson feels intimidated by Jack, fearing he could take over the championship title and his girl. Jack kisses Allie, but she storms off. He tries to apologize, but she refuses to talk to him. Therefore he climbs into her room, staying there until she forgives him. The next day, Jack sets a record with the golf tournament. While giving his victory speech, he notices his father, who came there to tell his son how proud he is of him. Jack realizes his club membership is almost over and swears he will marry a rich girl, which would make him allowed to stay at the club. He decides to propose to Allie, but she informs him her father has just lost all of his money. She admits she now has to marry a wealthy man to keep her social position. They are interrupted by Martha Lomsdom (Eileen Percy), who invites them to a party. On their way, Jack sees Allie is flirting with Johnson, so he does the same with the wealthy Martha. At the party, Johnson announces he and Allie are engaged. Jack is devastated, but Martha sees an opportunity in luring him. Her beau confronts her, but she responds she is willing to leave him for Jack. Jack now admits he is not the person to marry for money. When he meets up with Allie to say goodbye, he realizes he can't live without her and tells her he loves her. Allie admits she loves him too, but reminds him she is already engaged to Johnson. They decide to run off and marry. Allie tells her dad Jack is a millionaire shipping man. Jack is afraid to tell her the truth about his income. But when he does, she throws him out. Her family tells her it's a good riddance and she should get an annulment. Allie however refuses, stating he is her husband. In the final scene, Jack becomes rich with winning a golf tournament and is reunited with Allie. ===== On a cold afternoon, with snow on the ground, a high school band in a small Pennsylvania town is practicing for the season’s last football game, when they hear gunshots while their teacher, Mr. Chervenick, is giving instructions. The film abruptly flashes back to a few weeks before, to a Chinese restaurant that employs a high school boy named Arthur, his ex-babysitter, Annie, and her best friend, Barb. Arthur, who's a bit of a misfit, has a troubled home life caused by his constantly clashing parents, both of whom often forget about him. Annie's life isn't faring much better: she's dealing with her ill mother, is separated from her husband, Glenn, and is now raising their young daughter, Tara, on her own. Glenn is now on the wagon and becoming a born-again Christian in order to prove that he is responsible enough to spend time with Tara. Depressed and lonely, Annie decides to betray her best friend by having an affair with Barb's husband, Nate, but finds that ruining Barb's life doesn’t make her own life any happier. Desperate to prove himself and still harboring deep feelings for his estranged wife (though he suspects is seeing someone), Glenn gets a new job and spends as much time as possible with Tara. Meanwhile, Arthur finds himself growing close to Lila, a new student at the high school who has a knack for photography. The film focuses heavily on how people's lives can cross in a small town, especially when Tara wanders out of the house and goes missing while Annie, drained over having meaninglessly destroyed her friendship with Barb and suffering from a bad cold, falls asleep on the couch. The whole town spends hours desperately searching for Tara, before Arthur finds her body while smoking pot with his friend. To everyone’s horror, Tara had fallen into open freezing water at the edge of the lake while playing and drowned, after which the open water froze over her. Glenn distraught over the death of his little girl, Tara, breaks into Annie's home with his shotgun and waits for her return. Upon Annie's return Glenn grabs her and forcibly washes her feet. Covering her mouth as she cries and screams at him, he drags a barefoot Annie by the collar into the snowy woods. With her kneeling, back turned to him, Glenn holds his gun to her head and tells her to say when she's ready (to be shot). The movie presumably ends with their murder-suicide, explaining the shots heard before the flashback. ===== The story is set in 1911 London at the time of George V's coronation. American-born chorus girl Mary Morgan becomes involved with Balkan archduke Charles, the widowed Prince Regent of Carpathia, after he sees a performance of her West End musical The Coconut Girl. She soon becomes involved with the actions of his teenaged son, King Nicholas, as well as the Queen Mother. A peripheral character, fish-and-chips peddler Ada Cockle, appears to be present solely to entertain the audience with a rousing fifteen-minute rendition of traditional Cockney tunes. ===== This conventional drama by director Daniel Tinayre handles a distinctive subject—the onset of blindness in an adult—and raises issues about the disability without diving far under the surface. The setting is an institution for the blind, and the featured protagonist is a man who rails against his misfortune, his energy and thinking distorted by a need to fight his blindness. Unhappy and unable to come to grips with his condition, he stirs a sympathetic chord in another blind inmate. She in turn, slowly enters into a relationship with him that starts to transform the ways he perceives himself and his blindness. ===== An individual is forced to pose as a famous boxer. ===== ===== Beautiful farmer's daughter Isabel can have any man in the village, but she falls in love with the wrong man and his sins cost both of them their lives at the Iguazú Falls. ===== The plot is a variation on the standard B-Western "Land Grab" plot: Gold has been discovered in the area and gambler Jim Rodney intends to make sole claim to it by pushing the rightful owners off the land and taking it for himself. To do so he has his henchmen kill an Indian woman, provoking attacks from her tribe. This brings Buffalo Bill and the United States Cavalry into the town. Buffalo Bill proceeds to defeat Rodney and his schemes. ===== Butte Morgan (villain) plans to take over a circus by marrying Maria Wallace, the daughter of the circus's owner. She, however, is interested only in the trick rider Jack Grant (the hero). ===== Vincent Day (Warren William) is a prosecutor who is on the fast track to success. When a man he zealously prosecuted all the way to the electric chair is found to have been innocent, he becomes distressed and quits his job. At the suggestion of a friendly bartender (Guy Kibbee), he decides to switch teams and become a defense attorney specializing in the representation of gangsters and other unsavory people. He will use any tactic to get his clients acquitted, up to and including drinking a slow-acting poison from a bottle of evidence to prove that the substance isn't lethal. The jury acquits the man not knowing that immediately after, Day rushes into a mob doctor's office for a pre-arranged stomach pump. Celia Farraday (Sidney Fox) is a young secretary recently arrived in the city from a small town in Kentucky. When Day makes play for her, she spurns his advances, loyal to her fiancé, Johnny (William Janney). When the fiancé is framed for a crime committed by one of Day's clients, Day's affection for Celia not only prompts Day to defend Johnny by implicating his client in the crime, but to reconsider his life of getting criminals out of jail sentences. However, his associates send him a message that his departure will not be allowed. He lets them know that he has all of their secrets in a safe-deposit box, along with instructions for the bank to forward the contents to the District Attorney in the event of his unnatural death. They call his bluff and he is shot while leaving his office to attend Celia's wedding. On the way to the hospital, he tells his faithful secretary that the criminals were wrong to call his bluff and that the information will be on the way to the DA. The movie leaves it ambiguous whether Day, shot several times, will survive his wounds. ===== Airmail pilot Bob Lee (James Flavin), owner of a gold mine, faces off against "The Black Hawk" (Wheeler Oakman) who has kidnapped Jimmy Ross (Al Wilson), Bob's best friend. The Black Hawk carries out a series of attacks on Bob's ore shipments by air, using an unusual catapult device that launches aircraft into the sky to intercept Bob's aircraft. With his sweetheart, Mary Ross (Lucile Browne), Bob constantly battles against his enemy, and eventually is able to defeat him. ===== John Blaine – helped by his teenaged son and daughter, Noah and Ann – work to build a section of a transcontinental railroad "through the heart of the wild and wooly west." Their section threads through Wyoming territory, dangerously close to hostile Indians. In addition to tribulations inherent in the Old West, work is hindered by crooked foreman Rance Judd, who is "secretly in the pay of a rival contractor and aims to make Blaine lose his government railroad contract by fouling up construction in any way he can" with help from his henchmen Butch Gore, Bart Eaton, and Buckskin Joe. Blaine is aided by a group of men also working on the railroad: surveyor Tom Crosby, scout Noah Blaine, and rail crew leader Bart Eaton. Together, our heroes must battle skullduggery from Judd's henchmen, stagecoach problems, saloon brawls, horse stampedes, train robberies, Indian attacks, and other perils "to complete the line on time." As is typical in serial films, each episode ends on a cliff-hanger. For example: after a tremendous fight in an old trapper's cabin, the cabin catches on fire and burns down with our heroes still inside; however, the next episode shows how they escaped the fire through a secret tunnel in the cabin floor. ===== After a textual montage summarizing Edgar Allan Poe's life, the film begins in late September 1849 with Poe awakening from a hallucination where he is buried alive. He prepares to take a trip to New York City via a ferry steamboat from Richmond, Virginia, to Baltimore, and from there, another ferry to New York City itself. He discusses his plans to marry his childhood sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster with a stranger taking the same steamboat, who suggests that he meet with a few potential investors for his planned magazine The Stylus. Though Poe had intended only to pass through Baltimore, he agrees to meet the investors who, one by one, turn down his request for funding. Poe is depicted as having some type of memory loss, which is first evident when he offers to pay his boat fare twice after forgetting he had already paid. In Baltimore, he more than once forgets the arrangements he has made at his hotel as his stay in the city is extended. One night, he chooses to dine in a local tavern rather than at the hotel. There, he meets an old friend from his days at West Point. In desperation, he asks his former classmate and the classmate's companion for money to help start a magazine, saying proudly he has already raised $1,000. Poe leaves the tavern to retrieve his prospectus for the magazine. His classmate follows him and beats him up to steal the $1,000 he had collected. An injured and delirious Poe is then found by organizers of a cooping ring. The author, along with several others, are forced to multiple polling locations around Baltimore to place multiple votes for the candidate for mayor. A couple of victims of the scam die amidst the brutality of their captors. Afterwards, Poe is released and he eventually collapses in the street and is found by a local tavern owner. The man calls for Poe's uncle Henry Herring and Dr. Joseph Snodgrass. The men discuss what to do with the incoherent, half-conscious Poe. Snodgrass assumes he is drunk and suggests they let him sleep it off - a theory the film seems to dispute by showing him early in the film declining offered alcohol several times. Herring becomes more concerned and demands Poe be taken to Washington College Hospital, despite the expense. At the hospital, Dr. John Moran tends to Poe, unable to accurately determine his situation or the cause of his failing health, or how he received his injuries. He muses to his wife, Mrs. Moran, that he does not want to be known as the physician who killed Edgar Allan Poe. Over the next three days, the bedridden Poe is kept in seclusion in a private room as Moran denies Poe visitors, including his Baltimore cousin Nielson Poe, who becomes convinced that his cousin is about to die. Poe ultimately does die after one final hallucination or perhaps a flashback where he sees his dead wife Virginia Clemm. ===== Various expeditionary parties head to Zanzibar to search for a legendary cache of ivory and a missing explorer named Jack Morgan. Tom Tyler played the hero, Kirk Montgomery, and Cecilia Parker played the heroine, Barbara Morgan, who is searching for her missing brother Jack. Boris Shillov and his henchman Comrade Krotsky are also searching for the ivory. The "jungle mystery" pertains to a half-man, half-ape creature named Zungu. ===== A special train carrying gold bullion is hijacked on its way from the Golconda Mine. Laying down portable tracks, the bandits take the train off the main line, hide it in an abandoned mine shaft, steal the gold, and eradicate their makeshift tracks, leaving a mystery in their wake. Part owner of the mine, Potter Hood, and the railroad president, Horace Moore, search for the mysteriously disappeared train and gold. They are unaware, however, that the criminals are working secretly for Sam Slater, the other partner in the gold mine, who wants to sabotage mine operations enough that he can take over completely. Potter's son, Tom Hood, arrives home from college and determines to solve the mystery with the aid of his pal Bob Collins. They board the gold-shipment special train on its next run. Meanwhile, newspaper reporter Betty Moore – who is niece to the railroad president – and her friend Kate Bland begin their own investigation. After the four youths foil an attempt at a second heist, they join forces. The next 11 chapters show the characters' attempts to locate the "Lost Special" train and identify the ringleader. Cliff-hanger endings include a runaway car sailing off a cliff into a lake, the heroine's car crashing headlong into an oncoming train and our heroes being trapped by rising water in a dungeon. ===== A sports car races through the countryside. A young woman is in the passenger seat. It enters a small village at high speed. It hits Charles Thénier's nine-year-old son, who is returning from the beach, and drives on without stopping. Charles vows to have his revenge, keeping a journal of his thoughts. The police investigation is fruitless. Charles thinks the guilty party may run a garage, since there is no record of a car going in for repairs. By chance, while pursuing this hunch, he discovers that the actress Hélène Lanson was the passenger in a car that was damaged on the day of his son's death. Adopting a pseudonym, he seduces her and discovers that the driver was her brother-in-law Paul Decourt. He arranges a trip with Hélène to visit her sister's family in Brittany. Charles discovers that Paul is detestable, cruel to his wife and hated by his teenage son Philippe. He has conflicting thoughts as to whether or not he will kill Paul. He rescues him from a cliff-fall. Philippe confides to Charles his own desire to kill his father. Hélène confesses that she once slept with Paul. Charles presses her to explain more of her anxiety about Paul, but she refuses to add anything. Charles decides to kill Paul in a staged sailing accident and buys a boat for that purpose. However, while at sea, Paul pulls a gun on him and reveals that he has read Charles' journal and passed it to his solicitor to take to the police should something happen to him. After returning to the harbor, Paul throws Charles out of his house. Charles appears to abandon his plan to murder Paul and drives away with Hélène. In a roadside restaurant, a television announcer reports Paul's death from poisoning and appeals for Charles and Hélène to return, which they do. Charles argues to the police that it would be foolhardy for him to kill Paul when he knew the journal would reach them. They contend that Charles has planned to use this argument to deflect their suspicions, and arrest him. However, Philippe enters and confesses to the murder. Back at their hotel, Charles is weary and promises to tell Hélène the entire story the next day. She wakes to find his note explaining that Philippe has confessed falsely to the crime Charles himself committed. He tells her to share his confession with the police and that he will punish himself and never be seen again. He is seen sailing oceanward. ===== Sergeant Tom Clancy, of the North-West Mounted Police, is assigned to arrest his own brother Steve, who has been framed for murdering a neighbor by "Black" McDougal and Pierre LaRue. ===== Commander John Lane returns from a ten-year mission in space to find that the teenagers of Spaceport City have organized themselves into "outfits", well disciplined, non-violent little gangs with their own customs and argot, and that the parent's role in teen upbringing has become minimal. His 16-year-old daughter Susan belongs to the Red Cat Outfit, whose newest member Bud is actually a spy for the alien fleet that has secretly followed John Lane as he returned to Earth. ===== LittleBigPlanet is set in a world full of creations made by Creator Curators. One of the Curators, a rogue Creator called "the Collector", is stealing the other Creators' creations and not sharing them with the world (sharing is one of the core elements of LittleBigPlanet). Play starts at the "Gardens" level, where the player meets the King, one of the Curators; the Queen; Little Xim; Big Zam and Dumpty. The player is taught the basic gameplay at this stage: running, jumping, and grabbing. The next setting is the "Savannah", where the player accidentally breaks one of the ruler's creations. In return for forgiveness the player must investigate what's scaring the ruler's buffalo. Further adventures involve finding Meerkat Mum's son and a Bridegroom (a story arc with a Day of the Dead theme). After the wedding play moves to the "Canyons", where the player must rescue Uncle Jalapeño and defeat the evil Sheriff Zapata. After completing this the player is taken to the "Metropolis" and gets a car for a race scenario. The next adventure takes place on the "Islands", where the player is trained in martial arts and must defeat the Terrible Oni. From there the player goes to the "Temples", to get a flame-throwing cat. Here they meet the Great Magician, who tells them to defeat the Collector in his "Wilderness". After the final battle the Collector is revealed to be a little, lonely man who kidnapped everyone because he did not have any friends. Everyone, including the player, offers to be his friend and he accepts, ending his being evil. ===== The novel opens with Golder refusing to help his colleague of many years, Marcus. As a result of this, Marcus, bankrupt, commits suicide. Following the funeral, Golder travels to Biarritz where he has a huge, opulent house. His wife and daughter reside there in luxury, spending Golder's cash like water. On the train, he suffers a heart attack. Seriously ill, he is forced to re-evaluate his life. ===== Laura, played by Isabel Sarli runs away to Mexico after being implicated in a murder. There she meets a painter who asks her to pose for him. She later meets his brother, Julio played by Julio Alemán and falls in love but everything goes wrong when her mobster boyfriend comes looking for her. ===== This black comedy is about average people who live in González Catán, a working-class suburb southwest of Buenos Aires, and are having a hard time making a living. In the beginning, Hernán helps his brother and his wife get ready for a their big move to Spain. His parents are forced to leave Argentina in order to escape the ravages of the country's economic crisis. Hernán is left alone in the Buenos Aires suburbs. He works at an agency delivering messages on a small motorcycle. One day, at a gas station, he meets Pato, an attractive woman working the pumps. Hernán invites Pato to rent the room his brother vacated. Pato is a mysterious young woman. She realizes Hernán likes her and she decides to go along in returning his advances. Yet, Hernán is quite surprised when he comes home one night. Pato's parents and her young daughter have moved in without giving Hernán a warning. The father, Venancio (Oscar Nuñez), a slick character, thanks Hernán, who thinks the move-in is temporary. However, it seems that Pato's parents have come to stay. Dispossession laws in Argentina can be quite lengthy and costly. Venancio and his wife turn the kitchen into a small bakery making churros that are sold on the streets. Nothing that Hernán does to get rid of Pato's family who occupy the house. That is until he takes matters into his own hands and scares Pato's family. Pato, who is not able to have a relationship with Hernán, is being pursued by a handsome young man, Jose Luis, a client at the gas station. Pato realizes her chance when she discovers that Jose Luis is much wealthier than Hernán. Venancio, his wife, and the young girl appear at Jose Luis' building. In the next scene, Venancio is seated at the dinner table thanking Jose Luis with the same speech he used to thank Hernán. ===== Mew and Mica, two spacey alien androids, pose as cute high school students to conceal their identities as the most undependable dynamic duo ever sent to defend the Earth. The OVA follows the misadventures of Mew, Mica and their reluctant friend, Akai. ===== Polin is an eleven-year-old troublemaker in reform school for unknown reasons. After suffering from harsh treatment at the hands of the staff there, Polin finally reaches a breaking point and snaps, punching one of the supervisors in the face. He is then sent to the police station where he is locked up in a cell and left alone. Polin soon breaks out and travels back to his hometown, a rural fishing village, where he meets up with his best friend and falls back into his old routine—smoking, pickpocketing, shoplifting, skinny dipping with his friends and picking fights with the neighborhood bullies—all the while trying to avoid a run-in with the law, which he knows is inevitable. ===== In Clearview, a town in the South of the U.S., strange waves begin to appear on the TV sets, hypnotizing the very young and the very old. Children and old people begin to wander around town in a zombie-like state. When the signal drops, there is a violent reaction and the army must be called in. ===== This is the story of a woman who travels to the islands on the delta of the Parana River to fight for her inheritance. ===== Coleen, who works as a chambermaid at an inner city hotel, is joined by Damien, who has reluctantly taken a job at the hotel to earn some money during his summer vacation. Whilst working together, they discover an unexpected attraction to one another. It is during their last working day that they confront the significance of this relationship.Official Website Synopsis ===== The story revolves around Elena Stakhova, a girl with a hypochondriac mother and an idle father, a retired guards lieutenant with a mistress. On the eve of the Crimean War, Elena is pursued by a free-spirited sculptor (Pavel Shubin) and a serious-minded student (Andrei Berzyenev). But when Berzyenev's revolutionary Bulgarian friend, Dmitri Insarov, meets Elena, they fall in love. In secretly marrying Insarov Elena disappoints her mother and enrages her father, who had hoped to marry her to a dull, self-satisfied functionary, Kurnatovski. Insarov nearly dies from pneumonia and only partly recovers. On the outbreak of war Insarov tries to return with Elena to Bulgaria, but dies in Venice. Elena takes Insarov's body to the Balkans for burial and then vanishes. ===== The story begins with several odd occurrences at the farm where the Black, Alec (Kelly Reno), and his mother (Teri Garr) live. A suspicious barn fire is followed by the theft of the horse. From the point of view of Ishak (Ferdy Mayne), the sheik who took him, this is property retrieval; the horse was originally his, and the Black's name is Shetan. Although he learns that the horse is being returned to the sheik's kingdom in the Moroccan desert, Alec goes after the sheik, stowing away in a plane to Casablanca. In Morocco, after being found on the plane, Alec is taken to the American embassy, where the police plan on sending him home. At the stables, he makes some friends who disguise him as a local Casablancan. They take him to a man named Kurr (Allen Garfield) the leader of a rogue tribe called the Uruk, who is very interested in the horse and the sheik, and allows Alec to go with him and his companion. But after getting a flat tire, they abandon Alec in the desert. He is found by the driver of another truck and given a ride. Aboard the truck, he meets Raj (Vincent Spano), who tells him the Black will probably compete in "The Great Race." The two become friends and travel across the desert on foot with Meslar (Woody Strode), Raj's friend and mentor. Then the Uruk kidnap Meslar, and Raj and Alec defend themselves against the harsh elements. After running out of water, they collapse from dehydration but recover when they find a river. Raj's tribe discovers them, welcoming Raj home and Alec to the tribe. Raj takes Alec to the outskirts of Ishak's home, and he reunites with the Black. While attempting to retrieve the horse, Alec is apprehended by Ishak's men. He pleads his case to Ishak, who is sympathetic but will not give up the horse. He plans to race the Black in the "Great Race" with his granddaughter Tabari (Jodi Thelen) as jockey. Alec insists the Black can win the race only if he, not Tabari, rides him. Denied the position, he coaches Tabari on riding the horse, but the Black throws her off. Then, the Uruk led by Kurr then captures the Black and Alec and takes them away. Later, Alec escapes with the Black. As they flee, Alec discovers that Meslar is alive and being held prisoner. He gives Meslar his pocket knife to help him get free of his bonds. Alec and the Black escape and go back to Ishak's home. As a reward for the safe return of the horse, Alec is allowed to ride him in the race. On the day of the race, Alec reunites with Raj, who is also competing, and they begin their run across the desert along with the other riders. The Uruk's rider tries to kill Alec, but he and the Black escape. Alec discovers that the Uruk's rider pushed Raj off his horse, and he brings Raj's mount back to him. They race against the Uruk rider until Meslar appears and spooks the rider's horse, unseating him. Suddenly, Kurr shows up in his truck and chases Raj and Alec, shooting at them. However, he takes a wrong turn and the truck crashes into a ditch. Alec wins the race, then pleads with Ishak to allow Raj to keep the horse that he rode, despite the condition that the winning rider's sheik is allowed to keep any horses that he wants. Ishak grants the reprieve, which allows Alec to repay Raj for his kindness. Meslar returns with Kurr, his riding companion, and the Uruk rider as his prisoners, and they are taken to face judgement. Although Ishak gives the Black back to Alec, he decides to leave him in Morocco, where he feels he is more at home. ===== Based on a real person and on the movie of the same name, Marine veteran Louanne Johnson is an unconventional teacher who inspires her class of bright but "difficult" inner-city students, and makes a real difference in their lives, outside school as well as inside. ===== In 1959, a new teacher named Derek Sanders becomes the new choirmaster for Blanton Academy, a prestigious but all-white private school in South Carolina. Mr. Sanders tries to reduce some of the prejudice and hostility of some of the students in his choir. Paul, a bully who feels he should be lead boy, is the worst offender. Taylor Bradshaw, on the other hand, is impressed by the music of Landy Allen, an African-American boy and grandson of Zeke, the school caretaker. Taylor begins to explore the music and lives of the African- American people who live in Rivertown, despite knowing that it could get him expelled or rejected. Sanders is also impressed by Landy's abilities and attempts to get him involved with the choir. A tragedy in the community brings the race issue to a head. =====